A Manual for New Homeowners

This week we hand off our house to new owners. In recent days I have been putting together an online manual for the buyers to make it easier for them to settle in.

The Consequences of Being Too Paperless

A few years ago we decided we would eliminate as much paper as possible.

Eliminating paper has been a satisfying but imperfect journey.

Our records are available to us when we travel, we no longer have a filing cabinet. 100% of our tax records, including receipts, are electronic and meet Internal Revenue Service standards.

However, along the way, we inadvertently tossed out the titles to our cars. We have scans, but a scan is not sufficient to complete a transfer of ownership.

In 2003 we purchased a BMW 3 Series car. It's the most (so-called) "refined" car we've ever owned, but ownership has been absurdly expensive.

Now, the engine won't turn over: it's time to donate it to Newgate School, a nonprofit that trains auto mechanics. If our experience is typical, the trainees, will make a good living repairing BMW cars.

Letting Go of the Big Stuff

We're not getting any younger. It's time to move from our home of 25 years to a condo where stairs are optional, and maintenance is someone else's responsibility.

Initially, we are leasing a place with less than half the floor area of our house while our condo is being built. We've been getting rid of much of our "big stuff."

You Can't Always Get What You Want

On Monday morning I cycled with my partner, Dwight, on his commute to work. He took the turnoff for work, I continued on to the town of Excelsior on Lake Minnetonka, 18 miles west of our home

On Excelsior's main drag, I noticed the yellow tile shown in the photograph at the top of this post. This tile connects the present-day restaurant to Bacon Drug that occupied this building from 1955 to 1993. Here, in 1964, there was a fateful encounter between Mick Jagger, who had performed at a local amusement park the previous evening, and local savant, "Mr. Jimmy."

Framing the Future

Today I came across some of my deceased aunt's papers: degree certificates and an insurance policy.

The policy covered two fur coats and a mink stole, total declared value UK£270 in 1965, circa UK£4,700 (US$6,000) in 2017.

She saved the papers for my safekeeping, presumably in perpetuity. I'll scan, catalog, then shred them.

The Zen of Empty Shelves

My material needs for a month or two fit into a small backpack, end-on in an aircraft's overhead bin.

I find it satisfying to carefully select what I'm going to pack in my 35-liter backpack before heading out of town for a few weeks. I now want that same compact, lightweight, self-sufficient feeling with our stuff in our home.

A Constant Supply of Fresh Spices

Time, light, oxygen, and heat are enemies of spices.

Enemy	The Problem	Mitigations
Time	I suspect the typical spice rack harbors spices from the last millennium.	Buy tiny quantities, use within one year. For spices you use rarely, buy enough for one meal.
Light	Spice jars are usually transparent and sit on a rack on the counter or wall.	Store in a dark place.
Oxygen	Eventually a spice jar contains more oxygen than spice.	Store in small plastic bags, squeeze out any air. Buy whole rather than ground spices. This greatly reduces the exposed surface area.
Heat	A warm place (e.g., next to an oven or above a range) might be seen as a convenient spot for storing spices.	Store spices away from heat sources.

How to Dispose of Unwanted Money

Tomorrow I'll be stopping at the post office to drop off a box filled with foreign coins and banknotes.

Last year, at Newcastle International Airport, I showed my nephews an easier way to dispose of foreign currency. I led them to a big, bubble-shaped currency donation bin, then handed them some UK coins. As you can see in the picture at the top of this post, they were happy to perform The Disposal. 

They didn't think to rush over to a concession to buy candy with their new-found wealth. I'm grateful they want to help others.

I was thinking about this coin-drop the other day as I was sorting through my collection of leftover foreign currency. I always tell myself the money will be useful "the next time I go."

Imperfect Gifts for Long-Haul Travelers

The other day I came across an article at wired.com with the click-bait title: 10 Perfect Gifts for your Favorite Long-Haul Traveler.

I was skeptical right out of the starting gate: I travel light, a declaration I repeat ad nauseam. Recently I renewed my passport, and opted for the version with more pages as I was running out of visa pages in my existing passport. I hummed and hawed at the additional bulk and weight (0.7 ounces) but eventually decided convenience outweighed the additional weight, if you excuse the pun.

I don't need much. What I need for a two-day trip is identical to what I need for a two-month trip.

But what goodies would the article reveal: essential items, or things I didn't realize I didn't need?

Seeking Order in a Chaotic World

A few books linger on my office bookshelves.

I've tossed many of my business books into the recycling bin, including unread 1980's editions of In Search of Excellence. Managers passed out copies, and it would have been impolite to decline.

