Rest in peace

On the 25th of February, 2009 at approximately 2100 hours local time, my PSP took a tumble from the balcony of my apartment & landed, rather unfortunately it must be said, on hard concrete. Well, concrete is generally hard. But this was harder than usual. Although credit must be given to the guys at Sony for building a rugged device that has survived many a fall, this one was a bit too much for it.

The screen cracked and along with it passed away the soul of a brilliant gaming machine that has accompanied me through times, good & bad, through journeys on State run buses to flight trips abroad, through butt-kicking in Castlevania to scoring that all important goal in the last minute on Pro Evolution soccer.

You will be deeply missed.

Peace anyone?

I kinda like my apartment. I have been here for almost 4 years now & I like the place. Lots of trees, peace & ample room for Mom & Dad to walk around, or at least try to.

Well there's this new family that moved in below us about a year back & they brought along with them a big attitude that reeks for 8 miles. They are grumpy, loud & very very unpleasant. Also they have a daughter who looks at me as if I might kidnap her. Me?! Hmph!

I was returning back from work today & happened to notice a big argument between them & the treasurer of the apartment, who is a very nice man, and has a daughter who does not run to the police when she sees me. I came to know that the treasurer's grand kids had nicked the paint off Groucho's car. Elated as I was, it was so sad to see a scrape on the side of a fabulous Fabia. I felt for the car & not its owners. Anyway I could not keep myself from getting involved as I wanted to side with the treasurer notwithstanding the fact that his daughter was watching.

Groucho went about telling the audience that kids shouldn't be allowed to play in the parking area as it caused damage to vehicles and stuff. Agreed. BUT then he said that the racket did not allow him to sleep peacefully. Who sleeps at 6 in the evening anyway?? I mean come on!! If kids aren't allowed to play, then how will this world see any more Deepika Padukones, Sania Mirzas, Mahesh Bhupatis & Deepika Pallikals?? Ms. Padukuone was mentioned for her badminton skills by the way. I butted in and mentioned that the bucket chair in his apartment creaks and makes an almighty racket. I am not sure that the chains have seen an oil check since lubrication was discovered. He told me to buzz off. Well, 'buzz' is not the word he used. But you get the drift.

After uncle had agreed to pay the guy some money for getting the paint job done, I left & thought of the million ways in which I had been courteous to the family below. I moved furniture very slowly to make sure that they don't get disturbed. I keep volume levels down when I watch TV. I make sure that my air conditioner does not leak water on their clothes line etc etc. But hey, expecting the world to be nice to you just 'cos you are a nice guy is like expecting the bull not to charge you just 'cos you are a vegetarian. But I am not a vegetarian & I don't get run over by bulls, Only by random women on Scooties.

As I type this post, I am showering misery on the Groucho & company. Holy Diver by Killswitch Engage on THX certified speakers, blasting away incessantly. Justice has just been served.

PS : This reminds me that I am going to miss my sound system. My TV. My PS3. Damn!

Are we having fun yet?

They had the jukebox rocking, the music turned up loud.
I thought I'd fit right back with my old party crowd, but now I can't remember what I came to find.
I've been here all night with just one question on my mind, but right now it's hard to tell.
My head doesn't feel that good & this heartache hurts like hell.
I think I might have made a big mistake & is this as good as the good times get?
I'm down to my last dime, it's closing time.
Are we having fun yet?

As the French would say..

I am in the middle of negotiations over a contract that would see me live the rest of my life in France. Now, the problem is that I do not know French. I do know the basics when it comes to deciphering technical standards and phrases in drawings etc, but when it comes to conversing in French, I make as much sense as TR would make if he spoke in English. Or Tamil. Or any other language for that matter.

So I get a meeting request from a Profession-HR (if you are scratching your head wondering what that post means, you are not alone) to discuss monetary tidbits in my contract. Seeing as how this is the most important aspect for me, I called her immediately & set up an appointment. She asks me if I would be willing to discuss it right away (trying to catch me off-guard) & I agreed without any hesitancy. I had a whole truck load of Excel sheets to unload on her. If she thought she could cheat me over a few thousand Euros, then she really did not know who she was dealing with!

