Some random happenings –

The Hotel has many international travelers and the TV channels reflect this. One night I was flipping thru the channels and came across a live concert. I recognized the song as and old Guns and Roses tune.  Only it was being played by Koreans. The guy on the lead guitar was dead on. The singer was hitting his notes, only it was all in Korean. My mind had a difficult time taking it in.

Another woman that was Chinese had a very difficult time eating breakfast one morning. She appeared to be a business traveler and I imagine it was her first time abroad. She was in the table next to us, and I wanted so much to give her a hand.  She was trying to eat bread and butter, only with a fork and knife.  Strange utensils in her hands judging from her awkwardness. She was painstakingly cutting the bread up into small cubes and eating them. She worked meticulously to cut up each morsel, it seemed like it took her a half an hour to eat that single piece of bread.

We ate at a pizza joint by the ocean last night. It was very nice, there was a breeze blowing in thru the windows. The chicken pizza was very good, the meat pizza… well the meat tasted like hotdogs.  I have noticed that you can get Mexican, Italian, etc. dishes at many restaurants.  But the sauces are always sweet. The cheese is slightly different, but tastes good. Some general observations about food. Chicken is chicken, but the other meats can vary greatly. Mushroom and tomato soups are the same the world over.

The night before last Datamatics took us out to eat.  We ate at a Hotel called the Taj Landing – much grander than the Leela.  They say that many of the Bollywood stars stop in to eat there.  I was impressed by the lobby.  It is big enough to play a game of football inside and is three stories tall with a fountain in the middle. Of course the meal was excellent. I had a few tastes of the desserts and they were heavenly.  The driver pointed out the homes of a few of the Bollywood stars on the way there. It was fun to live like the folks on the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” even if only for a few hours.

Well on the final day here in India, it seems like the trip has gone by very fast. It seems like it flew by quickly. The flight will be a drudgery, but I am definitely looking forward to being home again.

Posted by christ77 at 11:42 AM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

The dance at Datamatics was fun. The music had an Indian flair. They did some traditional dances – one of which involved bamboo sticks. Each dancer had two bamboo sticks about 2 feet long, painted red on the ends. They kept rhythm with the drums by alternately tapping them together and then tapping them against the bamboo sticks that their partner had.  Regina got onto the dance floor and danced a few dances – Hameed and I stayed on the sidelines. Saturday we departed for our visit to the Taj Mahal.

Delhi is the capital of India, and you can tell by the quality of the roads. They were much better than Mumbai’s. Also much more military around. I saw some motorcades where there were soldiers with submachine guns in the cars guarding the vip’s car.  The presidents house and the parliament were impressive. There is much red sandstone in the area and all the big buildings were made of it.

We also saw a huge hindu temple there as well. The main temple was white marble while the surrounding structures were the red sandstone. Unfortunately we not allowed to take camera’s with us.  But the intricate carvings in the structure were impressive. Lotus flowers, deities, wheels, etc. all done with detail. I gathered that it was hundreds of years in the making, and they were still doing new additions. There were statutes of some of the deities and also of renowned holy men. Some of the work was done being done with traditional chisels - but I did see some modern grinders at work as well. Almost forgot to mention that Regina wore shorts – but they were not long enough and so she had to wear a skirt that they gave her.

We ate dinner at a plaza, it was very good. After eating we went outside and there was a snake charmer. Regina posed with him and he actually had her hold a (non-venomous) snake. Meanwhile he did his deal with the flute and we got a few pics. I declined, stating that I had been bitten by enough dogs and didn’t want to take a chance with a snake. They really seemed to hiss angrily when he put pushed them back in the basket with the lid.

Today we journeyed to Agra which is the closest city to the Taj Mahal. Saw several camels on the way, which was surprising since it was not a desert area. They are strong animals pulling large carts. The trip itself was quite the trek. Imagine being on old route 40 – only it is a 4 lane road, and there are no fences keeping other traffic(and livestock) off the road. And there is a variety of traffic – carts, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, cows, etc.  It is definitely not a road where you can set your cruise control, lay back, and listen to some tunes. Our driver expertly weaved thru the traffic. Oh, and get this – sometimes folks are coming head on at you. There is a median in the middle and sometimes if folks have to go short distance, they will just go North in the South bound lane.  And not always in the slow lane. I remember once when we were headed straight on towards a tractor in the fast lane!

