...all day on pins and needles for the people to show up to service our A/C units. Couldn't hardly wait to see what is in our one unit that I believe our apple critter resides in. So, what was found? What is the mystery creature? Is it a gecko, a mouse, a rat, a chipmunk, a mongoose...what is it?
Well the suspense continues, because the people never showed up. Suppose to be here at 11 am...of course being India, I figured if they were here by 2pm, I would be lucky. But, no...never showed up at all.
Oh well, so goes life in India. Just another day.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
It's Going to be One of Those Days...
I can just feel it!
Not even 7 am yet, and I have already had the pudding scared out of me by a gecko. Went to put my cereal bowl in the sink, and the stupid thing was on my counter. Since our counters are black and this gecko was dark brown, I didn't see it until I almost set my cereal bowl on it and it moved. Luckily, I didn't drop my Longaberger bowl. That would not have been good! Then I spent 10 minutes chasing it around my counters before I finally got it out the window. I'm sure the security guards (who can see everything in the kitchen because we don't have any curtains in this room) think I have lost it as I was dancing around the kitchen chasing the thing in my PJs. Now, I need to disinfect all of my counters to get rid of the gecko germs. Gross!
Next up, they are coming to service our A/Cs. I can't wait to see what they find when they open the unit that I believe our apple critter has been living in for two months. Maybe we'll get a clue about what it is. Hee, hee...this should be fun. I'll have my camera handy in case something interesting comes flying out when they open the A/C. Knowing our luck, nothing will be found!
Stay tuned...
Not even 7 am yet, and I have already had the pudding scared out of me by a gecko. Went to put my cereal bowl in the sink, and the stupid thing was on my counter. Since our counters are black and this gecko was dark brown, I didn't see it until I almost set my cereal bowl on it and it moved. Luckily, I didn't drop my Longaberger bowl. That would not have been good! Then I spent 10 minutes chasing it around my counters before I finally got it out the window. I'm sure the security guards (who can see everything in the kitchen because we don't have any curtains in this room) think I have lost it as I was dancing around the kitchen chasing the thing in my PJs. Now, I need to disinfect all of my counters to get rid of the gecko germs. Gross!
Next up, they are coming to service our A/Cs. I can't wait to see what they find when they open the unit that I believe our apple critter has been living in for two months. Maybe we'll get a clue about what it is. Hee, hee...this should be fun. I'll have my camera handy in case something interesting comes flying out when they open the A/C. Knowing our luck, nothing will be found!
Stay tuned...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Our Car & Driver
Never say never. I said that I would never have a mini van. I don't like them, and I'm sorry but I don't want to look like a soccer mom. Now for people with kids, I'm sure a mini van is the best thing since sliced bread.
Well, we moved to Beijing last year and what do we end up with? A mini van! Since our company was paying for our car and the driver to take us around, we only had a couple of options and couldn't be picky. We had the option between a car or a mini van. Now most of you are thinking for just S and I that a car would have been fine. Nope! You forget that we had a driver, so there was always an extra person in the vehicle. That didn't leave room for many other people. Therefore, we took the mini van, and more than once, we had it completely full of people or suitcases. I ended up being able to tolerate the mini van...plus it probably helped that it was a Buick, and I have owned a whole lot of Buick cars.
I grew up with a father who would only own Chevrolet and GM cars and trucks. Ford was a four letter word in our house. Ford stood for Fix Or Repair Daily and Found On Road Dead. I said that I would never have a Ford. So, guess what? We move to India and end up with a Ford!
Up until today, we have had a Toyota SUV. While it was new, I haven't liked it from the start. It wasn't comfortable to ride in...and with India traffic, you really want to be comfortable in your vehicle. Also, it didn't have automatic locks, which is a must have here for a number of reasons. After our driver left my bag unattended in our car with the doors unlocked...and my bag contained my laptop computer...I about had a cow. Well, low and behold, a couple of weeks later, our Toyota had automatic locks installed.
