Please review this chart and let me know how are we going to save the world by just reducing the fossil fuel by few percentage. I see this phenomenon of climate change as irreversible.
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Climate Change and Carbon-di-oxide emission
Please review this chart and let me know how are we going to save the world by just reducing the fossil fuel by few percentage. I see this phenomenon of climate change as irreversible.
Switzerland and Paris Trip
Seattle to Zurich:
The AA flight from Seattle to Zurich was via JFK. There was only 2 hrs. layover at JFK. The Seattle flight got delayed by 2 hrs. AA promptly re-booked our flight via Chicago. However instead of AA we were flying Swiss air from Chicago to Zurich.
We met Mayor of Chicago at Seattle airport. He seemed to be a hardworking fellow. Nobody bother him. He was mostly on phone talking to people. There was no assistant or security with him.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful other than few bumps. We had to change the terminal at Chicago.
Terminal 5 is the international terminal. We had to literally get out of security perimeter of airport and take tram to go to terminal 5 and get the security done again. At Chicago, we also purchase $300 worth of swiss franc. $1.00 = ~.80 SF. Thus, we got around 250 SF. Terminal 5, is a small modern terminal with high end amenities. Again, the swiss air flight got delayed by 2 hours, because crew were stuck in traffic. The flight was long. Even though it was a A330 aircraft, the amenities were like old airplanes and nowhere matched the Emirates facilities during recent other flight. Since our flight was changed after luggage check-in we were worried about our luggage transfer. However, agents of Swiss air verified for our piece of mind, that the luggage has been transferred properly.
The initial schedule was supposed to bring us to Zurich at 7.30 AM, but we reached Zurich at ~12 noon. Sushma was bummed off for losing 5 hours of stay at Zurich.
The international flight reached at terminal ‘E’. Nice and busy. I noticed everything was square and light color. To go to toilet, you either had to take lift or climb two flight of stairs. First, we walked to the end of terminal, then we had to take a tram to terminal 1,2,3 baggage claim. We were interviewed by immigration officer, where we had to show the proof of return flight. The luggage came promptly. The custom was in name only.
I decide before the trip that I won’t rush into anything. I will think, study and ask, before move, to save time and running around. We decided to go to city by train. Thus, the first order of business was to buy the train ticket and find the train. There were enough signs and we followed sign and purchased two train tickets to Zurich BH. I think BH means central or main station. The train to Zurich comes at platform 3 and 4. While going through the airport and train station, we also noticed that it was a giant shopping complex with even grocery stores.
We took the first train to Zurich which was standing there. You must press/touch the round button on the door to open it. Luggage was easy to transfer and keep in the train. I noticed that there was at least 2-3” gap between the train and platform. It is certainly a safety hazard and the train guys could have been sued many times to close the gap. The third station was Zurich BH.
We came out of station and realized that we did not know the direction to the hotel. We started looking for ‘I’ (information) sign. We found with slight difficulty but when we approached them we were told to go to “I for tourist”. I suspect that was ‘I’ for train. Tourist information was nearby, who gave us the direction of the hotel. Nearby to the station. I will say it is no more than 5 minutes’ walk. The tourist agent offered us that we could take tram or walk. We decided to walk. We had to cross the river Limmat. Then it was a walk uphill to reach hotel Leoneck.
http://www.leoneck.ch/en/home/
Friday Zurich
Hotel Leoneck is at good location. Easy walk to train station and bus station. It was not raining while we walked to the hotel. The reception was pleasant and room was quickly assigned to us. Our room (#305), had a balcony with a table and two chair and the view was fantastic. The historic church is in front of our balcony. We could also see the mountains from our balcony.
The room was mid-size with a table, couple of chair, queen bed etc. Comfortable for us. The bathroom is very small but clean and functional. I have no complain about the hotel. It seems that the buffet breakfast is included. The hotel has a restaurant also.
We came to room and decided to freshen up. And then it started raining. We decided that this rain is heavy enough that we can’t see the city on our own. I was told at the information center that the walk around the Limmat river and up to the lake will take around 2 and half hour. But because of rain we decided to take a city tour, which, with our luck, was starting at 3.30 PM. We rushed to the bus station and got two tickets.
https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/tours-excursions/best-of-zurich
The tour was worth it. The bus was neat and clean and the guide spoke clear English and Spanish. It was mostly a bus tour with three stops. First was at Lake Zurich, second was Cogwheel train (Durban railway) ride and the third was at old town near the three churches. If it was not raining, we would have ditched the bus at the old town center and walked back to hotel. If we had walked on our own on a clear day, we would have missed two things only, Cog train ride and good talk by our guide.
The bus tour took us to the outer skirt of the city. We saw . We also went through two Zurich universities. I was told that Einstein studies and researched here for some time. We also saw remnants of Roman bath. There were many Indian visitors on our bus. At bus stops or city walk or bus tour we saw many people of Indian origin.
Saturday/Zurich
We got semi-decent sleep. We got up early at 3.00 AM. Then went to sleep at around 5.00 AM. Got up again at 7.45 PM. We got ready and went down for Buffet breakfast. Scramble egg, breads, cereal, milk, juice, coffee etc. Then we went out for stroll through the town. We went up to lake Zurich. Along the way we went to a farmers market. They sold vegetable, cheese and other food. We also went to a flea market. It was a big market selling stuff like they sold that US flea market. Then we went to a local children park. Enjoyed the rose garden. We kept on strolling until it was time to check out. We checked out the 12 noon and headed to train station. We ate Scandinavian/Paella.
We purchased the train ticket for Luzern using the vending machine. Sushma figured out that the train will come at platform #4. The train ride was comfortable and smooth. There were three stops. The ride was scenic and very beautiful.
