Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Forty things that changed...

1.       You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2.       Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3.       The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4.       You respect your body ... finally.

5.       You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6.       You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7.       You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8.       You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9.       Your heart breaks much more easily.

10.    You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11.    Every day is a surprise.

12.    Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13.    You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14.    You become a morning person.

15.    Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

16.    You discover how much there is to say about one tooth.

17.    You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth.

18.    You now know where the sun comes from.

19.    You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have.

20.    You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers.

21.    You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.

22.    Silence? What's that?

23.    You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having.

24.    You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.

25.    You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule.

26.    You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?

27.    You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late.

28.    You learn that taking a shower is a luxury.

29.    You realize that you can love a complete stranger.

30.    You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place.

31.    If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!

32.    You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution.

33.    You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother's perspective and it breaks your heart.

34.    You just plain love life more - everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them.

35.    You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts.

36.    The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you'd expect.

37.    Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING!

38.    No matter what you've accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, "I've done a GREAT job!

39.    You want to take better care of yourself for your child.

40.    You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like "ahhh" and "oooo."

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pre-Employment Inquiries and Citizenship

Employers should not ask whether or not a job applicant is a United States citizen before making an offer of employment. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 12986 (IRCA) makes it illegal for employers to discriminate with respect to hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee, based on an individual's citizenship or immigration status. For example, the law prohibits employers from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents unless required to do so by law, regulation or government contract; it also prohibits employers from preferring to hire temporary visa holders or undocumented workers over qualified U.S. citizens or other protected individuals, such as refugees or individuals granted asylum.

IRCA requires employers to verify the identity and employment eligibility of all employees hired after November 6, 1986, by completing the Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) Form, and reviewing documents showing the employee's identity and employment authorization. The law prohibits employers from rejecting valid documents or insisting on additional documents beyond what is legally required for employment eligibility verification (or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Form I-9), based on an employee's citizenship status or national origin. For example, e.g., an employer cannot require only individuals the employer perceives as "foreign" to verify their employment eligibility or produce specific documents, such as Permanent Resident ("green") cards or Employment Authorization Documents. It is the employee's choice which of the permitted documents to show for employment eligibility verification. As long as the document appears reasonably genuine on its face, and relates to the employee, it should be accepted.

Because of potential claims of illegal discrimination, employment eligibility verification should be conducted after an offer to hire has been made. Applicants may be informed of these requirements in the pre-employment setting by adding the following statement on the employment application:

"In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire."

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) also prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin by smaller employers (with 4 to 14 employees). IRCA prohibits retaliation against individuals for asserting their rights under the Act, or for filing a charge or assisting in an investigation or proceeding under IRCA. Discrimination charges under IRCA are processed by the Department of Justice, Office of Special Counsel (OSC) for Immigration- Related Unfair Employment Practices. For more information, contact the OSC at:

1-800-255-7688 (voice for employees/applicants),
1-800-237-2515 (TTY for employees/applicants),
1-800-255-8155 (voice for employers), or
1-800-362-2735 (TTY for employers), or
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/osc

Sunday, October 18, 2009

snow shower

Yes, we got our first snow shower a little early this time. We generally never get the snow till December, but seems like this is going to be a tough year, with heating oil in more demand and less people who can afford it, not sure, what's going to happen in US economy.

IMG_4938

btw, the grey car…that's my car…

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Paperclip @ work

I was browsing net and stumbled upon this pretty video. This is for those who are too lazy to hold there fone/camera in there hands while watching it. This is a hand made / home made tripod/ (camera / fone) holder. (Phew....too many slashes)



