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 ✡ Nathan wrote this entry on Tuesday, 9th of March 2010 at 12:05:57 AM
Josh and I started out our tour of Delhi by getting a cab to The Red Fort where we wandered around and acclimated ourselves to Delhi.
A quick walk across the street landed us in the front of Jama Masjid one of the largest Mosques in Asia. The area the mosque was pretty filthy and was a very stark reminder of India’s developing status. I felt slightly afraid was we wandered through these old paths turned streets. The poverty but lack of direct theft was striking. My face here isn’t exactly happy because the smell at this spot was intense.
A view inside the Red Fort
Josh standing in front of Humayun’s Tomb, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has an interesting history which includes being nearly abandoned and having people living in it.
Jaali in the interior of Humayun’s Tomb. It was late in the day with the sun lowering in the sky. This presented some great opportunities for watching the light change through the screens.
The India Gate the site of the Indian Army’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier taken near sunset. The remarkable memory from walking around this park is how clean it is and how dirty the air was. You could not see the seat of government up the street through all the smog and haze.
When you arrive at the train station you have to fight your way through the local people trying to give you a ride or sell you something. Once you enter the station look for the desk that serves tourists. It is a lot more helpful and ordered than the open ticket booths. Then when you have a ticket, I would buy one online before you go from cleartrip.com, you go to the platform where your train is and look for these reservation listings. They tell you where to sit. There are only a few first class cars and that makes it easier. A good tip is to book your tickets together. That will make sure you are seated next to each other.
Please notice if you will the No Spitting sign. This sign along with the ones that tell people to obey traffic laws are money wasted on signage.
Having survived the craziness of the New Delhi train station at 5am, nearly being scammed, figuring out the booking system, and boarding the train I was ready to relax. Wow what an experience!
✡ Nathan wrote this entry on Friday, 5th of March 2010 at 04:46:05 PM Reading along in the NYTimes today about these closures in Arizona – a state where no people should live anyway. It would seems people are up in arms that their rest stops are closed due to budget cuts.
Two things came to mind
- Pee in the woods/side of the road/sand dunes/cactus patches
- If you want the spending priorities of your state to change, then get involved.
Then I read along, which I should have known would only boil my blood:
“I honestly think they are setting us up because they want to do a tax increase,” Ms. Roberts said. “I think by shutting down things people want, they will give us one.”
Ok little miss sunshine, I don’t know about your tax burden, but the USA has the largest population of freeloads in the world. We all want to pay nothing for everything. Moreover, the solution isn’t privatization, the solution is that we have to start with being less obsessed with creating free roads everywhere, extending our infrastructure into the boonies, and having people live there that do not carry the burden of said infrastructure.
You shouldn’t live 2 hours by car from anything you normally have to go to, gas taxes in your state should be raised to a point that your roads are covered and appropriate legislation to keep your politicians from taking it to line their own pockets, interests or otherwise.
Your state got into a fisical mess, like mine, because of promising too much, the electorate being a bunch of cry babies, and some nation sense of entitlement: I want it now and I dont want to pay for it.
I would love to see the roads torn up, not paid for, and everyone switch to use fees. This is why I tend to be a Libertarian and why I think the tunnels near me should be 50$ if that is what it takes to properly maintain them, lower the tax burden and properly fund transit alternatives.
But I am back to where I started, you have no g-d given right to a toilet and you have no g-d given right to live 2 hours in the middle of nowhere.
✡ Nathan wrote this entry on Wednesday, 3rd of March 2010 at 10:57:54 PM aquaDRAMA was suffering from a lot of algae growth as a result of overfeeding I would imagine. That always seems to be the case, how to balance the needs of the hungry fish with the closed system.
This post if an take of KISS and how much work a tank can be.
When I returned from India a couple weeks ago this algae was really out of control. What I have been doing since then is doing a 10% water change every-other-day. After 4 changes the algae was all but gone. I say all but gone because you don’t want a clean tank, just a tank in balance.
✡ Nathan wrote this entry on Wednesday, 3rd of March 2010 at 12:05:13 PM After a three decade artistic love affair with Louise Nevelson, I finally own one! Not exactly one of her MoMA grade sculptures but an cool silver print she made in the later years of her career. It was hand made by the artist and signed. I purchased it on vacation with my mom in Rockland this past summer.
A new prized piece to accompany my hand made metal tree of life, marble bowls and other signed pieces. One thing I am most proud of is each one has a story behind it. This one is remote kindred life with someone who had a similar tale – a Jew growing up in Maine, feeling like an outsider, but not exactly, and always wanting to reach beyond. I learned of her first in Maine Studies, which where we learn the country song, our state bird, mineral, famous authors, and generally learn civic pride for things like being the free state that entered as part of the Missouri Compromise or how we broke off from Massachusetts because they are awful drivers (just kidding!).
