Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I haven't been posting lately because (a) we've been moving across town, and (b) I wasn't sure how to respond to the situation in Japan.  Thanks to some friendly advice (thanks, Magaly!) I figured I'd just say what's going through my head.

Quick update on the Japan situation.  Earthquake + tsunami + nuclear cooling problems = bad.  It is unbelieveable how many compounding events colluded to create this crisis.  The "redundant" cooling systems were not redundant at all, but relied on a constant supply of electricity and electrically supplied coolant without which they failed.  Without electricity to power the system, the coolant boiled off while the coolant pump simultaneously stopped supplying replacement coolant.  Not only did this expose the rods to the atmosphere, spiking the radiation levels inside the plant, but also the steam released reacted with the shielding materials and allowed for a buildup of hydrogen gas which exceeded the design limits of the containment vessel.  However, even then the situation would have been salvageable because there were preventative systems which should have eliminated the excess pressure by incinerating the hydrogen gas... only the incinerator was not operational due to the quake damaging the electricity grid.  And then...it all went downhill from there.  I've been glued to aljazeera, cnn, bbc, and the program websites, trying to ascertain whether I should stay or go.

My contacts in Tokyo (hundreds of miles away from the Sendai/Fukushima area) say much of the media reporting is sensationalized and that food, water, transportation, and sanity is still available.  The program has not yet been cancelled.  Though I just received an email that they are "talking" about moving it back a few days...I'm going to lose thousands over this. ; ;

BTW, today was my last day at work and it was awesome.  Shredding papers, throwing out project notes I'll never have to read again...I walked out of the office with a big stupid smile on my face!  Ah, catharsis.  I am now a free agent!

And my puppy just jumped in my lap wanting attention.  To be continued!