Chennai in Real Time (sort of)

[EagleFan]

Monday, 01/08

I left for the Newark airport around 1:30 in the afternoon as my 45 day return trip to Chennai begins. The trip to the airport seemed to go quickly as the driver was an Eagles fan, which means he is a great person (not like those Cowboys fans and their character flaws ).

After checking in I went to the Lufthansa lounge and hung out for a while before the flight. Didn't do much except play a little Brothers In Arms on my PSP and relaxed a bit.

We boarded the plane about a half hour late but it was worth the wait. Unlike my last trip, this plane is one equipped wit Lufthansa's new business class. It is quite amazing with plenty of room, your own digital entertainment system that lets you chose various movies or CD's and an electronic seat that is configurable all the way to laying flat for a bed (without affecting the person behind you at all).

The flight to Frankfurt went incredibly quickly as we must have had one major tail wind. The only problem was about 20 straight minutes of some of the worst turbulence that I can remember going through.

We arrive in Frankfurt around 7:30 AM local time and I find quite a walk to get to the next terminal for my flight to Chennai. Unfortunately the terminal that I am leaving from does not have much to do si I just hang out in the lounge for most of the time, again playing some Brothers in Arms (in hind sight it seems a little odd sitting in a German airport and playing a game where I am shooting Germans).

As time nears I head out and stop in the Duty Free shop. I have thought about picking up something to drink, I anticipate a lot of stress, so I looked over the selection. Most of what they have I cannot stand (like a major selection of Vodka). I decide to try some Hennessy so I pick up a bottle to take with me.

The gate where the flight to Chennai boards is not fun at all. You have to check in to even get to the seating area of the gate and the line is a mob scene. After finally getting through to the seating area I find that everyone is penned in like sardines. Once the call for boarding comes, everyone surges for the door, it feels quite like pandamonium.

We end up leaving Frankfurt late due to how long it took to check everyone into the gate area and then board (they call this express boarding, express my ass).

I am a little dissapointed as this plane does not have one of the new business class sections. The flight is quite long and uneventful (which is good for a flight). I sat next to a gentleman from Finland who was going to India for the first time for a very short business trip. We talked about his hometown of Helsinki and about what I found Chennai to be like in my visit last year. There was also a lot of sleeping, some eating (though I really can't stand the attempted gourmet food they serve), and a little watching movies (saw something I believe called The Bandidas, or something like that, it only kept my attention because of Selma Hayak and Penellope Cruz ).

We arrived in Chennai about 12:30 AM Wednesday the 10th. I learned my lesson from my last trip of not having my paperwork filled out (which I didn't know about at the time) and had everything ready which got me through immigration really quickly. From there it was through a security X-Ray and then on to baggage claim. My bags were two of the first bags on the belt, that NEVER happens for me. So from there it was past customs and out to the throngs of people outside the airpolrt waiting for friends and family.

I was looking for the company driver and not reading the signs when I saw someone waving at me. It was one of the people who worked for our company driver, he had driven Marty and I when we werre there last year a couple of times so he seemed to have remembered me.

I made my way around the crowd and he told me to wait with my bags at the curb, he would bring the car around. As I waited I officially knew I was in Chennai as I had to turn down several offers for a ride from auto-rickshaw drivers and a cab driver.

There was a little excitement as the cab driver who had been bugging me left his car parked at the curb and was walking around trying to find someone to give a ride to. Airport security asked him to move his car and he ignored them. Almost quicker than you could blink a tow truck pulledc up and was about to hook up his car. He jumped and left while shouting at the guards.

The driver arrived and we were off to the guest house. I got to see a little more excitement on the way to the house as there was almost an accident between an auto-rickshaw and a cement truck (obious who would win that one) because they both decided that driving with their lights on at 1:30 in the morning was merely optional and not a requirement. As we reached the area where our office is, I realized where we were and actually knew how to get to the guest house from there.

The road the guest house is on is torn up from the rainy season the last time I was here, and for a few weeks after I left. It took so loing driing down that road because it was like driving over craters on the moon. We arrived at the house and I was welcomed by Ramesh (butler) and Viswa (chef), the same two who were there the first time; which was a major relief to me since I now know what to expect from here on out.

The driver gave me the cell phone to use (to be able to contact the driver or other key people from the office) and the pass for the office and then he was on his way. From there I settled down and watched a little television as I could not get to sleep for a while and the internet was not working. At one point I was about asleep and suddenly got startled awake by a loud noise. It ended up being the phone that I was given and a wrong number (at freaking 4:30 in the morning).

[EagleFan]

I ended up waking up around 7, much earlier than I had hoped. The internet was still out so I started to get settled in and unpacking before heading down for breakfast. The chef made oatmeal, sausage and gave me more than enough toast as well as fresh fruit. I ate some of tghe oatmeal, a little toast and had some of the sausage but they were quite spicy.

From there it was off to work. The ride to work seemed a lot less hectic to me than my first trip, I must be used to it now compared to the shock of encountering it the first time. Most of the ride consited of the driver (who was not with the company my first trip) yelling at someone on his cell phone.

Work was somewhat positive as I received some good news about a deadline and worked out some other suggestions with the management in the office. I felt bad for the team leader (Shriram) during a couple of the meetings as I thought management was being way too rough on him and he is very timid and let it get to him as he was visibly shaken.

Mid afternoon I was completely run down from the jet lag and lack of good sleep so I cut out a little early.

At the house, we still had no internet so they called for service. The technician kept saying it was fixed, though it wasn't (he could be a Comcast tech like that). Eventually they did something to fix it, for the time being (the problem was no DSL signal getting to the madem, let alone the router, but he kept wanting me to check my settings on my laptop - quite Comcastlike). Early evening I went downstairs for dinner and had some sort of soup (which was very good but spicier than he used to make it on my last visit), chicken, rice and vegetables. There was some sort of appetizer that I have no idea what it was but it seemed like cold seeds of some sort, not to my liking. Dinner was very good and from there it was back upsatirs to relax a bit.

I brought a cricket game to play on the laptop and Ramesh came up and saw me playing. He is a huge cricket fan so that led to quite a bit of cricket talk. He now wants to see if he can get some cricket gear and put together a game so I can try to play which would actually be pretty cool, though I can see myself sucking at it beyond belief.

Not much else going on except some emails being answered, a couple of calls being made and some video game playing. I did decide to try the cognac and I realized that it't not that great. I alo realized that it has one hell of a kick, after which I saw it is 40%.

Time to try to get some sleep and see where tomorrow leads. I will try to update this every day (when I have a connection of course). This is mostly for my recollection but feel free to read and comment if you like or if you have any questions about the trip, or the area, feel free to post them and I'll try to get them answered as best I can.

[EagleFan]

I am exhausted when I wake up today as I did not sleep well. Probably the jet lag and getting used to the time zone difference again. I kept waking up all night, should have had a couple more shots of Hennessy before bed .

I was told that the house was full of people from the office who will be working out of the new Bangalore office but this morning was the first time I got to really notice. The breakfast table was packed. I wasn't very hungry so I had a little bit of some sort of melon, some toast and some orange juice. He made an omelet for me and I had a little but I really am not big on eggs.

Our trip to work seemed to make the car look like one of those buses that you see in town with people packed in. The drive was made worse by the fact that I got the new driver that Marty warned me about (he started after I left the first time). He drove like a maniac, laid on the horn and I thought for sure he was going to take out a pedestrian or two at some point. Plus he felt the cratered road was some sort of baja trail. Oh well, I got there in one piece at least.

The day was a day of extremes. Most of it went very well but it was highlighted by a couple of downsides. One was a perrsonal downside as it sounds like the wife and kids are not liking daddy not being here (they went through this early in my last trip too). The other was a conference call with my idiot VP who has no clue (seriously, the phrase he utters the most is "I don't understand").

For the project that I am working on the majority of the resources are here in Chennai. The testing is being done in both New Jersey and Chennai. We added two resources in New Jersey for development and the original idea was to have them on the set of "base changes" to help out the Chennai staff. After a meeting my first day here I received great news that things seemed a little farther along with the base changes that I had expected and that we were going to make the deadline (those estimates without accounting for the New Jersey resources).

During that meeting I found that the largest problem we have is this release being hurried together and we have a ton of issues that need fixed. This looks to take the longest and a small group from Chennai are working on it (which is fine but they do not yet have the exposure to the application to get through these issues in a timely manner). My New Jersey resources specialize in this kind of stuff so I moved them to this portion of the team. Plus they can handle the problems uncovered by the New Jersey testers with quicker turn around since they are right there and the team in Chennai can handle what the Chennai testers find.

Everyone in the Chennai office was big time on board with this. Enter VP "I make George W look like a genius and only have my job because I worked at the COO's last company and fit his Indian only hiring practice". He cannot picture the benefits of this change and wants to just use more resources in Chennai to that part of the team and leave the New Jersey resources on the base changes. He can't grasp the idea of having those resources actually working with the New Jersey testers to handle thier problems and cannot see how that is a benefit (especially since their analytical ability is beyond what the current team in Chennai has demonstrated as they are newer and have never worked in the industry and have no experience with the application).

He finally caves when the manager of this office expressed how much he liked my idea, though it was with a "if this causes a problem than the idea of pulling them to that team will have to be dealt with". I so badly wanted to respond "deal with this" but restrained myself.

Luckily the rest of the day went better and I think we are making solid progress. There would be a three day weekend coming up (a religious holiday that I will have to find out a few more of the details about it) but I will be working Saturday with some of the team (I decided that I will by them lunch that day since they have been working a lot of weekends lately (which is how we are now on pace to hit the first goal).

The drive back to the house took forever. I forgot just how bad it can be. I also ended up with a regular cab driver as for some reason the regular driver was very late and someone from HR saw me waiting and called another cab. I felt a little better about my comfort level in the city as I had to tell him how to get to where I was staying, it felt good to remember the way.

When I arrived he let me out outside of the gate. I was a little nervous about the stray dog eyeing me up as they can get rather aggressive at night and I really don't want that whole rabies thing to worry about. Luckily one of the people staying at the house was outside so he let me in.

From there is was a nice dinner of egg drop soup, fried chicken (everything that he fries comes out great with no grease what so ever), french fries and steamed vegetables.

I talked to Ramesh and Viswa for a while. They asked about the cricket game that I brought and if I could show them how to play it sometime. They also said they were going to try to get cricket equipment and we could get some people to play out back. That would actually be kind of cool.

The day of extremes continued as I was then told some news that actually got under my skin. The person who runs the entire office here (and will be moving his office to Bangalore) will be staying here after he sells his house until the Bangalore office opens. He said I have to be moved out of the room I am in because he likes that room. As odd as it sounds, I am kind of attached to this room. It's where I stayed last time and I have kind of grown to consider it my Chennai home.

There is one setback that I hope he can't put up with. It is on the side of the house right near construction so I hear a lot of that, even a lot of noise at night because of the window behind the bed. I will be staying where Marty stayed the first time and he said he heard nothing in that room. It's weird, I know I will be able to get used to it but it's just one of those things that gets under my skin. The HR guy is always asking my if there is anything wrong in the house (he seems to like yelling at the help a little too much). When he asks tomorrow I shoud say "yeah, I am getting kicked out of my room".

Oh well. Time to settle down to watch a little TV or maybe play some FOF 2007.

I hope all are well!!!

[EagleFan]

The day started out and ended rough but the middle wasn't bad. I ended up with a migraine-likie headache last night (was quite bad but didn't have some of the normal migraine symptoms I get with them). This caused me to have a lousy night of sleep, I am still looking for my first good night of sleep over here. Prior to the headache and prior to falling asleep the phone that they gave me to use rang. A man on the other end was asking for someone that I didn't know. He was quite annoying as he insisted that he dialed the right number and was acting pissed off at me (go figure). That prompted a "you need more practice dialing your telephone machine" response prior to just hanging up.

