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Showing posts from December 5, 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 ...
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Here is an interesting one. http://nysdocslookup.docs.state.ny.us/GCA00P00/WIQ3/WINQ130 http://books.google.com/books?id=oHkA15BCY9MC&pg=PA509&lpg=PA509&dq=robert+j+lewis+raymond+corp&source=bl&ots=66o6dkChtm&sig=Wj-jDaUqZ6qiIdBtn5uCltfaehg&hl=en&ei=9RMCTaLKKMP7lweT8Y3SCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false It appears Bob Lewis the former chief engineer (key person for technical liability responsibility) at The Raymond Corporation (A division of Toyota) just got out of Prison after serving 2 years. He was convicted of Producing Child Porn, or something like that. He retired after he got arrested. Now that he is out he can come back and visit, maybe consult. Good for them both. Truth is stranger than fiction.
It looks like I will have to go to a country other than the USA to look through wikileaks. What side of the "iron curtain" do we really live on these days? Although currently you can still get there via http://wikileaks.nl/ but for how long? Access is problem enough; additionally, there will be significant hurdles in getting to site data. Our country is being run by gangsters.
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The weeks are flying by. I am trying to get some stuff done by year end. Yes, it is yet another year gone. I planned a great hike yesterday. You might ask, "How do you get to the Southern start of the Appalachian Trail (AT)?" The answer is obvious. You cannot get there by car boat or airplane. You get to the start of the AT by foot. I had a great hike. After 5 miles I ran across a "hike-in" only lodge. They offered me some hot drinks and soup. Since it rained all day (my fire building opportunities were dampened) it was a welcome treat. The woods and the trails were fantastic. I will be back to this particular trail area when the views are not obscured by clouds. I hiked about 13 miles. My altimeter watch indicated that I climbed over 1700 feet. I spent about 8 hours on the trail. I slept pretty well (after the 50 min drive back to Duluth) except for my sore feet. This is the kind of stuff I truly enjoy experiencing. The movers delivered my stuff from NY. Now,...