One of our great pleasures in the past was to be home on Sunday morning with the NY Times. We got to re-live that experience today for the first time in 2 years. While the size of the newspaper has shrunk noticeably since we went to Bangalore in 2008, the experience still is pleasing!
In Bangalore we also enjoyed relaxing Sunday mornings by reading the newspapers and listening to "Sunday Baroque", but this is the real thing!
In other news, Jim picked up his new car yesterday- he has a Honda Accord now. The purchase of this was arranged through email from Bangalore and a few telephone calls and then one short visit to the bank! Is this a great country, or what?
Janet got a new Iphone, which is "intuitive" to use, but neither her intuition, nor Jim's seem to align with the device maker's intuition. Jim got a SIMM card for the phone he bought and used in India and is trying out the service in our area with it. In the past we found that the best coverage was from a company which used CDMA rather than GSM (or whatever) that most of the world uses, so we have to see how well this works.
We are all still feeling quite jet- lagged- with only slight improvements each day. We feel very tired by 8PM, wake up early in the morning and then go back to sleep for awhile.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
First meal out and shopping
On Thursday we went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner. They serve Mexican style food that is very good. In Bangalore we found one restaurant near our apartment which had reasonably good Mexican food. We also drove the car a few times on Thursday and it seemed quite natural though Jim had not driven in 2 years and Janet only for the few weeks she was home in April- May. Most of the rest of the day was spent unpacking our bags and sorting mail.
On Friday we went to three large stores to get lots of cat food, some repair items for the house and food for ourselves. This was all quite expensive compared to what we were used to paying in India, but we marveled at how we could find everything we needed in 3 stops and had choices too! Much of the rest of the day was spent sorting more mail and doing chores around the house that had not been done for awhile- like change water filters and clean the refrigerator underneath and inside.
Ziggy and Zoe seem to be adjusting to being home. They have jet lag too, but are seeming to be adjusting slowly.
We both sense it will be a few weeks before we feel close to normal.
On Friday we went to three large stores to get lots of cat food, some repair items for the house and food for ourselves. This was all quite expensive compared to what we were used to paying in India, but we marveled at how we could find everything we needed in 3 stops and had choices too! Much of the rest of the day was spent sorting more mail and doing chores around the house that had not been done for awhile- like change water filters and clean the refrigerator underneath and inside.
Ziggy and Zoe seem to be adjusting to being home. They have jet lag too, but are seeming to be adjusting slowly.
We both sense it will be a few weeks before we feel close to normal.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Back Home!
We arrived back home about 4:30PM NY time On Wed. Oct. 27 about 26 hours after picking up the Z's at our Apartment in Bangalore and dropping off the key with the landlord. There were still a few unfinished tasks there- like a number of bags of cat related items to be donated to the local animal cruelty prevention society. Our driver- Joseph is supposed to help take care of that, but the landlord may help too.
The ride to the airport was uneventful. The Z's were not happy, but they never are happy about traveling away from their home. At check-in we were very surprised when they told us that any carry-on bag had to weight less than 8 kg (17.6lbs) and they had us weigh them. Both had to be that heavy or more and they insisted that Janet's had to be made lighter even though Jim's probably weighed more- very strange. They also said it was ok to have more than 2 carry on items but they each had to weigh less than 8kg- also this seemed odd. In any case, we got through that and ended up transferring items to Jim's already heavy bag in case of any future checks- which, never occurred. Going through immigration was easier than expected. Our wait for boarding was not bad. Ziggy and Zoe were relatively peaceful. Once on the plane we dreaded the possibility that Zoe, especially would be loudly vocal, which she can be when unhappy. She did keep up a low level of noise, but not enough to be too disturbing to anyone except Janet- since Zoe was at her feet. We did try to give her a tranquilizer pill at one point, but are not convinced she got it. Anyone who has tried to "pill" a cat knows that the probability of success is not nearly as high as we wish!
