Jest for Pun

Chicago<--->INDIA<---->Chicago

2006-08-09T19:46:00.000-04:00

Let me start of with a little bit of bitching and then followed by a lame explaination for my discontinuous habits in blogging.

Bitching part:
There are some days you wake up and feel like a million dollars and other days you feel like shit.

Of late I feel like the latter part of my previous sentence. I wake up at 6:00 in the morning with torture in my head, my eye lids feeling unusually heavier than normal and my body totally fatigued. I drag my sorry self to the bathroom, which is usually 15 feet away, but at this time of the day I feel like its 15 miles away. I feel sick. I feel like I have been infected with every single disease in this world.
I then sit and ponder........"what an interesting case I must be from a medical point of view, what an acquisition I should be to a class. I was a hospital in myself and students could learn by walking around me."
Thanks to the meagre 5 hour sleeps that make my day(miserable).
And special thanks to the 7:00 clock train that I should be getting on, to do something for 8 hours, that I totally dont dig.

END OF BITCHING PART

Well bitching apart......my 3 week trip to India was great. It's never long enough. The clock seems to tick unusually faster at this time of the year. I met up with all(most) of my old friends, visited all my favorite joints, ate my favorite food and watched cricket almost every day. Some of the luxuries that I can't afford in Chicago.
The jet lag killed me initially when I returned to Chicago, altough it went unnoticed becuase of my usual soporific nature.
I am changing companies and I would be an associate with Acxiom starting this Monday(14th Aug). Well associate is a fancy word used by Acxiomites to mean "Employee".
I bought a whole bunch of books from India.......and I am full time into them. Altough I reserve my weekends for cricket, rock climbing and other stuff.
1. Shantaram
2. Being Indian
3. India Unbound
4. A fine balance
5. Dilbert....Clues for the clueless
6. Godel eschel and Bach
7. The curios incident of the dog in the night-time

and a few other that are not on the top of my recall right now.

So long folks......I will try and keep blogging more of10.
Need to rush

Touch wood

2006-06-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

Pun of the Day:

I have a real problem with splinters, but touch wood I wont get any more.

:)

SOUR GRAPES

2006-06-13T14:18:00.000-04:00

The move.........the plan.............
I convinced myself that it was gonna be alright. I would be alright with my office being moved from downtown to the suburbs. I had a "plan" in mind. I would use the commute time effectively to catch up with all my reading, and would directly hit the gym after napping on my way back home. I was happy with the plan and was prepared to move.

The move happens............
But now the fact that I have to get up at 6:30 every day just so that I could be at work by 9:00 is agonizing.
The sight of another person tucked in his bed while I am awake maddens me. It makes me want to look up and ask ........."Why me?".

The grapes are sour.....................
I then convince myself once agian with the following plausible reasoning:
"I wonder how the precious hours of a man's life...the priceless moments that will never come back to him again....are being wasted in mere brutish sleep? Here is my roomie throwing away in hideous sloth, the inestimable gift of time; his valuable life, every second of which he would have to account for hereafter, passing away from him unused. On the contrary look at me........ I am all cheerful now, I have my plan with me......I am gonna read, while my roomie is whiling away time in the land of nod."

The backslide..........
I spend my commute time slumbering all the way. There were times when I'd've missed my stop, if not for my colleagues. I am glad they haven't taken pictures while I was dozing away. Whatever happened to the plan.

I then tell myself "At least I caught up on my sleep and now I can be more efficient at work."

PS: And BLOG is what I do at work eh!!

So long .....
ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Brazilian days

2006-05-25T14:33:00.000-04:00

I am back after a brazilian days.
This time I dont even have a convincing reason to explain the irregularity of my blogging.
A lot has happened since the last time I blogged.
Joined salsa classes,
Joined a cricket league and play on a regular basis,
Bought a bicycle for the summer,
Watched MI-III, Da vinci Code, Thank you for smoking, Inside Man.
Was almost this close to buying a MotorCycle.
Became a proud owner of an IPOD Nano (Black)
Got raped by the stock market.
And many other things that aren't on the top of my recall right now.

My office moved from Downtown to the suburbs. It sure turned out to be the fly in the ointment. What used to be a 2 block walk is now a 1 hour commute for me.

I bought a whole bunch of books:
1. Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein
2. Das Kapital
3. Interpretter of maladies by Jhumpa Lahari
4. Heavens to Betsy by Charkes E Funk
5. Hog on ice by Charkes E Funk
6. Three men in a boat by Jerome K Jerome

Books 4 and 5 have tonnes of interesting Idioms and other curious sayings, whose origin I've always wanted to know.

Rest remains the same.

So long
Keep reading

dickshit eh!!

2006-03-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

I came across this profile in Orkut and was wondering why would any parents name their daughther ..... Dikshita??
I'd like to imagine all the toture she'd have been through at high school with people comming up to her all the time and addressing her with all kinds of soubriquet's, and then burst out laughing.
My sympathies, Dikshita (hahahaha).

Knock Knock!!
Who's there??
Dikshita!
hehehe!!

2006-03-09T15:19:00.000-05:00

A very unusually warm and an extremely pleasant day in Chicago at this time of the year.
But that doesn't change anything for us cubicle dwellers. Secluded in our burrows, we are totally oblivious to such niceties that nature has to offer.

Anyways, I came across this piece of writing by my friend and thought I must share it with you folks. I will be quoting it in Italics, just so that you know I am not plagiarizing his/her ideas.
Just learnt that there is a thin line between plagiarism and coincidence.

"No longer available"

so long......

Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so

2006-03-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so.

hate it or ignore it, you can't like it

2006-03-07T16:15:00.000-05:00

I was back from Mexico on Friday, with an H1-B visa. I partied hard on Friday night, and it took me till Saturday noon to recover from all the misery in my head.

I had a fling with Go-Karting on Saturday evening and I must confess I loved that sport.
Sunday was spent skiing again at Alpine valley. I had a tough time reaching that place with all the bad directions that I was carrying with me. And to make things worse, it snowed hard that day making it pretty effortful to ski.

After an eventful weekend I am back to work which means back to looking forward for Friday.
And after two days of constant meetings, constant changes in the requirements and endless lame-ass jokes, I've come to a conclusion:

"Life, hate it or ignore it, you can't like it."

so long fellas

Hola

2006-02-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

It's one of those days at work that I always dread. Today was loaded with meetings - where we take minutes and waste hours.
A lot has been happening ever since I last blogged. I developed this unconditional love and Zeal for skiing, after having skied at the Alpine valley in Wisconsin a couple of weeks ago.
And work, for a change is keeping me busy.
I will be flying to Mexico tomorrow to get me VISA stamped. Shall be back on Friday. (hopefully).

So long folks
adiós amigos

Pun of the day

2006-02-15T17:33:00.000-05:00

Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the kayak. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

26

2006-02-08T17:45:00.000-05:00

I remeber that "18 Male Bangalore" would be my reply whenever some one would a/s/l me in the chatrooms.
As I turn 26 today, those memories seem to be bleaching away.

Yep, It's my B'day today.

First of all I would like to thank all my friends for buying me dinner at the "Flat top Grill" last night.

The dinner was followed by the "You cut the cake ......and we smudge it all over your face" incident. It took me a while to get rid of all the cream and the grease off my hair, face, body.....etc. What ever happened to "You can have the cake and eat it too".

Like that wasn't inflicting enough pain on a guy who hates to shower, there was a surprise waiting for me in the form of a Champagne bottle.
I was all excited to uncork the bubbly and drink it, but little did I know, what it was actually meant for . I had to repeat the agonzing act of showering. This time only to get rid of all the alcohol.
I usually believe my instincts and have these out of the world intuitions and guess things right almost all the times.
Note the use of the word "almost" in the sentence.
"Now what!!".
Just when I was beginning to think that all the cake smudging and the Champagne spraying was beggining to be a "pain in the Butt", I was discouraged by the fact that there were B'day bumps awaiting me.
I felt like a Gladiator thrown into the arena amongst a bunch of lions. Wearing a weak smile I volunteered to get my ass kicked. (Literally).
I was kicked ruthlesslly, and just so that they can rub it in...........they would kick me 26 times to remind me of my age.

The "party" was good, The cake was excellent........my hair still smells of caramel, The champagne was nice.

I couldn't sleep that night, I kept getting calls from friends and family in India......wishing me and reminding me of my age.

The Big Apple

2005-12-27T12:21:00.001-05:00

" I am on a vacation from 12/28/2005 through 01/02/2006. You can call me on my cell phone (8**-***-****)if needed. But I am seriously wishing you wouldn't. :)

Thanks
Sandeep"

That was the mail from me to my Team lead on 12/27/2005.

I am off to visit the Big Apple. One of my favorite cities. The last time I remember, I was at Times Square awaiting 2004 and I will be there again, but awaiting 2006 now.

I saw the movie Munich yesterday. Splendid!! I must say. A very well made movie.

It's about the secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and assassinate 11 Palestinians believed to have planned the 1972 Munich massacre. It's as good a film as Speilberg has ever made in the last decade. No worse and, alas, no better.

I also spent quite a fortune with Banana Republic. Looks like half of BR is in my closet now!

Ever felt the importunate urge to slap your co-worker for listening to highly annoying music at an irritatingly jarring volume. Not only that, but sporadically taking it to crescendoes, to display her collosal love for her abhorible taste in what she calls ....music ??

Well people do have their own tastes and choices. I totally respect it.
That doesn't mean I show up at work with no clothes because thats my choice or go around stapling people to the walls because I love to.

I just dont do it. I don't do it out of hmmm.......lets say "concern" for the other people.

The last thing I want you guys to see when you visit my office is, me sitting naked in my cubicle and the other folks stapled to the ceilings and walls.
See .......... I am concerned for you.

Well jokes apart, but I am totally pissed off. I try shooting these subtle innuendoes, just hoping that our music lover would get a hint and tone it down a bit.

Here's a piece of the conversation. (aMF is read as ardent Music Fan and not a M Fu****)

Me: Hey, can you tone it a teeny-weeny bit down....................please?
(Now that's as subtle as a guy could get when he is all shook up.)
aMF: Oh! I am so sorry. I didn't realise that it was loud enough to bother you.
(she pretends to have this air of oblivion around her........and she tones down)
Me: Thanks.

I think I said "thanks" too soon.
I sould have waited and listened to the intensity that our lady had toned down to. Looks like she is a dilbert reader too, with catbert being her favorite character.
She took me literally and toned down exactly by a teeny weeny bit. The only difference was that I couldn't hear the lyrics now but still could hear some gibberish from her desk. And that's even more irritating.
I could repeat the above dialogue with her. But that would only jeopardize my image in the office and I would be coined as an annoying co-worker, who has no taste in music.
What an irony?
The hunter would be hunted. My story would be a perfect example for "What goes around comes around" or as some would say "Bad Karma".

I bet she was intelligent enough to read my thoughts about jeopardizing my image and took the liberty to turn the volume down by a little bit, which would still agonize me while she could still listen to her "music". And it will be BAU.

Anyways, look at the brighter side. I am off to NYC morrow.

Knock Knock !
Who's there ??
Nuisance.
Nuisance who??
What's Nuisance yesterday??

So long
Have fun

weary weary tired

2005-12-19T12:05:00.000-05:00

I am weary weary tired from Friday evening.
I'd never been so wasted in my life. I Slept the whole of Saturday and it took me one and a half days to recuperate from the aftereffect of all the boose in me.

so long guys
Booze no gooood

Run

2005-12-12T11:38:00.000-05:00

I bought the "Demon Days" by Gorillaz. I have been listening to them all day long and haven't gotten bored yet. My favorite song being "Feel Good Inc."

Haven't been working out regularly.........and as the maxim goes:

"What profiteth a closetful of Armani, if a pot-belly should come to despoil it? "

Keep running guys.

Deja Vu

2005-12-07T11:35:00.000-05:00

Knock Knock!
Who's there??
Teja
Teja who??
Hmmm......I have seen you somewhere before

Does Beer freeze??