I still haven’t sorted out my photo mess for my blog so I’ll just post one here:
 ✡ Ellie wrote this entry on Friday, 26th of February 2010 at 03:25:14 PM Dad, have to make this quick…power goes on and off! We are also surrounded by flood water. This has been an unbelievable 24 hours. 60-70 miles an hour winds and things blowing everywhere and hitting the house. Don’t worry I protected everyone. G_Mom made us go out in the wind and rain to use the bathroom. So Slobbie and I talked and we agreed that if I refused to go what she could do? Well let me tell you what she did. She pulled me outside, her hand slipped and OOOOPS, G_Mom was on her a__ on the wet sidewalk. We all laughed to hard that we could not wait to pee on the grass.
Anyway, after some ice storm years ago, I guess G-Mom stocks up on everything. So we have “futures” in toilet paper, enough soup for some “Russian Army’ that may be coming and batteries that we could sell on the corner. The car has gas incase we have to stay in the car to keep warm and the best is that she tuned the heat up to 71 degrees and we were dying from the heat. She does this incase we loose power so it takes longer for it to get cold! I expect to loose half of my coast before she turned it down. She is also angry at digital TV because her TV does not work any more and she has not bought a new little portable TV. She is waiting for a sale, “in this economy”.
I was allowed to sleep in the bed all night because Cart was shaking and upset…not that I was pleased wit the situation! Anyway I am confused, because G_Mom showed me Times Square on the TV this morning and it is snowing where you are. It rained here and it 47…Dad something is very wrong. I thought it was February and you sent me to Maine for a winter vacation! Take care and stay warm.
Love, Ellie
✡ Ellie wrote this entry on Thursday, 25th of February 2010 at 08:40:38 AM Well Dad I think I am off the Doggie Crap List. Why you ask? Well I was sick and tired of hearing G_Mom give Slobbie the same lecture every single morning that G-Mom works.
Each work day, G_Mom comes out of her room after getting dressed for work and that is my clue to go to our play room. Cart then joins me in the play room. Now Cart is not the brightest, but that topic is for another discussion. G_Mom walks into the bathroom to comb her hair and put on her Channel NO 5, which she is rationing. Each morning she tell us that you forgot to get her re-supply for Christmas “in the current economy”, what ever that means. Anyway, she then yells Slobbie three times…..you hear a thud which is Slobbie jumping off the bed—Slobbie tends to be a bit over weight—anyway Slobbie saunters to our play room. Every morning G_Mom starts counting 1, 2, 3, and every morning Slobbie makes it to the play room by the time G_Mom says the number three. G_Mom tells Slobbie to stop acting like Adam! It is absolutely nerve-racking.
To avoid this morning ritual, I had a very long talk with Slobbie which I have to say did involve a bit of physical contact. G_Mom noticed that Slobbie’s nose was scratched. I told Slobbie that I was tired of her antics and I was not going to listen to it anymore. She was to get her fat you know what into the play room when G_Mom walked by her on her way to the bathroom. For that concession, I agreed to share my bones that I had hidden with her. Well we were doing just fine until G_Mom found my bone stash! Slobbie said that the agreement was off……..well Dad I just had to show her who was boss. It is absolutely ridiculous that she is such a brat that she constantly needs negative attention. She wanted me to give her ½ of the treats that we get when we come in from outside. By the way, I no longer ask to go out at odd hours because there are no treat when I do, so that habit had come to an end! Anyway, I said NO to her black mailing me. She should behave because it is the right thing to do! So instead, here is the compromise, I have to share the floor area by the gate for the first part of our day when we are not doing the Bow Bow Omypics. But here is the best .G_Mom noticed that Slobbie now goes right into our play room and she know that I am the only one smart enough to have accomplished this goal, so she thanked me and rewarded me. Thus ends my days on the Doggie Crap List!
✡ Ellie wrote this entry on Tuesday, 23rd of February 2010 at 08:45:28 AM Oh Crap, Dad I got caught so you should be expecting the dreaded phone call! My misbehavior has nothing to do with the BOW WOW Olympics, but instead not paying attention when I have been diabolical!
So here is my version of what happened. We had a great day yesterday and put into place foolproof measures to prevent being caught using the Wii Fit. We are letting Mrs. “B” out of the cage to sit on the window to watch for G-Mom to pull in the driveway and start singing when she sees the car. She sings everyday when G-Mom comes home so that is nothing unusual. She then flies back to her cage and remains there even though the back door is open. We have Harlow’s word that she will not eat Mrs. “B” She did eat Mrs. “B’s” predecessor! Any way things went as planned except for one stupid, stupid moment!
