Horn OK please!

Does anyone else feel that the Friday morning drive to work, after a successful four-day workout/gymming schedule is one of the pleasurable bests? Dumping the gym clothes and socks into the laundry basket on thursdays, before going to bed, is my personal favorite chores.

Friday morning dawns, bright and sunny. Its a short day at work, boss usually stops by at a reasonably early hour and says we could all go home and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Attire gets casualer than casual, one is tempted to stop by the bakery around the corner, to pick a spicy asiago bagel, topped with veggie lite cream cheese and a small cup of breakfast blend coffee. The joy of spreading cream cheese over the mouth watering bagel, piling sugar and cream into the coffee...all in eager anticipation of tasting a mouthful of the said bagel and coffee. Ah! Life's little pleasures.

So once back in the car, and continuing the "drive" to work, one stops at the traffic light. Aha! Perfect time to grab a second bite of the bagel, drowned with coffee. And as you immerse yourself in multiple rounds of this process, you hear a soft beep, like a nudge. You look up simultaneously at the rear-view mirror and the light and it registers. Its been green for a while and you haven't moved. Now the interesting piece was the nudge-like horn. NOT the usual blaring what-the-hell-are-you-thinking-holding-us-busy-ones-up types. Its almost sounded like the lady at the wheel AND her car understood the deal- that someone ahead was enjoying their little breakfast break.

Hence I vote for having some variety with the horns.
- One could be a soft nudge-like sound, (similar to the one this lady had)
- the other could be, blaring and loud(for those frustrating times, when you want to let the other person know that they ticked you off!) and then some others
- like the hi-hello ones that some people like to use to wave at people they meet on the road and know/recognize,
- one that sounds like a vent when you are sitting in annoying traffic jams and bumper to bumper traffic.

Hm, any other suggestions?

I promise, I will have this escalated to the DoT :O for prompt action!

Footnote(s)
- Watched Dhoom 2 over the weekend. Movie was taking Dhoom's techie/macho theme one notch higher...but OMG Hrithik Roshan looks absolutely stunning. Man, the guy's so perfect- posture, build, looks. Drooooooooooooool!

- Does anyone watch Sa Re Ga Ma? Why does Aditya Narayan(Udit Narayan's son and host of the show) wear shades? I mean if he has some eyesight problem, sure its understandable. But it sure looks weird!

- Reuter's oddly enough reports for today....wouldnt it be easier to fly in private jets?

Sheikh delays plane over seating
Fri Jul 27, 2007 2:30PM EDT

MILAN (Reuters) - A Qatar sheikh held up a British Airways flight at Milan's Linate airport for nearly three hours after discovering three of his female relatives had been seated next to men they did not know.

When none of the other business class passengers agreed to swap seats, the sheikh, a member of Qatar's ruling family, went to the pilot, who had already started the engine, to complain, an airport official said.

But the pilot ordered him and his traveling companions, the three women, two men, a cook and a servant, off the plane.

The London-bound flight took off nearly three hours behind schedule Thursday evening and around 50 of the 115 passengers missed connecting flights.

Traditions in the conservative Gulf Arab region bar women from mixing with unrelated men.

Calling all clothes folders*

*clothes folder (noun) = a person who
a) loves to fold clothes and organize closets
b) is forced to fold clothes
c)combination of a) and b)
Plural : clothes folders
Antonym : Closet junkie
If anyone knows of a better term for describing this job function, pliss to enlighten the mint, in addition to offering the said service!(please).

Give me cooking, mopping, dishes, gardening, reading, arts/crafts work.........ANYTHING, just about anything...thats A-OK. But folding clothes and organizing my own closet is just not me! Forget asking me to sort and fold clothes for some one else's closet. I have a couple of friends who love this chore. Visits to their home cannot be complete without a closet tour. They will, with great pride and pleasure, show you around and point at the neatly folded sweaters, tops, skirts, jeans, trousers(ALL color coordinated, every time, ALL the time). Yes, talk about developing a huge frikking complex.

So lets retro back to the time of my move(yes, I said it! I am willing to bring back the word "move" into daily usage henceforth, thank god!). The packing went on for weeks, so by the time of the move and unpacking/setting up, I was SO done! Come Mom to the rescue. We divvied up the unpacking into 4 major categories- kitchen, closet, books and office/study. I dumped kitchen and closet on the mater and retired to the quiet solitude of the basement to work on the other two-books and office/study. I emerged two nights later to declare that I was all done. Amma meanwhile, had finished the kitchen in a flurry and was chugging along merrily with the closet!

