So, I decide to spend the weekend by paying a visit to “the Grand Hole” or the “big hole”, as the Arizonians would call it or the Grand Canyon as the rest of the world might know it. I had to drive to a little town called Williams and take a train from there to the south rim of the big hole. Williams was about 180 miles from Tempe, AZ. Without too many driving misadventures, I reached Williams at 9:15 AM. I had planned to visit the Grand Canyon and spend the night there and return the next day by Train to Williams. The Grand Canyon railways is almost 100 years old. They have these little trains which take you from Williams to the south rim of the canyon. Every coach has these coach executives who are very nice people and screamed funny instructions like “Gentlemen, make sure you use ONLY the men’s restroom which is at the rear end of the coach and also make sure you take the 2 extra seconds to flush.” They also talk to each passenger about what they should be doing after they get off the train...what activities they can do. The tell you a lot of trivia about the railways and the canyon etc..The GC railways also has singers who come to every coach and perform..which I thought was really good and each singer specializes in one kind of music. I got a chance to hear some old English songs and on my return another artist sang some folk songs of the native Indians.
And the lady, Victoria was talking for 2 hours 14 minutes and 57 seconds during the travel time of 2 hours and 15 minutes. I slept. When I got out, she politely said it was a pleasure having me in the train. Well, I am sure it was!!!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
I rented a car. I am driving alone in the US for the first time. I had the support of google maps and yahoo maps. So, I drove from the airport to my hotel. All is well and I reached my hotel.
The next day I had to get to my office. So, checked the google map, wrote the directions down and started driving. I drove, drove and drove on. The 48th street seemed to have vanished. I see the 40th, the 44th but I can’t see the 48th. The cars were whizzing past me. Some drivers giving me a odd look and a few of them honking. Well…jet lag and all that stuff, it did not occur to me that when someone honks that it means that I have made a mistake. Twice around, I realized after about 15 minutes of driving that I have been driving around the same roads and streets. The tension was mounting since I had to follow rules of the new country and also get to my office. Finally, with the help of 3 kind souls I managed to reach the office. My client greeted my with a big smile when I told him that I was driving for about 2 hours. It was quite "interesting" to know that the office was just about 2 miles away from the hotel I was in.
Anyways, things started improving as I started driving more. I still kept missing streets and exits. But the improvement was that I knew that I have missed one in less than five minutes and I knew how to find my way back.
It was hilarious when I had to go to Grand Canyon. With the new found skill of mine to take the wrong exits or turns, I realized that I am on the wrong road. Again, this also with my special competency to that when I am on the wrong road, in about 15 minutes. Only that I had driven a fairly long distance since the speed limit was 75 miles an hour and as usual I was doing more than the speed limit (85 miles). So, I start working towards finding my way back. After 25 minutes, I reached my hotel and without realizing that I have reached my hotel before I saw the board. I lost an hour in that and I had a train to catch at 10 AM. I started all over and managed to reached the station at a fairly reasonable time and catch the train.
I came to Houston from Arizona. Houston did not seem to have as many signage like in Arizona which made it difficult. I was searching for a sign that talks about the speed limits while people were whizzing past me. So, I started driving faster too. I had to drive through the Sam Houston toll way. I did not realize initially that I am reaching the toll station and I was in the left most lane of the road and that is only for people who had exact change. So, with great difficulty I managed to reach the right most lane (had to cut 4 lanes) and paid the toll. As I happily started cruising, to my great irritation, comes another toll station. There we go. But there were only 4 cars ahead of me and I had exact change this time. So, I took the “Exact change only lane”. As I reached the machine which would eat my money and open the gate, the darned thing said “COINS ONLY”. God damn it, all I had was a dollar bill and 25 cents. To the irritation of the other car drivers I ran to the manned toll gate and got some change from the gentle man there and managed to get out. Oooof.. boy, frickin stooopid machines, I tell ya.
