Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
What a day!
Woke up with a call that our (the org where I work in) Knowledge Management portal is not working… So much for taking a day off because I was unwell… Later discovered that a project we had put our heart and soul on can’t take off because of some reasons… So much for the ‘radical’ precedents (read earlier posts)… Hmm… you must take ‘em all in your stride Sam!
My first public video
Driving in the fast lane
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Courtesy Picasa — it rocks man! For so long I ignored it; not any more!
‘Her’ version of the truth — well, just the Kerala travelogue!
YouTube — Me too!
Yesterday was one of those radical days that I keep having every couple of months or so. But the difference was I acted upon my urges When they happened. For instance, completing USB streaming from my camcorder. Even creating an account on YouTube to be able to upload some videos that I always wanted to share! And there’s more, FINALLY downloaded Picasa for an easier and more effective image blogging.
2007 doesn’t seem that bad after all. Just hope the rigor continues — Amen!
Cochin in pictures
Goalkeeper 
Ready to KILL…! 
Learning to fly (‘on’ a helipad) 
Just shoot me! 
I am fat?! 
Beach babe 
The hosts 
Cruising along
Backwatery smile! 
Cuddling
2007 wishlist
- Quit Smoking
- Exercise — at least 3hrs/week > 120hrs/year
- Maintain a healthy diet — heavy breakfast > light lunch > lighter dinner. More fiber
- Travel to at least 2 new places
- Get rid of all credit card/personal loan debt
- File documents regularly — once every week
- Develop a personal goal sheet and audit every 3 months; come to think of it my personal goal sheet is almost ready by way of this wishlist. The good thing is that I have defined metrics for my goals everywhere! So I already have accomplished about 8% of my goals — Yippee!!
- Maintain ‘to-do’ lists even for things as trivial as shopping and car-repair
- Read regularly
- Develop a professional goal sheet and audit every 3 months
- Stick this wishlist on my softboard (home)
- Audit this wishlist every month
Conflict
con·flict
–verb (used without object)
| 1. |
to come into collision or disagreement; be contradictory, at variance, or in opposition; clash: The account of one eyewitness conflicted with that of the other. My class conflicts with my going to the concert. |
I hope dictionary.com doesn’t sue me for using their definition on my blog without their permission. God! That will be another conflict. Come to think of it, I’ll be responsible for this potential conflict if it happens. Just like I have been responsible for several conflicts that have inundated my life over the past month or so. Though I must admit that it’s much easier to blame others! But.
| “To blame others is very easy but to see fault in oneself is real tough and the one who realizes his own faults is wise and improves” |
Well okay — so let me not take the easier route; let me take the blame. But then is it wise to take the blame when you think you should not? Dr Stephen Covey would never sell a Lose-Win situation, would he? So why should I buy it? But if I don’t buy it, then do I buy peace? Sounds like a Catch 22, doesn’t it! Guess it seems best to let things be and hope they’ll be set alright on their own. But is that necessarily a wise thing to do?
And here’s the funniest —
if you really analyze ‘the conflict’, there never is one; but the whole maze that forms itself would make believe! I guess I better get out of this maze so the conflict that never existed, would not exist. I know that last statement doesn’t make sense — just like ‘the conflict’ never made any sense…. Cheers!Lazy me — very much like Kerala!
Its not funny how many times I go off blogging. Do I really get that busy in life? Do I lose the motivation to write? Or do I not have anything to write? Difficult question to answer, but I know for sure that I have a lot of things to write about…
Came back from a vacation in Kerala.. Good fun, some very interesting things happened that cant be called ‘good’, but in retrospect it was all good.. Well okay to make up for my laziness, let me write the travelogue…
Dec 23 2:30 AM — Booze session with Arjun over. Go to bed
5:00 AM — Checked for flight timings. On time. Luggage out, waiting for the lift which seems to have conked off. Climb down 6 floors to find a guy trying to repair the lift. Come back up, wait for the lift and the cab driver
6:00 AM — Down in the open with our luggage. The cab driver hasn’t arrived. Visibility POOR due to fog — its even difficult to walk.
6:30 AM — The cab finally arrives. The difficult, fog ridden journey to the airport begins. We’re praying the flight gets delayed from the scheduled departure of 8 AM.
7:30 AM — Receive a call from the airline that the flight has been delayed. Sigh of relief!
