Bookmarks of Life.

Wake Up S!D ....!

2009-10-04T21:55:00.001-04:00

This movie has given just given me another reason to go for Nikon Digital SLR camera; Its time to move on from years of Point-n-Shoot camera to next level.

The City By The Bay - San Fransico

2009-09-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

And this time I loved it; A totally different perceptive from my first stop-over visit.

Love Aaj Kal

2009-07-31T23:00:00.003-04:00

I liked mostly the 'Kal' Part; but overall we were not disappointed from Imtiaz Ali ; I hope 'Mango people' will love it too.

The Loans - Prod Release

2009-07-24T17:55:00.002-04:00

A Mega Project of one year achieved in one Quarter for Americas and Europe region simultaneously ; The Last minute challenge was supporting the Europe -Start of the day batch cycle running on Americas Time zone. Logistically It had more then 250 DB objects spanned across multiple schemas ; 100 or so various type of batch jobs for different regions and multiple source systems for Fact data and Dimensional data. The last but not least was analyzing and supporting those various Adhoc reports.

The Sun, The Sand and The Waves

2009-07-18T12:29:00.000-04:00

Another summer..another beach visit but this time we fully enjoyed the The Sun, The Sand and The Waves.

Couch-to-5K Running Plan

2009-06-21T13:12:00.005-04:00

I wasn't aware that there was anything like "Couch-to-5k plan"; until I achieved that; Today is the day, When I recorded 3.70 miles at avg 5.5 Mph in 42 mins on treadmill; Surprisingly It wasn't painful as long as I stick to the plan of 20 or 30 minutes sessions, three times a week.

Now, I just wish I stick to this habit as long as Its possible.

Day Out with Thomas

2009-06-13T22:00:00.001-04:00

We were waiting for this event for long time, So when it come to our area, We don't wanted to miss this weekend opportunity. Indeed this was very exciting and fun day for our little one ( now grown up one ) being one of the die hard fan of "Thomas- The tank engine ".

This Little Blue engine was the Star of the Day !

Lazy Sunday !

2009-06-07T16:18:00.005-04:00

Late night Movie in the previous night; Brunch in Sidewalk Cafe in the morning; laying in swimming pool and Sun Bathing for hours in the afternoon; Listening to favorite Music in the evening; Don't get such Sundays more often .

Philly / Phila ?

2009-05-24T22:03:00.000-04:00

Adventure aquarium, Camden Children's Garden, Independence Hall, Liberty Bell and most famous the steps made popular by the film Rocky.

Another Passport Renewal

2009-05-05T20:51:00.001-04:00

Another visit to Indian Consulate for my wife's Passport renewal.

couch and LoveSeat ?

2009-04-28T15:50:00.005-04:00

With endless visit to various furniture stores in the area, This was the one; suited in our budget and style.

Its Tax time again

2009-03-21T16:30:00.002-04:00

a quick one.

Another Small Move

2009-02-26T20:19:00.002-05:00

Being in the same Apt building, This was easy Move as compare to previous Big move, Still There were same 'change of Addresses'; out of which few are still pending. Advantage of living on ground floor is you've easy access to outdoor; less use of elevator and kids can run around the house without bothering downstairs neighbors.

Delhi-6

2009-02-20T22:34:00.003-05:00

After watching this movie, I learned not to keep my expectation higher about any movie in advance. Most of the time, high expectation movies didn't worked out. Thou I will still love the songs from Delhi-6 ...forever.

Now I know my A B C

2009-02-08T10:58:00.004-05:00

That's right, Our Little one knows his A B C, He also knows all Colors and He can even tell that Pizza is Circle and Samosa is Triangle.

While Driving in Car He can even tell that Yellow Light is for Slow Down ; Red is for STOP and Green is for GO...!

Her Driving Lincense

2009-01-21T11:25:00.002-05:00

A big "to-do" item has finally got scraped from my List. After three wasted return trips to DMV for different reasons; On Snow day She finally got a License to Drive. Also as Bonus, my License got renewed, saving an another additional trip to DMV.

Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon

2008-12-29T20:00:00.000-05:00

4 days, 4 nights for 4 people in one good deal of $2500 ( Flight + Hotel + Car ).

Laptop No # 3

2008-10-11T16:40:00.005-04:00

I wasn't ready for this but unexpected VGA card failure of my previous Sony Vaio has brought Tech life to stand still. So after one week without laptop; we found a good deal for $999 with free printer at nearest Circuit City store. and there you've it my third Laptop in last 9 years.

My Big Fat Big Screen TV

2008-09-23T14:20:00.004-04:00

The need of time and a long desire for Big LCD screen TV has landed us on this SAMSUNG LN46A550 model. Thou there is a never such things as good deal on HDTV due to the always falling prices; I thought what price I got was reasonable.

