Randomness at it's finest

Darin is insisting that I write a blog but knowing I can't write as well as Darin, I don't want to embarrass myself, but here goes.

India so far-----

It has been very interesting being a white woman here in India that is for sure. My experience has been very eye opening and unnerving. Back in the states the color of my skin doesn't get me very many looks but here I get intense, bewildered, curious, blank, and/or amazed stares that if possible, would drill a hole right through me. Darin has had to literally step in and block some of them because it was to much. It's only a problem when we are sitting somewhere, so I'm a stationary target. While on the move I don't notice it that much. I have also gotten some laughs and lots of smiles, mostly from the kids. When they see me coming I here yelling and what I think they're saying is “come here quick, look at this” in Hindi to their friends. I'll receive smiles and stares but when I wave or say “hello” I get even bigger smiles and giggles. A young boy ran into me at the train station the other day and when he turned around to see who he ran into he started laughing. He kept turning around, as he walked away, to look at me and of course grinning ear to ear and saying something I couldn't understand. He thought that was so funny.

We have lots of security guards running around our apartment complex and several more out at the gated entrance. They are all men and when we first moved in here they wouldn't talk to me or look at me. I started making a point to make sure that my “hello” or “good evening” was heard and now they say “good evening madam” or “hello madam”. If they find out what he is doing here in India it becomes “yes captain” or “good evening captain sir”. I guess they just needed to learn that Darin isn't going to beat them up for talking to me. There is a restaurant here at the apartments and I have had to train with waiters as well. When we first moved in they would completely ignore me when I would tell them what I wanted. I had to tell Darin what I wanted and he in turn told the waiter. Now that they know us the wait staff will take the order from me.

Speaking of food, the food here is really good. Your choices would be veg or non-veg. Non-veg of course would be chicken or fish. You also have the choice of spicy or spicy! The french fries have chilli powder on them, KFC chicken is spicy, even the Cheetos have some spice to them. When I get home I'm going to Jake's for ribs, KFC for mashed potatoes, and Chihuahua's for tacos. About the only food that tastes about the same as the states is the Oreo McFlurry. One word describes that flurry, wonderful! Oh and they import their apples from Washington, which I find hilarious.

I have been riding my bike a little more frequently. There is a route Darin showed me that works really well for staying away from the roads and all the crazy drivers. This route consists of paved road then dirt trail, then a little more paved road to the village. Riding through the village is a great eye opener. I see people bathing in the median of the street, using a bucket of water they heated over a fire, which was still flaming on the shoulder. I see pigs foraging for food in the garbage, cows trying to find any piece of greenness they can to munch on and goats climbing on the giant rocks placed by God's hand many, many years ago. After the village I take a left and I'm on the dike. There are women walking this dirt road carrying bundles of sticks, sacks of food, and other items on their heads. There are old men riding their, older than they are, single speed bikes too. I can't help but wonder where these people are going. This dusty path wanders its way through field after field. People are tending to their crops or animals or on their way to somewhere with their goods. It is mostly old school farming over here, where they use cows to pull the plow, but there are some tractors too. Even though there is a haze on the horizon, it is still a nice ride. There is very little garbage out here and only the occasional smell of burning plastic. Anyway, I eventually end up at the freeway which is where I turn around and enjoy the ride back.

This is all I have for now. I don't do to much because it gets to hot outside to do anything. I stay in the air conditioned apartment playing on my computer, reading, napping, watching tv, or doing domestic chores. I am looking forward to the days that are cooler, which should be in a month or so. When things cool off a bit then Darin and I can do more exploring without suffering heat stroke. More adventures to come.

These boots are made for walking.

Interesting things happen while you're in Sweden, as I found out today. Let me set the stage for you. 

My weary feet were crying out in torment from every step I took. They were getting more and more agitated that I was not taking 'steps' to sit and rest a bit. Finally, off in the distance, roughly estimated 1.3km ahead, I spotted a nice sitting area in the middle of the street. It wasn't a car driving street, mind you, but a walking, look in the window of the shops street. I think my feet saw the bench first, actually, cause the rest of my body was going in the other direction when my feet turned and headed that way. After re-stabilizing my torso, we headed there at a fast, hobbling walk. Each step taking us closer to bliss and happiness. Or so we thought. As I drew closer to the benches, I noticed that there were actually about three of them arranged in a little circle. They resembled someone's attempt at modern art and were shaped like little tadpoles. I plopped myself down on one of them, immediately receiving a sigh of relief from my feet. My body begin to relax as I sat there watching the people stream up and down the street. It was pretty busy today. My tadpole bench was about 8 feet long and I was sitting about 12 inches from one of the ends. On the other end was a lady resting her complaining feet also. She was facing the other way though and not looking in my direction. There was about a 5 foot gap between us. I only mention this because it's important.

I was just starting to think of leaving my tadpole bench, but hadn't quite figured out how to excite and motivate my feet into action yet. As I was contemplating my plan of attack and method of feet trickery, someone plopped right down beside me. I mean, right down beside me! In fact, looking back on the action, not only was there considerable touching involved, but this person actually sat on me a bit. Who would sit half on the 12 inches remaining of my tadpole bench and half on me? Especially when there was a nice center section completely open! The person's action of practically sitting on my lap, caused my head to turn to assess the situation and a slight body hop and shift to the right to give just a bit more room between us. As I looked, involuntarily of course, the true nature of my perpetrator was revealed to me; a girl! Not just any girl; a young, good looking girl.  She looked slightly Swedish to me, but I couldn't be sure.  I was sure of one thing though; trouble!

This can't be good, I thought. My mind started racing. As boys, we are taught fundamental truths early on in life.  One of these is that girls are troublemakers.  This was not going to be an exception to the rule; I could tell right away.  What was this all about? What's her deal sitting on my tadpole bench? Was she just sitting there for because she wanted too? And why would she want to sit there on that 12 inch space? That's all it took. My mind took the bait and ran with it! I was dreaming up conspiracy theories left and right now. Maybe she was trying to distract me, so that someone could reach into my backpack. Clever, girl! I checked around me carefully; no one around. Hmm. Maybe she thought I was someone else. Yeah, that was it. Someone else. Who else could be traveling around in a bright orange raincoat with a green back-back on. Nope, I seem to be the only one in Stockholm wearing such an outfit. Maybe she is hiding from someone? I shouldn't say anything then, it might blow her cover. I kept stealing glances at her to get a read on the situation. Nothing.

It felt like 10 minutes had gone by since she sat down, but it was probably only about 7 seconds. I turned slightly to look at her again. She kind of leaned into me a little bit, but wouldn't turn to look in my direction. Should I say something??? This was kind of different. Weird. Should I feel uncomfortable? Honestly, I don't really. More curiously, I thought, how this was going to play out? Well, maybe she sat down cause she wanted to talk to me? Ok, then should I say something first? What should I say? “Hi” That's original. Or maybe, “Hi, do you want me to move over a bit for you, so you don't have to sit on my lap?” As I was reviewing different things to say, she broke the awkwardness by saying something in Swedish. “I'm sorry I didn't catch that.” I replied; amazed that I could unlimber my tongue to say even that much. Truth be told, I might have just mumbled something, but at least that's what I thought I said.

This time in English, “the experiment is over, thank you!”

There was human testing going on and it was me?! “What do you mean, experiment?”

“I was doing a social experiment on closeness and physical contact in public areas.”

“Oh, was I filmed? Am I going to be on a show?”

“No, its just a school project.”

“OK.”

We talked for the next five minutes about her social project. I was supposedly the first person that she had tested her little experiment on, so there wasn't any data on previous encounters. I answered her questions as honestly as I could. Then she stood up, smiled and thanked me, shook my hand, and smoothly disappeared into the milling crowds.

I sat there on my little tadpole bench, slightly dazed, confused, and with my mind racing. Was it really an experiment? What are the chances that I was randomly picked amongst the hoards of people for her to conduct her little 'experiment'? What if I had never gone to India? I wouldn't be here, that's for sure. And over in India experienced the crowds, shoving, and lack of personal space given by the Indian's? Would my reactions have been different? Yes, I probably would have acted differently. Hmmm. Did I just skew her test results? This is fascinating me now! Maybe I should write a book on this subject. Oh, then again, no, I shouldn't. There are probably about 200 books out on the subject. The last thing we need is another one.

