This is a flying start version of my article for mstdn.beer server’s advent calendar.
Usually, I write by myself in English, but the Japanese version of the article below is too long to rewrite in English, so I asked Gemini to translate.

I’ll publish the original Japanese version on 17th Dec and will link to the mstdn.beer Advent Calendar 2025.

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Hello everyone,

I moved here from mstdn.jp in April this year. https://mstdn.beer/@three_eight I don’t really have a handle or username, but if I had to say, I go by “Three Eight.”

On social media, I mainly live by “talking to the wall” (self-reflection/posting without expecting replies), but I always make sure to reply if someone speaks to me. Nice to meet you all!

In my private life, I am married and have two daughters. I try my best every day, navigating the changes in values I’ve felt since entering my 40s. I struggled with what to write… I impulsively signed up for the Advent Calendar, but this is my first time writing an article for one. Moreover, although I occasionally write English diary entries on this blog, those diaries are basically “talking to the wall” style, so writing something about my private life with the awareness that other people will read it might be the first time in my life.

Since I dedicated myself to reading this year, should I write about the books I read? Should I try being the one who writes about things I bought that turned out to be good, something I constantly read about? Originally, I used to do SNS with my real name + photo on platforms like Twitter, and mstdn.jp was my first time participating in SNS anonymously, so I was scattering thoughts I normally wouldn’t share. Maybe I should write about those things?

Recently, I’ve been asking Gemini various things a lot, so perhaps I should introduce what kind of things I ask and what kind of answers I get. Should I try to write ambitiously about my work? I work at a foreign-affiliated company and am the only Japanese person on my team, so I thought about writing about the culture gap I feel there. I had many things on my mind. About drinking alone… After much deliberation, and since I belong to the Beer server, I’ve decided to talk casually about my weekly routine of drinking alone, to fill the space.

I personally started enjoying drinking alone in my mid-twenties. I was quite active in socializing with regulars, and I even met, dated, and married my wife after being introduced to her by one of the regulars. Inevitably, the frequency with which I can freely go out drinking has decreased since my children were born, but I have continued my once-a-week solo drink for the past 7-8 years.

The place is fixed: a yakitori restaurant about a 10-minute walk from my house. It’s a small place run by a master in his late 40s alone. It’s cheap, delicious, and the drinks are strong—a true friend to drinkers. I’ve tried various places, but there aren’t many that combine comfort, taste, and affordability, so I’ve been loyal to this one yakitori place.

Frequency of Visits to the Yakitori Restaurant

Since I’ve been going for quite a long time, the way I visit has changed. Before COVID-19, I was going to the office, so I would visit between 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM, on no particular set day.

During the height of COVID-19, there was a self-restraint period when I couldn’t go, but once that lifted and the place reopened, I started going on specific days, combining the trip with picking up my child from their nearby cram school. My eldest daughter has grown up and can now go home alone, but now I enjoy my time there every Friday, starting early around 5 PM and aiming to leave before 7 PM.

How I Interact with Other Customers

While I’ve been drinking alone for a long time, one thing that has changed since my single days is how I interact with the staff and other customers.

When I was single, I had more freedom with my time and schedule, so I would make friends with the regulars and match our drinking times. The restaurant was also proactive about hosting events, so I actively attended birthday parties and gatherings with the regulars.

However, now I don’t have complete freedom regarding the time I drink that day or my future plans, so if there’s an opportunity, I chat as pleasantly as possible, but I try to keep the relationship limited to the time spent at the restaurant. The master has invited me for a drink several times, but since it was always for after the shop closed, it hasn’t materialized.

Fortunately, most of the customers are elderly men, so I can enjoy my solo drink without any unnecessary temptations or strange conversations.

