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 visited a large yellow equipment manufacturer in Illinois last week. Big tires, big iron.

My weekend was great. After getting back to base in ATL I went to Missouri. The trip felt like a trip to Brazil. The opportunity to spend a bit of time touring and feeling calm was better than good. It was my first visit to the Gateway Arch in St Louis. I was pleasantly surprised. The architectural aspect was better than I expected. The ride to the top is done in these very small tram cars shaped like cans, perhaps only 4 feet in height. You can feel the arch sway in the wind when you are at the top. The architect was Finnish. Just like Angry Birds.

The diner in the picture was very American indeed. It was featured in the film White Palace http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Palace_%28film%29














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Honshu and Okinawa

-
Image
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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California, Berkshire NY, Baltimore Maryland and Washington DC

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I am back from a speaking engagement at a familiar conference (CIDM) in San Jose California. Afterwards, I met Angie at the ATL airport and headed to the farm and to see my cousins, Aunt and Sister (and my newest relative) in Baltimore and Washington DC. It was a densely scheduled trip, but nothing compared to our typical overseas vacation trips. I have been having educational fun with my recent birthday gift. It is a Radiacode 103. It is a very sensitive scintillation radiation detector. Loads of fun. The 1k µS/hr spike shown is what the carry on baggage x-ray machine doses out. I am glad I wasn't inside the x-ray equipment. Stopping at some antique stores along the way, I found a number of uranium glass pieces. Yes, they are radioactive. Yes, the dose is comparable to that you get from riding in a commercial airplane. I took a couple of pics of property in Upstate NY. Unbelievable. It will beat out images of the best trailer trash anywhere. And yes, the vehicles are systemica...
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Southern Africa!

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I was successful getting to all 8 countries I planned. South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, and Namibia. The trip was 14 days with 13 flight segments. The shortest flight was 15 minutes in an ultralight and the longest flight 16+ hours. I rented a 4x4 in Lesotho and another in Namibia. Among many other things in my travels, I walked across the Victoria Falls bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe and took an ultralight aircraft ride over the same bridge and falls. Namib Desert from the air. Look for my 4x4. Skeleton Coast Heart of Namid desert near uranium mine Maputo, Mozambique-- City Hall and Samora Machel statue Maseru, Lesotho-- I was delayed at the airport leaving Lethoto by about three hours. I had to find a nother hotel in Namibia since I wasn't going to drive after dark. The delay was caused by the Airport being shut down because of an expired battery in the airport fire truck. We had to wait to get a n...
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I have been particularly busy lately. I bought a sports car. I never thought I would, but I did. I purchased a Honda S2000. It is part investment and part fun car. It looks good in my garage. My awesome sister drove it up to Atlanta from Florida while I was in Phoenix. A few weeks back I found myself following a "Federal Police Car", really. I am not sure who these folks are. (actually Google "FPS police") Look at the license plates. The sides of the SUV are lettered up with "Federal Police". I will also add that the driver had little or no regard for motor vehicle laws. They were speeding, driving quite aggressively, not using turn signals, etc. I do give them credit for stopping at least 1 traffic light. I matched their aggressive driving to take the picture. What would they do turn around and pull me over for doing the same stuff they were doing? The antenna length is unique, looks like it is just above the commercial FM band. Welcome to the future. ...
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