And now, the grand return to Houston IAH airport from my office in Houston. I started well ahead, @ 12:00 noon, to catch my flight @ 3:50 Pm. The distance 33 miles and the travel time about 35 minutes. It’s fairly simple, get on to the I-10, reach Sam Houston toll-way, take Beltway 8 East and you are at the airport. I reach the toll way, all is well and cruising happily. It’s 50 minutes and I have not reached the airport yet. There was some traffic and I am hoping that I would reach the airport soon. 1 hour and 15 mins and I suspect that I am lost. I get to a gas station and ask a gentleman, who was kind enough to confirm that I have missed Beltway 8. He asked me to go back. Airport is about “40 mins” from the there. So, I start going back. I reach a point which says Beltway 8. As soon as I enter, Beltway 8 splits into North and South. I decide to take Beltway south and start driving hoping to get to Beltway East. No luck after 20 minutes. So, I head back and try Beltway North for 15. No luck again. Okay, head back to Houston. Again, get into a restaurant’s parking lot and ask a person there. He goes “Oh! You are a long way away from the Airport, its at least 40 minutes from here. Take 59 and after 15 minutes you will reach the I-10 blah blah blah”. Time 2:15 and 40 minutes to the airport to catch an international flight at 3:50. I could not help laughing at myself. I decide that I should still get to the airport at least to change my travel date to the next day. So, I start again and finally by some magic reach the JFK boulevard and see the sign to the airport. By the time I returned my rented car, it was 3:00 Pm. I took a bus to the airport and reached the ticket counter at 3:10 Pm only to see people checking in still and to be told that the boarding would start in 10 and I should get to the boarding gate quickly. Lady luck had had enough of laugh and decided to be kind to me. The security check did not have a huge queue and I did not have to walk miles to get to my boarding gate. Wow!! Some experience it was. The only thing that I was surprised at the end of this was that i did not panic or feel the pressure instead I just laughed at myself and found the whole thing just too funny. Not bad, eh??
The next day I had to get to my office. So, checked the google map, wrote the directions down and started driving. I drove, drove and drove on. The 48th street seemed to have vanished. I see the 40th, the 44th but I can’t see the 48th. The cars were whizzing past me. Some drivers giving me a odd look and a few of them honking. Well…jet lag and all that stuff, it did not occur to me that when someone honks that it means that I have made a mistake. Twice around, I realized after about 15 minutes of driving that I have been driving around the same roads and streets. The tension was mounting since I had to follow rules of the new country and also get to my office. Finally, with the help of 3 kind souls I managed to reach the office. My client greeted my with a big smile when I told him that I was driving for about 2 hours. It was quite "interesting" to know that the office was just about 2 miles away from the hotel I was in.
Anyways, things started improving as I started driving more. I still kept missing streets and exits. But the improvement was that I knew that I have missed one in less than five minutes and I knew how to find my way back.
It was hilarious when I had to go to Grand Canyon. With the new found skill of mine to take the wrong exits or turns, I realized that I am on the wrong road. Again, this also with my special competency to that when I am on the wrong road, in about 15 minutes. Only that I had driven a fairly long distance since the speed limit was 75 miles an hour and as usual I was doing more than the speed limit (85 miles). So, I start working towards finding my way back. After 25 minutes, I reached my hotel and without realizing that I have reached my hotel before I saw the board. I lost an hour in that and I had a train to catch at 10 AM. I started all over and managed to reached the station at a fairly reasonable time and catch the train.
I came to Houston from Arizona. Houston did not seem to have as many signage like in Arizona which made it difficult. I was searching for a sign that talks about the speed limits while people were whizzing past me. So, I started driving faster too. I had to drive through the Sam Houston toll way. I did not realize initially that I am reaching the toll station and I was in the left most lane of the road and that is only for people who had exact change. So, with great difficulty I managed to reach the right most lane (had to cut 4 lanes) and paid the toll. As I happily started cruising, to my great irritation, comes another toll station. There we go. But there were only 4 cars ahead of me and I had exact change this time. So, I took the “Exact change only lane”. As I reached the machine which would eat my money and open the gate, the darned thing said “COINS ONLY”. God damn it, all I had was a dollar bill and 25 cents. To the irritation of the other car drivers I ran to the manned toll gate and got some change from the gentle man there and managed to get out. Oooof.. boy, frickin stooopid machines, I tell ya.
