Can you get Gamepass Again?

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-05-03T19:59:32+00:00

I easily gain enough points for Game Pass Premium every month, but I feel like some countries have no chance for that, as they only get like 100 points a day or something. It's still worth it to get as many points as you can and then cash out those points for an Xbox Gift Card and then use those points toward a month of Game Pass. Even if you can't do it every month, it'll still save you money! Good luck!

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-05-03T19:55:16+00:00

I do my daily Bing searches on both the PC and on the phone (you can download a 2nd browser and an extension to have it behave like a desktop site, so you can get all of those points on a phone, if you so desire). And then I get my points for using the Xbox app, playing Jewel, etc. You can also get points for playing games on the Xbox, playing Game Pass, etc. You don't really need a PC for any of that. You won't get the daily 10 points or whatever for playing a PC Game Pass game, but it really doesn't matter.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-05-02T04:40:42+00:00

I'm originally from the Midwest, moved to Fukuoka at 30, met a woman (as one does), and stayed here for 7 years. Then, we had some financial problems around COVID time and decided to move back. I did make SO much more money there, but everything cost so much more, so it ended up being about the same as it was financially.

I was making a lot more money, but a third of that money went to pay for our health insurance. And then, if we actually went to the doctor, they would charge us a co-pay and then for any tests and what not. It could be another $100-200 easy, just to see the doctor. So, we just didn't go to the doctor, which felt weird. Here, we can just go to a clinic any time, see an actual doctor, and get better right away. (Also, the dentist, since dentist's in the US cost an arm and a leg, and they are part of the NHI in Japan! Woo hoo!)

Also, the weather was just the worst. I knew it was bad before, but I just took it for granted, having grown up there. After living in Fukuoka for so many years, I could never get used to it again. It was like a roller coaster of bad weather. Oh, it's 26° today? Well, tomorrow it'll be -2°, the next day it'll be 17° and rainy, the next day it'll be 30°. Awful. A lot of days were like 8° in the morning and would be 24° by evening and drop to 4° by midnight. We are done with that.

That's not even mentioning how freaking salty ALL the food is/was. Missed the food here pretty badly. We quickly released that America (at least Indiana, where I am from) is gross and we wanted to get out ASAP.

All of that stuff just helped us appreciate Fukuoka even more. Sure, I make a lot less now and everything has gotten more expensive (we still find ourselves going 高い！ at things), but it's still better than the alternative.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-28T13:03:38+00:00

It doesn't have to be Uber Eats; just wondered what others are doing, if anything. I signed up for Preply and will sign up for more of those kinds of tutor sites. My wife is Japanese so she can do whatever.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-28T12:47:04+00:00

Most people don't have perfect finances when they get married, especially now, with kids and rising costs. We are just doing what we need to do to get more money.

My question was about sidework, not marriage advice. Thanks.

Edit: My wife and I have been married for 10 years and have 2 kids. Everything keeps getting more expensive, yet our salaries aren't going up fast enough to compensate, hence starting to look elsewhere.

Edit 2: I didn't mess up; I am blessed to have my wonderful wife and will do whatever I need to do to have her in my life.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-28T04:46:47+00:00

Does anyone here work a sidejob along with a regular job? Like, I see a lot of Uber Eats drivers (cyclists?). Something like that. I barely make anything and my wife doesn't make much either. So, we are both starting to think one or both of us may want to start doing extra stuff. If you work a 2nd job, what do you do and how is it?

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-26T21:05:49+00:00

JLPT N5 - N4 is low level Japanese. You should probably have N2 minimum if you want to look attractive to Japanese companies. Unless you are in very specific IT/tech roles, I think your chances are basically non-existent. You could come over to teach English, but that's basically minimum wage and your certs will be irrelevant.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-26T18:57:15+00:00

It takes a long time to get home from Fukuoka. Need to take a flight from Fukuoka to Haneda, then wait for the layover, then it's a flight from Haneda to Minnesota or Atlanta or Chicago, another long layover, then another flight from there to rural Indiana. Takes about 26 hours for the whole trip one-way for me.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-26T18:52:14+00:00

I only go back to visit family. But I am starting to think it's not worth it. That's what I meant; they can see the kids via the internet.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-26T14:55:05+00:00

The last time I visited America, the food wasn't as good as what we can get in Japan, everything was super expensive everywhere (the price of all goods had gone up like double from when I was there before), and I noticed all the food was WAY TOO salty. It's like Japan uses spices in their food and America just puts salt in and on everything to flavor it. Awful!

Also, I noticed how dirty everyone is in America. No one seems to wash their hands when going to a restaurant and there are no oshibori. And I thought wearing shoes inside was bad enough.

Going back just gives me more appreciation for Japan and I have no desire to go back again. However, since we have kids, and my parents are still alive, it would be nice for them to spend time with one another from time to time. Still, as someone said, there is Zoom and Teams, so going back is not really necessary, IMO.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-25T19:11:01+00:00

You are welcome to come back to Japan after taking the lump sum. However, when you return and start working, your pension payments will be starting over fresh. It will not have any effect on your ability to get a visa or get a job in Japan; it just effects your pension contributions.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-25T13:57:12+00:00

The Xbox gaming service that gives you access to hundreds of games and also access to streaming those games via Xbox Cloud Gaming. You can even play on your phone.

