..and it snowed in Georgia !!

it generally does not snow here not like in the NE of US but then, one fine day, it did snow. 

Peachtree City,GA to Americus,GA

I had to relocate base location to client's plant further south of Georgia

Buying a car- The craigslist experience

The last 2 times I was in US , I was on short term assignment's..
1st one was for 3 months to Philly..Public transport was available for home-office-home..in the evenings, I'd ride in my friends '95 accord. never needed to own a car.
2nd time I was in Birmingham,AL for a month and I did need a car...rented an Altima for a while and then switched to a corolla.
this time, I was gonna be in US long term and knew very well I needed to buy a car..
why buy a car? couldn't I have just rented ? answer is yes and no...
yes I could've rented any car for long term..and I could've got good monthly rates too. but I did not.. I chose to buy. I always travel on L1 visa and my company doesn't provide rental car reimbursement ( thats the way they are...I'd rather not discuss that point). This means that rental car expense are only money outflow..whereas if I buy a car, I can sell it and recover my money..makes sense?

with this logic in place, I started searching...


searching for a used car suddenly became a primary activity for me while still being in India. the online sources I used were :

1. Craigslist - Classifieds site where one can buy anything and everything. not like ebay though.
2. Autotrader - Dedicated automotive classifieds.
3. Carmax - used car dealer who has nationwide presence.
4. kelly blue book - to check for value of car based on the condition of the car.

now this got me excited. very excited. so i start looking for all the cars I always wanted to drive..
my logic was "whoever goes to US ends up buying a jap car..let me be a bit different..I'll buy a car I want to drive..german, american or british "

found quite a lot of 'good looking' cars but I sure knew the good looking cars did come out of a detailing shop where all the blemishes are removed. So, then, I started to look beyond the surface finish. high miles is something I was avoiding. there are very few cars I come across with low miles on them. Americans drive around a lot you see. so my checklist was

1. less owners
2. relatively lower miles.
3. no engine work (done previously or pending in near future)
4. no mods whatsoever.
5. direct seller..I avoid dealers.
6. not repainted.
7. no accidents/dings/dents
8. carfax report.

good..now checklist was in place..and i was still in India at this stage.

started searching Carmax inventory..why carmax when I hated dealers ? coz this is not the typical mexican car dealer..carmax has nationwide presence and the experience ,I'm told, is as good as buying a new car. therefore carmax was an exception. if they've got a car sitting somewhere in NY, they'll ship it to this location if I buy it. so, all this sounds cool and sounded like the place to go to for used cars..but then, who told all this came free? the feel good is obviously a 'purchasable' commodity. prices of all cars were way higher than the norm market price. but this was the only place I could find low miles cars..could I afford it ?
Then came the issue of budget. My pockets were definitely not deep and nor could I get a loan..my credit score in US is not great and without a good credit rating, one cannot get a good loan. that's when carmax went out of the search and so did low miles car.
back to craigslist and autotrader. in both these sites you can find dealers and individual sellers..I chose to look from direct sellers and looked up a long list of 'good' cars.
I started looking for used jap means..read Honda CIVIC/Accord, Toyota Corolla/Camry, Nissan Maxima/Altima.


I had only 1 more weekend before I packed up and left to americus..I had to find a car asap. but which one? jap cars are available but not all are good to buy..civics are notorious..many of them have engine swaps for mods or have very high miles..the ones with low miles needn't have to be so..the ads cleverly word it as "120k on the engine" ..people who just read 120k get fooled coz the ad means that car is way older and has had an engine swap and then run for 120k..now that's a car phaked beyond recognition. I had to filter these out..then there are those who price the cars really low and have genuinely low miles but with salvage title..what it means is that the car has met with an accident and has been declared as 'totalled' but has been repaired to run again. now this is scrap value coz nobody wants to buy these..well, not me atleast. these 'salvage' titled cars are next to impossible to sell.

my new checklist :
1. non smoker car
2. good service history.
3. no pets.
4. genuine miles (car/engine/transmission)
5. no salvage title.
6. less owners (preferably 1 owner)
7. no engine work (done previously or pending in near future)
8. no mods whatsoever.
9. direct seller..I avoid dealers.
10. not repainted.
11. no accidents/dings/dents
12. carfax report.

now you see how I learnt about US used car scene thru the 1 weeks of research.

