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December 31st. New Year's Eve soba party.In the morning, my wife made New Year's dishes.
In the afternoon, her nephew and his wife came to our house. She taught them how to make soba noodles. At first, my son watched. But he wanted to try making soba noodles too, so he joined in. The four of them made 2.2 kg of soba noodles. They served soba for theNew Year's Eve soba party held at my wife's parents' house. My wife seemed to be having a lot of fun. All I did was take photos.
Then my wife made enough tempura for about 21 people. She served it at the party.
Three members of my family and five of my wife's older brother's family attended the party. Soba noodles and tempura have almost disappeared. It was a delicious and fun party.
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December 30ｔh. My son returned.My wife made our breakfast. I made Charumera (Myojo Foods brand instant noodles) with lots of vegetables for our lunch.
She made New Year's dishes. I cleaned the first floor of my house. It used to be an old dental office, it is now a storage room. It's been six months since I last cleaned it. I cleaned it thoroughly.
My son returned to Iwai from Ueda City, so I went to Shimizu Park Station to pick him up at 4:30 pm.
All of my family members get together in Iwai about twice a year. Tonight my wife cooked dinner and we ate together.
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December 29ｔh. soba flour.My wife made our breakfast. Naturally, the dinner table is always lively when she cooks. She always seems to care about that.
In the morning, She and I went to Ami-machi her soba making class teacher's house to buy soba flour.
On the way back from Ami-machi, I stopped by my favorite Tsukuba city soba restaurant Kimura, and had some soba.
My wife made pork curry rice with grilled pumpkin, and cabbage salad for our evening meal.
The 35mm projector lens I modified the other day is very easy to use because it has high resolution in the center, is bright, and is easy to focus. In addition, the peripheral area is moderately distorted, which allows for unique expression, so I always carry it with me and use it daily.
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December 28ｔh. a bit of a hassle.My wife made three meals in a day. Sometime she asked me where kitchen items and groceries were. It was a bit of a hassle, but it beats cooking my own meals.
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December 27ｔh. Photo KANO Club.I made hot sandwich with ham, two types of cheese, eggs, and peppers for our breakfast. I served with steamed broccoli, sliced apple and cafe au lait
Today is the monthly meeting of my club Photo KANO Club, so I went to Chikusei City. Whenever I go to Chikusei City, I always take pictures of Mount Tsukuba. I'm finally getting used to this mountain shape.
There are three members in the club, but one of them was absent today, so it was a bit lonely. However, I was able to talk more than usual with another person.
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December 26ｔh. My wife came back in Iwai from Ueda.I made a potato curry paste for my breakfast. I made the curry paste by adding grated potatoes to the curry and simmering it. I also had granola yogurt and cafe au lait.
My wife came back in Iwai from Ueda. So I went to Shimizu Koen Station, and picked her up at 4:30 p.m. Then ｗe went to our favourite Thai Curry restaurant Coppin Cafe in Moriya. I had curry rice and she had Pattai for our dinner. We always order this dish.
I really like the Super Prominar W f/1.9 3.00 in., so I carried it around all day today and took some photos.
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December 25ｔh. I cleaned out my refrigerator completely.I made a vegetable soup for my breakfast. Miya-O was waiting for a food refill when her medicine time was over.
I accidentally spilled a lot of Mentsuyu(noodle soup) in my refrigerator. So, out of necessity, I cleaned it out completely. That took up the whole morning.
I bought seven 35mm movie projector lenses. I have already modified two of them. I am going to resell one because I could not find a way to modify it. I am putting off modifying the other one because it will take a lot of time and effort.
Today I finished modifying the remaining three lenses.
I had vegetable soup, tomato blocory egg salad, sliced apple, grilled atsuage, and granola yogurt for my lunch.
I finished modifying my KOWA Super Prominar-W f/1.9 3.00in No. 631287 yesterday and it's so easy to use that I really like it. I took some photos with it today as well.
