F-1 Vroom...

Distance = 211 miles ; Average time to travel = 3.5 hours ; Direction = South-South-East

This time the maps were to lead me to the F1/Indy 500 track in Indianapolis, IN.

Had a long weekend in hand. Took the rental and after finishing some pending activities on Saturday, started towards my destination on a bright Sunny though chilly X'Mas eve morning...

The drive was fast, the distance covered in 3 hours with no stoppages. The city looked deserted, not much traffic on the roads or near the track... though the surroundings were aesthetically designed to cater to the same look and feel as the track for the F1 enthusiasts.

The track was majestic; had a museum with paraphernalia from previous years displayed. They even had a shuttle to take you round on the track. Saw the timing boards, the VIP lounges, the start / finish line (made of bricks - the track is also known as the Brickyard' since it was originally made totally of bricks).

Overall a nice experience. Had fun and collected some memorablia from the gift shop before departing back the same day for my current abode. VROOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM......

Trip to St Louis, MO

Had been quite sometime since I travelled. The road-runner inside me was craving for some actions. The desire to just drive on into the night was intensifying...

So just decided this Friday to buckle up and go for a ride. Called up my friend JV in St. Louis to know about his weekend plans and also a colleague AU to tag along and also catch up on things (been a long time since we chatted)...

Woke up @ 7am Saturday... Took the car, drove up to AU's residence in downtown Chicago. Picked him up and then headed straight for our destination... a 300-mile journey on I-55S with breaks for gas and breakfast took us there in 4 hours flat.



Had directions to the downtown of the city but even before we could reach there, saw the Arch from a distance... A magnificient structure... 600-odd feet high standing with no supporting structure... 17ft wide at the top... truly a human marvel.

Built in 1968 to mark the path taken by early settlers who docked at this point along the Missouri river and settled in St Louis...

Stayed at the monument for about 4 hours, learnt the rules of the American football by interacting with some college students there, out visiting from Indiana. Went walking to the businees district of St. Louis for a late lunch but to our dissapointment and amazement the whole area was closed as they were having a baseball game that evening with the town's favorite team 'The Cardinals' playing in it...

Returned to the car and drove to meet the friend a little further south from the Arch. Grabbed a bite @ McD on the way there...

Time flew by sitting at his place and left from his apartment @ 630 in the evening for the ride back to Chicago. Got a call on the way to make plans for the night. Decided to hit the floor and bogey for a while. The drive in the night took 4.5 hours as we had to stop for gas and dinner...

By the time we reached the days 9 hours of driving took toll on me and I reclined the idea of staying up much longer, so I dropped AU back at his place and returned to my bed @ 1am...

The end of another day but a day well spent :) Hope this keeps me pepped up for the next month...

More later.

Life ho to aisi...

Time: 0800 hrs : Sitting @ my residence talking to my offshore team. Explaining them the tasks for the day.

Time: 0930 hrs : Sitting in my client's desk ; trying to resolve a system testing issue. Getting 'gyan' about the logic used in HR... Man, it is complex :)

Time: 1230 hrs : Still @ my client's desk ; using his computer to resolve the issue. He mentions that I could take a break and grab a bite. I walk back to my desk.

Time: 1300 hrs : Get a call from one of my colleagues to check my Inbox and see if there's anything in it... Viola, there's a mail from the C&B department stating that I have been promoted... Communicated the same to my parents back home... Brother called. Felt nice to know they too felt happy for me...

Time 1330 hrs : Having lunch sitting all alone in the cafeteria... Thinking about the status change, the current work, the client issues @ hand...

Time 1400 hrs : Back to the grind.

Time 1700 hrs : Still at the grind.

Time 1830 hrs : Resolved the issue. Leaving for the flat. Asked one of my roomies to pick me up on his return trip.

Time 2100 hrs : Buying dinner for everyone to celebrate my promotion...

I wonder could it be different in someways? Wonder what could make it different?

Still wondering...

Paradise vaporized... parents left town !!

Been a long time since I updated the space here. Was busy and was enjoying it too. Well, just came back after leaving my parents at the O'Hare airport...

They were holidaying here in US with me since Jul 11th. Been a utopian experience to have my parents visiting me here. It was the first 'US' experience for my Mom... and I hope it's an exhilirating one for her too... Well, she's still in US, returning back to India on the 9th of August flying back via Pheonix and Los Angeles.

More later...