Anyway, I asked S what other options we had for vehicles besides the Toyota. I knew I wanted an SUV if at all possible. Riding in a car here almost makes me car sick. I don't feel well at all when I get out. Plus, with monsoon season bringing flooding roads plus living on a dirt road, I felt that a SUV would be a better option for us. Well, S came home and told me that the only other option besides the Toyota SUV would be a Ford SUV. I had actually been in my friend's Ford and had found it to be much nicer than the Toyota. Automatic locks, cup holders, back seat A/C controls. Since I didn't have a option to get a Chevy (still don't know why as I have seen Chevy SUVs here), I decided the Ford would be the way to go.
Well, S brought me home the brochure to pick out what color we wanted (big deal for me because in Beijing we only had two color choices...silver or dark blue). So, we decided that we wanted our Ford to be mystic wine colored (in other words, purple). This all occurred back in July, and our Ford was to take a few weeks to reach us. Well it is now November 6, and we are finally getting it today. I guess the big problem was that the new Ford model hadn't been approved yet, and there weren't any old models left. Typically India.
Well, we moved to Beijing last year and what do we end up with? A mini van! Since our company was paying for our car and the driver to take us around, we only had a couple of options and couldn't be picky. We had the option between a car or a mini van. Now most of you are thinking for just S and I that a car would have been fine. Nope! You forget that we had a driver, so there was always an extra person in the vehicle. That didn't leave room for many other people. Therefore, we took the mini van, and more than once, we had it completely full of people or suitcases. I ended up being able to tolerate the mini van...plus it probably helped that it was a Buick, and I have owned a whole lot of Buick cars.
I grew up with a father who would only own Chevrolet and GM cars and trucks. Ford was a four letter word in our house. Ford stood for Fix Or Repair Daily and Found On Road Dead. I said that I would never have a Ford. So, guess what? We move to India and end up with a Ford!
Up until today, we have had a Toyota SUV. While it was new, I haven't liked it from the start. It wasn't comfortable to ride in...and with India traffic, you really want to be comfortable in your vehicle. Also, it didn't have automatic locks, which is a must have here for a number of reasons. After our driver left my bag unattended in our car with the doors unlocked...and my bag contained my laptop computer...I about had a cow. Well, low and behold, a couple of weeks later, our Toyota had automatic locks installed.
Anyway, I asked S what other options we had for vehicles besides the Toyota. I knew I wanted an SUV if at all possible. Riding in a car here almost makes me car sick. I don't feel well at all when I get out. Plus, with monsoon season bringing flooding roads plus living on a dirt road, I felt that a SUV would be a better option for us. Well, S came home and told me that the only other option besides the Toyota SUV would be a Ford SUV. I had actually been in my friend's Ford and had found it to be much nicer than the Toyota. Automatic locks, cup holders, back seat A/C controls. Since I didn't have a option to get a Chevy (still don't know why as I have seen Chevy SUVs here), I decided the Ford would be the way to go.
Well, S brought me home the brochure to pick out what color we wanted (big deal for me because in Beijing we only had two color choices...silver or dark blue). So, we decided that we wanted our Ford to be mystic wine colored (in other words, purple). This all occurred back in July, and our Ford was to take a few weeks to reach us. Well it is now November 6, and we are finally getting it today. I guess the big problem was that the new Ford model hadn't been approved yet, and there weren't any old models left. Typically India.
So, this is a photo of our driver, Krishnan, with our new Ford Endeavor. He was like a kid in a candy shop today. All excited. Showing off the new car to all of the security guards. Plus, I'm sure all of the other drivers know that we got a new Ford. I had to go out today, and I could tell he was all nervous driving it. We went slow, and on more than one occasion, I saw him flinch when a motorbike got too close to us. Of course, this is India...it's only a matter of time before it gets scraped and scratched up (a topic for a whole other future blog post).
