Marinerds, etc.

Sorry for lack of posts here. I've been doing stuff but didn't know if I should just write stuff here even if it's not coherent. Let me at least start by saying that yes, the bigger earthquakes are kind of scary when they happen although it's rather infrequent, and people are concerned about radiation although I don't think it's really THAT bad, and the power problem has been a little weird although I myself have not experienced any blackouts. But overall I have been enjoying my trip to Japan quite a lot. Getting to see my JHS kids graduate was worth the entire trouble of coming here; everything else is just gravy. I'm currently planning to try to stay until April 11 or 12.

Baseball in general here has been kind of annoying in that a lot of games have been cancelled, so my usual way of doing things has been changed quite a bit. I was most devastated when the Big 6 league cancelled their industrial league 3-day tourney. As of right now, opening day for the Central League should be Mar 29, Pacific League on April 12, and minor-league games are already going on, probably because they don't use a lot of power. I still believe that the NPB should be doing their best to hold games and collect donations for the earthquake. One of the worst things about this time is that a lot of businesses are closed and/or cutting down due to power, which means a LOT of people are out of work. I know a lot of people depend on baseball games for their part-time jobs, so I worry that the lack of games is yet another economic hit here.

Anyway, I went to the Yakyu Inari shrine on Saturday and to a Seibu-Baystars ni-gun game on Sunday. I'm heading to Osaka today for Days 2-4 of Senbatsu. If you read this blog and live in Osaka drop me a line :) I'll also be coming back to Tokyo through Nagoya.

Maybe I'll try to put up some photos tonight if I have time while hanging out in Osaka.

Again, I apologize. You know, I'm coming up on 6 years of this blog, and it's clear I've gotten kind of burned out on it.