Saturday/Sunday – Luzern
We reached Luzern at ~2.00 PM. Our hotel was nearby. We walked to our hotel from train station across river Reuss. We hardly had to run left and the hotel was on forth building.
http://www.hotelpickwick.ch/en/Home/
To check-in you must go to the pub. The bartender checks you in and shows how to go to your room and entrance and exit facility. Thus, the hotel is on top of bar and good food joint. The room itself was nice. Nice double bedroom, good size room and clean bathroom. There were two more bed that were folded to become shelf. Overall the hotel was good.
If you do not go through pub there is a nice entrance from the back which is actually a piazza. If you stay at any hotel in Luzern, they give you free public transport pass for the duration of stay. The pass is good for train, bus, ferry and tram.
We had a room facing river Reuss with a small balcony. You can feel the activity going down. The city’s famous Chapel bridge was straight in front of our window.
I called Karl Lang (LR CEO) and informed him of my arrival. Karl came within 30 minutes. Three of us went out for old city stroll. We learnt about the Chapel bridge and how it was destroyed in fire and then rebuilt. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history. Also, saw a needle dam that control the flow of water. In old days, it was controlled by experts. Now a day it is electronically controlled. The town has many famous buildings that belonged to the early expert craftsmen of city. All kind of architecture were found.
Karl invited us to come to his house. His house is in Hergiswil. Hergiswil is 5 km from Luzern. Karl has his house on the base of mount Pilatus. The views are spectacular specially from the top floor. We are two types of cake at his residence. Sushma gifted her candle and flowers.
Afterwards Karl took all 4 of us to a trip around lake Luzern. It is ~2.5 hrs drive with small stops here and there for photo opportunity. Shape of Lake Luzern is not smooth or rounded as in most of the case. It is a lake with many side arms. The trip round the lake was the most beautiful trip around with mountains, lakes and general view. The view of mountain changes as you drive around the lake. We stopped at a luxurious hotel and took some pictures. Karl also drove us to a vantage point for a great view. Finally, we had our dinner at a lake front and then returned to hotel.
Here is a video that refreshes memories of Lucerne and the places we visited
https://youtu.be/QQjAhAg8urQ
.... and a second video
https://youtu.be/YPtVscPz-Xs
Mount Pilatus Pilatus and Rigi are the famous mountain for recreation and visiting near Luzern. We decided to go to Pilatus. It is called golden tour.
http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/golden-round-trip/
The tour has five legs.
1. By boat from Luzern to Alpanachstad
2. By Cogwheel train from Alpanachstad to top of Pilatus
3. By Aerial cableway to Frakmunteg
4. By gondola to Krien via Krienseregg
5. By Public bus from Krien to Luzern
You can buy the ticket in advance or before the start of your trip from the train station. The cross the road and catch the boat at station #2. This was a fantastic trip. We got a window seat on the boat. We sat inside and outside and saw the great view from the lake. Sushma had many houses, cabins, Swiss Chalet in her view which were gorgeous.
Finally, we reached Alpnachstad. Instead of rushing to catch the cogwheel train, we waited for next train and enjoyed the stroll of the village. We caught the next train. The train is really steep @ 48%. The percentage goes up and down and noted on the side of track. If climbing up sit on the right hand side and if possible facing down. This will give you best view of the open mountain. Take as many pictures as you can. The train stops for ~10 minutes in the middle and then continues to its journey at the top.
Once you reach at the top i.e. Pilatus you get down and enjoy the 360-degree panoramic view. Unfortunately for us Pilatus was full of cloud and we had no view at all. There were few activities going on but they could not compensate for the lack of view. We had our lunch and then headed downward. Note: It was very cold and a good jacket and cap is highly recommended.
We took the aerial cableway to Frakmuntegg. The cable car was big and accommodated all the visitor in line. The ride was smooth. Frakmuntegg is the center of outdoor activity. They have bobsledding and rope park. Rope park is large and can take hours to complete all the course. We enjoyed the activity being done by kids and adults.
Then we took the gondola and reached Kriens. There we had to walk towards Luzern direction. It is 5 minutes’ walk. Catch bus# 1 from there to reach Luzern.
We sat around the lake for some time. Then called Karl, ready to go to Geneva.
Drive to Geneva
Karl picked us up at 3.30 PM to drive up to Geneva. We drove along beautiful lake Langern. Then we continued and drove along Brienz. We could have gone faster but decided to take inside road so that we can have beautiful drive. We crossed through Interlaken city. We also had a vantage point view from where we could see three mountain peaks at the same time. We took few pictures.
We also drove along lake Thunn for half way and then drove fast to Bern. We did nor stay at Bern and drove straight to Geneva. This was a fantastic drive and could have been any better even if we had drove on our own.
Geneva
We reached Geneva at around 7.00 PM. After checking into hotel, Sushma and I went out for a walk along the Lake Geneva up to the central bus station. Our first impression of this city was that this is not in Switzerland. Then I was reminded that I am in French portion of the Switzerland. We were out quite late and returned to hotel late. We stayed at Hotel Mon Repos.
If you stay at any hotel in Geneva, they give you free public Geneva transport pass for the duration of stay. The pass is good for train, bus, ferry and tram.
http://www.hotelmonrepos.ch/en/home
In the evening, we went out looking for the tourist bus stop. We walked along the lake and because of language gap we had to make a few extra turns. Then we met an African-swiss gentlemen who has been a residence of Switzerland for last 40 years. He was a retired Swiss airline employee. He was very helpful. He walked with us up to the bus stop and then he walked with us to show the tourist office as well.
