When the big one comes. . .

[Mars Man]

I feel the earth, move, under my feet, I feel the sky come tumbling down...tumbling down...

Yes, that's right people !! The big one will come one sad day... It's not a question, they tell us, of 'if,' but only one of 'when.'

So. . . when the big one comes, how will we react, what will we do? The server is in the greater Tokyo area--I'm pretty sure--and when the big one comes...there may be a good chance that it'll go down for a while. (I don't know about backup systems)

With our life line which holds our world together being out. . . what will happen to us? Will my JREF addiction be forced to meet 'cold turkey?' Will I become depressed and start thinking suicidal? Will I feel as though my lover has given me a cold slap in the face with a sudden good bye?

HOW will I spend all that extra time I would then have on my hands? How many times a day will I desperately click on the bookmark...hoping for those usual Japanese Friends' smiling faces to first come into existence at the top of the page?

But then again, maybe I will be able to go to bed earlier...like I used to. Maybe I won't drink those extra three cups of coffee in the mornings. Maybe I can put a little more, even, in my school work while at my office at the uni. Maybe I can get around to patching those soft places in the floor at my house.

Anyway...how will you react? what will you do, or not do? when the BIG one comes... Let's pray that Goldiegirl will be safe and sound in Wisconsin at the time, and all you other JREFers in safe buildings...not in the subways, not on the streets surrounded by tall buildings of which glass may well come showering down and piericing the asphalt. I'm sure AdminJP will quickly jump on his two wheeler...and pedal like Superman to the scene...and save the day for all of us here are JREF, when the BIG ONE comes !!!

 

[Goldiegirl]

I read the title MM and my first thought was, "I hope I'm not there"! You know my thoughts very well indeed. You know I think about that every day. It's an obsession. When I am in Japan I think about the big one every few moments. I take a look at where I am, how would I get out; I know it probably won't help, but mentally it makes me feel better. BUT, if I am in the big one, I don't want to be alone for starters, I mean I would prefer to have my husband or a friend with me. If I am going to be killed may it be fast and as painless as possible, like perhaps a big chunk of building squishing me in an instant flatter than a pancake. If I survive in one repairable piece at least, then I want all my friends and family to make it out alive as well. If I am dead I won't know the difference. I am sure I will post on Jref as soon as it was possible to say how terrible it was, and I want to go home. I think I have posted like that before and that quake wasn't the big one!

 

[Mars Man]

Yes, Goldie chan, I do recall that posting... I'd bet you'd be safer (I mean probablility-wise) back 'home' in Niigata even. They've had their share there, so probably no more even near 'big ones' anymore.

How long do you think it'd take you to get used to JREF being down (if AdminJP, even after that Superman ride is not able to get it up and running within a span of days or weeks) and what would you do with that extra time? How would you feel at first? I wonder....

While I fully understand your fear, and the seriousness and reality of and for it, I can't help but get a humorous image of it in my mind, when you talk of it. Somehow it sounds so cute...if you know what I mean. I'm sure you'll not be in the Tokyo area at the time...probablity-wise.

 

[Goldiegirl]

I think not having any internet service would be really, really terrible and I would suffer from withdrawal. I suppose if it was only Jref that was down, I would be ok for 2 days. I think that is about right. Sometimes I don't post for that many days, but I do check in. Now if I was in the middle of heated debate, I'd be ticked that the big one hit and Jref was down, well if I was alive and not flat as a pancake!

I hope I am in Tsunan and not Tokyo. I can jump out of a two story building and survive, but the 21 floor of the hotel is a long way down and I know that I can't get down that many flights of stairs, especially with my laptop under my arm. I'd have to save that if I want to go on the Internet if I survived!

 

[MadamePapillon]

There has been speculation about this 'big one' since I can remember. It's starting to feel like the second coming of Jesus.

If it's as big as I think it will be the 'Big One' wont just hit Japan, it will hit the whole world. A Super Earthquake, with shockwaves that would be felt worldwide...like the legendary Super Volcano... something that could bring the modern world as we know it to a standstill.

Scary thought. 'Big Ones' usually result in mass extinctions, I think Jref would be the last thing on your mind, MM. I just wonder which 'Big One' will hit us first...Earthquake, Super Storms, Volcano, Ice Age (climate change) , Disease, Meteor, Black Hole, Magnetic Poles Switching, Solar Radiation....it's only when you put it in a list like that do you realize just how truly screwed we are....it's only a matter of time before one of them gets us.

