Upper Peninsula Michigan and Auction Win Outcomes

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I was up in Wisconsin and the UP (upper peninsula) in Michigan. It was a lot of driving after launching/landing in Appleton WI. I got an item off the bucket list by driving across the "Mighty Mac". Altough it was built in the late '50s. It is still the longest suspension span in the Northern hemisphere. It is a crazy long bridge with a crazy long suspension span. It was good to see the bridge in context of the seemingly endless forests of Northern Wisconsin and Michigan. The culture in the two haves of Michigan are noticibly different as you might expect. Great time meeting with folks both in WI and MI. The tractor I won in auction, seems to have paid off. This time I beat the odds. It was a really good deal. I have the "no-key, non-running, may have hydraulic problems, unknown hours" -auction win, running well with minimal cost and time. I have some more tweaks, maintenance and minor fixes but the major risks are gone.
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More from Japan

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Hey

You get out of Minneapolis OK or are you still in a bar at the airport?

When we hear a story about how bad off someone else is we start minimizing our own problems and experiences. I'm not sure it's a good thing.

Anyway as far as this place is concerned, what I've taken to telling people is that "Despite what CNN might have you believe, the country is not enveloped in flame."

The situation at the plant in Fukushima has been lifted to 5 on the "serious nuclear shit scale of 7" but the general feeling is that it is contained. There will likely be some illnesses related to radiation out of this but I personally don't think it will be widespread. THe thing is not to try to outrun it, but to limit consecutive exposure. I'm really not THAT scared yet. A more immediate threat for me is a tsunami here - we live 500m from the sea. A 5 meter wave with any momentum does this place in, probably. And the TOKAI earthquake, which is the one that threatens Tokyo, hasn't happened yet.

Really, really tired, but at least we have power most of the time, we are warm, we have food and water and plumbing, etc.

My regards to whomever

NOST

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