Friday, April 1, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and pieces of Central Market pizza for dinner. An owl rested on the board attached to the ceiling of the covered patio of my house during the daytime.
Today's maximum temperature is 92 degrees F (33.3 degrees C).
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Got up at nine forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner. An owl rested on the covered patio of my house today too.
Since last spring, because of proper treatment, three Red Robin Photinia trees in the front yard of my house have been gradually recovering from the disease due to some chemical substances.
Today's maximum temperature is 86 degrees F (30 degrees C).
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch. Went out shopping at a grocery store this afternoon. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Indeed, the fields of the experimental sciences are full of dangers from hazardous substances and radiation, and those of health care are also full of dangers from disease germs. Experimental scientists and medical doctors are supposed to be well protected there. Desirably, it's always true.
Today's maximum temperature is 86 degrees F (30 degrees C).
Monday, April 4, 2011
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
The thunderstorm this morning brought slight relief from the recent drought. Today's maximum temperature is 74 degrees F (23.3 degrees C).
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 78 degrees F (25.6 degrees C).
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 87 degrees F (30.6 degrees C).
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 83 degrees F (28.3 degrees C).
Friday, April 8, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and pieces of Archer Farms' pizza for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 94 degrees F (34.4 degrees C).
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch. Went out shopping at a grocery store this afternoon. Ate a Japanese meal for dinner.
Around eleven p.m. this evening, a sheriff patrol car parked right across the entry of a house in the neighborhood, and three other sheriff patrol cars, which were probably backups for an emergency, also parked close by it. It's quite unusual for us to see a case near here because this is believed to be a safe neighborhood. Probably, there was either a husband-and-wife quarrel or some domestic incident that happened in my neighborhood. Either a husband or a wife may have been taken to a sheriff's office.
Today's maximum temperature is 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Monday, April 11, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
In order to terrify insensible people into doing what it wants, on most occasions, a gang attempts to let them notice the fact that it has been terrifying them, without giving any hard evidence, as its familiar ploy. Usually, it shouldn't be so difficult to see who the gangsters are, what the gangsters really want, and why the gangsters are doping in this period of time because the gangsters want them to know.
Probably, one of the gangs discloses its real intention, by saying that it's too early for everybody. A gang may also add two more comments like the following. Let us still continue to gain profit out of the old stuff. Don't make a giant panda ferocious any further by feeding enormous amounts of two kinds of elements to it. Another gang may say that it's too early for you. Hopefully, making the practices of mutual understanding through clear and accurate communication should help reduce the number of wicked acts and their unnecessary victims. Different from the gang's expectation, this time, there is no fatality caused by the newer stuff directly so far.
Today's maximum temperature is 86 degrees F (30 degrees C).
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese one-pot meal for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
A Soviet Russian cosmonaut Mr. Gagarin made the first manned space flight in 1961. Unfortunately, he passed away from a sudden accident during a training flight at the age of 34 in 1968. Only eight years after the first human travel into space, in 1969, it was announced that NASA's Apollo program brought American astronauts to the surface of the Moon. Twenty-five years after the first launch of Vostok, in 1986, Soviet Russia launched the space station Mir, which was designed for human habitation, in orbit around the earth.
The American-Soviet competitions in various areas including space development were fought with fierce desperation during the so-called Cold War era. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the development of space made remarkable progress, as well known. However, its pace was significantly slowed down, as the Cold War ended in 1991.
A person who behaves as if a large part of his/her brain might be made up of muscles may say that, in order to revive the zeal for space development, serious competition between nations like the American-Soviet competition during the Cold War is necessary. It shouldn't be forgotten that a kind of incident that might lead the world to the brink of destruction was a very real possibility in those days. It was just a lucky accident that the Cold War was peacefully ended. The words "a nuclear deterrent" are effective only for a pillar of mental strength in a certain circumstance. A stupid, a mad, or a hysteric could push the critical button rather easily depending on circumstances. The words of "a principle of competition" shouldn't take on a life of its own, especially in international relations. People may be entertained by watching some harmless international competitions such as sports, if they want. Controlled competitions between multinational corporations are beneficial in terms of the economy, needless to say.
