So, it’s been a week since the Niigata earthquake. People are still homeless and many are staying at the local school gym and such. But with the opressive heat of the summer and the humidity, it’s not a good situation, especially for the elderly.
To that end, the Japanese military along with many aid organizations are doing whatever they can for the people that have been displaced. Most of the news is being taken up by the nuke plant but really, I think the people there deserve more help and attention.
Now, to help out with the aid effort, many organizations all over the world have been sending in money, food, and materials. But while watching the news last week, one thing made me laugh but in a sad way… One of the packages that came from the US to the Japanese military were a whole bunch of airconditioners. Very much needed and can be a big big lifesaver due to the weather. BUT, someone in the US didn’t really THINK before sending these out.
First off…the voltage is different here. Secondly, the PLUG is different and utterly specialized. To get this to work, the military had to round up a whole bunch of transformers and special plug adapters to get it to work. Not to mention the fact that the instructions and everything are in English so there were footage of a bunch of guys in camo scratching their heads trying to figure out the instructions and more importantly the voltage information.
Like I said…I know they meant well…
Ooops.
BUT, as of Saturday, they got enough transformers and such and have started to install them so things are getting a little bit better. (^_^)
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