 

[Mars Man]

If it's as big as I think it will be the 'Big One' wont just hit Japan, it will hit the whole world.

Well, I was just thinking about the Japanese BIG one. Just like that one which struck on Sept 1st back in whatever year that had been. It is said that within the next 30 something years of so, the greater Tokyo area will have a major earthquake of somewhere in the upper 7 on the scale most commonly used here in Japan. The estimates of fatalities are given in the tens of thousands, and damage to the intrastucture and logistical lines is predicted to be major as well.

With the life lines down, there is a good chance that JREF will be done as well. That may take some getting used to.

So here, it's just that which I am looking at. Other disasters will have their day...but this likely one is more realistic and within thinking and having effect of our on-line community more directly, for now.

 

[Haruspex]

Scary thought. 'Big Ones' usually result in mass extinctions, I think Jref would be the last thing on your mind, MM. I just wonder which 'Big One' will hit us first...Earthquake, Super Storms, Volcano, Ice Age (climate change) , Disease, Meteor, Black Hole, Magnetic Poles Switching, Solar Radiation....it's only when you put it in a list like that do you realize just how truly screwed we are....it's only a matter of time before one of them gets us.

Scary indeed, but bear with it just a little more, entertain yourself with their thought until they actually come.
I mean come on, humans die, and most die absolutely pointless and boring deaths. Wouldn't you rather die from something significant? I certainly would. Say, a black hole? How about a black hole?

 

[MadamePapillon]

I sort of look at it in a humorous light, I'm not one of those fatalistic people that keep waiting for crap to happen. Like MM was saying, going through Jref withdrawal if the big one hits.

I sort of imagined the same scenario if the magnetic poles switch (which they have in the past). I forget where I heard this but apparently we would all get knocked out and technology wouldn't work anymore and the north pole would be the south pole and vice versa. Not sure how accurate this all it but I always wondered what I would do in a world with no technology or computers.

I think I'd probably be depressed for awhile but I could still make coffee and go fishing in the river by my place so I think I'd be OK. Mostly I'd use the extra time to do some things I've been wanting to do for a long time, sort of a fantasy 'to do' list:

1) Live in the forest for a year
2) Knit a blanket/quilt
3) Make a homemade period piece dress (weird...I know)
4) Hunt down and kill a deer with my bare hands and a knife
5) Ride a whale
6) Explore one of those caves where people have claimed to see demons or gates to hell

Actually...I could probably do all of those things now...

 

[Tsuyoiko]

Didn't the big one already happen?

UK Earthquake

 

[Haruspex]

The poles keep changing if im correct, very slowly however.
As for the list, I think you should switch 5 and 6, riding a whale is probably the last thing one does in life, so I suggest that you explore caves first.

I would probably do this kinda stuff.

1, Blow up a huge building. (Most people would be dead anyway, so who cares if I demolish something in a ghost town?)
2, Learn to drive by myself, only need to break into car saloons lol and steal their stuff.
3, Begin feeding my cats with caviar.
4, Kill my neighbours if they're not dead yet.
5, Piss down from a tall building.
6, Steal myself an Xbox360, Wii, a better PC, all the games that are out, all the little gadgets for them, and steal all the anime dvd's I can find.

Lol yeah, Im a scavanger.

 

[Grandpa Frank]

Ancient history.

Years ago, JREF went down during a server change. It seemed like it was down for a month, but I think it was about 17 days? Anyway, some of the hard core JREF'ers at the time had made a plan for an outage. One young female member had her own forum which was new and almost unused. We agreed ahead of time to meet there if JREF ever went down. About 11 of us met there everyday to wonder what happened to JREF and worry about rather it would ever return. It was great for us poor JREF addicts to have support for each other during those hard times.

Uncle Frank

 

[Mars Man]

That does sound like a plan, Uncle Frank ! Yeah. . .

BECAUSE...the BIG one here specifically and precisely is referring to the Kanto Plain...especially Tokyo...so JREF may well be down for some time. Of course, much of the 'lifeline' may be down for Tokyo, so even other forums would hard to get into...since even getting on line may be hard for a while.

I did find it interesting that such a quake had happend in England. Where I had grown up in Alabama, they just never really have them...but then, that's a different subject...

If Tokyo is hit, and JREF went down, I guess I would do some painting (pictures) or continue working on my interior work in the dozo.