Rock On

2008-08-29T22:55:00.004-04:00

We indeed felt like being in Live Rock Concert in the last 20 minutes and the Magik did work on us. Na Na Na Na Na Na....!

Singh is Kinng

2008-08-09T22:40:00.005-04:00

We had good time watching this nonsense comedy.

08.08.08 - Summer Olympics

2008-08-08T11:00:00.003-04:00

Last 07.07.07 It was this and this year its 2008 Summer Olympics. Coincidentally our TV's colors are washed out and we could only enjoy the opening ceremony in B&W.

Dead Car Battery

2008-07-27T20:35:00.000-04:00

This happened on Sunday evening after returning from someone's birthday party; the car wouldn't start in front of apartment entrance; blocking all the traffic. Fortunately, the neighboring guy had Jump Start Kit to pull the car in parking lot. So over the week; We spend time looking for reliable car mechanic and way to tow the car at his place. Finally after all this worry, things took place and my car started by spending $600; which included much needed 30,000 Miles car servicing.

So the guys that "Road Side assistance" do help; when its most needed.

Another Prod Release

2008-07-25T16:23:00.001-04:00

Another Heavy Data Migration Prod Release and this time I was pulled in, at the last moment; making it more challenging one. But at the end it was well orchestrated release to remember after this release.

The Classic at Wimbledon

2008-07-06T16:54:00.004-04:00

After watching Wimbledon at every 4th July weekend, I lost interest in it. But when I switched on TV today and saw the final was about to end. I stayed for little while, just to witness the one of the greatest sports event in the history after this.

This was one of the classic battle between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's five-year reign at Wimbledon. As the commentator said "Change of the guard at Wimbledon" after the 4 hours, 48 minutes of play - the longest men's final in Wimbledon history. A deserving win for Rafael Nadal.

Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na

2008-07-04T20:00:00.002-04:00

This 4th of July, I watched this and whole weekend we spent listening to 'Aditi' .

another Six Flag visit

2008-06-28T12:04:00.003-04:00

another Six Flag visit, making it the 4th one and the uniqueness of this visit was, I didn't ride a single roller coaster ride.

More Work

2008-06-10T12:02:00.000-04:00

More Work ...!

Work

2008-06-05T12:01:00.000-04:00

Work ...

Indiana Jones on Big Screen

2008-05-31T22:56:00.002-04:00

Its been long long time, we haven't seen Hollywood flick on Big screen, I think the last movie was Spider-Man II. So when this movie was released. We thought of watching it in theater, to enjoy the visual effects.

But beside few visual effects and actions sequence, It didn't impress me much.

Another Big Move !

2008-05-17T14:27:00.007-04:00

Its time to move again. Everything NEW !
New Job, New City, New State and New Apartment - Many address changes, Lots of planning, Lots of frustration but finally settled for now before next move.

Job Hunt and Post selection process.

2008-05-05T15:23:00.002-04:00

This time It was only one shot and selection unlike last time, but the time it took to confirm the Job offer was longer. Each day looked more longer due to uncertainties and anxiety. It was emotional roller coaster ride for 2/3 weeks. Due to few commitments on apartment leasing side, my flexibility was vanished. Sometime only time can put things in proper order and only time can make it harder to decide.

California Pizza Kitchen

2008-04-17T10:00:00.005-04:00

California Pizza Kitchen- Their Pizza has unusual softness. Now We have decided our favorite one - Italian Tomato-Basil. It specially made from Imported Italian tomatoes, Mozzarella cheese, topped with fresh basil and Parmesan cheese.

P.F Chang's - China Bistro

2008-04-10T23:12:00.002-04:00

Finally, We did get a chance to try out at P.F Chang's China Bistro, after hearing lot about their food.

The food here taste delicious, even the boring Tofu is tasty. In Appetizers, we had Harvest Spring rolls & Vegetable dumplings. Main entires included Coconut Curry vegetables , P.F. chang's Fried Rice Vegetable and Vegetable Chow Fun. To make it sweet ending, we had the 'Great Wall of Chocolate' as desert in the end. The best part was, all this came together in close to $40. We surely are ready for our next visit.

Ray-Ban

2008-04-05T16:11:00.002-04:00

I bought my first original Ray-Ban Aviator Sunglasses after all this years of desire of having one, thou Its late at this stage. But as they say better late than never !

Hibachi at Kujaku

2008-03-20T22:00:00.001-04:00

Yet another farewell lunch at Japanese Bistro. But this time it was unique experience to see your food prepared right in front of your eyes in Hibachi style. In appetizers, I enjoyed these Vegetable Tempura.

Bye Bye to Diapers.

