Summer ending in the garden

The brutally hot summer seems to have gone for a few days. The heat spell has left some damages in the garden. Cosmos won't come out so flourishingly. I still love those flowers.

Mary gold are out of full bloom as well. They would have shown the beautiful flowers until Oct. I am afraid the heat has damaged them. Some of them have already turned to seeds.  

I have started planting fall vegetables. Welsch onion and radish have been seeded. When grown ripe, they will occupy the main positions in Nabe dish in this fall to winter. Some broccoli and cabbages will be planted as well. Some tomatoes are still cropped.

I have cut the lawn for the 3rd time this summer. I use a 2 cycle engined mower. It is a pretty heavy work. Wondering until when I could go on this chore, I do this heavy work. When finished, however, I found it had deserved sweating with it. Lawn grows even more thick and beautiful. Weeds are suppressed.

Heavy but still full life in summer is reaching the end.

Another financial crunch going on.

Drastic drop in the stock market is going on all around the world. They say the Chinese risk is realized now. No wonder the bubble in China was destined to be ruptured some day. The communist government has tried to control the stock market all in vain. Since there is poor social security there, they should invest to the stock in order to get funds for retirement as I have heard. Of course, minority of the people, extraordinarily rich, may have done that investment as well. It is never a communism country any longer.

Excessive deregulation and quantitative easing seem to make the world economy quite unstable. Over ten times of money than necessary for the substantial economy in the world is instantly moving around the markets as the short investment fund. It is the reality of the money game, which could destroy our lives in the substantial economy.

If the on going change causes credit crunch in the financial system, it won't stop affecting our lives. Isn't it the time for us to stabilize the financial system? No more money game which enriches only very small percentage of people in the world. Giving up the belief in the illusion of endless economic growth, we should set proper regulation in the financial system  Isn't it what we have learned from the crisis in 2007?   

Tokyo Ham Fair 2015

It was Tokyo Ham Fair held at Tokyo Big Site yesterday. I am rather reluctant to go somewhere for social activities. But while I have been at home with routine chores, I felt I should make myself public to the others. It has been months since I went to Tokyo. There were still crowds of people. I felt it was tough for me even to walk straight at train stations etc. My young days when I went around in this big city has clearly been over. I noticed there were conversations in Chinese heard quite often as well.

Quite some people were at the site. They said even more were attending there yesterday.

I haven't visited the booths of ham radio equipment makers etc. It was my intention to see old friends of mine at some club booths.

Atsu JE1TRV was tending at the booth of A1Club, which he had established by himself years ago. It has grown to be a big CW club in Japan now mostly thanks to his eager efforts.

This is the bug key planned by his club and manufactured by GHD. The base is coarsely shaved brass. It is sold in kit to the club members. The finished product plated with chrome was sold at GHD booth at the cost of about 230USD. The club kit was much cheaper than that. A pretty small bug. Stable with the brass base. The weight was pretty big, so that it sent out very slow to medium fast dots. The dots did not sound perfect to me but practically good enough for use in QSO.

At FIST East Asia booth, two young fellows...young among CW operators society...were sitting. Sugi JK7UST, right on the photo, and Taro JR0QWW, left. They were making QSO simulation with another guy at CWops booth showing the text with a decoder. I encouraged them to enjoy QSOs with oversea on CW. It was my honest opinion it had been a bit waste of good conditions to have a regular on air meeting among the members on every Sunday morning. Though imaybe I should not have told that to them, in my view, they need to spend the time for QSO with the states etc at that time in a week. They are still very enthusiastic CW operators already representating the CW world in Japan. At the boot, I have met JQ1BWT who is good at designing circuits and manufacturing devices etc

Across the aisle from the FIST booth, there was the booth of CWops. Aki JL1GEL, right on the photo, has come to say hello to me. I have worked him many times on 40m for the past years. He seemed busy at work, which made him a bit less active than before these days. Another brilliant star in the CW world in Japan. Sorry but the guy on the left is unkown to me.