My mind fog slowly lifted and I looked out over the busy street. Time to leave before I am subjected to anymore experiments, I thought. I slowly stood up and stretched. A couple of my vertebra popped nicely. Felt good. As I took the first couple of steps, stiff muscles protesting slightly, I reflected on what lead me to this tadpole bench in the first place.

At least my feet aren't complaining anymore.

You're getting sleepy....your eyelids are heavy....

I've been thinking again. I should learn not too, but it's a bad habit that I find myself doing on occasion and there doesn't seem to be a permanent solution to resolve the problem. It's not an easy habit to break. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco; those were easy habits to break. This one; not so much. So once again, I've been thinking too much. It's been getting progressively worse the last couple of days and yesterday night, once again, hit another record high. On a side note, it would be fun to graph how much I actually think during the day. Hmmm, wonder if there is a way. Anyway, went to bed late and then couldn't seem to turn off the brain activity long enough to get some decent sleep. My eyelids popped open around 3:30 this morning, and eventually I rolled out of bed at 4:30 after realizing that they weren't going to stay closed anymore. The sky was just starting to get light out and the early morning temperatures are perfect for bike riding, so that's just what I did. I went for a ride.

I made some coffee first. In the process, used the last of my good coffee, so now I'm into uncharted and untested coffee territory. Not sure how this is going to pan out. I might have to make sure that the new coffee is up to standards before an actual coffee need arises. I wonder if Jeannette will let me test coffee today! Walked out the door around quarter to 6 and zipped off. Well, not quite zipped. I was just not feeling it today for the first couple of miles. My legs felt sluggish and my energy level was low. Wonder why, huh! As I peddled down the dusty, dirt roads of Lingampally, with arguably the greatest Christian band in the universe, Petra, pounding out beats in my earbuds, my legs slowly limbered up and my mind kicked into gear: I started thinking again.

Over the last couple of days, I have attended a couple training classes here at work that are specifically tailored for Delhi operations. No official word has been delivered or received, to yours truly, regarding the possible base relocation, but I know that it's a definite possibility. The odds are increasingly good, and improving, that I will be relocated up there. Especially since other guys that have received transfer orders have just turned the company down cold.  Not sure if they are going to keep their jobs now.  My dilemma is that I really don't want to go up there and work. I like Hyderabad; as much as one can like any big city in India. From my conversations and inquiries into the best cities to live, as ranked by Indian's, Hyderabad ranks pretty high. Delhi ranks low. I know from first hand experience, being based in Delhi the first month here in India, not much or a long stretch of time I realize, that I didn't enjoy my time there one bit. Now, granted, I was staying in a hotel, in a depressed part of town, I was fairly new and wet behind the ears, and it was winter time, so those factors have to be considered in my (dis)approval rating of Delhi. The air pollution was off the chart and that's probably the biggest factor. There were days when the visibility was less than a ¼ of mile in smog. Winters are notoriously bad months for Delhi, but the rest of the year still has issues.  I had a sinus infection after being there a couple weeks.  Then there is the issue of noise and light pollution. If I moved there, in order to be within working distance of the airport, I would have to move into town somewhere. I couldn't live outside of the city like I do now. No more bike riding, no more quiet evenings, no more darkness when I need it. Not sure it's worth it. The option that might remain is to resign over the potential relocation. Not something that I want to do either, but is this job actually worth it? Not sure at this point, but leaning towards the "no" side of things.

There sure a lot of Peacocks over here. They peck around in the fields and scrub-brush everywhere. I wasn't aware of this, but they are very shy and flighty; taking flight or running away whenever I slow down to look at them. As long as I'm on my bike and not slowing down to look, they just strut around. I saw close to 20 Peacocks this morning. They must like mornings. None of the male birds spread their tails out for me.  I kept looking and waiting for someone to do that, but no one would. It was hard to take their pictures too. I would try to sneak up on them, but I can never get close enough to get some good pictures. One of these days I'll get lucky and find some that aren't paying attention. I wonder what they taste like......

Another thing that I miss having over here is an oven. They don't have ovens. I imagine you might be able to find one if you really looked for one, but the kitchens aren't designed to hold one. There is no spot in the kitchen for an oven.  During my play (research!) sessions on the internet, I have come across some people using 'solar ovens' to cook things. Looks pretty simple and we definitely get enough sunshine for it to work. I might fabricate something and play around. The ingredients to make a solar oven are simple: foil and cardboard, all which are easily accessible and acquirable here. Then I can start cooking things.  Like one of those little pigs that I see running by the side of the road! Tasty! Actually, ick! I see what they eat, and I would rather starve to death than eat one of those pigs. Might as well just go root around in the garbage pile myself.

Time for breakfast and a morning movie! Talk at you guys later.

Mangos!

Kudos to the the worlds greatest invention and of course to Al Gore we must sing our undying praises for his invention: the internet. Without his invention in use over in this country, I would go crazy. It seems like I haven't done anything really for the last 4 weeks except 'surf the net' and sleep. Actually, looking back on things, I should have gone somewhere and spent my time worthy of living. However, the paperwork that I have been waiting for could show up at anytime. Literally anytime. No one really knows the time or date that the authorities will authorize things. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason behind the time delays. So it might seem that I have been flitting away my time, and I really have, but only for good reason. And it's not completely true that my productivity is nil. I have been working on company procedures and things of that nature. Stuff that they will never use, but want anyway. Boring and tedious stuff.

Jeannette and I have been watching some old Charlie Chapman movies as of late. They are pretty interesting I must say. It's amazing how you can convey stories and thoughts in a silent movie by using music and acting. We also were noticing and commenting on the living conditions of the citizens of the US during the 1920's, by looking at the condition of the buildings, streets and people in the movie. I know that it's just a movie set, however it does portray a similarity of the condition of the union at that time. I can't help but draw some similarities to the conditions here in India. A quite a few of the living conditions are remarkably similar to those portrayed in the these movies. I can briefly conclude and surmise that India is stuck in the early 1900's. Crazy thinking like this, cause the Brits were here into the 50's, so how can this be? It would appear that India has actually regressed a bit! A big difference between the US and India though, is that the people of the US successfully strove to improve their living conditions, were as here, not so much. There isn't a display of the drive and motivation that was so evident and prominent with the rise of the US.

But they have good mango’s!

Blend this.

My vacation has been extended. Going on 3 weeks now. Not quite sure when I will be able to get back to work either. If you can't tell, I am just dying to return to the salt mines! Actually, the shear boredom of sitting here day after day, waiting for the paperwork to be processed and the phone call telling me that I'm free to cause havoc, is weighing me down. I feel lethargic and lazy all day long. Jeannette is good about making me go to the gym and work out. Otherwise, I would just sit around and surf the net. Thank goodness for that otherwise I would go crazy. I would love to go outside and play, but there is just one small problem. We are currently in the hottest months of the year. It gets up to about 115 in the afternoon. The early mornings are nice though. The temps are right about 85 and then just climb from there. By 10 it's too hot for me to be outside.

I was going to buy a scooter over here. Talked myself into it and everything. Yes I know that it's dangerous, but to get around town it would be nice. Total reliance on a tuk-tuk is frustrating to say the least. Anyway, I won't be buying on this month. Maybe next month. For the limited amount of time that I have left over here, 7 months, I'm not sure that I need one. I'm still weighing the pros and cons. Not sure I want to go home in a pine box. That seems to be the biggest con and surprisingly carries a lot of weight. It seems to trump my pros nicely.

Jeannette and I have joined the gym and pool club over here. It's been great so far. The evenings are the best to go to the gym. I tried mornings and it was packed! No thank you! So I'll stick to the evenings for now. Once I start working again, I probably will not be able to pick my time of attendance, but for now I can. 

In other boring news, I am currently drafting a copy of some new operating procedures for the company. Hopefully some of my work can be useful and not in vain. I've spent quite a few hours pecking away at the keyboard. I think it's good, but it will probably get shot down at the higher level. In order to get off the computer, last time at the store, I picked up an artists pad and some pencils. I think I might try to get back into sketching again. I have the time for sure. 