2008-03-18T11:36:00.000-04:00

For now we can say bye bye to Huggies, Our Little one is Potty trained. Now only Issue is, When he want to Pee, We have to find the nearest restroom within 5 minutes.

Bombay at Westport

2008-03-16T22:51:00.003-04:00

It was last minute decision to have dinner at Bombay in Westport, after hearing lot about it thru Friends. Thou the menu looks impressive, We weren't impressed by what we ordered. May be next time, We might give try for Lunch Buffet, just to give it second chance.

Fighting Viral Fever

2008-03-07T23:14:00.002-05:00

This annual fever has lasted longer than usual one day stand, it took almost complete whole week to cure.

early morning trip to JFK

2008-03-01T08:14:00.002-05:00

another quick early morning visit to JFK. Surprisingly, didn't find any usual traffic this time. Also the waiting time at the airport was average hr or so.

The Grand 'Jodha Akabar'

2008-02-23T22:36:00.005-05:00

Keeping aside the various controversies, this movie did not bore us; consider the long 3 hrs show time. The director did succeed taking us back in the history, with his impressive story telling & screen play. He also did justice to A R Rehman’s two great songs a divine one ‘Khwaja Mere Khwaja’ and grand ‘Azeem Shaan Shahenshah’. A true historic masterpiece from Bollywood. I'm glad that I didn't miss the chance of watching this one on Big Screen.

This movie does reminds that, India as a country has very interesting & fascinating history.

Its Tax Time

2008-02-16T21:23:00.003-05:00

Its that time of the year again, when 'Filing taxes' just add another item in the to-do list. I always preferred filing it as soon W2 arrives in the mail, just to avoid that last minute stress.

Life is Wi-Fi

2008-02-06T20:45:00.000-05:00

It took almost 3 yrs to migrate from broad band Internet connection to Wireless (Wi-Fi) one. I can feel the flexibility of being a wireless, but only if the battery life of laptop could last longer. It could have made huge difference.

Indian Passport Renewal

2008-02-01T20:28:00.000-05:00

Never thought that the 10 yrs will go such fast, when I received my first passport 10 yrs ago, the Expiry date didn't bothered much. But when the time came to renew the passport, it was just additional paper work stress and early morning trip to Indian Consulate. In addition to that, now I need to carry two passport old and new every time I travel and every time I make those never ending copies.

HTML, Java Script, JSP, Java

2008-01-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

HTML, Java Script, JSP, Java, Java applet, Eclipse, 2-Tier & 3-Tier Programming, thats lot of technology for single web application and every language has its own syntax, for loop, and variable declaration, Could have been more simpler !

Oracle Advanced Queuing (AQ)

2008-01-04T20:21:00.000-05:00

The year started with learning the new undiscovered feature of Oracle's "Advanced Queuing (AQ)"
messaging, that you won't appreciate until you really put it into real practical use.

If you go by this Oracle Advanced Queuing by Example, then its really simpler to understand.

The Year, That was !

2007-12-31T20:08:00.000-05:00

"Patience, that paid off" that is how I can sum up this year. The year went by accomplishing these major goals:-

1. after that third attempt for visitor visa, my parents could finally make it to US.
2. Huge paper work showed slight movement in never ending GC process.
3.The last minute filling for brother’s H1b visa and his arrival to US
4. and last one, seems almost impossible trip to India for sister-in-laws wedding, we could finally make it.

It's pretty quiet here !

2007-12-31T15:21:00.000-05:00

It's pretty quiet here and I mean really quiet almost a pin drop silence -kind of quiet. Being the only person working in office from our team, It feels like weekend on Monday. In add on to that, Due to the limited service in cafeteria, I’ve been forced to eat that tasteless veggie burger from last one week, sometime you really don’t have a choice.

Two Weeks, 12 Movies !

2007-12-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

Two weeks, 12 movies ! thats the most nos of movies, I’ve ever watched within short period of time. Courtesy of forced bachelorhood, winter and plenty of year end holidays. The list goes like this:

Mumbai Salsa
Johnny Gaddaar
Aaja Nachle
Chain Kuli Ki Main Kuli
Dhana Dhan Goal
Banaras
Dus Kahaniya
Main, Meri Patni Aur Who
Pak Pak Pakaak (Marathi)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Taare Zameen Par

Still looking forward for:

Life in Metro
Ek Chalis ki Local Train
Omkara
Black Friday

Taare Zameen Par

2007-12-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

After watching this movie, It took almost 2 days for me to realize that, indeed 'Taare Zameen Par' is a master piece. A simple, sincere and moving film. Specially, started loving those 3 melodious songs supported by guitar tunes.

