175 Friday Nov 26

Friday Nov 26 Day 175

I went down to Woodstock and gave them my tripod which they can make great use of. I also donated my Indian cell phone for use by the school when someone needs a temporary cell phone. The prize gift was a roll of duct tape. Pete Wildman’s eyes just lit up when he saw the roll of tape. You cannot get anything like it in all of India and it is highly prized. I think I really made Pete’s day.

Today I had my last lunch of rice and dahl with vegetables. I am soooooo excited to be out from under that plague at long last. Foodwise lunch was the greatest torture. The food tasted terrible and there was no way to improve it. I got so I ate less and less of the stuff and perhaps that is why I am feeling so weak. I have opted for oatmeal for lunch tomorrow. Gruel is better that ghastly indian food with no flavor. Last night I was standing taping the sunset and the house above the road was preparing some delicious smelling curry. I look forward to going to Naan-n-curry and having some good tasting Indian food without the extremely hot spices.

I spent part of the afternoon organizing my stuff for my suitcases. I am hoping to have both of the suitcases under 50 pounds and save the overweight charges. I shall see on Sunday morning if I have judged correctly.

174 Thursday Nov 25

Thursday Nov 25 Day 174

This morning I went for my second motorcycle ride in the mountains of India. I wanted some pictures of an old decrepit building in the Landour bazaar. The video camera would not get me the correct size of pictures. I also went further down the hill to get some shots of the front of the Picture Palace before it is torn down. We left about 8:15 and were back up to the top of the hill by 8:50 am. Walking it would have taken close to 2 hours to go in and come back up.

I am definitely getting weaker. I had trouble just walking the small climbs going to and from the internet cafe. It is a good thing I am calling this trip ended and heading back home.

I am giving to my Indian friend Pal my GPS unit and all the rechargeable batteries to keep it running. I will have absolutely no use for a GPS unit and he wants to get into the trekking business and has great need of it. My philosophy has always been; if I have no need of a piece of equipment and someone else can make use of it, give to them.

I played ping pong with Pal and his brother Beer this evening. I only lost one dame all night. I was really on for a change. We plan to play again tomorrow night. I hope I am still on but it usually doesn’t last 2 nights in a row. I shall see and let you know.

173 Wednesday Nov 24

Wednesday Nov 24 Day 173

This morning I spent a few minutes with Vance George as we sat looking at the Snows and talking about what coming back to Woodstock meant to Vance. He also talked about his view of his life and the peace that the beauty of the Woodstock hills added to his life.

Today should be my last day taping the area (except for sunsets). I plan to go down and walk through the Landour Bazaar and capture its colors and sounds. I will not be able to capture the odors unfortunately. I have not noticed the smells during my multiple wanderings through the bazaar. The day is cloudy but not dark. Direct sunshine creates sharp, dark shadows so the bazaar should be very visible. The trip to the bazaar was excellent and I got good shots of stores and people.

Vance George shared with me that a couple of days ago he was bitten by and dog in the bazaar. The dog charged him and bit him in the leg and on the hands. How many internationally recognized conductors have be bitten by potentially rabid dogs. Vance is now taking the rabies shots (5 of them) and will have his last shot in Rome. Vance now carries a cane with a good sized nob on the end to protect himself from rabid dogs or dogs in general. The dog in question was put down but Vance has to have the shots immediately, so he will never know if the dog was actually rabid.

172 Tuesday Nov 23

Tuesday Nov 23 Day 172

Boy! did I have a bad night last night. I got very confused during the night and my blood sugars are pretty low this morning. I ended up with blankets on the floor and when retrieved were all mixed up. A few words about sleeping at 7,200 feet in the mountains of India in late November. It is cold at night but the temperature in my room stays the same day and night. It is currently a steady 50 degrees. During most of my stay I sleep in a long sleeved T-shirt and a pair of long johns (insulated long underwear). About 3 weeks ago I added an additional pair of pants to give my legs more padding. The last two nights I have added a long sleeved light fleece pullover to gave added warmth to my upper body. I now 3 layers of clothing while sleeping at night. I have been very comfortable warmth wise. I look a bit like a skinny Michelin Man or Pillsbury dough boy.