I started shortlisting cars and then came this majorly attractive ad on craigslist..
'2006 PONTIAC GTO/50k miles/no accident/genuine title/single owner/must sell immediately/$ 6000.'

aah..now I found the next best ad after the Range Rover.
no phone number on the ad so I had to email which I did immediately.

the pontiac GTO is a rebadged LHD Holden Monaro. one of the better known RWD performance car...naaisss..i like i like..and guess what, I even got an immediate response...


craigslist is a a very good classifieds site but then it also hosts a lot of scamsters..

I'll explain.
this Pontiac GTO ad sounded very nice and looked like the deal of the year. But when I got the reply, I smelt something fishy. summary of the lengthy reply - car is in Texas, he 'says' he is a soldier and is deputed to IRAQ and has to sell immediately, I pay via ebay motors and the car with title will be shipped from ebay motors' yard to my location. if i don't like the car, I can return it.
This ad was a carrot for all the stupid folks of US. whats wrong with that ad you say? well, I can't even see the car since it is so far away...so, I'm not even sure if the car in the pic is the car that's for sale..he does give me a VIN and the carfax will be predictably good...but what I could be getting for that money will be a only a title and a heap of metal..yupp..if its met with an accident and had only liability insurance (3rd party) , then all that'll remain will be a heap of metal...and that's what was being sold..you can find an ad like this ever so often and only careful eyes can point them out..
and btw, after making the payment I'm not sure if there is any legal way of tracing the transaction too so all that is a big scam..
the symptoms became more and more predictable as I bumped into more such ads..

so I continued searching...


5 cars shortlisted for shortlisted for inspection for the weekend .

1. 1995 Acura Legend.
2. 1997 Acura Integra.
3. 1997 Nissan Altima.
4. 1996 Civic sedan.
5. 1996 Civic coupe


well, actually shortlisted many more but then I could end up speaking with only 5 of them prospective sellers.

Took a Rental Kia Optima and left on sat morning.


and this is what happened with each of these cars..

1. 1995 Acura Legend.

all the while, I was made to believe that it was being sold by an individual and not a dealer..guess what, rubbish..it was a mexican dealer. when i went there, all he said was " the car just got sold..you were late.." that was non sense..I reached at the time we had decided on..he was in a very far away location too..instead he started selling the mazda's he had..I did not want to heed to anything he said..drove out of there.

1 car down.

2. 1997 Acura Integra.

we had decided to meet at a convenient location coz i did not have a GPS and I could not locate his address..bugger never turned up..after an hours of my waiting , I got a call..
"yo man..I can't be there today..my mechanic is working on the and he has opened up half the engine "
I asked " what's wrong? "
he " the head gasket is gone and I tried to change it myself and it did not work and so , I called my mechanic ..we can meet tomorrow"
this car went to the trash as far as i was concerned..

2nd car down.


3. 1997 Nissan Altima.

this was a car i wasn't really keen on but I wanted to see it anyway coz the miles seemed like genuinely low miles. this time around, this guy said he'd come to the hotel I was in..sounded like he was desperate to sell the car. I had seen the pic of the car. it was rear 3 qtr shot of the car and it looked ok.
he turned up on time...when I saw the car, I really wanted to just walk away and not even tell him that it was me he came to meet. it was a disgusting looker. the rear 3 qtr,which was in the pic , was the only bit that was acceptable..
paint- oxidised beyond recognition.
body- dents all over.
interiors- it was a smokers den, it even had the door pads missing. the speakers were all falling into hands. half the electronics were not working.
suspension & tyres - tyres were all screwed..suspension...god knows..I didn't ride/drive it.
engine - this was the joke..bugger had button start/stop installed and it never worked. so he had to go and bypass it and start it..I cared the least for this car..I said I'll get back to him..we just can't say no easily.

he msg'd me later asking " dude, are you still interested in the car" I replied "did I even have to reply? wasn't it clear when we met? good luck selling it"

3rd car out


4. 1996 Civic sedan

this was being sold by a hyderabadi guy..it had low miles and he said all was fine with the car and that he was buying a newer car and did not need this one..most common reason people give..I went to his apartment complex and walked up to his apartment block..when i reached I got irritated to the core..this guy said he was going to sell it to me but here he was...negotiating with somebody ..in front of me..atleast he could've told me when i called him from the gate of the apartment complex.. i could find sollace in the fact that this car was not even starting..it had a starter motor problem and would've cost me a lot to tow it and get it repaired anyway..

