My first few days in Minot have been pretty interesting, been going pretty much non-stop since Sunday. Today is my first day to really relax. Made a lot of progress on the T.O. rewrite, not sure if this trip will take the entire 2 weeks. Yesterday evening we all decided to out to eat, we were recommended to go to a Japanese steak house called Sakura, On our way into downtown I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Minot was prettier then I anticipated. As you come over a hill into the city. A bridge captures the entire city underneath of it's walkway and frames it in almost a picturesque fashion. After a few wrong turn and a few wrong addresses we finally found the steak house.


     
      Sakura was pretty interesting it was full of Hibachi grills were they put on a show and cook the food right in front of you. We had a fairly eccentric chef who entertained us through the night. As I observed through the restaurant I noticed the chefs were squirting water into people's mouth and counting down to see who could hold the most water. Being a little over competitive I waited for my chance to show everyone in the restaurant up. As I listened to other people's times the average was about 12 seconds. Finally after waiting for a bit my chance came. I was the first to drink at my table, as the chef squirted the water into my mouth I noticed it had a very strong taste. I started to question what I was drinking. I figured it was some sort of cooking liquid, the chef continued to shoot the unknown liquid until his bottle ran out. My final time was somewhere around 50 seconds. After I finished I felt light headed and my mouth was numb. I asked him what it was and he replied in his strong Asian accent " That's happy water!". After saying this I realized what he had just done, I had taken about 6 shots of sake in 50 seconds. This wasn't be best scenario because I had volunteered to be the designated driver for the evening. More importantly I felt deceived, who just pours alcohol into someone mouth without telling them what it is or checking for an I.D. I enjoyed my dinner and we found a designated driver for the rest of an evening. After that we went to a bar call the Blind Duck. While in the bar and under my involuntary intoxication I decided to make the bold statement that no amount of alcohol could make be throw up and I quote "I am too much of a man!" The next morning was spent shamefully cleaning the inside of the rental car. I think if I ever find that little Asian man again I might make him pay.



      I spent most of today just taking some tours around Minot learning about the other side of my job. this Friday I should be able to go into a missile training silo for the Minuteman III. Really looking forward to seeing this because I have only had a chance to study the launch sites not actually see or experience one in person.