As it turned out, customary to any French colleague talking about India, she delved in to a scintillating story about Taj Mahal & how dirty India's Finance Capital Bombay is. I shot back saying a few complimentary things about the Eiffel tower & how Paris was similar to Bombay in terms of its filth-ridden streets. Now that the pleasant exchange was over, we got in to the more excruciating details of pay and allowances. I think it is safe to say that she hates Excel now :P

And the fun part is that in the middle of the conversation she was checking with a senior/colleague as to how to respond to my statistically correct questions. Thanks to my recently acquired BBC French Phrase glossary & Google Translate, I was happy to know that I was ruffling a few feathers a few thousand miles away.

Well, they did drive me out of the country last time citing labour laws and how they fear for my safety, but this time I intend to stay. Threatened or otherwise.

And as the French would say, Laissez le bon temps rouler!

Where is the ending?

For the second time running, Grisham's standard has dropped! After delivering amazing books like 'The Firm' & 'The Runaway Jury', he lets all of his fans down with 'The Associate'. His last book 'The Appeal' did not set the world on fire with its ending, but having dragged the reader through 485 pages of a Law firm associate's daily life, it would have been nice to see a proper ENDING!!!

Okay, here's the short version.

*Law student Kyle messes up in college. You know, the usual booze, drugs, sex etc.
*Girl accuses Kyle+4 others of rape.
*All is forgotten until Kyle sets foot in the world's largest law firm.
*Bad guys blackmail Kyle in to revealing secrets about a particular case.
*Video of alleged rape surfaces. Kyle pisses in his pants.
*Kyle agrees to spy for the bad guys.
*Kyle's fellow rapist friends are contacted. One dude Baxter has 75 pages detailing his tryst with alcohol & his recovery at Alcoholics Anonymous!!! Only to get shot by the bad guys when he tries to apologise to the rape victim. Point is it could have easily been a drunk Baxter getting shot. Nobody really cares! Unless you want a gloomy account of what it is to be an alcoholic. What did he get for staiyng sober? A bullet to the back of his head.
*Kyle kisses ass, gets assigned to the case.
*Kyle sleeps with a colleague. Mandatory sex scene is described.
*Kyle drives his boss through town. For 12 long pages would you believe it?
*Kyle acquires balls of steel & confesses to a lawyer who hooks him up with the FBI.
*FBI hatches a plan to catch the bad guys.
*Bad guys give Kyle high tech gadgets to transfer sensitive data.
*Bad guys are supposedly waiting in a hotel room to collect the data. FBI shows up to find the room empty & goons missing.
*Kyle is taken in to protective custody. A month passes & his balls receive a buffing & he proclaims that the FBI wouldn't be able to catch the bad guy.
*Kyle proclaims that he is fearless & walks away in to the big bad world alone.
*Story over.

NOW, tell me, where the hell is the ENDING????!!!! Did I just go through 500 odd pages to find out that they don't catch the bad guys?? I know real life is like this, but who the hell wants Grisham to write about real life??? Oh I did learn lots of laws, rental rates in New York, cost of a properly stitched suit & the difference between Jimmy Choo & Prada shoes!!!

Maybe I've been watching too many action movies of late, but I am sure Vijayakanth would have thought of and executed at least 34 different ways of catching the bad guys!

Am off to read 'The Righteous Men' by Sam Bourne. Hope it is worth all the wait & effort.

Monk

It's a jungle out there.
Disorder and confusion everywhere.
But no one seems to care.
Well I do.
Hey, who's in charge here?
Poison in the very air we breathe.
Do you know what's in the water that you drink?
Well I do, and it's amazing.
People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time.
If you paid attention, you'd be worried too.
You better pay attention.
Or this world we love so much might just kill you.
I could be wrong now, but I don't think so.
It's a jungle out there.

Pizza Ponderings

Has recession hit Pizza joints as well?

Is it just me or has anyone noticed a difference in the size of the pizzas we get nowadays??! It sure seems smaller than the ones I used to buy 6 months back!

I checked the menu card & found out that the sizing mentioned is the same as it was last year, but I swear they look smaller now!! Next time, I'll make sure to measure before I eat!!

Or maybe the rum got to me! Hmmm..