Ed's Technobabble

The big hurdle now is coming back from vacation and getting back to the grind. I thought I was fired up and ready to take on new challenges, but I found myself being reminded why I was in desperate need of a vacation to begin with. Old and new dramas were what waited for me back at home. Is it too early to start looking forward to next years vacation? Just 50 weeks left! One thing that keeps coming up is posting my pictures. Although I consider myself technically savvy, I never really had a blog. My problem with it always has been the sharing of information. If I say that a vendor {x} is crappy, then will that come back to bite me later when I try to negotiate a contract with said vendor later? Same with employment. All of us have bad days. I’m not likely to share when I’ve had a good/normal day at work (not unless something extraordinary happened). I’m likely going to vent about some crazy situation. If my posts reflected only my frustrations, then that wouldn't look good on...

I come from a part of the country where if you’re not white you’re Hispanic. It’s like on Harold and Kumar, where the KKK see an Indian and a Korean guy and yell Mexicans! So now as an adult, I’ve traveled a bit. For work, I went to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, and they all thought I was Indian. When I told some people at work I was going to India, I got asked if I had family there. No biggie. Then I went to India. They thought I was Indian. They kept speaking Hindi to me. Okay. That was odd. On vacation, we spent some time in London. On the flight home (london to Chicago to Seattle).. This was an actual conversation while I was waiting to use the bathroom: Random Dude on the Plane: So are you flying through London? Me: No, I’m flying through Chicago to Seattle. RDotP: I mean did you come from London? Me: Uh. Yes. We all did. RDotP: Did you spend time there, or where you coming from somewhere else? Me: Yes, I spent a week there RDotP: Cause I thought you mi...

Tonight we just got back from Canterbury, Leeds Castle, and the White Cliffs of Dover. Turns out… That’s the last thing on the list of things to do besides get on an airplane and come back home. Booo! I guess, to recap. Taj Mahal... much more impressive in person. I really can’t explain how much more detailed it is than the pictures show it to be. You stand back and it’s impressive. You get right next to it, and it’s more so. Indian weddings.. A blast. They know how to live it up. People in India think I’m Indian. They kept speaking Hindi to me. One of the times I got asked if I was Indian, I said no. The follow up question was, “are you sure?” The rest of India was great, but we were glad to get to London. India has a ton of things to see, but it just has a different feel that we’re not accustomed to. Things just felt a little more normal in London. On our trip to Europe, we pretty much just did the highlights..        We’ve really enjoyed ourselves and ...

You’ve already seen the front. We took a day trip to France. While we were there, we went to the Louvre. It was the express version. The Louvre is an eyesore. They took this perfectly good palace, and built a hideous pyramid. I guess it’s supposed to be futuristic, but it’s just plain ugly. On a good note, you can mostly see through it, and see the beautiful palace that’s behind it. While we were in Paris, we did the typical touristy things you’d do in Paris. We saw Notre Dame, Eifel Tower, Louvre, and the Arch de Triumph. When we took a cab to the Arch, I think I offended the cab driver by pronouncing “Triumph” in American English. He  kept saying what? When I pulled out my handy Rick Steve’s London guide (using the day trip to Paris section) and pointed to the name.. He kindly said, “it iz called ark dee tree-omph”. I responded… Yes, that’s where we’re going. It was a beautiful church and you can’t help get a feeling of awe. They also have the Magna Carta there. You can’t t...

We started out the day with breakfast at a local cafe. I had a proper coffee. Nothing compares to European coffee. They just make it differently, and it’s better. That’s that. After breakfast, we took a train out to Salisbury in Wiltshire England. This was pretty much a sightseeing trip. We saw the Salisbury Cathedral and one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta. We hung out in the city which was very cool town. The town was started in the 1200s along with the Cathedral in 1280. The town has a rich history, and it was very clear by looking at some of the buildings. Below is a picture of the part of the Cathedral that houses the Magna Carta. Unfortunately, this was another one of those spots where you can’t take pictures in.   We ate lunch at the King’s head inn. It’s been a pub since the 15th century. Now it’s part of the Wetherspoon chain. Since I do requests. Here is a picture of more of the beer and less of me. After lunch, we took a bus out to Stonehenge . Sto...

