Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Jame Anwar, Cairo, Egypt
Pics from my recent trip to the land of the Fatimi Cairo. These are the pics of Al Masjid Jame ul Anwar taken during night and early morning.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Canadian Tourist Visa at Detroit Consulate.
Would like to share my experience of obtaining Multiple-entry Canadian Tourist Visa at the Detroit consulate.
The consulate is located at the Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit. Arrive early as there will be a lot many people. They dont care if your visa has expired as long as you have a valid I-797. Many people I found were applying for the visa to either go for US H1-B visa stamping or visiting Niagara Falls.
Arrive early, on the first floor itself they will take your application ( check all your documents) and then ask you to proceed to the 11th floor to pay. The part where they check your documents takes a little longer. Many applicants were sent back at that stage because instead of filling in the visa application and then printing it, they printed the application and then filled it with pen. Completely wrong, as it is clearly mentioned on the site. The document has a bar code at the end, hence they are trying to obtain your record (your entries in the application) with the bar-code. Doesnt make sense why would someone, print the form and then fill it pen. So please dont do that, keep two passport sized photographs.
For the list of documents if you are in the US on H1-B visa ( or work-status) you must carry -
1. Approved I-797
2. Valid I-94, if it is expired thats ok. Your extension (i-797) will have the extension of the same I-94.
3. Pay-stubs and an employment verification letter.
4. Proof of funds - i used my bank statement.
5. You might want to carry your college degree incase.
I suggest parking your car at the Greektown Casino (free parking) and then take Detroit People's movers for 50 cents one way and within 5 minutes you will be at the Renaissance Center. This way you will easily save 12-15 dollars in parking at the Renaissance Center. You can take the same train back to the GreekTown Casino for another 50cents.
After you pay the fees on the 11th floor, they will ask you to come at 2:30 PM in the afternoon and collect your passport. They will not tell you the decision then, you will know when you get your passport at 2:30PM.
These are my personal experience, and in no-way do I take responsibility of the various requirements. All the information is available at the cic website. Check it out.
The consulate is located at the Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit. Arrive early as there will be a lot many people. They dont care if your visa has expired as long as you have a valid I-797. Many people I found were applying for the visa to either go for US H1-B visa stamping or visiting Niagara Falls.
Arrive early, on the first floor itself they will take your application ( check all your documents) and then ask you to proceed to the 11th floor to pay. The part where they check your documents takes a little longer. Many applicants were sent back at that stage because instead of filling in the visa application and then printing it, they printed the application and then filled it with pen. Completely wrong, as it is clearly mentioned on the site. The document has a bar code at the end, hence they are trying to obtain your record (your entries in the application) with the bar-code. Doesnt make sense why would someone, print the form and then fill it pen. So please dont do that, keep two passport sized photographs.
For the list of documents if you are in the US on H1-B visa ( or work-status) you must carry -
1. Approved I-797
2. Valid I-94, if it is expired thats ok. Your extension (i-797) will have the extension of the same I-94.
3. Pay-stubs and an employment verification letter.
4. Proof of funds - i used my bank statement.
5. You might want to carry your college degree incase.
I suggest parking your car at the Greektown Casino (free parking) and then take Detroit People's movers for 50 cents one way and within 5 minutes you will be at the Renaissance Center. This way you will easily save 12-15 dollars in parking at the Renaissance Center. You can take the same train back to the GreekTown Casino for another 50cents.
After you pay the fees on the 11th floor, they will ask you to come at 2:30 PM in the afternoon and collect your passport. They will not tell you the decision then, you will know when you get your passport at 2:30PM.
These are my personal experience, and in no-way do I take responsibility of the various requirements. All the information is available at the cic website. Check it out.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Goose Lake
some pics of the Goose Lake around Chillicothe, IL, Rome, IL to be precise. I didn't know this place was so close to work. But better late than never :)
Monday, October 26, 2009
Harvesting Corn :) - Part 2
So to continue the super long tutorial, which started here:
Harvesting Corn Part 1
It was discussed in the above link how the corn with the help of a combine, is harvested, chaffed, thrashed whatever, in the end all that is left are kernels. Isnt that awesome !!! i think it really is, because I have seen back home in India where everything is done manually, it takes forever. Well, its good in a country where so many people need to find vocation too.
