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Showing posts from August, 2009

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 ...
I am out of space again on my server. It all adds up! I have to sort some stuff around.
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I feel the need to blog everyday even though I do not. In that regard it is a lot like exercise. I have been confined to rowing. I still cannot run without real risk of injury. I like rowing and it is good for the tendon. I had a rough week in many ways. It will get better. We went and saw Blood Sweat and Tears Friday night at Tioga Downs. We also had the opportunity (strangely enough) to pass some time with some slot machines. We walked away with a few extra dollars minus dinner drinks and the show. It was fun. I really like a couple of those tunes. The trumpet is great. Doing stuff like that really makes a difference in my life. I helped Douglas install a new water heater. We decided to convert to electric from LP given all the parameters. Sunday we are off to Bainbridge NY for a political rally. Otherwise, I painted. I hate painting. I don't hate much, but I hate painting. It is so slow and requires so much prep. There is always time/weather sensitivities which mea...
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I have been busy. That is for sure. Summer seems to have finally arrived. The fields are incredibly wet. It is like late spring in that regard. I pretty much made up my mind that the llamas are going to leave the farm. I am looking for a new home for them. It is time for a new hobby. This is a picture of the boys from this past spring.
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Today I got the stringers on the hay wagon. Sunday I am in Rochester for at least half a day.
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Just because I haven't been blogging doesn't mean nothing has been happening. After I finally got over that nasty summer cold, I have been trying to catch up. My achilles heel still bothers me; I have to be careful. I feel like an old fart sometimes and all I have to talk about is my health. That is going to stop. We cut all the brush and trees down in front of the house. It looks a lot better. Don't ask me if it will make my taxes go up. Greg and Sandy Mills (and Lucy) were down for a couple of days. We dug the solar collector ditch among other things. Now I have to get it installed as well as the other stuff that goes in the ditch. I guess some of the big news is that I passed my test for Certified Information Security Manager. So after the paper work gets complete I become Charles Dowdell, CISM. The test score is scaled so it isn't really a matter of making the grade. You have to make teh grade compared to other folks who have taken the test. I have been fly...