Meet the Newsday Team

http://picasaweb.google.com/pnorman811

We have 3 teams taking calls for the Tribune company. The LAT team started a week before the other two and we will start taking mock calls when we go into work on Monday. We get in at 6:30 p.m. and start taking these calls at 10:30 our time. I'm so happy that we are doing that first, rather than throwing them into the cold water of taking live calls from users. This will give them an opportunity to test their skills with real Californians.

We've named groups 2 and 3 after the biggest newspapers in their group, Newsday and Chicago Tribune. The Newsday group will be supporting Newsday, Allentown Morning Call, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant. There are actually 7 in this group. One was out Thursday when I took these pictures. We've decided that we will be combining the Newsday group and the LAT group once Newday has completed their classroom training and probably their On The Job training. That's what LAT is starting today. That will bring us to a total of 18 employees and will make 24 x 7 call coverage much easier. Can you imagine being just 7 people covering that span? It will be better for them and for those back home. All 18 are very bright and will hopefully settle into their jobs as they have more experience on the phone.

The Chicago team is a cast of thousands, or over 20. KJ is taking their pictures because Orlando Sentinel is one of the newspapers served by them, in addition to the Sun Sentinel and the Daily Press. I've met many of those people and have the same high opinion of them. But you will have to wait for KJ to see them "live."

Note to those traveling to India after me: The way to the heart of these students is chocolate. Please find space in your carry-on luggage for good quality chocolate bars. The stuff here is miserable. The heat is just too much for the good stuff. Our apartments are generally cool enough to prevent puddling.

Taj Mahal

We flew into New Delhi on Friday. The night before was harrowing for Karen and we were drained. The room at the Hyatt was lovely, so we slept soundly until dinner. We had room service. We are thoroughly enjoying the amenities of the hotel. Our car to the Taj Mahal was leaving at 7:00 in the morning to miss the worst heat of the day. I can't imagine what heat we missed.

The road to Agra (town of the Taj Mahal) is supposed to be tough going. We veterns of the road to Ooty and beyond were amazed at that. This was a multilane superhighway. But it was filled with amazing things. My favorite is what I called the diaper wagons. The growing season is over for the year, it is too hot and no water. So the farmers are taking their straw to New Delhi to sell to the cow owners. They load their little buckboard wagons beyond full. They have cloth that they pull around the straw and tie up. You can see a moderately full wagon to the right here. Some were drooping on all sides and the back because they were so full of straw. They reminded me of the old cloth diapers after the child had pooped in them. A little draggy around the bottom.

All manner of mechanisms pulled the diaper wagons. You can see one method above, a tractor. There were also camels pulling the wagons. Although camels are tough, we actually saw one one the ground in agony as it was pulling the wagon over a bridge. Our driver said it was just too hot, even for a camel. The roadway gets so hot that it starts to buckle.

This elephant was also on the road. I think he was there to amuse the tourists. In other words, he wasn't working as hard as the rest of the animals we saw that day. There were elephant tenders walking in front and as tourist stopped to take pictures, they were there asking for money. We were reluctant to take pictures of many things because people would ask for money. We saw a snake charmer and a dancing monkey. But you can't even look because you will be asked for money.

We picked up an excellent English speaking guide before we got to the Taj. I have his name and number. If you are ever going to this place, I can heartily recommend him. It was hotter than Hades there. We heard it was 108 in New Delhi that day. I think it was even hotter in Agra. Note water in our hands. We know how I don't do well in heat. This was going to be a test of my desire to keep Karen company and to see this world famous site. The thought had crossed my mind to see it from this vantage point and call it a day, but I joined KJ and the guide on the trek to the Taj. There is a shadier walk to the right that you can't see. I did pretty well walking up to the building.

We had to put booties over our shoes when we entered the Taj. Aren't they chic? I was about losing it at this point. The guide wanted us to see the beautiful inlayed stones. He also talked a lot about the inner and outer dome. This was done to keep the inner chamber cool. I was taken by the similarity with the Duomo in Florence. Brunelleschi created a dome about 200 years before the Taj Mahal was built that had the inner and outer dome. It was revolutionary at the time it was built. I'd heard they brought some Italian artisans to help build the Taj in just 22 years (or so, the guide told us so many times, I should remember.) The inlaid stone reminded be of the Pietra Dura that you see in Florence. I suppose that there was a lot of cross-pollination of ideas and art forms throughout the east and Europeat this time.

However it came to be, this is one beautiful building. The stonework is stunning, the use of perspective in the work is amazing. Shah Jahan was a mogul or Muslim. There is a lot of writing from the Koran in the building. The letters are smaller at the bottom and get larger as you view them closer to the ceiling. The idea is to have them all look the same height and they do. They created marble grills around the duplicate tombs of the Shah and his wife. Each grill is different from the next, each intricately carved.

You can tell I have no pride left when you see this picture. What a horrible view of me. But the guide was so wonderful with this failing elderly person. I have been a little upset lately because when things happen to people over 50, the newspapers write that "3 elderly school teachers were killed in a traffic accident" (for example.) Then you read further and find out that the elderly teachers were 54, 56 and 60. I resent being called elderly, but by the time this picture was taken, I was almost crawling. Once we walked through this gate, we needed to walk through the courtyard and then down the street to the bus that would take us to the car. By some miracle a bus got closer to the Taj than it should have and it took us to the car without having to walk down the blistering asphalt.

