More New Delhi and Red Fort & Agra Fort

While in New Delhi we visited the famous Red Fort, built in the 16th century. While in Agra we visited the Agra Fort.

For more pictures of our India adventure click HERE

Sights Around Bangalore with Nickie & Josh

Just some random shots of walking around my neighborhood.

Christmas Party at the Office

Since we have 3 1/2 Christians in ServiceMaster Clean - India, we had a little Christmas celebration. Here is the group. It includes one picture of Nickie and I in my living room before we went to the office. (The 1/2 Christian has one parent Hindu and one Christian, so she claims both religions).

Pictures with Josh and Nickie

Here are some of the pics we took while traveling in Agar and New Delhi. Of course, these pictures are of the Taj Mahal.

Christmas Decorations

Here are the decorations outside my building, where I wait for my driver every day, and also the decorations that I bought for my place. Ive included a "night" and "day" version.

It is amazing how many people here are Hindu,and still celebrate Christmas. It is a National Holiday. Of course many people just laugh and say they will take a day off for anything. I went to church today, and am reminded that this is the celebration of Jesus birthday, and how grateful I am that he came to save me and you. Not wanting to buy a lot of decorations that will be thrown away in a few months, I picked this set because I want to remember, and thank God for sending His Son to save a wretch like me.

I am so glad that Nickie and Josh are on their way here, and can't wait to see them and share this wonderful, crazy experience with them. I sincerely hope that everyone reading this blog will have a blessed Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.

I urge you also to take a few minutes and get in touch with the awsome, miracle that we are celebrating. God himself came as his son Jesus to live amongst us so that we could be forgiven and saved by grace.

A Real Chicken Store

At this chicken shop, you can see how your chicken clucks before you buy it. You can also get it cut-up any way you like.

The Monkeys are coming in.....

Manjistha is feeding the monkeys, and they are getting bold enough to come into the office. We won't let them though, because they are mean and they bite, and I think it can be deadly.

Guarding India

Many places in India have guards, and a lot of them are fancy "doormen", such as this one. I will try to show some of the others in the future. This one was at the hotel we stayed at in Delhi.

Ambala City-The Lunch Stop

A small town near Gates served as our place for fine dining at lunchtime. The restaurant was not much by our standards, again, a lot of flies, but the food was good. We had boneless chicken in gravy, green salad, dahl, and buttered nan. We had ice cream for desert. Here are some pics of the area around the restaurant, and the man making the nan outside.

More Rock Garden Pictures

The Chandigarh Rock Garden- Pics Galore

I was blown away. I did not expect this when they said we were going to a "Rock Garden". A guy made this starting in 1953, and finished in 1988. People did not know he was even doing it until it was done. It was pretty cool!

The Customer - Gates (Rubber Hose Manufacturer)

The purpose of Going on this trip was to visit with Gates. (The same Gates that makes rubber hoses and v-belts for automotive use in the USA.) We toured the plant, and it looks like we might be able to provide both security and cleaning. The two gentlemen are Dinesh Gupta, and Onkar Singh (Branch Head for North Branch). The state we are in is Punjab, and many of the men wear turbines.

On the Road to Chandigarh

These are some of the sights on the road to Chandigarh. We ate at a roadside place. There were a lot of flies, but the food was tasty. We ate Aaluparatha ( potatoe bread stuffed with onion and spices) Chola with Paneer (which is like homony & tofu with spices) and Curd. I am with Dinesh Gupta, and Prakash. Dinesh is the Regional Manager for the Delhi Region which also covers the North. It was a good meal.

Basskar's 7th AA Birthday

Tonight we celebrated my friend Basskar's 7th birthday. It was really cool. His girlfriend and sister were there, many nice things were said about him, and we all had cake! He is one of the pillars of AA in Bangalore, a friend to me, and a neat guy.

Met Another Old Friend

On the way to work this morning as we were rounding the corner to the office, I just happened to see an old friend standing in front of the store that is below our office. He was really short, and not very fat, but he was jolly.

MORE TRAVEL PLANS

On Sunday night 14Th we (Prakash & myself) will be flying back to Delhi. Monday morning we are flying to Lucknow where we will meet with TATA Motors to present a "revolutionary" cleaning proposal that will take staff from 106 to 88, and will drastically improve overall quality and efficiency of the service. We will return to Delhi in the evening, and on Tuesday morning we will take a 5 hour drive to Chandigarh in the state of Punjab where we will visit another potential industrial client. We might drive back to Delhi Tuesday night, but are definitely planning to fly from Delhi back to Bangalore on Wednesday the 17Th. For those of you who were worried during my last travels that occurred with the terrorist actions in Mumbai, please try not to worry this time. It's all just part of the adventure, and I'm luvin it!!

The Computer Breakdown Blues

My life has never depended on technology like it does today. My laptop went south on me, the display went out, and it caused a real panic. All of a sudden my contact with all of you that I love was gone. I was restless all day on Sunday, and on Monday I went across Bangalore to the HP repair place to find out that a new screen cost Rs 19,000 and 10 days to install. That's about $413, but the 10 days without "Betsy" was not tolerable. I bought a new laptop from HP across the street from my office, and it is better than "Betsy". It's "Matilda", and it's pretty too!! It has fingerprint recognition, built-in web cam, and it is 100 times smarter than I am. I will get all of my stuff transferred to this one in a couple of days. I'm sorry for being absent, but I've been working more, and haven't seen a lot of unique stuff to take pictures of. I went to an Indian theater and saw Transporter #3 with a couple of friends from AA. They have intermission during the movie here! They stop the film for 10 minutes so you can go pee. I liked that idea, even though I didn't need to go. We also shopped, and had a good time. I ate at subway. It was a little different, but same format.

I'm Luvin' you all, Stay tuned, and I'll post more...

Chikan Shirts

It wouldn't be a day on the town without some shopping. I bought a couple of Chikan shirts similar to the one Prakash is wearing in the previous pictures. Shopping entailed sitting down and letting the shopkeeper open a bunch of stuff and show you all of it. Pressure to buy is strong. The shirts are called Chikan because of the embroidery that is done on them. They are pretty cool and not very expensive.

Ragesh and I meet an old Friend in Lucknow

The pictures tell the story. We didn't eat there, we just enjoyed the Kodak moment.

Our Survey team at play

Here are more pics of the Bara Imambara with the guys I am working with. First is Ragesh, SMC Regional Manager for Lucknow. Second is Prakash, 2IC SMC (2nd in command). Lastly is Clement, who is our Divisional Training Director. In the picture with four guys, the extra one is the guide. We are on the roof of the Temple.