Parents in town ... 11 days to go...

Been long since I updated the happenings in my life... Well, nothing much has changed... although I wish it does soon.

Am moving to a new residence starting July 01, 2006. Am also visiting LA, LV and San Diego during the long weekend of American Independence. But in the lime-light is my parents trip to USA...

They are arriving in LA on 28-Jun-2006. Would be in the US of A till 09-Aug-2006. Am planning the above trip with them. Then they would arrive in Chicago by 11-Jul-2006 and stay with me for 3 weeks. Yipee !!!!!!!

It's short, it's packed but that's the way it is. I'll be missing my brother not being here, but a man doesn't always get all that he wants, maybe a woman does ;)

Am busy planning their travel plans, co-ordinating their meetings with relatives and sight-seeing etc. and counting down the days to their arrival...

Just me...

Seems like yesterday that I celebrated New Years and welcomed 2006 in my life. Today, I wonder where the last 6 months of my life went?

Sitting here in the same flat, nothing much has changed... though a lot of things have changed. Life seems to be in doldrums these days. Decisions are plenty to take, but the moments for taking those decisions are not around...

Playing with time teaches you to be cautious, makes you to be watchful of unforseen events, but still life throws at you such unimaginable scenarios that the human mind remains baffled by them...

As the cliche goes "Just when I thought I was out, they pulled me right back in..."

Trip to Michigan

Cosy bed in Adrian, MI... Me in it with my favorite partner till now... don't get any ideas, am just referring to my laptop :)

Came visiting a not-so-distant uncle of mine. Took the Friday off from work. Was getting bugged up with the mundane activities at work. Been a long time since I took to the roads. I guess the drives and I have a bonding due to which I always find myself driving down to someplace whenever I need a break. Anyway, called him up. Asked about his program and whether it would be any problem if I drove up to meet him, his family and granny. He called back and said it would be great to meet me...

Packed my stuff. Called the rental car agency to come and me pick me up from my residence. Spoke to a lady by the initials of KP. She's an American staying in downtown Chicago but commutes out of downtown to work. A nice concept. It keeps you close to the action and also always in the opposite side of the traffic ;) Anyway, got talking to her. Let's see whether a friendship blossoms or not...

Finally, the journey began @ approx 4 in the evening. Had to pack my stuff, wash clothes, fill up the gas tank before I could take off... The drive in itself wasn't bad. A pretty scenic one too. Took the I-94 and traveled west for around 200 miles. Had taken a map form Google. Per the map, had to leave the expressway somewhere after entering Ohio and join the US-20 to lead me to the city. I followed the directions to the point ; evening came around fast and the darkness came in at around 1830 hrs.

Being out on the roads in an unexplored territory, in an unknown country where you're still a newcomer in terms of learning the ropes of the game, it became a bit uneasy for me to drive around in the night in the wilderness... No human habitation for miles to go, not even a gas station around, just white/yellow lines illuminated by the lights of your vehicle itself. Signboards were also scarce... For a freshman you never can tell whether you are traveling in the right direction or just driving along. Stopped at the gas station @ 108 / US20 crossing and asked the lady behind the counter about my whereabouts. She gave me a relief by telling me that I was on track and just needed to carry on till I hit the x-ing for 109 and then head north to enter Adrian...

Reached @ 2130 CST... Was informed by my aunt that granny had slept, after waiting for me... I thought that maybe being here she's got the habit of sleeping early. Anyway, had a home-cooked, Indian-style, finger-licking dinner..... Tasted good. Sat down to chat with my uncle and aunt for a while... Time whizzed by. Hit the bunk @ 0030 CST... Woke up in the morning @ 0930 CST. Am saying CST cos when I saw the time as per the clocks in their house it was showing 1030 hrs.. And then it struck me that Adrian is in EST.... No wonder granny slept. It was actually way past her normal bedtime ;)

Freshened up and then went down. Granny was elated to meet me. Feels nice to make people happy. Gives you peace of mind.

Had pakoras for breaker. The lunch was another gourmet's delight for me. Kidney beans, cucumber mixed salted yoghurt, home-cooked rotis, capsicum-paneer curry dish. Awesome. What more can a man ask for?

Met their 2 sweet, adorable kids... ArT and AnT. Spent some quality time with them... Enjoyed some fun games @ Chuck E Cheese (a kids arcade, entertainment outlet). Also, visited the Hands-On museum. Reminded me of the Nehru Science Centre back in Delhi, India. Was one of my favorite hang-outs back as a kid. Both these places are in Ann Arbor, the U-of-M city. Took some snaps of the University campus too..

