The Repairman series

Situation: AC outlet pipe chewed thoughtfully by squirrels
(actually i have no idea whether they were being thoughtful or its just part of their diet...but u read all these books which say....he/she chewed thoughtfully on a scrap of bacon/chicken.etc. and i always wanted to use this somewhere. verbal.diarrhea.must.control)

Result:  Flooding in the balcony. Water in downstairs neighbor's balcony. Resultant unpleasantness.

Solution: Call AC repair guy.

Chronology: This will take some time so lets go for bullet points shall we?
1. Complaint registered. Somebody will come in 48 hrs.

2. Nobody comes in said 48 hrs

3. Call call centre again many many times. They shyly agree to give repair centre wala's direct number....tomorrow. Not today. Coz you know...its protected under the official secrets act today.

4. Call the repair centre number many many times. No one picks up.

5. Remember having gone through similar ordeal last time and dig out the last time wala guy's number. Call him obsessively like in denial about a relationship gone bad.

6. Finally speak to human being instead of only listening to latest tamil hits.

7. Another round of gentle and not-so-gentle persuasion to pleaseeeeeeeeeee come and fix the damn thing. Solemn assurance from other party.

8. He arrives. Much happiness and jubilation. Says  new pipe needed. Well...what a surprise...who would have thought??

9. Some more persuasion for him to please go get the new pipe for suitable reimbursement of the trouble. This takes very long owing to my approx 8.56% knowledge of tamil and his 0% knowledge of any other language.

10. Informed of extortionist service charges. Revived from swooning fit by the child who...for some reason always goes into hyper mode when any AC repair guy comes.

11. New pipe installed. Also AC gets thoroughly cleaned. Self suitably impressed (ye kitne acche se saaf kar raha hai...last time ki service mei toh sirf upar upar se hi clean kiya tha. ) Not always a good thing...too much cleaning. Mark my words.

13. After departure, realize that the remote no longer works.  Call him again. He comes and repairs.

14. Day 3 after this, wake up to a big puddle of water in the room. Nothing floating as yet...but close enough. Realise AC leaking. Also realize this is Saturday...on which no repairman worth his salt will agree to be anything other than 'completely booked'.

 15. So until monday, do endless rounds of pocha and use up all the old bedsheets to soak up the mess. For anyone asking about options of not using the AC ....do you live in chennai? have u experienced summer here? do you have any more foolish observations on my AC usage?? Good. Glad thats settled.

16. Today Monday....again call repair wala obsessively. Finally darshan at 1.30 pm.

17. Long periods of fiddling with with every nut bolt, pipe and part. Leak becomes worse...and is now almost pouring.

18. He tries to make an escape 3 times....station child at the door to inform self any time uncle tries to get away.

19. Finally repair guy comes up with brilliant solution of raising one end of the AC above the wall bracket....to 'reverse the slope' he says.

20. Self loses it completely at this nonsense. Hysterical shouting in a truly awful combination of tamil + malyalam + english plus some telugu thrown in for good measure. Then lots of hand gestures.

21. AC comes back to original position. We glare at each other in identical expressions of misery and frustration.

22. Meanwhile it is now 3.30 pm. Child has to go for dance class. Which he doesn't want to go to. Repair wala has to repair AC which he no longer has any clue how to. I have work which doesn't look like is going to get completed anytime soon. Happiness all around.

23. He fiddles some more. Voila...its fixed! He has no clue how it worked and i'm not really asking. His feet cant carry him out fast enough. Child bribed with banana cake and sent to class. And yours truly...recalling the entire episode late at night for you...my dear non-existent readers!! :)

Happiness is.....

a big plate of hot rajma chawal with ghee :)

bliss.

20 questions tag revisited...4 saal baad.....

Remember a long time back when everyone was doing the 20 questions tag? Yeah...i know most of you were not yet born then.

nevertheless.

