電気訪問販売に注意… Door-to-door-selling of electricity provider!

電気の訪問販売なるものに初めて遭遇した。以下、アパートの管理会社にお問い合わせした内容。

"昨夜、日本通信社という会社の営業の方がいらっしゃいまして、「電気の検針機をオンラインで検針できるものに取り替えました。それに伴い、電力配送をする会社をPinTからオクトパスエナジーに変更していただきたく、手続きをiPadで今お願いします。」と言われました。とりあえずお話だけ聞きましたが。管理会社さんから特に何も聞いていないのですが、マンション全体で検針機の変更があったにも関わらず、お知らせが来ていないのはおかしいかなと思いました。悪質な電気の訪問販売も増えてきているようですが、これは対応して良いものでしょうか？"

結論、訪問販売なので対応する必要はなし！ 検針機の変更はけっこう前に行われていた。

口ぶりから、いかにも、必須ですというような感じだったのでビックリ。こんな強気で来るんだなあ。インターホンを押してきた時も、名刺をインターホンカメラから見えるように掲示して、正規の業者ですよという印象を作っていた。のでつい開けてしまった。今時の訪問販売も進化しているようだ。電気が自由化されてから、販売も自由になったので供給電力会社の競争が始まった。のはいいが… こちらに選択の余地がないような言い方をするのはだめだと思う。

今後また来るかもしれないので、備忘…。

This is the first time I encountered so-called "door-to-door sales of electricity". The following quote is the inquiry we made to the apartment leasing office.

"Last night, a sales person from a company called Nippon Tsushinsha came to my door and said, "We have replaced your electricity meter with one that can read usage online. With that, we would like you to change the company that delivers electricity from your current one to Octopus Energy, and we need you to do the procedure now on this iPad."  At first, I just listened to what he had to say.  I thought it strange that we have not received any notice even though there has been a change in the meter reader for the entire apartment.  I smelt something fishy..  Is this something I need to respond to?  There seems to be an increase in malicious door-to-door sales of electricity."

Bottom line, it is a door-to-door sale and there is no need to respond!  The meter reader was changed quite some time ago!

I was surprised because the way he spoke, it sounded like it was mandatory.  I was surprised that they would come in with such a strong attitude.  When he pressed the intercom, he was displaying his business card in such a way that it was visible from the intercom camera, giving the impression that he was a legitimate contractor.  So I opened the door.  Door-to-door sales nowadays seem to have evolved and has become aggressive. The backgrond info is that competition among electricity suppliers has started since the deregulation of electricity supply.  It's good that they are selling electricity freely with proper competition, not by a monopoly... but I don't like it that the sales people talk to us as if we had no choice.

They may come back in the future, so here is a reminder to self...

A quick trip back to Oita

To visit my family, which happend back in July!

It's nice to see them again and I'm glad they are doing well. 

A tunnel near a spring water site. 

I got sick on the way there though.. motion sickness plus probably dehydration?  That was rough!  So I couldn't go to Rakugo performance that my mom's friend was part of.  Well... there will be another time in fall that they do it. 

Another accident was that my train back to Kyoto was cancelled due to heavy rain, so I had to extend my stay for a day.  The rain was quite bad and some cities in northern Kyushu got flooded.  The news repeated playing videos of collapsing houses and debris being washed down to overflowing rivers.  The 2-3 days of rain was equivalent of the total rainfall that we would normally get in whole July.  Surprising.  Despite the previous day's interruptions, trains were operated normally on the following day.  That was something... 

Went to a seaside cafe for breakfast, too. It is a large park with lots of open space. It was nice. Want to come back!

Okuribi marks the end of Bon holiday

Got to view okuribi again this year.  It was stormy the day before due to a tyhoon that directly hit Kansai area. But luckily it did not affect Kyoto so much.  Our ancesters had a clear sky on the day they go back to the other world, guided by the fires on five mountains in Kyoto.

One Twitter has left me with a strong and unforgettable impression...  it had a photo of okuribi and said "One day, I will be one of the spirits that travel back to Kyoto during this period.  Thanks to everyone who made okuribi happen this year, too."  Yes, everyone will.  And so I should be thankful that I am fortunate enough to be alive today.  Severe weather is occuring more and more frequently nowadays, and so visiting hometowns is becoming troublesome.  Yet, there is a meaning to it; at least I believe so.  I just hope that those who are travelling will have a safe and smooth travels.

Arashiyama and meeting up with old friend

Got to meet up with my old friend in SG for the first time in quite a few years.  He is a freelance data analyst, and we first met when he came to my undergrad university as an exchange student.  It's some 15 years ago!  I cannot believe we still maintain the friendship.  Especially now it's good because we have the same kind of jobs after working several jobs and schools.  It was great to see him again and with his girlfriend and soon-to-be-wife. 

It was soooooo hot and humid, but it was slightly better with the sun behind the clouds most of the time.  There were still many tourists in the area, but less than peak seasons like spring or autumn. I saw many people carrying heavy lugguage, and I felt empathetic for them because I was like that in Boston a few weeks ago. 