In the absence of competent leadership, it seemed futile to spend time reading a book about leadership. I gather the book had high praise for Amdahl, Data General, Digital Equipment, and Wang Labs. Past performance was no guarantee of future results.

When I was new to the workplace I was flummoxed by some of the behaviors I saw around the office, particularly in meetings.

Immersion Blender

We have a simple rule in our kitchen: if we buy a new piece of equipment, something has to go.

We go a long way with good knives and a couple decent pots, and we don't use many gadgets. But I do like my immersion blender, and have been using it for over ten years. 

I can make a creamy soup in a few minutes from ingredients in the freezer:

Stock (see previous post)
Mirepoix (see previous post)
Leftover roasted vegetables (e.g., carrots, sweet potatoes, squash)
A spoonful of tomato paste (for acid, color, umami)
Salt and pepper

I just heat all this up, then blend right in the pot. The result is better than canned.

I never make the same soup twice. For example, spices, or fresh ginger (stored in the freezer), or garlic move the soup around the world.

Other dishes I make with the immersion blender include eggplant dip and a surprisingly good banana chocolate "ice cream." The "ice cream" is actually:

Bananas, a little past their prime, saved in the freezer, thawed slightly
A couple good heaps of cocoa powder
A small amount of milk to help everything to grip while it is being blended

Cleanup is minimal compared to the mess made transferring liquids to a countertop blender.

Mirepoix

I like to cook from scratch, but some days I simply want to assemble previously cooked ingredients.

The solution is to have a selection of "subassembly" ingredients in the freezer. I've written about one of these ingredients: stock. Another is mirepoix.

My Kagoshima: Chunking the Map

I'm filled with questions when I look at a map of a place I have never visited.

How do I chunk up a manageable journey through this place? How do I get there? Which areas do I visit? Where are the hiking trails? Where are the trailheads? How do I get around? How do I find a room?

I once stared at a map of Japan and, like most newbies, focused on central Japan. Most visitors stick to this part of the island of Honshu. They visit Tokyo and points south, 4 hours or less by bullet train, Kyoto, Hiroshima. Easy, populous, over-loved.

The first time my partner and I stopped in Japan, we used Kyoto as a base for exploring: a good plan for first-time visitors.

Since that first trip, I've found I can go to just about any corner of Japan and find a great place for the solo hiker. I find good trails, decent and inexpensive places to stay and eat, reliable public transport, civility and safety.

If I could visit only one region of Japan, it would be Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of the main islands.

Simplifying Flying

Earlier this month, I found myself airside at Japan's Fukuoka Airport. 13 minutes earlier I was boarding the subway downtown.

In those 13 minutes I rode the train two stations to the airport, walked up two levels to Departures, and cleared Security. I had almost an hour before boarding the plane, plenty time for a relaxed breakfast.

Security was efficient. Travelers ahead of me had their phones out for the boarding pass scanner, and they placed their bags on the belt without fuss. With domestic flights in Japan there's no need to unpack liquids, or remove shoes or jackets.

This rapid process contrasted with the snaking Border Control line later that day at Chicago's O'Hare.

When I got home I took steps to replicate the Fukuoka Airport Security experience here in the USA. As a bonus, I no longer need to stand in USA Border Control lines.

Hita Station

I can add Hita train station, northern Kyushu, Japan, to my "delighted" list.

By any standards, it's a small station. A single train track enters town, and a single track leaves town. At Hita station, the track fans out into multiple tracks, more than enough to handle the three platforms and the boarding of an average of three country trains an hour.

Long Trip, Light Backpack

Travel Gear: Trekking Pole

 

I often hike with one trekking pole. Some hikers prefer two poles: I don't have enough hands to carry two while operating my GPS, or grabbing tree limbs.

It's largely about balance, but I suspect my knees are grateful when I lean on the pole while climbing.

Unfortunately, a trekking pole makes air travel more complicated.

Glass Houses and Buried Museums

The Farnsworth House

A Glass House in Illinois

Completed in 1951, the Farnsworth House, near Plano, Illinois, is widely regarded as one of the major architectural achievements of the twentieth century.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took his belief that "less is more" almost to the limit by designing a steel-framed, glass-walled box.

The box floats above an Illinois field, supported by I-beams. This is more of an idea than a home.

Success Secrets They Don't Want You to Know

Success is too often defined as celebrity, money, or power.

Do Something

A colleague, an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota, was about to deliver an early morning lecture. He stood in his heavy coat, and pronounced it to be a super frigid day.

The students groaned in agreement.

He then asked: "What are we going to do about it?"

Silence.

Then, everybody laughed as he removed his coat to reveal a brightly colored Hawaiian shirt.

A Night in a Capsule Hotel

A night in a capsule hotel is a uniquely Japanese experience.