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I just got back from a business trip to Japan.  Among other things, they drive on the wrong side of the road - I got the chance to experience it for myself.  Fortunately, I was given an American car to drive, so I only had to deal w/the wrong side of the road thing and not also driving on the wrong side of the car.  Everywhere I drove, I’m thinking, “left, left, left…”  The most dangerous part was pulling out into traffic and looking the wrong direction.

 I did get the chance to drive a Japanese car with the controls on the other side of the car.  Of course, they’re not just on the other side of the car, they’re mirror images.  Luckily it was an automatic, but the wipers and blinkers were on opposite sides from what I’m used to.  Even though I expected it and was watching for it, I turned on the windshield wipers when trying to signal for a left turn.  I guess that should be a signal in and of itself.  If you’re driving behind an American in Japan in broad daylight and the wipers come on…watch out…he’s coming left!

On a side note, I got a beverage at the Starbucks in the Tokyo airport.  See if you can figure out what I ordered:

J

Today, I went to lunch with 4 guys from the office. We decided to do the on-base cafe by the water, so we invited the wives and kids to join us. We went inside and ordered our food. I went over to the drink machine to get a diet Coke. There were two girls getting drinks, so I waited a few steps back. As I stood there, an older gentleman walked over with his cup and stood to the side waiting his turn. He didn’t see me there, so as the girls finished, he took a step toward the drinks. He turned and saw me there so he hesitated. I motioned him to the drinks and said, “Go ahead.” I noticed the polo style golf shirt had an embroidered P-51 on it with “P-51D Mustang” written below it. As he turned to get his drink, I kind of looked at him with the “wow, you look familiar” face. He stood there an extra few seconds with the “hey son, what’s on your mind” look.

Anyway, I just thought he looked really familiar and went on with it. So, I walked over to my table across the cafe and found one of the other guys from the office. As I walked over, I realized who he looked like. I told my friend, “Tell me that the guy over there doesn’t look like Chuck Yeager.” He agreed that there was some similarity and kept going. The gentleman in question sat down in the booth next to our table…as we ate lunch with wives and rowdy kids, it kept bugging me. So I asked him again. “Don’t you think he looks like Chuck Yeager?” He said that he did, but we should ask one of the other guys from work who had met him years ago. So we say, “Doesn’t that guy look like Chuck Yeager?” He then says, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

Now keep in mind, this guy was just wandering through with a lady who looked about 45 and a guy that looked about 50. The whole time, I’m thinking, “Why would Chuck Yeager be eating in here without a group of protocol types following him around.”

I need more opinions, so I discretely ask the other two guys from work who are sitting at the table behind me. They say, “No, he doesn’t look old enough.” After several minutes they call out my name and basically give me the “Dude, that ain’t him.”

We’re finishing up lunch and a lady comes by cleaning up the dishes from the tables. She stops between our table and his booth and starts chatting. The lady with him starts talking and says, “Do you know who he is? He’s Chuck Yeager.” Of course, the cleaning lady didn’t have any clue who that was, but the other guy at our table heard her say that. Just then, they get up to head out the door. The guy at our table who had overheard them stood up shook his hand with a “General Yeager” and out they went.

Immediately, I point both hands at everyone and yell “I KNEW IT!” All-in-all, it was a cool, once in a lifetime moment. I’m not sure what felt better…eating lunch next to Chuck Yeager, or being the only one who had put it together. Fun lunch…

J

Every month, we have a basewide 5k “warrior run.” This was my first one…it was a great morning for running, but I haven’t been hitting the gym for a while since we’d been on the road for over a month. Additionally, I was afraid that my toe might be broken (a little beach accident a few weeks back). There was also the fear that I would really stink it up with the whole base watching.

Despite the unknowns, I took off running with the crowd. I kept a fairly slow pace with a few coworkers. We were doing OK, and people were passing the other way after making the turn. I was glad to see the turnaround point when I got there. Then, just as I’m feeling good about myself, a dude wearing a soft cast passed me somewhere around the 2-mile point. Are you kidding me? Not only is he jogging in a strap-on, knee-high soft cast, but he’s doing it better than I am. Talk about taking the wind out of your sails! Thankfully, I finished before the lady pushing her kid in the jogging stroller. I only have to guess that she had to stop and change a diaper or flat tire. I think I have some work to do before next month’s run!

J

I’m not quite sure how to put into words what I’ve experienced over the last two days. Our school brought in a special panel of guest speakers to share their experiences with us, and I must say, it was impressive, exciting and very humbling. I was truly in the presence of American heroes. Each one of them gave a personal, first-hand account of their experiences. Here are some of them:

- A WWII triple ace, who destroyed 16 1/4 enemy aircraft while flying the P-51
- A member of the initial cadre of the 99th Fighter Squadron - the Tuskegee Airmen
- A WWII B-17 bomber pilot who flew 52 missions deep into Germany. On one of his missions, his aircraft took off as 1 of 20 B-17s in his squadron…his was the only one to return that day.
- Two men who earned the nation’s highest award for valor - the Medal of Honor
- An astronaut who made 5 trips to space, including a 6 month stay on the International Space Station

- And to top it off, I ate lunch with 1 of only 12 men to have stepped foot on the moon

With so many heroes in one place, you almost take for granted what each one of them accomplished. It would have been an honor to hear any one of these people speak, but to get them all together in on room for two days is an event that I will probably never experience again. Since many of the WWII veterans are in their 80s, I was especially thankful that I got to hear their stories - from them. All that will soon be left is a history book and it’s a lot more satisfying to learn about military heritage from a person rather than a book. Thanks to these men and women that made our country great!

I started my last quarter of school this week. Today was my last third day of school, which was just a little better than yesterday (my last second day of school), which was better than Monday (the last first day of school). I think I’m ready to be done with school.

That not withstanding, I heard the quote of the day (week, month, year…) today in class. We were having a discussion about a topic that got a few people spun up. Then, a student makes a comment, the instructor comes back with something, and then this quote erupts from the aforementioned student:

“I’m not telling you I disagree with what I’m saying…”

What was that? So, does this person agree with his/her (identity withheld) own statement or not? That ranks right up there with, “Don’t misunderestimate what I’m saying…”

Unremarkable