Holly - new kitchens are fun, but then you have to figure out where everything goes.  Are you getting ones that have the drawers that hold the dishes? 

Erika - I too hope that Socks finds his way home.

Henrun - glad your knee feels better.  A hot tub sounds wonderful.  Maybe next year we will put one in.  We had an electrician wire for one here on the patio before we moved in.

We went to a neighborhood picnic tonight.  There were about 70 people there and it was quite a range of ages. I suppose this is a small town thing, but it was a fun potluck get to know your neighbor picnic. The host was actualy a former high school teacher of mine.  He was also the track coach, but we never got around to talking about running. They take an annual photo so this was a first for us. My mom (and dad when he was alive) never missed this event, but I couldn't get her to come with us tonight. 

I ate too many desserts but got home in time to go for a short run.  I took the trail through the campground and it was getting dark and a bit hard to see.  I should have stayed on the streets.  It certainly has cooled off here and is nice to have the windows open for a change.

nope, never heard of it rhoon. 

are the bears back up in the mountains yet?

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otally off-topic rambling but everyone over there’s sleeping so don’t care.
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Watching the Olympics in Seattle and Tokyo.
Because of getting ready for this current Japan trip, I haven’t been following the Olympics as closely as usual.  However, I had the radio on all day Sunday in Seattle, watched the Sunday NBC News with Brian Williams at 6pm and was keeping track of what was going on with Bob “what-me-smile” Costas.  Except for a brief, 2-3 second, shot of the women marathons midway through (with the comment, “more later on our Olympic coverage&rdquo, I still do not know who won the women’s marathon on Sunday or the men’s triathlon on Wednesday.  It’s so late now that I’m just interested in finding out when I’ll find out by just waiting to find out how I’ll find out instead of finding out on my own.  I don’t see any local athletes’ pictures in the subways over here yet so I guess the Japanese women were out of the running, . . . so to speak.
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Watching soccer.
However, sitting at the hotel room desk working away in the early morning jet lag (3am), I got to  watch the NHK coverage of the USA-Japan soccer gold medal game and saw all three goals and miraculous saves.  It seemed like such a coincidence that all the Japanese goal kicks were being deflected off the top bar of the goal net, . . until slow motion showed Hope Solo’s hand was doing the deflecting.  Maybe, I’ll watch it again in 2016, . . . if I’m lucky enough to be in Japan or somewhere where they show the whole game.  
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Olympic Marathon live coverage.
In the meantime, it will already be seven in the evening when the men’s marathon starts at 11:00 am London time on Sunday so I’ll get to watch each and every stride for the just over the two hours it now takes.
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Japanese breakfast
In the meantime, I’m eschewing the ubiquitous bowls full of rice stuffed down your throats at every meal to avoid ballooning up again on all the fish and other Japanese food I love so much. Thus, I only partook of the following ordering on the all-you-can-eat smorgasbord at the small business hotel they put me up at.  Most of the portions are mini-sized but, unfortunately, there’s no limit to how many to take.
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1.  grilled mackerel slices
2.  pork/chicken/fish sausages (I skipped the sliced ham)
3.  folded egg omlette
4.  sushi egg omlette square
5.  Fresh egg with no-salt soy sauce
6.  vinegar squid and cucumbers
7.  crunchy boiled jellyfish strips
8. cold tofu squares sprinkled with dried bonito flakes
9  Natto fermented healthy red beans topped with nori seaweed strips
10. Miso soup from dispenser with adjacent bowl full as much wakame seaweed and dried shirasu sardines as you want (. . . a lot)
11.  Choice of pickled goodies (or all three - <<<(me/me)>>>
. . . a.  Radish
.... .b.  baby plum sours
. . . c.  egg plant
12.  English roll with choice of one or more packets of jam (marmalade/strawberry/blueberry)
13.  slightly steamed brocolli/cauliflower/carrot slices in light vinegar
14.  garden salad
15.  fruit salad
16.  corn flakes
17.  yogurt
18.  uno-hana - my dictionary says it’s deutzia, some sort of shrub.
19.  Uzu konyaku - citrus elephant yam, potato noodle, or something.
20.  unknown item no. 1
21.  uknown item no. 2

22.  orange juice

23.  green tea

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too good to quit.
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Since I was running out of room on the tray, actually the second tray I needed was running out of room, I just put the fruit salad and corn flakes in the same bowl and filled with yogurt.  Although I had vowed not to go back or seconds, having to walk past the same spread again after bussing my tray made short work of that promise. I wonder what they will have tomorrow morning
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No marathons.
Sadly, it’s the hot and humid summer with companies closing down for a week annual vacation time so there’s no convenient upcoming marathons to run it off.  It probably won’t help but maybe I’ll have to try to climb Mt. Fuji forty-or-fifty times in the seven days of break I hope for if the business part of the trip can wrap up in the first week..

Troy - I'm not sure, . . . actually, I am sure that visibility being so limited you have to bushwhack your way through bear country makes it a very bad idea. You've explained your way out of all your other adventures up there so I'll be interested how this could be safe?

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Does LaGorce go up to the top of Mt. Katolinat.

My recollection is that we just took a skiff to the bottom and went pretty much straight up but it but it was a half a century ago. I doubt if the lab directors would have allowed any bushwacking.  Anyway, good luck.

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ps - don't do it

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