Life is normal?

It sure was nice to have a regular weekend at home. I am starting to say home when I mean Bangalore now, I guess that means I am really getting accustomed to being here.
Friday night Anna had a school dance, and she looked very grown up--EEKS!! She came home with three of her friends who spent the night. They stayed up late, baked cup cakes, ate chips and watched movies. Fortunately they were considerate and didn't keep us up.
Saturday was a day spent mostly on household and personal things. I went and got a haircut for a whopping Rs40. For that 40 Rupees, I got a haircut, beard trim, shave, and a head massage. The estabilshment, Super Gents Beauty Parlor, is just around the corner from our house. I could have walked there, but I asked Manju to drive for a couple of reasons, I wanted to make a quick trip as Cindy needed me back at the house, and I wanted an estimate of what the haircut should cost. Remember that I got a haircut at the mall shortly after we arrived, I paid RS450 then. I guess I'll skip the mall from now on. After I got back, Cindy went to pick up her new outfit for the wedding we were invited to on Monday. I stayed home, waited for the UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply) to be installed, and for Anna and her friends to wake up, have breakfast etc.
After Cindy got back and Anna's friends were gone, we went shopping for Flowers to bring to the wedding, and for an outfit for Anna to wear. Anna was a bit tired and it wasn't the most fun outing, but we saw some wonderful art at the "mall" where we went-- It is called Raintree. Then we went home and watched some movie on TV.
Sunday we let the driver have the day off, and we just stayed home. Cindy was knitting, I connected the printer to the computer and updated sw, finally I cooked pasta for dinner. All in all, just a nice relaxing day at home.
Monday we went to the wedding reception. I had asked what kind of a gift we should bring, and 2 different co-workers suggested that flowers were very appropriate, so we brought a nice large bouquet. Cindy had a beautiful red outfit with gold and sequins on it. Anna was in a very nice black skirt with white top. I didn't get pictures, but Cindy did. I hope she posts a couple of them for you all to see. We were advised to arrive around 1 hour after the invitation stated. We did and it seems we arrived just at the right time. Things were just getting rolling. The Bride and Groom came in, followed by the videographer, then they got up on stage and stood waiting for people to come greet them and get pictures. As I am the bride's superior at work, I was apparently a guest of honor and got to go up in the second group, after all of the men in the family went up for greetings and pictures. Then we were ushered down to a large room downstairs. There were about 15 people ahead of us. We sat down at long narrow tables with cups and bananna leaves on them. We were instructed to wash the leaf off (actually it was done for us). Then a parade of men with buckets of various vegetable dishes, rice, desserts and bread came by the other side of the table and filled the leaf with food, and then they came back and served seconds, and then thirds. We all managed to eat with our right hand only, and left the table totally stuffed. While we were eating the room had filled up pretty well, and they were already cleaning off the table ahead of us, and the other end of ours before we were done eating.
We were ushered up stairs again to the reception hall. People were still standing in line to talk to the bride and groom. We were told they might be there till 11pm or later, we had arrived at 7. After they met the bride and groom, they went down to eat. We met several relatives of the bride and groom, and spent a long time talking with one gentleman who lives 6 months of the year in Banglore and 6 months of the year in the USA. He got his US citizenship, and worked there for many years. He and his wife are both retired now. Anyways after another hour or so, we decided it was time to leave so that Anna could complete some of her homework. We got home just in time for Manju to dash off to catch the last bus home. What a day!! But we survived our first Indian wedding reception.

Of Grammys and Appliances

Sitting here watching the Grammys, yes we get them on delay in prime time here, I was reminded of our Fridge. I know, most appliances make some sort of noise, but most of them not musical. So why does watching the Grammys make me think of the fridge? Because ours sings to us. No really it does. When the door is left open too long it plays an electronic version of It's a Small Small World. Really pretty amusing when you think about it. It is a small world and we should take care of it by not wasting energy. The best part is that if you even leave the door open for just a few extra seconds more than it takes to reach in and grab the milk, when the door is closed it kind of whimpers the first 2 notes.

As for other things electrical, I called about our UPS today and our water filter. Both will be taken care of soon, ie nothing has been done yet. So more waiting and unfortunately another day for Cindy to stay home for the installers. Also I called about our couch which was supposed to be re-upholstered. In the afternoon I got a call from someone who said something like "mumble MG Road mumble Glass Samples mumble mumble office." I guessed he was coming to show me some samples of something and wanted to know where my office was. Sure enough he had fabric samples for the couch--which we ordered over 3 weeks ago and would be ready in a few days.... They hadn't even started. Worst yet, the sample wasn't really very nice, so now we need to figure out how to get something better. This means even more waiting. Oh well, welcome to Indian Stretchable Time.

Other than that, my trip to Finland was short but necessary. Unfortunately I didn't get to go back by Giselle on the way home, but I had been away from home for almost 2 weeks straight and needed to be back with people here. I hope to stay in India through March now (wish me luck).