Lets continue , the combine is pretty awesome lol for the umpteenth time :) . What was really fascinating about the combine, is the fact that it had a display in the cab, which monitors the corn real-time. It tells what is the moisture content of the corn, the yield per bushel, quality (grade) of corn etc etc. It generates charts displaying the yield per acre in fact per row which was really precise. So heres how the display looked like:
After the combine has collected enough yield, which of course is known by the load in the above mentioned display, its time to dump the yield into a tractor. Not exactly a tractor but more like a hauler. Like this:
In one of the pic, you will observe that the tractor follows the combine. The tractor dumps the corn (just the kernels) into a truck which then transports it to the storage facility. Lol I am sure you have seen trucks, but wth this is how a truck looks like lol..
Now the kernel rich in moisture, needs to be stored and duh !!! needs to be dried. Yes Genius !!! it needs to be shifted to a dryer. I am sure most you have seen this high-tower building in middle of corn-fields and never knew what it was. But your ignorance ends here lol, thats how I felt :) ...So the kernels are dumped into this underground bunker like ditch:
From here with the help of this conveyor belt that are moved to a high temperature dryers, where the moisture is removed and kept for storage. The moisture is constantly monitored to make sure the kernels don't rot. here is the conveyor belt:
The kernels through the conveyor belts are transferred to these huge dryers:
And we got the chance to climb to the top of the dryer. It was awesome a real exercise. If I was a farmer, I probably would have never had to work out. Few of the views from the top:
Harvesting Corn Part 1
It was discussed in the above link how the corn with the help of a combine, is harvested, chaffed, thrashed whatever, in the end all that is left are kernels. Isnt that awesome !!! i think it really is, because I have seen back home in India where everything is done manually, it takes forever. Well, its good in a country where so many people need to find vocation too.
Lets continue , the combine is pretty awesome lol for the umpteenth time :) . What was really fascinating about the combine, is the fact that it had a display in the cab, which monitors the corn real-time. It tells what is the moisture content of the corn, the yield per bushel, quality (grade) of corn etc etc. It generates charts displaying the yield per acre in fact per row which was really precise. So heres how the display looked like:
After the combine has collected enough yield, which of course is known by the load in the above mentioned display, its time to dump the yield into a tractor. Not exactly a tractor but more like a hauler. Like this:
In one of the pic, you will observe that the tractor follows the combine. The tractor dumps the corn (just the kernels) into a truck which then transports it to the storage facility. Lol I am sure you have seen trucks, but wth this is how a truck looks like lol..
Now the kernel rich in moisture, needs to be stored and duh !!! needs to be dried. Yes Genius !!! it needs to be shifted to a dryer. I am sure most you have seen this high-tower building in middle of corn-fields and never knew what it was. But your ignorance ends here lol, thats how I felt :) ...So the kernels are dumped into this underground bunker like ditch:
From here with the help of this conveyor belt that are moved to a high temperature dryers, where the moisture is removed and kept for storage. The moisture is constantly monitored to make sure the kernels don't rot. here is the conveyor belt:
The kernels through the conveyor belts are transferred to these huge dryers:
And we got the chance to climb to the top of the dryer. It was awesome a real exercise. If I was a farmer, I probably would have never had to work out. Few of the views from the top:
Friday, October 23, 2009
Me @ Templar Church, London
Well for starters, this was the only thing I thought was worth visiting in London !!!!
Yes, this is the same church where Sir Isaac Newton is laid to rest. Lol thats what I thought, after reading the Da Vinci Code. And, that is why I dragged my whole family to this place, right in the heart of London. Too bad it was some holiday and the church was closed. Nonetheless I was able to take this pic for my memoirs :P .
And, I think Newton, is not buried here. In fact no Templar Knights were buried here, it only has their effigies. So whatever be the history behind it, I think it was cool. I like the area surrounding the church, the narrow alleys, and medieval architecture reminded me of Uppali (upper) Pole and Nichali (Lower) Pole area of my native town Banswara, Lol, I know its a bizarre comparison, but that's how I felt.
Here is the pic of the church as taken from this site, to prove to you naysayers that I am not bluffing and I really went to the Templar Church, lol I wonder how many of you really care if I am lying or not, but anyways, this adds to my credibility. The site is
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-temple-church and it has pretty cool pictures.
So here is the pic, in which the Knight Templar of the age, keeper of the Holy Grail graced the Templar church. Sorry, I went a little overboard, but pun intended, if Dan Brown could create a fiction then why not I, and of course in my creation who else would be the protagonist but me :). Don't you think the church seems radiant now, as its self-proclaimed custodian has glorified it finally.
