Since I am still waiting for IBM to approve or deny my requests to extend my house hunting trip and / or my budget increase, and since I have been paying for my accommodations out of my own pocket since 19 April, I moved to a smaller, cheaper hotel called The Mayer. The staff is nice and helpful, the room is clean, but it is just not The Leela Palace. I got spoiled rotten at The Leela.
I had The Mayer provide me with a car to get me to my office on Tuesday. It was a microvan (think 1/3 of a minivan) that ran on propane, with a destroyed suspension, no air conditioning and no seat belts. Oh yeah, full of mosquitoes. It was a harrowing ride. I was holding on to the 'holy shit handle' the whole time. Making it even more experiential, the driver, a local, did not know where he was going. I knew the city better than he did. True, my ability to speak Kannada (local language) is nonexistent. However, every other time I have been in a taxi or auto-rickshaw with a local that did not speak English, they all knew landmarks like Leela Palace, Ring Road, EGL (my office park) 100 Feet Rd. This guy, nothing.
The waiting is killing me. Anyone that has known me for more than 3 minutes understands that I am impatient. I have been waiting 13 days for a decision on my housing budget. In that time, my rep at IBM has been a lying, unresponsive and evasive pain in the ass. If my budget is not approved, I will book my flight home and accept whatever negative consequences IBM throws at me. I have now reached the point of ambivalence. I don't care what their decision is. Sure, I'd like to stay here for the year, have Nancy, Court & Ef stay with me in this exotic place, but I also miss my home and all the comforts. IBM pushed me to this point. Who knew I could go from pure excitement, to anger, to rage, to disgust and to ambivalence in 16 days?
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