Since being here I've realized that I need to spend my time differently when I return back home. I've realized that I need to spend more time away from home doing other things, spending time with others, and making my time count. But the funny thing is, as I sit here and think of all these things, I think of things that I need, or want, to do back home. Then I make lists of things to do! Crazy. So once again I have lists of things to do back home. I have toned down though and realize that I need to be a little more realistic in my approach to projects. I simply do not have enough time to do everything. Sad, but true. If there was a way to clone myself or figure out a way to survive on less sleep......

I just love funny events and there is no shortage of them here.  We went to buy a blender the other day. They had close to 15 display models out for viewing. We cruised around looking at this one and that one. Then we found one that we liked and asked a store employee, that was conveniently hoovering 13 inches away from my face, how much it was. “That's not for sale,” he said.

“What do you mean, not for sale?”

Head waggle and then again “that's not for sale.”

“OK, yes this one in my hand, but how about one in a box?”

“No, Sir.”

“There isn't one in a box somewhere?”

“No, Sir.”

“Is there one in the back, that's in a box, that I could buy?”

“No, Sir.”

“Well, are they not in stock right now?”

“No, Sir”

“Well, when is it going to be stocked?”

“We don't stock those anymore.”

“Ever??”

“No, Sir.”

“So this one in my hand is not ever going to be stocked here in the store again, ever?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then why is it out here?”

Head waggle.

“Can I buy this one since it's the last one then?”

“No, Sir.”

“Well why is it out here then?”

Head waggle.

“OK, can you please show me one that you do sell then, instead of looking at the ones that you just have on display for fun?”

They had about 6 actual blenders for sale.

The tower looks...........crooked

Oh, I can't even begin to think how long it's been since I've written a chapter in the blog book. Its been awhile. It would take ages to relay to you my life these last few weeks. Sufficient to say that the highs in my life have been as extreme as the lows. I'll relate the highs, because that's better.

Jeannette and I just got back from 3 weeks in Italy! That was fun! I'll talk about that.  It was a good time to visit the southern part, ie Rome, but the northern part was still on the cold and rainy side of things. The rain was very welcome though (It hasn't rained in India for quite some time now. At least since I've been here anyway). We had planned slightly ahead for this rainy weather and packed raincoats. Or should I say, I packed rain coats. Jeannette conveniently left her's in Washington. So she borrowed my spare one. Which, it turns out, is the only one that actually keeps the water out. The coat that I used pretended to bead up and keep out the water, but it was actually working in cahoots with the rain. What was really going on is that it was simply funneled to the inside of my coat where it could soak into my dry clothes. Nice little set up they had going on.

Our trip started out by flying out of Hyderabad nice and early to London, where we caught a connecting flight to Rome. The day before we left I had gone into town and exchanged a pile of money in Euro's, using the convenient local Mafia to give me a terrific exchange rate. We then took our smaller pile of money home, divided it up, and stored it in our own little hiding places for use on the trip. I hid my stash so well that when we arrived at the airport to fly out the next day, I couldn't find it. Practically tore my bag apart looking for it and almost canceled our trip when I finally realized that I left it in the apartment. That was not a good start to the trip. Wasn't sure if I could pull money out with my India bank card, but I was relieved to find out that I could. Would have been a short trip if I couldn't have!

Jeannette and I decided for this trip to try some new and experimental things:

1. carry just enough stuff to fit into one medium size backpack;
2. stay in B&B's, not hotels;
3. travel by train and by foot, not rental car;
4. have no real itinerary, but rather make day to day arrangements as we went;

Turns out that my backpack really wasn't that light, but it worked pretty good. We stayed in B&B's when we could and that turned out pretty well, with mixed results of course. We rented a scooter in Pisa for 3 days, so we could zip around in the country for awhile. Our B&B in Pisa was about 10km from town, on the coast, so we thought that it would just be easier to get around too. Worked great 2 of the 3 days. One day it rained too hard for us to venture out. So instead, we just hung out inside and read our books. The traveling without itinerary was fun, because we didn't stress ourselves out with time constraints and deadlines. We didn't even have return tickets to India when we left, because we weren't sure what city we were going to finish up our vacation in! But having a little structure is good and kept us from getting bored and lazy. Our trip plans, the ones we actually had, were modified just before leaving Rome. We were originally planning on taking the train through France and up to Holland. That changed once we found out how much the train tickets were going to cost! I guess that's one thing that we should have checked on before starting our vacation. So we just made the decision to stay in Italy and city hop. Rome, Florence, Pisa, lots of little towns, Venice, Verona, Geneva, and Milan. Those are the main cities. I guess you could say that we backpacked across the country of Italy!

One thing to do for all vacations, though. Check the holiday schedule and see if you are visiting during a major holiday. I knew that Easter Sunday was going to be a big one for Rome, but I forgot that the weekend before, the one we went on, was Palm Sunday and probably the second biggest weekend for Rome. It was packed! Not really something that I wanted to deal with and I got crabby with all those people. If I wanted to be crushed by a mass of people I would have just stayed in India!

So I will highlight the highs and lows of our trip. Highs first:

1. clean air, clean county, green grass, and rain;
2. seeing my Sister and Brother-in-Law in Rome;
3. the B&B in Florence and Pisa;
4. visiting the ruins and sites in Rome;
5. eating some of the most delicious food in some cute alley;
6. terrific train and bus systems;
7. relaxing with a good book;
8. not having people stare at you;
9. driving a scooter through the Italy countryside;
10. Gondola ride in Venice;
11. climbing up to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The not so good parts of the trip:

1. toe blisters;
2. crowds of people and waiting in lines;
3. the B&B in Geneva;
4. being tired and crabby; 
5. leaving to come back to India.

But wait, the adventure doesn't end there. For the flight back into Hyderabad we chose Qatar Airlines, because they have conveniently scheduled an airplane from Milan – Doha – Hyderabad. Very convenient. But for some reason right before we were ready to push out of the gate, the pilots started talking and went on about “ATC says, blah blah blah, can't go, blah blah blah, sorry for the delay, blah blah blah.” One hour and thirty minutes later we finally leave Milan.  Then they didn't hold our seats on the Hyderabad flight from Doha.  So although we made the connection time, barely, they didn't have seats for us. But what they did have was a free hotel room and excellent breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets for us.  So we waited until the following day and subsequent next flight. Not too bad. It was pretty hot in Doha, so we didn't venture out far or for very long. It was an unexpected, but fun detour.

So, would I or will I ever return to Italy. If given the chance in a few years, yes. It is a lovely place to visit. I loved my time there. Next time,  I probably won't stay for more than two weeks though. Towards the end of the three weeks I started to get slightly tired of it all.  Traveling is hard work.  Plus, Italian food is great, but it tends to be the same and it's hard to find other types of food to eat while there. It's expensive to vacation there too. Not as bad as Australia, but close. However, I would recommend it without a moments notice though. Get out and see the world.

"It's protected?"

Today was the date of my Indian Aviation Medical Exam. How exciting! I have been waiting for this day for awhile now; never thought it would actually get here. But here it is. For those of you wondering why I am so excited for a medical exam I'll tell you. It's not necessarily the exam, but rather the trip and overnight in Bangalore that I'm looking forward too. One of the many rumors that floats around from time to time, one that actually has some merit to it, is the possibility of an aircraft base in Bangalore. When I received my contract from SpiceJet, this was one of the three bases mentioned. So far, bases in Hyderabad and Chennai have been created. So this trip was one way to scope out the landscape and area to see if Bangalore would be a good fit for me.

Anyway, because I did the medical today, I'll tell you about that too. It's a little mundane and boring, but I'll tell you anyway. The exam takes place at the Air Force Base in Bangalore. It's about a hour drive from the hotel that we stay. The procedure is to wake up and leave the hotel by 06:30AM, which entails getting up at 06:25 and rushing to the lobby, to get to the base by 07:30. Then we check in at the guard station. They issue us “visitor” passes, after they verify our passport numbers, and take all our electronics. Phones, laptops, cameras; things like that. I just left my whole bag with them and took just my paperwork. Only Expats get the medical done at the Air Force Base, but we have to have a company chaperone, so they usually send another pilot to go with us. This time it was a terrific FO from the 737, Saurabh Singh, based out of Delhi.