Came back just a while back. We made the trip to Ann Arbor in my uncle's BMW Z5 SUV. A pretty neat piece of machinery. Would definitely like to own a similar one someday...

Tomorrow I return to reality... to continue life, to continue dreaming :)

Just did it...

Was feeling a bit under-utilized for the last month. The body too indicated that it needed some strenous activity for a routine...

All roads lead to the nearby gym... Joined today. The gym has a neat assortmet of instruments, but sadly, no pool... Had a choice between a private / public gym, took membership in the public one... The sole reason for that decision is to have company there in the form of colleagues who too are regular vistiors there :)

The mind too wants to play games... Planning to take the library membership and spend some quality time reading for a change...

Some positive changes in this monotonous existence... life would be bettter...

Btw, today I complete 4 months of my stay in Uncle Sam.

Bawarchi in USA

Never imagined myself becoming a culinary expert... but life has always something different planned for you. Who imagined a guy who never liked to set foot in the kitchen at home, would one day be trying out new dishes in a kitchen in US??

But this doesn't mean that I like to do that... it's just the matter of supply meeting demand. If my stomach generates a request, I need to fulfil it. And instead of getting some junk in, why not try out cooking something for it??

Have started making finger-licking (as per my roomies) Chole, Rajma, veggies... Still am far, far away from my Mom's cooking (both literally and physically)... Been ages since I had a proper meal :(

Another reason for me missing you Ma...

My 1st rental

Returned the rental car today... after keeping it for the last 3 days. Travelled 297 miles on it. Used up 15 gallons of fuel on it.

Friday night was the project party. Missed giving a detail there. Met a friend of AB, SG. She was introduced to me when she was there in the same office as me in India. On reaching the project party, I got busy with bowling... She must've noticed me, so came over to say 'Hi'. I think I did not acknowledge her properly at that time because was busy in the game. NOT GOOD on my part. Anyway, told her that I might visit her next day as I was visiting her area while shifting two of my colleagues stuff to their new apartment...

Saturday was spent driving around Wheeling, IL while shifting the stuff for the female colleagues. Went to SG's place too. Rang her door-bell, but got no response.

On Sunday, drove to Aurora, IL for a visit to the temple there. Enroute, one of my colleagues SG received a call from the client stating that there was a priority ticket not handled for the last 2 hours by the off-shore team, so he better look into it ASAP. Therefore, we drove back to drop him back at his place. Felt bad for him and wondered why the offshore team was not doing their job... Saw how a person's life gets screwed on 24x7 support. Promise myself that I would never do that. Anyhow, experienced the feeling of 'lost' on the American maze of highways while returning from Aurora. Actually, the second car of my colleague went ahead and we had to find our way through. The route map we had, had a single turn marked incorrectly and therefore the mishap. Nothing major as we caught the error in the initial stages itself...

Had a nice walk today. Returned the car on time but did not get a bus for the return journey, so started walking. Must've walked approximately 6 miles before I found a pay-phone to call up my colleagues to come and pick me up from the road...

Life goes on... more later...

Licensed to Drive :)

Yes people... Got my Driver's Licence yesterday. Now, I can officially drive in US of A.

Went to Hertz on Thursday and got myself a sporty Mazda 6 for 1 day, as I was planning to give the test on Friday morning. Since I did not have a US CC, I had to ask SG to rent the car in his name whie I became the Add-on driver using my Indian licence. FYI, You need to be 25 and hold both a valid DL and CC to rent a car by yourself in IL.

Anyway, asked my colleagues with licenses to take turns on Thursday night to sit next to me while I drove down to the test track and practiced with them. Thanks to SG, BR, S for taking the pains to sit next to me...

SG again accompanied me to the DL office on Friday morning, as I had to have someone with a DL sit next to me while I was on LL. Reached @ 0715 hrs there. Was the 1st one to arrive. Had to wait till 0800 hrs for the office to open. Went early so that I could give the test early in the morning itself and go to office without much delay.

The test went smooth. Drove without any hiccups or complaints from the examiner. Asked her for her suggestions in the end, she said, "You were a bit slow, can increase the speed". Well, so now it's official, I can drive fast ;)

Had planned to return the car on Friday itself, but had a long weekend in front of me, had a DL in my hand, and a cool car with me, so went and extended the lease till Monday.