So, what's it like having a driver? Well, they pretty much become like a family member. In fact, I think I have liked our drivers better than I like some of our family members (won't mention any names here). When our first driver in Beijing had a serious heart attack, S and I were devastated. He ended up being OK, but then we had to hire another driver, who we ended up liking as well. As far as Krishnan goes, he is a good driver...but more important here, he speaks good English...not necessarily an easy thing to find with drivers here. He seems to be pretty happy driving for us. He is even looking to move closer to us, so he doesn't have such a long commute to work every day. To me that says something, given that he only makes around $100 per month (plus whatever extra S and I give him) and has a wife and 2 young sons to support. I think by driving for us he knows that he will be making this amount every month...before us, he would only do airport runs and temporary assignments...not guaranteed to have someone to drive for every day, which means he wouldn't get paid or earn any tips if he didn't work.
So, anyway, we have a Ford. Fix Or Repair Daily. Actually, Ford should become India's national motto...there is always something broke here every day (another future blog post), Fix Or Repair Daily just seems to fit...as does having a Ford SUV.
So, what's it like having a driver? Well, they pretty much become like a family member. In fact, I think I have liked our drivers better than I like some of our family members (won't mention any names here). When our first driver in Beijing had a serious heart attack, S and I were devastated. He ended up being OK, but then we had to hire another driver, who we ended up liking as well. As far as Krishnan goes, he is a good driver...but more important here, he speaks good English...not necessarily an easy thing to find with drivers here. He seems to be pretty happy driving for us. He is even looking to move closer to us, so he doesn't have such a long commute to work every day. To me that says something, given that he only makes around $100 per month (plus whatever extra S and I give him) and has a wife and 2 young sons to support. I think by driving for us he knows that he will be making this amount every month...before us, he would only do airport runs and temporary assignments...not guaranteed to have someone to drive for every day, which means he wouldn't get paid or earn any tips if he didn't work.
So, anyway, we have a Ford. Fix Or Repair Daily. Actually, Ford should become India's national motto...there is always something broke here every day (another future blog post), Fix Or Repair Daily just seems to fit...as does having a Ford SUV.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Mail Update
We have received mail! Yippee!
We received a card from S's mother and a card from S's aunt today. I didn't know either of these were coming. The letters that I know are coming still haven't arrived. The thing is is that these two letters are postmarked October 27 in the U.S. This means, it only took them 10 days to reach us. Not to bad. I think the only way we received them so quickly is that I had sent my driver to the post office to mail some letters for me, and he knows that I have been waiting on mail. So, he intercepted these before the "15- 20" day period that it would have taken to deliver them directly to our house. I think the other letters that I know should be coming must have already left the local post office, and thus who knows where they are and if and when they will ever show up at our house???
Gosh, and people complain about the U.S. postal system. It works pretty efficiently compared to the "system" used here.
So, Beth & Carrie...still waiting on the postcards. Patiently waiting. Very patient. Remaining calm. They will show up. Breath deeply. Breath slowly. Be patient...OK, enough of that. If they don't show up soon, I may go postal!
We received a card from S's mother and a card from S's aunt today. I didn't know either of these were coming. The letters that I know are coming still haven't arrived. The thing is is that these two letters are postmarked October 27 in the U.S. This means, it only took them 10 days to reach us. Not to bad. I think the only way we received them so quickly is that I had sent my driver to the post office to mail some letters for me, and he knows that I have been waiting on mail. So, he intercepted these before the "15- 20" day period that it would have taken to deliver them directly to our house. I think the other letters that I know should be coming must have already left the local post office, and thus who knows where they are and if and when they will ever show up at our house???
Gosh, and people complain about the U.S. postal system. It works pretty efficiently compared to the "system" used here.
So, Beth & Carrie...still waiting on the postcards. Patiently waiting. Very patient. Remaining calm. They will show up. Breath deeply. Breath slowly. Be patient...OK, enough of that. If they don't show up soon, I may go postal!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Rabies
Most Americans only know about rabies because they have to get their dogs and cats rabies shots every year. In the U.S., rabies shots are required for dogs plus you have to register that your dog has received this shot (or at least in Illinois you have to).