10:30 AM — We have been at the airport for more than 2 hours. Waiting! So much for praying the flight to be delayed
12 PM — Finally the journey begins
4:30 PM — Reach Cochin. Jijaji picks us up. Mid-way I take the wheel and get a taste of Kerala roads. The ‘Red-Line’ drivers there are crazy, all-ready to kill you if you come in their way. The general traffic sense, across the board, is much worse than Delhi
Dec 24: Alleppy Backwaters. Good fun. Pictures worth a thousand words, will post some soon
Dec 25: Chillax at home; More booze than water inside our bloods by this time
Dec 26: Navy Family Day. Awesome experience with 8 ships from the Indian Navy exhibiting. Got a chance to get into the lowest deck of the ship — where the engine is. Later in the day we got an Ayurvedic massage that was rather ordinary. The way it was done was quite amusing to me. I was asked to strip completely and all I had to protect my modesty was a piece of cloth that was as wide as a blindfold is, prob about 1.5 inch wide by 20 inch long – they had tied a string on my stomach which held this tiny cloth from front to back!
Dec 27: Cochin sightseeing, Cherai Beach. Good fun — played ball in water
Dec 28: Attrampali waterfalls. Nice road up there and a must-visit place if you’re in Cochin. On the way back we got our car ferried and that was quite an experience in itself! While coming back the car got heated up really badly and we imagine the coolant is exhausted
Dec 29: Filled up the coolant and set for a 140 odd km journey to Munnar at 7:30 in the morning, a small hill station that is famous for its tea plantations. Just after about 40 kms we realized smoke coming out of the car bonnet. So obviously it couldn’t have been the coolant. It is the darn radiator fan that is not working. Find a local mechanic to get the fuse replaced and we hope that we have it fixed. Not really. After some time, there is smoke and there is noise. This was really scary and we just stepped out of the car fearing the car will burst or something. Find some local guys, and after very difficult deliberations because of language incompatibility we manage to cool down the radiator. The modus operandi now is to drive for 5 kms and cool the engine and then drive for 5 kms again till we reach Munnar which has a service station. After reaching Munnar we look for a service station even before looking for High Range Club — where our booking is. 2 odd hours and the car gets fixed. We leave the car for washing and proceed to our hotel which is secluded from the rest of the Munnar city. The club has an amazing property – golf course, helipad, lawn tennis court, basketball court, cards room, lounge, bar and the guest rooms of course! We decide to crash for some time. When I get up I have yet another surprise — the car has not returned from the service station yet. After frantic phone calls, and somehow managing an interpreter, I have learned that I need to go back to the service station because there are some major faults in the car. Since the club is secluded, finding conveyance is difficult.. somehow manage to reach there. Commissioned them to make the repairs after a grueling 1 hr conversation that was rather funny because of language incompatibility. Car to be delivered next day. Come back to the hotel
Dec 30: Peace returns! Chill out at the club and decide to stay in the club for one more day
Dec 31: Checkout from the hotel and go to a place called ‘Top Station’ which is in Tamil Nadu on the Kodaikanal road. Good fun. Return by evening
9 PM – 2 AM: New year bash, courtesy Indian Navy! Sakshi won ‘Ms High Heels’!
Jan 1: Luggage packed we’re ready to go back. The flight is delayed. And delayed. And delayed. Thankfully we’re at home. The ‘confirmed’ time to fly now is 8:30 PM against the original time of 10 AM. Reach the airport and here’s the big one. We’re told that the flight will be terminated at Mumbai, so we have the option of going till Mumbai or waiting in Cochin. The airport staff at Cochin is rude and insensitive and those f****** def need a lesson or two. So we wisely decided to go to Mumbai. The flight to Mumbai gets delayed further without any announcements and we finally fly around 11 PM.
Jan 2 1 AM: Reach Mumbai. Thankfully we’re provided accommodation at Hotel Mirador — the airport staff at Cochin made us believe that we wont even get that. Check-in around 2 AM. Good hotel, enjoyed a hot water bath and dozed off.
7 AM: Breakfast. Checkout. By 8:15 we are at the airport hoping for a 9 AM flight! Life is not that easy. 4 hours in a queue finally got us the most coveted boarding passes! Scheduled departure at 1:30 PM, we managed to fly out around 3:30 — but that was not before at the departure gate when all passengers have taken the bus, I was stopped because my hand baggage for some reason was not stamped. Was it my fault, I asked but that wouldn’t have helped! Anyway reached Delhi around 7 PM after waiting for the runway to land. Another hour at baggage claim because of the chaos; finally reached sweet home at 9 PM!!
End of the story. Interpretations in next post — whenever that happens!! But Happy New Year to all 
Bond in love!
Saw Casino Royale the other day. Any Bond movie has to be good, so no comments on the movie. Daniel Craig is also quite good in the movie unlike the posters and the trailers.
What really struck me was the fact that James was in love this time, and he said it in so many words!