And to add to difficulty we encountered 35,000 protesters heading to Delhi. There are not enough jobs in their province and so they are blocking the Northbound lanes as they march to the capital. So now we are all on the same side. And at times it was like being in a chase scene from the Bourne Identity where they avoid the bad guys by going the wrong way down the road. We would pass a slow moving tractor and meanwhile coming head on was some one doing the same in their lane. So both vehicles have to whip back to avoid becoming road kill. Oh, and it gets dark early this time of year – so now do all the above at night…   and about 1out of 4 vehicles has no tail lights…

The India drivers are naturals for NASCAR – whip like reflexes, the ability to maneuver inches away from other vehicles and nerves of steel. The nerves of steel part probably goes for the passengers too. We did see one unusual wreck on they way back an older jeep/SUV type vechicle was spun complete around and the front was crumpled. There was an eerie bright blue fog floating across the road from the contents of the vehicle. I held my breath as we drove on thru it.

But the Taj Mahal was worth the journey. They do limit gas powered vehicles from going to it, because of pollution damaging the marble -so we took an electric vehicle. We could have taken a cart and camel if we wanted. The first view was something, from a distance the people standing next to it look almost like ants. It is definitely glorious. Inside we found even more details, there was colored stone embedded in the white marble to make the Arabic writing, the flowers, the decorations. I could not imagine the amount of time and patience it took to create each piece. I can see why it was chosen as one of the wonders of the world.

There is a redstone archway to the front, a mosque to the left and a similar building to the right. Behind it is a river. You can see the ancient fort from where the Mogul king ruled while the Taj Mahal was built up stream. The guide was very knowledgeable and knew his stuff. He did have us stop at a shop where they demonstrated the old craftsmanship. Using a string to turn a rod attached to a grindstone to smooth the edges of the jasper and stones. A steel tool for carving the design on the marble. And of course over priced souvenirs. Which we passed on, I think the guide gets a kick back for stopping there.

Tonight we are back in Mumbai. No thanks to me. I usually have my shaving kit in my checked in luggage. For this flight I brought one bag and when we got ready to leave Delhi, they wanted to inspect my bag for a knife. I thought that I had left my scissors in my bag. But when we opened it, there was an old rusty pocket knife from when I was a scout leader in my shaving kit. I had forgotten all about it and the Mumbai folks had missed it completely. Fortunately they just confiscated it and sent me about my way. I briefly had visions about being held in a Delhi jail.

Tonight is the end of the festival for a victory that Rama had over evil. We passed up a float with Rama and truck with load speakers, playing music. And they have been setting off fire works and playing drums. It seems to have settled down somewhat, I hope that every one else has to go into work Monday too and so don’t spend the night carousing.

Posted by christ77 at 3:39 AM EDT

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Regina had an incident similar to mine with an overly helpful hotel staff. She got an adapter for her curling iron from the hotel. But when she attempted to use the curling iron, it went up in smoke and I guess that there were even a few plastic pieces that flew away. So off it went into the trash can.  But when she came back that night, there it sat on the dresser. I guess they figured that it accidentally fell into the trash, or maybe the crazy American doesn’t know the proper place for the curling iron. The plan is to simply leave it in the trash on the last day so there is no way to return it.

Regina likes the Sari’s that the women wear. I liked them from the last visit – they are generally in vibrant colors.  Bright pinks, greens, blues, even purples. In the West we tend to wear more drab colors – pastels, browns, and so forth.  The clothing is light and seems flow in the breeze as they walk. Which seems to give them an air of elegance. Regina says that she intends to try one on just to see what they feel like and how she would look in one.

