Snowprah has her own channel

So this is supposedly one of the storms of all snow storms headed our way over the next two days.

Usually I make fun of the weather personalities in our town but when I want the real schizznit, I only follow ONE man, Tommy Skilling of WGN.

He's saying 14-18 inches for most of the area (2-4 tonight, 12-14 tomorrow night) with an additional 6 for SE side of Chicago and NW Indiana.  He's not just a pretty make-up job waving a sexy body in front of the screen, NO, he's the real deal weatherman folks.  Nevermind that his brother was one of the big guys taken down in the Enron scandal, this one has kept his nose clean and is truly dedicated to his craft!

Fear not, I'm prepared for this, just like I am for any mega snow storm.  I saw that they've posted the top 5 snowfalls of all time in Chicago.  I've been alive for 3 of them:

1. 23.0" - Jan 26-27, 1967 (I have pix of me in a child carrier on top of a huge snowpile, I was almost 7 months old
2. 21.6 - Jan 1-3, 1999 (yeah, after a hearty new year's day drunken debauchery, I remember running down the middle of Broadway in Chicago with no cars anywhere to be found and falling on my back and doing snow angels, I think in front of Ann Sather's)
3. 19.2 - Mar 25-26, 1930 (hell, even before my Dad was born)
4. 18.8 - Jan 13-14, 1979 (the one that cost Michael Bilandic the Mayoral race in Chicago, enter Jane Byrne)
5. 16.2 - Mar 7-8, 1931 (wow March in the '30s was brutal, must have been global warming!!!)

So we'll have to see where this one falls, literally.  Some weather personalities are claiming upwards of two feet, yerrright.

I think the thing that'll be worse about this one is the massive winds that are supposed to accompany it.  As I arrived home this evening, they were howling at around 20-25 mph and they are only supposed to get worse.  That could make the drifting as high as 2.5-3.0 feet, even with only 14-16 inches, so we'll see.

India continues to take shape

Well, I go for round two of the shots today.

Not too thrilled about that, however I am encouraged that it took less than a week for the Indian Consulate here in Chicago to process my Visa and get it back to me.

I've also finally chosen a hotel for my 2.5 day side excursion to New Delhi as well as booked my train tickets to and from Agra so that I can go see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort.

I didn't skimp on the hotel and am staying at the InterContinental at Nehru Place (jackets not required ;-p)

I will truly get to experience the two extremes of India train travel.  Going, I'm traveling in one of the top classes (AC Executive Chair Class) but my return is in Sleeper Class.  The difference in class of travel is staggering considering the price for each; $18 versus $3.80 and it promises to be very interesting.

3 hours each way so that will give me plenty of time to take it all in.  I had to book the lower class return (gets back at 5:20pm) otherwise I wouldn't get back to Delhi until 9:15pm only to have to head directly to the Airport for my flight home (Leaves at 1:20 am).  God forbid there was any delay on the train, I'd be fighting for my way home and based on a few sources I've chatted with, Indian trains aren't necessarily known for their timeliness.

Exteriors	Interiors

They look the same from the outside, but ohhhh what a difference inside.  Maybe it's good I'm getting the shots :-)  But I will have my trusty backpack in tow, carrying the essentials.  Sadly it's not the one I used for my extensive Europe trips as that one finally died a miserable death.

It's amazing that once I look at my agenda, I've realized how little time I truly have in India outside of the work schedule but I am going to squeeze every ounce/gram out of the free time I have.

Still have to figure out what I want to do on the Friday in New Delhi as well as the Monday in Hyderabad but I have time for that as there's no train travel or anything that I have to worry about.

A 3 year old's mind

So last night when I was putting Aidan to bed, I had another interesting exchange with him.

Prior to bedtime he was particularly naughty.  I won't go into details but let's just say that instead of staying up for another 45 minutes it was straight to bed time.

There were lots of tears and not wanting Daddy to put him to bed, but once we got settled down and I started to read it got interesting.

One of the books I was reading to him was based off of The Incredibles movie which is one that we have not seen.  Bob, the Dad, at one point blew off someone named Buddy.  Years later Buddy turned into an evil genius named Syndrome and tried to exact his revenge against Bob and his family.

Bob

Buddy

Syndrome

Aidan repeated to me that Buddy was a child when the initial incident happened and that now that he had "grown up" he turned into a "bad guy".

• He asked me if "Buddy had been bad to his Mommy and Daddy".
• I said "yes".
• He then asked me if "Buddy had been bad to his doggie too".
• I said "yes"
• He immediately projected Buddy onto himself and his evening's actions.
• He then told me that he didn't want to be like Buddy and that he wanted to grow up to be a good superhero.  (remember, we're in this massive Batman/Spiderman phase right now)
• I told him that "that is a great idea" and that "we want you to grow up and be a good superhero too"

He then let me finish the book.

It's good to see that he's recognizing his bad behaviors and then wants to make amends for what he's done.

Who knows, maybe someday  WILL be a good superhero.  We can only allow him to keep living his dreams.

India plans progressing

So yesterday my process of getting all plans sorted for my trip to India continued.

Airlines are now booked.  I'm flying business class Air India from O'Hare to Delhi to Hyderabad.  We don't have to get off the plane in Delhi which makes this an 18 hour trip.

Hotel is the Taj Krishna Hyderabad and the only pictures I can really find of the place all are taken from the pool area so here you go.

It looks like a huge hotel and it's only about 4 miles from the airport which is good since we get in around 8:00pm and then will have to negotiate customs, etc.

On the way back though, I'm going to stop in Delhi and spend two days sightseeing based out of there.  To get from Hyderabad to Delhi I'm flying on Kingfisher Airlines.


Now, I know they make a pretty decent beer as I've had it COUNTLESS times at all my favorite Indian restaurants, but I wonder what kind of airline they are?  Well, based on the pictures of the owner who looks like a cross between Richard Branson and, well, the kinda guys you find in big-time dance clubs in NYC, I'm thinking it's gonna be a pretty rockin' two-hour flight.


Yeah baby, let's party!

I have my first trip to the doctor on Friday to determine which sets of shots I'm going to need and scheduling when I'm supposed to get them. I also have to book my hotel in Delhi at some point as well. Anyone have any suggestions?

Countdown has begun and it's now only 37 days until I leave.  Stay tuned!