ultradork comments

Posted in: 41-year-old woman arrested for attempted murder of 5-year-old son See in context

Family is not poor, not sure why some people mentioning that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Wetzel’s Pretzels See in context

Probie - I would say youll be amazed, simple product, doesnt need a lot of space, etc. I doubt the lines will last much longer (cant see waiting for a pretzel for more than 2 minutes myself but....) wont disappear like Cinnabon. Krispy Kreme is still around but the hub-bub has died down. I like warm pretzels with beer. A few German beer places have them around town - delicious with a cold, tall Weisbier. Hmm...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: 41-year-old woman arrested for attempted murder of 5-year-old son See in context

This happened within a 10 minute walk from my house. There are 4 children in the family and two attend my child`s elementary school. Not Naka-Meguro exactly but Himonya 3-chome, not far from Daiei on Meguro-dori, Gakugei-daigaku is the closest station. Grandparents live there, too. What was dad doing? He was home, as well. Very sad.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Powerful typhoon hits Okinawa See in context

@YuriOtani - say what? More than 75,000 households lacked power on Monday after a powerful typhoon lashed Okinawa

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: A similar campaign to Cool Biz would gain little traction in the U.S., where executives would balk at working in an 82-degree Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) office. They’ll say, ’This decreases produ See in context

1970's Oil Crisis & Conservation: "To help reduce consumption, in 1974 a national maximum speed limit of 55 mph (about 88 km/h) was imposed through the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act. Development of the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve began in 1975, and in 1977, the cabinet-level Department of Energy was created, followed by the National Energy Act of 1978. Year-round daylight saving time was implemented from January 6, 1974 to February 23, 1975. The crisis also prompted a call for individuals and businesses to conserve energy, most notably a campaign by the Advertising Council using the tag line "Don't Be Fuelish." Many newspapers carried full-page advertisements that featured cut-outs which could be attached to light switches, reading "Last Out, Lights Out: Don't Be Fuelish.""

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: A similar campaign to Cool Biz would gain little traction in the U.S., where executives would balk at working in an 82-degree Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius) office. They’ll say, ’This decreases produ See in context

Dear Prof. Hamao, are you too young to remember the oil crisis of the '70's? Perhaps USC has a library where you can check the microfilms and see the articles in these things they used to have called newspapers. The govt did indeed exhort us to turn down the heat in winter (the far biggest source of energy use in homes). Actually, hot offices DO decrease productivity, research supports it and my own experience confirms it. No one in Japan notices a difference because they normally spend 10 hrs in the office doing nothing during the day and then frantically working from 6-8pm.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Panasonic to expand smart home appliance lineup See in context

Saw this on the news last night – seems a gimmick which definitely some will fall for. Not really innovative or compelling at all. Some things should stay simple. Still wish that fridges here had water & ice dispensers built in to the doors like we do in the US but most are too small for that.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese woman reporter shot dead in Syria's Aleppo See in context

I must assume she enjoyed her work since she certainly was there by choice. Hope she had the right kind of life insurance that doesn't exempt death in war zone.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Posted in: 500,000 cheer Japan's Olympic medalists in Ginza parade See in context

They train and compete to be chosen and go to the Olympics to win medals. The ones who don't will get a hug from their friends and relatives. Or are you the type of person who thinks all tests should be pass/fail and there should be no grading in school, no report cards?

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Posted in: Airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia are under fire for their policy of moving men from seats next to unaccompanied children, causing humiliation to the passengers being moved. The airlines say the po See in context

I'd rather not sit next to some antsy kid with a small bladder, who keeps asking "are we there yet?" anyway. Of course, it should be done before boarding - then no one would really need to know why or be "humiliated". If done professionally and courteously, I wouldn't have a problem with it even after boarding the plane - mildly inconvenient to move your stuff but they aren't booting you off the flight. I'd suggest that they bump me up to business class, that would put a pep in my step.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Customer service in Japan vs Europe See in context

Many softbank shops are outsourced so the staff are not Softbank employees but of course we the customers don't know. You'll usually have decent service at the large shops (Roppongi, Shibuya, etc) but mediocre in a tiny place in a shotengai. I agree with many posters here, generally service here in Japan is good but but the yelling greetings when you aren't even looking at me gets old and annoying. My favorite story of poor service is always from going into shoe shops here. I wear 28 cm shoes and often they stock up to 27.5cm. So I'll ask them what do do and there's lots of sucking wind between the teeth. I then suggest how about to get it from another store or ordering it (there I go thinking outside the box) and once it a while they'll check that out but it seems that they just want me to leave. A couple of times they'll suggest the store in Gotanda for sumo wrestlers (thanks, I'm not that big) and recently more stores and brands have my size but it is still rare. (I speak Japanese and these are foreign brands I'm trying to buy). Anyway, cheaper to buy shoes in the US or even Hong Kong.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Light up a Mevius See in context

Sounds like a name for a laptop or keitai model. When this was on the tv news I immediately changed the channel, explaining to my children that this is not "news" in any way. Why give the merchants of death free air time pretending this is something significant?