See, she belongs to the category that doesnt have a problem with folding and organizing clothes . I can visualize the scene, as I write this, she would peer at this post of mine with her myopic eyes and mutter "She needs to buy less clothes, ha! that'll be a start to not having this problem in the first place!" , catergorically stating the obvious, in her usual dulcet sarcastic tone. Ma, lets not go there, FOR NOW!

After an expedition to BBB(Bed, bath and beyond ) where she armed herself with a plethora of hangers and closet organizers (trust me, they have invented every kind possible in the name of "organizer"), she slogged for about 3 days and at the end of it, had spectacular results to show. Never have I witnessed such a scene before. I was introduced to my new and improved closet with neatly folded tops, skirts and trousers draped in hangers, a drawer for scarves, another for belts, one for socks. Lord! The gates to organizing heaven are so near, yet so far!

And like icing on a cake, whipped cream over strawberries, cherry over icecream- for the next few weeks she religiously wafted into my room after I had left for work, tidied up the bed and cleared out the previous day's clothes that had been shed in various strategic locations around. A sheepish grin would descend on my face when I'd sneak back in after pretending to leave for work and catching Mom in the act...the clean up act.

Bah, its been 3 weeks since she left....yes you bet! There's 3 weeks worth of clothes piled up in my room, right about now.

Conclusion : The need of the hour is for clothes folders.

Footnote(s) - Today happens to be NN's birthday. Many happy returns NN. May you live long and work on many "wireless" innovations. Pliss to ensure that they work well and engage your generous nature to donate some of them beauties to old friends(Note, I didnt say donate them old beauties to friends, I dont want any of outdated geek crap!, thank you!).

- TGIF to all!

The summer schedule with public radio

I am one of THOSE that, along with a morning cuppa, need a daily fix of NPR to totally set the tune for the rest of the day. While I get chores done, in the quiet of the am hours, I have to sip my first and only cuppa with the Morning edition topped with The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor. Most normal people would wax eloquent about NPR accompanying their morning drive to work. Not I. I need it even before I start my morning "drive", all of 2 miles, to my work place!

For a brief flashback, I belong to that weird generation that wasnt exposed to TV the day they were born. Radio was still prevalent, though I used radio more as a time keeper. To this date I can recall the so very recognizable voice reading "sampratih vartaah shrunvanteem". Yes that definitely meant it was 7:05am and the legs had to work faster to make it to the bus stand. If Kannada news started, then I was in a soup. A hopeless situation. Appa would be dropping me to school and it also meant some stern face time with the "diary-signer" who would have a few sharp words to say about not keeping time! Anyway, moving on....

Weekends couldnt be complete without 'Car Talk', 'Wait, wait, dont tell me' and 'Sunday Puzzle by Will Shortz'. Invariably, driving around with Saturday morning chores only turns into a pleasurable experience just by listening to Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers, solving most of America's car troubled owners with their wonderful sense of humor, style and great repartee. Its one of my wishes to make it to a studio recording of either 'Wait, wait dont tell me' which is recorded at the Chicago member station(NN, beware! thou art forewarned...) or Prairie Home Companion by Garrison Keillor.

Recently NPR has been covering some of the adoption gone awry cases. Some very insightful tales from people of diverse backgrounds with unique and touching stories. More can be found here. One very interesting case about two girls who were adopted by an American couple and brought to the US, only to find out that they were stolen from their birth mother by some agencies and the reunion after so many years that followed.

The only annoying factor which all public radio channels become victims of is that of the quarterly pledge drive. Its one work week when the channel is full of pledge information and pleas for donations. I honestly dont grudge them. Most times I am magnanimous enough to give in, cos after all, its a worthy cause. Nonetheless the pledge drive week is an annoyance, all said and done.

Public radio ki jai ho!

- A mint that also listens to public radio

Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

Ha! Love today's QOTD :
I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.
-Margaret Thatcher

Almost wish it'd been my words.

Weekend's over, skirting around the Potter mania. I heard the streets were empty and schedules were cancelled in preparation for the extended couch time. Well, I guess I might just have skipped some history in action, but thats ok.

Seren's hooked on silhouettes....yes one of them transitional afflictions. She insists that I need to post a silhouette version of my pretty face. I played around with CS2 some and came up with this...