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December 24ｔh. KOWA Super Prominar-W f/1.9 3.00in No, 631287.I made hot sandwich with grilled pork, cabbage, and two kinds of cheese for my breakfast.
I had vegetable soup, fried squid for my lunch.
I had tofu and vegetable soup, tomato broccoli salad, fried squid with mustard sauce, and yogurt granola for my evening meal.
In April 2024, I bought seven 35mm movie projection lenses. One of them is this KOWA Super Prominar-W f/1.9 3.00in No, 631287. I modified it to a Canon EF mount. However, although it can be attached to an EOS, it cannot focus at infinity. There is no focus mechanism. So, I use a mount adapter with a helicoid to attach it to my Sony ILCE-7RM3 and use it.
I took some pictures by this method for testing.
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December 23rd. the two-part mixing epoxy adhesive. I had Hakusai and vegetables soup, Ebi-deiko, and cafe au lait for my breakfast.
In April 2024, I bought seven 35mm movie projection lenses for 7,478 yen on Yahoo Auctions. Each lens cost was1,068 yen.
Today I started modifying three lenses of these. It was so cold that the two-part mixing epoxy adhesive was not hardening easily. So, I placed them in front of the air conditioning vent.
I made vegetable soup, boiled spinach, sliced tomato, steamed broccoli, and grilled pork for my evening meal.
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December 22nd. "Ebi-deiko"I got Hakusai and Daikon for free from my younger brother. I made a soup with Hakusai and a few kinds of vegetables.
I also made "Ebi-deiko" for the first time in a while. It is daikon and small shrimps simmered in sugar, soy sauce and mirin. My father-in-law loves it so I gave some to him.
I had Hakusai and vegetables soup, grilled Ganmodoki, and cafe au lait for my breakfast.
Chinese-made mount adapters are very cheap. At most they cost less than 5,000 yen. In many cases, those with the same functions cost about 1/10 of the price of those made in Japan. However, there are problems with strength and precision.
The mount adapter in this image is strong enough but has poor precision and cannot focus at infinity. So I shaved it down and adjusted it. I know the risks when buying cheap Chinese products. I wonder what other people who bought these do. If you don't have the ability to adjust it, it becames a garbage. Or you put up with it and keep using it.
I made Soba in soup with raw egg, hakusai, simeji for my evening meal. I also had sliced tomato, steamed broccoli, Camembert cheese, and grilled Atsuage.
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December 21st. Monet's later works.I made Jagaimo Motsu Nikomi. I added grated potatoes to Motsu Nikomi (the retort pack of stewed offal) and simmered further. I doubled the amount with potatoes. I eat half in a day. This is a convenient way to cut the salt content of ready-made foods in half.
I made grilled pork, a soup with mushroom and vegetables for my evening meal.
I used the Rodenstock GRAFLEX OPTAR 135mm f/4.5 Non-original Specifications to take photos of autumn leaves at Yasaka Park. I tried to make them look like Monet's later works.
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December 20ｔh. ”Monet lens 2”.I made a Charumera with an egg and lots of vegetables. I had it for my breakfast with yogurt granola and cafe au lait.
I used my electric automatic bakery machine to bake graham bread. I measured out the dry yeast first so I wouldn't forget. I've had a few accidents in the past where I forgot to add the yeast.
I made a hot sandwich with two kinds of cheese, boiled egg, a payment, and ham. I ate half of it with cafe au lait for my lunch. I ate the other half for my evening meal.
I tried taking a photo with the Rodenstock GRAFLEX OPTAR 135mm f/4.5 Non-original Specifications. The aberration correction is broken, so it's difficult to get the focus right. I end up taking a blurry image.
I'll leave it as it is. I know it's not an exact repaer of the original. But it does create the feel of one of Monet's later works.