And now, the grand return to Houston IAH airport from my office in Houston. I started well ahead, @ 12:00 noon, to catch my flight @ 3:50 Pm. The distance 33 miles and the travel time about 35 minutes. It’s fairly simple, get on to the I-10, reach Sam Houston toll-way, take Beltway 8 East and you are at the airport. I reach the toll way, all is well and cruising happily. It’s 50 minutes and I have not reached the airport yet. There was some traffic and I am hoping that I would reach the airport soon. 1 hour and 15 mins and I suspect that I am lost. I get to a gas station and ask a gentleman, who was kind enough to confirm that I have missed Beltway 8. He asked me to go back. Airport is about “40 mins” from the there. So, I start going back. I reach a point which says Beltway 8. As soon as I enter, Beltway 8 splits into North and South. I decide to take Beltway south and start driving hoping to get to Beltway East. No luck after 20 minutes. So, I head back and try Beltway North for 15. No luck again. Okay, head back to Houston. Again, get into a restaurant’s parking lot and ask a person there. He goes “Oh! You are a long way away from the Airport, its at least 40 minutes from here. Take 59 and after 15 minutes you will reach the I-10 blah blah blah”. Time 2:15 and 40 minutes to the airport to catch an international flight at 3:50. I could not help laughing at myself. I decide that I should still get to the airport at least to change my travel date to the next day. So, I start again and finally by some magic reach the JFK boulevard and see the sign to the airport. By the time I returned my rented car, it was 3:00 Pm. I took a bus to the airport and reached the ticket counter at 3:10 Pm only to see people checking in still and to be told that the boarding would start in 10 and I should get to the boarding gate quickly. Lady luck had had enough of laugh and decided to be kind to me. The security check did not have a huge queue and I did not have to walk miles to get to my boarding gate. Wow!! Some experience it was. The only thing that I was surprised at the end of this was that i did not panic or feel the pressure instead I just laughed at myself and found the whole thing just too funny. Not bad, eh??
Monday, November 20, 2006
"Fon"due experience
Feeling bored of eating the same variety of food everyday, i suggested to a friend that we go to a reataurant and have something different. The restuarant we decided to grace happened to be a "global cuisine" restaurant where the service executives wear funny clothes. Since i had been to the restaurant before i strongly recommended to my friend that we should have Fondue there. Fondue is a swiss starter which is served for a group of people. A pot full of cheese is set in the middle of the table along with dry and tasteless bread. You are given a special gadget (a thin metal rod with a "v" shape at one end and a wodden handle at the other) to pick the bread, dip it in the hot cheese in the pot and eat it. Legend has it that the first person who drops the bread in the cheese would pay the bill (check -for people who speak only US english).
We look at the menu card and find the following
a) the Fondue is the costliest dish (Rs. 450/)
b) it is a starter
c) one portion would serve 4-6 people
After a serious thought process we decide that we would have the Fondue. He is 83 and i am 90 (i mean, in Kgs) and we firmly beleived that the Fondue cannot make a big difference to us. The service executive tried his best to control his chuckle and explain that it is a starter and it would be all that we could have if we ordered that. We said with a very straight face that it is okay and that is what we would have.
We were served our Fondue. The etiquette haters that we are ...we did not wait for the service guy to get our Fondue gadget and start eating the Fondue with a fork. My friend...takes the bread with the fork and dips it in the Fondue cheese and takes the fork out. Lo!!! we only see a cheese dipped fork and the bread goes missing!!! Ha! i thought "i dont need to pay today". My friend tries again think time with a bread and jalapeno dipped into the cheese pot..there we go the bread with cheese comes out while the jalapeno goes missing.The fondue is turning out to be a bermuda triangle for my friend. Now, the service guy brings the "Fondue Gadget" and we take it with a sheepish smile. The service executive vanished just unable to control his laughter.
My friend beams "I dont need to pay the bill since i did not have the right gadget to eat the Fondue" Now, there is another attempt by my friend to take a bread and another palatable item in the Fondue gadget and dips them in the cheese and there we go again.. the palatable item apart from the bread goes missing!!!
Slowly, he managed to win over the bermuda triangle. We managed to finish the bread. Our man does not want to get let the service guys clean the table until he solved the mystery of bermuda cheese. He gets up from his chair, uses his fondue gadget, fishes out (like a trained fisherman using his spear to catch the fish in a river) all the food that were swallowed by the cheese and swallows them himself along with the dripping cheese. Once he is satisfied that he got back all his property from the cheese he announced to me that "the Fondue experience has been a reasonable success". I looked at him and agreed quitely. The service executive convinced us that we should try the new desserts since they have a dessert festival and manages to convince us to spend more money. We eat a dark chocolate dessert and felt satisfied that we have done enought justice to the money we paid and also had a satisfying "Fon"due experience. I am fairly certain that the service exectives did not have any fun due after our visit.
