Weather report - It is 81 degrees F with overcast but the sun can be seen.
Yesterday I left off Waiting Waiting Waiting. I am not one to wait. I am one to go. Let's go. Let's do it now. But I patiently waited for the taxi. The taxi came at 540pm IST. I am supposed to be at work at 6pm IST which is 830am ET. The taxi driver calls me to come out. Before I get in the taxi I asked eClinicalWorks. He said Yes. I get in the backseat of the taxi. He asked me what is the address and where to go. Whoa! What!? I told him I do not know the address. He should know. Why is he asking me??? I repeated eClinicalWorks. Off we went. I was watching for the landmarks along the way. I saw St. Anthony's Tiles. There was a school next to it. The traffic was horrendous. Leaving 40 minutes later the traffic is stopped. What took 10 minutes the day before took 40 minutes.
Back to the taxi driver...He brought up Waze to find the correct route. He started to look at his mobile while starting and stopping. In this traffic there is NO DRIVING. This is the way it goes:
1. Move forward - STOP!
2. Honk! to make sure others know you are around.
* I don't understand this one. Everyone is everywhere.
* There are no lines.
3. Move into a row without hitting the motorcycles, cars, carts, buses, trucks, auto rickshaw - Oh my!
4. Honk!
5. How can a taxi (standard size) fit in a space less than 2 feet (609 mm)? I don't know but it seems to work.
6. Honk!
7. Other vehicles honk, so HONK!
As we were crawling at a snail's pace, I observed the motorcycles decided it would be easier to travel on the sidewalks. A man carrying a table on his head was almost run down by a motorcycle taking the shortest route around the traffic.
Back to the taxi driver not knowing where I am supposed to go. He was all the way in the right portion of the road (remember there are no lanes). I knew a left turn was coming up soon. As he was stopped he realized that he needed to get to the middle or left side. Cars, buses, trucks, cycles auto rickshaws weaving all over and here we go! We made the left turn. STOP!
I could see the building. I could have walked there faster than Stop-Go-Stop and Wait-Go 2 inches-Stop-Go-Don't go because the bus moved in front of us-STOP! 20 minutes to move less than a block and we are at the building. I made it. I was late. For everyone in America - It is true the transportation is crazy! Do not be upset when people are late in Bangalore and Mumbai!
I am finally at work. Shibin planned dinner. I have asking for pizza or anything with protein. Pizza! The food in the office cafeteria is vegetarian which is not bad, but no protein available in the options. Shibin, Nitesh (Hitman), Nethra and I were off to get pizza at the Phoenix Mall just down the road. You could see it from the office building. Hitman tried to get an Uber, but it would take longer than working. Guess the type of transportation we used..cmon guess! Auto Rickshaw! Nethra and I jumped into the first one, while Shibin and Hitman followed behind. Nethra and I were dropped off on the other side of the road. This means we had to cross both sides in the darkness. She took my hand and off we went. There was a break in traffic and we walked calmly across the one side. There was a pause and made it across to the mall entrance.
Shibin and Nitesh made it. While going into the Mall we had to walk through an Xray machine. We all beeped walking through the machine, but no one stopped us. We continued into the mall. The security must be for appearances only. We found California Pizza Kitchen. We ordered BBQ Chicken pizza and Paneer Pesto (?) pizza for the "pure veg" Hitman. It was so delicious. As we were leaving the mall, we saw a beautiful purple elephant.
Yesterday I left off Waiting Waiting Waiting. I am not one to wait. I am one to go. Let's go. Let's do it now. But I patiently waited for the taxi. The taxi came at 540pm IST. I am supposed to be at work at 6pm IST which is 830am ET. The taxi driver calls me to come out. Before I get in the taxi I asked eClinicalWorks. He said Yes. I get in the backseat of the taxi. He asked me what is the address and where to go. Whoa! What!? I told him I do not know the address. He should know. Why is he asking me??? I repeated eClinicalWorks. Off we went. I was watching for the landmarks along the way. I saw St. Anthony's Tiles. There was a school next to it. The traffic was horrendous. Leaving 40 minutes later the traffic is stopped. What took 10 minutes the day before took 40 minutes.
Back to the taxi driver...He brought up Waze to find the correct route. He started to look at his mobile while starting and stopping. In this traffic there is NO DRIVING. This is the way it goes:
1. Move forward - STOP!
2. Honk! to make sure others know you are around.
* I don't understand this one. Everyone is everywhere.
* There are no lines.
3. Move into a row without hitting the motorcycles, cars, carts, buses, trucks, auto rickshaw - Oh my!
4. Honk!
5. How can a taxi (standard size) fit in a space less than 2 feet (609 mm)? I don't know but it seems to work.
6. Honk!
7. Other vehicles honk, so HONK!
As we were crawling at a snail's pace, I observed the motorcycles decided it would be easier to travel on the sidewalks. A man carrying a table on his head was almost run down by a motorcycle taking the shortest route around the traffic.
Back to the taxi driver not knowing where I am supposed to go. He was all the way in the right portion of the road (remember there are no lanes). I knew a left turn was coming up soon. As he was stopped he realized that he needed to get to the middle or left side. Cars, buses, trucks, cycles auto rickshaws weaving all over and here we go! We made the left turn. STOP!
I could see the building. I could have walked there faster than Stop-Go-Stop and Wait-Go 2 inches-Stop-Go-Don't go because the bus moved in front of us-STOP! 20 minutes to move less than a block and we are at the building. I made it. I was late. For everyone in America - It is true the transportation is crazy! Do not be upset when people are late in Bangalore and Mumbai!
I am finally at work. Shibin planned dinner. I have asking for pizza or anything with protein. Pizza! The food in the office cafeteria is vegetarian which is not bad, but no protein available in the options. Shibin, Nitesh (Hitman), Nethra and I were off to get pizza at the Phoenix Mall just down the road. You could see it from the office building. Hitman tried to get an Uber, but it would take longer than working. Guess the type of transportation we used..cmon guess! Auto Rickshaw! Nethra and I jumped into the first one, while Shibin and Hitman followed behind. Nethra and I were dropped off on the other side of the road. This means we had to cross both sides in the darkness. She took my hand and off we went. There was a break in traffic and we walked calmly across the one side. There was a pause and made it across to the mall entrance.
Shibin and Nitesh made it. While going into the Mall we had to walk through an Xray machine. We all beeped walking through the machine, but no one stopped us. We continued into the mall. The security must be for appearances only. We found California Pizza Kitchen. We ordered BBQ Chicken pizza and Paneer Pesto (?) pizza for the "pure veg" Hitman. It was so delicious. As we were leaving the mall, we saw a beautiful purple elephant.
All of the IPMs have been great. They wanted another training yesterday. Shibin is booking 2 hours on Friday. More fun to come.
I took a picture of the area I am sitting in. I will take more later. Do you see the heads?
Today is Dussehra Festival. You are supposed to burn all your bad deeds and start your life with a good one. I will be getting dressed in traditional clothes by the ladies. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.
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