Posts filed under 'Kingsport'

Snowy Morning

Click to Zoom
Shot this a week back early in the morning at around 7 AM in my apartment complex.

It looks like the snow time at Kingsport is over, and now the weather is pretty good.

3 comments | March 2nd, 2006 at 07:03am

Got my US Driving License

I got my US driving license yesterday. Driving in US is pretty easy, specially after driving for couple of years in India. But here, its a totally different ball game.

Its a left-hand drive here. i.e, you drive on the right side of the road.
The laws and the rules of the road are very clearly defined.
Everyone is expected to obey the rules and laws. And as far as I have seen, almost everyone does
There is proper enforcement of the law, and If you are on the wrong side of the line, you are penalised, and your wrong doings are recorded against your history!
Everything is tracked. Your driving history, vehicle history, and you can’t escape from it!
Almost all roads that I have seen here have proper markings on it. (lane makings, directions, signals, boards etc!, And, everything is standardized. So, you just need to learn the sign once.
The traffic moves at pretty high speeds compared to India. i.e., the official speed limit itself is pretty high compared to the speed limits in India

But one major difference I found is … In India, you drive with the assumption that the other people on road won’t be following the rules, and you are always ready for the unexpected and you are always alert. But here, people tend to assume that the other folks on the road would follow the rules….., and by chance if they don’t follow the rule, there is a high possibility of a crash!

For e.g., here in US, at an small time cross road, If you don’t see a “Stop” sign, you are not supposed to stop, but go ahead after slowing down. You assume that the people on the cross road would stop since there would definitely be a “Stop” sign on the cross road. But if the driver on the cross road doesn’t see the stop sign, then the chances of accidents are very high! But in India, one would be very cautious at a cross road. And, I am sure my Indian driving experience would definitely help me out here!

I had taken around 6 hrs of driving lessons from an instructor over here, just to get to know the driving rules and laws etc over here. And, there is an Drivers Handbook (every state has one) too which is very useful. You can download it from http://dmv.org/

Anyways, getting the drivers license was pretty easy. First I had to give an exam (Computer based), after that I had to give an small road test, where they would test my driving skills etc. It took around 1.5 hrs in all. So, the next job is to buy a good car. Its very difficult to live in the United States without a car.

Let me know if you know of any good car deals in the Tri-Cities/Kingsport area!

12 comments | February 24th, 2006 at 08:28pm

Beginning to settle down..

Its two weeks since I landed over here, and I am slowly beginning to settle down. The daily normal routine is in shape now.

Work wise, things are pretty hectic. I am here as an replacement for Suroor, who has been here for nearly 2.5 yrs now. He would be leaving back to India tomorrow. We had a two week transition., and most of it went on smoothly. But the past two weeks were kind of very hectic. So, from this Monday, I would be on my own and it would continue to be hectic for the next couple of weeks.

On the home front, the apartment that I moved into was kind of unfurnished. Its an 1BHK apartment. The features available at the time I moved in were :
1. Carpeted flooring
2. Electric Surface heating (something similar to hot plates in India) with Oven
3. Fridge
4. Dish washing Unit
5. Air conditioning (heater and cooler)
6. One fan in the Hall, and a light in the kitchen!

So, that’s about it!. so, the entire house was pretty much empty, and I had to take care of…
1. Electricity
2. Lights, Microwave, Vacuum cleaner, and other household stuff
3. Bed/Mattress
4. Cable + Internet connection
5. TV
6. Furniture - chairs, tables, iron board etc
7. Lot of other small things..

Getting electricity connection was pretty easy. The house was already powered. All I had to do was call up the power company and tell them that I had moved into this particular apartment. And I had to deposit around $160 as security deposit, which is refundable.

Lights…… got two lamps from Walmart. One for the bedroom, and one for the hall. They are pretty much basic, and look good. Also bought a basic microwave oven and vacuum cleaner and lot of other household stuff from Walmart.

Getting a mattress was quite a challenge. I got a very good second-hand king sized mattress. Sriram, one of my friend & colleague knew a person who deals with second hand mattresses. So, we went over to his place, and bought one. The only problem that we had was, moving the mattress into my apartment since its located on the 1st floor! (or 2nd floor if you are in US!). But thanks to Andy (another friend of mine), we managed to move it with no major struggle or may be a little bit of struggle!