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Posted in: Amazon gets into online social games See in context

I don't play social games at all. I'm a loyal Amazon customer both .jp and .com, have a kindle, etc. I detest Zynga so hope that this further deflates their stock price.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: U.S. Sikhs say bigots confuse them for Muslims See in context

Bigots by definition are ignorant farktards so expectations should be low to begin with. I've never met a wise bigot.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Posted in: Top U.S. swimming coach calls China's Ye 'suspicious' See in context

Seven seconds in swimming is an eternity - her time in the event improved by that much in one year. An excellent question is that if she was known to be so fast recently by her own team why isn't she on the relay team or more individual events? It wouldn't matter if she was from Suriname or San Marino, her split time is amazing enough to warrant close scrutiny.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: American man attempts to smuggle meth disguised as Snickers candy bars to Japan See in context

Boarding Bad....

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Top U.S. swimming coach calls China's Ye 'suspicious' See in context

They are giving their opinions that this 16 yr old girl with splits faster than one of the fastest male swimmers in the world seems suspicious. Should they just shut up or what? Maybe she just has good genes and excellent training - we'll see.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Posted in: Japan needs more energy and good news, bright news, happy news, and therefore by hosting the Olympics in Tokyo, the sufferers in the Tohoku region will get hope for the future. See in context

Why host them in crowded & overbuilt Tokyo? You want to give the folks in Tohoku good news - host the Olympics in Tohoku. That would be a great way to rebuild the area. Won't happen but seems almost obvious.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Radioactive strontium detected in 10 prefectures See in context

Note to self: do not live near sludge treatment plants in Tohoku or Kanto

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Posted in: If there is an accident, the U.S.-Japan alliance will become extremely difficult to handle. See in context

an extremely shallow, short-sighted view. all machines have problems. how many people die in cars every single day in Japan? Surely, the alliance is bigger than this small stuff.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan's baseball world surprised by Ichiro's trade to Yankees See in context

real question is - why didn't he move earlier?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Disaster response See in context

Woman: "So this just release Final Fantasy 28, I'm exciting to show you".

2 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Pork bowl offers tasty and voluminous alternative to beef bowl See in context

lucabrasi - oh, really? Just about every cuisine on the planet has some awesome pork dishes. Have you ever had Jamón ibérico de bellota? Hickory smoked bacon, prosciutto or how about a high quality and properly cooked tonkatsu? Ham & Swiss cheese on rye with good mustard? Okinawans eat lots of pork (mostly boiled) and they happen to live rather long (though not necessarily prospering). All things in moderation and a varied diet, including meat, is important to good health.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: 18-year-old girl's buttocks slashed with knife on Tokyo cruise ship See in context

Pictures or it didn't happen

-4 ( +10 / -15 )

Posted in: Pork bowl offers tasty and voluminous alternative to beef bowl See in context

Just 2 stops away from my office - may have to check it out soon.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: How the JET Program changed me See in context

Chuichi - had to have been something else. Some people give the wrong impression during the interviews about why they wish to do the program. Even 20 yrs ago, I knew many JETs of Asian and even Japanese heritage on the program. That said, there were occasions when I got the impression that some hosts (teachers, boards of Ed, even parents) strongly preferred stereotypical white people who knew nothing about Japan and found every little thing new and mysterious. One clear example came from a nearby town when I saw a sansei woman from Hawaii with a Japanese surname who was treated fairly poorly by her teachers and Board of Education. She actually left early at the winter holiday and they spread a rumor she was pregnant to save face from the program organizers - nice.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Holding on to home See in context

Sounds like she'll be heading home pretty soon.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Posted in: Cool Japan? With new resident system for foreigners, 'Cold Japan' fits better See in context

Hmm, trying get folks worked up over nothing. Is it really more difficult to obtain permanent residence than Japanese citizenship? I have permanent residence and it didn't seem hard once I gathered all the paperwork. I've met some foreigners who have obtained citizenship, it sounded like a fairly involved process. I don't have a problem with there being differences in laws for foreigners and Japanese citizens, every country in the world is much the same. I do wish I could vote in local elections so that I had a say in how my juminzei is spent but at least I can influence my wife's vote.

16 ( +15 / -3 )

Posted in: How the JET Program changed me See in context

Decent article. Many times we only hear of folks who had a crappy time on JET. I did it 20 ys ago in a small town of 5,000. First & only gaijin there. One 7/11 & the operating hours were true to the name. This was pre-cell phones and pre-internet (at least easily accessible). NHK and the Japan Times were my news. It was somewhat of a boondoggle in my day - business class travel, lots of conferences and I always went a day early. Went on every school trip - skiiing, Kyoto, Disneyland. Interesting to see that some of those kids I taught are now living abroad or have lived abroad. Good times.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Schoolgirl speared in head by javelin at Hiroshima university See in context

I just don't see the point with this careless training. Treat it with respect, there should be someone ensuring the area is clear before each throw.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

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