Boston - Harvard

 Though it was forecasted to be stormy, I visited Harvard campus. It’s ~20 min by train from my hotel.  By the time I reached there, it was already raining.  With dark clouds in the background and construction work going on at several parts of the campus, it gave me sort of a gloomy impression.  It may look more cheerful on a sunny day, though.  There were many shops and cafes, a lot of visitors including me, making it a busy campus. The subway line was not the cleanest in the world, and I am totally happy not studying there at Harvard.. Their art museum was interesting. It had lots of collections from around the world; especially I find watercolors in the US amusing.

On the way home, I got to experience rush hour in Boston.  Trains were so packed literally like the ones in Tokyo.  At Park Street, where I change trains, was very crowded.  Trains come one after another, and one stopped in the front part of the platform, so we passengers walked to it, only to find the trains are mostly full and cannot take any more passengers.  Then there came another train, but it stopped at the back of the platform, so those who walked all the way to the front end of the platform and couldn’t make it had to go down the platform again to get on to the second train. But some people just gave up, spitting some cursing words.  I totally understand.. it would be stressful if it were every day.

Harvard Art Museum

Boston - Museum of Fine Arts

Museum of Fine Arts was huge with a lot of exhibitions.  It has restaurants and cafes inside, so it’s worthwhile to spend a whole day. Though you may feel saturated after 3-4 hours. Sketching is encouraged, and I would have loved to try sketching if I had more time.  Same as the art museum in Harvard, photo-taking was okay.  I looked at arts from Africa and South America, which are hard to find in Japan. Masks used for rituals in parts of Africa were kinda scary, but intriguing.  There were also drawing of native American’s habitats when they were first “discovered” by the Europeans. They were living in a self-sustenance life, until their land was taken over by Europeans…  It is interesting to see how these kinds of bloody histories are expressed or not expressed in the context of art exhibitions.

What I ended up liking the most is the ultra realistic painting of landscapes in the US in the late 1800s. It may have been influenced by scenes depicted in a similar realistic way in Europe some centuries before that. I will look into it more.

It was around 20 min walk from my hotel to MFA.  On the way, I found the symphony hall and Northeastern University. It was interesting.  The symphony hall looked quite old, but it may look better in the inside of the hall.

Symphony hall

Random old buildings near Northeastern University

Flame of Hope

Museum of Fine Arts!

Boston - Quest: going through immigration!

It was a hassle to enter into the US. When I arrived at Hawaii and tried to go through immigration, the officer found it problematic that I work for US employers without work visa and I am trying to enter the US for work. One must have a valid work visa to perform any work in the US under an US employer.  I explained my situation, but the officer said “How is that possible?” He does not have a good idea about what international remote work is.  I was taken to a different room, where a dozen of other people were waiting for detailed questioning.  They seemed to have invalid visa, lack of visa, and insufficient documents and so on… No cell phone use was allowed in the room, and the room was locked from outside!  You cannot open the door from inside unless someone opens it for you from the outside.  It was scary.. and I only had 4 hours to switch planes to Boston.  The pace that people were called for investigation was slow, of course.  The officers were taking their time, and many of the “questionable” visitors did not speak good English, which also prolonged the process.  It was quite a mental challenge to keep calm and NOT worry about time, though I knew that I may make it to the connecting flight, or may not, and I had no control over it.  I’m so glad I had a sketchbook with me, so I was just scribbling and drawing on it.  But in my heart I was quite upset, thinking that what if I was not admitted to the US – am I going to wait for my returning flight here till the day comes, or what…?  

It was not a pleasant experience, which I never wish to go through again. After quite some time of waiting, my turn finall came.  Luckily, the officer said OK because my contract with the U of Minnesota ended last month, and technically I am not employed by them at that time.  It was close.. I wonder what would have happened if I had told them about my current, ongoing contract with Michigan State (I briefly mentioned that at the general immigration, but somehow it was ignored later in the questioning).  I should have said I am a consultant, not employed by the University?  But still they are going to ask detailed questions about where the data comes from, how it is shared, and how I am getting paid.  I don’t know if I could go to another conference in November with my current contract status.. Hmm  I need to talk to the US embassy anyways, cos I did not receive a stamp of admission. 

Even after going through immigration, more time-pressed tasks were waiting.  I had to pick up my luggage, go through customs, go to a different terminal, literally by going outside the of the airport, crossing the street to enter another terminal to drop off my bag and then go through security.  There was waiting a loooooong line of dropping checking bags and another loooong line for security check.  At that time, it was already 1 pm, and my connecting flight was 2:40, and it made me convinced that I may not be able to make it.  The Honolulu airport looks like there is not enough capacity for security and bag check for the number of passengers they have.  But I made it!  It took 50 min to be done with the line of bad drop and another one with security, and and when I arrived at the gate, boarding was about to start.  Thank goodness, but it was close...  When I sat down on my seat on the plane bound for Boston, I was already exhausted, feeling it’s unbelievable that I made it through all of that.  The lessons?

1. Have plenty of time at the airport of first entry, 
2. Keep calm and keep your hope, and
3. Be prepared for this kind of issue associated with ‘internationally work from home’ lifestyle, because it is new. 

I had absolutely NO time to enjoy transitting in Hawaii, lol...