Here I am in the US of A an amazing country I should say. The most I love about this country are the roads; they are simply awesome. They have these freeways everywhere. Most of the city roads have 4/6 lanes, while the inter states have 8 or more lanes. We hardly have such roads in India.
Its damn cold here, the day I landed it was –9 C. You don’t see anybody out on the roads; it’s rather too difficult to stand out in the open for more than a minute, the cold breeze makes you go numb. Everybody stays indoors. You don’t feel all that cold indoors; every place here is temperature controlled, even the cars.
Doesn’t look like I’m going to have much fun out here.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Sunday, February 12, 2006
First Flight
I always had this thing about going abroad, at least once. I even requested for an overseas assignment, but I never thought that it would come so soon. Finally I got this opportunity; my new manager wanted me to fly down to Modern Engineering at Rochester, Michigan. Although a short visit for three weeks, I took it in my stride, you know something is always better than nothing.
Though excited, I was nervous too, when you do things for the first time you are bound to be nervous. Finally the big day arrives, Friday 11th of Feb 2006. My flight was scheduled for Saturday 12th Feb 2006, 3:25 AM. The airline being Lufthansa would be taking me to Frankfurt from where I would be taking a connecting flight to Detroit.
At 10:30 PM, I was all set to leave for the Mumbai International Airport, my travel desk asked me to check-in 4 hours before the scheduled time, and so I had to be there by 11:30 PM. My parents came down to drop me at the airport, so did Sameer and Rupesh, I asked them no to, but since it being my first flight they insisted on it. Well I forgot to mention that I had never traveled by air. Many things happen in life for the first time, and this is one of them.
So I arrived at the airport well on time, like a first timer who doesn't want to make mistakes the first time. Sameer and Rupesh were running late, since being my first time and they taking an effort to meet me before flying, I decided that I'll wait for them. They came in at around 12:15, I bid them farewell, Nirmal took a picture of us and Sameer took a family picture. Now I was all set to leave for the US.
Taking my best foot forward, I entered the Airport, first got my baggage scanned, then moved to the Lufthansa counter to get my boarding pass, then came in the immigration formalities and finally the last security check where they scanned me and my cabin baggage. After all the formalities being done, I call my dad and asked them to go home. It was only 1:25 AM when all my formalities were completed; the boarding would start only at 2:55 AM.
My departure was supposed to be at Gate 7, so I took a seat in the waiting area at Gate 7, right in front of the TV watching news, where I got to know that that they changed the Gate to 6. So now I came down to the Gate 6 waiting area. Nothing to do, I was just looking at people out there, there were so many people from different walks of life. Here I saw a guy, who looked familiar; I was wondering where I saw him, when I suddenly remembered that he was at the travel desk yesterday. He was looking for a seat, a seat next to me was vacant, so he came down and sat next to me, we talked for sometime and then an announcement for boarding was made. Finally the time arrived.
Lufthansa had a different guidelines on boarding, they first boarded people who needed special assistance i.e. the people on wheel chairs, then the families with small kids/infants, then the first and business class and finally the people like me in the economy class. Even in the economy class they had zones, the people with window seats boarded first and then came in the people with seats on the isles. Since I had asked for the window, I got in first in the economy section.
This was the first time I was boarding a flight and that too a Boeing 747 - 400, boy it was huge; I guess it had almost 10 seats in a row. After everybody got in, we got the safety instructions. Only then the flight took off. Not to forget the Lufthansa Air Hostesses were simply amazing. The one at my side was the best of them all. I just couldn't stop looking at her, she was tall, svelte and to top it all gorgeous. I did not get to know her name. They did have tags, but trying to read her name, would mean ogling her tits, so I just kept away from reading the tag.
I wanted to have a look at the take off, but unfortunately it was dark and my seat was right over the left wing.
When we finally lifted off, it was an amazing feeling, you have some kind of movement in the belly, but once in the air, it was stable. In a short time we were at 36000 ft above the ground, voila! I was in the air.
By now I was too tired and badly needed sleep, so decided to take a nap. After a couple of hours when I woke up we were already over Europe. They were playing a Bollywood flick "No Entry", even though I had seen it a couple of times before, I watched it, as I had nothing else to do. Shortly breakfast was served and then after some time we finally reached Frankfurt. I was about to experience my first landing.
The aircraft started descending rapidly, it starts passing through the clouds and now you see the land underneath. The wings start expanding, providing more surface area, I guess to keep the aircraft stable for flying at lower altitudes. And suddenly we are on land. A slight jerk and you feel the aircraft moving on the runway. After some taxing we are at the terminal and here I was in Frankfurt.