(NN, if you see red, its not distortion ;) .Hey you're getting older- you shouldnt be losing your temper this way :D).

If anyone can manage to determine what lies behind the apparition, please to do the honors and guess. And btw, the apparition is your truly in a new hairdo. Seren disapproves chopping of the locks, but what the heck. When did I ever say I was obedient. I couldnt bear tying up my hair any longer, in lieu of summer and too tired of looking unkempt. So here it is.
And whats with the lack of clarity, you ask? Hey, why not let the mint indulge in her cheap thrill of maintaining anonymity?

I'm it!

This is a first for me- being tagged. I am honored for two reasons, one because I didnt believe I am very known in blogdom to be tagged and secondly its dear Scarlett that did tag me. Imagine, being tagged by Scarlett and refusing to oblige???? Sacrilege I tell ya. So here goes...this was quite a task cos I dont know much about my own self to narrate and list 8 things, so if someone finds themself dozing off mid-way pliss to close the browser and find a pillow.

1. I dislike chocolate and cricket with a vehemance. I even dont tolerate chocolate flavored milkshakes, icecreams or cakes either.

2. I am scared of needles(even at THIS age). There are many stories of me running down the streets of a popular bazaar in my hometown with the compounder close on my heels with syringes.

3. I can never do one thing at a time. I am the queen of multitasking and can give any robot a run for its money.

4. I suck at finances and can easily be lulled to stupor in any investment seminar.

5. I hate the word "compromise" in the dictionary and dont believe it to be a necessary ingredient for any of life's meals.

6. As has been mentioned many times in my blog, I foster a fetish for shoes...there can never be such a thing as too many shoes. I accessorize moderately and will tolerate only two kinds of fabrics- silk or cotton. Nothing in between. I get cranky in nylon or polyester. It can be deduced I am an earth sign and agree with Rembrandt where he says "Choose only one master-Nature".

7. I am a foodie at heart- love to eat and cook good food. I also love home improvement shows, short stints of travel, books, music- all in moderation. I have never been exposed to pets- I neither like or dislike them. But I can safely say I will never own any.

8. I am a potterer. No, I dont mean a Harry Potter fan. I love pottering around my abode setting things straight, fixing whats broken and little arts/crafts projects. I dont know if there is a term to describe this quirk, but potterer is what I've come up with. For the same reason that I have poor hands/feet coordination skills I can neither sew or dance, EVER.

===========================================

There, all done. Thank God, cos I heard quite a few snores as I wrote. Must be those blog goblins that got bored. My vote of thanks speech goes as follows
"I'd like to thank Scarlett, my parents, my readers and last but not least GOD for giving me this opportunity. This would not have been possible without their help, support, guidance and encouragement. I take no credit for turning out the way I have....its my parents' fault!"

The only people who I could possibly pass this tag onto are my sister Seren and Pillpopper. NN, SK and L- if you could take up the tag, that would be great ;).
Now comes the next dilemma. I dont know that many bloggers to tag , so all those anonymous/ghost readers, lurkers and the like- pliss to emerge and take up the tag.

Here below is the scroll with rules

——————————————————————-----------------------
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
3. At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
4. If you fail to do this within eight hours, you will not reach Third Series or attain your most precious goals for at least two more lifetimes. (what does it mean?)
——————————————————————-----------------------

- A very exposed mint.

Alto-no-moto

"Honey, try to get both the hands and the feet."

"Lets try it again today, this time make sure you go slowly, eventually you'll get a hang of it..."

"Maybe you should stop being so conscious of it, and do it with abandon.."

So works Debbie patiently in each class.

No, I havent signed up for Bharatnatyam lessons. Merely gym classes, to shed weight. Unfortunately Debbie is one of those that wont give up. But then, she doesnt realise that she's met her match in me. I wont ever get it either.....that I can coordinate my hands and feet action for a perfect and harmonious waltz rather than seeming like crude and plain exercise.

I am beginning to be more convinced as each day passes that my hands/feet coordination capabilities suck...and real bad at that!

***Flashback begins****
A 6 yr old girl sits with great trepidation in front of a mousey lady with two outsized front teeth. The lady in question has a scowl on her face and the girl quivers as she pulls her smart smocked frock some more across the ankles and wishes she could go back in time to wear full length paavadai/blouse. As lesson 1 begins, the hands begin to shake, the voice gets squeaky and the scowl deepens into a glare.