We arrived in Frankfurt where they never seem to be prepared for the plane arriving from Bangalore, and had to get off the plane is surprisingly chilly temps. and walk to a bus that was already full, so we took the second one. In the terminal we asked for a porter to help with the bags and cats and they said there are none around and their phone was not being answered. They sent us to a place where they give assistance to passengers, but they said they only have wheel chairs and not enough people to handle those! So we went back and started the long walk to the other terminal. They told us we "might" find a luggage cart along the way. The advantages of cheap labor- like in India became clear here. There would have been a few people around hoping to help us with our bags in India. (we had 2 at check-in, but it is true that once inside the secure area it was harder to find people).
At Frankfurt we had to go through security again, which was equally painful as in Bangalore. We had to take Ziggy and Zoe out of their carriers and everyone loved seeing them! They were the stars of the show! We wanted to go to the business lounge and give the Z's some water and a little food, but they had no room we could use for this. It seems silly that they would allow pets in the cabin but have no place to take them in such an event. We found a baby changing room and thought we might use this, and got a little water and foof in them before some cleaning women threatened to have us arrested! She may have been right that this not the best idea, but we had not thought to much about germs, though the cats are probably cleaner than most babies and the room itself.
We tried to give the Z's a tranquilizer pill for the trip to JFK and may have succeeded. They were quite will behaved. As this flight is in daylight Jim stayed awake most of the time and watched bad movies most of the time. Janet read and slept and gave the Z's more water.
On arrival at JFK we were surprised to come through immigration , baggage pick up and customs rather quickly. Since Jim has been away 2 years and Janet the same except for her trip home in April there was little for them to check. They did not ask for the health certificates for the cats even though we went to great pains to get them in place.
The driver was fairly good, but for some reason the car company had scheduled him to do another job too soon after ours so he was in a hurry and he was not as helpful as we'd have liked. He unloaded our bags onto the ground - in the rain- but would help us take them inside.
As we drove home, all looked familiar. Janet commented that it was a "typical fall day"- overcast and rainy- dreary- in other words! Quite the contrast to bright sunny days in Bangalore at this time of year.
Ziggy and Zoe got good food and water as soon as we got in the house and were quite ravenous! We worried that they might vomit after eating so fast. However, they seem OK and they recognized they were home again after a long and exciting journey!
The ride to the airport was uneventful. The Z's were not happy, but they never are happy about traveling away from their home. At check-in we were very surprised when they told us that any carry-on bag had to weight less than 8 kg (17.6lbs) and they had us weigh them. Both had to be that heavy or more and they insisted that Janet's had to be made lighter even though Jim's probably weighed more- very strange. They also said it was ok to have more than 2 carry on items but they each had to weigh less than 8kg- also this seemed odd. In any case, we got through that and ended up transferring items to Jim's already heavy bag in case of any future checks- which, never occurred. Going through immigration was easier than expected. Our wait for boarding was not bad. Ziggy and Zoe were relatively peaceful. Once on the plane we dreaded the possibility that Zoe, especially would be loudly vocal, which she can be when unhappy. She did keep up a low level of noise, but not enough to be too disturbing to anyone except Janet- since Zoe was at her feet. We did try to give her a tranquilizer pill at one point, but are not convinced she got it. Anyone who has tried to "pill" a cat knows that the probability of success is not nearly as high as we wish!
We arrived in Frankfurt where they never seem to be prepared for the plane arriving from Bangalore, and had to get off the plane is surprisingly chilly temps. and walk to a bus that was already full, so we took the second one. In the terminal we asked for a porter to help with the bags and cats and they said there are none around and their phone was not being answered. They sent us to a place where they give assistance to passengers, but they said they only have wheel chairs and not enough people to handle those! So we went back and started the long walk to the other terminal. They told us we "might" find a luggage cart along the way. The advantages of cheap labor- like in India became clear here. There would have been a few people around hoping to help us with our bags in India. (we had 2 at check-in, but it is true that once inside the secure area it was harder to find people).
At Frankfurt we had to go through security again, which was equally painful as in Bangalore. We had to take Ziggy and Zoe out of their carriers and everyone loved seeing them! They were the stars of the show! We wanted to go to the business lounge and give the Z's some water and a little food, but they had no room we could use for this. It seems silly that they would allow pets in the cabin but have no place to take them in such an event. We found a baby changing room and thought we might use this, and got a little water and foof in them before some cleaning women threatened to have us arrested! She may have been right that this not the best idea, but we had not thought to much about germs, though the cats are probably cleaner than most babies and the room itself.
