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Bangalore Trip, Day 2
Feb. 1st, 2012 10:04 amI didn't sleep a great deal last night, but that's OK: I was much too excited to sleep.
I think it was after 4am local time before I had caught up on all of the office email, messages to home to assure the family that all is good, updates to FaceBook, LiveJournal, Google+, Twitter and FourSquare, etc..
When I did crash, I slept soundly and comfortably so it was a bit of a shock when my watch alarm sounded at 10am. I had warned the locals that I'd probably be too exhausted to accomplish much but I wanted to be at the office before noon so I could force myself into the daily rhythms of the new time zone.
I dressed up well this morning, complete with dress shoes, a sport coat and a tie. I wasn't sure how formal/informal the office environment might be so I decided to go for the max, just in case. As it turns out, it was completely unnecessary: no one is wearing ties around here. Or jackets. Or dress shoes. For that matter, many are wearing jeans and t-shirts. In short, they dress the same as my California colleagues. Personally, I still prefer business casual when I’m in an office to help set my mood and focus my mind, but I’m happy to skip the tie & coat tomorrow. I may even go with my more comfortable walking shoes.
The Ketera office is a five minute walk and/or death run from the Chancery Hotel. There is a major street (2½ lanes in each direction with a median barrier) I need to cross to get to the office at a funky five-way intersection. I've only been through it once yet, but while it was more chaotic than any I’ve seen back home, I could feel a certain flow & logic to it. In any case, I'm just going to blend in with the locals and jump off the curb when they do, trusting their instincts are better tuned than mine.
It's a huge logistic relief to not have to worry about scheduling a driver daily: my inner puritan barks at me for having any service which too closely resembles employing a personal servant. Yes, I know that's not at all the case but it's more than just the passing transaction one might have with say, a taxi ride in Manhattan. It takes a change of mindset and I'm still working my way through the fact I'm not in Kansas anymore.
BTW, did I mention in the past 30 seconds that I'm not in Kansas anymore? It still thrills me: I stepped into a magic metal can and was whisked with 100 close friends across the planet to a wholly new continent, new time zone, even a new latitude since I’ve never been this close to the equator before. It's a different culture, a different language, a different etiquette, a different cuisine. Even the trees, the grass and the birds flying past my office window are new and strange to me. Can it get any more fantastic than this?
The skies have been clear blue all of today. It's a comfortable 84 degrees F out there right now with moderate humidity. In short, it's gorgeous out there.
No lunch for me today. My body still isn't quite communicating with me fully thanks to the lag but I’ll force myself to have dinner tonight whether I’m hungry or not. No clue where yet, but I'll likely try the hotel restaurant.
The local office tends to work 9:30am to about 6pm, more or less. Some folks are earlier, some later. They've placed me in a corner meeting room with windows to the north-east and south-east; since we're on the eighth floor, I have a superb view to the street level and the park adjacent to the building. From a balcony off the lunch room on the other side of the building, we have a view of the state senate and supreme court; I'll get photos later.
Internet access has been great, although I’m using a hard-wire connection instead of wifi. Not a big deal but it means I can't update my mobile phone or tablet via wifi until I return to the hotel. I don't have a working mobile phone here (at least not yet) but I think I'm OK with that: I'll largely be using Skype to talk to home anyway. It would be nice for emergencies but that's all. I'm used to my phone beeping me when new email arrives so the lack of alerts is taking some getting used to.
For the most part, the Ketera folks have no greater idea of what I’m supposed to do here with them than I do. I have only the vaguest agenda from the home office, but that's fine: too detailed a plan would likely have been pointless anyway until I knew more about the situation on the ground here. My primary point of contact is Vinoda who has been great about showing me around, answering my questions and generally helping me adjust.
I’m spending much of today and tomorrow writing documentation. While we have a lot online and such, I find it lacking in the kind of precision and detail we would need for, say, a new hire. If I'm supposed to be showing these folks how to handle our night shift duties, I want them to have all of the information required to do it correctly so I can sleep better at night and so they can proceed confidently into new situations without worry or angst.
