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Showing posts from February 18, 2007

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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Getting used to the "real" world is going to take some time. I will probably not ever totally end up where I was before my adventure and that is ok. I certainly do keep busy. One of the things I planed on doing when I was on the ice was to form an opinion about global warming based on what I saw with my own two eyes in Antarctica. Antarctica certainly was not warm for the most part when I was there but it was warmer on some days than most people would have thought. The sea ice has not melted and broken up in McMurdo Sound for at least 6 years. This year it receded more than it had in some recent past but still it had not receded to the point when Shackleton and Scott were sailing around McMurdo sound. One of the things that irritates me is how the Antarctica card is being played in the global warming arguement. Most people have not and will not personally expereince Antarctica. So the political technocracy can use facts regarding Antarctica to advantage. For example, a st...
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Life is getting back to normal. I went to work the other day and I was greeted by a very large species of penguin. It seems strange being back. My outlook has changed. I am seeing things I didn't see before. Success is ahead. I have been studying flight manuals and making other plans. I missed my big red parka so much I ended up buying a new winter coat and some new boots. This is the time of year. Things go on sale. I bought some bunny boots on ebay for 33 bucks (with shipping). They are very nice. I am quite happy with them. Actually they are Mickey boots. They are black not white and they are not rated quite as cold as the ones I had on the ice. I will be snowshoeing this afternoon since I have at least 9 pounds to loose from the ice. My membership in the fitness center is also reinstated. I have been working on getting the audio system in the house setup as well. I have an old computer setup as a MPEG server that will connect to the Mcintosh preamp and Fisher amp I scored rec...
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