Monday, October 30, 2006

The trip begins - 10/30

7:40 pm local time - Eastern US ... 10/30/06

Family came to see me off ... wife & son took me; and met up with mom (who came down with a friend so as not to drive alone in the dark). You never quite know about traffic in our neck of the woods. Sometimes the turnpike can be a parking lot ... other times ... well, it's kind of like rolling dice. So, we actually got to the airport in plenty of time. Time enough to sit in the airport together to have a drink (non-alcoholic).

Then it was through security and to the waiting area by the gate.

I've never flown business class before ... and I'm still not sure of all the "perks" ... but the business class lounge at the airport is quite nice. The one thing I know I am glad of is that I'll have plenty of leg room. My 6'5" frame doesn't do very well in some of these airplane seats ... I make do ... but it's good to have the opportunity to stretch for this long flight.

Okay Frankfurt - here I come ... then onto Mumbai and Pune.

 

Sunday, October 29, 2006

The 'Ambush' Blessing

It was a wonderful day at church this morning ... the whole family participated at mass ... altar server, choir member, and Eucharistic minister. Some special moments included seeing the little dude holding the prayer book for Monsignor at mass and receiving the Eucharist from my wife. After mass came yet another surprise ...

An 'ambush' blessing ...

Thanks to our friends in the choir (Janet & Lora), the choir gathered around me with Deacon Tony giving his blessing for my safe journey and return home.

We are all blessed, indeed, with our church family - our friends, the pastoral staff, and all the acquaintances we've met these past several years.

And tomorrow (Monday) ... it's off to India!

 

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Here's Something for my Co-Workers: "the Best Web 2.0 Sites"

The title comes from the author of this list ... it is definitely worth checking out. I've had several conversations with colleagues about "what exactly IS this 'web 2.0'?" Not quite sure that this author answers the question ... but the list of sites is an impressive collection where you can spend several hours perusing.
It would have been helpful if the author provided an explanation as to why these are considered 'the best' among all of the thousands of web 2.0 services and mashups; and it could do with a better categorization of these ... but this is well worth looking at.

Among some of my favorites are: del.icio.us, Stumbleupon ... I'm exploring a bit about PageFlakes and NetVibes ... and more favorites: Google Reader (quickly becoming my favorite online reader!).

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Saturday, October 28, 2006

New Jersey vs. Pune

Just checked out the weather.com site and whew! what a difference this will be. On the homefront, it is 40-degrees ...  with even some frost the other day. And I think it is good news that the daytime temperature goes up to 60.

In Pune ... it's currently 65-degrees ... and the daytime temperatures are in the 80's.

It's like I'm going to have a second Summer this year!

 

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Pre-Travel Family Visits Done and 2-Days Left Before Departure


I've managed to squeeze in visiting some family before I head out. One of the more pleasant surprises was a pre-emptive Thanksgiving dinner prepared for me ... because I will be in India during the actual holiday here.
It was very sweet.
Okay - so it is now two days before launch ... packing and repacking (and probably repacking some more) will be the order of the day at home.


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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Details about Pune - Some Great Information

T-minus 5 and counting ... then I'm departing for my temporary work assignment in Pune, India.

The Pune team sent me a link that has tons of information about Pune. Included in this site are some channels:

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I'm not an ancient Greek - but I will be bearing gifts

One of the things that I will be bringing with me is a set of small gifts to present to the Pune team. Nothing lavish ... just a token of friendship - which, I have been told, is an important aspect of their culture.

I like this idea,actually. You meet someone for the first time and you exchange a small gift.

My firm has arranged these gifts to be items with one of our client logos on it, since the Pune team have been creating training programs for this client - seemed to be a way to express a common interest.

Oh - and I've been told as well that they love chocolate from the US. I shove some of that in my suitcases too.

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This will be my hotel


The team in Pune have made arrangements for me to stay at the Central Park hotel. I am told that this hotel is more "americanized" than others in the city. Since I'm going to be there for six weeks, they wanted me to make sure I was comfortable.

Update: Just found out that this is a 4-Star rated hotel. And have checked out their website. This looks like it is a terrific place.