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December 19ｔh. Rodenstock 4506052 GRAFLEX OPTAR 135mm f/4.5 Non-original
Specifications.I got this lens for 981 yen on Yahoo Auctions in the summer of 2023. But it was strange. The ring plate was engraved with Rodenstock 4506052 f/4.5 GRAFLEX OPTAR 135mm. It is a famous news camera lens used during World War II. Only the first and second lenses remain here. The brass barrel was engraved with D.R.P. 84996. This barrel is a Carl Zeiss Jena barrel registered with Deutsche Reichspatentamt Patentschrift No. 84996 from the 1900s. The lens and brass barrel had different screw diameters. Someone placed a spacer between the two and glued with something like letter seal wax. Furthermore, there was no rear lens.
I disassembled and cleaned each part. I connected the lens and brass barrel by fitting a selfmade aluminum threaded ring between them. I added a convex lens extracted from a 1970s junk zoom lens to the rear to complete one photographic lens. The lens is a triplet of convex, concave, and convex lenses. It's completely different from the original. But I can take pictures using it. This became the lens with the second most interesting backstory in my stock.
That's why I have added "Non-original Specifications".
As usual, I cooked all three meals for myself today too.
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December 18ｔh. I ate soba.I went to Tsukuba city. I ate soba at my favorite Tsukuba soba restaurant Kimura for my lunch. Then, I bought winter slippers at MIJI. I bought camembert cheese, crackers, olive pickles, and 2 bottles of wine at KALDI in iias Tsukuba. I bought cream cheese, yogurt and kerosene at Costco.
When I got home, Miya-O was sleeping in the same plce as in the morning.
I had some crackers with camembert cheese and olives on them for my evening meal. I took a few photos like the left. It was a good opportunity to try out my old lens. I also had sliced apple, lettuce salad, grilled atsuage, coronation chicken and some white wine.
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December 17ｔh. projection lenses.I had anko cheese toast and cafe au lait for my breakfast.
For my evening meal, I made grilled atsuage, gyoza vegetable soup, and gyudon(beef bowl).
On December 1st, I bought a junk camera made by Erneman on Yahoo! Auctions for 4,680 yen (3,800 yen + 880 yen shipping). It was probably produced in the 1910s. It is equipped with a Detektiv Aplanat 1:6.8 F=8cm lens.
I took some photos of my cat using Olympus Projection Zuiko 1:2.8 f=5.5cm. This lens was originally designed for a 35mm slide projector.
Even though they are the same projection lenses, there are big differences between the lenses used in 35mm slide projectors and 35mm movie projectors.
35mm slide projector lenses are easy to modify because they are simple in structure and roughly the same size. Their characteristics and usability are not that different from photographic lenses.
35mm movie projection lenses are large, heavy, and have a rough structure, so they are difficult to modify. A lot of grinding is required. The advantage is that the lens aperture is large and bright, but the peripheral aberration is large and has a peculiar habit. It is difficult to find a suitable subject. After modification, it weighs more than 400g, so it is heavy and difficult to use. I don't feel like using it on a daily basis.
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December 16ｔh. ”Monet lens”.I made a soup with gyoza and some vegetables for my breakfast.
I made pork curry rice topped with lots of crushed nuts, and salad for my evening meal. I also had granola yogurt and cafe au lait.
Yesterday, I finished modifying my R.S.K. C.P. Master Anastigmat F=200mm. It has a long focal length, is heavy, and does not resolve even in the center. In addition, there is a lot of aberration in the peripheral areas. However, I noticed that when I use it, I can take images that look like Monet's later works.
So today, I strolled around Yasaka Park looking for subjects that would suit this lens. I decided to call this lens the ”Monet lens”.
By the way, I call a lens that is suitable for photographing delicious soba noodles the "Soba lens."
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December 15ｔh. my YouTube channel.I made a hot pot with tofu, chicken, and some vegetables for my breakfast. I also made a salad with tomatoes, lettuce and wakame seaweed. I tried making coronation chicken. It is boiled chicken split and mixed with a nut-based sauce.
I ate almost the same things for all three meals today. I made candied yuzu.