"Oh Lord, WHEN are you going to stay on track?? How many more days do I have to endure this torture???? Wasting precious time and money!!!!! I swear the girls of today have no seriousness or interest......" she yells and lands a sharp pinch on the girl's uncovered thighs as the blue smocked dress that her mother lovingly dolled her up in rides up the ankles at such a very opportune moment. Bare flesh is a welcome chance for nips, so the young girl notes to self.

That was me, all of 6 yrs old and these were snippets of my jaunt with learning Carnatic music. She was my first music teacher and the whole sequence lasted about 4 years or so. I was still not scarred enough to stop lessons...cos Paati had immense faith in my croonability and hence Amma would coax and cajole me into enduring the 45 mins of what was tantamount to the torture chamber for a little girl.

After moving around quite a bit, due to Dad's transfers, there were some breaks and makes in the tutelage with varied teachers and varying results and finally when we came back to homeground, I was a cantankerous teenager and could have nipped the old teacher with kind returns , thanks to my mood swings. When it was time to enter college, I decided to call it quits. Paati had given up by then and resigned herself to the fate that her favorite grandchild just wasnt cut out for this extreme skill.

Between being 6 and being a teenager I gained a kid sister and thus began a love-hate connection that was quite memorable in its own right, while it lasted. Now, we are as thick as thieves and nothing could make us wish ill for and of each other.

She was Miss twinkle toes right from the day she was born, and it only aided her case by starting lessons early. By the time she was 5, she was her dance teacher's pet and had her first dance performance. She was short for her age, so all of 3 feet and then some, fair, with doe-eyes and innocent smile- she brought out many a melted heart and "Awww so cute" responses. And from then on I was hooked to dance. In the sense, I loved watching dance performances. To this day, I immerse myself completely in watching any kind of dance- be it salsa, tap dance, tango, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kuchipudi- I can sit enthralled for long hours and never bat an eyelid. Its close to an out of body experience for me.

(Meaningless)Guilt drove Amma many a time to register me in dance lessons each one of them, an exercise in futility with two major issues. One being clumsy footwork and the second being bad hands/feet synchronization. The only venture that came to somewhat success was a year's worth of tap dancing lessons. Cause 50% of the issue was taken out of the equation due to the fact that there were no hand movements involved. The feet managed to respond favorably, and 4 semesters' worth of lessons were successfully completed.

***Flashback ends****

Footnote : No, I dont tap dance in public, I have forgotten most of what I learned, and NO I will not humiliate myself by showing any one any of it.

So Miss Twinkle Toes has grown by leaps and bounds now and a mind of her own, I might add. Ergo she has an opinion and/or prejudice about anything and everything. She no longer looks a kid sister, rather a fiery, spicy jalapeno on the outside, a warm and kindred soul inside. Why am I heaping praise on her? Nothing to do with sororal love and all that load of crap....the real reason is cos there one big smack coming...much like those pinches from Teacher #1, remember?

And just when I figured dance isnt a lost cause in the family....she goes and stops all pursuit of dancyness. Just like that, cos she can!
Hence she deserves to be whacked with a whip or some equivalent miss-treatment.

I'll be back with a tool that really hurts, nips dont cut it no more!

-An armed mint.

Take a hike

Story
The morning of a Saturday of a weekend dawned- perfectly bright and sunny. Having rained overnight, after many false alarms from the weatherman of long overdue summer showers, thus cooling the surroundings to the comfortable 70s. Yes, like I said, a perfect summer day...just right for a summer hike, of course!

The venue chosen for this outing was Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland.

Preface
- Catching an early morning chat with my old buddy NN, I informed her of my plans for the aforementioned outing and generously shared the website with her. After perusing the contents, what does she do? Does she say, wow, good for you Altoid, proceed and enjoy??? Does she wish me luck, goad me to hasten, encourage me to take some spectacular shots of the waterfall???? No, no and no people. She kindly directs me to the line 'be aware of snakes, especially the copperhead' in the website. Now, its a little known fact that yours truly belongs to the breed that believes "ignorance is bliss" and "what you dont know cant hurt you". I suppose the Leos of the world sit on the other side practising "forewarned is forearmed". Alright, I have rambled enough.
Though, as a side note I have to add, I have another friend to whom if I were to recite my plans for the weekend, upon being asked, he would say and I quote "I hope you know there's a tropical storm moving towards the area, all counties have been issued a tornado warning and power might go off for some time" for what weather.com would merely say "Chance of rain-30%".
Yes, an extreme case of forearming. Incidentally, he isnt a Leo.