Saturday, September 05, 2009

Office trip to Ann Arbor, MI

So the end of a 5 day office trip to onsite location ended peacefully, without much happening. Office was good, staff is too less and needless to say, with the amount of clients, I must say, they are doing pretty well. I was daily picked up and dropped off by colleagues. Big thanks to them.
Few noticeable things, the place where I stayed, Extended Stay Hotel "Deluxe", was too good. Had a incident related to that, will share that too. Firstly, the area. I am not exaggerating, but there should be around 10 hotels in 1 mile radius. And around 25 restaurants in the same radius.
So it happened that this colleague dropped me off at a different ESH location as opposed to ESH "D". He was completely ignorant about it and so do I. M, who took a vacation with my business trip, already checked in the hotel. So I was pretty sure about the hotel room, and the hotel receptionist, was also pretty sure, that the same room does not exist here. Anyway, finally had to take a cab to reach to the right hotel.
Anyway, I must say, the transport system is too good. It’s well connected. It’s a nice and quite city. Lots of young kids in University of Michigan. And lots of consultants as well. There is this pathway along each and every road for the pedestrians and the bicycle riders. Only thing, I should say I dint like is the people of Ann Arbor. They are very rude. Starting from the hotel staff, to the bus driver to the bus passenger. Being from the East coast, I was expecting at least not to be rude, if not polite. Anyway, somebody rightly said, you can change the clothes of a body, but you cannot change the soul.
Another funny thing happened. We were walking on the streets, and we happened to ask this guy, the way to the grocery store, and this guy first went into minutes, talking about each and every grocery store in the vicinity and the time it would take to reach there, by walk. Then after a while he asked me who I am, and as soon as I said Computer Programmer, he said my computer has a key logger file. How do I remove that? I asked him to Google, and he offered me dinner, at his place. We dropped the idea, and somehow managed to move forward. Sometimes funny people meet you, unknowingly. And you never know what happens next.
After a stay of 5 days, and 4 nights in Ann Arbor, we drove to Chicago. We booked the car and the hotel a week in advance. So here we are Chicago.
PS:Pics would soon be added onto another post.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Fw: GLOBAL CRISIS MADE EASY

THIS IS THE MOST SERIOUS JOKE I'VE READ IN AGES

It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt. 

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor.
The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.
The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.
The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.
The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit.
The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.
At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs. 

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small town people look optimistically towards their future.

COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE Global Financial Crisis? Or, is there a catch here?

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Timeline

I wanted to do this post for long time. I should say at least 2 months. I want to compare M in different months. Like a milestone, how she looked every month, in her pregnancy.

I am just putting the pics and rest is on you to compare…

3rd Month

3rd Month

 

IMG_1626

4th Month

IMG_1809

6th Month

IMG_1757

7th Month

IMG_1927(2)

8th Month

 

I know the pictures are less, but they definitely speak louder then words…so go on…judge them and let me know ur reactions…

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Architect Factory - Gyst

Twitter - #ArcFact

Twemes.com/ArcFact

Iasane.org

Arcfactory.cloudapp.net

 

Speaker Bio -

·         Rob Daigneau - http://designpatternsfor.net/Presentations/BecomingAnArchitect.pdf - DesignPatternsfor.Net

·         Bryan Tuttle – CodeRight.com – result of over architecting

·         Dennis J. Perlot

 

What is important –

·         Soft skills

·         Tech Skills

o   Platform

o   Methodology

o   Standards – naming conventions

o   Guidelines

o   Policies and procedures

§  Build process

§  Version Control

                               

 

References:

·         The rise of the development environment architect

·         Microsoft patterns & practices

·         The Secrets of Consulting

·         Dynamics Of Software Development

·         Leading Geeks

·         The Mythical Man Month

·         Big Ball of Mud

·         Silos, Politics and Turf Wars

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

काव्य पाठ

काव्या के आगमन की बेला सुहानी
मनु बनी माँ और मैं बन गयी नानी
सौरभ जी ने यूँ हंस कर कहा
मैं बना पापा और पापाजी नाना
अंकित ने लेकर बल्लैयाँ कहा
काव्या का बन गया मैं तो मामा

As many of you know that Kaavya’s Naani was here, she returned last week to India. On her way back, she was thinking of creative ways to celebrate Kaavya. She decided to make laddoos, and gift them to her family and friends in a novel and unique way. So she thought of this poetry, with a picture of her custom made on a card in a pink bag, depicting a baby girl.

Welcome Kaavya to the family!!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Money has no memory. Experience has

Money has no memory. Experience has.

You will never know what was the total cost of your education, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now, you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.

Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty, times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown. There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.

The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support
The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed
The first cry the first steps the first word the first kiss all of your child
The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you
The first award the first public appreciation the first stage performance
And the list is endless Experiences, with timeless memory

No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.

So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass..economy will revive..currency will soon be in current and in all this, I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom.

Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences.

If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy. The idea is not to stop earning, saving or caring for money but cherishing whatever we have :-).

Most importantly.... keeping commitments for loved ones (Not, if you pretend that they are loved ones but don't feel it from heart). Keep your egos, anger away from such relations

Monday, May 11, 2009

Outing

Saturday, May 02, 2009

catching up...