Yes, this is the same church where Sir Isaac Newton is laid to rest. Lol thats what I thought, after reading the Da Vinci Code. And, that is why I dragged my whole family to this place, right in the heart of London. Too bad it was some holiday and the church was closed. Nonetheless I was able to take this pic for my memoirs :P .
And, I think Newton, is not buried here. In fact no Templar Knights were buried here, it only has their effigies. So whatever be the history behind it, I think it was cool. I like the area surrounding the church, the narrow alleys, and medieval architecture reminded me of Uppali (upper) Pole and Nichali (Lower) Pole area of my native town Banswara, Lol, I know its a bizarre comparison, but that's how I felt.
Here is the pic of the church as taken from this site, to prove to you naysayers that I am not bluffing and I really went to the Templar Church, lol I wonder how many of you really care if I am lying or not, but anyways, this adds to my credibility. The site is
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-temple-church and it has pretty cool pictures.
So here is the pic, in which the Knight Templar of the age, keeper of the Holy Grail graced the Templar church. Sorry, I went a little overboard, but pun intended, if Dan Brown could create a fiction then why not I, and of course in my creation who else would be the protagonist but me :). Don't you think the church seems radiant now, as its self-proclaimed custodian has glorified it finally.
Harvesting Corn :)
This post might give you a brief idea of how technology has played such an important role in Corn harvesting. Technology in farming is definitely a purposive use of technology, unlike this Toilet Paper News-Feeder lol :)
Sorry for the digression from the main topic, I guess this is something which will never change when I write. Okay coming back to the subject, Last Saturday, I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go harvesting on a friends farm in Raonoke, IL. Best of luck trying to pronounce Raonoke :). Well It was a real learning experience, reminded me of Modern Marvel show on History Channel. Lol just shows how much I watch that show and beat this coincidence, I am watching it at the moment too, the show is about cold-cuts, lol I wouldnt want to go into more details as it would definitely upset my vegan readers :)
So coming back to harvesting corn, for this post we will assume that the corn is all grown, and ready to be harvested. Duh !!! the topic says harvesting too :P
This is how a fully-ripe-corn-ready-to-be-plucked looks like:
Once ready to be plucked, the field which was uniformly seeded may look like this:
You can see in the pic above, how the farm is uniformly seeded, its perfectly aligned for a combine to work its magic. Yes a Combine, i would consider it to be a Mechanical Engineering marvel for real. It works like a charm, it thrashes, removes the husk , the chafe, separates the kernels from the corn. What you have in the end are just kernels :). Here is a brief youtube video on how a Combine works.
And here is a pic of the combine, I rode in. Actually I got a chance to drive it too, And also, I rode it in on the highway. You must have imagined by now the front part of the combine i think its called the thrasher is definitely removed. Lol otherwise you might end up thrashing the road sign posts, other cars etc etc on the road. This was the view from atop a combine:
This is how our combine looked like:
Here is how a field looked like before we cleared it with a combine:
After running the combine:
To be Continued ....I am tired of writing and even more sick of my slow internet connection......but hold on there is more ...
Continued here:
Harvesting Corn Part 2
Sorry for the digression from the main topic, I guess this is something which will never change when I write. Okay coming back to the subject, Last Saturday, I had a once in a lifetime opportunity to go harvesting on a friends farm in Raonoke, IL. Best of luck trying to pronounce Raonoke :). Well It was a real learning experience, reminded me of Modern Marvel show on History Channel. Lol just shows how much I watch that show and beat this coincidence, I am watching it at the moment too, the show is about cold-cuts, lol I wouldnt want to go into more details as it would definitely upset my vegan readers :)
So coming back to harvesting corn, for this post we will assume that the corn is all grown, and ready to be harvested. Duh !!! the topic says harvesting too :P
This is how a fully-ripe-corn-ready-to-be-plucked looks like:
Once ready to be plucked, the field which was uniformly seeded may look like this:
You can see in the pic above, how the farm is uniformly seeded, its perfectly aligned for a combine to work its magic. Yes a Combine, i would consider it to be a Mechanical Engineering marvel for real. It works like a charm, it thrashes, removes the husk , the chafe, separates the kernels from the corn. What you have in the end are just kernels :). Here is a brief youtube video on how a Combine works.
