I can't understand it either, jump. You'd think the protesters would be all over that.
I saw this thing on the building of Dubai on TV the other day - obviously taped before their market collapse - and anyway it was all about how amazing their structures are, etc. Anyhow, I'm watching this one-hour profile glorifying construction in Dubai, and thinking about how it is glaringly overlooking the problems of speculative real estate booms, rampant cronyism, repressive and bullying policies, etc - and meanwhile they're lauding all the horrible land-use decisions in the background. Well in the midst of all this, suddenly they start showing the mass transit network. Turns out, Dubai officials might have a lot of awful ideas about urbanism, but even they recognize the immediate need for mass transit! Here is a people that are literally building snow domes in the desert, and even THEY are building trains. What is wrong with America?!
Jump, how is Japan today? Do you have running water and such? It looks pretty messy on the news.
I'll be the first to admit when it comes to current events, I only hear NPR for aprox. 20 minutes a day, and then the nightly news each night, so not so much. I hadn't heard about the WI money give-away, just the union stuff. My biggest news gripe is that they keep talking about the NFL lock-out. Big effing deal.
And I'm not really old enough to know about the Clinton thing you're referring to. I'm behind the game to say the least.
@sarah, you are not alone in not getting the full story about the union busting and the millions of dollars giveaway that preceded it. it's not THAT hard to find though.
funny how that works. even educated folks are being manipulated into cutting off their own feet so the wealthiest of the wealthiest can evade the consequences of the last decade or two of mis-rule.
tokyo is fine at the moment. trains are running, electricity is flowing, internet is working. but there is a niggling problem with the nuclear energy plant still.
i have heard that some countries are putting together plans to evacuate expat populations back home in the face of the nuclear meltdown that seems to be coming (or already happening).
there looks to be a bit of cover up going on, or at the very least not much free access to the relevant information. as lian wrote on her blog it is reminiscent of the deal with the oil spill not so long ago. except this time lives are on the line in a real way and it ain't just the economy and the environment that might suffer. i admit to being very frustrated by the situation. we are not sure if we need to evacuate or not. some are not taking chances and already long gone or made plans to go in next days.
being 200km from a nuclear meltdown is not funny. in theory we are far enough away. i have to wonder who's theory that is though.
it remains very surreal. the clean up is underway. ronald reagan carrier just made it to the site and rescue crews are getting ready to work. so it seems like we are on track to recovery, painful and horrifying as that all entails. its just that niggle that makes it hard to breathe.
ah sorry forgot to mention sarah, clinton bombed yugoslavia, more or less leading to the end of the conflict there. it was very controversial and complicated, but many believe it resulted in peace. i guess you were a teenager then? would be nice to think history might be repeated with libya - somehow i would not count on it...
jump, I read that a multi-vitamin that contains potassium and iodine is good, as well as a calcium supplement. Just the regular dose.
Here is what I read, by Dr. Jonathan Golob of Seattle's Stranger:
If you are in the nearby region, including in the Pacific (North) West or Oceana—right now you should consider taking a multivitamin—better yet, a potassium iodide supplement. Radioactive cesium and iodine, if released in significant quantities into the environment, can replace non-radioactive potassium and iodine in the body. By taking a vitamin now, and over the near future until the situation settles, you can flood your body with non-radioactive variants and reduce risk of cancers and other organ damage. Likewise, radioactive strontium can replace non-radioactive calcium. Tums can flood your body with a little calcium to keep the strontium out. Do not over do it. Take a normal dose of any vitamins or calcium—it's sufficient to protect you.
I will emphasize again: based on the information available now, the risks seem quite low. If you are getting anxious, and want to do something productive about (what undoubtedly will be hyped up), taking some vitamins is something of use, and low risk.
I want to emphasize that there is no reason to think at this time that this is currently, or will become, a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl—a graphite core reactor without a containment building, quite different from the imperiled Japanese reactors.
My heart goes out to the workers at these plants, struggling to contain and control the situation. They are endangering their lives and health to save us all. I'm deeply moved by their sacrifice.
Do you have gummi vitamins in Japan - the chewy bears and whatnot that are really vitamins for the kids? Angus loves those, and I admit I usually eat one (or two) myself every time I give him his daily dose.