I remembered today that I have a much neglected blog and went off to read some of my old posts....and was awed by the me of yore (circa 2008).
yeah i know...humility is my greatest virtue....

so i thought it would be fun to do this again and see how the older wiser me responds to the same q's again. So here goes!

koi rasta bhool ke yahan aa jaye toh..please feel free to pick this up!  itni generous and humble bhi!
The 20 questions tag :

1. Name Three Most Valuable Assets?

2008 : Chashma, health and hope.
2013: Chashma (always no.1 in my list), health and the kindle.

2. If you have the chance, what would you probably say to your beloved one?

2008 :What are you getting me for our anniversary?? *flutter flutter the eyelashes*
2013: You're going to put V to sleep right? I have a call at 9.30...
or lemme re-phrase...this shd be something that i DONT get to say very often..right?
so 2013: You're going to take care of V for the wkend right? while i go on my fantasy girls reunion wkend...

3. If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 3 blog buddies you would take with you?

2008 :to have blog buddies i guess one needs a functioning non-extinct blog. So this question is largely null and void for self.
but....if they would allow me to just hang around and breathe in the same air as them...it wud be MM, Parul and Kiran

2013: Some things just don't change do they? I still dont blog frequently to have any buddy shuddies in the blog world...but there is one person i will add to the existing list...Reva

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?

2008: Israel. and visit a live volcano. go figure.
2013: live volcano wish continues. New Zealand. US..to hug my precious sister and nieces. and now lets get realistic. any secret hideout at a beach with my kindle, sunscreen and many hours of uninterrupted peace and quiet.

5. If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?

2008 :That I have an extremely well paying job picking sea shells on a beach in the West Indies.
2013: seashells picking job all the way. but lets up the compensation from 2008 levels ok?

6. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?

2008 :Being part of those mandatory annual day plays in school, wearing the most hideous costumes and makeup. blech.
2013: washing the bright pink color kurta was NOT a good idea.especially for the white chudidar.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

2008 :My chashma (pliss refer to Q.1)
2013: Chashma!!

8. What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

2008 :Pick up with handkerchief(no fingerprints u see) and run to the police. actually...better to just give it to the poor.
2013: i see wayyyy too many ppl in dire need of the cash...so yeah...distribute it all around.

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

2008 :Already met and married the said someone. thankyouverymuch. my confessions none of anyones bizness. againthankyouverymuch.
2013: Met a tiny lil someone around 4 yrs back. and i confess to him every single day :)

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you

2008 sadly...not explicitly tagged by Parul..but phir bhi...
1. Great sense of humour
2. adorable baby...
3. the hourglass figure, shining intellect and stunning career of course :)

2013: Well i tagged me this time around, so lets talk abt me shall we? (its all about meeeeeeee)
1.  Lots and pots of patience.
2.  Wit, charm, grace......
3. Typing speed (no seriously...u shd see me trying to meet a deadline)



11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

2008 : A new book every fortnight and a steady supply of dark chocolates. and yellow roses occasionally.
i am easily pleased.
2013 : Amazon is good for the books. so the current list is:
Steady supply of dark chocs (65% to 75% cocoa ideally), bhaji shopping for the week every sunday and yeah...yellow roses wont hurt.

12. Which type of person do you hate the most?

2008 : Well righttt now...the idiot who stepped (with her whole considerable weight) on my foot, this morning on the train.
2013: The water delivery guy. We are seriously NOT getting along.

13. What is your ambition?

2008 : To open my own flower shop. which will be right next to my own restaurant. and in both of which, i will probably end up losing spectacular amounts of money.
2013: 8 hours of sleep every single day. enough said.

14. What is the thing that will make you think someone is a bad person?

2008 : if they don't give up seats in trains/buses to women with small kids.
2013: Ppl who act suspiciously around kids...and lech at small kids. I will personally gouge your eyes out.

15. What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

2008 : Metabolic rate.
2013: Yep. Still metabolic rate. And the NEED to do tooo many things.

