You wouldn't expect anything different from mother nature in the winter months. A rain here a snow shower there, a sunshine (here) a chilly night filled with moonlight (there), an adorable view from the house (here) a not so pleasant moment sitting in the car waiting the engine to warm up (there). The winter months in New England comes with its own perils which start with cleaning your vehicle.

It is like a war out there. The first thing you do is get dressed up for the occasion. This is not easy because , for example, one moment you're cleaning up the car and the next, you feel the cold wind reach your bones and unless you want to feel them, its better to dress up ... in layers. So here I was debating whether to get out there and clean up the vehicle today or tomorrow. Wait one day and mother nature's miracles would hamper your progress. Sunshine would take care or the fluffy snow turning them to ice and then ... all I gotta say is - good luck ! Finally, I overcome my procrastinated mind and decide to venture out. As I head to pick my jacket I say to myself - dress up in layers, dress up in layers. Before I even realize, I'm suiting up in a sweater a fleece and a 4" thick jacket that I bought for myself at Burlington Coat Factory while I was in Chicago.

Dressed up like I was in the North Pole, I venture out and realize that I've got to plunge into the ocean of white flakes that have accumulated in front of my apartment. The rate at which these white flakes have traveled the earth's atmosphere was too much for the snow plowers and they decided to wait till mother nature decides to ease up. So, after I lunge through the accumulated snow and walk through the snow covered tar-road and peek at the number plates to spot my car I realize that I am only a third of my way through the entire process called "spot and clean up your car".

Now that I've spotted my car, and that I have my war cap on, I spend a few seconds , but waste no time, to decide the mode of attack. How am I going to approach this beast that has grown to be 2 feet above the roof of my 4-wheeler and more than 2' near the tires? I decide on what seems to be the best approach and take a dive. It is like cutting a cake - you start from one side and carve your way through the icing. Hands, Scrapers, Legs, Shovel - all come into play as you try to take control over what looked like a no-win situation a few minutes back.

Thirty minutes, Forty five minutes, An hour and finally it looks like we're making headway. Doesn't this look something similar to how you had left your vehicle yesterday ? I ask myself; knowing that the answer ought to be - Yes.

A Nor'easter that created havoc in New England and I fear - the winter has just started!

The Northeast got its share of December snow just after Christmas - close to 20 inches. New year started off with cold air and winds that would blow your nose off. As we await another storm this weekend I couldn't help but think - how about some skiing? Having done it once, I think its going to be fun; though the last attempt was a couple of years ago. Would I have forgotten what I learned in the 3-4 hours we spent in the hills? Don't know, but then lets find out .... Pizza Franch Fries anyone?

Gearing up for an interesting winter season.

So they say spring is round the corner, today marks the first day of Spring '10. It couldn't have been better, one couldn't have asked for more - a low 70 deg F temperature the hustle and bustle in town and no cloud in sight ... woohoo !

Its been a while since we've been postponing the visit, since it was winter we didn't want to go out there in the single digit temperatures, although they say some of the best sightings are possible in winter. Star gazing at the Planetarium / Observatory. I didn't know that there are sessions organized by the Museum of Science [weather permitting of course]. So we went to explore; being a Friday we didn't expect much crowd but were surprised to see about 50 ppl waiting to learn more about our neighbors and neighboring galaxies, waiting to see what they might have read on paper.

It was fun, after a few minutes of standing in the queue we were able to see something - The Orion cluster, Mars and Saturn. All three visible by naked eye but a telescope adds a glitter and much more detail - like the gas floating around in Orion and the red Mars. Nice start, I'd say, for any one who wants to explore what you can see using a telescope - visit your nearby observatory; am sure they would have something going on in the summer.

Phew! Nice weekend all around and hopefully we've seen the end of snow/winter. On a separate note, I can't believe its been almost a year since I wrote a post out here. Hopefully the summer will infuse some energy and an enthusiasm to get rid of my writer's block.

He sat there all the way towards the end of the bus staring at the folks who walked in from the front door, taking off their ear muffs and scarfs, gloves in one hand and bus pass in the other. He sat there with a smile on his face, with a cap ON that barely protruded and covered his eye. Had an inner shirt that covered till neck and with no jacket or gloves he had made a point of getting noticed in the 30 some group of people taking the 8:25 bus to the train station. 

He smiled often, staring out of the window looking at the passing trees maybe, trees that could barely be called trees as they had shed their green long back, staring at the frozen lake that had an Ice cap with a few cracks in them, staring at the sea gulls that sat on the cap staring at the sun looking for the air that would bring change and ask them to move to the north.

He didn't blink, didn't talk to anyone, didn't read anything but just sat in the same pose throughout, keeping his legs a few inches apart, the same angle throughout, not a move, not an inch. He was not bothered by the small kid wearing a pink hoodie and pink shoes talking to her daddy asking him questions that would make a normal person giggle. He wouldn't look up when the girl and her daddy ask the driver to open the rear door so they could get out and wouldn't stare when the daddy piggyback's his daughter on the sidewalk.

He kept looking at his stylish watch often calculating the time the driver has wasted and probably realizing that he's about to be late in reaching his destination, wherever that may be. He looked uncomfortable for he would never have been late, never allowed to. A left, a right, a 90 degree turn and a honk - nothing would bother him as he kept staring straight not bothered by the folks who were looking at him trying to read him gauging his dress from top to bottom. A dress that had patches and stars but definitely an elegance, a cap that had stitches but covered the few grey hair that had grown on his scalp.

