Wet Wednesday

The alarm kept ringing and I kept snoozing. Is it already time to be up? The light was too dim but the time was all right. When I pulled the blinders it didn't get any bright either. It was dark, hazy and raining. I was late for work. Didn't understand whether to blame the overcast conditions, the blinders or the last night's draught.

Hit the shower. Fixed my breakfast. And by the time I was halfway through the cereals I was relaxed. I was gonna be late anyways. The car was parked at a distance. I should have bought that flowery umbrella in the mall yesterday. But my ego wouldn't let me. Perhaps it wouldn't let me get wet either. Made a quick sprint to the car. Fastened the seat belts and told myself that I've got to stick to the right side throughout the day.

After a couple of turns I entered the freeway. There is a strange sound that you get when drive on freeways. Its just too difficult to drive with the windows pulled down. Not that I would. The rains had got heavier and the dark skies spelt doomsday. 

As I made it to one of the main lanes I tuned into a radio station. They were playing the LZ classic 'Stairway to Heaven'. And suddenly I started feeling good about the whole rain doomsday combo. The dry leaves that were deposited under the windshield started taking off one by one, traveling along the windshield and flying away on top of the car as my foot got heavy on the pedal. It was like they were taking turns. It was harmonious. 

Meanwhile there were these heavy trailers that were whizzing past me. As they passed they kicked up so much water from the road and deposited it on my windshield. It was like going through the tunnel at a car wash. But I simple love the sight of these huge long trailers. 

On my way to office I get off the freeway to take a short cut which is like totally picturesque. The roads are narrow and the limit is 40. The road has beautiful country homes, a beautiful placid lake and a lot of trees on either side. A good place to take the fall foliage report.

And finally I enter the last phase. A 2 mile winding road inside the office campus to  to the garage. The road, with all its curves and people trying to stick to their lane and with the wet roads, gives the quintessential adrenalin rush to go the desk with some energy. I had to park in the open roof garage and run in the rain to do the 8 hour drill of laughing at terrible jokes, nodding comprehensively at the things I don't comprehend, hearing fake accents and pretending that I love my job. hmph!

Culturally Shocked!

The first steps that you take in an alien nation is always an interesting one. No matter what people have told you what to expect, experiencing it, is startling nevertheless.

It all started with the breathtaking view of the country side of NE which is as beautiful as it gets anywhere in fall i guess.  Then all the rhetoric that I ever had heard began to play. Its so clean everywhere. The roads don't bump. Where are all the speed breakers? Total strangers greeting each other. And so on.

This place is like a village with all the things considered luxurious back home. I've never seen so many trees on the roadside ever before. Given an option I would have wanted to stay in a metro. But the city lights ain't far either.

The office is in a sprawling campus of 550 acres. Its more like a tree farm. Recently, an employee went for a walk in the campus's woods after lunch, only to be lost in the farm. 911 had to be dialed to rescue him!

This country likes everything big. From burgers to cars. From roads to malls. And it likes things fast. From food to sports. From cars to work. And they like it different. They call a sport football, but barely use their foot. They play world series without letting the rest of the world know about it. They prefer to be right than left when driving. They ask for cola with a lot of ice while wearing jackets and sweatshirts.

They have a clear demarcation between their person and professional lives. I've barely seen anyone work overtime. They value an animal's life as much as they value a human life. On weekends you see a lot of people setting out with their boats tagged to their car or canoes or bikes mounted on the car. They head out to a ball game very passionately with their team's shirts and caps to the stadias or the sports bars. They make mondays interesting by hosting MNL (monday night live) games. They swear by customer satisfaction. They took my friend's PS3 back after a month of its purchase because he said he doesn't like its design!

All in all, you just can't stop being amazed looking at this country.