Our Tax Dollars at work..

It has been an interesting week to say the least.

Left San Jose last Sunday afternoon to visit a few Texan cities and came back Friday night.

Needless to say the kids were happy to see daddy back, the wife expected daddy to be his 100% as though he has not left the couch after a week of hectic work, and the work just continues on..

While this is all expected and is being handled with some deep breathing and selective shutting off of various senses at various times, the trip did have its tense moments.

My drivers license, god bless the DMV expired in November. Anticipating this had gone and stood in line for a few hours at the DMV in late October and received an extension (which is a piece of paper with my signature and DMV seal etc.) which lasted a few months.

We keep waiting for this license that never showed and have traveled multiple times with the expired license and this piece of paper. As it so happens, the paper also has an expiry date and it had "expired" recently!

Without realizing this, yours truly keeps showing this piece of paper and travels.. the typical conversation when I show my ID will be :

ID'er (TSA agent, Car renter, Hotel lobby clerk, etc. ) : This license is expired. You know that right ?

Me : Oh Yeah. Here is my extension. Waiting for the license to come in the mail

ID'er : Okay, go right on..

So on this trip, got waived through San Jose TSA, Boarding card checking dude, AVIS car renting dude at counter .. and finally when I was about to go out of the parking lot some kid who probably gets paid a minimum wage at AVIS to verify your identity against your contract says :

Sir, your license has expired

Me : Oh Yeah. Here is my extension. Waiting for the license to come in the mail

MWD : Sir, your extension has also expired. I cannot let you drive out with this vehicle. I have to cancel this contract ASAP.

Me : WTF !!!

So had to think on my feet, call a colleague to the airport and get him to rent me a vehicle.

Subsequent to that the same Drivers license was used at two different hotel lobbies and they waved me through while my friend couldn't contain his laughter watching me hand it over nonchalantly. What else could I do?

That got me worried. What if the Austin TSA flagged this and don't let me fly back to San Jose without a "valid" photo ID?

Spent a few hours on hold with the California DMV and finally reached a person in Sacramento headquarters who was nice enough to send me another extension by FAX !

The funny thing was Austin TSA dudes who looked at my expired license and waved me through as well! I did have the extension in my pocket if asked and was ready go through the "Oh yeah..." routine..

While I was contemplating all this tax dollars at work, an older lady (in her early seventies is my guess) who happened to be just in front of me on the security line was pulled out because she had a tub of skin cream. The conversation with the agent was

TSA : Maam, we need to take you and the bag because there is something in your bag which should have been in a separate ziploc bag..

Lady : It is skin cream and it is almost empty

TSA : 100ml or less maam. You know the rules

Lady: The tub says more but the amount left in the tub is way less than 100 mL

TSA : You have two options. Either we throw this away now or you go back in line to the counter and put it in your bag and check it in and come back through the counter.

Lady : Fine. Throw it away ! (and shakes her head)

That sparked a different thought in my head. With technology being so advanced why cannot they

a. detect that it is indeed skin creme
b. make the lady put some on her skin to show it is indeed skin creme
c. check it to be really <100 ml

and send it on!

Better still do away with this 100mL bullshit because I am sure the real terrorists who bring explosives will manage to pack a punch in <100 mL and will be whisked in with good valid ID's!

Took one look at the drum where the skin creme went and was appalled by the sight of so many tubes of diaper rash creme, face creme, shaving cremes, perfumes, colognes, etc. etc.

How much of value is wasted across the United States with this stupid rule? We seriously need to reevaluate the security policy that continues to harass folks and does not do what it is supposed to do..

Until then we continue on with thought like "Hmm.. didn't know we could blow up planes with diaper rash cream!"

As irony would have it, the new drivers license arrived by post on Saturday afternoon!


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Jr. plays the Sax

Jr. has been learning the Alto Sax this year. They had their first performance for parents.

It is an expensive but beautiful instrument. Thankfully they allow us to rent on a monthly fee and if we rent for enough months we get to buy it! (Reminds you of Bama Vijayam, doesn't it?)

Took this HDR picture of the Alto Sax a few months ago..

Here is a video of her practicing at home after her first two classes..