4th car down..this was getting frustrating.

5. 1996 Civic coupe

this was officially my last car on the list and I was in the most frustrated mood..again, the car owner came to a common place to show me his car..it was black coupe..i have a soft corner for coupes..i kinda like them..
the car had bad paint, bad interiors and bad electronics..the power windows and the inside door latches wouldn't work either. was the engine good atleast? well, when i drove it, the engine felt good though..so was the suspension and tyres.. i got back to the spot and popped the hood to see the engine bay..to my horror..the car was red color on the inside !! the reason for the bad paint on the outside was coz this guy had painted his car at home ..
that's it..told him his car was useless and walked off..went back to the hotel with all options gone away with no car shortlisted.


..then, just when I was planning on getting back to peachtree city (from atlanta) , I checked craiglist for updates..amongst all the rubbish cars listed, I found one car which was kinda good but had high miles.
it was a 2000 toyota camry V6 with 187k miles on it. after all the cars I'd seen, I thought i'd give a shot too. quickly called the owner and arranged a meeting spot and went out ..there this was ..

BLR-FRA-ATL- Peachtree City,GA

For the past 2 US trips of mine, I'd flown on Air France and I was very pleased with it but this time around it was on Lufthansa. 

Talladega Speedway

was always curious about Nascar. I've always been an ardent fan of F1 but never knew what this sport has that gets US gripped enough to ignore the existence of F1. 
I had planned to visit Talladega Speedway which was an hrs drive away from Leeds,AL where I stayed. Left early in the morning to reach the racetrack by 8am.

more pix





discussion @
http://gearheads.in/track-racing-track-days/drove-nascar-t484.html

Mercedes Benz Inc.

I always knew that Mercedes manufactured its SUV's in US and I also knew that it was in Tuscaloosa,AL.

 pix @





discussion @
http://gearheads.in/vintage-classic-cars/mercedes-museum-tuscaloosa-usa-t483.html

Around the town of Moody,Alabama

Vintage Bike Race @ Barber Motorsports park

was the town of Moody really Moody?? Well, the Mood was definitely upbeat in the town of Moody 
coz of this annual event called Vintage Bike Race and the venue, Barber Motorsports Park 

Driving in US

The last time that I visited US, I had tried to get myself a DL out here. So, I had read all the driving rules thoroughly. Lots of rules trust me. Courtesy driving. Safe distance blah blah blah…can turn here , can’t turn there. Speed limits everywhere. Awesome roads but shit speed limits.We have no good roads but we rip down any roads at high speeds. Ironic isn’t it. Driving on the highway is big time tension for the first few times.70 mph (115 kph) is the speed limit on highways. All cars are running at 70 mph. no room for error. Believe me I was watching the mirror more than the road looking out for cops coz that’s the last people you’d ever want to see out here. Preplanning is a must while driving out here. No paan beeda/cigarette stalls or dhabas to ask directions. Miss an exit (to get out of highway) whoop….you’re gone. Next exit could be 5 miles away and getting back in line a big pain. Now , the road signs are excellent. Good warnings of exits but while busy trying to look out for cops, crazy truckers and occasional rash driving cars, its real easy to miss exits. Luckily I haven’t missed any exit else I’d get lost.
My car comes with cruise control. That’s the 1st thing I do. Switch on cruise control as soon as I see a speed limit signboard. Yaakappa kireeku. The highways are really tempting to overspeed. Only once I did do 110 mph while overtaking. That’s it. Got back to cruising.

Rental car

Voila Rental car!! The prev trip of mine , I did not have a proper license but this time, no sir, no repeating the old issues. I got me a proper license just in time. Got me a rental car from Avis. No other rental car guy would rent it out to me coz I didn’t have a major credit card from US. Sad logic. I got myself a brand new Nissan Altima. Fully loaded car came with keyless system. Keep the remote in the pocket and that’s it. Walk upto the car and press a button on the door handle, door lock opens and starting the car, simple. Button start. Sports car style. Awesome car but driving in US is tensing. There are so many rules to follow. It is so easy to drive in India. No rules are good rules. I’m sure all agree to this.


