Checklist :<\/p>\n
o Filed down my outlet adapters to match Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s outlets (check)
\no Stashed map of Tokyo-Nagano regions (check)
\no Packed spare 512 MD sd memory card for camera (check)
\no Packed USB to PC card reader to upload pix to Mike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blog (check)
\no Packed the supinator dynasplint to terrify the baggage checkers (check)
\no Packed 5 dvds to watch on boring nights (check)
\no Charged and packed 2 extra laptop batteries (check)
\no And so on, and so on. <\/p>\n
Why in the heck am I doing this? <\/p>\n
Well it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all Mukul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fault. Mukul is my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153retired\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d ex-boss, a spry, talkative 77-year old solar radio astronomer who plans to live to 150, while he writes several dozen more scientific articles about radio flares on the Sun. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s canny and clever, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s computer-wise, and he needs to enlist help to program radio flare mapping, save data to DVDs, transfer data from computer to computer, and all that \u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00c3\u201e\u00c3\u00b290\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and 0\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stuff. So he enlisted me. <\/p>\n
At first Mukul asked if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d go with him for a whole month to Nobeyama Radio Observatory (Nagano prefectorate, Japan). But I bidded him down to 3 weeks between Thanksgiving & New Year. Being Indian, he thinks it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quaint that I want to celebrate those holidays with my family. I told him that my wife and kids would kill me if I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t home with them on Nov 24 and Dec 25, and he accepted that. And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true, too.<\/p>\n
The trip is being paid for by Shibasaki san (got to remember that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153san\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d), the observatory director. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wangling the fare and hotel bills from his budget by creating a One-Day Symposium while we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re there. Mukul and I each have to give a half hour talk (Arggh. I hate to give talks) and listen to the Observatory guys give talks. Then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll all recover from our speechifying and listening by munching on sushi, sashimi, and sipping 20-year old sake. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the sum of the ODS.<\/p>\n
The rest of our workaday stay in Japan, Mukul and I will be sitting in front of monitors, extracting data from the archives and making maps of solar radio flares. Both he and I have similar agendas. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got his flare lists, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got mine. By the end of 3 weeks we should have enough maps to supply Mukul with articles for another decade, and to supply me with more than enough projects until the end of 2006 when I retire. (But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really, really going to retire, not like Mukul, whose so-called retirement is more like what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d call full employment.)<\/p>\n
Nobeyama Observatory is located between two National Parks. Come to think of it, one of them is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pseudo National Park\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what the map says.) So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m hoping to do some hiking in the parks on weekends, if there isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t too much snow. If there is too much snow (can there ever be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Too much\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?), I may go skiing in a small ski area near the observatory. As much as possible I plan to walk around the nearby village looking for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153old\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u0161\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. And every day or two I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be writing up my experiences for the Millerblog.<\/p>\n
My flight leaves at 9:15 am, Nov. 26.<\/p>\n
Sayanara for now
\nRakkity<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Checklist : o Filed down my outlet adapters to match Japan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s outlets (check) o Stashed map of Tokyo-Nagano regions (check) o Packed spare 512 MD sd memory card for camera (check) o Packed USB to PC card reader to upload … Continue reading