G-Mom is so predictable…she feeds me then feeds the girls. She never leaves the kitchen while they are eating. As you know, Slobbie can be very aggressive when food is around. Anyway, I was checking our play room to make sure everything was put away and down the hall comes G-Mom as I am putting my Marrow Bones away into the shoe hanger that hangs over the door to our play room where G-Mom stores her yarn and knitting things. I have been hiding my bones there for months.
All “Hell” broke loose. I got the “big lecture” better known as the Adam lecture. You know the one about how food lying around attracts bugs and undesirables. You must have heard it. I figure it must have been said to Adam thousands of times! Yeah right, like a bug could live in this house. A bug would starve because G-Mom is just OCD about dirt and mess. It has gotten to the point that I am picking up my own dog hair so I do not have to hear about it. She thinks I am shedding less. HA….we are just cleaning it up before she finds it! Anyway she went through all the pockets I can reach and found my stash of 10 bones! BUSTED
Worse yet Dad we had invited four neighborhood dogs to participate in the BOW WOW
Olympics. So we had to quickly huddle. You must know this drill. I am sure you and Adam and Katie used the same strategy. Which one of us gets into the least trouble? That is always Cart because G-Mom favors her. So we decided that Cart would do all the barking outside to let all of our friends know that the games have been put on hold. Well Cart got yelled at for barking but there is never any follow through. Me I would have been further grounded and Slobbie would have had a time out for 10 minutes.
However I know that G-Mom is really not mad. I heard her telling someone how clever I am. You know how G_Mom respects intelligence over charm and good looks and I certainly have both! I think Slobbie and Cart are angrier than G_Mom. I am on my best behavior. It is just so hard to smile and behave all of the time, because Slobbie and Cart are teasing me behind G-Mom’s back.
So Dad G_Mom says that she is going to mail me home! UT OH
Love, Ellie
✡ Ellie wrote this entry on Monday, 22nd of February 2010 at 08:59:13 AM Wii (get the joke Dad?) have been having the BOW WOW mpics each day when G_Mom goes to work. So far I have won the most Gold…are you surprised? What a stitch this whole sports spectacular has been. Have you ever seen dogs trying to do Yoga? The tree pose is particularly hysterical. We have too many legs to get the tree thing right. Cart does it best because she is the thinnest and smallest. However the step aerobics are also difficult when you have four legs. We have not mastered going from side to side. We were laughing so hard one afternoon that we almost did not hear G-Mom come home. Fortunately she stopped to talk to our neighbor… the weather here has been like spring…..so thankfully we got the Wii FIT game put away and got back into our play room before she came through the door. The tough part was getting the new dog from next door out of the house before G_Mom saw her. We had to open the window…..remember how good I am at that task?….and get her out on the roof so she could jump onto the deck and hop across the back yard. Fortunately there is no snow. We would have never been able to explain that. However we were all panting when G_Mom walked in and she began to question us because she says she heard a lot of noise as she was coming up the steps. Well of course she heard noise. Only I am big enough to jump over the gate. Slobbie is too fat and Cart is too scared, so I have to stand straight while they take a flying leap from the living room up on my back and over the gate. Believe me it is a 10 minute process. But the clock in the living room was running slow again. I forgot that G-Mom did not wind it the way she should have. Unlike you, Adam and Katie I can tell time with Roman Numerals! Slobbie said she would distract G_Mom by doing ruggsies and G_Mom would forget to ask us any more questions. It worked but I think she is suspicious that some thing on going on at home while she is gone. All of a sudden she is talking about taking us with her when she goes out in the car. We don’t want to go! Who want to sit and watch some old people play tennis?
The Wii Fit is way too much fun. We are trying to figure out the Hula Hoop but that may be a bust. You should see our avatars. Of course I am you, Slobbie is Adam and Cart is Katie……anything else G_Mom would figure out! So I will keep you posted about our medal count but I am well on my way to perfection!
Love, Ellie
✡ Ellie wrote this entry on Wednesday, 10th of February 2010 at 11:30:51 AM Kicking off Snofest in Greenville, Maine this International event pits powerful canine athletes like me, ELLIE, and our mushers against the legendary Maine snow and cold of winter!! All of the teams get all the help necessary from local people that have as much enthusiasm and fun as all of us dogs and our drivers. Teams of 12 huskies take their turn in the chute, at the starting line, at 2-minute intervals, lunging forward into their harnesses as they head north up Moosehead Lake with such enthusiasm that we can not be can be held back! Then I heard “Ready, ready, go,” and our sled took off with a jolt down the hill. Spectators lined the beginning of the course, cheering on each team as we whooshed by. We were however getting caught in the soft snow around the first bend in the course. My fur was flying and my collar jangling! Along the way there were downhills, sharp turns and ‘S’ turns everywhere and then it was over……. Slobbie was standing over me shaking me with her paw! I was dreaming …the race was all over I had not won the Snofest race; I had instead slid off my bed in our play room. The roaring crowd was the radio G_Mom leaves on for us, not spectators in Greenville.