Monday, I got up early and went to work. EBACE show at Geneva. Worked hard all day. Met many prospective customers. I also worked as Gainjet coordinator. Most of the time, all Gainjet managers were busy. I had to receive the guest, give them cards of relevant people and if free directed them to Gainjet managers.
In the evening, I went out to visit old city of Geneva and had dinner there.
Tuesday, Worked whole day. Met Riham, James as well. James had few discussion about Long Range and the direction where it is going.
Wednesday:
I said goodbye to my colleagues and then went out for a walk along Geneva lake, this time north side. We went and enjoyed Jardin Botenatical garden. From there we went and saw WTO, UN and UNESCO buildings. Came back to hotel and then went to train station.
Train Journey Geneva to Paris
The custom clearance and immigration took place at Geneva train station. TGV trains start from platform number 7 and 8. Our train came on time and reached ‘Aix Les Bains’ in France on time. When we got down and inquired about our connecting train, we were told that our train is 50 minutes late. However, railway officials requested us to board a train that was leaving for Paris immediately. In fact it all happened so fast that I was not even sure that the train was going to Paris. I had to confirm with a few fellow passenger to confirm that the train was going to Paris. As a result, we had no reserved seats and we had to sit on available empty seat. At next two stops we had to move my seal in the same coach. But finally, I got upset and met TT and told him to give us a permanent seal. TT could find a seat for us 5 coaches beyond the original coach I was and where my luggage was. Finally, we settled. The train moved very fast. We enjoyed coffee and brownies at the train. The train reached Paris on my previous scheduled time.
The help desk told me that if I take bus# 24, it will stop in front of my hotel. We decided to try the bus. We spent more than 1 hours at station trying to find the place where we could buy museum pass. Finally, we gave up. We purchased the bus ticket (3 EU each). I took another ½ hour to figure the bus stop. Finally, we got at the bus and hotel without any issue.
Paris:
We checked in the Hotel Du Quai Voltaire. The room was facing Seine river and Louver museum. The room was small but it had a double bed, table, chair, a sofa chair, closet and a cabinet. The bathroom was of reasonable size. The hotel manager was very pleasant. He gave us the address of local grocery store and few other information cheerfully.
http://quaivoltaire.fr/en/hotel.html
We went out and did the grocery and came to our room. We ate our dinner. After dinner we went out for evening stroll to Louver. It was a treat. The area around the Louvre Pyramid was fun to be. It was the most beautiful area that I have come across during this trip. Sushma said that she has died and come to heaven.
At hotel, we purchased 4-day museum pass even though we needed only 3-day pass. We also ordered shared taxi service for return trip to airport CDG.
Next day, Thursday, we got up late. After collecting the museum pass, we went straight to Louvre. We had to stand in line for around 30 minutes before we could go in. Inside it is mad house. In my opinion the direction and maps are not very clear. There is no set path to visit the exhibits. There are five levels of museum; -2, -1, 0, 1 and 2. I will divide each level in three wings. Left is called ‘Richelieu’, the straight front and the Right is called ‘Denon’. Only Richeliu and Danon are considered official wing.
http://www.louvre.fr/sites/default/files/medias/medias_fichiers/fichiers/pdf/louvre-plan-information-english.pdf
I suggest that before you visit, you familiarize with this web site and pick the wing and level you want to visit. For example;
Wing Danon, Level 1
Wing Danon, Level 2
Wing Richeliu, Level -1
etc.
Once you have decided what you want to see, then prioritize them. Then target those areas only. Do not wander and side track. It will take 2-3 days to cover all wings and floors. Therefore, you have to be selective and focused. Unlike USA, there is a lack of bathroom and food facility. You will be shown a direction for bathroom and if you follow it you may have to walk and walk and then climb stairs and then you will find a bathroom with only 1 or 2 stalls. Therefore, when transferring from one wing to another or floor to floor use the facilities on floor -1 and -2. Next keep track of where you are (Floor and Wing). Finally all descriptions are in French. Therefore, either buy the visiting book in advance of rent the audio guide so that you can understand the paintings or murals or sculpture.
After visiting for around 3 hours, we were tired and hungry. We are at the cafeteria. We also saw the inverted pyramid, which is in the shopping center of Louvre. There is a very big shopping complex under the Place de Carrousel (underground Louvre complex).
We came out of Louvre and decided to go to Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked from Louvre to Notre Dame on right side of Seine river. There are numerous popup stores of books, paintings etc. They all close at 5.00 PM, therefore if you want to shop from there keep the timing of stores in mind.
At Notre Dame, we had to stand in simple line to get in. No ticket is required to get in the church, but if you want to climb to the tower you need the ticket and strength to climb which we did not undertake. The church itself is historic and beautiful. We were able to listen organ music; so rich and strong. We stayed inside for more than an hour. We also lighted candle for our self and in the name of Eshna.
We walked from Notre Dame to our hotel.
Friday morning we got up early and got ready to go to Versailles to see Versailles palace. We went to Osrey museum RER-C station, which is less than 5-minutes’ walk from our hotel. The return train ticket cost only Euro 7.00. The train ride is comfortable and you get to see the areas of Paris where tourists do not go. In half an-hour we reached Versailles. Come out of station, turn right and on next intersection turn left. The palace is in front of you. We reached there at 8.30 AM. If you have two or more in your group, have one person go and stand in ticket line and rest can stay in entrance line. If you are alone buy ticket in advance otherwise you are…
Line was long. Those who came at 9.00 AM, their line was 4 times longer than mine. Slowly we inched and got into the palace. This palace is more organized and one dimensional. Again getting an audio guide helps because very few exhibit has titles in English. The most famous room here is “Mirror Room”. This palace and museum is dedicated to Louis XIII to Louis XVI. His family and his palace. It shows the opulence of French kingdom in those days.
