The Trees must be crazy!

It is not even mid February yet and the Magnolia got confused.. somehow it decided it was spring time and decided to bloom!

One of the reasons we fell in love with this house six years ago was this tree and its pretty flowers. It would be sad if the tree is losing its mind and this is a sign of this tree aging.

Took the camera out after almost three weeks and captured the flowers. Please god, please let this tree live on for a long time to come. It makes five people happy every April..or February!


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Masala hoarder

San to me : Can you please clean up the bottom draw in the kitchen where you store Maggi. It is getting ridiculous!

Me to San : Not really. Let me check..

Well, what do you know. Over the years the girls have started liking my "Sambar podi" flavored Maggi noddles over Nestle's patented concoction which is a "crowd favorite", to say the least..and that means the packets of Maggi "Masala Taste maker" gets tossed at the bottom.

We have now over a few hundred of these packets!

Me to San : Don't want to throw them away. In case there is a ban on Maggi imports into the USA someday, we can still use those packets with Ramen noodles and get the Maggi flavor!

San gave me her trademark look that usually suggests "How can a guy be smart and stupid at the same time?!"

It is true that Indian rice imports got restricted to the US and two or three years ago rice went from $7.99 for a 20 lb bag to $ 31.99 !! Who knows, the US foreign policy is as fickle today as it was three years ago if not worse.

Still one will always have the Sambar podi to make noodles right? Wrong.

Here is a small table that explains why :

Noodles Tastemaker Taste
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Maggi Sundar's mix Yummmmmmy
Maggi Maggi masala Yummmmy
Ramen Maggi masala Yumy
Ramen Raman mix Yucky
Ramen Sundar's mix Yuckkkkky

So it might not be a bad idea to hold on to the tastemaker packets after all!!!

For now, I get to store them in the garage...


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Crunchies..

Total cost of stuff to make all the crunchies you see here? 10 $

Total cost of medicines and followup dental treatments ? 100 $

Dreaming of going back to your crunchy diet and drooling while the anesthetic wears off ? Priceless !!!



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Surprise

Went to bed just like any other day but woke up in the middle of the night and started crying. Went to the bathroom mirror and could not recognize my face! The right side of my mouth was so swollen that it looked like I had a "Kozhukkattai"(dumpling) in my mouth!

There was a lot of pain that three expired 200 mg Costco Ibuprofens could not contain. Now the wait is on to have prescribed antibiotics take effect so the dentist can go in and clean it up.

Since March 11th of last year there have been three instances of any health issues. A cold that lasted a day, arm surgery to remove the plates and screws and a nosebleed thanks to a close whiff of a whiteboard marker! Now it is up to 4 with this gum infection. . .

The kids are amused by daddy's distorted face and are not offering much in the way of sympathy. The little one told me to "go to the hot room and get better". That means daddy has become very predictable with the way he treats all ailments. Bikram Yoga fixes everything... almost everything...

It has still been a healthy 11 months compared to my previous track record.

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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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