Life of a Bug

Relationships...

2011-08-15T21:01:00.000-07:00

Don't you think that relationships are like an elastic? You can stretch a hundred times. You can take them for granted. They will always get back to their original shape. Almost original.
If you cross a limit, at one point they just break. Never to be fixed again.

Fiddler on the Sub

2010-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to see few comments posted on the blog. I cannot believe that some of you actually cared to read through my boring monologue.

I recently came across a story, written by a Pulitzer Prize winner (funny how a prize becomes someone’s identity) . I found the story very fascinating and thought provoking. On a busy morning, one weekday on a subway station in DC, Weingarten sees that people pass by, without caring much about musician clad in rags, playing a cello.

Puzzled if it's the quality of the music, musician’s attire or that people do not care for beautiful things anymore- Weingarten wanted to explore the subject deeper. With the help of a friend, Weingarten managed to pursue world class violinist, Joshua Bell to play for pennies at the subway station and be a part of this social experiment.

In spite of his outstanding hour long performance, the violinist was able to earn only a few dollars.
After interviewing some of the by standers and passerby, the author concludes that
It’s not that people do not care about beautiful things anymore. Neither is it that they are too busy to appreciate beauty.

The human nature is such that it prioritizes its choices. If it was a Friday evening or an afternoon on a lazy summer weekend - lots of people would have gathered to enjoy the music. Monday morning on the subway , on the way to work- music , no matter how pure, how beautiful does not get many listeners.

How true is the observation and so in line with my own thoughts. We have knit our web of life such that- we are always busy chasing our futile desires. Whole life goes running after education, job, providing for the needs of family till you retire (if ever).

What is all this for – after all?

Antarang

2009-11-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

We all get these vibrations from within ,quite literally called 'Antarang' in hindi. Something that makes us reflect on the world around us.

There is no conclusion to this post but just one of my 'Antarang'.

Consider this

You are in your car or on a bike and stop on a light. Lost in your thought,waiting for the signal to turn green ,when a beggar tap for arm. Almost startled, you exclaim 'Go away' or 'Agay chalo' or 'Hogo' . You look away and block the beggar out and assume he is not around. You try to go back to your thoughts and move on with your life. May be because you know there is no solution to the problem. As part of growing up we learn to block out the things that we do not want to think about.

Consider this now

2:You did not sleep in your usual bed, last night. Next morning,you wake up and open your eyes to strange surroundings. It takes you few seconds to get re-oriented and recall that you did not sleep at home last night.

When we find it so weird to wake up in a strange room and immediately question 'Where am I', how come we never ask 'Who am I?Why am I here? Why Earth? What is with this Universe?What was there before the time?The purpose of life and universe? What part of my body is actually 'me'?

I should not say that we do not ask , the thought crosses our mind but just like other complex problems , we just block these questions out.

The questions is screaming at you all the time in the form of Sun during day or countless stars at night. You look up and you know your existence is negligible in the whole scheme.

Since the beginning of human existence, the sky has been poking the same question but we roll up our windows and look away. We know there is no possible answer so we defined our Gods ,religions and social rules. We grow up ,get married ,make babies and then get busy to support them. We do our bit towards the 'continuity' of human life and move on. There is enough material in the world for you to worry about, so that you do not think about the most obvious-'where am I'?

Is not it the craziest thing- we ignore the most obvious question and continue with our imaginary lives.

weekend

2009-06-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

As I might have already told you Hazaaro Khwahishay.. is one my favourite movie.
I watched or should I say watched again this movie-Gulaal.
One movie I must say you should watch-A complex movie.

dating....

2009-06-27T21:46:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know....

The most exiting part of buying a house is when u make an offer and wait for the response.

Its like initial days of dating.

Did she call? May be I was not home and she did. May be its time I get a cell phone..

Oh I should check the mail may be there is something from her....I wonder......

No.....still......