2005-12-05T12:27:00.000-05:00

"Hey Sandeep! Does Beer freeze?? "
I'd 've said "Hell .......how am I supposed to know? Go look up google".

But what if this question was thrown at me by a very cute blonde sitting right across the cubicle from where I do?

An ardent Dilbert reader that I am, and the pointed hair manager being my favorite character, the only answer I could think of is
Me: "Hmm.....well it DEPENDS!!"
(I thought I had skillfully avoided the topic. But........................ )
Induhvidual: "On what??"
(I had to stall, I needed some time......some time to think, think about what it actullay "depended" on?)
Me: "What kind of beer are we talking about??"
Induhvidual: "Bud light"
Induhvidual: "wow.......Bud light is so good, but you know what? I like Corona much better."
Induhvidual : "Oh my god!! I love Corona"

In the interim, the evil me is madly typing away "does beer freeze" in google.

While missy Induhvidual is talking about Corona and her friends' sister's dog or a pet of somekind, I was glad that I found an answer which could not only impress this cutie but also bring me immense relief from not having to hear her stories. Her stories about pets of people who I don't know and who I couldn't care less about. :(

I interrupted her while she was talking about how much she likes Bob Dylan (I had no idea when the topic switched from Corona to pets to Dylan!! ).

I then confidently aver that "Only the water in the Beer freezes and not the alcohol, because alcohol has much lower melting point than water."

She was overwhelmed, there were some " Wow!!!..... how'd ya know that", "cool", and some exaggerated movement of the eye brows and some phone calls to her close friends/relatives.

I am back again folks.................after a very very long hiatus.

So long
Freeze Beer ................ Drink Alcohol

I love Loopholes

2005-09-16T17:16:00.000-04:00

Teacher: Explain Newton's first law of motion in your own words ??

Student: hmmm......yakka Foob Mog gruG PuBbQWup Zink Watoom Gazork chumble SpuZz

I love Loopholes!! :)

I bought a bunch of books last weekend:
1. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
2. The Great Gatsby
3. The Old man and the sea
4. The Tropic of Cancer.
I am currently reading "The Old man and the sea" by Ernest Hemmingway. So far its been a very good read.

If any one is interested I can write a review on this book in my "own words".

So long.........

History has been made

2005-09-12T14:18:00.000-04:00

"Decades of lopsidedness finally discontinued. The jinx is broken and the urn is now in the hands of the Englishmen. The confetti flies, the bubbly is uncorked, Team England bask in the adulation as the celebrations begin in right earnest! "

I don't have anything against the Aussies, but it's always nice to see a less favorite team fight for victory against all odds. This was one of the best tournaments I have ever witnessed.

I was down with flu this weekend and stayed home all the time watching movies. I saw "The Wedding Crashers", "Sum of all fears", "8 mile" and"Sarkar".

I took my first Oracle certification exam and I fared well. I am now an Oracle certified SQL programmer. This is the first step towards becomming an Oracle certified Associate (OCA).

I am planning to get a certification in AIX now.

so long fellows

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2005-08-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

With a distinct sense of déjà vu I see my self sitting lifelessly in this dismal cubicle of mine. My eyelids are only getting heavier by the minute.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sox and the City

2005-08-23T14:09:00.000-04:00

Last week was a long week and I was ardently waiting for the weekend to relieve my ennui.

To start off, I'd been to a party on Friday night at the "Big Bar" in Hyatt regency on Wacker drive. Now, I was thinking " Why is it called Big Bar" and that was until I saw the size of the martinis they were serving(whooping 48 Oz martinis...that's 1200 ml) and also, the bartender had to use a ladder to reach to the top of the shelf where all the infinite liquor was stacked. They had 2 floors of liquor to serve us from. This was one of the finest bars I have ever been to. The monster sized drinks, the splendid music, the phat and foxy waitresses, and a stunning ambience........made my day.

I got back early as I had to go to a base ball game between Yankees and White Sox on Saturday afternoon. This was my first base ball game and I got to watch it from the box right next to the commentators. Although the game got boring, the whole atmosphere was fun to watch though. There was not a single home run in the game and the White Sox went down 0-5 to the New York Yankees. The Sox were no match to the Yankees who were beefed up with Matsui, A-Rod and Derek Jeter.
And that Soxx!!

I got back from the game and had a good nap. It was Saturday night and Partying comes without saying. To begin things with, it was one of my friend's birthday and we had dinner at Big Bowl. Then went to "Lions Head", a dance floor and partied hard, got wasted and got back home at 6:00 in the a.m.

The whole of Sunday was spent sleeping and drinking plenty of water. (Thanks to all the booze)

One of my friends was leaving to India for good and so we treated him dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory. (Calories galore)

That, was the end of this fabulous weekend.

Now, back to Moan-day, back in my cubilce, back to staring at the monitor, back to looking forward for the next weekend.

Pun of the day :
I love shrimp soup................ I think it's Shrimply Souperb !!

So long folks
Peace

Debt Free

2005-08-17T16:32:00.000-04:00

......and I am debt free as of today.
Its always nice to see a big ZERO in the balance column of the credit cards' statements.
Trust me it is!!.....after having seen numbers like I've had on my cards :)

Offlate, I've been playing foosball a lot with my team leads and project managers.
Must confess I am only getting better at it each day.

Happy Independence day

2005-08-15T16:43:00.000-04:00

I would like to wish all you folks a happy Independence day.
Freedom is one of the greatest gifts that most people don't acknowledge.

se7en

2005-08-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

I am back to blogging after a long hiatus. I owe this break to a tiny streak of indolence that I possess for penning my thoughts.

The weekend was fun.

Avinash visited me this Friday on his way to Michigan and we feasted upon some good Indian food that evening. Hung out with some friends after that at Rocko's and hit the sack early (1:00 am).
Saturday happened to be a gloomy leaden day, with heavy rain all over Chicago.

I got myself enrolled in a karate class that morning. They have the Japanese karate association, right on Belmont and Clark, and they practice the Shotokon style that I am "familiar" with. (I am being really modest ....when I used the word familiar).

Got back home and worked out for a couple of hours.

And then there's always Saturday night.
We partied hard in Sound Bar. It's amongst the 5 top clubs in Chicago. We were 2 cabs full of friends and we had 5 hours on our hands to blow off our steam.
(FYI - This club closes at 5:00 in the am.)

Christianity talks about the 7 deadliest sins committed by humans V.I.Z:

Pride
Greed
Envy
Wrath
Lust
Gluttony
Sloth

I commited each one of them that saturday night.

I started off with an Eigen meister shot, and then washed it down with a Maragarita, a Jack and coke, 2 b2b Martinis and a miller light. I was so wasted.

I was practically drinking like a fish and so were my accomplices. That's exactly when I got unleashed and played Dr. Hyde for a while. I danced like crazy...I danced like as if there was no one watching. (Infact nobody wanted to watch me dance). So much for playing Dr.Hyde.

Got outta the club at 5:00 in the am and had some food at a cabbie joint and the next thing I remember is getting up at 2:00 PM with a misery in the head. Drank tonnes of water to get the hangover with :)
I tried making some Hyderabadi Biryani on Sunday afternoon and it was edible. (I am being modest again).

I shot some real cool pics from my appartment, this is what I see everyday form my window on the 41st floor.
If you are really interested in where I live and what I do.........Follow the link below.

Go ahead.......

click here

Yeah...you guessed right..... that's Sear's Towers!!

Pun of the day:
I knead some dough....I am hungry.

and to top it off:

Knock knock
Who's there??
Casino
Casino who?
casino, it takes two to tango.
(casino --> cause you know!)

So long
take care

Blue Man Group

2005-07-18T15:36:00.000-04:00

I spent the weekend with Avinash. It was more than a year since I saw him. A couple of years back we used to hang out every freaking day in Bangalore, exploring all the restaurants, theatres and checking out some of the pretty chicks too.
(some would be an understatement there)

And now we get to meet once a year and that's.............. if we are lucky.

We had been to the Blue Man group show this Saturday. We were amongst the privileged people to watch them act. They perform only in Chicago, Boston, NYC, Las Vegas and Berlin.

3 enigmatic bald and blue characters, percussive music, Visually Stunning effects, and dazzling energy were the order of the day.

I could manage some seats in the Poncho section. That's the section where we get to wear a Poncho...........thanks to the stuff flying off the stage. Stuff like paint, pies...etc etc.

As the pre-show time ticked down, random cheers rose from the crowd--coached by crew members, it was a great feeling to be able to witness this and then be able to participate.
The audience was encouraged to participate in group readings and chants to welcome different people in the audience just before the beginning of the show. When the show actually began, it felt as if we were bound into one group.

People from the audience were constantly picked on, embarrassed and then humiliated.....all in good spirit though :-)

I liked the part when one couple walked in late.......and the Blue men froze, the show came to a temporary halt and the cameras were focused on the couple until she turned pink.

The Blue men then continued again as if nothing ever happened.

Their unique style of music is really exciting to listen to. They use plumber pipes, giant spatula like things and a variety of other invented instruments too that generate an entirely different genre of beats.

The show lasted for 1 hour 45 minutes although it did not seem that long. It was a thoroughly exhilarating experience.

Got back home, caught up on the old times and slept pretty late or rather early in the morning.

Played cricket on sSunday.......and then crashed.

Yet another Moanday.........I can't wait for the weekend.

Pun of the day:
Why are you so bent upon watching the Leaning Tower of Pisa??

So long

A Room With a View

2005-06-27T15:23:00.000-04:00

I stayed at Days Inn by the Lake shore drive in Chicago for a week. And there wasn't one single day that I would skip running on the beach by the lake. You would find all kinds of people running, skating, cycling, scootering, surfing, yachting ...infact doing anything that would make them shed a few calories. The most impressive thing about lake shore is ........."The view of the entire downtown".
"Capital!!" I must say.

I moved to Presidential Towers with Saurabh, whom I 've known, since junior high. We stay on the 41st floor and that gives us a birds eye view of pretty much the entire downtown. Now that's one helluva "Room With a View". It's 2 blocks from my office and 2 blocks away from the Sears Towers. This place has a gym, a shopping complex, Salons, and a bunch of restaurants. In a nutshell it's very very convenient for me. And there are also a bunch of guys who play cricket every sunday. That's fun too.

The first week at IRI was spent on "going through" documentation and stuff.

Now, they gave me a Laptop today and the first thing I could think of doing is ......to blog.

Al right people
Gotta work

Exit Milwaukee--->Enter Chicago

2005-06-14T09:08:00.000-04:00

It's been almost a month since I've blogged.
Every time I sit down to blog, I think "Bah!! What difference is it gonna make".
And this time I thought "Well, since it ain't gonna make any difference........I might as well blog. Big Deal!!".
It's 7:00 in the Am and I can't think better. I am at work, my eyelids are feeling heavier than ever and I am having a stinging pain in my head.
Pink Floyd is not helping me either.

And by the way guys......I got a project in Chicago Downtown with a company called Informartion Resources Inc. Now that's a place to be. I was there a couple of weeks ago and visited a school friend of mine(Saurabh). I was really impressed with the place and I was lucky enough to get an interview with this company.

I enjoyed my stay in Waukesha as much as anyone would enjoy wathcing grass grow. The last 3 months were, I must say my most boring moments. I have been working 10+ hours everyday and I was this close to becomming an automaton. I had a tough time getting released from the current project.......but then there's no looking back when you get a project in a city that has infatuated you.

I watched a couple of movies: The Cinderella Man, Mr.&Mrs. Smith, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Sahara.
I liked them in the same order.

My eyelids are still feeling heavier and my head continues to ache and Coffee is not alleviating it.

Knock Knock!!
Who's there??
Voodoo!!
Voodoo who??
Voodoo you think you are??

Shaken and Stirred

2005-05-18T16:53:00.000-04:00

I have ambivalent feelings about my stay in Tampa last week. We lost the cricket tournament. "Yours sincerely" did not bother to trouble the scorer in either of the matches. That's very unlikely of me.
Anyway, cricket aside.........we partied hard on Saturday night at a club called Sky in Y-Bor. I got back home at around 4:oo in the am. It reminded me of the good old days back in Tampa.

