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Showing posts from June 13, 2010

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 ...
These quotes are in this order for a reason. The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me. --Ayn Rand I want to die a slave to principles. Not to men. Ignorance and obscurantism have never produced anything other than flocks of slaves for tyranny... It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees! --Emiliano Zapata The final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him in other men the conviction and the will to carry on... The genius of a good leader is to leave behind him a situation which common sense, without the grace of genius, can deal with successfully. --Walter Lippman
Here is a very entertaining video that contains a positive message.
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The canoe trip was something for me to tick off the list. We put in in Marathon NY and paddled down the Tioughnioga river to Whitney point. I have been looking at the river for years wanting to do it. The perspective of the world changes so much from the canoe compared to a car. The canoe scraped a bit and we had some tricky maneuvering to do at points, but over all we increased our skill. I drove over that bridge for ten years. It is hard to believe that this is the same bridge from my post January 2008. http://www.theguysatwork.com/blogs/uploaded_images/IMG_7835-794459.JPG