About Me

 Thanks for checking out my blog! My name is Bob Reed. I am 66 years old and currently live in Eugene, Oregon. I was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Tacoma. I lived in Anchorage, Alaska from 1974-81, and in Seattle from 1981-85. I then moved to Olympia, Washington to finish my bachelor's degree and to get my initial teacher certification in social studies. I lived in Portland, Oregon, from 1987-90, and then moved to Eugene. 

 For the last 14 years, I have been a special education teacher at North Eugene High School. I have been working mostly with 11th and 12th grade students with learning disabilities. I have thoroughly enjoyed my job! However, I am ready for a change. I have realized I want to have more time to spend with family, running, cycling, playing tennis with Setsuko, playing music, and have time to actively become involved in environmental and health issues.

 My wife and I will be moving to Japan this summer, leaving June 30th. We are very excited!

You can email me at reedrobert77@gmail.com  For now, you can also text/call 541-543-4245.

SUNRISE AND THE FUTURE!

 This is part three of the five part series. The first part was published on 12/27/28 and part two was published earlier today.

I am fascinated with water! As a photographer, there are so many possibilities when working with water and light and reflections and different objects and shapes. With the exception of the top Osaka Castle photo, the others were all taken at sunrise on Lake Biwako. It was gorgeous!

I recently spent some time estimating how many years of full-time work I have done. My estimate is very rough as there were years when I worked part-time and/or went to school. Ball park estimate? 40 years! I guess I have earned the right to semi-retire, at least when it comes to full-time work!

I have really enjoyed my special education and teaching work. That has included 14 years at North Eugene High School, 1 year at the American School in Japan, and 1 year at the Tokyo International Progressive School. Prior to that, I worked at least part-time as a tennis teacher and coach and administrator and trainer. 

Here is a list of most of the other jobs I have had!

1. Washing dishes in Alaska and Hartford, Connecticut
   
2. Construction work in Alaska
3. Day care work in Alaska
   
4. Restaurant work as a waiter in Alaska
   
5.  Lifeguard and swim instructor: Alaska
6. New Games specialist: Alaska 
   
7. Played piano for a day care center: Alaska
   
8. Teaching skiing in Alaska
9. Recreation program director: Alaska
10. Newspaper delivery: Alaska and Washington
11. Waiting tables at Bob's Big Boy in Washington and Alaska
    
12. Teaching/coaching tennis in Tacoma, Seattle, Anchorage, Olympia, Portland, Eugene, Junction City, Springfield, Creswell, Cottage Grove, Fuchu-Japan
13. Directed the Wizard of Oz for homeschoolers: Washington
14. Mowing lawns in Washington
15. Publicity director: athletic department: The Evergreen State College, Washington
16. Basketball and soccer and flag football official: Washington and Oregon
17. College resident director: Lewis and Clark College, Oregon
18. Personal trainer and fitness specialist: Oregon

The bottom line? Like many who get to my stage in life, I am ready to pursue other pursuits. I promised Setsuko that this would be my last regular consistent year of working. My plan is to be a substitute teacher at the American School, which is just a mile from our house. I am also planning to really go to work on learning Japanese. In addition, I would like to do the 120 hour TEFL certification class so I can teach English as a second language to people here in Japan. 

I am very much looking forward to returning to my climate change work as I really miss working in that realm. I will continue to cycle or run or walk every day and will continue to do my stretching and strength training exercises. Exercise keeps me sane! I will keep doing my photography so I can share gorgeous Japan sites with you!

 

 HIKONE CASTLE AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Japanese love their castles! These castle shots are all from Hikone Castle, one of the highlights from Lake Biwako.

This is the final part of my five part series. The best for last? You decide!

Those of you who know me well know that I am very committed to becoming a better and better person. This is definitely a work in progress as I will be the first to admit that I have a long ways to go! Below are the primary categories for my ongoing efforts.

RELATIONSHIPS

In many ways, this may be the most challenging area for me. I recently started re-reading the engaging book, Atomic Habits. The author, James Clear, has started an app that helps with the development and implementation of habits. One of the habits I am working on is keeping my cool when I get frustrated, especially when interacting with those closest to me. Sound familiar?

BODY FAT PERCENTAGE

With all the exercise I get, you would think I would not have to worry about what and when I eat. No such luck! I have had a tendency to each some rich late night snacks just before going to bed. I have made an Atomic Habits goal to change that tendency. 

Funny story! Back in 2019, I told Setsuko that there were no scales that could measure body fat percentages. She disagreed with me. Unbeknownst to me, she was right! I bought the Tanita Body Fat Scale and have used it ever since. 

I was shocked at my first readings. Almost 26% body fat! I was able to reduce that to 17% in 2021. Unfortunately, my recent readings have been 21-22%. My goal is to get that below 20%. No more late night rich snacks!

ACCEPTING ADVICE

Many years ago, my mom made an interesting comment about me. She said that I was just like my father in that I had a way of taking the difficult and challenging pathway through life. Put differently, she was insinuating that I was fiercely stubborn and independent. While that has its advantages, it can be easily become a weakness when it comes to accepting help and advice. Yes, this is another Atomic Habit in process!

READING AND RESEARCH AND CURRENT EVENTS

This is a real success story. It all started when Yahoo put out the word that my Yahoo customized home page was going to disappear and I should try their new format. I took a look at it and did not like it! That pushed me to investigate new possibilities. I hit the jackpot!

I discovered a company titled protopage: https://www.protopage.com/

I was looking for a home page that would be user friendly for accessing a variety of new sources. It does that and so much more! Here is a summary of how I have customized these pages.

1. Home page: to do list widgets that are categorized
2. A link to my climate page that has 6 different climate new sources.
3. A link to my News 2 page, which includes widgets with links to 7 different news sources, including The Christian Science Monitor and NPR.
4. A link to my News page, which includes widgets with links to 6 additional news sources, including the New York Times and the Washington Post.
5. A link to my World page, which includes 3 different news widgets, including The Japan Times.
6. A link to my Sports page, which has 4 different sports widgets.
7. A link to my Interesting/Nice page, which includes 5 different widgets, including "All That's Interesting" and "Heroic" from Brian Johnson. 
8. A link to my Reference/Personal Development page, which includes my personal development goals and the weather.com site for Fuchu.

In short, this has given me a way to list and track many of the important areas and interests in my life. I cannot say enough about the quality of this site! Please let me know if I can answer your questions about this great site!

LONGEVITY AND HEALTH

So far, so good! I will turn 69 this coming August. Below is a list of the steps I am taking to try to get to 100 years of age!

1. Exercise daily.
2. Weight training 3-7 times per week.
3. Consistent stretching. 
   
4. Consistent weekly workouts that get my heart rate out of the "comfortable" zone for 5-10 minutes.
5. Attention to my diet and related habits.
6. Consistent mental challenges from teaching and my climate work.
7. Regular reading that expands my horizons and challenges me to think about our world as it exists today and and as it existed in the past.
   
8. Social time with Setsuko and with my friends.
9. New challenges, including learning Japanese and obtaining my TEFL certificate for teaching English as a second language.
   
10. Continuing to develop my music skills by playing the guitar and singing and playing the piano.
11. Continue to work on improving our marriage by supporting Setsuko and her efforts.
12. Give back by volunteering and donating to worthy organizations. 
13. Go to bed early and get at least 8 hours of sleep. 
14. Continue to work on becoming a better and better person!

Well, I guess I have my work cut out for me!

On that note, I wish you all a Happy New Year and a great start to 2025!

All the best,

Bob