Breakfast was good as Viswa made pancakes. They were good, but not quite what I am used to (probably slightly different ingredients). From there it was off to work for a pretty uneventful day. We moved a little closer to our first goal, which is good, but found a few more roadblocks for our second goal. I guess it's the small victories that count.

I did make a couple of purchase today, both a bit of the impulse buy category. I have no working watch to use over here so I piucked up one and saw something pretty cool, a Swiss Card (thing swiss army knife meets credit card). It was a reasonable price so I figured what the hell. I am tired of not having some things I may need at certain times and I don't like carrying a Swiss Army knife around (don't like the extra bulk in my pocket) so this seemed to make sense (like I justify all of my impulse buys ).

I was exhausted so I ended up leaving early (for referrence during this trip leaving early actually means leaving after a normal 8 hour work day). I will be coming to work Saturday for a while so I have no regrets about "just putting in 8 hours" today. I also asked the team leader to tell those who were going to come in to work on the project tomorrow are free to join me for lunch as I will treat at the Chinese restaurant in the food court for lunch tomorrow (as a thank you for the time).

After getting back to the house I found that I was being moved to a different room already. Sadly I didn't see the HR guy today to make my comment about being moved, today of all days. I move into the new room and it looks okay but then the problems start.

I first find that I cannot connect to the swireless at the desk. After which I find the ethernet cable that is run into the room and go to plug that in and the end is completely destroyed. Looked like mo internet for me.

From there it was on to plug in the laptop to at least keep it chanrged and maybe just use it to play some FOF or cricket during the evening. I reached back to adjust the screen and suddenly there was a bad tingling in my left hand that began to run up my arm (like thousands of needles poking it). I pull my hand back and it seemed to go away. Then I go to move the laptop and the same thing happens. At this point I notice that the combination of lights which are lit on the power stip indicate different things and than all three lights it not a good sign but means there is a problem with the ground, it turns out that I was the ground.

That shock had me a little messed up for a bit, not sure what it did to me but for a while I couldn't keep myself from shaking. That had me a little concerned but it has since seemed to go away.

Oh well, at least I can try to watch some TV, or not because there is no satellite hookup in this room. I can watch TV to see the over the over the air channels as long as I can learn Tamil by tonight to understand what is being said and make out the picture through the massive static.

Maybe a shower and then get ready for dinner, or not as there are no towels. Hmm, this was not a good start.

I mention the myriad of problems to the staff and they check them out and fix what they can, which means the towl situation (not a shot at them as they are great, but it is not their job to be able to fix an outlet, insztall a satellite connection and fix and ethernet cable). The apologize early and often but I assure them that it is not their fault and I am not upset with tme at all.

So from there it was just about dinner time. Dinner was an excellent cream of chicken soup, beef, rice and vegetables. I went through a couple helpings and found myself nice and full. After again receiving apologies about the room and telling them that I will be fine tonight as I moved the desk to a different spot in the room so I could plug in without the whole electocution thing and found that I have s signal, though a VERY weak signal, from the wireless at that location. This allowed me to check my email and was going to play some FOF but I was exhausted so I rolled over and laid down for a bit (the good thing about the new location that I moved the desk to is that I can actually use the laptop while sitting on the bed).

I ended up falling asleep for a couple hours anw woke up around 11 PM or so. I played a season of FOF (had started a career last night but only got through the allocation draft, using fictional players). Made the playoffs and won the wild card round before being beaten in a barn-burner 6-3.

Answer a couple emails, write up my day here and now it's about time to try to get some sleep.

Oh, I did find out some news that I don;t like. There will be a couple games that I can see from this weekend (though I don't believe live) but they are the two AFC games.

Maybe this is a sign for Eagles fans to rejoice. Of all the times for them to make an unexpected run to the Super Bowl it would end up being when I have no chance to watch.

Oh well, I hope everyone is well (even if I am probably boring anyone who even ventured into this thread to tears).


I'll leave you with this....

what better cricket or men's field hockey

[EagleFan]

Another strange night where I couldn't sleep. After sleeping in the early evening yesterday and then waking up to shut things down, I couldn't get back to sleep. I tried reading but the lights were out, must have been a blown fuse. Eventually I went out to the upstairs living room area and read out there for a while (nothing major, just a couple of magazines).

Finally I got a little sleep and woke up around 8, or actually was awaken by my morning tea and newspaper (that part I can really get used to ). Breakfast was a loaf of toast (as usual), some sort of cocoa flakes type of cereal and some sliced sausages (they were a bit too spicey for that early int he morning for me so I let Viswa know so he wouldn't end up wasting them on me during my visit).

It was then off to work for a short day (I had no intention of putting in a major day over the weekend). Many of the team were there and I took them to the Chinese restaurant for lunch as a thank you for their efforts. I received a very good response from that as it seems that thank yous are not commonplace in the office.

Lunch was a nice time just talking about families and the upcoming holiday, Pongal (a celebration of the harvest), and of course sports. Most of the men were into cricket or soccer. I tried to find out a little more about cricket (I know the rules but just trying to figure out the basic strategy as far as bowling goes).

From there it was some boring work stuff and finally I decided to call it a day late in the afternoon.

When I arrived at the house I didn't exactly like what I found. The chef took me up to the room and explained that the electic grounding problem ended up being with the power strip so they got a new one for me. He then said that he replaced the end of the internet cable (that didn't instill confidence, he is afterall a chef and not someone who works in networking). Sadly my fears there were correct and the cable would not work. I have a VERY weak wireless signal and if I take the laptop out to the upstairs living room it gets pretty strong so I can get on the internet, but not reliably in my room. I will also not have television until sometime after the holiday so that means at least Tuesday. There goes any of my last hope that there is a change to the schedule and I could have seen the Eagles game. I did, however, sign up for being able to listen to the game over the internet, I just need to find a place where it connects well enough.

After relaxing a bit I had a late dinner; beef stroganof (sp?) and fries (strange combination but it works for me). The chef probably saw how much I liked the fried he made and figured that was a fallback. Talked to Ramesh some more about cricket at dinner and he is very excited about the idea of getting the cricket gear so I can try in out back. That would actually be pretty cool.

I am still a little worried that they may revert into a shell a bit when the big boss comes here next week (I'm going through hell (room-wise) because of him and he's not even here yet). I'm going to have to come up with some good shots to trake at him to his face (that's fun when people don't quite know if they were just insulted or not, especially if it means for them to be insulted that they would have to admit something wrong about themselves). I'm thinking maybe something along the line of "I didn't mind moving to another room, it's not like I have a massive ego that kept me from changing". Or maybe, "I don't mind moving to another room, it's not like I have to cover up any shortcomings with a massive ego". I'll have to work on them for the right situation.

After dinner I headed upstairs and read a little more then jumped on the PC and played a little cricket and drank a little cognac. It's now after midnight and I should be getting a little sleep as I am going to try to get up around 6 so I can get ready to listen to the Eagles game (I hope that works). Other than the game the only other plan that I have for tomorrow (other than relaxing) is showing Viswa how to play the cricket game on the PC. Maybe he'll show me what I am doing wrong while batting and while bowling.

I hope all is well and I leave you with this:

Who Dat Gonna Beat Them Saints? Hopefully the Eagles!!!!!!!

E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!!

[miked]

Hmmm...not sure what day it is out there, but maybe you have TIVO to watch the game.

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by miked

Hmmm...not sure what day it is out there, but maybe you have TIVO to watch the game.

It's 10:30 hours ahead of Eastern Time. 12:20 PM Sunday back home and 10:50 PM Sunday here at the moment. Instead of having 2 time zones in the country they took the average, hence the half hour part.

[EagleFan]

The morning started early as I woke up at 6 AM to setup to listen to the game over the net. I was still echausted as again I didn't sleep well. This trend is starting to get annoying.

The game sounded quite entertaining but sadly the Eagles lost a close one to the Saints. I guess the bright side is that I don;t have to go through listening again next week (kind of a weak attempt for a bright side). With this loss it is official, with this being my second trip over here the Eagles did not win a game while I was out of the country as they went 0-3 (luckily the bye week was one of the seeks I was here last).

After eh game I crashed a bit and played some Brothers In Arms: D-Day on the PSP. That game is actually pretty good. I love the PC version and this one is a streamlined version of that. I was afraid that I would not be able to get used to the controls but I have, though it is still far from a keyboard and mouse.

Lunch today was soup (something like cream of chicken I guess with cheese and something else in it) and homemade pizza with chicken, peppers and onions. It was good, and packed with stuff. The crust he makes it about the best pizza crust that I have ever had. Viswa is phenominal.

After lunch I pretty much had nothing to do, still no television channels in my room that I can understand and I didn;t want to bother the driver on the hliday weekend (plus the regular driver is still on vacation and I would rather have him take me around town as he not only speaks English much better but knows a lot of good places to see.

I pretty much hung out, read a little, played some Family Guy, cruised the internet a bit and playued a little FOF2007. A very relaxing day actually.

Dinner tonight was egg drop soup, the chicken that he makes that I absolutely love and rice. He also brought some sweets from his home for the holiday for me to try. I have no idea what it was but it was okay, but not my taste. It was VERY sweet (which kind of seems to be the pattern here, extreme to some extent either spicey or sweet). Mostly I couldn't take the texture, I am very weird that way (among others I am sure) and don't like certain textures of food.

During dinner I had a very nice conversation with Viswa. He seemed to understand my views on what I have seen in the office and around the house about how there still seems to be a class system the way people deal with those who are somehow below them, or he could have just been agreeing because he didn't understand what I was saying. But he brought up a couple of situations that fit what we were talking about so I believe that he was pretty much on board with the conversation.

After dinner the HR guy showed up to see how things were. He is such a weasel as he tried to act as if I was moved because he thought I would be more comfortable in the other room when we all know it was because Mr. Big Shot had to have his ego trip to claim the room (not the HR director but his boss, whom he has his lips firmly in place on the backside of).

He came upstairs to check out the room and to complain to Viswa about the internet problem. Viswa is already on it and it is the network people in the office who made the decision to put off the cabling until after the holiday (which I am okay with as I get a little wireless signal where I moved the desk to, but not great).

Frim there it was a phone call home and then back on the net for a bit. I may be calling it an early night. No work tomorrow so I don't have to rush anywhere so that is good.


Again, I hope all is well on that side of the world.

[EagleFan]

About the most uneventful of days, wow this must be putting people to sleep. I FINALLY slept well, though not getting to sleep until around 2 AM but I spet until around 10 AM. Viswa brought me tea and the newspaper and I decided to just have breakfast at noon for lunch (something small would suffice at this point).

Sadly, breakfast was the one negative of the day, I stiull feel queasy thinking about it. I had bacon, toast and that cocoa flakes cereal. I was going to town on the cereal and one bite seemed odd but I thought it was just something different about that "flake". I switched to the bacon, which I had to cut a lot of fat from (the bacon is much thicker here but is full of fat, makes what I am used to over tehre look lean. After finishging and having some juice that he brought out I finished off some toast.

From there breakfast turned upside down. He asked if I liked the juice and then made a comment about it being fresh. That worried me a bit as things are pretty much like Mexico where you avoid the water and the fruit. The next part made me quite ill (mostly from the mental reaction). I went to get another spoonful of cereal and I noticed movement. I moved the cereal around a bit and I saw all sorts of bugs scampering around. I did all that I could not to power hurl right there. I pushed the bowl back to show Viswa and he looked like he had just seen a ghost and was apologizing the rest of the day. I suspect they got into the box, though I hate his explanation that they "muist have been in the soup bowl" (which is what the cereal was served in).