Instead, international cooperation in various fields including space development is necessary. Here, my words about international cooperation don't necessarily mean the sharing of technologies but the division of roles.
Today's maximum temperature is 86 degrees F (30 degrees C).
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 86 degrees F (30 degrees C).
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. In the early morning, some road maintenance men came to put some coal tar into cracks in the nearby roads. These patches look like the sprayed graffiti on the road. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 87 degrees F (30.6 degrees C).
Friday, April 15, 2011
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and pieces of Central Market pizza for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 85 degrees F (29.4 degrees C).
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese-Western meal for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 84 degrees F (28.9 degrees C).
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Got up at nine forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
In a store of Whole Foods, two girls were caught for something, probably shoplifting. It seems that things are tough nowadays.
Two girls who were caught doing something criminal today reminded me of the events of the past five years. A pair of strange exotic girls in their late teens suddenly clung to me on a sidewalk of the broad street of Via Dei Fori Imperiali near Trajan's Forum and Markets when I was doing a lot of sightseeing around the Colosseum district in Rome, Italy. I just felt humiliated. They were the pickpockets who picked my pocket while pretending to hug me. There was no way to pull free from their grasps kindly. Probably, brushing away their hands harshly might have led me to a worse situation. Unfortunately, my purse with a small sum of coins was stolen. Immediately after two light-fingered girls ran away with my purse, an unfamiliar Italian woman came nearer to me and muttered to me that they weren't Italians but *****s. Indeed, what she told me really diminished my interest in pursuing them for seconds. Whether she was an accomplice of pickpockets or not was uncertain. Finally, pickpockets took refuge in Trajan's Market. Because my wallet, traveler's checks, and passport were kept in safe custody, however, these articles of value weren't stolen.
The photo below was taken at the Ancient Center against the backdrop of the Roman Forum in Rome about three hours before my purse was stolen in the late afternoon, of November 2006. At that time, my weight was heavier than my present weight by about twenty-five pounds (165 pounds, 6' 1"), and a mustache was grown tentatively. 165 pounds is the heaviest weight I've ever had in my life. My weight reduced to about 143 pounds in 2007 and has been kept nearly unchanged until now. Both my chest and waist also reduced from 42 and 33 inches to 39 and 31 inches by 3 and 2 inches, respectively. Because of its itchiness, my mustache was completely shaved off in the spring of 2007. From that day on, I shave every morning.
Spring storms caused a few hundred tornados and took dozens of lives across several states in the US for the last three days. Today's maximum temperature is 85 degrees F (29.4 degrees C).
Monday, April 18, 2011
Got up at six forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
How to deal with a group of pickpockets better next time is worth thinking about. Basically, what I did last time should be the most appropriate measure. Preparing a few reserve purses may be a good idea.
Needless to say, either giving pickpockets some head butts or throwing them into a nearby ditch isn't a good idea, because it may come under excessive self-defense, especially in the case that pickpockets are girls.
Today's maximum temperature is 95 degrees F (35 degrees C).
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
As written previously, my eyesight had been quite normal until my early high school days. My nearsightedness had gotten worse sharply with having the hobby of reading. In my high school days, I used to use a pair of soft contact lenses, jointly with a pair of silver-rimmed eyeglasses with rectangular lenses. During my early undergraduate school days, a pair of either tortoiseshell-rimmed or black-rimmed eyeglasses with rectangular lenses was usually worn. In my late undergraduate school and graduate school days, and after graduation, a pair of either rimless or semi-rimless eyeglasses with ellipse lenses were used.
The photo below was taken at the Acropolis against the backdrop of the Agora in Athens, Greece in the late summer of 1995 (140 pounds, 6' 1"). The big city of Athens was rather dusty because of its dry climate in summer. Those days, I wore a pair of rimless eyeglasses with very thick ellipse lenses, as seen. Because of my high-degree myopia those days, I had gotten the habit of staring with my eyes half-closed for better vision. Since my eyesight was corrected with a LASIK in 2000, I have gotten the habit of staring with my eyes wide-opened, instead.
