6 September 2013

Pregnant?

I am at the doctor’s today to do some follow up blood work. Just met the nurse – Yvonne, an awesome grandmom of two who just moved from Queens – and she convinced me to take the flu shots, which I have been always skeptical about. (With all due respect to Pasteur, shoving in half-dead organisms into me with a sharp needle is only a marginally more palatable idea than the flu itself).
But then she also gave me a long form to fill up. While I had consented to those half-dead organisms, I certainly had not bargained for those forms.
So to get back at her, under “Are you pregnant”?, I checked off – “Don’t Know” with an additional note “Never tested” to further confuse matters 🙂
Here I am sitting in the check up room now – fully expecting Yvonne to bring in a really blunt needle 🙂

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5 September 2013

Today’s puzzle

One more week. One more flight back home on Thursday. One more puzzle.

Following is a rather poor attempt on my part to draw 12 matchsticks forming a tic-tac-toe shape. Here is what you have to do. Move only THREE of these sticks to new positions and form three identical squares.

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4 September 2013

Ah! Starry eyed Indians!

During my 5 mile run this morning, I heard something on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me Newsquiz. After the run, I had to look up the Internet to verify it. This is beyond funny. You read it for yourself…

Here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2378860/Stars-eyes-Indian-army-mistakes-Jupiter-Venus-Chinese-spy-drones.html

And here is an excerpt:

Stars in their eyes: Indian army mistakes Jupiter and Venus for Chinese spy drones
Military recorded 155 air violations above the disputed Himalayan border it shares with China between April 2012 and February 2013
India feared that China was making nighttime incursions into its territory
But two astronomers confirmed the ‘spy drones’ were actually planets

3 September 2013

Morning News 2

Microsoft announced that it is acquiring Nokia smartphone business. The strategy is to win operating system and application market share in the mobile space.
In a related move, industry analysts have dropped the word “smart” from all Nokia phones!!

1 September 2013

Our group has arrived!!

Remember last week we broke all records of attendance in our Sunday morning Bengali run? 7 people for the first time and 2 ladies? (which was 2 ladies more than ever before?). Well, in further proof that women are gatherers, we had 6 Bengali women show up today!! Thankfully, Manas showed up in the last minute to even the playing field on the menfolk’s behalf. So we had a perfect dozen today!!!
That was a marvelous day for a run for the group. Cloudy, cool, a little foggy, albeit a trifle humid. We had a marvelous time with each other in the Big Creek Trail and then the mandatory Starbucks coffee-adda thereafter!! Every morning should start like this – great friends, some physical activity, a good cup of coffee and some hearty laughter!
We, being Bengalis, of course, are now going to devour some food that should undo most of those calorie burns – “luchi-mangsho”, “luchi-aloor-dom” or some Mexican equivalents like “loaded tacos”, “chalupas” and such. Speaking of that last item, our wizard-of-words Samaresh suggested that we should call our group “Chalu-pa” (in Bengali, that would translate to “active legs” or something like that). Clever!
Now time for some thanks….
Thank you Manas for showing up and letting us not be outnumbered…
Thank you Sharmila for letting me speed you up during the last half mile…
Thank you Puja, for joining us as the youngster speedster. Your perseverance to finish the course was inspiring…
Thank you Atashi for pushing yourself to run the whole distance without ever stopping…
Thank you Samaresh for being the rock solid leader of the group and setting an example for the rest of us…
Thank you Amitesh for showing us what speed is all about and the coffee at the end. (you know we are going to have a fight over that later)…
Thank you Malobika and Ashok for taking the pains of joining us after being so busy with your performances in Fobana last night…
Thank you Mohana for the temporary interruption in your sleep continuum 🙂 …
Thank you Sudakshina and Anindya for keeping your word from last night to join us “no matter what”…
Above all, “Chalu-pa”s, thank you for SHOWING UP!!

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