We look at the menu card and find the following
a) the Fondue is the costliest dish (Rs. 450/)
b) it is a starter
c) one portion would serve 4-6 people
After a serious thought process we decide that we would have the Fondue. He is 83 and i am 90 (i mean, in Kgs) and we firmly beleived that the Fondue cannot make a big difference to us. The service executive tried his best to control his chuckle and explain that it is a starter and it would be all that we could have if we ordered that. We said with a very straight face that it is okay and that is what we would have.
We were served our Fondue. The etiquette haters that we are ...we did not wait for the service guy to get our Fondue gadget and start eating the Fondue with a fork. My friend...takes the bread with the fork and dips it in the Fondue cheese and takes the fork out. Lo!!! we only see a cheese dipped fork and the bread goes missing!!! Ha! i thought "i dont need to pay today". My friend tries again think time with a bread and jalapeno dipped into the cheese pot..there we go the bread with cheese comes out while the jalapeno goes missing.The fondue is turning out to be a bermuda triangle for my friend. Now, the service guy brings the "Fondue Gadget" and we take it with a sheepish smile. The service executive vanished just unable to control his laughter.
My friend beams "I dont need to pay the bill since i did not have the right gadget to eat the Fondue" Now, there is another attempt by my friend to take a bread and another palatable item in the Fondue gadget and dips them in the cheese and there we go again.. the palatable item apart from the bread goes missing!!!
Slowly, he managed to win over the bermuda triangle. We managed to finish the bread. Our man does not want to get let the service guys clean the table until he solved the mystery of bermuda cheese. He gets up from his chair, uses his fondue gadget, fishes out (like a trained fisherman using his spear to catch the fish in a river) all the food that were swallowed by the cheese and swallows them himself along with the dripping cheese. Once he is satisfied that he got back all his property from the cheese he announced to me that "the Fondue experience has been a reasonable success". I looked at him and agreed quitely. The service executive convinced us that we should try the new desserts since they have a dessert festival and manages to convince us to spend more money. We eat a dark chocolate dessert and felt satisfied that we have done enought justice to the money we paid and also had a satisfying "Fon"due experience. I am fairly certain that the service exectives did not have any fun due after our visit.
Vowels catch a flu when it rains!!!!
This is a story of a friend who went to Goa. On a rainy day, my friend decides to explore Goa. Loads herself on a honda activa and loads another friend in the pillion and they take off. The rain god (is he?) started acting up when they did not want it. So, my dear friend and her dearest mobile were drenched .Now, the interesting part is the vowels in her mobile keypad stopped working. So, if she wants to send u a msg "why dont you come home" it would end up as "why dnt y cm hm" and if ur name is Ananthakrishnan you would end up as nnthkrshnn!! in her mobile. Dont ask me how someone would read that name. I have still not figured out if the vowels in the caught the flu or if it was her gray cells that forgot the vowels, a possibility i would'nt want to rule out. :)
Irrespective of whether the wet weather affected the gray cells of my friend or the vowel buttons in her phone, the point is wt wthr cn ffct th vwls nd vwls wll stp wrkng. S, bwr..
snt tht strng!!!
Irrespective of whether the wet weather affected the gray cells of my friend or the vowel buttons in her phone, the point is wt wthr cn ffct th vwls nd vwls wll stp wrkng. S, bwr..
snt tht strng!!!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
A!!!
She calls herself the terrible tapioca. She likes doing things her way . She gets along with people very easily. She has the enthusiasm to do things that most people much younger dont have. She taught me a lot of good lessons in my life. Read her blogs an and you will understand what i say. People who know her, know that i am not exaggerating.