My disorientation has continued into today so I will not be walking through the bazaar with my Glidecam. I am having trouble walking straight without hanging 10 pounds of equipment off my chest. Hopefully, tonight I will not have joyously confused night.

I am reading Mark Twins “Innocents Abroad” and I can relate well to some of his observations. The book is on my Sony Reader so I shall be able to take it home with me and finish it there.

171 Monday Nov 22

Monday Nov 22 Day 171

Today was busy. I went down this morning and taped the Hanifil Center. It is a rather new facility and i had forgotten all about it. So today was the day. This afternoon I went back to Edgehill and taped the jungle gym area to complete that residence facility.

Today the clouds closed in and it was a rather gloomy day with both high and low clouds covering the hillside. I want the sun out tomorrow but will have to wait and see. I want to do a walking tour of the Landour bazaar. This is one of those evenings when there is NO photographical sunset but just gloom and the light disappears.

The cylinder which contains the gas for cooking in my little kitchen died at lunch today. I had to spring for another cylinder costing me 400 rupees or 9.00 dollars US. All this with only 6 days left and the present cylinder has lasted close to 60 days. So I shall be providing gas for the next victims in this apartment. That is the way it goes here in India.

170 Sunday Nov 21

Sunday Nov 21 Day 170

I went to the second of the concerts last night. The advanced choir did better than they have done in either of the 2 rehearsals I attended. The music selected was rather boring and not very interesting to the audience. The advanced band was a good group but the music selected was not interesting and in spots much too difficult for the group.

It looks like I shall have to wear my long johns all day when in my apartment. I have run out of books to read so I am recharging my Sony Reader and will read something by Mark Twain. I cannot in good conscience start any of the books here because I will not be able to finish it and would be tempted to take the book.

The snows are absolutely dazzling today. I loaded up and took some additional footage of them. I ambient air temperature is rather chilly. If you are standing in the sun you are fine but in the shade it is cold. This is just what I expected for this time of year and I shall be glad to go home where the buildings are heated.

The sunset was a bust but when looking at the snows there was the full moon rising over the mountains. I did not set up my equipment set up so I just feasted my eyes on the sight.

169 Saturday Nov 20

Saturday Nov 20 Day 169

I went to one of the music departments concerts and I was not impressed. The overall quality of the music is not there. There are lots of clusters of pitches which shows that the musicians are not well trained or rehearsed. The repertoire is weak and there is barely an hour of music from 3 different groups. Another session tomorrow night which I fear will be a repeat of lack of precision and quality music.

This morning I went down and video taped the music department at the school. This area was not open when I was taping the entire school so I got it done today. I even logged the tape when I got home.

It is turning colder and my room is down to a steady 50 degrees. My nose is cold during the night but I am generally warm while sleeping. I am having to wear my medium coat all day long while sitting in my room. The “sweater” I have been wearing this whole time is not heavy enough when sitting and working.

168 Friday Nov 19

Friday Nov 19 Day 168

During the night a bowling alley was moved into the apartment above me. There was so much rumbling and crashing there must have been a major tournament in progress. The audience was also setting off fireworks because I could see the pure white flashes of the bombs. Then the audience began to applaud and it grew to a sustained standing ovation. The proceeding was an analogy of the thunder, lightning and heavy rain this past night.

My poor travel alarm is dead. I put in fresh batteries but no luck. I tried to check the time in the middle of the night. The storm had knocked out the electricity and I couldn’t find my flashlights. I went out into the other room to get my little battery powered reading light. This is the light that I broke a couple of months ago trying to kill a bug that landed on it. It appears to be working fine now because it stayed on for several minutes. I used it to find my flashlight and put it beside my bed. I even lit the candle beside the bed for a while. I woke later and wanted to know the time so I searched beside my bed for my watch. It turned out to be 5:30 am. Boy, do I miss the blue light of my travel alarm.

This morning I spent 2 hours getting 45 seconds of tape. I needed color correction chips for the residence I taped last Friday. It involved a 3 mile walk and 15 minutes doing the actual taping. Because of the heavy rain I had to use the paved roads rather than the narrow trails and I had to go twice as far to accomplish the project.