Its been long, since I had updated this blog, here. Well just a week. Seems like ages.
Reason, most of you know, and for others...changing diapers. Sure yeah, changing my diapers. Well, when in the middle of the night, when somebody asks you to change her diapers and rock her till she sleeps, and then nicely swaddle her till she feels comfortable, feels pissing in your own pants.
But, yeah, when she is in your arms, you forget, if that's midnight or midday. Even, when you are rock solid from outside, asking everybody else to not to hold her in your arms, trying to discipline a 15 day old baby, inside, you want to hold her for just few more minutes. Want to make her rest in your arms. for just few more minutes, just want to make sure she is tight asleep, before she wakes up in few hours for her next gig.
Life is a bag of mixed feelings. You want to make her life as comfortable as possible, at the same time you are thinking of making her self sufficient, stand on her feet by herself. As independent as possible. You want to work hard now and give her good lifestyle. At the same time you don't want to leave her even for a sec, chances are, you might miss something new.

Well, for all I am these days sitting at home looking for a project. I am out of work. So if any of you can help me, would appreciate it a lot.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Check out NDTV » News » Videos - Live Ndtv News

Live Ndtv News: NDTV » News » Videos



http://tellafriend.socialtwist.com:80/web/redirect.jsp?-763518243704139820811

Monday, April 20, 2009

new blog

Just wanted to let you guys know that, Kaavya, has started blogging @ http://kaavyamoondhra.blogspot.com/

Saturday, April 18, 2009

the process

Yeah, its a long awaited...but will cut it short...
I will try to present in a timeline manner.
6.30a - reached hospital.

7.00a - started with Pitocin, to induce labor.

8.00a - labor pains started kicking in.
12.00noon - pains were unbearable, hence epidural started.

5.30p - pushing started.
8.30p - no progress.
9.00p - doc gave 30 mins grace period to change the position of the baby, else c-sec.
9.30p - M was in the OT. I went with her.

9.41p - Pari(an angel) arrived in this world - "Hello, World". ;-)
9.45p - 10.15p - she was in my hand, i was looking at her and she was looking at me, yes for good 30 minutes. I dint even take my eyes off her even for a sec.
10.30p - M was out and back in the room. happy family re-union.

After seeing M for and thanking her for the best gift in my life from her to me, (Can not ask for anything more!!) started calling all my cousins. That was the best night in my life. i slept quite late that day thinking about her.
Sent the mail to all form the hospital network...not sure what happened, but most of the mails were bounced.

I am not really sure, how life is going to take turns now, but for now, i am on 7th heaven. And don't ask me to get down...

Thursday, April 16, 2009

found my new love..

Hi All,
I just want to let you all know that i have just found my new love...
She is adorable, being just 21 inches in height and 8 .2 pounds in weight, she is one winner of all the hearts. She has long hair like her mom, and nose like her dad...please welcome Kavya Moondhra to our family.




Tuesday, April 14, 2009

story so far...

Right now, it's, 5p, and we are still at home.

Yeah, we were about to go to the hospital in the morning. And then guys from hospital called up saying, we need to wait.
Okay, we'll wait, but for how long, dunno.
As we were all set and ready by 8a. We thought, of going out. We took mom to a nursery, where she was very happy. She just loved the place. After Nursery, we went to the mall. Mom, never went to the Macy's. That was the biggest shopping store, she went. She was too excited.
And we thought we would be the only people in the store, of course, who would be there at 10a in the morning. But to my amusement, there were lot of people in there. Wow, people have time :).
After much roaming around, I was as usual tired ( i generally get tired too quickly in the malls ;-))
It was 12noon. I asked M to call the hospital, and ask the status. More then us Mom was tensed and anxious. Nurse in the h'tal said, Doc would call us by 3p, Ok. so were again in the waiting mode.
Doc called us at 3p, saying, she is very busy with other emergency patients. So she would call back by 5p and let us know the status.
After her call, we all went to bed, had good 1.5 hr sleep. Woke up, had tea. Now watching movie, and waiting for the phone call...

so all the best to all of us...

Saturday, April 11, 2009

you are still pregnant...

So it was not a different visit to the doc...
She entered the room and said, you are still pregnant...
Well, M is just more tired these days, but nothing is happening, on the pain front...
She is just fine, and cool as cucumber. So before the checkup, doc said if nothing happens till Tuesday, 14th April, then, that would be the day, when she is going to induce her. She even did the booking at the hospital. So we just have to arrive at the hospital @ 7.30a and rest would be taken care of.

