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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It is a cool rainy Saturday morning. I need to be out splitting wood. It won't be doing much drying today but splitting is a step in the right direction. I probably have about 6 face cord put up, but I want to get some cushion. Next year's use is fine. I always go through a bit more than I plan. I guess it is like eating what is in the pot. If it is there you consume it.

I got a promotion at work. I was getting pretty bored. It will be good to have some new challenges.

My flight instructor gave me some kudos the other night. I did my best landing ever. A "greaser" is what you call it. The flying experience is really a great one. It pulls from all corners of the mind. It really makes you feel alive. We were commenting that it is a strange calling. It is stressful and enjoyable all at the same time. It was great the other night. We were using runway 7 which is unusual because of the prevailing winds. There is a road that crosses the grass runway on the runway 7 approach end. You aim for the road and touchdown just after it. The pattern goes around the village of Greene, past the plant and you turn base between the round barn and the Ford dealership.

The chickens are laying about a dozen eggs a day. There are a fair amount of double yolkers too. Some of them get really large.

I was watching TV last night and I was a bit taken back by the complexity of the TV and related gear of controlling it. That sure is a long way from the days of the B&W TV. The remote control consisted of a verbal command to a small child to move between one the two or three channels. I remember years ago the first hard drive we bought at work for the second generation CAD system. It was a 10 megabyte drive from H-P. It cost something like $20,000.00. With Terabyte hard drives now under a hundred dollars is is hard not to feel a bit old.

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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 ...
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