I'm judging you.

Also, on a lighter note, the niconico video chat that streams alongside the NHK webstream running now is about the most adorable thing to watch, despite the fearmongerers on there as well. Edano (Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, this dude) has become kind of the 'mascot', adopted by chatters and twitterers alike, because he's EVERYWHERE and seems to never sleep (you may have even seen the article on #edano_nero ["Edano, sleep already!"]). Last night, someone posted this pic last night and it made me laugh XD Also, he has been fondly dubbed "Edanon" which makes him sound like a magical girl to me XD

Similarly, but not on nearly as large a scale, there was one reporter for NHK, Yamada-san, who was on-location somewhere I've forgotten and was giving a report. Unfortunately, nearby, a helicopter was landing and making it almost impossible for the poor guy to be heard, even after being asked to hold the mic closer. Ultimately, the anchor said they'd come back to him later (after the chopper left), and instantly the chat exploded with comments of concern like, "Yamada-san! Ganbare~!" and "Yamada-san, makenaide!!", and a few moments later, when the shot cut back to him, the chopper was gone, and the chat erupted with excited comments like, "YAMADA-SAN GA HERI NI KATTA!!" ("Yamada-san beat the helicopter!") and "Yamada-san good job!!" XD; Oh Yamada-san, your antics and katsu-ing against a heri made my day a bit brighter :)

In other news, there was just another really strong quake right beneath us--a 6.0 @____@ Please let Chiba not fall into the ocean before I leave...!

And I really DON'T know when I'll be back again :P

So yes...I'm giving into my family's concerns (as well as some mild ones of my own) and getting out while the getting's good. I really don't want to wind up trapped in Tokyo should The Worst happen, and since my family are very worried and would just rather I be with them right now, I'm going to do the wise thing and retreat for a little bit. I'm hoping it won't be long, but a week and a half should be a good little respite as well as a chance for the situation here to either settle down and let me return or escalate so that I can make hard decisions *sigh*

This really, really sucks--for everyone up north, worse so--but having less than 24 hours to leave the country? Ugh. This is not the vacation home I wanted :(

I'll be on the first train out to Shinjuku station in the morning, because none of the trains to Narita are running and none of the buses are taking reservations for tomorrow since they don't know what the situation will be (they told me to get there as early as possible). Worse comes to worse, I've got money for a very expensive taxi ride :< I'd much rather be waiting a long time AT Narita than worrying about whether or not I can even GET to Narita.

On the bright side...I get to spend my birthday surrounded by my family for the first time in several years?? *tries to make best of situation*

I'm not even checking any bags, just grabbing what I can and stuffing it into a carry-on and gtfo-ing. This is the worst :(

I really need to stop watching the news :| It just seems to be getting worse up north, and while I don't want to panic or anything, I also have to wonder if I'm not getting enough on edge. Tokyo seems to be moving along like normal, and I expect I'll go into work tomorrow like any Monday, but...will the reactors in Fukushima be OK? Who knows...

I have friends who are heading south, and I could do that as well, but it's expensive, and I don't want to leave and have it all be no big deal really (of course, wouldn't I rather be safe than sorry?). I have responsibilities, work that's due in the next couple of days, and well, it's all just confusing! I can imagine it's even worse not being IN Japan and having to rely in the international media, but I think I'm just going to hunker down and save energy, keep a bag packed just in case, and try not to let things get out of hand :)

Continuing to hope that everything works out okay without any major events...!

Okay! I've made it home relatively safely now, so just to remind everyone and let them know: I'm perfectly all right, and so are everyone I know, thank goodness!

Getting home was an adventure: the trains still weren't running even at 6 PM, so I decided to take the bus, since well, I had to get home. There was one that went to Ikebukuro right in front of our building, so I stuffed myself in there and spent an hour as a sardine XD; Soooo much traffic and so many people! When I got to Ikebukuro, I'd hoped maybe the trains would be back up and running. However, not only were they not back up yet...



The entire station was shuttered, keeping everyone outside in the cold :(

I started the long trek home and was really surprised at how many people were out on the streets--and realized it's because well, what else was there to do? If you wanted to get home, walking was really your only hope, seeing as the streets were packed with cars already, and even the dingiest little eateries were packed with customers. Stretches of road typically devoid of people were packed to the brim, craziness!

I eventually made it home after 2+ hours of trying, and thankfully (I know Beri will be disappointed in this), my bookcase was not tipped over!! In fact, I didn't really have much damage to deal with--though my fridge door came open and sat that way for 5 hours, blah :P

There was one major casualty though...



;____; My beloved mug, a present from analineblue several years back that I often used as a conversation starter and really liked because it was so big... Thank you, and good night sweet muggy prince ;____;

The one good thing to come out of this, though?

今日は森山さんに会う予定でしたがテンペストの公演が中止になったようで会う事も中止にします。

Today I was supposed to meet up with Moriyama-san, but since the Tempest performance was suspended, we decided to suspend our plans to meet up as well.

GOD KNEW I DIDN'T WANT EIJI AND NAGAYAN TO HANG OUT because really, I don't need another picspam post of Eiji's ass AND SENT AN EARTHQUAKE TO STOP IT. Huzzah? :/

There are still aftershocks going on, even 6 hours later, so...here's hoping tomorrow's a better day!