Japan's nuclear crisis may be even worse than we think

In the weeks since the tsunami, Japan has continued to battle adverse conditions at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant. But as the American attention span wanes, most news agencies are ready to move on. But it appears that the danger at the plant is not decreasing, and may actually be on the rise. A new NRC report paints a dire picture of plant perhaps only a few steps away from another major leak or meltdown risk.

The document also suggests that fragments or particles of nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools above the reactors were blown “up to one mile from the units,” and that pieces of highly radioactive material fell between two units and had to be “bulldozed over,” presumably to protect workers at the site. The ejection of nuclear material, which may have occurred during one of the earlier hydrogen explosions, may indicate more extensive damage to the extremely radioactive pools than previously disclosed...

The assessment provides graphic new detail on the conditions of the damaged cores in reactors 1, 2 and 3. Because slumping fuel and salt from seawater that had been used as a coolant is probably blocking circulation pathways, the water flow in No. 1 “is severely restricted and likely blocked.” Inside the core itself, “there is likely no water level,” the assessment says, adding that as a result, “it is difficult to determine how much cooling is getting to the fuel.” Similar problems exist in No. 2 and No. 3, although the blockage is probably less severe, the assessment says.

Biking Update - July 25, 2009

A very good week for bike riding, but a very poor week for weight loss. Started off last weekend with a long ride along the Stratford Shoreline with CRChair. It was a gorgeous day after several days of rain, with blue skies and high clouds. Then, on Sunday, I did my first "real" ride from my home in Shelton, CT to church in Trumbull, CT. ("Real" because I actually attended church after riding down, then rode back home. Thanks to pastors for helping arrange a shower before services.) If you are from the midwest, a ride of about 8 miles each way might not seem like much. But that is with SIGNIFICANT hills every mile or so the whole way there, and long (but more gentle) uphills all the way back. Then, on Wednesday, we had a good ride up to Captains for Guys Night Out - which may be Bowhunter's last regular GNO with us, as he is moving in August and we are away on vacation next week. Sigh.

The weight-loss front was not good this week, however. After the Sunday ride, I spiked up almost back up to 210 lbs, and never got much farther down over the course of this week, despite eating almost perfectly. Not sure if the extra weight is muscle building (which would be good) or if my body is "off", but it was discouraging. Especially in light of the fact that this next week is a "free week" where I eat what I want, which means guaranteed weight-gain. Still, I am not in this for a sprint, but a marathon, and these setbacks will occur. As Bowhunter reminded me and Nick seconded, it can be dangerous to focus on a single number as a guide for your life. Weight gain is not always fat-gain, and you want to watch your overall health.

This next week will be one of vacation. I plan to ride the bike every day, but also eat pretty much what I want. Don't plan to gorge on sugar or anything, but I do plan to leave my worries behind for a bit. We'll see how it all goes, and I will keep weighing every day. Be watching Mod-Blog for photos of the trip!

Biking Update - March 21, 2009

Wow, this last week was a tale of two cities - the best of times and the worst of times. On the downside, I gained about 5 lbs over a "free weekend" when I allowed myself to eat what I wanted (except sugar). I enjoyed potato chips, french fries, and pizza and OH! it tasted good. But I paid for it as the pounds piled back on to a max of 213 lbs on Tuesday. But the UPSIDE of "free" times is they allow my metabolism to "reset" and any sense my body had of having to hoard energy is wiped out. So, I made it back down to my previous low of 208 lbs by Friday meaning the "free weekend" was a wash in the end. I am hopeful it means some new lows to come soon.

But besides the food, this weekend was also great because I got to ride with CRChair and Bowhunter along the shore in Stratford. We had an unbalanced ride for the first half, as not only were Bowhunter and CRChair held back by less training (I am doing 10 miles a night on the stationary bike right now, and they are doing 10 miles of life instead) but Bowhunter was also weighted down by a trailer in which he was pulling the Bowhunter babies. But about halfway thru, he decided I was ready for a little parental responsibility (and a little challenge) and strapped the trailer onto MY bike. Hmmm... A little bit more difficult! I was just about pulling the same weight that I was pulling when I started my biking journey! :-D But I kept up the same speed as before, and we had a great time. We did 10.6 miles which is less than usual, but not bad for a Sunday.

