Being Brave.

I was 15 and my best buddy 16.

We were riding on his gear less scooter and taking a turn near my home, when one guy on a cycle looking elsewhere almost crashed into us.

He pointed his arm towards us and used swear words generously and cycled on.

We both were a little upset, coz., it was no fault of ours. My friend tells me "We mustn't let him go like this. We're two and he's one. Let's go teach him a lesson. Besides, we have to get used to situations like these. "

So we turn around and overtake him and signal him to stop. He stops. We also stop. Now both of us don't know what to do. Our hearts are racing.

Him: {Getting off his bicycle, a heavily built burly man with a menacing look on his face}: "What ?"
My Friend: {With a squeaking voice}"Errmmm, Nothing. We were riding properly only"
Him: {Getting annoyed now}"Ok, So ?"
My Friend: "ermm...nothing."
Him: "Ok get lost !"

And we turned around and rode back quietly.

Lunch Box.

I was talking to my friend who married his girlfriend of over a year, a month back.

Me: "So how's married life ?"
Him: "So far so good, it's going be a month tomorrow"
Me: "So are you able to get off home from work earlier these days ?"
Him: "No, not really. In fact, work is hectic, it's almost mid-night when I get home"
Me: "Hmmm, so are you carrying lunch these days ?"
Him: "Yes and something happened at lunch yesterday."
Me: "What happened ? "
Him: "I sat down to lunch, as usual with my team in the cafeteria and opened my lunch box."
Me: "Okay..."
Him: "...and there was rice"
Me: "Okay..."
Him: "There was only rice !"
Me: {Giggling by now} "You mean just plain white rice ?"
Him: "Yes...and stop laughing".
Me: {Controlling my laughter}"Ok, ok. Then what did you do ?"
Him: "What should I do? I borrowed some curd from a colleague, made butter milk and had it with my white rice"
Me: "Ha ha ha, seriously ? She probably forgot to pack the curry. "
Him: "No, she had forgotten to tell me. Apparently, she had only made the rice and packed it and had wanted to tell me to buy some curry to have with it'

I am just giggling imagining his expression, when he opened the lunch box and saw plain rice. He must have poked around to find something to eat it with. :D

Google's gag.

I stumbled upon this job posting by Google.

Like everybody else, I noticed the requirement 'Sense of humor'
Like everybody else, I clicked on humor.

Humored, Impressed and Curious, as always, I did send them an e-mail like this,

------------
From: iwobm@gmail.com
To: lunarjobs@google.com
Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Subject: Yes, I have a sense of humour.
Mailed-by: gmail.com


Hello Google,

Am interested and looking forward to discuss my possibilities of taking this further and working out my options of joining Google to work with G.C.H.E.E.S.E.

It excites me to imagine, we would be in sub-zero gravity levels discussing cutting-edge solutions, that will reach out and touch millions of lives.

Looking forward to discuss this further with one of you.

Thanks and Kind Regards,
iwobm.
------------

And, I got an instant reply like this.

------------
From: lunarjobs@google.com
To: iwobm@gmail.com
Date: Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Subject: Re: Yes, I have a sense of humour.
Signed-by: google.com


Thank you for contacting Google about our Copernicus Research Center.

We've received an overwhelming response to this opportunity and are not currently accepting additional resumes. We will, however, keep your information on file should we have an opening in the future. At the current staffing levels, we anticipate that we may need additional applicants on or around April Fool's Day in 2104. Until then, we appreciate your interest in Google and your taking the time to write us.


Sincerely,

The Googlunar Recruiting Team
------------

I am now thinking if I am eligible to file a law suite against Google ;)

Evano Oruvan Moment.

My wife and I took a pre-paid auto from place A to place B. The government generated slip said Rs.140. However, the driver said it's 27 kms from here, so you have to pay 140 + 27 because the gas prices have gone up.

I say fine, then for some reason the auto guy doesn't want to go to location B. So he puts me on the next auto in line and explains to the new auto guy that I be dropped at B and that I will pay him Rs. 170. All agreed, happy and we move on.

As we get closer to location B...