He wouldn't blink wouldn't worry, for he had the four letters ARMY stitched on his right pocket.

Right across from the Prudential tower in Boylston street now stands a glass building which is now the Beantown's new claim to fame. Around 1000 crazy fans stood in line for more than 6 hours to become the first to enter the new Apple store in Boston - claimed to be the biggest in US.

Dark clouds, rain n heavy winds couldn't stop these runners from finishing the marathon today.

Here i was, capturing some snaps from my cell n posting via MMS :D. Kewl !! Was an experiment but looks like it works fine ;-).

Edit

Following was added later in the evening.

I also happened to capture some more in the 15 mins I was out on Boylston Street. There were scores of people supporting the athletes as they crossed the finish line.

Playing around on Google is fun. Playing with Google is double fun. People visit places, they drive, they fly, take the train. But what would you say if you're asked to swim? Amrita visited London recently (she's gotta blog with a detailed write up and 'more' snaps to prove that though) ; I thought hey - it would be a good idea to visit London - spend your vacation there. It would be a dream come true fomme.

So I open up the much reliable Gmaps and here's what I find ....


Pay attention to - Item #9 and you'd see what I mean. And then #10 asks me to take a "slight right". Pay toll and reach my destination "London" after traveling 3,722 mi in about 29 days 6 hours. I wonder, amongst other things, how they'd have calculated my swimming speed :P.

What was an advertisement campaign by one of the leading Ad firms (Turner Broadcasting), turned out scaring the hell

outta Bostonians. Well, I was at work when I heard the news, glad that I was inside one of those buildings and not on the road; for all the major bridges in the city were closed as traffic piled up. Although this happened on the 31st of last month, I could hear people talk about it on talk shows, on the train, Radio, Blog etc... etc... even yesterday.

The campaign was allegedly for the popular cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force, for its 5th season scheduled for a release on Feb 23rd. Bostonians had the right to get scared for the gadget consisted of magnetic blinking lights and had wires protruding out from them. Turner ended up apologizing and has agreed to pay ~ $1 million for causing a security alert.

Two men were arrested by cops and were later released after placing a cash bond of 2500 bucks. Here's what they had to say at the press conference ...


Lol - "Thats not a hair question"

Happened to see Deja Vu (movie) yesterday. Hadn't been to a theater for about 6 months now, last movie I saw on the big screen was KANK.

Review - Its a good movie. Some new concepts introduced, current affairs and a good performance by Denzel Washington. I like the roles played by him - Man on Fire, Manchurian Candidate, Taining Day, Remember the Titans .... were all superb. The name of the movie is a misdirection, though.

Wanted to see Casino Royale, but decided against it due to shortage of time this WE. How's the new bond movie btw ? I remember there was a lot of gaga over Eva Green. Hope you guys are having fun out there and geting ready for the Xmas weekend.

Serendipity - http://www.dejavumovie.com/ (a new one if you refresh the page) ;-)

A friend of mine had an opportunity this time to yell at them (Orbitz). Just for the heck of saying it lets just say that they suck big time. Couple of months back he got an opportunity to go through their web-site and book tickets online. This time an International flt ticket.

And boy was he in trouble ... British Airways cancelled their flight and the customer rep at Orbitz reissued the tickets - but this time in a higher class (which he wasn't made aware of) . 2 days before departure he calls up to confirm his tickets only to find out that he has to pay ~ $4000 [the difference] before he could check in.

Went crazy, called up Orbitz who didn't know what to do. Went to the airport to talk to BA reps at the counter and ended up spending 5 hours. The whole Saturday afternoon spent at the airport with calls going back and forth, yelling and shouting at the reps (poor chaps), cell phone batteries giving up and what not.

I was just sitting there like Viktor Navorski (The Terminal), watching hundreds and hundreds of passengers running around. People carrying 3,4,5 and 6 suitcases, huge fedex boxes and what not. There was a Canadian Ice hockey team (I believe) with their bulky kit blocking the walkway. Then there was this lady who startes at the display screen for a while and hurries to the KLM check in counter. After like couple of minutes, I saw her running again - this time from the KLM counter to the BA counter ... getting confused as to which airline to board ? ;)

Anyways it was getting on my nerves (and my friends') but finally they had it settled. Alfter all the confusion and waste of like 1000 man hours, they gave him the best offer available at that time - 1 weeks wait. Yup - the trip was delayed a week cutting short his vacation. Thanks to Orbitz; bottomline - they suck big time.

We saw the first snow of the season out here in Boston on Monday. Wasn't that bad - it flaked for 3-4 hours in the morning. You know when ... 6 am - 9 am (Murphy). Was pretty cold hence I had to check the weather before leaving work that evening.

Boy, did I go crazy when i saw this ( 9pm, 10pm, 11pm etc) ... Sunshine ??

About Me

Name: Rajesh

Location: Boston, MA, United States

View my complete profile

© 2006 Spooky Action At The Distance ... | Blogger Templates by GeckoandFly | Design by Andreas Viklund
No part of the content or the blog may be reproduced without prior written permission.