Are not those the best days of a relationship.

life is strange

2009-03-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

Just thinking-
Is it
a) Life gives you everything that you don't want. You get all the things that you do not want. Bends you till you start liking whatever it wants you to do? (Glass half full)
b) Or is it that you just cannot appreciate what you get and chase that something that you could not have?( glass half full)

मृगतृष्णा

2008-07-11T06:16:00.000-07:00

One of my oldest memory is of the day, lying outside on the string cot, on a pleasant winter afternoon। One of those days from the good old memories of good old Dehradun।
What is MmmmMrag.... umm , I had asked ,turning on to one of the pages with a deer drawn in the background and some very difficult word written as title of poem.
My Mother told me it is 'मृगतृष्णा' (Mrigtrishna) - a word that is made up of two words : Mrig + Trishna.She had patiently explained the poem - I do not remember the poem but remember it's meaning.She did not need her doctorate in Hindi literature , as its a common knowledge in India- The story of Musk Deer.That time when she explained- I did not know what is 'musk' but had seen deer at deer park @ malsi, a local deer habitat/zoo/park.
She has told- The deer gets the strong smell of musk from inside his body. He spends his whole life in search of the source of the smell.Why does none tell him that he is the source of that smell and he has to just look inside? That was my thought then and may be I even asked her- I do not remember.
Years have passed since then- I still do not know if its just a myth or a scientific truth, if the musk deer spends his life chasing after the smell or not. I know for sure though- the lines have much deeper meaning. Little did I know then , that this will become the story of my life. I know the 'satisfaction' am searching for is within me but it is guess it is not that easy to resign to the fact. I know it is not my story alone and everyone feels that way, may be everyone is equally restless. I do not know. How else could 'I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' by U2 be such a big hit?

There is no end to misery

2007-12-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

There is no end to misery. We always find a reason to crib.
What I thought of as a three months off, turned out to be good five months break. I was sulking of monotony of work....so took 3 month off....came back in search of work did not get any.....extended holidays.....bank account touched ground bottom.....whole day , do nothing .....crib about being so out of work.
Now I joined a full time job. 50 miles each way. Now I get money at the end of two week and I have some people to talk to, I go out of the house and come back...now I sulk about long commute and boring work. :)
We just do not want what we have or we don't get what we want???
Profound Question- What Say Ra aka Rahul.

am back...

2007-10-31T20:31:00.000-07:00

A Big hello to my non existent audience,
In search of the answer to the big question- where did all the humour go...I took a break from the routine and took three month off and packed bags for my first such vacation. I went to India to travel...to go to places I did not go so far....not Leh but may be North East....or may be revisit Rajesthan...or do some real Rocky Uttaranchal Biking....
and guess wht I did go to unprecedented place....total adventure....without travelling...
I got Married.
I wont write good or bad parts of it...'cause probably you already know it , so no use me repeating- OR you need to experience it for yourself :) . All I will say- so far so good...
so my quest for humour ended....and am now a married man.

coming back to the point...with lots of time at hand...as I continue to stay on vacation while searching for next assignment..I shall be writing more often. Only problem I foresee is that being ideal makes u more philosophical...you think lots of crappy stuff from karma, to purpose of life...perception..etc etc...stuff tht none wants to know about. I mean they all already know..
Will scribble more later..

just a fleeting thought..

2007-06-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

जिंदगी यूं हुई बसर तन्हा,
काफिला साथ , पर सफ़र तन्हा ।।

दिन गुज़रता नही है लोगों में ,
रात होती नही बसर तन्हा ॥

These are some beautiful thoughts by Gulzar in Hindi that mean
Spent the life such that
There were people all around me but I was still alone somewhere.....

Hard to pass the day with so many people around....
Hard to pass the night alone.

I think that the beauty of poetry is that it can be interparated in more than one ways....
When you sit quietly next to the water all by yourself and lots of people around you- is not it what u 'think' in ur own heart?