Boy! Frankfurt Airport was huge, I guess it must have had around 100 gates, but scarce of seating area. After 8 hours of flying I had to sit here for 5 hours for my next flight to Detroit. It’s so boring hanging around at one place for 5 hours. I freshened up and started to look out for a place to rest my butt on, but couldn't find one. All the seats were taken, so I thought I'll just hang around, do some window shopping. I started checking out Swiss watches, liquor shops, designer brands and every other thing available at the Airport and like a true first timer started converting all the price tags to INR, when I discovered that this stuff is so damn expensive. It’s such a pity for people like us who belong to a developing economy and go to countries, which are economically strong. You get everything on earth here, but it’s so damn expensive. After a couple of rounds at the duty free stores, I badly need to put my ass to rest, so decided to sit on the floor, well I wasn't the only one doing that, there were many. After some time, finally I got a vacant seat but there were only a few minutes left for boarding.
Shortly an announcement was made, I cleared the security check and went ahead for boarding. After a small drive through a bus and we made it to the Aircraft. This one was an Airbus A330-300, smaller as compared to the Boeing 747-400 which I took from Bombay. A take-off once again and am at 36000 ft in the air. This time I did not have the best of the Airhostesses; pity there was a flight steward serving at my side. A notable difference in this flight was that the service was much better; we got a drink at almost every hour. I took my small naps and after 8 hours we landed at Detroit.
The Detroit Airport was amazing; I simply couldn't believe the whole Airport being carpeted. Though smaller than the Frankfurt Airport, it was good. After the immigration clearance and security check, I came down to the waiting area where my colleagues where there to receive me.
Here I was, in the US, the very place where many of us dream of coming to. Hope I make the best of it.
Though excited, I was nervous too, when you do things for the first time you are bound to be nervous. Finally the big day arrives, Friday 11th of Feb 2006. My flight was scheduled for Saturday 12th Feb 2006, 3:25 AM. The airline being Lufthansa would be taking me to Frankfurt from where I would be taking a connecting flight to Detroit.
At 10:30 PM, I was all set to leave for the Mumbai International Airport, my travel desk asked me to check-in 4 hours before the scheduled time, and so I had to be there by 11:30 PM. My parents came down to drop me at the airport, so did Sameer and Rupesh, I asked them no to, but since it being my first flight they insisted on it. Well I forgot to mention that I had never traveled by air. Many things happen in life for the first time, and this is one of them.
So I arrived at the airport well on time, like a first timer who doesn't want to make mistakes the first time. Sameer and Rupesh were running late, since being my first time and they taking an effort to meet me before flying, I decided that I'll wait for them. They came in at around 12:15, I bid them farewell, Nirmal took a picture of us and Sameer took a family picture. Now I was all set to leave for the US.
Taking my best foot forward, I entered the Airport, first got my baggage scanned, then moved to the Lufthansa counter to get my boarding pass, then came in the immigration formalities and finally the last security check where they scanned me and my cabin baggage. After all the formalities being done, I call my dad and asked them to go home. It was only 1:25 AM when all my formalities were completed; the boarding would start only at 2:55 AM.
My departure was supposed to be at Gate 7, so I took a seat in the waiting area at Gate 7, right in front of the TV watching news, where I got to know that that they changed the Gate to 6. So now I came down to the Gate 6 waiting area. Nothing to do, I was just looking at people out there, there were so many people from different walks of life. Here I saw a guy, who looked familiar; I was wondering where I saw him, when I suddenly remembered that he was at the travel desk yesterday. He was looking for a seat, a seat next to me was vacant, so he came down and sat next to me, we talked for sometime and then an announcement for boarding was made. Finally the time arrived.
Lufthansa had a different guidelines on boarding, they first boarded people who needed special assistance i.e. the people on wheel chairs, then the families with small kids/infants, then the first and business class and finally the people like me in the economy class. Even in the economy class they had zones, the people with window seats boarded first and then came in the people with seats on the isles. Since I had asked for the window, I got in first in the economy section.
This was the first time I was boarding a flight and that too a Boeing 747 - 400, boy it was huge; I guess it had almost 10 seats in a row. After everybody got in, we got the safety instructions. Only then the flight took off. Not to forget the Lufthansa Air Hostesses were simply amazing. The one at my side was the best of them all. I just couldn't stop looking at her, she was tall, svelte and to top it all gorgeous. I did not get to know her name. They did have tags, but trying to read her name, would mean ogling her tits, so I just kept away from reading the tag.
I wanted to have a look at the take off, but unfortunately it was dark and my seat was right over the left wing.
When we finally lifted off, it was an amazing feeling, you have some kind of movement in the belly, but once in the air, it was stable. In a short time we were at 36000 ft above the ground, voila! I was in the air.
