Hong Kong skyline over the harbor at night

Hong Kong skyline over the nighttime harbor

Guaranteed Healthcare Solutions for less then $1 and road side

Retaliatory Nocturnal Red Bellied Ants

The ants are fighting back! I took .ant traps and spread them around my hallway, bathroom, and bedroom including under the bed over the weekend.  Earlier this week, I woke up with one of my cats standing on my head trying to paw something on the wall above the headboard.  I figured it was an ant or gecko and tried diligently to go back to sleep until the cat started sticking his paw under my pillow like something had crawled there.

Last night I wore up to ants biting me.  I have about 30 bites on my arms and legs.  Luckily, unlike mosquito bites or bee stings, they don't itch or sting.  They just look like I have some sort of pox.  Any ideas how to form a truce with ants? I fear they are going to pick me up one night and carry me away.

In another development, something has put big holes in our screen in the bathroom window on the second floor.  The first hole was about 2"x2" and appeared over night.  Larrie patched that with duct tape.  This morning a new hole appeared on the other corner that is about 3"x3".   I guess it is some comfort it can't be a spider or a snake.  But what would be out at night doing that???  And why it is trying to get in my bathroom?  Hey!!! Perhaps it is an anteater. 

Deterioration of Palm Meadows: The story about the power

Reported by Larrie upon his return from the airport on Monday:

When we walked in the door, there was no power.  It took a few moments to figure that out, and to deduce that the power was not coming back on. I got Allison's lunch packed and sent Imtiaz on his way, then I changed my clothes into something more fitting the heat, grabbed my meter and headed for the power box.  The control gizmo that switches back and forth between main and generator was blinking generator.  So, I figured something was wrong, and Jess and I went to the maintenance office to get an electrician.

They came about 10 min later, but just before they got there, we went back on main power; so, no problem.  "Call us when the generator is on" as if you can only fix the roof when it's raining.  Not 2 minutes after they vanished into the ether, we go back on generator, and same thing happens.  I had attempted to boot the PC in the meantime.  I waited for them to return as they said they would, but no show; so, off the maintenance office again.

This time they took 20 minutes to show up, and I had had enough time to figure out that we were only getting 120v rather than 240v and the relay was not working properly.  So, after they arrived, it took another 20 minutes to explain the problem.  Off to the main panel at the end of the block, where we discovered that at some time in the past a copper wire was used to extend an aluminium wire, and the joint has suffered from dielectric corrosion.  The USA outlawed the use of aluminium wire in houses in the 50's due to the danger.

They fixed the main panel, then went back to the house where it took another 20 minutes to wire it properly and put it back together.  Finally, 240v on generator.

So, I started to boot the PC again and got caught in an auto-update which locked up the machine.  Another half dozen attempts to test the switching from main to generator, a locked up PC, and I started a cold boot from a hard down.  I was just getting email working when I got Allison's SMS.

Why not respond by phone you might ask.  Well my cell phone was pretty well discharged, and to recharge it required electricity.   

Top it all off, there is another water line break on our street - our 4th / 5th this season - and we have no water.  Gotta love this neighborhood and it's infrastructure!  Keeps it interesting...  Palm Meadows is losing the luster it once had.

This whole sequence was prompted by Allison pinging Larrie via SMS to see if he had booked Jess's riding lesson for Sunday. 

Ready Reckoner: Bangalore <-> Minneapolis

Sometimes conversations here confuse me, so I've put together a *ready reckoner to help the next person who speaks Minnesotan but not necessarily Bangalorean.

*ready reckoner = cross reference

Bangalore Word = Minnesota Word

cabin = office

chock-a-block = jam packed
club = group

creche = daycare

cribbing = whining

crore = ten million or 100 lakh

diversion = detour 

do the needful = do whatever is necessary

erstwhile = former

hill station = mountain town

hotel = small, walk up restaurant (no rooms)

Housie = Bingo

fag end = very last

flyover = overpass

intimation = inform

lakh = one hundred thousand or 1,00,000 (*note the difference in placement of the comma)

lorry = truck

miscreant = vandal

monsoon = June - Oct

noon = anytime from about 2pm to 6pm

PG = paying guest

prepone = do earlier

puncher = tire repair

revert = respond 

Rs 44 (rupees) = 1 dollar (as of Oct 16, 2010)
scale = ruler

scheme = plan 

school year = June through March

summer = April / May

tank = reservoir
tell me = hello

Thermocoal = Styrofoam

tie up = partnership

to let = for rest

torch = flashlight 

touch wood = knock on wood

 2 minutes = usually about 10 minutes

10 minutes = usually about 20 minutes

Where did the map go?

