tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92120079344531405322024-03-06T02:25:15.819+01:00Captain's LogGeckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-53271201631338143372013-07-26T12:53:00.001+02:002013-07-26T12:53:46.798+02:00Die Gifte aus dem Supermarkt - Kollektiv.org<a href="http://www.kollektiv.org/magazine/die-gifte-aus-dem-supermarkt#.UfJVFzRbVKw.blogger">Die Gifte aus dem Supermarkt - Kollektiv.org</a>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-85771434142226204492013-02-14T21:19:00.001+01:002013-02-14T21:19:56.048+01:00hey, where's my.... wait a minute!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I like pants which have big pockets, because otherwise my pants would look like a girl's and thanks to them my hands have a storage space when they're not doing anything or it's too cold outside unlike the girls' pockets, which are too small or too tight and are generally impractical which doesn't really matter because they generally have a workaround to store the things they want, they're called men. I on the other hand have to stuff my own wallet in my own pocket and that makes sitting not a very graceful act. <div>
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So i put my wallet in the office draw and lock it up every morning so that it doesn't find its way into anyone else's hands. I tried to do the same this morning and the wallet was already in it. I felt proud that i didn't bother about looking for it for an entire day and a bit frightened thinking if it were the christmas vacations, i would have had to eat coffee and flour for all three meals for a week!</div>
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Gecko:0 Savings:1. </div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-53959627833593574492013-01-20T12:38:00.000+01:002013-01-21T07:08:01.736+01:00Disappointment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Time and again history has showed how while trying to pursue esoteric ideals and goals have led behind them a wake of false impressions, inspirations and perhaps ultimately disappointment. Since history is always written by the winners, it is quite difficult to shake it off and see things for what they probably really were until someone at least suggests there could be another side. This is because the beneficiaries of the actions of the person in question "play up" the person and his actions without a hint of reconsideration if everything is done the way it is supposed to. Once it falls, they want the person in jail and want their money back. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Sir Winston Churchill<span style="line-height: 19px;"> was undoubtedly one of the greatest figures of the last century. It was under his single-minded focus and determination that the second world war came to and the mass civilian extermination was finally stopped. However, he suffered from depression and to some degree alcoholism. The only reason he was given a single handed control over the troops of the british empire was because he brought results to the beneficiaries who gave him that power.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">John Nash's case was somewhat in the same lines, a brilliant man whose mental condition wasn't of much importance, until he went cuckoo beyond repair, because he was of use to someone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">It's like when i said I will go to Melukote with a broken clutch wire and once i come back i will just replace the clutch if it burns out half way, because it was of use to me at the time; an expendable clutch was beneficial to the purpose of successfully completing the trip. If my dad asked me to go to a shop on a broken clutch wire, i'd argue it'd damage the clutch. Well, it's not the best comparison, but you'll get it if you read it a few times.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Why i am mentioning all these is because, lately there has been another sort of milking of the human talent for beneficial reasons. Sports. Which was originally intended to be the celebration of the best a human being can be at physical activity (or mental, if chess) and hence being rewarded for the commitment and performance through rigorous training; it has now become a struggle to keep rewards coming their way by any and all means. The tables have turned. It has become a struggle to win by being better than the others, not because you are, but because you have a team with you that can make you be so.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">The reason i am disappointed is because, i was a great admirer of cycling, I followed the tour de France for some years along with a friend of mine and see in amazement how cyclists were almost superhuman in their feats of covering distances along mountains flats, timed stages in rain, sun and wind. We always went with more vigour to our weekly cycling tours on sunday mornings to Chamundi hills during the weeks of the race and a few weeks before and after as the fever slowly crept in and faded out. We always calculated how your maximum heart rates is 250 minus your age and wondered whatever made Lance Armstrong's beat at 220 effortlessly for almost the whole race while i being 20 or 21 at that time couldn't get past 170 even if i saw a ghost. I always knew that people doped at that time, but i always thought it was done by people who are trying and that only men with a pristine conscience and the utmost respect of the sport could win and have the face to accept a medal for it. In retrospect, it was one of the most foolish beliefs i had held. Having said that, i do give it credit for helping me take up cycling seriously as a means of staying fit. I thank Mr. Armstrong for that. But, i feel, as a human being (and not a sporting machine), if you are faced with a choice to go to a high altitude and training in a thin atmosphere which forces the body to produce more red-blood cells, tapping the