Posts

Showing posts from January 23, 2005

Honshu and Okinawa

Image
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 ...
I am buying a new truck. I am pretty close on figuring out which one. It will be a duramax diesel with the 5 speed allison automatic I know for sure. Where I am getting it from and whether I am getting the dump trailer is not so sure. The class I am taking (Financial Management) is demanding. I am going to have to really knuckle down. It has been as cold as 26 below zero the last few days around here. It hasn't got that cold at the house, but when I went into work the other day it was so cold your lungs hurt when you breathed in. The diesel starts fine if you remember to plug it in the night before. The llamas don't care for the cold. The heater keeps their house about 25 degrees warmer than the outside temp. These temps are tough on the animals no doubt. I know after last year I would never think of cold temperatures the same again. The animals are just at the mercy of their owners and the temperature. We got one of the GE radios working on the desired frequency ...