I eat stuff in those bowls everyday, I would much rather think, hell make that know, that the problem was the box so I know it is isolated to just the cereal.

After that I went upstairs and felt quite sick. Sadly I had to do some work, I just had to freaking call my boss after I woke up since he email said to call ASAP and now I have work for my day off. (New rule: no checkign work email on a day off)

Soon my somach started churning and the rest of the afternoon was not good. I have a feeling the fresh juice is taking it's revenge on me. The rest of the day has pretty much been not feeling good, playing PSP and posting here. I went down for dinner (I am trying not to let on to Viswa that I am not feeling well as it becomes a major incident between the HR guy from the oiffice and him and I would rather suffer in peace).

Dinner looked good and tasted good, what little I had. I told him that I just wasn't hungry because of a migraine. It started with a combination egg drop / Italian wedding soup then the main course was beef, vegetable fried rice and a diced mixture of carrots, onions and a few other things that I wasn't sure of.

The rest of my night will be suffering some and posting here (hopefully not one in the same ). I guess my posts per day count will go up during this trip.

Just 38 more days until I can see my family again. The other day there was a rumor about a lengthened stay but f#$% that.

"Mr Big Wig" will be here either tomorrow or Wednesday for his stay, any good suggestions on a nice shot at him for the room incident. Hopefully I will have better internet connection when I get back from the office tomorrow but it still might be a couple days before I can watch television.

Off to some more posting, maybe a lttle FOF too.

[EagleFan]

I can't freaking sleep, my stomach feels like there is a category 5 hurricane going on inside and I am stressed beyond belief. I need a new fucking job!!!!

I apologize for the language but I cannot take this anymore. Between the prospect of still having 38 days left here before I can see my family, having to jump through hoops for our asshole VP (who has no freaking clue), having to put up with the room situation, having freaking bugs in my food, not being able to sleep comfortably and feeling sick as a dog; I have had more than enough.

When I took this job I was promised three things:

1) New development - that was a joke as I worked on 1 1/2 projects of actgual new development in that time span and most have been patch and repair stuff (before I was "promoted" to manager).

2) No on-call - I was placed in the on-call rotation abtou 2 months after arriving.

3) No travel - this is my 7th trip since coming here which will total 3 1/2 months worth of time when this one is done.


For that whole promotion thing. Myself and a woman in the office, a friend of mine, were both promoted at the same time which seemed nice until we found that the three new Indian prorammers brought on by our asshole VP were given the same titles as well. With the 1 person who had the title of manager before we now have 6 managers and 3 programmers on the team. When a manager was promoted last year and I wanted to apply for the position asshole COO (who brought in asshole VP) said that we were not going to allow ourselved to be top heavy with managers and removed the position (that left us with 1 manager and at the time 7 programmers.

It sucks when it is no longer you experience and what you have brought to the table that count for something. I need out of this situation and I need out soon. Luckily our financial situation has recengtly cleared up so I now have a lot broader range (salray-wise) to look at for something new and would be willing to take a bit of a cut in pay if the situation were right.


Didn't mean to ramble on and seem very irate, but I am very irate so I guess I kind of meant that part. Just wanted to interject a little more of how I am currently feeling at this point of the trip. I apologize for the typos that most likely exist in the document but my eyes are not too clear at the moment and it is not easy reading this laptop right now.

[EagleFan]

Today was a lousy day. It consisted of my being sick as a dog for a good portion and mostly having bed rest. It also consisted of my getting pissed off regularly about being here and my situation at work. Every time I felt a little better about it, there would be an email from work that would set me off again.

Not much at all to tell about. Stomach problems, attached to the toilet in one form or another, bed rest, posting on FOFC and some email responses from work.

I had a very light dinner tonight of chicken and cheese toast. Viswa used a bit too much onion and I need to ask him to cut back on it a bit. It was even in the cheese toast where I would rather have the cheese and the toast together with maybe a little garlic flavor but not chunks of onions, at least for my taste.

In the evening I got pissed off again as I received an email from my office in New Jersey. Our company is having a big part this weekend in Jersey to honor a big anniversary. It would have been nice to go but I am abviously not going to be able to go. To add insult to injury they had the nerve to ask me to be live on-call during the event so the people who were going to be can go to the event. Live on call for that time means completely overnight here, this after the plan looks to be working most of the day on Saturday.

What possed me off the most is that my manager (who I normally like working for) didn't even cut this off at the pass but instead escalated it to me. This just shows the new view of how to treat employees. This is just more piling on.

I hope to show them as I have begun talks with other companies, even from halfway around the world. There are some that may be worthwhile and if I get an offer too good to refuse I will sure as hell get on the phone with the airline and move up my time to leave. I will take less money for more sanity at this point. I just hope that kind of environment still exists out there.

On a side note... WTF... I just noticed this painting behind the bed. It's a little abstract but it basically looks like two people having sex (looks fairly passionate too) and in the background there is something that reseembles an angel watching them. St. Voyeur?

Oh well, time to get some sleep. If I feel up to it in the morning I am going to try to get some time in the gym downstairs (they turned one of the bedrooms into a gym with 4 machines in there).


Happy rest of your Tuesday all!!!

[21C]

Just found this thread and I'm really enjoying reading about your experiences. Sorry to hear about some of your gastric misfortunes and I hope the job situation improves.

Will you get the opportunity to explore the rest of the city or the surrounding areas as a tourist or are you pretty much stuck with work? I don't know if you had that chance on your earlier trip/s.

Good luck with the rest of the trip.

[EagleFan]

Thanks, I hope to get some time on some of the weekends to explore a little more. The HR guy is already trying to setup some trips for me so I'll see where that leads. I'll post an update for today a little later. Today was a very schizophrenic day.

[EagleFan]

Actually posting this Thursday morning because I found myself half asleep and decided to just turn out the lights and go to sleep. I will also try to add a little more to the posts as I realize that I am actually leaving out a lot about the area (probably since this is my second trip and those details aren't jaw dropping "wows" anymore since I am not experiencing it for the first time).

The day began okay with the wakeup call from Viswa as he brought up tea and the morning papers (I enjoy reading the papers to get a different view on things that we normally see back in the States, but it does make me laugh when those outside the States act as if the news they get is completely free of any bias and it's our news that is slanted, the news here is very slanted but in a different angle than in the States). I am feeling a lot better at this point.

The Colts/Ravens game was on so I watched that in the background while I had some tea and read some news. There is a lot in the papers about Pakistan and it seems that India is kind of doing an "I told you so" to the US about them since there is a lot of speculation that Bin Ladin is hiding in Pakistan. Seriously though, who didn't see that one coming? IF W honestly thought he could trust Pakistan than I give up on him as he is too stupid to be a leader.

After getting ready for the day I head for breakfast. Viswa made French Toast which was good but no syrup, just honey instead. That is something that I miss when we have things like this or pancakes, a little maple syrup. The remaining "Bangalore guys" in the house come out for their breakfast and it ends up being the first time I see them eating something that looks familiar as one of them was eating an omelette.

Soon the car arrives. Siby's back!!! He is the guy who actually runs the cab company that our company contracts here and he was on vacation since before I arrived. This should mean and end to some of the long waits after work for the car (as I learned in my first trip here, it seems no matter where you are Siby is never too far away).

We get in the car and head to work. The road outside of the house is a complete wreck still (caused by the major rain they received during my last trip and it extended beyond that trip) and there seems to be no rush to fix it. As we pulled out of the gate in front of the house I glanced to the right and saw a small group of stray dogs, 3 or 4, who must be the ones I keep hearing all night whenever something is in the area (I was told on my first trip that the stray dogs can get very territorial at night, which I witnessed by seeing them try to attack cars driving by, this is also the reason that I don't walk around the neighborhood).

The drive in was uneventful and we took the old shortcut that I am used to when Siby drives (the one that takes us past an area that has an outside urinal). That seems to take several minutes off the drive as it cuts out a large and busy intersection.

Work started with my reading some resulting emails from my rather irate responses from the day before. A couple response helped get me back into a bit of a bad mood as my boss didn't seem to understand why I was so pissed off. As much as I like working for him sometimes I have to admit that he has a knack for pissing me off worse at times as he has a habit of antagonizing responses.

I resist the urge to respond with a more irate response and go about my business. Soon the barrage of questions from thise in the office begins. I generally do not have a problem with this but there was one person in particular who made me want to wring his neck as there seemed to be an Abbott and Costello routine going on between us.

Sadly he is one of the people in the office that I generally have the hardest time communicatiing with as his English doesn't seem to be that good. HE would ask me a question and I looked into it and gave him the answer that this is a special circumstance because the person that created that object used the wrong name for a component and it should have actually been called something else. The name that was used makes it show up in our scans for the changes that we are making but it does not need to be included.

He nodded and said okay but just stood there and I asked if there was anything else. His response was, so I make our changes to that? I said no. He said "but it's called..." I respond "yes but that is not correct in this case so we will not be changing it, we can list this within the not impacted group". Again I get and okay followed up with "so we change it?". This seemed to continue for an eternity but I was finally able to get someone to explain it to him (which was no easy task because of the number of languages spoke in India and the fact that many in the office don't even speak the same "local" language because of where they are originally from).

There were some bright spots today. I was able to put together a proposal for part of the project that we are doing jointly with a client that I feel will utulize their efforts and not put us behind when we try to combine thoise effots. I gave several options and listed what I through was best and sent that off to my boss. I also had a very good lunch of KFC and had some breakthroughs with a couple members of the team (there is still a steep learning curve as most are new to the field and all are new to the industry).

The ride home was puzzling as I found myself waiting for the car with a couple others who work on a different team in our company. They were picked up and then dropped off barely after we left the parking lot, they could have walked that in the couple minute wait we had (not even a long wait but the distance was soooo short that the walk would have been very easy). Traffic was very bad as I hit the major part of rush hour (so far I have either been leaving just before that rush hour or well after it).

As we near the U-turn area to get to the road the guest house is on (makred by the store "Lip to Lip" with a slogan of Ice Cream and Hot Chat which I find amusing) I notice what looks like a migration of oxen waking past on the side of the road, about a dozen of them. I am really wishing that I wasn't an idiot who forgot to pack his camera, I hope to find one this weekend to use.

Dinner is ready after about 5 minutes of getting to the house (something I am really getting used to as it is always ready 5 minutes after getting there no matter what time I return). It started with cream of vegetable soupd and the main course was stuffed chicken (with what I am not sure but it was good) and some sort of pasta dish (also very good; it was in some sort of tomato type of sause). I was feeling very good so I went through dinner quite quickly. The Big Shot hasn't arrived yet so I was more than happy to finish dinner quickly and head up to my room.

The evening was a nice relaxing one. I found that the previous days' American Idol was on one of the channels so I watched that (it's nice to feel a little bit like being home). A played a little FOF 2007, talked to my wife, responded to some emails and posted here on FOFC a bit. At one point I started to read but found myself nodding off so I decided to turn off the lights and go to sleep and I would wait until morning to post my day.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the trip allows me to maintain a little bit of a sense of normalsy within the bubbling cauldran of insanity that seems to be going on around me (adding the work situation with just how different life can be here and being away from my family for so long).

[EagleFan]

The day started okay with my normal tea and newspaper delivery. From there I took a little time to update my trip log here on FOFC, got ready for the day, had breakfast and headed to work.

The day began with a conference call in which I could barely understand the others on the line as the "voice over IP" connection that I had was awful. I did pick up enough to find out that things are changing again with the project but this time it may be slightly for the better. I am not getting too comfortable with that yet as usually when the client changes their mind like that; they end up chaning it back within a couple days and then act like they can't believe that we actually had the nerve to take their last change of mind seriously.