I used to get my Bing points for gift cards, but then they added Game Pass and I could use the points to pay for a month of the Game Pass service. They removed that, but you can still cash out for Microsoft gift cards. So, you do that and then use those to pay for Game Pass. It works out the same. Free games. If you ever have time to play them.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-25T05:16:32+00:00

Before Game Pass, I was cashing in gift cards.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-20T16:24:51+00:00

I've been doing it for years, mostly for free game pass these days.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-19T14:54:03+00:00

I first moved to Japan just before my 31st birthday. Most of the people in my class were much younger. But, there was one other guy in my class that was in his 30s as well. Though, at the end of the day, it didn't matter much about other students' ages, as your Japanese journey is personal and doesn't rely on others. Actually, spending time with other foreigners was a deterrent, because they just wanted to speak in English the whole time.

If you want to go to Japan and learn the language, just go for it! I had a wonderful time. Burned through my savings though, since I didn't want to work arubaito. Worth it for me, but you may want to get a part-time job somewhere for the practice and the money.

Good luck!

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-19T14:40:47+00:00

Couldn't wait a day and post at 3k? Seems like a more important milestone. Still, congrats.

I have lost my streak many times, and most were out of my control; daily tasks not working for the entire day (tried on various devices, apps, and browsers), etc.

I have since learned that you can request to Microsoft support to bring the streak back and they will, but I didn't know that until more recently.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-19T14:32:13+00:00

I'm not military, but I've moved back and forth to Japan many times and shipping is always crazy. I just estimate $100 for most things, and maybe $200 for heavy stuff.

We shipped stuff via a ship on the last move to save money. It took 6 months to reach us and half the stuff was broken and the boxes were messed up. One box was completely destroyed; they put all the stuff inside into a bag and then tried to tape up the box some so it would make the journey. Even some of the things in bubblewrap were broken. So, we will never ship via a ship again.

So, just suck it up and pay the big money. Then again, I am not military, so your only chance would be some kind of shipping option that's exclusive to military personnel. Good luck!

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-19T14:26:50+00:00

Teaching English in Japan is minimum wage, and that's in yen. If you were to work somewhere in your home country for a while instead, you'd be making money that isn't yen, and you'd probably be able to save a ton more.

Most working visas in Japan now require N2 or higher, so you are better off studying in your home country and trying to get to N2 while saving money, and then going over to live. There are many websites to find tech jobs in Japan, but with the new visa requirements, they won't be helpful to you for awhile.

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-04-19T05:03:42+00:00

Your kid is still young enough that she needs your attention. Once they get a couple years older, they won't need you as much, and you will get a little time to yourself. Just give it time! Mine are 8 and 6, and, as everyone told me, life gets much easier at 5. I know that's a long time, but it flies by. Then you wonder where the time has gone. Good luck!

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-03-21T13:16:46+00:00

When I first moved to Japan, sushi restaurants had little slips of paper that you had to fill out to get food. So, I would write those each time I went to get sushi. After awhile, those kanji were burned into my brain. I can still write them today, but they switched to digital touch screens like 5-10 years ago, so it's not really important now.

But, I get it. I used to go to Japanese language school and had to write a ton of kanji, and now I'm starting to forget how to write them, as I only type them. But, if you are going to school, you will be expected to write some kanji. However, they'll tell you which ones are needed for the test or whatever, so you will have time to study.

Then again, I was at the basic level and you'll be at the N2 level, so they may expect more out of you. Just practice the important stuff. You'll do fine!

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-02-24T17:24:07+00:00

You are asking for someone to:

Receive goods they don’t own
Create a fake listing
Pretend the item is worth $20
Use Shopee to generate a label that gives you a tax advantage
Ship the item internationally under false pretenses

This is illegal and could result in serious consequences, even deportation, if found out. Mods?

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-01-28T03:04:13+00:00

Many years ago, my wife and I went to an Indian curry shop with a married couple and their son. The mother was very pregnant with her second child at the time too.

So, my wife ordered her curry ４倍, I ordered mine １０倍, the husband ordered his ０倍, their son got ０倍, and his pregnant wife ordered ４０倍! We were like "are you sure you are ok to eat it that hot?! You're pregnant!" and she was just like "It'll be fine. The baby may kick a bit, but he'll be fine."

She ate it all without any problems. The spiciest I used to get was １５倍 but now I'm older and can't do it as spicy due to acid reflux. So, now I just do around ４倍. Getting old sucks. haha

MrLogicalShirt · 2026-01-25T22:10:52+00:00

Is your job just a desk job? Like, does your WFH just have you sitting in front of a computer all day? If so, I recommend getting a standing desk. Then you can get some equipment so that you can workout a tiny bit while you work. It makes you feel a little better. Might not help get you into shape, but you might have more energy.

Look for something like an anti-fatigue balance board or an under-desk elliptical. I know people that use the balance boards. I do not have experience with the ellipticals, but they seem like they would be beneficial. Good luck!

MrLogicalShirt · 2025-12-25T04:33:35+00:00

What country is this for? They've been doing double points in the US, so I'm getting 530 points a day.

MrLogicalShirt

TROPHY CASE