Visit SFL
March 12-14, 2017
SFL
We went to SFL and spent most part of two days: Monday and Tuesday returning to Tallahassee late evening on Tuesday.
We left late afternoon on Sunday, March 12 and stayed at a place close the campus.
Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Visit SFL
Sunday, March 12th, 2017World’s Longest Flight
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016World’s Longest Flight
March 1 to March 2, 2016
Emirates Flight # UAE 448
Dubai, UAE to Auckland, New Zealand
United Arab Emirates airliner called “Emirates” flown an Airbus A380 (the newest and a fully double-deckered plane) from Dubai in United Arab Emirates to Auckland, New Zealand. The flight made its maiden journey leaving Tuesday, March 1, 2016 in Dubai at 10:18 AM and arrived on Wednesday, March 3, 2016 at 9:58 AM (all times are local). According to news reports (https://news.yahoo.com/worlds-longest-flight-lands-auckland-060409884.html) currently this is the longest flight supposed to take 17 hours and 15 minutes. The maiden flight’s duration was 14 hours and 10 minutes (of this is flight time and not the total time).
Possible relief on Weems Road
Wednesday, June 10th, 2015Possible traffic relief for Weems Road
Wed, Jun 10, 2015
Two days ago, I saw in Tallahassee Democrat, our local newspaper, a public notice from Florida Department of Transportation FDOT (http://www.dot.state.fl.us/) about resurfacing of the portion of the Capital Circle Southeast closer to where we live.
Currently the FDOT resurfacing the main artery to the city, Mahan Drive (US 90) from Capital Circle to Magnolia Drive. However, the public notice mentioned below would resurface area close tothe current resurfacing but would also add right turn lane on Capital Circle SE on the north bound lanes. The latter part is very important.
This will probably have direct impact for our neighborhood where it has become increasingly difficult to get in or out of our own neighborhood. This is true during the morning and especially during evening rush hour as people driving north bound in Capital Circle SE take a short cut at Easterwood Drive and proceed to Weems Road to get Eastern Tallahassee where many of them live. This makes Weems Road, which is undivided single lane road, congested. To get in and out of our neighborhood occasionally it takes about a minute not because so many people live in our neighborhood but so many others who don’t live are driving on the only road we have access to the public road ways.
Travel to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Monday, June 8th, 2015Travel to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
June 1-7, 2015
I arrived at Jacksonville International airport around 4 PM. Parked my car in the Economy Parking Lot 1 and took the airport shuttle to get to the JAX airport. Then my Delta flight to Minneapolis-StPaul left Jacksonville airport around 6:30 PM EDT and scheduled to arrive at MSP at 8:40 PM CDT. The flight was about 3 hours long and it was okay flight. Due to summer there was sunlight as we landed in Minneapolis-StPaul. I had to run to new terminal to catch my next flight to Saskatoon, SK. My next flight was from completely in a different part of the terminal so I ran from F terminal to C terminal and there was only about an hour time and I had to have something to eat. I grabbed some sandwich at the C terminal and soon boarded flight to YXE. The flight was 2 hours long and arrived at Saskatoon, SK around 11 PM. I had to go through both immigration and customs. Since it was a small airport there were only two agents and by the time everything was over, it was almost 11:40 PM MDT. Unfortunately neither of my cell phones worked (T-Mobile prepaid and Mobal International). So I tried to log into Gmail. That got rejected because I was logging in from Saskatoon far away from home. So not wanting wait I took a taxi and went to Ogle Hall at the University of Saskatchewan campus. The ride was quick and costed ~C$22.
The next morning my old prepaid quad band T-Mobile cell phone (poor the clam shell flip phone) worked. That saved my trip. The texting on it was bad but worked. Once I arrived at Canadian Light Source, I was able to log into Gmail by typing in the secure phone number.
I arrived at Saskatoon International airport around 3:15 AM using a taxi cab and it cost ~C$25. Since it was so early there was no one at the Delta counter. Then around 4 AM people came and I checked my luggage and got the boarding pass. The Starbucks opened around 4:00 AM too and got coffee and waited at the gate.
We boarded the plane on time around 5:50 AM but never took off for another hour or so as the pilot needed to get some clearance from the ground and main office due to some problem with a light. Finally we arrived at Minneapolis-St Paul almost one hour late. The Delta people requested that those who had connecting flight to leave early. At MSP, I had to go through both immigration and customs. Fortunately, the Automated Passport Control (APS) and the airport helped me finish the process quickly. Then I had to wait for the luggage to arrive and cleared through customs and rechecked the bag. Fortunately, again the my gate was literally next to the plane from Canada. I then arrived at ATL around 1 PM. My final flight to Jacksonville was at 3 PM and that arrived at JAX by 4 PM. I was surprised to see my luggage make it all the way from Minneapolis especially when it took a long time before everyone had collected their luggage.
