Re: [tlug] Thoughts and prayers from America

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephenjturnbull@example.com>]

On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 10:20 PM, CL <az.4tlug@example.com> wrote:

> 20:00~21:00 when we were eating dinner. We were without portable phone
> service Saturday and Sunday

You're still without real portable phone service, I bet.  Although
I had 3 bars almost everywhere I went for the last few days, the
only reliable service AU provides is CMail forwarding ... even
that doesn't usually go through on the first try.  I did receive a
call from New Zealand this afternoon (from Otago, where they
felt the Christchurch quake.

> moving around in cleared out spaces. They're predicting another 7.0 will
> strike within 2~3 days, so none of us are too comfortable.

I dunno.  That strikes me as containing a large dollop of CYA.
Anyway, we can hope.
> I got to witness the first tsunami to hit Oarai's Golden Beach ... 5
> meters high, traveling 800kph

I believe the 5 meters high, but 800 kph sounds like something of
an exaggeration.  That much water traveling at 225m/sec would go
right through, or at least up and over, a 30m bluff.

> barely perceptible since.  The dog (16kg of half Shiba-half Husky) is a
> nervous wreck who howls every time the floor shakes and the cats are
> obviously pissed off by his noise.

Yeah, I feel for the dogs.  For some reason cats aren't as affected,
but dogs are way worse than children even.

> Ummm ... got a motorcycle license, experience riding enduro, woods, or
> desert, (or Alpine / green lane in the UK or Europe) and have an
> off-road bike in Japan?

Now *that* is a great idea!  It would be nice if you could find
some ex-bosozoku nurses too. :-)

And if you're *not* an ex-bosozoku yourself, write your gi-in (if you
have the right to do so) and demand that they give precedence
to emergency workers in buying gasoline.  Tsukuba has no public
transport worth spitting at, so people will wait in line for 4 hours
to get gasoline.  (I'm a gaijin, not a person.  I'm getting my car
shaken'ed, not sitting in it in a line. :-)  But that's insane for people
who can actually contribute something to this crisis.

> Ibaraki Kenkei Honbu is grateful for the offers but there is a
> certain amount of hand-wringing over liability issues.

I wish I could blame them. :-(  I'm a little ashamed of the way
Tsukuba apparently has been taken off the rolling blackout list
because Ibaraki is willing to accept out-of-prefecture refugees.
(No hard information yet, but apparently that was part of the
deal according to rumor.)  Sure, the coastal towns, and couple
places really hard-hit by the quakes should be exempted, but
those of us who simply are lacking 24-hour water supply (nobody
is taking showers or baths, I guess, so this is hardly civilized, but
it isn't life-threatening, either -- except my daughter's socks,
but then they were a biohazard before the quake).

> I've seen some recommended NGOs on other lists, but I've never heard of
> them ... and I'm always suspicious of groups I have never heard of even
> more than the ones who advertise once an hour on TV.

Yeah, well, it's hard to beat the Red Cross.  Let's just hope the
IMF and World Bank don't come sniffing around, though!

I'm of two minds about donations.  After watching the news
occasionally for the last couple of days, I'm confirmed in my
opinion <caveat>which is neither expert nor truly well-informed
</caveat> that as far as what the world is seeing, you really need
military grade equipment and training even to get to where help
is needed.  Probably medical personnel (speaking generally, ie,
including trained kaigo workers) would be helpful, but ordinary
"able-bodied volunteers" are mostly just going to be a burden on
food and shelter resources.  Also, for the people victims enough
to be still working, the real question is the long run: where are they
going to live?  What jobs can they get?  A very large number of
people have no *home* to go home to any more, and many others
live in towns that have been economically decimated by the
tsunami.  I hate to say it, but the government seems to be as good
a place to donate as any, looking at the long run.

For areas like Ibaraki coast where the tsunami was "only" 1.5
stories high (traveling at 800kph ;-), though, I guess there's
probably a lot of bale-totin' that could be done.  If there's gas
to get the supplies to the trailhead....