Terrible tapioca... as i told you, you make me feel jealous all the time.
http://toconstantlywonderafresh.blogspot.com/
Terrible tapioca... as i told you, you make me feel jealous all the time.
http://toconstantlywonderafresh.blogspot.com/
Nooooooos
News 1: Arranged love marriage - A new concept - Times of India
I read the head lines, read the headlines again...hmmm..do they arrange love or do they arrange marriage??? Its rather strange..an arranged love marriage is supposedly the intermediate period between the engagement and marriage of the couple. If the period is treated as a period for arranging love, the engagement should be broken if love does not get arranged...which means engagement is just as good as a contract.. but if the engagement cannot be broken...love is not arranged but just forced...as usual i did not understand "Arranged Love Marriage" :(
News 2: Shewag's technique questioned by an expert - Star News
I dont really know where these experts suddenly crop up to complain from. From the time Sehwag started playing he has never had any technique but just an amazing hand and eye coordination. At some point of time, he had to get into a slump..Now, when that has happened.. there are people analyzing his footwork, technique...and tell us that Sehwag does not have a good technique, does not have footwork etc etc..
Its amazing how a lot of us are happy to complain instead of trying to solve problems. I hear a lot of complaints at my work place and have heard it before..and in majority of the cases problems that can be solved by taking a simple action...i keep cribbing about a lot of things that i probably will never act on. People complain about how nothing changes...but do not get together to change things...not a good trend at all :(
I read the head lines, read the headlines again...hmmm..do they arrange love or do they arrange marriage??? Its rather strange..an arranged love marriage is supposedly the intermediate period between the engagement and marriage of the couple. If the period is treated as a period for arranging love, the engagement should be broken if love does not get arranged...which means engagement is just as good as a contract.. but if the engagement cannot be broken...love is not arranged but just forced...as usual i did not understand "Arranged Love Marriage" :(
News 2: Shewag's technique questioned by an expert - Star News
I dont really know where these experts suddenly crop up to complain from. From the time Sehwag started playing he has never had any technique but just an amazing hand and eye coordination. At some point of time, he had to get into a slump..Now, when that has happened.. there are people analyzing his footwork, technique...and tell us that Sehwag does not have a good technique, does not have footwork etc etc..
Its amazing how a lot of us are happy to complain instead of trying to solve problems. I hear a lot of complaints at my work place and have heard it before..and in majority of the cases problems that can be solved by taking a simple action...i keep cribbing about a lot of things that i probably will never act on. People complain about how nothing changes...but do not get together to change things...not a good trend at all :(
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Idiot Box Stress
Watching television in recent times seems to be very stressful. While most of our careers are quite stressful and the workload takes a toll on us, the television just seems to be adding to it. At home, it has become a practice to switch on one of the news channels in the morning. The first thing you are most likely to hear in the news is bomb explosions in few parts of the world, arms and ammunitions recovered in some parts, a terrorist threatening the entire world sitting in a some desserted land with all the latest gadgets and we, the people get our day started with a feeling that a bomb could explode under our feet any moment.
Come back from a hard day's work and switch on the TV. News channels, there is a one hour debate about how pepsi and coke can be harmful. There are a group of people who are fighting in front of a camera to decide which is worse, pepsi or coke. Personally, i think bombs are ... I don't mind dying while drinking pepsi or coke. Switch to a cartoon channel there are four kids with some funny masks fighting some monsters... whatever happened to those simple funny cartoons like Donald duck, Mowgly etc..switch... movies...a movie you may have seen 250 times in the same channel... switch...nat geo or discovery...animals killing other animals.... well... whats new?? human beings kill other human beings too.....music...not bad but not all songs are good either....
Spend a good one hour trying to find something good to watch...and then just switch it off. The idiot box surely just adds to the stressful lives that we already have.
I find television very educating. Everytime someone turns on the set I go into the other room and read a book. - Groucho Marx
Come back from a hard day's work and switch on the TV. News channels, there is a one hour debate about how pepsi and coke can be harmful. There are a group of people who are fighting in front of a camera to decide which is worse, pepsi or coke. Personally, i think bombs are ... I don't mind dying while drinking pepsi or coke. Switch to a cartoon channel there are four kids with some funny masks fighting some monsters... whatever happened to those simple funny cartoons like Donald duck, Mowgly etc..switch... movies...a movie you may have seen 250 times in the same channel... switch...nat geo or discovery...animals killing other animals.... well... whats new?? human beings kill other human beings too.....music...not bad but not all songs are good either....
Spend a good one hour trying to find something good to watch...and then just switch it off. The idiot box surely just adds to the stressful lives that we already have.
I find television very educating. Everytime someone turns on the set I go into the other room and read a book. - Groucho Marx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