The biggest headache out here is insurance. You ain’t surviving anywhere without insurance. I took the car without insurance (costs lesser). The savings are good but, its one hell of a risk. Even if somebody else bangs into me, I get screwed big time. Lots of trouble. Gave back the huge amazingly powerful Nissan Altima and got myself the cheapest car. A brand new black Corolla (the one we know as the Corolla Altis in India). No bells and whistles and very basic. This time, I took this with Insurance. Tension gone. I now have the almighty power I can now bang into anybody and not worry about paying for it!! Wicked.

Super 8 Motel

I stayed at a motel called super 8. 6 miles away from office. This was the only place closest to anything called accommodation in this hamlet.This motel was basic enough and the rooms big enough to live in. had all the basic amenities and was maintained well. Air conditioned makes it easier during weather changes as it was getting colder.
distance to office 6 miles!!! Now the next big problem is travel!! …well the 1st day, my colleague from clients place picked me up but thereafter was a question mark.

10th Oct '08-Bangalore-paris-atlanta,US-birmingham,US-Moody,Alabama.

This being my 2nd trip to US, I thought it was a smooth sail away. That it was. I took Air France again and yet again stopped over at Paris. This time, 5 hrs of waiting!! Agonizing. All through that time, luckily for me, there was a public internet kiosk. Well ,had to pay for it though. How much? how about $ 6.00 for 15 minutes of internet. Daylight robbery. Then on, it was PS3 which helped me pass time. Played F1 on PS3. easily made all the top drivers look silly on the track .I had so much time, I perfected it too. Finally jumped into another Air France flight only to realize there was yet another flight to take after Atlanta. Damn. Painful it was. Well, finally, touchdown in Birmingham. Now this is Birmingham in Alabama, US. Not the one in UK. General knowledge improved eh.Took a cab to the village called Moody 25 miles away.
Alabama is in the southern part of US. Lots of mountains and nice scenic roads. Had heard a lot bout Alabama some good some bad and some nasty things to watch out for. Hoped for the better of all.

21st june- go shorty ..its my birthday....wanna sip bacardi coz its my b'day......

21st June happens to be my birthday I thought I’ll be alone but that was before I spoke with my friend abhi who lives in Washington DC…felt good when he immediately said hes driving down on sat-d-day.This guy was blazingly fast in deciding things.He said he’ll plan his trip and 5 mins flat he had his trip scheduled along with the hotel booked out.damn commiited…I’d say.he indeed reached up later that noon after a 2 hr drive.he has an amazing looking bmw 3 series.frikkin awesome car it is. we went and caught up with Mike.went to Iron hill brewery which is actually a brewery (seriously..beer is made here) and a restaurant. We had a late lunch.at that time.we were still undecided where to go.earlier that eve, mike me & Brandon had decided to go to philly to some club and party along but since Brandon couldn’t make it , we ditched that idea.
fortunately or unfortunately .the hotel abhi booked was 27 miles away.then we realized that the indoor go kart track we went to previously was on the way.hit it this time.luck was on my side.i got a good kart and guess wat.i had a terrific race.incidentally I won too.!!! awesome race…we guys were like a rolling triangle each trying to pass the other along the racing line.awesome.the josh was set.jumped into another round.this time my kart sucked.and to make matters worse,there were girls and children on the same track.Potential danger on the track.enough to make the speed slower.damned.it was a total loss for us…every time a girl crashed into the tyre wall.we wud b forced to cruise @ a speed  of 5 mph.hwz tht for racing speed.more such incidents followed.once we were racing and suddenly the kart slows automatically and stops.wat the hell are we doing then.it feels like it’s a big RC car race.somebody is playing.horrible.never will I do this again.as in electric karts.before we even kicked into a race , it was over.waste of money.
then we headed out to abhi's hotel. A drive to Philly was still on our mind.but after we reached his hotel , change of plans.we went back to west chester to our all time hangout went to another jap restaurant called Kooma,mikes fave haunt,not mine coz I don’t like sushi but majority wins both abhi and mike liked it. we went there and had Japanese wine called saki.its actually wine made of rice.I had only read bout it & now I tasted it too.that was only the beginning. we then went pub hopping to all places around town.Teca had the best music then more hopping around till 2 am.thts when we were thrown out of all places…2 am all places close down.end of day.
what a way to celebrate b’day.
Sunday I got up late and did nothing till eve and then it was movie time again.this time it was M.Night.Shyalamans movie “the happening”…freaky thriller of a movie….
end of weekend…..

