deviationz .LOG

It’s less than a month……And most people would be thinking I would be having sleepless nights and cardiac arrests. Strangely, I have been very relaxed, so relaxed that now I am freaking out thinking whether this is normal or not. And to most people who do not know, the JAM is “Just A Month” for my wedding.

I have been thinking of putting together a short little book of my love story or atleast a long post of things that have happened ever since I met Anu five years back. Many of you know the story, but you are only the 0.087% of the people in the world who knows it.

There are usually a gazillion things that need to be done in preparation for a wedding. My only contributions have been in creating what I think is one of the funniest invitation cards in the world which has received rave reviews¹, setting up the new apartment, putting through paper work for her and my entry back into the US and I am running out of my list of contributions…..:). What I have done well is to delegate work. I have shown very good managerial traits and the deadlines have been met very successfully, even though Anu would vouch that she has had to literally push me to even get started on my deadlines. A nagging wife for a lazy bum. Ah! These matches are made in heaven.

On a unrelated career note: I will be going to three of our branch offices (in Tallahassee, Orlando and Boca Raton) to help recently hired graduates to understand the fundamentals of post-tensioned concrete systems and teach them and some senior engineers the ins-and-outs of the finite element analysis software used in analysis and design. It is going to be a good experience and I am hoping to learn more as I teach. For the record, I have designed (counting the numbers now) floor systems for 7 high rise and mixed use condominium and office buildings in the last one year. 2 of them are successfully under construction and 1 is complete. I am also looking forward to a grand party later in the year in Tampa, FL during the opening of the 2 buildings that form two city blocks.

1. The store where the card was printed is going to put our card on their display. Wives of colleagues at work are showing it off to their friends and a cascade effect is in progress.

Finally no more dropped signals, no loss of synchronization. It really feels good to be typing this away from the desk, sitting in the living room watching Larry King live [w/ Anderson Cooper]. Fun times have resumed again. Things that I like about the new home compared the previous one.
[1] I have broadband once again after a years hiatus. No more paying telephone bills just to be able to use ADSL. And the icing on the cake is that my broadband is 46% cheaper than DSL (technically 73% cheaper if you include telephone bill).
[2] I have access to Speed TV, National Geographic on cable. Now I can get back to regularly following Formula 1 again. Maybe this is going to be the lucky charm that the Tifosi needs.
[3] It is 53% closer to work. In real terms, 8.5 miles compared the 18 that I had to drive.
[4] It is close to one of Miami’s biggest shopping malls (I know you people are going to warn me on this one considering I am getting married), has a ton of very good restaurants around, close to Metro Rail ( in case I do something stupid w/ my car and have to take the train to work), close to a big closed parking lot (useful in hurricane season as I don’t have a closed garage)…………more to come as I explore.
[5] Hard wood floors in the apartment, meaning less difficulty in keeping it clean.

I could go on for some more, but I guess I will just go to bed now. My battery is dying too…………………………….

has dished out multiple things at the same time. I have been absent from this realm because too many things have been happening in life that I am finding difficult to comprehend. For starters, I ended up spending quite a good chunk of money on a stupid mistake. Maybe it was God’s way to telling me something. And then there is the pain of moving into a condominium (even though it’s just for rent). I have a whole bunch of things around me to take care of and I sometimes wish a day was not just 24 hours. I think I might also have TMJ.

I will be back by the next weekend and all things should have been taken care of by that point in time. Putting out fires sure does take a toll.

……..more later.

Finally I did it. It was a long time plan to use K2 , theme that perfectly matches what I had in mind. Simplistic, easy to read and highly customizable. Great work by these good people.

Nothing can be more satisfying than a complete two course self cooked meal. It was an attempt to redeem the faith in Anusha who would not believe that my last week’s crazy dish (cabbage sambar) actually tasted good. What started out as an attempt in making sambar with cabbage curry ended up in a cabbage sambar concoction. It was good nevertheless, but it is difficult for someone to believe without tasting it.

With me not working weekends lately, I seem to have a lot more time than I am used to. Also, I have been talking a lot to my cousin Gayathri, who lives in Illinois and she keeps making my mouth water by talking about what she made for lunch, dinner etc. They range from very simple sambar, kootu etc. to exotic spaghetti w/ cheeseballs, nawabi paneer kofta and such. Usually weekend eatouts are Olive Garden (italian), On the Border (Mexican), House of India etc., but this weekend was all about me rising from the ashes.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting a two course meal of aloo gobi (potato - cauliflower curry) and aloo channa saag (potato, chick pea, spinach w/ gravy) served with hot white rice (with a dollop of butter) and onion raita. The picture does not show the yummy potato chips and an orangeade. So salivate….;)

Cooking all this was fun, but now I have to turn Kanta bhai and that is no fun. Doing dishes is no man’s job. Kanta bhais in and around Miami can feel free to apply for vacancy. Remuneration will be good Indian food and weekdays off.

Continuing on a culinary note,
Rice - $1 per pound
Ghee - $3.99 per bottle
Aroma of steamed rice and ghee - priceless

This is just a heads up for the menu during my wedding. For all you people still in two minds, this should put you out of your miseries. Here is the menu.