I got up late on what happened to be a lazy Sunday afternoon. I got my hair cut (after 5 months) and I look a lot different now.

Let me degress a bit and delve into my experience in the saloons in the past.
Every time I go for a haircut, I get this question thrown at me in the middle of the process:

Barber: Is the length of the hair all right??

This is the moment when I get really excited to express my wit and I am always tempted to say..........."No could you make it a little longer please".

But then I am wise enough than to dally around with the emotions of a man who has a blade in one hand my head in the other.

I rather say: "Perfect" and may be add even say a couple of "Thank you's".

Sunday night was fun too. A bunch of us hung out at Bennigans. It's an amazing place for cocktails. I had a couple of Margarita's and a Sexalligator.......which left me both shaken and stirred.

I hardly slept that night. I had a plane to catch at 7:00 AM on Monday that would fly me back to Milwaukee. I left the appartment at 5:30 in the AM. Just when I was beginning to think that I was an exception to Murphy's Law all these days..........shit happened!!

I was stuck on I-275 S. There was some accident and that held me up untill 6:40. The traffic began to move then and I was dropped off at the airport, safe and (not too) sound.

It was 6:50 when I reached the airport and thanks to the rules, I wasn't allowed to check in my baggage that late.
I got my boarding passes along with a couple of discouraging sighs, some hopeless suggestions and "good lucks" from the airport personnel.

The clock was ticking and I was racing against time. Thankfully, there was no one at the security check except Your humble blogger. Just when I was beginning to feel happy about Murphy's law having failed this time.........shit happened again!!
I was asked to walk through the metal detector more than a couple of occassions. I tried to be funny with the authorities. I even told them "Maybe my blood has too much Iron".
Didn't work. Not one bit.
It's amazing how one's sense of humor fails miserably at times you don't want it to.

Like the metal detector wasn't inflicting enough pain on me, this lady now wanted to check my bag. But only to find out that it was an electronic hair trimmer.

On a normal occasion I would encourage such a happening and watch them search my bag, while I bear a victorious smile and develop a sense of being a good Samaritan.
But this time I felt like throwing a couple of kicks on her, one in her groin and another in the face......exactly in that order.

I had 6 minutes on my watch. Which is usually 2 minutes slow.
After all the frisking and searching, I was declared free of detonatives and other dangerous explosives.
I rushed to the gate and heard the last part of my last name being announced by an attractive lady. I had made it in the nick of time. I lived through a couple of lame ass jokes by her and then boarded the flight.

Got back to Milwaukee.....both safe and sound this time.

I almost forgot to mention the "Strawberry Picking" incident that I did in a farm at Peachtree City. That was fun too.

It was one hell of a weekend.

So long guys
Peace

Change is inevitable

2005-05-11T23:32:00.000-04:00

You are forced to watch a test match from the very first ball on a Monday morning till the last ball on Friday evening.
What if the batsman left every delivery that was pitched outside the off stick and the bowlers wouldn’t change their line??
And what if the match ended in a draw??
And even more……. what if the match was being played between Kenya and UAE??
Include a couple more “what if’s” in the dialogue above, and imagine how that would bore you to death. That’s exactly how I am feeling at work right now. Mundane ness kills me.
Who ever said change is inevitable?? (A fleeting thought about a Vending machine of some kind passed my mind and I bear a grin as I think about change being inevitable)

I am sitting in this arid cubicle of mine in Peachtree city facing a wall, while the monkey in the next cubicle is hogging all the view from its seat.

Talking about the view, I must mention that Peachtree city is one of the most scenic places I have ever been to till now.

I went on a long drive last Sunday afternoon and I was amazed by this place. There is greenery everywhere. These trees are tall, huge and are adorned with the leaves that come in all shapes, sizes and colors which range from some subtle shades of white to all the possible hues of green that anyone would have ever encountered in a chemistry lab. Amidst the medley of colored leaves there are some brightly colored flowers dispersed intermittently. The sight is spectacular.

These trees form a thick canopy that hinders the view of the beautiful villas amongst the woods and the lakes, which surround them. I can aver that these are Villas……for they are too good to be regular houses. Them villas are huge, huge like the castles. Most of them have private drives that run through the woods, pass through their lawns from across the lakes leading all the way to the garage.
What a place to be and what a place to live??
That would be an ideal place to catch up on all the reading. The only noise that would disturb you is the rustling of the wind through the leaves and sporadical chirping of Thrashers.
I could live with that!!

It’s one of those nice get-away places, especially if you are tired of living in concrete jungles. And it’s a shame that I’ll be leaving this place in a couple more days from now.
Who ever said, “Change is inevitable”

Enough said about this unconfined beauty of a place, my cubicle still suxx.

So long fellas.

Dream on Guys!!

2005-05-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

Here is a list of the top 10 carefree, kickass , biggest hard rock bands that I happened to stumble upon while switching channels.
Boy!! talk about serendipity.
I think these guys are the Gods on stage. Displaying plenty of attitude and loads of talent, they simply rock!!
Some think they are incredibly heavy, I'd say......."while being musical at the same time". All the Bashing, the singing, the guitaring, the Hippy Stuff.......everything......I mean everything about these dudes is mind-blowing. These bands have had a profound influence on music and culture in the 70's and 80's and continue to do so even today.

These bands set the benchmarks for quality music, and are the touchstones of supreme hard rock bands.

You folks might want to check out the list here and make sure you were listening to the right stuff all these years.

10)KISS
09)Guns and Roses
08)The Who
07)Van Halen
06)Nirvana
05)Metallica
04)AC/DC
03)Jimi Hendrix
02)Black Sabbath
and then right on the top of the list, in a totally different league, we have
01) Led Zeppelin.

My personal favorites from the list above are Led Zeppelin , Nirvana and GNR.
Exactly in that order.
I have been listening to these guys ever since I smelled teen spirit and will continue to do so. I love them bands and nothing else matters.

Well...............Nevermind!!

Dream on guys!!

2005-05-04T23:30:00.000-04:00

The weather in Atlanta is beautiful. Its nice to be back in the south. Its time and its nice to bask in the sun and thaw, especially after having survived a nipping winter up North.

I've booked my tickets to Tampa and I will be flying there next weekend. I am actually flying to Tampa to play a cricket tournament. Not on the top of my recall as to when was the last time I've had a fling with the bat . I'll now have to wait and see if I can have a ball with it.

So long folks

Tampa beckons me

2005-04-28T23:56:00.000-04:00

Iwas swamped with work in the last 2 weeks.
I have been working in the weekends. 8 hours each on Saturdays and Sundays.That is after having worked 10 hours a day, everyday on weekdays.
And looks like this trend is going to continue for antoher week or two.
That makes it 4 weeks in a row with absolutely no break.
Day after day, hour after hour I will be rotting in the cubicle for 2 more weeks, like how I did in the last two weeks.

I know there is a threshold for every one of us and right now Iam on the verge. I am just a teeny-weeny nudge away from my threshold.
My eyes hurt from wathcing the laptop's screen 10 hours a day, my neck gets sore and my wrist aches and my hand is cupped all the time like it's holding on to a mouse.

And like that wasn't enough tyranny imposed on me..........

I am now asked to fly to Atlanta along with some other datawarehousing consultants to wind up the final stages of development of this fucked project . I will be staying there till the 13th of May. (All expenses paid and taken care of once again.)

If only my manager understood the concept of weekends.

I am looking for a break from this work, I want to get away somewhere. I want to get some sun and bask in it too. Tampa beckons me :-)

Anyways, having nagged enough...........
Hey UK, I will have to fly to Tampa from Atlanta for the tournament unless they really ask me to work that weekend.I have my fingers crossed, I dont want to miss another tournament.
Well, I can't complain enough. I am just waiting to see the development done.

So long

Did you know why they call it PMS???

2005-04-25T23:55:00.000-04:00

I am gonna bore you with a very effecient weight loss technique. So those of you not interested can go back to eating your Oreos. And for all others:

One pound of body weight = 3500 calories.("=" is read as "assocaited with"). So lets do it again ......One pound of body weight is assocaited with 3500 calories.

An average person with a medium frame requires 2100 calories/day. So if this average person of ours wants to loose one pound of body weight, he must cast off 3500 calories.

The best way to do this is to cut down your calorie intake from 2100 to 1800 calories/day, thats a (300 less) and then run for 30 minutes a day(10 minute mile) which would on an average burn 350-400 calories.

That makes it a total of 700 calories that you'd lose in a day.

So, you lose one pound for sure in 5 days. (That would be a lotta Money in England.)

Thats the easiest and the best way to lose weight though

Crash dieting, and starving are all I think penny wise "pound" foolish.
You may lose weight but at the expense of your health and metabolism rate.

Patience is the key to weight loss.....so please "Wait"!!

This was the dose I got from my Personal Instructor today. I knew most of that stuff and that mad me a tad bit faster in math than I actually am. And she was impressed with the calculations.

Gym has been my refuge for quite some time now and I hope it stays that way.

And one more thing before I log off....

Did you know why they call it PMS???
Because "The mad cow disease" was already taken. (hehe)

No offense ladies.

So long
Keep running

Pad-Thai

2005-04-21T13:53:00.000-04:00

I Had been to a Thai restaurant for Lunch today.
And my fortune cookie said:

"Ideas are like Children........YOUR'S are always the best".

Was that supposed to be a joke?
because........I dont have children either.

I came across a list of 10 best War Movies of all times. I have seen 4 of them myself.
Here's your quick checklist:

1.) No Man's Land
2.) Schindler's List
3.) Platoon
4.)Apocalypse Now
5.) MASH (not M*A*S*H)
6.) The Great Escape
7.) Lawrence Of Arabia
8.) Spartacus
9.) The Bridge On The River Kwai
10.) Paths Of Glory

Now, give yourself 10 points for each movie you have seen, then sum up all your points and feel happy about the quick math that you just accomplished.

Alrighty then!!!.....looks like I have a meeting to attend. I gotta rush, but before that I would like to share a lighter moment with you folks....

Why did the apple cross the road??
Because he wanted to go to the other 'cider' of the road :-)

hehe

2005-04-18T14:22:00.000-04:00

The weekend flies by.
Yet another boring Moan-day.
I finished reading "A Clockwork Orange", I'd recommend that to all my droogies out there.
I am looking at some books about "Stocks and Invesment" for beginners............suggestions are always welcome.

:-)

The Windy City

2005-04-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I had been to Chicago a.k.a "The Windy City" last weekend. A fantastic place to be. The Sears, The Hancock and The Amoco are beyond the scope of my vocabulary. And the view of these buildings from the banks of the Michigan lake at twilight is absolutely capital. The building are beautifully lit, and the entire downtown can be viewed from the Lake side.

A lively place to be during the summers and an equally horrible place in the winters.
If not for the nipping winters, Chicago is a neat place to be.

"A Clockwork Orange" is making a wonderful read.

Take one and a half cups of "The catcher in the rye", 2 cups of "Slaughter house Five", a dash of "Tropic of cancer" and blend them real good and .....Presto!! You have this master piece from Anthony Burgess.

I have also been reading a bit on Metabolism and cal. And I am trying hard to keep up my Anabolic metabolism rate high and the catabolic metabolism rate low. :-) If that did make sense .......

Anyways....planning to hit Chicago once more this weekend.

Shall bog more on that later.

Knock Knock!!
Who's there??
Chalk
Chalk Who??
Dont you Chalk to me like that.

(OR)

Knock Knock!!
Who's there??
Chalk
Chalk Who??
Chalk whoo very sharp!!

Bye Vecks!! Gotta go......hope my sarky starry boss doesnt viddy what I am upto.

Better Luck

2005-04-08T16:34:00.001-04:00

If "better" is a superlative for "good" then why do we wish each other "good luck"??

Why not "Better Luck" ?? It's like wishing more of good luck, aint it??

Anyways, its good that you guys know better.......er....best.

I finsihed reading "The Death of a salesman" by Arthur Miller. A very poignant and a melancholic play set in the late 1940's.