Had a project party for the quarter Friday night from 1900 hrs. The place was a bit far, but I took up the challenge and successfully cleared my first attempts at night driving in US, highway driving in US, snow-driving in US.... Great isn't it?

Plan to go to Chicago tonight and celebrate the New Year. Then plan to go on a long drive tomorrow for a day and come back on Monday.

Thanks to the all for their suggestions, wishes. Nice to know that so many of you do read my blog.

Things happen, life goes on...

Driving Class

Just returned from my first driving lesson...

Started @ 1300 hrs approximately... The trainer came to pick me and two of my colleagues (ANS & SK) for the classes. A nice Pakistani chap. I was the first on the line. Started by explaining the controls and adjustments. Gave basic guidance and instructions. Asked me to test the brake and accelerator first.

Once I got used to that, made me push off... Drove on to the main roads directly, maybe cos I had some prior driving experience (7 years of it although on the opposite side of the road ;) ).
Went to a residential area where he made me take turns and fine tuned my braking and turning.

Then made me drive to a parking lot where he made me practice parking. The return trip was on a main road where the maximum speed was 40 mph ;)

At the end of the hour and half, he said that I did not need any further classes and can go ahead for the test. I asked for another class so that I could try some night time driving and highway driving too...

Hope to go the licence office and give the test sometime next week itself.

Independence is near, yet so far...

Seasons greetings

Wish a merry x'mas, a prosperous and happy new year to all the readers of my blogs...

It's holiday season here. Our clients are mostly on break. Large number of corporates are closed for 2 consecutive Mondays... have 4-day weeks coming in the next fortnight...

Starting my driving lessons today. The trainer is coming @ 1230 hrs to begin the course. Would be asking him to teach the intricacies within 2 classes. Would be appearing for my driving test sometime next week...

My nephew AB is getting married this xmas in Agra... Flew to India from here with his fiancee the last weekend. Wish him a happy married life.

Bought myself aNikon D50 SLR camera this week. My first big online purchase. Hope that it gets delivered within 7-10 days in mint condition... Trying to hatch the photographer out of me, been in incubation for too long. Hope to get some fascinating snaps for all to see...

As a gift to Indian republic for New Year's the Indian cricket team won the test match series against Sri Lanka... Yipee !! Way to go, team...

That's it people, I've touched base with myself for now... more later.

The Lone Rider

American roads, here I come...

Went to the Driving Facility today @ 6 in the morning...(to be the first in line ... literally). Stood there for 2 hours in the freezing cold to the point that lost sense of my toes by the end of the 2 hours... Wasn't wearing any head cover too, so froze up my ears too ;)

Yea things were pretty bad... but the end was worth the hardship... Got my learner's licence or driver's permit today... Now I can officially drive on the US roads and rent any damn automobile I want... or maybe even buy one for myself soon...

The process itself is pretty organized and it took just 20 minutes for me to get my permit. The office opened at 8 sharp. My documents were scrutinized beforehand... On entering, I got a ticket number which was called by one of the counter-personnel within 2 minutes. Gave my vision test there and document re-verification was done... Next step is to deposit the fee at the cashier's desk.

Once that is done, you need to take the question paper, sit on one of the designated desks and answer 35 objective type questions (20 situational + 15 sign-based). You are allowed a minimum score of 28 to clear the test. I scored a 100%.

The last step is for them to print your permit and you'r out...

A car gives you a lot of independence to survive, sustain, enjoy and commute at your own whim and fancy... Hope to now get the licence within a fortnight as an xmas or new year gift to myself...

And life goes on...

The Ice Age Begins

Today it snowed heavily for the first time this season. Current temperature: -4 deg. C / 21 deg F. Minimum expected: -21 deg C / -7 deg F.

The weather-man predicted heavy snowfall upto 3-4 inches starting in the evening. People started leaving early from office. Wise people. We stayed till 1630 hrs in office. By this time it had snow-flaked for an hour or so... Visibility was not more than a hundred feet and felt like 7ish in the evening.

Took a few corrections to keep the car on the road and an hour and half to cover the under 5 mile journey to our locality today from office. The drive was slow, treacherous at places but all in all an experience. I guess these experiences are going to get common as the winter progresses. It's estimated to snow approx. 15 inches of snow in a day and the temperatures supposed to drop further... Welcome Santa to the land of the snowman in the windy city...