The day was pretty easy. We floated around doing little tests here and there. There were about 7 different tests all together. The info that I received lead me to believe that I would do the same tests as I did in the pre-medical test, which took place in Delhi in the beginning of February. But once again, as with many things here in India, the real life experience didn't match the info. The only two things that were common between the test's were the trip to the bathroom with the cup and a blood test. Oh, and I guess one more thing; sitting. There was a great deal of that. That was actually the largest consumer of our time. I'll have you know that I didn't waste that time like so many people would have. No, I deduced that it was a good time to catch up on a little napping; do some reading; a little more napping; walk to the washroom; and do a little more napping. Time well spent.

Things are going pretty well around here. The minor things still sometimes drive me crazy and the lack of organization is frustrating as well. Things that I have been trying to figure out how to deal with. I'm slowly dealing and getting better. So imagine my surprise to find myself deep in trouble the other day! Yes, can you believe it! The crazy thing is, is that it all started so innocently; like many of my actions do these days. Now, I will confess that I sometimes, I repeat sometimes, not all the time mind you, seek out a little trouble and try to cause some commotion. But I never try to do bad things; just tease and have fun mostly. So anyway, my trouble started with the annoying sound of a hungry mosquito flying around my head trying to bite me. Well I couldn't have that. Who knows, that mosquito could be carrying malaria or the West Nile virus or something worse! So I squashed it. Flat. Then I noticed another. So I squashed that one flat as well. Soon I was squashing them left and right. The palm of my hand was sore and red from the constant and repeated slaps to the wall, but I didn't care. I was in my element. No mosquito was safe from my wrath and fury! Things were looking pretty bleak for the mosquito population in that room until my FO walked in. “What are you doing?” She asked me.

“Pancaking mosquitoes.” I replied.

“What?”

“Squishing mosquitoes.”

A look of horror spread across her face. “Killing them?”

“Yep.”

“No! Stop! You can't!”

“Why not? They're driving me crazy and trying to bite me.”

“No, you can't; you're not supposed to.”

“Why not?”

“Because you're not supposed to kill anything intentionally.”

I didn't see that one coming at all. Took me just a second to reply. “Sorry, I didn't know that mosquitoes fell into the protected category.” I thought for a few more seconds and then asked, “how about flies? Are they protected too?”

“Yes.”

“Even if they try to bite me?”

“Yes.”

"I can't claim self defense?"

"No."

“Oh.......OK.  You know I'll probably just wait until you leave the room."

"I'm not leaving now!"

"Oh.......OK." 

 

I guess everything falls into the protected category. Good to know for next time!

Those are delicious!

Well, Aeroflot strikes again!  In all fairness, though, it wasn't completely their fault this time. I think. It makes for a better headline though. I like riding on them, believe it or not. The service is very good and I think most of the airplanes have been updated, so I feel pretty safe. So far I've ridden on two Airbus 330's and one 320. The 330 is nicer. Has the little TV screens in the seat backs. There is also a camera located in the front of the aircraft down on the landing gear. All the passengers can watch the center line while taxiing around. Anyway, currently we are parked somewhere on an airport halfway between Moscow and Delhi. Just on the southern edge of Russia.  Apparently, and this is the story the crew is going with, there was a medical emergency so we diverted to ???  Now we are stuck on the ground for another hour or so, cause the airport wont let us leave. Not sure why. I'm having a hard time understanding some of the PA communications. I might have to march up there and take us to Delhi. It's snowing, so we'll have to deice too. That will take some extra time as well. With any luck, we'll get stuck here over night. That should be fun.

Update: the Captain just made an announcement just said 40 minutes then we are out of here. I seriously doubt it. It's what I would say, so I know that it's a fib!

They turned the movies off. Not sure why. It's a good way to pass time. My book is finished and my laptops only has about 2 hours of battery power left. Things are getting critical in here. My blood pressure is rising and I'm starting to sweat. Actually, there is always entertainment around here. Just look around a bit and you'll see it. Someone was caught smoking in the lav just recently! Naughty, naughty! I don't think that he will get kicked off, but he's tied up like a chicken now in the back galley. They are beating him with what looks like a coat hanger. The screams are just for show. I doubt it hurts much. I'm just kidding. I'm sure it hurts a lot. At least this aircraft is big enough to move around in and not feel claustrophobic. I can think of worse aircraft to get stuck on for a couple of hours.

Most of the people on-board speak Russian and very little English. The girl that I am sitting next too, in 19I, speaks very little English. I of course speak absolutely no Russian, except for “goodbye”, so it's been quiet. I'm pretty sure some older ladies were making me the center of a joke just recently. I spilled water on the girl next to me and as I was trying to find something to soak it up, they were just laughing away and staring right at me. Then they were blocking my path and talking to me. Not sure what was being said, but they had a mischievous look in the eye. Made me nervous! I had to sit down quickly and start muttering under my breath.

Update: It's snowing hard now. I doubt we are getting out of here. I wonder where we are? Haven't got a clue, cause I didn't quite catch the name of the airport. Hope I don't have to sleep in the airport terminal tonight.

Not sure if you readers got the message that I love Stockholm. If you didn't, or you were daydreaming while reading my last blog, or maybe you were drifting off while someone was reading it too you, I like it there. Next sim session should be in August and it should be really nice there. I have it on good authority that the summers are terrific. Plus, I just found out that I can add a few vacation days to the beginning or end of my sim time allotment so I can stay and explore a bit. I like it. So that's the new plan. Hopefully we get to come back to this sim. The next closest sim is in Sydney, Australia. I could suffer through going down there I guess.

I am really surprised at how easy going these passengers are with this delay. Wow. What a contrast to the ones that I had aboard my aircraft a few months ago. Can't remember if I told you that story or not. I'm going to pretend that I didn't, so I can tell it again. Flying from LAX (Los Angeles, CA) to SUN (Sun Valley, ID), we were presented with the choice of diverting to save a woman's life or taking the chance that she would survive the rest of the way to SUN. It was a tough choice, I agonized over the decision for about 2 seconds, a long time in aviation, but we did eventually divert to RNO (Reno, NV). Our lovely passengers, being of kind spirit and concerned only for the well being of others, were all in an uproar that we would divert and then, once on the ground, take time to replenish our medical supplies, fuel, and a new clearance. I had several concerned passengers poke their head into the flight deck and give me “some advice” on what to do. Really now!  I came very close to leaving some of those folks in RNO, but I didn't want to fill out anymore paperwork. So now I am observing what people are supposed to act like in the case of an emergency diversion. It's pleasant.

The one thing that I might miss the most is the Swedish pancakes that I had each morning. They were so delicious. Top them off with a little whipped cream and some delicious jam and you have one great breakfast. Pretty fattening, but delicious. I think that when Jeannette gets here, I will have her make me some. Every morning.

New update: a new 40 minutes for customs and deicing. Like I said earlier; we're not going anywhere tonight. Better find a blanket quickly before they disappear.

Anyway, like I was saying about those pancakes......

Sniff, sniff; smells funny here

"Hej!"

I'm in Stockholm now. Just for brief, 3 day, visit to the simulator and then back. It's sure nice to get away and breathe some fresh, clean air though. Oh, man do I love breathing again. I might bottle it up and take it back with me. I can just see myself in the security line. “No, please don't open those, you'll let all the air out.” I might get some funny stares. Something else too, the power hasn't gone out yet. Hmmm. I wonder if everything's alright.  Enjoy the history of this post.

(I wrote quite a bit of this blog while I was waiting for flights, so it has some time jumps in it.)

Earlier; in another time and place.

Today, I am flying up to Moscow then over to Stockholm for some training. My airline is Aeroflot for both sectors, so we'll see how that goes. I've never ridden on Aeroflot; heard stories though! (edited: Aeroflot was excellent. Great service and ride. I would not hesitate to fly with them again)

The ticket agent just told me that my flight is delayed. Not sure when it will leave, but I'm pretty sure that I will miss my connection in Moscow. I've never been to Moscow, so I'm not sure what the procedure is for transitional passengers. Security? Extra screening? I'll find out soon enough.

When checked in at the ticket counter this morning, I was informed of the delay and possibility of missing my connection. Armed with that info, I promptly went to the bookstore and bought the thickest book I could find. Just so happens that it's one of my favorite authors, Ken Follett, 'Fall of Giants', and although I have the book at home in the states, I haven't read the whole thing. In fact, I've only read about 50 pages. Only 800 left to go! Should take a few hours to get through it.