The play is about a self deluded and a pretentious Salesman in his late 60's and his grandiose opinions and views about his sons' abilities, which they obviously can't live up to. (The Sons actually happen to be below mediocre.)

And if you are those types who would die not to know the climax until you have read it or seen it yourself, then don't bother reading the title.
oops!!

I am currently reading "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. After having read a few pages, I realized that I had to download the "Glossary of the Nadsat talk" to understand his vocabulary. Most of the words used in this book are supposed to be the futuristic slang of teenagers which has a strong Russian descent.
So far ....so good.

I am beginning to love the book in its entirely viscious and acutely satirical form. A note of caution: the book can get brutally violent and alarmingly vulgar at times, only to display the Author's wrath about how sick a world we would live in.

Burgess' Views are quite palatable in this book.
I didn't understand any of his Triggers and Stored Procedures though!! hehehe

That's that then.

I joined Bally's Fitness centre by spending quite a fortune. I believe, that's money, spent wisely.
And I also believe that if you want a trophy by your side, then you got to be one yourself too.

Knock Knock!!
Whos there??
House
House Who??
How soon will you open the door??

So long...
Better Luck!!

Better Late than Never

2005-04-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

"There was a snake called Nate. His purpose in life was to stay in the desert and guard the lever. This lever was no ordinary lever. It was the lever that if moved would destroy the world. Nate took his job very seriously. He let nothing get close to the lever.

One day off in the distance he saw a cloud of dust. He kept his eye on it because he was guarding the lever. The dust cloud continued to move closer to the lever.

Nate saw that it was a huge boulder and it was heading straight for the lever!
Nate thought about what he could do to save the world. He decided if he could get in front of the boulder he could deflect it and it would miss the lever. Nate slithered quickly to intersect the boulder. The boulder ran over Nate, but it was, in fact, deflected, leaving history to conclude that is was better Nate than lever. "

I think of it as being really funny. If you think otherwise then eat this:

Knock Knock
Who's there??
Cock-a-Doodle
Cock-a-Doodle Who??
It's Cock-a-Doodle-Doo........ not Who!!

Later guys!!

Death-by-banter

2005-03-31T13:42:00.000-05:00

There are 2 monkeys sitting right behind me. I am gonna address them as M1 and M2.

M1: Congratulations saar!!
M2: hehehe for what saaaar!!
M1: I heard that you are comming to office at 6:45 in the Am every day in the last 2 weeks.
M2: hehehehehe......yes sir

From the above conversation, I deduced that:

M1 -----> a hardcore Sadist.

M2------> A bitter Masochist.

These are the kind of monkeys I work with.

After a brief silence, M1 and M2 were joined by a plethora of other M's. There were M's all over the room. They came in different sizes, shapes and colors. There was silly laughter all over. Their sophomoric sense of humor followed by their low IQ'ed wit put me in a state of mental oblivion as to Who am I? and What am I doing here?
These are the same questions which daunted many philosophers and scholars, but under different circumstances I guess!!

My mind was dazed, everything seemed to appear blurred, my legs began to wobble beneath me and the ground underneath shook. Neither of these factors made them monkeys stop bantering.
They seemed to be a marathon session of the Worlds lousiest conversation followed by some boisterous guffawing. They would then take turns and the other set of M's would laugh cluelessly at everything they heard. While they were mindlessly talking about anyting and everything under the sun, I was looking to dash through the nearby EXIT. A thought of calling 911 emerged my mind, which was almost numb by then. But, I waited.......

It went on for sometime and then....
Suddenly there was a momentary silence. It reminded me of my heydays back then. A feeling of Euphoria passed me. The grass was beginning to look greener, the sun came out from behind the clouds, the birds were chirping and Just when, I was recuperating from the death-by-banter disease, a strong pungent odour from some kind of spicy South Indian food seemed to reek the room. It made me feel like I was in the canteen of some college.

The cafeteria of my office is on the 2nd floor. I looked up to see if the false roof above me fell off. Well the roof was good and strong. While I was wondering as to what could be the source of this stench, I happened to hear a Monkey mention something about curd rice. My reflexes got the better of me. I turned arounnd to see that the whole batallion of M's were having lunch, and that explained the momentary silence. I am glad they knew better than to talk with their mouths full.

The momentary silence was broken, and then it was BAU. Its tough to follow a conversation when 10 people talk at the same time, leave alone monkeys.
Words like "chappati" "mango daal" "superb" "too tasty" "exercise" "belly" "fat" "who cares" were rampant in the air. I think that pretty much summarizes the conversation.

It was funny. It was funny because, I didn't know wether to laugh or cry and I chose the former. I was too tired to use 64 muscles.

I pity the monkey working from 6:45 in the Am. It reminded me of the Horse(Boxer) in Orwell's "Animal Farm". (Which eventually gets a tragic death).

I finsihed reading the "Life of Pi". Honestly, I didnot like the book as much I thought I would.
There are a couple of book stores that i managed to hunt down in Waukesha. I am planning to read the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, next.

The rest remains the same. I get up, come to office. Work from 9:00 - 5:40. Go to the hotel, change and rush to Gym at 6:30. Workout, comeback to the hotel at 8:45, change, eat dinner, read and sleep at 10:30.

PS: Pardon the typos. The railing and the ranting, followed by strong odors can do a lot to your typing skills.

All that glitters aint gold.

2005-03-21T13:00:00.002-05:00

I thought of taking a break from Orwell and post WW2 books.

I bought "The life of Pi".
So far so good.

The break between projects is killing me. I had an interview with Wipro some days back and now they want me to work for their clients at Milwaukee from the 28th of March.

In the interim, the doorknob is killing me too. Every time I reach for the doorknob to try to get into the room, a sudden involuntary shriek escapes from me while I throw my head up in the air with a sudden thrust added with an agonizing discomfort. And also to have noticed that my left leg and sometimes the right one too is six inches above the ground as though I am practicing some kind of Jujitsu .

It's the STATIC on that doorknob and it's killing me. The awkward countenance that I develop along with a feeling of repugnance that I maintain for the next few minutes is definitely not electrifying to watch. Trust me!!
I've become paranoid to a level where I actually use the cuff of my jacket to open the damned door. Some think I am crazy and some don't care.

I have been electrocuted abundantly and currently I am on my guard watching out for car doors, water taps, laptops etc. What used to be a shocking experience in the beginning is now becomming a familiar tune to me.

A couple of my friends have been assigned their projects in Irvine. I Had to drop them off at JFK airport. It was a long drive, and the abundant traffic or cars in the morning hours were making it even more longer.

Finally, I get to cross the Brooklyn Bridge, drive thru Brooklyn, pass Queens and then reach the airport. I must say these places are really beautiful. I have seen them in many movies and now I was actually passing trough the same streets.

The Brooklyn Bridge was massive, and looked strikingly awesome in the wee hours of a dull Monday morning. The sun hit directly on this mammoth steel structure, as it stood boldly across the Hudson River, making it glitter from far away .

The panoramic beauty of the bridge, the unconfined serenity of the scenic neighborhood and the warmth of the early morning's sun rays did compensate for the lousy Rush-hour traffic. It gets magical, it kind of invigorates you and makes you feel that you are in the right place at the right time.

I got back home, got electrocuted a couple times more, thanks to the water tap this time, then had lunch at Sub-Way.

My day is chugging along as I am planning what to do next after I finish blogging.

Knock Knock
Who's there??
Owl
Owl who??
Owl you know unless you open the door??

Brooklyn Rocks!!

All animals are equal.....but some animals are more equal

2005-03-15T17:28:00.000-05:00

Iam done with my project at Churchill Downs. Got a pretty decent feedback from the clients, at the end of it all.
I have been reading a lot lately. I read George Orwell's Animal Farm, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughter house-Five, Mitch Albom's The five people you meet in heaven and a Wodehouse too.

If not for the books, I think my last week was pretty trite. I bought Orwell's 1984 and I am guessing that will keep me clocked-up for a week or two.

Now, I am back in NJ, I got my first pay and all right when I was in the verge of being tapped out.
It was quite a breather for me. I will be upbeat about this for a couple of days beofre I recover.

I am waiting for some interview calls and shall let you know right on where I wind up this time.

So long
All animals are equal....but some animals are more equal.

Surely the toss did help him.

2005-03-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

"Hey Sandeep, do you have a coin on you. "
"Sure thing, Larry." is what I said as gave him a quarter.

Larry then tosses the coin and asks me to call.
I call it "HEADS".
While Eric is just standing besides me and looking at the proceedings.

Hmmmmm..........Ever had a bad dream where you end up a couple of hours late to an exam without a pencil or clothing??

Well I had a living example of that feeling..........when the toss turned out to be TAILS.

Mr.Larry who happens to be my manager had some news for me.
He was running low on budget. His allocated budget could hire only one Ascential consultant and he was having a tough time deciding between Me and Eric.

Surely the toss did help him.

I have one more week at Churchill Downs. AlsoI have finished my part of the project, except for a little tweeking here and there. I will be done in another week and will be looking forward for other clients.

So thats about it!!
Iam excited and satisfied with my performance at Churchill Downs. I learnt a lotta things on my first project and hope it comes in handy.

Planning to fly to NJ this weekend and get my camera to shoot Louisville.

So long.......

(I was just wondering what if there were three of us and he had to decide between one of us three???)

Iam soooo gonna compensate

2005-02-24T19:36:00.000-05:00

I will be flying to Tampa, tomorrow noon. Right now I am stuck in my cubicle. It's 7.24 in the PM of what seems to be a very long, muted, dull and snowy Thursday.

But sometimes, I get equally agog on thursdays as I would when I am 10 pages away from finishing a thrilling detective novel. Well, I personally feel that Thursdays are the harbingers of fun loaded weekends. They come right when you are tired at work and show you that the weekend is not far away. They just give you the right amount of hope and make you sanguine enough to get you chuggin along for one more day.

Knock Knock
Whos there??
Thursday!
Then go drink some water if you are thursday :-)

Well "jokes" apart and enough said about Thursdays, I bet today is gonna be one of those long 12-hrs-at-work days.

Iam soooo gonna compensate for it, this weekend in Florida.

Another week is passing by and deadlines are getting closer. My manager is breathing down on my neck vert often. Of course he would........why else is he paying Ascential $170 an hour for my services. And that's what is making me put in these extra hours. IT figures!!

I think I am gonna leave in an other hour or so.

I got a Churchill Downs mug and a Calendar as gifts from my team lead. Pretty neat stuff I would say, altough I dont know what will I be actually doing with them.

Alright then, I think I have to go get myself a soda..........I am feeling SODAmn Thursday.

Take it easy

Some things dont change !!

2005-02-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

I received a mail from my Manager:
It says I could fly anywhere in the USA during the weekends at their expense. So, that means I dont have to fly to NJ all the times.

Well, I have already made a list of places that I wanna visit during my brief stint at Churchill Downs.

I managed to hunt down a Smoothie King in Louisville.
Had a 20 Oz Gladiator Smoothie with strawberries and bananas and then had dinner at this Mexican Grill. It's a cozy place right off the bank of the Ohio River I was talking about.

That's pretty much all I am excited about.

Rest remains the same.

Valentine's day comes.....Valentine's Day goes............It's happened 25 times before and theres nothing much I could do than to sit and get depressed about it a couple of days later.

Some things dont change!! :-)

Knock Knock
who's there
Ivory
Ivory who??
Ivory strong like Tarzan!!

Damn!! .........this weekend was so long

2005-02-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

I am feeling pathetic for having missed out the cricket tournament at Tampa last weekend. Duty calls and on this occasion it did call out really loud, for I wouldn't have missed the tournament at any cost.

I am staying at the Ramada inn in Indiana. (That was a tongue twister ...."inn in Indiana" :)
It's just a bridge and 10 minutes away from ChurchillDowns.

I have an amazing view from my room. The bridge across the Ohio River is simply a wonderment and the view of Louisville downtown from across the river is absolutely stupendous. There are also a couple of restaurants right on the bank of the river playing live music and all and they are all lit up. They add to the effect too.

