Hi all! Yes, I have been slacking in my blogging duties, but I'm going to use work as an excuse, as the past couple weeks have been very busy with universities being back in session already here in India and me/my team getting prepped for the start of the recruiting season. Plus, I honestly don't know what happens to the time between Fri evening and Mon morning--I think it's called a weekend! Those so called "weekends" seem to be flying by, and it would be one thing if I could say I was doing something really exciting, but watching your towels dry on the clothes line doesn't constitute exciting to me (maybe for the folks living in Arkansas).
Ok, call outs--
July 19th - CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Anthony and his new bride, Nadene, who tied the knot. Wish I could've been there!!
July 14-21 - I missed my family vacation this week -- they rented a house in the Outer Banks, NC and had a great time...I was part of it, kind of.
The past 3 weeks--
College campuses in India...and bathrooms -
Like I said, my excuse for not blogging sooner is because of the craziness at work and the start of recruiting season. This past week I had the opportunity to travel to 2 college campuses in India (NIT-Trichy and NIT-Warangal) to conduct presentations and interviews...and it was an experience.
It's tough to compare the campuses to those in the states because I think even the most poorly funded college/university, may have nicer facilities than these campuses, which is very sad considering the amazing students that I met. The students were great--and I don't think I've ever presented in front of such a polite and well dressed group of students.
Getting around to the different campuses is going to prove interesting--as my very first trip I took a flight to Chenai (1.5 hours) and then we had to drive 6 hours to the campus because there is only 1 flight/day to where we were going. And the roads aren't exactly "well-maintained"...and I really do think that India has something with speed bumps--like I think the person who invented speed bumps might be from India and he said he'd give money back to the country if they put a speed bump along the road every 10 feet, or in spots where it makes no sense to put a speed bump ;-). Those of you who know me, know that me and long distances in cars doesn't go well. I don't know if I'll ever get used what I see on a daily basis on the roads...
Very typical of what you'd see...car seat? Yeah right!!
Family of 4--not quite sure how the girl in the back is staying on.
My favorite to date...you wonder what that is in between the 2 guys?? It's a goat--a LIVE goat!! They even posed for me when I snapped the pic.
Looks like a pretty standard shower, right? Well, that's the view from the toilet--no separate area...the shower, shitter and sink all in the same little space.
India's National past time -- Cricket -
It's almost impossible to not be able to find a cricket match on tv at ANY hour of the day/night. Cricket is to India like baseball/football is to America, or like soccer is to Brazil...or like rice growing is to China--you get the point. Well, one of my goals that I set for myself when I came out here was that I was going to learn how to play cricket. If you ever watched it on tv, it's not super exciting and it looks like a guy running back and forth while a bunch of other guys stand around waiting for the ball to be hit to him. Yes, that sounds just like baseball, but at least in baseball the person is running in a diamond and not just back and forth ;-). Anyway, I had the chance to play cricket a couple weekends ago with some of my work colleagues and it was a good time. I still didn't know really what the hell was going on, but my co-workers were really good sports about it--and didn't make fun of me too much for holding the cricket stick like a baseball bat. I can tell you that the next 3 days I could hardly lift my arms b/c I was so sore. Looking forward to playing again...and learning a bit more about the rules.
This is the cricket field on Microsoft's campus.
The next Arnold Palmer -
While we're on the topic of sports, I thought I'd share a couple pics of the golf course/country club I joined 2 weekends ago. It's called Boulder Hills Country Club and is the nicest course in Hyderabad (there's only 2). It is a nice course--very difficult, and I'll definitely be asking my dad to send me some used golf balls from his course. In addition, they have a really nice pool and gym that I can use free as a member...and 35% off all food/drink in the restaurant/bar, which means that instead of beers being $1, they're only .65 -- yeah!!! I'm always saying that there's no place in India/Hyderabad that I can go where there aren't crowds, or people, well, I should've visited the golf course before making that statement. With a population of 6.8 million people in Hyderabad, I found a place that has a total membership of 215 people--NICE!! It is so nice to go out on the cart and have the whole course to myself on Sunday mornings.
Those buildings in the background of the course is my apt. complex, so not too far from the course at all!