I received some delicious sweets at the end of the year from Mutsuko san who is ｍy father's cousin's wife. I'm so happy. She is elderly but very active and I respect her. I sent Misuzuame as a thank you for her.
I went for a walk to test the R.S.K. C.P. Master Anastigmat F=200mm No.95507 in a field.
I took a video of the process of modifying the lens. I edited it and uploaded it to my YouTube channel.
How to adapt a projector lens R.S.K. C.P. Master Anastigmat F=200mm to Canon FD mount.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FahyfZCCmQ&t=207s
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December 14ｔh. R.S.K. C.P. Master Anastigmat F=200mm No.95507 .A soup makes a great warming on a cold day. And, it is easy to make. So I make soup every day.
The ingredients are Hakusai. They get some for free. Add whatever I have at the time. I can add frozen soybeans, sweetcorn, mushrooms, chicken, sausage, and tofu. Simply add appropriate amounts of sake, Japanese dashi, Nampler sauce, Tabasco sauce, consomme cubes, and more. Simmer for 15 minutes and serve.
R.S.K. C.P. Master Anastigmat F=200mm No.95507
I reassembled this projector lens into a Canon FD mount. Purchased on Yahoo! Auctions on November 16, 2024 for 901 yen.
The lens barrel has a double structure, which was convenient. There was no need for a heavy and large outer tube. Just the screws to secure the inner tube were enough. Attach it to a digital camera in combination with a Canon FD mount bellows.
On the way back from my lens factory, I took a picture of Mt. Fuji after sunset with a Carl Zeiss Jena Nr441987 Tessar 1:4.5 f=12cm.
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December 13ｔh. It was really cold day.I woke up late. It was really, really cold. I had an air conditioner and a kerosene fan heater running, but the room temperature was not rising.
I haven't seen Miya-O since our medicine time. Not even once. In these cases, she hides in unexpected places close to me, and will appear when she is hungry.
I once had a visitor come over and I opened the front door, and she went outside. She loves being outside. Today I opened the door once. It was cold, very cold. As evening approached, I started to get worried about my cat. I looked outside but she was nowhere to be found.
She was under the folded futon. At that time, I knocked on the futon but couldn't find my cat. She was not inside, but further down. She was here without eating in a day. Because it's so cold.
Today, as usual, I made all three meals myself.
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December 12ｔh. Carl Zeiss Jena Nr441987 Tessar 1:4.5 f=12cm .I buy old lenses on Yahoo! Auctions and when they arrive I create a list and manage them. This custom was not at the beginning. It was no problem when I had only a few lenses, but as the number of lenses increased, I couldn't remember them all. I would forget what I have in stock. Then I would buy the same thing again. So I started making the list of what I had in stock and managing it on my computer.
I bought Carl Zeiss Jena Nr441987 Tessar 1:4.5 f=12cm after this habit had become established, but there is no data on the list. I forgot to enter it into my computer. I have no record of when and how much I bought it for. I think it was about 3,000 yen at most.
Since it was a M39 screw mount, I was able to easily use it with a M39-M42 conversion adapter.
Today, as always, I cooked all three meals myself.
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December 11ｔh. YAMAYOSHI Manufacturing Co., Ltd.For my breakfast and my lunch, I had the round bread I bought at Backenbart.
I made a hot sandwich with ham, cabbage, carrots, and two kinds of cheese. I put it upright on a plate and left it on the windowsill to dry.
I asked YAMAYOSHI Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Niigata City to coat four frying pans with fluororesin. The cost per pan is about 4,000 yen. It is more expensive than a new fluororesin coated frying pan.
The reason I choose it is because the coating quality is very high. YAMAYOSHI is a company that coats food manufacturing equipment, chemical machinery, and general industrial machinery. They use that technology in their household frying pans. The coating layer looks very thick. It's my second time making this request to them. Quality has been experienced. I think it's worth the cost. Plus, I can reuse my frying pans I'm used to using.
https://www.yamayoshi-s.com/
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December 10ｔh. Olympus Projection Zuiko 1:2.8 f=5.5cm.Ah, my wife is not here, and the usual scene at the meal table has returned.