16. Are you a shopaholic or no?

2008 :No. i wish i was.
2013: no no no. although i have a secret lil addiction to window shopping on flipkart. and then there's that lil habit of too many books from amazon....but lets not get into details...

17. What is your stress buster?

2008 : Calvin & hobbes. Although my Mom says its my weekend clothes washing routine.
2013: Baking. Reading (chick lit being the current flavour). car racing with the child.
music.


18. What should be done to people who make such long tags?

2008 : ...phoolo phalo...
2013: doodho nahao....(yuck...i mean can u imagine? this is obviously from an age where ppl had their own cows/buffaloes in the backyard)

19. Do you think God actually exists?

2008 :i'm not sure.
2013: Not really convinced that he/she does. My views on religion would take forever to put down. someday...

20. What did you eat for lunch today?
2008 :I replace it with: If not your current profession, what line of work would have rather been in?
Physiotherapist
2013 : I'm replacing it with the original question: what did you eat for lunch today?
Homemade pizza (kya bana tha...yummmm) and a BIG bowl of watermelon. happiness is this.

I tag...anyone who comes here and cares to read this!:-)

new city
new beginnings
a new way of working...
new language...
weather
family
a long lost friend

hola chicas....we're in chennai now!

rockstar

a complete waste of time and a lot of money.

ranbir kapoor/jordan ko itna gussa kyu aata hai bhai? nothing really happens to him in the movie to get him so maar dhaad happy...

and somewhere this torture has to stop...of palming off good looking but deadwood imports as heroines. eeks...

yoga for the lazy

i do all my pranayam

while brushing my son's teeth at night.


its also the time when i am at my needy religious best....God give me another of those truckloads of patience ....deep breath....God just give this kid self cleaning teeth already... deeep breath

some newly acquired intelligence....

few things which i learned over the past couple of weeks:
1. those happy days of the kid eating without fuss are over. whooooosh...there they go...
food tantrums... are here to stay :(

2. no one else is of any use when the baby is having a spectacular meltdown. yours truly is the only one who will do.

3. pigeons in the balcony make a big bloody mess ....but boy are they handy for calming a cranky toddler!!

4. fear is man-made. babies dont know it. and they are so awesome for that!

5. gross to u and me is interesting to a toddler. for eg. reconverting roti to aata by soaking it in water and slurrrrrrrrrrp goes the resultant soup !!

6. a project in the pipeline for 2 yrs is finally in progress....painting cushion covers!!

7. other baby and his mommy are going away to amreeka for good. i am so happy for their little family to be together again.....and indefinably sad for our depleted one.

8. my bday is coming up! wheeee :)

ok....so when was the last post? April last year? ohmydearlord.

we have been busy. apart from the terror on 2 feet who reigns supreme, we had another baby in the family last june..(not mine not mine...breathe) and lots of other excitement and a cough cough...writers block.

heehaw....are ppl who dont write...allowed to have writer's block??
which reminds me:
my son has a tshirt which says ....''what do penguins wear on 'dress casual' day?"

am i just bad at time management or do all ppl with 18 month olds feel as if their day goes zooooooooop....except when the kid is cranky and it goes s-l-o-w-l-y...oh so slowwwwwwly.

more later

aaj ki taaza khabar

i need my own laptop....cause

i miss the one i had (which was sadly company owned and had to be returned)

how else do i catch up on all the blogs???

if u want me to make nice stuff then i need google to find the recipes.

how else will i make dvd's of V's videos....

i want to find out some work from home options (yeah right) to do in my spare time (hehahahaha...whats that??)


welllll....

I got one :))
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee :D
much happiness

whats next?