Sorry just another crappy post..

where did the humour go?

2007-06-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Even I was thinking the same thing. Where did the humour vanish between my first post and this one?

Anyways while I tried hard to keep off from any crappy philosophy by not writing- today I found it hard to resist to write. Sorry another sad not.

When a child I read somewhere Nomad = No + Mad. Somehow this got registered in my mind somewhere and even the life started to reflect that.

Just when I thought am all settled in Seattle, I just let it go and am all set to take up 3 months retirement. Guess I will be able to do some travel this time when in India. Anyways I gave away the apartment and now for last 2-3 weeks am sacking at a friend's place. Life like this is kind of good. Change.

Talking of changes- when I look back the whole life so far feels like a book. People I met - People who left- Good days- Fun days- Bad days......all the situations make a chapter of their own. Was thinking one day- that one day I will die but this thought seems to be so 'abnormal'. Surprizingly arnd the same time I read this book in which an ailing man prepares for his last few weeks.

It was then I was thinking how much easier it is when you think that you life is made up chapters.What you have today will not be there tomorrow, people you have today may not be there tomorrow...so what you have is only today. Live this chapter completely , who knows if this is the last chapter...

hmmm heavy thoughts.... never mind if they dont make sense...I just had to tell it to someone so I scribbled.

By the way I am almost married to this song...being played in a repeat mode for last one week. Sometimes I wake up with this song running in my mind-

'Akhri Alvida Na Ho- by Strings'

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2czl9zoGymM

Foreigner - That I am

2007-05-18T13:50:00.000-07:00

Foreigner that I am.
I was working on a project- completed development and about to send it for testing.
Just to give you a hint of how disconnected technical can be from functionality here is a small boring story.
I started to read the specs and came across the term Flexible Savings Account.
Very American…
I went to google and it said something about FSA works like HAS
Very American again
Another google window…what is HSA_
Comes across term HMO
Now whats that…….
Another google window….
What is HMO…. why is health care so alien to me?

whts the cause of 'anger'

2007-04-06T17:12:00.000-07:00

Dont want to sound like enlightened 'Buddha' but is not the cause of all the anger -
'Ego' that we have?
Think about it...

While I go for another small nap and some more deep thoughts.
As you might have guessed- No work yet...still on paid bench.

its my nature to complain

2007-04-06T17:10:00.000-07:00

its my nature to complain I guess.
last month I had too much of work - and I was sulking for no time at all.
this month I am free with no work- and I am sulking for have nothing to do with time.

guess I need to change my name from 'Bug' to 'Sulk'

Daylight Saving 2007

2007-03-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

I was responsible for Daylight Saving Changes for PeopleSoft at this client and was looking out for issues this morning -if any issue was caused by the change. Looks like all clear.
A thought occured to me-a question rather.
On 4 Nov DLS will be turned off.
If there is a flight scheduled at 1:45am 4Nov- what does that mean? 2:15 pm IST(+8:30GMT)? or 3:15pm IST(+9:30GMT)?

Simple concept of Daylight Saving is a way of life of Americans for abt 100 yrs but for the ones like me from far east- it’s such an alien notion and sounds so illogical.
I find it hard to wake up every morning and be at work in time. Every minute of sleep is precious. One fine day everyone’s moves the clock by hour and I have to wake up an hour sooner. I wake up to the new day as if its all normal and chase the time just like everyday. Just manage to show up in time. Amazing that just like everything else- 'TIME' is also a state of mind- Social norm. Everyone calls it 4 pm – so its 4 pm- if they called it 6am - it would be 6 am. It’s all about what the majority thinks. Just like what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’?
Irrespective of what other think- what time is it? :)
Indian python – I don’t know about the watch- but guess it’s about time to laze.

