Walking in the rain

Well it was bound to happen. I've been here for five weeks and have managed to escape walking in the rain to or from work until now.

When I got off work I could see how dark it was outside, I knew there was no escaping the wet stuff. But I came prepared.

I always carry an umbrella but I also have a military issue poncho. No points for style, but what it lacks in style in makes up for keeping me and my backpack dry. Supplement that with my umbrella and I'm pretty dry, less my shoes and the bottom quarter of my pants!

I knew that pocho would come in handy one day!

PDA Colombo Style

When I went for a walk this past weekend along the Galle Face Green I thought it was funny to see Sri Lankan couples sitting on the benches hidden behind parasols making out : )
This is a very conservative country and open displays of affection are not accepted.
This is a huge departure from Montevideo where a walk along the rambla would leave you blushing and ready to call out "Get a room!"

Don't Iron That!

Fridays is pretty much the only day I can meet up with my housekeeper so I try to keep a tally of things to do and not to do, the main subject has been what to iron and what not to iron.

One time when I was talking to her I noticed she was getting ready to iron my jeans, "You don't have to iron these", "Okay sir" she says.

Another Friday I realized she had ironed the bath towels, "You don't have to iron these", "Okay sir" she says.

I put out some clean sheets for her to put on my bed, yeah, she ironed them.

I told her not to iron the bath towels, but not the kitchen hand towels, she ironed them.

I've heard the stories of the butler ironing the newspaper, now I believe it.

The 70's Disco Party

Went to a 70's Disco party last night, many people arrived dressed in some crazy 70's fashions.
What some people had done is bought the material here and had tailor made his and her shirts or dresses whatever made and they hold onto it for another theme party or Halloween etc.
It was a catered event and the food was delicious.

I was looking for a good picture to post, but because it wasn't my party and to protect the innocent I won't.

Found a picture. I was telling this guy I would have done anything for a shirt like this in 1979!

Obituary for Pastor Fritz

Pastor Fritz obituary came out today, honestly I hope the newspaper does pick up on his death and give him a little more than obituary that doesn't mention his combined Army and Navy service.
http://www.legacy.com/pilotonline/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=134920930

As I thought a Google search of his name brings up my blog so in respect to his family I offer my condolences and I won't blog about this any further.

In Memorium - Pastor Fritz Stegemann

At 4:00am EST Pastor Fritz Stegemann who founded the Open Door Chapel in Virginia Beach, VA. passed away.

I won't try to make this an obituary and chances are pretty good that this is one of the first widespread public notices to go out, so I am not going to state any facts etc.

I've known Pastor Fritz for years. My Dad had taken me to a couple of his services in "The Barn" way back in the early 70's. It was a new church and the services were held in a barn. Honestly I don't recall him but I do know during one of his services he said to hug the person next to you and there just happened to be a girl next to me that kind of freaked me out as a kid!

I'm not sure when Pastor Fritz gave this new church the name 'Open Door Chapel', he was a former Navy Chief and thought chapel sounded more inviting and what could sound more inviting than 'Open Door Chapel'!

In the early 80's I had attended a few of his services at the Open Door Chapels present location, an old theater (Princess Theater) in Virginia Beach. The services were often standing room only.

In the late 90's when I was dating my then girlfriend we would attend the 'Open Door', the standing room services were no more but there was a god bunch of regulars.

Pastor Fritz married my wife and I in his office in 1998.

Not sure when Pastor Fritz retired because of health reasons but something just happened to the 'Open Door" after that and the congregation just kind of dwindled after that.

I will always remember his Easter Sonrise services at the ocean front in Virginia Beach. Even for locals who don't attend church going to the sun rise service was a tradition.

Pastor Fritz taught me quite a bit, he was a Godly man to look up to. I'm free to say I didn't always agree with what he said or how he did things, I'm sure he wouldn't mind me saying that.

Thanks Fritz for all that you've done, I know God has a special place for you in His kingdom.

Don't Take A Picture Of This Building!

A soldier stopped me and told me not to take a picture of this building, as I have done. So if your in Colombo and see this building from the Galle Face Green, don't take its picture!

The Winner Is

I decided I couldn't procrastinate when it came to judging the essays so I started reading them and found the one I was looking for, one that opened with what had to be an original statement. All the others opened with what came off of the Internet. I knew I would find the same facts repeated in some of the essays, and most of the time, word for word.