Nothing too major happened for the rest of the work day, thankfully. I would rather have uneventful days with progress than stress filled work days with plenty to write about .

The ride home was a little different. I was picked up by a brand new driver who did not speak a word of English. There was actually another person in the car with him doing the translating and telling him how to get where we were going (the guest house). Traffic was insane for most of the ride home (though I am much more used to it on this trip as it's not new to me anymore, it is still sheer chaos with anything that you can imagine on the road and darting all over, there is barely a square foot of empty space on the road- and in many cases slightly off the road too).

I spoke a little with the person doing the translating and then something happened that made me smile a little. At one point I saw him looking across the road intently like he was looking for something and inquired. He said he was looking for the road the guest house is on. That led me to tell him "it's still another kilometer up the road" and described exactly where the turnaround and road was. It felt good giving someone who was from Chennai directions on getting somewhere.

At one point in our conversation the "translator" inquired if I was originally from Chennai. I found that extremely amusing as I can't look much like a tourist than I do. I later emailed Marty (the person from my office who was herfe the last time I was as well) to inform him that 'I do blend!!!" as the running joke the last time is that I was hoping to "blend" and not look like a tourist but for some reason just couldn't pull it off.

When I arrived I saw a puppy that I had seen the night before around the gate. He followed us inside the game and hung out near the porch for a bit. I am a dog person so I wanted to just scoop him up and bring him inside but I know better (though I am tempted to give him some snacks if he stays around).

After I arrived I discovered that Viswa was not home and Ramesh informed me that we had Mr big wig's personal chef. That bummed me out a bit but I came down for dinner. It started with tomato soup that I wasn't really thrilled with and then was beef and rive. The beef was overcooked, tough and dry with no sauce at all.

I really hope that I misunderstood Ramesh, or that he misunderstood my question as I though he said Viswa was being sent to Bangalore (I know that office is opening in a week and a half and they are going to start sending the employees who will be at that office there). He also kept asking me if I missed Viswa while I was eating and I found that a little odd but then I began to notice that there was plenty of tension between him and the new chef.

I later found out that this guy and Viswa practically hated each other. Marty emailed me that this guy kept shoing up at the house after I left last time and sneaking around to see what Viswa was doing. At one point he told Viswa's boss that he was out of uniform and not wearing his chef's coat during one of his daily visits (I found that information amusing because this guy wasn't wearing his tonight). Ramesh disliked this guy as well because of that whole situation.

As if that wasn't enough drama, there was another new person in the house. He was one of the people for the Bangalore office who they were putting here for a few days. He complained that he did not like his room and demmanded to speak to the HR guy. This guy carries himself like a major rich kid a-hole. I made an initial attempt to say hi but he seemed quite disinterested so I am not going to worry about it.

After dinner it was email, watching American Idol and playing some cricket on the PC. Around 11 PM the lights blinked and we had one of those weird half the house power outages and it affected the air conditioner in my room as it went out. Ramesh asked if I wanted to come downstairs where it will stay a little cooler as the ceiling fans were still working there. The lights still worked and it hadn't started getting hot yet so I waited it out (turned off whatever wasn't needed to keep it cooler longer, every little bit helpd ).

One of the things that I received in email from my wife mentioned a problem with a letter we received. This kind of got my stress level up a bit so I wanted to resolve it but I couldn't get in touch with her for all the details. I ended up searching the net for some key words she mentioned in the letter for who it came from and found their number so I called. After a bit of a runaround with the first person that I spoke to ("what does the letter say?", "I don't know, I am in India and only have a brief description to go off and can't get in touch with my wife to get the details.", "But you received the letter, what does it say?", "I just told you I am in India and 10,000 miles from that letter I don't know, I only have a brief and not detailed email.").

After that Abbott and Costello routine ended (I was having flashbacks and starting to wonder if I had been herr too long and was actually speaking Tamil to him without realizing it) he forwarded me to another person who was able to fix the situation. That will help me sleep. The problem is that it is now almost 2 AM.

It was off to sleep and on to the next day.

[EagleFan]

I'm starting to add some links to the posts to either a page with some details about what is mentioned or to a picture (so far taken from my first trip as I am sans camera at the moment). I will update today hopefully shortly.

[EagleFan]

I am about to get some sleep, been answering email for a while so I will update today in the morning. Have a good night all, or I guess that would be good day for most of you.

[EagleFan]

The day started out okay but with a little drama. First I woke up and wasn't feeling much like breakfast so when Ramesh arrived with the tea I told him that I was just going to come down near time to go to work and wouldn't be down for breakfast. This made him soooo happy. He kept asking if it's because I don't like the food. Thed reasons were two-fold, I basically wasn't hungry and I didn't want to go through the whole feeling out process with the other chef (Viswa knew just what I liked and is now getting the portions down to a science). Ramesh actually wanted to call Viswa to tell him, it was almost funny how happy he was.

After he left I posted my last day on the site here and then got ready for work. When I went downstairs near time to go the new chef was in the other room as he served breakfast to eh Bangalore group. Ramesh came out and in a quite loud voice (I could tell it was intentionally so the chef could hear) he said "I am sorry sir, bad food last night." and kept quite cheerfully saying other phrases along the same lines.

Siby arrived shortly and it was off to work. It was a very good day at work today. I feel like I was able to answer a lot of issues that were brought up by the local staff and escalate the other issues to the proper resources back in my New Jersey office. I also feel like the "relationship" between myself and the staff has been improving greatly as time has gone by and that is mostly due to my treating them like human beings and not just robots. There is a potential problem that could arise when the local manager comes back from vacation next week as I have been very vocal that the team deserves to get their three day holiday weekend next weekend (Indian holiday Republic Day on Friday) since they have been busting their butts and even worked over their last holiday weekend (last weekend).

Soon I heard a little feedback about my opinion of Mr Big Wig's chef. There seemed to be some disbelief that I didn't like him and that I didn't have breakfast today (I did have Cheerios that I brought for just such an occasion while posting ). I basically said that I am used to Viswa and that the beef was overcooked and had little flavor at all and the soup was just not as good as I am used to. In that time I did learn GREAT news, there was miscommunication with Ramesh last night as the other guy will be going to Bangalre and Viswa will be back tonight. That makes me breat a huge sigh of relief to know for certain.

Many of the team talked to me about the big India/West Indes cricket match that will be played in Chennai next weekend and they seem intent on trying to see if I can get tickets for the match. I am very torn, part of me wants to try just so I can have that experience but I don't know if I want to commit to that long of an event (this could be an 8-10 hour event) while being out in the heat and mosqutitos and being in a location where I would want to have the local food for that long.

After a long day of work I head back to the house. Siby ends up being the driver so I asked if I could stop at an ATM, I would have picked up some Rupees at teh airport but the lousy exhange rate offered coupled with the service charge ends up being almost a 30% charge compared to the minimal amount the bank will charge.

He dropped me off and waited just around the corner and I was a little concerned as I neared the ATM. Right in front of the door laid a stray dog, and a large one at that. I carefully walked past and he barely budged (luckily it wasn't one of the territorial ones). After making my withdraw I returned to the car and headed back to the house.

At the house I was greeted by a quite happy Viswa and Ramesh. I was happy to see Viswa back. Dinner was very good; egg drop chicken soup, fried chicken and french fries. I devoured it, thanked him and headed upstaris to relax.

At that point I found out that Mr Big Wig had left to go to Bangalore. He was i the house one lousy night. I had to move out for one lousy night and because he wants that room exclusively for himself for whenever he may come to Chennai. Talk about an out of control ego.

The evening was mostly playing a little of the cricket game, some phone calls and a lot of emaile responses. I am going to be working from the house Saturday (technically today since I am writing this before breakfast on Saturday ), but only for a little while. I don't foresee a full day as there was only going to be a handful of people from the team showing up and I thought it would be easier to just work here instead of having Siby pick me up to fight through traffic to get the the office only to make him take more time from his day to get me back to the house after a short day.

Take care all...

[EagleFan]

It felt good to sleep in today, though I was actually hoping to wake up before the tea and paper arrived just to have a full day today. No problem though as the sleep was worth it. After relaxing with some tea and reading a little of the papers I made a call home and then posted Friday on here.

Soon it was time for breakfast. It was breakfast ham today (more of a brunch) and toast. The breakfast ham is more like pork roll. I mentioned that to Viswa and how I thought it would taste good as a sandwich. He was going to make one right then but I was happy with how it was (unfortunately a sandwich will just mean bread as I have not seen evidence of rolls in the house).

During brunch we talked about the cricket match tomorrow and the one next week, which will be in Chennai. At that point they got on the phone and called anotehr high ranking person at the office. They handed the phone to me and he said he would get me tickets for next week, surprising since I heard it was sold out. I have an odd reaction to that, while it is something that I would like to say I did, those matches are incredibly long so I don;t know what to expect.

It was funny, I think I was being tested. Before he said he would get tickets I was asked who was going to win. Of course I answered India. I was then asked who I was going to root for. Again there was only one answer to that question. Yeah, like I am going to root for the West Indes in a cricket crazy hometown mob in the stands.

After lunch it was pretty much working most of the afternoon from the house. They showed up to fix the network cable so I had a better connection. Before I knew it the time was 5:00 and dinner was less than an hour away. I started finishing up, got ready for dinner and headed downstairs.

Dinner was some sort of clear soup, tasted good, and some kind of Chinese noodles with chicken (and a bunch of other things like carrots and stuff). If I ate Chinese food I would probably know what this is called. It was good. Fruit was desert which I had a little of (that whole texture thing usually gets me with fresh fruit so I didn't have a lot).

The evening consisted of talking to the wife and kids, watching a littel television, surfing online, answering emails and playing a little (cricket and FOF). It was a very relaxing, yet somewhat boring, evening.

There is a good side and a bad side to that aspect of this trip. The last trip had much more to write about by this time as they had Marty and I scheduled for all sorts of trips in our down time. The onlyh problen is that I was beyond exhausted by the end of the trip as our weeks were filled with 13 hour work days and our weekends were filled to the max so there was no down time at all.

I finish my day by posting the log here and will be going to bed relatively shortly (though I do not feel tired as of yet, even though it is about 1 AM here now).

Tomorrow looks to consist of watching a little of the cricket match downstairs with Viswa and Ramesh and maye even trying to play out back if the equipment gets delivered.

[debwill]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

"I am sorry sir, bad food last night."

Sounds like a day at the office.

[EagleFan]

Last night did not end when I thought as I was not tired enough to get to sleep so I stayed up quite late, surfed the net and made some phone calls back home. I ended up staying up until going on 5 AM when I could finally get to sleep.

Ramesh woke me with the knock at the door for tea and the paper. He put the tea and paer on the table and headed back downstairs with the usualy breakfast reminder. This had an additional reminder of the cricket match between India and the West Indies. It is the first of a four match series.

That was the last I knew until there was another knock on the door, it was about time for breakfast (brunch). I apologized for falling back to sleep and they offered to bring it up to my room. It was a sandwich(es) made from the breakfast ham and cheese. It was pretty much a pork roll sandwich, by taste.

Ramesh put the match on the television for me and explained that it was not available on the television in the downstairs living room. As they were heading out I told them that they could pull up a couple chairs and watch the match. They thanked me for the offer and said they would be back.

After a little while they returned and watched some of the match as India was batting first. It was fun watching them get into the match and I felt quite proud that I finally accomplished something that I had been trying to so since the early part of my first trip, I got them to sit down.