Nickelback Live

2007-03-08T11:13:00.000-08:00

Talk about planning.
My 'planning' teachers would be so impressed with me.
Went to Nickelback's concert- playing at Tacoma Dome.
I blocked the ticket 3 months ago ( my friend kind of talked me into it)
On the day of the concert- I took control as I am veteran in this field.
the place is just 20 miles but gets too difficult to find place to park and get out.
Found out the train- they has special trains for the event all evening and one after 30 min the concert ends (12:30 am)
-Free car park 'Park and Ride'- excellent concept to avoid hunting for parking.
-Just $6 return ticket- Can you believe it?
-Boarded the train.
-Amazing choice of food at the food court at the train station.
Had learned that all u may get is slice of pizza at the venue- so had some pita and tahini.
-walked to the concert- 2min away.
All this time I was smiling to myself...it was like de javu- only that today I was driving it.
My friend commented- Man - could it be any better planned. Well- I learnt from the best :)
The show got over an hour and half sooner than railway authorities expected so the last train was still after 2 hrs.
So what seemed to be the best planned turned out to be loooong wait for the train when ur car is sitting and waiting just few miles away :)
With so much of traffic arnd- the cab arrived after 45 min.

Moral of the story- There is only so much you can plan- rest is all Adventure.

Feels like an AOC

2007-03-08T11:10:00.000-08:00

On the roadtrip from Seattle to SFO - one morning when driving all that was at the back of my mind was french toast from AOC.
Stopped over at Denny's nothing can ever be as great as AOC for obv reasons but quite a refresher of NYC.

ZzzzzzZzzzzzz

2007-03-08T11:01:00.000-08:00

Whatever I worked on in the last six months(been six months already??) moved to production. Just two minor issues that I fixed over the weekend-now I am sitting here awaiting work. Quite a 'Quiet' conversion as the project went live on 5/March.
Time at hand - an excellent opportunity to upgrade ur skills- trying to spend the week in reading . I am so gald that I finished my education in time- so hard to focus now..find it so hard to concentrate...

Homemakers

2007-02-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Two of my drink buddies proposed to come over for lunch to my place.
hmm quiet a daring thought as I live by myself and most of the single guys can be living very unpresentable life.
Well I said why not as long as you dont have a problem...
Fixed a couple of drinks while cooking...obviously food came out well enff.
Their wives and kids were also there.
I was thinking how will I manage so many ppl with so limited resources.
well they came in and got into kitchen to heat stuff etc...
man I was surprized to see them work as if they live there.
Indian homemaker women( well am not saying only 'indian' may be from all over - just tht I have not got much exposure to them to comment)- Do they ever take a break. Is every new place-just a different kitchen?

does it happen with you too?

2007-02-01T22:37:00.000-08:00

morning when driving from home and talking to myself in my head - i said ,wait, just take a break, enff of talking and I also turned down the music.

realized the fact was that I had not spoken to anyone in last 15 hrs. Not even over the phone.
Basically mind is all the time so busy - talking to self- tht i did not even realize...and no wonder was feeling tired of talking (so wht to self)
happens to you?

The Guru

2007-01-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a friend of mine- who gave me a few books on Sri Sri Ravi Shanker - New found God of the followers of "Art of Living"
I always thought that he tells wht i already know. If that is true - how does it all work for so many people?

I read the book and realized-

We all follow a white path. We all have a well defined white path. this path is defined by our selves as we grew up.. This is what tells us- whts right and whts wrong.

Its this path that make us feel guilty when we dont abide by it and makes us feel proud of own self- when we do the right thing by following the white path.

Now coming to the good thoughts conveyed by these gurus...
my view has changed of late. rather than arguing them....i guess...these people just tell the things we already know. they talk about various subjects- of those there is a good chance that one of the topic of discussion would be the one troubling you for sometime. And these preachers tell u the right approach. They dont tell you anything new but highlight something tht you already know.
In some cases they even tell u a new approach to handle the same situation.

Well- if that works for ppl- why should i fight it? What matters is tht it worked for someone and he is relaxed.

life is made of choices...