As for the kids and TV, um....can you put on a video?
that is the most informed bit of news i have read on the topic so far. the bloody prime minister is trying to quell fear with platitudes and leaving out the facts.
not to disparage the author but i keep hearing jeff goldblum warning about the dinosaurs in jurassic park. you know the bit where he warns how the gap between what we know is gonna happen and what actually happens is often unaccountably large. still i do take some reassurance from what he has to say. i will pass on to my friends.
I have a hallway that is 3'-3.5" and it has a bathroom, A/C closet, and bedroom on one side, and then two bedrooms on the other side. I know it would be drastic, but would it be detrimental to remove the sheetrock on the walls, and create bookshelves in between the studs?
I know that I would have electric in some places, and I should have horizontal braces between the studs. I figure that stuff I can work around, but would there be real sound issues with the rooms only have 1 sheet of drywall?
And if the space I gain is only 3.5 inches, I'd need to add at least another 3 inches to make shelves deep enough for books, subtracting 6 inches from the hallway total. Is a 2'-9" hallway uncomfortably narrow?
that's the thing with nuclear energy you kind of can't stick a toe in, you have to go whole hog.
I came in yesterday and was greeted on the news saying the earthquake had shifted the poles by over 5 degrees. Any guesses as to which station this was??
OMG, I'm drafting until 2am but Brian is watching a movie across the room called "The King of Kong" - it's a documentary about competitive video gamers - it's AWESOME!!!
Love this piece by A.A Gill on Dubai in Vanity Fair.
An excerpt:
Among the other 80-plus percent (population of Dubai) are the white mercenary workers who come here for tax-free salaries to do managerial and entrepreneurial jobs, parasites and sycophants for cash. For them money is a driving principle and validation. They came to be young, single, greedy, and insincere. None of them are very clever. So they live lives that revolve around drink and porn sex and pool parties and barbecues with a lot of hysterical laughing and theme nights, karaoke, and slobbery, regretful coupling.
it is worrying nam. steven's article put me at ease a bit. just watching another of the reactor buildings blow on TV. my mum tells me CNN is warning of radioactive clouds heading to LA and vancouver, but i find that pretty sensationalist myself.
i don't see france changing their system anytime soon either. they aren't facing earthquakes nor tsunami and personally see no correlation to the situation here.
@ sarah, what is on the other side of the wall? maybe you can just build a bookshelf into the wall with the backface into the other room. it probably won't be any less soundproof. possibly very strange too....
Heard over there weekend from good friends of mine that had just started the artist's residency program at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo on March 5th. They are all ok but now heading home back to Melbourne. They were having a great time, but now very concerned with the whole situation.
sarah - depends on what kind of sound issues you have... one layer of gyp won't block anything except higher frequencies... although if you pack every square inch of that bookshelf with books, you might be ok, though. btw - human voice wavelength falls around 2-5" or so (also our most sensitive hearing range)... so a typical wall thickness works pretty well to block it (unless someone likes to listen to barry white - then you'll need a few feet). kinda funny how that works out, huh? there's other stuff to think about, but if you're just concerned about eavesdropping from the corridor...
also - not that 2'9" will feel too narrow - I believe it actually doesn't meet code.
is there code for hall width in a private residence?
we tend to regulate more strictly for public buildings, not so much for private ones over here (all part of the libertarian ethos that runs through the culture).
in my mind 2'9" doesn't feel too narrow, but it's all relative.
what i've been thinkin about since sarah initially posted...
she said that the shelves were 6" and that the stud cavity is 3.5"..and the hallways is 3'-3.5"...so wouldn't the hallway really be 3'?
to me books would be better sound insulation than two layers of gyp..
and i second what jump says..but maybe make something that is a bookshelf on both sides...sort of alternating at each shelf or something.. and if it goes into the room you could make it much deeper.
jump, how are things on a day to day basis there: are you going to the office, or have your projects been put on hold? Is the uni holding classes? Are people just staying home glued to their TV and internet for news? Are your daughter's schools in session? I have heard there are no food deliveries being made to the city so the stores are running low, is that true?
Between Steven's article and some other news sources, it seems the actual threat of radiation is minor, but the upheaval of routine and the fear are making people nervous.
and i loved that documentary too..ah netflix...how did i live without you.
billy mitchell seems like every nemesis in every movie in the 80s... the farcical ones that seemed as though they were stereotypes. (karate kid bully, frat guys in revenge of the nerds or animal house etc)
Sarah how about taking another view at the design problem, assuming it is for your home - your son is too young to need his privacy or know what's going on; then sound isn't an issue. So build your bookshelves.
