Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 10:25:56 -0700
Travelling from Detroit, I probably had the physically longest
trip of all the participants. 12 time zones. Noon
was midnight, midnight was noon. The world was upside down, but
I didn't need to reset my watch! I left Detroit at sunset.
21 hours later I saw the sun rise near Taiwan. A
21 hour night! It felt like the twilight zone. On
the day we came back I awoke around sunrise ( Cutter snores! ) on Tuesday
morning. We went to the airport and left the country.
Over the pacific at 35000 feet I saw a beautiful sunset behind
the plane. Later I saw a wonderful sunrise in front of the
plane. Later yet, over Minnesota I saw another wonderful
sunset. Two sunrises, two sunsets. IT WAS STILL
TUESDAY!!!!! Help me Aunty Em. I was pretty much
useless at work yesterday. Took today off to sleep and pack
for AKA Treasure Island.
More Later
Bruce J
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 10:53:16 -0700
This time about kites and kiters. Not just the
Taiwanese were friendly. I already mentioned the Aussies.
The team from India was also exceptional. They
fly as a TEAM. By this I mean they actually work TOGETHER.
One person handles the line reel, another launches and flys
the kite in preparation for the fight, and the actual competitor prepares
his mind then comes over and takes control of the kite while still using
the services of the reel handler. Hermant of India gave me
much good advice. His father handled my reel for me during
my fights. At least right up until I went head to head with
Hemant. I beat him. What a feeling to feel the
line bounce, then go loose, and then realize that I was still flying!
Yeowww! Talk about a lucky shot. He
advanced to the second round with a score of 5-1, but that 1 was me.
I didn't get much help from them after that. It
didn't really matter in that I didn't last much longer in the eliminations
anyhow. I also cut a guy named Alan from Singapore.
Hooheeeee! You guys using Indian type spools. Keep
your line neat. Don't let the line tangle itself in the
spool. The winds in Taiwan were blasting. Letting
the line out was extremly fast. By all rights I should have
gotten roe burn from my bare cotton. Still don't understand
how I avoided blood with my manja. Even fools get
lucky. Speaking of Indian spools, I only saw those in the hands
of the Indian team and myself. Most everyone else was using
halos and other variations on that theme.
More later
Bruce J