Inner Muses

June 3rd, 2023, PSE (Puget Sound Energy), our power utility, energized our solar system and house batteries. On May 25th, we had 44 photovoltaic (PV) panels feeding two SolarEdge inverters installed producing 15.5 kW. That's a lot of energy. The house draws a mere 2.3 kW at this moment, the batteries and Tesla are topped off, so 13.2 kW is going back to the grid, earning credits towards our power this winter. The system includes two Tesla PowerWall batteries with a capacity of 13.5 kWh each and a Tesla car charger (plugged into my Model Y with a capacity of 81 kWh).  I learned so much during this process, that I had to write articles to share with my geeky friends, so here is the first! Why did we have to wait to have the system on? Before this system was installed, we had a single direction meter from PSE. This means that the meter was measuring the flow of power in either direction as consumption. If we had turned on the system, the utility would have charged us for the 13.2kW fl

Yom HaShoah is the day of remembrance for the Holocaust committed by the Nazi's during WWII. For Yom HaShoah for 2023, I may have a chance to briefly speak, so I am collecting some materials here. Although both born in pre-war Europe, both my mother, Gina Einsein Rosnow, and father, Morris Rosnow, came to the United States in 1950 through amazingly different paths despite the Nazi's onslaught.  My mother was born in Stuttgart, German in 1927. My maternal grandmother, Trude, saw the rise of the Nazis and was a super early mover. She took her family out of Germany to pre-Israel Palestine during the early 1930s before the British shutdown access. My mother and her sister grew up in the German enclave of Nahariya up north near Lebanon.  My father and his two older sisters, Mira Shelub, and Sara Rosnow, emerged together from WWII Europe with Mira's husband Normal Shelub and their oldest son, Irwin. They were sponsored to enter the United States by family in Baltimore and Philade

I started writing this article before the COVID-19 pandemic hit; before the death of George Floyd engulfed the United States in a wild fire of protests; before the peaceful protests, the rioting and the looting across our major cities spurred a fascist response by our president reminiscent of Hilter's brown shirts. So much has happened since I returned from Japan in November of 2019. Still, when I returned, I was hit by profound reverse culture shock as I re-entered the United States. I do my best to describe it here, but I've got to push to get this out before the next crisis distracts. The impact of that culture shock continues to color my view of these unfolding crises and the lessons I hope the country is learning from it. Each time my friends ask me "How is it being back in the US?", I again feel the urge to write this post. The answer is too big. Elevator answer: I'm glad to be back with my family. I am thankful to be with them and have a job I can wo

Yuriko and I traveled to Japan as this pandemic was breaking out from February 26th and returned March 5th. Ten days ago, we completed two weeks of self-quarantine after our return, we’re doing well. None of us are sick. The State Dept warning for Japan was level 1 and moved to 2 the day before we left. It was an interesting time to visit, but I needed to complete my 2019 Japanese taxes by March 15, so the timing was set back in January. It was a bizarre experience. People thought we were crazy to go into the danger of Japan before we left. But, while we were there, our hometown of Kirkland, WA because the epicenter of COVID-19 death in the US. We felt we were going into danger returning home. We saw Seattle’s and then the US' future. Schools closed while we were there. Gatherings of people, shows, sports events, etc. closed or reduced hours.  Everyone wore masks. TP, hand cleaner, and masks were sold out due to hoarding. Still people met us for dinner and coffee. My f

View of my old neighborhood of Sakuragaoka (桜丘) from the top of the new Shibuya Scramble Square building. It's now December 16, 2019 and I returned to the US on November 22nd. Here's a blog entry I wrote before leaving Japan back in September as I was coming to grips with the decision to return. ~~~ It's been more than a year since I last blogged. I guess I've been spending more time living than writing about living. :-) Well, that "just living" time in Japan is likely coming to an end very soon. What's ultimate dragging me back to the US, with much sadness and regret, is money. People say that living in Japan is expensive. It's really not true. What's driving me back is the unjust healthcare system of the US and the fact that I must provide US  healthcare insurance for my family. But you might ask, aren't you heading back because Japan is more expensive than the US? No. Taxes are higher in Japan for me than in the US. But, I

This morning we were woken at 7AM by an announcement voice. It's Sunday, March 4, 2018, and one of the few mornings I can sleep in.  What is going on? Yuriko is visiting from mid-February to the end of March. She's having a hard time making it out and there's no way I can understand that distant Japanese. We think it's an announcement about a practice fire alarm from the building intercom in the dining room. The bedroom door is closed, so it's muffled. Great, a practice fire alarm, on Sunday morning. LOL. This moment is an amazing snapshot in time and I've got to render it in words. We're living in temporary housing in Akasaka - right in the heart of Tokyo. However, time is almost up. March 15th is the day we must move out. Our brief stint in Paradise. Kinori has already left for Advance Hang-loose lacrosse practice far away. The new season for the amateur, men's league is coming up and the practices have begun. Friday night was a meeting and dri