After we moved to China last year, I was at a couple of different presentations where doctors were speaking. These doctors were strongly encouraging and recommending that people living in China also be vaccinated against rabies. I didn't even know that this was possible. The only thing I remember ever hearing about people getting rabies shots were after they were bitten by an animal, and it was unclear whether the animal had received it's annual rabies shots. I think the thing I always heard was that then the person would have to receive shots into their stomach after the bite.
In China, the government has implemented not only the one child per couple policy, but it has also implemented the one dog per household policy. The point of this is that if only one dog was owned then the owners would be able to afford the rabies shot for the dog.
Now, I lived in Beijing for 9 months. During this time, I don't ever recall seeing a stray dog. There would occasionally be a dog off of a leash. I am sure that in more rural areas of China there are plenty of stray dogs. The report I could easily find on the internet reported that there were over 2500 cases of human rabies in China in 2004. Anyway, I started having the thought that maybe S and I should get the human rabies vaccine. Some of our friends did the series of 3 shots in Beijing. I decided to see if we could get it back in the U.S. I checked when we were there in May and found out that the easiest place to get the set of shots is through the local public health department.
Well, now I am living in India. There are stray dogs everywhere here. Hundreds, thousands of them in Chennai alone. The few times that S and I have went out walking to the beach, we probably have encountered around 20 to 30 stray dogs each time. The dogs pretty much stay away from us. Nevertheless, I have already determined that we were going to get the rabies shots when we were in Illinois in December. The shots are very expensive. Even through the public health department, which only charges $10 to administer each shot, the shots are around $175 each. Multiply this times six (3 for me, 3 for S), and the cost is over $1000. I need to check with our insurance company to see if we can get this covered. Either way, we are going through with the shots. We will be in the U.S. just enough days to be able to receive all three shots.
Now after receiving these shots, we are not totally protected from rabies if a dog bites us. We would still have to go receive medical treatment of two additional shots. However, without these pre-exposure shots, if we were to be bit, we would have to receive 5 shots. I think after living here in India for almost 5 months now, I will feel a little better having had the pre-exposure shots.
Yesterday, our company had a panel of doctors from the big hospitals and clinics here in Chennai talk to us ISEs. I honestly thought the entire morning felt like I was sitting through health class again. Most of the topics covered were about things that we already know about (plus a lot of the details and facts about health they provided were not the same as what we have been taught in the U.S.). I wish they would have covered topics more relevant to us being foreigners in this country. Anyway, I had hoped the topic of rabies would be brought up. It was. They told us if we were bitten to wash the bite area with soap and water and to seek medical treatment to receive the 5 shots. I asked about pre-exposure shots for humans. The answer I received was that they only recommend these shots for veterinarians and zookeepers. The general public is not at a high risk of rabies exposure like these people are. Hello? Have you been outside? Have you seen the stray dogs everywhere?
So, this morning, I decide to do a little more research into whether or not we should receive the rabies vaccination. I visit the Center for Disease Control website. Sure enough, we fall into the category of "infrequent" risk category. Basically what this means is that we are at a greater risk than the general population for being exposed to rabies. The general population falls into the "rare" risk category. Because we are spending a lot of time in India, we are bumped up to the "infrequent" category (this is in my opinion on the way I read the information). For this category we fall into, it is recommended that we receive pre-exposure immunizations for rabies. Please note that small children in India are at an even higher risk of being exposed to rabies, because they often times will go up to dogs unknowingly, be bitten, and not report the bite to their parents.
Anyway, I decide to also do a little research on just how many human rabies cases are in India every year. From the few different websites I checked out, I gather that there are between 20,000 to 30,000 cases of human rabies every year in India. This actually may be a low number because I guess India does not require that cases be reported. Another website I read estimated that 1 person in India dies every 30 minutes due to rabies. No one really knows what the exact number are here. The one constant fact I did find though was that India by far has the most cases of human rabies than any other country. No other country even comes close to the numbers India reports.
So, what are we going to do? S and I are definitely going forward with getting the rabies shots when we are in the U.S. It'll give me a little piece of mind knowing we have had these shots when we are out and about with the stray dogs everywhere here.