We tried to give the Z's a tranquilizer pill for the trip to JFK and may have succeeded. They were quite will behaved. As this flight is in daylight Jim stayed awake most of the time and watched bad movies most of the time. Janet read and slept and gave the Z's more water.
On arrival at JFK we were surprised to come through immigration , baggage pick up and customs rather quickly. Since Jim has been away 2 years and Janet the same except for her trip home in April there was little for them to check. They did not ask for the health certificates for the cats even though we went to great pains to get them in place.
The driver was fairly good, but for some reason the car company had scheduled him to do another job too soon after ours so he was in a hurry and he was not as helpful as we'd have liked. He unloaded our bags onto the ground - in the rain- but would help us take them inside.
As we drove home, all looked familiar. Janet commented that it was a "typical fall day"- overcast and rainy- dreary- in other words! Quite the contrast to bright sunny days in Bangalore at this time of year.
Ziggy and Zoe got good food and water as soon as we got in the house and were quite ravenous! We worried that they might vomit after eating so fast. However, they seem OK and they recognized they were home again after a long and exciting journey!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Last ride on the ring road
On Monday Oct. 25 Jim had several tasks to complete at the office. These included turning in cards for "The Club" where we had corporate memberships for the past year, returning the car we had used for the past 2 years, returning Jim's India ID badge, shreddng some of the endless stacks of papers and saying good bye to some people. The ride back to our hotel was provided by a co-worker who stays very close by, The Trip was marred by the drive during the height of rush hour, The Ring road traffic was jammed worse that usual and this made it a little easier to leave- the prospect of not having to think about the traffic again for awhile! The rest of the ride to the hotel was unpleasant as well.
However we met friends for dinner Monday evening and this was a nice end of the day.
Tuesday was rather more busy than expected because of the number to trips back to the apartment for various reasons. One trip was to complete the transfer of the apartment, but we left Ziggy and Zoe there to be comfortable, but they seemed bored with no furniture to play on or around. Our last trip to the apartment was at 10PM when we picked up Ziggy and Zoe and left for the airport to return home.
However we met friends for dinner Monday evening and this was a nice end of the day.
Tuesday was rather more busy than expected because of the number to trips back to the apartment for various reasons. One trip was to complete the transfer of the apartment, but we left Ziggy and Zoe there to be comfortable, but they seemed bored with no furniture to play on or around. Our last trip to the apartment was at 10PM when we picked up Ziggy and Zoe and left for the airport to return home.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
moving out
In the past 3 days we were very busy with our move. The packers packed all day Friday and Saturday and then took everything away on Sunday. Of course we had lots of decisions to make on what to put in the air shipment, what to put in the sea, what to carry with us, what to give away and what to throw away. A few more things were sold at very low prices as well.
There were lots of papers to sort through and that took lots of time too. We don't want to lose any that might be important or useful later , but we also don't want the weight.
Because everything was pretty much packed up on Saturday we moved to a hotel- really serviced apartment. We chose it because we were thinking that Ziggy and Zoe would come with us and it also has some good restaurants very close by. The latter is important because we don't have our car available now and have to walk or arrange for an expensive car and driver. We did get a car and driver on Saturday because Janet has been sick and decided she should go to the doctor, but we also needed it to take us and our luggage from the apartment to the hotel.
On Sunday Jim walked to the apartment carrying a heavy bag of clothes and other small items to have the movers take with our sea shipment. This was hard on the back!
We also had a large plant that did not sell and Janet decided she wanted to keep the nice pot it was in, so we managed to find someone in the building to empty the pot and clean it out. The movers had mistakenly packed up the vacuum cleaner, even though the maid told them she thought she needed it. So, they had to unpack that and it was no problem for them to pack the other things that we had found the previous night and decided to ship by sea.
The Apartment is on the 4th floor (3rd floor in Indo- European naming) and the movers had to carry all the boxes down the stairs. They appeared to do this efficiently, but it was hard to keep an eye on them. They seemed good, but the only way we really know is when we receive the stuff on the other end and see what broke or is missing.
There are a number of tasks to do on Monday and Tuesday before we leave- hopefully they will go smoothly and Janet will feel better as well.