We returned back using the RER-C train. Then we entered Osrey Museum. Osrey museum depicts modern painters and sculptures like, Van Gough, Picasso, Monet etc. I was able to associate with museum better because I have heard the name of most of the artiste. The painting were familiar and relevant to modern days. I spend there as much time as I could until I got tired. Then we returned to our hotel which is only 3-minute walk from the museum.
In the evening, we went out for dinner. We started looking for Kabab place. We hopped into a taxi, who dropped us at a Kabab place near Montparnasse tower. We had our dinner and then took another taxi and went to Eifel tower. Eifel tower was very busy. It was not as clean as I had imagined from my last visit. There were fences, partisan and security checks just to get on the ground of Eifel tower. However, we enjoyed the ambiance. Then we went to the Trocadero Garden which is across the river. We relaxed at and had coffee.
Late evening, we started walking back to our hotel along the river Seine. There were party goers enjoying the evening on the beach and on the boat. The boats were lighted with loud music and young people.
Saturday, we got up early and decided to use the guidance from Rick Steve’s book. First, we purchased a book of 10 tickets so that we could travel to places by local transportation system. Ten tickets cost us only 13 Euro. We went to Rue Clair. A visit to this lane brought us to the place where locals shop and eat. It was a small street with various shopping options, nothing great.
Then we took bus# 69 and headed to north-west of Paris. This bus covers many of the attraction places and is a very gentle ride which takes out through various Paris neighborhood. It ends at a small neighborhood. We got down there and strolled the beautiful market. We purchased chocolate and foise gras there. After enjoying the area, we took the same bus and headed back.
We got down near Louvre and walked to Galleria (shopping mall). We saw Paris Opera house from outside – again a marvelous building. Galleria is a very high end seven-story shopping mall. All top designers are represented here. We had lunch there and walked around different stores enjoying their offerings. We did not buy anything.
By now I was totally tired. We took a taxi and reached our hotel for some much-needed rest. In the afternoon, we took R-metro and went to Notre Dame. We looked at St Michael building from outside. Enjoyed the fountain. We walked along the Latin quarter. Latin quarter is full of small stores, food joints or all kind and all price. There was an ice cream place in that area that we had enjoyed on Thursday which was out of this world. We enjoyed the area and decided to take our dinner. We ate at The Grand Bistro. We sat outside and enjoyed the world go by. We took the train and returned back to our hotel
We had booked a shared taxi for our trip to Airport. The shuttle came promptly and we reached airport on time.
The departure lounge of the CDG airport has nice stores where you can buy chocolates, foie gras, and other souvenir items. The return flight on AA was comfortable with good food.
The AA flight from Seattle to Zurich was via JFK. There was only 2 hrs. layover at JFK. The Seattle flight got delayed by 2 hrs. AA promptly re-booked our flight via Chicago. However instead of AA we were flying Swiss air from Chicago to Zurich.
We met Mayor of Chicago at Seattle airport. He seemed to be a hardworking fellow. Nobody bother him. He was mostly on phone talking to people. There was no assistant or security with him.
The flight to Chicago was uneventful other than few bumps. We had to change the terminal at Chicago.
Terminal 5 is the international terminal. We had to literally get out of security perimeter of airport and take tram to go to terminal 5 and get the security done again. At Chicago, we also purchase $300 worth of swiss franc. $1.00 = ~.80 SF. Thus, we got around 250 SF. Terminal 5, is a small modern terminal with high end amenities. Again, the swiss air flight got delayed by 2 hours, because crew were stuck in traffic. The flight was long. Even though it was a A330 aircraft, the amenities were like old airplanes and nowhere matched the Emirates facilities during recent other flight. Since our flight was changed after luggage check-in we were worried about our luggage transfer. However, agents of Swiss air verified for our piece of mind, that the luggage has been transferred properly.
The initial schedule was supposed to bring us to Zurich at 7.30 AM, but we reached Zurich at ~12 noon. Sushma was bummed off for losing 5 hours of stay at Zurich.
The international flight reached at terminal ‘E’. Nice and busy. I noticed everything was square and light color. To go to toilet, you either had to take lift or climb two flight of stairs. First, we walked to the end of terminal, then we had to take a tram to terminal 1,2,3 baggage claim. We were interviewed by immigration officer, where we had to show the proof of return flight. The luggage came promptly. The custom was in name only.
I decide before the trip that I won’t rush into anything. I will think, study and ask, before move, to save time and running around. We decided to go to city by train. Thus, the first order of business was to buy the train ticket and find the train. There were enough signs and we followed sign and purchased two train tickets to Zurich BH. I think BH means central or main station. The train to Zurich comes at platform 3 and 4. While going through the airport and train station, we also noticed that it was a giant shopping complex with even grocery stores.
We took the first train to Zurich which was standing there. You must press/touch the round button on the door to open it. Luggage was easy to transfer and keep in the train. I noticed that there was at least 2-3” gap between the train and platform. It is certainly a safety hazard and the train guys could have been sued many times to close the gap. The third station was Zurich BH.
