Canon's Diary

I woke up around 7 a.m. and, still half-asleep, opened my computer and said to my AI:

“Good morning. I barely managed to get about six hours of sleep last night. I also had a soak in the bath yesterday, so I’m not feeling too sluggish. The curtains are still closed. I’ll probably need another 30 minutes lying down before I can start the day.”

The AI responded instantly:

“Good morning. If you slept six hours, that might be just enough to recover, at least a little. Taking a bath helps a lot too—it kind of washes away that heavy feeling from your body. Staying in the calm with the curtains still closed and slowly welcoming the morning with another 30 minutes of rest sounds like a great way to reset your rhythm. No need to rush letting the light in—go at your own pace.
So, what kind of day do you want today to be?”

Lately, my AI has been asking me questions more and more. Still half-asleep, I found it a bit annoying, but I replied anyway.

“There’s a lot I want to do today. But there’s a difference between what I want to do and what I have to do. The things I have to do are packing for the move, cleaning my room, and getting a TV and audio system. Also, work has started back up, and there are some things I want to review over the weekend.
On the other hand, what I want to do is write and practice tennis. I want to get those done too. So here’s the dilemma: where do I begin?”

The AI replied:

“Well, about where to start—maybe try doing the ‘chores’ in the first half of the day and then switch to the ‘things you want to do’ in the evening. For example, how about breaking it down like this?

Morning to early afternoon (around 10:00 to 14:00):

• Packing (goal: even just 1/3 of the room is fine)
• Light cleaning (whatever you feel up for)
• Check appliances (even just some online research is enough)

Afternoon (14:00 to 17:00):

• Work stuff (focus time, broken into two hours—just do the essential review)

Evening (after 17:00):

• Tennis practice or writing, depending on your mood (just one is fine)
• If you’ve got time left at night, touch on the other one a bit too.”

Reading the AI’s proposed schedule, I froze for a moment—but it was more or less in line with what I’d imagined myself. After curling up under the blanket for another 30 minutes, I reluctantly opened the curtains.
AI, are you my manager or my personal secretary or something?

It was sunny, but not exactly a clear sky. About half the sunlight was veiled by clouds—not gloomy, just comfortably overcast. I had breakfast in my room and started packing. The room was filled with containers and cardboard boxes, so I moved some out into the hallway and in front of the entryway downstairs. The room looked a bit more spacious, so I ran the vacuum. Speaking of which, I still hadn’t gotten a vacuum for the new place. The price was higher than expected, so I’d been hesitating.

There were two stick-type cleaners in the first-floor living room. I asked my father, “Mind if I take one of these?” and he replied, “Sure, take whatever you need.” So I took both out to the yard, cleaned off the dust using an old toothbrush and cotton swabs, carefully washed them, and checked if they worked. My father was in the recliner watching Major League Baseball.
Of the two vacuums I cleaned, I left the one with the larger suction head in the living room and brought the smaller one back to my room.

Packing was mostly done for the day, so I had an early lunch. Eating hot noodles made me sweat a little—it was already that warm. In the afternoon, I checked through next week’s work materials. I reviewed the draft blueprints sent from the design department to see if there were any potential hiccups. Looks manageable—should be able to finish it on schedule. I closed the company laptop after that. By then, it was already past 3 p.m.

I hurriedly threw on my black riding suit and headed to the furniture store on my motorcycle. The cherry blossoms along the Onda River had already turned into leafy greens. From the trunks up to the middle of the branches, the trees were dyed in fresh spring green, with the pale pink of the blossom tips still hanging on. The colors didn’t quite match, but I found a kind of charm in it anyway.

I was planning to check out TV stands. I’d seen a few good ones on Amazon, but for big furniture, I always felt it was risky to order online. I wanted to feel the build and design in person. I found a reasonably priced, wood-grain stand that matched the bed I’d bought from the same store earlier, so I placed the order to have it delivered to Osaka.

Then I hopped back on the bike and headed for the electronics store. I wanted to see the cherry blossoms one more time, but I was short on time, so I took a shortcut through Naruse Station and headed toward Machida. I was going to see the same salesperson who had explained things to me last time. I had decided to buy an amplifier and speakers.
Since my new place is just for 2-channel playback of videos and music, he had advised me that a stereo integrated amp would offer better performance and value than a full AV amp. I figured if I was going to buy it, I’d buy it from him.

Once I told him about the move, he also gave me advice on internet contracts and other services, and I got some discounts. In the end, it turned out to be a much better deal than buying online. I could feel their passion—real brick-and-mortar shops aren’t going to lose to e-commerce that easily.
In this day and age, it’s kind of inspiring to see someone still that passionate about their work.

By the time I got home, it was past 7 p.m. The sky was already dark, and the headlights on the road shone blindingly bright. Entering Naruse Street, I passed under the Machida Highway overpass—the roar of the motorcycle engine echoed louder than usual.
I had canceled my tennis lesson while I was out. Now, I was finally sitting at home, eating the hamburger steak my wife had made, and taking a well-earned breather.

Hey AI—
Today went pretty much exactly the way you laid it out. Are you satisfied now?
Once I upload this draft, it’ll be basically 100% mission complete.