The morning was spent in a plane. Everything went well and was uneventful. Thank goodness. On the way over we had a few hour layover in Germany.  So what do you do in Germany? I had a frankfurter in Frankfurt and had a hefferveisen. I got the big half liter glass, it was tasty. Who cared that it was 8:00am? That’s a long flight from Delhi to Frankfurt! Since today was our travel day, we took it easy and went to Harrods. About 4 minutes after walking into the store, we went into sensory overload. We left in a daze. They already have all the  Christmas stuff out too! They even had a Top Gear (British car show) play set! With mini-stig (race car driver on said show) bubble bath! My back and Heather’s cold are slowly getting better. Even so, I think we’re calling it a night so we can get some rest for tomorrow. There’s a lot on the agenda.

Today was an early start. We had to meet the driver in the lobby at 4:30am. The drive out to Agra took about four hours. I have learned in our short time in India why New York cab drivers are from India and Pakistan. It’s because these guys can bloody well drive. They turn a two lane road into a four lane road. Because of this, they’re driving inches from each other at full speed. They’re dodging cows , monkeys, camels, pedestrians, motorcycles, and each other. To top it all off, they’re all ignoring the lights, and it works for them. I see accidents on the freeway to work at least once a week, and they’re driving pretty much in a straight line. In India, it’s a symphony of horns to let each other know where they’re at, and a ballet of weaving in an out of each other. The countryside was picturesque, until you realize that the haze is from the oil refineries and the factories. Other than that, it was a great view. Speaking of great views, the Taj  Mahal was excellent. It was re...

We just got in to the airport after an exciting morning (by exciting, I mean it sucked). However, we were looking forward to move to the next part of our vacation… The sightseeing! We took a tour through New Delhi and Old Delhi (yes there’s an Old Delhi). It was great. The only problem was that we were walking all over the place with me having a back that I threw out earlier in the morning moving luggage around, and Heather just getting sick. But we decided not let that stop us. We went to the largest Mosque in Delhi. It was pretty amazing. Heather had to wrap up in woman Mosque attire, and we had to leave our shoes at the front. The tour guide was very cool and explained quite a bit about the history and uses of the mosque. To me the funny part was that the temporary garb that Heather had to wear was in no doubt a temporary outfit. We’d laugh when we’d see someone else wearing the same thing. We took a ton of pictures there, but that’s all the commentary I have for that locatio...

After a 24 hour sleep-a-thon (on and off), we wake up very early. About 3:30am I start to pack, when somebody stabs me in the lower back… at least that’s what it feels like and I drop to my knees. There goes the back. At the time, I was lifting a shirt. I guess that was the tipping point. For the better half of the morning, I’m apologizing to my wife,  because she now has to pack everything while I lay in bed, with my legs propped up. Here I am trying every stretching exercise I can find on the Internet to help with the back pain. I barely make it through the shower, and then we’re off to the airport with me hobbling along. On the way to the airport, the AC blows out in the cab, and starts pushing smoke into the cabin. The cab driver tries to turn it off before we notice. It’s too late, I noticed. I open my window, and he sheepishly smiles at me. We’re still heading to the airport. I guess that’s good.. but… Problem is.. there’s two airports, and the taxi driver dropped us of...

We are beat. Heather is still asleep. It’s been a long few days. Two days ago, we went to a party hosted by the groom’s side. I’ll just call him JS from now on. JS’ party was just that. A huge engagement party. Drink, dance, and food. There was a tradition that we did before the party. The bride’s side brings gifts to the groom’s side. All of us on the bride’s side were given a few gifts to give the the family. We all walked in, carrying the gifts and set them on the table. Then the engagement was formally accepted and the party started. Just like previous nights, there was plenty of food and drink. I think this called a Roka ceremony (at this point I’m on sensory overload) Yesterday was the actual wedding. In the morning we had a private pre-wedding ceremony called Chuda for the bride. This was attended by the bride’s side close family and friends. I can’t pretend to understand everything that happened, but we got small bracelets, and there was feeding of sweets to everyone (and ...

India has been wonderful. Henna night was fun for Heather. Henna night is a celebration on the bride’s side where the bride get’s a Henna tattoo (not really a tattoo, its a dye that colors the skin that lasts 2-3 days) on the hands and feet. The other women also get smaller Henna on the hands. Heather got one too. The one on the bride is so elaborate, it’s insane. I felt sorry for the bride (I’ll just call her MD from now on), because it took so long. After Henna night we all went to a party that was for the bride’s family and friends. MD’s family is just great. All of them from sisters, and aunts and uncles, and parents took the time to explain the significance of everything. The staff kept bringing plate after plate of food. By 10:00pm we were stuffed. Then it was time for dinner. I said, “what? seriously? I thought that was dinner.” The uncles laughed, and said, it’s just getting started. There was more food and drink. They had scotch, and just like food, they kept it coming. T...