2007-01-28T00:05:00.000-08:00

saturday again...
is it an achievement tht i did a roleplay of indian python the whole day and did not get out of bed?
dont think so - specially when its not first of those Saturdays.
choices...
single malt?
blended scotch?
or rum and coke?

only if life could be easier....such major decisions that impact the time to come so deeply....

warm and comfortable corner of home

2006-12-17T22:59:00.000-08:00

I took it rather lightly. No power - nothing to do -still meant sleep.
I did a 2 pm to 10 am marathon.
Finally around 1 I decided to step out.Went over to a friends place.
He had a poor visitor who flew down the previous night frm east coast. No power...no sleep...too cold...no food...no life...no fun...tonnes of complaints...
:) they were surprized how I was not so ok even without the wood logs. When everyone was picking up wood I picked up supplies. There was just one more lady whose cart was like mine. She picked up two wine bottles like me. She had soda too. :)

Anyway the poor visitor decided to move to the hotel to spend the next night.
My friend had locked his car in the garage ( electric gates) so I offered to drive them around. What goes arnd comes arnd. So many ppl helped me when I had no car, so I had to offer to pay back.
Ok went to seattle and drove back. in this 3 hrs trip he was constantly over the phone , calling all the ppl he knew to finally get a booking in Quality Inn next to airport. How can anyone not just sleep without power. Getting the hotel reservation was much more of a pain. I was taking all this as adventure.
Anyways...I dont say anything anymore....just treat as differnt way of thinking.
How could it be so easy to find the hotel when it took 3 hrs and 30 calls to get reservations- something thats considered a click or phone call away. :)
Finally after going round and round, spotted the dead Quality Inn, in the blanket of darkness. WE were missing it again and again just bcoz it was all too dark so spot the hoarding.
So too late to do anything else...we all decided to get back home to find that the power has been restored already. Just that we did not know as we were away the whole day long trying to locate Quality inn.
Funny.

you lighten my world

2006-12-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

Hello World,
Its like going back to where it all started.
Wonder if you heard of the power outage in Washington state.This year when I moved in, they got the worst rain,worst snow,and worst storm. First time ever since they can remember there is no power outage.It may take a day or a week for it all to be back to normal.
For me, I got a friday off. A bonus long weekend, whats better then sleep thru it???

I was not sure that there is work today or not, so I drove to work anyways. It did not strike me till I witnessed a 'road closed' sign. To take an alternate road I went via the city. It's so funny to see how slowly and gradually electricity has become a basic need. think of it- how many years ago was it even invented.
Today the whole life stops without power. There was not work today, no internet,no cooking,no phone network, no nothing.
Life has come to a standstill.
The traffic lights were like the bodies without life.Ironically staring down at you.
Amazing, how everything moved back to basix.
honestly - Its like a puzzle I played when I was young. find the route home. where you have have to find a route back home and there are multiple options and of all only one of the road takes u home and rest all run into a deadends.
Well, I thought no work, so I will just call all my friends that I know- deadend- no network
ok - I will just sit and cook - no power so no stove.
hmm intesting, basically nothing to do...so I move to extreme basix
Sleep.
Its so amazing what role that electrict plays in our lives today.
Stores are closed as the credit card wont work.
no food as no stoves.
no gas stations open - so eventually cars wont run.
no phones.
amazing , back home in india, if you are not in the metropolitan city you get power only for 10 hrs a day. but since the the whole development is not so much the dependency is so less. Power outage is a way of life.
Blore may be different as that again is much developed.
Flip side of development. Hard to imagine how somehting can become such an imporant part of life so soon.
Can anyone beat that. :)
lesson learnt: 'I love you' is a passe, when someone says- 'you lighten my world' that means something.
more later.
Bug.