As for Ziggy and Zoe, we decided to leave them in the apartment rather than take them to the hotel. We think that fewer transitions will be less stressful for them. So, we will go there Tuesday evening, get them and go to the airport, where we also hope all the paperwork is satisfactory.
Before we left the US we did a lot of research on what was required to take the cats to India. In at least one place they said that having microchips inserted in them was required. We tend not to like this, but thought that it might be valuable if they were to get separated from us or lost. However, we have not seen any evidence that there are microchip readers here. At least none of the vets have mentioned them. We shall see.
There were lots of papers to sort through and that took lots of time too. We don't want to lose any that might be important or useful later , but we also don't want the weight.
Because everything was pretty much packed up on Saturday we moved to a hotel- really serviced apartment. We chose it because we were thinking that Ziggy and Zoe would come with us and it also has some good restaurants very close by. The latter is important because we don't have our car available now and have to walk or arrange for an expensive car and driver. We did get a car and driver on Saturday because Janet has been sick and decided she should go to the doctor, but we also needed it to take us and our luggage from the apartment to the hotel.
On Sunday Jim walked to the apartment carrying a heavy bag of clothes and other small items to have the movers take with our sea shipment. This was hard on the back!
We also had a large plant that did not sell and Janet decided she wanted to keep the nice pot it was in, so we managed to find someone in the building to empty the pot and clean it out. The movers had mistakenly packed up the vacuum cleaner, even though the maid told them she thought she needed it. So, they had to unpack that and it was no problem for them to pack the other things that we had found the previous night and decided to ship by sea.
The Apartment is on the 4th floor (3rd floor in Indo- European naming) and the movers had to carry all the boxes down the stairs. They appeared to do this efficiently, but it was hard to keep an eye on them. They seemed good, but the only way we really know is when we receive the stuff on the other end and see what broke or is missing.
There are a number of tasks to do on Monday and Tuesday before we leave- hopefully they will go smoothly and Janet will feel better as well.
As for Ziggy and Zoe, we decided to leave them in the apartment rather than take them to the hotel. We think that fewer transitions will be less stressful for them. So, we will go there Tuesday evening, get them and go to the airport, where we also hope all the paperwork is satisfactory.
Before we left the US we did a lot of research on what was required to take the cats to India. In at least one place they said that having microchips inserted in them was required. We tend not to like this, but thought that it might be valuable if they were to get separated from us or lost. However, we have not seen any evidence that there are microchip readers here. At least none of the vets have mentioned them. We shall see.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Zeno's paradox in India
Zeno's Paradox goes something like this: suppose there is a frog placed in one corner of a room. Each time the frog jumps it goes exactly half of the remaining distance to the opposite corner of the room. The paradox is that the frog never seems to reach the opposite corner even though it continues to move.
In India it seems that many tasks are like the Frog's situation- there appears to be movement, but the task never seems to complete. At least it feels that way sometimes.
We had to switch our phone plan to one where we don't have to pay a monthly bill- prepaid- so we don't need to think about it any more. It took several phone calls with people saying "oh you just go to the phone company office". Of course it was not that simple. Jim had to go twice and stay about 45 minutes each time plus gather many documents to present, then the phone shut off and we had to wait for them to come back on and then call the office again (and again) to finally get them working. Some of this is driven by security concerns after the Mumbai attack almost 2 years ago, but mostly it is typical silliness.
On another front we got Ziggy and Zoe to the Vet yesterday evening to get them checked before departure- they tell us it is to be done no more than 7 days before departure. The inspection was quick but the guy spent 45 minutes typing out the forms and printing them. This was free. they charged about $2.75 for some deworming pills and tranquilizers in case they (or we) need them on the flight. The next for them is to get the government vet to see the cats and sign off on their departure. We thought we might might get this done, but could not due to the phones not working and that the gov't vets office closing earlier than we thought possible. So, it is another case of things appearing to move, but not quite reaching the finish.
However, things do, usually, reach completion- one just has to be VERY patient. Some jobs like construction or fabrication of something by tradesmen may never actually reach completion- for those, it is more a case of the owner/purchaser getting tired of having things done over again and again- you just reach the point of saying "it seems good enough".