Soon there was a slight knock on the door, it was a trio of the Bangalore guys (these three seem to be the nicest of the group and the most social). They asked (or their "leader" asked) if they could watch some of the game. I invited them in and asked them to pull in a few chairs and feel free to.

We discussed various things from cricket to the US to family as we watched. I told them that I had wanted to try playing cricket and that Ramesh is trying to get the equipment to play out back. They liked that idea and I extended the invitation to them as well once we get the equipment.

After India finished batting, and did very well, the group got up almost in unison, thanked me for letting them watch and said they were going down for lunch. Ramesh and Viswa followed. I used that time to relax a little and play som Brothers In Arms on the PSP.

After a while there was a knock and Ramesh was at the door asking if he could watch some more, I invited him in and he sat down on one of the chairs and watched the rest of the game. Viswa was soon to follow and then near the end of the match the Bangalore guys returned. As the game ended they informed me that they went and got a cricket bat and ball and were going out back to play and invited me to join.

I sgreed whole heartedly and told them I would be down shortly as I had to change into something better to play in. I also soaked myself down with bug repellent (a VERY good idea in hindsight as well).

We ended up playing for a few hours outside. It began as myself and the three Bangalore guys and soon Viswa and Ramesh joined in. At the end we played a few abbreviated 3 on 3 matches (it was not a large enough place to play real rules wo we tailored rules to the area such as no running for the batter and those on the batters team would also play the field - though only the opposing team would bowl).

I really suck at the game. It is so much different than baseball and it was tough getting used to things like hitting the ball on the bounce, not just hitting from where you are positioned but being able to completely step forward, knowing that sometimes just getting the bat on the ball is as great of a hit as hitting it hard and not having a glove in the field.

My eyes gave me trouble while batting as it sometimes takes a second to refocus on somehting and the ball bouncing was throwing me off at times. This gave me a little trouble in the field as well. Bowling (pitching) I liked. I actually did fairly well at it (maybe because I uese to be a pitcher, though that was about 17 years ago when I last played. It did take a few times to get used to the whole bouncing thing as I kept wanting to use the stumps as a target tto throw to. Our "stumps" were drawn on a concrete backstop as our make shift field had it's own oddities, like piles of dirt because they are recently preparing for planting flowers around the outside of the concrete center which may become a parking lot for the people at the house.

We also had to outlaw sixes as we are in a neighborhood and only score fours (same link as sixes) which were defined as grounders that made it to the two concrete fences that were across from teh batter and the one to the right of that (if you were looking at it from the batsman's perspective). To the left was the guest house and behind the wall that was behind the batsman was another complex.

At one point as I was in the field I noticed a little girl, must have been 4 or 5, was looking under the gate watching us. Shortly after I saw a group of about a dozen kids (probably between 4 and 12) standing along the gate watching us. They even cheered a couple of good plays at one point. Suddenly it seemed like a very surreal experience.

I had one problem where I took a bit of a tumble on the concrete but I made sure I fell right so little was done other than a bruised ego and a couple very minor scrapes. Ramesh practically fell over himself trying to get to me to catch me and they were all very concerned with how I was but I felt okay. I basically slipped on some of the dirt that was on the pavement when
I was trying to make a catch. My competitive instinct seems to keep forgetting that I am not in my 20's anymore (and it's been a few years since I have been).

After it got too dark to continue we headed back inside. I went to shower and change because I was sweating like a pig and then headed down for dinner.

Dinner was cream of carrot soup, some kind og Chinese type of beef dish and rice. I wasn't really crazy about the beef dish and let Viswa know that it was good but I prefer the other styles that he has made in the past. I was so physically exhausted from playing cricket (and sore from being too old) that I wasn't very hungry anyway and hoped to get to bed early (another reason to not overeat).

After dinner I took a pepsi up to the room and turned on the television (a cricket match on ESPN would do as there was nothing else on that I would have wantged to watch anyway so that will just be background anyway). Then I took a muscle relaxer as my back was feeling it (I was afraid that I pulled my groin at one point but didn't seem to feel it much after the initial incident) and a couple of advil (as everything was feeling it).

From there I decided to post my day and talked to my wife and kids. My wife fell yesterday and is still sore. I hope that she is doing okay or I will make sure I end the trip early to head home to help her with the kids. She sounds okay, just sore.

Maybe a little playing something, not sure what yet, and then hopefully early to bed for a good night's sleep. I need my rest so I can continue to put on the pressure to give the team at the office their rightful three day weekend.

I haven't heard how the big bash was last night in Jersey. I may email some people from the office home to see how it was (but they have to check their email over the weekend for that to actually work).


Have a good night all (I guess day for you), I hope that I am providing something at least remotely interesting for people to read, and have tried to make sure there are at least links to wikipedia for things that you may want to know more about (the underlines are links, not emphasis). Again, please let me know if there is anything elst that you would like to know about while I am here.

For the football fans here.... vision from Sunday night here for the football games...
Patriots 24 Colts 21
Saints 31 Bears 10 - bad Rex gets let out to play

[Wonder Bear]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Saints 31 Bears 10 - bad Rex gets let out to play

You're killing me.

[EagleFan]

It's late (I fell asleep for a bit and just wokr up to shut everything off) and I am sore from the cricket yesterday so I will be posting in the morning before breakfast.

[EagleFan]

As I wake and prepare for work today there is now one month left in the trip. I can start counting down the days to get back to the family and a more familiar life.

Viswa must have seen how I had tghe sandwiches for what he called breakfast on Sunday (though it was 11:00 so that's brunch) and decided to make me sandwiches today (chicken salad). I passed as I told him that was a little too heavy for my stomach in the morning so I went with some toast which was fine by me.

The trip to work was a longer one as much of the shortcut was closed so we had to go through some of the busier areas. Though I am pretty much used to seeing the traffic, it is still an amazing thing if you really watch it. It's almost like a living organism of it's own. Much like the Grand Canyon, pictures really do not do it justice as it needs to be experienced.

One of the people from the Atlanta office arrived over the weekend so today was his first day at the office (his family lives nearby so he is not staying at the guest house). I got to talk to him only slightly today as I was quite busy with other things, as was he. He is here for a "competing" project (we both need resources and there has been a tug of war with the resources do far).

The work day lasted about 12-13 hours and then it was back to the house for a late dinner. The regular driver was tied up with some of the higher ranking people in our company showing up for the opening of the Bangalore office so I ended up having him call for a regular cab for me.

The driver spoke no English and had some sort of Hindu "idol" (don't really know what to call it as it is not an idol in the true sense of the word) on the top of the dashboard. This thing had flashing lights that made it more difficult to see out the front window from the back seat for me.

Though I would later find out the driver had been to the guest house just before taking me to drop off others, he missed the turn and I had to tell him to turn back and show him where to turn (again it felt good knowing enough of my way around to get back).

Dinner was one of the few dissapointments that I have received from Viswana and it was only that due to my taste in food rather than food quality, It began with what I believe was some sort of cream of celery soup (not bad). Next was beef with some sort of sauce that he kept referring to as Chinese something (that was not in my taste range) and rice. I mostly ate the rice and a little beef. I let him know that I preferred the other sauces he usually cooks the beef in. He apologized (though I have no problem with him trying it because I like using this trip to force myself to try new things).

From there it was upstairs and I was exhausted so I laid on the bed to watch television. Soon I was out and woke up about an hour and a half later after midnight. I turned everything off and tried to get back to sleep, but there will be more on that for Tuesday's entry.

[EagleFan]

Uploaded some more pictures:

My first room, my favorite part was the large work area next to the bed:
Bedroom 1

My second room, not bad if it wasn't for all the initial problems:
Bedroom 2
Bedroom 2, another angle

Views from upstairs balcony:
Looking left
Looking right
Looking straight

Butcher shop on the street that the guest house resides (I just pray that I never see the chef there):
Butcher shop

Some local wildlife:
Wildlife 1
Wildlife 2
Wildlife 3

[Chas in Cinti]

Wish I would have paid attention to this earlier... I'm in Chennai this week... Staying at the Royal Meridien...

-Chas

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by Chas in Cinti

Wish I would have paid attention to this earlier... I'm in Chennai this week... Staying at the Royal Meridien...

-Chas

First trip or have you been here before? The guest house is south of the city on East Coast Road. Just watching India vs West Indies at the moment. Thought it was going to be an easy win for West Indies when I saw the score ealier and heard the lack of cheering (the office building has a giant screen that comes down in the lobby and shows the cricket matches). Learned just how into it they are here the last time when India was playing and it sounded like we ere in the stadium with the cheering coming from the lobby.

I was hoping to get tickets for the match Saturday but it is sold out and I don't want to pay the scalpers prices.


I'll be posting yesterday and maybe today in a bit, I hope as connection keeps going in and out.

[EagleFan]

After waking up a little past midnight to shut things off I was experiencing some stomach troubles (my normal occasional problems). This kept me up and then I felt like I knew I wasn't getting to sleep.

I soon decided that it would be best to just sign on and work for the night to make use of the time. I worked through the night and had then got ready for worl and went straight to work. I planned on a short day as I already did 6 hours before getting there.

The day went well and short as planned as I left early in the afternoon and headed to the house. After arriving at the house I asked for a 7 o'clock dinner and to not be disturbed until then as I didn't sleep all night. A nice 4 hour nap helped a lot, and somehow my internal clock woke me up at about 10 minuted before dinner, just enough time to get ready and go downstairs.

Dinner was very good, egg drop soup, baked chicken, french fries and green beans. Everything was great. Dinner filled me up and got me ready for the evening in which I relaxed playing Brothers in Arms, watched some television and got to bed early.

Sadly, the day was relatively boring, but odd because of the lack of sleep.

One thing I did get accomplished was posting a few more pictures here.

[EagleFan]

Today started out lousy. I woke up with a nasty migraine. I took some meds but they seemed to do little. Soon Ramesh showed up with tea and the paper so I had some tea to see of the caffein would help the headache.

It did little but I had plenty to do at work so I forced myself to get ready for work. As I went through my routine of preparing everything I noticed that I had no bath towl (good thing I force myself to be anal about getting ready while here). I called Ramesh and a towel was brought up with an apology (none needed, these things happen).

After getting ready it was almost time for the driver to arrive and Viswa came up to ask if I wanted to eat breakfast. He said breakfast ham was on the menu so I asked if I could just get those sandwiches he made before and I would eat them at work. He gladly agreed.

The way to work was very long as our shortcut is still blocked and then we had a flat tire. Glad to see that dark cloud followed me over here . IT turns out there is some religious figure in town until next week and that is causing the streets being locked down.

Work went relatively well. I accomplished some but got a little fed up with things still remaining out of my control. I am supposed to be running this project but decisions keep getting made and enacted upon by others in power and I only find out after those decisions go wrong.

Today's example is something about a deadline that "we" promised that may not be met for tomorrow. Since this is the first I heard about it, I don't know where the "we" comes from. It always seems that once I feel like we are making good progress on something that some out of the blue deadline gets fabricated that we suddenly missed. I included my displeasure with this within my daily status report today, we'll see where that goes.

India played West Indies in another cricket match today. The match started in the afternoon and was being shown on the screen in the lobby. Unlike last time I was here and India was playing when the crowd in the lobby got quite loud and excited about the game, there was no noise at all this time.

I took a walk out later and saw why, they had a very low score and it didn't look good (more on that later). They were 90 for 7 after all, 90 for 7!!! Extra credit if you know what that means (and it's overall significance).

The ride back to the house took a while and when I arrived I found the Bangalore trio watching the match on the television downstairs. That was a new development as they couldn't get it downstairs on Sunday and I told them they could watch on my television if they couldn't get it today but looks like they can (they are playing the matches on a different network now and there was a huge outcry in the area about people not being able to see the matches).