167 Thursday Nov 18

Thursday Nov 18 Day 167

Today is the 2nd cloudy day in a row. The clouds are drifting around and there is plenty of blue sky. The air is very clear today so I took a vista shot from our area to show how it looks with clouds in the sky. It is really lovely.

It is 11:15 am and we have electricity for the first time today. Now I can recharge the batteries for my alarm clock. The poor thing gave its all to emit a single beep and died. I hope it is just the batteries. I am looking forward to having my own bedroom again with my clock radio so I can check the time with just a glance. Having to reach over (knocking various thins off my bed side table) pick up the clock and push a button only to be almost blinded my the blue light that illuminates the time. I could read a book by the clock light but it only lasts a couple of seconds so it would have to be a very short story.

I have left my impression on the ground of the Hostel. I went down to get shots of the building in afternoon sunshine. I walked by a bench across one of the walkways to discover that it was actually wet cement. So my shoe soles are imprinted on the pathway.

There was an excellent sunset with clouds in the sky to reflect the color of the setting sun. Generally a good day.

166 Tuesday Nov 16

Tuesday Nov 16 Day 166

I attended a rehearsal of the Advanced Choir this morning with Vance George. The concert is this saturday and the choir is not ready. This is the first concert for a new director and his expectations are greater than the ability of the choir. Vance was very good with the group and made several suggestions for improvement none of which will be remembered by the choir under the pressure of performance. You cannot make changes at this late date because the choir will revert to what they know and have practiced.

I logged and studied this afternoon. I am studying the color correction process and got so involved that I almost missed the sunset. I rushed out to see if I could get something and the low clouds were covering the top of the hillside. So, there was no photographical available and I didn’t miss anything. What a relief.

I attended a rehearsal of the Advanced Choir this morning with Vance George. The concert is this saturday and the choir is not ready. This is the first concert for a new director and his expectations are greater than the ability of the choir. Vance was very good with the group and made several suggestions for improvement none of which will be remembered by the choir under the pressure of performance. You cannot make changes at this late date because the choir will revert to what they know and have practiced.

I logged and studied this afternoon. I am studying the color correction process and got so involved that I almost missed the sunset. I rushed out to see if I could get something and the low clouds were covering the top of the hillside. So, there was no photographical available and I didn’t miss anything. What a relief.

166 Tuesday Nov 16

Tuesday Nov 16 Day 166

I attended a rehearsal of the Advanced Choir this morning with Vance George. The concert is this saturday and the choir is not ready. This is the first concert for a new director and his expectations are greater than the ability of the choir. Vance was very good with the group and made several suggestions for improvement none of which will be remembered by the choir under the pressure of performance. You cannot make changes at this late date because the choir will revert to what they know and have practiced.

I logged and studied this afternoon. I am studying the color correction process and got so involved that I almost missed the sunset. I rushed out to see if I could get something and the low clouds were covering the top of the hillside. So, there was no photographical available and I didn’t miss anything. What a relief.

165 Monday Nov 15

Monday Nov 15 Day 165

I am reliving my youth. I am logging tapes and my hands are so cold that they ache. At least they are not chapped. Either I do not wash my hands or I am more careful in drying them. I think it is the latter. I spend more time sitting on my hands and rubbing them together than I do typing on the computer keyboard. When playing solitaire I wear my gloves because I use only the mouse. I have finally developed a way to see how long I play solitaire. Yesterday it was only 3 hours and 45 minutes. The other physical problem is my nose. It is so cold to the touch it feels like I have frost bite on the poor little thing. I guess winter is here in the mountains of India with it’s attendant discomforts.

This morning I went down to each of the residences and got shots of the correct colors used in the various buildings. I did the same up at the school to correct the color of shots I took with my video camera on the wrong settings. I hope that this works like I expect it to. I hope to test it before I leave. (I am typing this with my gloves on and it is working fairly well.)

164 Sunday Nov 14

Sunday Nov 14 Day 164

Today was an uneventful day. I logged tapes for a couple of hours until my back began to hurt and I had to quit. Vance George (my High School music teacher) stopped by and we chatted for a couple of hours. He was checking in to see how I was doing and was interested in my big video project.