I talked to one of a couple of guys from the US at Dayton Hamvention booth by Dayton Amateur Radio Assoc. Both of them were explaining about it. They seemed to be here only to attend this event. I should have joined DARA. I was given only some gifts like a ball point pencil etc. Flying from Narita to Chicago and then to Dayton. I would visit there someday.

It was already the time for me to see the old gang and to have lunch together with them. It was the main event for me. Before the JARL booth, all of them except for me have already gathered. They have gathered at this event for the past 3 years. I have missed last time.

From left to right, Hiro JA7WTH, Shun JJ1RZG and JA1AGG whom I met first this time.

From left to right, Taka JA1KIH, Shun, JA1COR another person I met first, JA1AGG and me.

We met at noon and, while having lunch, beer and coffee, went on talking for 5 hours! What have we talked about? I wonder if we have had so many topics to discuss for that long time. Yes, we have. About good old days. Equipments, old and new. Taka told us he was interested in the new SDR gear from Icom, IC7300, making debut at this event. Old friends and visitiors to our country from abroad. Old famous hams. DXing. There have been a gradation of interest in that field of activity. Some are still enjoying it while the others have graduated from it, "an evil road" as they say.

It was a remarkable point that Hiro, Shun and I had worked as pediatiricians, even though it was only me who already retired. Shun told me he was just diagnosing the kids and scarcely prescribing medicine. I agreed with him in that way of practice. Most illnesses with children are etiologically viral and won't require any medicine except for some like flu or herpes viruses. We have also had the same opinion quite some patients have rhinitis/sinusitis which requires some management, especially for toddler cases. It deteriorates the quality of life for those small children. This important finding has been ignored or neglected in the medical school and/or academic society. It was a small medical convention as well! It is amazing he was still doing with his practice at age 78 years. It was impressive to me he would retire when he won't care for those children.

We have mostly spent the time at a cafe outdoor. Comfortalbe breeze was blowing across the area. When sun was starting to set, we decided to finish it. Promising seeing next summer again, we aprted at the station.  

On the way to Tokyo station, where we took the train bound forTochigi and Miyagi, respectively, I talked to Hiro a lot. He got the ham licence in his thirties. But it was at the age of 71 years, 3 years ago, when he started working on CW. I have worked him on that mode from time to time. I have noticed of his steady progress especially in reception. As a pediatrician, he might have had good background in English. But his effort to learn CW reception has been really excellent featuring iPad etc. He has recorded QSOs on CW of others received in the US through the internet and has repeatedly practising copying them by head. I told him to write a paper regarding his way of training. It might be valuable since he was not very young when he started the training and he has concentrated on head copy. In 3 hours since we parted at a station, we ran across on 40m! He told me he had been a bit tired but was still feeling good after meeting with us. What a great CW operator!

Tony CA2LQA

I have had dozens of QSOs with Tony CA2LQA. Early in the evening, he always gives me a call on 40m. Owing to language barrier, we could hardly communicate each other. Through slow and staggering conversation with him, I knew he had come from Spain to Chile. It was difficult for him to get a licence there. Finally, he got this call sign a few years ago and has been active on the radio with an old equipment and a side swiper.

This evening, while working with him on 40m as usual, I surfed into a web site which he introduced as his own site in his QRZ. com page. What came into my eyes were his paintings. Warm touched paintings. It surely reflects his warm hearted vision and attitude toward the objects. I was really fascinated with his works. He answered yes to my inquiry if he he had been a painter. Just take a look to them.

 http://maciaslunapintura.blogspot.com

Ham radio gives me such a treasury meeting with someone of talent in art or unique life etc. Even though such a chance is not so many at all, I still feel I won't quit ham radio. 

Epistemology of classical music

At night, before going to sleep, I always listen to some pieces of classical music. Mostly, chamber musics. They soothe my mind and let me travel to the land of dream. I say no thanks to any stimulative musics like symphony. Mozart's string quartets occupy a position in the repertoire for the music of "for sleepless nights". 