I spent the weekend at pre-marriage counseling. Sadly I was the only guy without his partner. Though I initially resisted I am happy for the 12 hours - and look forward to doing again when she's here.
I had good fun reading the recent times article on Zumthor and it made me wonder about his monastic austerity and very simply do you think he takes sugar with his coffee or would complain that it is excess and takes away from the essence of the brew? Random thoughts as I mull over my cup.
Yeah, as much as I love the look of pass-thru book shelves, I don't think future owners or guests would appreciate the lack of walls between their bedrooms and the hallway. Son's room actually wouldn't be affected at all - his room is at the end of the hallway. I have a long, thin house - what people like to call a ranch, though I don't ever think of it as such. Oh, and with shelves on both sides, it'd be 2'-9". I didn't realize there was a code issue - I never got that far in my internship.
Jump, I am equally curious about the day to day workings over there.
i didn't mean the shelves would be open.. the shelves would all have backs..i'm seeing it as more of a piece of furniture. staggered kind of thing. so essentially a solid bookshelf that's completely closed but allows for books to be inserted on either side.
jump: "we tend to regulate more strictly for public buildings, not so much for private ones over here (all part of the libertarian ethos that runs through the culture). "
Judging by these aerial photos from yesterday, Japan may consider mandatory foundations in their building code from now on. Or ship anchors.
I'm not sure why I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the destruction of the vegetation where the tsunami occurred. Buildings and infrastructure... yes, trees that have root systems... no. I'm aware that it's silly, it still boggles my mind though.
Water is a powerful Thing~ and when it is a wall of water 23' tall it is a real powerful thing. Just think how much a gallon of water weighs....or a 5 gallon pail of water then think about how many 5 gallon pails of water you have to stack to get 23' of vertical height. Then line them babies up and down the coast line for miles and miles and of course give them some depth and think they are like a car traveling at a high speed and there you have it not much can stand up to the Big Wall of Water.
The only big water experience I have ever had was in the Confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River. We had our 24 foot rubber raft standing on end and all I could see was sky. It was a rush like none I have ever experienced. So when I'm watching buildings and cars floating by....I'm going Holy Sheet!
wow rusty - those NYT's before and after images are haunting. made me think of all the coastal cities around the world that could be obliterated by tsunamis too. there are no safe coastal locations except when you're up on a cliff or hillside. the quake is a game changer and the repercussions are going to impact the entire world in many ways that we haven't even fathomed yet....
at least it's my spring break so I can contemplate big ideas without being interrupted by teaching.
no classes right now. it was a good thing because there was no way off campus on friday. there is a high school on campus though and many of the students were stranded i think.
daily life is strange. beautiful weather recently. schools are running more or less normally. food is not getting in. we bought supplies and are set for a week i suppose if we need to be. there are no freezers here so most people shop everyday, which means we are in general more vulnerable to this kind of thing than most.
rolling blackouts are underway, though it does not affect my area. for those areas even traffic lights are out and humans have taken over the job of directing traffic.
trains are not really running normally yet, and yesterday people were lining up for three hours just to get on a train to go to work. which is amazing. today is better but service is reduced.
i am not going to office or school until things become a bit more sorted. i am working at home. we asked our few staff to also stay at home until next week.
the major concern for us is the nucleur power plant. it looks like it is not being contained, but hard to tell since japanese govt is lsomeways ike chinese govt, very careful with the news it allows to the public. twitter and facebook and the foreign contingent here is making it less easy to keep secrets but in general noone trusts the updates they are giving us. that is making us all nervous.
beyond that things are pretty normal. not sure if its the normal you get at the beginning of disaster movies where its just there for contrast, or if this is how we will proceed from now on. i am really very much hoping it is the latter.
@ rusty, japanese structural codes are intensely strict. all of those buildings had foundations and hold-downs. waves were 3 stories high. the structural care was not enough, at least with wood construction.
as far as it goes, all the buildings we have done here are fine. we have been checking in with clients to be sure they are all safe and so far all is well. Not sure however where things go from here. I guess we will know in the next month or two which projects go ahead and which do not.