So now waiting for Tuesday :). Because i am sure, M wont let me down ;-).

Thursday, April 09, 2009

1 day to go...






What fun...280 days passed by...so many blogs...so many moments...so many pics...so many parties...

Ask M...

Sunday, April 05, 2009

dance baby dance...

M was on 7th heaven. Her mom is here. So she was too happy about it. Who would not be?
In fact i had to click some of her pics to prove that. Find them below.

 

 

 

 
Posted by Picasa

 

 

 

 
Posted by Picasa

Nursery

It was M, who said, baby is not coming out, 'coz the baby needs the crib mobile and the nursery.
She is already 3 cms dilated, and in fact even the Doc was amazed, you are still here? We are so scared in the nights.
Would we be able to sleep through the night?
Would she start calling us in the night?
Would we have to run to the hospital in the night?
Well, whatever, if we have to wake up, we have to, and if we have to run, we have to. Do, we have a option?



So M, said she is not giving birth, unless the nursery for the baby is ready and also there is a crib mobile.
For those who don't know, what is a crib mobile, its a small toy, which hangs above the baby's face, and moves making sounds and throws some light, so the baby is distracted.



So we spent one whole evening looking for the that small toy, and then another evening for the nursery. But when the crib mobile was setup, there were no battery, so the baby was still hanging in there. So i ran y'day to get the batteries for the toy. And now everything was set.
So we were now more scared,it could happen anytime.

It was a friends b'day party y'day and we were in the car, just took the exit. And M said, Saurabh i am in pain. Gotta go to the loo immediately. So i rushed to the friends place. I know it could be the start of Braxton Hicks, still i had to make her comfortable.
We went to the friends place. M went to the loo, and then when she came out, she was all right. And felt like nothing happened. So it was another day with practice.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

dry run

Yeah...it was a dry run...
We were on the way to ISKCON in Boston. We were on the Mass pike; suddenly M said she is not feeling any movements. I said let’s wait for an hour. Generally it’s like 3-7 kicks in an hour, which is normal and she said she hasn't felt anything. We were all scared. BTW, M's mom is also here. Anyway, M called the doctor's office, and in the mean time I took the next exit and went in the shop for orange juice, generally which makes the baby active. We were waiting in the parking lot for the doctor's call back. And the doc said, since she is 38 weeks pregnant, it would be in difficult for the doc to suggest anything, so he directed her to the hospital. We ran to the hospital, which was 30 miles from where we were and would take us almost 45 minutes. We were all in panicked shocked state. Everybody was silent as hell. As if somebody would drop the pin and we were waiting for it to hear that. Pin drop silence. And then Mom said at least put on some music guys, and we started talking generally, trying to divert M's mind, and I changed the highways. And then the GPS dramatically increased the ETA from 15 minutes to 20 minutes. I took the wrong direction on the same highway. Adding on to the worry. M said Saurabh u failed. I would be calling 9-1-1 next time.
M in H'tal
So we reached hospital and by the time the attendant attached the machine and starting monitoring the fetal movements and contractions, M was alright. She said everything seems normal and we were good to go. We were out in 20 minutes.

With all that drill, we learnt quite a few things.
• Keep the diaper bag in the car
• keep M's bag in the car
• Keep the baby car seat in the car.
• Always carry orange juice in the car.

Friday, March 27, 2009

every day is the new day

Yeah, that’s right, every Friday it’s a new day...
The doc said it could be any moment now...M has already dilated 2cms. But according to different people its different POVs...one of my friends got admitted to hospital when she was dilated 2 cms, and another one was roaming in malls for 2 weeks with 2 cms dilation.
When she was in the clinic, and the doc said she could make her contracted, i was all dry. I was like really...can she be contracted right now...but yeah...M was not prepared, so the doc said we will wait for 1 more week.
Sigh of relief for today, but the doc said she would not be available on the weekend, so M said she would hold on to the baby...the little munchkin...till the next week...
So all the best to us and especially her...
God knows, if the next blog will be from the hospital… ;-)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

delayed update

Well, I am writing this blog after so long, as I have not got a lot of time recently, or maybe I was not in a mood to write anything...
I am writing today to give an update on what’s going on recently in life in context to the baby.
M's date is nearing and hence we were trying to put a full stop on the various baby items we wanted to buy. The last few things which were remaining was the crib (though we might not need it initially) and the scrap book. I badly needed the scrap book...something with the human touch apart from this blog...where I update things once in a while...
Also, one major thing....M's mom arrived today from India....she saw her @ the airport and started crying....and since then both are together...
In the previous visits to the doc...She said the baby is already very low...and delivery should be before due date...so we were kind of worried...that it should wait till mom arrives...so here she is....
also there is one more major activity going on these days...it seems like I was asking for something and I got that...but that’s a difficult question/situation...have to think more about it in detail...will tell when its materialized....till then keep guessing...

