2012 Picture of the Week (26/52) – Early summer beach

This picture marks the halfway point in the year. And that means it’s early summer! We went down to the beach from Tsujido in Fujisawa, as it was a beautiful day. Since it’s still rainy season, the beach had very few people. Only surfers, bodyboarders, and joggers were around. Of course, some people just went to see the beach. There are no swimmers yet, as the lifeguards aren’t working and the beach houses aren’t finished. But in a couple of weeks, the beaches all along Bay will be packed for kilometers. In this picture, you can see a couple of kids enjoying the beach.

Great day at the beach!

2012 Picture of the Week (25/52) – Typhoon Guchol

Typhoon number 4, or Guchol, hit Japan a few hours ago as a tropical storm.  It was earlier a super typhoon that passed by the Philippines.  While it wasn’t a direct hit to the Kanto region, it did dump a lot of rain here.  Last September, I got stuck at work during a typhoon, as the trains weren’t running.  This time, the train was running.  During my ride home, the train had to stop at one station before continuing on on an elevated rail.  While the train was several metres above the ground, the wind shook the train and even caused the windows to flex inward.  I couldn’t believe it.  I finally reached Shonandai, but was faced with a problem.  The line for the bus was incredibly long.  There were no taxis and a long line to take one.  I took shelter in one of the train station entrances while waiting for the bus to come.  That’s when I took this picture.

This picture doesn’t do the typhoon justice. It was incredibly windy with very heavy rain.

I was able to get on the second bus, which ended up being so full that many more people waiting in line couldn’t get on.  It’s difficult to stand on a bus that full.  I had no way of moving.  When it reached my bus stop, I had to push my way through all the people in front of me.  Some seemed quite annoyed, but there was someone behind me also pushing.  I quickly ran to my apartment, where I assessed the damage.  My legs, shoes and bag were soaked.  I took out anything important from my bag and hung my pants up to dry.  Not sure what to do about my shoes.  They won’t be dry enough by the time I go to work tomorrow.

This typhoon is quite unusual.  It was a very powerful typhoon, but what was unusual was the timing.  It’s only June, and we’ve already had our first typhoon.  Unbelievably, there’s a second typhoon headed toward Japan, and we’ll get wet again on Friday.

2012 Picture of the Week (24/52) – Red dragonfly

On Friday, my wife and I went walking around Shonan Lifetown, which isn’t very far from where we live, and we went to some parks.  In one park, we saw a very interesting insect.  I’ve seen plenty of dragonflies, but never a red one before.  Take a look.

Ready for takeoff!

BSOD

Last night, I decided to get out my old computer, which has all of my photos from before 2009.  There are a couple thousand pictures on that laptop, including those from my climb of Mt. Fuji, Oyama, and Takaosan, as well as from Odawara, Atami, lots from Kamakura, Yokohama, and Tokyo.  And then there’s the early train station neighbourhood exploration.  Well, the computer started up okay, and I went into the folders for the photos.  I was planning to transfer them all to my current computer.  However, as I was checking something about memory, I got a BSOD, a Blue Screen of Death.  What happened?  I’ve had BSODs before from using too much memory, but this was different.  This time, \WINDOWS\system32\config\SYSTEM is corrupt.  To fix it, I could use a Windows XP CD, which my computer didn’t come with.  I don’t have one.  The other option is to pull out my hard drive and use it as an external drive.  I think that’s what I’m going to have to do to save my photos.  Hopefully, it’ll be successful.  I don’t know when I’ll be doing it, though.  This is just very frustrating.

2012 Picture of the Week (23/52) – Swallow’s nest

At this time of year, swallows are nesting under overhangs and raising their chicks. Many stores will place umbrellas under the nests to catch their droppings. They aren’t considered a nuisance. They’re a welcome sight in spring, and many people like to take their picture. This picture is a bit dark and grainy, unfortunately. I had to zoom in and it wasn’t very bright where the nest is.

The swallows nested next to a restaurant by the train station. It was feeding the chicks at this time.

What is an advanced society?

Over on my writing/book blog, I Read Encyclopedias for Fun, I wrote about advanced societies using Japan and Canada as examples.  I made a few comments about how I felt neither one is advanced or mature.  Go on over and read about it!