Why I haven’t been blogging?

I worry too much about our Indian cricket team, probably more than the team management. The last few days, instead of writing my own blog, I have been visiting a series of cricket blog sites and reading all the blogs about the latest India vs. Eng series.Obviously I feel frustrated to view comments that conflict with my own views and happy to read what I would like to see. But it has kind of kept me occupied. My mind is kind of filled with cricket thoughts and refuses to look outside of it. I guess that has kind of made me stop looking at fairly obvious day to day observations I write about in my blog. I hope I get out of this cricket halo soon and start observing the world around me more.

Possum Story

Today while driving I had to make a sudden stop to make sure that I didn’t run over a possum. The person driving behind me totally did not expect it and somehow he also managed to apply the brakes. But he was so furious at me for braking suddenly. He actually came out of the car to yell at me (Here in US people usually don't get out of the car unless it's really necessary. I guess it's mainly because of loose gun control laws). I then explained to him that I was trying to save the possum. For some reason he got even more furious when I told the reason. I guess he had the right to be. He would have been hurt if he hadn’t braked at the right time. Thankfully nobody was hurt.

I always used to wonder about a Michigan law that states that you’ll be ticketed if you actually brake and don’t run over a deer. I guess it’s to avoid situations like this.

No Spare change to tip!

It’s always embarrassing when you have to tip someone but you don’t have any spare change. I usually don’t carry too much money in my purse and has encountered this situation so many times.

Few weeks back we had to get to a car rental company from airport using a shuttle bus. We were the only ones in the bus and the driver was rendering all possible help he could to us. His body language very much suggested that he was doing it for tips since he was going very much out of the way to help us out. I realized as soon as the bus stopped that I didn’t have even a single dime to spare. So I apologized to the driver and felt bad that I did not have any spare change.

Please call!

Have you noticed that almost all consumer products have a helpline number in their boxes? Colgate toothpaste carton had 1800 number on it and said that it is available 24 hours a day for concerns and questions about the toothpaste. Excuse my ignorance. But who in heck would be calling them? I feel sorry for the person working in the help desk eagerly waiting for a call. Maybe they would explain us proper techniques of brushing.Whatever it is 24 hr hotline is a little too much.

Azaleas

I am in Boston and first thing that caught my eye when I landed is a big bloom of azaleas. The bloom is so good and very attractive. It is much better than what we have in Michigan this year. I guess Boston must have had the right weather for the bloom this year.

Atrocious!

There is a new security check in place at all airports that we are not allowed to carry water with us in the aeroplane. Atleast it's new to me. I went through the security check and then stopped by the food court to have some grub.As usual I asked for a cup for water. But the person at the desk said that they have stopped giving courtsey water. This is ridiculous. So i had to pay $4 to get a bottle of water.

It's atrocious that these shops take advantage of this already uncomfortable situation for the air passengers. They know that we couldn't get water anywhere else and the only option is to pay them and get it. I dropped in a complaint about this.

Just show the price already!

One aspect of internet shopping I really hate is the idea of putting the merchandise in the shopping cart before you can know the price. I don’t understand why the websites want to make the customer go through that extra step of putting it in the cart, knowing the price and incase they don’t like the price (which is the case most of the time!) remove it from the cart.

Wouldn’t it be easier for everybody if they can just display the price? I guess there is a valid reason for it. But whatever be it, it irritates me.

A/C or Heat?

Spring is the most confusing time of the year when I am not sure whether to turn the A/C 'on' or heat 'on'. If I keep the A/C turned on all the time, it becomes very cold in the night and if I keep the heat on all the time, it becomes very warm during the day. So everyday I have to keep changing between heat and A/C at various times depending on how the weather is. I am sure most people here in Michigan go through this at this time of the year unless they have something to automatically switch between heat and cold depending on outside temperature.

I don’t work here!

Don’t go to a retail store wearing the same colored outfit as their official uniform. I went for shopping yesterday and since the store was being remodeled, I had to ask for help to locate various items. So I asked for help from one of them wearing the same exact outfit as the store employee not knowing that he is also out there like me shopping. The man was so upset and said that he did not work here. I could see that he was furious as soon as I asked the question. But it wasn’t my fault that he happened to wear an outfit that looked exactly like the store uniform. I simply apologized and walked away.

Office Space

This morning I saw a trouble desk record in my email saying that ‘Level 5’ Report has failed. My mind almost immediately remembered the movie ‘Office Space’. Many times I have laughed thinking about the movie 'Office Space' and the significance of ‘TPS Reports’ in that movie. If you are in software and haven’t watched the movie ‘Office Space’, I suggest you watch it. It’s a funny movie and you can very easily relate to it.

