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Showing posts from July 31, 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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Today was an exciting day. I bought some laps in a Winston Cup car at Atlanta Motor Speedway. That was a real hoot. Now that I have had a few hours to think about things I know I could have picked my line better and really optimized. You definitely get going fast, especially since it is only a 1.5 mile tri-oval. You are almost always in a curve.The banks are 25%. They are so steep you can certainly fall down them if you are walking. I understand that I got it up to at least 140 MPH. The car had a lot more to give. When I watch the video I feel like a cat watching a bird out the window. I am grabbing the desk and my breathing changes... what a hoot! It was a great experience. I might do it again. The guy with the Gen 3 T-shirt is Randy Baker. http://www.speedtech500.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136&Itemid=118 After my racing thing I went and toured Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Little White House" in Central Georgia. That was great too....
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I did some tree cut-up in NY over the weekend. In addition to ripping off barn roofs and taking out bridges the storms (a couple months ago) did some damage to trees as you might imagine. This tree has a diameter of 40 inches. I had to borrow an old fashioned crosscut saw to finish the cut off since my largest chainsaw has only an 18 inch bar. Man that is hard work using a hand saw. I need to really appreciate things like chainsaws. There is a lot of firewood in that oak. I think I have a few beams as well for the barn. It was 111 degrees in Wichita the other day. Man, that is hot. Here a few pics from the air taken recently. Not in order, Speedsville, NY; Berkshire, NY; Cincinnati, OH; Atlanta, Ga; Ithaca, NY.
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