Drinks and Snacks I Order

Originally, I was a devoted fan of Hoppy (a low-alcohol beer-like beverage mixed with shochu), drinking it from the first glass until the soto (Hoppy mixer) ran out. I don’t know if it’s common, but the master pours the shochu to about 80% of the glass, so it really packs a punch. Perhaps due to age, I’ve started feeling sleepy when I drink, so when I get drunk on Hoppy, I often end up sleeping with my children at 9:30 PM on Friday.

Since it’s Friday night and I’d like to stay up a bit longer, I often start with a beer, followed by shochu with soda, Tomato High, or Green Tea High.

For snacks, two daily specials are available, so I usually order one of them first. Yodare-dori (drooling chicken), Nira-tama (chive and egg), Pera-katsu (thin pork cutlet), Kakuni (braised pork belly)… I can’t remember all of them, but they are usually better than what I have at other izakayas. In addition to this, the shop’s staple menu item is niku-dofu (meat and tofu stew) where the meat is chicken, topped with a soft-boiled egg. I usually have two drinks with these items.

After that, I order about four skewers of yakitori: liver, chicken tail (bonjiri), heart base (hatsumoto), and bacon-wrapped soft-boiled egg, and then have two more drinks. This has become my routine.

Entering My 40s

I’ve been rambling on with a story that is neither poison nor medicine, but this utterly ordinary act of going out for a drink has become an important part of my life. Having entered my 40s, it feels like the remaining time in my life is now shorter. No one told me this, but I have a growing sense that time is becoming more precious, and its value is starting to reverse with the value of money.

I also feel that my job has come with greater responsibility and pressure than before. My salary has increased, but it’s like a zero-sum game, or maybe one-sum. If you add up all the factors related to me, the total is zero or one—there is no sense that only good or only bad things are growing significantly.

In the midst of this, the fact that I have something I genuinely want to do—drinking alone—and that the feeling of “Friday is the best” is getting stronger and has become my own personal ritual for enjoying it, the very existence of such a thing makes me feel grateful.

I feel like there might be more to write, but I’ll put down my pen here and submit this as my contribution to the mstdn.beer Advent Calendar 2025.

The release date is Wednesday, but… Happy Friday!

I’m not familiar with the culture of Advent Calendar, but this time I registered for mstdn.beer as I’m using the server.

When I think about it, I realize I didn’t have the opportunity to write a blog post or craft sentences for the audience to read.
All the writings in SNS and on this type of blog are basically the style called Kabeuchi.

But for the Advent Calendar, my writings will be for readers, and this is a very fresh experience for me.

Probably this is based on me.
I think I have a personality who don’t want to write for others.
I must admit this based on the fact that I have almost no experience with that.

When I was young, I imagined the future where I would be a (novel) writer.
But actually, the reality is opposite.

Anyway, I’ll take my time to consider the content for the Advent Calendar.
This is as a courtesy, and I will do my best.

I thought the last year-end and the new year were just recent events.
But now another year-end season is approaching.

The Christmas season is the only time to have a long holiday together with foreign colleagues and customers.
So I like it.
For example, a public holiday in Japan is only off for Japanese people, so there can be progress and updates in the work
I will need to catch up on it.

This year, my older daughter will have only 2 days off due to a private tutoring school.
So we will not have the opportunity to visit our hometown.

The date for the exam is from 1st Feb to 4th Feb mainly.
So after the period, we will be able to enjoy overnight trip again.

In Oct, I missed posting at least 3 blogs on this WordPress.
Taking time is not easy with gaming and reading, and taking care of my family.

2025 is the year to renew the home appliances.
I bought a laundry machine in Apr or so, and this time we replaced the refrigerator.
The vacuum cleaner was also broken, and got a new one.

For practice on the entrance exam for a private junior high school, I just ordered a printer, and it is expected to arrive today.
On top of that, we purchased Switch2, and our TV is also something wrong.

Hope we can use those new appliances for a long time.
I don’t waste my money in an unfortunate way.

It’s difficult to control things that are out of control. Other human beings are definitely one of those things. This also applies to family.