We came out of station and realized that we did not know the direction to the hotel. We started looking for ‘I’ (information) sign. We found with slight difficulty but when we approached them we were told to go to “I for tourist”. I suspect that was ‘I’ for train. Tourist information was nearby, who gave us the direction of the hotel. Nearby to the station. I will say it is no more than 5 minutes’ walk. The tourist agent offered us that we could take tram or walk. We decided to walk. We had to cross the river Limmat. Then it was a walk uphill to reach hotel Leoneck.
http://www.leoneck.ch/en/home/
Friday Zurich
Hotel Leoneck is at good location. Easy walk to train station and bus station. It was not raining while we walked to the hotel. The reception was pleasant and room was quickly assigned to us. Our room (#305), had a balcony with a table and two chair and the view was fantastic. The historic church is in front of our balcony. We could also see the mountains from our balcony.
The room was mid-size with a table, couple of chair, queen bed etc. Comfortable for us. The bathroom is very small but clean and functional. I have no complain about the hotel. It seems that the buffet breakfast is included. The hotel has a restaurant also.
We came to room and decided to freshen up. And then it started raining. We decided that this rain is heavy enough that we can’t see the city on our own. I was told at the information center that the walk around the Limmat river and up to the lake will take around 2 and half hour. But because of rain we decided to take a city tour, which, with our luck, was starting at 3.30 PM. We rushed to the bus station and got two tickets.
https://www.zuerich.com/en/visit/tours-excursions/best-of-zurich
The tour was worth it. The bus was neat and clean and the guide spoke clear English and Spanish. It was mostly a bus tour with three stops. First was at Lake Zurich, second was Cogwheel train (Durban railway) ride and the third was at old town near the three churches. If it was not raining, we would have ditched the bus at the old town center and walked back to hotel. If we had walked on our own on a clear day, we would have missed two things only, Cog train ride and good talk by our guide.
The bus tour took us to the outer skirt of the city. We saw . We also went through two Zurich universities. I was told that Einstein studies and researched here for some time. We also saw remnants of Roman bath. There were many Indian visitors on our bus. At bus stops or city walk or bus tour we saw many people of Indian origin.
Saturday/Zurich
We got semi-decent sleep. We got up early at 3.00 AM. Then went to sleep at around 5.00 AM. Got up again at 7.45 PM. We got ready and went down for Buffet breakfast. Scramble egg, breads, cereal, milk, juice, coffee etc. Then we went out for stroll through the town. We went up to lake Zurich. Along the way we went to a farmers market. They sold vegetable, cheese and other food. We also went to a flea market. It was a big market selling stuff like they sold that US flea market. Then we went to a local children park. Enjoyed the rose garden. We kept on strolling until it was time to check out. We checked out the 12 noon and headed to train station. We ate Scandinavian/Paella.
We purchased the train ticket for Luzern using the vending machine. Sushma figured out that the train will come at platform #4. The train ride was comfortable and smooth. There were three stops. The ride was scenic and very beautiful.
Saturday/Sunday – Luzern
We reached Luzern at ~2.00 PM. Our hotel was nearby. We walked to our hotel from train station across river Reuss. We hardly had to run left and the hotel was on forth building.
http://www.hotelpickwick.ch/en/Home/
To check-in you must go to the pub. The bartender checks you in and shows how to go to your room and entrance and exit facility. Thus, the hotel is on top of bar and good food joint. The room itself was nice. Nice double bedroom, good size room and clean bathroom. There were two more bed that were folded to become shelf. Overall the hotel was good.
If you do not go through pub there is a nice entrance from the back which is actually a piazza. If you stay at any hotel in Luzern, they give you free public transport pass for the duration of stay. The pass is good for train, bus, ferry and tram.
We had a room facing river Reuss with a small balcony. You can feel the activity going down. The city’s famous Chapel bridge was straight in front of our window.
I called Karl Lang (LR CEO) and informed him of my arrival. Karl came within 30 minutes. Three of us went out for old city stroll. We learnt about the Chapel bridge and how it was destroyed in fire and then rebuilt. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Lucerne's history. Also, saw a needle dam that control the flow of water. In old days, it was controlled by experts. Now a day it is electronically controlled. The town has many famous buildings that belonged to the early expert craftsmen of city. All kind of architecture were found.
Karl invited us to come to his house. His house is in Hergiswil. Hergiswil is 5 km from Luzern. Karl has his house on the base of mount Pilatus. The views are spectacular specially from the top floor. We are two types of cake at his residence. Sushma gifted her candle and flowers.
Afterwards Karl took all 4 of us to a trip around lake Luzern. It is ~2.5 hrs drive with small stops here and there for photo opportunity. Shape of Lake Luzern is not smooth or rounded as in most of the case. It is a lake with many side arms. The trip round the lake was the most beautiful trip around with mountains, lakes and general view. The view of mountain changes as you drive around the lake. We stopped at a luxurious hotel and took some pictures. Karl also drove us to a vantage point for a great view. Finally, we had our dinner at a lake front and then returned to hotel.
Here is a video that refreshes memories of Lucerne and the places we visited
https://youtu.be/QQjAhAg8urQ
.... and a second video
https://youtu.be/YPtVscPz-Xs
Mount Pilatus Pilatus and Rigi are the famous mountain for recreation and visiting near Luzern. We decided to go to Pilatus. It is called golden tour.
http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/golden-round-trip/
The tour has five legs.
1. By boat from Luzern to Alpanachstad
2. By Cogwheel train from Alpanachstad to top of Pilatus
3. By Aerial cableway to Frakmunteg
4. By gondola to Krien via Krienseregg
5. By Public bus from Krien to Luzern
You can buy the ticket in advance or before the start of your trip from the train station. The cross the road and catch the boat at station #2. This was a fantastic trip. We got a window seat on the boat. We sat inside and outside and saw the great view from the lake. Sushma had many houses, cabins, Swiss Chalet in her view which were gorgeous.