My younger brother brought some free cabbage, Hakusai, Yuzu and Negi. So for my evening meal, I made a hot pot with chicken, Hakusai and Negi.
I got an OLYMPUS PEN PROJECTOR at Yahoo! Auction in April 2024 for 1,680 yen(shipping include). I extracted an Olympus Projection Zuiko 1:2.8 f=5.5cm, and remounted it on a M42 screw mount.
This lens is for projectors, so it does not have an aperture mechanism. Therefore, I attached the aperture extracted from a junk zoom lens to the front. By coincidence, the diameters were the same, so this work went very easily.
On my way back from my lens factory, I took photos of Mt. Fuji and Tokyo Skytree after sunset. I also took my cat using another lens.
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December 9ｔh. My wife went to Ueda.My wife made our breakfast. She went to Ueda so I took her to Shimizu Park Station.
On the way back from Shimizu Park Station, I send some apples that my wife brought at Ueda to my wife's friend who lives in Moriya City. they were things she had missed the opportunity to give her friend.
Whenever I go to Moriya, I always buy some bread at Backenbart. Today too.
My cooking was back.
My favorite backpack that I use every day has come undone. I've been using it for over 15 years now, and I want to use it for another 15 years. The loose parts of the fabric around the area were fixed with instant glue and then sewn together with thread.
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December 8ｔh. the Monet exhibition.My wife and I went to Ueno. My wife had arranged to meet her best friend who is living in Moriya City in front of the National Museum of Western Art. We saw the Monet exhibition separately.
I bought the ticket by myself and entered the museum. My wife and her friend entered later. Then we met once inside. Next we met at Akihabara station on the way to our home.
In Monet's later years, he suffered from eye problems, but he continued to paint energetically. The paintings are very attractive. They are a strong power that overcomes the deterioration of eyesight.
Looking back, I have been neglecting old lenses that were covered in mold, rust and scratches. But I thought that they might be able to take pictures that only they could. I have had a few glimpses of this in the past. After seeing the Monet exhibition, I was convinced.
I want to bring those scratched lenses back to life with a digital camera.
After that, I went to Akihabara by myself. First, I had Jangara Ramen for my lunch. Then I visited Lemon-Sha which has a large selection of classic lenses from the past (see the image on the left), and the used camera store Nissin Camera.
At Lemon-Sha, modified lenses are on display. They give me hints for my own modifications. At Nisshin Camera, I check the market price of used digital cameras. This is to explore my options when my current camera breaks.
It is a routine when I go to Akihabara. Jangara Ramen, Lemon-Sha, Nisshin Camera. I used to visit a lot of computer shops, but I've changed a lot.
After that, I took some photos near Manseibashi Bridge until it was time to meet my wife and her friend.
We bought 2 packaged sushis at Torisen. We had them with homemade vegetable salad for our evening meal.
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December 7ｔh. Play with my cat.My wife went to her favorite hair salon in Iwai.
I spent the time on playing with my cat, photo editing, photo development, photo uploading, organizing accounting slips, entering accounting data, watching YouTube, a little bit of housework, and more.
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December 6ｔh. Kasamashiko.Kasama City in Ibaraki Prefecture and Mashiko Town in Tochigi Prefecture are both towns with deep ties to pottery. Recently, there has been a movement towards joint business ventures across prefectures, which is apparently being called "Kasamashiko." It takes about 25 minutes by car between Kasama City and Mashiko Town.
We went to Kasamashiko, and walked around to a few galleries and looked at the work of some potters, and of course we could buy their work, but we did not because we already have had enough pottery in our kitchen. It's more like going to a museum than going to buy pottery.
I also like the scenery and atmosphere of mountain towns. It would be fun to enjoy something different from the usual for a little while and make some new discoveries.
