Carrion Flower

I read an interesting conversation between a couple. The man went to a flower exhibit because his girlfriend asked him to go with her. He didn't like the flower he saw because it smelled awful.  The conversation got me wondering how diverse flowers are. Some flowers are little and pretty like Baby's breath. Others are ostentatious with multiple colors that are strikingly contrastive. Pansy is an example. Yet others are fiendishly cunning and stealthily aggressive like Venus flytrap. It eats small insects. They all desperately try to survive just like we do in our unique ways.

Race Report: Tokyo Marathon 2021

Tokyo Marathon 2021 took place on March 6, 2022, a year after the organizer had postponed it due to the coronavirus pandemic. Eliud Kipchoge won the race by the world's 4th fastest time of 2:02:40. Here is my brief report of how the race unfolded below.

As the gun went off at 9:10 a.m. the elite field split into two groups immediately: a pack of east Africans including Eliud, and the second group with many elite Japanese runners. 

Both groups sped down the first 5 K, creating a large margin against the world best time and Japan's best time respectively. 

An accident happened between 10 and 11 K.  At the Ueno 3-Chome intersection one of the leading police motorcycles took a right into the opposite lane as it ended its mission of navigating the leaders. Though the leaders had to keep straight for another 100 meters to the Ueno Hirokohji intersection where there was a turning point, they followed the police motorcycle by mistake and got off the designated route. They had to turn back on course when official guides frantically waved them back! That cost them about 10 seconds or so. Ordinarily, it may be negligible. But it was not an ordinary race. The race was proceeding at a record-breaking pace! Boy, oh, boy! I only hoped it wouldn't affect the performance by the champion... 

It was a great relief that the leaders looked quite composed once they were back on track. They seemed least distracted though its real impact on the runners was only known to the runners themselves...

The leading pack gradually got whittled away as they knocked out one mile after another. By the time they reached the water station at the 36 K mark there were only Eliud Kipchoge and Amos Kipruto. But when Eliud grabbed his personal drink and took a sip, one could tell that a small grin flashed across his face, and no sooner had it happened than a slight gap opened between him and Amos. And soon it started becoming gradually larger until it became clear to all that he bagged a victory. 

Japan's best time holder Kengo Suzuki, though running strongly at a record-breaking pace until 38 K, wasn't able to maintain the pace in the last few kilometers. His goal of renewing Japan's best time he owns wasn't fulfilled today. Nonetheless he finished 4th, beating 2020 London Marathon winner Shura Kitata of Etheopia.

   

In the women's elite field, world best time holder Brigid Kosgei won the race. She was simply on another level. Two top runners of Japan, Mao Ichiyama and Hitomi Niiya, remained neck to neck until the 40 K mark. But when the Tokyo Olympics 8th finisher attacked, there was no strength in Niiya's legs left to respond.

Kengo Suzuki and Mao Ichiyama renewed the previous Guiness record of the fastest combined marathon times of a married couple. Congrats to the newly weds! It must be a great motivation booster.

At 14:38 p.m. I got off the train at Asakusabashi Station. When I got out of the station building into the sunshine, a stream of citizen runners was briskly moving down Route 6. It was more than 3 hours after Eliud crossed the finish line, and more than 5 hours after the race was under way. Asakusabasi is the 29 K mark. To be at this point 5 hours after the gun went off meant that if they should complete the race, their finish time would be 7 hours something. That's a very long journey on the road. But many were giving it everything they'd got, trying to complete the race no matter what. Remembering running the race 10 years before myself, I wanted to cheer on the passing runners. Though spectators were strongly discouraged from cheering on runners on the street, I found a little open space and waved at some of the runners. Most just looked ahead and kept on moving. But some noticed me and waved back with a smile on their faces. It brought back some fond memories from my past races. 

Spectating was still strictly restricted in today's race. The energy level was nowhere near that before the pandemic. But I am hopeful. A day will come in the near future when runners can run and spectators can cheer without worrying about viral infection.  Let's keep our fingers crossed, and our mask on as well.

     

Los Alamos: The Healthiest County in the US

Mar. 4, 2022

I read a conversation between a couple. The woman says Los Alamos in New Mexico is the healthiest county in the US according to a magazine article. Since the man has a brother who lives in Los Alamos, he asks what's his take on the article. The brother invites them to come down and see for themselves, so they go down and spend some time there. After a week the man agrees the place is great because the sky is clear and there are plenty of places to go hiking, but he also feels the place is a little boring. 