Its snowing in here

2006-12-09T12:24:00.001-08:00

time passes and it passes fast..did not realize that its been more than a month since wrote last.
Now wht I have been upto...I am doing wht i do the best.
Nothing.
We had snow few weeks ago. About 12 inches of it- covered everything around.
It was then that I also froze in-doors. now the snow has melted and the sun is out but I have not moved yet.
Anyweekend- I can just stay home in bed..half awake and fully asleep- moving occassionally to get something to eat. :)
Connect with myself....yes thats wht it means i guess.

no more stupid incidents as the life is pretty simple.
No complaints.

thoughts of the day

2006-11-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

As Ghalib said
aah ko chaahiye ik umr asar hone tak kaun jiitaa hai terii zulf ke sar hone tak
aashiqii sabrtalab aur tamannaa betaab dil kaa kyaa rang karuuN Khuunejigar hone tak

"Ghalib"eKhastaa ke baGair kaun se kaam band hain roiie zaarzaar kyaa, kiijie haayehaaye kyuuN

Y! messanger

2006-11-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

I always log on to Y! in invisible....
the idea is to not to be seen by all ...so you have a choice of whom to speak with.

I logged in visible mode today for a change. Been 4 hrs and Believe me...no one pinged me...
so am just thinking -visible/invisible - does it really matter ..............

subj1:2 buck Chuck.2: ignorance is bliss 3.Evolution of wine Subj 4: move to the basics

2006-11-02T22:51:00.000-08:00

hi there
I am again caught in the same dilemma of what subj to choose.
As usual I put in all that were in my mind (assuming I have one)

Go to a wine store- you get wines from various parts of the world. ever occurred to you where it started frm?
anywhere but India... I am with you .
But lets try a different approach. Go to http://musicindiaonline.com/ and got o ghazal section.You will agree with tht wine must have been a finding of Ind. Else how could they ever come up with such lyrics....
2 buck chuck...I had heard alot about it but never found it. anyways...today winco (like cosco) i found a wine- 2 bucks...not 2buck chuck but lets call it 2 buck 'something' . Damn smooth. Damn good.
Now as a saint would tell you- tht nothing good can be cheap- may be its not the best of wines....but then I must telll you ignorance is bliss. I served myself a whole big bottle...and it tasted fine all the way to the last drop Dont know if it was ghazal or my 1.99 wine...tht did the magic that I am keying in today's edition.
you right - my work has started and I hardly find any time...hope you understand.
In the meantime i did have my funny exp.
They say when everything arnd you becomes too complex/complicated...move the basics. Those of you who know me- I am very basic. I dont have to come back back to basics...i cannt go beyond basics..thus i always try to keep it simple...current affair to me - is wht happens inside 4 walls. Not that you care but I got....3 all steel (shining inside) and 2 non stick(black coated inside).
the other day I went to do laundry- first time in one month ( thanks to all crappy load of cloths) . Since I was hungry - I put rice on the stove. Now to collect cloths - I rushed to the laundry to my surprise they closed it at 10pm. I knock the door and find the cleaner - open the door to the utilities....wasted extra mins...long enff for me to have 2 (shining inside) steel and 2+1 non stick ( as another vessel has gone all BLaCK inside) Also learnt tht it takes on 10 min for rice to cook and only 10 sec for it to burn. .......
I climb the stairs...and can sense tht the noise is nothing but frm my house...unlock the house...and cloud - thick cloud welcomes you.
Apart from tht - let me not mention abt the smoke in house......fire alarm......smell for two
days....
moral of the story...never keep rice unattended for more than a min.
nothing very interesting happening at my end....but thts good....no goof ups...
more later..........

Do not be too creative

2006-10-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

sometimes you can learn from the mistakes people make. No as you may think, I am not talking about marriage- everyone has his own personal opinion.these are few things I learnt the hard way.
Pointer 1: You get these frozen ready to eat roties that you can heat . NEVER EVER use a knife to separate them, no matter how hard it is to separate them.Reason: When the knife punctures thru the skin...it would not matter if its half and inch deep or a quarter- guess it hurts the same. For those of you who know palmistry- do I need to worry if I got a cut across on my 'head line? does it indicate anything?

bug special- palak ka saag

2006-10-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here its no Tarla Dalaal but your very own bug- on how to make palak saag.