Last Saturday Jim made a short trip to "Tipu's Palace" and the remains of the fort that once covered a large areas of old Bangalore. In the 2 year we have been here he never had time to go. Tipu Sultan was the Muslim ruler of this area in the late 1700's. He is reputed to have been a very wise ruler and well respected by the people. However, the British and he did not agree on much. He was finally killed on an assault on his capitol of Srirangapatna in 1799. We visited there in Dec. 2008 and wrote about that back then. Tipu had a number of palaces around his domain and the one in Bangalore is not large, but it is worth the short visit to see the architecture and a few relics. The area is now surrounded by Bangalore city that is not so pretty. It took about 20-30 minutes to walk around.
A short drive away is the old fort or cantonment. We are told that it was not well kept until a couple years ago. it is interesting as well, but again, only 20 minutes or so to walk around seemed enough. It is free to visit the fort while the palace is about 10 cents for Indians and $2 for foreigners. Jim did not have the energy to argue with them over paying the Indian rate- since we pay taxes in India we are supposed to be able to get the Indian rate, but more than half the places claim that is not true or that our documents are not valid because "they might be forgeries- there are a lot of forgeries around".
Movers come tomorrow to start packing up our stuff.
In India it seems that many tasks are like the Frog's situation- there appears to be movement, but the task never seems to complete. At least it feels that way sometimes.
We had to switch our phone plan to one where we don't have to pay a monthly bill- prepaid- so we don't need to think about it any more. It took several phone calls with people saying "oh you just go to the phone company office". Of course it was not that simple. Jim had to go twice and stay about 45 minutes each time plus gather many documents to present, then the phone shut off and we had to wait for them to come back on and then call the office again (and again) to finally get them working. Some of this is driven by security concerns after the Mumbai attack almost 2 years ago, but mostly it is typical silliness.
On another front we got Ziggy and Zoe to the Vet yesterday evening to get them checked before departure- they tell us it is to be done no more than 7 days before departure. The inspection was quick but the guy spent 45 minutes typing out the forms and printing them. This was free. they charged about $2.75 for some deworming pills and tranquilizers in case they (or we) need them on the flight. The next for them is to get the government vet to see the cats and sign off on their departure. We thought we might might get this done, but could not due to the phones not working and that the gov't vets office closing earlier than we thought possible. So, it is another case of things appearing to move, but not quite reaching the finish.
However, things do, usually, reach completion- one just has to be VERY patient. Some jobs like construction or fabrication of something by tradesmen may never actually reach completion- for those, it is more a case of the owner/purchaser getting tired of having things done over again and again- you just reach the point of saying "it seems good enough".
Last Saturday Jim made a short trip to "Tipu's Palace" and the remains of the fort that once covered a large areas of old Bangalore. In the 2 year we have been here he never had time to go. Tipu Sultan was the Muslim ruler of this area in the late 1700's. He is reputed to have been a very wise ruler and well respected by the people. However, the British and he did not agree on much. He was finally killed on an assault on his capitol of Srirangapatna in 1799. We visited there in Dec. 2008 and wrote about that back then. Tipu had a number of palaces around his domain and the one in Bangalore is not large, but it is worth the short visit to see the architecture and a few relics. The area is now surrounded by Bangalore city that is not so pretty. It took about 20-30 minutes to walk around.
A short drive away is the old fort or cantonment. We are told that it was not well kept until a couple years ago. it is interesting as well, but again, only 20 minutes or so to walk around seemed enough. It is free to visit the fort while the palace is about 10 cents for Indians and $2 for foreigners. Jim did not have the energy to argue with them over paying the Indian rate- since we pay taxes in India we are supposed to be able to get the Indian rate, but more than half the places claim that is not true or that our documents are not valid because "they might be forgeries- there are a lot of forgeries around".
Movers come tomorrow to start packing up our stuff.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
What's happening here?
Ziggy and Zoe righting again! We have not seen so much we wanted to right about for awhile and our human companion animals have been keeping the computer closed up and away from us a lot. Lately we sense something is going on here and we are not sure we like it! Yesterday someone came and took away our favorite perch! That came all the way from our previous home and now its gone! Then today we were pushed outside where we watch the birds and little human-like creatures while a bunch of people moved around inside. When we were finally allowed inside a whole lot of our other places to sleep were gone! They have some explaining to do!