Hameed has recovered from his jet lag and seems to be doing well. I remember that Roopa at one point was going on only 2 hours of sleep.  My sleep patterns seem to alright for the most part.  The last two nights I have slept all the way thru. We have all been busy at Datamatics. I am behind a bit on training so will have to get better organized next week to cover it all. But on the other hand we have gotten off on tangents in class and so I have found out some little things that I am hoping we can improve upon.

There is a 10 day festival that is going on. It culminates in Mumbai on the weekend that we are gone. In honor of the festival, Datamatics will have a little celebration in the office around 3pm on Friday.  There may be some dancing – I already warned them that I dance like a fence post, so please don’t ask me onto the floor.   

Oh, almost forgot to add that we went out to eat yesterday at lunch time. To the Bombay Blues. They asked if we wanted something different and Regina wanted Mexican. The Bombay Blues has Italian, India, and of course Mexican. We ordered Enchildalda's. They were unique - the beans were actually sweet, but it had some hot sauce to make it spicy.

Posted by christ77 at 12:51 AM EDT

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Being Hotel bound in the evenings gives one some down time to watch some of the local TV. They have some American shows to be sure – I watched some of the Red Sox – Indians series the other day.  Same as before the ever popular cricket seems to be on several channels in the evenings. It is a game as baffling to me as I am sure American football is to the native Indians. It seems to be a leisurely game.  Now the pitcher does start off with flurry – running helter skelter to the line he pitches from as though he were going to charge on and run into the batter. But instead draws short and hurls a pitch at the batter. 

But from that point the game slows down – the ball one hops on it’s way to the wicket. Some of the batters are garbed in enough padding to make any American football player envious. They are covered head to toe – helmets, shin guards, and even wear padded gloves. Maybe the ball is made of depleted uranium or some other hard and dangerous material – I’ll have to check wikkipedia and find out. Now when they do hit the ball they trot leisurely back and forth between the lines, maybe from the weight of the shin pads. I’m used to baseball, where you break out of the batters box and tear down to first with all of your might. Not these fellows, my grandmother puts out more effort running to the bathroom. I find myself wanting to yell at the TV – run, darn you, run… now slide, slide into base!

I give up trying to tell what is a hit and what makes a run.  Some hits, they shrug their shoulders and it’s like a do over. Other hits go out to the outfield, and here goes the outfielder trotting along as though he was angry at being bothered by having to go retrieve a ball. Other times there is a flurry of activity as though a swarm of bee’s had suddenly descended on the field – players are flying after the ball, the batsmen are running as though some one had stuck them in the backside with an icepick. There is no rhyme or reason to the speed of the game. One minute your ready to nod off to sleep, the next you wonder if some one had snuck crystal meth into their Gatorade.

Apparently they score runs by the bucketload.  100 to 200 points is just another days work. And they have overs – no unders, but apparently the overs are a big deal. The referee’s hand signals I find rather curious. I suspect they copied their handiwork from watching the three stooges. Lots of hands waving up and down through the air and sweeping gestures. One play they make the throw to a player at the wicket who stretches to touch the wicket while the batsman races to the line. It’s a close play and the camera zooms in on the umpire. I am expecting to see a sweeping safe call or an arm come down forcefully for an out. Instead he stands there, extends his hand palm down, and flutters it in front of him. Go away don’t bother me now??? I don’t have time for this??? Be gone?? What the heck kind of call is this?  Apparently he was out as the fellows on the field were all jumping up and down.

There is some hope for the sport. I saw one segment that shows me that there is some possibilities for the game.  They have foul balls and foul tips just as they do in baseball. But the catcher wears nothing to protect him but an oven mitt. And get this, the batter is allowed to try and make him drop the ball. I forgot to mention the bat is basically a big old 2X4. So this one pitch, it carooms off the 2X4 and hits this catcher guy in the shoulder and bounces in the air. The batter with all the padding and the 2X4 is rooting around trying to block the guy from making the catch.  So this poor catcher is taking a beating while this guy is flailing around with bat to make him drop the ball. But that got me thinking of a new sport combining baseball and cricket – crickball.