Finally, we reached Alpnachstad. Instead of rushing to catch the cogwheel train, we waited for next train and enjoyed the stroll of the village. We caught the next train. The train is really steep @ 48%. The percentage goes up and down and noted on the side of track. If climbing up sit on the right hand side and if possible facing down. This will give you best view of the open mountain. Take as many pictures as you can. The train stops for ~10 minutes in the middle and then continues to its journey at the top.
Once you reach at the top i.e. Pilatus you get down and enjoy the 360-degree panoramic view. Unfortunately for us Pilatus was full of cloud and we had no view at all. There were few activities going on but they could not compensate for the lack of view. We had our lunch and then headed downward. Note: It was very cold and a good jacket and cap is highly recommended.
We took the aerial cableway to Frakmuntegg. The cable car was big and accommodated all the visitor in line. The ride was smooth. Frakmuntegg is the center of outdoor activity. They have bobsledding and rope park. Rope park is large and can take hours to complete all the course. We enjoyed the activity being done by kids and adults.
Then we took the gondola and reached Kriens. There we had to walk towards Luzern direction. It is 5 minutes’ walk. Catch bus# 1 from there to reach Luzern.
We sat around the lake for some time. Then called Karl, ready to go to Geneva.
Drive to Geneva
Karl picked us up at 3.30 PM to drive up to Geneva. We drove along beautiful lake Langern. Then we continued and drove along Brienz. We could have gone faster but decided to take inside road so that we can have beautiful drive. We crossed through Interlaken city. We also had a vantage point view from where we could see three mountain peaks at the same time. We took few pictures.
We also drove along lake Thunn for half way and then drove fast to Bern. We did nor stay at Bern and drove straight to Geneva. This was a fantastic drive and could have been any better even if we had drove on our own.
Geneva
We reached Geneva at around 7.00 PM. After checking into hotel, Sushma and I went out for a walk along the Lake Geneva up to the central bus station. Our first impression of this city was that this is not in Switzerland. Then I was reminded that I am in French portion of the Switzerland. We were out quite late and returned to hotel late. We stayed at Hotel Mon Repos.
If you stay at any hotel in Geneva, they give you free public Geneva transport pass for the duration of stay. The pass is good for train, bus, ferry and tram.
http://www.hotelmonrepos.ch/en/home
In the evening, we went out looking for the tourist bus stop. We walked along the lake and because of language gap we had to make a few extra turns. Then we met an African-swiss gentlemen who has been a residence of Switzerland for last 40 years. He was a retired Swiss airline employee. He was very helpful. He walked with us up to the bus stop and then he walked with us to show the tourist office as well.
Monday, I got up early and went to work. EBACE show at Geneva. Worked hard all day. Met many prospective customers. I also worked as Gainjet coordinator. Most of the time, all Gainjet managers were busy. I had to receive the guest, give them cards of relevant people and if free directed them to Gainjet managers.
In the evening, I went out to visit old city of Geneva and had dinner there.
Tuesday, Worked whole day. Met Riham, James as well. James had few discussion about Long Range and the direction where it is going.
Wednesday:
I said goodbye to my colleagues and then went out for a walk along Geneva lake, this time north side. We went and enjoyed Jardin Botenatical garden. From there we went and saw WTO, UN and UNESCO buildings. Came back to hotel and then went to train station.
Train Journey Geneva to Paris
The custom clearance and immigration took place at Geneva train station. TGV trains start from platform number 7 and 8. Our train came on time and reached ‘Aix Les Bains’ in France on time. When we got down and inquired about our connecting train, we were told that our train is 50 minutes late. However, railway officials requested us to board a train that was leaving for Paris immediately. In fact it all happened so fast that I was not even sure that the train was going to Paris. I had to confirm with a few fellow passenger to confirm that the train was going to Paris. As a result, we had no reserved seats and we had to sit on available empty seat. At next two stops we had to move my seal in the same coach. But finally, I got upset and met TT and told him to give us a permanent seal. TT could find a seat for us 5 coaches beyond the original coach I was and where my luggage was. Finally, we settled. The train moved very fast. We enjoyed coffee and brownies at the train. The train reached Paris on my previous scheduled time.
The help desk told me that if I take bus# 24, it will stop in front of my hotel. We decided to try the bus. We spent more than 1 hours at station trying to find the place where we could buy museum pass. Finally, we gave up. We purchased the bus ticket (3 EU each). I took another ½ hour to figure the bus stop. Finally, we got at the bus and hotel without any issue.
Paris:
We checked in the Hotel Du Quai Voltaire. The room was facing Seine river and Louver museum. The room was small but it had a double bed, table, chair, a sofa chair, closet and a cabinet. The bathroom was of reasonable size. The hotel manager was very pleasant. He gave us the address of local grocery store and few other information cheerfully.
http://quaivoltaire.fr/en/hotel.html
We went out and did the grocery and came to our room. We ate our dinner. After dinner we went out for evening stroll to Louver. It was a treat. The area around the Louvre Pyramid was fun to be. It was the most beautiful area that I have come across during this trip. Sushma said that she has died and come to heaven.
At hotel, we purchased 4-day museum pass even though we needed only 3-day pass. We also ordered shared taxi service for return trip to airport CDG.
Next day, Thursday, we got up late. After collecting the museum pass, we went straight to Louvre. We had to stand in line for around 30 minutes before we could go in. Inside it is mad house. In my opinion the direction and maps are not very clear. There is no set path to visit the exhibits. There are five levels of museum; -2, -1, 0, 1 and 2. I will divide each level in three wings. Left is called ‘Richelieu’, the straight front and the Right is called ‘Denon’. Only Richeliu and Danon are considered official wing.
http://www.louvre.fr/sites/default/files/medias/medias_fichiers/fichiers/pdf/louvre-plan-information-english.pdf
I suggest that before you visit, you familiarize with this web site and pick the wing and level you want to visit. For example;
Wing Danon, Level 1
Wing Danon, Level 2
Wing Richeliu, Level -1
etc.