Regular followers of the tabbies might wonder where our map went.  As you have noticed, we use Blogger to host our blog, and Blogger is owned by Google.  I had created the map of our travels using Google maps, and had embedded it into our blog.  In the last few months, the blog has been very slow to show, and we have been experiencing some errors in loading the main page, which prevent us from administering the blog.  In an attempt to diagnose the issue, I removed the map, and the page speed is now much better.  You can still find the map in the Lynx section.  Removing the map did not fix the original issue, and I think I'll leave it as a link.

Taj Tabbies

While in Sri Lanka last week, we spent 3 days in Bentota at a Taj property decompressing.  The Taj was typical with our other Asian travel experiences, which all serve breakfast as a buffet.  However, special to the Taj Vavanta were the tabbies.

We had noticed the cats, there were two, the day we arrived.  Cats are not unusual in Asia, but they are somewhat unusual at a resort property, and this was our second sighting of cats at a Sri Lankan resort.  Alli had commented on the cats and the mongoose in her post "Sri Lankan Wiener Kitties".

During our second breakfast one of the cats came over to our table gently seeking a kibble, which Jess and Alli were only to happy to oblige.  While, the cat was sitting expectantly between our table and the table next to us, the lady of the other table returned from a foraging trip to the buffet.  Not expecting a cat to be in the way, she ran smack into the feline and gave a pretty good shriek, and she did not drop her in hand dishes.  The cat, ever the experienced and cool one, only looked at Jess for another bit of that egg or bacon, or whatever she might spare - other than fruit.

After being completed with a nibbling, the cat turned and crossed to the ledge where it curled up in a sunbeam for a much needed respite.  Typical, as they were both "boys".

We were spotted before we sat down during our last breakfast at the Taj.  The other tabby came sauntering over to where we were about to sit, sat down with an expectant look on his face, and waited for the feast to begin.  It was as if the two had conferred about which of the people were cat friendly.  While the cat awaited his breakfast, the other cat was curled up on the ledge in a sunbeam.  Apparently, another cat friendly human had fulfilled his need for feed that day.

Well, Jess and Alli wasted no time in delivering a fine feast for their feline friend.  And true to the coolness of catdom, he washed himself and sauntered back to the ledge for a nap.  All-the-while a noisy buffet was being delivered by the army of waiters and chefs, who took no notice of the boys on the ledge.  Just another day in paradise, I suppose.

You're Still Manly, Dad

We stopped at a "Government Run" Spice Garden for a tour in Sri Lanka this week. Organic Ayurvedic medicine sales were its specialty. Our guide offered to demonstrate their "all natural" hair remover. Being skeptical to begin with, Jessi and I decided we should put this goop to a real test and volunteered Larrie's leg. Before he could object, the pink stuff was smeared onto a good sized patch.

The salesman continued on to pitch his other products and I was the recipient of a pleasant, non oily, head massage and a relaxing back rub. The requisite 10 minutes passed and we were ready to view the test results. Impressive! Larrie's hirsute shin was now as smooth as a baby's cheek (you pick which kind). Seeing Larrie's somewhat flummoxed look, Jessi consoled him, patting him on the shoulder, saying "Don't worry dad, you're still manly."

Once I saw the outcome, I wished the trial had taken place on the top of my big toes. I was all ready to buy a bottle until I learned it was $60. Supposedly if you use it every day for a week, that place will grow no hair for 9 years. I just wasn't ready to make that kind of money or time commitment to find out if it was true though. -Allison

Sri Lankan Wiener Kitties?

Our hotel has a number of cats wandering the grounds, which, of course, pleases Jessi and me to no end. I had a double take though when I saw what looked like a wiener kitty (ie. like a dachshund had mated with a house cat). Turns out it was a rotund mongoose.

Now, that in itself worries me a little... Since mongooses (mongeese?) eat snakes, does that mean there are a lot of snakes here? Or should I look at this from an optimists point of view... Perhaps there WERE a lot of snakes here but the mongoose ate them all and just hasn't started its slow descent into starvation yet. -Allison

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Ok, an update to this post.  The following day, Jess did see a snake at the hotel.  So, even though the reported mongoose was rotund, it still had some work to do.