Thanks for the update, jump. I hope things normalize soon - though it may be a new normal, as you say, at least not having to worry about basic things like food, electricity, and radiation!
if I can hold the 18-hour workdays I've been doing the last four days for just 2-3 more days, I should be caught up!
As of 1 minute ago the NY Times is reporting that all workers have been asked to leave the plant, and if they do, it will melt:
[the govt] initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three striken reactors with seawater would continue. But industry executives said that in fact the situation had in fact spiralled out of control and that all plant workers needed to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.
If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is likely to melt down, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
I'm sorry, jump. My heart goes out to Japan. Please let us know if you hear of a good way to help. For me, the nuclear reactor issue hits home particularly as my home is similarly situated.
...by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
The most significant since then, yes, but not the same KIND of problem as Chernobyl, and not nearly as dangerous, is what the article Steven linked to said, right? It's a totally different kind of reactor. Again, Dr. Golob says it pretty clearly: this is not a Chernobyl.
jump I do worry for you all if radiation becomes a serious threat (which it sounds like it *mostly* won't) but I also worry for your state of mind, as a parent, wondering what you should/can do. I'm afraid I'd be a basket case right now, even WITH all the caveats from many that the threat isn't any worse than that of flying on a trans-pacific flight! Hold your girls close, as always.
3 minutes worth of reporting that the earthquake did all this damage
5 minutes worth of reporting on the nuclear plant and the dangers of a possible meltdown
commercial break
"CLEAN, EFFICIENT GAS POWER IS THE FUTURE FOR AMERICA. PAID FOR THE BY AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION."
...
All of this after the numerous, but now buried, reports of earthquakes being caused all over the interior of the United States from hydraulic fracturing gas-mining operations.
As for the nuclear component, I'd just to share with everyone that one of the largest sources of radioactive pollution in the world is generated through the burning of coal.
In 2009, a possible 4,270,000,000 curies of radiation was released into the environment as a byproduct of burning coal.
In that coal burned in 2009, there was roughly 16,000 pounds of Uranium 235. About 177,897,291,700 kilowatt-hours worth. Including both U238 and U235, There's about 1300 tons of uranium. That represents about 29,830,364,700,000 kilowatt-hours.
Coal only generates 1,757,750,000,000 kilowatt-hours.
Yes, there's about 17 more times the amount of energy (in the form of nuclear energy) in coal than actually comes from coal.
Back to the 4,270,000,000 curies of radiation. Chernobyl released roughly 10,000,000,000 curies of total radiation if we look at total radiation. However, there's a much lower estimate that neglects the radioactive materials that rapidly decay (in a manner of minutes) that's only 50,000,000 curies of radiation.
These cores only have about 6,000,000-10,000,000 curies a piece. Albeit, you can't really compare radioactive iodine to weapons-grade uranium.
But the point is more or less the same-- the amount of radiation released by the combustion of coal can be illustrated by several dozen meltdowns or several hundreds warhead explosions.
Thread Central
I can't understand it either, jump. You'd think the protesters would be all over that.
I saw this thing on the building of Dubai on TV the other day - obviously taped before their market collapse - and anyway it was all about how amazing their structures are, etc. Anyhow, I'm watching this one-hour profile glorifying construction in Dubai, and thinking about how it is glaringly overlooking the problems of speculative real estate booms, rampant cronyism, repressive and bullying policies, etc - and meanwhile they're lauding all the horrible land-use decisions in the background. Well in the midst of all this, suddenly they start showing the mass transit network. Turns out, Dubai officials might have a lot of awful ideas about urbanism, but even they recognize the immediate need for mass transit! Here is a people that are literally building snow domes in the desert, and even THEY are building trains. What is wrong with America?!
Jump, how is Japan today? Do you have running water and such? It looks pretty messy on the news.
I'll be the first to admit when it comes to current events, I only hear NPR for aprox. 20 minutes a day, and then the nightly news each night, so not so much. I hadn't heard about the WI money give-away, just the union stuff. My biggest news gripe is that they keep talking about the NFL lock-out. Big effing deal.
And I'm not really old enough to know about the Clinton thing you're referring to. I'm behind the game to say the least.
good to hear the family is well jump. And glad that you had a place to hold up for the night. Any word about your clients and built projects?