12 oz coffee and book in hand, I migrated the 2 miles of corridor to find my boarding gate. People are sprawled out all over the place. The airport has these lay flat chairs, like pool loungers, against one wall that are being used by sleepy passengers. Others are hanging over the backs and armrests of the regular airport bench seats, trying to get as comfortable as possible. It's fascinating to watch people at the airport. I just love watching. One must be careful and a little sneaky about doing it though. A good book is a great cover. When I watch people I wonder where they are going? Who are they meeting? Are they leaving someone? Holiday? Work? Locals or visitors? It's fun to try to figure it out. When you have 10 hours to kill in an airport, try it. Although at 4:30 in the morning, it's hard to read people. Most are just fighting to stay awake. Those that aren't fighting, are sleeping. Only two options this time of morning. Oh, the crowd is surging for the counter. False alarm, though. The crew just walked by and everyone got excited. Good news; it looks like a newer Airbus 330 that we're taking. Makes me feel a little better.

I figure that the coffee should keep me going for the next :45 minutes or so. Hopefully we will be boarded and on our way. The 2 hour nap that I got last night in Delhi is barely taking the edge off the sleepiness that I feel. I know that if I fall asleep here, I'll sleep right through the departure of my airplane. The fiasco of yesterday's scheduling, combined with no one really knowing where I was at, has lead to this situation. It's long and tedious, but lets just say that it's the last time that I will ever let it happen again. It's too common place, but those happy days for the company are over.

I'm walking around and can't believe that the Delhi international terminal can be this nice. It's amazing. What a contrast to this entire city. European and Western style shops line the inside walls. Throw in Restaurants of all flavors and an endless supply of little coffee and bakery places scattered throughout, and you have yourself a first class terminal. I should come here just to hang out and recharge.

My new little bag that I purchased just for this event is working out great. I left my crew bag at home, because it didn't meet the international standard for carry-on size. This one is great. Meets the size requirements and I have room for my laptop inside. Cost me about $85 USD in the mall. The store was having a closeout sale on last years model. Works for me. Can't be too out of date.

The flight to Moscow was excellent. Like I had feared; we arrived too late for me to make the connection to Stockholm. The next flight is at 7:15 and is operated by SAS. I've been sent down here to the end of the D gates to await a replacement ticket. It's 12pm and the new ticket should arrive around 2pm. Good thing I brought my book.

Have my new ticket and have wandered around looking for something to do. Reading is fine, but I'm sleepy and my eyes need a break. I like to just look out the window at the snow falling. Didn't get a chance to enjoy the NW winter this year. I'm not really a big fan of snow, but not experiencing any just feels like I got cheated out of something. Russia looks pretty with snow. I imagine that it would look great in the warmer times of the year too. I plan on making a trip up here to look around when it warms up. The snow plows are scurrying around; attacking the snow and moving it into piles on the ramp. They have a good system for snow removal. First; a big grading tractor comes along and scrapes off most of the top snow. Scrapes it off to the side. Then a team of two smaller tractors, with snow plow blades on the front and a spinning sweeper brush on the back, zip around and scape more snow to the sides and sweep the pavement clean. Then a very large tractor comes around and scoops up the snow and takes it away. I can't figure out if they sprinkle salt or something like salt on the pavement, but that's next. Finally some guys come over in a little car and drive on the pavement to make sure that it's not slippery. It's very fascinating and very orchestrated. They seem to have things down pat. I did try to point out a spot that I felt they should redo, but they just ignored me.

My SAS flight just arrived. I watched the snow plows clear the parking area and SAS had no trouble what-so-ever. Nice work guys. Hopefully there won't be much or any delay with this flight. My eyes are feeling like sandpaper and my tummy is growling up a storm. I think I might have to tap into my safety fat reserves to get me through this time of trouble. No worries, that's what it's there for. I'll replenish it later.

I made it! Oh, the air is clean and fresh. Cold, but it's so good to breathe in wonderful air again. I'm heading over to the flight barracks and call it a night. I forgot my camera adapter, so I can download pics yet. Although, I might try something............ Oh, yes. This will work. Enjoy.

Can you spare a square?

Finished off my first roll of toilet paper today. It's particularly noteworthy to me, because it establishes a critical benchmark of consumption that I can measure my health with later. I think these things are very important and should be taken with the utmost seriousness. Plus, I can plan my shopping easier now that I know my consumption rate. I think that the next couple of weeks are going to be exciting around here as I consume the first of everything! I get goose-bumps just thinking about it!  I'll try to share these exciting moments with you as they unfold before my very eyes.

I'm considering taking a chapter from my Indian friends and colleagues and documenting every little thing that happens around me.  Plus, I will be getting a signature to authenticate the notations.  Maybe even a stamp to notarize things with. It's a crack-up around here, cause everyone runs around with little notebooks and writes stuff down, and then makes you sign it. There are thousands of these notebooks floating around. Most of the time they just document people coming and going, in and out of various buildings and places. For example: I am supposed to sign in and out of the “logbook” that's stationed conveniently in the exercise room. If I don't sign in then I get hounded while I'm on the treadmill until I do. However, my stubborn nature is rebelling and I have refused the last couple of times. It causes all sorts of responses.  From insistence to the deer-in-the-headlights look. You really never know what reaction you will get! I really shouldn't cause trouble, cause they are so nice around here, but it gets to be a bit much after awhile. Plus, they know me know, so I just tell them to fill my name in and sign it! They're learning.

Took the Air Law Test in Delhi today. Flew up from Hyderabad at O-dark-forty-five. That's 06:45am flight time, so I had to be at the airport at 05:45am to catch it. Actually, I should say that I was supposed to be there at that time. A more convenient time for me, that I calculated the night before, was to show up at 06:15, so that's what I did instead. Worked out great for everyone involved. Especially me. I've noticed that I've been in an extra ornery mood lately. Not a bad ornery mood; rather a I'm-not-in-the-mood-for-this-crap ornery mood. I think it's OK to be in those moods. Anyway, back to the Air Law Test, cause I know you're dying to hear more about it. So I flew up to Hyderabad only to sit at the Ops building until 01:15pm, when we were herded outside into a bunch of cars, like cattle, and driven, quickly and with no regard to road safety or laws, to the testing grounds. I have enclosed a picture of our testing grounds for your viewing pleasure. It certainly was my viewing pleasure for sure! At one point I had to use the restroom and let me tell you, I cannot describe it to you. There are not enough words to describe it to you. I was going to take a picture, but didn't. I seriously regret not taking one now. It looked like the inside of a barn. No joke. Seriously now, it did. OK, you guys keep sidetracking me. Enough of that. The test was OK, I missed some of the questions, cause I went and looked up the answers afterwards. I calculated that I could miss 15 and still pass the test. I think I can live with that. If I don't pass, I just reschedule and come back in two weeks and try again. It's not a critical and important test. Just another box that needs to be checked off the list. 

The test givers were little Nazi's and stomped up and down the rows watching us, like a hawk watches and little mouse, lest we try to cheat.  Any little whispering was immediately squelched and snuffed out before any potential answers could be leaked to the testing group.  I felt like I was back in grade school.  It was fun and enjoyed it.  I actually didn't cause any problems.  I was thinking of some, but I restrained myself.  One of the funny and utterly stupid rules they have here is that you're not allowed to correct any mistakes made on the test.  And I mean that if you see one that you made before you turned in the answer sheet, you are not allowed to change the answer.  It's the craziest thing.  It is very common here.  Not just in a few places, it's actually the norm.  The Fraulein in charge of the testing made it very clear to the group that no corrections would be allowed once the ink meet the paper.  No exceptions.  You couldn't even request a new answer sheet to rewrite the answers down.  Of course there were a few guys that messed up and tried to get relief of the no-correction rule, but they were denied with great gusto.  I guess you just get the answer wrong. 

