東京大学大学院工学系研究科都市工学専攻
都市水システム研究室

attention, all kids-at-heart!!
there’s a great exhibit at Tokyo midtown (Roppongi)
called “water“.

I wade through art scenes whenever I crash into walls
(figuratively speaking, of course!) in research.
art and music are my cures for misanthropy… haha.

most of the captions are bilingual, and I definitely
recommend it to water researchers.
I mean, who else but artists would present “water”
so fashionably?!

行ってきました〜！water展！！
子供のように楽しんでしまいました〜^^
知っている先生方のお名前があちこちに…事情通の気分♪

It was so fun!
The exhibits don’t have extensive explanations, and
they let you find out for yourself.
I don’t want to spill the beans, but I’ll just say
this to get you interested:
They had ultra-water-repellent paper developed by NASA!
The water droplets just roll around on them like mercury!!
They reminded me of my childhood days when I used to play with
dewdrops on lotus leaves.

とにかく楽しくて☆
説明が少なく仕掛けを自分で見破るという展示がいいんです。
現代版シシオドシなんて30分くらい周りでワクワクしてました。
雨の廊下はバタバタ走り回ったり！
（友達と一緒に行ってよかった…）
水の皿回し（？）はNASA開発の超撥水紙というものを使ってるそうです！
水滴が水銀のように転がりまわって、はしゃぎものです。
子供の頃に蓮の朝露で遊んだのを思い出したり…

お子様のいる方、心が若い方は是非♪

-tomoco

Today the new ICP standard which I ordered
(exclusively! love this word) for Takizawa lab
arrived.
It’s in the usual place, so please start using it
after we’ve finished the current bottle.
Just in case your memory’s a bit rusty…
please pour the necessary amount into
another container (ex. the 5mL centrifuge tube
with green cap… you can find it on the 3rd floor bacteria room)
before you stick a micropippette tip into it.
Thanx!!

本日、注文していたICP標準液が到着しました。
滝沢研専用ボトルです！（以前は共通のものを使っていたのが汚染されていたらしく…）
いつものところに置いてあるので、今のを使い果たしたら手をつけて下さいm(_ _ )m
使うときは必ず他の容器（例えば5mLの円沈管…3階微生物室にある緑の蓋のもの）に移してからにして下さいね〜♪

-tomoco

Have you ever tried communicating a word you don’t know to someone
who can’t speak English?
It’s like having toothache in your toes.
This time, I managed to bring the whole coliform testing paraphernalia.
(Last time, I forgot the broth… critical.)
I’m testing the rainwater stored in homes for coliform, to see if they are suitable for drinking.
I’d borrowed 2 incubators from Ohgaki-lab, which can incubate 12 samples each.
So I prepared the samples, plugged in the transformer, then froze.
The transformer had only 1 opening! And I had 2 incubators!
I needed one of those taps which have 2-3 openings.
You know, one of the numerous nameless electricity things lying around the lab.
Why is it that nameless things like that have a habit of suddenly becoming important in the most unexpected places? That ought to be a Murphy ’s Law, if it isn’t already.
So there I was, stuck, then I thought of borrowing it from the hotel.
Stammered through explanations to the operator, who answered breezily, “Electrical tap, right? Wait just a moment”.
10 minutes later, Mr. Hall Porter knocks on my door and hands out a duplicate room key.
How in the world does “tap” get turned into “room key”?
With half-frantic hand gestures, showing him the tap, I explain.
Mr. Hall Porter makes an “ohhhhhhhh” face, and leaves. 20 minutes later, returns with an adaptor for foreign-shaped plugs. Okay. Getting closer… but not quite the thing I was looking for.
Desperately, I draw a picture of a plug with 2 outlets.
Mr. Hall Porter is by then with a face carved out of wood.
Woodenly, he grabs the picture and escapes.
30 minutes later, I’d already given up, when there comes another knock.
星新一のショートショートを思い出しながら恐る恐る開けると…
Wow! Mr. Another Hall Porter is carrying… a true specimen of the octopus-tap!!

Struggling not to gurgle with laughter, I fervently thank him away, then collapse on my bed.
It’s pretty scary to be laughing in a room filled with analysis equipment when you’re alone.
Laugh burst over in 5 seconds, I connected the 2 incubators.
The other 4 empty sockets are staring at me sadly even as I write.
By the way, this thing seems to be called a “power strip” in English.

Today’s lesson learned: Disinfectant kills varnish. End of explanation.
If I’m not on the hotel black-list by now, I will be tomorrow when the maid sees this.
My excuse: The space around my sink is too small. Period.

Was it Anne of Green Gables who said, “isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?” Or something to that sense.
I love the phrase… but I am becoming a bit skeptical of Anne’s logic that the number of mistakes she can commit is finite, ergo, she will stop making mistakes sometime. As far as I know, mine seem to stretch out into infinity!

-tomoco

This is Grumpy in all his splendor this morning!
Actually, he looks quite distinguished in daylight.
It’s just after sunset that he gets a touch of the diabolical…
especially when I’m lugging him around on my
shoulders and he emits hollow yatterings.
In front is today’s yield…
ケースに入った採水装置君の写真です♪
日中はなかなか美男子です。
日没後はちょっと不気味…採水しにくい雰囲気です。
手前は本日の収穫です！

Yesterday I finished fluoride education programs in 2 schools.
The kids and teachers alike were really nice.
I enjoyed myself… but breathed in perpetual fear
that I was teaching something wrong.
But after I finished everything, some kinda warm feeling
came trickling out.
This is why I chose the field of Engineering.
To help people.
To be actually living the dream,
albeit on a insignificant/insufficient level,
was truly something.

木曜日と金曜日は２校へ行き、フッ素問題の紹介をしてきました。
生徒も先生もとてもいい方々で、教える側としても楽しめました。
何か間違ったことを教えていたらどうしよう！という恐怖を常に感じていましたが、
もしかしたら世の中の教師たるもの、皆様そうなのかなぁ…？
でも授業時間が終わった後、何か温かいものがこみ上げてきました。
そういえば、工学の道を志したのは人のためになりたいからだったなー
と思い出して。

-tomoco

I’ve arrived in Chiang Mai, safe and sound^^
This may be the last time I’ll ever be in Chiang Mai…
(sob)… so I’ll try to make the best of this
fantastic opportunity.
チェンマイに無事到着しました☆
今回で最後かもしれないので（涙）気を引き締めてベストをつくします！

It’s supposed to be the dry season,
but raingiver that I am, I seem to have brought rain with me!
今、チェンマイは乾季。しかし！
我ながら雨女パワー全開、今日が今季最初の雨だそうです！

The first thing I did (yup, even before eating)
was set up the rain receptacle.
The ping-pong ball in the middle is supposed to stop evaporation.
This whole apparatus was put in a stodgy sort of cover, and set up
in the back of the hotel like a grumpy old gnome.
真っ先にやったことは雨水採水装置の設置でした！
中央のピンポン球は蒸発を抑える役目を果たします。
これ全体を塩ビのがっちりしたカバーにすっぽりと入れ、ホテル脇に置いておきました。
ホテルには許可とってあります。怪しいですもんね…

I will upload the photo of Grumpy Grey
(I just dubbed this nickname here) when there is more light.
Grumpy will be joined by 2 more of his brothers when Dr.T comes.

採水装置君の写真は後日、明るいときに撮ってお見せしますね〜
今日はここまで♪

-tomoco