Taiwan High Speed Rail

I heard the radio said that the Taiwan High Speed Rail would be opened at Jan 5, 2007. Its web page to which I couldn't reach after the last earthquake seems to be recovered now. I will use it at the next visit.

Party

Today is the last weekday of this year. I had a lot of remaining job. However, I have had to join the blah blah after-prom party, or something like that. I'm not good at enjoying such a party. My tactics at the party is to keep a position in the hall and just talk with few bosom friend. I succeeded it today.

Stolen valve cover

I've seemed to be stolen presta valve covers on my bicycle without realizing it. I'm really disgusted, though it doesn't affect a daily riding. I wish there would be comeuppance for the pincher.

By the way, I have a year-end party with ex-colleagues last night. We enjoyed Korean food. I wish I could work with them again.

Taiwan earthquake

I'm surprised with the news of the earthquake striking Taiwan.

I think people lives in the Pacific-rim (including myself) takes the earthquake for granted because there are so many earthquakes. But this time, the earthquake seems to have struk several undersea fiber-optic cables. It causes the Internet communication to be disrupted. In fact, "Taiwan's internet capacity has dropped to 40%". For many people lived in the area, this disruption might be more serious than the thread of a tsunami itself. If the information cut off, there's no way to provide for a tsunami.

I've traveled around Taiwan just days ago. I love Taiwan. I hope the early recovery. And I'm afraid the earthquake influences on the oft-delayed opening of the Taiwan High Speed Rail.

Weight of the AA battery

I learned that one AA battery weighs 25g.

Scent

My correague cares her scent. She's said by his husband that she smells nonenal when she eat garlic. I thought it cannot be from a chemical standpoint. But she suspect my words.

Storm and Digestive upset

It storms outside. And I have a digestive upset. I'm going to sleep right now...

SACD

I've not recognized that the Nodame Cantabille came to the last episode today. I'm gonna miss it from next week.
The last episode was closed with the Beethoven's Symphony No.7. I've remembered that I have a disk of No.7 which Carlos Kleiber conducted (tower record), though I've never listen to that on my CD player (Sony CDP-555ES). So, I sat it on the player, but the player didn't begin to read the disk. It seems that the disk requirs a SACD player. That's strange. The disk is a hybrid SACD and should be available on the normal CD player.

Cha

The reason we've been visiting Taiwan often is to purchase the cha. "Cha" is the tea which especcially made in China (and Japan). It's perfectly different from the tea sipped in Wenstern. Cha is more flavouful and sweet without sugar.

We love Taiwanese cha. Ping-ling, where is a majour production area of Taiwanese tea located near Taipei, produces the cha we like best. Ping-ling's cha is called "When-Shan Baochung". It is half fermented, so it remains flesh but isn't harsh.



Although Ping-ling is so small town, there are a lot of tea shops. They were holding a festival when we visited. Our favourite shop seemed to have got the second prize in the competition. We tasted his cha and couldn't resist to buy it.



Ping-ling has a musium on the Taiwanese cha. We went to the musium at the first time, because it was closed at our previous visit. It's unexpectedly beneficial and enlightened.

Collision

Today, I went to the DVD shop. I was looking for a title, then found the last one, and reached my hand out for the title. At the moment, someone else grabed the disk and brought it to the cashier. Unbelievable! Though it was not recently that the title was released, it seems to be still popular.

Discarding books

I've been ordered by the boss to clean up my desk. I am a book editor, so my desk was fill with many books. I hegitate to discard books. I feel a little sence of sin in discarding books. But the feeling doesn's justify selling these to the used bookstore, because All The Book Are Belong To The Company.

I'm afraid that there are a lot of Engrish in this blog.

Editor and Teacher

I confess that I hate elementary school teacher. They've depressed me when I was a child. Even more, many japanese teachers in the elementary school were seemed to be leftwing. Since I was a kind of a 'strange' student for them, they sometimes managed to correct my behavior at the convinience of them. However, It's not like I care for now.

I think lately the book editors are similar to the teachers in elementary school, in a way that both should't eager for claiming their own point. They can show pupils something plausible explanations, and pupils have no way to dought their explanations. Both the editor and the teacher are not the author of the subject which they announce. All they announce cannot be true.

The editor and the teacher should act as a mirror or a lens. Or, they should give up to explain the subject to mere outsider, and become an author of the subject they want to claim. Don't pretend as if they are an author when they show the outsider the subject.

Revenant of old acquaintance

I got a message from the post office that they delived a package during my absence. I confused the name of the sender with my old acquaintance. But, it was my colleague's maiden name. I was so surprised.