Dinner was some sort of chicken soup (was good), fried chicken, diced potatoes and some rice. Everything was very good, I may see if he knows mached potatoes (I love them and miss having them once in a while).

After dinner I had to make some calls for work. I put the game on and took care of a little work. At that point there was a knock on the door and it was Viswa. He asked if I could send an email for him. It turns out he wanted to send out his resume so I helped him with that. I wished him well and told him that I hope he gets it if it's something he really wanted (though I would miss him and his cooking if he gets it before I leave).

Soon the whole group was upstairs watching the match (as it turns out whatever channel they could get it on downstairs was a major delay). The match ended up being a very low scoring match and India pulled it out thanks to great bowling and a very nice performance by the bottom of their lineup. They were all pumped up about the win.

I was also handed a package that came in the mail. My sister had emailed me a paper from back home, that will be nice to look over (even though it has to be the one following the Eagles loss ).

After the match I took sime time to explain what I knew about a casino and it's terminology to one of the guys from Bangalore (I hate that I cannot remember all their names but I have a major mental block with Indian pronunciations). After we talked for a while it was time for me to head back to my room, talk to the family and post my last couple of days.

Going to watch Friends and get ready for bed.

Have a good night all!!!!!

[EagleFan]

I had a confernece call this morning that started at 9 AM here and I figured it would be easier to just take the call from the house over the soft phone. Because of that I was a little slower moving this morning and had breakfast in the room (French toast and breakfast ham).

After breakfast I took the conference call, which didn;t last too long and that's just the way I like them. From there I prepared for work but had no not water so the shower was an eye opener.

As I finished packing up the laptop Ramesh called for my ride. From there however it took about 45 minutes for the ride to arrive. The ride is was not as bad as we missed the main rush hour traffic (though it is still rather busy).

The day at work was another odd one. It consisted of my attempting to get things moving enough so we could easily afford the three day weekend. It seemed like pulling teeth sometimes to get updates and things done today. Especially where the local manager was concerned, he seemed to not want to allow the Saturday off.

An added fun fact is that the local team leader is supposed to do a presentation for one of the extra big wigs, who is showing up for the Bangalore office opening, about our project. I have been told that I will not be involved in the presentation (they want to emphasize what the office here is doing). I have offered to let them give me a dry run of their presentation but that offer has somehow turned into them expecting me to create the presentation. Something tells me I will be getting screwed by this somehow.

What concerns me the most is that the team leader has consistantly told me that he understands the project and different aspects but somehow all that unserstanding has dissapeared now. Plus he is a VERY nervous type (I have never seen anyone shake like he does when the "spotlight" is on him). I can't see him pulling this presentation off at all (maybe he is the one being setup as the local manager should know this).

The day ended with a conference call with people in my home office that lasted until after 9 PM, kind of bookended the day for me. That call was semi-productive.

In the mean-time I also learned of other calls with our client about the project and even more decisions made about the project that I have not been informed of. All this seems to be driven by asshole VP (I'll be damned if I not being setup here). I again requested that I be included in ALL meetings about the project. One moment I am called the "project manager", the next I am asked to only work on technical specs, then the next minute I am called on the carpet for project management decisions that were made in meetings that I was not ever made aware of. Again, I GIVE UP!!!

The ride home was long as the traffic was a mess and the driver was a maniac. The brand new driver who does not speak English is also a maniac behind the wheel. I can't even begin to describe this guy's driving in a manner that would even scratch the surface. He guns it to attampt to get into an area that I can see we won't fit and then slams the breaks at the last minute when he realizes that and that happens the entire ride home, plus many near collisions because of the same reason.

Dinner was good again. Soup of some sort (bugt it was good), chicken marinated in something (again, it was good) and a rice dish (cheese and some kind of spices).

From there it was upstairs to find no internet connection. What was even worse about that is that while I was at work I sent a message to another member of this board who mentioned he was in Chennai this week. I wasn't sure if he was still in the area and thought it would be cool to meet for a beer somewhere. How odd would that be, the first member of this board that I could meet and it would be 10,000 miles away from home.

Played a little FOF and Brothers in Arms, watched a little TV and went to bed.

[EagleFan]

I slept in big time today since I had the day off and didn't have any plans what-so-ever. I ended up having brunch in the room (some of those pork roll type sandwiches).

From there the day went downhill for a while. I went to get a shower but not only didn't have hot water but didn't even have enough cold water to make enough water pressure to use the shower. The internet was still out so I was out of touch with home. I plugged in my normal work cell phone to charge (I am not supposed to use it hear because of the roaming chanrges but the hell with that since it may be my only way to contact home). At that point I noticed that the television was also out.

The afternoon was pretty much reading a little, playing PsP a little and resting a lot. There were a lot of thoughts of wanting to call Lufthansa once my phone charged and get those return trip tickets moved up to as soon as possible.

Late afternoon I got the television signal back but still no internet. It looks like I won't know if chaz is still here or if he even received my message.

After a while there was a knock at the door and Viwa was there, he wanted to know if I was going to come out to play cricket. Three of us went out back and played for a couple hours until it got to be too dark to really be able to see the ball. I still can't get used to the batting but I felt very comfortable about my bowling as I am not getting used to break of the bounce (have to remember that it will be the opposite direction of what a baseball pitch would break if thrown in that style). I figure my time as a pitcher in the past helped my bowling.

That was a fun end of the afternoon. After playing it was up to get a cold shower, barely dripping out of the shower head. Then down for dinner.

Dinner ended up being pork (Viswa had to get it from a special place as it is pretty much prohibited by most religions here). I was a little dissapointed that the sauce it was in actually overpowered the meat. It was good, I just wich I could have tasted the pork a little.

After dinner I spent time on the phone with the internet provider. Viswa called and then gave me the phone when they started asking more detailed questions. This was customer support hell as it was hard enough to even understand what the guy was saying, then when it became obvious that he was just reading from a manual it made my frustration level rise. It felt just like the Comcast run-around. After a while he wanted me to go into my laptop's settings and start changing things. I said that is not the problem, the settings are the same as they have been and began to get even more frustrated when he just continued reading his script. From there I gave the phone back to Viswa and he scheduled an appointment for them to come out tomorrow.

After that fun I watched some TV, called home on my cell and then went to bed.

[EagleFan]

Major sleeping in today as I stayed up a bit late last night playing FOF and Brothers in Arms: D-Day (I think I have just about completed this because the level I am on is driving me crazier than any have). As an editorial comment, I love how they tailored that game to the PSP.

Lunch started as some sort of chicken salad sandwich but that didn't seem to taste right to me so I didn't touch much. It had been berought up to me, which was fine as I was still lounging around and not yet all the way awake.

Soon someone arrived and fixed the internet connection. It was a cable problem. I made some calls, answer some email and post the last couple days here.

The cricket match in Chennai was to be starting soon and Ramesh came up to see if he could come in to watch from time to time, I had no problem with that. I had mentioned to him earlier that I noticed some very tiny bugs all over near the shower and the wall in the bathroom earlier and they called for someone to come take care of the problem who had shown up around the time the match was to begin.

At that time Viswa saw that I didn't eat the lunch and I told him why so he ended up making me some of those ham sandwiches that I like. The "exterminator" was putting something down in the bathroom and had no protective gear at all. He sounded like he was choking himself with whatever it was while he was in the bathroom. At that point Ramesh pointed out that he was putting down "medicine" to take care of the bugs. I said I wanted to kill them, not cure them but that joke went no where. Should I be worried if I ever have to go to a doctor here and they give me medicine?

Shortly the choking "exterminator" comes out and then sprays something around the base of the walls in the bedroom and says to not go into the bathroom for at least 20 minutes and then promptly leaves my room and closes the door. I basically said the hell with that and left the room as well. Viswa was just finishing up my sandwiches when I got downstairs so I atge them down there and waited about an hour or so before going back upstairs.

Viswa told me that his anniversary was today and would be going home for the day and he had prepared the dinner for me and instructed Ramesh how to complete it later. At that point he said he would only go if I said it was okay. I said screw you, you're staying... just kidding. I told him by all means, go and see your wife and family and wished him a happy anniversary and to pass that along to his wife as well.

Then I went upstairs and watched the rest of teh cricket match while also browsing online and playing a little on the PSP. Ramesh popped in every now and then to watch as well. He is as big of a cricket fan as I am a football fan. Watching him watch the match was like watching myself watch an Eagles game.

India started out very well and was setting a pace to score about 350 runs in their overs but after the 4th wicket fell it all fell apart and they only reached 268 (only 30 more runs after the 4th wicket - more extra credit for anyone understanding that).

Their score was still decent but the Chennai field is a batters pitch (okay, I'm dropping all sorts of terms I have been told recently) so it looked like it would be close. Things looked very promising as a wicket fell on the very first ball to the West Indies but then they took over and won it relatively easily.

Dinner tonight was good, as usual. It started with some sort of soup (again, not sure what to call it) but the only problem was the soup was a little spicier than normal. The main course was barbequed chicken and vegetable fried rice.

From there I settled in to the room for the evening, played some cricket on the PC (quite badly), a little FOF and of course some on the PSP. I also read a little and watched some TV, though there wasn't enough on to really keep my interest.

I was going to post int he morning and was getting ready for bed but did not feel like I was going to fall asleep so I booted back up and decided to post my day (and I got a desire to play some more FOF after reading some from the newspapers that my sister sent me and they spoke of off season moves that the Eagles may make, or need to).


Have a good night/day all!!!

[debwill]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Dinner was very good, egg drop soup, baked chicken, french fries and green beans. Everything was great.

.

A good meal can perk you right up...

[EagleFan]

Another late night led to sleepng in again, which is fine when there isn't much going on early in the day. Morning tea and breakfast of french toast helped get me moving in the morning.

That was followed up by a little online time and mostly watching TV an some resting as I was not really feeling up to doing a lot at this point. If this trip were a fight I would be tapping out at this point as I just want to return to my normal life. I am not in an area where I can go out walking, I cannot call for a driver as Siby has been assigned to the "visiting royalty" (that's how this guy is being treated (some really big wig from one of our Nevada offices here for the Bangalore office opening). That means that I would either get the driver who speaks no English at all or the one who speaks such limited English that I would still not be able to communicate where I wanted to get to (especialy since I really have no idea where).

Next weekend when I hopefully get Siby back I want to try to find Sparky's Diner, it sounds as if it is an American hang out. A little touch of home would be nice.

In the afternoon there was a knock at the door and it was Viswa, he asked if I wanted to join them out back for some cricket. I jumped on that idea and headed out back. We played until it got dark and that helped make the day much better (though I would still like to come home).

After playing for a while I got a shower and relaxed for a few minutes before dinner. Just prior to dinner I was informed that the local Mr. Big Wig (who I got kicked out of my first room for) had arrived. I should have guessed as there was more activity going on (his own "staff" there for him).

Dinner was good. It was something along the lines of Italian Wedding soup and then pork (glad I mentioned that I liked pork and that Viswa is Christian so he has no issues with pork, he actually jokes that this will keep the boss away because the boss does have issues with it), rice and macaroni.

After dinner I took a package of butter biscuits (cookies) and a coke upstairs and watched a little TV, read and got ready for bed. One more day down.

[21C]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

I am not in an area where I can go out walking

Is that because the area you are in is dangerous or there is nothing to see? And if it is dangerous, is it because of crime or some other reason?

[EagleFan]

Originally Posted by 21C

Is that because the area you are in is dangerous or there is nothing to see? And if it is dangerous, is it because of crime or some other reason?

A little bit of everything. There is a small area of houses that are rented out by companies in the area but the rest of the area is quite poor. When I was here the first time we were told specifically to not wonder out into the area as I would be marked as a tourist rather easily and could be in danger if alone (and in the wrong section).