14th June- movies ,go karting and japanese restaurants...

Thought I’ll end all traveling and didn’t go anywhere…made full use of office laptop. no not from L&T..from my clients place…and WiFi…saw lotsa top gear on youtube…made full exploitation….tht eve, Mike n me decided to go to a movie…we decided on going to the Adam sandler starring “ you don’t mess with the Zohan”.. saw that and got out ..to c that the next hall had Iron man playing…it’s a nice movie I’d heard…sneaked in and saw that too..!! 1 ticket..2 movies. worth it… Sunday eve Mike, Brandon and me went on a a drive 20 miles away to a indoor go karting track…went on a race…got irritated…these things were the electric ones….they can be controlled…kill joy….karts should be all out fun. but no…these places are not fun for that very reason…they pre set the speed….i came last ..kart had a bad tyre setup…couldn’t do much….my reason for finishing last..i drove like a tourister taking pics all along the track…!!..didn’t work well though…..then we went to a Japanese restaurant for dinner…Hibachi..this is a chain of Japanese restaurants….the chef there actually works for Mike too…..the speciality in this place is that the chef actually cooks in front of you..every table surrounds a cooking range…..most of the dishes are made in front of us…but before all this is the stunt work……he does this amazing stunt work in front of us with the knives …amazing …blazingly fast work….sometimes we wonder about the time he misses his stunt…..knife will come flying to us…these guy are professional enough though……had good food and got back…..another nice weekend…..i’ve got videos of the chef ..can’t upload though..big file size….c pix......

7th June -Ocean City Car Show

   Ocean city, Maryland is a small town but v popular in summer for the beach….now interestingly, this place is a strip of land…its got one big main road with buildings on both sides and behind the buildings on one side is the beach and the opp side is the bay…so..its water water everywhere scenario…awesome it is….its a big party time destination too… but we were going there to Ocean City Car Show . Mike had taken up a stall to display out there.

  Now the bigger bit of story is reaching there….3 hrs drive …me n mike were in a rental van..2 seater with lotsa stuff in the back of the van…brendan in his SUV and the model for mikes stall in her car…see…this is where the worlds oil is goin….neways…the roads in US are very nice and well made…but at times…it looks more than well made…thts where dependency on GPS kicks in..now we didn’t have GPS…so we had to rely on google maps and then print out the route instructions….miss one exit and we miss the route big time….we were to reach Ocean city through a complex set of roads….unfortunately …the route instructions missed one exit …we were searching for the next exit in the wrong road only to realize we went 23 miles out of way…..!!!!...this is the complexity…in India..all we have to do is stop at a cigarette shop and ask….we get back on track …. That does not happen here…now that is the painful part… we went 23 miles ahead to piss on the roadside and get back…just when my bladder was full…mike ..the fool deliberately drove on rumble strips on the side of the road….one more rumble strip and I’d have pissed in a bottle in the van…asshole..we had lotsa fun on the way only to get frustrated coz we had missed the road big time….finally reached up….set up the stall overnight…it was quite late by then …checked into our hotel room and then..party time..!!! went to a club called seacrets…awesome place…now this town is a huge party all the time…v much like Goa…got back at 3 in the morning…had a blast….next mrng ..lazily got up to go to the show …this place had diff cars ..nice show this was….one thing common to all car shows is the music and the glamour and money…money spent on cars…too much….this was an indoor hall…and we were in a hall adjacent to the main hall….the music in the main hall was awesome…there was a DJ mixing competition and the music was awesome ..unfortunately , we were tortured with a playlist of 5 songs….5 songs played 30 times full day…I hate all those tracks now….# 1 on hate list is alien ant farm- beat it ….even in my dreams I was listening to “beat it beat it beat it beat it beat it…….’..aaarrrrghhhhhhhhhhhh….and rihana-umbrella…” ela ela ela ela ..eh eh eh eh eh eh….”…..I will run away if somebody plays it ….one more day of same music throbbing in the head…hated it …....whenever beat it wud play..i ran away…these guys saw it…the playlist was predictable…so..if I was bz talking to somebody …thse guys wud trap me and not let me run away….assholes…but I’d still run away neway….cudn’t tolerate tht track at all….brandon got back to West chester earlier…so..when “beat it “ wud play..we called him and put the fone on the speaker and made him listen….so he suffered either ways….sweet revenge…. got back late on sunday night … had an awesome time there…me Brandon and mike….laughed all the while….