Monday, March 02, 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009

some more reviews

delhi 6 - must watch - no story, but loved delhi...may be i am too far from Delhi and hence liking it....whatever...
billu barber - dunno what happened to priyadarshan...comedy to hopeless movies...super stretched movie...krishna sudama story in short...

Monday, February 23, 2009

50 things about urself...

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Nopes...
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
long time back...its due now...
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
yes i do, coz i know i cant change it anymore...love it or leave it...
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
I dont eat meat, fav is vegetable soup...
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
nopes, but there is one in making...
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
i dont think so...shd ask my wife...
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
most of the times...and its my turn off, who dont understand it...
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
No
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
i think so...
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Wheat
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? never...want to break them asap, and buy new ones.
12. IF YOU WERE TO PICK YOU OWN FIRST NAME, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
same
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
B&J
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
what are they noticing about me...
15. RED OR PINK?
Red
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
none...
17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
dad
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Ya, absolutely. even those who are casual readers....
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
light brown
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
scott guthrie on some podcast
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Red
23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
dal-chawal.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My wifey.
25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
i read her blog.
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
not sure...
27. HAIR COLOR?
black
28. EYE COLOR?
black.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.actually cant
30. FAVORITE FOODS?
dal baati
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
funny movies
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
persuit of happiness
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
white
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
summers, i am in new england...hat winters and snow...
35. HUGS OR KISSES
hugs
37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP
company logo printed coffee cup
38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?
music or else...ar rehman for music...anytime...
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
i forgot the name
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
monster, wifey got it from her company
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
oscars
42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
birds chirping, with water flowing in the background...
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?bryan adams
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
home is where your heart is...my heart is with my wife right now...so am home...
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?yeah...to irritate my wife...
46. WHERE WERE U BORN?in the hospital... :D
47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY?
oh gosh....i thot this is common list...but i think this is women oriented...
48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
in the college...
49. FAVORITE SONG?space is less for all of them to state
50. Favorite Musical?
hate it...

I was not tagged by anyone, but found this interesting, and hence used it from her blog. I tag all those who read this blog and also, they have to leave me a message to let me know that they read it :), and where to look for there blogs. No curses...love all...

Thursday, February 19, 2009

uncertainty

I was trying to log into the company VPN from home. I was not able to. I recently changed the password, so I tried different passwords. 

None of them worked. 

Called up the company it helpdesk, they said my account has been disabled. Now what will you think of this, in this troubled times. Anyway, to give another shot I started chatting with my manager who was coincidently online, and asked him what’s going on? He said wait let me look up in the company directory, and yes, my name was not there. 

He then logged off by chance, or willingly not sure. I started getting ready for the office, with the heavy heart. i told my wife and she started panicking. I said hold on until I get the confirmed news. 

I was driving to the office and there were so many thoughts bouncing in my heart. Bills, home mortgage, kids tuition fee?? In the mean time my manger called his manager and asked, “Is there anything which you know and I don’t know?” To which the manager replied, it would be me in the list next, if I don’t know about it. 

I reached office and used my access card, which was working by chance, some relief. I tried to login again and still no success. 

I went to see the helpdesk, and upon further analysis, came to know that it was some other employee with the same user account and different domain, left the job and hence removed. 

So instead of his account mine was deleted, which compelled me to think of what would be the text in the resume.

photography

I clicked this at the party recently...somehow i liked it...:D





Monday, February 16, 2009

happy surprise!!!