And here is a pic of the combine, I rode in. Actually I got a chance to drive it too, And also, I rode it in on the highway. You must have imagined by now the front part of the combine i think its called the thrasher is definitely removed. Lol otherwise you might end up thrashing the road sign posts, other cars etc etc on the road. This was the view from atop a combine:
This is how our combine looked like:
Here is how a field looked like before we cleared it with a combine:
After running the combine:
To be Continued ....I am tired of writing and even more sick of my slow internet connection......but hold on there is more ...
Continued here:
Harvesting Corn Part 2
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Me @ Starved Rock State Forest Reserve
This is me at the place mentioned in the subject lol too lazy to type the entire name again :) .....well i guess i should have typed it ..the explanation is def longer than the name :)
whatever, so the history made here was ..that Hatim visited this place lol nooooo..I still have time to make history ...i hope its before I become one :P ....anyways history here is in the name itself ...two Indian ( i mean native American-Indian not South Asian Indian) tribes were fighting and one of the weaker tribe took refuge at the top of a hill. The stronger tribe took over the bottom of the hill ( a huge rock ) and eventually the tribe at the top the minnows :( couldnt receive food and consequently they starved to death. Hence the name Starved Rock State Forest.
Its a beautiful place, an idle place for hiking miles and miles of trail ...you will burn enough calories trust me ...and later on you can fish and add some healthy proteins :P ...you can see how beautiful the tree is :) ..i will stop there :)
whatever, so the history made here was ..that Hatim visited this place lol nooooo..I still have time to make history ...i hope its before I become one :P ....anyways history here is in the name itself ...two Indian ( i mean native American-Indian not South Asian Indian) tribes were fighting and one of the weaker tribe took refuge at the top of a hill. The stronger tribe took over the bottom of the hill ( a huge rock ) and eventually the tribe at the top the minnows :( couldnt receive food and consequently they starved to death. Hence the name Starved Rock State Forest.
Its a beautiful place, an idle place for hiking miles and miles of trail ...you will burn enough calories trust me ...and later on you can fish and add some healthy proteins :P ...you can see how beautiful the tree is :) ..i will stop there :)
Old State Capitol, Springfield, IL
This is me and my mommy dearest at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, IL :) ....Yes this place had the history related to Abraham Lincoln. Also this is the place where the current President Obama started his journey to the White House :) ..No I am not starting any journey...I am just posing :P..it is apparent from the fact that the photo doesn't even capture the entire building :P
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Trip to Grand Canyon :)
Grand Canyon as seen from the plane above.
Some random visitor said: "Grand Canyon needs no man." lol for once i didnt understand, only later did I realize that it meant it needs no man to describe its awesomeness. :). After a while I thought it more philosophically and I also deduced that it could also mean 'no man' can create or destroy the Grand Canyon lol. The guy seemed literary, so I approached him to ask what he did for living and he was actually an author lol :). Talk of coincidence, recently he was in India in Bombay precisely to author a book on "xes" in religion. Lol i dont want to use the correct word, otherwise Google would bombard my visitors with "not so nice " ads ;) . Not to be offensive to Google, after all they are helping me, it was actually a credit to how good AdWords are ;) yeah right !!! I am not sucking up ever ;)
Grand Canyon - a place which the native Indians thought was the center of the Universe :) or whatever lol !!!
Thats what a might river (Colorado) can do - cut through rocks forming crevices in this case a canyon lol A Grand Canyon infact :)
Some random visitor said: "Grand Canyon needs no man." lol for once i didnt understand, only later did I realize that it meant it needs no man to describe its awesomeness. :). After a while I thought it more philosophically and I also deduced that it could also mean 'no man' can create or destroy the Grand Canyon lol. The guy seemed literary, so I approached him to ask what he did for living and he was actually an author lol :). Talk of coincidence, recently he was in India in Bombay precisely to author a book on "xes" in religion. Lol i dont want to use the correct word, otherwise Google would bombard my visitors with "not so nice " ads ;) . Not to be offensive to Google, after all they are helping me, it was actually a credit to how good AdWords are ;) yeah right !!! I am not sucking up ever ;)
Grand Canyon - a place which the native Indians thought was the center of the Universe :) or whatever lol !!!
Thats what a might river (Colorado) can do - cut through rocks forming crevices in this case a canyon lol A Grand Canyon infact :)
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