Sunday was KJ's birthday. We had appointments at the hotel for facials, leg massage and pedicures. Absolutely decadent. The facial was a gift from Karen's friends in Orlando - Sophie, DeeDee and Karen. Yes, another Karen. That's how KJ came to be known as KJ.

We thoroughly enjoyed the pampering. The foot guy was brutal when giving the calf massage. Karen felt the same way. I thought it was just me and my ill-used legs, but peppy Karen wanted to scream just like me. But it was all worth it.

In fact, it was all worth it. I don't think I would recommend going to see the Taj Mahal in the hot season. If you are going, go in February orOctober. That appears to be the prime months for travel in India. But if you have to go during the hottest months and you have the desire to see an amazing building, don't miss the chance. Just be sure to pamper yourself the next day.

On The Street Where We Live

Our apartment is on a quiet street, part of a big complex that surrounds the Oracle building. We are on the 9th floor and have been trying to figure out where that is exactly in this building. I think I'm 3 down from the top, second window from the left in this picture. They are having some sort of festival this weekend on the other end of the street from Oracle. We've been noticing lights going up for the past week. Yesterday there were the string of christmas lights along our street and buildings covered with lights.

I took this picture of the lights from my balcony. KJ is two doors to the right of me. The building is a square comprised of two unit rectangles. Her apartment is in the rectangle you can't see. She came into my apartment to see the lights and I took this picture. KJ went to her apartment to see what she could see from her window. She's anxious about the mosquitos, so she closed the balcony glass door as she stepped out to take the picture.

Locked out. On the 9th floor. 3:30 in the morning. Nobody on the street. Blackberry on the coffee table inside. Poor KJ!!!!! I won't tell you how she wedged herself into a space she created, how she considered climbing around the balcony to the neighbor's balcony, how she considered climbing down over the balcony railing. Except for the wedging in the door, her better self prevailed. She somehow broke the very heavy glass window. She came down to my apartment, but I was dead to the world. A lot of help I am.

The best part is that she is here with me in New Delhi. She has a few bruises and a bandaid on her palm (nothing requiring stitches.) We called the house boy and he seemed okay with all of this. I guess it's happened before. I alerted Avinash, he will clean up the loose ends. We know now that these apartments are extremely secure. Except for Karen's until they get the sliding door fixed. But we also know that nobody is climbing up to the 9th floor to go in that window!

But It's Hot

This must be said with the whinney voice of a 3 year old. It's the refrain running through my head when KJ wanted to go out for a walk yesterday at 2:00. We weren't going far, but it's hooooooot. I had to stop and laugh when I heard the whimper in my voice. We decided to run past the sunny spots because it wasn't bad in the shade. Then we laughed about the foolishness of staying cool while you're running.
All who know and love me would say that a bit of walking in sun or shade would do me some good. A lot of good. If I'm going to truely enjoy my retirement, I need to do it more. But it's hot. When KJ and I were leaving for work at 5:30, we noticed that the temperature was perfect. We agreed to go exploring at 4:45, to see if we could find the tennis court. So today we went for a walk. It was lovely. It was not hot. Our walk was not long enough for KJ so she continued on, but I did walk around and found the tennis court. Next time I'll find the gym.
I took pictures of the Newsday team. We decided to combine the Newsday team and the LAT team to give both groups better coverage in the 24 X 7 world of Helpdesk. Honest, I didn't prompt them to say how much they like me. It's a conspiracy. This will be on my Picasa web site. I'll reference it again when I download the pictures.

The Mac's are Here!

We are now officially moved to the new schedule It's odd what a difference 3.5 hours make. Just one more little adjustment. KJ and I are tough, though, we'll acclimate.

KJ was beyond thrilled when we walked in. They were just setting up two Macs in our classroom. She came from photo in Orlando, so she is a Mac lady through and through. One of the instructors asked me about MY Mac skills. I looked at Teena and we said, "Dean!" in unison. Dean is my Mac guy in LA. My Mac guy. Mine. Actually, he is fab with the Mac and whenever I got stuck, you would hear my plaintive "Deeeaaaannn." So nice to know that Teena remembers how we all relied on his skills.

KJ just started teaching. The students are thrilled, because they don't get much hands on yet. We've got their Citrix accounts in place but some things are still being built. They can now log on, but not do everything. Soon. So for now, they get to learn all things Mac. We have a lot of photographers and creative people that use Macs. That's graphically creative. We have lots of very creative people who do their magic with words.

After KJ was done, the people who have been here 3.5 weeks started to teach the Newsday, Sun, Courant and Morning Call people about LAT programs. It was a great refresher for the LAT people. They are supposed to start taking some calls next week.

