Random stuff

After five posts yesterday (but written over four days) I'm a little drained. So some random musings -

• I'm making a conscious effort to "correctly mispronounce" certain words and sounds. It's back to "zed" instead of "zee" - Z. It's "Lee Meridian" and not "Le Meridian". It's still "xerox", not "photocopy", even at work.
  
• I'm getting pretty good at bargaining. It's not really to save money which, honestly, won't be much anyway. It's more like a sport or atleast to avoid getting conned by the shopkeepers. I purchased a set of plastic boxes and saved about Rs. 22 off a total of Rs. 172. A good accomplishment for me.
  
• Have to make a decision about drinking water. 1-liter bottles are running at around Rs. 12, 2-liter at Rs. 20, 5-liter at Rs. 45 and 20-liter at Rs. 170. With the 20-liter, there is a decent system where you pay a deposit of about Rs. 140 and get the water (20 liters) for Rs. 35 or Rs. 50 if delivered. They'll bring you a full bottle everytime you run out of water and charge you the Rs. 50 till you return the bottle. I think I'll try it out atleast for a little while. My only concern is if I can finish the 20-liters before the water goes bad.
  
• This is the first time I'll be paying my bills. These will primarily be rent, electricity, community fees (sort of a maintenance fee). Cable TV was a lump sum amount. Cell phone is pay as you go. (Land line hasn't been installed yet.) When I tried to pay the electricity bill with a photocopy of the bill (long story) the guy didn't take the payment. This is one of the many ways in India where the paper trail is too confining.
  
• Fruits!!! The Seetaphals (Custard apples)  are in season and boy am I glad!! I'm planning to do a couple of dinners of eating nothing but those. I'm almost certain to get a stomachache but it'll be worth it. 
• As I was coming home from Hyderabad on Monday, I got into an auto after I got off the bus. I had one pretty big suitcase with me since I was taking the rest of my clothes etc from Hyderabad. The auto driver took me home and the meter showed a value of "91". This, depending on the time of the day and the driver himself, translates to something between Rs. 80 and Rs. 91. As I waiting for the decision to be pronounced, the guy hit me me "Give me Rs. 100". "How does that translate to Rs. 100?" I asked him. "Luggage extra, Sir," came the reply. I tried to reason, "How does that make sense, if I had two guys in the auto instead of the suitcase, the weight would have been the same. So why should I pay extra?" "Look sir, I don't care if there are four other guys in the auto, luggage is always extra. If you show me an auto driver who won't charge you extra for luggage, I'll forgo my fare amount." I couldn't argue anymore.
  Charging extra for luggage has always been in existence. I just wanted to get a good reason from the driver why that was so. I guess it's the "You need me more than I need you" tax, or the "You're very likely from out of town" tax. 
• I'm hoping this week I'll be done running around for set up stuff like cable TV, phone, bank, electricity bill etc. Starting this weekend I'll hopefully get to explore the city more thoroughly. When my college classmate returns from his sister's wedding, I'll tag along with him to participate in adventure sports that, as he puts it, have atleast a moderate chance you'll get killed.