and i am in utter amazement

today could have been considered the first official day of the trip. our riverboat cruise didn't happen last night, as the korean students had a late flight. we did however visit the rock and soul museum, heard some great music and learned a bit about the role memphis has played in shaping modern music. we also ate famous memphis barbeque at the rendevous. and we capped the day off with a tour of the fed ex hub. all i can say about that is wow. i was in amazement the entire time. we've not been back long, and it is two in the morning. but, to really see the place in action, you have to go at night. i wish i could remember all of the numbers, but i cant. i think i was too enthralled with the magnitude of the place to really comprehend what was going on. i do remember one figure- they employ 5000 pilots nationwide. lets just hope that one day i can add to those numbers. there are 11 fed ex hubs worldwide, with memphis being the largest. within five hours, about 120 planes fly in cargo, cargo is sorted, and it is shipped back out to the 11 hubs which then get it to 22 secondary hubs all by the next day. and we're talking like 1.2 million packages at this one place. uh-mazing. these people are some seriously efficient innovators. a friend and i noted how this is just one example of the private sector outweighing any government-run institution, i.e., it beats the post office, hands down. government issued health care, anyone? anyway, i'm going to try to get about four hours of sleep now, for what thats worth. i just couldn't help but talk about the amazing machine that is federal express.