This is the call center. It's still a bit bare bones. When Harriet was here, there was not glass. Today there is glass and the room is painted and cleaned up of all references to the Wall Street Journal. Don't know how that got on all our stuff. Still no computers or phones because we don't have the security locks on the doors. When we do move, there will be a time when they move the network connections down from the second floor to this floor. That is a little scary to me. Every time we move something, we have to take time to adjust. It always sounds easy, but we all know that Nothing Is Easy. My motto from all the years I've been at The Times. Even when something seems cinchy, there is always a glitch. I had NIE over my desk in the Learning Center. Some must have thought that meant Newspapers In Education, but we know. Nothing Is Easy.

They are testing phone lines tomorrow. They tried today, but as you can see, no phone. NIE. Phones, computers, chairs that work... people. We'll be all ready to go.

Our Hours are Changing

We awoke Monday morning to the sound of drums. Better than the trash collectors that awaken me on Saturday mornings at home. We were meeting Ramesh at 10:00 so we could visit the Mysore Palace. Ramesh invited us to a wedding that was taking place in our hotel. Honest, these are the warmest people in the world. They welcomed us to the wedding, even offering us tea. They allowed us to take pictures of this most special occasion. Everyone looked even more beautiful than usual. Lots of jasmine strung in the back of women's hair. The drums and a small band were the musical accompaniment to the festivities. I got a little movie of the band that will soon be on the Picasa site.

We stopped at the silk emporium on the way out. This is in one of the hotels. I'm thinking I should come back here with Laura and Nancy and stay at the hotel. What could be more convenient. I got some beautiful silk scarfs and KJ got this cool, soft tunic. She looked great. Although she has a weight loss bet with the other Karen in Orlando, she has a great figure. Most people in India are half my size. Yet Karen was able to slip this on right off the rack. Karen in Orlando, you are going to lose this bet.

We were so happy to be going home. I curled up with my ipod in the front seat. All was bliss until the tone of the driving changed. Flat tire. Poor Ramesh. The traffic at this point was perfect for this type of event. It was amazingly sparse. We are so lucky. Ramesh had it taken care of in 10 minutes. He needed no help and probably didn't need to have his picture taken. We had plenty of bottled water in the car so he could clean his hands before we drove on.

As a reward, he took us to a new restaurant in Bangalore. I hope Nahum from Chicago reads my blog. I have found his spiritual home. The name of the restaurant is, I believe, This One Place. It serves hamburgers and fries, spaghetti and meatballs, apple pie and many other American things. Nahum, we will go here as often as you need. It is not expensive and may make any traveler feel at home.

We were running late, so I called Suresh to let him know. That's when we found out that our new hours are 6:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. The hours didn't bother us, but we had both gotten up at 6:00 a.m. that morning. Sigh.

The class took a make up test on hardware and software. This was more organized than the previous test. It is open computer for software and not everyone had access to a computer last time. I think the scores will prove that the intense reviews and new testing set up (hardware test/no computer; software test/in front of computer.)

We are making good progress in getting the Citrix environment ready for the Helpdesk. There is such a lot of back home work to do to get it to this point. I think we will be okay for next week. Next week the LAT people start taking some calls. They will probably take calls for our busiest 3 hours of the day. I will be there to assist and help people feel comfortable with their knowledge here. I hope for their sake that folks in LA will be patient with all these newbies.

I know it will difficult to focus on helping the helpdesk get through these uncomfortable first two weeks. Another buy out was announced at The Times yesterday. There will be a lot on everyone's mind. Good luck to all. As one who will be leaving in October, I can say that this change is a little scary, but it can also be an opportunity. Hours and times are changing.

The God Ramesh

Well, that was interesting. We thought the ride to Ooty was fun filled with it's identified 36 switch backs. Surprise, surprise, surprise. Sunday was filled with wonderful and rare things.

Ramesh took us to the train station at 8:30 for the historic train to Coonoor. Karen wouldn't ride the train, so I was alone. And what a wimp. There were hundreds of people queueing for a ticket and then standing in line for first come, first served seating. I told Ramesh I wouldn't go. He paid some money and got an assigned seat for me. All the station hands took pity on this pathetic woman and got her where she should be. KJ rode up the hill with Ramesh.

Do you know that I have blond hair and am white and am pretty darn big (and obviously from out of country?) I don't know which of these things catches people's fancy here. First thing I had to do was take a picture with a lovely family. This is not the first time this has happened, nor was it the last today. I had my picture taken an additional 5 times today. The fact that I would never see those pictures was comforting. The family insisted that I wear my big white hat. Yep, chic.

The ride was amazing. I used up my camera battery taking pictures of the tea plantations and farms houses and people along the way. Oh my, it was amazing. Pictures here after I get home after midnight tomorrow and load them to the laptop. I also took a "movie" of the people yelling in the tunnel. The one I got was pretty mild compared to the first. The woman behind me just screamed. I guess it's a tradition because bridges were sort of an escalating mild whoop. So I had assigned seating, but not all people in the car had assigned seating. Not all in the car had seating. That had been my concern. Some sat 3 to a seat. My seat partners kept switching so they could slyly snap a picture. I guess that is more than 5 times.