blood into a bottle and injecting it into yourself during competition OR doing all that but donating the blood to hospitals for people in need. I say that because the true sportsman, having reaped the long term benefits of high-altitude training in terms of lung function and endurance, should consider what he can do more than just winning in a race which is now being termed as the "moving pharmacy". </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">I do know that he has done a lot of things for his cancer foundation and i really understand the impact of that and appreciate it. But there are two things which can summarise this what i am trying to say here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">1. He was played up since it was beneficial to a lot of companies to have their names on his shorts when he crossed the line first. If you and i did drugs, we'd be fired, lose our families and be put in rehab. Now that he confessed, he has been stripped of his medals and the companies want their money back.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">2. That doping and in extension drinking is a perceptive term. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">It depends on how people, or you and i perceive it. If a tramp is seen drunk out of his senses, he is said to have an addiction. The booze baron of India and some celebrities across the world are seen drunk all the time and indeed in the most general sense, no big event involving rich people ever happens with only orange juice and mineral water and such events happen all the time but nobody every say they might have an addiction problem. They're seen as "high society""having a good time" and even admired for the comprehensiveness of the bars they host in their very home and as a consequence of that, our judgement of alcohol or drug abuse depends on who's holding the glass or the syringe. That makes our judgement fundamentally skewed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19px;">Will any winner of a sporting event be seen without suspicion ever again?</span></span></div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-89991324871907380212013-01-06T22:18:00.001+01:002013-01-06T22:18:40.564+01:00Hello Mr. Braun<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: -webkit-auto;">In my general opinion, if someone takes the trouble of doing something at all, then it has to be done well, worth the effort and of some use to humanity. It seems to be so difficult to achieve that, that if someone does make the effort of analysing a problem a bit longer than what the corporate gurus and men wearing well-pressed suits deem necessary, then that person is labelled to have a case OCD while in reality, those who seemingly do their job well and yet not display OCD do, in an annoying number of cases, what my grandfather would have called, in his times, a half-arsed job.</span></div>
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Granted, there were less mouths to feed and less clothes to iron back then. There weren't many people back then and those who were, didn't have money to afford clothes or other such luxuries, in fact, they were passed on from father to son like inherited property. Some others wore a factory uniform, went to work and demonstrated in front of the factory gates burning effigies of popular political leaders of the time. So, on the outlook, the time between the war, establishment of republic India and the advent of colour television in India has seen troubled times, even then, everything made in that era seems to last forever. Most people from the seventies, seem to hold on to their things saying they're better than what you can buy today. For example, my grandfather was alive till i was 12 and i have never seen him buy shirts and never saw him or his shirts change in those years. When i look at the photos of him from my childhood, he looked the same in the same shirt in photo just after my birth and ten years hence. We threw out most things only in the 90's, kerosene stoves, pots, boiler, charcoal iron boxes and the whole deal. I still have a watch, which was someone's wedding gift from 1932 and all you have to do it wind it. A film camera gifted to my parents still works today and it has never needed any batteries. Clockwork, was the answer back then, everything, including bombs of the time, had clockwork mechanisms. These made them supremely mechanical, robust, effective and immortal.</div>
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It is not to advocate the use of clockwork mechanisms in modern times (the automotive gearbox can be thought of as a clockwork mechanism with the engine perpetually winding it with the energy stored in the flywheel for the return and so on, that's for another time.). But, it is only to draw attention to the fact that when people took an effort to do something back then, it was well thought, well executed and usually was an engineering marvel, if not, at least an embodiment of the attempt to attain near perfection unlike today where most things break down right after their warranty expires or worse, just out of the box. At this point if you're wondering if this is in the iron box series, yes it is. I went through three iron boxes in the last year, one in India and two here. Now i have a fourth one and surprisingly it is not made in any republic of the people although it comes roughly from the same direction of here, east; much closer, in the same continent, Europe. But it did mean that i had to buy it from ze Germans, they are probably the last few people, a country full of grumpy old men who want their money's worth regardless of what they buy. It does mean that it costs much more than the other irons, so now, rather than paying for it for being a brilliant piece of manufacturing, i, rather we all buy from an expensive brand in the hope that it keeps them from breaking down, unless we really can't afford it. That being said, i am happy with the iron from Braun and i can report it isn't broken after the first use and while working, it works indeed well. It's a thing of beauty. </div>