The only Cable + Hi Speed Internet service provider in this area is Charter. I had asked them for a connection on the day I moved into the apartment. i.e., on the 31st of Jan. They gave me an appointment for installation on the 8th of Feb. And the time slot given was 10 AM to 2 PM. That was the earliest available one. And the next available appointment was 13th Feb. I wanted the Internet access at the earliest and went ahead with the 8th Feb option, even though it was a Wednesday and I had meetings at office from 11 AM to 12 PM. I requested Charter if they could come at around 12-2PM time, but they said that its not possible, and they can come anytime during the time slot given (ie, 10 AM to 2 PM!). I asked them to give me a pre-call, and I only hoped that they wouldn’t come at 10 AM. On Feb 8th, luckily, they didn’t call me upto 12.30 PM. I came back home at 12.30 PM and waited…..and the technicians did not turn up even upto 2 PM! Called up the local charter office, and finally, the technicians came in a few mins later. It took them around 20 mins to install. So, finally, I was online with a 3 Mbps connection. And, the speed rocks!

I am yet to buy TV and other furniture. May be sometime this week I will have to go out for one more round of shopping. Otherwise I am kind of done with shopping for most of the things required on a day to day basis.

Oh yes, yesterday I applied for my SSN. The process was quite straight forward, and took around 20 mins to complete. I should be getting my SSN in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday being Suroor’s last Friday in the US, around 6 of us went out for a movie named “Firewall“. It was a decent movie. 6.5 on a scale of 10.

And yes…….for almost the entire day today, it snowed.

5 comments | February 12th, 2006 at 05:41am

My first snow!

Wow.. it snowed here in Kingsport this weekend, and its the first time that I saw a snow fall. Yes… its a thrill to see it for the first time, but after that, I know its a pain :)… anyway, from what I have heard and read, it snows very lightly here in Kingsport during the winter, not like the northern parts of US where the entire place is covered with snow for months together!

Here are some snaps…!

View from outside my house - Click to Zoom

Snow Outside - Click to Zoom

Appartment Complex View - Click to Zoom

Snow on Cars - Click to Zoom

Now its a bit sunny, but still I can see some light snow showers!

6 comments | February 5th, 2006 at 08:56pm

How it going in USofA?… Here is how…

Its nearly six days now since I landed up here in US. And everyone seems to be asking just one question. How are you finding US ?. Quite natural!

Well, my answer is… so far so good. Its a nice and different experience all together. Everything is new to me. The culture, the society, the system, the food…..everything is different and new. But, the best part is, its good.

The place that I am at is very scenic, but its not a place for youngsters who would like to have fun etc… But its a very peaceful and beautiful place.

Here are some pics that I managed to take…

Kingsport - Click to Zoom

Horse!! - Click to Zoom

Road Uphill! - Click to Zoom

Kingsport itself is a very small place in Tennessee. Actually there are 2 more towns close by. One is called Johnson City, and the other Bristol. These three cities together are known as “Tri-Cities”.

Well, talking of change… its a totally different lifestyle out here. But its not a shocking change for me. May be I was kind of ready for it and had heard about this lifestyle from multiple people. Its only that I am experiencing the change now!

Ok. Somethings I would like to make a note of in random order…

The people out here are generally very very friendly. They are ready to help you if you ask for help. People respect your privacy, and the same is expected from you!
The Infrastructure is just top notch. May it be roads, power or whatever. Its just great.
People follow rules. That’s really good. May it be traffic/road rules or any other public rules.
Everything is big! From roads to shopping ‘malls’, and every other shop is part of a chain.
You ‘must’ have a car to go around. There is nothing called public transport at least at the place that I am at. (There is some bus service, but its ..something very very very very basic).
Every mall or shop or office has solid parking space. That’s because, everyone owns a car!
There are lot of places & systems that just work on trust! And people live up to it!. That’s one thing which really surprised me.
Most of the houses are made up of wood.
Paper is used royally here. No one uses Hankey! Tissues are used for almost everything.
Almost all the houses (apartments for rent) come with basic stuff even if its unfurnished - fridge, oven, surface heating (electric hotplate - as known in india), dishwasher. Hot water is always available. AC - cooler and heater.
The place that I am at, the temperature outside is pretty low - around 0 to -3 C at nights and around 15 C during day. But, you won’t feel it when you are indoors. May it be office, or house, or shopping or in car. Everything is temperature controlled.
SSN is the most important thing to have with you. Drivers ID is the next most important document. Without these two, its very difficult to manage!
You must have a credit card with you when you are here. One… since its accepted at almost all the places and Two… it helps you build something called as credit history.
Its not easy to get a credit card! (which is totally different compared to India, where one is forecibly given a credit card!!!)
To get a credit card, you should have a good credit history. And to have a credit history, you must have a credit card! - Perfect chicken and egg problem.
So, the way out is, you need to go for something known as “Secured” credit card. Its something like, you have to deposit some money in your account, and that becomes your credit limit. Its not a debit card!! Its still and credit card. :)
Without a SSN and Credit card (and so…credit history), its difficult to get services like telephone, mobile etc. If you need those services, you need to a good sum of money as deposit (refundable in most cases). I had to pay deposits for the apartment, and the power supply.
Getting a Mobile phone connection too is not so easy!. Its a must that you have a good credit history to go cellular. Where as in India, every tom-dick and harry has a cell phone now!. The cellphone air-time charges too are quite high out here compared to India. Prepaid connection is way too expensive compared to postpaid.
Day to day things/supplies are pretty cheap out here. Electronics stuff is cheap. Stuff related to kids is expensive! What i mean is, there is value for money. Specially in the southern states. Not sure about areas like NJ or Bay area.

