97 Tuesday Sep 7

Tuesday Sep 7 Day 97

One of the reasons for returning to India is to video tape the interiors and exteriors of the building at Woodstock School. I have already obtained permission to do this during October. In order to get a smooth video I need to use what is called a Steadicam. This equipment is used to get the smooth and steady pictures we see in movies of people walking and dancing. Some of the best shots are those where the couple is followed around the floor or circled. I have what is called a poor man’s steadicam named the Glidecam. This piece of equipment calls for balancing the camera on a floating gimbal attached to a vest. The process of balancing camera is to adjust weights on the gimbal. The balanced camera will float through the air not affected by the bouncing step of the operator. The process of balancing is time consuming and must be done each time the equipment is used. I am currently practicing setting up the equipment and balancing it. Each time I do this I discover ways to balance the equipment more expeditiously. I am doing this twice a day and they carrying the equipment to build up my body using the equipment. Carrying the Glidecam causes the back, hips and legs to hurt. I am presently carrying the equipment around the lawn (using the stepping stones) for 15 minutes twice a day. I will eventually get up to an hour. Today is my second day so I have a long way to go.

I have lived here before but I do not remember the pervasive dampness of the monsoon. The pages of my GPS manual are getting limp with the moisture. The paper is coated but can be torn with almost no effort. Everything is wet all the time. My room is a tropical 62 degrees and it is now raining again. The combination of low temperature and everything being wet makes me cold (for some unknown reason). I try climbing into bed but under the covers it is warmer and wet and as soon as I get up, it is cold.

96 Monday Sep 6

Monday Sep 6 Day 96

I took my night mask off at 6:30 this morning and there was a bright light in my eyes. I dressed and headed outside. There was not a single cloud overhead. The sky is a brilliant blue with only a couple of high clouds of the the southeast. It was raining when I went to bed and we were in the clouds. I looks like I will get started on the taping this afternoon but one never knows. This may just be a temporary break in the clouds. By 9 am the sky was clouded up but not with storm clouds but with evaporation clouds, in other words, “local” clouds. It looks like I will have to do my taping under cloudy skies. It is now 1 pm and the “local” have betrayed me and joined ranks with storm clouds and a dropping their vile liquid on the trails. The presence of this ghastly fluid puts a stop to my wild imaginings of starting to video tape the trails. But I wax eloquent.

I walked this morning and got he GPS to record the actual altitude and distance of the trails. The map it created even shows the switch backs I climbed.

On the lawn here at Kilmarnock are lines of stepping stones made from pieces of slate rock. I had thought there were put in to protect the lawn from being walked on. I now know the real reason. These stepping stones are the only way to get across the lawn without sinking up to your knees in the water logged ground. Walking across the lawn would leave one with muddy, soaking shoes plus the distinct possibility slipping and falling.

95 Sunday Sep 5

Sunday Sep 5 Day 95

Well all my theories about moisture and power connection to my laptops has been blown to hell. My major concern had been the complete failure of my PC to charge up and be usable. This morning I discovered that the power supply had been disconnected for the last several days. My Mac is working just fine and is connected when ever the electricity is on. I need NO major fix to continue using my laptops. This is a great relief!!

I am continuing to acclimatize myself by taking walks each morning and afternoon. I am also trying to figure out how to use my GPS unit to record the trails. It turns out that I failed to load interface program onto my machine so I am out of luck for that project. I am now testing to see how to record the elevation and distance of individual trails by hand into a excel spreadsheet. The first day I used the track log program I discovered that the track was cumulative from the time you start the machine until you clear the track log. My GPS device listed that I had traveled 5.8 miles but my map showed it as only 2 miles. It was adding all the tracks together. I hope today’s test will solve my problem.

It is raining again. Yesterday I discovered my new umbrella does not keep all the rain out. It leaks a little where the stick goes through the cloth. At least it keeps my back pack completely dry. It is really interesting to see the water gushing through the down spouts and over the hill side. The only problem is I need dry weather to do my taping so the rain is not what I need no matter the beauty. The scenery has changed completely. The hillside is unimaginable green and the ferns and flowers crowd the trails. The narrow trails and are just narrow paths between the foliage. Everywhere there are fern and moss covered trees and patches of wild dahlias. I can hardly wait to start taping.

Shirt and pants get wet where the rain gear is in contact with them. I am having trouble warming up with wet clothes on. My room is a balmy 62 degrees which doesn't help in getting dry. The only way to get the clothes dry is to wear them.