§ July 8th, curtain raiser

»Breakfast
•Kesari
•Pongal and chutney
•Idli w/ kosthu
•Kaapi, tea etc.

»Lunch
•Payasam (avil)
•Thair pachadi (carrot)
•Avarakai curry (broad butter bean)
•Vazhakai curry (green plantain)
•Pushnikai kootu (winter melon)
•Sambar (vendakai)
•Rasam
•paruppu, nei, appalam etc.
•Mysurpa
•thair, uruga, appalam etc.

» Tiffin
•Kasi halwa
•Lime sevai and chutneys
•Utappam w/ sambar

•ladoo after Sai Bhajan

» Dinner
•Pal payasam
•Thair pachadi
•Thakali jam/beetroot pachadi
•Katrika curry (eggplant)
•Potato podimas
•Vegetable kootu
•sambar (murungaka)
•Mysore rasam
•poli
•paruppu vadai
•kerala chips

§ July 9th , D-Day

» Breakfast
•Carrot halwa
•Idli
•Medhu vadai
•Pongal
•Rava dosai
•chutney (thakali and coconut) , sambar

» Lunch
•Kalyana pasayam (paruppu payasam)
•Thair pachadi
•Sweet pachadi (w/ fruits)
•Kosumalli (this I am not really sure of)
•Vazhakai curry (options)
•Beans paruppu curry
•Avial
•kadhamba sambar (3 vegetables)
•Mor kozhambu
•Thalaki rasam
•Boondi laddu

§ Tiffin
•Son papadi
•vegetable samosa (w/ tamarind and mint chutney)

§ Reception dinner (now I can’t escape from it)
•Tomato soup
•Badam kheer
•Cutlet w/ sauce
•Onion thair pachadi
•Fruit pachadi
•Cabbage curry
•Potato curry
•Naan
•Paneer butter masala
•Vegetable biriyani
•Bisi bela bath
•Pineapple rasam
•White rice
•Tair sadam
•Ljjat pappad
•Cips (potato)
•Gulab jamoon
•Ice cream w/ fruit salad
•Beda

§ July 10th, does this have to end??

§ Lunch
•Semiya pal payasam
•Thair pachadi
•Mixed vegetable curry
•Chembu roast
•Poricha kootu
•Melagu kozhambu
•Murungaka sambar
•Jeera rasam
•Jaangri
•Thair vadai
•Tomato vadam

Keep watching out for more updates. Soon, maybe I might post pictures of good looking girls who might attend the wedding

I finally got pulled over. And I say finally because there have been a few occasions when I have gone 10 mph or more over the speed limit, done rolling stop at stop signs etc. But yesterday I had the last laugh, and got pulled over. It is a back street that I usually take to beat the traffic. It passes through a ghetto, and usually there is very light traffic. I do a rolling stop at the stop sign, make a left turn, and immediately I see a cop car facing me parked on the left about 100 yards away. I thought some thing bad must have happened. I see a lady cop talking to a woman (??) inside a pulled over SUV. And as I pass the cop and the SUV, another burly cop waves me to pull over. I thought I got pulled over for passing the pulled over SUV. So I put my car on park and decide not to utter a word. The cop walks to me and asks me for the license and registration. He looks over it and says, “Show these to the young lady”. As he finishes, the lady cop (in her late 20’s or early 30’s) walks to the driver side window and looks over my license. The ensuing conversation is thus: [the word “nice” is used a lot, but you will see why]

Nice Lady cop - Do you know why I pulled you over ?
Me - [Calm and composed] No , ma’am, I do not.
Nice Lady cop - You made a rolling stop [I knew what that meant], which means you did not come to a complete stop at the sign. In the state of Florida, that is against the law. Is the vehicle registered in your name?
Me - Uh, yes, ma’am [and I try to thumb through my papers to get my registration card, but could not find it].

As I am trying to find my papers in vain, she says some magic words
Nice Lady cop - How about I let you go? You seem very cooperative. Make sure you don’t do it again.
Me - [excited, stunned, surprised] Yes, ma’am, thank you.

Maybe not all cops give you a hard time. May she live a very happy life. My first interaction with a cop here did not turn sour. Yippeee

Update : Now that I think of it, maybe she called me “very cooperative” probably because the woman in the other SUV not only did a rolling stop, but also was not cooperating. I just could not resist taking a dig at women drivers, even though there is very little chance that the lady was not cooperating with the cop.

Not many in the world [and by that I mean outside the United States of America] know what the Superbowl is. Even though American Football is played in other countries outside the USA, only local teams compete in the finale. It is somehow not right to call superbowl winners as the “World Champions”. Come on, for crying out aloud.

Sidetrack -
The above reminds me of this funny incident that happened when I was studying in the X std. in Chennai. Back then, there were 3 options for second language [Tamil, Hindi and French]. Our class had mostly Hindi and French students and only ONE Tamil student [my buddies would remember Abdul]. Every subject had a class topper back then [it did not seem stupid back then], and all of us from our class did fight for Abdul to get a class topper badge even though he was the only one in the class taking Tamil and he never had competition :).