Frustrated

It's hard to work after the vacation. I had a conference in the morning, and another sudden conference in the afternoon. And mail, mail, mail... Then I joined the year end party held around the department I belong, ate Chinese, and came back home right now.

I think I'm wasting my time with something skewed business. This feeling makes me frustrated. In fact, I must be rude lately. Is anyone wounded by my behavior? I'm so sorry.

Taiwan

I've visited Taiwan these four days. Luckily, I could come back aboard the buisiness class, because the economy class was occupied. The advantage of the buisiness class is not only its comfortable seats but the less waiting time. The airlines let the buisiness class and first class person pass through first. As a result, they need not wait on the immigration counter at the airport. And, even more, their luggages push out to the buggage claim earlier than the other's whom don't pay much.

I will touch on this travel someday soon.

Plaque

I consult a dentist once a month. This month, it was today. The dentist told me that I have to brush my teeth more carefully. I've meant to brush well. How could I brush the dental plaque perfectly?

XML to LaTeX converter

I use a Scheme script that I've written last year to convert the XML-like text into the LaTeX text. Now it becomes to expose the poor design. Especially, there is a lot of complexity in adding the alternative conversion rules. I hardly remember the detail of the script. If I hadn't prepare some abstract functions, I couldn't touch up it for the other project at all. However, I should rewrite it.

Ill search

I cannot stand Google Japan lately. Google Japan seems to put a smattering glossary page above than the reliable source of information. And what is more, it doesn't return rfc-editor.org or ietf.org for the query of "rfc". Doesn't any japanese except me need ietf.org when he searchs "rfc"?

Divident and Plyer

I got a capital divident today, and spent it on a plyer that I've wanted. KNIPEX, of course. I love the german tools.

By the way, today's "Nodame canterbile" features the "L'isle Joyeuse" composed by Debussy. I have two disks containing the tune. One is Jacques Rouvier and the other is Paul Crossley. I prefer Rouvier's "Images" on another disk, but his "L'isle Joyeuse" is felt a little bit glittery. Crossley's "L'isle Joyeuse", however, is felt unspectacular. I want to listen Maurizio Pollini's recording.

Garage sale

Do you know a jeans brand putting Brad Pitt in its TV spot? You may not know the answer, and even just haven't hear the name. It's "EDWIN", a japanese leading denim company. Though I know that the jeans is originated in United States, I think EDWIN's products are well sewed and have good figure. I love EDWIN's jeans.

EDWIN has its head office in Arakawa-ku, near the home of my own. It helds the remnant sale for local residents in its garage twice a year, and it was this weekend. I have anticipated it. Yesterday, I went to the garage at an early hour with my wife. We got three jeans, three shirts and a bag for just the price of one jeans. Shopping is fun, isn's it?

Stomatitis

I'm suffering a terrible stomatitis. Or, is this called a mouth ulcer? Ether way, it's so painful and burns even when I'm sipping coffee. I'm afraid as if it never clears up.

Lunch

I've promised to go out for today's lunch with women at work. But I failed to meet with them at the restaurant. If I had no trouble with the mobile phone, I could meet them.
Fortunately, I ran into a woman working below stair, and went for lunch with her.

call/cc

I forget the comprehension about call/cc right away. Today, I was little confused in call/cc so that I couldn't implement amb.
I thought it's my understangdings that likely to call/cc itself. I study aiming at something, and I soon get it, then I forget everything along the wayto it. For me, aiming represents call/cc.

Battery cover

I've losted a battery cover of the mobile phone. My boss gave me a same phone which he doesn't use lately. I have to bring it to the shop and have them replace my phone with it. I'm afraid that the shop staffs tend to be too lazy to deal with such a troublesome case. Before then, I have no time to go to the shop...

Euphoria

I've been feeling something happy today. This kind of euphoria strikes me a few days in an year. Does this feeling relate to the overslept in yesterday? Or the TV drama I'm anticipating?

Overslept

I woke at two o'clock. I've never overslept so long. Half a day was stolen. And what is worse, I'm getting a headache. I cannot write farther...

Visiting father's grave

It's so fine today. I visited my father's grave. I approached to the cemetery by the train carrying my bicycle, and returned homeward by it. It took about 80km ride.



I pedaled along Asakawa river and Tamagawa river. The riverside is full of nature.





My old friend lives near Tamagawa river, so I dropped in his house. He's gotten to have a cute rabbit for a pet.

Fridays

This week was so long that I half expected the day must be Friday for everyday. (Is this sentence comprehensible??) My colleague said that she also has had such a feeling. She said this feeling would be related with a cutback suddenly announced at this Tuesday. She has a point.