"Beware of computer programmers that carry screwdrivers."

Post by: Beth

It is quite difficult to believe, but Raja and I have just gotten the internet installed in our home! The move into our apartment has been an eventful one, mainly due to the length of time it takes to start and complete projects associated with a move. I cannot tell you how many times we have heard it will be done "tomorrow," followed by the exact same words the next day, and the next, and the next. I was really starting to believe we would never get our new couch, lights installed, internet connection established, etc etc... We were quite patient to start with, but over time, it's become apparent that only two things work effectively here when it comes to having home projects completed by various workers: 1) yelling and 2) bribing. We aren't necessarily proud of either tactic, but have been reduced to using both on occasion. I've also learned here that when a project is actually started, to not question why it's being done this strange way, or why they're using this method to complete that task... Things are just done completely differently here, and questioning it does no good, as the workers just shake their head and say "Nay" when you ask them if it can be done a more "traditional" method.

For example, our internet connection was established today, but in a way I've never quite witnessed. We've been trying to get these people to come for 2 weeks now, so as soon as 3 non-English speaking Indian men with wires and cords rapped on our door, we welcomed them with joy and open arms. It wasn't long until two of the men disappeared, and one of the men perched himself on the ledge outside our window. We watched curiously as he hauled out an incredibly long cable and dropped about 75 feet of it towards the ground, where one of the disappearing men was now waiting. We're not sure how the next part happened, but when we could see the cable again, it's revealed to us that its about 300 feet long, and is now stringing from our window ledge, all the way across the street, to the rooftop of another building where disappearing man #2 now sits in the sun. I tore my eyes away from this production, and whispered to Raja "What if it rains??" He too was looking puzzled, so began questioning the man in Hindi if there wasn't some way we could just, you know, have the internet cable running only to a base in our own apartment, or even our own building, as opposed to stringing it 300 feet across the street to the roof of another building. "Nay," came the response, with a vigorous shake of the head. It turns out that our building is so new they haven't even built in the internet capabilities yet, so instead of tackling that project now, Raja's bribing and yelling prompted the workers to simply steal the internet from another building.

At this stage in the game, Raja and I have taken to just shrugging at each other and uttering the phrase "Well.. we'll just see how it goes, I guess.." back and forth. And I have to say, for this internet gig, so far so good. It's surprisingly fast, seems to be working exactly as it should, and is allowing me the privelege of this blog post, so you'll hear no complaints from me!

The pictures give a view of what went down in our house today... We tried to at least be discreet and not snap pictures relentlessly while laughing out loud, so this is the best we could get as far as photos. ;)

The arrow is pointing to the cable that's stringing all the way across the street.

And the building in the rectangular box is where the cable finally stops... just a hop, skip, and jump across the street!