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Coming back to the bigger point. I would like if one among you, whoever knows about this, could tell me why is it that in the present composite age, with all technological breakthroughs, automated production lines and a lot of the big companies boasting six sigma and CMMI level 5 badges make things which aren't better than what was done in what can roughly be called a Victorian Workhouse in the 70's with manual assembly lines, in a time when certain quality certifications probably didn't even exist to have been awarded. In short, i went through three iron boxes in the last year, if that company has a six sigma certification then does it mean that three defective pieces out of eighteen million statistically good ones came only to me? how improbably unlucky must i have been? </div>
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After an explanation, i will really consider not writing about iron boxes and the problems associated with them. </div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-63141943679691462372012-12-31T01:40:00.001+01:002012-12-31T01:40:43.917+01:00iRun, up the wall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As easy as it might sound to strike up an argument against the creationist lobby, sometimes it does feel like somebody put you in the wrong end at the grand scheme of things and further, just for amusement, did all that in one day so you can notice. </div>
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Now, whoever brought about the concept of ironing to the civilisation should have been alive today. That way, I could find him and thank him for the generous donation of this social concept, shortly after which, i will skin him alive and wear his fur like i was in 10000 B.C. for the rest of my life. It simply is the most annoying, back-breaking, mind-numbing, power-wasting, repetitive, mundane and useless activity which has been brought upon mankind by a bunch of misinformed idiots hundreds of years ago. Even skin has wrinkles after you cross 18 before which your face would've looked like the surface of the moon, so, not sure where and how that idea caught on. Many brilliant ideas flashed in people's heads while on the toilet, in the bath, under an apple tree, in dreams while sleeping, while high on drugs, while filing papers in a patent office in Switzerland, but not a single useful thing came to a person's head while ironing his clothes.</div>
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This world, should be devoid of ironing, it is something which should have ended on December the 21st and somebody managed to slip that through their fingers. Contrary to belief, dress code should not be abolished, it should be imposed and imposed strictly at work. Before that, there should be someone who does the noble job of inventing completely iron-free clothes. For a race that has invented completely waterproof clothes, bubble wrap, the space shuttle and concord, it shouldn't be all that difficult to get their heads around this problem. There should be one pair of work clothes and it should hang in a locker at work, you go there in your pyjamas, change into it, work, change back to your pyjamas and get home. End of story. I know it's possible, i visited a nuclear reactor once and there are about 300 lockers full of such clothes, with names on them, which are only used once every 4 years when the reactors are serviced. Added to that, there are clothes for guests, visitors, regular employees, emergency people, the list goes on. But, in the rare combination that you're 21 and male, the tour guide is female and the decontaminated jumpsuit isn't completely opaque would make you miss big parts of the tour a case some kids in my tour group were fortunate to experience couple of years ago. No matter, the fact remains that ironing is a social evil, unnecessary peer pressure and the biggest waste of a person's time (unless you don't earn your livelihood by ironing).</div>
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I loathe about ironing today especially because my iron box packed up, quite spectacularly with sparks in the steam tank filled with water. If it was back at my home, i would've opened it, dried it out and used it again. I don't do that for two reasons, firstly, back home i have enough tools to do all possible things except open-heart surgery and here there isn't much i can do with a chair and a Swiss-army knife. Two, back at home, the houses are built with bricks and reinforced cement concrete neither of which can be burnt to a crisp where as here, i have no clue what goes on here, and five days ago, my former institute was indeed burnt to a crisp for no apparent reason (a transformer decided to ignite itself and combust spontaneously on Christmas day and torched the whole place) so I'm not brave enough to try anything and possibly risk being chained to Germany for decades repaying the costs of a burnt house. But, i do need to vent out my anger and disgust, firstly at the imbecile who brought about the notion of ironed clothes and secondly to cheap irons boxes made in.... God knows where, which pack up prematurely. Social norm now dictates, that i get a new one.</div>