chek out pix…. 

New York visit....

US is a clean place...very good driving etiquettes...lane discipline is all amazing....drivers all have patience ..they dont honk.......well....all this applies to rest of US...not NY!!...NY..all the donts happen here.....dirty place this city...crowded...feels like bombay....i went to this room ..actually a hostel accomadation i had booked.... dirty old run down building...6th floor room it was....waited for the lift....the noisy contraption came down....its doors were like a vault....and guess wat...no lights inside.!! if it conked out midway....nobody would be able to hear my screaming coz the doors are so thick....didn't take the chance ...took the stairs...dirty god damned room...filthy too...hated it..quickly got out of there....went on with my sightseeing....1st of .....statue of liberty....i stayed in manhattan so it was easy to get to south ferry from where the ferry's leave to liberty island...everything in this country comes from out of country....well...so did this statue ...mostof us dont know ..this was gifted to US by france .....!! .....got lucky to get tickets to get to the top of the pedestal....nice feeling it is....the statue is hollow inside and its got stairs too....and elevator..!! one can go till the head too...but nobody is allowed ....1000's of people come to this place everyday....after loitering around and also thinking that India has far better statues which are not advertised well enough..... ...moved on to 34th street where empire state building is ....while goin in the subway, we do cross the station which was originally under the twin towers...the underground station is not really underground at this place....we can see the construction wrk thru the barricading along the subway walls....empire state building is all bout tourist activity....its got an observatory on the 86th floor of the building ..everybody goes straight there....but not me.....now ...since i had got the hang of 4D shows....i had to go to one more...the NY skyride...now this was not as great as the ones in the theme part..but atleast it gives us a birds eye view of NY....the voice behind the video explains the sights that pass below...all the imp buildings and landmarks in manhattan...nice it was...then we moved on to the observatory....the ultra hi speed lift goes 10 floors in the time our lifts cover 1 floor!!!....bloody fast.....now all the while ...empire state building wants to sell something or the other....they sell tickets to another observatory on the 102nd floor!!!!...i'm good at 86th.....the view is amazing from there....no doubt u barely know wat is wat in manhattan...but ....it still is nice....the wind in ur hair feeling is terrific...then....we walked up to times square....y ...y times square....? it is nothing but a v hyped up street like brigade road....!! yupp..thts right....i found something else more amazing in times square..the subway station.....its massive and its underground..!! its almost as big as half of bangalore's city railway station....and lots life down there...you'll find lotsa guys dancing ..of course for money....on the platforms ...and one another corner v good jazz music.....i cud've found more had i hung around more.....i was goin to chinatown...i was done with greyhound buses...i took a china bus to Philly.....every city has a chinatown where you only find chinese...or people with pulled out eyes.....only them everywhere....it suddenly feels like a theme park called life in china...!!!....i reached the busstop 1.25 hr early....surprisingly ..i was packed into a bus quickly and the bus left immediately.....shocking...there i was suffering while travelling in greyhound and here i was ...in a bus tht left 1.25 hrs earlier..!!!!!..amazing....i reached earlier....and guess wat...the chinese buses are 1/3rd the cost of greyhound buses!!!!.... tht about made my NY exp worth mentioning....