A quick in-out using FDR Drive

2007-12-22T19:26:00.000-05:00

Unexpectedly, It was the quickest & hassle-free visit to NYC, to showoff main business spots to my brother. A quick in-out drive on FDR Drive was a pleasant one, most importantly traffic free. So far, this side of city was undiscovered area for me. It seems that its not bad option to drive in New York city on weekends, specially if you are in group of 2/3 people and If you know the city very well. Just keep aside $40/$50 dollars for car parking and tolls.

enjoying a good wine, occasionally !

2007-12-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

It turns out that, I really started enjoying a good wine now; regardless of its color. Be it Red or White, an occasional glass of anything is welcome these days !

Mass Layoff

2007-12-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

It was another farewell lunch for my very own manager at newly opened "Kona Grill" restaurant .

A sudden surprising layoff of my manager was shocking thing for our entire team. So lesson to learn is, when mass lay off are announced they don’t differentiate anybody.

long, dark, cold and never-ending winter

2007-12-05T17:56:00.000-05:00

Seems like its gonna be long, dark, cold and never-ending winter this year.
It just early December and It’s already snowing few days a week and average temperature is in 30’s. Everyday it’s take extra 10 mins to get ready to wear all those winter jackets and gloves. Cleaning the snow and ice off car windshield is another painful task.

Back from Vacation

2007-12-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

Back from vacation, had a perfect flight timing -departure from Mumbai at 01:10 am and arrival at JFK at morning 07:30 am, just to attend Monday’s full day office. The total 15 hrs non-stop flight was all empty, making room for us to sleep and this time the flight entrainment system was indeed working.

Immigration, Custom and Airport shuttle was quick one, only complain is about this long chilly December.

Jab We Met at E-Square

2007-11-11T01:23:00.000-05:00

As expected from the talented director Imtiaz Ali, this one meets the expectation.

It was a real joy to see this movie on big 70 mm screen with those beautiful location from Northern India.

This was a true colorful fresh movie, specially after watching bluish and greenish Saawariya on previous day.

Saawariya

2007-11-10T01:10:00.000-05:00

Saawariya - a wasted efforts. Due to the other sold out box office movies, we were forced into this movie, just to come out disappointed by wasting our money on expensive ticket as well as on those much needed pop-corns to pass the time.

The Balcony - II

2007-11-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

Here is Balcony-I.

Nightmare of booking air-ticket thru travel agent !

2007-10-29T22:40:00.000-04:00

This was the worst experience I had, while booking the Air India ticket thru careless, stupid travel agent. First this fellow didn’t have any clue about the ticket after charging my credit card, which he didn’t bother to inform me for 2 weeks. When I followed up, he gave some ridiculous excuses, which just wasted my days. After speaking to agency owner he transferred the matter to another lady, who cancelled the previous ticket and recharged credit card for new e-tickets. All this was happening with in the last week of travel date, making you more anxious.

Due to the double charging of tickets, credit card was almost reached to credit limit. Finally when they’re unable to issue e-tickets, they issued old paper tickets, which were collected by friend on my behalf.

The big surprise was waiting for me on monday morning, when I saw only two paper tickets. After waiting for an hour for the opening of their shop, they said they issued one e-ticket for me and paper tickets for my family.

It was rather a simple task, booking a ticket ! but took plenty of phone calls then follow up calls and the painful one, i.e. checking your mailbox everyday for the delivery of tickets. It just adds up unnecessary stress during those vacation days.

Its just reminds me of the MakeMyTrip.com’s commercial ad.

On a same note, soon the paper ticket will become a collector's item. The global airlines body IATA has placed its last order for paper tickets, clearing the way for air travel to be based entirely on electronic ticketing from 1st June 2008.

a day without TV !

2007-10-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

Our old TV suddenly stopped working, Not that we are much into TV, But having a not working TV in home makes you miserable . You never imagine that, you would miss it so much.

GoCakeGo

2007-10-14T20:40:00.000-04:00

A special ordered one from gocakego

Edible - Delicious Celebration

2007-10-09T22:01:00.000-04:00

It tastes much better than it looks !

Waiting and waiting …!

2007-10-05T23:11:00.000-04:00

Most of September month went waiting for those few important letters, which were critical for out India vacation trip planning. Finally, when they arrived they arrived all together and patience paid off.

Using Microsoft Excel for Desired Inputs.

2007-09-28T22:00:00.000-04:00

Every now and then you get requirement to produce ad-hoc report or data extract for given sets of excel data. User might provide you names, IDs for which he is expecting the results, but the problem is putting all that input data into your SQL queries in a way that it will fulfill the Syntax.

For ex.
SELECT company_id, address, city, state, country
FROM company
WHERE company_name in (('IBM','Oracle','Apple','Google','MicroSoft')

--List of names given by user (without quotes and comma separated):-
IBM
Oracle
Apple
Google
MicroSoft

It is doable when the list is small containing 10/20 items, But it becomes tedious & impractical to do it manually when list has 1000’s of items.
So while extracting such data yesterday, I found an easy and effortless way of achieve this thing using Microsoft Excel.