1. Buy twice the quantity of Spinach than wht you need. Knowing fully wel lthat it is going to turn out tasty and has to last two days.

3. Wash the Spinach.Wash it well.
4. Boil it in a container.
5. make the regular "TADKA" ready, with Tomato or our not so good spices(that you got from the indian store - paying thrice the regular price)
6. What- it just stuck that - leaves are bigger than usual Spinach? Is it really Spinach? Or is it Lettuce or some other leafy vege... God blessAmerica . Everything is big here.
7. Take a small bite of leaf- is it Spinach? hmmm Every damn leaf tastesthe same.Hmmmmm. Searching for the purchase recpt wont help as they usually wontmention the vegetable name and may use a generic term like – product XYZ$....
8. Anyways- since you have nothing better to cook..just proceed. So wht ifits Lettuce Saag (yuck- can imagine the smell) Lets see how it tastes. Maybe its good- none ever tried it anyways.You know- I cannt waste anything..
9. SMELL- hopefully its smell like spinach. Once hopeful..proceed.
10. Put the boiled whtever green leaves...into blender and turn theprocessor.
11. Did I tell you to chk that some blenders now have the jars tht have theblades that can be unscrewed? Dont forget to tighten it.Else once you havechurned the whole boiling thing ....it starts to leak....Leakheavily.....so you may panic and put your palm underneath....may cause mildburning sensation- which wont subside unless u put ur hand under water for3-4 min. Lets not even talk abt the green mess arnd.12. Anyway- If you manage to pass thru step 11- successfully and still havesome green thing left...add it to the all set tadka.13. let it boil for 5-10 min.14. Serve it with love and care to urself.
15. Hopefully - it was Spinach...whtever it was- it tasted good..if notbetter , nothing less than spinach.
Lesson Learnt- Add step 2 in the recipe.
2. READ- READ ONCE AGAIN- And ONCE MORE that it is written SPINACH that youare buying.
For all our indian Food fans- it goes without saying...do not forget tocook with all the windows open and leave it open for another hour...elsethe whole house would smell like Kitchen after a week.Better still that u leave the windows open the whole day next day while u away at work......................
Thats all for now.
more later.
bUG.

Subj1: Sorry guys- there is nothing to tell today. Subj2: Here is how bug got screwed.

2006-10-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

I had a tough time deciding wht subject to use for this edition of bUG's life.
knowing me how undecisive I get when I have options...so I just used both the subject lines.Never thought before -you can have multiple cc/bcc/To.... how come you cant keep two subjects to a mail? Am I the first person ever in such a dilemma?
Anyways...I guess am used to have an alternate solution to the problems.So looking at timestamp of the mail....I got the machine at home now. My Laptop. Funny I never felt the need of it ever before. This time first time I was in the rush to have this soul mate of mine. As it was all very silent - if I dont speak and I usually wont speak to myself...so now there is someone to make some noise at home.I was under the impression that I wont have anything to write today. There was nothing out of ordinary that happened today.
I waited till I cooked (brinjal curry- tired of Daal) and finished eating expecting some material for my my beloved readers..but then there was nothing. sorry...Thats the sad part of being settled. You know how to do things right the first time.No goof ups...nothing for anyone to laugh about.
1.You know to ensure u buying Spinach- no doubts.
2.You know how salty the salt is- so you put little salt the first time itself - thus avoiding having to put the whole big (american big) cauliflower to balance the salt, instead of half....and ending up eating it for the next 3 days for lunch/dinner/brkfst(sandwitch).
3.You do not forget ur access code to home.
4.Got comfortor for cold nights: no more adjusting heater whole night- no more hot as furnace or cold as rain at night....etc..Simple routined planned life. Guess I am settling into it. Dont think will have much to write...goodbye to bug stories.They will all become routing updates.went to office...came back...ate....slept.
So u see- there is nothing for me to say today.Just configured my laptop. Looks like ok. Though I was waiting to order one...have a company...honestly...I was just getting used to the silence.Now I am multi tasking and watching "Rang De Basanti" movie....its 12:12 am. I would have slept by now. SO this is the end of simple bug life. Now I wont be sleeping 7-8 hrs....I will be on the web late night.... eh! Bug got screwed ( you got tempted by subject line, uh?? )
Strange thought came to mind- ever thought how ppl lived before this web/computer/music/noise...technology...they would have just lead a simple life. Peaceful life. :) Is not it fun to make life complicated.Anyways..lets go with the flow...and explore.:) Just wanted to tell you- Nothing out of ordinary happened in bugs life today. And also - I am back- CONNECTED.scroll up - this long a mail when I had nothing to say...imagine If I had to tell you a new story....Mom was right abt me...I talk A L O T. Shall stop -
more for later....Urs sincerely,bUG.