- A wonderful breakfast of some delicious Berry Almond Swiss Oatmeal and coffee from Corner Bakery(yumm)was a must-have before heading out on the long drive and hike. I love the ambience of this place and their right-around-the-corner location coupled with healthy, fresh fare is a welcome start for any kind of day. Their soups and salads are of course to die for, the lemon-poppy-seed bundt cake- one of my favorites. Alright, enough said!

Main
So coming back to the hiking story, I packed a wonderful lunch of grilled sandwiches, in true desi style, with paneer, the trio of peppers(red/yellow/green)and some mint chutney. Armed with some bottles of water, my faithful camera off I went. A 3/4 mile long hike, some peaceful reading near the lake, some picturesque memories captures with the lens, and thus the trip ended with a hurried gulp of sandwiches. And I was ready to head back.


Time for a quick break....here's something to chew on












For quite a few years, I would snigger at the many antique stores that dot the countryside with a nonchalant "WHO would want to stop by these places?". Well I just realised, being a new home-owner and all, one cant help stopping by "Antique" stores. 'Cause you see, yours truly is in search of a "bench" to adorn the deck. Of course, the exhorbitant price tags attached to these "antique" fares, paired with the grumpy faces of the owners is enough to drive one out to the closest "Country farm produce" outlet and pick up cantaloupes and some cherry tomatoes for a bargain and call it a day. Which is exactly what I did and even stopped to take pictures of this painted horse in a private property which also hosted a ranch . My take is the owner's dream horses would be as colorful as the wooden one that was placed as a welcome sign near the entrance.

Conclusion
The last stop was at a nursery where I picked up some herbs like lavendar(my favorite scent!) and mint!


A very eventful span of 24 hrs indeed! After all....tomorrow is another day.

Shoe sharanam

So, coming back to this very controversial topic, I am invariably either trying to find more people with similar interests(ahem, THIS is NOT an obsession, puhlease!) or I am handed wall hangings, desktop accessories, figurines, magnets, EVEN address labels that read "One can never have too many friends, or shoes!" or "She who dies with the most shoes, wins!". Alright people, I get the message.

The horror stricken look on one of my friend's face when she eyed a large sized box labelled "SHOES" during my recent move, was worth capturing. She had one question to ask, "Altoid, please tell me that large box is NOT really full of shoes??????". A very calm "Yes" in response was enough to silence her for the next few hours as she tried very hard to digest and swallow the fact. I could almost hear her stomach working overtime. Another one landed a few hours before the movers arrived to take pictures of the said box as proof(I dont know for what!, I can certainly vouch for the fact that she neither works for the IRS nor the Government).
Thank you Lord, for such wonderful friends!

So here's a recent piece on the Washington Post where I feel a kind of sisterhood with Tina Alster when she says "It's frivolous, I know, but I love my wall of shoes. The individual cubbies are like a Bauhaus still life -- filled with special treasures". Way to go! YES! NOW I have something to work upon....a WALL of shoes.

Right now its a door of shoes- an over-the-door shoe organizer(ahem WE shall not mention the number of pairs this said shoe organizer can/will/does hold, we dont believe in being ostentatious!). My mother found it amusing and horrified in equal parts at the crude display of material indulgence from her progeny. At some level I guess she was trying to figure out the zen behind how she managed to produce such a strain of weirdness in her offspring.

Ah well, she'll survive, and as for me, all I want to say is "May the tribe increase!"

Lock-ness monster

Today, when I called on my handyman resource- Google, to find me some information, an interesting website showed up which was amusing at the first glance and roused my curiousity enough to click on the said url.

The site that showed up was so...
Rent-A-Husband®
There are many styles of storm doors on the market, so before making your ...
How to Install: • Most dead bolt locks will come with a template that can be ...
www.rentahusband.com/parademag.html

Now WHAT was it I was looking for that brought this on? You ask?

Here's the deal. A startling discovery at an ungodly hour this morning, whilst I tried to water my plants was made. Anyone could open my front door, I mean ANYONE. I am generally not the oober-paranoid kind, but this piece of info freaked me out. Enough to stay home and get some information on the what, how and whys of deadbolts and their installation. Yup thats the story behind how I discovered this website.

So I clicked merrily away to discover information on how to secure the doors, safeguard the property and door maintenace. Ya, interesting and amusing for sure.