Here are Pictorial step-by-step instructions:

First Select the required columns (Cell)
Then using right click select the ‘Format Cell’ Option
Then use ‘Custom’ and Type as ‘@’, and click OK.

ICC World Twenty20 - India vs Pakistan

2007-09-24T20:00:00.001-04:00

I hope after this win, We don't have to wait for next 24 yrs for the another world cup. Certainly, This win is precious for the India and will be treasured for the years to come. For me, I am just making a note here.

Bronx Zoo

2007-09-15T22:37:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the corporate free tickets, It was economical to visit this Bronx Zoo with the family of four people.

We specially enjoyed the first ever Camel Ride and the Tiger mountain experience.

Thou due to late arrival, we couldn't cover the entire Zoo, but were able to visit the main attractions.

Family visit to NYC

2007-09-08T23:52:00.000-04:00

This was a tiring family visit to New York city on the occasion of parents visit, by this time I've become a professional guide who can cover most of the NYC attractions in half a day starting with Grand Central, Park Ave, United Nation, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, NYSE, Ground Zero (WTC), Time Square and Empire State and in the end serving the dinner in Indian Restaurant.

Chak De India (चक दे इन्डिया) !

2007-08-25T23:29:00.000-04:00

A classic movie to treasure for, which are very rare to find in Bollywood.

Getting lost in Downtown Washington DC

2007-08-19T22:07:00.000-04:00

And I thought only Capital Beltway was confusing, wait until you enter the Downtown area of Washington, D.C and it will be like a maze for the tourist traveler. Even thou I’ve been visiting this area for 5th time, I had hard time locating our hotel on Rhode Island ave at Dupont Circle.

Normally, Most cities have Streets mapped in X and Y axis but here in DC the diagonal avenues make the road network more complex. Just to get an idea, have a look at this Dupont Circle which is the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Connecticut Avenue, New Hampshire Avenue, P Street and 19th Street.

To make matter worst, while driving you have to also consider the “One way” or “Do not enter” signs. One time, I was almost entered into “One way” road before I realized the mistake.

Next day also, while getting out of the city, those Google map couldn't be helpful. Thanks to all those cabbies for much understandable direction.

Bottom line is, Washington D.C. can be awfully confusing and frustrating to get around if you're not familiar with the area. Here is a link, which advices you to get a good map, If you are heading to DC and also plan in advance to save travel time.

Visit PA - few unique attractions

2007-08-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

This was one of the most fulfilling weekend trip, that I could remember of my all weekend endeavors.

The day started by visiting a truly unique attraction..."the Choo Choo Barn- Traintown U.S.A". As they claim "the Choo Choo Barn is like nothing you've ever seen !", true to the statement It was a really refreshing experience to see those detailed towns created with tiny animations.

The afternoon was spent riding the Strasburg Rail road in their Open Air cars, as the train tour was moving thru lush green scenic surroundings of the countryside and neighboring Amish farms.

After having a late lunch at the picnic area, we reached the Longwood Gardens for our last destination of the day. Being one of the premier botanical gardens in the US, It consists of 20 outdoor gardens and 20 indoor gardens within 4 acres. We had fun at the Italian Water Garden and Indoor Conservatory watching those amazing lotus, bonsai trees and exquisite flowers.

This is called Weekend Gateways !

another visit to Niagara Falls

2007-08-05T22:26:00.000-04:00

This will be the 3rd one and hoping the last one. a quick weekend trip started at Saturday 06:30 early in the morning, reaching the Niagara Falls at 1:30 pm. At the destination, Most of the time was spent waiting in the long queue, thou everything was forgotton after completing the attraction. The food at Punjabi Desi Dhaba tasted more delicious due to the all tiredness.

On the return journey, we stopped by "Corning Museum of Glass". So now we know what exactly the Glass Museum is, when people talk about Glass Museum near Niagara Falls.

Last but not least, Most importantly this trip will be remembered for the first Speeding Ticket on I-390 for driving at 83/65 mph. It was a quite learning experience.

another visit to JFK airport

2007-07-25T20:25:00.000-04:00

After some time, I made another visit to JFK, but this time it was personally emotional one, due to the parents first visit to USA. This time too it was same bumper to bumper traffic, (a JFK airport trade mark) but didn't bothered much.

A New Mobile Handset - Motorola RAZR V3

2007-07-24T20:09:00.000-04:00

Sometime circumstances force you into undesired actions.
That’s what happened when my mobile handset stopped working as it was put into water glass by our little one. Hence due to the necessity of new mobile handset, I was trapped into the 2 yrs service contract by the provider. You don’t know how much I loved getting out of previous contract. But because of above situation, the freedom didn’t last much longer.