Earlier, while I was hanging out in the Ops building, bored as all get-out, I was approached by one the crew planners. Her job, specifically, among other things, is to plan trips to Stockholm, Sweden, for crew members to have a little rest and relaxation. OK, not that last part. It's actually for simulator training/currency and stuff like that. Boring and stressful; all at the same time. Not sure how the time can be both, but it is. The plan was for some other poor soul to spend time up there in a couple of days, but that deal fell through when the company lost his Visa. Not sure how that can happen, but it did. Apparently and unbeknownst to me, which is usually the case, I was the alternate pilot for this little gig. They originally had me scheduled for an April sim slot, and that would have been great. Nice spring weather up there, so I could cruise around and visit places in beauty. But now cause it's the middle of February; it's cold and snowy up there. Not my first choice of times, but the change will be good. The company wanted to keep me in Delhi and send me out the next day, tomorrow, but since I didn't know I was the alternate sim pilot, I didn't pack for the cold weather in Sweden. In fact, I didn't pack anything at all. Something that I will have to change from now on. Always carry some extra clothes, cause you never know what this crazy company is going to pull.

So, I'm excited. I could care less about the sim. I've done lots of those, so that should go pretty easy. I'm excited to travel out of India and into a clean, fresh smelling county! I might just look for a job while I'm up there. I wonder if they need any sim instructors..........

My next post might be from Sweden. I'll try. Although, you really don't know it's from Sweden. Kind of like you don't really know that I'm in Hyderabad, India. I could just be in Indiana and writing from my hotel room. I'll send pictures.

Keep living life, people. And if you ever have a couple seconds, jot something down and send it to me. I love mail too.

Later taters, Darin

Who thinks this is a bad idea? Raise your hand.

So I just finished my first two days of instruction.  Not instruction given to me.  No.  Instruction that I give to some other poor soul.  When I first got my flight schedule at home I had these little codes in the “special instruction” box. I couldn't figure out what they meant either. I didn't think much of it and honestly really didn't care that much to ask about it. So it was a little surprising to show up for work only to realize that I was training someone. No waiting till I'm good and ready, noooooo.  Just throw the new guy into the lion's den. Does anybody except me see the hazards here?  Honestly, it probably could've turned out to be kind of exciting and you'd like it too, if you're into the panic and high blood pressure thing. I personally am not, but everyone is different. Personally, I was really hoping to have a little more time to adjust to the system over here, but that's obviously not going to happen. I did give the guy the option of backing out and waiting for a real instructor.  But he thought that we could handle it. Boy was he in for a rude shocker!  Ha!  Putting it mildly: the first day was a real cluster and I'm surprised that it went as well as it did. I crashed out that night in Chennai, cursing the career choices that I have made. The next day I was determined to be on top of the situation, so I spent the morning prepping for the flights and that helped enormously. It actually went rather smoothly and I think I might have actually figured out some of the radio calls on my own.  Of course it helps that I am just plain good. But that goes without saying. So much so that I have to remind people to tell me.

OK, for the last week or so, whenever I would type on my computer, I would sometimes get this little prickly feeling in my wrists as they rubbed, ever so slightly, on the edge of my laptop. Drives me crazy. Feels like a little sliver of insulation or a really fine wood splinter. I hate that feeling.  I'll pull my skin off just to stop the itch.  Every time that I check for something though, there's nothing there. Really bothers me.  This imaginary sliver.  Kind of like the imaginary spiders that run across my bed while I'm sleeping (another story all together). Well, tonight I figured it out. Been figuring out a lot of things, this is just one of them. So as I was typing, I kept feeling the sensation and so I watched very carefully as my wrists rubbed the computer case. I noticed that surrounding my computer is a very thin piece of metal. I think its aluminum or something. Probably there to help my computer from getting banged up. It's also a great conductor of electricity!  Yep, as I look, there is a tiny little spark that arcs from the computer to my wrist, giving me the little prickly sensation! Of course I then realize that nothing is grounded here, except my bare feet on the marble covered concrete building that I live in. Sure enough. I raise my feet off the floor; no arc. Put my feet back on the floor; nice little arc forms. In addition, it's only when the laptop is charging. Easy fix; wear socks or unplug the unit. Done. I'm on a roll.

Still haven't decided if I'm going to get a scooter or not. I think that I might, but I still need to do some checking on the whole license thing. Plus, I don't know if I have to buy a registration for it or not. It would be fun to have one. Opens up a lot more territory that you can cover in a day or two.

I am looking out my window at the busy street that runs through the place called Nanakramguda. The night is alive with music, dancing and the sound of generators howling away. I guess that there is a wedding tonight. Every once in awhile a bunch of firecrackers will pop off and I'll hear shouts and yells. As I drove through the streets on my way to my apartment, it actually looked like a lot of fun. Everyone was all dressed up in their traditional outfits and were parading around. You would never imagine that they could get so dressed up for events like this, especially if you saw them during the week in their regular clothes. Its neat to watch. I'm happy that they are happy.  There is so much sadness here. I would imagine that for some, this is it. This is the highlight of their week, month, year, or maybe life. We should be so inclined as to take the opportunities given us. Who knows what tomorrow holds in store for us.  I don't for sure. Should we even care and does it really matter?  Live today.

Changed my mind

Changed my mind.

I actually like writing my stories down and I know some of you like reading them, so I'm continuing. I know who my true family and friends are now too.  I figure that these posts are for me and those who like them, but mostly for me.  I might have jumped off the deep-end the last post, but it was true.

The condo that Scott rented, and I am staying in, for a small fee of course, is turning out to be pretty nice. At first I was just a little uncertain that being on the outside of town would be a good idea. The noise is definitely less out here and the traffic seems to be better. The draw backs are that there really aren't very many places to go eat and shop. And when I say many; I really mean none. Unless you count Nanakramguda as a shopping center. I like to lovingly refer to it as a squatter village mess hall. I drive through on the way to work, but I don't think that I will ever venture there on foot. It's one of those places you wander into and never wander out.

One of the nice things about living on the edge of town is being able to zip out into the countryside on my bike and peddle around. I'm not sure who owns most of the land around here. I think the government does. After questioning some of the locals, it was determined that if there is no fence then it's fair game. You can peddle for miles and miles through some of the back roads and little trails here.  There are cows and pigs just roaming around.  Mostly though, a whole lot of nothing.  Well, if you don't count the needle like thorns that jump out and pop my tires for no reason.

The flying is going well. Had my first unsupervised flight today. Four little hops of about a hour and thirty minutes for each one. Most of the flights are going to be around that time span. Fits our airplane perfectly. The flying is easy; it's the understanding of the radio calls that is going to take some time. I had to, on several occasions today, look quickly over to my interpreter sitting on the right side to get the ATC translation. The word on the street is that it's the English language being spoken, but the jury is still out on that one. I find that if I miss the first part of the transmission then it's all over. By the time that I have processed and figured out what they said earlier on, I've missed the rest. There's a lot of “say again” transmissions from my airplane! The company has some different (bazaar) rules and procedures that really don't make any sense. Plus, there are things that the FAA outlawed years ago, that are in practice now. Changes are hard to make around here, so we'll see how it goes.

I watched my first little motorcycle accident the other day. It was a nice day and we were hanging out on the balcony, watching the world go by, when it happened. A motorcyclist was cruising down the road, not too fast mind you, and another one was pulling onto the road. Remember, over here, when you are pulling onto the road, never look up the road for traffic. If you do and the other driver sees you looking, then you are obligated to yield. So the best course of action is to just enter the roadway at about a 45 degree angle and make the other drivers yield to you. Do it slowly too. That of course brings about a rash of horn honking and position jockeying, which brings more horn honking and brake lights (if they actually work, which most don't). Anyway, for our story, the motorcyclist merging onto the road was obviously minding his own business and following the “no look” policy while pulling out onto the road. The oncoming motorcyclist was just a tad late on the horn and didn't yield, of course, and smacked the other motorcyclist broadside. Both bikes went down in a heap, while both drivers spilled out onto the road. In 2.37 seconds exactly, there were about 45 people standing around gawking at the wreck. There was nothing really to see. I was hopping for a good fight, but the drivers just hopped around shaking it off and then they started their bikes up and drove off. No exchange of insurance, information, or even any words that I could tell. Very anti-climatic if you ask me. Now the tanker truck that tipped over on the flyway, that's another story.