I discovered an interesting by product to extreme moisture. II need to break one of my pills in half. Usually this entails having a pair of stout thumbnails to accomplish this task. Tonight I was able to break the pill using only one thumbnail. The pill broke apart at the slightest pressure. While digging the pills out of my daily container I evidently pressed down on another pill and part of it broke crumbled into powder. The moisture has softened the pills and I shall have to make sure I do not shake the bottle or all I will have is a container of powder. We have all tasted the powder of pills and how will I be able to get the correct dose?

94 Saturday Sep 4

Saturday Sep 4 Day 94

Had my first omelet with cheese in it. It was delicious.

The covers of my various paperbacked books are starting to curl. The moisture is getting to them and this will get worse. The best way to fight this problem is to stack them up so only the top one curls or put the in a shelf with a hard backed book at the end of the shelf of books. If you keep them pressed together the covers and interior pages will not curl. I am wondering is the effort is worth the problem.

Today I am off to the bazaar to buy an umbrella. If I get one the rain will most probably stop. If I don’t get one it will rain for the next few weeks. The main problem is protecting my back pack from the rain. It if gets really wet it will never get dry.

The umbrella did not stop the rain but it did protect my back pack from a gully washer.

Well I got to try out the shower today. It worked wonderfully and was much better than a bucket bath. The spray is rather diffused and goes in many directions but it lasted long enough to clean my hair and my entire body before it began to get cool. I shall not avoid taking a bath for the remainder of my time in India.

I chatted again with my landlady. What a pleasure she is to talk to. Her command of the english language is exquisite and can only be called truly gracious. I look forward to learning more of her past and sharing it with the readers of my blog.

93 Friday Sep 3

Friday Sep 3 Day 93

After 2 days of meals I am actually enjoying the food. It tastes great and I am having NO gastronomical difficulties (knock on wood). It is still very early in the process of living here again so I should not boast too soon.

My double mattress is very comfortable. The bed is very firm but it is not hard. The foam filled mattresses do make a substantial difference.

On my way from Delhi to Dehradun I sat beside an officer in the Indian Army. His current assignment is making maps using Google Earth images. I have purchased a GPS unit and showed me how to actually make a map using this unit which will show the trails and their lengths and altitude changes. I will record the exact movement with the GPS unit while I walk the trails. When superimposed on Google Earth Images it will show the recorded trail to scale on the satellite map. So this is the next thing I have to learn about. Yesterday my brain was not working but it looks like there is progress in the cognitive areas (but the day is still young).

I went for my first walk in the rain this morning. My rain gear works very well. I was dry when I returned home. My planning seems to be working. I purchased some cheese which is made by the local shop on the top of the hillside. I will have it in my omelet to give me more energy for the morning.

Just before lunch, the lady that owns the place I live came to visit me. She wanted to make sure I was doing well. Evidently I had been a topic of conversation between her and her niece. The niece was concerned about my health and in particular about my diabetes. I told the lady that I was fine and had none of the problems I had last time upon my arrival. We chatted for a while, she borrowed one of the 3 books I brought with me and I subsequently had to almost ask her to leave so I could eat my lunch. As a insulin dependent diabetic I must keep a rigid schedule of meals. Her husband is also diabetic and she understood.

The most interesting she told me was that since her arrival at Kilmarnock in mid June there have been only 2 days when the sun shown at all. She has been coming here for 40 or 50 years and this was the worst monsoon she can remember. There has been about a 25% increase in rain but usually the sun will come out periodically but not this year.

I must stop because the electricity is off so I am running off the battery. My earlier statements about moisture and the connection to power is debatable. Now my power unit will not connect and then it will suddenly decide to hookup. The electricity is an the whole time. I checked at 3 am and the unit was connected. Go figure!!

91 Thursday Sep 2

Thursday Sep 2 Day 92

I actually slept until 5:30. The mattress on this bed is not cotton but filled with foam. The mattress does not have enough foam to be soft because it immediately flattens against the wooden plank underneath. The bed is a double bed with 2 single mattresses side by side. I have moved the 2nd mattress on top of the first and it feels softer. I shall find out tonight if it is softer than a rock.

In additions to moving the mattress I have unpacked all of the luggage. I did not do this last time and I was constantly digging in a suitcase for something. Nazan and I have rearranged the living room. There are only 2 power outlets that can be used to power my computers and charge up my multiple batteries. One of them is in the living room and the other in bedroom. We moved the table over near to the process outlet and there is plenty of light from the windows to work with all day. The living room power is for my computers and the bedroom will be used for charging.

