Killing Time in the AI Era…

Recently, my blog traffic has been skyrocketing — especially, for some reason, from Silicon Valley in the U.S.
So this post is written especially for you guys over there.
The average reading time has gone over three minutes — seriously, thank you so much.
If you ever have a reason to visit Hokkaido, please send me a message.

The season for craving fire has arrived again.
I’d love to light up my “TV-kun” (that’s what I call my Dovre Vintage 30 stove),
but I haven’t cleaned the chimney yet.
I was supposed to be a “retired man with nothing to do,”
yet somehow I’ve become a busy NEET — that’s my current, honest problem (lol).

I just ordered the bigger one — the Dovre Vintage 50.
The manufacturer contacted me saying,
“There’s a small casting mark on the iron body. Is it okay to ship it anyway?”
But here’s the thing — this enamel-white model was discontinued in 2024,
and this one is literally the last unit left in Japan.
So what could I say? “Send it!” of course (lol).

A small casting wave is totally normal — it’s like a mole on a person’s face.
And honestly, I appreciate how carefully they inspected it before shipping.

My eldest daughter gave birth in March and is currently on maternity leave.
She said, “I’m bored to death,” so I told her,
“Then go get a truck driver’s license.”
Next thing I knew, she had already passed the test!
Then she went on to get the heavy machinery license too (lol).

I have no idea who looked after the baby during lessons —
I gave the advice and ignored the details, as usual.
By the time she was taking the second course,
the driving school had even set up a temporary daycare for her baby.
Humans are funny creatures — when someone tries their best,
others just naturally want to help.

She already has a Real Estate License (宅建士),
and now a truck license,
yet she works in car sales, which has nothing to do with either (lol).

We are right in the middle of the AI industrial revolution.
Professional and sales jobs will be oversupplied — that’s a fact.

But logistics is a different story.
In eastern Hokkaido, we have six months of icy, slippery roads —
no self-driving car will survive that.
In Kitami, winter nights reach −25°C;
cameras freeze, sensors go blind,
and drivers are getting older and fewer every year.

Getting a driver’s license may not seem essential,
but in the age of AI,
it’s definitely more useful than getting an FP certificate or some buzzword qualification.
When my daughter said she was bored, I simply told her to do something real.

Yes, she could have said,
“I don’t have money,” or “I can’t leave the baby,” —
but she knows such excuses don’t work on me (lol).

Instead of making excuses for why you can’t,
make an effort to figure out how you can.

Now she wants to get her trailer license, forklift license,
and small crane operator license — she wants to drive everything that moves on land (lol).
Her company is a great place to work, so she’s not looking to change jobs at all.

How you spend your free time matters. (lol)

She might not be suited to inherit my construction work,
but she could very well take over my snow-removal business someday.
That said — my personal wheel loader and dump truck
(roughly worth 10 million yen together)
won’t ever be given away, though I might sell them cheap.
As for my client list? That’s free.