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Showing posts from February 20, 2011

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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I am back in Atlanta from Minnesota "We took took care of things, you betcha." I meet a lot of folks on planes. I am not extremely social, especially depending on the day, but often my life is enriched sometimes in coach, sometimes in first class. Looking through old posts I certainly see a lot of dead links. Youtube hopefully is going to do better. They have all been good for quite a while. "Showing up is important (creating a link), but sticking around so people can get to know you is where the real difference is (archive-retrieval)." I thought of this scene awhile back. Sure enough, it was on youtube. Are the background sounds considered music? I think so. I am planning on doing something exciting this weekend. I don't know what it is yet.
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I am in Jackson Minnesota. I noticed the metrodome is still collapsed as I flew into Minneapolis (MSP). Jackson is a 3 hour drive from MSP. The roads are pretty straightforward, not a whole lot to look at. I had lunch in Albert Lea MN. I figured I could find a Mexican restaurant and I did. I heard there are four of them in Albert Lea. It is definately a tragedy in Christchurch NZ. I have pictures of the cathederal somewhere. I will dig them out. It being Februray people are coming off the ice to Christchurch. It is normal to spend a month in "Cheech" after you get off the ice. I sure hope folks in USAP are all ok. However, it appears there are USAP folks missing at this point. As a contractor, you are off-the-clock as soon as you set free in cheech. If you get killed in cheech you are on your own time. There would be no government benefits. They won't even ship your body to the US. They made these facts very clear to me. I will be in the office Friday. I probably wil...