I went down to the internet cafe and sent off 6 days of blogs. I did get a confirming message from Terry (my son) and they are expecting me home in a couple of weeks. They have to hurry up and change the locks on the doors to avoid my staying with them.

163 Saturday Nov 13

Saturday Nov 13 Day 163

This morning Pol and I walked out of landour to the East. There a house there on the side facing to the east and you get great pictures of serried ranks of hills when the sky and light cooperates. Today was such a day. The hills were fairly clear and the best they have looked in the 5 and a half months I have been on the hillside. I left at 9 am and got back at 11:45 am. There was a note waiting for me to meet Vance George and Steve Alter for lunch at Mullingar at 11:30 am. Needless to say I did not go out for lunch.

This afternoon I went into the bazaar to get my beard trimmed. I went down to the barber shop near the clock tower and waited 1 and 1/2 hours for the man to return. I started back and found another barber who did the job for 47 cents. I will now be able to get on the plane to home because I do not look like a close friend of Osama bin Laden. On my way to the barber I was asked by an english speaking woman if I was a visitor to Landour. I gave my usual bit of being a Woodstock graduate etc. She asked me for my full name. she said I had 2 sisters and one of the was named Suzanne. She had worked at Woodstock for 24 years starting in the early 60’s in the various administration offices. What a delight to have a woman mention my youngest sisters name to me.

I got a lift of the hill from by Indian friend. I am selling my Canon digital camera to one of the brothers getting to know him fairly well. It was a real trip to speed up the hill with the wind in my face and hanging on for dear life. The cars and motor bikes pass within 2 to 3 inches of each other. This kind of bike riding is not for the faint of heart.

I got a short sunset this evening and it has turned cold. The breeze from the plains is no longer blowing up to the mountains. So it is still and colder. I just walked back home (5 minute walk) and my nose is dripping from the cold and my ears are red.

162 Friday Nov 12

Friday Nov 12 Day 162

I went down to Edgehill this morning and taped the rooms and the front of the building. I struggled back up the hill will all of my equipment and arrived at Kilmarnock breathing hard and covered in sweat. It is 200 vertical feet up here and I am exhausted. I stepped out the front to look at the Snows and there was Vance George going by on the chukker. If he had been a minute earlier or later I would have missed him. I guided him to the correct road to get back to Woodstock. I shall see him early next week to school. I was so pleased to see him up here on the hillside where he will be for the next couple of weeks. Vance George is the man that inspired me to become a music teacher. He was a major influence on my life and it is a pleasure to see and watch him work with the students at Woodstock.

This evening the “Winterline” sunset was the best of the year. It was even better than the one where I forgot to start the camera. The line was very sharp and the sun was a perfect red ball as it set below the winterline.

All in all the day has been a very good day.

161 Thursday Nov 11

Thursday Nov 11 Day 161

I taped the Boys dorm Ridgewood this morning. There are only 2 types of rooms, 4 boys and 6 boys, and so I only had to tape 2 rooms. I did get a shot of the little boys dorm room where I slept 62 years ago. It is smaller than it was so long ago but there are some new walls. My blood sugars almost behaved themselves today but I can feel the problem of too much effort on low blood sugars. I am having the chills during the afternoon.

Yesterday there was a warm wind blowing off the plains and I could see the crud in the sky from the pollution on the warm zephyr. It makes for poor picture taking but the warmth was appreciated. Today there are low clouds at noon and the air is cooler.

160Wednesday Nov 10

Wednesday Nov 10 Day 160

I hope I survive this part of my project. Yesterday I hit the tpo of my head and today my right temple on a bookshelf in one of the computer labs. I actually have scabs on them so I must have drawn blood. I hope I escape with no more than a mild concussion.