A nice to place to hangout, especially in the evening.
Iam planning to hit one of them restaurants some time in this week before I get back to NJ.

Work has been good so far. I finally am getting the hang of things, or at least I think Iam.

But I am dead sure I will find this whole job thing mundane within a month, and then I will be desperately looking forward for a change.

But a change in what?? That I will have to wait and see. :)

Nothing funny goin on in my head right now after a day of slumbering in the cubicle. In fact it gets numb and I think I need a good night's sleep to thaw it. But only to get ready to make it numb for another day. And thats numbelievable :-)

And then the weekend comes by. Hurray!!

An interesting fact I have observed...........Weekends are never long enough. Dont you think so??Have you ever heard any person complain:

"Damn!! .........this weekend is so long, I am dying to get back to office."

"Oh!! how I hate long weekends!!"

Well that's about it. Somethings dont change.

Anyways, I gotta get ready for one more day of cubicling.

Knock Knock
Who's there??
Kanga
Kanga who??
No!....Kanga roo!!

My mind isn't numb afterall. :)

so long.......
zzzzzzzzz

Whats the best birthday gift you have ever had?

2005-02-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

Whats the best birthday gift you have ever had?

Well atleast I know what mine is.

I got a job on Feb 8th as a consultant with Ascential. I get to work for Ascential's clients who happen to be Churchill Downs. The clients are located at Louisville, Kentucky.

For those of you who dont know this.....ever heard of Kentucky Derby?? One of the most prestigious horse racing event in USA or may be I can stretch it a li'l bit and say in the world.

For all of you who have seen SeaBiscuit, remember the WarAdmiral?? Well, it won the Kentucky Derby then and went on to win the Triple Crown too. One of the elite 12 horses to do so in the entire history.

hmmmm...... so much for horsing around eh!!! :-)

What are horses in stable #12 and stable #13 called?
NEIGHbours :-)

Anyway......the job so far has been fine and I am beginning to love it.

All expenses are being paid for and more over I get to fly to NJ every weekend....and of course its free as in.........F R E E.
Nice job to have, but I am afraid this might be a short term project and I better not get used to all these luxuries.
Cant help it when they force it on you though.:-)

I saw a bunch of Jockeys dressed up as Nascar drivers and galloping away in the tracks. I found that weird and before I jumped(to conclusions) someone told me that they were doing a commercial for the upcomming NASCAR event at Daytona.

I personally hate NASCAR races anyways. I think its too much of a redneck event. Popular in the southern states like KY, VA, GA etc.

The entire job thing happened real quick. Got a call at 7pm on 8th Feb and and at 7:45 pm I was selected and asked to report to work on the next day at 10:00. I did so. I worked till Friday and now I am flying back to NJ.

I am stuck at Washington Dulles Airport as I am bloggin this.

I have a 7 hour wait for the connecting flight. I dont know what was the person who booked my ticket, thinking?? Looks like he definitely was in no rush.

This is the lousiest itenarary that I have ever done.

Louisville-Cincinnati-Washington-Newark.

What would have otherwise been a 3 short hours journey, is now taking me 12 long hours.

Thats Neighn extra hours!!!

7 hours of loneliness can mess you up real good. It can get you thinking.

Thinking about all sorts of things. Some wierd and some not so. Some thoughts that scare you and some thoughts that please you, some perverted thoughts, some to make you feel guilty and some that make you feel hungry.

Oh yeah!! I am hungry. I Don't remember the last time I had food (since the sandwich at Cincinnati 3 hours ago :-))

There's absolutely no one in this building. All shops and bars are closed. It can get spooky at times.

Knock knock

who's there??

I just told you theres no one in the building man.........duh!!

Iam too sleepy, that only makes me lazy.

My laptop's running outta charge and suddenly the plug which was just 10 feet away a few minutes back looks like it's a mile away from me now.

Wonder what sleep can do to a person......or rather lack of sleep.

I want this blog's title to be "Sleepless in Washington".......Yeah.......yeah, I know Seattle is in Washington....so, I am still correct.........but then again this is DC that I am talking about. The city not the state :)

I better stop bloggin before I come up with more crap like that.

It's 5:15 in the am and I have 90 more minutes to while away. I can smell some coffee, looks like Starbucks is open.

I definitely gotta go. I love them croissants they sell.

So long folks

have a flight to catch

Happy Bday!!

2005-02-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

Iam 25 today. Being 25 is killing me. Being 25 is being a lot more older than what you were at 24 or say even 23. It's like Tan 89 and Tan 90.(degrees)

Anyway, my roomies bought me a cake yesterday night. I remember it was a Marshmellow-Chocolate something something cake, and we had a small party with some left over Heinekens from the Superbowl.
Got a number of phone calls, infact enough calls to keep me awake the whole night. I am glad I have friends from different time zones. Got calls at 12:00 am, 2:00am, 3:30am and some at 6:00 too.

I thank you folks once again for remembering my bday. :)

I saw the movie The Million Dollar Baby. I am a big fan of Clint Eastwood, and this movie made me a bigger fan of his.

"The rise and fall of a female pugilist" is what the movie is all about. It's an intensely emotional drama about a female boxer (Hillary Swank) and her crusty old trainer (Clint Eastwood).
This is not the boxing film you want to see, this is the boxing film that you should see.

I totally forgot to mention about the Superbowl. I would like to congratulate the New England Patriots for having won the superbowl XXXIX.
Tom Brady rocks. One of the finest QB's and my favorite too. The game was not very interesting. I have seen better games than that. But with all the hype and the ballyhoo that Superbowl receives, well you tend to enjoy it anyways.

Philadelphia won the toss and drew first blood with an impressive touch down. That did not bar the Patriots from coming back into the game. They came back in style and took the cup away. They have done this 3 times in the last 4 years. True champions. Deserve all the kudos.

The change in topics is not heping me. I am still feeling 25.

Looks like I am battling a crisis. I am getting older. Iam beginning to wonder how will I handle the crisis when I am 30. I cant imagine the transition from 29-30.
My priorities, my hobbies and my interests have changed significantly and I am no longer interested in things that I used to die for a couple of years ago.
Does that mean my past was a farce?? Why was I interested in things then and why not now? How am I different now?? Will I feel the same later about the present??? In a couple of years Will I loose interest in things that I am currently interested in?? Does that mean the present is a farce too ???

Well, lotta things goin on in my mind. Lotta things that I am carrying around. I am thinking its a passing phase in life and I will get over it.

Anyways, I am planning to take my roomies to Benihana's steak house. Shall blog more about it morrow.

So long
Stay young.

I must say that's highway robbery!!

2005-02-07T13:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend was fun. A friend of mine got a job in Las Vegas and he took us out bowling on Friday Night. After a couple of games of bowling we decided to do some club hopping in NJ.

Got back home late, Slept late and hence Woke up late too.

Talk about making impromptu plans and it can't get any better than this.
What started off as a casual discussion over some Chinese food eventually led to some serious planning.

Thanks to the Savoir-faire that I possessed.

We planned to visit NYC. I had been there for a week last year and I've fallen in love with that city ever since then.

In fact it's my favorite city (after Bangalore).

We drove off on the turnpike and at first we decided to get a view of the skyline from the Jersey side before we hit the streets of NYC. We reached the Liberty State park and got an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline.
As dusk was gathering upon us, the sight of the skyline from across the Hudson River was only getting better and better.
It was a treat to watch them SkyScrappers. Their flamboyance seemed to have no bounds as they stood tall and valiant looking down upon us.

They inspired me. They inspire me every single time I watch them. They make me more ambitious; make me want to be more rich, powerful and big.
All of a sudden I had this urge, an importunate urge to get to the other side of the river and be closer to the buildings.

I wanted to feel the city.

I think the others felt the same too and we decided to leave.

After paying a series of tolls which I felt were exorbitantly high, we entered the City. Parked our car at downtown and decided to hit the Times Sq.
We took a subway train bound Uptown. Not to mention these subway stations are fun. You get to see all kinds of ppl, I meant all weird kinds of people.

We were finally there, at the much talked about and the most sought out place in NYC.........The Times Sq.

It's a beautiful sight to watch especially in the night. The whole place was vivaciously lit up and then there are these really huge advertising TV-screens all around Times Sq., which only added to the effect. The whole place looked so festive and inviting.

It had to, cmon....... it's Times Sq!!.

After having gawked at all the buildings at Times Sq.We decided to hit Rockafeller center.
It was on the 49th and 6th Ave, had to walk a couple of blocks to get there. Although the cold was nipping at me and the breeze not helping me much either, I didn't kvetch, not even once.

We reached the Rockefeller center and they have this huge Ice skating rink open during the winters (Oct-Apr). This is one of my favorite spots in the NYC. I was almost tempted to have a fling with ice skating, but wisely thought otherwise.

Its one of those things that's not as easy as it looks. It gets really nasty when you slip and fall (which you will) on that hard ice floor. It's embarrassing and is definitely not conducive enough especially when you see kids laugh at your fall.

But that doesn't deter me from not trying my hand at skating. hehe...hand at skating.....good one.....anyway I will probably do that sometime. But maybe sometime later.

Right next to Rockefeller center was this hugantic church St. Patrick's Cathedral. It was an awesome church. One of the best churches I have ever been to. As I was touring the church I got to see all kinds of people. White people, black people, young people, old people, poor people, rich people, happy people, and not-so-happy people. Some of them were praying, some lighting candles, some in pensive moods, Some worried, some meditating, some confessing, some in tears, and some others just touring around.

There was an air of sadness in the church. To be honest it actually depressed me.The silence, the pathetic faces, the carvings of Christ nailed and dragged to the cross remained as poignant memories as I walked out of the building.

We checked out the Armani Exchange on 5th ave.

That surely gave me an apetite.

We decided it was time for dinner although it was just 7:15 in the PM.

We had dinner at the Bubba-Gump shrimp Co. restaurant and market.

Yes, it is the same Bubba from the movie Forrest Gump, who keeps talking about shrimp all the time, and hence the name......
Located right at the Times Square on 42nd and 7th (I think), this place hosts the perfect ambience for all you shrimp aficionados.
Those of you interested in finding more about the place can visit:

http://www.bubbagump.com/html/newyork.html

I would strongly recommend this place to all you folks. I had a Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi. It was Served with bourbon sauce and shrimp over mashed potatoes, it made a scrumptious meal.

After the meal we decided to head back. We took the Subway heading downtown, and got off at Chamber's street, that's where we parked our car.

We then made our way through the Holland tunnel, onto the NJ Turnpike heading south, and of course not to forget the unconscionable Tolls that were gouged out of us.

I must say that's highway robbery :-) .

Everybody was silent on their way back home. Well, I was living with this feeling, an overwhelming feeling that had gotten over me ever since I was amidst those buildings.

That city definitely has a character of its own.

As we sped our way on the turnpike I saw the skyline disappearing slowly behind us. We reached home by around midnight, and I was still thinking about the city as I went to sleep. NYC has always fascinated me and I think this is one of the cities that I would always love to visit anytime.

Anyway, Congrats once again Ashish for getting the job at Las-Vegas!!
(congrats for the Las-Vegas part........ not for the job.)

So long......
Stay tall

Jest for Pun

2005-02-02T12:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's night was fun.

Played pool for an hour then decided to change lanes and do some bowling.

7 of us guys on 2 lanes and with 1 motive .......... "destroy as many of them bowling pins as you can".

Nice way to let off your frustration after a week of mundaneness.

I pitied the plight of the pins. Wonder what must be going on in thier minds as they see a 14 pounder hurling towards them at a speed of 20 Mph, gathering all the momentum it can, just to pulverize them.
Well, they dont have much of a choice either than to stand and get socked right in their faces.
And that's their job!!
And all these days I thought my job sucked.

They are all up again, organized in the form of a Pascal's triangle, and this time to get pounded by an even heavier ball .

This happened like 100's of times.
Boy!!! Talking about the pins, Iam completely bowled by their woodenness!!
:-)
That's definitely not the place to be if you wanted pin drop silence. :-)
hehehe... (Jest for pun) .

I can go on...but I rather stop.

