9 May 2023

Why I need to spend more time with people younger and smarter than me

Had a good day out with Surya. We spent a lot of time on the lake and on the shores discussing maths, probability, philosophy, social media and geopolitics. Learned a few new concepts like constructionism and why cars have that extra rear brake light in the middle.

Love how smart the younger generation is always becoming. Being able to defend a point or two in the debates with the younger generation seems to be an worthwhile achievement to the much older myself.

This is the first time I met him. His dad – Debashis – and I went to high school together!! During a birthday call recently, I realized that his son is studying in Georgia Tech!!! Wish I had spent more time discussing and debating with Surya during his stint here in Atlanta.

Category: Boating | LEAVE A COMMENT
8 May 2023

Jay Jay catching his forty winks

He was not very happy when I told him we are not going to downtown today. We will sit in the patio and I will read a book and he can watch people. That did not appeal to him. He did not even bother opening his eyes to look at the people and dogs going up and down the street! It was like he was going “I am going to be like this. You just tell me when you are done so we can go inside!”

8 May 2023

Beautiful Alpha Loop

This is the aspect of Atlanta I love the most. The greenery. Also the aspect of the old house I miss the most.

Jay Jay and I went out this morning to walk in the Alpha Loop. It had rained slightly thru the night and the trees were still dripping raindrops as some light breeze wafted thru. That rain drenched green color everywhere was breathtakingly mesmerizing. There were numerous birds chirping and trilling all around us. We stopped many times in the walk so that I could listen to the cacophony of all the bird tweets.

I was expecting many more people this morning in the Loop. I was wondering if there was more rain in the forecast that I might have missed. It eventually dawned upon me that it is a Monday today.

Ah! The bliss of not having to go to office in the morning!!!

Category: Images | LEAVE A COMMENT
7 May 2023

History repeats itself

After about three years, John and I went to Helen, GA to grab a lunch again. We went to the same place as we had gone to in 2020. Here is the funny part…

That day, we had gone there riding identical bikes – Honda CTX 700s. Today too, we went in identical bikes – Honda Rebel 1100s.

What is crazy is that the one parking spot that was open for us today – was the exact spot we had that day!! (I realized that while checking the pictures from that trip).

And to cap it off, we again talked about politics and corona virus!!

7 May 2023

Guess who showed up today?

I had faithfully showed up at the Starbucks to meet the Chalupa (Bengali runners) group this morning. What I did not know is that there is a baby shower in the community (I am woefully unaware of these things) – and therefore nobody was going to show up for the run.

As I was waiting, I saw somebody enter the Starbucks who reminded me a lot about my old running buddy from 15 years back – Russell Shaw. He has moved to Durham ever since and we keep in touch once a year on his birthday in April.

My first reaction was to see if I could take a picture of the gentleman and send it to Russell telling him that I had met his doppelgänger. My second reaction (fairly stupid, now that I think about it) was to approach the gentleman and ask “Are you not supposed to be in North Carolina?”

Well, turns out it was indeed Russell!!! He was in the area to sell off his house!!

Eventually, Mrinal-da – who realized that I must have been sitting at Starbucks by myself – decided to show up and give me company too!!

So there you go – two of my runners friends from two different groups … and me – in one frame!

Category: Running | LEAVE A COMMENT
6 May 2023

I bet you have never seen this before

I had been motorbiking continuously for over 70 miles. These were backroads – which means I had been on the road for an hour and a half. Needed to take a break. Further, I was very hungry due to my unplanned running routine in the morning.

Finally, pulled over at a Tavern. Looked in my motorcycle bag – I always carry enough work in case I get stuck somewhere. Usually it is the iPad to catch up on reading. Today, I had my letter writing pad also.

After making friends with the manager at the Tavern, I found myself a spot in a corner table in the bar. Over a glass of wine and some unhealthy food, penned off two letters to a couple of my penfriends.

I am fairly sure, it is not very common for tavern customers to wield their fountain pens and writing pads and start scribing letters!!

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6 May 2023

You know… because I felt there was not enough green around

The idea was to put in a quick 5K (3 miles) run. The problem was instead of listening to songs while running, I made the mistake of listening to some Youtube videos on Time. (basically, is time a fundamental thing or have human beings simply conjured it up? Is entropy a real thing – the only time we need time to explain a physical equation – or is it how our brains process it? ).

In the confusion, I completely lost track of time. By the time the talk ended, I was nearly 2.5 miles away from my starting point. ergo, was forced to complete a 5 mile run.

Absolutely made sure that I listened to music on my run back. Else, I was afraid I might have breezed past my starting point!!