I paid for the parking fee and headed home and arrived by 8 PM.
Travel to Arlington
Monday, April 20th, 2015Travel to Arlington, VA
Sunday-Monday, April 19-20, 2015
I travelled to Arlington, Virginia on a business trip. I left home on Sunday via a Delta flight via Atlanta and arrived at the Reagan airport on the afternoon. Then I took the WMTA metro Blue and Silver lines to get Arlington, VA. I stayed overnight at an area hotel.
The next day I had meetings from morning 8 AM to afternoon 3 PM. Then I picked up my luggage (held at the hotel) and took the subway back to Reagan. I was able to catch an earlier flight (after paying a fee) and avoid the approaching thunderstorms. I was home by night.
Attend PITTCON 2015
Monday, March 9th, 2015
PITTCON 2015
Mar 9, 2015, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana
I attended the PITTCON 2015 at New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a big conference. I was able to meet several people, spoke to many vendors and attended many interesting talks.
Drive to Chipola College
Sunday, September 21st, 2014
Trip to Chipola College
Marianna, FL
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Bhanu (and I) drove to Chipola College, Marianna, Florida today to check out the location of this year’s 2014 Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute. This year’s program will be held at Chipola College starting from October 2014 through July 2015. We drove mostly via the state highways and occasionally taking the Interstate as and when needed. The total drive varied from 1 1/2 h or 1 1/4 h depending upon the route and traffic and delays.
Travel to Atlanta Hindu Temple
Friday, March 14th, 2014
Travel to Atlanta Hindu Temple
Friday, March 14, 2014
Today VtS and I traveled to Atlanta, GA and visited the Atlanta Hindu Temples of Shri Balaji and Lord Shiva. We left town in the morning around 9:35 AM and took our regular route of US 319 and then we took I 75.
We stopped at Tifton around noon and had lunch at a fast food restaurant. We then drove in I 75 N toward Atlanta, GA. We arrived at Hindu Temple of Atlanta sometime around 3 PM. Since it was Friday afternoon there were only few devotees. We went inside both the Balaji temple and the Shive temple. The priest gave special pooja and we offered our donations and went around the sanctum sanctorum and took some prasad.
We spent about an hour and left to our place for stay.
Heavy Rain in Tallahassee
Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013Heavy Rainfall in Tallahassee
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Tallahassee, FL 32306
The whole day it has been raining on and off. There were several heavy rainfall bouts. One around 2 PM and couple of them between 3 and 5 PM. On my way home I found so much water at the intersection of North Duval Street and West Tennessee Street (Mahan Drive; US 90) that the cars had to avoid the right most lane. Here is a photo of the water flow at the intersection of W Tennessee Street and N Duval Street
Ceremonies for Appa and Amma
Sunday, April 28th, 2013Ceremonies for Appa and Amma
Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28 2013
Vedaraniam
Tamil Nadu, India
Thayumanaswamy Rajalakshmi passed away on Tamil New Year’s day on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 9:00 AM in Chengal Pattu, Tamil Nadu, India on the lap of her son, Thiyagarajan. The cremation with full Hindu religious rites was held on Monday, April 15, 2013 at 12:00 Noon in Vedaraniam as per her wishes and her ashes were disbursed in Bay of Bengal. The tenth and eleventh day Hindu religious rites were held together with her beloved husband’s on Saturday and Sunday April 27 and 28, 2013 in the ancestral home and at Vedamirtha Lake in Vedaraniam.
Appakutty Somasundaram Thayumanaswamy Pillai passed away on Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 6:00 PM in Chengal Pattu, Tamil Nadu, India surrounded by all his children, just four days after his second wife passed away. The cremation with full Hindu religious rites was held on Friday, April 19, 2013 at 6:00 PM in Vedaraniam, his ancestral town, as per his wishes and his ashes were disbursed in Bay of Bengal. The tenth and eleventh day Hindu religious rites were held together with his beloved wife’s on Saturday and Sunday April 27 and 28, 2013 in the ancestral home and at Vedamirtha Lake in Vedaraniam.
He is survived by two sons Somasundaram (Gnanabhanu) of Tallahassee, FL, USAand Thiyagarajan (Anita) of Chengal Pattu;three daughters Swarnambal (Rathnakumar) of Tambaram, Thillaikkarasi (Shanmugavelu) of Trichy, and Ambika (Vijaay) of Thanjavur all in Tamil Nadu, India; eight grandchildren Gayathri (Sri Ram) of Tambaram, Niveditha and Muthu Kumaran of Trichy, Vivek Thayumanam of Tallahassee, FL, USA, Vidhushini and Arjun Thaimanam of Chengal Pattu, and Sibi Kiran and RishiHrithik of Thanjavur; and one great grandson Abhay Krishna of Tambaram.
