Mum, if you are reading this I'm sorry I never told you about the earthquakes.

This afternoon I was sitting at home, minding my own business, wondering why the power went off and being devastated that I had wasted a sick-day in my air-conditonless apartment when another little crap earthquake hit. And if I sound relaxed about it that's partly because I still have no energy from climbing Mt Fuji and partly because they happen all the time. Mum, if you are reading this I'm sorry I never told you about the earthquakes. I thought you might not love them too much. Usually they happen in the middle of the night and are finished by the time you realise what has happened. There was that one time of course in Kobe many moons ago when that wasn't exactly the case, but anyway that's pretty much how it goes. So today's little tremor was no big deal. Until the mirror came off my wall. And then I left and went and stood in the carpark alone. The epicentre was in Chiba where my friends are and it was pretty big. Maybe that's why the power was off. My friend Carrie was at work (where I should have been) and her account (www.carrieleasewell.blogspot.com) is a bit funnier.