Random things I fancy

When Sean (our VP) was here, I happened to ask him about his hobbies. Guess what, in his off time he makes planes. OMG! how k3w1 is that.... A plane, which can actually fly too. I think living in US has it's own advantages. Here in India, I am not even allowed to brew stupid beer at home.

Any way, talking about planes, made me serious about my hobbies. Considering the number of hours he had to put in his hobby (thousands of hours I was told), all my hobbies seem like mere passing fancies (as Aaditya likes to describe them as).

Like the other day, I decided to buy, rather make a telescope. I did some research, talked to people who are already owning one, even googled for shops in Bangalore. Apparently, it's pretty expensive to build a decent telescope. Ahem! May be, someday I will have enough money to spend on such things.

The other day, I read about a ball pit on xkcd blog. Seriously fun stuff to have at home, me thinks. Now only if I could find such crush-proof balls in Bangalore! I need to google.

There was one more crazy idea of having a jacuzzi setup at home. I would call it crazy because, both our bathrooms don't have enough space to even fit in a decent bath tub. So I came up with a workaround, to get rid of bed in the second bedroom and install jacuzzi in the middle of the bedroom. Aaditya explained to me that it needs lots of fitting (and not just in/out water pipes) to be done with cement work involved. Sigh! I don't think our landlord (yes, we have rented a flat) is ever going to happy about that part.

The only somewhat-doable fancy idea is doing-lot-of-paintings-in-Himachal. I am planning to carry my oil paints and brushes (damn, I can't carry my shiny new stand) and go around places to do paintings. I will need somebody to carry the stuff for me though.

;-)

PS - It is raining now... and I feel like walking near the swimming pool. But I won't (since its 12-30 AM now).

eVite party ideas

I get almost desperate to do something, when I read one of those monthly newsletters from evite.com site. Basically they provide party ideas and party invitation ideas. The ideas are so cool, that I immediately start seeing myself enjoying one of those parties. Check out few party tips here,

Summer party planning tips

• Think brunch is all about fine china and scones? Whip up a barbecue brunch with grilled fruit salad and spicy home fries. Summer is the perfect time to try this carefree spin on the midday classic.
• Throw a sophisticated pool party at sunset. Serve light bites to eat like fancy canapés or sushi along with refreshing, citrus-infused cocktails. Float orchid blossoms or candles along the surface of the pool for added ambiance.
• Bring your movie night outdoors. Rent a DVD projector, speakers and a screen, or just watch the movie right on top of your stucco. Set up seating on the grass stadium-style with blankets and bean bags in front, lawn chairs and barstools in the back.

Yoohoo,

For obvious reasons (read I-am-plain-lazy) I can't plan for any of those parties myself, but I would love to be invited to them.

Any takers?

Hope

Every time I login to my online bank account, I have this genuine hope that couple of millions would be credited there by some unknown account.

So far it hasn't happened...

US Trips

It's been very busy lately.

I had to plan for my first ever US trip in real hurry, since my manager wanted me to go only during certain period. Thanks to Chandra and my brother (who came to see me off from Hyderabad), I could barely pack my bags in time to catch the flight.

In US, I had a real good time... Thanks to all my friends out there. Saanchi was placed in the same hotel and we shopped till we dropped. It was sort of re-bonding for us after our Hyderabad days together. Daku, Shekhar, Sandesh, Peshla, Kiran, Suresh, Rajiv, Madhuri, Jotsna and her husband.... list is long (and not all of them have blogs :-P ). They took good care of me. I had lot of fun and some really good food. My colleagues in US were surprised to know that I had so many friends in US. I think they were plain jealous.

:-D

I bought some bizarre things (i.e. camping tent, sleeping bags et al), due to which I had to leave some important things (read chocolates) back. I had to make numerous trips to the check-in counter, since my cabin baggage was exceeding their tiny 7kg limit. After a lot of struggle, I could somehow distribute the stuff in check-in luggage and cabin luggage. Daku was kind enough to keep my excess stuff with her. Thus finally I was back in Bangalore. It's good to be home.... back to husband. I missed him a lot.

I could barely settle down and then it was Aaditya's turn to go. Sigh! We are kinda weird couple. All such things end up happening to us. We go to places and enjoy them... just that it's never together.

;-)

Anyway, jokes apart, my previous packing experience helped me a lot this time. We were pretty much organized, except for the last part where we couldn't find Ashok (Aaditya's friend) on airport. ROFL.

So as I was saying, we were doing it really well. We made a checklist of things to be carried, documents to be printed, list of phone numbers etc etc. All the bags were neatly packed , tagged and we were all set to go. I requested Ashok to join us in his car, so that we can get ride back from airport. We loaded all bags in Ashok's car since it was nice big one. We (me and Aalok) jumped into the cab with Aaditya and Ashok followed us in his car. Somewhere on the way, he lost us and then we realized that we won't be able to call up Ashok, since none of us have his cell number.

At airport the departure gate was flooding with people (make sure you avoid flying on Friday nights), and we were so engrossed in packing that we didn't even decide the meeting spot. We ended up running around quite a bit to find him. It was a long painful wait before we could spot him again. The queue (trust me there was a long queue just to enter inside the airport) had tripled by then. But all is well which ends well.

Now Aaditya is in US and I am missing him . The cycle continues.....

Slow Down Culture

Today I came across this article about Slow Down Culture. It was about the culture in Sweden. The article mentioned one example. It goes like this,

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

It really got me thinking. I wonder how Bangalore would be if we implement slow culture. Will drivers let pedestrians cross on Airport Road? Will auto-fellas give up cutting into the lanes?

:-)

Dream on!

Fire Alarm

Yesterday when I reached hotel I was pretty tired. I had to do laundry too.... It's been pending since past couple of days. I was sorting out clothes and suddenly fire alarm started screaming. I grabbed my room key and my purse and ran downstairs. I was kinda annoyed since I forgot my sweater and it was pretty cold.

Lot of people were standing near lobby. After couple of minutes we were told that everything was alright and we could go back to our rooms. It seems the bunch of Indian guys on my floor had managed to invoke fire alarm while cooking dinner.

:-P

5 things most people don't know about me

I am not tagged by anyone, but this sounded interesting. So here is my list,

1. I hesitate a lot before opening a conversation with unknown people.
2. I love the smell of roasted fenugreek seeds.
3. I wish I could be a painter.
4. I desperately want to patent something on my name.
5. I want to learn one foreign language.

Second Life

I created a new name and downloaded Second Life client. I was all excited to find out what the whole thing is about, but I couldn't login.

:-(

It said "Unable to connect to Second Life, The system may be down".
Ahem! Whatever life you select this message is going to haunt you.

:-)

I am Tiger Moody in Second Life.

What are you?