Deja vu all over again!!
The refrigerator is bedecked with detailed instructions on how to make rice and what food is there in the fridge. That can mean only one thing. She is leaving for India!! Indeed, she did!
Here is the irony: She thought Nikita will not do her homework – apparently, I give her so much latitude. Well, she is done with all her homework and is also now way ahead for stuff due in school two weeks from now.
Now, I am not suggesting we did not have our fun moments. Somebody – and let’s not take any names her – but say, Nikita – dropped a whole box of dog treats into the washer which somebody else – again no point taking names – we are a team – but let’s say me 🙂 had to clean it up.
All in all though, dad, daughter and dog having a great time!!
From the bartender’s corner – Caroli
Not a single soul!!
I have been running in this trail for nearly ten years. In snow, sub zero temperatures, torrential rain, tree uprooting winds and sweltering heat. Regardless of the mood of Mother Nature, you can always count on a few nut cases like me defying logic to go put in a run.
Not today. Finished run at 9. Still no other car in the parking lot. Saw nary a human being in the trail !!
Chalupa streak of Sunday morning run at Fowler’s Park continues…
Nikispeak: All’s fair in …..
Niki and I… this evening over dinner….
Niki: “I am so mad at our lunch teacher”
I was a little confused where all this was coming from. She just got up after sleeping in the evening and I was quite sure she was still groggy. But I played along…
Me: “I am sure you have a good reason”
Niki: “She confiscated my phone”
Me: “She confiscated your phone?”
Niki: “Yeah Yeah, she gave it back”.
Me: “What did you do?” (meaning what got her in trouble)
Niki: (interpreting I wanted to know how she got it back) “Oh! I pretended to cry.”
Me: “You pretended to cry?”
Niki: “Yes, I kept sniffling and walking around her so she will notice me and feel bad”.
Me: “But that is being manipulative”
Niki: “No. That is being smart”.
Me: “Really?”
Niki: “You had a better way of getting my phone back?”
I just walked away before she could see me desperately trying to hold my laughter back!!
In my defense, I was a goody two-shoe nerd is school and never got in trouble with my cell phone. Good thing, those days, none of us had cell phones either 🙂
From the bartender’s corner – Once Upon A Time
10 miles today. 942 miles for the year.
58 miles to go to complete 1000 miles. 28 days left.
Cloudy and cool day with slight wind. After the run, the momentary feeling of achievement quickly turned to that of desperation and hunger when I realized that once again I had left the post run nourishment on the kitchen counter :-(And I am ten miles away from home!
Friday evening decompression…
Meeting a high school friend!!
It was indeed 31 years back on a March afternoon in 1985 that I had last seen this guy. And then suddenly I got to know a few months back that we live in the same country!!! I was awaiting a chance to meet him in Scottsdale and before I could do that, he moved to the DC area. That actually increased the chances of my meeting him since I travel to DC every month.
Today, I was able to make enough time after meetings and so could he to finally see each other over three decades later!! Over the last few years, it has become religion for me to dig up people that I have had the fortune of crossing paths in my past and find out what they are up to and meet them once face to face. That is my way of saying Thanks to them for influencing my life.
And every time, I am delighted by how many different ways my friends have grown up and succeeded with very different twists and turns in life. This evening, Chiranjib and I connected over not only our parents, our kids and our immigrant journey but some mundane coincidences like how he and I have a deep fascination for a particular dish (“watta-kozhumbu”) that is made in Tamil Nadu. Not too many folks from India will know this dish (unless you are from Tamil Nadu). (He is married to a girl from that state and I spent four years there for studies).
What I admired most about Chiranjib is how much he has succeeded in corporate life in India and in the USA. He has gone from one pillar of success to the next post of success in some of the largest corporate entities in the USA ranging from healthcare to financial services to banks. Thru all that, it is remarkable how he has retained his modesty and kept his feet firmly to the ground.
A lot I need to learn from him on that front. For that, I need to meet him more regularly than once every 31 years!!