Tuesday, June 28, 2005

That was then, This is now

There used to be a time when I could post everyday. That time has definitely passed...

I hate when I can't post because I don't have time to get my thoughts together. You would contend that there is no such thing as no time, that I could manage my time better. Tell me how and I'll listen to you.

I've wanted to post stories from Chicago but that has been a non-starter too. How can I not have time? It isn't just a paucity of time actually; it's a question of having access to the WWW when I have a creative spark. I'm wondering if it is worth having an internet connection at home, whether it would help if I didn't work such crazy hours, but these are all just excuses. In the end, the reality is that something gotta give when too much is going on and it's sad that it has to be blogging, something I honestly enjoy.

Sunday, June 19, 2005

The Chicago Diary - Day 1

The day started early, in fact, Wednesday started and seamlessly blended into Thursday morning. Bleary eyed, I packed my bag, cleaned up my place and watched another episode of American Chopper. I couldn't have gone to sleep, I had too much to do before I boarded my flight to St. Louis en route to Chicago. Flight time: 0640 hours PST. Before I continue, thanks are due to Amruta who dropped me off at the airport in time for my flight. Though what constitutes "in time" when it comes to checking in is debatable, that's a topic for another time...

I got to St. Louis without much incident. The flight arrived "on time" and I was greeted with a final boarding call for a flight to Chicago. Chicago, flight - is that my connection? A quick jog over to a couple of counters from where I deplaned and I found out that it wasn't - my flight wasn't until 3:30 this afternoon. Three hours to spend at Lampert St. Louis International Airport and not a thing to do. American airports, the less said the better.

I tried to get on to the stand-by list for the 2PM flight to Chicago but the AA officials at the boarding counter decided to let AA crew members get on to the plane before paying customers. I shouldn't complain, just wait another hour till I board the seat with my name against it - right, right?! It was all going well till the wind in Chicago picked up and my flight to the "windy" city was delayed by an hour - God Damn It.

I suddenly had forty minutes to spend so I walked beyond my boarding counter (C12) towards a distant Starbucks to grab some lunch and a cup of coffee. By this time, the clock was about to strike three so I was super hungry and craving something more than the orange and 2 granola bars in my bag.

Coffee and scone in hand, I decided to explore some more and spotted a TV with just one bench in front of it. This section of the airport was surprisingly desolate. As I got closer to the TV, I spotted locks of golden blonde hair behind one of the chairs of the bench I was going to plonk myself on. The bench had just three seats and she was sitting on the middle one so I pulled up another bench (yes the whole thing - beefcake!) and watched CNN from behind her. A few minutes later, I was sitting next to her talking baseball, the St Louis Cardinals (her fiance plays for the team), girls and shopping and Jay-walking (Leno style). Had it not ben time to board our respective planes, we might have continued our little tete-a-tete.

It was 4pm when I stood outside the boarding gate again, all set to get out of St Louis. Imagine my surprise when the lady at the gate tells me I can't board the plane because my seat was given away. Apparently, Chicago ATC called and cleared the plane for take-off and they made final boarding calls on the PA system a couple of minutes ago. GDI again - why must you yack with pretty girls Manoj?

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Word for the Wise: mercurial

I'm starting a new section today that lists a word that catches my attention. No particular reason for why it catches my attention - maybe it's a word that describes someone I know, or it plain sounds cool. Today's word: mercurial. Why: some people have called me that. Besides, its cool ;)

Main Entry: mer·cu·ri·al
Pronunciation: (")m&r-'kyur-E-&l
Function: adjective
1 : of, relating to, or born under the planet Mercury
2 : having qualities of eloquence, ingenuity, or thievishness attributed to the god Mercury or to the influence of the planet Mercury
3 : characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood
4 : of, relating to, containing, or caused by mercury

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Hari Om - a love story

A good twenty of my friends got together tonight at the Neptune Theatre in the University District to watch the SIFF screening of Hari Om. Set in North India, the story traces the travels of Isa and her unlikely guide, Hari Om, through picturesque Rajasthan. Isa (a french tourist) and Benoit (her beau) alight from The Palace on Wheels at Jaipur station, with one day to look around the Pink City before their journey continues through Rajasthan. You get the sense rightaway that Benoit treats Isa more as an incumberance than a partner, and a jilted Isa decides to go out and explore Jaipur (and then more of Rajasthan) by herself. It is in the company of Hari Om, the simple auto-rickshaw driver, that Isa finds someone to laugh with with as she soaks in the beautiful sights and sounds of urban and rural Rajasthan.

