28 February 2022

Good grief! My doppelganger!!

Somewhat unexpectedly, I got a Whatsapp message from my good friend Swati Jamwal asking me if I was in Pune having breakfast at a hotel. That was while I was sleeping in Atlanta. I saw the message when I woke up the next day and let her know that I was not. But that I will be in India in a couple of weeks. Curious, I enquired why she was asking.

She sent me this picture and asked me if this was my twin!

Man! I myself was fooled. My first reaction was that she was playing a prank on me with some old picture of mine!!

Later, Sharmila and Nikita pointed out some very subtle differences in the lips and nose. But boy, I was totally fooled!!!

My Pune friends, if you ever see “me” in Pune, please collect “my” contacts and send it to me. I will make it a point to take a picture of us together!!

Category: Humor | LEAVE A COMMENT
26 February 2022

From the bartender’s corner – Obituary

After 5+ hours of driving for three successive days, I was as good as dead – I was so tired this evening. All the more reason to make a drink fairly appropriately named – Obituary!!

There are lots of variations of this cocktail but this is the classic version – gin, dry vermouth and pastis.

Speaking of obituaries, coincidentally, Thomas Latimer sent me a Ted Talks video – What I learnt from 2000 obituaries – that I found to be fascinating.

Category: Cocktails | LEAVE A COMMENT
26 February 2022

What do you think is happening here?

If anybody is not familiar with interstate highway I-16 in Georgia, it connects Savannah to Macon and pretty much goes like a straight line east-west. There are virtually no towns or cities in between. As a result the 120 mile or so highway has a consistent speed limit of 70 mph.

Sharmila and I were coming back from Hilton Head on this highway. Somewhere in that highway, I noticed something interesting. The display on the rental car dashboard informed me that the speed limit was 40 mph. (see the top middle portion of the picture) I was not in a construction zone and the highway was totally clear.

It took me some time and experimentation to understand what was going on.

Can you guess why the car was giving me completely wrong info (suggesting 40mph in a clearly 70mph stretch)?

If you want a slight hint, check out the other displays on the dashboard in the picture.

Category: Puzzles | 1 Comment on What do you think is happening here?