Ever wonder what you'd do if you were trapped in an elevator? -
Well, I have often wondered that and it wasn't until this past week that I discovered that answer. We have been having some really rainy weather and some pretty big storms, as it is monsoon season here in India. I've gotten used to the scheduled power outtages that occur every day between 10-11:30am and 3-4:30pm, so now I don't get upset if I'm watching a movie and power goes out at 10:01. I'm just happy that I know the schedule and the power outtages are one thing in India that happen on time w/o fail. Well, knowing how frequently the power goes out, I had asked when I first moved into this building, "what about the elevators--does the power go out in the elevators as well?". I was told that they have a separate backup generator, so that's not an issue.
I'm forewarning all of you back in the states--don't take it personally when you tell me something and I question it, or don't believe you at all...the one thing that I've learned so far, don't believe almost anything that you hear b/c chances are they don't know and so they make something up OR they just don't understand you and shake their head. Sidetracked...ok, back to the story, which I'm guessing you figured out by the title of this section. Yes, I got stuck in the elevator! There are 2 elevators in the building and before this happened, I had never seen either of them out of order or effected by power outtages. This day happened to be particularly bad weather and LOTS of rain and high winds. So I get in the elevator on the basement level and I live on the 9th floor and the elevator starts up and then just after passing the 3rd floor, it stops. I thought that someone was getting on at the 4th floor, but it didn't move. I wait a minute and nothing happens, so I start pressing buttons and nothing lights up and it's just dead silent, so I figure the power for the elevators died and it's only going to be a minute or two before the generator kicks in and I start moving again--nope.
There's no phone in the elevator, which probably wouldn't have mattered b/c it would've been my luck that whoever was on the other end of the phone didn't speak English anyway. There was an emergency switch, which when flicked on a really loud bell sounds. Well, I flick it on and after about 5 seconds of hearing that bell, I shut it off. Next I look around for the hatch to get out of the elevator and find it smack dab in the middle of the ceiling of the elevator. I consider for maybe 1.5 seconds about trying to stand on one of the railings in the elevator and push the hatch open and then try to reach for opening and pull myself up. Like I said, that only flashed through my head for about 1.5 seconds...then I looked at the hatch again and a couple thoughts went through my head:
1) I wish I would've taken the damn stairs
2) Even if I did get the hatch open and manage to grab one of the sides of the openings, I honestly don't think I could've pulled myself up (I've got terrible upper body strength--remember my story about playing cricket and being sore for three days...that was just from swinging a fucking stick!)
3) I looked more closely at the hatch/opening and had serious doubts about whether I'd be able to fit my ass through there...and all I pictured was Whinnie the Pool stuck in the tree hole reaching for honey
4) If I would take the damn stairs more, I probably wouldn't have to worry about #2 or #3
So I did what I think any one of you would've done in this situation, I found a comfortable corner of the elevator, pulled out my Kindle (reading Game of Thrones by the way--great series) and started reading. Occassionally I would walk over to the emergency switch and flick it back and forth trying to signal S.O.S. in morse code, which I have no frickin idea how to do, so then I started trying to play Happy Birthday using the emergency bell. About 16 minutes later (not that I was keeping track), the power went back on and I got off at the 9th floor and that was that. Yeah, I know, a smart person probably would've pressed 4 or 5 and gotten off as soon as possible, but all that thinking about climbing out of the hatch drained my energy ;-). I did take the stairs down the next day and asked security what happened and was told that the backup generator went down b/c a tree fell on it and temporarily disabled it. No worries--I'm safe and sound, and I think I could've survived at least for a few hours in there b/c I had a bottle of water, a bag of Skittles and a Snicker's bar (hmmm, the type of food that I had on me could also played into why I ruled out #2 and #3 above). I can look back now and laugh, but now whenever there is heavy rain, you better believe I'll be taking the stairs...or at least taking the stairs part way up and the elevator the rest of way ;-).
The infamous elevator.
And proof that it does rain here.
Random Scary Pic... -
...on the side of a Pepsi machine in the Delhi airport. I want to know who on the marketing team for Pepsi thought that this was a good picture to put on the side of a Pepsi machine. Well, I guess it did serve the purpose of me noticing it!
Great Finds
- SoyMilk of every variety and flavor
- Key combo I've found so far...Strawbery Soy Milk and Special K berries!
Deep-ak Thoughts by Keith
- "Why walk when you can drive/ride?" -- whoever coined this phrase has never been stuck in an elevator...come to think of it, maybe it's not a common phrase and just something I always said.
- Is morse code the same regardless of language??
Thanks for reading all and hope all is well!
