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..........