Second place was full of plagiarism BUT, I gave them credit for finding writing about an interesting fact that many immigrants are sworn in on the 4th of July, he or she also finished the essay with an original statement.

After that I tried to find an essay that had any resemblance of trying to have some originality, it was hard but I took my chances with one.

So I picked the top three today. I'm not sure what these kids will win, hope it's something nice.

The Essay Judge

So I volunteered to judge essays written by local teenagers about the importance of the 4th of July to U.S. citizens. They are all hand written and had to be at least 1000 words. Why hand written?

To prevent flagrant plagiarism, one would just need to copy and past from the Internet, mix it up and they're done.

I was told to expect out right plagiarism and pretty much just pick the top that wasn't so obvious.

This would turn out to be harder than I thought.

Each and everyone reads as if it came out of a history book. I picked up one that had a small American flag glued to the front page, what an attention getter! I start reading it, and after a paragraph about the Boston Massacre it says, "see Boston Massacre". Okay, I'll check the footnotes.

One thing I will have to admit is that their handwriting is very neat.

Nice Dinner

It was just a gorgeous day today, even though it was cloudy. On my walk home I thought for sure the bottom would drop out, but it never did rain and it was nice and cool.

I got back to the apartment and I had a nice baked chicken dinner with au gratin potatoes (Was going to skip the "e" on the end for humor) waiting for me.

Decided to take my dinner and netbook out to the patio and watch the sunset and have my dinner. It was so relaxing. Pulled up my 80's hits on the netbook and had my dinner while the sun dipped over the horizon.

As it got darker I grabbed a candle and surfed the net a little (I do have overhead lights). For once it was neat to watch the trains approach, bright headlights shining the way and lit up cabs full of people going home.

I'm back inside now getting ready to watch a TV show I downloaded from the Internet.

Walk to the shopping center

Decided to go for a walk to Majestic City, a shopping center full of a hodge podge of electronics, jewelry and bootleg DVD stores.

The walk there was not pleasant. I had no sooner started my walk that I am approached by a con guy, I couldn't decide if I wanted to mess with him or tell him to go away, I told him to go away.

Hadn't gone but a few blocks when an old man walks along with me, starts up a conversation, he's getting annoying and I'm looking for my break. He then produces "the sign". Whats that?

He tells me he's a teacher and shows me his "laminated card", the con men here use it as a way of saying, hey look, I'm so important I have a laminated card, then he hands me this paper he had been carrying in a folder and it has a paragraph written in a couple of different languages. Basically it said something to the effect that "He is allowed to collect money for such and such orphanage etc etc." believe me, he's not. That was my cue to walk faster.

It was a hot humid sunny day. Add to this the air pollution, the countless beggars and pitiful looking stray dogs along the way, I was beginning to question why I wanted to take this walk.

The sidewalks are awful to and I had to pass at least 3 army checkpoints but they never stop me.

I get to the shopping center and there are beggars lined up in wheelchairs and on crutches and you feel awful.

Funny thing about the mall is that they have someone who checks your bag and a soldier who asks for your ID card. I don't have my card yet. I noticed there were stairs that led down, I walked down and it went to an entrance to the food court. Nobody running a checkpoint there and I can go right to the mall.

I was in the mall but a minute when a beggar approached me.

Didn't stay long and caught a tuk tuk home.

The Local Bird

Back home we have seagulls, nice to look at but otherwise trash birds. In Uruguay there was pigeons everywhere, no need to discuss them.

In Colombo on the other hand we don't have pretty tropical songbirds. We have big nasty blackbirds. Menacing, ugly, sound awful.

Sometimes they perch on my railing and just "CAW CAW CAW!!!" and I want to throw something at them.

Yummy Donuts

Yummy strawberry surprise donut, 80 Rupees (About $.70USD) and the nice box it comes in : )

Can't resist!

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Happy Workers - Dedicated Workers

One thing about all the Sri Lankans I come across during the day is that they are happy and dedicated workers. They appreciate their jobs, period.

Everyone is smiling and cheerful at work, it's nice.

Just an observation.

BlackBerry's

Well I have a BlackBerry (BB for now) issued to me again, complete waste of money. It's not that I am so important that I need to be tethered to my email 24/7 and respond at a moments notice.

Fact is there is very little, if nothing I can by just responding to an email from home.

It's not as if I'm not a "Team player" or anything, but a cell phone would do me just as well.

Now I'll admit surfing the net when I am bored is pretty cool, and it makes a nice alarm clock as it does have a setting where the alarm clock won't turn on during weekends.