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It's like some divine force knows it's the end of the month and it's time to break some things down to even out the economy because, as I was enraged and put on my glasses to write this post, i was so much in anger that i didn't know how to start. So I scratched my head and voila! the right-eye lens from my spectacles fell out so I had to fix that in anger first. I hope this week is going to be cold, because I'm wearing a sweater till my new iron arrives. I've had it with ironing.</div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com276187 Karlsruhe, Germany49.0388727 8.336479000000053948.9556142 8.175117500000054 49.1221312 8.4978405000000539tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-72920729654951905302012-12-28T23:31:00.002+01:002012-12-28T23:31:28.328+01:00getafix<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In two days, I would've survived one month of my job, which means I haven't been fired or broken down in meetings and quit, it also means the house hasn't frozen me to death through the winter and the 14 day return right for most of the things I bought are now gone and I have to live with them for the rest of my life. In the last few week I have recollected my experiences of being here and have now realised something has slipped my mind. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">There is an unsettling number of things made from wood here, like Greenpeace's nightmare. If you look closely and weren't asleep at school, you can pick and follow one tree ring throughout the length of most of the furniture, which means the carpenter was pedantic enough to shave each piece of wood down to one tree ring throughout it's length before slotting and fitting it to other pieces. Looks good, feels rich, great. Just before my first work day, I was quite excited and ironed all my shirts in preparation for the next week on the big table top of the shelf which was quite ergonomic and avoided unfolding the ironing board (not a big fan of flimsy collapsible metal things). After enjoying myself in the humidity of the steam iron and the knowledge that my blankets are oven-hot and pressed, which would make my night an enjoyable one, I pulled them off the table and threw them on the bed to discover to my shock that the big shelf, shaved, built and finished by my owner's father had a more than just conspicuous white patch on it which wouldn't come off with simple abrasion, worse, I'd then risk scratching the furniture permanently. I looked at it for fifteen minutes not knowing what to do while my mind went a circle round the things I could do. quit job and change cities overnight, cover it with mess and act like the wood did that to itself by the I cleared it, own up and pay to have it repaired, standard responses. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then I went on the intertube, thinking that I might not be the most intelligent person on the planet, rightfully as some people claim, but I am also not the first stupid person to walk on two feet and as a consequence of the latter I should not be the only one to have done such a blunder. After some research it occurred to me that the blunder was this, it was the equivalent of putting a rug on a polished oak floor and then stepping on it carelessly. I had put my rug on the furniture and ironed on it. Having slept through the furniture, paint and lacquer class in my childhood, I hadn't instantly realised what that had done to the wood, the heat from the iron had discoloured the varnish finishing and turned it cloudy. I was lucky not to have someone breathing down my neck like those husbands who'd put the remedy up on the Internet to help other people whose wives had ironed on their furniture, or me. The remedy was to use the same iron and use the steam to take off the damaged layers of varnish to give the wood back its finish. Can clearly see why this gave me a second round of sweating. As if not enough of being stupid once, I had to do it another time in the hope that this will reverse the effect. To my amazement, it actually did and to my disgust, they told me at work the next day that I can wear any old tee shirt, which made the tedious ironing on all my dress shirts a requirement only for special occasions. That's learning carpentry, the hard way.</span></div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-7243126371966228722012-12-20T21:21:00.001+01:002012-12-21T08:27:32.800+01:00Solstice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As it happens every evening, I come out of work with a lot of ideas to write about. Nothing groundbreaking but just recording my thoughts if I may call that. As enthusiastic as I come out, it is immediately quenched; the cold winter wind or the occasional sleet winning over the ever present tiredness, the mild confusion caused by the green-tea high mind in a caffeine dehydrated body intensified by the awareness that I have timed the walk to the bus so closely that if I stop to tie my shoes, I might miss it. If and when I manage to get into the bus and defrost my hands frozen as a consequence of not bothering to wear gloves in my hurry to the bus, i do manage to type what's on my mind. Not very unlike what I'm doing now.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Some people hypothecate that the world will end tomorrow quoting the age old long-count calendar of the mayans. A friend aptly put it as "it's the mayans' Y2K". Which in my opinion is the best way to look at it. There are two ways to look at the matter at hand, the good way and the bad way, there are goods and bads for everyone involved. Let's say the world ends tomorrow, then it is good for the mayans, imagine them looking down upon us from the heavens only for six billion people to go "ha ha!", wouldn't make a good entry on their CV. They'll be spared from that embarrassment. If it does go the other way and this all turns out to be a misinterpretation of their calendar or just that they didn't bother to make a further one for the next 5000 years from tomorrow, then the world survives, and that's good for us. In my opinion, the mayans aren't quite clever as they're given credit for, if you were hired at a mayan university to design an algorithm for a long count calendar and then build it, in all the godforsaken meetings and discussions with the scientists of that time, wouldn't the question "what happens when it runs out?" pop up? It probably did in other civilisations, our own for example, we didn't bother