BUMMER, it was just a dream!
Worse yet Dad, THERE IS NOT SNOW IN MAINE! G_Mom is going to have to start cleaning up dog poop and trash in the yard two months early…….. besides that I am very board when I go outside!
Otherwise things are great here. Love being with Slobbie, Cart and Harlow (Horrible). I make sure I do my dance each time I come in so I can get the bones that are kept on top of the refrig.
Hope you are having a wonderful time in India. We saw the pictures on the frame and they are really cool. Great camera. Much better than G_Mom’s!
Say “HI” to Josh for me and have a safe trip home.
Love, Ellie
✡ Nathan wrote this entry on Friday, 5th of February 2010 at 07:57:15 AM CTS is organized well. In addition to the teams technical abilities, they meet me each day, assigned me a driver to make sure I got to where I needed to go, brought me food, and generally took good care of me.
The only downside, and this applies to everywhere I have been so far, is that people are so service focused that I feel like I cannot do anything for myself. Someone brings me coffee. Someone brings me Coke. I seemingly offended someone yesterday because I refused to let him carry my bags to my hotel room. I have a had a couple NY moments where I thought, can I please just be left alone?!?!
This is, however, juxtaposed to just how pushy people can be at time. In the airport yesterday I had a man walk up on my shoes several times in a row in the security line. After the third time I had words with him which drew the attention of a man with a riffle who scolded him and elicited an apology. Then this morning when the elevator doors opened people rushed in like a rush hour subway. I had to push my way out. They seemed to not notice or not mind. I guess the idea here is that I can push back and they wont mind because that is normal.
The hotel is nice with a good outdoor patio where I have had breakfast each morning in the sun. The weather is warm but not too hot. At night it get slightly cool.
Traffic and driving amaze me. With trucks larger than anything we have in the US mixed with three wheeled cabs, motorbikes, cars, and even a couple ox carts people blend in and out of lanes while honking to let each other know they are there. It is so tight and weaving that you could hold conversations with people next to you and perhaps even touch them. On top of all this there are people who jump out and cross the street at seemingly random intervals.
Then there are the cows and dogs. I dont know what the dogs are doing, but they are all over, napping in the sun, eating trash, etc… The cows are funny, I see them let out in the morning by their owners or handlers. Then they wander around all day and at the end of the day they seem to wander back home. I have seen whole groups of them single file walking along the sides of roads, stopped at traffic lights, and crossing when told. I have a new fond respect for the cow.
I have not been many places outside of the hotel, CTS, airports, and working facilities. I am looking forward to wandering around a bit more.
There are 1.1 billion Indians so it is dangerous to make generalizations. However, one thing I have noticed and it is actually kind of endearing and cute is the suite of communication that happend via varios head nods. It is truly fascinating and I wonder if anyone has even, either in humor or seriously, made a catalog of these gesture. My short observation is that a quick right/left/right/left is kind of an affirmation with a thank you. I also noticed that when having a conversation it gives you an idea that the person is listening to you because sometimes it stops when she or he are talking back. I also have no idea if this is a Southern thing or how else it might break down. But in the 30 or so people I have spoken to almsot all of them move their head in one way or another. I have no idea how I never noticed this before.
The power goes of for about 15 seconds 3-5 times a day. This seems to be unnoticed by all but me. Electronics and systems must be UPSed or built to withstand the fluctuations.
I stared to think more macroscopically about Indian and Indians. These people all speak English, work hard, seemingly complain about nothing, and so on. Take this along with the non-adversarial stance of india as a nation when compared to China and what do you have India doing? All the guts of almost every bank, software company, telcom, etc… while China is sewing garments because we cannot trust them with our IP. India’s “our nation with prosper by being friendly” vs. China’s “screw you” seems to be working here. I am not sure about the rest of the country, but in Bangalore it is working. Finally on this topic, I realize that I am being exposed to only a certain segment of society. However if that is 2% of the population it is still 22 million people. Yeah, they are going to eat our lunch, but a conversation on that topic is more about how much America is screwed than how amazing India is.
The local language is called Kanada. It looks like Telgu and Tamil and I obviously wouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. All signs, I am told, have to be in Kanada and then whatever other language is needed. In most places that ins English. Amongst the people I have interacted with, who come form various linguistic backgrounds, use English as the common language, not Hindi. I asked if this was for my sake and they said not.
One last observation for now is that everything is under construction or not quite finished. It is a lot like South America. THe under construction part seems to be from India’s expansion and rapid modernization. They simply cannot build fast enough to keep up. The not quite finished part probably comes from a historical poverty, where things were done “good enough”, and no building standards, no zoning, no planning, etc… this is very common in developing nations (again like South America) and mirrors how places like Boston and London became such messes in the old parts of the city.
Overall, so far so good!
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