Comedians

I am always intrigued by the kind of creativity most comedians are bestowed with. Most of them have this ingenious capability to take ordinary things that unfold in front of their eyes and make it into something very funny. These are mainly what I would call ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ kind of comedians. It’s a clean comedy which usually does not get into other people’s nerves or senses. It’s something you laugh about and forget when you go back home. No nonsense comedy.

There are many out there doing comedy by making fun of people and their feelings. Some are no doubt very hilarious. But what seems hilarious to me may not be the same way for somebody else.

So personally I don’t rate them as much as ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ kind of comedians. Many might disagree. But this is what I personally think.

We are not that great!

Human beings, no doubt, have been a very dominant in planet earth. At least that’s what I have been thinking all along.

For the past few days I have been suffering from severe cold and sinus. That has made me realize that we still haven’t been successful against these damn viruses. These viruses are supposedly so smart and could mutate in such a way that prevention and cure is almost impossible.

I almost laughed when I watched the ending of ‘War of the Worlds’ by Steven Spielberg where aliens couldn’t sustain the earthly diseases. But now I guess Spielberg must have had bronchitis when he wrote that story.

Bunny bites!

Rabbits are no doubt cute to have around. Spring is finally here and all the rabbits are finally coming out of their burrows to have a bite of all the beautiful plants and shrubs that are blossoming right now.

I was very curious to see how the tulips would bloom in my front yard this spring. But those hungry bunnies spoiled my curiosity by biting away a lot of flower buds from my tulip plants. I sprayed some repellants yesterday to save the remaining. But it is a little too late.

I’ll have to wait one more year for the blooms. Damn Bunnies!

Not My Daughter

Today I met a friend of mine who was shopping in a store with his little daughter. I greeted him and he introduced his daughter to me. Then I told him that his daughter looks exactly like him just to be polite. That sentence usually brings a smile in a parents face. But to my embarrassment he said that it was his step daughter and not his own. I was very embarrassed and didn’t know how to react.

More TV's than People

Did you know that there are 2.73 TV sets for every 2.55 people here in US? This is according to a research by Nielsen.

Almost every household these days have 2 TV sets. These days even the refrigerators come with TV attached to it. TV's these days come in many possible dimensions so that it can be fit in any possible nook and corner of a house- kitchens, bathrooms etc..

So I wasn’t surprised when I saw the above numbers. Are you?

Marriage and Indians

How Indians have progressed with respect to marriage

1. Parents strictly wanted their child to marry within their own caste.

That changed.

2. Parents were OK as long as their child married within their own caste or sub caste.

That changed.

3. Parents were OK as long as their child married somebody within their own religion irrespective of caste or sub caste.

That changed.

4. Religious barrier is broken. Parents are OK as long as their child had a happy marriage.

With globalization in place and people moving to different countries the current scenario is

5. Parents are OK as long as their child married somebody within their own race.

6. Even the race barrier is broken to some extent. Parents are OK as long as their children have a happy marriage.

The common joke here in US among Indians now is
‘As a parent I am fine as long as the marriage is between a Man and Women’.

Even though not everyone’s thought has progressed this way, many are open-minded these days.

What do you think?

Frequent Accidents

Have you noticed that accidents happen at particular spots very frequently? This almost seems like a coincidence. But it is hard to accept it as a coincidence.

In fact back in India wherever such a thing happens, some people attribute it to evil spirits and other un-natural phenomenon. In fact I have seen few spots where they had kept idols of god with the hope that it would ward off evil spirit.

There are those who don’t believe in such things and they attribute it to physical imperfection of the road, signal placement etc.

Science or religion -Whatever be it, I think it would be wise to be precautious if we are driving through such a spot.

The hype about American Idol

Somehow it seems that everybody is obsessed with American Idol. I don’t see the show much and I can’t understand why it’s creating such a sensation like it’s a crisis. It’s after all a cheesy television show with no values in it. It’s mostly filled with misfits and people just watch it for insults that the judges make.

Why does the entire popular newscast talk about it all the time? Why do they care if some guy Sanjaya, who is supposedly, not as talented as others keeps progressing in the show? I don’t mind if the news appears on the entertainment section of the newspaper. But it really bothers me when I see it as a headline. I am just waiting for this show to end and for all the hype and buzz to be over.

Smoking inside a theatre

I never thought this would happen here in the US.But it did. There was this guy smoking inside a theater and nobody ever questioned him. It was very unpleasant and we had to move to a different seat to avoid smoke. It totally ruined our movie experience. I was surprised that the smoke detector did not go off.

To Lick or not?

The other day I went to the post office to mail some documents. I realized that I needed a bigger envelope than what I got and decided to buy one on the counter. I stuffed the document in and realized that I had to lick it to close it. I was so embarrassed to lick it in front of the person in the counter. Thank God the guy had a cello tape. I asked him to put that instead of me licking it. The counter guy said that he was waiting to see if I am going to lick it or not with a chuckle in his face.

It was one of those awkward moments.