The update you've been waiting for...

Hello everyone!

Well, mom's passed her nursing licence examination, and we're all set to go about touring the States. We leave tomorrow from Tampa at 1155hrs towards Columbus, OH; from where we'll head to Springfield. A couple of days later, we will go up north into Michigan, towards Warren and Lansing. Finally, we'll get our shot at beating the rest of the family in the race for "who-sees-the-grandson-first" ; when we go over to Canada. From then on, the programme's quite fluid, but we have to be back here by the 22nd, by all means.

For those not in the know, my aunt and uncle live in springfield, and we have old family friends in warren. I have a friend who is finishing her studies at MSU, and i haven't seen her in 5 years, so my visiting her is an absolute must. My Eldest cousin, my sister in-law and their kid aged 1.8 years live in Brampton, near Toronto.

Bets may have been placed within the family on the probability of our meeting the kiddo first back in India, so we'll try not to let down our supporters.

Cheers!

Gastronomic feelers...

Just today, i was beamoaning the apalling nature of american food to mon ami, V.K; and declaring the area as deep-fat fryer country.

It ouccured to me in a matter of minutes, as i logged off, that maybe it's not the produce that's bad, it's the way people cook here that's horribly mutated. I also realised, with alarm, that i had not attempted to visit a decent food supplies store, and that my views were thus narrow and uninformed. Our supplies till date were procured from 'dollar general' (absolutely shameful), and were of an inferior nature.

In order to review my knowledge of food in America, and to satiate the ever-surging urge to cook something, i decided to visit a decidedly better-stocked supermarket nearby. As i navigated past the galleries of canned goop and boxed crap, i noticed a rather limited selection of lamb on the freezer racks across the void. Accompanied by a reasonable selection of Boeuf and and porc (people really seem to love ham and pork down here) were a few shoulder chops of lamb. I quickly snatched two of the choiciest cuts, and breezed over to the olive oils, which are quite expensive here. A 200 ml bottle of extra virgin(italian) was for $4.97. The real shocker was the wine section, where a decent bottle of red was anything from $10 to $25. More importantly, were the imported wines such as a chianti flask for $12, an Oporto for $11, and Cream sherry for $15.

Oh mercy...i have had wet dreams starring these fine wines since i learnt of their existence.

Anyway, i rushed home and trimmed the chops, tenderized the living daylights out of them, rubbed them with salt n' pepper, studded them generously with fresh rosemary and grain sugar, then seared them in a frying pan with olive oil with a couple of garlic pods. The result was a tasty lamb chop, well-seasoned if rather crude in preparation and presentation. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be a nice colour, and was quite grey instead of the desired pink.

Maybe this confirms my opinion that most americans do not apprieciate the wide variety of foodstuffs made available to them, and stick to their grits and corn-on-the-cob with fried chicken and waffles.

Music - Rammstein- Spieluhr, Rein Raus

The prodigal son

I was feeling rather pent-up today, so i decided to shop-til-i-drop. I know that i mentioned in an earlier post how i was trying to get a grip on the fistful of dollars i have left, but what the hell... First was a sleeker Continental TravelContact 26X1.75 tyre on the front end of the bike, which has improved the ride quality dramatically. The rear retains the stock Schwing 26X1.95 mountain bike tyre. The bike took a nasty fall yesterday, damaging the right pedal, so as to make it quite uncomfortable to use. It had to go, so the plastic pedals were replaced by alloy ones, much smoother and durable. The wheels were out of true, so the bike shop guy balanced them for a few dollars extra. I've also finally got the seat angling just right so that it doesn't mutilate my Vas Deferens, and i've got a handy bottle clip on the frame to go as well.

finally, i've got myself a new pair of sandals. There was a lot of travelling and wait involved in the pursuit of my footwear, so i decided that going further out of town on the interstate on a bicycle with traffic at 120 kph wasn't such a hot idea, even if it meant lower prices. I was also getting tired of waiting endlessly for a certain individual who'd promised to get me about.
I got to this mall at the eastern edge of the town, and walked into a store dealing in hiking gear(hurrah!) I found what i was looking for, paid the stupendously high price of $90, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Bollocks to bargains, discounts and waiting for the sales to begin.

the sandals are quite high-quality, good for trekking and hiking, with the top being totally synthetic, a wet surface anti-slip sole acting as the undercarriage, and the ability to convert them into slip-on's on the fly comes as standard. Overall, they grip your feet nicely, and feel well-planted. Now I'm gonna run them in nicely, so that i can get a fair number of kilometres on them, like my old NB sandals.

Now that the sun has started to really toast my skin, i think a few days indoors are in order. My reduced venture capital should also hold me indoors for now. Future investments will only be made once a SSN, Green card and a steady job are in hand.

anyway, i might lose the facility to use the internet regularly by tomorrow, so bear with me, everyone; if i cannot update this page regularly from now on, although i'll do my best, me hearties.

