So I'm an Idiot
I've just realized that I've begun every post except the first one with the word so. I'll keep my trusty thesauras nearby from now on.
I've just realized that I've begun every post except the first one with the word so. I'll keep my trusty thesauras nearby from now on.
So the new ipods were announced this morning. Or this evening since most of y'all don't have the pleasure of inhabiting GMT +5.5 like I do. So what has changed? The big ipod got the click wheel, they got rid of the 15 gig version, the battery lasts 4 hrs longer, and they are $100 cheaper. All the other changes are firmware related, but still sound cool. Less menus to navigate, etc. So yeah, I've now got upgrade fever. If we're lucky us 3rd gen. owners will get a firmware update bringing us halfway there, but hey this is Apple we're talking about.
So lately I had been craving a good hamburger. They aren't really easy to find when you're in India however. Friday we tried going to TGI Fridays (Yes the same as the one in the US, just with crappier service), but all they had were lamb burgers (still very tasty). So last night myself, Jason, and Bill (two other TUers) met up with my section leader Jim at the Oberoi hotel. The Oberoi is one of the nicest hotels i've ever seen and they have really nice restaurants too. This place had the best real burgers ever! I couldn't believe that they knew how to make them so well. Along with my burger, I had a Corona ($8) and a Jack and Coke ($13). Missing American food/beverages is pricey since there is a 300% tax on imported alcohol, but that dinner was well worth it :).
Believe it or not, I've survived my first full month in India. I know I told everyone I'd blog or email regularly, but my internet access has not been as regular as I'd like. Excuses aside, I'm now making the effort to keep everyone posted on what I'm up to over here. So here's a "month in review" post that will hopefully bring everyone up to speed. You may be asking, "Wow, I wonder what Bangalore is like". Well, I couldn't tell you. Today marks the one month anniversary of my arrival, and its coincidentally my 3rd day off from work. Seriously. So I can tell you all about the hotel, the office, and the drive from the hotel to the office. Let's start with the hotel. Its a pretty nice place, kinda small but it does the trick. They have pretty mediocre food which tastes even worse when you come home from work at 1 am and order room service. There's also a bar in the hotel, but like most liquor establishments here in Bangalore, it closes at 11:30 PM. The office. Work has been pretty crazy. I'm here for Trilogy University (TU), which is a boot camp kind of thing that gets us familiar with the company and lets us work on entrepenurial type projects that we can turn into products for Trilogy. Like I said earlier, I've been working crazy hours over here. It was not uncommon to arrive at the office at 8:30 AM and leave around 1:00 AM. On a few occasions I even just slept here. I say "here" because the office is the only place that I have internet access. So sticking around here even longer after I'm done with my work is not always the most appealing option. Other than the long hours, I've been having a good time. My co-workers are pretty cool, but I must say that some of them have work habits that make me feel like a slacker. Some of those long days I'd come in the office and people would already be here and when I'd leave at night, some of the same people would still be around. Working. The drive. So traffic in Bangalore is beyond crazy. This city has doubled in population in the last 6 or 7 years to about 7 million people. The already narrow roads are shared between huge trucks and busses, SUVs, cars, tons of scooters and motorcycles, even more three-wheeler taxi's called auto rickshaws, cows, dogs, pedestrians, garbage, water, dirt, etc. The four of us North American TUers (2 are from Canada) share a rental car that conveniently comes with its own driver. Our driver, Chandro is a nice guy, but he loves to drive fast and pass slow moving traffic-- even if that means driving on the complete other side of the road! So driving every day is a good time for reflection as most of the trip is spent with my life flashing before my eyes. There is this cool coffee joint here called Barista that I stop at before work sometimes. Its a starbucks clone, except for regular normal American drip coffee. That simply does not exist in this country. Lunch alternates between Indian food like dal (a lentil type stew) among other things served here at the office every day, ordering in from Pizza Hut or Domino's (they make an AWESOME chicken tandoori pizza), or going to a brand new nearby mall called "The Forum". The Forum has a bunch of fast food places including KFC, and a Movenpick ice cream store. The mall even has an Apple store! (well an "Apple Centre") The Forum is pretty strange becuase it's like stepping into a portal back to the states. Except there's a lot more Indian people. So in terms of language, most people here speak English, but the local language here in Bangalore is Kannada. That's different from Hindi with along with English are the two national languages. I've learned a few Hindi works so far including the words for beautiful, "let's go", and potato (you know... the essentials). The weather here in the city is amazing. The average temperature here is about 75 deg day in day out. The only problem is that right now it is monsoon season. It hasn't rained too often, but when it does rain.... it's CRAZY. Flooding is a serious problem here because the city's drainage infrastructure hasn't grown at the same pace as the city itself has. Well, I'm not going to go on for much longer, if you want more details, leave a comment, or email me. And I PROMISE I'll try to post here regularly.