The interesting thing is that I'm rediscovering that I really do like writing, including technical writing. Having a bare workspace with lots of elbow room, no mundane distractions, no mobile phone pinging me repeatedly and no other agenda than writing has truly helped my focus. I'm not in a perfect writing mental zone yet as I’m still wired from this travel experience, but I'm generating better docs than I have in years today. I hope we can turn this into some useful courseware for my Dear Employer when I return.
As it happens, my arrival today had a happy and unplanned benefit. The Ketera team celebrates the staff birthdays for the prior month on the first day of the new month. Thus, today being Feb 1, they had a huge cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to the folks who had a birthday in January. Once they learned my birthday was earlier this week, they added me to the honors list, joining the other four!
The samoas served were delicious! And they thought they might be too spicy for me! Ha! The pineapple cake was a wonderful too. I think I made a bit of a splash when I whipped out the pair of scissors from my pocket to help cut open the box in which the cake was shipped. The ladies asked why I carried a pair of scissors. I said guys sometimes need an emergency moustache or beard maintenance. The guys (nearly all of whom have a moustache or beard) thought that was hilarious but the women just looked confused.
It's a little after 6pm now. I’m thinking of going for a short walk around the block or so while there’s still some daylight, just to get familiar with the neighborhood. Hotel procedures require me to drop off my key at the front desk every time I leave, then collect it again when I return to the hotel. I'm sure this is a security procedure to ensure no one steals my key and ransacks my room, but it is a minor annoyance. Yes, I know the front desk folks are there explicitly to do this kind of task, but I feel like I'm making them do unnecessary work whenever I come & go. Yeah, I know, it’s a new mindset I'll have to internalize.
I’m back from my brisk walk. My energy level is alternating between "just fine" and "nearing death," and the cycles are getting shorter. I ordered room service for dinner rather than risking going face down in the buffet. A huge platter of curry chicken with a tip for the room service is about 300 rupees, about $6. And now that my stomach is full, my body is really crashing hard. Time for bed very soon.
I think it was after 4am local time before I had caught up on all of the office email, messages to home to assure the family that all is good, updates to FaceBook, LiveJournal, Google+, Twitter and FourSquare, etc..
When I did crash, I slept soundly and comfortably so it was a bit of a shock when my watch alarm sounded at 10am. I had warned the locals that I'd probably be too exhausted to accomplish much but I wanted to be at the office before noon so I could force myself into the daily rhythms of the new time zone.
I dressed up well this morning, complete with dress shoes, a sport coat and a tie. I wasn't sure how formal/informal the office environment might be so I decided to go for the max, just in case. As it turns out, it was completely unnecessary: no one is wearing ties around here. Or jackets. Or dress shoes. For that matter, many are wearing jeans and t-shirts. In short, they dress the same as my California colleagues. Personally, I still prefer business casual when I’m in an office to help set my mood and focus my mind, but I’m happy to skip the tie & coat tomorrow. I may even go with my more comfortable walking shoes.
The Ketera office is a five minute walk and/or death run from the Chancery Hotel. There is a major street (2½ lanes in each direction with a median barrier) I need to cross to get to the office at a funky five-way intersection. I've only been through it once yet, but while it was more chaotic than any I’ve seen back home, I could feel a certain flow & logic to it. In any case, I'm just going to blend in with the locals and jump off the curb when they do, trusting their instincts are better tuned than mine.
It's a huge logistic relief to not have to worry about scheduling a driver daily: my inner puritan barks at me for having any service which too closely resembles employing a personal servant. Yes, I know that's not at all the case but it's more than just the passing transaction one might have with say, a taxi ride in Manhattan. It takes a change of mindset and I'm still working my way through the fact I'm not in Kansas anymore.