KJ and Ramesh were waiting for me and we went to the Dolphin's Nose photo opportunity site. Oh, the roads. Single lane, pot holed (big), rutted. Ramesh was amazing. I have no pictures of this, but KJ will give me some of hers. This was worth the trip. Lots of pictures with people.
Then we stopped at a tea plantation. The guide was the driver from another car. His father used to work there. Who knew. He seemed knowledgeable, but I only caught every 3rd word. We drank tea afterwards and two of my new best friends (photo op) emerged from the tea factory. We had a nice chat and then we bought tea.

Ramesh suggested we go to the highest mountain by Ooty. It was okay. More pictures with strangers, pretty scenery, no pictures taken by me. But, man, did I need a restroom. We overpaid (4 rupees instead of 2) and got to squat for the first time. Have I mentioned my arthritic knees. They are the oldest part of my body. Squat. Modified squat. A plea to the gods to have all that needed to be in the hole go into the hole and no place else. Prayer works. Happy camera wasn't working, or you would be seeing a picture of that hole pre-Peggy. Women rushed in after me to make sure I hadn't done anything sacreligious. Didn't they know I was praying? And I know how to pour water from the faucet down a hole.

So, it was off to Mysore to see the lights at the Palace. It was pretty late to start out. Bad road, switchbacks, bad road, then open highway. But wait... there's more. Seems there was a traffic death recently on the Mysore Highway so residents decided to close the road. We were detoured into a town with no futher instructions on how to proceed around the problem. Sorry, all of India. All I could think of was a detour with the cars, buses, motorcycles, and bicycles being driven off a cliff. Everyone was helpfulish, but how did we know for sure? I don't know how long it took, but we eventually found the way out of this mazelike village. We saw bunches of pigs, goats, cows, horses, bicycles; they all knew where they were going. Home.

When we got to Mysore, I was exhausted from the stress. The spot in front of the palace was jammed with people. I don't do well with people jams, even if I've had a perfectly calm day. Even if I've had lunch. We were okay with no lunch until we got to the hotel. Then it was all about food. And beer.

When we were leaving the tea factory, we saw an altar to the god Ganesh. He is the elephant god. I always call him Ramesh. So our driver Ramesh became our god Ramesh. He took care of us always. He has become a friend. When we were stuck in the village behind a truck that wouldn't move and all the villagers had to come see the big blond listening to her Ipod, he got out of the car and went to the trucks. I didn't see what he did, but soon the trucks parted and we moved on. I don't mean to be flip about a Hindu diety, but I'm pretty flip about a lot of things. This would have been a lousy day without Ramesh to guide us and to part the trucks. As it was, I thank the gods that we got to see all we saw. This is one beautiful country, filled with amazing people and sights.

We're on the Road to Ooty

Must be sung to the tune used by Crosby and Hope in their old Road movies. Too young to know them? Sorry.

Our Magnificant 7 have been dying to get us out of the city, to see more of their beautiful country. Now that KJ has settled in, we decided to sample some of the close to Bangalore sights. Ramesh drove us to Ooty today. This is a 7 hour drive. Why 7 hours? The road. You will not believe what an experience it would be to drive this route. Fortunately, Ramesh is unflappable. He has driven up here often and knows the ins and outs of the route. Some of the road is free and open. It is amazing after the heavy traffic of the city to speed through the country-side. Lots of rice paddies, sugar cane fields and orchards. Lots (but many fewer) people going about their daily lives.
At one point we saw 20 or 30 women walking down the street, looking beautiful in their saris. Ramesh said they were going to work or school. They walk purposefully, but it's difficult to see exactly where that number of people would be going. We saw women washing their saris, at one point I saw 6 saris, in any little body of water, then lying them out on the ground. KJ and I decided that it would be easier to brush off the dirt when they are dried.

Then the road dwindles down to one lane. The Indians are always polite, even when battling for space on the road. I asked Ramesh if they never wanted to use a hand gesture to express their feelings about a road hog. This did not compute. It may be up to me to do the obscene, but I will control myself. But this is not the worst part of the road. If finally is filled with switch backs. Ramesh sounds his horn at every turn, alerting speeders coming down from our mountain destination.

Along the way we drove through Bandipur, a wild animal preserve. We see only deer and little monkeys and one tamed elephant deep in the wood. This is okay. A few tigers live in the woods and you can see elephants walking across the road if you drive late at night. Probably won't happen. We stopped a bit later and saw some monkeys up close. KJ got some great shots. Mine were more timid. So happy that KJ the bold is here.

Ooty is at the top of the mountain. It is so peaceful and beautiful. And it started to rain the moment we got into town. That was no problem. Ramesh wanted to show us some of the sights, but at this point we wanted to get into the hotel. The sights are primarily outside. Want to go boating? Um, in the rain? Not so much so. Want to visit the rose garden? Um, probably not. The joy of being away from the city in the midst of such beauty was good enough for us. And we are going to visit a tea plantation early tomorrow morning. The hotel is a Holiday Inn. It is set at the top of one of the hills. I will take more pictures of my view tomorrow morning. And I will post many of the pictures on Monday.
For now, good night from the peace and beauty of Ooty.

