Well, hi everyone who is still looking me up. It's been a while.
Have had a very tense month in Puttaparthi. Got my banking stuff sorted out, income coming into a bank that can't eat it without a court order. That was very scary because Ram didn't get back in time for the Canadian pony express mail service to get word to my income sources to change banking info before they fired off March's cheques. Luckily the "no entry" command I requested on my accounts at the first bank held and they were sent back to sender. So they are a bit late but that's a much better outcome than just gone.
Then I went to see a dentist in Bangalore to get a cavity filled. That turned into two root canals and three crowns, seven hours on bus or train and ocasional overnight hotel stays for each appointment. Still chugging my way through that. Did two trips into B'lore last week. Spent most of Sunday sleeping to catch up with my sleep deficit. Getting it done in India is the only way to go. I have enough dental coverage in Canada to get the root canals and fillings done, but not the crowns. That's $2400 dollars right there, about a $350 cost in India. Pretty much justifies the cost of the airplane ticket over here. And the office where I am getting the work done is in a very modern, totally state of the art facility. I like the dentist too, a very gentle, considerate and thorough lady, Dr Rita. One nice thing about going into Bangalore regularly is that it is about five degrees cooler than Puttaparthi, very refreshing break.
Now I'm working on how to get the hell out of here. It's getting very hot, up over 36 C pretty much every day now and rising. I guess it got up to 55 C in May one year. However, I still have to get to Goa to do some business and Remi wants to come to Shrinegar with me also. So I'm trying to explain to a travel agent that we need tickets for two separate itineraries that end up on a plane bound for Shrinegar on or about March 31st.Have to see how that all works with the number of appointments I need with my dentist. Will probably have to change my Singapore Air flight back to Canada in the middle of June also. I thought it would be easier to fly from Shrinegar to Delhi then home than come all the way back to Bangalore. But I didn't count on the two huge suitcases of Indian stuff I would have to lug all the way to Kashmir and back to Delhi to do that. I'm going to cost the difference between changing my Singapore Air ticket and paying excess baggage rates on Indian domestic airlines.
There are times when Indian beurocracy can drive you nuts.
One example. I want to get a Commissioner of Oaths to notarize a claim I am sending back to Canada under a class action brought against the Alberta Government last year. I go to this guy who has a sign on his door saying he is a notary. He wants to vet the document and keep a copy of all sorts of my private data for his files, to make sure I'm telling the truth. Such bullshit, he only has to witness that I am swearing that I am telling the truth, not investigate me. He wants to charge thirty dollar to boot, and refuses to give me a receipt for the service. That's a frigging fortune in India. I'm pretty suspicious that he isn't even the notary, didn't have a stamp to do the deed right then, wanted to send it to my home by messenger. Got to wonder what some people are up to. Anyway I'm going to try to find someone else.
And then back to Bangalore for more rooting around in my mouth on Friday. Got a busy week ahead of me.
Have had a very tense month in Puttaparthi. Got my banking stuff sorted out, income coming into a bank that can't eat it without a court order. That was very scary because Ram didn't get back in time for the Canadian pony express mail service to get word to my income sources to change banking info before they fired off March's cheques. Luckily the "no entry" command I requested on my accounts at the first bank held and they were sent back to sender. So they are a bit late but that's a much better outcome than just gone.
Then I went to see a dentist in Bangalore to get a cavity filled. That turned into two root canals and three crowns, seven hours on bus or train and ocasional overnight hotel stays for each appointment. Still chugging my way through that. Did two trips into B'lore last week. Spent most of Sunday sleeping to catch up with my sleep deficit. Getting it done in India is the only way to go. I have enough dental coverage in Canada to get the root canals and fillings done, but not the crowns. That's $2400 dollars right there, about a $350 cost in India. Pretty much justifies the cost of the airplane ticket over here. And the office where I am getting the work done is in a very modern, totally state of the art facility. I like the dentist too, a very gentle, considerate and thorough lady, Dr Rita. One nice thing about going into Bangalore regularly is that it is about five degrees cooler than Puttaparthi, very refreshing break.
Now I'm working on how to get the hell out of here. It's getting very hot, up over 36 C pretty much every day now and rising. I guess it got up to 55 C in May one year. However, I still have to get to Goa to do some business and Remi wants to come to Shrinegar with me also. So I'm trying to explain to a travel agent that we need tickets for two separate itineraries that end up on a plane bound for Shrinegar on or about March 31st.Have to see how that all works with the number of appointments I need with my dentist. Will probably have to change my Singapore Air flight back to Canada in the middle of June also. I thought it would be easier to fly from Shrinegar to Delhi then home than come all the way back to Bangalore. But I didn't count on the two huge suitcases of Indian stuff I would have to lug all the way to Kashmir and back to Delhi to do that. I'm going to cost the difference between changing my Singapore Air ticket and paying excess baggage rates on Indian domestic airlines.
There are times when Indian beurocracy can drive you nuts.
One example. I want to get a Commissioner of Oaths to notarize a claim I am sending back to Canada under a class action brought against the Alberta Government last year. I go to this guy who has a sign on his door saying he is a notary. He wants to vet the document and keep a copy of all sorts of my private data for his files, to make sure I'm telling the truth. Such bullshit, he only has to witness that I am swearing that I am telling the truth, not investigate me. He wants to charge thirty dollar to boot, and refuses to give me a receipt for the service. That's a frigging fortune in India. I'm pretty suspicious that he isn't even the notary, didn't have a stamp to do the deed right then, wanted to send it to my home by messenger. Got to wonder what some people are up to. Anyway I'm going to try to find someone else.
And then back to Bangalore for more rooting around in my mouth on Friday. Got a busy week ahead of me.
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