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Showing posts from September 10, 2006

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 ...
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I mailed in all my Medical stuff today to become PQ'd. There was a bunch of arcane information to gather. It took a couple of weeks to get it all. It appears a lot of it would be good for research statistics not much else. For example, there is a very strange prevelance of gall bladder problems for people who winter over in Antarctica. No one knows why. Gathering additional data can help figure things out. There has been a lot to do. I have have had as many injections as trips to medical buildings. I have to thank Chris at Parkway dental and the folks over at Dr. Kennedy's for helping me get all this done when everyone else is waiting months for appointments. I am off to San Diego Sunday for a couple of days for a conference. Thursday when I get back I have my last Dentist appt. before submitting my dental work (and xrays) for getting PQ'd. I don't think the Resses cat is going to make it until I deploy. She is very sick. She has been taking water but nothing else. ...
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I should be physically qualified (PQ'd) next week. I recovered from my teeth extraction quite fast. My bite has changed and that has given me a bit of discomfort. I have one more doctor visit (I think) and one more dentist visit. The next step after being PQ'd is receiving plane tickets to the ice. My POD (point of departure) is Binghamton NY. I will fly commercial to LA and then to Auckland and then to Christchurch NZ. I will be in Christchuch for a couple of days with orientation and we have to wait for weather, logistics and get my ECW gear (Extreme Cold Weather). From Christchuch I wil get on a Air Force C-141 (most likely) and fly to Mactown. Mentally I have moved from extreme excitement to a more subdued cautiousness. It will be a very different experience. You just cannot mentally prepare for the unknown. The humdrum boring issues are the ones to be cautious of, missed flights, lodging problems etc. This is a flower arrangement the grandkids made a couple of weeks back...
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