I've already been brow beat a little for not checking my BB during the weekend from the boss as he sent me something then realizing I hadn't checked my BB he called me. Hint duly noted.

If you click on this thumbnail you can see the fire escape and glass ceiling that I was talking about. The veiling is throughout the building and is cracked and leaking just about everywhere.

On Sundays there is a pretty big cleaning crew here pretty much from floor to, ceiling. I was shocked to see a barefoot guy with a squeegee balanced on one of the metal bars going across the ceiling cleaning the glass.

I pondered if the cracks were from the building shifting or one of the cleaners taking his chances.

I imagine one of those pains of glass taking a tumble sooner or later.

Look Up!

Every morning when I walk to work I am walking against plenty of people going in the other direction (Most likely riding the train) and I wondered if they were heading to the building I live in.

See as I walk in or out of the building I often see an office directory and have pondered "Where are all of these offices?" That and when I was eating at the ground floor restaurant I look out through the glass ceiling (Another blog post in itself) and saw outside fire escape stairs, and again I wondered "Where are those in relation to my apartment?".

So today I get off work, walking back to my apartment, going against a many people walking in the other direction when I look up at my apartment which I have many times before, but this time I realized something, there's another high rise building next to it! Many floors higher than the apartment building. Actually the apartment building is attached to this building, it just kind of looks separate. And then I realized, duh, thus where all the offices are and where most of these people work.

I'm surprised I never noticed it before.

Sinhalese Names, English and Bobbleheads

I have had the worst time trying to remember my Sri Lankan coworkers names, for that matter trying to pronounce their names has become a chore. It's not like Uruguay where everyone pretty much had a name that could matched up to your usual Bible names but here it's a different story.

To make matters that much more confusing for me is that I am coming from a place where letter pronunciation is different, "j's", "g's" all of that. I have to get all of that out of my head when I see a name and remember the "j's" are J's and the "g's" are G's etc.

The good thing about being here in Sri Lanka is that it was a former British colony and just about everyone speaks some level English. Now whether or not you will understand them or they you is a different story.

One more odd thing they do here is how they acknowledge something, they "wag" their head from side to side, it looks close to shaking their heads NO, but they're not. Think bobblehead. It can be a little confusing when you see it and think is this guy saying yes or no?

Holiday

Nice long 3 day weekend. I have most of the boxes emptied, most, not all. Have a handful of round-tuit projects to conquer.

The kitchen has been the real problem area. There's a good amount of cabinets, but they are either to high and they are very deep. Pretty much anything in the top cabinets are out of mind. For that matter anything I put in the back of cabinet is hard to reach. This will be a ongoing puzzle to solve.

I told my housekeeper Friday that she didn't have to come to work today and that I would still pay her. I forgot that it didn't necessarily mean that the guy across from me told her the same thing and chances are he didn't. I just figured it's my day off I didn't want her here cleaning and such. Well sure enough I see her in the foyer because she went to work to her other part time job at at the apartment across from me.

Less blogging more projects!

The TV Dilemna

I was on a mission to setup our 32" television and hook it up the the satellite cable here and see if I could view any channels. See our television purchaed in the U.S.A. is of the NTSC format and here in Sri Lanka the television and DVD format is PAL. I believe NTSC format is only for North America, well lets go to Wikipedia and find out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC (Korea, Taiwan and Japan as well)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL (Pretty much everywhere else!)

This is why we purchased a dual format (NTSC/PAL) DVD player, only to find out Uruguay had its own version of PAL (PAL-N).

Our entertainment center is not large enough to accommodate a 32" television so I had to sit it on top. I threaded a coax cable through the one of the back panels and down to the VCR (Where the satellite cable is connected). I thought this should be easy, unplug one cable and replace with another only to find out that even the PAL television cables were different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_connectors (Look at first picture).

It might be a moot point anyway as I might not be able to view any channels. I know in Uruguay when we used DirectTV we were able to watch satellite channels and no local channels, was hoping for the same here.

My next mission is to see if I can buy a PAL to NTSC converter connector, we'll see!

The Scam

This happened to me the first weekend I got here and I was both to embarrassed and to proud to mention it, but if it prevents one person from falling prey to this then I've done my job.

I was going to have lunch at the Galle face hotel (Yes the same place that made me sick) and was walking in that direction when a friendly man started up a conversation with me.

