Today’s weather is spring-like for real and a big relief from the 30s of the past 1 week. After work, I rode my bike along the lake shore. I should probably do it everyday. I am currently reading a book titled “Coincidence” by David Ambrose (a unknown book from a not-so-famous author). However what I came across in it was the similarities between JFK and Lincoln assassinations that I wasn’t aware of before.

Reading Time

Right now, it is at the trough point of the sine curve at work! Not long before it goes crazy. Caught up on my reading ..here are a few good articles on Forbes

1. G-mail - the web based mail from Google. The fact that it was announced on April 1 had most people thinking it was a April Fool’s joke! I heard from someone about the privacy issues that Google is facing as it retains all the e-mails. Didn’t think it was real until I read this one.

2. Tips on surviving the office party. If it were not for an incident at recent party, I wouldn’t have posted this link. It is sad that some people get so drunk as to lose their control. This is so true - “the office party is still a business function. You can’t ever let down your guard. Even though the setting is a little more personal, you’re not with friends.”

3. The 25 Fastest-Growing Technology Companies I’m happy to see CTS in the list!

I am having the most amazing weekend in a really long time. V got me a 26-inch bike yesterday and all the accessories too. It will be fun to ride the bike to work everyday. It was too cold along the lakefront this morning and it took a while to get back to senses after staying out in the cold that long!

We met R, P and P over dinner last night. They are such a fun group and I love meeting them. I introduced V to them and I’m glad they all enjoyed each other’s company. We got cute Easter presents from them :)

The drawing is complete. It is quite different from all the ones that I have done before. Most of my former sketches were pencil sketches and quite articulately done. This one looks as though drawn by a 5th grade kid.

Anyways, I’m glad it is weekend since V is here this time. We are going out for dinner tomorrow with R and P to Sayat Nova.

The Apprentice took a good turn in yesterday’s episode. Trump said, “Though everyone thought I would hire a beautiful young lady like Amy, I don’t play games when it comes to business”. I feel Bill would get hired but would be really surprised if Kwame does. Lets see what happens in the finale next Thursday!

I love Penguins

I love watching Penguins, yes, those cute 2-legged creatures that live around the South Pole. As a kid, I remember Mom and I spending hours watching Penguins on Discovery Channel. They have such a funny way of walking and always move around in groups. I particularly like the ones that have a yellow head crest. What prompted this entry was a sketch of Penguin that I’m doing now. It has been a customary habit for years now to draw sketches on my beloved ones’ birthday. Mom has received the maximum number of sketches until now. This time I’m doing it for V. It has all these characters - Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse (for Stuart in the movie “Stuart Little”), Bozo, Polar Bear, Penguins and a big smiley that reads “Happy Birthday” in the center. I’m excited to see how it turns out. This one is being done on a 11*14 white poster sheet using crayons.

Erratic sleeping hours, watching movies non-stop (that is NOT very typical of me), fiddling with the new camcorder and a no-purpose trip to the mall constituted this weekend. Everything was so unlike me - I just wanted to tire myself out so much so that I wouldn’t get bored and finally sleep for hours at a stretch - instead I slept lil and chatted a lot with P this morning - it was so nice talking to him after a long time - that was the best part of this weekend. I’m so glad the weekend is over.

Craze for Electronics runs in the family

For a while I thought it was just P who was crazy about gadgets. But I guess it runs in the family including V and Dad. DCR-HC 40 - the MiniDV handycam camcorder from Sony is finally here. It arrived today. Dad bought it. It is the result of a 2-month long deliberations, research on what, where and when to buy. Though finally what drove us to settle for one last Sunday was the ultimatum from mom - its either that damn camcorder or me. I’m sure she felt the amount of person hours we put into deciding the camcorder could have been spent elsewhere :) - just kidding. Dad was keen on buying TRV-33 - which is out of production now since DCR-HC40 replaced it.

So yeah I ordered it from IBUY digital I was apprehensive about ordering it from any of these sites that price a product $100 lesser than it is priced at Circuit City or Best Buy But the reviews for IBUY were the best in Yahoo Shopping So I placed my trust on Yahoo’s rating of 5 for IBUY and Dad’s research on the same - he did a great homework. As promised the product did arrive within 2 days of placing the order and it costed us a $100 less. However I’m not so convinced about the authenticity of the 5-star rating now. What IBUY does is, once a customer places a product and calls to confirm the order, they trick people into taking their 5-star survey with a lucrative win-a-Plasma TV contest. It is obviously too good to resist. So almost every customer that buys a product gives them a 5 star rating. And no wonder they are the only ones in Yahoo’s shopping list with a rating of 5. Even Circuit City and Best Buy rank lower.

On the work front, I’ve finally decided to let it go. I am trying to come to terms with the fact that it is time to move on. There is no point cribbing when there is scope for a change. It is time to try something else. Most people I’ve talked to in the past few days say they dislike the jobs they do, but still stick to it when there are better options. We perhaps get so comfortable to the discomfort ( :- ) ) of the present job or perhaps it is so easy-going that we shut the doors to everything else. But unfortunately such jobs do not offer growth and they clash with ambition (if there’s one). I hope it works for the better.

I liked this quote :

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies - Groucho Marx

At times, it feels good to just sit there and watch the game, the ball is in your court and yet you don’t play it while others are waiting anxiously for you to make your move!

“The Apprentice” has been kind of getting predictable over the past 4 episodes. I read somewhere that Donald Trump has the final say on who gets fired every week. Wonder if he is going to choose Amy finally.

Countdown - 150 days to go and it is pretty exciting! In terms of months, it seems like a really long time!

I’m very infamous for the no. of hours I sleep. But last night, I beat my own records. Seeing TV, guess I dozed off at 7:00 p.m. last night and the next thing I know it is 7:30 a.m. this morning. It is crazy and need to use my time more effectively then sleep it away.

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