Now we allow the batters to put on helmets and padding and carry their 2X4’s when they run just like in cricket. We still have the bases and all the rest like in baseball. But now we have more action. Now when a runner comes into second base to break up a second play, they come with bat at the ready and lay into the second baseman. When a play is broken up, I mean it is broken up. And a play at the plate – the batsman and the catcher have at it, the winner gets to step on home base. Now there is an international game that both cultures can appreciate.

Besides their cricket the Indians really like their music. There are several music channels with videos that young men the world over will enjoy. Scantily clad females dancing to the beat of the music is a recipe for success where ever you call home.  Most of the videos seem to have large choreographed scenes with like hundreds of dancers – all in sync. And its not only in the music videos, but in the movies. You’ll be watching a show and all of sudden every one jumps out of their chairs and start doing a dance number.  Then they all sit down and it’s back to the show. Only you can’t remember what the story was about because you were distracted by all of the dancing. Indian movies are not for those with short attention spans. 

On a more serious note, the food has been good so far. I have ate both Western and Indian food at the Hotel. Datamatics has been great about providing us with lunch each day. Each meal has been excellent. The stray dog that Todd noticed on his first visit, and showed to me on my visit, seems to be gone. Gone to find another building to hang out in front of, or maybe roadkill with all of the traffic. The last Thursday that we are here, they are going to take us to a shopping mall. So we are looking forward to that.

Posted by christ77 at 12:02 AM EDT

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Well back to India once again. The flight over was not particularly bad – although I did have one after effect.  The salmon that I had for dinner must have been bad. I didn’t feel real well soon after eating it.  Then that Sunday I yacked after eating supper at the Leela.  Made it to restroom just in time. The bathroom attendant was probably rolling his eyes. But today, Monday, I feel quite well.

You always forget something when you pack, I forgot my captain crunch decoder – my vpn token that gives me the code to log into work remotely.  Fortunately one of the other fellows left for India two days later and is bringing my token with him. So I should have full access by tomorrow.

The advertising for the 2008 Olympic games begins here already. Jackie Chan has a funny spot. He plays ping pong like an action hero – spinning, etc. Then does other sports stuff all in his Jackie Chan style, the voice over says you don’t have to work like this to get to the Olympics – all you need is Visa!  So Jackie Chan buys the ticket to the Olympics and goes to his seat. Only to have Yao Ming the 7’ 4” center sit in front of him.

The airport is a lot nicer this go around. They are renovating it, but the changes that they have made really made it better. According to the one person that I spoke with, they have privatized the airport and a private company is investing capital to improve it.  Traffic lights are new, but the traffic is still snarled.  

Did have one curious incident with Hotel Security today. Came back from work and there was a cryptic message that I would need to get with the day manager to get my code to access the safe in my room. After regaining  access to the safe from the hotel I was able to piece together the scenario. Inside the safe was not only the passport and $$ that I had placed in there, but also my ‘valuable’ $25 timex watch and an empty wallet that I had brought, but not used – both had been left on the dresser when I left. Apparently housekeeping was worried about these treasures and had notified security to do me a favor and lock them away in my safe for me. 

On hand their concern is appreciated, on the other hand – access to that safe seems rather free. The day manager did get it unlocked with some sort of pass key, but could not reset it. A maintenance engineer came by and unlocked it again and was finally able to get it working completely. It feels like every other employee can waltz into a room and open a safe.

Posted by christ77 at 3:27 AM EDT

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Well I'm getting ready for the trip to India.  The first part was getting myself ready physically.  Shots were no big deal, everything was current except for the one for Typhoid, so only the one shot. Went to Doctor Jim about a month ago when I first found about the trip.  He commented that my body is like an old car - after the warranty has run out.  The hang nail has been ongoing and he sent me to a specialist to have it yanked off. The hope is that it will grow back straight in about a year.  If not they burn out all or part of the nail so that it doesn't grow back.

 Next specialist he sent me to was a back specialist for my hip pain. I can't stand or walk for more than 15 minutes without pain.  This was the main thing I wanted taken care of before the trip. He wanted previous history and when I told him that I played football until I was about 32, used to play basketball on blacktop, used to weightlift regularly, worked my farm on the weekends, etc.; he made a comment that "it's not your age, it's your mileage."  The diagnosis is inflammation around the sciatic nerve and the treatment was an injection of cortisone in the backside where the hip and spine connect. This is day two and so far the pain seems to be dimmished, but a true test will be later today when I go out and do some shopping.