We bowled and bowled and bowled......... and then we stopped. We had to leave; those people were closing the lanes. And the Beer wasn't helping either.

I managed to score 173 points in one of the 3 occasions. That I think is my highest till now. Not a score, which I can really boast about though.

Drove my drunk friends back home and crashed.

As I lied down to sleep I was considering bowling classes. No fun in bowling without getting the ball to spin.

knock knock
who's there?
pins
pins who?
Its Pins charming!!......open up:-)

Vintages of this quality don't come in all seasons!!

2005-01-29T20:28:00.000-05:00

I watched 2 movies back to back yesterday.

Sideways (7:10 pm-9:20pm)
Aviator (9:00 pm - 11:50pm)

Terrific movies.

Alexander Payne and Martin Scorsese rock.

Sideways, well it's about 2 friends, one of whom is about to get married in a week and the other an unsuccessful writer who cant get over his ex-wife since 2 years.
They are together on a road-trip in California. This movie delves into 7 days of their lives and how things take course in such a short duration.

It's set amongst the beautiful vineyards in California.

A very slow paced movie, but thoroughly entertaining. The movie portrays some important issues in life like depression, friendship, fidelity, honesty, and integrity while still maintaining an element of jauntiness throughout it.

I personally feel that Alexander Payne did a fantastic job in this emotionally intelligent movie.
Every emotion is depicted in a subtle yet somewhat tangible way.
Some you can laugh about and some you can relate to and muse over.

And then again there are wine metaphors flowing all over in the movie.
They sound sophisticated, and classy and at times they make you feel bourgeoisie.
I wish I owned a vineyard!!!

I understood some of them characteristics of wine. They talk so much about wine....you tend to understand it anyway :-) .
There's one particular scene in the movie where wine and life are compared.........I liked that analogy.

For all the high-paced action-packed movie buffs, well ........this movie is a definite no-no.

To put it in a nut shell (which I should have done in the first place)
"Vintages of this quality don't come in all seasons. :) "

Observe the words Vintages, Quality and Seasons........you watch the movie and you will understand this line better.

After watching this smart and delightful comedy I rushed to see Aviator. I was already 20 minutes late. But considering the trailers and the commercials........I think I only missed the first 10 minutes of the movie.

I liked Aviator too. For all those of you who like sucess, power, wealth and always craved for a chance to do whatever they want to do.........well come in, watch it and get inspired. The movie charts 3 decades in the life of the eccentric Howard Hughes, a wild mustang of a person who has lived a fast life. The incredible eccentricity and determination that Hughes possesses is very awe inspiring in the movie.
Watch it guys........ though a 3 hour movie.......you will enjoy it every single minute.

Knock knock
who's there
wine
wine who
hic! hic!

.....The present is the best gift

2005-01-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

I registered at Orkut and I must say its one of the nicest things to happen to me after chocolate cookies. (or make it double chip chocolate cookies)

I met a lot of people from school days and some from college days too, some whom I met serendipitously, while some others whom I was trying hopelessly to get in touch with.

Things have changed considerably since the last time I saw them. Some married, some committed, some single-and-looking as usual, some in the USA and some in the better parts of the world. (No sarcasm....at all)

It's all good.

Meeting old acquaintances, is a fantastic feeling. It reminds me of those good-ol'-days.
(School/College days)

I was thinking of those days, and I began to wonder..........' why do the good-ol'-days always have to be those times in the past? Is it with me or does everybody feel the same about this?
Or
Is it my nagging nature that makes me discontented with the present, makes me feel like I had lived life king size before, and I am not right now??
Or
Is it that I am too busy in the present to even realize the amount of "fun" that I am currently having. (If any) '

Why does it always have to occur to me 2-3 years later down the lane, that I had fun then and not now??

Phew!!!

Why can't I just understand? Understand the way it is to be understood and enjoy the present, becoz the present is the best gift.

If only it were that easy for me.

and Geese what ??

2005-01-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

I dont why,.........but i get really excited seeing snow. May be this is one those things that living in Florida did to me.

I was heading out to grab some coffee and the moment I got outta the building and even before I notice what was happening I was being riddled with snow flakes.
They were heading from all directions. My instant reflexes were to dodge them snow flakes off, but I gave up eventually.

And within no time I was getting the white carpet treatment.
The cars, the roofs, the lawns, the pines, the grass and even my jacket was covered with snow.

It was serene and appealing.

I saw a bunch of wild geese dawdling on the snow by the lake. It was fantastic, just to watch them.

They looked like they were totally carefree, hassle less, no tensions, no complaints in life what so ever..................while on the contrary, I was getting my third dose of caffeine to keep myself up for another 3-4 hours of work.

This sucks.

and I am thinking......."I wouldn't have needed the coffee to keep me awake if I were doing something that I really liked and enjoyed. "

I will end up in a cubicle with in a month. I am gonna work and work and work until my mind grows dull and my creativity(whatever is left of it) vanishes. I will end up being an automaton, saying and doing the same dull things over and over and over again. The worst part is that, I know all this is gonna happen to me and there is nothing really that I can do or I am going to do to stop this.

This thought occurred to me when I saw them geese.

I go near them to get a closer view, .......and oopps.........I think I just scared them.
I didn't mean to though.

and geese what??

With the "panic" and the "chaos" that I caused, they began flapping their wings real hard.
All I remember seeing then...... is the wake of the geese by the lake, as they flew past it in the shape of a 'V' slowly disappearing into the horizon. I stood there standing, until I could barely descry them.

All this happened in a jiffy.

A moment ago there were plenty of them lazing around the entire lawn and the next moment they are all gone.

It was more like an illusion. Just like how many things in life are.

It was a fabulous sight to witness though.

Too bad I wasn't carrying my camera.

It would have saved me all this writing.........coz...... a picture is worth a thousand words ....errr.......or may be 410 in this case, to be precise. (like thomson and thompson from Tintin)

I am reading "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenence" right now........and its only getting better page after page. Its a bit intense though and makes you think about life, reality, truth, time,human mind, the society, the system..........etc.
And phrases like Chautauqua, Priori knowledge....just remain in your mind, once you start reading this book.

Thats pretty much it for today. I hope to see them geese again today.

knock knock
who's there
geese
geese who??
I can't geese anymore.....please tell me

It was Focking Funny

2005-01-11T16:26:00.000-05:00

I saw snowflakes today. and This was the first time I've have ever seen snowflakes.
What started off as ones and two's in number suddenly cascaded into myriads of them.

It was a fantastic sight on a joyous winter afternoon.

It looked like it was raining cotton, and the moment they fall on your jacket ....they'd melt.
The harder you try to grab them flakes the faster and easier they melt.

Its like......... the harder you crave for something the more difficult it is to get that thing.
I can get philosophical on this one. But I bother not to.

On the contrary, chk this out:

Q.) Where in India do you get sandwiches????

Ans.) NEW DELI

hahhahaaaaa.................I still find it funny.

The other day I was thinking about some of the common Freudian slips and I thought I must be more careful with the following probable candidates:

1. Pittsburgh (tittsburgh)
2. Volvo("Vul** ")
3. Terrific (Terrible) .........

Its easy to embarrass yourself, with these.

I mean, say .....Iam at the airport travelling to Pittsburgh and this sexy lady whom I desperately want to talk to comes and asks me where am I heading to, and its so easy for me to say "eh Titsburgh......sorry err!...eh..... I mean ...eh....Pittsburgh".

I must be cautious while using these words.
And I advise you to be too. to be too be tooo, scooby dooby dooo.......... :-)

FYE: I saw the movie Meet the Fockers. It's a sequel of Meet the parents.

It was Focking Funny!! You can watch it once.....you'll laugh your ass out.
Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller and Dustin Hoffman together rock.

Aight then i gotta get back to work now......

Knock Knock
Who's there?
France!
France who?
France, Romans, Countrymen...!

Bye

Long time!!

2005-01-07T19:12:00.000-05:00

Long time eh!!

I was busy relocating to New Jersey. I am hooked up with some consulting company.
Too busy to blog or also may be too bored too. Wow I just used three too's in one sentence.

Anyways.....Iam being trained in DataStage that's a ETL tool and then I'll be placed on a project with one of the company's clients.
My mind's numb from a whole day of datawarehousing.

Gotta go.
Later

Once a gossiper always a .......

2004-12-22T10:23:00.000-05:00

I got a great deal from Blockbuster. All you can watch movies for $15 a month and yeah plus taxes.
And ever since then i have been watchin a lotta movies.

Folks......I have an issue here.
Ever realized the amount of frivolous information that we know and that we keep track of when it comes to celebrities and their lives. Stuff like............

Bill Clinton's lab was castrated........do I really give a fuck??

Kareena and Shahid were giving tongue to each other..........any disturbing ramifications that I will incur upon??

ShahRukh Khan buys a house in Dubai.........Eighth wonder of the world???

Julia Roberts had twins......wow..........Will miracles never seize???

Britney Spears got a boob job............I must say takes one to get one done!!

Bush's daughter is a lesbian.....................alright I lied about this one :-)

and J Lo, Ben Affleck, Salman Khan......forget it..... i don't even wanna go there???

We have all the information about them right on the tip of the tongue.
Strange, we never seem to forget this kinda trivially futile stuff.

But when it comes to remembering stuff like Aufbau's principe, Pauli's Exclusive principle, Pegion hole concept, and Plank's constant.......etcetera, well we couldn't answer these questions without all the toiling and moiling.

I know its a big industry out there. Thats how the Gossip columnists and the gossipers survive.

I'd say.......... get a life fellas......Don't we have enough emotional baggage of our own to take care of??

Anyway I leave it upto you. Once a gossiper always a .......

I got another Christmas gift. A card and gift voucher at my favourite Panera Cafe.

I was wondering whats life without cut, copy and paste. I mean these are my favourite functionalites, along with Google of course. hehe......

I remembered a one liner form some where
"Jesus Saves all........But we must compile and run" that killed me.....i think its damn hilarious.

Ok...... now let me exhibit my idiosyncracy before I go grab a bite.

Knock Knock
Who's there???
Arch
Arch who?
You catching a cold?

I know that sucked.
Anyways ........take it easy

Twelve is the new Eleven

2004-12-20T09:39:00.000-05:00

Last week was pretty flavorless.

The most exciting thing that I remember doing last week was....... crossing the signal when the traffic lights turned orange.
Now you can imagine how bad that sucks.

And all i did in the weekend was sit and watch a bunch of movies.
Yeah, i know....... that sucks too :(

I think it's the weather. It's getting brutally cold, and the sun sets very early nowadays. That makes you languid and impedes the rush of adrenalin.

I dont like winters..........there's nothing 'cool' about them.

I pity the people living up North.

Anyways....................I watched Ocean's Twelve.
It's funny, its classy and it's intriguing with unpredictable twists. But sometimes it gets a bit too smart for its own good.

They say "Twelve is the new Eleven" :-)

The Movie is about Brad, Clooney, Gracia, Julia, Catherine and Damon having a blast doing what they do best.

It's a harmless time-waster and a one time watch only.

I got a black Buccaneer’s T-shirt as a Christmas gift from my director this morning. I think it was a very sweet gesture from her side.

She asked me how I liked it and I couldn't think of anything better to say than....
"wooooooow.........(like I lost my breath...) Neat, Thank ya".

Aight...gotta get down to work.

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Aries!
Aries who?
Aries a reason why I talk this way!

Signin offf.........
So long....

ConGraduations!!!!!

2004-12-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

Last week was quite a significant week for me.

1. Attended my last lecture
2. "Walked".........(graduated)
3. Got pulled over by a Cop
4. Got wasted and silly at my graduation party

(Not exactly in the same order. But I am too bored to go back and change it now for my readers.)
So much in a week....in fact the weekend......phew!!

Thursday was the final class of my semester.......and also the final class for my MS. The lecture was on "The dark side of MIS", and Dr.Grandon Gill was talking about Span of control, unintended consequences of technology, bureaucracy, cahnnelling productivity, cognitive psychology blah blah blah........ Well.....i must say i was excited to sit through this class.......no!! not because of the scandalous blonde who sits next me............but because it was my last class.......I mean I won't be attending school anymore........or not at least in the near future.