hiring people to design stuff with an expiry date, we got rid of it all together by making time cyclical, it's the perfect calendar to keep time. Why bother with bank accounts at that time if they sold gold on the streets. If someone asks "why does it go round and round?", the answer "imagine building a new clock every 12 hours to count the next 12 hours, well, i did this instead of that and you're welcome, i'm going home early today". It's as simple as that. So now, the western civilisation proudly proclaimed, as we are rightfully taught at school, that the wheel is the most important invention/discovery in the entire history of civilisation because it avoided hiring a hundred slaves to pull your chariot and another hundred to build new ones because they keep rubbing the old one into the ground every two days. So, they proclaimed the wheel, something cyclical, to be the best invention, then went on to prove that time is linear claiming the laws of physics and then dismissed the concept of cyclical time as…. well, nonsense, found a linear calendar and are now scared that it ends!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">What it means for the common man, is this; there is a lot of hype given on the radio stations by enthusiastic and yet seemingly sad RJs, sad that the world is ending, asking people how they are going to spend it and urging them in ernst to party. What that means is that some young men, the sort who wear green pants halfway down their buttocks, yellow shoes with the laces always undone and a cap backwards are going to get really lucky with the sort of girls who wear a differently coloured stocking up each leg and corsets with the laces very tightly done, thinking the world is going to end. while in reality, will lead only to guilt and/or remorse and/or regret when they find themselves alive in the morning or, to children who grow up looking at their parents wear technicolor clothes. With enough of those, the world will end anyway regardless of the calendar.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On the other hand, if it does end, i'd like say see you all on the other side, and a big hug to the missus, who has been for years, the only person with whom i never have to be the least bit technical and an engineer about anything i discuss with her and hence always fun and relaxing to be with, wish to be with you on the other side. Happy winter solstice!</span></span></div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-40100122405195865002012-12-17T22:18:00.003+01:002012-12-17T22:18:50.082+01:00The importance of having broken feet at elevenses<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A friend of mine quite long ago made the decision of quitting a software firm and joining the huge army people serving the Indian government. At that moment, given how things were, i was of the opinion that he had just digested a bad lunch which led him to the decision. Five years hence is this year and I find myself in a similar position only for another government. It was indeed a bad meal five years ago which was partly the reason. As hated as governments are as policy makers, they are quite popular, as boring as the prospect sounds, as employers and not just in our vast sub continent. Right about now, one would imagine it to be a tedious job involving pushing files into big file cabinets, meetings with coffee and biscuits and turning up with a polythene bag full of coriander and green chillies won in a bargain during a lunch break. To lay it down straight, it is, but luckily for me, a bit more than that. The prospect was good enough for me to move from the university city of Gottleib Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach to the university city of Karl Benz and Emil Skoda (who wasn't the founder of Skoda Auto but whose company later acquired the Laurin-Klement company from where stems the Laurin-Klement version Skoda Octavia, which was launched as a limited-edition sedan in the years 2004-2005), one of the homes of the 49th north latitude (they're quite serious about this, they even have a monument to mark it.), Karlsruhe, minutes east of the french border and about half an hour south of Hockenheim, where from 2007 the German round of the F1 championship has been held every alternate year. I am no longer associated with the university, at least not at the moment. what i do at my new work is not interesting to anybody and i myself don't haven't got my head to bear down on what has to be done exactly to explain further, not that anyone would want to know. I did however had sort of a strange two weeks.</span><div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I arrived at the first of december to my new place, a freeze-frame from the 70's, kind of like the house in the movie goodbye lenin with strange wallpapers, a vinyl player, novelty switches which you flick up to turn on and roof and furniture made of enough wood to send greenpeace into panic mode. Plus points, the house is cold so i don't have to worry if i forget to keep the cheese back in the fridge, which was helpful since the fridge broke the day i moved in, i have front and back yards, a supermarket i can see from the window and mostly retired people for neighbours. The first day at work was a bit strange, I arrived on time with frozen feet from the cold and my attempt to dress up a little formally leaving the winter shoes behind. Many people to greet and remember especially when being introduced personally to two floors of people having to explain to everyone where i studied, what and how well i can speak german. The next couple of days went smooth, got a new fridge and then one fine morning the main door decided it wouldn't close behind me, since it's an old construction, not only does it weigh a ton, it sits in a kind of rifle-bolt kind of journal bearing which goes up an down a helical axis facilitated by a rod sitting in two socket joints, one on the door and the other on the frame, like the human hip, but at both ends. With the lack of hands and tools, had to call the SOS service and cough up money for them to just lift it up and put it back in its place.