Japan Trip Expenditures
Here is a brief analysis of costs from my recent 2-week (12-day) trip to Japan.
2024
Japan: Fast Trains, Fish Food, and Filled Schedules
Months ago, my cousin Michael asked Emily (my sister) and I if we wanted to go to Japan after his graduation. We said yes...and then didn't speak about it for months. Then, some time had passed. We finally started making arrangements, like booking a flight, hotels, and developing an itinerary, in a series of Discord calls. We also invited Emily's best friend, Christine, who had been to Japan a few times in the past. They could help be our guide, plus, we decided it would be more fun to travel in a group of 4.
Backpacking
I like camping. And hiking. And backpacks. Turns out, there's just the activity for me! My friend Remy (yes, the same from my crossing-the-Golden-Gate-bridge-story) and I planned a one-night backpacking trip at Point Reyes. It was awesome.
Astronomy
Here's another short story! I got to see 2 unique astronomical phenomena in the short span of a few weeks! On August 8, 2024, there was the rare occurrence of the moon passing directly between Earth and the Sun, causing a solar eclipse. And on May 10, 2024 there was something normally you can only see in the arctic. Aurora borealis, at this time of year, in this part of the country, localized entirely within my apartment! Well, that last part is false. But I still got to see it.
Buying a Condo
I'm slacking on my journal writing! I realize that I never wrote about buying my house (really a condo)... so here goes!
Running Recap: January through May 2024
I can't believe it's already June! This year has been going by fast. I figure this is a great time to go over a recap of my running progress from the first 5 months of the year and show off some highlights.
HPCinfra in Barcelona, Spain
For work, I was able to attend the HPCinfra conference held this year in Barcelona, Spain! This conference/workshop is designed for data center engineers and operators to discuss facility management, sustainability, and future developments in HPC (high performance computing.)
Reader/Writer's Block
I've been having a bit of a writer's block lately! At this rate, I won't make my New Year's resolution of one written piece per week. It's no different for my reading - I suppose I'm having a bit of a reader's block too. A few days, ago, I picked up a book and read one chapter - my first this year.
New Phone
For almost 5 years, I used the Samsung Galaxy A10e, one of the first-generation phones from the Galaxy A line. It worked great, and lasted for much longer than I expected, and I have practically no complaints about that phone. Unfortunately, the years started to catch up to it. The touchscreen started to lose its sensitivity, the occasional text or call wouldn't go through, and it generally started to slow down, among other minor issues. However, the final push that caused me to begin my search for a new phone was the fact that the A10e was still running on Android version 9. Which, at the time of writing this, has been out of support for about 2 and a half years. That means that my phone has been more prone to bugs, glitches, viruses, and spyware. So, I did what any true American does after about a year of owning a phone - I got a new one!
Raspberry Pi Gatekeeper
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Advertisements! I hate them, you hate them, we all hate them. What if I told you there was a way to block ad traffic from ever entering your network? Actually, this happened to me a few days ago by a coworker. I learned about a software called Pi-hole specifically designed for Raspberry Pi's that blocks all ad traffic. Sounds good, right? Now, how are you supposed to set it up?