Jimmy is going to take Joe hunting in KY.  About a week after agreeing to go on the trip, I realized that it was going to interfere with trip with Joe. Part of the agreement that we made at the start of the school year was that if he got good grades and finished out football that I would take him deer hunting in KY again.  We were going to ask Chad to take him, but Joe stated that would not work out. Chad is not a hunter and wouldn't know what to do. So it is great that Jimmy is taking him - I told him that I owe him a favor bigtime. That if he needs help on a home improvement project to give me a call so that I can return the favor.

 Chelsea is planning on moving back home soon. Michelle backed out of being a roomie (she moved in with yet another boyfriend in the meantime!) and Stephany would like to, but doesn't have the funds. So rather than work herself to a frazzle trying to work enough to pay all the bills and go to college fulltime, she is going to commute from our house. Which is OK, I want her to focus on grades.  She is planning on returning after Eric and Vanessa find a place to rent and move out. 

Vanessa and Elaina move in on Friday night after I leave. Eric is staying in Louisville for 2 more weeks.  It will be different to have munchkin roaming around the house again.  I think that Becky is looking forward to watching the baby during the day when Vanessa goes to work.  

Chad and Sarah have visited a couple of times this past week. Young Cash seems to be growing well and is strong for his age. Definitely an eating machine - that kid lets you know when he is hungry!  Becky was playing with him and I see that he is smiling now, so he is getting more interactive.  He is putting a fancy exhaust system on his white truck. Putting a fancy ribbon on an old sow, but it's his time and money. Have to admit that it sounds nice with the headers on it. 

Posted by christ77 at 6:25 AM EDT

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Joe had his best game ever against Miami East. He had two tackles for loss, assisted on several more, and pressured the quarterback each time he passed.  Since I am going to India and will miss his remaining games it was great to see him perform well.

 Chelsea brought home a dog of undetermined origins. We will see how this works outs.

Vanessa is moving in next weekend. Chad and Sarah helped paint the upstairs for them. So that was really nice of them to help out. Eric is finishing out the month in Louisville, then he is moving up too.

Went to Rex's 50th birthday party - a good time.  Nice to have the old gang back together again.   

Posted by christ77 at 11:08 PM EDT

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Joe's friend, Cody, was in an accident where the car he was riding in was rear ended by another car driven by an old man. They were stopped to turn and the driver did see them until the last second and then it was too late. They took Cody by care flight to the hospital.

 His hip was dislocated and so they had to do surgery to put it back in place. We visited this past weekend.  Poor Cody was heavily medicated, so it was difficult to carry on a conversation.  But both he and his parents were happy that we dropped by. 

On the way home we stopped at Pizza Hut. We ordered and then waited and waited.  We never even got bread sticks. They we found out that our order was completed but was taken out and they had to redo it.  We were fuming.  But they made it up by giving us the meal for free. Plus they messed up the order on one of the pizza's and so they gave us a third pizza for free.  Still it wasn't worth the hassle.

 Joe lost his starting slot at defensive end. When he was hurt, they moved someone else in there and so Joe is now special teams and giving the starters a break on JV.  He talked to the coaches after the game.  He was bummed. The one coach did mention that he had good hands. So I told Joe to see if they will work him at reciever next week.  Sometimes one door closes, but then another door will open. We will see if can wiggle his way into more playing time next Saturday. 

Chad had his 27th birthday yesterday.  We had a turkey with the trimmings. I joked that Becky was warming up for Thanksgiving.  Cash fell asleep on me again, I guess spare tire around the middle is good for something.  The young man certainly seems to be strong for his age. And good lungs, definitely lets you know when he is hungry.

Posted by christ77 at 12:24 PM EDT

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Mood:  energetic

Lots of stuff going on. Thought that I would take a few minutes to relax and check in. 