Dodging Storms

I'm just back from China. It was a quick trip. I spent 2 days traveling and 2 days there. Fortunately I got out just in time. I got an sms from a co-worker as I was returning which described Gridlock in Hangzhou from all of the snow. My flight out was at 8:50 (we left at 9:30 due to de-icing), but I was really worried when I got to the airport. I had heard that they had closed down the airport due to snow earlier in the week, and the flight before mine to Hong Kong was cancelled due to weather at the airport. Since I was also outbound for Hong Kong, I thought I was in trouble. Fortunately China Eastern Air was willing/able to still leave.

I also heard horror stories from co-workers who had come into Shanghai the day before me. It took one of them 5 hours of sitting on the road for a 2 hour trip. Fortunately I had no trouble, other than a driver who was 1/2 hour late picking me up. Not much really, considering. The road was all clear.

I didn't get any pictures this time, too cold to wander around much and the trip was too short to do much anyways. The skys were grey and the weather was COLD--especially after coming from Bangalore where it is between 25-30C every day now--just nice. I felt strange carrying my wool coat and rain-overcoat to the airport, but I was very glad to have it with me in China. Worse yet was carrying the heavy coat, along with my permitted 2 bottles of wine, back and having to wait for Manju to get to the airport to pick me up. Traffic was heavy in Bangalore around the airport when I returned. But being back was really nice, it was feeling like home...

On the way home I saw an auto-rickshaw with an interesting handpainted sign on the back. This was one of those-darn, where is my camera moments. Oh well, I'll just have to describe it. It was in small nice letters, and it said "Don't Pullet". I think it is supposed to say "don't pollute" which is a bit of a laugh on a diesel belching auto-rickshaw, but the sentiment is nice. On the other hand he could be admonishing traffic not to play chicken--which seems to be another Indian traffic management technique. I guess it could be described as making the most use of all possible pavement surfaces. If the oncoming traffic is not as heavy as your direction, just pull out and claim more of the road's width to accommodate traffic in your direction--as long as there isn't a bus coming in the other direction.

Anyways we had a fairly relaxing weekend, complete with a nap in the shade behind the house where there was an already installed set of rings for a hammock.

We also got our shipment in from the states finally. It took me about an hour at customs. Most of the time was spent in a warehouse where the receiving shipper was looking for our crates. Customs went through most of the boxes, but didn't seem too interested to dig too deeply, which was nice. It could have taken a lot longer. Now we have some real cooking utensils, etc...

Earlier last week, we had someone in to install curtain rods. Take a look at how his extension cord was plugged in. This is typical in India. On the same day I saw the guy who was installing shower curtain rods sitting on the floor with a metal pipe across his foot, to create some space between the rod and the floor. He was cutting with a hacksaw, about 1/4 inch from the end of his big toe. Later I saw the curtain rod guy with a similar setup, but he had the other end of the rod in between his big and pointer toe on the other foot to hold it still...

That's all for now, I'm getting on a plane for Helsinki in a little bit.

House

Got keys today !!!! Yay!!!

Also discovered an excellent restaurant on Wood Rd-- Olive Beach. Best food so far in Bangalore. Good wine too.

Hope to be staying in the house by Friday.

AutoRickshaw

Today there was a general strike by bus and lorry drivers. Our driver was told by his company not to drive today, so I had to find "alternate forms of transportation". I took one of the Auto's. I had thought they would be included in the strike as that is what I understood from the newspaper, but they were out in force I discovered (only after agreeing to an outrageous fare of 100RS from the apartment to the office. More on fares here . The trip was fairly uneventful, other than getting bounced all over the place. On the way home I had to find an auto on MG road. The going fare seemed to be 80RS, even though on the meter it is probably only 60, they just won't go for that with a westerner, or I cannot negotiate correctly. This guy was going downhill a fair bit of the way and was a speed demon. I was just glad no-one stepped out in front of us on the one clear(downhill) stretch of road as we were probably going 40-50 kilometers an hour and I'm sure his brakes wouldn't have stopped us that fast. But I made it home safe and sound, except for all of the exhaust I had to breathe in during the trip, god that was awful.

Tid Bits

First off, I thought I'd put in the location of my work and general location of our new house.
Maya found my work on Google earth. On the map, don't look for the green dot, Google marks it wrong. But you can find SN Towers. That is the location. On the picture to the right, you can see the stickpin.