Giving up the job in favour of being at home with the baby seems like an easy decision now.....compared to the mess in my head right now.

i am super happy with the fact that i'm at home with V....yet....i know that this break from work is a temporary thing....and i need to think about how and what i'm going to go back to...in work.

going back to a job like the one i used to do is out....too long hours and too much stress.

what i want to do post baby is something with fixed timings (more or less).
no taking- work- home.
no work related morons calling me on wkends
something in which i can use my brain....and not die of boredom
meet people.
reasonably decent pay.
may or may not be related to my qualifications (to which i have no emotional attachment anyway ;)
flexibility

i have absolutely no clue what kind of dream job fulfills all this and more :(

patience....is a virtue and i aint no saint

waiting for the 6.24 train which usually never came.

sitting through 3 hour design discussion meetings...

waiting for CA results...

waiting for the grapes season to start...
.........

nothing quite compares to the patience u need when trying to put a 5 month old to sleep at 12.30 in the nite....

dumb questions

why is it that ppl CONSTANTLY ask the mother of a lil baby...the following?

why is he crying? (if i knew i wud have done something abt it long ago)

why is he so silent today? (aarrgghhh...to give his mother a lil rest...do u mind?)

not sleeping??? (no he just slept before this feed. entirely unlikely that he will sleep again. do not risk decapitation by asking this again)

what? again feed? (when i last checked....i am the one doing the feeding...so if it doesnt bother me...who are u again?)

oh....he has gas....thats why he was sleeping/was not sleeping/was crying/was silent/was not looking at me with adoring bambi eyes (grrrrr)

dont let him sleep now/put him to sleep now. (if only i had so much control...)

gah

we're back!!

not that anyone has been calling me 10 times a day to ask...but yesh...we are back.
the new avatar is minus the job and plus a cutie patootie 2 month old baby boy.
kaala tika.
we do hope to post more often now.
i have a feeling i have said this before.

25 random things about me

Nobody....oh woe...nobody tagged me for this one. but today i have the enthusiasm of a sea slug when i think abt the work i need to do.

sooo....tag time!!
25 things abt me...which u..the non-existent reader of this blog never knew and cant believe u never knew. (oh my God i never realised she is this awesome cool person!! what have i missed??!!)

1. I loooove the beach. I can spend hours watching the waves and my idea of a perfect time is walking along the edge of the water...and picking seashells. That i donot have the time or money to do this very often is just ...well...umm...reality.

2. Quite related to pt #1, I was terrified of the sea, swimming pools and all other water bodies till i was about 9. A couple of years living in the Carribean totally changed that :)

3. I'm good at keeping in touch with old friends. I'm usually the link between different ppl in the group who have lost touch with each other.

4. I hate kundru ki sabji. It does strange things to my foodpipe and well...urrggghhh.

5. My parents and sis are very talented when it comes to music. I am not. I can carry a tune fairly decently...but thats more or less it.

6. I wish i was better at it though :\

7. I look down upon ppl who say " one night at a call centre" and " five point something" are their favourite books. My first thought is...I'm sure those are the only 2 you've ever read.

8. I also totally look down upon ppl (men and women) who think its a virtue to have never entered their own kitchen. I strongly believe being able to feed yourself is a essential survival skill...and boiling maggi qualifies as cooking in my book.

9. Since we're on a roll here...pessimists...i dont like you all that much. Make that not at all. If whining is all you're good at...you might as well give up and make space for others.
Yeah...elegant, mature, snobbish and judgemental...thats me.

10. I wanted to be a physiotherapist.

11. I actually ended up being an accountant. Very related...these two fields. I know.

12. I want to open my own flower shop one day :) Although i have (serious) doubts about my business acumen.

13. There is a long list of places i want to travel to and explore. Seriously LOONNNGGGG.

14. Spain and a volcano (err..dormant one) are on that list...as are Sikkim and the Andamans.

15. I'm a compulsive multitasker. just doing one thing at a time is a waste of precious time....i believe i get this trait from my Naani.