By now I was too tired and badly needed sleep, so decided to take a nap. After a couple of hours when I woke up we were already over Europe. They were playing a Bollywood flick "No Entry", even though I had seen it a couple of times before, I watched it, as I had nothing else to do. Shortly breakfast was served and then after some time we finally reached Frankfurt. I was about to experience my first landing.
The aircraft started descending rapidly, it starts passing through the clouds and now you see the land underneath. The wings start expanding, providing more surface area, I guess to keep the aircraft stable for flying at lower altitudes. And suddenly we are on land. A slight jerk and you feel the aircraft moving on the runway. After some taxing we are at the terminal and here I was in Frankfurt.
Boy! Frankfurt Airport was huge, I guess it must have had around 100 gates, but scarce of seating area. After 8 hours of flying I had to sit here for 5 hours for my next flight to Detroit. It’s so boring hanging around at one place for 5 hours. I freshened up and started to look out for a place to rest my butt on, but couldn't find one. All the seats were taken, so I thought I'll just hang around, do some window shopping. I started checking out Swiss watches, liquor shops, designer brands and every other thing available at the Airport and like a true first timer started converting all the price tags to INR, when I discovered that this stuff is so damn expensive. It’s such a pity for people like us who belong to a developing economy and go to countries, which are economically strong. You get everything on earth here, but it’s so damn expensive. After a couple of rounds at the duty free stores, I badly need to put my ass to rest, so decided to sit on the floor, well I wasn't the only one doing that, there were many. After some time, finally I got a vacant seat but there were only a few minutes left for boarding.
Shortly an announcement was made, I cleared the security check and went ahead for boarding. After a small drive through a bus and we made it to the Aircraft. This one was an Airbus A330-300, smaller as compared to the Boeing 747-400 which I took from Bombay. A take-off once again and am at 36000 ft in the air. This time I did not have the best of the Airhostesses; pity there was a flight steward serving at my side. A notable difference in this flight was that the service was much better; we got a drink at almost every hour. I took my small naps and after 8 hours we landed at Detroit.
The Detroit Airport was amazing; I simply couldn't believe the whole Airport being carpeted. Though smaller than the Frankfurt Airport, it was good. After the immigration clearance and security check, I came down to the waiting area where my colleagues where there to receive me.
Here I was, in the US, the very place where many of us dream of coming to. Hope I make the best of it.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
आणि मराठीत् सुद्धा...!!!
माझ्या मराठी मित्रान्ना सुद्धा हर्दीक् शुभॆछा
अमाला(रियाझला) कॊटी कॊटी धन्यवाद्, मला मराठीत् लिह्न्याची माहीती दिल्या बद्दल्.
अमाला(रियाझला) कॊटी कॊटी धन्यवाद्, मला मराठीत् लिह्न्याची माहीती दिल्या बद्दल्.
अब् हिन्दी मॆ भी...!!!
नमश्कार् दॊस्तॊ, अपनी राश्त्र भाषा मे ब्लॊग् लिख्नॆ का अलग् हि मझा है.
अमा(रियाझ्) कॊ कॊटी कॊटी धन्यवाद्, मुझॆ हिन्दी मॆ लिख्नॆ कि जानकारी दॆनॆ कॆ लियॆ.
अमा(रियाझ्) कॊ कॊटी कॊटी धन्यवाद्, मुझॆ हिन्दी मॆ लिख्नॆ कि जानकारी दॆनॆ कॆ लियॆ.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Height of selfishness
We(myself and Amit) were waiting for Sandy(Sandeep) and Mangal(Rajesh Mangal) right opposite Pizza Hut. We were meeting Mangal almost after a year, he had come down from the US around a week back, so decided to have a small celebration.
We were just discussing about the brand new Honda City parked next to Amit's bike at the Pizza Hut parking. After sometime a WagonR arrives at the Pizza Hut parking, it being driven by a partially bald middle aged guy(baldy henceforth). He manages to find a parking space just between Amit's bike and the Honda, but the space is a bit too small for baldy's WagonR to fit in. Baldy tries a few maneuvers but fails to place his car in that space, but he does not want to give up. Noticing the act, the owner(NRI henceforth, judged it from his accent) of the Honda arrives to confront baldy. NRI is damn pissed looking at baldy's maneuvers, he's shit scared about his brand new car being scratched. He tries to convince baldy that there isn't enough room for his car to fit in, but nothing on earth can convince baldy. In fact NRI notices that even if the baldy manages to fit his car in, it would be impossible for him to get out, as there's not enough space to open the door, which he explains to baldy, but in vain, baldy just cannot convinced.
