23 September
2017
23 September
2017
10K race at Vibha Dream Mile
Sharmila had signed up for this run and got me to sign up too. (BTW, she is also the person who got me into running in the first place back in 2005). Anyways, met a lot of friends who had come put in a run/walk and raise money for underprivileged children. One of the rare races where the three of us who used to run together – Amitesh, Samaresh and myself – almost ten years back showed up together again. Unfortunately, Amitesh had to get back to his tennis match after the 5K race. Never got a chance to take a picture with him. Samaresh and I – both put in 10K.
The course was very hilly. Over that distance of 10K, we climbed up about 50 floors according to my Fitbit. My time of around 53 minutes was good enough to get the second place in my age group.
23 September
2017
More fodder for “So, who takes these pictures?”
21 September
2017
From the bartender’s corner – Tom Collins
What good would an Old Tom like Hayman’s be if not tried in a Tom Collins? The gin absolutely lived up to its promise. The cocktail itself is very soothing – especially in the warm evenings now in Atlanta.
This is made from gin, fresh lemon juice, fine sugar (I took the easy way of using simple syrup) and soda water. Usually garnished with an orange peel and a cherry.
18 September
2017
From the bartender’s corner – Gin #20: Hayman’s Old Tom Gin
To refresh our memories, a Old Tom Gin was the middle stage in the evolution of modern day gin (most prevalent style being London Dry gin) from the original forefather of gin – Genever which was typically aged in a barrel. Old Toms, unlike London Dry was marked by their slight sweetness which was added during the distillation process.
While Hayman Distillers in UK was originally founded in 1820, it really came of being in 1863 (the year is marked on the bottle) when the family the runs it still took it over. It is one of the oldest continuously running distilleries in UK. Interestingly, Old Tom Gins had completely died in the 20th century. Towards the beginning of this century, this was revived upon request from many bartenders who were looking to diversify the repertoire of cocktails.
Made from a base of grain, this Old Tom Gin has juniper, almond, orange peels, lemon peels, lavender, ginger, coriander and Licorice roots in it.
Hayman’s Old Tom starts with a flowery (lavender) and citrus (lemon and orange) nose. To the palate, it is clearly sweeter than most gins and the junipers and spice start coming out if you hold it for a few seconds. Has a considerable length – mostly sweet – in the finish.
17 September
2017
Wait a minute…
17 September
2017
From the bartender’s corner – Maddow
On the Upper East Side of New York, there used to be a bar called JBird Cocktails. (I think on 75th Street). It is permanently closed now. But before that, there used to be a bartender called Jason Littrell (who has multiple bars now). The Maddow was an invention of Jason and comprises of Hayman Old Tom Gin, both kinds of vermouths, elderflower liqueur and a dash of whiskey bitters. Jason’s particular style for the garnishing of this cocktail was to take the citrus peel (mostly lemon and just squeeze the oil on the top and/or rub it along the rim).
Smooth and refreshing drink.
16 September
2017
Endurance run this afternoon…
14 September
2017
Signing off in my favorite way…
This week was Quantum Spatial’s Annual Partner Event at the beautiful resort of Osthoff on Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. As the outgoing CEO, this was one of my last formal duties as the transition to our new leader and my personal friend of three and a half years – Bob Hickey – begins. It was great meeting our partners and thanking them for all the business they enable.
Like I had said during my last year’s event, while I have always enjoyed the formal duties of being a CEO and certainly very proud of what the team has done (some would even suggest – in spite of me 🙂 ) in the last three and a half years, the real thrill was always in the informal perks of the job. Getting to know the backgrounds of my team members, their kids, their personal aspirations, the personal history of my peers in the industry, picking up some sharp one-liners from Bob and so on. But the best perk of all was being the official mixologist at our Partner Event. I truly get to know each and every one of them as individuals, their struggles and dreams as they build their own businesses and has almost always inspired me to try out some new ideas.
This year, keeping in mind that it was going to be a cooler day than last year, the theme was Old Fashioned. And we tipped our hats to our team mates in Lexington, Atlanta and Sheboygan by having three varieties of Old Fashioned with – Bourbon (Kentucky), Southern Comfort (South) and Brandy (if you did not know, this is the prevailing Wisconsin style of making an Old Fashioned).
How many times does one get to put one’s personal passion and professional passion together? Thank you Quantum Spatial and all the team mates from QSI for letting me sign off in a passionate way!!
13 September
2017
4 miles on the Ice Age Trail
Great run on a historic trail that marks the terminal moraine (the edge of the glacier where it dumped all the rocks that it carried) before the glaciers withdrew in the last Ice Age. About 1,200 miles in length (of which I ran only one mile 🙂 to and fro – twice), it is incredibly beautiful. And quiet. And narrow. You have to step aside for another person to pass.
My friend Bob ran this portion earlier in the day and had reported a lot of turkeys and even more deer. I was keeping my ears open for animals, since I had to keep the eyes on the trail. Else, I would have surely stumbled on all those rocks and roots on it.
Suddenly I could hear a turkey near me (and they are not particularly pleasant noise). I was so focused on trying to fix in my mind how far the turkey was from me, that I was not watching out for anything else. The trail took a turn and right when I went around the bend, I came face to face with the scariest of all animals – another human being! Apparently, she was trying to locate the turkey too. We landed up scaring the heck out of each other.
Anyways, we had a good laugh and then went our own ways to take in some more of the beauty and the solitude of the trail…