The class was over and I strode out of the building with an air of satisfaction around me.

I graduated!!

Saturday was the big day for me.........I had to dress up in a black gown, a Tassel, a funny cap, a hood, a sash and all. Graduation ceremony is a big thing..........I was a part of it
And so were 300 other students who were graduating too.
Big deal right!!

The place was flooded with families, friends, cops and cars.

The ceremony started off with the American national anthem. A high pitched cascading voice nearly deafened me.
Lucky, I don't wear glasses..........resonance and stuff you know......I am quite paranoid.

The national anthem was followed by a lot of Blah blah'ing. I could handle that too.

And then.......we were asked to walk on the stage as our names would be read out. Must say "I did the walk of life" .........it felt good.

I had officially graduated.

I understand you guys are extremely overwhelmed that I graduated..........and ya'll are dying to conGraduate me.........well anyways..........Thank you.

We walked out with our thumbs in the air and our faces smeared with "look Ma" smiles ........................ some I must say were plastic and some not so.

There were tons of my friends waiting for me outside. We clicked and clicked and clicked and clicked and..........................finally stopped. We ran out of batteries.

If you are really really excited to see my pics ............I'll have them posted.

I will have them posted anyways. So, you don't have to be desperate and all to see them. :-)

And after all the clicking and shooting...........it was party time.

Believe me we partied.........and i think it was the best party I have ever witnessed.

There were around 20-25 ppl in my apartment that night.

We bought a whole Keg of Budweiser, Rum and Vodka, and some food too.

The party started off pretty dully........and that was when I realized we needed the bad boy.

We needed Eigen Meister. (It's German.....I can't spell it right)
Now for those of you who dont know nothing about Mr.Meister..............lemme tell you.............a couple of shots of meister and he can mess you up real good in no time.

Eigen Meister, unleashed the dragon in me.

Dragon unleashed.
Dragon shouts.
Dragon Kickass.
Dragon gets the party going.
Dragon loving the party.
Dragon drinks more Eigen Meister.
Dragon throws up.
Dragon sleeps.

That was the party in a nutshell from my perspective. And there were 25 such others'.

Sunday, I was busy cleaning the apartment...................thanks to the dragon.

I Cleaned it. I mopped it.
Well it was all worth it.

Anyways.......the party was over, but the memories still linger on......and I can sit back and muse over 'em.
(One of my friend was involved in an unfortunate incident, and I dont wanna talk more about it. That's teasing is'nt it???)

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you 'bout the incident when I was pulled over by a cop. Let me cut short the story for you.

I was pulled over by a cop as my car's break lights were screwed period

That was short indeed wasn't it. :-)

My reflexes got the better of me...........I just squished a mosquito that was getting annoying. I could not care less.
I could not care more either.

Alright I think I have blogged too much.

Knock Knock
Who's there???
Repeat
Repeat who??
Who who who ....

So long

Sandwhich is the best thing in my life

2004-12-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

There is a nip in the air, carols come floating in from somewhere afar, it is Christmas time.

Its holiday season. There are Christmas trees in almost every building and in front of every single house. The weather is just getting perfect. People are busy shopping Christmas gifts.

Offices are rampant with strong smells of pies, pastries, cookies and brownies all over the place. It does build me an appetite.
And they sure are the "odor" of the day!! hehe

I helped the lady at my office decorate the Christmas tree. I must say it was fun. The tree was 15 feet tall. It seemed like a Herculean task at first....just two of us adorning the tree with fancy lights, ornaments, stars, wreaths, hollies, glitter, cotton, bells, ribbons, laces, balls etc. We finally made it after a series of Laurel and Hardies comical misdemeanors.

Phew!!!! I was amazed at the end of it.

The tree looked fabulous when lit up. This was the first time i ever did a Christmas tree. And oh yeah!! i did a jolly good job on it.

I've always loved December. And I am already making plans for the 31st night. I Might hit the west coast this time.
For those of you who've been to San Francisco would have realized that life in Cisco has it's own "Up's and Down's" haha............and for those of you who haven't been to Cisco.......well......Bangalore is not a bad place either. :-)

Bangalore is the next best place to be after Cisco. Well it is........at least for me.

And for all those of you who haven't been to Bangalore either......well............please go back to ploughing your fields.

I had lunch at subway, owned by a lady from Pakistan. She was more than happy to know that i speak Hindi. In fact...............i got the sandwich on the house.

It's strange............ what staying away from home can do to people!! I mean she would not have given a sandwich away if she was back home. (And I went into the store speakin Hindi)

Best things in life come for free..............................................1
and also
Best things in life come when you least expect them...........2

From statements 1 & 2

I got the sandwich for free and i got it for free when i least expected it..........therefore a much obvious inference would be that............"Sandwiches are the best things in my life". Yippeeeeee!!!

I am too sleepy.......and I am still being able to display my usual elegant tapestry of thoughts and opinions. I am pretty sure you are amazed. Well thank you....and take this....

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Agatha! Agatha who?
Agatha headache. Do you have an aspirin? :-)

Keep reading folks......... zzzzzzzzzz......

I am totally against same-sex marriages

2004-12-04T05:50:00.000-05:00

"Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way"

Whiling away time...................I have done that before, i have done it today........and I am pretty sure that I wouldn't stop doing it. I am sitting down to blog while I am thinking "Why don't I ever learn from my mistakes?"
I repent every time I pass time doing nothing significant.

And if you are feeling the same about yourself........then stop reading my blog right now and get down to doing something useful.

On the other hand, if you are one of those contented induhviduals feeling really satisfied about all that you have achieved today......well go ahead.......read what I think and feel about things happening around me.

Congrats India!! For having won the test series against South Africans. It was a significant match as many personal milestones were reached by players, especially: Kumble, Pollock, Tendulkar and Bhajji.

I also happened to see the much talked about scandulous video of "The Delhi Public School" incident.
Gee ...... what a shame!!
That video's resolution "sucked" too!!!

It's one more of my sleepless nights. I think I better stop drinking all the coffee......it's keeping me a bit too awake. What an eye-opener!
Its 6:36 AM.

Just wondering........why would any one use silent letters in words???
So that people can come up with smart answers like P for Pneumonia!!!

That psyches me out. Let me know if you have the answer.

Well......"Same-sex marriage" has become a major issue here in the US. While Bush is being highly conservative and totally against it, Kerry was more liberal.
Anyways, it doesn't really matter what Kerry thinks or feels anymore.

Iam totally against same-sex marriages...........I mean it's stupid.....I mean.........why would I want to marry the same person whom I have had sex with ??? :-)
No offence folks.......but is'nt this what it's all about??

Go Bush!!!!

A person's name to him/her is the most sweetest thing.
I guess that's why 95% of the people when given a new pen or a pencil, .....the first thing that they would do is to subconsciously write or sign off their names.
Well I do it too :-)
Iam glad I am normal.

And the other 5% of the people would have read my blog before the census was taken.

I did not mean to hint that people who read my blog are abnormal.

Well atleast I am glad I am normal.

I love Saturdays!! I love Saturdays as much as I hate Mondays. Well its Saturday morning.....I have a busy busy schedule ahead.

Have stuff to be taken care of by today. Gotta go

Let me see if you can hadle this before I sign off........

Knock Knock!!
Who's there???
Hawaii.
Hawaii Who??
I am fine, Hawaii who??

Aloha....
keep reading

Alexander the so-so

2004-11-27T14:48:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving weekend is coming to an end. Holidays just make me lazier. I either end up watching movies or just sleep, and sometimes when I am on a time crunch, i end up doing both at the same time.

I bought "The greatest hits of the Door's". I can listen to them all day long. and that’s what I’ve been doing today since morning.

FYE: chk out the movie "Flavors". It's about Indian's in the USA. This movie is really funny......it's pretty cool, something on the lighter side to cheer you up ........something like what my blog does. hehehe

Just when i was glad that i saw a neat movie for the week........S**t had to happen. I was talked into "Alexander" by my friends on the thanksgiving eve. Although the movie is directed by Oliver Stone, one of my favorite directors who also directed The Platoon ...........I must say the movie turned out close to being a gay flick.......with Alexander displaying abundant brotherly love.

Alexander the great is running around the palatial settings at Babylon.... French kissing guys. And then after having French kissed all the guys ..........our hero is even more directionless than the movie itself. He is lost in Asia with his men for 7 years.

Ok, But this can not be a plausible explanation for his tendencies........he was swinging both ways right before the Asia expedition.

Oh!! Yeah he swings both ways.
So what do you want me to call him??? .....Alexander the versatile!!

Well, the movie really fails to make us care for Alexander.......but then again as i always say this is just my opinion guys....may be Oliver Stone had a vision and wanted to say something from the movie that I failed to grasp. I understand Oliver knows what he wants and he can't do everything in a movie.

Anyways.........i'd rather call him Alexander the so-so than anything else.
I wanted to kill him myself at the end of the movie.

Well Movies apart, the post thanks giving day was fun. The malls were flooded with people waiting in lines from 3:00 in the AM. The sales were great and that made the people fanatic. I had been shopping with two of my friends the whole day............it was exhausting.

The next thing i remember was me cursing the alarm when it went off at 11:00 in the AM.

I am waiting for the cricket match between India and SA. Shall write more morrow.....and just before signing off.....here is a knock knocker from me..............................

KNOCK KNOCK!!
Who's there??
JESUS
Jesus Who??
How many do you know???

Wohooo!! That one's a riot.

So long……………..
Keep reading

Do turkeys use FOWL language????

2004-11-24T09:21:00.000-05:00

just learnt a new fact today. It seems people who sleep for less than 7 hours a day on an average have 40% chance of getting obese. And people who sleep for less than 5 hours a day on an average have 70-80% chances of getting obese.

That's why I advice everyone to do their engineering in PESIT.......you can sleep all you want in the classes...............atleast you wont get obese.

For all the Austin Powers' fans out there ..........remember "The Fat Bastard"???

Well i just found out that Fat Bastard is a term used by the english people to address something that's really grandiose, huge or big.

Example: When you see the Empire State Building, or the Taj Mahal, or the Eiffel tower.......there's nothing wrong in exclaiming....."what a fat bastard!!!"

On the other hand when you see a fat person whom you really really loathe ........ you rather tell him to go get some sleep than letting him know what a Fat b*$@&# he is.
For those of you suffering from short term amnesia............"sleeping helps reduce obesity".

And what more?? America has come up with a new wine. It's called the "Fat Bastard".

So the next time you go to a restaurant and the waitress says:
"Sir!! would you like to try out our fat bastard?"
well...........don't just sit there smiling...........You know what she is talking about.

Its thanksgiving tomorrow!!! and people are really excited to meet and spend time with their families. This is the time all the family members get together and have Stuffed Turkey, Pumpkin Pies, pastries, wine and all the goodies.

The last thing i want to be today is a Turkey. Well that the last thing i ever wanted to be.

Wonder what the turkey's call this day............?? definitely not Thanksgiving!!

Today is such a FOWL day for turkeys :)

Do turkey's use FOWL language :)

I can go on with my turkey jokes.....but I do care for my readers.

Well anyways..............Happy Thanksgiving guys!!! If you don't celebrate Thanksgiving......well just be happy that it's Thanksgiving, :-)

So long.....
Signing off

I was Schizophrenic!!

2004-11-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

I was Schizophrenic!! ................. But we are ok now.

This is the most hilarious thing, i have ever read off anyones' T-shirt.

It was just another lazy sunday afternoon. Got up at 11:30 today and rushed to meet a friend of mine who is an ERP consultant. I got an overview of ERP, ETL and Data-warehousing. Pretty cool and lucrative stuff i must say.
Programming has never been my forte. I hated it. I never wanted to be the code monkey confined in a cubicle. Having graduated in MIS i think i finally know what i want. And that's....... pursuing a career with Oracle ERP. Did i just freak you out with all the ERP stuff.......well be glad that you have company..........i am discussing this with every dude i see.

I skipped gym today, thats a rare thing i do, thats a thing that i do rarely, i rarely do that. whichever!!

