At the end of a long day

Whew!

Today was a rather longish day for me. Since it was going to be just me and Jeannie in the kitchen today, i decided to come in early and be of some more use to her. Of course, the one extra hour i spent in the morning turned out to be my slowest and most unproductive, which really got Jeannie into the quiet sort of temper every intelligent man should fear in every woman.

After a quick and precise pep-talk, I hastened my pace, and hammered out orders and produced the goods as fast as i could. I ended up staying an extra half-hour, leaving Jeannie to deal with those frustrating petit-fours that require a double shot of effort.

At the Bus Station, my usually cheery and leadfooted bus driver could be found on his driver's seat, reading Poe, and letting the engine idle until the clock struck 6:15 PM. All seemed to be going well, until i perceived that the bus was moving a bit too close to another parked bus, and a loud bang was heard. Apparently, it was too close. The buses met rear-bumper to rear-door, and my usually cheery and leadfooted bus driver had the blood drain from his face. The poor guy was choking with emotion when he radioed his base, taking his time to 10-4 every order. Every one of us regular bus-goers felt bad for our usually cheery and leadfooted bus driver, and tried to buoy his sunken spirit; that we so admire on our daily 70 Mph blast on the US41...

I finally ended up riding on a bus the SCAT people sent over to cover for the stricken vehicles, and reached home at eight-thirty tonight...a really long day.

Music - Children of Bodom - Are you dead yet?

life in these United States (No. 4)

So, I passed my exam...

Yay...hooray...

With this final knell, my fate for the next year is sealed. Since my degree is only one more year of study, i have decided to drop my fanciful ideas of obtaining a foreign certification, and complete my 3-year Bachelor's program. Mainly because a similar course in any run-of-the-mill education shops that pass for colleges here will charge rather outrageous fees per semester, something in the region of $9000 for every three months, for as long as one and half a year.

I must admit, these guys know how to market their stuff. One particular college even had a honey-trap type woman show me around, like i was going to buy the place...even inviting me to the grand opening of the new wing of their swanky college...

Sure, I'll come, should I bring the Vaseline for when you shove the fees up my arse?

In other happenings, my hospital-and-insurance game is getting tighter by the day...all i need is for the physician who looked me over( and charged over $500 for it) sign a measly scrap of paper, which will finally enable the folks at ICICI to go ahead with the whole thing...the problem is that i just can't call the hospital and talk to the doctor...some laws make it impossible for the hospital to give out any information. I have sent the document by post to the doctor, but i have no idea what is being done with it.

I'm going to a little Christmas soiree hosted by Morton's on Sunday, before which the Pastry team and their dates will meet at some restaurant...finally, a chance to go out, even if they are co-workers or bosses...and wear some decent clothing, instead of the damned polyester I wear day in and day out.

Music- A P O C A L Y P T I C A - plays Metallica by four Cellos - Sad but True

(I had no idea that the Cello was such a versatile instrument!)

Suck me hard, Baby...

Our Apartment's carpet was starting to look really bad, being sprinkled liberally in all areas with assorted debris from our daily lives-rice grains, bits of bacon, tiny scraps of paper, the flaky paint that comes off when you touch the ceiling, and the usual hair and dust. Mom had been trying to get the place clean with our only broom, but to no avail. It was time to take drastic steps.

Only a vacuum cleaner could do what was necessary. the problem was not buying one, but how to get something as large as that over to our place without a car. our chance came as soon as the sodhis called and announced their imminent arrival.

Now, Most regular domestic Vacs here are those funny upright types, that can do nothing but clean a carpet. I wanted something as powerful and as versatile as the ones we used at ITC-Maurya Sheraton. What I needed was a wet-and-dry type vacuum, and the ones i checked at the likes of Sears(purveyor of almost everything) were in the $300 category, loaded with fancy features and high -tech gobbelledygook. Out of my price range.

Fortunately, these types are also easily available in a low-tech guise for the workshop and the garage, and I tracked down a little 22.5 litre 2.5 Hp model, for about $40. It makes a hell of a lot of noise, but man, this thing could suck out the piling on the rug if I kept it on a spot too long...it needs no bags, and can suck up spills as well. Just what I wanted in a vacuum cleaner.

Music- Rammstein and t.A.t.U - Moskau , Rammstien- Rosenrot

Come Sunday, i will...

I seem to have settled in on a regular weekend schedule by now. My saturdays are spent in doing things like shopping for groceries, food and the like. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are consumed at a leisurely pace, newspapers are sorted out, emails are read and replied to, and a genera laziness is adopted. Sundays get reserved exclusively for communication, as we spend the early part of our morning calling India an exchanging news and views. I get to chat online with my Mittar-Beli, and a careful cleaning and lubrication of my bicycle's chain is undertaken.

I went to this cool little auto-club show set up in a parking lot this Saturday. I had my digi with me, so i took some pics to post here...mainly because this blog is beginning to look drab and uninteresting, and my loyal fans have stopped leaving any comments.

here we have the iconic Shelby Cobra, one of the few american automobiles i actually admire , with it's spartan interior....

And here we have a brightly-liveried Suzuki Hayabusa drag-racer, with an extended wheelbase and equipped with a turbocharger. (yes, you read that right, a turbocharger.) Note the complete absence of a silencer on this fine piece of engineering.

Some Hot-rods...note the very essential chrome plated valvetrain covers, and the flame/fire themed paintjobs.

Music - Gurdas Mann - Mamla Gadbad Hai...