What starts off as a fun day in Jaipur becomes nightmarish when Isa misses her train out of Jaipur to Jaisalmer. Lucky for her, Hari Om finds her asleep by a railway crossing and agrees to drive her to Jaisalmer in time for her to resume her train journey. Isa's journey through the desert becomes a voyage of discovery; she begins to understand and respect the people she meets and starts figuring out what she wants from her life. As they ride from Jaipur to Jaisalmer, their travails blur their cultural differences and bring them closer together. Before they can admit to themselves, they've fallen in love with each other.

My favourite scenes in the movie had Isa and Hari Om at different physical locations. Their ennui and wistful expressions gave away their desires to be in each other's company. The most touching moment was when he appears at the bus station with wilted roses just as she is about to buy a ticket to Jaisalmer. She sees him, walks away from the counter and says, "I didn't want to take the bus anyways."

Did I mention anywhere that Isa, aka Camille Natta, is smoking hot. Seeing her in a Rajasthani ghagra doing a folk dance, that definitely made the movie worth the admission price.

My vote - ****

I did it, finally...

For the first time since August 8 2000, I picked up a freshly washed and therefore creased button-down shirt, walked up to the iron board and ironed it. And the effect was obvious when I was done; chalk up another skill for Manoj...

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Spoofing flaw resurfaces in Mozilla browsers | CNET News.com

This is the latest advisory from Secunia:
"A 7-year-old flaw that could let an attacker place malicious content on trusted Web sites has resurfaced in the most recent Firefox browser, Secunia has warned."
I couldn't reproduce the flaw on my machine because I have set a tab-browsing option on my machine for Firefox. This setting doesn't allow clicking a link to open a new window unless I specifically right click on the link and choose "Open Link in New Window". The preference can be turned on like so: Tools->Options->Tabs->Force links that open new windows to open in->a new tab.

This doesn't take away from the fact that this flaw should be fixed and the Mozilla source should be scrubbed for more flaws like this one.

Monday, June 06, 2005

Stop Saying Like

Click on the Title to see why I'm going to try to stop saying "Like" in situations that don't warrant the use of the word. Tanx.

How to get a lap dance for FREE

1. Go to last minute invitation party, alone (party has girlz)
2. Arrive late
3. Socialize for some minutes - realize you know most no one
4. Walk to area with music playing, find DJ
5. No DJ - Deny urge strongly to take over
6. Sit around, patiently, for some competent person to take over. Only idiots
7. Take over, plebian crowd starts groovin' to tunes
8. Girl walks over with request
9. Ask the key question - WIIFM (What's in it for me)
10. Girl says she'll dance like XYZ. Play the game, don't commit
11. Girl ups the offer to dance on the floor and then give lap dance if request played
12. Find said song - this is key
13. Play song
14. Act like you don't want lap dance
15. Lap Dance received

Thanks.

Thursday, June 02, 2005

Attention iPod owners like me: Apple Settles IPod Batteries Suit

If you bought your iPod after September 2003 and are having battery troubles (duhh!), you might get a new iPod because of 8 customers who sued Apple. I might get a new iPod, I might get a new iPod...
Thousands complained that the battery -- which cost $99 to replace -- lasted 18 months or less and that they could play music for only four hours or less before having to recharge it.

Under the settlement, people who fill out a claim form are entitled to $50 toward the purchase of any Apple products or services except iTunes downloads or iTunes gift certificates.

Consumers who had battery troubles can also get their battery or iPod replaced. Apple currently replaces or repairs defective products that are returned within one year; the settlement extends that to two years, plaintiffs’ lawyers said.

Hi Danx.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Thank God for Site Trackers

While randomly browsing through the search queries that lead people to my homepage, I found the following search queries for which my homepage is the number 1 search hit (outside of manoj mehta and jhatax):

query: manoj chutiya
query: manoj bhenchod
query: hi tanx
query: kux in mouth

If you find any other search queries that lead directly to my homepage, please let me know and I'll update this post. Yippeee... Or wait, should I be upset that my site is synonymous with such cuss words???!!!

Could it be Cell Phone Microwaves?

Are my brains getting messed up by microwave radiation from my cell phone? You would think (cause nothing else could affect my brain, could it?). One look at my my cell phone usage for the month of May and you'll agree:

Free Minutes 600.0 578.0
Week End Minutes Unlimited 1137.0
Off Peak Minutes Unlimited 902.0

That's a little more than 2600 minutes - that's nearly 90 minutes a day. Hi TANX.