The LAT Team

I've been trying to get pictures of the group who will be supporting LA Times into my blog for the past two days. Finally, I found a way to do it. Here is a website that has the pictures. http://picasaweb.google.com/pnorman811. If you go to this site, you will see and hear the team. Honestly, I didn't prompt them to say nice things about me. Okay, maybe a little. The sound is a little faint. That's because I'm still learning how to use my camera.
I'm going to put up more albums, including a food one for Lynda. This will come slowly.

We've been struggling to get Citrix stabilized. It's up for today. Teena is teaching our room how to use ITSM. This is a ticketing system that we use to record all calls. The class is practicing now and getting to know all the in's and out's. The hardest factor will be to get user's names right, to select the correct caller. I'm sure our names sound as foreign as their names do to us.

Finally resolved our dispute with the landlord. He way overcharged me for April. We've been arguing for a week now. Today he came to get payment for KJ's room for April. I had the figure I wanted to pay and he accepted that. Avinash (the project manager from India) had primed him with the correct daily charge (after a LOT of discussion), so it was easy for me to get my way.
This transaction pointed out one of the hardest things for me to understand here. When we were getting to the correct figure, I asked if he agreed that this was correct. He did the head weave. I looked at Avinash and asked him if this was correct. He said yes. I have no idea wat the head weave means.
There are many things similar to US here and there are slight but signifigant differences to the sameness. There are huge, beautiful buildings, just like in the US. Right next door are people in an encampment, next to that a little row of shops, then something totally different. I guess the thing is that they have no zoning. How would you zone an encampment? How do you close a deal with a head weave? I'm beginning to understand things better and get around better. Watch out though. If I come home weaving my head, slap me.

KJ Cometh

KJ is from the Orlando Sentinel. I have known that she is a Mac expert. I've learned that she is from their Tech Support and has excellent hardware knowledge all around. Most important to me is that she is a dream to work with.

Of course, nothing was exactly right at the apartments. I had her on the wrong floor. The apartment two doors down is incomplete. It is becoming more complete every day. And she is okay with the transition. She made a list for Deepak (our house boy) of all the things she needs. They are doing pretty well. She still has my couch, but I may learn to love the black one.

We decided not to see everything in the city in one swoop like Harriet and I did. So Monday, on the way to work, we stopped at the Tipu's Palace where the temple next door had been painted and spruced up for a holiday. I love the bright orange trees. I call them the flame trees of Thika from an old PBS show, but I think they are really a different color of Jacaranda. The Tipu continues to impress. He was very progressive for his age, but lost out to the superior British fighting power.

Then we went to the Bull Temple. So this bull was eating all the crops, according to our driver Ramesh. He wandered on to this plate, sat down and took root. He kept growing until they put something over his horns. The Dravidians worship him. I gave the guy some money as we walked in the door and he gave us jasmine blossoms. They smell amazingly powerful. I thought they'd put some essential oil on them, but I've been told that they are the real deal.

This tree is outside the Tipu's Palace. If you look closely in the trees I will see big hanging pods. I'm not sure what those are. I thought they were loofas in the wild, but I think those are a squash. Our last driver said he majored in repairing cars, not identifying trees. I guess I'll have to do some research on line.

The teams took their assessment test yesterday and did not do well. Karen and I think they may have focused too much on the wrong things on the software test. They have now covered our two main topics, the issues that we get the most calls on - Outlook and Domain passwords (Active Directory.) I'm going to ask this morning if I can tell them more about what those calls will sound like and how they should work with the users. If they can do these things easily, they will have 50% of their calls handled.

15 minutes to finish dressing and off to work.

Yes, We Work

It has been noticed that I rarely mention work. Well, here's everything you want to know about the last two weeks. The first week, Teena and Suresh taught the LA Times crew about our site specific applications. We did not have Citrix (the means by which IBM will access the Tribune network) for the first week. A lot of emails and hard work on both sides of the world got that functioning properly by the next Monday. They did a good job of explaining what we do without being able to show the applications or what happens. LAT has/had 12 people on their team. I learned all their names and then David left. He and John had the easiest names to remember for some strange reason. The pictures here are of Teena and Suresh teaching. Chandon is sitting pensively. He is the project manager on the IBM side. We were beginning to make him sick at this point. He had to go back to New Delhi to recover. I'm afraid it was my fault. He was my rock for the first couple of weeks. Whenever I had problems I would call him and shove the phone at the person who was causing my problem. He says I didn't make him sick, but I find that hard to believe.

The students were tested at the end of the week. Suresh and Teena wrote an excellent quiz and all must have passed, because they are all still here (except for David.)

On the second week, we were joined by a mere 40 more students. Well, maybe slightly less. After a brief introduction to Tribune and newspaper in general, the classes were divided in two, in two different training rooms. We now have the other traveling teams from IBM here. Most teach some of the lessons. For most of the week, Panaki and Rishi taught basic hardware and MS Office (including Outlook.) The folks have a lot of documentation to rely on, but what really pleased me was the class exercises. We had Panaki and Suresh working together in our classroom. They would divide the group into teams. Each team came up with a question that a user would ask. It was the task of the other team to ask good questions and resolve the issue. At one point, Suresh wrote down all the questions they asked and pointed out why some were way off, why some could have been better and why some helped resolve the issue. This was perfect. Knowing how a computer or Outlook works is one thing, but asking the questions that will get to the true issue quickly and resolving the problem quickly is key. You can almost see this begin to make sense to the team.