Considering that we don't get to see her practice at home often (San's complaint that the thing is too loud!) and are limited to once a week, she did very well!




The plan is to encourage her better going forward...


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Beyond words..

Came home yesterday and started eating dinner..

The sambar was smelling sooo good. Tasted very good too..

Told San that she was really working hard to impress the kids!

Me to Jr. : The sambar is really awesome!

Jr to Me : Wait till you taste the Rasam. It is awesomer!

Guess the Rasam is outside the bounds of the dictionary...



ps. This actually happened. This is not an attempt to get out of the dog house either..

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Transitions

The MIL has been in India as of the last week. Time moves so fast. It has been a full week since we saw her off at the airport.

This time the kids were all grown up about saying their goodbyes and promised to behave in her absence. They are holding at around 75% of the promise and going down rapidly!

The adults have transitioned as well to the new routines. I have been left without a Yoga partner and have missed the MIL giving me the usual sermon about either not waking up early enough or pushing myself too hard in the room. The new Yoga studio is motivation in itself and have been going regularly just to keep up my promise to the MIL!

San is back in the kitchen working hard to impress the kids the last few days..

On Monday she made Okra curry with Okra that was not ripe enough. Not her fault because that was all the Indian store had, but the little one was brutal.

She could become a judge on the Iron chef program or "Chopped" where she gets to deliver the bad news. The comments and critique were even too hard for me to handle! San put on a brave face and came up with a Tindora Curry the next evening.

The little one said "Before you put it on my plate, I want a taste. I cannot trust your cooking!"

This is what happens when we have grandma letting her sit on the kitchen counter top, encouraging her to taste things as they are being made. On the bright side she did have a taste and say "It is delicious!" and that made San's day! Seriously, with critics like this at home, things are getting a little out of hand.

Today, I made sweet Pongal to celebrate Pongal. She did not have a problem with the taste of the pongal but with the smell of my hand as I took it to her mouth. "I don't like that strong temple like smell in the Pongal!". She was right!

Actually the smell was from the "pachai kalpooram" (edible camphor) that was crushed with my fingers to season the Pongal. The smell was in my hand not the Pongal. We should use the little one at airports instead of sniffing dogs and we will probably make a fortune if we got a cut on what we find!

We are now down to a new but interesting routine.

Wishing each and everyone of you a happy Pongal!!!

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Cricket

As most of you know have stopped following cricket for years. In fact don't even watch TV anymore.. News from Google, Youtube videos and the occasional movie at the local theater during holidays or on blockbuster. That is pretty much the sum total of entertainment outside what the kids provide (which is plenty)!

It has not been a loss. Friends tell me this was a good move considering Indian cricket is at an all time low..

There was a recent joke where folks were saying

"pretty soon Australia will be the first team to declare their first innings for a score of 0/0 and still beat India in three days.."

If such humiliation is even comprehensible as a joke things must be pretty bad!

Went and checked Cricket news just now.. Looks like the Indian team is finishing 5 day matches in 4 and is now going towards 3 day completions. Will come and check back in two more years and see how it goes...

For now, back to the crickbernation..


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Do Not try this at "Home"..

We are used to seeing this warning so often, be it product marketing or game show advertising.

Sometimes a book should come with that warning! When you read a book and practice something and it might cause you to have some mind bending experiences, that warning should apply.

Now why the emphasis on the "Home" part?

Well, some things are meant for people who are ready to give up their affiliations with familial ties and responsibilities of a social nature and can practically be isolated when it comes to emotions and thought. A person who is married with kids and is gainfully employed should not try certain things, or at least that is the conclusion I am coming to after doing some meditation exercises that started around the 22nd of December.

There are some meditation techniques that are combined with Asana practice (seems to work fine after Bikram Yoga sessions) that work, when it comes to realizing a certain inner calm or inward focus.

Some exercises reminded me of the minute I jumped on the cold water and floated out with a snorkel in Hawaii. There was a sudden silence, a stillness, and the blue waters and colorful corals 20 feet below me transported me to another world and for a brief few seconds I stopped breathing and then suddenly the calm gave way to my lungs going "need air, NOW!!" and I started kicking out frantically to get back to the boat! It took me some time to realize what had actually happened and was trying to internalize those moments for the next few days!