Once you have decided what you want to see, then prioritize them. Then target those areas only. Do not wander and side track. It will take 2-3 days to cover all wings and floors. Therefore, you have to be selective and focused. Unlike USA, there is a lack of bathroom and food facility. You will be shown a direction for bathroom and if you follow it you may have to walk and walk and then climb stairs and then you will find a bathroom with only 1 or 2 stalls. Therefore, when transferring from one wing to another or floor to floor use the facilities on floor -1 and -2. Next keep track of where you are (Floor and Wing). Finally all descriptions are in French. Therefore, either buy the visiting book in advance of rent the audio guide so that you can understand the paintings or murals or sculpture.
After visiting for around 3 hours, we were tired and hungry. We are at the cafeteria. We also saw the inverted pyramid, which is in the shopping center of Louvre. There is a very big shopping complex under the Place de Carrousel (underground Louvre complex).
We came out of Louvre and decided to go to Notre Dame Cathedral. We walked from Louvre to Notre Dame on right side of Seine river. There are numerous popup stores of books, paintings etc. They all close at 5.00 PM, therefore if you want to shop from there keep the timing of stores in mind.
At Notre Dame, we had to stand in simple line to get in. No ticket is required to get in the church, but if you want to climb to the tower you need the ticket and strength to climb which we did not undertake. The church itself is historic and beautiful. We were able to listen organ music; so rich and strong. We stayed inside for more than an hour. We also lighted candle for our self and in the name of Eshna.
We walked from Notre Dame to our hotel.
Friday morning we got up early and got ready to go to Versailles to see Versailles palace. We went to Osrey museum RER-C station, which is less than 5-minutes’ walk from our hotel. The return train ticket cost only Euro 7.00. The train ride is comfortable and you get to see the areas of Paris where tourists do not go. In half an-hour we reached Versailles. Come out of station, turn right and on next intersection turn left. The palace is in front of you. We reached there at 8.30 AM. If you have two or more in your group, have one person go and stand in ticket line and rest can stay in entrance line. If you are alone buy ticket in advance otherwise you are…
Line was long. Those who came at 9.00 AM, their line was 4 times longer than mine. Slowly we inched and got into the palace. This palace is more organized and one dimensional. Again getting an audio guide helps because very few exhibit has titles in English. The most famous room here is “Mirror Room”. This palace and museum is dedicated to Louis XIII to Louis XVI. His family and his palace. It shows the opulence of French kingdom in those days.
We returned back using the RER-C train. Then we entered Osrey Museum. Osrey museum depicts modern painters and sculptures like, Van Gough, Picasso, Monet etc. I was able to associate with museum better because I have heard the name of most of the artiste. The painting were familiar and relevant to modern days. I spend there as much time as I could until I got tired. Then we returned to our hotel which is only 3-minute walk from the museum.
In the evening, we went out for dinner. We started looking for Kabab place. We hopped into a taxi, who dropped us at a Kabab place near Montparnasse tower. We had our dinner and then took another taxi and went to Eifel tower. Eifel tower was very busy. It was not as clean as I had imagined from my last visit. There were fences, partisan and security checks just to get on the ground of Eifel tower. However, we enjoyed the ambiance. Then we went to the Trocadero Garden which is across the river. We relaxed at and had coffee.
Late evening, we started walking back to our hotel along the river Seine. There were party goers enjoying the evening on the beach and on the boat. The boats were lighted with loud music and young people.
Saturday, we got up early and decided to use the guidance from Rick Steve’s book. First, we purchased a book of 10 tickets so that we could travel to places by local transportation system. Ten tickets cost us only 13 Euro. We went to Rue Clair. A visit to this lane brought us to the place where locals shop and eat. It was a small street with various shopping options, nothing great.
Then we took bus# 69 and headed to north-west of Paris. This bus covers many of the attraction places and is a very gentle ride which takes out through various Paris neighborhood. It ends at a small neighborhood. We got down there and strolled the beautiful market. We purchased chocolate and foise gras there. After enjoying the area, we took the same bus and headed back.
We got down near Louvre and walked to Galleria (shopping mall). We saw Paris Opera house from outside – again a marvelous building. Galleria is a very high end seven-story shopping mall. All top designers are represented here. We had lunch there and walked around different stores enjoying their offerings. We did not buy anything.
By now I was totally tired. We took a taxi and reached our hotel for some much-needed rest. In the afternoon, we took R-metro and went to Notre Dame. We looked at St Michael building from outside. Enjoyed the fountain. We walked along the Latin quarter. Latin quarter is full of small stores, food joints or all kind and all price. There was an ice cream place in that area that we had enjoyed on Thursday which was out of this world. We enjoyed the area and decided to take our dinner. We ate at The Grand Bistro. We sat outside and enjoyed the world go by. We took the train and returned back to our hotel
We had booked a shared taxi for our trip to Airport. The shuttle came promptly and we reached airport on time.
The departure lounge of the CDG airport has nice stores where you can buy chocolates, foie gras, and other souvenir items. The return flight on AA was comfortable with good food.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Crude Oil prices and future
Days of higher oil price gouging by OPEC cartel and other
oil exporting countries have come to an end. OPEC failed to agree on a unified
output cap, effectively letting its 13 members flood the globe with crude in an
effort to harm rivals. Most of OPEC's members, including Venezuela and
non-members like Russia, need higher oil prices to balance their national
budgets or they have to keep on pumping more.