26th May lousy time spent travelling to NY..i hate Greyhound buses...

options ...now that is one thing bogging americans big time...walk into a store...lotsa choices...u never know wat u'll really want to buy....coz there are so many options to choose from....but...want to travel by bus....sorry sir..no options....greyhound is the only guy connected to all townsand cities....so...with no choices..we land up buying non refundable tickets in greyhound buses....wat do they do to you, well..bad service...i had to travel from williamsburg to NY....the bus was from williamsburg to richmond and a bus change later richmond to NY...at richmond...we realize greyhound had sold 120 tickets for 30 seats in a bus....!!! ...the designated bus filled up real quick...next bus...filled up too....they had to get an extra bus jst for tht ....then...2 hr delay....then he leaves.....no time sense wat so ever...damn buggers....they know they got our money already...and also that we have no options.....ksrtc ki jai.....

25th May - Theme park called Busch Garden, Williamsburg VA

anheuser busch...now this is a name we dont recollect much ...but say budweiser and we pop up....apparently busch owns the brand called bud along with various other businesses....theme parks being one....busch gardens is a v popular destination in virginia....its in a place called williamsburg ....this town has nothing else except for this....this theme park .well...has a theme... its based on europe....so ..sections of this huge real estate are based on the respective countries architecture ....we reached the park through the scotland .entrance.....went on to england from where we went to france on a skyride ...a ropeway basically......france is where the newest roller coaster ride was ....it was a ride called Griffon...the attraction was a 90 deg drop vertically from a height of 210 feet at 75 mph!!!!..imagine free falling at 75 mph....thts how it felt....this ride attracted lotsa people ...the que was big enough to remind me of temple ques....finally..it was our turn to sit ....frankly ...i have vertigo....fear of heights...and this was just what i did not need....but ..raghu's enthusiasm made me take it ....hell it was the "less than 1 min" ride.....it chugs along slowly to 210 ft and then slowly crawls up till the tip of the platform..then curls along the radius...and guess wat..it stops...!! with us hanging on our shoulder straps and looking down waiting for fate to decide wat to do with us ...those 5 secs are all we have to make our last wishes....then...swoosh....free fall....it feels like our brains are left behind ...awesome adrenaline ...and before we realize wat happend...180 flip..!!!..too much to handle ....before we realize ..another 90 deg drop....another series of flips later end of ride....we walk back all shaky....awesome it was.....with the baddest ride conquered, i was ready for the next round of rides.... must admit i am really impressed with the 4D shows....we all remember chota chetan...the only 3D movie indian movie from ages ago...we had to wear spl glasses for that...well...we getto wear the same kinda glasses for the 4D shows too...the 4th dimension being the thrill while trying to be realistic....the seats that we sit in..move in every which way...giving u the feel of being there...now ...all these rides have one thing in common...they make you fall down...i mean down......well...thts the video they make u watch while the sound effects are enough to make you believe you are actually feeling it all...and to make things better....when u fall down..u get a huge gush of air on ur face....it does feel like u r falling down and u grip the seats ....and when they want to make u believe u touch water while falling...a sprinkle of water is thrown on ur face...wicked....amazing these rides are....lots more waiting in lines later we went to almost all rides and ended up with something called roman rapids...a white water rafting kinda ride....after all the adrenaline rush we had earlier...this was nothing but a damp squid....took the skyride back to france to wind up with yet another 4D show ..it was a comedy one with Leslie nielson....well...we were too tired to enjoy it anyway....got out of there and back to our cars via shuttle trains....phew..end of a tiring but fun day.....