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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A Photo Test

This is a test ... it is only a test ...
I will be taking a digital camera with me on my trip to India and plan on posting a bunch of photos of the sites and my experiences ... (sorry, you won't see me dressed in a sari)

This is just a test to see if I can post photos ...

Here's a picture of our dog, Fluff. She's been with us for just about 1-1/2 years now.
Okay ... so if you can see this post, then I know how to do this.

So expect to see some photos from India real soon!


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Tuesday, October 24, 2006

The Time Difference

Right now Pune is 9-1/2 hours ahead of us in the Eastern US. But that's only during daylight savings - which is soon coming to an end (on 10/29 ... remember to set your clocks back!)

By the time I leave on 10/30, Pune India will be 10-1/2 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (USA). To help figure it out & for easy reference ... use this table.


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So - What I'll Be Doing ...

The purpose of my trip is to work with a partner organization in Pune. My firm uses them for producing learning programs for our clients. The Pune team have been asked to design and develop web-based training as well as instructor-led and self-study materials.

(Cue tense, spy-themed music)

My mission is to coach and instruct the team in Pune ... to give guidance on what US audiences expect when they participate in a classroom program ... to look at the processes used and figure out how to improve efficiencies ... to help them gain a better understanding of our client's business and organizational structure ...

(End music)


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Someone Else Has Done a Ton of Research

There are tons of "Web 2.0" programs/platforms/tools/mashups ... whatever term you prefer. Researching what is available and how they all work is a daunting task. But check out Solution Watch (well worth subscribing to its feed, too!) ... two great posts: Back to School Part 1, and Back to School Part 2.

I've been looking at the Part 2 post and find so much of it useful and intriguing. As part of an R&D group in my firm, we sometimes struggle with the idea of how to easily and inexpensively collaborate and how to incorporate collaborative technologies for our clients.

Note that Writely is now Google Docs & Spreadsheets ... and I'm a huge fan of this.

One of my surprise favorites is PocketMod (which was featured in the Part 1 post)



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Monday, October 23, 2006

Pictures of Pune ... before I Leave

I'll use an online photo sharing service (like Flickr) for photos I take while in India. For now ... here are some photos that were sent to me - to prepare me a little bit for what I can expect.

buildings in Pune Here are some buildings that are typical in Pune.




more buildings in Pune And here are more buildings.




the Old City in Pune This is part of the "Old City" in Pune




roads and buildings in Pune More of the buildings and such in Pune.




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The Time Difference

Here's the deal ... Pune India doesn't observe Daylight Savings Time as we do. At the moment, Pune is 9-1/2 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.

Since we'll change our clocks back one hour on 10/29, by the time I'm there Pune will be 10-1/2 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

This means 7am EST (in the US) will be 5:30pm (ahead) in Pune. And 5pm EST (in the US) will be 3:30am (the next morning) in Pune. This will take some getting used to ... for sure!



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Sunday, October 22, 2006

Oh - the Places I'll Go

So, I'll start from home - leaving from Newark/Liberty International Airport


Cross the big pond and stop off at Frankfurt, Germany. No time for sight-seeing ... just a brief layover in the airport.


Arrive in Mumbai ... and go to Pune.


And the return journey home will just be a reverse ... Mumbai to Frankfurt to Newark.

Preparing for the Trip

T-minus 8 days and counting ... and there's a ton of things to do to get ready.

Got my shots this past Friday - and my arms are still a bit sore. And these last two days have seen a slight reaction to them. Oh well. ... I've got one more series of shots to get this Friday coming up. I'm hoping that I won't react badly to them - since my body has already been put into a slight shock with this first round, perhaps the second round won't be as much of a shock. We'll see.

Part of my preparation is to work out how to communicate with family and friends and co-workers while I'm in India. This is the first method ... Soon I'll have some kind of photo-sharing site so folks can see the sites of Pune.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Going to India - Six Weeks

So, my trip has been approved only recently - a temporary work assignment for my firm.

And the lucky winner of a city is Pune, India ... check out information about Pune (pronounced Poo-NAY) at Wikipedia.

My trip and work will take six weeks ... so, I'll have to commemorate our US Thanksgiving holiday somehow while I'm in India.



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