So, thats about it for now! More as and when I find time! :)

10 comments | February 3rd, 2006 at 08:02am

Hello from Kingsport!

Hello! I am finally done with my travel. Reached here yesterday afternoon at around 3.30 PM almost 15 mins ahead of time. Three of my colleagues had come down to the airport to pick me up. The entire travel was pretty much on schedule, but a lengthy one.

Started off from Mangalore on Friday afternoon to Mumbai via Jet Airways flight no 9W 432. The flight was pretty much ok….reached Mumbai at around 5 PM. Found that there was one more colleague of mine traveling along with me upto Detroit. We got along and moved to the international airport. By around 6 PM we were there.

My next flight was at 1.20 AM to Amsterdam on Saturday. NW 41, i.e., Northwest Airlines. The north west counter at the airport opens only at around 8.30 PM. So, we had to wait. By around 9 PM, the NW counters were all open and we checked in at around 9.30 PM, followed by immigration check. After which me moved to the international departure lounge. It was pretty good with comfortable seats on which we could almost sleep. I got a nice small power nap. Slept till around 12 PM. By then, they had started security checks prior boarding to our flight. So, at around 12.30 AM, we went in, and at around 1.30 AM or so, we took off.

The Mumbai to Amsterdam flight was not that great. But I managed to get some bits of sleep. Landed in Amsterdam at around 6.45 AM, local time. i.e., around 10.15 AM Saturday India time. The Schipol airport at Amserdam is pretty big, but luckily, our connecting flight was parked at the adjacent gate. So, we quickly moved to the next gate, since we just had a 1hr 20 min stopover at Amsterdam.

The next flight was NW 39 to Detroit. This flight was much better, with some cool in-flight entertainment consoles for individual users. And it was more comfortable compared to the previous flight. We took off sharp at around 8 AM Amsterdam local time. This time I had a window seat. But after reaching cursing altitude of 38k feet, nothing much was visible outside, except for the clouds. This flight was for a duration of around 8 hrs, and I fell a sleep for the first two hours or so. After getting up, I played around with the in-flight entertainment console, did some R&D, and time pass. After that I filled up the forms one needs to fill up before entering the United States (I94 etc). Soon we reached Detroit. Around 15 mins ahead of schedule. i.e., around 9.45 AM EST.

Did my immigration and customs clearance, and then checked in my luggage back to the next flight. We had around 3 hrs with us to explore the Detroit airport. Its pretty cool, with an express tram and all that. Me and one more colleague of mine went around the entire length of the airport, and had some snacks at McDonalds

Detroit Airport - Click to Zoom in

At around 12.15 PM or so, I moved towards my departure gate, where I had to catch my next flight to my final destination, Kingsport. The last flight was a pretty small one…. 34 seater aircraft. Propeller driven :). It had only 6 people including me on board. The flight was for an hour and a half, and I slept for nearly an hour!. Touched down at Kingsport at around 15.30 hrs EST. My colleagues were very helpful, and helped me with luggage etc. Currently I am staying with one of my friends at his apartment. I would be soon moving to a separate apartment in a couple of days.

Here are some snaps of the appartment complex that I am going to stay at….

Allandale Appartment Complex

Will post more later!

4 comments | January 30th, 2006 at 04:21am