So this will be my 4th mobile handset in last 8 years starting with Sprint-Motorola, Voice Stream-Samsung, T-mobile-Sony Ericson and now T-mobile-Moto. Thou I am not impressed with handset; I hope it will solve the purpose.

another sets of documents

2007-07-22T14:34:00.000-04:00

This time it was different type of documents preparation. If things work out accordingly, it will be worth spending all these efforts and money otherwise just a waste.

Spent most of the time doing xerox copies of passport, then the boring photographs and the painful medical examination. The remaining time was spent on doing fed ex.

The New 7 Wonders !

2007-07-07T23:29:00.000-04:00

I don't when was the last (old) 7 wonders were declared, but I know now when the New 7 wonders were announced. Glad to hear that The Taj Mahal is one of them and it tops the list.

Just to make a note for myself these are the other six monuments that made it to the list:

The Great Wall of China,
Petra in Jordan,
The Statue of Christ Redeemer in Brazil,
Machu Picchu in Peru,
The Pyramid of Chichen Itza in Mexico
The Colosseum in Rome

This 4th July Weekend.

2007-07-04T20:45:00.000-04:00

Having a holiday in the middle of week isn't really much helpful, The time you start enjoying it, Its gone. We've spent 30 minutes watching the firework and 90 minutes getting out of the traffic.

I always prefer watching local suburb's fireworks from near distance then the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks from far distance.

At last, this weekend will be remembered for paying $55 Parking Violation ticket for a casual visit to the park. I always put coins in parking meter without taking any chance, but this one time I took a chance and I was fined huge amount.

Annual Outlet Mall visit

2007-06-30T22:32:00.000-04:00

This visit to premium Outlet has turns out to be very fruitful; shopped for various clothings brands on bargain prices. What I liked about the Clinton Crossing Premium Outlet is, shops are organized in the straight rows making it easy to cover everything rather than just tiring your whole body.

You can cover whole outlet area in 3/4 hours on the evening time, rather than spending entire whole day at this vast Woodbury Outlet Mall, which I've been visiting last few years.

R2I keyword !

2007-06-29T22:04:00.000-04:00

Did you know that "R2I" keyword stands for "Return to India" ?
May be you don’t until now; unless you are really planning to return to India from living abroad.

In Last few months, I’ve given serious thinking on this topic of returning to India due to many factors and hence stumbled upon this keyword "R2I" after searching on web.

One of the very useful forum that encountered is "r2iclubforums"; where you can find detailed information about various topics from 'sharing a container' to 'school education' for your kids.

Its been sometime now I’ve been reading these posts randomly, whenever I get a chance. Also, Few experienced R2i’er have started blogging about their experiences, which are very interesting to read about and thus the introduction of this new tab on my iGoogle page.

The A.R. Rahman – The Third Dimensional Tour at Nassau Coliseum

2007-06-16T23:55:00.000-04:00

The 16th Jun had some special significance in our calendar due to the above event.

Indeed the Concert was true to the expectations; a concert to remember for lifetime. We had special interest due to the Rang De Basanti songs from Pathshala to Roobaroo. All together, It was an awesome experience to enjoy songs from Dil Se, Bombay to Tamil Shivaji and the unique 'Vande Mataram' to conclude with.

As we say in Hindi, "Paisa Vasool ", a Totally Rocking one !

Lunch at Coromandel Cuisine

2007-06-14T17:50:00.000-04:00

It was long due to visit Coromandel Cuisine for Indian food. After many failed attempt of finding this place, it was the occasion of team lunch which brought me to this restaurant.

Due to the lunch time, we tried our hands on lunch buffet which had 4 veggie-variety and 2 non-veg ones supplemented with Kabob & vegetable bhajia. Personally, I enjoyed their dessert (Rice Pudding) the most, a nice way to end your meal with the sweet and cold feeling in your mouth.

Overall the food was delicious with reasonable price tag. The atmosphere is warm and casual. Thou I couldn’t understand the logic of giving 15% Tips on lunch buffet.

Project - Visitor Visa.

2007-06-12T22:00:00.000-04:00

Finally It has paid off ! All the efforts & stress of going thru Visitor visa process.
Thou it took almost 2 yrs, 3 attempts, 30,000 /-Rs, plenty of paper work and lots of emotions. In the end, the feeling of getting Visitor visa is comforting & uplifting.

So my advise for others who have faced rejections; keep a hope alive at least in Visitor visa case.

Fun at Quassy Amusement Park

2007-06-09T12:07:00.000-04:00

A casual visit to Quassy Amusement park turns out to be a family fun for the whole day. This affordable amusement park is Worth a visit, if you've kid under 3 yrs or so.
Most of the rides are quick ones with no waiting and for the grown-ups, they've Water park & Beach . Specially, I had awesome fun on this Tunnel Twister water slides.

