I am bored out of my mind in this class. It should end in a half hour but I am doubting it with the pace the professor is going through the lecture. This has so far been the worst class for us at SLU.

Anyway, to pass the time, I wanted to share with you our current exploration of flight tickets to Europe for the latter part of August. Neeraj and I have been tracking various websites to find out the best rates.

Here are some of the good ones that also let’s you search for international fares:

I have stopped checking sites like Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, Hotwire, etc… They really don’t provide any good rates. Same for travel agents - Internet rates are definitely more competitive rather than going to a travel agent (my own experience).

With the crude oil price so high, you have to keep checking for prices. We have been checking since March - and really, we haven’t seen much of a difference. We do see that if we buy a month ahead of time, we will see some favorable difference, but nothing much more than that. Its crazy when traveling to Europe can be comparable to traveling to India

Today was the first day in quite some time that crude oil prices were down ($6 to be exact ), so Neeraj wants to wait to buy the tickets, and FareCast has reaffirmed his decision.

So if you are traveling soon, have a look at the websites above. They may come out handy for you. Right now I have them setup to send me daily alerts to let me know if rates are changing so that we can make a quick decision if we want. As a fact that I had read, fares usually change within 50 hours, so these alerts can come in very handy.

The other thing I have noticed is that its better to have flexible dates. We have fixed dates, and its guaranteed that we will pay more on the date that we want to leave rather if we would have left two days later. In our case, it doesn’t make sense to leave two days later because we are going on a long weekend.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

I have got this ‘one post a month’ routine going on these days that I need to stop. Its just so difficult finding time. There are many times that I think to myself, that is a topic that I need ot blog on, etc… but it just never makes it.

Our immunizations saga still continues…mine is finally done. We are waiting on a response from the university on Neeraj’s immunizations (if they have accepted it). What a hassle!

Congrats to the Under 19 India cricket team for beating South Africa in the World Cup. After going undefeated in the tournament you deserve the win

As you may have seen in my previous posts, customer service is a big issue for me. If I don’t get the service that I feel that I deserver as a consumer, I blog about it. There are many big companies that have failed in this that I have blogged in the past about such as Verizon Wireless, Air India, Sears, Citibank, and so many more that you could search for on the blog.

Now there is another company that has joined in that realm of unsatisfactory customer service: eTrade. Its been just about a month or more since Neeraj and I have been trying to get a savings account open with them. Its like dealing with an Indian company. “Well, we need to do this veriifcation, that verification. You will need to fill out this form, that form.”

The reason that we were opening a savings account with eTrade was because our current company, ING Direct have recently slashed their interest rates due to the alleged upcoming US recession. At that time, eTrade was offering a whopping 5% interest rate for a savings account, and so Neeraj and I jumped on it.

A month later, we still don’t have an account open. God knows why because every time we call customer service they really don’t know why the account hasn’t been created either.

Now the interest rate is 4.10%. That sucks. ING Direct is still worse so it still makes sense to open the savings account, but it would be nice to get somewhere with the eTrade folks to get it open so that we are able to deposit the money.

So again on Monday Neeraj will call to find out what he needs to do next to get this account open. ING Direct was definitely not this difficult to get the account open. It was a very simple and easy process. Immediately after opening the account we were able to start depositing money. With eTrade, nothing seems easy.

So if you want to look at savings accounts, you might want to think twice on eTrade… I know that we have now since experiencing such bad customer service. It would be nice that today’s companies start caring for their customer who is bringing in the money rather than not paying attention to them at all. eTrade - wake up!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

Its been a week and a half since moving to Missouri, and its been a bit rough. What I have learned is that it is really tough to live without the Internet. Alot of things havent been easy; you never knew how much you relied on the Internet until the point you didn’t have it.

First major fiasco of last week was our stupid webhosting company known as Netbunch. It used to be Mesopia when we first made the website in 2004, but then it was bought by Netbunch (which is owned by WebHostingPlus) sometime in the last 8-12 months. Since that point it has been downhill — bad customer service, late response (sometimes no response at all:!: ), and no support forums!!!