24rd May-7th weekend-a long weekend-BEACH TIME

long weekend ..why?.. coz 26th may is holiday in US..memorial day.....lotsa people didn't drive out to anywhere coz of gas prices....one thing about americans is when they go to someplace..they really see everything there thoroughly ...they stay there for a weeks time ...unlike us Indians...we go to a place...hush up quickly and run off to another place...and cover as much as possible within given time.....as for me ...i took the typical indian way of holidaying....!!!..i had to cover Virginia beach where I'd catch up with Sushma ,my cousin and hang around for 2 days ...1st day beach..2nd day williamsburg...why?...theme park...then..travel to New York....now tht was the plan.... 24th early mrng i took a citybus at 130 am...now this was a dicy situation ....miss the bus and i miss the train....coz tht was the last bus....damn....so...after the pub hopping and dinner session on friday nite,mike dropped me home and i quickly packedup and got to my bus stop well in time....i looked like a fool to be standing on the road at 115 am..!! finally i see the bus ..but ...fool of an ass tht driver...he did not see me ....damn fool...i ran behind and banged on the bus to have him stop...bloody arse.....reached the amtrak station....railway station....my train was at 455 ...i had reached at 230...hung around there...now the lobby on this station can easily be confused to the lobby in a luxury hotel.....can't believe it....bong .there was the announcement for my train....now these trains are damn comfy ...easy to confuse with the cabin of an aircraft.....i liked the train...but something unbelievable happened....close to my destination ....the automatic gates at a crossing had broken down..guess wat the train driver does.....unbelievable...he stopped the train before the crossing ..got down....activated the gates .....then moved the train across the crossing ...got down ..opened the gates and then came back and drove us ahead...can u believe that....fukin stupid....at the station, a bus was waiting to take us on a 1 hr ride to virginia beach..my final destinaiton...this is where I'd meet my cousin and her family....sushma and raghu along with their son rishi were to reach there.....same time that i'd reach....i reached soon but waited for 2 hrs till these guys came ....quickly raghu and me jumped into the sea.....had awesome fun..sushma didn't get too deep in the water...she did manage to keep company with rishi......but we had jet skiing and parasailing in mind ..but ...later tht evening it became v cold...so..ditched that idea ...now virginia beach is a city thriving on holiday crowds...so the town council pays talented guys to come and do street shows....various kinds...now there was this duo who had music and were busy flingin balls of fire rythmically....awesome it was to watch them...there were musicians too...well..we had to get out soon...so moved on and drove off to williamsburg where we'd crash in our hotel rooms.....the drive back was awesome ....now ..we all remember the fotographs floating around where there is a bridge across a water body which turns into a tunnel under the water body....well..we drove in that!!!!..awesome it feels....we drive on a real long bridge ...then suddenly we have a tunnel....and whoop...we go into it....then pop up to another smaller bridge...awesome feeling...reached the hotel rooms really tired ..then had some home made food......end of day ...

17th May- 6th weekend-Tuner Evolution- Car show at York PA

friday evening ..i.e, 16th may is when we leave to York PA..no not New York..just York in Pennsylvania..its a v small town..wonder why people would want to have a car show in York....its like kanakapura......why....why...bugger it ...no answers for that....after office i went straight to Mikes shop...he said he'd have loaded the truck...which happened to be his friend Brendans SUV...a nissan pathfinder.....but no action.....after i reach we try to stuff the "truck"....nothing fits inside...catastrophy..!!!....then mike decides he'll hunt down a truck from a rental guy....quite an impossibility...then we ditch all the stuff tht he really wanted to sell and just rely on displaying Shaun's truck...this truck was a Scion xB...its a big hatchback and they call it truck......dont know why.....duh......watever.....moved on and midway he picked up the models he wanted for his stall at the show ....2 college girls ...after seeing these girls....i'd respect all indian girls..!! trust me ....started to drive up ..had dinner mid way....i always liked french onion soup ...spotted it on the menu card....ordered it ...huh...it was covered with 250 gms of molten cheese covering it all....felt sick eating/drinking it ...reached up at york quite late ....no hotels available through out the city...thats when i realized that people take car shows v seriously..... ...reason enough for all rooms to be occupied....finally landed up someplace....got expensive rooms with jacuzzis..!!!....threw luggage...went drinking ...got trashed and got back.....next day at the show...we had no work except for hanging around and checking out stalls....the models and the car/truck at the stall did all the job....i was busy checking out all the cars out there....awesome stalls......awesome cars....pix speak more....a burnout session was there too....lotsa tyres were burnt out ....thts the intention .....both cars and bikes....there was more to see.....DJ competition....guess wat...barbers here can get to become celebrities..!! there was a travelling barber ..and him being there in tht stall was their attraction.....our hajaams have a lot more talent than these guys ...and then...but of course there were guys who did street dancing ...amazing talent .....with dj dooling the right music....people from the crowd joined up to dance .....amazing ....and ..the de rigeur ...bikini show ....yes it did happen....yet another nice time i had.....got back home sat nite...had a chilled out sunday....end of another weekend....