This next week looks positive. We're planning to bike again on Sunday (Saturday is booked with social events) and I'll be on-plan all week, eating-wise. And, we're looking forward to the return of biking up to Captains for GNO, every Tuesday - also known as "REAL biking up major hills." Oh, what fun!

Biking Update - January 10, 2008

This was a good week for both weight loss and biking. Let's start off with the biking. From January 1 thru 4th, I was down in Dover, Delware, visiting Ward, Muse, and Baby E. I had decided to bring along my new Dahon Matrix folding bike, just in case. Well, it turned out that the area around our hotel was a great area for riding. It was set back in a small corporate park with a few nearby apartments. Within a few seconds riding, I had several large parking lots, a few residential neighborhoods, a gravel path, and (most surprisingly to me) some nice bike lanes on the roads! (For those of you in more enlightened parts of the country, bike lanes are almost unknown here in Connecticut.) I rode about 7 miles a day, first thing in the morning, and really enjoyed starting each day out and about in the world. And with my daily exercise already out of the way. When we got back, I took Monday off to recover and was able to use a few hours in the day to go riding along the beach in Startford with frequent Mod-Blog commenter "Nick." We had a great ride of 12 miles from Short Beach to Long Beach and all around the area.

So, only 9 days into 2009, I have already racked up over 35 miles worth of outdoors riding! And that is with average high temperatures of 34 degrees. Not bad for a guy who has been seriously biking for less than a year.

Weight loss also ended out well. If you look at the graph (yes, I am aware it is getting harder and harder to read - eventually, I will show only 2009 data, so it will be larger) you may notice a strange plateau around 222. As it is for everyone, the period from Christmas to New Years weekend was a tough time. I avoided sugar, but had a lot of carbs and larger meals, especially while traveling. However, while I was not losing, I am also happy to say that I did not do a lot of gaining, either. The daily bike rides kept the weight gain down to about 2.8 lbs overall. And by the end of this week, I was back below 220 which was my original goal to reach by February! So, I am encouraged. Now that we are back home, and I am back on the normal regimen for eating and exercise, I should see some more weight loss ongoing.

This upcoming week is going to be interesting. There is a slight chance we might bike tomorrow, but a snow storm is expected which is likely to put a kibosh on any plans. And during the work week, we are look at highs of 17 degrees Fahrenheit most of the week. Too cold to think about getting anyone else to come along when I ride. So this may mean any cycling I do would be odf the indoors/stationary bike variety. We shall see.

Biking Update - December 13, 2008

This is one of those fun weeks where I have a lot to talk about both in terms of weight loss and biking. First, this was one of those rare winter weeks where I did get to bike. Last Saturday, CRChair and I took a long COLD ride along the beach in Stratford. I had been wanting to bike for several weeks, but the weather had not cooperated. Finally, we had a sunny, dry day. We brought out Trek (i.e. non-folding) bikes and by the time we were able to bike (more on why it was so late, later) we realized sunset was pending and most of the biking trails would be closing. So we went to the beach instead, because the roads never close. We got there with temperatures around 35 - the coldest we had ever ridden in - but were dressed up in our "winter biking clothes". Multiple layers, long sleeves, long-fingered gloves, etc. It was a great ride, but much colder than I had expected. The layering worked, but was not entirely effective until we had been moving hard for a while and were generating internal heat. We went about 8 miles in the end, took a lot of really nice sunset photos, and confirmed that humans lose a LOT of heat out of the top of their heads... especially when wearing helmets with wind holes in them.

