Sick Days Are Super-Important, and Don’t You Forget It!

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The title of this post says it all.

Last weekend I came down with a cold—not a super terrible one, but one that had me coughing with a sore throat and made my body ache for a few days.  When I realized what was wrong, I put some unnecessary projects on hold and took it easy for a few hours.  Then, when it was clear that I really feeling well, I called in to work and took a few sick days to recover.

Since I already wrote an entire post about how the national Japanese health care system makes it super-easy to go to the doctor, instead I want to emphasize that because my job as a teacher on the JET program gives me as many sick days as I need, I felt really comfortable calling in and staying home. This is because: Continue reading »

I Got Offered a Moneymaking Gig I Wasn’t Comfortable With

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I have a category on this blog titled Doing the Right Thing in a not-so-subtle homage to the similarly named Spike Lee film. In it I tag posts that have to do with making good moral decisions in your creative and Day Job work.  Recently I had to make one of those decisions.

Quick flashback: Throughout my twenties, I was never in a good place with money.  I had enormous student loans, little savings, and most of the jobs I had either didn’t quite pay enough to let me live on my own, or left me scrambling to make ends meet every month.  I used to take on a LOT of side gigs to bring in extra cash: selling used books on Amazon, Craiglist gigs helping people move, weekends handing out cheap prizes at the racetrack, and other random stuff.  Even when I found full-time work as an elementary school secretary I still kept my old weekend gig feeding horses on a farm until the work ran out Continue reading »

How Many Paid Holidays Does Your Country Give You???

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Last weekend was the 4th of July, which in America was a time for fireworks, socially distanced barbecues, and most importantly, an extra day off from work.

July 4th was a Saturday this year, which means that per American federal holiday guidelines, the holiday was observed on Friday, July 3rd and Day Jobbers across the country took a three-day weekend.  For me in Japan, though, Friday was a regular workday, and I celebrated the 4th by playing some online Scythe with my friends back home.

There is, however, an up side: this month Japan has two holidays, Marine Day and Sports Day, which, because of the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics, the government moved to July 23rd and 24th, respectively, giving us a four-day weekend.  Score! Continue reading »

A Short Post About Positivity

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Every time you create something, it makes a positive change.

Every time you share a new idea with at least one person, that creates a positive change too.

And every conversation, every group gathering, every hangout, every project, report, blog post, tweet, journal entry, game, cooked meal, video chat, jigsaw puzzle, and inspirational meme makes a positive change too, because you’ve created something that didn’t exist before.

Now, think about this: Continue reading »

Support Creators and Small Businesses You Care About During the COVID-19 Crisis

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I live in rural Toyama, Japan, where as of this writing there still haven’t been any confirmed cases of Coronavirus.  All the stores, restaurants, and other businesses are open as usual, with the exception of special events and large gatherings.  The rest of the world, though, doesn’t have it so lucky.

Back in the States, as I’m sure you’re aware, a lot of stuff is closed, and is expected to stay closed for a while.  And while the government’s approved a $2.2 trillion dollar economic package to help out just about every sector of the economy, a fair amount of that money is actually going to huge multibillion dollar corporations.  Even with the extra help, small businesses and independent contractors are still going to have a rough time.

The Great Recession that happened after 2008 was a rough time for a lot of people, including me—I needed a full-time job when I got back from Japan and had a lot of trouble finding one.  Then, when I finally got one, the pay was pretty mediocre, and it was hard for me to Continue reading »

Don’t Try to Hide Your Economic Privilege

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I’ve been thinking a lot about this article in The Guardian I read a few days ago, where novelist Lynn Steger Strong talks about the financial difficulties of making it as a writer.  We all know that paying your bills through any kind of creative work is a daunting challenge, but Strong’s article shines some light on whether we talk about our financial situations honestly, or with a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Quick note—this post will probably make a lot more sense if you read Strong’s article first.  If you’re in a hurry or otherwise don’t want to, though, no sweat—you should still be able to get something out of this post! Continue reading »

I’m Not Using Amazon This Christmas—Here’s Why (and How!)

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‘Tis the season to be incredibly freakin’ busy.

December’s always been a hectic time for me.  I tend to start a lot of projects in the fall that are still on my plate at the end of the year, plus I always have a lot of friends to see, and two years ago I got stuck with a ridiculous amount of holiday overtime.  On top of all that, there’s a pretty important holiday in there somewhere.

Ever since I was a kid, Christmas has mattered—a lot.  My family and I still do big gift exchanges, even when I’m away (I call in via Skype on Christmas morning) and during the holidays I also reach out to friends I don’t see that often, which means writing Christmas cards, mailing gifts, and a plethora of holiday texts.  I don’t mind working hard to create special holiday moments for the people I care about, but this tends to take a lot of energy—and when it comes down to the wire, I’m always looking for ways to make December easier. Continue reading »