Here are the folks in our room in their native costumes. I dressed as a native Californian. I don't think that's what they were expecting.

Shopping with Harriet

Yes, I am on the helpdesk, but even I misdiagnose problems from time to time. It appears that the socket by my bed is toxic. It killed the converter, not the adapter. The good news is, my wonderful laptop is functioning beautifully. No bad news here.

Here are some pictures of our last shopping trip together. Harriet was trying to decide if she should get a beautiful necklace or not. As I waited, I bought a string of an unusual sapphires.


Harriet had seen some wall hangings that are made out of old wedding sari's. Amazingly beautiful. But she knew that she could get a better deal for them, so we looked at this place. Well, while she was deciding on the necklace, I was shown every wall hanging. I realized that I could take pictures of the wall hangings and decide what I really wanted (or if I really wanted). I think I like the picture best. The wall hanging I fell in love with is $500.00. And what wall to hang it on? It would end up in Adrian's room. He is so worth it, but probably wouldn't care one way or another.

Harriet also looked at chess sets. The carving of the King was of a man on elephant. Elephant had a peacock blue fan on his butt. It was very pretty. I thought my little niece, Maggie, would like to play with that. But I knew the little nephews, Palmer and Torin, would not be as amused. What would they like? And then I found this cow. It's big enough to ride. I could see each of them on the cows back. It would look lovely in Julie and Adam's stand of trees in the back yard. Too bad cost and shipping were a consideration. The little chess piece, on the other hand, would slip nicely in a suitcase.

Bye For Now

Two people and a thing left my life for the moment. First, the most joyful. I finally asked cooking boy to not visit me in the morning. Oh, my life is so much more my own now. This is all cultural. I'm sure no one at the apartments understands my desire to be alone. I don't wait for his knock, his lack of knock; I don't miss his hovering, his head weaving. Ah, peace.

And Harriet has left. I've known her for years, but we hardly talk. We hardly stopped talking here. It was so much fun to be with her. I'd never have bought all the gifts I bought or the pretty necklace if it hadn't been for her. She actually worked hard to get me eating again. I'm not sure that it is fortunate that we succeeded, but I'm back to being my normal self. And the people here at Daksh really liked her. They can't wait until she returns.

And I lost my laptop. First I thought it was the power cord/adapter, but I blew out the one Harriet left me last night. So there will be no pictures on my blog until I can get this resolved. One of the instructors, Pitaki, used to troubleshoot laptops for Dell. He's going to diagnose it on Monday since I left it at home. This also means no chatting with Karen or Adrian. Maybe they can get some peace as well.

Finally, I made it to the grocery store in the complex. It is right next to the beautiful swimming pool. I bought a chicken to make soup, lots of garlic (to kill vampires and whatever alien still resides in my stomach), american cheese (all they had) and other stuff. I'll be cooking this weekend. It is a very good store and I never had to worry about where to get staples. I just needed to explore more.

It Won't Be Easy

This is the second week of training for LAT Helpdesk and the first for about 40 other people. What a lot of folks! IBM hired a large number, knowing that some would not be able to pass the voice and accent training. And there is some attrition. They want to make sure that they get off to a good start with enough people to make it through the learning cycle.

There is so much for them to learn. They are all college graduates in IT or other sciences. But they don't all have practical experience with our hardware and standard software. It would be easy if they only needed to learn the specialized stuff. So this week we are covering Hardware and software. The class yesterday was very thorough in covering all the parts of a computer and laptop and what could go wrong and how to fix that. The challenge of being on a Helpdesk is that you have to do this without actually seeing the problem. You get good at chatting with your eyes closed, trying to picture the issue.

Today I will get to hear their take on Microsoft Office products. I hope they include Outlook. We, at The Times, get a majority of calls about email. You just can't run a business without email. This was underscored for us, of course, with the email conversion throughout Tribune. I'm surprised we were able to publish, considering all the issues. We are good at overcoming these obstacles, so we did publish; but IBM must know all aspects of Outlook VERY well.

I talked with the new group on Monday about their feelings about talking to Americans. They all professed to be, if not scared, a bit leary of the prospect. I told them they should be scared. Many employees were not looking forward to the change. They like their Helpdesk staff. But the bottom line is that the Helpdesk is only there to get people whole again, make their computer issues go away, and get them back to work. So as the people here gain the trust of the people stateside by resolving their issues, getting assistance quickly when they can't resolve the problem and following up at each step, the barriers should drop.

It won't be easy, but by the time I leave I expect see that this is happening.

