Well apologies for the lame post yesterday. As I've made abundandtly clear in past entries, my site thrives on the visitors I get for my technical information. But in all fairness, I don't want to neglect those people who actually read the blog hoping for real content from me. So let's see. Since my summer vacation, I've become horribly lethargic - well, a little less motivated I would guess.

Things at the residence have been a bit laborious. I guess people should know that summer isn't for fun, it's for all those winter and spring tasks you've postponed (all will probably postpone again). Mowing, putting out fertilizer, cleaning, yadda yadda yadda. Spare time? A little TV here and there. An occasional DVD. Saw Troy the other night. It was indeed pretty boring. Too many naked bum-bum's :-P ... Saw The Others, not bad at all. Man, them ghosts. The summer science fiction television started up again a few weeks ago. I have to keep the geek spirit in check and watch the obligatory episodes.

Work? Work is work. There was a big chemical plant fire a few weeks ago and I was told at 11pm to not come into work the next morning. "Hooray for me!" So I stayed up till some aweful hour, only to have my alarm accidentally wake me up at the usual. Being the responsible yokel that I am, I called in and checked only to find out I had to come in. "Shame on me! Shame on me! Shhttuupid me!!" Other than that I made an elementary programming error and did a <= when I only wanted the <. How obvious!!! The software shipped and I got busted. Oh well. At least I didn't have to tell anybody about it, except for maybe the internet.

Other stuff? Sadly I've spent countless hours on a new publishing system. "Engineer, let me introuce you to the wheel." Hopefully that will bring down my overhead in my site maintenance to a minimal. So I can focus on more important things. Oh wait. Nevermind.

Socially? Hmmm, Mahesh has been telling me to send him some stuff, but I've been lazy. Maybe it's some subconcious problem??? Aashish came into town and we visited Joe and his posse. Got some random emails from old buddies who seem much more distant than before. And now it's ever more present that I'm part of the problem.

Aahh, I can't beleive I got giddy thinking about the U2 concert this morning on the way to work. How pathetic. If you read this and ya'll know who you are, write me sometime. I'm sure I'll forget to do the same.

Posted in: Life, Website,

I was watching the news the other night and I saw Paul Sr., Paul Jr. and Mikey from American Choppers. I can't recall the details of the interview but one question was asked to Paul Sr. about the difficulties they handle and how it feels to be so successful. The one comment he made that caught my attention was about how to keep doing what they do (good bikes) withouth "selling out". Not sure what he meant, but it's pretty obvious that the Teutul family is revelling in their fame and fortune. Turn on the radio and hear how the "7-11 Big Gulp Slurpee" is the only thing that can calm down Paul Sr. And go to any major store and see their merchandise (note the logo t-shirts). ... Hey! It's genius. Once upon a time it took them weeks to build a custom chopper and cash in after hard labor and tight deadlines. Now they can do the same with a 15 minute endorsement.

Sellouts? Well the jury is still out. Success, it's a great thing.

Posted in: Philosophy, Television,

I didn't think I really cared at first, but to say the least I'm shocked. Chapelle's Show is over! I wonder what will fill the void?

Posted in: Television,

Growing up I learned that sometimes it was better to learn how to something yourself as opposed to paying someone else. This was most apparent with me helping my father work on the car in the past 10 years. Although the motivation was primarily financial, many times after completing some challenging work there was a great deal of fulfillment. I'd feel satisfied knowing I did something right and I learned something useful in the process. There will always be part of me that wants to learn and do everything on my own. Whether it's housework, automobile, gardening, computers or whatever -- I feel fairly certain that it is not outside of my capacity. But then reality sets in. I question myself as to where I should draw the line. Where do I give in and say I'll just spend some money for something not perfect but more convenient? At times I'll lose a weekend or 2 on repairing something, but then what about the time? It maybe worthwhile financially, but I wonder if life is worth spending that way?

I sit here amidst countless projects that either I've started or someone else has started with me. Some I know may have a serious impact on my day to day life, but otherwise I wonder: "What's the point?" I think that the money I save and the fulfillment I'll get is no longer worth the time I spend and the frustration I'll endure. So I'm not going to give up on everything, but I do think that I no longer really want to be a general purpose "Do-It-Yourselfer". Hopefully I'll find better things in life to occupy my time.

Posted in: Life, Philosophy,

This is one for the memory books. I had a blast, Austin is great. The people are nice, the food is rich and the everything seems like it's in motion. Anyways, my boy Mahesh and his wife Hema are great hosts. And their friends are all very fascinating characters. Great slice of the community! :-D

So a quick recap. Friday relaxed, grocery shopping then laughed at Kill Bill vol.2. Had some drinks then made fun of Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men. Next morning we did a little Telegu socializing. As you can guess I was a bit out of place, but I was still better at dumb charades (man you should see these guys). Anyways, that night we went to Chuy's a popular TexMex cuisine in Austin. In fact we went to the very place where one of the Bush twins got busted for underage drinking. I felt like I was seeing some historical landmark. ... After that we hit 6th Street. What a site! What a site! A huge stretch of bars and clubs and party places with nothing but beautiful girls in every direction. We went into Spill (what an odd name) and got a feel for the noise and dance. What a party street. I remember one interviewer telling me to make sure I visited that place. Oh well 4 yrs too late. ... Next day we went to the famous Chez Zee breakfast house. Apparently they have a dish that Matt Lauer prepared on the Today Show! ("Matt. Matt, Matt, you don't even-- you're glib".) So much food. I think I ate the most and I think I ate crab meat for breakfast?! Later saw a nice coffee shop on the river, but no one ordered coffee. Bummed a little then the guys went out for a few drinks and laughs. Met some nice people but got a little tipsy. Slept it off. Next morning head on back.

Good trip. Good times. Can't beleive I didn't take any pictures or buys myself a t-shirt. Anyways in summary:

Hema: So Mauriat are you having a good time?

Me: Ohhhh yeaahhh.

Now I'm sitting here wondering what life would have been like had the IBM thing worked out. Who knows?

Posted in: Life, Travel,