Yes, the cat condo was sold yesterday and taken away and then today a guy and his extended family came to take away a number of pieces of furniture that we had to sell to get our load reduced in volume. We were somewhat lucky that one person bought most of what we had to sell and he could wait until nearer our departure to take it away. "Sundar" and his wife "Geetha" and son "Vishnu" will move into a new apartment in about 2 months. It looks like a very modern place and our furniture should go well there. They seem like very nice people- as most Indians are when you have a chance to talk to them. They had us come to their current apartment last night for dinner. It was very nice. Sundar plays the Harmonium, so he played for us and told us about the instrument too. The food was very good and they were good company.as well.
The Z's are a little perturbed, but they were also romping around in the new found open spaces. However, we also have some suitcases out, so they know that usually means we are going somewhere. Little do they know that they will go too!
We are expecting movers to come Friday the 22nd and spend 2 days packing up our stuff and one day loading a truck. they are supposed to be good. They brought us some boxes so we could separate things going by air from things going by sea. Then we have to keep the stuff we will carry separate too. Lots of decisions to make!
Jim has been packing some boxes himself while sorting into the main categories.
We expect the apartment to be unlivable by Saturday night the 23rd, so we will move to a hotel nearby but leave the Z's in the apartment until we take them to the airport.
The Z's have to see a local vet this week and then they have to see a government vet no more than 48 hours before we depart. We are not looking forward to that. Any interaction with the government people is usually time wasted- except when they give the needed forms or stamps or whatever.
We went through the process of getting our visas renewed nearly 3 weeks ago- while it was quicker in some respects from the past, it was still a pain. Evidently, since the Indian economy is growing so well, there are lots of people who want to come here and stay without proper papers.
Jim employer has a number of people who are supposed to help in the process of getting everything done to get us out of the country. However, they have not been especially helpful and the contractors who are paid to help as well have a tendency to do part of their job, but then leave it to us to bug them to finish the job or to provide more than just suggestions.
One thing we need to do is cancel our DSL service just before we leave the apartment. The provider also sent the last bill by email with a password protection, but without any clue as to what the password is! We mentioned what we wanted to one of the helpers. The outcome is that we now have 2 login ID's to the provider's website with 2 different ID's and passwords and the document we got was only opened after we also received a paper copy in the mail and all we got toward closing our DSL service was a phone number to call. Jim told the helpers they did not seem to be helping much and then he got a call from the DSl provider who gave the password for the bill that we also got in the mail and we were told to call closer to the time we want to cancel the service rather than arrange it ahead of time. of course, we were trying to arrange early so we would not have to deal with it at the last minute, but that is not the way it works here.
Our car belongs to the company, and we were told that normal wear and tear would be handled by them at no cost to us, but they would not say what is "normal" and when Jim asked to have them look at the car and tell us if anything is "abnormal" so we could get it fixed- they simply said that they would get it fixed after we return the car and send us the bill! Now, for the company that Jim is used to working for this could very well mean they would never send a bill. However, the company has changed and gotten much more cost conscious- really to the point of absurdity in some respects. So, he does not really trust them - especially here in India where everyone warns us not to be too trusting! We had our driver get an estimate to fix all the scratches and dents to our car and then he had the dealer give an estimate too and it was almost 4x more expensive- even when we assume our driver asked his people for a commission the dealer came out 4x more! Thus we are afraid the company will have work done at such a place and ask us to pay for it! We are going to try to have things fixed the day before the car is returned.
The helpers at the office also sent Jim a list of things to be done before we leave. Among the things on the list is one about "signing the PF forms". He had asked what the is a week earlier and got no reply and just got another note saying this has to be done. Jim finally figured out that they are talking about the Provident Fund- its much like social security in the US. The employer puts money in, but they get the money back when we return to the US- provided that Jim fills out all the forms properly! A bit of a sore point is that the money goes to Jim's India bank account, which several people said we should try to close before we leave India, but the company says we can't until they get the PF money. This word coming 2 weeks before we leave even though they earlier found that Jim could sign a form and have the money sent directly to the company instead of his account. So there will be loose ends to tie up later.
The coming 2 weeks are likely to be very hectic, so we may or may not add more as we go along.