I have just returned from the internet cafe. I looked at the trees on my walk and found many of them with ferns on the trunks and branches. I also saw new moss hanging from many of them. I will tape these when I get decent weather. The latest weather report is for rain through the next week. It is supposed to be raining here but what is coming down is Seattle Sunshine (a heavy mist that leaves everything wet). I am definitely living in the clouds. I find that my energy levels are low. It will take the next week for me to get better acclimatized.

Upon returning from the internet cafe I plugged in the power to my computer. The little light telling me that it was working did not light up. I had the same thing happen at the beginning of my first stay in India and Apple replaced the power unit because it became defective. The last time I was able to borrow a power unit from one the the staff members at Woodstock School. It looked like I was going to have to go down to the school and try to borrow another power unit. On my second day here I would not able to climb back up from Woodstock so I had visions of a major physical problem. After about a half an hour the hooked up the power unit began to work. I think I know what the problem is. Moisture!!! With the unit unplugged moisture would collect on the part of the power unit that plugs into the computer. The moisture would not allow a good connection. When the computer is in use it creates heat and the heat evidently dried out the plug and allowed the connection to be completed. I need some way to dry the plug. I have a rubber blower bulb that I use to get the dust off of my camera lens. Now when I get home from the internet cafe I shall have to dry the plug with a blast of air. I shall have to give the plug a “blow job”.

My observations on the lack of rain came too soon. After supper it began to pour. It only lasted for about 20 minutes but it was a real monsoon rain, only in a short spurt.

91 Wednesday Sep 1

91 Wednesday Sep 1

My son Travis took me to the airport. The flight leaves at 1 pm and I like to be early in case there are any problems. Travis had an appointment lasting from 9 to 10 so we left home about 8:30 and got to the airport by 10:30. The first problem of the day occurred before I even got to baggage checkin. I wasn't able to use the new scanning devise to get your boarding pass so Travis and I got to stand in for and extra hour. This device allows you to scan your passport but the instructions are very incomplete (they were produced by someone who is much more computer literate than I). There was no one there to help and many of the inexperienced people were asking the next person for help. A great case of the blind leading the blind.

After that it was smooth sailing for the entire rest of the trip including customs in India. Last time I was honest about having expensive camera equipment on my luggage. This time I devalued the worth of the equipment and went right through. The Commonwealth Games (Olympics for former British colonies and Britain) are coming to Delhi in October, so all the prices of taxis and hotel rooms have been raised. I paid 40% more for my hotel room. I was in it for 5 hours but it was air conditioned and boy did I need it. The humidity was high and it was between 85 and 90 degrees.

The trip from Delhi to the mountains took about 9 hours. I had to get to the train station early so I would be among the first one to get on the train. There are only 2 spots that are large enough to hold my suitcases and if you are not early they will be gone. (The suitcases are too large to fit into the overhead racks.) We stood on the platform (I was not the least bit interested in sitting down after 18 hours in a plane) and waited for the train to arrive. By the time it was available I was no longer the first one wanting to get on. In India there is no such concept as waiting in a line. It is everyman for themselves and the devil take the hind most. I had to show the coolies where to put the cases. I tried to get them to got to the end of the carriage where the 2 magic spots are but they just got on the train as fast as possible. We got on at the front of the car and they ended up putting the suitcases back on their heads and carry them though the other passengers down the ail of the car. It worked out and we got the magic spots.

In Delhi the skies were hazy with no clouds in sight. I have been following the weather reports on the internet and rain was forecast in the mountains. As we got nearer the hills the sky was cloudy. In the taxi ride up the hills the tops of the mountains were obscured by clouds. I have been here for 15 hours and there is no rain yet.

I had forgotten how damp everything is during the monsoons. My towels feel like I had just dried off after a shower. The sheets and blanket are damp and the smell of the rooms is one of mildew. I had left 2 pairs of jeans and packed them with some moisture absorbing packets and they are drier than the towels and sheet. I put them on and I can feel the moisture in them while typing this. With everything you wear damp, it is a little hard to keep warm. I have the front door open and I am comfortable in shirt sleeves but my legs are cold.

I have a full apartment. It has a living room, a dining area, a kitchen (the cook comes in and prepares my meals in the kitchen - boy life is rough) bedroom and bathroom. The bathroom is interesting. It actually has a shower but I have not been able to get Nazan (the cook) to explain it to me. The Indians do not use toilet paper but clean their bottoms with water. So, attached to the toilet seat is a means of cleaning ones self. A jet sticks out from under the back of the toilet seat about an inch. If I sit back on the toilet seat the metal end hits me right in the tail bone. So I have to scoot up a couple of inches to avoid being impaled. I never realized how uncomfortable it is to semi perch on a toilet seat. So I shall not be having any relaxed throne time.