Monday: A blur of activity ... little sleep the night before.... jst 3h.....begin... rush to a friends place to carry somethings he needs in the US ... to Forum mall t0 buy books for the same friend .... traffic noise ...dropping off cheques ... supervise work for a while on the house...calling suppliers and contractors to try and get work completed ... buying solar water heater panels ... checking email .... calls to work ... from work ......drive out.... buy some specific shampoo for another friend's wife....visit to the doc ...then RAM upgrade for sisters laptop... catch up with someone for whom a gift was bought sometime back ... some solace... somethings are different, some remain the same... coffee, tea, tiramisu ... au revoirs ... home ... torrential rain .... movie with family ... back home ... begin packing post-midnight .... sleep at 330 .... wake at 630 ....

Tuesday: 8am on tuesday ....continue packing ...work ....call people at work between sips of tea... drive out....buy a few things .... pick up new spectacles .... some medicines to be packed .... Solar water heater guys arrive.... tell them where to install it.... supervise work on the house ... contractor arrives ....big spat after he provides new terms on some work .... shouting match (my first for the longest time) ..... ugly scences ... furious as months of angst spill over in a tirade of vehemence and frustration....adrenaline pumping...i realise this is not worth it and disconnect .... reconciliation ... drive to bank twice to get drafts for payment for work .... bank guy looks at my face and does all he can to make things easier... humanity is alive, i tell myself..... get home .... continue packing ...call cab .... cab arrives and parks some distance away .... finish packing .....shower ... call cab driver.... phone's off .... call cab company .... confusion .....delays .... anxiety ..... cab arrives ... prayers, lamps lit .... hug mom ..... drive off in cab .... traffic... delays ..... more traffic ... chat with cabbie Prasanna .... he needs to make 900 bucks a day that must be returned to the cab company...interesting buisness model ... he essentially rents the cab from Meru at 900 bucks a day and then pays for the gas and runs it as much as he can to make a living..... typical Indian exploitation, at 27K a month, way more than a typical EMI he should be owning the cab, not renting it...expect that he's not creditworthy on his own so the cab company Meru makes a tidy profit... Meru is essentially a vehicle owning company with a call center.... its the same story everywhere.... the guy renting the vegetable cart out makes 10% a day!! from the poor guy rolling the cart in India .... that 3600% p.a. .... how can these things change? Microcredit? Probably ... Prasanna drives his shoes off and makes 10-15K a month.. this is just wrong.... cab doesn't take credit cards .... stop off at ATM ..... drive..... airport .... cab bill is 761....i want to make sure that someone should be happy after how unhappy Ive been today so I pay 20% more than the bill ..... he beams with happiness...he should be more much happier with better financing on his car deal ..... new airport... first visit .... kinda small for an International airport.... young folks everywhere behind computers learning the ropes ... again typical India.... young people in the workforce... new opportunities.... this is probably what trained investors get excited about....... check in.... customs ..... don't have hard copy for office laptop export exemption letter.... negotiations...go downstairs, get approval...old India .....expemption provided ....go upstairs, through security ... im famished..... eat something .... call friends .... board .... flight to Singapore..... cannot sleep.... the clock ticks over to Wednesday

Wednesday: Somewhere over the Indian ocean ..... arrive in Singapore .... still no sleep ... 3hour layover... eat ... walk .... Changi Terminal 3 is breathtaking..post-modern Koi ponds ... board...... 6 hour flight to Seoul ....

....thankfully middle seat is unoccupied for the next 16h of flying... thank God for small mercies.... guy on aisle is about 45-50 ... says he now lives in SFO.... was born in Bangalore, studied and worked in Chennai ... started logistics business, lost 40-50lakh back in the 80s... (phew) ... left India to earn money in Dubai... repaid loan ... in the process got divorced and lost his family .... then moved to the US ... now works for a logistics company that is expanding in India.... he coughs a lot... well ... I always believed that economy determines lives, and this is just another example .....

still in flight....... watch movie ....Sex&the City ..... poor film ..... 1 hour layover in Seoul ..... board again ..... 10 hours to San Francisco... watch Indiana Jones ....then Les Heures de Ete ...both so so ... 3h of sleep en route to SFO .... arrive.... cab to hotel... some confusion with reservations... finally get room ..... call rental car company....unpack minimally ..... shave, shower .....Hertz sends driver....driven to Hertz location.... get car .... no navigation available.... need to exchange later.... go to workplace and get badge activated...call manager... make bad jokes about long flight... drive to Safeway and pick up some food .....come back ... talk to hotel staff... room change on Friday... its about 5PM .... I realize Ive had 6hours of sleep in 6o something hours ... think I'll take a nap at 530 .... will wake up in a bit to get dinner ...then drive to SFO Intl to change car.... open my eyes... its 1AM ...Ive slept for 8 hours....try and sleep more.... wake up again .. its 430AM .... this is not good.... headache kicks in .... pain killer .... wide awake....now some email... respond to work stuff .... tea ....blog....and post ....

630AM ....i need more tea ....