My office is on the 9th floor. The ground floor is '0' and then the next floor up is 'P', and the '1' so in the mornings when I get my exercise by walking up, I actually have to go up 10 floors of steps to get to the office. Since we get driven almost everywhere and the sidewalks are atrocious, I decided for now, until I can get in a routine to actually get some real exercise soon, I will walk up each morning while it is still cool. I wonder what the guards think of me as they see me go by each floor in the mornings. They always watch me closely-- I guess it is unusual, and I do stick out a bit. There are 2 elevators, they seem to operate fairly well, although there are prominent notices about what to do in the event of a power loss. Top of the list is "Do not panic". Second on the list, is that the ventilation will keep working and you won't suffocate. Good thing that, given the frequency of 'power cuts' here in Bangalore. When you get in the elevator, you immediately notice a stool underneath the buttons. Sometimes there is a man sitting on it. I was confused about why he was there and I was told he is the elevator operator. Now the reason I was confused is that half the time he will just sit there reading a paper and people push the buttons themselves. Tough job I guess. Better yet, he is not there all the time. And his absences are randomly timed, not at any specific times I can figure out. Or maybe I should say his presence is randomly timed. You would think that maybe he would be useful when people are showing up to work or at lunch when the elevators get busy, but no, there is no correlation. So again being confused I asked another co-worker. She said, well I guess he has figured out that we can push the button ourselves, so he takes breaks when he feels like it. Ok, but then why do we need an operator at all??? I have been having trouble getting work done at work, since getting a hookup at my desk for either of my computers. Cindy suggested I should threaten to take on the Elevator Operator's job till I could get access, I guess I'm just not sure I could stand so many breaks...

Our house is in RMV IInd stage.
I'm not going to locate it on the map for you, safety reasons with a young teenage girl in the house. Generally if you look for outer Ring Road and New BEL road, you'll get the general location where we are located. Friends and family can ask for a map or picture from me by email.

Furniture
Yesterday we finally went looking for furniture. It was an experience like no other. We met Rohit close by to the market (at the FRO), and then followed him to Russell market (
View Larger Map ) area where we found Adams Furnishings. We went into a small shop, and went all the way to the back. There we met a gentleman who was sitting behind an old metal desk with 2 ancient, dusty, computer monitors on his desk. We were introduced and he asked what we wanted, he started off with "washer, fridge, microwave-no?". We said yes, and then listed off what we need to get situated. He said, "ok, ok, ok" and we then followed him out of the shop, next door and up some steps. You could see the 6 generators at the front, looking like they had just been dropped off and piled there. In we went, it was a small room, probably 30 by 30, and it was jam packed with appliances, washers, fridges, microwaves, ovens, cooktops, TVs, dvd players, and even stereo systems, all used. We picked out some-- no chance to check if they work, but he guarantees them and if they don't work, we can exchange, "no problem". He offered us a toaster, mixer grinder, and even a juicer, we didn't take the juicer. I didn't see anyone writing anything down, but there were several men in the store taking note of what we chose. Now on to a second warehouse, up the street and around the corner. I do wish I had taken a couple of pictures, as the array of goods for sale, number of people and the narrowness of the street with cars still driving down the middle, fighting with the foot traffic, bicycles etc. was right out of a movie scene market set... Anyways we got to the second warehouse, this was larger. Beds, couches, tables etc. We found a few items. Much of what he had there was "antique". More older heavy Indian style. Some of it very nice, some not so, but not much would fit the style of the house. So on to a third warehouse, this time we had to go back and get the car, it was further away. There we found things piled 3 and 4 high (imagine tables stacked 3 high, on top of a bed set, or beds with couches with chairs on top). So we chose a couch, which was terribly stained, but he promised to recover it by Tuesday if we needed, all we had to do was choose the fabric. We decided to tell him to use same colors, which will fit the house. We found beds, chairs/dining table, bookshelves, couches, small table for by the door, nightstands. It all needed to be spiffed up and delivered. We'll see how that goes. He is supposed to send us a quote for the rental and we'll finalize the negotiation Monday. So, I'll let you know what shows up to the house later.

Today
I got a haircut and beard trim. I wasn't brave enough to try one of the local barbers along the street outside the apartments. I'll do that when we have moved into our house. I went to a salon in the mall. 450 INR for haircut and trim, not bad. Cindy even likes it, I think. We did a bit of shopping, mostly school things for Anna, but we also got a sim card for Cindy to use temporarily, it will probably become Anna's if my source at work comes through with one for Cindy.

We're legal now

Not much to tell today. It was pretty un-eventful. Even the trip back to the FRO went smoothly. I got our Residence Permits, so I guess that makes it official, we can stay a while (well at least till 20 Dec when our visa's and permits run out.)

I also heard that our lease got signed, but I haven't seen proof yet.

Tomorrow is a harvest day celebration--no I don't know the name, I should--so everyone has the day off. Well mostly everyone. I'll be working from home because Finland doesn't understand Indian Holidays that well, but the driver will have the day off, and we don't know if the "house boy" will come or not. He was late today due to a cold, so I had to cook my own breakfast(gasp!!), Anna ate a slice of bread, and Cindy had breakfast at her lecture on Hindu Festivals. Funny thing is that now for 3 days in a row, someone has come by in the afternoon/evening for Babu, I guess he is supposed to pay the Cable bill, but he is only here in the mornings. And they collect in the evenings... We are supposed to tell him to pay the bill.

I am really enjoying the food, and people. The traffic doesn't bother me too much when the driver is ok. Weather has been pleasant, but definitely it is warming up already. I also got my Indian mobile number today, so next we need to get one for Cindy.

I am tired of sitting in front of the computer today though, so I'll sign off here.