A great way to spend your Saturday afternoon with the family !

Playmats on Hardwood floor !

2007-06-06T22:47:00.000-04:00

Being a second floor tenant and having a 20 months old toddler isn’t the best combination you can ask for. Specially, If you are living in American Apartments, where everything is made up of wood.
Kids love running & jumping on hardwood floor and more when you ask them not to. This has been really disturbing ground floor neighbors.

Facing this dilemma, I was running out of options. Carpeting or changing the apartment wasn’t feasible option. Hence, the other day I found this alternative option to cover most of hardwood floor by these Play mats. These mats are made of soft foam, which might be used as shock absorbing material. It is easier to assemble and most importantly economical.

For now, I’m hoping that these mats will solve the purpose. So if you are in same situation, this might be the solution you can think of.

Prod Release over the Long Weekend.

2007-05-26T11:23:00.000-04:00

This long weekend will go down as major Prod release implementation.
Its Major one, Due to the 200 GB table's data migration from one schema to another schema using SQL Insert statement by partition wise. Then comparing the record counts verifications and Building Indexes and Last migrating application Synonym from old table to new table.

The whole release took almost 20hr spanning over Friday night to early morning and upto Evening. Surely, the next week will also be the busy one. Its feels different when whole world relaxing and you are working hard.

FedEx - International Priority

2007-05-18T23:46:00.000-04:00

FedEx truck never bothered me before. Now every time I see a FedEx truck or plan it reminds me that they charged me hopping $48 for International Priority delivery to India.

I’ve been using USPS’s Global Priority Mail to send the documents to India, for which they charge me reasonable $10. But this time due to the non-delivery of documents I had to use FedEx. They claim to be "World On Time" and thats important in Shipping Industry and as they say "Time is Money".

Ta Ra Rum Pum

2007-05-12T00:30:00.000-04:00

Somehow this year hasn't been lucky enough to produce a single big Hit of the year. So even after reading the disappointing reviews, We thought to give a shot for this movie, Keeping in the mind the director's previous hit movie "Salaam Namasate". Thou we weren't quite happy with the outcome, We were humming few song like "Hey Shona" and "Chika Chika...Chika Chika ...Girl...!" when we came out of the theater.

The problem is this movie has too much of Racing, and every time we had wait for 100 Laps to finish.

Recipe for "Green salad"

2007-05-08T20:42:00.000-04:00

After eating various salads in lunches at work it was time to try out one at home.

So the other day we picked the essential ingredients for the “Green salad” from the grocery store. Most importantly we needed fresh-cut Asian salad, Honey Mustard dressing, Zesty Italian Dressing, fresh Mozzarella cheese and Garlic Croutons as toppings.

It is obvious that you will have few of these items handy when you plan for salad.
Those are tomatoes, sliced cucumber, carrot, kidney beans, chick pea, green peas, white onions, green & bell peppers, Walnuts or almonds.

As for salad recipe, all you got to do is throw these veggies and toppings in big bowl, add the dressings accordingly, mix-up the entire stuff by tossing the bowl and there you have it, A fresh, tasty healthy green salad.

And thus it adds another dish, which I can make on my own.

Stew Leonard’s Dairy Store

2007-05-05T20:00:00.000-04:00

Sometime just taking a different route might lead you to a new place. That’s what happened this weekend when we stumbled upon this great new specialty dairy store called “Stew Leonard’s”. They claim to be the World’s Largest Dairy Store.

The unique thing about this place is everything is fresh here, even the bakery products are served out of the ovens.

As New York Times says "Disneyland of Dairy Stores" because of its own milk processing plant, costumed characters, scheduled entertainment, petting zoo and animatronics throughout the stores.

Indeed, We had good time shopping here.

Pad Thai - the usual

2007-05-02T19:21:00.000-04:00

Pad Thai – that has become “The usual” for me at any Thai restaurant.

I love those sauteed rice noodles with the combination of veggies, garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander, served with a piece of lime.

The Occasion was another farewell team lunch at Thai restaurant.

To sum up the April month:

2007-04-30T17:57:00.000-04:00

It was raining most the weekends moreover the average temperature was below normal making it not so pleasant April.

Spent most of the week days preparing another set of Visitor Visa documents & scheduling online interview.

On positive side, Our little one has started uttering few words; few of them are papa, kaka, baba.

Finally news that has changed the perspective of living current life, it gave us much needed reality check, a reminder to plan for future.

and how can I forget Much talked, Much Hyped wedding of the year ie Ash-Abhi wedding.

First Haircut of Our Little One.