K-
Ok, call outs--
July 19th - CONGRATULATIONS to my cousin Anthony and his new bride, Nadene, who tied the knot. Wish I could've been there!!
July 14-21 - I missed my family vacation this week -- they rented a house in the Outer Banks, NC and had a great time...I was part of it, kind of.
The past 3 weeks--
College campuses in India...and bathrooms -
Like I said, my excuse for not blogging sooner is because of the craziness at work and the start of recruiting season. This past week I had the opportunity to travel to 2 college campuses in India (NIT-Trichy and NIT-Warangal) to conduct presentations and interviews...and it was an experience.
It's tough to compare the campuses to those in the states because I think even the most poorly funded college/university, may have nicer facilities than these campuses, which is very sad considering the amazing students that I met. The students were great--and I don't think I've ever presented in front of such a polite and well dressed group of students.
Getting around to the different campuses is going to prove interesting--as my very first trip I took a flight to Chenai (1.5 hours) and then we had to drive 6 hours to the campus because there is only 1 flight/day to where we were going. And the roads aren't exactly "well-maintained"...and I really do think that India has something with speed bumps--like I think the person who invented speed bumps might be from India and he said he'd give money back to the country if they put a speed bump along the road every 10 feet, or in spots where it makes no sense to put a speed bump ;-). Those of you who know me, know that me and long distances in cars doesn't go well. I don't know if I'll ever get used what I see on a daily basis on the roads...
Family of 4--not quite sure how the girl in the back is staying on.
My favorite to date...you wonder what that is in between the 2 guys?? It's a goat--a LIVE goat!! They even posed for me when I snapped the pic.
You know I couldn't go a whole blog with out talking about a bathroom, or including a picture of one. Well, if you recall from one of my first blogs where I mentioned I had heard of places that don't have 'western toilets', but only a hole in the ground, or a ceramic circle on the floor with a hole in it...well, I experienced my first non-toilet bathroom. Unfortunately it was at one of the schools and I really needed a toilet if you catch my drift. I also found that most of the bathrooms I used didn't have toilet paper, in fact, they had nothing that could be used as a substitute for t.p., so I'm just really glad that I was traveling everywhere with travel-size flushable wipes (awesome invention).
Looks like a pretty standard shower, right? Well, that's the view from the toilet--no separate area...the shower, shitter and sink all in the same little space.India's National past time -- Cricket -
It's almost impossible to not be able to find a cricket match on tv at ANY hour of the day/night. Cricket is to India like baseball/football is to America, or like soccer is to Brazil...or like rice growing is to China--you get the point. Well, one of my goals that I set for myself when I came out here was that I was going to learn how to play cricket. If you ever watched it on tv, it's not super exciting and it looks like a guy running back and forth while a bunch of other guys stand around waiting for the ball to be hit to him. Yes, that sounds just like baseball, but at least in baseball the person is running in a diamond and not just back and forth ;-). Anyway, I had the chance to play cricket a couple weekends ago with some of my work colleagues and it was a good time. I still didn't know really what the hell was going on, but my co-workers were really good sports about it--and didn't make fun of me too much for holding the cricket stick like a baseball bat. I can tell you that the next 3 days I could hardly lift my arms b/c I was so sore. Looking forward to playing again...and learning a bit more about the rules.
The next Arnold Palmer -
While we're on the topic of sports, I thought I'd share a couple pics of the golf course/country club I joined 2 weekends ago. It's called Boulder Hills Country Club and is the nicest course in Hyderabad (there's only 2). It is a nice course--very difficult, and I'll definitely be asking my dad to send me some used golf balls from his course. In addition, they have a really nice pool and gym that I can use free as a member...and 35% off all food/drink in the restaurant/bar, which means that instead of beers being $1, they're only .65 -- yeah!!! I'm always saying that there's no place in India/Hyderabad that I can go where there aren't crowds, or people, well, I should've visited the golf course before making that statement. With a population of 6.8 million people in Hyderabad, I found a place that has a total membership of 215 people--NICE!! It is so nice to go out on the cart and have the whole course to myself on Sunday mornings.
Those buildings in the background of the course is my apt. complex, so not too far from the course at all!
PLENTY of rocks/boulders for a ball to bounce off of...by the end of my time here, I'll have figured out how to use the rocks to my benefit ;-).
