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Showing posts from December 5, 2004

Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
It has been a pretty strange week in a lot of ways. Not in anyway that I can put my finger on specifically, but strange nevertheless. I skidded a few trees out of the woods for firewood Saturday. I got some pretty nice ashwood. My little articulated Holder C500 tractor is awesome for getting in and out of the forest. The articulation really helps get around trees. I got the logs from down in a revine, so the tractor was put to the test. I didn't get stuck, but I did need to disconnect the logs and attach them again from another angle a couple of times. I used the 4-wheel dif lock a few times too. The wood split up nice with an axe and I put the cord wood up for use this winter. We have been burning quite a bit of wood since it hasn't been that cold. I have a ton of coal out in the barn. My main computer has given me fits. I spent about 6 hours on Sunday trying to get it back. I think the CD ROM drive or adapter failed which won't allow me to do a reinstall off the s...