@sarah, you are not alone in not getting the full story about the union busting and the millions of dollars giveaway that preceded it. it's not THAT hard to find though.
funny how that works. even educated folks are being manipulated into cutting off their own feet so the wealthiest of the wealthiest can evade the consequences of the last decade or two of mis-rule.
tokyo is fine at the moment. trains are running, electricity is flowing, internet is working. but there is a niggling problem with the nuclear energy plant still.
i have heard that some countries are putting together plans to evacuate expat populations back home in the face of the nuclear meltdown that seems to be coming (or already happening).
there looks to be a bit of cover up going on, or at the very least not much free access to the relevant information. as lian wrote on her blog it is reminiscent of the deal with the oil spill not so long ago. except this time lives are on the line in a real way and it ain't just the economy and the environment that might suffer. i admit to being very frustrated by the situation. we are not sure if we need to evacuate or not. some are not taking chances and already long gone or made plans to go in next days.
being 200km from a nuclear meltdown is not funny. in theory we are far enough away. i have to wonder who's theory that is though.
it remains very surreal. the clean up is underway. ronald reagan carrier just made it to the site and rescue crews are getting ready to work. so it seems like we are on track to recovery, painful and horrifying as that all entails. its just that niggle that makes it hard to breathe.
ah sorry forgot to mention sarah, clinton bombed yugoslavia, more or less leading to the end of the conflict there. it was very controversial and complicated, but many believe it resulted in peace. i guess you were a teenager then? would be nice to think history might be repeated with libya - somehow i would not count on it...
Take vitamins, jump! I hope all is OK. Radiation is scary.
you think carrots will help? i like carrots!
actually i went to the drugstore to get some potassium iodine but they weren't selling it. bloody hell.
anyone know what do you tell a kid when disaster is on tele and nothing else for 3 days?
one man's opinion, i guess, but seems to be an informed one: "why i am not worried about japan's nuclear reactors"
jump, I read that a multi-vitamin that contains potassium and iodine is good, as well as a calcium supplement. Just the regular dose.
Here is what I read, by Dr. Jonathan Golob of Seattle's Stranger:
If you are in the nearby region, including in the Pacific (North) West or Oceana—right now you should consider taking a multivitamin—better yet, a potassium iodide supplement. Radioactive cesium and iodine, if released in significant quantities into the environment, can replace non-radioactive potassium and iodine in the body. By taking a vitamin now, and over the near future until the situation settles, you can flood your body with non-radioactive variants and reduce risk of cancers and other organ damage. Likewise, radioactive strontium can replace non-radioactive calcium. Tums can flood your body with a little calcium to keep the strontium out. Do not over do it. Take a normal dose of any vitamins or calcium—it's sufficient to protect you.
I will emphasize again: based on the information available now, the risks seem quite low. If you are getting anxious, and want to do something productive about (what undoubtedly will be hyped up), taking some vitamins is something of use, and low risk.
I want to emphasize that there is no reason to think at this time that this is currently, or will become, a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl—a graphite core reactor without a containment building, quite different from the imperiled Japanese reactors.
My heart goes out to the workers at these plants, struggling to contain and control the situation. They are endangering their lives and health to save us all. I'm deeply moved by their sacrifice.
Do you have gummi vitamins in Japan - the chewy bears and whatnot that are really vitamins for the kids? Angus loves those, and I admit I usually eat one (or two) myself every time I give him his daily dose.
As for the kids and TV, um....can you put on a video?
thanks steven,
that is the most informed bit of news i have read on the topic so far. the bloody prime minister is trying to quell fear with platitudes and leaving out the facts.
not to disparage the author but i keep hearing jeff goldblum warning about the dinosaurs in jurassic park. you know the bit where he warns how the gap between what we know is gonna happen and what actually happens is often unaccountably large. still i do take some reassurance from what he has to say. i will pass on to my friends.
thanks to you too donna! that is great. you know i haven't seen anything like that re the kids vits here. will shop about.
btw turns out that lego is a brilliant child distract-er.
Manta - I sometimes think we share the same brain :o)
Quick side question...
I have a hallway that is 3'-3.5" and it has a bathroom, A/C closet, and bedroom on one side, and then two bedrooms on the other side. I know it would be drastic, but would it be detrimental to remove the sheetrock on the walls, and create bookshelves in between the studs?
