I went out for a stroll the other day; it was the day after New Year’s Day, I think. Anyway, in Japan, New Year’s is a 4-day holiday and in those first few days of the year almost all Japanese people visit a shrine or temple for at least a few minutes (I wrote more extensively about it last year here and here) and many line up for quite a while in order to throw their coins in the offering box.

Anyway, what I was struck by the other day was the contrast between these two scenes (pictures taken only minutes apart):

Yes, some people line up on January 2 for the traditional visit to the shrine and others line up for the traditional box of Krispy Kreme donuts…! You can’t really see it in the picture above, but there is a sign indicating that the waiting time to get your greasy dough rings is (are you ready for it?) one hour and twenty minutes. A year ago, I was amazed that people were lining up so long for donuts. Then, in the summer, when it was 40°C, I was amazed to see people standing in that heat waiting for donuts. Now, about a year-and-a-half later, I’m just dumbstruck…

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PS: A devout reader, Hali, and Adonica, thanks for your kind words…

Shari, I can’t remember if I thanked you for your comments about the bad RAM - I definitely got a bum stick, but have adapted to the inconvenience temporarily. I will take your advice and check our Crucial for RAM for my MacBook.