The entire island of Oahu was without power for about eleven hours on Friday night and Saturday morning. The island where I used to live is sure getting a lot of media attention these days, and it’s definitely got me feeling a little bit nostalgic. Every time I hear the name of a place that I recognize or the mention of something like shave ice, it brings back good memories. It sure was a great place to go to college. Right now the attention is focused on a little town called Kailua, which is just a stone’s throw away from the town of Kaneohe, where the Hawaii Loa campus of Hawaii Pacific University (formerly Hawaii Loa College) is located. I’ve found myself going to the website of the Honolulu Star Bulletin so much lately that I’ve added it to my favorites. The media attention will surely continue off and on for at least the next four years.

Tags: Honolulu Star Bulletin, Hawaii Loa College

I have to go to New Orleans on business at the end of January, so I signed up to run the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans on Sunday, February 1st. It will be a good training run for the Tokyo Marathon on March 22nd. I’ve never been to New Orleans before, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I’m also looking forward to it because wind chills today in Columbus are about minus fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. The Mardi Gras Half Marathon starts and finishes in front of the Louisiana Superdome, so I’ll be staying at the New Orleans Downtown Superdome Holiday Inn. It should be an interesting experience!

Tags: marathon, marathons, Tokyo Marathon, Mardi Gras Half Marathon, running

This past weekend I ran fourteen miles with the Premier Sports Marathoner in Training (MIT) group. At the end of the run, I really wasn’t tired at all. I felt like I could have run further, so I’m in pretty good shape right now. So far so good in my training for the Tokyo Marathon. Hopefully I don’t jinx myself. Speaking of the Tokyo Marathon, I just found out that in 2010 the race is going to be held on February 28th, which is about three weeks earlier than the race I’m training for in 2009. It looks like the 2009 race was an anomaly, and that the race is usually held in February. It’s really good luck for me that I chose to run this race in 2009, since I have an extra few weeks for training. Now if I can just get some good luck with the exchange rates. The dollar is all the way down to eighty-nine yen! Oh no!

Tags: marathon, marathons, Tokyo Marathon, running

I recently finished the book Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, and I just ordered the book Money for Nothing by Edward Ugel online. Also, another book I recently ordered online is a guidebook to Tokyo called Frommer’s Tokyo by Beth Reiber. As I mentioned in a previous post, after the Tokyo Marathon in March, I’ll have three days to hang out in Tokyo, and I’m starting to think about what I want to do during those three days. Hopefully this book will help me decide. I know I’m going to be very sore and tired, so it doesn’t have to be anything major, but it’ll be good to have a general idea before I go. Also, I’m not sure how much Japanese I remember, but hopefully it will be enough to get by. If my last trip to Japan is any indication, my listening skills will be much better than my speaking skills.

Tags: book, books, Teacher Man, Frank McCourt, Money for Nothing, Edward Ugel, Frommer’s Tokyo, Beth Reiber

This last week I participated in a project in another city that helped determine if some mathematics problems were aligned with state standards. I flew out of Columbus on Sunday night, and I had a stopover in Chicago. Unfortunately, as soon as I got on my plane in Chicago, it started snowing. My airplane got in line on the runway, but then the pilot announced that we had to go back to the gate for de-icing. We went back to the gate, got de-iced, and got back in line on the runway. Then the pilot announced that we had to go back to the gate for de-icing again. We went back to the gate, got de-iced, and got back in line on the runway. Just as we were about to take off, the pilot announced that all runways were closed, and that the flight had been cancelled.

In all, we spent about five hours on the plane, and we never got off the ground. I ended up spending the night in Chicago, and I arrived a day late to the project. Fortunately, the organization that I was working for was very understanding (there were some other people who came a day late because of the weather as well), and I participated in the project on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m glad to say that the flight home was much less eventful.

Tags: math, mathematics