He said that he has seen me at the Cinnamon Grand hotel but I told him I wasn't staying there, but maybe he had seen me because I visit the food court attached to the hotel. He said that he was on his way to the Elephant Festival, it only happens once a year and everyone was going. He asked if I wanted to go and I thought why not.

He waved for a nearby taxi and we were on the way. Friendly banter the entire way and we ended up at the Buddhist temple, where there is an elephant, but hardly a festivals worth and there was hardly anyone there. My first question, where are the elephants and he talked his way out of that with the present elephant. Next question, lack of people which he explained that people come, pray and leave.

We left and went back and when I asked how much I owed the driver the driver said 1800 Rupees. I haven't paid 1800 Rupees for anything yet. 500 Rupee's will get you to the farthest point in Colombo via tuk tuk. I knew that I had been scammed, I'm sure the driver and tour guide split the fee.

I had a tuk tuk driver take me around today and he treated me to lunch when he told me about the "Elephant festival" scam, even describing where they prey on victims, on the way to Galle Face Hotel.

He also told me that there is in fact an Elephant Festival in Colombo, just not on the day I got scammed! Also they usually try for a larger amount of money, sometimes as much as 20,000 Rupees, if the victim will pay.

http://www.asiarooms.com/travel-guide/sri-lanka/colombo/festivals-and-events-in-colombo/navam-perahera-festival-in-colombo.html

Agua Con Gas

This weeks "Ask Doc" comes from Chris K. of Virginia Beach, VA.

She writes: "Can you find mineral water in Sri Lanka?". Well I'll find out! So I went across the street to Keels Super Market (sic) and browsed the beverage aisle.

I came across some Elephant brand (Popular for their ginger beer) Soda, just that, all it says "Soda" and it was clear. I didn't even think of looking at the ingredients. Bought a small bottle and put it in the fridge.

The test.

Is it mineral water? Not exactly but it tastes good and bubbly, it wasn't club soda and the ingredients were carbonated water. They did have 1 and maybe 2 liter bottles.

So Chris K. I hope that answers your question!

Tourists and food news.

It didn't take me long to figure out who the tourists are and who the expats are. The expats seem to dress a little more business casual, the tourists are much more casual and have that doe in the headlights look.

I was watching a group of around 5 tourists roam the food court going to each vendor and looking everything over, only to stop and order at Pizza Hut Express! I almost got up and smacked them upside the head! You come to Sri Lanka to eat at Pizza Hut Express?

I on the other hand found a new fav' vendor. Got a delicious Sri Lanka meal and a bottle of water all for around $1.25.

I tried a new place for dinner. They claim to serve Thai food. Well I got this chicken and rice dinner with fried egg and vegetables on the side, with a bottle of water $2.60. It was delicious and a "little spicy", I couldn't finish it all. All the while there is a gentleman playing tunes on a electric piano and singing songs. I'm thinking, replace the paper napkin with a cloth one, put this setting back home and this was an easy $14 meal.

I managed to stay away from the ice cream place today although yesterday I fell prey to a banana split.

Unpacking Day Redux and Housekeeper

Here is the carnage from my first day of unpacking. I unpacked quite a few boxes and dragged them to the freight elevator and called it quits. Then I got a second wind and unpacked some more boxes and left them in the apartment.

During the delivery of the boxes I met the housekeeper for the apartment next door, she asked if I needed a part time housekeeper and I asked her the most important question "Will you cook me dinner?" she said no problem. She also used to clean my apartment for the gentleman who lived here before me.

I left her a note this morning and told her not to worry about cooking. It was great to come back and find my laundry washed and folded, bathrooms clean, bed made, kitchen cleaned. Thank God, and I do Thank God!

So she is going to work 1/2 days Monday through Friday for 10,000 Rupees, about $86 a month.

Unpacking Day

The movers arrived with all of my household effects, 118 boxes of it, to include a king sized bed that will have them all cursing me under their breath today (More of that).

The boxes all came up with no problem, they called off the box number I checked them off the list and told them what room to put it in. I had laid out a table of cold drinks and cookies and kept telling them to help themselves, when they took a break a broke out the fried rolls (Chicken, shrimp etc.), kind of hard to explain but they loved them, that and a Sri Lankan favorite Elephant brand ginger beer (Not beer, just ginger drink).