I know that I would have electric in some places, and I should have horizontal braces between the studs. I figure that stuff I can work around, but would there be real sound issues with the rooms only have 1 sheet of drywall?
And if the space I gain is only 3.5 inches, I'd need to add at least another 3 inches to make shelves deep enough for books, subtracting 6 inches from the hallway total. Is a 2'-9" hallway uncomfortably narrow?
hi all. slow weekend, still recovering from being sick/allergies.
Jump, situation with nuke plants seems to keep getting worse. wonder if Japan and other countries (France) will maybe rethink....
my prayers for you and all in japan.
hope everyone else is doing well. busy week upcoming?
France can hardly rethink at this point. They're committed pretty deep.
that's the thing with nuclear energy you kind of can't stick a toe in, you have to go whole hog.
I came in yesterday and was greeted on the news saying the earthquake had shifted the poles by over 5 degrees. Any guesses as to which station this was??
OMG, I'm drafting until 2am but Brian is watching a movie across the room called "The King of Kong" - it's a documentary about competitive video gamers - it's AWESOME!!!
Love this piece by A.A Gill on Dubai in Vanity Fair.
An excerpt:
Among the other 80-plus percent (population of Dubai) are the white mercenary workers who come here for tax-free salaries to do managerial and entrepreneurial jobs, parasites and sycophants for cash. For them money is a driving principle and validation. They came to be young, single, greedy, and insincere. None of them are very clever. So they live lives that revolve around drink and porn sex and pool parties and barbecues with a lot of hysterical laughing and theme nights, karaoke, and slobbery, regretful coupling.
it is worrying nam. steven's article put me at ease a bit. just watching another of the reactor buildings blow on TV. my mum tells me CNN is warning of radioactive clouds heading to LA and vancouver, but i find that pretty sensationalist myself.
i don't see france changing their system anytime soon either. they aren't facing earthquakes nor tsunami and personally see no correlation to the situation here.
@ sarah, what is on the other side of the wall? maybe you can just build a bookshelf into the wall with the backface into the other room. it probably won't be any less soundproof. possibly very strange too....
The King of Kong is a great film. Billy Mitchell was sooooo painful to see, total d-bag.
My dining table is coming along! Final review on Wednesday....
Heard over there weekend from good friends of mine that had just started the artist's residency program at 3331 Arts Chiyoda in Tokyo on March 5th. They are all ok but now heading home back to Melbourne. They were having a great time, but now very concerned with the whole situation.
But n_ weren't you seduced by his perfect, perfect haaaaaaiiiiirrrrrr?!
jump - glad to hear you're ok.
sarah - depends on what kind of sound issues you have... one layer of gyp won't block anything except higher frequencies... although if you pack every square inch of that bookshelf with books, you might be ok, though. btw - human voice wavelength falls around 2-5" or so (also our most sensitive hearing range)... so a typical wall thickness works pretty well to block it (unless someone likes to listen to barry white - then you'll need a few feet). kinda funny how that works out, huh? there's other stuff to think about, but if you're just concerned about eavesdropping from the corridor...
also - not that 2'9" will feel too narrow - I believe it actually doesn't meet code.
His perfect hair and his hot sauce...that's the way to my cold, cold heart.-
is there code for hall width in a private residence?
we tend to regulate more strictly for public buildings, not so much for private ones over here (all part of the libertarian ethos that runs through the culture).
in my mind 2'9" doesn't feel too narrow, but it's all relative.
lol n_
jump - yup - although, it won't really matter until she sells because then it could come back to bite her.
what i've been thinkin about since sarah initially posted...
she said that the shelves were 6" and that the stud cavity is 3.5"..and the hallways is 3'-3.5"...so wouldn't the hallway really be 3'?
to me books would be better sound insulation than two layers of gyp..
and i second what jump says..but maybe make something that is a bookshelf on both sides...sort of alternating at each shelf or something.. and if it goes into the room you could make it much deeper.
jump, how are things on a day to day basis there: are you going to the office, or have your projects been put on hold? Is the uni holding classes? Are people just staying home glued to their TV and internet for news? Are your daughter's schools in session? I have heard there are no food deliveries being made to the city so the stores are running low, is that true?