Happy Easter

Went to visit Harriet at the hotel and have lunch. My driver didn't have a car this day and sort of flaked out. So I rode one of the three-wheelers. I felt amazingly bold because I wasn't sure this guy understood where Harriet's hotel is. People tend to say "yes" when they mean, "I donknow." He did not weave his head, so I had no real clues. He got me there. I'd read that you must negotiate the price ahead of time. I have no concept of money. So I probably paid too much. So much for negotiating.
My friends who follow my eating preferences will be happy to know that I had duck. It was Chinese food, wonton soup and beijing duck. Num. So good after so little. It was great to have Harriet back in town. She and Harold went to the Taj Mahal and had a wonderful time. It's good they got away.
We made an appointment for a massage tomorrow. I have to scout these things out for when Sophie visits in May. I don't know about the rest of the travelers' preferences, but pampering is big in this town and I aim to partake.
We then went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to find Pervez and Mona. This time the driver had no clue as to where to go. They live in a beautiful new apartment complex overlooking a lake. Actually, they live VERY close to my apartments. You never would have known it. As Pervez was giving him directions and the driver was saying that he understood, he as pulling over to ask an Auto driver where the milestone was that Pervez mentioned. Of course, we made it. I have to learn that even though it's the destination, not the journey, the journey is sometimes long.
I'd not met Mona and the children before. All good people. We had a drink at the apartment before dinner, so we got to see pictures of their trip to Kerala. Wow, this is one gorgeous place. I wish I wrote down the names of the children, I don't want to misspell them. The little girl is 8/9 and bright and articulate. The little boy is 12 and the same. I really liked talking with them.
We had Thai for dinner. It was stunning. I will be bringing future travelers to this place if they want to eat good Thai is a beautiful setting. And next time, I promise to take pictures. I wouldn't want to embarrass Pervez or Mona by taking pictures of the food. We had a single perfect scallop, a shrimp roll, chicken curry and sauteed vegetables. I stupidly ordered a soup, which was delicious, but soooo too much food. Everything was well prepared and the company was good.
Lonely girl 59 is gone. I hope for good. It helps to be feeling much better. Mona says it takes one week to totally get over jet lag. She is a very smart woman; I believe her.

Lonely Girl 59

I got a case of something awful on Friday. It has made me terribly sad and restricted me to my apartment next to my toilet. I've also stopped eating, pretty much. Nothing takes the fun out of food like knowing that something can cause you to be sick again. Here's a picture of my cooking guy. On Friday, he brought help to cook, because he finally understood that I can't eat things from containers that have been washed with sink water. I can't drink anything made with sink water. The new person was making chicken water, which I figured was something like soup. No, not really. He boiled a chicken and then threw away the broth. He fried onions and then asked me what spices to add to the chicken. I said no spices and looked in the onion pan. It had chili peppers! What don't they understand about the word BLAND? Well, maybe the whole thing. They were very accomodating, however. I ate that with rice and reheated it the next day. This young man was devestated that I wanted to heat it up myself. This is very unpleasant. I either want to be left alone or to be with people who can talk with me. This head weaving, "I donknow" kind of shit is really getting me down.

Harriet is back in town and I will visit her for lunch tomorrow and then we will go together to see Pervez (used to work at The Times as a director) and his family. They moved back to Bangalore. This will probably be very good. It will be nice to know someone here who speaks English. I would give him a call, but I still have been unsuccessful calling anyone who isn't in my blackberry. Beyond challenged.

The joy is still talking with my sister and my son each day. Karen keeps me up on the news and Adrian gives me perspective. He thinks I should learn the local language. The national languages are English and Hindi. But many people only speak the language of their local area. No, I won't be learning that. Saying hello and thank you is one thing. But I'm never going to be able to communicate with the house boy.

For now, I am lonely girl 59, looking forward to a new week surrounded by a lot of people.

To Start The Day

I have a man who comes in every morning at 8:00. He cooks my breakfast and serves it to me and waits until I'm done eating then cleans up. It freaked me out yesterday. The food was good, but it was too weird. I ate at my computer, reading The Times, instead of at the table, looking at the ceiling fan. That seemed to work, so I did the same today. Today I had these flat fried breads, a rich potato soup whose name I don't remember, freshly blended and strained oranges, and papaya and mango. It was fabulous and, yes, my blood sugar must have gone to the moon. But it was so good. I'd just finished talking to Karen and Adrian and was chatting with my friend Per on Google Chat (and now a word from my sponser). Then I looked through my email and started to respond to my boss, Bill. Then we started to chat on Google. It is an amazing world. It is getting a little hard to keep up with email because I can't get a network connection at IBM, so I can only glance at my Blackberry. Soon we will have connectivity resolved and I can do some of this (not the talking and chatting) when I'm really at work.

Before the cook arrives, I have to turn on the geezer. See switch marked Hot Water. The water takes half an hour to heat. Just enough time to do email and chat stuff and eat breakfast. After my gentleman caller has left, I can bathe. Luckily, no pictures of that. See the bucket. I asked the poor guy showing us around the apartment what they were for. Just curious. Chandan got to answer that one. You turn the water on at the handle at the top of that picture. Water pours into the bucket. If you chose not to shower, you use the cup in the bucket to pour water over yourself. My assumption is, you should do this squatting. Not my forte'. There is a little pull thing under the lever. If you pull that, water comes out of the shower. But you have to keep holding it. All who follow, bring one of those clampy wrenches to hold the thing open if this will bother you. I was laughing too hard to be bothered. I am so uncoordinated. This is a four hand job, two is not enough. Hummm.