I find myself more attracted by the early works than the late ones by Mozart. It might be simply because of the heavenly beautiful tunes in the former ones. At certain age, we may become fond of simpler musics than complicated ones. 

Music is an art of the moment. The tune won't stay long but is with us only for the moment we listen to it. It is the characteristics of music different from the other arts. It requires us to have right perception, understanding and remembering. Classical music with such complicated structures could not be accepted by us without such processes in mind. It may be why classical music is intellectual. 

Getting old may let us understand what is genuinely essential to our lives. Simplicity in Mozart may be most important characteristics of his music from that standpoint. 

Or why I am more fascinated by his simple music in his young days may be because I am getting older and less capable for such epistemological process. When I reached this conclusion, I could not help smiling at myself. It was when I fell asleep in happiness.  

Restarting a nuclear power plant in Kyushyu today is a total fault

It is today when the power company in Kyushu restarts operation of a nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. This is a fault of the power company as well as the government.

The government has repeated that the nuclear power plants will have been tested under the new regulatory requirements by the nuclear regulation authority, which has been told by the government as most strict as a nuclear power plant safety requirement in the world. The government has given up their responsibility for the safety issue of the nuclear power plants. They have left it to the nuclear regulation authority. This organization says they just test the nuclear power plants according to the new regulatory requirements. They won't assure their survey would eliminate the possibility of serious accidents in the future. Once a serious accident occurs at certain plant again, they would say they have not been responsible for the safety but they have done their job only in accordance with the new regulatory requirements.

The regulatory requirements is defective in many points. They say it won't require to have the nuclear power plants equipped with double walled containment vessel. It is to guard it from such as airplane crash into the plant etc. No requirement for the core catcher at the base of containment vessel is another problem. It is fo lead the nuclear debris due to melt down of the nuclear reactor into the base of the vessel, where it could be cooled down. These requirements are standard in the new type nuclear power plants in Europe. It seems they have omitted such requirements because it would be too costly to apply for the mostly old plants in Japan.

The regulatory requirements won't concern about emergency evacuation of the people in the area around the nuclear power plant at the crisis of serious accident. They leave it to the local government. Actually, the local government established a plan of evacuation for only limited area around the plant. How would the patients in hospitals or nursing facilities be handled? Dozens of patients with serious illnesses left without proper treatment have been killed in Fukushima. They haven't learned anything from this experience.  

This regulatory requirements could never be perfect since the cause of the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima has not been elucidated yet. One example is that there are still arguments as for how the hydrogen explosion has occurred etc. Only when they know how the accident has happened, they could establish the requirements if it is necessary.

Apart from this requirements issues, there is the problem of governance at serious accident. The top down governance by a person, who used to be the head of the plant, has not seemingly worked well at the accident in Fukushima. The former head of the plant has been away from operation of the plant or from the risk management for serious accident. It might sound like a saying when we know the result. But it has been a system error. The system to deal with any serious accident remains the same at each power company. It seems a remnant of safety myth of nuclear power plants or they are too lazy to consider of the system dealing with serious accident.

Again, I would say it is a serious fault that they are starting the nuclear power plant again today.  

Indian lilac coming out

 

The indian lilac beside the gate is coming out now. This is the sign of mid summer here. Again, these trees were planted by my father a couple of decades ago. I wonder if he has imagined what I feel watching the flowers. Corn was hrvested. I have boiled it in a pressure cooker as father used to do. Boiled corn has been brought on the table by my father every morning. 

 

 

In several weeks, cool breeze may come on here, telling us it is the early fall starting. I am sure my parents have felt the season in the same way. A chain of lives goes on.

 

 

 

 

Beef and tomato

Plenty tomatoes have been harvested. I wondered for what recipe I could use them. Beef, tomatoe, eringi mushroom and lettuce. The seasoning is a secret haha. Pretty good.