Sunday, November 30th

The longest day of my life! Up by 6:00 a.m. Peter Cooper and I met the GSE chairman Ikedo and Assistant Chairman Takamura in the lobby and we went to Imperial Palace Grounds where the castle for Emperor of Japan lived for hundreds of years. It is a park-like setting complete with moat. Really a beautiful area. It was 57 degrees in Tokyo. We left for the airport by bus at 11:50 a.m. and arrived early at the airport for checkin which went smoothly. We enjoyed our last Japanese lunch and said our good byes to Tom and Takamura. They really did an outstanding job with our GSE team. Every team member will have wonderful memories which will last a lifetime! We boarded our plane about 2:50 p.m. for our 12 hour flight to Detriot, then the final flight to Northwest Arkansas, and we landed about 4:50 p.m. Dick Trammel was there to meet me and took me to the Arvest Bank to get my truck. It was 32 degrees and there was some snow and ice on my truck but it melted quickly. I was eager to get home -- too eager. Not the Japanese way! On a bridge just South of the Highways 86 and 71 I lost control of my truck and hit the side of the bridge. No injury so much to be thankful for and after a short walk to a farm house and pleasant time spent with Glenn and Charlotte Nichols, then a long wait for the tow truck and ride home. There had been so many wrecks on the bridge that the highway patrol closed the bridge by the time my truck was towed away. I arrived home at about 10:00 p.m. Barbara and I visited until midnight. There is a 15 hour time difference between Tokyo and Pittsburg so Sunday, November 30, 2008 was about 31 hours long. November 2008 was one of the most wonderful months of my life.