Currently, in order to avoid severe eyestrain, a pair of computer glasses with orange-tinted lenses is often used only when seeing a computer monitor. A pair of sunglasses is mostly worn when going out of doors. In other cases, usually, no pair of eyeglasses is necessary.
Unfortunately, however, I may need to purchase a pair of slightly farsighted glasses for close reading in the future.
Today's maximum temperature is 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 91 degrees F (32.8 degrees C).
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
The following photos were taken in Chichen Itza (above) and Tulum (below) Archeological sites near Cancun in Mexico in the winter of 1996. The standards of public safety in the areas for tourists of Mexico in those days were much better than those at the present time. Any suspicious dealer never came up and spoke to me during my travel. That's probably because I have never gotten into even the habit of smoking. In Mexico City, a blackmailer challenged me, but his attempt ended in failure.
The Caribbean is one of the most beautiful seas in the world. The coloration of emerald green shores is splendid. The transparency of seawater near the shore isn't clear enough because of the fineness of the grains of sand. Very wild waves endlessly breaking and receding in the Caribbean shores make the grains of sand powdery. Which type of sea is more preferable, a placid sea like the Aegean or a dynamic sea like the Caribbean is just a matter of taste.
Today's maximum temperature is 91 degrees F (32.8 degrees C).
Friday, April 22, 2011
Today is Earth Day. Got up at seven-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and pieces of Central Market's pizza for dinner.
The photos below were taken in Oahu, Hawaii in the summer of 2002. It was a really hot day to wear either a swallow-tailed coat or a wedding dress for the wedding. The taste of a cocktail glass of "Maitai" on the sailboat of the Maitai gathering glidingly while observing a view of the Pacific Ocean against the Waikiki beach was exceptionally good. Those days, we hadn't yet abstained from drinking.
Today's maximum temperature is 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
My wife and I stayed in the Boston Marriott Cambridge for several days in the early autumn of 2003. That was my second visit to Boston, MA. I attended a conference on Simulation of Semiconductor Processes and Devices (SISPAD) on 3, 4, and 5 September and gave a presentation under the title of "Optimization of Sub-50nm MOSFETs to Mitigate Drive Current Degradation Due to Silicon Recess in S/D" in a ballroom of the same hotel on the last day. During this period of time, my wife saw many sights of the city of Boston.
We enjoyed a whale-watching tour departing from the Boston harbor and a Sunday brunch at the House of Blues Boston on the following weekend. The photos below were taken during those sightseeing spots. Because I was mentally exhausted through overwork those days, I dropped off to sleep in a tourist boat to go back and forth between the harbor and some whale-watching spots. A couple of large humpback whales appeared out at the Atlantic Ocean about an hour away from the harbor and performed some acrobatic feats there. The first and second photos below show its tail fin and head coming up to the surface of the navy blue seawater, respectively.
At the House of Blues, our neighbor at the table happened to be a married American couple from California. A husband professed to have grown up in El Paso, Texas. At least, a wife wasn't a conservative. For some reason or other, from what we heard from them, they don't like Texas. It seems that they urged us to agree with their opinion. However, we didn't, though there were many things that we could tell about.
Today's maximum temperature is 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C).
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Today is Easter. Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch. Went out shopping at a grocery store this afternoon. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
It goes without saying that the Upper Bay in New York City isn't one of the most beautiful bays of clear water in the world. Probably, a night view of Manhattan should be one of the best, though we haven't enjoyed it. The photos below were taken at Liberty Island against the mouse of the Hudson River and the skyscrapers towering over Manhattan, and inside and outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in March 2006. We both have rather swollen faces probably because very freezing weather gripped New York those days.
Today's maximum temperature is 91 degrees F (32.8 degrees C).