Speaking of crazy. My FO and I had a race home the other day. Found out that he has an apartment just down the road from me about 5 minutes, so we were going to share a company cab. For some strange reason though, we had to take two cabs. I don't know and I don't ask why anymore. I just go with it. So of course we had to make use of the opportunity. I think I might have started it, but he might have, now that I think of it. My car left just before his did, but my driver waited for an oncoming truck to get out of the way. Car B (my FO's cab) didn't. So it was on. We took them just before the corner to the freeway, and as we skidded around the corner, on two wheels, the gloves were off. It reminds me of a video driving game on these roads and you have to dodge the slow, weaving trucks and random pedestrians that wander around on the road. Every once in awhile, you have to dodge a pig or something fun like that too. So, sometimes I would lead and other times car B would lead. We traded the lead over a dozen times. At one straight stretch I looked over to the speedometer and it was bouncing off the stops about 150-160. That's in kilometers of course, but it's still pretty freaking fast. And that's the last time I looked. I just urged the driver to go faster! And he responded with a stomp of the accelerator pedal to the floor.  The speedometer stopped moving, which was good cause it was bothering me. Our 30 minute taxi ride was shortened considerably to a more reasonable 17 minutes. Much better. It pains me to say it, but I came in second in this event. I thought we had the race in the bag as we rounded the last corner and took car B on the inside, but the right sweeping corner, that we were riding to victory, turned back on itself, sweeping to the left, allowing car B to retake the lead and the trophy. Rats. Next time.

So far I haven't gotten sick. Every once in awhile I get a little upset tummy, but it's over quickly. The food is pretty good. I have some really spicy stuff today. Made my eyes water and sweat bead up on my forehead. The beauty of the Indian food is that the spicier you order it, the less you eat. Helps with my weight loss program. So far I'm down 5 lbs. I eat lots of veggies and fruit. Much better for me than the crap I used to eat at home.

There's not a whole lot to do around here. I try to keep myself busy, but it's tough. As my schedule gets a little more concrete I think that I will travel a bit more. Maybe even get a little scooter. Not sure about that one yet.

Ahhhh. The Park Hotel!

Thank goodness that I was finally was able to move to Hyderabad. Moved out here on the 27^th of January. It's been hard waiting this long. So far my initial impression is good. The city and air quality are much cleaner, and there seems to be quite a bit more greenery as well. The Park Hotel, where I'm currently staying, is very nice; 7 star rating and I believe it. The Park Hotel is huge and is built in a horseshoe design with the opening overlooking one of the lakes here. I checked out the lake and it's better to enjoy the view from the hotel! Yeah.....there is no way I'm jumping in that water. Thought about renting a boat, but the thought of capsizing into that water scares me. Anyway, the hotel has 8 floors, I'm on the 6^th, and I look into the horseshoe courtyard area. They've set the courtyard up nicely with decks and patios, and lounge areas overlooking the little pool and distant lake. There have been some people that have actually swam around in the pool, but mostly it's occupied by the pigeons. They sit on the railing and take turns hopping into the shallow end; splashing about and drinking. It's nice to just sit there and relax after a hard day of doing nothing!  If you want to visit and stay here it's only 9000 rupees plus tax.  What a deal, and they'll even throw in breakfast.

Had my first observation flight on the 29th. It was really fun to get back into the aircraft and do some flying. I've sure missed it. The flight staff was very nice, pleasant and happy to see you. The whole of process of actually getting to the aircraft is a little laborious and time consuming, and will take some time to get used too. It is what it is, so I'll just adapt. No problem. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 06:15am, so we left the hotel at 04:15am. We catch a cab ride to the dispatch/medical office which takes about :40 - :50 minutes. The dispatch office is not at the airport, but about a :05 minute cab ride away. So we go into the dispatch office; check the paperwork; sign for the paperwork; and pre-order fuel. Then we head over to the medical office to have the premedical check. Basically it's a breathalyzer test and signing the logbook stating that we are fit to fly. After this, we head outside, grab a company cab and head over to the airport. I was going to include a detailed account of the steps and process that you have to go through to enter and get to the airplane, but I thought better of it. After I had it all written out, I changed my mind about posting it. Sorry, but I would probably have to send someone to kill you if you knew our secrets! Nothing personal; it's just business. So, basically, it's sufficient to say that it's an involved process of getting permission to enter the airport, go through security, and get to the airplane. It takes about :30 minutes from airport drop off to arrival at the airplane. Not bad.

Rostering scheduled me for 4 flights or “sectors” as they like to say. Two round trips from Hyderabad. I was hoping for clear weather, but it was cloudy and hazy everywhere we flew too. The First Officer told me that it's normal weather this time of year. Some of the procedures are going to take some time to get used to and the radio communications are going to be the hardest overall. I'm sure I'll get familiar with most of it, but for now I'm taking notes like crazy! The majority of the First Officers are young and don't have much flight time, but they are good pilots and are extremely helpful. It's going to be fun, I can already tell. Times of maddening frustration will pop up from time to time, but I think I can take it all in stride.

Scott and I check out some apartments the other day and settled on one today. Should be able to move in the first part of February. We both have to head off to Delhi tomorrow for a little more training, but should be minor and back within two days to move. The hotel is nice, but being in your own place is nicer. Being able to get away from the noise and bustle is going to be hard, so we looked at several places before deciding on this one. We'll see how this goes. The lease is pretty easy to work with, so I don't anticipate too much trouble should we have to move. I know, famous last words, right!

It's quite a bit warmer here than in Delhi, so riding might take some planning. Morning and evenings are going to be the new riding times, because there is less traffic and heat.  I've peddled a little bit, but it's crowded around the hotel and I'm not sure that it's too safe during the day.  Safety meaning that I might get squished on the road by one of these crazy drivers.  Motorcyclists are some of the funniest ones.  They can't stand to have you in front of them, so they pass only to slow down!  If I just maintain my speed then I can pass them again and then they speed up and pass me.  This cycle goes on forever.  Or until I reach a hill.  My bike and I are supposed to have a date later tonight.  We'll see about that.  

Another thing that I've noticed is that there more cows here, but less pigs. The pigs love to root around in the garbage that is dumped in empty lots, so I think that there might be less garbage areas here. Maybe just more concentrated areas of garbage. Seems that way. The shore of the lake is full of garbage and there is a landfill looking area about 4km from the hotel. Most of it might go there. Not sure and I really don't have an interest in finding out! There are plenty of areas that I would rather go check out. So that's my plan.

Visited Golconda Fort yesterday. You'll have to do your own research on this one, I'll just highlight the interesting things. The ruins of an old palace are there, so I walked around and checked that out. The palace sits on top of one of the hills and has an impressive view of the area. The outer city walls are still standing, most of them anyway, and encompass the palace for miles in each direction. Some of the inside rooms of the palace are still intact and, although not as nice as when they were in use, still impressive. The acoustics in some of the rooms are designed to magnify sound and noise, so that you can talk softly in one corner and hear everything clearly in another corner! We tried it out and it works like a top. It's crazy that they had this technology a 1000 years ago. No secrets in these rooms for sure.  Amazing.  It was really funny, cause while we were there we were constantly pestered by the local to have our picture taken with them. Not sure why it's a big deal, but apparently it is. Our photo groups ranged from one individual to groups of 20 or more. Finally, we had to start saying no, but people still asked. I think that if we would have started charging them, we could have made some serious money! Some things just crack me up.

Things are definitely getting better over here. I wake up feeling bad and homesick often, but as the day wears on it gets better.  It's really nice knowing someone here that you can hang with. Didn't realize how important that was until it was gone and back again. Plus I miss Jeannette like crazy!  Hopefully I can start having more fun around here. I miss all of you and appreciate the photos and emails that you send me. Keep them coming. Thank you.

"Excuse me, Sir....."

This should be my last night in Gurgaon, India, for awhile. None too soon, if you ask me, which you didn't, but I know that all of my loyal readers are aware of the difficulties that I have been facing here. Wednesday night, which was last night, there they lot next to me cranked up another party at 10pm. They were having a great time till about 1am. Or at least I think so, cause that's when I finally went back to sleep. Yes, back to sleep. I was so tired yesterday that I crashed early in the evening; about 5pm. It was much needed and appreciated sleep.

Today was the 60^th anniversary of India's independence from the British rule. It's a big holiday. There were people and families out in the parks playing and relaxing. It was nice to watch everyone mill about. The weather was great too, so I took advantage of the reduced traffic and nice weather and went for a bike ride. The ride was most excellent and the air wasn't too bad today. Every now and then I would peddle through a smelly spot, but overall it was very pleasant. Pleasant until I realized that I couldn't figure out how to get back home! Seriously, I couldn't. Don't tell anyone, but I had to stop and ask directions back to Sector 29. I knew my sector, but that was it.

