The WackyTravels of Heather and Bob

We’re in Australia!

Bob — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:36:49 +0000

We took the 14 hour flight out of SFO last night in style, 1st class! The flight was great, we slept the majority of it and relaxed the rest of it. We landed around 6:30AM in Sydney and then found our way over to the domestic terminal to hop up to Brisbane. The rental car we got was from this company that’s definitely not a huge multi-national. You take a shuttle for some parking lot to a parking lot, and then they have a handful of rental cars there. We hopped in to our slick Hyundai something-or-other and quickly noticed that the prior renters had definitely been purchasing rental insurance. The power steering pump is definitely on its last legs and somebody has hit a curb or two at speed (it pulls to the left). The brake rotors are warped bad enough that the car feels horrendous under braking. It’s nice

The hotel is pretty darn nice. We’re right on the beach and there are good size waves breaking just off the shore. The water is a pretty light blue and well, it feels a bit like Florida. Except that it’s kinda cold (it is winter) and not humid.

Back in Bangalore

Bob — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:48:14 +0000

I’m back in Bangalore. It was my idea; but the project (different from when I was here last time) needed it. So here I am. I bought tickets on Friday and flew on the following Tuesday. After burning a few miles for an upgrade I got to experience United’s new business class. Wow. These guys have turned their lackluster pile of crap business class seats into something really, really nice. Fully lie-flat seats, 110V power plugs, 15″ TV with on-demand. They even have RJ45 plugs in the seat, can’t wait until these are enabled. It’s a nice setup for long haul flights and, finally, it makes Lufthansa’s business class look like crap. Dig it. The hotel I’m staying at this time pales in comparison to the hotel I’ve managed to stay at in the past. It’s nice but its not 5-star nice. Check out the view from my room. If you’re curious this is the Ista Hotel, Bangalore.

We’re like, done

Bob — Fri, 23 May 2008 16:55:52 +0000

Today was my last day in the office here in Bangalore. I finished the year off with a phone conference in the morning, 4 interviews, the debrief from the interviews, an exit interview of sorts with the boss, a going away celebration and final chats with 3 of my colleagues. What a day. But now, its all over. Days shy of 1 year in India and weeks shy of a complete 18 months out of the country we’re all set to return to the good ol’ United States. We fly out of Bangalore’s brand new airport on Sunday evening and land at SFO in the middle of Monday, May 26. We can hardly wait to see you all! What a wacky set of travels.

Howto: Mop without using a bucket

Bob — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 03:21:50 +0000

Step 1: Flush toilet
Step 2: Insert mop into toilet
Step 3: Flush toilet so as to rinse off the mop
Step 4: Mop the floor

I couldn’t make this up. The guy that’s out there mopping the floors right now here in the building is using this technique. +2 points for efficiency.

Pictures

Bob — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:14:39 +0000

There are a few more pictures from these buried in blog posts, but these are all of the image galleries I’ve posted since I’ve been here. Enjoy.

Kumarakom, Kerala, India
Mysore, Karnataka, India
Sweden and Ireland
Ooty, Tamil Nadu, India
Tokyo, Japan
Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India
South Indian Hindu Wedding, Bangalore, Karanata, India
Favorite pictures from throughout Ukraine

Protesting in India

Bob — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:18:18 +0000

It seems that every few weeks some organization is going on strike. The auto rickshaw drivers went on strike so that they could raise their prices. The truck drivers (and then they got support from taxi drivers too) went on strike to protest the details (mostly who pays for them) of having speed governors installed in their vehicles. Supposedly any truck or taxi drivers caught driving when they should have been striking were being stopped by protestors and having their tires slashed. So much for the teachings of Gandhi. Imagine what this did for traffic. The airport workers threatened to strike once and then supposedly did strike (I wasn’t flying, didn’t pay attention) because they’re closing down the existing airport in favor of a new airport that is ~25KM away (1.5hr drive). Yes, you understood that correctly, this group of employees is striking because they’re mad that they’re losing their jobs (or are unwilling to relocate, I’m not sure which)

Today some organization near my house is striking. I have no idea who they are or what they care about or even where exactly they are. But I called Pizza Hut (the same crappy Pizza Hut from the US, though here it’s the best pizza around) this evening for my semi-monthly pizza delivery and when I answered the unusual question of “where do you stay” (instead of what’s your phone number) I was told that they could not deliver pizza to my location tonight.

Being a stubborn American living in India being told I can’t have something delivered to me does not compute. “Why?” I asked. “Sir, there is a group striking in whitefield, it is not safe for our drivers to come to your location.” So I ask “why” many more times getting basically the same answer. When any normal customer would have hung up the phone by now I politely asked to speak the manager. The manager gets on the phone having audibly been briefed on my situation by the guy that answered the phone: “Sir, we cannot deliver to your residence because there are riots in the area, it is not safe for our drivers to come to your place because they may stop our drivers or set the vehicle on fire.”

On fire. On fire? On fire?! The funny thing is that I believe him. I bet these goons did light something on fire this evening.

There are two ways to get to my house from pizza hut. One is shorter than the other and definitely the preferred route to take for the pizza hut delivery boys. This is apparently where the strike/riots are.

“I just came home on airport road and I didn’t see any strike.”

“Yes sir, but from ITPL we come the other way and there it is not safe.”

“Well why don’t you go the other way, down near Brookefield and then up airport road.”

mumble grumble, grumble mumble.

“You know I order pizza from you guys once a week, you’re interrupting my pizza schedule.”

“Ok, sir. Let me call you back in 2 minutes. I sent some of my guys over there to check things out about an hour ago but they haven’t called back yet. Let me contact them and I’ll call you back in 2 minutes.”

laughingly “ok.”

5 minutes later, ring ring. “Sir, this is Ravi from Pizza Hut I’m calling to let you know we can take your order now.”

Schaweeeet.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Bob — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 08:56:50 +0000

Our original expat assignment was to be from Feb 12, 2007 to May 22 in Ukraine and then from June 12, 2007 to June 12, 2008 in India. As you surely know, it’s now March, 2008. For the past ~6 weeks there have been talks of us extending our assignment by an additional 9 months. This would put us home in March 2009. 2 whole years outside of the US. So we’ve been mulling this over for some time now. Chances are good I’ve even talked to you (yes you!) about this very decision. So what did we decide? Or have we even decided?

Did that more link make you feel like you just watched the season finale of your favorite sitcom and you had to wait an eternity to know what happens next! I hope so

We’re coming home at the end of May, 2008!

That’s right, we’re coming home ever so slightly early because our Indian visas expire on June 4th and there’s no sense in going through the painful renewal process if we’re just going to leave permanently a few days later. After that we have 30 days of a company-sponsored hotel room to find a real place to live. And then. Ha. And then! A housewarming party like no other.

We’re excited and we hope you are too. See you all soon.

Join us in Glasgow

Bob — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:18:47 +0000

On a whim we’ve decided that we’re going to Glasgow, Scotland on April 19 to see KT Tunstall perform. Crazy talk. We’d love it if some of our old pals met us out there for the show. By my travel standards it’s a pretty quick flight out there from CA. So do it. What else are you going to do that weekend?

Find the pictures you laughed at a little bit easier

Bob — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:37:52 +0000

There’s a new link at the top of the site labeled “Pictures.” Clicking that shows links to all of the little slideshows I’ve posted on here so far. I think. So have fun and happy picture looking.

Pictures

Bob — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:00:57 +0000

There are a few more pictures from these buried in blog posts, but these are all of the image galleries I’ve posted since I’ve been here. Enjoy.