Between the Lines

I am now in Rio de Janeiro Brazil.

I should be flying to Miami and then San Francisco later tonight. Brazil is a large and beautiful country and I want to come back soon. The people were so friendly and diverse. I have hundreds of photos to upload and will do so very soon. I have done all work and communication on my HP TC1100 Tablet PC with a wireless cellular data card which has worked superbly. I have to say the sunrise in Rio is absolutely amazing as I write this from the beach on the sand just about .5km north of the famous Copacabana. I have an AutoCAD customer visit in a few hours here and look forward to it.

Ciao from Rio,
-Shaan

I Made it to Sao Paulo Brazil

Well I finally made it to the Hilton Morumbi Hotel in Sao Paulo Brazil. The trip started yesterday at 1PM PST and the first plane was cancelled due to mechanical issues. We ended up on a smaller Boeing 757 to Miami and then another flight to Sao Paulo. All in all it was a sixteen and a half hour flight. To make the most of my trip, I find out that the Brazil customs police are on strike turning a one hour customs and immigration process into four hours followed by a one hour cab ride. Need less to say I am tired and need a shower and coffee. I have some local CAD users stopping by the hotel in around an hour for some good chat. I have posted some images to the gallery on the left side of this blog with more to follow.

Cheers,
-Shaan

My Brazil Trip in 6 days... Sao Paulo, Manaus, and Rio!

Well my journey to Brazil begins in only 6 days on March 14th, 2004. I am getting really excited at this point. I have had all of my shots and other travel requirements completed, except packing. I also have a few CAD users lined up to chat about AutoCAD while in Brazil.

Highlight Summary of my Trip:

March 14th Depart from San Francisco International to Sao Paulo Brazil via Miami. 16.5 hours travel
March 15th Arrive in Sao Paulo I have evening CAD chat setup with Mauricio Ritzmann.
March 16th Customer visits, presentation preparation, and some sight seeing if time permits. I have to try the pizza as I have heard so much about the special pizza from Sao Paulo.
March 17th & 18th Work...Presentations
March 19th - 24th Manuas in the heart of the Amazon Jungle for some time off. I will be going up the Rio Negro River for some piranha fishing and hiking with my base camp being the Amazon Ecopark.
March 24th & 25th In Rio for a customer visit and some site seeing.

If you are located in Sao Paulo, Manaus, or Rio and want to get together for some CAD chat, email me at [email protected]

I should have connections to the Internet the entire time with my HP TC1100 Tablet PC and a PCMCIA GSM/GPRS datacard. I will also have AutoCAD 2005 on this Tablet PC.

I am planning on updating the blog with photos every chance I get.

Cheers,
-Shaan

Five Immunizations Today...All for the Amazon Jungle Trip

I had to get five immunizations and three prescriptions all because I am going to the Amazon jungle and may be exposed to not so fun things like Yellow Fever, Malaria, Cholera, Typhoid, Hepatitis A, and a few more potential bacteria. I had to get a serious antibacterial prescription for tablets of Cipro to treat myself should I get a bad stomach bacterium, as I will be away from immediate conventional medical treatment except perhaps a local shaman.

I hate shots and my arms hurt.

I placed a photo of the painful needles in my daily grind photo gallery but sorry no pictures of my whining and acting like a 6 year old when getting the shots. I post random photos from time to time of my "daily grind".

http://autodesk.blogs.com/photos/shaans_daily_grind/

-Shaan

See Shaan Eaten by Piranhas in the Amazon Jungle Live on this Blog Next Month!

So many people have said I am crazy for wanting to do this trip to the Amazon Jungle, but I laugh as it has always been a dream of mine. Nothing like the humid, hot jungle with a fishing line and of course my new rugged’ized by way of a special case HP Compaq Tablet PC TC1100 with a GSM cell phone connection via a PCMCIA card to live update this blog with photos, sounds and video as well as random jungle ramblings and observations. Yes, the Amazon jungle is covered almost completely by GSM cell phone coverage now. I will be testing live GSM/GPRS connection to the web this while there and becoming the Ultimate Road Warrior with a TabletPC! Yes I am a geek.

Those expecting to see a live video feed of me attacked by piranhas will be sadly dissapointed as I will be eating them instead.

I am learning the important Brazilian Portuguese sayings before my trip in a few weeks to Brazil and my vacation in the Amazon Jungle.

"ei, você poderia tirar uma foto minha com as piranhas devorando minhas pernas, por favor?"
In English
"Hey, could you take my picture while the piranhas eat my legs, please?"

Tips Received for my Amazon Jungle trip next month

I have been told that to defend myself from the aggressive and malaria carrying mosquitoes, to reach into a nest of leafcutter ants. This part of the process you have to be very fast or they will bite you with their large mean pinchers and poison. Then you must squish them into a paste and rub them over your body while making sure none are still alive to bite you.

I am not so sure about this tip as it sounds like a exercise in pain when a simple mosquito spray would be easier. Perhaps I will try this to make my jungle trek more authentic. Of course with my new trusty and HP TabletPC with a GSM data card I will be providing live updated photos to this blog of my adventure.

Cheers,
-Shaan (ultimate road warrior)

Well, I Have My Amazon Jungle Excursion All Planned

I have decided after my planned business trip to São Paulo Brazil at the beginning of March that I will be taking a week off and going up the Amazon starting at Manaus Brazil. Some people think I am nuts but this is one of those things I have always wanted to do. I have to give great credit to my wife for allowing me to go and being so supportive although she did mention something about life insurance. This is something I have always wanted to do since a child reading National Geographic Magazine and also being addicted to the Discovery Channel. It is a fifteen and a half hour flight from San Francisco to São Paulo then another 4 hour flight up to Manaus which is only accessible by plane or boat. Imagine all of those frequent flier miles… and the sore legs and back from sitting so long on planes.

I will be on the Rio Tarumã tributary of the Rio Negro right in the middle of the Amazon away from civilization, phones and computers. I will be taking photos constantly and posting many of them. I hear currently the temperature is only about 115 degrees F and muggy. It is going to be one of the great adventures of my entire life. I will be fishing for Piranha stalking snakes, gators, and monkeys as well as seeing some of the natives.

I will provide more details and the contact info of the very helpful and friendly tour operator as soon as I get all of the details and plans secured.

Cheers,
-Shaan