Post and Fold

Well crew, I finally got an internet connection set up here Monday night and managed to set up this blog, but I was way too exhausted Tuesday night and way too sick yesterday to do much in the way of “blogging”, so this’ll be my first post this Thursday morning. No worries, the fever was high (I can proudly say I scored a 102) but wasn’t anything serious (ie, no malaria, so that’s good) – basically the doc thought it was a combination of a reaction to the preservatives they use in their boxed juices here along with the fact that I hadn’t been eating exactly right the last few days. Well see, that’s what happens when you’re trying to cook your dinners and breakfasts and 70% of the stuff in the stores is a flat no-go on the list from the US doctors – I’d go to restaurants but you have to avoid the 24-hr street vendors and everything else is closed before I go to work and by the time I get back – yeah, so wanh-wanh. My interpretations: (1) only buy stuff that clearly says “no preservatives dammit” and (2) I need to go ahead and make some mad soups, since I can boil the fresh vegetables they tell you otherwise not to eat due to the local fertilizers used. That’s all based on the doctor’s diagnosis – but on the down low I can tell you that I think part of the equation was some pizza I ate over lunch that might have had some local cheese on it (jury’s still out on that one – the pizza was from a Pizza Hut outlet in the underground mall at the ITPL tech park complex where I’m working (yup – ITPL is so far out of the city and traffic is so bad at lunchtime that they built a mini-mall under the office buildings) – I figured Pizza Hut was safe, but I’m learning that you can’t exactly trust brand names over here because, hey, the boxed juice that Herr Doktor strongly suspected was Tropicana, so go figure – anyway he downplayed the pizza angle but just between you and me, I know that ever since I ate that pizza I had indeed awakened the Great Cornholio. Anyway the good doctor gave me some stuff to refill the electrolytes to counter the Montezuma’s Revenge and some medicine to kill the fever, so after spending yesterday afternoon/evening back at my swank Koramangala penthouse (at least that’s how I like to think of it) drinking tons of water, popping pills, and trying to maintain a steady grub, I can happily say that I’m back in action this Thursday morning. And speaking of my apartment, attached are some photos. The apartment is in Koramangala, which is basically a sub-sector of Bangalore, which is in turn a city in the Indian state of Karnataka – so there’s your geography lesson for today, kids. As you can see, it’s quite ginormous – two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a den, a kitchen, and another room you can use for a study or whatever. It’s also right next to an upscale mall – they have an internet cafe I tried to use earlier, but normally it’s jam-packed with Counter Strike junkies. But yes, they set me up quite nicely, and once I learned how to work the hot water widget in the bathroom, there was nothing left to be desired. The people here are fantastic – everyone is very friendly, very considerate, and the Applied/GDC team is the best – it’s a very positive group. Well, I gotta get going now – following this post I will upload some photos from my tours of the city on Saturday and Sunday – I can give more 411 on these in later posts. Oh yeah, if anybody needs to call me about anything, my normal cell number doesn’t work here, but Applied gave me a loaner. Here’s the number: 9880028584. I think you have to dial a 01191 first to tie into India, but you guys can verify that on the internet – I know you’re all smart like that. Later!