Vanessa is sniffing the job market in Cincinnati.  Her company has a position open there with higher pay. Eric is not to keen on his position right now. They had a record setting summer, but there are a lot of other things going on where he is just tired of putting up with the hassle. So we will wait and what happens with them. It would be nice having them a bit closer where we could visit more easily. Plus Eric puts in a lot of hours - 12, 14 hour days are not uncommon. And I know that he would like to spend more time with the family.

 Chad flipped a tractor last week.  Fortunately, he was not hurt. He had been mowing along Highway 4 North of Dayton and was throttled up heading back to the garage at the end of the day. He got squirrelly and it started bouncing. The next thing he knew it was on it’s side.  After he filed the incident report, he found out that everyone else at the maintenance department that drove tractors for any length of time has rolled them over as well. Fortunately the newer tractors have roll bars and seat belts.  Chad and Sarah visited last weekend. After we ate some roast chicken for supper, I started nodding off on my Lazy Boy. I was holding Cash and just put him on my chest.  We slumbered peacefully for an hour like that.  Sarah remaked that he can't sleep on Chad like that without rolling off. I said that my fat just makes a big cushion for Cash to lay on - maybe Chad should put on a few pounds ;- )  Cash is definitely growing. I think they said he was like 9-10 pounds.   Chelsea is adjusting to Sinclair. She was so worried about her math class. She wanted to drop it at one point “I’ll never understand this.” But I told her to hang in there, it’s too early to just throw in the towel, plus she would just need to take it again later. She aced her first quiz and was proud of that. I am worried about her one room apartment.  Since Michelle backed out, she has to pay all the rent. It’s not much, but when you are just working part time then it’s a mountain. She is hoping to find someone else to move in, but no luck yet. Joe wanted her room, but Becky said that we should hold off on any moves until we are sure that Chelsea is going to be able to swing this.  

From what I am seeing, Joe is doing OK at school. He seems to have more discipline to get his home work done.  Football is going OK, his ankle is holding up fine. They are trying him at nose tackle on the JV defense.  He is still hoping to break into varsity, I told him that when they play Bradford and Trail that those would be the best opportunities to get in a few quarters of action.  He is working on a computer chair for shop class, it seems like a very ambitious project, but he  seems to be talented with his hands.  

I had my yearly check up with the heart doctor and had my best visit ever.  No whining from the doctor about my weight, or my blood test being out of  whack.  The stress test, the blood test all were great. The weight was 242 exactly the same as last year. He told me to keep on doing what I have doing. So I went home, had a beer, and watched some TV. Well not exactly, I still have a beer or two but I think working on the farm helps to give me a workout and keep me somewhat fit. Although I would like to lose the doughnut in the middle. And I still try to walk 3 times a week.   Oh and guess what – a return visit to India.  They got with me late last week to see if I would go.  Another group was going to take 4 engineers to provide training but decided to just take 3.  They asked my boss if she had anyone that would be willing to go,  and she offered the opportunity. This go around, there might be a visit to the Taj Mahal. The host company asked us what we wanted to do on the open weekend in between when we enter and depart the country. The offered a flight to New Delhi to visit – and if we can work on the details that would definitely make the trip memorable.

Posted by christ77 at 6:10 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, September 18, 2007 6:14 PM EDT

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Mood:  celebratory

Well Chelsea has made a move.  She is leaving home and moving into a 1 room apartment in West Alexandria. She is renting from Steve Unger. She was supposes to split costs with Michelle - but she moved in with some guy instead. So she is going to have to hunt down a roommate, it will be hard to keep up with the costs on her own.

Sinclair is going OK for her so far. So we hope that she can juggle working and school. She will be very busy.

That leaves us with one at home - Joe. He gets to be an only child. He has his learners permit and I have been letting him get some time behing the wheel of the truck. He is learning to grab gears just fine with the stick shift. So far school seems to be going OK.  He is recovered from his ankle injury enough to start working out with the team again.  We plan to go deer hunting in October since he is doing a good job at school.

Posted by christ77 at 2:03 PM EDT

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