Cheers!

Music - The Rolling Stones-Symphathy for the Devil

That Old Feeling...

It seems my legs are getting back into their old limber shape again. Today, i cycled across the county line all the way to the Wal-Mart, to demand my bike's missing technical manual, and to look at wider, cushier seating options.
As my legs get more and more sprightly, my butt becomes more and much, much more numb. perhaps it's the slim design, or the seat angle, but i feel as if i have been booted squarely in the seat of my pants most of the time...

i"m doing my best to avoid spending money on the bike, especially since i've still got to get myself some decent sandals. The Wal-Mart has a selection that would be a shade better than the range available in a Soviet-era state-run supermarket.

We finally had a tete-a-tete with the Head Honcho of CPI-Temps, Nikhil Kataria today. The firm seems hard-pressed for fresh jobs at the moment, but nontheless, the guy asked me to send him my resume first thing tomorrow. Let's see what becomes of this.

Music- Fryderyk Chopin-Walc Es-dur, op. 18

Bhaji on the beach...

' ju go to da beach, and there ju see the babez '

or so said a teacher in our school. Being the ever-obidient student, i decided the time was ripe to follow his worldy wisdom. Having been endowed with mobility and a good pair of legs, i hopped onto the bike and pedalled down to the Lido keys.

As i got into the main square flanked by a dozen CLK's, carreras, rangies, and the rare bentley, i made out that this area was'nt exactly as beachy as i expected. Everywhere i looked, i could percieve that this was a playground for the filthy-rich. Stores filled with overpriced crap-ola were abundant(A-la Khan market, Santushi complex etc.) Wine-Swilling white people were the dominant species on the ground. There was Baroque music being piped onto the public loudspeakers, for god's sake.

How can you play baroque on the air and expect to be taken seriously??
Americans just try too hard.

So before anybody percieved a sweaty brown person on a bicycle through their rose-tinted Diors, and called for security, i made a discreet exit to the beach.
















The Lido Beach, as viewers can no doubt see, is rather nice-looking, let down only by severe lack of equally gorgeous women. Seriously people, i saw just about 4 to 5 specimens who could fall in the well-defined category of ' hot chicks '
Viewers may also note my attempt to visualise the scarcity by the strictly-documentary photograph on the right.

Curses.

anyway, the beach was nice, the sand was white and powdery, and the sunburn was a shade of mahogany.

CORRECTION---There were NO bentleys, but several lookalike clones trying to pass themselves off as the real thing. Americans...

Music- The Streets-the irony of it all

Why this title??

Some of you, with the exception of A.S and V.K (you know who i'm talking about, you scoundrels!!) may be intrigued by the title of this blog...
For a complete explanation, listen to Rammstein's "Amerika" from their 2004 album 'Reise, Reise'. Better still, watch the video and be amused...this song has been in my head ever since i was aware that this little Soiree in the U.S.A was to be undertaken.

Early morning bums and junkies...

i woke up yesterday at about 6 am...don't know why. i had been feeling the need to get myself a form of transportation for the past 2 days. those who know me would also realise i have a problem depending on other people to get me around. I like to be independant of anybody else when it comes to being mobile.

It was in this frame of mind that i decided to get myself a bicycle. Most of those who heard this idea suggested i buy or rent a car instead, citing long distances and fatal road conditions. I was offered a used bike by a black junkie for as low as $35, but the bike looked stolen, and the guy was too desperate to sell it, so i walked. walked into a bum with a broken shoe held together with scotch tape, who politely requested me to get him some string to hold his shoe together.

I stood by my plan steadfastly, and sure enough, got myself to the nearest Wal-Mart and bought a Schwinn mountain bike, ($159.75 only!) along with a few other neccesities such as a multi-tool sort of thingamajig and a leatherman, plus a can of WD-40 to keep it all ship-shape. in all, a question of $200, but worth it in the long run though.

Having thus sprouted wings, i decided it was time i had a look around this town. i pedalled downtown, a distance said to be worth 20 minutes of driving time, in 25 minutes of relaxed cycling.
Downtown Sarasota is filled to the gills with rich, old white people. seriously, i saw this lone black guy in there who looked as if he was on planet Mars...young people were hard to come by, especially the PYT's...

As i parked my bike in the middle of a vibrating hispanic street festival, i was accosted by an old gent on a motorised wheelchair, and asked if i was from "Injiea". After that, it was all downhill as the old gent and his wife took me in and fed me 2 pints of heineken in exchange for a dialogue on all things India. the oldies were terribly nice(and terribly lonely too, it seemed...) and invited me to visit them.

I found it hard to decline.