Out of frustration NRI decides that if baldy has to park his vehicle here, he would take his Honda out and park it elsewhere, but baldy is not at all moved. Baldy points to Amit's bike and asks us if the bike was ours and if we could move it.
Now baldy was really getting on my nerves. I pointed out at a few empty parking spaces opposite Ozone and suggested that he park his vehicle there, again in vain. Finally Amit decided that he should be moving his bike out and settle the situation. We pulled Amit's bike out of the parking and baldy happily parked his WagonR there. He came out of his car and thanked us. A volcano was almost about to erupt, but then why spoil my evening for this asshole, I decided not to utter a word. Baldy happily went away and so did the NRI with a disgruntled look on his face.
And so did we, amazed at how selfish people could be.
We were just discussing about the brand new Honda City parked next to Amit's bike at the Pizza Hut parking. After sometime a WagonR arrives at the Pizza Hut parking, it being driven by a partially bald middle aged guy(baldy henceforth). He manages to find a parking space just between Amit's bike and the Honda, but the space is a bit too small for baldy's WagonR to fit in. Baldy tries a few maneuvers but fails to place his car in that space, but he does not want to give up. Noticing the act, the owner(NRI henceforth, judged it from his accent) of the Honda arrives to confront baldy. NRI is damn pissed looking at baldy's maneuvers, he's shit scared about his brand new car being scratched. He tries to convince baldy that there isn't enough room for his car to fit in, but nothing on earth can convince baldy. In fact NRI notices that even if the baldy manages to fit his car in, it would be impossible for him to get out, as there's not enough space to open the door, which he explains to baldy, but in vain, baldy just cannot convinced.
Out of frustration NRI decides that if baldy has to park his vehicle here, he would take his Honda out and park it elsewhere, but baldy is not at all moved. Baldy points to Amit's bike and asks us if the bike was ours and if we could move it.
Now baldy was really getting on my nerves. I pointed out at a few empty parking spaces opposite Ozone and suggested that he park his vehicle there, again in vain. Finally Amit decided that he should be moving his bike out and settle the situation. We pulled Amit's bike out of the parking and baldy happily parked his WagonR there. He came out of his car and thanked us. A volcano was almost about to erupt, but then why spoil my evening for this asshole, I decided not to utter a word. Baldy happily went away and so did the NRI with a disgruntled look on his face.
And so did we, amazed at how selfish people could be.
Friday, December 23, 2005
Movie mania
Just can't believe what a movie freak I turning into. This entire week I have been watching a movie almost everyday. It's not just watching movies but watching them at odd hours.
All of us (me and my roomies) have been working very odd hours lately. Almost everybody comes home at around 10 PM and has dinner by 11. I mean, what the fuck is happening, is this the life we dreamt of, slogging our asses at work and by the end of the day you are so fuckin stressed out.
What else do we do at home, talk crap, bitch about the dumbassed colleagues... HELL... There's more to do in life.
Movies turn out to be a great solace, entertain you, relax you, what else do we need.
But then watching movies at odd hours is leaving me drowsy the following day. HELL... What else could happen if you go to bed at 2 in the morning and then wake up at 9.
Things really need to change.
All of us (me and my roomies) have been working very odd hours lately. Almost everybody comes home at around 10 PM and has dinner by 11. I mean, what the fuck is happening, is this the life we dreamt of, slogging our asses at work and by the end of the day you are so fuckin stressed out.
What else do we do at home, talk crap, bitch about the dumbassed colleagues... HELL... There's more to do in life.
Movies turn out to be a great solace, entertain you, relax you, what else do we need.
But then watching movies at odd hours is leaving me drowsy the following day. HELL... What else could happen if you go to bed at 2 in the morning and then wake up at 9.
Things really need to change.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Lethargic Mondays
Yet another lethargic Monday. Caught up with a late night movie(Escape from Alcatraz) last night. Woke up late in the morning at 9:00 AM, JEEZ! What a time to get up on a Monday morning.
Lack of sleep makes you all the more lazy.
Replies to client mails, few critical bug fixes and a review call with my manager, that's all has been done in the entire day, what in the world is happening to my productivity.
Was supposed to start with a new assignment, but I just cannot drag myself to do it. Will start with renewed energies tomorrow morning.
Today I just want to keep myself away form work. Feel like hanging out with friends over a cup of tea or a mug of beer may be.
Lack of sleep makes you all the more lazy.
Replies to client mails, few critical bug fixes and a review call with my manager, that's all has been done in the entire day, what in the world is happening to my productivity.
Was supposed to start with a new assignment, but I just cannot drag myself to do it. Will start with renewed energies tomorrow morning.
Today I just want to keep myself away form work. Feel like hanging out with friends over a cup of tea or a mug of beer may be.
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