Yes, the cat condo was sold yesterday and taken away and then today a guy and his extended family came to take away a number of pieces of furniture that we had to sell to get our load reduced in volume. We were somewhat lucky that one person bought most of what we had to sell and he could wait until nearer our departure to take it away. "Sundar" and his wife "Geetha" and son "Vishnu" will move into a new apartment in about 2 months. It looks like a very modern place and our furniture should go well there. They seem like very nice people- as most Indians are when you have a chance to talk to them. They had us come to their current apartment last night for dinner. It was very nice. Sundar plays the Harmonium, so he played for us and told us about the instrument too. The food was very good and they were good company.as well.
The Z's are a little perturbed, but they were also romping around in the new found open spaces. However, we also have some suitcases out, so they know that usually means we are going somewhere. Little do they know that they will go too!
We are expecting movers to come Friday the 22nd and spend 2 days packing up our stuff and one day loading a truck. they are supposed to be good. They brought us some boxes so we could separate things going by air from things going by sea. Then we have to keep the stuff we will carry separate too. Lots of decisions to make!
Jim has been packing some boxes himself while sorting into the main categories.
We expect the apartment to be unlivable by Saturday night the 23rd, so we will move to a hotel nearby but leave the Z's in the apartment until we take them to the airport.
The Z's have to see a local vet this week and then they have to see a government vet no more than 48 hours before we depart. We are not looking forward to that. Any interaction with the government people is usually time wasted- except when they give the needed forms or stamps or whatever.
We went through the process of getting our visas renewed nearly 3 weeks ago- while it was quicker in some respects from the past, it was still a pain. Evidently, since the Indian economy is growing so well, there are lots of people who want to come here and stay without proper papers.
Jim employer has a number of people who are supposed to help in the process of getting everything done to get us out of the country. However, they have not been especially helpful and the contractors who are paid to help as well have a tendency to do part of their job, but then leave it to us to bug them to finish the job or to provide more than just suggestions.
One thing we need to do is cancel our DSL service just before we leave the apartment. The provider also sent the last bill by email with a password protection, but without any clue as to what the password is! We mentioned what we wanted to one of the helpers. The outcome is that we now have 2 login ID's to the provider's website with 2 different ID's and passwords and the document we got was only opened after we also received a paper copy in the mail and all we got toward closing our DSL service was a phone number to call. Jim told the helpers they did not seem to be helping much and then he got a call from the DSl provider who gave the password for the bill that we also got in the mail and we were told to call closer to the time we want to cancel the service rather than arrange it ahead of time. of course, we were trying to arrange early so we would not have to deal with it at the last minute, but that is not the way it works here.
Our car belongs to the company, and we were told that normal wear and tear would be handled by them at no cost to us, but they would not say what is "normal" and when Jim asked to have them look at the car and tell us if anything is "abnormal" so we could get it fixed- they simply said that they would get it fixed after we return the car and send us the bill! Now, for the company that Jim is used to working for this could very well mean they would never send a bill. However, the company has changed and gotten much more cost conscious- really to the point of absurdity in some respects. So, he does not really trust them - especially here in India where everyone warns us not to be too trusting! We had our driver get an estimate to fix all the scratches and dents to our car and then he had the dealer give an estimate too and it was almost 4x more expensive- even when we assume our driver asked his people for a commission the dealer came out 4x more! Thus we are afraid the company will have work done at such a place and ask us to pay for it! We are going to try to have things fixed the day before the car is returned.
The helpers at the office also sent Jim a list of things to be done before we leave. Among the things on the list is one about "signing the PF forms". He had asked what the is a week earlier and got no reply and just got another note saying this has to be done. Jim finally figured out that they are talking about the Provident Fund- its much like social security in the US. The employer puts money in, but they get the money back when we return to the US- provided that Jim fills out all the forms properly! A bit of a sore point is that the money goes to Jim's India bank account, which several people said we should try to close before we leave India, but the company says we can't until they get the PF money. This word coming 2 weeks before we leave even though they earlier found that Jim could sign a form and have the money sent directly to the company instead of his account. So there will be loose ends to tie up later.
The coming 2 weeks are likely to be very hectic, so we may or may not add more as we go along.
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