This was a surprise from all of us to M. The 4 week preparation was successfully executed yesterday. It was tough time for me to handle M at some places, but I managed and all went well.
So here is the story.
The planning started 3 weeks ago, when didi and myself talked about it. I talked to few friends about the food. Others about the place to do the function. I also called up at few locations to look for the banquet halls. I called up all the friends in advance to make sure that everybody is available at the selected date. We actually made a parallel plan, since it was February 14th, so M wanted to do something special that day, it was a part of here resolution to not to waste any weekend. So she planned for a potluck, and also selected on a dress code/color, with some naughty games. When M mailed friends for the V-Day party, i mailed immidietly to the group asking them to reply entusiastically. I always used my office email for communicating with the friends. And, asked them to communcate with me when in office, and I used to talk to all the people when I drive back home.
Infact at one night, M said, i want to check ur office email. U always check mine and i never get to check yours. Unfortunately i have setup office email on home pc, so all the emails are synced when i log on to home computer. so I got more scared. I can handle office laptop, but how can i manage home pc. So i stored the BabyShower specific email locally on office laptop and then synced the home pc. In the mean time there was this communication going on with my mom and M's mom and i was so scared few times that what if either mom tells her. After all she is mom, irrespective of whose mom she is.
I also asked M's mumbai "chuddy buddies" to grace the occasion, as it would be a real surprise for her. They knew all the program. And hence gladly made the program. I knew this would hint M a bit, but more the surprise better it is. Wat say?
I finally decided on the Venue to be our apartment only as it is quite big for all the people. Moreover, banquet halls were not available on that particualr day, and even if they are available, then they were too costly. So now the question was how would i take M out of the apartment and how would didi and all get in the apartment at the same time. So it was V-Day, i thought of taking its advantage. I anyway had to leave for Airport to pick up one of the friends.
So on the D-Day, i asked M to get dressed up, as we have to go on a lunch date. She was too excited for getting dressed up. I also showed some interest in dressing, so that she does not gets a clue. While driving to the airport i was hiding the GPS from her, but eventually told her, and she was like, are we goin to airport for lunch, is somebody coming in, is it T, is it S, and so many questions started shooting. I dint tell her anything, but on the way i had to talk to the friend and where M heard the voice and guessed it. Well, she was obviously not expecting her to be there, untill she saw her, and then again questions, what r u doing here, whats goin on and what not. Well, from there we drove to pick up another friend of hers from RI. We spent lot of time while waiting for the friend. The original plan was to reach home by 1pm. In the mean time, in the background, Jiaji reached early and did some decoration. Both the didi's were together, and without GPS, so they were misdirected to somewhere else. They somehow managed to reach the apartment 30mins late. Others reached on time and the most important ingredient food was with A, who came in 30 mins late. 5 minutes before 1p. Well here M's friend was behind the schedule, and hence that was good actually, so in the car while driving back home, M was bothered about the food for friends. I made some excuses to her that i cancelled the booking i made for lunch and we will cook something at home. So started thinking ghar pe kya hoga, would i be able to manage with the amount of frozen stuff. So here we reached home. I ran quickly inside and asked everybody to keep quite. and (drums rolling slowly) dhenterang....M did an entry, and everybody shouted at the same time. She was so much overwhelmed by the happening, that water started dripping from her eyes.

It was the second best day of the year. First best day would be soon, sometime in April.
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Sunday, February 08, 2009

lamaze class


There is this trend in US for the child birth classes. Classes are generally booked in 2-3 months in advance. And ideally should be performed a month in advance. We were intelligent and we attended the class 2 months in advance, and guess what, every other person in the class was due in couple of weeks. So anyway we were in the class just for the heck of it, we thought that we dont have questions. But, at the end of the class i was thinking, and i thought i know everything. wow.


Well there are so many things to remember and my memory being not that sharp, i wrote everything. I dont want to bother everybody here with my class notes. But yeah, i am more knohledgeable person now.


Things are getting more tensed at home. Some uneasyness feeling, more after dinner, and less in the day. M's tummy is getting to show now. I clicked one pic y'day but dont have it rite now, so will use the one i clicked when we went to NH for Snow mobiling trip.


Thursday, February 05, 2009

post for a post

Over the past few months i was pondering over the thought - why and what do you write in a blog?

I have almost 62 subscriptions on my Google Reader, and watch more then 476 items on a monthly basis.
There are all kinds of blogs, news blogs, tech blogs, and personal blogs. Now everybody would understand what are news and tech blogs. what are Personal blogs, i am not able to understand till date. Some people use to share there knowledge of any general stuff, others use it for ranting, others use for fun, and write anything, without any relation to anybody, like just for the hack of it. I may be one of the last ones. Trying to share stuff, no body is interested in.

I want to actually follow a pattern some where. Infact everywhere. But my own pattern. Pattern i want people to follow.

