Dedication...

Let me know if you ever see a train station employee vacuuming the tiles at the station near you. 

Some places just do things better. 

Landslide...

Below is the culprit behind the Tokkaido Line getting shut down. Watching the images on TV, I couldn't really tell how big of a landslide it was. But with the construction trucks here as scale, I understand why this might take a month or two or three to clean up. And that's before mentioning rebuilding that retaining wall.

I spent yesterday devising various plans of feasibility for getting to work. Some of the plans were so ludicrous I might as well have said I would just run a marathon to and from work every day. However, in the end, the train company said they would honor the commuter passes they had sold before the landslide, and allow those passengers with the passes to ride the faster shinkansen bullet trains for no added charge. Problem solved.

Out of order 2...

Whatever I said about inclement weather in the recent past I take back. There were landslides in my area causing the main train line (the essential artery to life) to be shut down indefinitely. Even the road near the train line was affected. The only way people can commute from one side to the other is by toll roads or bullet train. I live in the big city and commute out. The poor folks going the opposite way got to face this line today at the bullet train stop. (And that's on top of paying the bullet train fee.)

Honestly, I think I'd just call my boss/teacher/loved one and tell them I'm going to be 3 hours late and go enjoy breakfast somewhere until the line dissipated.

Out of order...

Some people aren't big fans of inclement weather. But don't count me among them. I'm just a lazy guy who appreciates the day off of work.  

The trains don't run during typhoons.

Green in gray...

There's not much green in suburban Japan, at least not within the housing areas, anyway. But the people in every town I've ever been usually try to add what color they can in the ubiquitous gray.

Maybe you think it doesn't make much aesthetic difference, but I like knowing that people try. 

We shouldn't just let things go.

Ramen...

There was a ramen festival in town. I like ramen. Ramen is bad for you, especially the ones I had. I say "ones" because I went both days.  The first ramen had broth like gravy and the egg yolk helped that gravy cling to the al dente noodles. Both bowls probably shortened my life by about three days. 

No matter. 

I'd do it again in a ramen-infused heartbeat.