This weekend, my older daughter stole money from my wife’s wallet. This wasn’t the first time; it was actually the second. We scolded her and talked to her at length about why stealing money is wrong. It will break the trust between us and make living together difficult.

Her motivation isn’t the point. She bought a lot of Genshin character goods, such as can badges.

I even told her she wasn’t good at being bad and that I was much better at it even when I was 10. But I’m not sure how I can change her mind, as she is an independent human being, even though she is still just a girl.

One thing’s for sure: I can’t give up on her. My ultimate wish is for my daughter’s happiness, but parenting is quite difficult. Just thinking about it won’t bring the answers.

I bought a new refrigerator with my wife this weekend.
The current one is almost 12 years old, and a bit too small to use with a family of 4.
The new one is 1.5 times spacious.

This time, I bought it from the electronics retailer, Bic Camera.
Usually, I use internet shopping as it’s convenient and cheaper in most cases.

But a refrigerator is a kind of big appliance. There are several things to consider, and it’s a lot to handle by myself.
I just feel like maybe we can consult with the seller first.
Actually, the experience was good. Also, the price they suggested is competitive, even compared with internet shops.

The price was 29M yen, but with a 10-year warranty.
I’m looking forward to using it. A bigger freezer will be super useful.

This time, my company’s performance indicator for bonus was better than average. It’s 1.08.

My personal performance indicator is 1.28. This is good, though it’s not exceptional.
The top performer will have 1.35-1.45, though there are lots of politics and unique reasons that determine the numbers.

As usual, the sales and the profit were OK, and that’s the reason for the company’s performance indicator, but I got no merit increase.

Holistically, I’m satisfied as I got RSU again, so it’s 6 consecutive times, every 6 months.

One good news is that my team has 2 people promoted, even with the very restricted budget.
I’m a bit disappointed that the person promoted is not me, but anyway, it’s a good sign.
It also means the path to promotion for me is not blocked.

Embarassingly, I have a bad habit: Nail biting since I was a child.
I almost gave up trying to stop the habit, but I bought a super-bitter manicure this time, and it worked like a charm.
On the 1st day, I still bit my nail without noticing it, but the bitter taste hit me.
Then, from the 2nd day, I was able to recognize the movement of my hand.

This is one amazing fact.
We can change ourselves even for a 30-year-old habit.
So anything can change.

Nothing new except for this.
The bonus was good, but my company has quite a stringent budget for merit increase and promotion this time.
But today, my manager gave me a letter including RSU. That’s really good and relieving.

I read the book by Shintaro Ishihara recently, which is a kind of autobiography.
Actually, I don’t like him, so I was reading it criticizingly, but the reading experience itself was somewhat interesting and valuable.
What he repeatedly wrote was miserable, but I just felt I might be able to like him once I met with him in person. but not able to confirm this thought.

I’ve been in my current role at my company for 4.5 years, and I’ve adjusted quite well to the circumstances.

Getting used to something inevitably brings a sense of boredom.
I’m wondering if there’s a more exciting opportunity for me internally or externally.

At the end of the day, money matters.
If I can get the same or more money with a job that’s less demanding and has a better work-life balance, that will be good.
I know that’s probably asking too much.

“At forty, I had no delusions.” is a famous phrase, but I doubt it, at least for me.
I’m still motivated, but my motivation is fading drastically.
It feels like I’m pressing the gas and the brake at the same time.

I don’t have time to elaborate, but family is also difficult.
I have delusions at 42.

I’ve always been interested in writing a novel, but I’m not very good at sticking with it. I also know I don’t have a talent for creating plots and stories. When we read sentences that only have plain meaning, we can get bored easily.

Something interesting or exciting is mandatory to include in sentences. It also takes knowledge to describe or depict something in writing. Time and passion to focus on it are also essential.

Tonight, I installed VS Code and the Novel-Writer extension. Even though I was toying with it, I still feel like I won’t be a good writer. But I still believe this could be interesting.