My wife and I seem to prefer the relaxed country lifestyle to the sophisticated city lifestyle.
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December 5th. our health check up day.My wife and I had a health check at the Tsukuba Health Check Center.
Every year on this day, I take a selfe photo in the locker room. This year too, the day arrived without an incident. At some point, in my mind, this day became something more special than my birthday.
Two years ago, I changed my stomach examination from a barium x-ray exam to a gastroscopy. This is expensive, but it's very comfortable.
The health examination course was including a lunch. After the corse I had my lunch that was in an image lunch box . I used to have the lunch with discomfort after a barium x-ray exam. I chosed a gastroscopy, so I was able to enjoy a delicious lunch without the discomfort of the barium.
Finally I received the report and explanation today's health examination from a doctor. No changes were found, so observation will be conducted for one year. My wife was the same, so we felt relieved.
After our health check up, we went to our favorite Blackboard Cafe in Tsukuba City. We enjoyed delicious coffee and cake there.
My wife made our dinner.
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December 4th. Coppin Cafe.I cooked pumpkin with Anko paste, then I made sauce yakisoba. I had them and cafe au lait for my breakfast. After breakfast, Miya-O often goes to the tall window to warm herself up and hide from her medicine time. Today too.
My wife returned to Iwai from Ueda. She arrived at Shimizu Park Station at around 3:40 p.m. as usual, so I went to pick her up.
We went to our favourite Thai Curry restaurant Coppin Cafe in Moriya. I had curry rice and she had Pattai for our dinner. We had to have dinner early because we have a medical checkup tomorrow.
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December 3rd. Miya-O chan's refill begging pose. I made a hot sandwich with ham, cheese and vegetable. I also made lettuce and tomato salad, yogurt granola, and cafe au lait for my breakfast.
I ate Seiro soba at my favorite Tsukuba soba restaurant Kimura.
I took some pictures of Mount Tsukuba on the 12th floor of my apartment building in Tsukuba City until after the sun went down. This was a field test of my lens that produce good bubble bokeh.
I had leftover hot sandwich from breakfast, cabbage and broccoli salad, and tofu for my evening meal. I also had some fried oysters that I bought at Torisen.
Miya-O chan's refill begging pose, she was staring at me silently. Recently, she seems to have realized that she has a higher chance of getting a refill if she poses like this rather than just making noise.
Together with my cat, I started cleaning and maintenance on my old lens that I bought from Yahoo Auction.
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December 2nd. I woke up late.I woke up a little late. I have a slight headache and a sore throat. I forgot to turn off the air conditioner last night. Could that be the cause?
I spent the morning time inhaling the steam from the hot water poured into my mug. Because, this helps relieve my headache and sore throat.
I made an omelette. I had it, lettuce and tomato salad, grilled tofu and cafe au lait for my breakfast.
I made and ate Chicken Ramen for my lunch around 2 pm.
Around 6 pm, I made and ate a stew with vegetables, tofu, chicken and aburaage for my evening meal.
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December 1st. burnable garbage or resources. I made a hot sandwich with the fried squid I bought at Torisen and two kinds of cheese Parmigiano Reggiano and processed cheese for my breakfast. The overflowing cheese burned and was very tasty.
I had curry rice, lettuce and tomato salad, grilled Atsuage, and natto for my evening meal.
I opened my dental office in 1983 and ran it until 2019. I stored the office business records with my memories for 36 years. I discarded them because I no longer needed the records or memories.
The personal information in the medical records mast be protected. So I disposed of them as burnable garbage one year ago. I took them to the Sashima Clean Center Terakyu and threw it directly into the incinerator myself. The fee was 200 yen per 10 kg. (now 220 yen)
Most accounting records are paper. I am going to recycle. The left image is a half amount of the all. I put out at the designated place on recycling garbage day. If I put out a large amount at once, it will be considered industrial waste and I will have to pay for it, so I put it out little by little as household waste.
