2 May
2022
1 May
2022
Letter writing – sitting in our balcony
Of course, letter writing for me is as much about writing with a fountain pen as much as it is about the pyrotechnics that follow it!!
Which reminds me – I got into sealing with wax after visiting the Dallas Fountain Pen Show last year. This year, in the Atlanta Pen Show, there was not even a single person selling the wax seal stuff!
1 May
2022
From the bartender’s corner – Oude Genever
Genever (also Jenever) is the original predecessor of gin. (There was an in between genre called Tom Gin). This alcohol goes back five centuries! The distillation process was crude enough that the monks thought it best to put in juniper and other herbs and was mostly used for medicinal purposes (which it was not). Between Oude and the Jonge versions (Old and Young), I prefer the Oude. This particular one is aged for a year and to me it gives a whole different nose and complexity to the drink.
1 May
2022
Another great day for riding a bike
30 April
2022
From the bartender’s corner – Lemon Drop Martini
I was not exactly in the mood for a martini but I need to empty my bottles and get rid of them. Need to set up the bar area in this house in a different fashion. There was enough Absolut Citron left to throw in some Dry Vermouth and make a Lemon Drop Martini out of it.
Ideally, I would garnish it with a lemon twist but the new house does not have any of those things yet.
30 April
2022
Short ride on Pegasus
30 April
2022
Took the calf muscles out for a test run
30 April
2022
One more day in the lake
We drove the boat to Pig Tales today. This is where we used to drive our car to during Covid to watch the sunset. Had a good lunch there and drove back.
The highlight of the trip was the docking. First time the two of us docked a boat. Sharmila was surprisingly adept in getting it done.
I, on the other hand, had the newbie’s heebie-jeebies. During lunch I came back to the marina to make sure the boat had not drifted away đ
29 April
2022
Learning one more skillset
Thanks to Gagan and Bharti’s push when they were visiting Atlanta a few weeks back, Sharmila and I finally took the plunge and started learning how to drive a boat (safely). And consequently, enjoy some more time in the water. One day of lessons and hands on training later today was the first time the two of us took a boat out in the water for a few hours!
I have a feeling I will like this hobby and I have to give a lot of thanks to Gagan and Bharti for getting us here.
In terms of picking up skills in the last fifteen or so years, for me, the scorecard looks like this: (you will notice that most people learn these skills much earlier than me)
1. Long distance running (moderate success)
2. Mixology (moderate success)
3. Motorbiking (moderate success)
4. Unicycling (complete disaster; gave up)
5. Flyfishing (did not keep up; need to get back to this)
6. Skateboarding (still a beginner, need to put in more hours)
7. Driving motorboats (too new)
24 April
2022
Shoe brand transitions are never easy for me
Other than the first Brooks running shoe I had started my running career with, the brand I have consistently stuck to – for most of the last 17 years of running – is Asics. There was one time around 2014 when I had switched to “barefoot” running and used Merrel shoes. That was a disaster. My calf muscles were not built for that. After a lot of injuries, went back to Asics. Recovered in time enough to do the marathon run in Greece with Asics in 2015.
Recently, I had a lot of runner friends singing paeans of the “ON” friend. They are twice the price of the shoes I normally buy. After dilly dallying for about 6 months, I finally decided to give it a try and went out today in my first pair of ON shoes. At around 2 miles, felt a pull in the right calf muscle that quickly deteriorated to the point I could not run any more. Sat by the side of the road and started massaging the area.
That did not help much. Soon, I started wondering if I would be even able to walk back home or would have to call for help. After some thought, decided to walk slowly for some time and see if the pain would subside. Upon dragging myself for about half a mile, I thought I was getting used to the pain. Started running slowly again. It was not a natural run. I could feel the body was trying to avoid putting too much pressure on the right step and was thus swiveling on the left hip.
After a mile of slow run, I could still feel the pain but by then it was bearable. Picked up speed and completed 4 miles. Then just to see if I could push a little further (I can be stupid that way), went for another couple of miles. The leg is hurting fairly bad but I am feeling much better. And that is the important thing đ đ
Shoe brand transitions are never easy for me.