Sectors over here are like little puzzle pieces; they are funny shaped and you really don't know where they fit in the whole puzzle until the end. The sectors over here aren't numbered sequentially either. Noooo, that would be too easy. I think they used a dart board to assign the numbers. Hang the map on the dart board and then throw a dart with a sector number attached. Where ever it sticks, that's what the sector will be named. I was ridding through sector 21 and then I popped out in sector 1! What! No street signs either. I think they get stolen or maybe they just don't exist. Anyway, I got lost. Peddled around for about 4 hours and finally found my way back. I finally saw a big building that I recognized in the distance and peddled for it. It was a fun ride though. I really didn't get worried; since I had plenty of daylight. There are little markets scattered all over the place. People selling all kinds of things. I peddled though quite a few.

So here is my tentative plan of attack for tomorrow. I say tentative cause I know how these things work over here. My plan is liable to go south, and probably will, but it's something to start with. In the morning, I shall go to the ops center, get my ID badge that they have been working on for the last 3 weeks, and get my copy of the FATA results. Then track someone down to talk about getting my bank card, and talk to the boss about a Visa letter for Jeannette. Catch a cab back to the hotel, pick up my stuff, and then go to the airport. In the states this would take about an hour; over here I'm planning till about noon. Maybe latter. Actually, I'll consider myself lucky if I'm on an airplane by 5pm tomorrow night.

I'm off to shower, eat and then pack. In that order too. Hope you guys are enjoying the winter weather over there. I miss the NW winters. Not much; just a little! Stay safe and I'll talk to you later taters.

Charge it, please.

Couple of the guys and I went on a tour of Delhi yesterday. It was very nice. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there are some clean and green parts of India. I've seen these mysterious places from pictures on the internet and television, but not in real life. So, it was good to have some first hand experience. One of the guys was able to rent a driver and a car for the day, 10am to 10pm, through his hotel. It only cost us 4000 total, not each. In Rupees of course, so about $30 per person. Not bad. I can swing that. Anyway, we had a good time.

The first stop was the Qutb Minar and ruins of the Quwwat-Ut-Islam Mosque. It was quite impressive. The Qutb Minar, the tallest stone tower in India, was built in 1199, stands 238 feet tall, and took 21 years to build. The remainder of the complex was started slightly earlier, but finished later. The walls and smaller structures were vandalized over the years for building supplies to construct other buildings.

Our next stop was the Lotus Temple. It's construction is similar to the Opera House in Sydney, Australia. We just walked around and didn't go inside. The line was a couple hours long, so we just observed the outside. OK, sorry, I have to reverse course for a second here. On the way to the Lotus Temple our driver decided that we should go to a “textile market” to just look around. OK. Not really knowing any better or having any choice in the matter, we drove around some dirt roads until we came to this old building. Hmm. Just one building? I thought this was a market? When we were herded inside, we were targeted and immediately latched on by an Indian salesman. I tell you what, those Indian salesmen are worse than any salesman in the States! We were ushered from one room to the next, and shown metal statues, fabric, jewelry, you name it. I realized, too late, that if you display any interest in anything they have, I was doing it to be nice, they will hound on you till you cave in! It's amazing how many different and creative ways they will suggest in order to get your money. I didn't cave, to their dismay and frustration, but it was brutal. Finally, after about :45 minutes there, we peeled ourselves away and went out the car. As we were leaving, out driver got a phone call, and I could tell that he wasn't too happy with it. I think it was from the shop we just left. Toward the end of the day, after our last tourist stop, our driver again suggested that we go into another one of these shops. He wouldn't even consider leaving until we did. It was almost a hostage scenario. I stepped in and then went right back out! It was the same set-up! I figured the little game out at that point. Our driver more than likely is making a cut from our purchases or it's family related somehow. Basically, they are just tourist traps and the little game is to get the tourist into the shop and pressure them to buy stuff. I think our driver gets a little cut from what we buy. Clever!

Anyway, after the Lotus Temple we went out to lunch and then tried to get to the Gate of India, but it was closed. Something to do with the security for the 60^th anniversary of their independence day. There were guards with AK-47's in little sandbag bunkers all over the city. I wanted to take a picture, but my common sense kicked in before I could do anything. I would probably be writing this from my State accommodated room had I clicked the shutter. So then we went to the tomb of Gandhi. That was pretty anti-climatic and packed with people, so we took off for the Red Fort.

The Red Fort is impressive! It just boggles my mind. I think of the little forts in the States that we visit and are all proud of, but this just blows my mind. It's huge! By the time we got the Red Fort, it was just about to close for the night. There was only an hour of visiting time left. My two friends, one being Philippino and the other Croatian, were of darker skin and were able to slip in unnoticed and without a ticket. However, yours truly, being of fair skin and the only person in the city wearing shorts, was stopped and asked for a ticket. Discrimination I say! Oh well, I wouldn't have had time anyway to really enjoy the inside, so I walked around the outside taking pictures, and having my picture taken, until my “friends” came back out. I plan on going back when I have more time. I imagine that I would need a good portion of the day to explore that fort.

Oh, another thing I forgot to mention. If and when you go to buy a ticket to get into these places, be ready for a little discrimination. Some places require a ticket, some don't. The Qutb Complexe and the Red Fort required a ticket, the other places didn't. Don't be surprised to see an “Indian” line and a “Foreigner” line for ticket purchasing. The Indian's pay about 10 Rupees for each ticket. However, the foreigners will pay just a little more; 250 Rupees per ticket! It's only $5, so it's not the end of the world. But the price difference is extremely common over here. Don't say that I didn't warn you.

It was really nice getting out and finally seeing a beautiful part of India. I felt relaxed and in a good mood all day. It recharged me a little bit, plus gave me some future incentive visit more of India. The area we stay in has just terrible in living conditions and really depresses me sometimes. We were also able to find were the metro train will drop you off in Delhi. The metro station is in a nice area and close to more tourist places. From my hotel I can walk about 15 minutes and then catch the metro into Delhi. I've been told that it only cost about 30 Rupees for the trip. Maybe more for foreigners though!

The sun goes up, then back down.

Most of my classes are done now. I'm just waiting for the approval from the DGCA (Director General of Civil Aviation) to fly now and then I can jump back into the saddle. There are a couple minor classes left to do that are to be scheduled later. A ditching class; jump in the water and swim around for a bit. A fire safety class; where we get to put out a fire, but not all the way or they will have to relight it! Then later, within 3 months, I have to take a written test called the Air Law Exam. So, I'm doing a little studying for that. Emphasis on little!

My motivation level has been rather low lately. Could be that I haven't been feeling well or that I'm just lonely and slightly depressed. Either way, I'm doing what I can to break out of my little rut. The antibiotics are kicking in and working nicely. My health issues are almost gone. Just a few more days and I should be back to normal. My bike has been pestering me to go out these last few days. I keep saying no, so he goes and pouts in the corner. Just stares out the window for hours at a time. I feel badly for him, but it's been smoggy and haven't wanted to aggravate my sinuses.

Went into New Delhi yesterday for a fitting of my blazer. Round trip was about 3 hours of driving and we spent all of 15 minutes in the shop getting measured. I was hoping to stay in town a bit and cruise around sightseeing, but the day wasn't the greatest. So we just came back. It was nice to visit another part of town. I'm hoping we can do a little more soon. It gets rather boring around here.

I've been doing more soul searching. This is surely the perfect time for it. All this free time with nothing to do, what an opportunity. C.S. Lewis and I have become good friends lately. There are a lot of conclusions that I have come to; some are new, some are just revisited The one that sticks out the most to me lately;

…....and the works of the Lord are for His Glory alone.

There are times when I forget this and attempt to take some of that glory for myself. Always ends in disaster for me. And then I wonder why! As I sit in my little hotel room looking out the window and listening to the most excellent album, Freedom, by Mr. Smith, I am reminded of the truly important realities of life. Our lives are so short and temporary, yet we rush around and waste it. In the grand scheme of things our lives are just puffs of wind; tiny wisps of smoke. But I think God has given us lives to be important and very valuable. We should consider our lives to be gifts and treasures to be used wisely. Be great ambassadors and representatives for the only person who really matters.

I miss all of you very much and can hardly wait to see you all again.