(367) 蛍光灯が壊れた

蛍光灯が壊れた

Last Friday a fluorescent lamp in my house went out. I pulled its switch but it didn’t turn on. On Saturday morning I did it again, this time the lamp was on. I did it again after switching it off for confirmation, but it didn’t turn on the light anymore.
I guessed the fluorescent lamp fixture was broken, not its fluorescent tubes. I went to an electric goods store to buy a new one with my wife on Sunday.  The new one is the kind of lamp fixture we can set compact fluorescent lamps.

It is available in the same popular sizes as incandescent lamps. When these lamps go out I am going to replace them with LED bulbs, which are available as drop-in replacements for incandescent bulbs in screw-type sockets.

The dead fluorescent lamp fixture is about 12 years old.
There is another fluorescent lamp fixture on the second floor of my house. It is more than 30 years old and still good in shape. What is the difference between them?

The broken one has an electronic ballast.  Another one has a preheat fluorescent lamp circuit. Simpler circuit won the race, I think.

lamp fixture
incandescent

(351) Love Story

I got on the train to Okayama. I saw many kinds of people in the car. One young buisnessman was listening to something with earphones. He had a textbook of TOEIC. I was just wondering if he enjoyed it. I decided to join a beer party at the rooftop of Tenmaya. It took almost one hour from compay to the place by bus and train. but I enjoyed watching people on the way.

I arrived Okayama six thirty, then changed trains to Kurashiki. I saw a young woman standing on platform. She wore stars and stripes upper clothe and blue jeans short pants. Why American flag? Her clothe were a deal discolored.

I am reading Love Story written by Erich Segal. This book became very popular about forty years ago. I happened to find this book at secondhand book store. Some phrases in this book reminded me of the sounds of words in the movie. I had not seen the movie but I listened to its tape. 

"Mr. Barrett, Oliver does want you to know that in his own special way..."

"Love means not ever having to say you're sorry." 

ラブ・ストーリー―ある愛の詩 (角川文庫)

• 作者: エリック シーガル
• 出版社/メーカー: 角川書店
• 発売日: 2007/06
• メディア: 文庫

(343) うれし、たのし、しあわせ

My heart cries this being busy is not the thing I had to take. My true self rejects this situation. Life is short. I have to do what makes me really happy. I have not yet cached firmly this true thing in my life. 努力(efforts)、頑張(eager beaver)、必死(desperately) these three are thought as key words for success and virtue in Japan. But the fact is different. Instead of these three words , the next three words うれし(delight)、たのし(fun)、しあわせ(happiness) work better to get success in anything. We don't feel tired when we do things delightfully, with fun. If we can be happy doing things. This situation is ideal to do anything successfully.

宇宙方程式の研究―小林正観の不思議な世界 (「未知世界の旅びとシリーズ」)

• 作者: 小林 正観
• 出版社/メーカー: 風雲舎
• 発売日: 2001/06
• メディア: 単行本

·         effort: Middle French, from Old French esforz, esfort, from esforcierto force, from ex-+ forcier to force

Eager beaver: a person who is extremely zealous about performing duties and volunteering for more.

Desparate: giving no ground for hope

(339) 戒名

仏壇：　a family Buddhist altar

My father passed away Friday 30 March 2012. He died of prostate cancer. We had a small funeral ceremony among close relatives, but we purchased high-ranking posthumous Buddhist name, expensive one. He had saved money for this afterlife name. We did it according to his will.
prostate cancer：前立腺癌｛ぜんりつせん がん｝
posthumous Buddhist name：戒名


 He had suffered from visual hallucination in 2009. Then he began to take a mental medicine and his hallusination disappeared soon. But he broke his right thigh bone and had a big operation to put the bones togher with a long titanium stick. His broken bones successfully sticked together but his dementia became worse. He recovered so well that he almost could walk. But one day fell on the way to toilet. Since then his both legs stopped moving. He moved less on the bed so he got a serious bedsore and again went to hospital.  He ate less, so his hip's ulcer wouldn't cure completely. All treatment in the hospital was over. So we had to search the next hospital, kind of hospice facility.
visual hallucination：幻視
dementia:認知症
bedsore:褥瘡（じょくそう）、Decubitus ulcer
hospice facility:《医》ホスピス施設


Fortunately he was able to be addmitted to a nearby hospital, which is very good for dying old people. All nurses are well trained how to treat senile old people. They do keep all patients clean all the time. He gradually became feebler and finally stop eating. In about three weeks he passed away peacefully.
*

(334) Convinience Store

I became very sleepy. It was 11pm. I put on a overcoat to go to a nearby convenience store. I had to send tuition fees (授業料) to the open university. It was very warm and bright inside the store. There were a few customers there. They are all waiking. I bought two kinds of dry-cell batteries, one for my toy cat miaowing at high frequency sounds, and another for my LED flash light. And I asked the clerk to pay my tuition fees. He did quickly tranfer my paying. He asked if I put a documentary stamp (印紙) on the trasfer slip(振り込み用紙). I said, "Yes, I do." Convenience stores are much more convenient than bank transfer and post office for a worker living alone in the countryside. 