And do you see the toilet paper in the furthest right of that picture? If it had stayed there, it would have been papier mache'. I was clever enough to move it to the counter. Although there is a shower curtain, I think the idea is to just let it rip and wet down the room. But I could be wrong.

An Email That Said It All

Although it was said that sending emails and posting blogs at the same time (multi-media) is a good thing, I don't want to repeat. This is my summary email that I sent Monday night:

WEATHER: hot. Peg doesn't do heat well. Hot is only 90 degrees. I heard it was 106 in Calcutta. This is not debilitating. Places have AC, cars have AC. Harriet and her husband, Harold, and I went to Mysore on Sunday and learned how to travel. See sights early in the day and late in the day. Be inside sipping cold beer or Gin and Tonic during the hot part. I guess that is the time to shop or get a massage. :-) If one were a complete hedonist.

ACCOMODATIONS: I moved from the hotel where I was staying with H&H to the apartment where I'll be staying for the next 11 weeks. Suresh had arranged one close to IBM, but IBM is in the wilderness. The apartment was down a dirt road with construction (not heavy) on one side. The apartment was good, but the location was dismal. I have to consider the other people who will be staying there as well as myself. It was like in the middle of a field, for heaven sake. Where do you go for a meal and to shop?? So we moved closer to down town. The ride will be longer, so bring an Ipod. It has a pool, they deliver either continental or Indian breakfast and clean the apartment every day. AND it is very close to shopping and you can see other buildings.
All my Helpdesk family know what a complete non-techie I am. I was devestated last night that the wifi didn't work. But I was exhausted for some reason, so I watched TV and went to bed. Woke up at 4:30 and looked at the wifi. Even I know that you just can't have the damn thing plugged into the electricity. So I connected the cable from the modem to the wifi and gave it a try. Techies must just use logic to do all their miracles. I'm feeling more like one right now.

GENERAL WALKABILITY OF THE TOWN: Not good. I'm not a walker, so that is probably no loss to me. H&H hotel is on the prime shopping street of Bangalore, but you can't stroll it like we're used to. When we would arrive at the hotel, it was being plunged from chaos to serenity. There is a secret garden aspect to it. The apartments are similar, but from what I saw at 7:00 p.m., things seem much quieter here.

PEOPLE: Lovely, gracious people. Almost understandable. But when touristing, don't smile. Not smiling at everyone is nearly impossible for me, but when you do, they approach you with a hand out or something to buy. So I am wearing my hat pulled down and dark glasses. Every fiber wants to smile, but I'm getting better at Miss Stoic. And yet, when we were visiting the Sultan's Summer Palace, we met a great family. Most people who are not trying to get your money want to practice their English, learn more about this strange, large white woman. The family is from Coorg, where I want to visit. There were about 10 of them, obviously mom, dad, kids and other relations. The families are very tight here.
I have to reserve my chatting up to the drivers. Everything has a story, so it's good to have someone to tell you about it. We must be driven everywhere so we get an opportunity to chat.

IBM: We met the group that will be taking care of our calls. They have good English skills (althought I only met them once, we will have to see as we converse more.) I got to teach a class about The Times and newspapers in general. No one went to sleep. Always a good sign. IBM has two buildings. One is huge and has the eating and shopping areas. We are at the other one about 5 minutes away. The layout is lovely, but it is in the middle of that field. We will be very comfortable when we are in the building. It is modern, has a nice looking call center. And it was delightful to see Suresh and Teena again. Now they are in charge, whipping the newbies into shape. Harriet spoke and was very charming, making them all feel like a part of The Times. That is so important. They have to feel a part of the paper and know the urgency of what they are asked to do. I'm happy that I will be here 11 weeks to help make sure they understand that part of what they do.

SHOPPING: Not a shopper. Never have been. But I had a request for a sari and a pashmini shawl. Already purchased them. Now I don't have to do that anymore. But these are lovely things and I may use them to decorate my apartment until it's time to pack them up. Harriet kept telling me I need pictures and a rug. She and Harold bought a gorgeous rug. Spending loves company. I saw a gorgeous rug, too, and if I had a spare 5 grand, it would be mine. It was stunning. So is the 6x5 tapestry that I whimsically bought in St. Emillion. Although I know that Harold could have reduced that 5k to a much more reasonable fee, I am being strong. The new stoic Peg. Anyway, the beautiful colors of the saris and shawls will brighten up this place.

SLEEPING: Having trouble with that. I tend to wake in the middle of the night because I tend to wake in the middle of the night. Now I just get up and type. This will need to stop as I sort of faded in the middle of my discussion about the newspaper. Sort of like the newspaper, fading in the middle. But it is hard to realize we have just been here for 3 days. I'm sure I'll get the hang of this sleeping and waking stuff.

COMPUTING: By the miracle of Gtalk, I've been able to talk with Adrian and Karen. This is an amazing thing. We are half a world away and we can talk through the computer. I'm reading "Passage to India." I think the British would have gotten less freaky if they could have talked to family periodically.