Well one day last week, because I was home and thank goodness for the Business Center in the apartment complex where I could use the Internet, I noticed that our website was down. I immediately shot off a support ticket request to the Netbunch folks. About an hour and half later I get a response saying that 16 of their servers have been hacked, including their backup, and all data has been wiped clean. YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!

What type of web-hosting company are you running if you cannot secure your customer’s data — including backup!!! Boy was I frustrated as I scrambled to find a backup on my office laptop. I found one, which was old (July 30, 2006), but now didn’t have the resources ( i.e. Internet access on my laptop) or the time to sit and fix the website. I told Netbunch that I wanted to know if they were able to recover data that would be more recent than July 30th, but they said (which took them two days to respond ) that at this time, they had zero of my data. IDIOTS!

Hey hey hey, are you ready to have a time of your life? Are you ready to take the trip and be with all those other wonderful bloggers that you speak and discuss with every single day?? Well, the wait is no longer.

With Captain Manpreet leading the way, we are ready to enjoy the next OBM flight scheduled to take off on Saturday, July 2nd.

Its an evening flight @ 7 PM IST (Indian Standard Time) for those boarding on from India, and an early morning flight for those US passengers.

Now to enjoy to the fullest, please have your webcams and microphones on and ready. Ask any of the people on the microphones last OBM, how much fun it was voice chatting:!:

Please send us an email with your Yahoo ID at np[at]neerajpoonam.com or to your Captain at msbhalla[at]gmail.com. We need to have an accurate count so that we don’t start the fun without anybody!

There will be games and fun, and maybe even some prizes! So hope that you all make it to the OBM! We had a great group last time, and you can see all of their photos right here. I hope we can add your photo to the group as well! You won’t want to miss the fun!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

Current Tune: Yeh Dosti - Sholay

Thank you everyone that joined the Online Bloggers Meet (OBM) on Saturday! Neeraj and I just want to let you know that we had a great time and hope that you all did as well!

For those that missed it, let me tell you, it was a bloggers meet that you would have not wanted to miss. Why? Let me just give you a flavor of what happened.

Who were there? If you go into our gallery, you will see an album with mostly all of the participants that were there but here is a rundown of the list of those that stayed for the majority of the time:

Manpreet
Ankur
Govind
Kunal
Mallika
Manish
Pareeka
Pranshu
Neeraj
Poonam

Mannat was there in the beginning with her husband, but then had to leave. Kaush popped in for a few mins and so did Sushubh and Puneet.

Where we all from? People all around the world joined us. Govind was on from Germany, while Neeraj, Kunal, Puneet, and Manpreet (K & M were dying of hunger throughout the meet ) were on from aamchi Mumbai. Thanks to Pareeka, who was on from Australia, where it was 2 am and in true spirit stayed on with us till the very end. Ankur was from rape city not-the-safest-city Delhi :mrgreen:, Mallika joined from Calcutta, Pranshu from Jamshedpur, and Manish, Mannat, Kaush, and myself from the USA.

So what did we talk about? Well we proved the old saying wrong that Indians never start on time. We started a half and hour early as there were enough people online. We got situated with those who had microphones and those who were going to text chat only. Then as the people poured in, we started the introductions. We went down the list and individually each person said where they were from, how they started blogging/got associated with blogging, their age, and then open question session from the junta. It was loads of fun with my dear Neeraj popping in and asking the personal questions such as:

Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend? Are you single? Are you married? Are you looking for someone?

Once was he stopped by Kunal who asked him,

“Neeraj, tera iraadha kya hai”?

Only then to find out that he was starting the Neeraj Poonam Marriage Bureau.

There were a few of us on the microphones (Kunal, Manish, Manpreet, Neeraj, and myself), and we had a ball of time:!: Kunal definitely knew how to create trouble between Neeraj and myself. Every other minute you would hear someone say,

“Manish kahan gaya?”

It seems that he had taken over for Manmohan Singh as the PM, because he was so busy attending phone calls from India.

