Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Replacement of Fridge

　　On the night of Feb. 10th, the fridge abruptly stopped working. This fridge was the second one for my house and was operating for as long as 18 years, except a couple of shutdowns for moving house.
　　The first one, which had been bought when we got married, broke after 12 years' use. When we chose the second one, we thought that our daughters would grow up and the bigger and more functional it was, the better. It was refined to save electricity and to adopt several cooling methods for various food items, like vegetables, fish, meat, and so on.
　　My wife and I weren't able to conceive of life without fridges and made a beeline for the nearest electric appliance shop at just its opening time on the next day, the 11th. A big and sophisticated fridge, which was equipped with a storage space for even wines, caught my eye, but my wife told me that we wouldn't need such a big one for just the two of us. She was right and I agreed. When I replaced a dead light bulb into a LED bulb the other day, I wondered when and who would replace this bulb. It would never be me! My life was surely approaching to the end. (grin)
　　The picture was shot on 12th. The old one was being taken out of the kitchen in the pictures. I fully left the moving work of both the new and old fridges to the store staff members. Their work was really that of professionals. I admired them.

 

２月１０日の夜、突然冷蔵庫が動かなくなった。この冷蔵庫は我が家の２代目で１８年使っている。この間、引っ越し以外で電源を落としたことはなく、常に我が家の食生活を支えてくれた。
　
結婚時に買った初代の冷蔵庫は１２年あまりで壊れた。そして今の冷蔵庫を買うとき、これから娘たちが成長するからと考え、結婚したときに買った大型の冷蔵庫よりも更に容量の大きいのを買った。２代目の冷蔵庫は冷蔵方法が食品別に設定されていたり、節電できたりと細やかにデザインされていた。
　
冷蔵庫のない生活は考えられないので翌１１日急遽電気屋へ行き、新しい冷蔵庫を購入。これからは夫婦二人の生活で、食も細くなるだろう。あまり容量は大きくなくて良いと考えて選んだ。先日交換したＬＥＤ電球、その寿命を考えると、次にこれを交換するのは誰だろう？少なくとも自分ではないだろうなあと考えた。あ～、人生、終わりに近づいている。(^_^;)

１２日に古い冷蔵庫の引き取り、新しい冷蔵庫の搬入となった。冷蔵庫の移動はプロにお任せした。その巧みなやり方に驚いた。やはりプロはプロである。

 

Foundation Day of Japan

　　Today, Feb. 11th, was the Foundation Day of Japan. Japan was founded on this day in 660 B.C. That period was still in the mythical age, but the present Ten-noh, the priest king of Shinto, is the direct 125th generation's descendant from the 1st Ten-noh, Jinmu. "Ten-noh" is often translated into "Emperor" in English, but it's wrong, I suppose. There's no counterpart of him in other countries, and so I believe that Ten-noh should be called Ten-noh even in other languages, like other Japanese words, such as sushi, tsunami, kimono, and so on. I want to write that Japan has been independent in all of its history, but to my regret, Japan had been occupied for about 7 years after World War 2.
　　I forgot to take a picture of Japan's flag raised in front of my house. The national flag of Japan was really beautiful in today's blue sky.

 

今日は建国記念日、日本は紀元前６６０年のこの日に建国された。その時代は神話の時代ではあるが、歴史は連綿と続き、現在に至る。ただその間、７年間だけ独立国日本がこの世に存在しなかった時代があった。アメリカに占領されていた時代である。それを考慮に入れずに考えると、今年は皇紀２６７７年となる。第１２５代に当たる今上陛下。英語など外国語でエンペラーと翻訳されるがこれは間違っていると思う。エンペラーという言葉から類推されるものと天皇とは全く異なるからだ。天皇は外国語でもテンノウと書き、発音して欲しい。

自宅前に掲げた国旗の写真を撮り忘れここに載せることが出来ないが、快晴の空に日本の国旗は本当に美しいと思う。