I am not entirely sold on that one, at least not during the day. But there is absolutely nothing to see in the area to walk to. I am not in, or near, the middle of town but quite a ways out on the outskirts of town.

Add the stray dog problem and it's not worth it to walk for nothing to see. I would have to walk a couple miles, at least, to get to anything to see.

I found out that there is a sweat shop next door. One of the buildings that I thought was an appartment complex is actually a sweat shop.

[EagleFan]

I used the snooze a few times today before Ramesh showed up with tea. I had some tea and posted my day from yesterday before getting ready for work. From there it was breakfast of french toast and then waiting for the ride for work.

The ride showed up a bit late and was yet another driver. The ride into work as slow as the traffic is still backed up and our shorcut is still blocked off. There is supposed to be some religious figure referred to as Sai Baba in town and causing the blocked roads. From the research I have done so far it seems like this guy is a fraud that is bilking his "followers" out of what they have. He sure as hell looks like someone I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw him.

Work was productive. I got quite a bit accomplished, met with the team, helped the team leader with his presentation for tomorrow and met the "visting royalty".

The day ended abruptly as I was asked to go out to a dinner with the team leaders and the upper management from here. I may regret the decision to go, as you shall see.

First, we were heared into something the size of a jitney and then found it that the air did not work once we started moving. We could barely get any windows opened and roasted in traffic for an hour. There was another "bus" that at least sounded like it was a little better than ours.

The hotel we went to was nice and the area they set up our dinner was a nice cozy area. From there I talked with several of the different team leaders and nursed a glass of wine (not big on wine). As it came time to eat, things got ugly. It was all-Indian food, and I cannot stand Indian food. I tried some but the roof of my mouth felt like it would melt off if I had any more.

From there I talked to a few and waited for an opening to get ready to go. Luckily everthing broke up not too long after than. I ended up getting aride back with the visiting royalty and the Mr big wig that is staying in my first room. I actually got along well enough with them and they seem to be okay so far.

I did find it amusing that the office people had a schedule made up for the visiting royalty's visit. This schedule was made into a pamphlet and was extremely detialed. They practically detailed this guy's day all the way down to when he would go to the bathroom.

After getting home I asked Viswa if there was anything to eat and he said that he did have something ready (as he didn't know about the dinner, as I didn't either until about time for it). From there I had dinner and talked to one of the guys from Bangalore who was also at the dinner as he hung out while I ate for a while.

After dinner it was upstaris to get ready for bed and to make a call home (as I didn't get my chance to call from the office since I was carried off to the dinner by the current). After which I wrote up my day and have now started to have some stomach trouble (fro that spicey food ealier no doubt). Hopefully I'll get some sleep and be ready for work tomorrow. It will be a long day as there is a party planned for after work (sort of a 75th birthday party for the company, though not up to the level of what it was in the States and planned rather quickly).

It should be a long day tomorrow. Have a good night/day all.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

India started out very well and was setting a pace to score about 350 runs in their overs but after the 4th wicket fell it all fell apart and they only reached 268 (only 30 more runs after the 4th wicket - more extra credit for anyone understanding that).

Thirty runs after the 4th wicket is quite a collapse. I would assume there were a bunch of ducks in there.


Good read, by the way. Best of luck on the rest of your assignment.

[21C]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

It was all-Indian food, and I cannot stand Indian food.

I'm sorry but I had to laugh at this part.

Indian food can be unbearable if it is made too spicy but a cucumber raita can always help to reduce the 'heat'. I think that Indians develop a tolerance to the spice after prolonged exposure to it. I can handle spicier stuff now than when I first started eating Indian food.

It's a shame you don't like it but maybe you could get Viswa to cook up some authentic Indian food but to go real easy on the spices. I can just imagine the look on his face if you suggested cooking up something that he would eat at home himself. It would almost be a cultural experience like playing cricket with the others.

You're missing out on a real treat - as well as an opportunity of a lifetime to eat Indian in India. To me, it would be like going to Mexico and only eating McDonald's.

[EagleFan]

Today was about the worst yet. I woke up in the middle of the night with a major migraine. My normal meds did nothing to help so I ended up taking the stronger medication that just knocks me out for a while. I stayed at the house and tried to rest.

The biggest obstacle was Ramesh who kept coming in to check up on me. The concept of a migraine seemed to be lost in translation.

This day pushed me over the edge. I have now had enough and want out. Later in the afternoon I began trying to get on a new flight but could not get it done through the Lufthansa number I tried and had to talk to the local office, which was closed. If I could have gotten on a flight tonight, I would have.

Dinner was good, at least something positive today. More soup, of some sort, which was good, followed by baked chicken and rice (Viswa said that he went a little lighter since I was not feeling well). Again the whole migraine thing doesn't seem to translate.

I tried some more angles to see if I could get out tonight but no luck. I would have loved to surprise my wife by walking up to the door early (as long as I wasn't the one getting a surprise ).

I did a little work, what I could stand, and tried to get to sleep early. I stayed in the house instead of going to the party as it wouldn't have felt right to miss the day right up until time to go to the party. Plus I was focussing on getting the hell out of here at that point.

[EagleFan]

The day did not start well. Sleep was few and far between last night as the dogs outside were going insane all night long and seemed to get worse just around the time I was about to fall asleep. This has not helped my opinion of the rest of the trip at this point.

After getting to work I made a few calls to Lufthansa and found that the earliest I could get out would be the morning of the 6th but the layover in Frankfurt will be around 10 hours. A week later I can get the earlier connection. I wanted to see if I could find aomething else.

I checked a few places and did find a flight out tonight from Bangalore but I would have to get there, and have to see if I can make that change. I called back to Lufthansa and they could not switch the tickets to a different departure. I finally said okay to the return on the 6th. That means less than a week and I can be home, that works for me.

After getting that arranged I emailed my boss with the news (he will not be up for a while to find out). I also informed the people in the office that I would be returning early. The biggest reason is my wanting to return home but there is no more reason for me to be here as the work I am doing now is not something that needs to be done here and can be done at the office back home. I have setup all the right meetings to keep things on target and hope that the people on the team feel a comfortable line of communication with me to be able to ask questions for problems (or email if I am at the office in Joisey).

The work day went well and I was in a much better mood at that point (not just because of the early return but because we have now hit a couple of milestones and are turning the corner from the early and very long portion of the project that was mostly menial changes). Now we can start getting into the meat of the project.

I took the trip back to the house with a couple others who will be going to Bangalore but are moving back into the house for the next week or so. They seem to be nice, but I liked the other three a little better (nothing against this group at all as they seem nice but they also seem to be a lot more introverted so conversation has to be worked on a lot).

I let Viswa know that I would be leaving early and he informed Ramesh. They both seemed to be disappointed that I was leaving early. Viswa gave me a slice of Americana for dinner as he made me cheese burgers and fries. Everything was very good.

After dinner I relaxed, made some calls home and arranged my ride from the airport. I had called my wife earlier to let her know that I was coming home early (except it was very early back home so she was half asleep as I woke her up at about 1:30 AM). I was going to be mean and tell her it must have been a dream but she was way too happy for me to do that.

I was exhausted and the internet was down so I shut down early and went to bed, I need to get some sleep before those dogs drive me to looking for a shotgun to take care of them.

Just a few more nights left. I hope to use this weekend as my go out and explore weekend as I should be getting Siby back by the weekend (I hope). If not, it could be interesting trying to communicate with the drivers who don't speak English.

[EagleFan]

Had a rough night trying to sleep again because of those stupid dogs outside. Really wishing I had a gun right about now to take care of them.

Because of this I took my time getting ready and passed on breakfast, just to head right to the office. The ride in was packed even more than normal for some reason. We were able to take the shortcut, thankfully. I saw something quite different on the way in. A guy was standing over near a wall having himself a pee party. Even funnier was that he was only about 10 feet away from the outdoor urinals that are in the sidewalk area.

After getting to work, I started the day out late for a conference call that I couldn't even hear much of because the phone was crackling everytime someone on the other end was speaking.

At this point I was exhausted and could tell that I had not been informed of more details that were changing for the project so my morale again dropped through the floor. I really wished at that point that I could have gotten on a plane that morning and left.

The remainder of the day was okay. As I stood outside waiting to come back to the house I learned just why the mosquito problem gets so much worse in the office in the evening. They spray around the perimeter of the property around the bushes and the fountain and as they do that it seems that all the mosquitoes migrate to the building. I was swarmed within minutes.

Dinner was ready not too long after getting to the house. Viswa was still trying to help me feel less home sick as after the soup starter it was homemade pizza with chicken, peppers and not sure what else (it was piled to the max). That was quite filling and good. After dinner I watched a little TV but could not get online as the connection was down again.

Later in teh evening I came downstairs and sat down with a couple of the new Bangalore group who were about to eat. Not sure what they were having but I tried a little but couldn't take the spice or the texture for that matter. Not to seem mean, but it seemed like I was eating trash (very spicey trash).

Ramesh brought me some kind of ice cream at that point. It looked different than what I had been given from them before and I have no idea what the third flavor was other than vanilla and chocolate.

From there I headed upstairs and got ready for bed. Just a few more nights to go.

[EagleFan]

Today was a rough day as I woke up with major pains in my gut. I ended up not going into the office and having some big time stomach problems for a while (I assume that either the Indian food, or the weird ice cream was my downfall).

The day was very uneventful and Ramesh got on my nerves a little. It was nice that he kept checking up on me but after a while it felt like enough is enough. Everytime he kept asking if I wanted to play cricket later too. That was kind of ammusing since I couldn't be more than 10 feet from the bathroom for quite some time I don't think that a round of cricket would be what the doctor ordered.

I had a light dinner of chicken soup, chicken and rice. Not sure if it's because I had very little all day but it tasted great. I actually mixed the soup with the rice and chicken together and that seemed to make a great combination.

After dinner I went upstairs and played a little cricket on the laptop. Viswa came up to verify my wakeup for Saturday (I am going into the office so it was to be earlier than the weekends off). He became immediately intrigued by the game and stood there watching intently. I guess the players are as lifelike in this game as they are in other EA Sports games as he was identifying them just by seeing them in the field.

That was fun as well as he was getting into watching me play (almost like he was watching a regular match). I tried to get him to give it a shot but he kept declining. He did help give me some pointers on bowling and some strategy tips. Soon he had to go get things ready for the other guests and I figured it was about time to try to get a full night's sleep.

I hope that the internet is back for the weekend, but who knows at this point so I won't be holding my breath.

[debwill]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Had a rough night trying to sleep again because of those stupid dogs outside. Really wishing I had a gun right about now to take care of them.

Is this my dog loving brother writing this?? Boy it has been a rough month.

[EagleFan]

Slept in a little today and got ready to go to the office. Still internet problems so I don't have the option of reliably doing stuff at the house. Had a small breakfast of french toast prior to heading in.

The time at the office was relatively quiet. A couple people from the team came in to ask a couple questions and got most of that straightened out. One is a little puzzling as it is a very old method being used and I was hoping to find a way around rewriting the code but cannot even find anything good about the command to base any kind of change on (not like this really is something that you wanted to read).

I also took a little time to post my last couple of days while eating lunch as I have no idea when the internet at the house will be reliable (I probably won't see that again before I leave).\

I also did a major gaff as it seems my stress level took a toll on me. I had responded to a few people, including my boss, about an email that was sent out the other day. It was a sarcastic response that also had a little meaning to it. I was ready to leave it at that but my boss replied to everyone and kind of called me out in the email. That set me off and I replied with one of those statements that you wish you could take back after thinking about it. I thought I had replied just to him, I would later hear more about this email and find that I had replied all. Major screw up there.