Between Steven's article and some other news sources, it seems the actual threat of radiation is minor, but the upheaval of routine and the fear are making people nervous.
and i loved that documentary too..ah netflix...how did i live without you.
billy mitchell seems like every nemesis in every movie in the 80s... the farcical ones that seemed as though they were stereotypes. (karate kid bully, frat guys in revenge of the nerds or animal house etc)
Sarah how about taking another view at the design problem, assuming it is for your home - your son is too young to need his privacy or know what's going on; then sound isn't an issue. So build your bookshelves.
I spent the weekend at pre-marriage counseling. Sadly I was the only guy without his partner. Though I initially resisted I am happy for the 12 hours - and look forward to doing again when she's here.
I had good fun reading the recent times article on Zumthor and it made me wonder about his monastic austerity and very simply do you think he takes sugar with his coffee or would complain that it is excess and takes away from the essence of the brew? Random thoughts as I mull over my cup.
Yeah, as much as I love the look of pass-thru book shelves, I don't think future owners or guests would appreciate the lack of walls between their bedrooms and the hallway. Son's room actually wouldn't be affected at all - his room is at the end of the hallway. I have a long, thin house - what people like to call a ranch, though I don't ever think of it as such. Oh, and with shelves on both sides, it'd be 2'-9". I didn't realize there was a code issue - I never got that far in my internship.
Jump, I am equally curious about the day to day workings over there.
ah.. both sides..that's what threw me.
i didn't mean the shelves would be open.. the shelves would all have backs..i'm seeing it as more of a piece of furniture. staggered kind of thing. so essentially a solid bookshelf that's completely closed but allows for books to be inserted on either side.
Hi, jump. Thank you for your insight. I have enjoyed it very much.
I have heard or read that seaweed was a good source of iodine. Please verify with the google.
jump: "we tend to regulate more strictly for public buildings, not so much for private ones over here (all part of the libertarian ethos that runs through the culture). "
Judging by these aerial photos from yesterday, Japan may consider mandatory foundations in their building code from now on. Or ship anchors.
I'm glad that you and your family are OK jump.
I'm not sure why I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the destruction of the vegetation where the tsunami occurred. Buildings and infrastructure... yes, trees that have root systems... no. I'm aware that it's silly, it still boggles my mind though.
Water is a powerful Thing~ and when it is a wall of water 23' tall it is a real powerful thing. Just think how much a gallon of water weighs....or a 5 gallon pail of water then think about how many 5 gallon pails of water you have to stack to get 23' of vertical height. Then line them babies up and down the coast line for miles and miles and of course give them some depth and think they are like a car traveling at a high speed and there you have it not much can stand up to the Big Wall of Water.
The only big water experience I have ever had was in the Confluence of the Green River and the Colorado River. We had our 24 foot rubber raft standing on end and all I could see was sky. It was a rush like none I have ever experienced. So when I'm watching buildings and cars floating by....I'm going Holy Sheet!
wow rusty - those NYT's before and after images are haunting. made me think of all the coastal cities around the world that could be obliterated by tsunamis too. there are no safe coastal locations except when you're up on a cliff or hillside. the quake is a game changer and the repercussions are going to impact the entire world in many ways that we haven't even fathomed yet....
at least it's my spring break so I can contemplate big ideas without being interrupted by teaching.
@ donna,
no classes right now. it was a good thing because there was no way off campus on friday. there is a high school on campus though and many of the students were stranded i think.
daily life is strange. beautiful weather recently. schools are running more or less normally. food is not getting in. we bought supplies and are set for a week i suppose if we need to be. there are no freezers here so most people shop everyday, which means we are in general more vulnerable to this kind of thing than most.
rolling blackouts are underway, though it does not affect my area. for those areas even traffic lights are out and humans have taken over the job of directing traffic.
trains are not really running normally yet, and yesterday people were lining up for three hours just to get on a train to go to work. which is amazing. today is better but service is reduced.
i am not going to office or school until things become a bit more sorted. i am working at home. we asked our few staff to also stay at home until next week.
the major concern for us is the nucleur power plant. it looks like it is not being contained, but hard to tell since japanese govt is lsomeways ike chinese govt, very careful with the news it allows to the public. twitter and facebook and the foreign contingent here is making it less easy to keep secrets but in general noone trusts the updates they are giving us. that is making us all nervous.
beyond that things are pretty normal. not sure if its the normal you get at the beginning of disaster movies where its just there for contrast, or if this is how we will proceed from now on. i am really very much hoping it is the latter.