The Saudi move to crush American shale operations via OPEC
is doing nothing but forcing a consolidation among the many shale fracking
companies in US and Canada. Low prices force the weaker companies to either
sell assets or go bankrupt, while stronger companies swoop in to gobble up
assets. In the meantime, these stronger hands cap wells and wait for the day
that prices rise and the development of newer technology and equipment.
It is also reducing the investment and development of oil
field all over the world. If you can get oil for almost free, then why spend
money exploring new fields. With present technology, oil field reserve and
global demand to reduce pollution, I do not see a bright future for oil
industry.
This is good time for oil importing countries to build their
oil reserve, build their foreign currency reserve and spend the oil saving to
develop new and creative source of energy like solar, energy storage etc.
Universities should start a new course that should help future engineers
develop alternative source of energy.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Cargo Compartment Temperature & Pressure
Ever wondered what is the pressure and temperature of the 737-400 cargo compartment. We installed a temperature and pressure sensor inside the cargo compartment and measured it. The result is graphed for your educational purpose and knowledge. If you use this graph in publication, please acknowledge the blog. Thanks
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Immigration to USA
Many immigrants to USA come from their country for one reason or other. They come here because they want financial, social and religious freedom. In many case they come here because the opportunity is better here than it is in their native country. Some come here legally while others come illegally (without paper). It does not matter how they come, the life is tough in the beginning. You suffer through those difficult time, so that you can enjoy the fruits of you hard work within few years.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Ant vs Grasshopper
My apologies to the original writer for not able to mention his/her name to this article. This article is at least one year old. This article is written with the name of Indian politician. However this will fit to any western country as well. Here you go:
Ant vs Grasshopper: Original Story: The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version: The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. Akhilesh Yadav orders withdrawal of terror cases to woo Grasshoppers. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat. M. Karunanidhi remarks ANT as THIEF'. Shinde blames ANT to be a Saffron Terrorist. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Amnesty International and Ban Ki‐Moon criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven & Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non‐compliance).
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the 'Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act'[POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Congress makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions in Government Services. The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes; its home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV, BBC, and CNN. Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'. Ban Ki‐Moon invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later... The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi‐billion dollar company in Silicon Valley. 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India. As a result lots of hard working Ants are still feeding the Grasshopper.
Ant vs Grasshopper: Original Story: The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away. Come winter, the Ant is warm and well fed. The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
Indian Version: The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter. The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs dances plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house. Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Left parties call for 'Bengal Bandh' in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. Akhilesh Yadav orders withdrawal of terror cases to woo Grasshoppers. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat. M. Karunanidhi remarks ANT as THIEF'. Shinde blames ANT to be a Saffron Terrorist. Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Amnesty International and Ban Ki‐Moon criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper. The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven & Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non‐compliance).
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the 'Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act'[POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter. Congress makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions in Government Services. The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes; its home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV, BBC, and CNN. Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'. Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'. Ban Ki‐Moon invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
Many years later... The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi‐billion dollar company in Silicon Valley. 100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India. As a result lots of hard working Ants are still feeding the Grasshopper.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
AC 25.981-1C Flammability Requirement
AC 25-981-1C Requirements:
Under Normal condition 20 or max 50µJ & 25 mA RMS
Under Failure condition 200µJ & 50 mA RMS
For lighting induced transient 125 mA Peak
Surface Temperature 450oF (max temp) – 50oF
(margin) = 400oF
Flammable Fuel Property 468oF
for JP-4
435oF – 450oF
for JP-1
Monte Carlo Analysis Flammability <= 3% Normal Day
<=
6% Warm day limit
Fuel Discharge Rate 1
m/s (uncovered)
6 to 7 m/s (covered)
Friday, January 2, 2015
Earned Value Management
Earned Value Management
Definitions
Fundamental Principles of Earned Value Management
There are three definitional aspects of Earned Value.
Each definition logically follows from and is dependent on the other.
Earned Value
Management. Earned Value Management
is a methodology that allows both Government and Contractor Program Managers to
have visibility into cost, schedule, and technical progress on their contracts
to measure and manage performance.
ANSI/EIA 748, Earned Value Management System contains the industry
guidelines, which establish the framework within which an adequate integrated
cost, schedule, and technical performance management system will be effective.
Earned Value
Management System is the integrated set of processes, which implements
ANSI/EIA 748. In its simplest form, EVMS
can be implemented without any software.
Software simply enhances productivity, allows the implementation of EVM
more economically and facilitates managing complex projects. EVMS is not software.
Earned Value
is the budgeted value of the work actually accomplished. When compared to the planned (scheduled) work
and to the actual cost of that work, performance and progress can be
determined.
The three terms cannot be used interchangeably. Each has a different meaning, however,
slight. When discussing Earned Value
Management, the guide makes deliberate distinctions and the terms are
consistently employed.
Fundamental Principles of Earned Value Management
Earned Value Management originated in industry, was
adopted and further developed by the Department of Defense and spread
throughout the U.S. Government, industry and other countries because the
management concept embodied fundamentally sound principles for managing
performance of projects and programs.
These principles are:
- All work is planned to completion
- The work is broken down into finite product-oriented components that can be assigned to a responsible organization
- The scope, schedule and cost objectives are integrated into a plan by which progress can be measured.
- Actual costs are recorded.
- Performance is objectively measured
- Variances and deviations are analyzed, impacts are forecasted and estimates at completion are based on the actual performance to date.
- Changes to the performance measurement baseline are controlled.
- Earned Value information is employed in the organization’s management processes.
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