I decided to try something different when I left the office and found an auto-rickshaw to go back the house in. This was quite an experience as we darted all over the road and with those things having only three wheels you almost always feel like you are about to tip.

I had the driver stop along the way at a local area where there were a lot of little "shops". I didn't really see anything after walking around and began getting hounded relentlessly by beggers. I also found that many of the locals don't appear to speak English so I started feeling rather uncomfortable and out of place. Especially as the beggers got more persistant so I got back in the auto-rickshaw (paid him extra to wait) and headed back to the house.

After getting back I found that Viswa had to leave to go to his family as his grandmother had passed away. I wished him and his family well and told to by all means please go as your family comes first (he was actually asking me if it was okay).

The rest of the day was slow and mostly consisted of rest and dinner which was baked chicken, fried rice and started with some vegetable soup. After dinner it was resting and watching some television.

From there it was off to bed.

[EagleFan]

I woke up around 8 and had some tea and read the paper before getting ready to go out. Siby picked me up in the morning and we went into the city so I could do some shopping.

I went to Spencer Plaza. It is sort of a mall but looks more like a public market as the stores are very small and most the same types (leather, silk, carved stuff). It is actually very easy to get lost in there as the differnet hallways lead all over the place like a maze.

I found the store that I went to last time I was here and checked out some things there. I found some nice things there and let the haggling begin (the salesmen in these places are relentless). I didn't do as well this time and I think it was because last time Marty (a fellow American) was there and also buying stuff so they kept lowering prices as we were each getting things.

I picked up some things for family back home, some of which read this so I won't say just what at this point.

From there I walked around a bit with Siby, who had come into the mall with me. It was nice that he id that but in a way I felt uncomfortable as I felt like I was keeping him from doing whatever he would normally be doing on a Sunday.

We talked a little about my playing cricket out back and I told him that we were going to play this afternoon and invited him. In that conversation I also found out that he was the captain of the basketball team in school and a forward (which is a little funny as he is about 5'5", on a good day).

After a while we headed back and I relaxed a little at the house.

Soon there was a knock on the door and it was time to go out and play cricket. There were 4 of us who went out, Ramesh, myself, one of the newer Bangalore guys and Sinjay (not sure of the spelling, he also works at the house as an assistant to Ramesh).

We played for quite a while and I was completely exhausted when we finished. After getting a shower and getting changed I came down for dinner. It started with a vegetable soup (there is a new chef now as Visaw is with his family and this soup didn't measure up to Viswa's), then fried chicken, rice and french fries (or finger chips as they called them). I devoured that as I was quite hungry at that point. I love the ketchup they have here as it has a little kick to it and it one of the spicey things here that hasn't killed my stomach. It goes very well with the fries.

I relaxed and tried to watch some TV but the reception kept going out so I tried to get some sleep (which would not happen).

[EagleFan]

The internet is out at the house still. I posted the last two days at the office today. If it is back I will try to post before leaving for the airport this evening. If not, I will probably wait until I am in Frankfurt Tuesday morning and post the update up to that point.

[EagleFan]

Did not sleep all night last night. After napping a little in the evening and waking up at around midnight I could not get back to sleep. I watched a little of Maid in Manhattan (just because I can't seem to turn off Jennifer Lopez when she's on the TV) but half way through lost reception and again missed the end of a movie.

Eventually I just put on ESPN and tried to sleep as I knew the Super Bowl would be coming on at some point. Around 4:30 or so it started and I sort of watched while trying to gets some sleep. Sadly I couldn't see the commercials since it was on ESPN International and only got local commercials. It looks like the commercials were probably the best part of the game is the game looked like a dog of a game. Again I wish it were New England and New Orleans, at least it would have been entertaining to watch and not the dog we were provided with.

Again I lost the reception early in the 4th quarter and it came back just to see the Colts getting the trophy and I see that I missed absolutely nothing by not watching the 4th quarter. Talk about a sad year for the NFL to have that be the Super Bowl. I still have no idea what kind of payoffs the Bears made to get that far, major smoke and mirrors with that team.

After having a small breakfast I headed into the office around 10. My goal today was to wrap up a couple of loose ends and make sure the current batch of questions are answered. That appeared to be the case after a team meeting and sitting with a few of the team members. The big negative was that I received a response to my email from Saturday and it did not go over well. I now have to talk to my boss next week when he returns from his trip to Vegas. I emailed him an apology and an explanation that I did not realize that I sent my last reaponse to everyone but understand his position. I also detailed all of my reasons for what I said and myh recent concerns and issues with the company and asked him to respond to those issues prior to our meeting. I really need to know some of those answers as it pretty much tells me just how serious this company is about becoming a top tier company in this part of the industry. After saying my goodbyes I headed back the house early in the evening.

The evening was pretty much making sure I was packed and then heading down for dinner. It was chicken of some sort, fries and rice. The main course of the dinner was very good and I devoured it pretty much. The soup was tomato soup and was just not what I was used to with Viswa's soup.

Near the end of dinner Rameh brought out a couple pieces of cake for a goodbye for me. I thought that was really nice of him. Sadly I had filled myself up on dinner but had some of one slice and about that time Viswa had come back to the house to be able to see me off. I split the other slice and gave it to them to have. I ate what I could of the first slice (it was sickening sweet but I tried to not let on, everything is to the extreme as far as food goes over there it appears).

After dinner I made sure I had everything and then went downstairs to wait for Siby. He was a little late but around 20 after 10 we headed for the airport after saying goodbye to Viswa and Ramesh and wishing them well. Viswa wants me to keep his resume to give out if I see something back home that might be a good job for him so I told him that I would keep my eye out.

The drive to the airport took about a half hour and then it was time to work my way through the mob scene. It is so strange out front of that airport. Even people carrying luggage are just standing everywhere and it seems very confusing at first to figure out wherre you actually have to go to get inside to where you need. Luckily I remembered that from the first time so I didn't end up standing in a "line to nowhere" for a while like last time.

After first getting past a guard at the door with my print out from Lutfhansa for the tickets and my passport I had to get in line to show another guard the same so I could get in line to show another guard the same so he could scan my bags and that was just to have the chance to get to the counter.

It was quick at the counter and then over to fill out the immigration form. I madue sure I had the address of the house this time as that was a sticking point when I left last time. Then it was on to the long and hot line waiting to get through immigration. The air doesn't seem to move much in that area so I feel like I am sweating too much by the time I get to the counter (waiting for them to think I am sweating because I am nbervous about something ).

After getting through immigration, which was very smooth this time (after the forever line, though that line was not as bad as the last time), I headed to the Lufthansa lounge. Actually it is not just for Lufthansa and it is quite small so it was packed in there. The service is very good though and I had a drink and a small sandwich and chips.

It was almost what I thought should be time to board so I headed through security and towards the gates. The flight still has no gate listed but is listed as on time. Time went by and it was about 10 minutes before the scheduled departure time and there was an announcement that it would start boarding. There was still no gate listed on the screens for the flight and the announcement did not say where. There were several people who I could tell were also on the flight looking around quite confused.

I asked one person if they were on the Luthansa flight and they were but also had noi idea where. I had went to the last gate as that is where I left from before and this person had done the same things, also for the same reason. It seems that quite a few of us had done the same. We walked back towards security and found the flight on the other side of the gates (it's not a big airport so there was never a sense of urgency, just puzzlement).

From there is was onto the plane, call home to let them know I was on the plane and time to get ready for the flight....

[EagleFan]

After getting on the plane I made myself comfortable, found the business class packet that had the eye patches, toothbrush, slippers, etc. and put on the eye patch to get ready to hopefully sleep through the early part of the flight.

Shortly after takeoff I reclined and was out pretty quickly. I actually slept on and off (mostly on) for the first 7 hours of the flight. I remember them passing out dinner and drinks but was pretty much out for most of the time.

This actually worked out well as not too long after I woke up they began serving drinks again and started to get ready for breakfast service. Breakfast was some kind of french toast but it really didn't taste that great to me so I had about half of it and then settled back in for the remainder of the flight.

We landed a little late, which means a little shorter layover (though it's still about 8:30 hours). After getting off the plane I folowed a couple signs towards my next gate. At one point I was walking down a hallway with seats that were reclined, pretty much a place for people on a layover as many were stretched out and sleeping so I made camp there for a while.

After a little while I really didn't want to just lay down anymore so I walked back towards where I came from and found the business lounge that is in that part of the airport. I decided to fire up the laptop and hit the net for a bit. Unfortunately the plug was only the European type so I could not plug in so I was at the mercy of my battery life (which is not that great). I surfed a bit, anwered some emails and then headed back terminal to walk around a bit.

By then it was about lunch time and I decided to go with the high gourmet couisine of McDonalds. It actually tasted very good to me for the first time in quite a while. Probably because it meant that I was getting closer to home.

From there I wandered around a bit and bought a couple things to take home from Germany and a few things from the Duty Free shops to take back (champagne for the wife for the upcoming Valentines, some cognac for the poker guys and a couple things of smarties for the kids). A little more wandering and I decided to head in the direction of my gate again.

After passing the hallway where I laid down I was glad I decided to head that way now as it was much farther than just down the hall. It was down the hall and around past some more renovations going on and then into a train that took us to a different terminal.

At that point I remembered the terminal from last time and walked around there a bit. I picked up a book, Digital Fortress, and headed to the lounge in that terminal for a snack and something to drink. I read for a while and then played a little of the PsP. I would later find out after getting home that I could have been close to being arrested from playing the PsP game as they have a new law about video games they may pass which is completely insane and can get a person thrown in jail for playing a game that depicts violence in any way, which means war games are out (and people get worked up it the states about perceived infringements upon rights).

From there it was through another security check. Talk about feeling violated by a security check. I was expecting this guy to buy dinner after that pat down, enough is enough. Check in at the gate and head onto the plane, home is getting closer!!!

I forced myself to stay awake for the entire flight home as I knew I would be getting home around 10:30 in the evening and wanted to be able to sleep as normal at that point. I had some sort of pasta for dinner, it was acceptable but not great. Several sodas to keep me awake and began watching some movies.

I started out with the Bandidas . Not sure how good of a movie it was but it sure kept my interest. From there I watched A Beautiful Mind, I have seen it before but it's a good movie. By then it was time for the snack. I had the hot snack which was chicken and something (I had the chicken).

After the snack I watched a couple sit coms to make the rest of the trip pass quickly. Before I knew it we were landing in Newark. The worst part of all the flights (from about every flight I have ever had) happened then. The landing was by far the worst landing ever. It felt like the plane slammed down onto the runway with a major jolt. The stewardess who was in my line of sight seemed to be shaken up a little by the impact so I know it wasn;t just me over-reacting to it.

As we neared the gate the landing seemed to be the topic for everyone, at that point I knew it wasn't just my mind making more out of it than it was. Luckily it was a no harm / no foul event so we all walk away unscathed with a little extra story to tell. That would have sucked, traveling that far and then having the final 5 minutes of the trip being the pitfall.

I got through immirgration and customs quickly and had to wait very little time for my luggage. The driver was waiting for me downstairs and it was out to the car. Once I got outside the air really hit me in the face like a sledgehammer. I went from 80 degree days to suddenly 5 degree tempertature hitting me in the face, with windchill much much lower.

I called home a couple times on the way home and had a nice conversation with the driver. I felt exhausted but very glad to be home. Before I knew it we were turning into the development where I live and I was home. My wife and oldest daughter were very glad to see me. My youngest would have been but she fell asleep on the couch while waiting for me.

Home at last!!!!


Thanks to any who read. I hope it wasn't too boring as not much happened this time in comparrison to the first trip.