After we moved to China last year, I was at a couple of different presentations where doctors were speaking. These doctors were strongly encouraging and recommending that people living in China also be vaccinated against rabies. I didn't even know that this was possible. The only thing I remember ever hearing about people getting rabies shots were after they were bitten by an animal, and it was unclear whether the animal had received it's annual rabies shots. I think the thing I always heard was that then the person would have to receive shots into their stomach after the bite.
In China, the government has implemented not only the one child per couple policy, but it has also implemented the one dog per household policy. The point of this is that if only one dog was owned then the owners would be able to afford the rabies shot for the dog.
Now, I lived in Beijing for 9 months. During this time, I don't ever recall seeing a stray dog. There would occasionally be a dog off of a leash. I am sure that in more rural areas of China there are plenty of stray dogs. The report I could easily find on the internet reported that there were over 2500 cases of human rabies in China in 2004. Anyway, I started having the thought that maybe S and I should get the human rabies vaccine. Some of our friends did the series of 3 shots in Beijing. I decided to see if we could get it back in the U.S. I checked when we were there in May and found out that the easiest place to get the set of shots is through the local public health department.
Well, now I am living in India. There are stray dogs everywhere here. Hundreds, thousands of them in Chennai alone. The few times that S and I have went out walking to the beach, we probably have encountered around 20 to 30 stray dogs each time. The dogs pretty much stay away from us. Nevertheless, I have already determined that we were going to get the rabies shots when we were in Illinois in December. The shots are very expensive. Even through the public health department, which only charges $10 to administer each shot, the shots are around $175 each. Multiply this times six (3 for me, 3 for S), and the cost is over $1000. I need to check with our insurance company to see if we can get this covered. Either way, we are going through with the shots. We will be in the U.S. just enough days to be able to receive all three shots.
Now after receiving these shots, we are not totally protected from rabies if a dog bites us. We would still have to go receive medical treatment of two additional shots. However, without these pre-exposure shots, if we were to be bit, we would have to receive 5 shots. I think after living here in India for almost 5 months now, I will feel a little better having had the pre-exposure shots.
Yesterday, our company had a panel of doctors from the big hospitals and clinics here in Chennai talk to us ISEs. I honestly thought the entire morning felt like I was sitting through health class again. Most of the topics covered were about things that we already know about (plus a lot of the details and facts about health they provided were not the same as what we have been taught in the U.S.). I wish they would have covered topics more relevant to us being foreigners in this country. Anyway, I had hoped the topic of rabies would be brought up. It was. They told us if we were bitten to wash the bite area with soap and water and to seek medical treatment to receive the 5 shots. I asked about pre-exposure shots for humans. The answer I received was that they only recommend these shots for veterinarians and zookeepers. The general public is not at a high risk of rabies exposure like these people are. Hello? Have you been outside? Have you seen the stray dogs everywhere?
So, this morning, I decide to do a little more research into whether or not we should receive the rabies vaccination. I visit the Center for Disease Control website. Sure enough, we fall into the category of "infrequent" risk category. Basically what this means is that we are at a greater risk than the general population for being exposed to rabies. The general population falls into the "rare" risk category. Because we are spending a lot of time in India, we are bumped up to the "infrequent" category (this is in my opinion on the way I read the information). For this category we fall into, it is recommended that we receive pre-exposure immunizations for rabies. Please note that small children in India are at an even higher risk of being exposed to rabies, because they often times will go up to dogs unknowingly, be bitten, and not report the bite to their parents.
Anyway, I decide to also do a little research on just how many human rabies cases are in India every year. From the few different websites I checked out, I gather that there are between 20,000 to 30,000 cases of human rabies every year in India. This actually may be a low number because I guess India does not require that cases be reported. Another website I read estimated that 1 person in India dies every 30 minutes due to rabies. No one really knows what the exact number are here. The one constant fact I did find though was that India by far has the most cases of human rabies than any other country. No other country even comes close to the numbers India reports.