BTW, did I mention in the past 30 seconds that I'm not in Kansas anymore? It still thrills me: I stepped into a magic metal can and was whisked with 100 close friends across the planet to a wholly new continent, new time zone, even a new latitude since I’ve never been this close to the equator before. It's a different culture, a different language, a different etiquette, a different cuisine. Even the trees, the grass and the birds flying past my office window are new and strange to me. Can it get any more fantastic than this?
The skies have been clear blue all of today. It's a comfortable 84 degrees F out there right now with moderate humidity. In short, it's gorgeous out there.
No lunch for me today. My body still isn't quite communicating with me fully thanks to the lag but I’ll force myself to have dinner tonight whether I’m hungry or not. No clue where yet, but I'll likely try the hotel restaurant.
The local office tends to work 9:30am to about 6pm, more or less. Some folks are earlier, some later. They've placed me in a corner meeting room with windows to the north-east and south-east; since we're on the eighth floor, I have a superb view to the street level and the park adjacent to the building. From a balcony off the lunch room on the other side of the building, we have a view of the state senate and supreme court; I'll get photos later.
Internet access has been great, although I’m using a hard-wire connection instead of wifi. Not a big deal but it means I can't update my mobile phone or tablet via wifi until I return to the hotel. I don't have a working mobile phone here (at least not yet) but I think I'm OK with that: I'll largely be using Skype to talk to home anyway. It would be nice for emergencies but that's all. I'm used to my phone beeping me when new email arrives so the lack of alerts is taking some getting used to.
For the most part, the Ketera folks have no greater idea of what I’m supposed to do here with them than I do. I have only the vaguest agenda from the home office, but that's fine: too detailed a plan would likely have been pointless anyway until I knew more about the situation on the ground here. My primary point of contact is Vinoda who has been great about showing me around, answering my questions and generally helping me adjust.
I’m spending much of today and tomorrow writing documentation. While we have a lot online and such, I find it lacking in the kind of precision and detail we would need for, say, a new hire. If I'm supposed to be showing these folks how to handle our night shift duties, I want them to have all of the information required to do it correctly so I can sleep better at night and so they can proceed confidently into new situations without worry or angst.
The interesting thing is that I'm rediscovering that I really do like writing, including technical writing. Having a bare workspace with lots of elbow room, no mundane distractions, no mobile phone pinging me repeatedly and no other agenda than writing has truly helped my focus. I'm not in a perfect writing mental zone yet as I’m still wired from this travel experience, but I'm generating better docs than I have in years today. I hope we can turn this into some useful courseware for my Dear Employer when I return.
As it happens, my arrival today had a happy and unplanned benefit. The Ketera team celebrates the staff birthdays for the prior month on the first day of the new month. Thus, today being Feb 1, they had a huge cake and sang "Happy Birthday" to the folks who had a birthday in January. Once they learned my birthday was earlier this week, they added me to the honors list, joining the other four!
The samoas served were delicious! And they thought they might be too spicy for me! Ha! The pineapple cake was a wonderful too. I think I made a bit of a splash when I whipped out the pair of scissors from my pocket to help cut open the box in which the cake was shipped. The ladies asked why I carried a pair of scissors. I said guys sometimes need an emergency moustache or beard maintenance. The guys (nearly all of whom have a moustache or beard) thought that was hilarious but the women just looked confused.
It's a little after 6pm now. I’m thinking of going for a short walk around the block or so while there’s still some daylight, just to get familiar with the neighborhood. Hotel procedures require me to drop off my key at the front desk every time I leave, then collect it again when I return to the hotel. I'm sure this is a security procedure to ensure no one steals my key and ransacks my room, but it is a minor annoyance. Yes, I know the front desk folks are there explicitly to do this kind of task, but I feel like I'm making them do unnecessary work whenever I come & go. Yeah, I know, it’s a new mindset I'll have to internalize.
I’m back from my brisk walk. My energy level is alternating between "just fine" and "nearing death," and the cycles are getting shorter. I ordered room service for dinner rather than risking going face down in the buffet. A huge platter of curry chicken with a tip for the room service is about 300 rupees, about $6. And now that my stomach is full, my body is really crashing hard. Time for bed very soon.