The other biking story of the week concerns my new folding bike - a Dahon Matrix. I reported the purchase last week, and that we had brought it to a local bike shop, Amity Bikes in Woodbridge, CT. What I did not know at the last report, was that I was in for a LONG day when I came to pick up the bike. We got there about 11:30 AM and found that a squirrel-related emergency had stopped them from working on my bike Friday, so they had only just started on it when we arrived. They asked us to give them an hour, so we went to lunch. When we got back, the owner had a worried look on his face. "Uh, did you buy this in a scratch-and-dent, as-is sale?" Nope. "Um... You'd better come in back with me." He showed me a number of scratches that I had failed to notice the first time, informed me that the front wheel was unusable, one of the shifters was completely useless, that the stem was broken and unsafe, that the clamp that held the seat in place had been stripped, and... well, you get the picture. Apparently, when I got my great deal on this bike, the online bike store sent me the worst one in their inventory. They were able to replace all of the components, and most of them actually got upgraded in the process. But I wound up spending $150 on a bike that I have saved a little over $300 on. I have contacted the bike shop that sold this to me to see what we can work out. So far, they have opened a ticket for me, and are researching my case. I'll let you know how it goes. Dahon, on the other hand, has been great to work with and sent me a bottle of touch-up paint for the scratches free of charge. And the bike itself rides beautifully. If the weather agrees, I hope to do my first real ride on the Matrix tomorrow.

Weight-wise this has been a good week, too, as I finally fell below 225 and stayed below it for at least 3 days. You may recall that 230 was my goal weight, and now I am seeing how low I can go. After thanksgiving, I saw a spike in weight and then a quick return to nominal. But it was struggle for a bit afterwards to begin losing again. Now that I am eating on plan again, every day, and exercising regularly, I appear to be losing regularly again. I am hoping to reach 220 lbs by February - giving me time for Christmas to cause food issues - but at this rate I might reach that by the end of the year. Either way, I have now lost over 60 lbs since I started back in June. This is amazingly encouraging to me, and hopefully means good things for my health in the long-term.

Biking Update - July 19, 2008

This was a better week weight-wise, even though I continue to struggle with the knee injury at times. I finally broke out of the plateau and wound up ending the week out at a new low. I am just a few ounces short of being 20 pounds under my starting weight, which will be a major deal. I had been thinking that I might be losing at a much faster rate than this, based on my first week, but I was reminded by several wise women who have been thru this before that you lose a lot more the first week than any week after. And I re-read an article by Dr. Atkins (yes, I know he is still controversial, even post-mortem) which reminded readers that weight lost quickly is regained quickly but weight lost slowly is regained slowly as well. So, I am encouraged to stay the course and take joy in the progress I do see. The nicest sign of how far I have come this week came in the form of a belt. It was one I had bought at my largest, because the others were getting to be too small. When I started, I was about midway on the pre-cut holes. Now, I am at the very smallest one, and am about to have to retire the belt altogether as being too large! Nice. Although my old belts will be sorry to end their vacation.

Last weekend's big biking trip was again on the Trumbull Trail. My knee was still bothering me, so we decided against trying the Shelton Trail quite yet. It looks to be more hilly and unpaved than the others, so we want to wait until we are both back to nominal condition. It was a great day for a ride - warm but with a slight breeze - and we rode all 9 miles in about an hour and a half. I was ready for another run, but CRChair was not in the mood. And as my body cooled and my knee stiffened, it became clear that his was the wiser head.

Today, we will either head up to Farmington, CT in search of 3G iPhones or we will be biking over near Marnicks in Stratford, CT. It is a beautiful area for riding with lots of sandy beaches, long streets clear of most traffic, and beautiful old and new homes. The last time we were in this area was with Mr. and Mrs. Bowhunter (you may recall the pictures) and we're hoping to discover a few new places and sights this time around. We'll see what there is to see. Next weekend, I will be in Savannah, GA for a wedding, so probably no biking then unless we rent one down that way. Please be praying in this upcoming week that I take advantage of exercise opportunities which come my way, and that I eat wisely at the wedding. I am quite sure there will be lots of tempting and fattening foods there. Have not yet decided if I will let myself have any wedding cake.