P -- Because All of My Posts This Month Start with the Letter P

36 is 96.8? 37 is 98.6?

Hot is hot.

We got that air conditioner, and probably got it at the right time. Last night, we slept in the "TV room," as we call it -- for it is the room with the TV, and now the air conditioner. My son called it camping out.

On the weather, this area is the worst. Seriously, if you look at a weather map of Japan, who's hot?

We are.

Listen to the lime-tinted guy.

Pros and Air Cons

I've spent 3/4 of my time here in Japan -- nine summers -- living without an air conditioner. Seven of those years have been in this very house -- which I refer to as Showa-Mura, or the 'Showa Era (1926-1989) village'. It was, for the most part, a simpler time, when air conditioners were uncommon in homes -- at least, so say the images of that time. Not having an air conditioner today is like not owning a TV.

The three years we did have an air conditioner were the first three years of my son's life. It seemed to make sense then: New infant. New apartment. New air conditioner.

So, we're looking into finally getting one for this house. You shouldn't, I think, have to keep your computer cool by propping it on books, with an ice pack melting underneath and a fan blowing in the background.

Yet, I always took some small pride in not relying on an air conditioner. Hot and humid weather that makes you sweat while you're just sitting on the floor? No problem. Also, maybe I wasn't contributing to global warming, like feeble people who need to condition their air, use more electricity, and release more CO2.

Actually, on that last point, I didn't know anything. So I thought I'd look it up: Does air conditioner use affect global warming? Mr. Google?

I found this highlight (I'm not a member of the American Geophysical Union) of a 2006 article titled and concluding as follows:

Because of increased air conditioning needs, carbon emissions will increase as climate changes

***

As a whole, increases in carbon emissions from higher air conditioning needs more than offset decreases in carbon emissions from reduced heating needs.

So, while you may not need to heat your home as much in the winter, you're going to need to cool your home more in the summer. And that's more carbon in the air. Just thought I would share that, and this:

Global average surface temperatures increased on average by about 0.6°C over the period 1956--2006.

No wonder people are nostalgic for the Showa Era. It was a cooler time.

Pen-Mawashi

Now that I've got this down, I suppose I can get around to finishing my PhD.

Picture Stories

To anyone who has a YouTube account and some free time (that's redundant, I guess; if you have a YouTube account, you have free time):

Check out some of my students' picture stories. Also, please rate and comment on them if so inspired.

Thank you.

PR

Anthony Bianchi speaking about us. If the direct link doesn't work go here and look into 標準学力検査の結果とＮＥＴプログラムについて.

If Japanese isn't your thing, never mind. In sum, we rock. (I mentioned earlier the test scores.) And we are thankful for his support.

Patriotism as a Burden

I've been thinking about patriotism of late, like most people who are following the US presidential campaigns, or looking forward to the upcoming Olympics. When I think of patriotism, I think love of country -- which further confuses the issue as love is a loaded word.

Cynic: I love you is a gun pointed at the head, and it means you'd better love me back or else. That gun could be pointing at either person's head.
Idealist: I love you is unconditional faith in the other.
Cynic: America, right or wrong, right? I am not a person of faith, but I am a faithful person.
Idealist: I'll just take your word for that.

In the case of loving my country -- the United States of America -- nah, I don't believe I ever have. Not well enough, at least. I cannot say I love the USA. I love the ideals of the USA: liberty, equality, democracy, and all that. But I have an adopted country in Japan, clearly. I chose to leave the States. (Love it or leave it, right?)

Do I love Japan? I'm not talking about little cultural things -- like sushi or baths or TV programming -- but do I love Japan as a country? Now I'm starting to wonder: Is it possible to love a country? A territory? A nation? Or more importantly, what does that mean? And I'm going back to "right or wrong, love the country."

I suppose that is what we do with our loved ones. Right or wrong, I love my son. Right or wrong, I love my wife. I stand by them. I support them. I help them. I defend them. At least, until the domestic violence charges and that ugly divorce, and my kid going off and killing eight innocent people in a sadistic train station rampage...

Somehow it was all my fault. I ignored them. I didn't step up. I was complacent. I neglected my responsibility. I didn't bear the burden.

Alien Abduction

Last week, Tuesday, I went to the hospital for another CT scan -- to get some photos taken, see how things are progressing. But unlike the first time, I wasn't given an IV drip to administer the contrast fluid. That takes nearly 10 minutes. No. I lied on the table, the table moved me back through the donut, and I was hyper x-rayed. Then, before we had a second run at it, "they" wanted to inject some fluid in me.

"They" told me it would hurt. And it did. It hurt getting stuck in the back of the hand with a needle. After that, the hyper-injection blew in to me: like thousands of nanobots flowing up under the skin of the arm. In under a minute, a drug flooding my body, I'm ready for a second scan.

"They" said I might come to feel sick. "They" asked if I was feeling sick. "They" asked that I tell them if I do feel sick. I wondered, do people usually feel sick? All of this talk about people feeling sick is making me sick. But, no, I'm fine. Or perhaps, I'm not fine -- as I don't get sick.

***

So, today, I went back in to talk about the results. The cabbie driving me from the station rattled off "thank you" in a dozen or so languages -- literally, from French to Tagalog. Initially, he thought I was Brazilian, and started off by saying, In the language of your home country, Portuguese, obrigado means thank you.

At the hospital, I got a blood test, as usual, and after waiting for hell to freeze over, met with my cardiologist, Dr. Tomari. The new images from last week reveal I have no blood clot.

Wham! Off the meds.
Bam! Don't need to visit once a month like I have been doing for the past eight.
Thank you, ma'am! Call us if something comes up.

With more questions than answers, I was happy to leave.