So, what are we going to do? S and I are definitely going forward with getting the rabies shots when we are in the U.S. It'll give me a little piece of mind knowing we have had these shots when we are out and about with the stray dogs everywhere here.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Happy Hallogiving and Happy Thanksoween!
Last year, we were not able to put up any Halloween or Thanksgiving decorations as our sea shipment didn't make it to Beijing until the week before Thanksgiving. By the time we unpacked everything, we decided just to put up a few of the Christmas decorations.
This year, we decided to put up both the Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations at the same time. Why? Because we want to put up our Christmas tree early. With us going back to the U.S. the first week of December, it wouldn't really be worth putting up the tree for a couple of days if we waited until after Thanksgiving. Plus, we are going to be in Germany for Thanksgiving, so by the time we get back, I will be in full pack and get ready to go to the U.S. mode...and won't have time to decorate the house. Therefore, we have jack-o-lanterns and ghosts mixed with turkeys and pilgrims scattered around our house. They have actually been out for over a month now. They will be coming down next week.
S has next Thursday and Friday off of work as it is Diwali here in India (more on that later...but basically Diwali is the Hindu equivalent to Christmas). Therefore, over the four day weekend (since we have decided to stay in town and not go anywhere), we will put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house in snowmen (I'm sure it will be weird putting up snowmen when the average temperature right now here is still in the 80s). This way, we will be able to enjoy our own decorations before heading to my parents' house in December (plus maybe it will put me in the Christmas shopping mood). By the time we get back to Chennai at the end of December, I'm sure we'll be tired of Christmas, and it will all come down.
So, Happy Hallogiving...or maybe it's Happy Thanksoween?! And don't forget...only 7 1/2 weeks until Christmas...do you have your shopping done?
S has next Thursday and Friday off of work as it is Diwali here in India (more on that later...but basically Diwali is the Hindu equivalent to Christmas). Therefore, over the four day weekend (since we have decided to stay in town and not go anywhere), we will put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house in snowmen (I'm sure it will be weird putting up snowmen when the average temperature right now here is still in the 80s). This way, we will be able to enjoy our own decorations before heading to my parents' house in December (plus maybe it will put me in the Christmas shopping mood). By the time we get back to Chennai at the end of December, I'm sure we'll be tired of Christmas, and it will all come down.
So, Happy Hallogiving...or maybe it's Happy Thanksoween?! And don't forget...only 7 1/2 weeks until Christmas...do you have your shopping done?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Back Up and Running!
Finally, we have internet again! Nine days later and all that was wrong was a blown fuse. Go figure...this is India!
Now that I have internet again, I have 9 days of e-mails, blog readings, newspaper stories, etc to catch up on. Last week, the World Series was half over with before I even knew it had started. S and I thought it didn't start until the weekend, so by the time we found out, we were only able to catch the last 2 games. Go Red Sox! I bet I have some happy nephews in Massachusetts celebrating this week. Who knows what else I have missed by not having internet access.
Also, with internet again, I really need to get our hotel room booked for our trip to Germany in a few weeks. Not to mention, I still have move expenses to submit. Plus, I need to check to see if we received our tax return and if S got paid in October. So, I guess my Friday will consist of being on the internet all day. Tonight, I need to plug our internet phone in and call my mom, my brother, and my cousin for sure.
Internet. Life is good!
Now that I have internet again, I have 9 days of e-mails, blog readings, newspaper stories, etc to catch up on. Last week, the World Series was half over with before I even knew it had started. S and I thought it didn't start until the weekend, so by the time we found out, we were only able to catch the last 2 games. Go Red Sox! I bet I have some happy nephews in Massachusetts celebrating this week. Who knows what else I have missed by not having internet access.
Also, with internet again, I really need to get our hotel room booked for our trip to Germany in a few weeks. Not to mention, I still have move expenses to submit. Plus, I need to check to see if we received our tax return and if S got paid in October. So, I guess my Friday will consist of being on the internet all day. Tonight, I need to plug our internet phone in and call my mom, my brother, and my cousin for sure.
Internet. Life is good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
