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Showing posts from November 3, 2024

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 ...

Stone Mountain (Gwinnett County) Hamfest 2024

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I haven't been to a hamfest in probably 10 years. They are still happening. They certainly are not as big as they were back in the 80s and 90s. But they still happen. An ever-reducing fraction of the expereince is still advancing state of the art communications technologies. Otherwise, they are celebrations in the antique, classic and nostalgic. It's fun to have conversations with folks that understand the specifics of eosteric radio and electronics technology. I saw one product that I wrote the manual for many years ago (The MDS new "P" Model). Angie decided to help out. We left the house incredibly early with the truck that was loaded up the night before. How early was it you might ask? Well, we went to Waffle House for Breakfast on the way to set up and the waitress told us to have a nice night when we left. I sold a few items, and I couldn't help but buy a few things. (Military Antenna base for the Humvee, a vintage Marantz receiver and few other odds an...