Played basketball instead. It's not as easy as Kobe makes it look. Pretty darn exhausitng, i must say. I got my jaw elbowed every now and then. I am the shortest among all. So, the first thing that their elbow can reach even before i realize is, my jaw. But i didn't quit then and iam repenting now. (causal affect).

I think this is one game that i badly suck at. Iam pretty decent, at cricket, Volleyball, racquet ball, Squash, Badminton, bowling, pool and football(American). But basketball.....now way !!

Talking about cricket we recently won the Tampa Bay cricket league. This is our third trophy in this year. And what more i got the best batsmen, best fielder and the Most Valuable player awards in each one of the tournaments...that's cool stuff.

Alright iam not gonna blow my own trumpet nomore.

Ever felt the dying urge to use a new word that you learnt today, while conversing with your friend??

Well.......... me neither !! thats darnedly preposterous!!

FYE: Chk out the movie: "Office Space". Any software engineer or an IT proffesional must not miss this. This is a very funny movie that can be appreciated only by the cubicle dwellers. and, if you are also one of those inDUHviduals who loves Dilbert then iam guessing you will love this flick too.

Man!! basketball is tiring.....i think iam gonna hit the sack now.

Waitttttttttt....... lemme sign off in the traditional way.......i was watching Sea biscuit and i thought of this one real quick:

Knock Knock!
Who's there??
Toby
Toby who???
To be or........ not to be .......is the question??

oh...... c'mon guys!!!you dont have to feel obligated for this knock knocker.......what are friends for ??? :-)

Alright now that you've been thru all this....
Take care and have a good one.

Opinions are like excuses..............

2004-11-21T02:25:00.000-05:00

I had my favourite dinner tonight. It was a grilled Salmon in white lemon sauce served with seasoned brocolli. I have this everytime i go to Olive Garden.

I was watching the game between SA and India. Its getting boring(from an indian's point of view of course). Kumble is being overused, Karthik is making friends with the South African batsmen and Harbahjan is contented from the Australian tour(of 2001). The ball is too old for Zaheer and Graeme Smith is on a rampage.

FYE: I watched the movie "Natioanal Treasure". Read Da Vinci Code while watching Indiana Jones and voila!!!! you have National treasure. It has a ridiculously moronic plot with more climaxes than in a porno flick.

Well folks!! this is just my opinion. You could still go ahead and watch it inspite of me admonishing you.....Opinions are like excuses everybody has one.

I particularly liked this one movie that i saw recently "Usual Suspects"......I think Kevin Spacey did a great job in it. It's one of the most fascinating, intriguing and an unusual movie that i have ever seen. The twist in the plot is fantastic.

I hate pop-up's. I hate them more than i hate Mondays. I mean................ where does all this spam come from?? who generates them?? And how on earth do they know that I need an enlargement???

ok i think i have to leave........these pop ups are killing me.........and the whole world knows that i need an enlargement........ geeeez

Aight guys
Have a good day

I always wanted to be somebody,.........

2004-11-19T13:05:00.000-05:00

I always wanted to be somebody,......... but I should have been more specific. :-)
Guys!! dont go by the tittle....because the subject has got nothing to do with the tittle. Yeah absolutely nothing.

I partied hard last night @ Prana. Those of you who dont know Prana, can go to google and search for Prana in Tampa. It's my favourite club. Prana is named from a sanskrit noun which means "Breath of life". This is the hottest club i have ever been to. Returned home at 4:00 in the morning.

Iam having a tough time deciding where to go out for lunch. There are three of 'em who want to go to an indian restaurant and then theres me all alone who wants to go to Subway or a Smoothie King. (I'll probably pick up a smoothie and join them at the Indian restaurant) .

Whenever iam eating non-vegetarian food, iam like halfway thru and then i realize......"oh my......i could be eating a slow learner!!!"
As i've mentioned before I love animals........they are dumb too.

Hope I did not offend any body.
(For those of you who understand sarcasm ........good for you and for those who dont, well.......even better.)

what do you call Aristottle when he was a kid???

Aristoddle.

Well i just realized there's not much stuff going into my blog.......... a couple of lame ass "jokes" some "humorous" thoughts and a whole bunch of typos.

Well this friend of mine told me that 50% of the people like my jokes and 50% of them dont .........gee.....I told him that I thought it was the other way round.

I never saw him again???

So long guys...gottta go grab my smoothie

there are 10 kinds of people in this world

2004-11-18T13:55:00.001-05:00

Mary had a little lamb
but then i ate it.........hehehehe
I love animals.

Iam obsessed with high protien, low fat diets and workouts.
"Well this is America son!!!.......you gotta be sensible!! you should know what you are eating, and count every single calorie"

If i don't know whats in it .....i swear i dont eat it . (Mary's lamb was a different story though).
Result of the above practice: A six pack. For all the smart alecs out there.......by six pack i mean 3+3, not any other combination. :-). I lost 25 pounds. And i think i will stick to this regimen.......

Excuse me!! i just sneezed......and i close my eyes every time i sneeze......i don't know why i do that though :-).

Jim Morrison rocks.......for those of you who dont know him......please go back to sleep.
you should....chk out the movie "The Doors" it's directed by Oliver Stone. A must see for all the Doors' fans.

A friend of mine visited grand canyon and she told me that "The place Rocked!!".
Well i was not to be tied down by her wit.......i came up with a quick one............
I told her that i went to a bar and ordered "Whiskey .............on the rocks, with no ice"
We had a good laugh.
i think we were laughing for our own jokes....for i bet i did not find her "joke" funny.

There are 10 kinds of people in this world.......those who can count in binary and those who can't.
I have 10 legs, 10 arms, and 10 eyes.....prove me wrong.

I had a smoothie for lunch.(Since Mary no longer has a lamb).
My eating habits have drastically changed ever since i started watching my calories. Strawberries, Banana and protien powder blended with lotta ice is what i eat rather drink for lunch.( its berry berry tasty) :-)

Lot of my classmates(97GSEC'ers) are getting married...well good luck to them.....iam not really against marriage or anyhitng but i really reallly wish them good luck :-)......have fun guys.......marriage is inevitable.....does that help.....alright iam bad at this....but atleast iam trying ok.

well folks......am signing off now
Gotta rush home.....time for my third meal

Munch munch

"Dying aint much of a living"

2004-11-18T06:33:00.000-05:00

Knock Knock!!
Whos there??
Avenue
Avenue who??
Avenue heard this joke before........:-)

well this is the best i can come up with right now.

It's 4:30 in the AM (EST).....could not sleep the whole night. Just came back from Denny's after pigging 4 sausages, a blueberry pancake, 2 hashbrowns, scrambled eggs and 3 cups of coffee.
Yikes !!! that's gross......what was I thinking???

stop guessing pal.....I was trying to be rhetoric when I asked "what was I thinking".

An interesting statistic reveals that "every three out of four indians contribute to 75% of India's population"
geee....am I on dope or what???

Ever realized that human mind is so damn volatile......at one time you are full of ideas and so when you sit down to blog 'em like how iam doing now.....they just dissappear.

Try answering this billion dollar question......what's one thing that you live for???
Dont think hard to give me an answer to sound cool or classy or witty.....try to think of an answer that really appeals to your conscience.

Well if you did..please let me know. Answers like BMW Z3, or a Ferrari are not appreciated.....coz i think they are the things that one would die for.

This raises an entirely different perspective altogether........whats one thing that you'd die for?? :-)

These have been my favourite questions........i can mull over them for nights together without getting a blink of a sleep and still can't answer 'em. But that doesnot dissapoint me. While trying to find answers for these questions i just realized all the important things in my life. Things that are important .............not worth dying or living for...........but just important.

As rightly said "Dying aint much of a living son!!!"

It's so funny when i hear some adoloscents say that "i'd die for him/her".........

but not as funny as this:
Knock knock!!
Who's there???
Max
Max who??
max no difference.....just open the door

I can so conviniently blame it on the time of the day, for comming up with a sucker like this.

For those of you who remember the cathcy tune from Nescafe add.......well its from the song "Until the day I die" from the album "Story of the year".

aight folks.....its 6:23 in the Am.......time to hit the sack.
Can not afford to sleep at work today also.

Keep reading......shall be back with more.....and try answering the 2 questions.

zzzzzzzzzz

from BU to Univ of South Florida

2004-11-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

August 1997: i had reached the crossroads. It was the time for me to make a choice and abide by it.

Hell yeah!! i had a tough time deciding what to do after my 12th grade. While I dreamt of becomming a Gourmet Chef at Le-Meridian(.......dunno why!! but cooking had always been my cup of tea, no pun intended) my dad had other plans for me.(that i dont regret of now)

I joined the computer science bandwagon at PESIT, Bangalore. Now again selecting this college was a herculian task. I was talked into joining PESIT, and i conned a couple more of my close pals into joining PESIT. Well i can't really say conned them, for i bet they wont be regretting now.(No wise cracks Dhimant!!!).

I had tonnes of fun in my college days.
I wish i had studied too. :-)

I got placed at IBM in my third year. Well that was one of the cool things that happened to me. Well almost everyone in the class of 97GSEC got placed and thats cool too.......... and hey !! you are cool too(just in case you are feeling left out)

Just when we were beginning to feel sick of getting suspended regularly, taking internals week after week, month after month...year after year(minus the Exaaggeration folks...you are free to feel your own degree of wrath) and just when we were about die of cancer from inhaling all the toxic kerosene from Krishna Xerox's notes....something cool(again) happened to us.

We were graduating. We were engineers(excuse me for the puke). We were geeks and we were the Gods when it came to writing lines of code for sorting numbers stored in contiguous memory locations.

We realized we have worked hard towards our graduation (yeah Right!!! My A##!!) we decided to hit Goa.......trust me it was the "Time of "my" life". Makes me nostalgic.......gee i think i have to take a break now ....nostalgia kills me..........well iam back.....and where was I?? oh yeah....Goa trip.....that was the coolest thing i ever did(once again....note the repeated use of the word "cool").

We had a valedictory function soon after the trip. It was fun. We were all dressed up for a change. Well thats quite a change............ from ragged denims, sneakers and T's to formal Van Huesen's and shining black shoes. Took a lot of pictures and "partied".

Oh yeah!!!Trust me we partied. 180 proof is the proof for that(MS word would have prompted me to reconsider revising this line), Oh yeah!!! (once again) 180 proof is one helluva pub. But it doesnt matter which pub....... after pigging down a couple of beers added with some delirious headbanging.......every place seems the same to me.

We got silly, we got wasted.

Phew!! after surviving 180 internals (has got nothing to do with 180 proof) and around 70 examinations(which truly tested my nerves(of steel)) and after having created, co-founded and added a whole new dimension to KNOCK-KNOCK jokes(courtesy last benchers) i finally graduated.

PESIT and engineering days were fun. I made a whole lotta friends there and enjoyed my stay too. I have mixed(Ambivalent....for all the GRE'ers) feelings about PESIT. Some that i could sit back and cherish while some that i try hard to forget. :-)

I then entered the professional world.

Exit PESIT, Enter IBM!!!

Training was fun for 3 months. Survived a series of exit exams and probations. IBM is a great place to work. I met and worked some really cool ppl(Cool again.... hahaha) except for this manager who reminded me of the pointed hairy guy in Dilbert. After having worked for 15 months(oct-8-2001 thru dec-24 2003), i was heading to land of oppurtunities.(duh!!....not Amsterdam...i did not mean that by oppurtunities).

EXIT IBM, ENTER US of freaking A!!!

I was admitted at University of South Florida, at Tampa for master's in MIS. Afer Skydiving from 14000 ft, after canoeing in lakes infested with alliagtors, after having trekked the Grand Canyon and after having skied down the slopes in Penn State and after having hit every single beach in the Tampa bay area i am now 3 weeks way from graduation (again)........and am blogging down these memories before they fade away.

If you survived thru whatever i blogged (Inculding the typos].....then keep reading guys....shall blog more when i find time between my job hunt.

as always :-)
keep drinking the good stuff
Bottoms up