bug- and his six pack

2006-10-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

So here it goes...this is 10/Oct.
Finally I decided that it's important to not to get affected by the dull/sleepy surroundings and involve self into some physical exercise of some sort. Since one of the key factors of deciding on the current apartment was the Club house- why not use it?It may take a lot of dedication and few lifetimes for me to wake up before early and hit the gym arnd 6am, So I decided to do it in the evening after work. I had a friend coming over later to drop of a package...but I scheduled it so neatly that it does not fall into my work out timings. So all set to workout...i pull out my running shoes and get into my track pants.I reach there sharp at 7 pm...just to find a small note. "We are closing early today at 6pm for the maintenance. Sorry".

hmmmmm...should I be surprised?There is a saying- where there is a will there's a way. I managed to get six pack anyhow. There is a good bitter German beer comes in little bottles of happiness.

The Indian Curry.

2006-10-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

After having told you how lively the restaurant scene is here, I had no choice but to start cooking at the earliest.I had done some shopping on sat but had to buy lots of stuff from an Indian store.So yesterday after work was the best time.The Indian store is EXPENSIVE- reason being that its the only Indian store in the city.Anyways...I reached home to realize- cannot make Daal as there is no pressure cooker. Hmm still there is one moong dal tht does not take much time to cook..so may be right choice.Have to put tomato but I realize there are no knives....hmmm then I had to use what we call 'Jugaad'- used the cutlery knife to cut the tomatoes.just when I managed to get handle of all things and the food was almost done- I realized the bag having pack of salt is missing. Must have forgotten there at the store.hmmmm...had to rush the nearest safeway to pick it up. The thing that I did- I did not turn off the stove and made heat to min. No- nothing burnt but it set a clock ticking in my mind, which made it impossible to locate salt in the whole big alley and also the made me forget the entry code thru the gates of the apartment.I was just laughing at myself all the time. Quiet an eventful dinner.But then as they - all well that ends well. I called it the day with an extra scoop of chocolate chips as desserts.

How is my work?Wht do these long mails indicate?

a background to first time reader

2006-10-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Do not really know how it really started and I ended up creating this blog.
Funny- I am not sure if the memoirs of bug were really funny but anyways I decided to try bloggin'.
To be honest- life of a bug may sound funny to you as you know me but to the rest who do not know me or hardly know me at all...may not find it funny at all..
Anyways...this is for you.
To begin with...
This is about just another IT consultant who migrated to THE USA in search of something he is not really sure of what.
Took up an assignment in a suburb near Seattle. Having quite an exciting life in Bangalore and NYC the move to NEAR Seattle was something bug had to adjust to.
and here goes- 'Life of a bUG'.

A new start....

2006-10-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

This day marks the birth of 'Life of a Bug'.