2007-04-14T14:12:00.000-04:00

What I learned today is, getting the haircut of your 18 months old is the toughest job in the world. This was the first haircut of our little one, after he started understanding the things, which makes job more difficult. Thou this was home made haircut, I'm just preparing myself for all the action in barber shop for next haircut. Thanks to my wife, she did a decent job, in cutting his hairs.

Unwire'd Pune

2007-04-02T20:02:00.000-04:00

Here is one Great News !

"Taking a leap over Bangalore and Hyderabad, Pune will become the first Indian city to have a high-speed wireless Internet network. The PMC and Chennai-based Microsense, the service provider, have ensured that Pune is the first city in the country to have wireless connectivity. The project is also jointly implemented by Intel technology private ltd."

The technology used will be Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, commonly known as WiMAX, and wireless fidelity or Wi-Fi.

The first phase of 25 sq km radius encompassing PMC headquarters, Deccan Gymkhana, Model Colony, Sambhaji Park, Baner and Aundh will be made wireless by July. In the next 16 months, the entire city is expected to go wireless.

I am just hoping that in my next visit, I will be able to experience the Wi-Fi effect.

Rising Interest Rate Vs Falling Dollar

2007-03-30T20:22:00.000-04:00

Here we go again, Home loan rates set to rise further.

In the last two years or so, banks have increased home loan rates from 6.5% to 11%, resulting in equated monthly installments (EMI) rising by 43%.

As These measures are likely to hit economic growth, For RBI the growth had now become a secondary concern; Controlling inflation is the central bank’s top priority.

Just few years ago, I would have never cared about the Interest Rate, but things are different now specially with the sinking of Dollar value against Rupees.

Back in 70's

2007-03-27T19:55:00.000-04:00

It feels good to be back in 70's.
Thou this time It wasn't long winter, but any winter feels like never ending one until it gets over.

Dhingana.com

2007-03-25T13:33:00.000-04:00

I was directed to this site by my brother while he was recommending "Diwas Ase Ki" Marathi album. After spending sometime on this site, I found that its very user friendly with clean, crystal clear sound having all those new web 2.0 features like SmartList, Tagging, Instant searching (DhinganaAssist) developed by bunch of engineers.

As name suggest, This site is mainly Marathi oriented with huge inventory of Hindi songs. Certainly, I will use this site when I feel like listening original "Dhagala Lagli kal" or "Mi Dolkar" or to keep updated with latest Marathi trends.

Is it over yet ?

2007-03-21T21:06:00.000-04:00

Its(winter) not over until its over. Every winter has its own toll of snow shoveling, catching up with the fever. If you escape entire winter, then it all comes down in the last week.

Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa

2007-03-16T23:17:00.000-04:00

It took 13 yrs for me to finally see this Kundan Shah classic. Its was long due; somehow I never got chance to see this movie and this time also I missed first 30 mins. As per songs of this movie’s are concern, I grew up on these melodies, from the favorite ‘Deewana Dil Deewana’, to romantic classic 'Ae Kash Ke Hum' to soulful emotional one 'Woh To Hai Albela'.

What I liked about the movie is the group band concept at abandon factory; those Shah Rukh's oversized blue & yellow T-shirts and this Cap, riding on his bike and who can forget that Goa locales.

According to Shah Rukh Khan, 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' remains one of his most cherished works, and he rates it as his all-time favorite film and I do agree with him.

* * *Talk is cheap, now on Personalized Homepage

2007-03-15T20:07:00.000-04:00

This is one of the best thing happened with Google Personalized Homepage i.e. having Google Talk Gadget embedded in it. Now you don't have to download and install software to use it. No matter where you go, all you have to do is login to your Google account, and there it is. The beauty of this new Google Talk is every conversation starts in new tab,without having a need to manage all those IM windows.

Another new feature is, If you paste a URL from YouTube or Picasa Web Albums into your chat, the Google Talk will let you preview the videos and photos right in your conversation. So you know which picture the person is talking about when you share the album.

I suppose, Its 'Google way' of doing things.

Thomas Big Loader

2007-03-14T20:48:00.000-04:00

This is a new entry in our little ones toys collection; ‘Thomas Big Loader’ a first toy from 'Thomas and Friends' brand. There is something about trains that fascinates everyone and 'Thomas and Friends' have upper hand in the train toys.

This particular set is a nice piece of engineering; coordinated with sequence of events taking place by one engine. Being a software guy, I can imagine lot of logical thinking has been put in this toy while designing it. One wrong placement or mismatch can spoil the entire game, by unit colliding with each other.

Thou I wouldn’t recommend for little ones; an interesting one for big ones.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007

2007-03-11T19:02:00.001-04:00

This is just to remind that, The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 has started today. Another four years have passed on.

Even thou, I do not follow much these days, the website browsing and TV news does update you with the latests.