So all went well until the bed. They tried bringing it up the interior stairs, it wouldn't fit. They tried the passenger elevator, wouldn't fit, on top of the passenger elevator (Not kidding), wouldn't fit, the freight elevator, wouldn't fit. Just when I thought it would never make it to my apartment there it is in the hallway. Best I can make from the movers I think they put it in top of the freight elevator, as in the elevator was one floor down, they opened the elevator door on the floor above it and pushed it it. More room, no elevator walls to reduce space.

In the end they helped unpack some boxes but I decided it was getting to confusing so I got them together and gave them some Rupee's and thanked them for all of their hard work.

Attached photo: 75 year old toothless, barefoot Sri Lankan mover (I gave him some Rupees off the side)

Passed the CISSP Exam

Thank God! The endless studying, the stress waiting for the exam results, the stress opening the email. I wanted to see one word, just one word when I opened the email, "Congratulations!".

Anything other, and you know you failed.

It's a horrible exam, 250 questions covering 10 different subject areas in IT Security. You get 6 hours to take the exam, but it shouldn't take that long. The questions are horribly worded and there are very few if any "Gimme" easy questions. The only good thing about the exam is that uit is all multiple choice, the bad thing is it costs $550!!!

I took the exam September 19th in Reston, VA. and just got the results today so you see how long I had to wait for the results.

CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

Finished Reading Through The Bible

I want to say that this is the 9th time I have read through the entire Bible. I read the New International Version (NIV). Try to read 4 chapters a day. This time I tried something new, later on I started reading 4 pages, and eventually 2 pages a day. This is my fastest read through the Bible yet.

Of course it is more than just reading, I am learning something new every time I read and something I might not have caught the last time I had read it.

TV

I didn't turn on my TV expecting only local programming but I found out I am supposed to have cable TV so I decided to check it out. I turned on the TV only to find a hodge podge of local channels and half of those were fuzzy and the other half didn't look worth watching. So I mentioned this to some people I work with and there must be something wrong as I am supposed to have the Star Network, which I had in Jeddah and it's pretty decent programs, UK/USA/Canadian stuff. I'm going to have my cable checked out soon. Not sure if I have to pay for cable TV or not, I didn't in Jeddah, we'll see.

Pool Party - NOT!

My boss had a BBQ planned for today at the company pool/party house so being from the beach I think, pool, so pool party. I showed up a bit late wearing my swim trunks, floppy hat and sunglasses expecting everyone to be ready to eat and jump in the pool. To say the least you could hear the proverbial drop when I walked in. Almost all of the women were wearing traditional saree's and the men were business casual. I was stunned and a bit embarrassed to say the least.

I took off my hat, like that would help and grabbed some food.

So I learned a cultural lesson. Sri Lankan's are very conservative people. They are not going to go swimming, especially the women. That and they are not going to go swimming with the boss. Also if it's a lunch with the boss then it's a business affair, not a party. They came, ate, was cordial an left. Some kids played at the playground but didn't even look twice at the pool. Me on the other hand needed a dip in that big pool and thats what I did. My colleague and his wife did end up joining me so I didn't feel so alone.

Pictures Posted

I've posted some pictures on my Facebook account. I will also upload them to my Picasa account soon.

This is your opportunity to "Friend" me on Facebook is you wish : )

Big Shopping Day

Today I decided to go buy a new pillow. The temporary ones supplied by the company are like airline pillows. I grabbed a tuk tuk to Arpico which is considered the Wal Mart of Colombo.

The tuk tuk driver told me that today was a Poya day, full moon Buddhist holiday, thus lack of traffic etc. Most Buddhist go to the temple today to pray etc.

Arpico was pretty much what I expected, I'd say a decent selection of items. Thankfully they did have several pillows to choose from and I bought a nice feather pillow for 585 Rupees. I also picked up some cleaning supplies.

The tuk tuk driver told me he would wait for me, and there was a parking lot just for that. That being tuk tuk drivers waiting for their passengers to return.

Given between letting me pay him for the one way ride and sending him on his way to drive up and down the streets looking for a fare or sitting in the parking lot and and having a guaranteed fare back, he would gladly do that. He didn't tell me how poor he was, in fact h showed me a picture of his son and some friendly chit chat, nothing more.

Feeling Better

So I'm feeling much better after yesterdays food poisoning incident. Still irked that the hospital really did nothing for me. In fact they gave me a blood pressure test and I looked at the numbers and thought that they looked high, the doctor asked me if I had high blood pressure and I said no, that was that, nothing else. So I look at the numbers this morning and they were scary high! Any good doctor would have told me to get it checked out! Now I'm more scared of my blood pressure than any food poisoning.