This might explain why the concept of 'working from home', an 'air-tight' home and all day heating are so common here. Our reporting manager MLS here also confirmed the fact that we need not hurry to office till we complete the assigned tasks on time...

North Indians here would now feel 'hot', during the cold wave that hits northern India during the same time when they've faced the extreme climate here...

Happy snow-balling.... More later

Week-end

Our fridge conked out on Saturday. All the vegetables and the milk were unusable in the morning. Called the management and a man came to fix the damn thing. Temporaryily he has defrosted it. Says the timer is fried. Needs a replacement. They are waiting for the shipment to arrive. Let's hope it arrives early.

On Sunday (today), went to watch 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire' at a Cineplex in a nearby Mall. Went for the evening 7 show. The movie continued till 930 without a break. Man, that's long...

Nice storyline to begin with, but fell quite short in the excitement arena as compared to the novel in itself. Graphics and special effects were great as usual, but the movie died out in the end. Could've been a better deal.

The crowd was kids majorly, they had fun though ;) Was nice watching it in the hall. First experience of the US hall. Nothing drastically different than the multi-plex halls open now in India in huge numbers except maybe in the 'crowd'...

Overall, a nice way to end the Sunday. Next week is short work-wise. Need to work only till Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are off on occasion of Thanksgiving. Was planning to visit my relatives this time round, but none have been contacted yet... so might be spending the time with my colleagues in Skokie itself.

3 weeks in USA

Completing 3 weeks here. Time passed by in a jiffy.

Initial one week went in settling down in the flat I took on rent. Next week went in arranging stuff the place. Got a TV, phone, broadband internet connection with wireless router ; use my laptop's wi-fi to log on. Logged on the day the net got active, have not logged off since then - It's my life-line and no-one purposefully stops that ;)

Besides that got cutlery, cooking utensils from Wal-mart. Got food-stuff from an area known as Devon Street where Gujju-bhai's are doing some profitabe business selling Indian items from the basic Cumin seeds to the cable-tv dishes for watching Indian channels on your TV. This place is a bi-weekly jaunt of the Indian community to get their spices et al . Me and ANS (my flatie) have also become regular customers from now on :)

Went to Chicago last Sunday with SK (anothe of my colleagues). Went on the river and lake cruise. The view of downtown from the lake was awesome. Though, the weather was expected to be chilly, we had not expected the extreme windy and cold winds that we experienced while on the open air cruise. Started @ 1130 hrs from Skokie. Took a bus and train transit to Chicago downtown. Nice ride. Took an hour to reach, but quite a ride it was. Something similar to the Delhi Metro (haven't experienced that though). Besides this, saw the Millenium park, the Sears Tower, the Navy Pier.

Plan to take driving lessons and get a driving licence as soon as possible. My Indian licence is valid for 3 months here. So plan to take driving lessons and then rent-a-car and drive down to some nearby places during the coming Thanksgiving holidays (from 24th to 27th).

Have applied for my SSN number too. That's expected to arrive next week. The most important number in USA. For the uninitiated, you need the number to open a bank account / to apply for a CC or DL or for renting a flat etc... Basically it's required for you to breathe in US. But the irony is that when you recieve it, the mail warns you that it is a sensitive number and should not be disclosed to a third party.... Any guess then why the hell do people ask for it in the first place???

And life goes on ...

Arrival in US of A

Standing outside O'Hare International Airport, waiting for my colleague ANS (who travelled with me from India) to finish his cigarette, wondering what the days ahead had in store for me...

Welcome to US of A. Got into a cab driven by a Pakistani chap and asked him to take us to the only address we knew of in Chicago - our Project Manager AVK's residence. The cab-driver was friendly, chatted a while with us and took us directly to our destination without taking us 'for a ride'...

We flew British Airways from Delhi, all the way to US. Had a stopover of approx 2 hrs. @ Heathrow, UK for changing planes. The ride to US was uneventful. Except that they misplaced my colleague's baggage. But nothing worse, as it had already been dispatched on the next flight out of London and would be arriving today itself...

The topography of Chicago and it's suburbs is green to a large extent with homes / villas interspersed among them. Winter's not set in right now, so the trees still have leaves on them. Still, the temperatures already touching 6 deg. in the nights.

Would be spending the night @ my PM's residence only. Feeling a bit sleepy due to lack of sleep for long hours. Catch ya later..........