There are so many things i want to do in life, this is one of them.
I want to work hard in office.
I want to excel in office.
I want to workout in gym.
I want to read lots of news and magazines.
I want to watch lots of news on the TV - business and political.
I want to read blogs.
I want to write blogs - not sure about what.
I want to start a business.

This is my logical wish list.
I dont want to talk about the physical wish list. Other wise this blog page would become short of space.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

snowmobiling in the woods

So in the quest for inner peace M drove to White Mountains. Spent a day there, and came out in a new Avatar. It was a blissful new avatar. She came home and we were happy as before.
So, what do you think, if I tell this story to anybody, would he accept this crap...lol hehe...M would kill me to death?
But, yeah as the name suggests, White Mountain region was really white, in this snow season, and we had a gala time with friends. It was total fun. Everybody enjoyed to the fullest. We also played with snow balls (actually I am trying to tease somebody here).
The main attraction of travelling in such a chilly time of the year was Snow Mobiling. I seem to be too exciting, and when my colleague at the last project, mentioned he owns one mobile, then I became too excited. On the way there were so many people going up, carrying there mobiles in their trucks. On the way we found so many plain grounds where every other person was snow mobiling. I thought so many times, I live right in the New England and this is my third winters, and I am coming here for the first time.
Well we reached the town right on time, but we were too hungry, and hence went for the restaurant, where we had delicious Mexican cuisine. And by the time we finished lunch, it was too late for the appointed hours for snow mobiling, still we went for it. Initially we were planning for 4 hrs, and then due to less light, we reduced it to 3 hrs.
We reached there without our gears, in fact I was in casual shoes, and yeah it’s funny. But we did not think that those people would be ready for us. So we wore the gears they provided to us, comes in the package.
We started with our guide as soon as we were ready with the gear and the entire pics click. I was pretty scared in the start, as the mobile was pretty heavy, and then it doesn't turn in the direction you want it to move. So we were going on this straight trail, and I got excited...and speeded a bit and thad...I was off the trail...in the snow, stuck. I was all alone in the wilderness for good 2-3 minutes; until the guide returned looking for me...and then smashed his head...it took three of us and lots of gas to push the sledge out of that fluffy snow powder.

We returned back to the base to get the lighter mobile, and then started the journey back to the woods and snow. This time I was a bit more confident. And felt better on the mobile. We drove for next 10 miles one side to land on plain white ground. This time I drove real fast, performing like a pro...but the only thing I missed was better hand gloves. Fingers froze so many times, that we had to stop couple of times. They were colder then ice even after wearing tips warmer. After spending 10 minutes there, we left, it was pitch dark at that time, and we were the only people in the plain ground. Return was better but dangerous, as it was downhill, so had to maintain the direction and speed.

We took less time while returning. And I was very happy to return, as I had to pee badly, and more in cold. On return, I asked the guide, how many miles was the total, he said one way to pond is around 7-8 miles, I asked, did you say pond, and he nodded his head in affirmation.

All thru the way from home to NH, I was saying I am too scared of the ponds and telling and listening all sorts of stories. What if there is a thin slice of ice instead of a hard snow/ice. What if there is some animal sitting under...it was all Ice Age revolving in my head.

Well, we spent the night in the cottage, and left next day morning. It was total fun. And want to go again. Pictures can be seen on my Orkut and Facebook Profile.

Friday, January 09, 2009

Reviews…

I actually don’t want to start with one liners review, but don’t have more then that.
Rab Ne Bana di Jodi – utter waste of time.
Gajini – Not Amir Khan Types. In fact, first movie who has a name on the villain.
Slumdog Millionaire – How come Americans make better movie about India, then Indians.

Last few weekends…

Last weekend we returned home in the night at midnight. No we did not return from the disc or club or something. We just went out with friends to watch a movie. How come so late? M was tired of sitting at home. She was tired of sitting. Standing after sitting. Sleeping, and then sitting after sleeping. And sleeping after sitting. And even when changing directions when sleeping. She was so much tired of all this, and moreover people scared her saying, life won’t be same. So now she wants to enjoy to the fullest. She came with this, when we are running short of weekends. In fact, at one of the weekends she even proposed to go out and relax.
Well, we are now in the buying spree, buying clothes for the baby, buying baby bed, buying closet for baby stuff, buying bed for mom. Buying is one thing; setting up the thing is another. That’s another project.