@ rusty, japanese structural codes are intensely strict. all of those buildings had foundations and hold-downs. waves were 3 stories high. the structural care was not enough, at least with wood construction.
as far as it goes, all the buildings we have done here are fine. we have been checking in with clients to be sure they are all safe and so far all is well. Not sure however where things go from here. I guess we will know in the next month or two which projects go ahead and which do not.
Thanks for the update, jump. I hope things normalize soon - though it may be a new normal, as you say, at least not having to worry about basic things like food, electricity, and radiation!
if I can hold the 18-hour workdays I've been doing the last four days for just 2-3 more days, I should be caught up!
Another explosion at Fukushima. Not looking good.
Of course, Glen Beck is saying this is a message from God.
And this is what your next door neighbor has to say about the situation.
Dammit, rusty, I really didn't need to be further disillusioned about the average IQ of my countrypeople. If those are true, what a bunch of assholes.
Donna, I'm really hoping those are fake as well, but having seen general nature of comments on various news sites I fear these are genuine.
As of 1 minute ago the NY Times is reporting that all workers have been asked to leave the plant, and if they do, it will melt:
[the govt] initially suggested that the damage was limited and that emergency operations aimed at cooling the nuclear fuel at three striken reactors with seawater would continue. But industry executives said that in fact the situation had in fact spiralled out of control and that all plant workers needed to leave the plant to avoid excessive exposure to radioactive leaks.
If all workers do in fact leave the plant, the nuclear fuel in all three reactors is likely to melt down, which would lead to wholesale releases of radioactive material — by far the largest accident of its kind since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.
I'm sorry, jump. My heart goes out to Japan. Please let us know if you hear of a good way to help. For me, the nuclear reactor issue hits home particularly as my home is similarly situated.
Yes, this is a big country and we are going to find lots of brain washed people.
The most significant since then, yes, but not the same KIND of problem as Chernobyl, and not nearly as dangerous, is what the article Steven linked to said, right? It's a totally different kind of reactor. Again, Dr. Golob says it pretty clearly: this is not a Chernobyl.
jump I do worry for you all if radiation becomes a serious threat (which it sounds like it *mostly* won't) but I also worry for your state of mind, as a parent, wondering what you should/can do. I'm afraid I'd be a basket case right now, even WITH all the caveats from many that the threat isn't any worse than that of flying on a trans-pacific flight! Hold your girls close, as always.
i am taking the kids outa tokyo i think. it still seems like things are barely under control, but hard to say which way it is going to go.
This might be insensitive...
But I've been noticing a trend on CNN:
3 minutes worth of reporting that the earthquake did all this damage
5 minutes worth of reporting on the nuclear plant and the dangers of a possible meltdown
commercial break
"CLEAN, EFFICIENT GAS POWER IS THE FUTURE FOR AMERICA. PAID FOR THE BY AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION."
...
All of this after the numerous, but now buried, reports of earthquakes being caused all over the interior of the United States from hydraulic fracturing gas-mining operations.
As for the nuclear component, I'd just to share with everyone that one of the largest sources of radioactive pollution in the world is generated through the burning of coal.
In 2009, a possible 4,270,000,000 curies of radiation was released into the environment as a byproduct of burning coal.
In that coal burned in 2009, there was roughly 16,000 pounds of Uranium 235. About 177,897,291,700 kilowatt-hours worth. Including both U238 and U235, There's about 1300 tons of uranium. That represents about 29,830,364,700,000 kilowatt-hours.
Coal only generates 1,757,750,000,000 kilowatt-hours.
Yes, there's about 17 more times the amount of energy (in the form of nuclear energy) in coal than actually comes from coal.
Back to the 4,270,000,000 curies of radiation. Chernobyl released roughly 10,000,000,000 curies of total radiation if we look at total radiation. However, there's a much lower estimate that neglects the radioactive materials that rapidly decay (in a manner of minutes) that's only 50,000,000 curies of radiation.
These cores only have about 6,000,000-10,000,000 curies a piece. Albeit, you can't really compare radioactive iodine to weapons-grade uranium.
But the point is more or less the same-- the amount of radiation released by the combustion of coal can be illustrated by several dozen meltdowns or several hundreds warhead explosions.
Morning all.
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