Monday, April 25, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
Apparently, the photos below weren't taken in any city in Britain, France, and Italy, but in and near a city in the US in December 2003. The water quality of both the huge artificial fountain of the Bellagio Hotel and the artificial lake of Lake Mead may be good. We enjoyed some entertainment shows and fine cuisines in Las Vegas, but we didn't dabble in gambling there at all. It surprised us to see that some travelers were addicted to gambling at slot machines even at the boarding gates of the Las Vegas airport just before departing for their hometown.
Although I might have sometimes taken some calculated risks, I have never gambled since the middle of the 1990s until now, except for a public lottery. As written before, my wife and I purchased the lottery tickets during a period in 2006 only, for the purpose of an exorcism.
Today's maximum temperature is 92 degrees F (33.3 degrees C). A hot climate sustained for the last month as if spring would have flown very swiftly and summer would have come in the middle of March. It seems that the best arrangement of the rooms in a house combining comfort, luxury, and energy conservation in Texas is a two-story building holding a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, a library, a theater room, a master bedroom, and a master bathroom on the first floor and any other rooms including individual rooms, a game room and a guest room on the second floor, with a smartly subdivided air-conditioning system. The rooms on the first floor and the stairwell should be well-ventilated. A living room and/or a dining room may have two-story height ceilings for the purpose of ventilation and a sense of spaciousness. The presence of the second floor should help ease the heat transmitted from the roof burnt with the direct sunlight. In the daytime of the summer, its residents may satisfy themselves by staying mainly on the first floor and using its individual rooms on the second floor as their personal storerooms. There is concern about the safety of a three-story wooden house or a higher when it's struck by a severe storm or a tornado. Having a basement should add high flexibility in the case that it's built in a non-flooded district, anyway. The basement may be used as a shelter against a blast of wind. This sort of two-story house may be appropriate for a smaller family that doesn't necessarily use its individual rooms frequently during the daytime.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Went out shopping at a grocery store this evening.
Today's maximum temperature is 96 degrees F (35.6 degrees C). The photos below were taken at the Bob Wentz at Windy Point on the shore of Lake Travis in Austin in June 2002 (left) and in South Padre Island, Texas in April 2001 (right). The water quality of Lake Travis is so-so. Austin residents rely on it for drinking water. The recent drought has led to calling on residents to reduce water consumption. During a drought in the spring and the summer, usually, the taste of water degrades to some extent due to the overgrowth of algae, but its degradation isn't usually sensed with an ordinary tongue when the tap water is filtered.
The South Padre Island is a barrier reef near the Mexico border. The beautiful sandy beach of South Padre Island is nearly comparable to that of Miami Beach but isn't matched for Keys, Florida. The beaches of the Sought Padre aren't fully equipped places but are much less crowded. These beaches are suitable for families.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and a Japanese meal for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 88 degrees F (31.1 degrees C). A one-story house holding a living room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a library with two-story height ceilings, and any other rooms including a master bedroom, a master bathroom, individual rooms, a theater room, a game room, and a guest room with standard height ceilings may also offer a comfortable living in Texas. However, this sort of one-story house requires a wider building site than the two-story house explained the day before yesterday, for the given number of rooms in a house. Fastidiousness about a one-story building should narrow the garden area where its residents may plant trees and plants. In the winter, the heating of many of the rooms with high ceilings costs a lot more energy, because the warm air tends to accumulate in the upper part of the room. Maintaining the open spaces in the upper parts of too many rooms may be luxurious but also rather wasteful. Here, having a basement should also add a high flexibility. For a large family that would like to use its individual rooms frequently in the daytime, this sort of one-story house may be more appropriate than the above-mentioned two-story house.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Today's maximum temperature is 84 degrees F (28.9 degrees C). It's a rather comfortable temperature to live without using the air-conditioning system.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for lunch, and pieces of Archer Farms' pizza for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today".
Today's maximum temperature is 90 degrees F (32.2 degrees C).
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Got up at ten-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of Japanese rice porridge for lunch, and a Japanese-Western meal for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news yesterday".
Today's maximum temperature is 91 degrees F (32.8 degrees C). Adjusted the sprinkling frequency of an automatic lawn sprinkler for our gardens.