Today my climb back up the hill was very frightening. By the time I had climbed 800 vertical feet I almost collapsed. I have never been so exhausted and literally dripping sweat. As soon as I got to my apartment I took a sugar tablet and then checked my blood sugars. They were very low and a concern. Tomorrow I have to bring my video equipment up to the top of the hill and I shall take a taxi. I will only need to climb 300 vertical feet and then ride up the rest of the way. I will still have to walk over a mile to get to the taxi. My low blood sugars overnight are part of the problem. I have been taping and climbing in the morning and my body has not got enough sugar reserves to support the effort. I am also not able to eat much because the food is getting abhorrent to me. What I wouldn’t give for a McChicken sandwich and fries.

159 Tuesday Nov 9

Tuesday Nov 9 Day 159

I was feeling lonely the other day but that is no longer true. Yesterday Bena cleaned my house and aired out my bedding. In the process she opened the windows and let in all the flies. My rooms are warmer than it is outside and so the flies have moved in. There is an almost constant buzzing in my bedroom and it is interfering with my napping. It is unpleasant to have the flies constantly dive bombing you.

Today I taped the inside of the high school boys dormitory. It has been completely renovated and is really great. While trying to get a particular shot I hit the very top of my head on a stone overhang. I now have a good lump on the top of my head and I evidently broke the skin of my scalp. I now have to wear my earphones gently on my head. It will be interesting to see what happens in the morning.

A great “winterline” sunset this evening and there were adjacent clouds to reflect the colors of the setting sun. The only problem is my camera battery died before the light had all faded. “If it weren't for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all”.

This evening the flies have all died and there are fly bodies lying all aver the place (all 5 of them).

157 Sunday Nov 7

Sunday Nov 7 Day 157

I went over to Lal Tiba and taped shots of the beautiful pusta (retaining wall) recently built there. It is a very attractive wall with bands of different sized stones used to create a functional and decorative wall. The interesting thing is that there are holes in the wall to allow trees to come through the wall. There are different styled arches for the various trees. In this area NO trees are allowed to be cut down and damaged in any way. The India military owns all the trees on this hillside and there are very large fines for harming a tree. So. you must allow for the trees to continue to grow through the retaining wall.

The same thing is true when a road is improved from a track to a road where cars and go. This happened down near the Woodstock sports field, Hanson field. When a road was put in to allow vehicles to go onto the field. The road was paved with cement but the grown trees were left and now grow out of the paved road. It is quite a sight.

No sunset this evening thanks to the low clouds.

156 Saturday Nov 6

Saturday Nov 6 Day 156

I learned something this morning. Do NOT take a shower in the morning before the kids leave for school..The water is in use off and on during that time and causes the temperature of the shower to fluctuate sharply. I was frozen stiff and then scalded. That definitely takes the pleasure out of a nice hot shower.

This was a long lonely day and the clouds came in and ruined any chance at a sunset.

155 Friday Nov 5

Friday Nov 5 Day 155

This morning I had very low blood sugars. I have paid the price today. I spent a good part of the morning in bed trying to get warm. I spent several hours shivering and noticed that I was rather weak. That is the price I pay for allowing my blood sugars to get way low. I should be back to full strength tomorrow as long as I do not have low sugars again over night.

This afternoon I went down to the school and took shots of the front of the buildings in afternoon light. This causes the buildings to be fully lighted and the air was good and clear over the short distance.

Today is Dewali and Bena, the cook, has invited me over for dinner with the family as she is preparing the special foods associated with the holiday. I am looking forward to it and shall be armed with Tums to fight off the heartburn. The Indians celebrate with fireworks and the kids have been setting them off for the last several days.

154 Thursday Nov 4

Thursday Nov 4 Day 154

I am using the Glidecam to get the feeling of walking through the various passageways. I have balanced the camera equipment in preparation. I must be getting better becasue it only took a short while.

Tomorrow is Dewali or the Festival of Lights here in India. This is the equivalent of Christmas in the US with gift giving and feasting. The bazaar is all decorated up and very colorful. All the people are out with the ladies wearing their best and most colorful saris with lost of flash and bling. The children are dressed up in their new clothes and so proud of themselves. I must be getting old because it is the children that I most enjoy. There are so cute and their parents so pleased. The joy on the face of child is a fabulous gift to all.

I walked all the way down to the Picture Palace (over 2 miles) to get some lighter fluid for my Zippo hand warmer. What I ended up getting (if it isn’t counterfeit) is manufactured in the US and made by Zippo. I shall try it out tonight and see what happens. I was able to walk all the way to the top without much effort so I am in shape for next week.