授業料：tuition fees
振り込み：via direct deposit
Your tax refund was dispatched to your bank account via direct deposit.
You can pay the membership fee by bank transfer or at convenience stores.〔【出典】Hiragana Times,
普通預金口座：savings account
（人）の口座：one's account
印紙:documentary stamp

(333) はなさん

I attended a hippo family club's weely activity. I met an old man who are sure older than I. He ran Marugame half marathon. He explained it in English. Wow, he is much stronger than I. He introduced himself, his nick name was Hana san. He recited a part of a story CD in Chinese. He also recited another story in Spanish. He said in Germany forty seven is expressed as seven and twenty. How do you say 結婚式 in Chinese? One of members is going to Taiwan for the wedding ceremony of her friend. He offered Chinese pronouceation for 結婚.

I looked up a book about Germany.

かんたん旅会話〈5〉ドイツ語

• 作者:
• 出版社/メーカー: 昭文社
• 発売日: 2011/03/25

メディア: 単行本（ソフトカバー）




On page 2 shows how to say two-digit numbers.
22 is "zwei und qwanzig".
So forty seven becomes "Sieben und vierzig".

I also checked 結婚式 by my electric dictionary (it is a kind of toy dictionary, but it covers fifty two languages.)
wedding→結婚式 (japanese)→婚礼[hūnlǐ] (Chinese)

(324) 夢日記 ? Dec. 2011

Mother and my sister were going home. I said, "Wait! You can't go home on foot from here." Mother replyed, "Yes I can. It is near here." I looked around and noticed I was in my hometown. Houses looked different from what I remembered but streets and landscape are the same as my hometown. She was right.

I got out of the movie theater just a few minutes before. I thought I had to return to the movie theater. Not to see the movie but to see Father in the theater, maybe. I could not remember what kind of clothes he wore on the day, though. I fogot the title of the movie. To tell the truth, I didn't have any movies that I really wanted to see at that time.

Anyway, I looked for the theater but I failed to find it. I got lost? I walked from street to street but strangely no movie theater. Finally, I found one movie theater. It had a strange entrance, very narrow entrance. There were two slits on its white wall, through these slits I can enter the movie theater. I could not remember what movie I was watching. But I knew these movies here were quite different types. I scarecely found the movie theater that I had been before. I wanted to find the right movie theater but I could not remember where it was located. I thought I had been with Father but now, I was not sure.

(323) 夢日記 2 Dec. 2011

Dream Journal
I had a colorful dream. I could jump higher and higher. My weight became very light, or gravity became very weak. I could jump high and fell very slowly. I knew I was able to fly. I got out of a window and fell on the roof tiles of the next house. These tiles yielded under gentle pressure of my weight. I jump up to the top of the highest building in the neighborhood. It was dark at night.

I was standing on the edge of the building top. A man stuck out his head from his window. He turned his head to look up and found me looking down him. He seemed to got angry and took out a pistol and fired at me.  I kicked the building and jumped high. I felt it was very dangerous so I jumped high to the sky. I managed to escape from his attack. I was not so scared. I was confident to fly away soon. I saw the colorful building breaking into pieces. An explosion might occure but I didn't hear any big sounds. From high sky I saw it collapsed.

(322)夢日記 21 Dec. 2011

Dream Journal
In a dream, it rains, fine rain began to fall. I had a small room alone. I decided to buy my favorite things. Antique or should I say old unique, interesting things are my collection. I bought a big musical instrument with its case made of fish skin. The musical intrument is mysterious one. It is made of unkown animal body. There was a hole in its center. I blow the instrument from the hole to play. My collection room is on a stone wall. A ladder was set up on the stone wall. I held the instrument with both hands so I gave up to climb the ladder. I went around the wall to the main gate.

(318) My father teaches me

He has already got senile. His both legs are now just like two logs laid on bed. He sleeps more than half of day. Eating is his only activity. He needs toilet care. He finally got used to daiapers for old people.

When your journey comes to an end, you won't care too much about the amount of money you made. The more important things are mentioned in a book titled "Tomorrow" by Bradley Trevor Greive.
The smooches you shared,
the nights you spent gazing in wonder at the stars,
・・・
and the time that someone special whispered, " I love you."
smooch :〈俗〉〔熱烈な〕キス、チュー

作者: ジョン マーズデン

• 出版社/メーカー: ポプラ社
• 発売日: 2006/12
• メディア: 単行本

But for my father, he has already got dementia, even these special things could not make him happy.  Just living is enough for him now, he does not need anything to do in his leisure time. He wouldn't care about anything in his life. Worrying anything in life might be rediculous. So next suggestion in this book is very important for the people who have not got dementia yet.

Embrace the unpredictable and go exploring for things that inspire you.
Take time out to enjoy the view.

take time out to:～するために時間を割く、時間を取って～する、～の時間を取る