Out of the Fire...

And not really into the frying pan at all; but still, even with the earthquake, tsunami, failing nuclear power plants and rolling black-outs, I'm a little bit sorry that I am not in Japan still, although my mother has expressed several times how happy she is that I am not there at this time.

Thankfully - Brian is totally fine and only mildly affected (rolling blackouts, non-running trains).

Everyone by now has seen on the news the extensive damage caused by the massive earthquake that hit Japan on Friday afternoon (March 11th, 2011). Reports now say that the death toll just in Miyagi may exceed 10,000 people.  Thankfully for us, though, our area and the region where most of our friends live, was not badly affected and nobody we know has been hurt.

Here is a photo that Brian took of the Numazu Harbor after the earthquake and tsunami. It is very calm - but of course, as he said, the city had closed the storm doors to protect against waves!

<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/izu-marine-harbor-after-quake.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/izu-marine-harbor-after-quake-300x222.jpg" alt="" title="izu-marine-harbor-after-quake" width="300" height="222" /></a>

The bigger worry now is the overheating reactors at two nuclear power plants; again, neither is near our home base. However, our city is, indeed, scheduled for rolling blackouts in three-hour periods twice daily

I, however, was very, very far removed from the danger and inconvenience, as I have been snow and ice bound in Montreal since October...

Oddly enough, even with the earthquakes, tsunami, malfunctioning nuclear power plants, and rolling blackouts,  I miss my Japan life....

Everyone by now has seen on the news the extensive damage caused by the massive earthquake that hit Japan on Friday afternoon (March 11th, 2011). Reports now say that the death toll just in Miyagi may exceed 10,000 people.  Thankfully for us, though, our area and the region where most of our friends live, was not badly affected and nobody we know has been hurt.
Here is a photo that Brian took of the Numazu Harbor after the earthquake and tsunami. It is very calm - but of course, as he said, the city had closed the storm doors to protect against waves!
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/izu-marine-harbor-after-quake.jpg"><img src="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8641912/uploads/2011/03/izu-marine-harbor-after-quake-300x222.jpg" alt="" title="izu-marine-harbor-after-quake" width="300" height="222" /></a>
The bigger worry now is the overheating reactors at two nuclear power plants; again, neither is near our home base. However, our city is, indeed, scheduled for rolling blackouts in three-hour periods twice daily

I, however, was very, very far removed from the danger and inconvenience, as I have been snow and ice bound in Montreal since October...