Auto guy: "Is it here ? Should I turn left ?"
Me: "No, It's B, and we still have to go 1 kilometer to get to B."
Auto guy: "What sir...it's too far. This is only B"
Me: "See, the pre-paid slip. It clearly says B and it was agreed initially"
Auto guy: "They don't know anything, I thought it is B, but this is too far, you have to give 10 rupees more"
Me: {thoroughly pissed off, Not that I am stringent about the 10 bucks extra, but I hate this approach of majority of them auto drivers}"Nothing doing, what is agreed is agreed, no 10 rupees extra. Nothing."
Auto guy: {In a mumbling tone}"It's so far, give 10 rupees extra."

Within a few minutes, we reach B. I get off the auto, take our belongings and I hand over Rs. 170 and turn to walk away.

Auto guy: [In a raised tone]"Sir, give 10 rupees sir"
Me: [Turn around and in a raised but firm tone]"No 10 rupees extra nothing, we agreed on 170 initially and that's what you get" [and turn around and start walking away]
Auto guy: [In a mumble fading tone]: "thevdiya paiya {bastard}"

I turned around walked back towards him. I was in rage. I spoke some swear words and was on the edge, just about to get physical. For a moment, I gathered myself, realized that I was standing outside my apartment, my wife with me, the neighbours who might wake up in the wee hours, the scene that had already been created.

I just grabbed my wifes hand, turned around and walked away.

Come to think of it now, I could have averted the whole thing, by paying that 10 rupees extra. But, somehow, something in me wouldn't let me do that.

The practical me agrees 'throw the money, stay away from the unpleasant experience'. Then there's the logical me which feels 'No, that's not right. You can't let them take advantage of you'

I suppose this will never change. It's something we have to live with, come to terms with.

Subject.

I tell this peer to send out an e-mail detailing the technical scenarios with which he is facing difficulties currently, just so to keep everybody in loop.

I told him to send it out yesterday, he didn't. So I went to him again this afternoon during the lunch break and said 'It need not be perfect, it's only within the team. That way, it will give time for other to digest and respond. And if they don't, you have an upper hand in the status meetings. So no matter what, send it out.'

He walks up to me in the evening, just before as I was leaving and asks ' What should the subject line be ?'

Grooming at work.

We have a huge balcony at work where people break for coffee and smokes. I notice this one person in one corner, close to one of the huge support railing, (his torso from hip onwards is not visible) leaning outside. There was also this strange sound (click, click) as if he was trying to light a cigarette with a lighter, constantly against the strong wind.

I was looking out for a particular somebody and happened to see this guy from behind and was wondering if it was the same guy that I was looking for, so I walked up close (from the other side of the railing) and took a small peep, only to catch him cutting his finger nails with a nail cutter.

He truns, sees me, smiles, and continues to go 'clip, clip, clip'.

I dropped my IPOD

Some time back, I dropped my new IPOD video 30 gig on the floor. On picking it up, it had a sad smiley with a frown and a link to the apple support center at the bottom.

Whatever, I tried to do, the sad smiley did stay.

Later, I googled 'I dropped my IPOD' and came across numerous solutions. Here's the top three.

Soln 1: [Last resort] Send it to the Apple store and get it fixed.
For which you have to pay exorbitantly.

Soln 2: [Only for the brave hearted] Open the IPOD and fix it yourself.
There was a picture-log of a step by step procedure of how you open your ipod and disconnect and reconnect the wires to your hard disk and supposedly folk who dropped their ipod got it working this way.

Soln 3: [Most widely used] Drop your IPOD again.
Initially I thought, this must be damn stupid. No way me am gonna drop my IPOD again. That's foolishness, I thought. Later, on coming across the large number of testimonials where people did just that, and it worked for them, I thought ok, why not.

So, I went, lifting my ipod up above the air and carefully dropping it on my laptop case. Thud...Thud...Thud....Thud....Thud....to no effect and still looking at the sad smiley, I thought to myself, ok, so soln1 or soln2 it has to be.

Then, before I went to sleep with a heavy heart, I decided to do it one last time. This time, I lifted it to as high as my hand could reach and, THUD. Picked it up, blinked at it a few times, and pressed the play and the select button simultaneously only to notice the bright red apple !

YaY! it worked, it worked !