153 Wednesday Nov 3

Wednesday Nov 3 Day 153

Last evening I discovered that I took all the shots of the interior of the High School with the camera set on the “sunset” mode. This is what happens when you work while you are ill. You miss the details. All is not lost. In postproduction (what you do the make the DVD sparkle) there is a process called color correction. It is a very time consuming operation and that last thing done before releasing the the DVD so it is quite a ways down the calendar (like 2 years). I looked up what the process is and discovered that if I get the white of the walls recorded under the correct light and with the proper settings I will be able to correct the color. This Friday I shall go down with my special light and tape the white walls for 10 seconds. Needless to say there are white walls in almost every shot. I will have to do the blue mats of the gym since there are blue mats in every shot and use that to correct the color. The students are not at school this coming Friday so I shall get what I need. So a big problem solved thanks to my early morning thinking time. This morning it started at 4 am after I staggered out to visit the little boys room. I was so disoriented that I almost tinkled in the bucket used for the “bucket bath”. Fortunately it is blue and not white so I went searching for the commode and finally found it in the wrong corner of the room (I wonder who moves that thing during the middle of the night).

Later this morning I met with Pete Wildman (what an interesting name) and he sent emails to each of the residence supervisors listing a date and time when I would show up to record interiors of the various residences. I had phone each of them last night and did not reach any of them. I will be going each morning at 9 am to a different residence and see what happens. I shall of course carefully check my settings before starting (most probably 12 times).

153 Tuesday Nov 2

Tuesday Nov 2 Day 153

I went down to the school to pick up my equipment and figure out how to contact the supervisors of the various residences. It seems that much of the work is done by email since reaching them is difficult by phone. That was not explained to me earlier. I called a couple of them this morning (no luck) and it was suggested that I call between 5 and 6 pm. I did this and none of them were available. So tomorrow I shall go back to the school and we will set up a schedule by email.

I had to take a taxi to get to the top of the hill. It is a good thing I did because just the short walk to my house made me sweat enough to be damp all afternoon. I need to make a trip up and down the hill each day (without a backpack) just to get back in shape. Carrying the backpack makes my entire back damp for hours.

The sunset this evening was a disappointment. The air is no longer clean so not sharp “winterline”. Maybe there will be a good one in the future.

152 Monday Nov 1

Monday Nov 1 Day 152

I am much better today. I have gone out for 2 walks today and I am not breathing hard as I had done the last couple of days. Tomorrow I shall get back to work. I need to contact the managers of a couple of the residences to start the process of taping the interiors of the various buildings. I have a particular dislike of telephoning people to get their help so I must strengthen my backbone and get with the program.

I ended up walking the entire chukker and my energy level has improved. I tried to video tape the sunset but the Lungurs were feeding so I ended up taking shots of them. The sunset was the best “Winterline” so far but the camera was otherwise occupied. The viewers of the DVD will never miss what was not photographed.

151 Sunday Oct 31

Sunday Oct 31 Day 151

I have just discovered a tragedy. Three days ago the Snows were out in in crystal blue sky and the sun shinning magnificently. I went out and taped them for posterity. Unfortunately, the problem of me not checking the “record light” was in full effect. I had turned off the camera as I started to record (perhaps I was distracted by taking a family picture for a passing tourist). So I did not get any good shots of the mountains. I subsequently turned the camera on just before putting it away. I got 23 minutes of black (the colors were spectacular) for my effort. At the next location I sighted in the shots I wanted to take (not realizing I was recording them) and turned the camera off to take the shots. Many times I take a backup shot and so I do have a good shot of the full range of the Snows but not all the various shots I wanted. The viewers of the DVD will never know what is missing.

I appear to be on the mend. Breakfast tasted good and my mind is working. I have been logging but the power is fluctuating so much I am having to work off battery power. I will have to abandon the logging until I get power back.

I have just returned from the internet cafe and I notice that I am weaker than I had hoped for. It was a long hard mile and a half and I ended up breathing rather hard on the up slopes which are very gentle.