Ever wonder what you'd do if you were trapped in an elevator? -
Well, I have often wondered that and it wasn't until this past week that I discovered that answer. We have been having some really rainy weather and some pretty big storms, as it is monsoon season here in India. I've gotten used to the scheduled power outtages that occur every day between 10-11:30am and 3-4:30pm, so now I don't get upset if I'm watching a movie and power goes out at 10:01. I'm just happy that I know the schedule and the power outtages are one thing in India that happen on time w/o fail. Well, knowing how frequently the power goes out, I had asked when I first moved into this building, "what about the elevators--does the power go out in the elevators as well?". I was told that they have a separate backup generator, so that's not an issue.
I'm forewarning all of you back in the states--don't take it personally when you tell me something and I question it, or don't believe you at all...the one thing that I've learned so far, don't believe almost anything that you hear b/c chances are they don't know and so they make something up OR they just don't understand you and shake their head. Sidetracked...ok, back to the story, which I'm guessing you figured out by the title of this section. Yes, I got stuck in the elevator! There are 2 elevators in the building and before this happened, I had never seen either of them out of order or effected by power outtages. This day happened to be particularly bad weather and LOTS of rain and high winds. So I get in the elevator on the basement level and I live on the 9th floor and the elevator starts up and then just after passing the 3rd floor, it stops. I thought that someone was getting on at the 4th floor, but it didn't move. I wait a minute and nothing happens, so I start pressing buttons and nothing lights up and it's just dead silent, so I figure the power for the elevators died and it's only going to be a minute or two before the generator kicks in and I start moving again--nope.
There's no phone in the elevator, which probably wouldn't have mattered b/c it would've been my luck that whoever was on the other end of the phone didn't speak English anyway. There was an emergency switch, which when flicked on a really loud bell sounds. Well, I flick it on and after about 5 seconds of hearing that bell, I shut it off. Next I look around for the hatch to get out of the elevator and find it smack dab in the middle of the ceiling of the elevator. I consider for maybe 1.5 seconds about trying to stand on one of the railings in the elevator and push the hatch open and then try to reach for opening and pull myself up. Like I said, that only flashed through my head for about 1.5 seconds...then I looked at the hatch again and a couple thoughts went through my head:
1) I wish I would've taken the damn stairs
2) Even if I did get the hatch open and manage to grab one of the sides of the openings, I honestly don't think I could've pulled myself up (I've got terrible upper body strength--remember my story about playing cricket and being sore for three days...that was just from swinging a fucking stick!)
3) I looked more closely at the hatch/opening and had serious doubts about whether I'd be able to fit my ass through there...and all I pictured was Whinnie the Pool stuck in the tree hole reaching for honey
4) If I would take the damn stairs more, I probably wouldn't have to worry about #2 or #3
So I did what I think any one of you would've done in this situation, I found a comfortable corner of the elevator, pulled out my Kindle (reading Game of Thrones by the way--great series) and started reading. Occassionally I would walk over to the emergency switch and flick it back and forth trying to signal S.O.S. in morse code, which I have no frickin idea how to do, so then I started trying to play Happy Birthday using the emergency bell. About 16 minutes later (not that I was keeping track), the power went back on and I got off at the 9th floor and that was that. Yeah, I know, a smart person probably would've pressed 4 or 5 and gotten off as soon as possible, but all that thinking about climbing out of the hatch drained my energy ;-). I did take the stairs down the next day and asked security what happened and was told that the backup generator went down b/c a tree fell on it and temporarily disabled it. No worries--I'm safe and sound, and I think I could've survived at least for a few hours in there b/c I had a bottle of water, a bag of Skittles and a Snicker's bar (hmmm, the type of food that I had on me could also played into why I ruled out #2 and #3 above). I can look back now and laugh, but now whenever there is heavy rain, you better believe I'll be taking the stairs...or at least taking the stairs part way up and the elevator the rest of way ;-).
The infamous elevator.
And proof that it does rain here....on the side of a Pepsi machine in the Delhi airport. I want to know who on the marketing team for Pepsi thought that this was a good picture to put on the side of a Pepsi machine. Well, I guess it did serve the purpose of me noticing it!
Great Finds
- SoyMilk of every variety and flavor
Deep-ak Thoughts by Keith
- "Why walk when you can drive/ride?" -- whoever coined this phrase has never been stuck in an elevator...come to think of it, maybe it's not a common phrase and just something I always said.
- Is morse code the same regardless of language??
Thanks for reading all and hope all is well!
K-