I am going to watch what I eat, less sodium, etc. I'm going to see about seeing a REAL doctor about what can be done, or even if I have it all.

My Friday Adventure

Where do I begin? Well Friday started off like any other day.
Remembered to turn off the coffee pot this morning, always a good
thing. Friday's I get off at 12:00PM so it makes for a short day.
Decided to go the Galle Face Hotel and check out the "jumbo burger
fiesta" special that I had seen on there web site, hamburger, fries, 2
servings of drink and a big fruit tart for 480RP, about $4USD.

I went home and changed and walked all two blocks to the hotel. This
is a really big fancy hotel considered one of the oldest and nicest in
the Orient. I ask about the hamburger special at one of the reception
desks and I am directed to a restaurant by the beach. It's apparent
when I get there that they didn't sell hamburgers. I asked the
hostess and she directed me to the other end of the hotel. Again I
can't find it, asked another girl and I gave her what I thought was
the name of the restaurant, she thought I was looking for the
restrooms but eventually she pointed me in the right direction which
was up some stairs. It still wasn't obvious where this place was as
there was yet another restaurant, but I found it. The place looks and
from some respects is a pastry shop of sorts.

I ordered the chicken burger which came with cold coffee or apple
drink, go figure, I took the cold coffee. The "burger" was the oddest
thing, it had a chicken patty but also a burger patty (Frozen kind).
It was good, not overly good, but definitely filling. I got the fruit
tort that came with the special to go and they packed it in a fancy
box. I gave it to the reception lady at the apartments.

Not long after I returned home I realized my stomach didn't feel well.
This will pass I thought. Tried laying down, but the feeling
wouldn't go away. I realized that hours had passed and I really felt
worse, my stomach was in knots. I went to the shopping mall across
the street and bought some Maalox kind of stuff hoping it would sooth
my stomach, it didn't. A few more hours go by and I was doubled over
in agony, time to go to the hospital. I call a cab company and they
said it would be 20 minutes before the taxi arrived. It was raining
cats and dogs outside so they were probably all tied up. Although I
didn't want to I would grab a tuk tuk. I grabbed some Rupee's and my
work ID and BlackBerry, went down and took a tuk tuk to the hospital.
All the while the tuk tuk driver telling me how poor his family is and
how tight money is, this is expected.

We arrive at the hospital and a gentleman directs me to triage. There
is a doctor sleeping behind the desk and I wake him up with a few
"Excuse me's". I tell him the problem and he wants to take blood
tests and a ECG test, why I don't know. A nurse takes me back and
gives me a blood test and ECG and when I step out of the room I'm told
to pay up. Well I only grabbed enough Rupee's for a ride back and
forth. I didn't expect to have to pay right there and then. I told
them I would come back tomorrow and pay and they said no problem. I
was told to go see the doctor at triage again. I go see him and he
looks at my ECG and says that it looks good and writes me a
prescription and tells me to go back to the cashier. The savvy reader
will note the time frame here, the blood was never tested. I go back
to the cashier and again explained I only had enough for a cab ride
home. They asked how much I had and I showed them 800 Rupee's, the
bill was 1300 Rupee's, they said that was enough. Realizing I am
fighting a losing argument (Coming back and paying), I give them my
Rupee's and left.

There was a tuk tuk parked outside and I asked the driver if he was
willing to take me back and wait for me to run up to my apartment and
grab some Rupee's, no problem he said.

We get back and I run up and count what Rupee's I had, not much, about
150 and I negotiated 400 Rupee's with him. I grabbed some good ol'
American green backs and went down. Gave him the stack of small Rupee
bills I had and told him I didn't have anymore, he could take me to a
ATM or take these U.S. Dollars. I knew this wouldn't be a problem, it
wasn't. He got around 3 times the original negotiated price, probably
more.

I don't even know where I could get the prescription filled this time
of the night if I wanted to, that and it's a crummy rainy night
anyway, that and I feel (Somewhat) better.

Deals Galore

I went to our company commissary and decided the check out the discount rack. Was surprised to see 2 jars of marshmallow creme for only .60 a jar. Apparently it was thought that it would be a big hit with the American's but it hardly sold, no problem for Doc! I love the stuff : ) Heat it up and put it on top of some ice cream yum!

I took another trip there today and found 2 bags of my favorite Starbucks coffee, Expresso Roast, for 1/2 off! I snatched both bags before you can say java time!