When I read the conversation, I wondered what are some elements that make a place a healthy place to live in. I came up with three. One, rich nature. Two, robust economic activities. Three, low crime rate. With these in mind, is my hometown a healthy place? I think so, because it has two out of three: nature and low crime rate. As for robust economy, we need to make a little more effort, because the local government recently raised water utility fees to make up for an insufficient revenue for infrastructure maintenance. Raising fees is one way, of course. But there should be other smart ways to increase the city's revenue. I will keep my eye on local law-makers' policies and actitivies. 

Essential Items for a Pandemic

Mar. 1, 2022

I read an interesting article entitled “Essential Items for a Pandemic”. According to the article a well-known US radio station asked listeners to gather items that they regarded as essential for a pandemic, take a photo of them, and send it to the station. Although some items were either predictable or understandable with an explanation such as masks and a karaoke microphone, others were completely baffling such as a dog collar and a jar of edible ants.

The article got me thinking that there is no accounting for taste, and that people have such wildly different interests. As far as I’m concerned, my list will definitely include a diving mask, a snorkel, a diving knife, a spear, and a convex lens. Why? Because the first several items allows me to collect food under the water. It helps me to survive during a financial meld-down. The last item is essential to start a fire by collecting the sun rays.

What are your essential items?

Farewell to the Neighborhood Petrol Station

Feb. 18, 2022

I read an interesting article about petrol stations in England. According to the article the neighborhood petrol station is soon to all but disappear, because soon it will be no longer needed as much as it is now. 

In 2030 the British government will ban the sale of all petrol cars. As a result, the number of electric vehicles will skyrocket, every parking space will have an EV charging point, and in no time charging the EV at home will become common.

When I read the article, I had a mixed feeling. On one hand, prevalence of EVs is good because it reduces carbon emissions; they are considered the biggest cause of global warming. 

On the other hand, though, it means increasing industrial wastes also: used batteries. 

As of today, media reports are significantly limited regarding how they are detoxified and where they go after they become dispensable. The lack of repots almost gives us an impression that somehow someone is regulating discussion of the topic...

Anyhow, I only hope that proliferation of EVs will not lead to creating another, and even more serious environmental challenge...  

AGVs

Feb. 16, 2022

I read an interesting conversation between two business people this morning. They discuss AVGs. AGV stands for automated guided vehicles. They pick up, pack, and load products in place of humans. 

One of them makes presentations about introducing AGVs in the company. One presentation is to the mangers, and the other to the workers. 

After successfully presenting his speech, he asks his female co-worker for advice as to how best address the workers. In his opinion, it's harder than talking to the managers because some may regard their introduction as a potential threat to their employment. The woman advises him to stress that not one work will lose his or her job to an AGV.

The conversation got me thinking about pros and cons of AGVs.

One most obvious plus is safety. An AGV can operate under extreme conditions such as high radiation without risking human lives. 

One demerit, on the other hand, may be extra training cost. Businesses may need to upskill their workers to do something complex after their jobs start being done by AGVs. 

AGVs may seem irrelevant to my industry, the education industry. But no quite so. AI-based learning apps are somewhat like AGVs, because they deliver "information" to a learner. And the right kind of information can be programmed to be sent to the learner by optimizing algorithm. Will I lose my job to AI-based learning apps? It is an exciting challenge to figure out a way not to.

Extinct Apples

Feb. 15, 2022

I'm going to work after a week of working from home. While on the train, I read an article entitled "Extinct Apples."

According to the article, a non-profit organization has discovered some 30 apples varieties once thought extinct. As of today, some 4, 500 apples are grown in the US. Though it may seem like a large number, it is actually only about one-fourth of the kinds of apples the country once grew.

Why such a dramatic decrease in variety? One reason, according to the article, is 21st century agriculture abandoned less popular varieties. 

Thanks to efforts by members of the non-profit, though, those once thought lost are now being enjoyed once again. 

When I read the article, I thought it's pretty cool. Mainly for two reasons.

One, as a saying goes, variety is the spice of life. In this case, it can be a commercial spice. People may make new products with newly re-discovered varieties, such as juice, cakes, and brandy. It will be not only exciting to consumers, but can also be lucrative for businesses. In the age of online commerce, there are plenty of people out there who are willing to pay more for something new and rare.

Two, it's good for the environment also. Bio-diversity is generally a good thing for the eco-system. A greater variety of apples may provide birds, insects, or even micro-organisms with food and favorable living environments. In fact, it may slow down uncontrollably explosive expansion of unfavorable plants, animals, and/or micro-organisms. You never know.

So, all in all, I favorably welcome this non-profit organization's efforts to re-discover forgotten apple varieties. I am looking forward to hearing more about good results of their efforts.