Neeraj and I also had our webcams up, which was great for those who wanted to watch the live facial expressions.

What was great was everyone had a sense of humor! I spent most of the time laughing! Mannat started the fun by saying that Ankur, who hadn’t joined yet, was out on a date so will be late to the meet. Ankur got the third degree on that one. Neeraj was getting tons of questions from the junta during his intro session, and there was Govind asking Neeraj for tips on how he had proposed to me, what steps he had taken, etc… Pareeka did not speak too much, but when she did she would hit a sixer by making some great comments!

Then the fun started after introductions. One by one we all talked about our deepest and darkest secrets, and let me tell you, I was amazed on how many of us opened up. I learned so much about the others, and I think everyone learned something new about Neeraj and myself (yes, we did share a secret of our own ). I think we really learned a lot from each other’s experiences.

It was funny that so many (Manpreet, Kunal, Govind ) had not had dinner yet, and we wouldn’t let them go have it by telling them that they would miss out on the secrets. Hilarious!!

Those that missed out, sorry but the secrets will not be revealed. Many great love stories were also disclosed between the bloggers, which was fabulous. Everything from love and romance to family to career were discussed. We even had a mini Mumbai-Delhi bahas (a running argument between Manpreet and myself ) Pranshu and Neeraj reminisced about their days at IIT (Pranshu was Neeraj’s junior ). Mallika joined us a little later, but her story was the hit of the meet as she was bombarded with questions:!:

Overall a great meet, and thanks to everyone for being there early and having just a great time! It was done in all fun, and you know its a success when the junta chants for another blog meet!

Thanks everyone for being there, and hope that you will all come for the next one!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

In some parts of the world its already Saturday.

Bloggers’ Meet taking place TODAY!!!!

Once more here are the details:

Following have accepted and will be added to the conference:

Kunal
Puneet
Divya
Mona
Pareeka
Mannat
Gaurav
Govind
Manish
Pranshu
Ankur
Manpreet
Neeraj
Poonam
Priya - tentative
Ashwin - tentative

If I have forgotten your name, please let me know, and will add you to the list. Its going to be a great time, and its never too late to join!

Catch me on Yahoo (poonam_bhatia23) or leave a comment if you would still like to join the conference!

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

We are having an Online Bloggers’ Meet this Saturday! Be there or be square! A big thanks goes to Manpreet who has gotten the word out!

We know that many were unable to come last Saturday to the Virtual Blogger’s Meet organized by Kaush, and so we decided to have another one this upcoming Saturday.

Here are the Details:

Times:
8.30 AM USA Pacific Standard Time (Saturday morning)
10.30 AM USA Central Standard Time (Saturday morning)
11.30 AM USA Eastern Standard Time (Saturday morning)
9 PM Indian Standard Time (Saturday night)
10.30 PM Indonesian Standard Time (Saturday night)
1.30 AM Sydney, Australia Standard Time (Sunday morning)

Please send your Yahoo Messenger ID screen name, so that you will be invited into the conference room, by Contacting Us or send an email to msbhalla [at] gmail [dot] com

A request to please have available a microphone, webcam, speakers, or photo of yourself to share with the rest of the group. The more you have, the better fun we will have!

Please respond by Friday, 13th May. On end of day Friday, Manpreet and I will put up a list of all of the names that will be joining for the meet.

Everyone that comes to NP.com is welcomed to join, blogger or no blogger. Neeraj and I both will be there.

Questions/Suggestions/Thoughts? Leave a comment.

I hope to see you all there — and on time

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.

Current Tune - Nassa Nassa - Kaal

After just roaming around on Chetan’s website, I found a post on 43 Things that intrigued me. Its a place where you right down the 43 things that you want to do in life or things that you have accomplished. Definitely does require brainpower (errm…Manpreet shayad tere ko rehne dena chaiye ).

I encourage for you all to sign up, comment or trackback, and tell us what is the URL for your list. You can check out my list right here.

Abhi toh hamari list ki shuruwat hui hai — bahut kuch add karna hai…but you are all free to look at it for now.

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.