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Showing posts from November 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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Today is Thanksgiving and I am emailing folks in Antarctica to wish them the best. My friend Dave is stuck about 5 hours (LC-130 Aircraft) away from McMurdo at a god forsaken place known as "WAIS Divide". WAIS is an acronym for "West Antarctica Ice Sheet". There has been a seasonal science camp out there for years taking ice core samples. Dave has been out there 3 years in a row. We use a an old C-band satellite dish to get Internet through an old NOAA satellite through the University of Miami. I think he gets 5 hours of visibility at 56 kbps. Good for email for the scientists. At least they have a regular camp cook out there. I am looking for a new controller for my electric car. I have been doing a lot of research and planning. It won't be cheap. I want to do it right. I know if I don't it will be a mess and give electrics a bad name. I am diligently looking for what the the EV folks call a "Donor Car". I have reduced my goal to a 40 mile range...
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It is a normal weekend I suppose. We went to a Toastmaster event in Ithaca last night. Jason and Claudia both competed in the district contests. This was the contest that culminates 2000 toastmasters from across the state. Unfortunately, neither won, but to compete at this level is certainly an achievement. The Columbian guy who won the Humorous contest was a real hoot. I have been patrolling the woods out back with the jeep looking for hunters and getting firewood. There were no signs of hunters on opening day which was great with me. I take my camera and my note pads to capture back tags. Anyone I catch will get a ticket from the DEC. I have a bunch of firewood to process. I should have enough for this year, but you really can't have too much. Worst thing is that I will use it next year. As long as I can get out back (snow not too deep) I might as well bring it forth. It is a great excuse to spend time in the woods. Even though it was in the 20s I was down to a t-shirt working ...
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