It was almost like what people describe when experiencing "water boarding". Sitting in a carpet in my bedroom in the dark, experienced a drowning sensation. You might ask "why would any sane person want to experience a sensation of water boarding at home?". There are somethings at are not described easily in words. So will not attempt to do that.

Recently have been working on sitting still in lotus pose for longer and longer times. Eight months ago it was 3 minutes tops. Last week could go for an hour easy. It takes a constant effort to just sit in lotus pose in the dark and be still.

Have also been able to filter out things which was scary. The body was fully conscious of things being said around me or even people moving around me. The brain was telling my body to get out of this position, but the body simply did not react. Just disobeyed and acted disconnected. That kind of spooked me and the MIL. So she advised me to stop these meditation attempts. Apparently the kids sensed Daddy was going through periods of extreme calm and extreme trigger happiness and it was obvious to them but not to me!

There have also been a lot of thoughts recently that simply steer me towards making a clean break from everything in my life and go sit in one place and focus. The wife clearly said "Hell NO!". Wherever you go, we follow. Isolation is not an option for you. So that experiment will have to wait till after retirement, whenever that might be!

After doing a bunch of these meditative attempts, went and read forums and found a common theme.

Do NOT try this at HOME! and do NOT try this without a Guru to teach you how to control the way the body reacts when you attempt to control your mind.

For now, the experiments have stopped. Going to focus only on the "breath working with the body" to execute the Asanas in 90 minutes and leave it there. My wife and kids at one point thought I was simply going "nuts" which is the easiest way of rationalization for someone who does not believe or cannot comprehend any experiment.

Kind of gave me a glimpse into why any Yogic practice is branded as "mystic" or "magic" or "hocus pocus".

All this started because there was a Yoga forum where it was mentioned :

"Beginner Yogis focus on the heat, sweating and the instructor..
Intermediate Yogis focus on perfecting the Postures by entering and exiting them correctly and holding the poses for longer times
Advanced Yogis focus on the breath synchronizing with the postures. It is a 90 minute breathing exercise with a few asanas thrown in to distract you!"

This is actually true! Once you know that you can enter and exit the poses right, you realize that to do this with less effort, your breath has to co-operate and it does not sync with the body movements. One wrong inhale or exhale makes you stop and catch your breath so you can move on.

Just like the first time you learn to balance on a bicycle, go on roller blades or the first time you learn to float in water you panic and then calm down, the same thing happens while executing Yoga poses although you are standing on a mat or sitting on one. Once you calm down, it is possible to do wonders with the same body that simply failed you a few minutes ago...

This realization naturally sent me searching for breath control methods and some experimentation and seems to have some side effects. Had the side effects been prominently mentioned in the books and videos, would not have tried it.

Very much have my sanity and will experiment more carefully with my mind going forward, if at all!



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Just Dance Kids

The kids have been playing "Just Dance for Kids", on the Wii at their cousins place practically every alternate day since X-mas.

They were hooked to the songs and we were hooked on watching the little one make those cute dance moves. She really gets into it and moves like a pro!

Was not happy when we went to Best Buy and the store clerk said "there is no Just dance for kids in Kinect. Only for Wii. Kinect is aimed more at adult audiences and Wii is more of a family entertainment thing" and he went on to give us a few Dance options which either had "mature" dance moves or Lyrics that were PG13 or simply NC17!

My track record with Microsoft Hardware products has not been good. Even bad mouthed Microsoft and ended up in a fight with the wife and MIL because saying negative things about THE company is tantamount to abusing the BIL in proxy and that is not nice.

Considering the fact that I verbally abuse most companies including IBM, Google, Motorola, McAfee, Adobe and Microsoft on a regular basis thanks to certain shortcomings on their products and the only companies that seem to make me happy are Canon and Apple it should be clear that the household is very polarized at times!

Thanks to a Wiki article that had an entire list of Kinect Games, was able to find out that there is a Kinect version of Just Dance for Kids and is available in "select" stores.

Went and bought one for the kids this evening.. just to see them smile and dance away!




Totally worth it!


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