16. I adore my Naani...she's by far my favourite person ever!

17. This compulsive multitasking gets on the nerves of ppl around me.

18. I'm taller than all the bosses i've ever worked for ..save one. The secret juvenile kick i get out of looking down on them while speaking to them is welll...another sign of my grace, poise and maturity.

19. I'm quite a chatterbox with the ppl i'm very close to. To other ppl i come across as a staid, reserved, non-talkative person. i think. Heeehahaww.

20. man this list is taking forever...maybe i shd get back to work.

21. I have the patience of a saint when it comes to Indian Railways and the local trains of Hyd. Really. I am utterly comfortable in spending hours waiting for delayed trains...and manage to not get homicidal. This comes of years of experience and total lack of other choices.

22. I do not like ppl who try to force conversation in trains. You will mostly find me with my nose in a book and i can be very rude if you ask persistent questions about my personal life and 'beta aap working ho ki studying ho'?? 'woh aapke mister thei kya? hehehe.' Grrrrr.

23. Television doesnt interest me much. i spent many years not having time to watch any and now in a household of many adults...i never lay my hands on the remote.

24. In the rare times i do get the remote...i hold it in both hands and have to read the sign on each button to actually figure out what it does. it happens so rarely that i dont want to let gooo...i don wanna let goooo.

25. On the other hand...i'm really good with fixing stuck printers. My scientific methods include checking all connections and then pummelling and shaking the thing in significant acupuncture specified spots. I kid you not. I was the official printer fixer at my workplace.

Wheeee. 25 done :)

help needed

i need to know ways to send stinkbombs to certain people.

more specifically....certain someone at work in another country.

grrrrr.

ideas anyone?

oh why why why are fred and george weasley not my friends?

Outsourcing my financial decisions

auto fare: 86 rupees
me: gives 100 rs note

autoguy: gives 10 rupees back
me: aur mere chaar rupaye?

him: kyaaa amma...4 rupaye kya lete. rehn do na abhi..

umm...shouldnt I be the one deciding on the tip????

Diwali this year.

lots of stress thanks to waitlisted tickets.

then...road trip to home :)




lots of yummm home food...with all MY favourites :)

meeting up with best friends after so long!

gossiping with mom...

lots of diyas all around

another long drive back home.

in all....perfect!!

Fine dining

The latest in fine dining:

milk powder filched from the pantry eaten out of a paper cup...with a plastic straw.
how..u ask? its an art :) try it

Going hi-fi wi-fi

Past month or so has been very entertaining and frustrating ...both thx to the helpful folks over at airtel. After much fuss and phone calls...we finally have wi-fi at home. How did we do it? see below:

How to have wi-fi installed at home:
1. Call customer care to place request. Be informed to write mail to specified address to place request.
2. Write that mail. It will bounce.
3. Again call cust care...same address will be given again. Resend and rebounce. Decide effort is futile.
4. Waste precious hours on a saturday and go in person to their office to place request. Get assurance that "3 din mei ho jayega madam. 500 rupees is the charge...aapke next bill mei aa jayega".
5. Go back home smug and satisfied and proclaim to the family abt how great you are for getting this done.
6. Week goes by with no wi-fi. Family asking questions. Keep moral high ground and assure you will look into it.
7. Busy wkend..no time to follow up.
8. Next weekend, call cust care and raise stink. Again "3 din mei ho jayega madam".
9. On day 3, have horrendous meeting filled day and miss all 3 calls from cust care.
10. Call cust care on day 4 and request to please have it done today.
11. "Engineer with router" arrives on day 4. Phew. Installs at home. Speak to him on phone...ask about connecting laptops to the wi-fi network. Get reply "usme kuch nahi rehta madam...wo aap aan (on) kare so connect ho jata". Lekin bhaiya...wo network secure karna padega na...nahi to padosi bhi use karenge? "Nahiii madam....waisa kuch nai hota...uno thodi maloom rehta aapne wireless liye so hain. Aap aan kare so wo connect ho jaata."
You give up.
12. Later at night frantically try to connect wi-fi. No luck. Back to cable method.
13. Call cust care. They assure to send engineer next day. You say...next day laptop ghar pe nahi rahega. Get smart suggestion "madam aap ek din laptop ghar pe rakh do...to hum check kar ke jaate". Almost lose temper but deep breathing helps.
14. Engineer arrives on saturday. Is clueless about everything. Spends 1.5 hrs fiddling with different keys on 2 laptops and then tries to sneak out of home without any conclusion. We catch him and he spends .5 hr again. Tries another exit...this time mumbling about some drivers missing on the laptops. Is given piece of mind by self since wi-fi is used at office. You give up and he goes home.
15. Next week, get laptop checked by office network admin guy and be assured everything is in order.
16. Meanwhile, get monthly bill and be shocked that 1000 rupees charged instead of 500 for installation. Call cust care to check...they say 1000 is what they will charge. Give cust care information ka wasta ...to no effect. Leave work early and go in person to cust care centre in right royal foul temper. They accept complaint. Also complain abt clueless engineer and non-working wi-fi.
17. Nothing happens on wi-fi complaint. Lodge another one and have same engineer come with another flunkie on saturday. Both spend another 2 hrs of quality time at residence and fail to fix anything.
18.Frustrated self finally taps into power of google and other kindred souls who put steps to configure wi-fi router on their blog.
19. Fiddle here and there and fix issue. The crowd goes wild with applause.

Attempt to revive long dead and buried blog...

So! ..since Parul kindly allowed anyone and everyone to take up the tag...me doing my fusht one...

The 20 questions tag :

1. Name Three Most Valuable Assets?

Chashma, health and hope.
2. If you have the chance, what would you probably say to your beloved one?

What are you getting me for our anniversary?? *flutter flutter the eyelashes*

3. If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 3 blog buddies you would take with you?

to have blog buddies i guess one needs a functioning non-extinct blog. So this question is largely null and void for self.
but....if they would allow me to just hang around and breathe in the same air as them...it wud be MM, Parul and Kiran

4. Where is the place that you want to go the most?

Israel. and visit a live volcano. go figure.

5. If you can have 1 dream to come true, what would it be?

That I have an extremely well paying job picking sea shells on a beach in the West Indies.

6. Till now, what is the moment that you regret the most?

Being part of those mandatory annual day plays in school, wearing the most hideous costumes and makeup. blech.

7. What are you afraid to lose the most?

My chashma (pliss refer to Q.1)

8. What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?

Pick up with handkerchief(no fingerprints u see) and run to the police. actually...better to just give it to the poor.

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?

Already met and married the said someone. thankyouverymuch. my confessions none of anyones bizness. againthankyouverymuch.

10. List out 3 good points of the person who tagged you

sadly...not explicitly tagged by Parul..but phir bhi...
1. Great sense of humour
2. adorable baby...
3. the hourglass figure, shining intellect and stunning career of course :)

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?

A new book every fortnight and a steady supply of dark chocolates. and yellow roses occasionally.
i am easily pleased.

12. Which type of person do you hate the most?

Well righttt now...the idiot who stepped (with her whole considerable weight) on my foot, this morning on the train.

13. What is your ambition?

To open my own flower shop. which will be right next to my own restaurant. and in both of which, i will probably end up losing spectacular amounts of money.

14. What is the thing that will make you think someone is a bad person?

if they don't give up seats in trains/buses to women with small kids.

15. What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

Metabolic rate.

16. Are you a shopaholic or no?

No. i wish i was.

17. What is your stress buster?

Calvin & hobbes. Although my Mom says its my weekend clothes washing routine.

18. What should be done to people who make such long tags?

...phoolo phalo...
19. Do you think God actually exists?

i'm not sure.

20. What did you eat for lunch today?
I replace it with: If not your current profession, what line of work would have rather been in?
Physiotherapist

I tag...anyone who comes here and cares to read this!:-)