On a related note, when I was talking to my co-workers about said deadbolt(which I had no clue until friend Google helped), T mentions- well you get easy to install kits you know. You just need a couple of screwdrivers and a rachet set. Erm, screwdrivers I figured, now I didnt see why a tennis "racquet" set would come in handy. Again friend Google came to my rescue....from making a fool of myself!

But after putting two and two together, making 8 and all, I figured I didnt want a holey front door(disastrous results from do-it-yourself projects) any more than an easy-to-open one. So this time I will shed my handywoman hat and leave it to the experts...ahem maybe like the rent-a-husband kind that will do it the right way and rescue this damsel and de-stress.

A couple of notes to self :

1. Deadbolts are lifesavers. They are supposedly easy to install, but please to not drill holes in the front door without prior experience.
2. That alarm system comes handy in more ways than one.
3. Landscaping should come after security in the to-do list.
4. Listen to elders' advice when they remind you of the auto-lock each time you step out.

Thats it for now.
- A much enlightened Monday morning mint.

Cast thy bread upon the waters.....

......for thou shalt find it after many days
(Ecclesiastes xi. 1.)

The same book also says Man cannot live by bread alone. I beg to differ on both. I could live my entire life off of bread coming from this heaven. Its stands true to its name- darn good bread, thats right!

A perfect Saturday comprises of a couple of cups of java, a brunch and a myriad chores executed in a timely fashion so as to end the afternoon trip with a visit to this baking heaven. Their daily bread schedule produces fancy sounding bread but full of flavors and an aroma thats fills the entire street. Be it their most popular Focaccia or Spinach Feta or simple whole wheat or 7-grain, nothing beats stopping by here and sampling their wares, topped with a dollop of butter and one is in great harvest heaven. Additionaly, their cookies and tea loaves are to die for. This week's speciality is the pumpkin spice loaf, one that I had to get for my afternoon chai. Usually I am a big fan of their banana walnut tea loaf- Yum!
After a long and lazy sampling session and some purchases , one heads home for a siesta.

What's even more encouraging is the fact this bakery sits at the juxtaposition of a 45 mile trail- the W&OD trail and the main street of Old Town Herndon. Bikers, joggers and walkers alike can definitely take a break from their rigorous routines to indulge in some...bread!

Enough said, the rest of the weekend stretches lazily, splattered with some morning walks along the W&OD, trying of new recipes, maybe a dip in the pool. Yes, lazy is a good word for this time of the year. There appears to be a shortage of good books to read, once again. Though the list of must-see movies has piled up, there is just no motivation to visit the theaters. Right about now, curling up on the couch with mindless television just doesnt seem like a bad idea at all!

Aboard the leader-ship

Thanks to HHGMom, I have discovered my true self. I know a few near and dear ones that, upon reading this post, would nod their heads and concur, click their tongues and exclaim "We always knew she had a streak of the monster in her, being a fewllow Taurean and all.".
Ok, so NOW all your doubts are confirmed. Hallelujah!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Amma speak

At Costco :

Amma : "How come everything is so big and huge portions?"

Me : "Amma this is Costco, a bulk/wholesale store."

Few minutes later -

Amma : "Does it mean we cant buy one shirt?"


On a phone call :

Me : "Did you figure out how to get the vacuum working?"

Amma : "Yes I did, the battery needed to be charged."

Me : "It came with a separate charger."

Amma : "Yes I sat next to the outlet for 3 hrs until it charged for fear of burning down the house."

And so it goes.....

Comedy central

The Sculpture garden in DC is a welcome break, located strategically between two stalwarts like the Museum of Natural History and the Art Gallery. Its outdoors, houses a cafe and is a perfect place to rest one's feet and still feed on eye candy.

The Smithsonian Folklife festival was in town, its tents set up along the Mall-with views of the towering Washington Monument at one end and the Capitol at the other- the reflecting pool shining on some of the DC glories. What did catch the eye and was amusing was the sheep dog demonstration field which had been setup. As one inched closer to this spectacle, one couldnt help but chuckle at the hay and sheep propped within with sheep dogs trying to round them up. Yes, talk about recreating country living in the National Mall. Though I couldnt fit the entire panorama in one picture to say it all aptly- the scene went somewhat like this....

(Capitol on one end)----(sheep dog field)------(Washington Monument)

Hopefully these pics can be cascaded to get a better picture.