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">From then on, it has been meetings, introductions invitations to office coffee right after saying i am supposed to take only 45 minutes for a pause and spending hours on learning how to write down what i spent my hours doing. I immediately saw an infinite loop coming. At this point, i wouldn't go as far as thinking it might mean anything boring. just that these people don't wear watches, but they have calendars. And i and breaking into my new shoes, or rather they are breaking into the bones of my toes trying to get to work fast enough so that i can get to my desk and slow things down as early in my day as possible. That, brought to the second problem, food. The alarm is at 6 in the morning and breakfast with caffeine is immediate to switch the internal heating on. considering the short range of my stomach and the cold, i am hungry almost as soon as i get to work, so i introduced another routine into my day while everyone is away for the morning coffee, or may be a little later, elevenses. ok, it is actually around eleven. They have their way of working, they aren't used to the constant job hopping and coming and going of employees that bigger companies are used to, so it takes a while before i get a clear idea what they want from me as much as the other way round. this is already the last week and that means while they are more worried about who will water the plants while everybody is on vacation, options of getting studded tires for the snow, for their bicycle and what to cook for the next coffee break, i am left fed and watered reading literature to get myself oriented to the bigger goals of the department; plus disinfect the kitchen, counter, shelves, washing machine, window glasses, buy six different cleaners and be a proper housewife about being at home. The new year then, considering the mexicans let us live, will be the proper start of work or so it seems. </span></div>
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-18139586146398713182012-12-01T09:25:00.001+01:002012-12-01T09:25:28.534+01:00Where do you come from?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A few times in a person's lifetime does he meet another which makes him thinks why certain people exist in the first place. Today was one such day for me, also a day which made me think whether working for the government does indeed make you lose all logic and reasoning. I had travelled, in the freezing cold, form Stuttgart all the way to Karlsruhe to document myself and satisfy the german bureaucratic monster which lives by filing name and address of people written on some officially looking, but quite useless until you murder someone, piece of paper.</span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The job at hand was fairly simple, for me and for the government slave. Go there, flash some ID, write name and address on a piece of paper, sign, get out. Simple? I wish. I went in there, usual greetings exchanged and flashed the ID and stated my purpose. Change of address. Here's what happened.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">me: "i need to change my address from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">slave: "so you come from Stuttgart</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">me: "yes"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slave: "and you don't live in Turkey anymore?"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">me: "i am from india"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slave: "but you said you lived in Turkey"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">me: "Sorry, but see my passport, i am from india"</span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slave: "yes, i can see that, but you said Turkey"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">me: "no"</span><br />
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="color: #073763; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">After a small silence, the rest of the process went smooth. That early 30's scoliotic fingered, deaf waste of hair and makeup called a civil servant was probably sniffing thinner from her nail polish remover before coming to work today. The problems numbed people have include, among others, missing the big front cover of the passport failing to ignore the bright golden emblem with three lions and the fourth sitting across her table, clearly having not a clue of what accents across the world are like. There is a punishment for such people, firstly, 7 million bedbugs should appear in her sheets one morning and then she should be shot by a marksman in the head for being a racist and then in the genitals for being an idiot by getting the races mixed up. </span><br />
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Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-31225617614289613362012-11-01T15:00:00.002+01:002012-11-01T15:00:54.295+01:00Lost in Translation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYSbB6zCOZAXQOEe8YinADMQPh3HVQkfD19RctYySkFpoSweFBm7fDh9A-b7glZ-NAw4-f6SWfT4_nlkfX5Piv2ejZ80TzX7AF_8ACktijZAZnBJxdQ7-vpCi7LaUOyNMVEzgKZJz-ns3/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-11-01+at+14.56.22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYYSbB6zCOZAXQOEe8YinADMQPh3HVQkfD19RctYySkFpoSweFBm7fDh9A-b7glZ-NAw4-f6SWfT4_nlkfX5Piv2ejZ80TzX7AF_8ACktijZAZnBJxdQ7-vpCi7LaUOyNMVEzgKZJz-ns3/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-11-01+at+14.56.22.png" width="320" /></a></div>
We are ze Men In Black. Our mission is to monitor extraterrestrial activity on earth. If you look into this shiny little object, you'll get all the explanation you will ever need. *poof* </div>
Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-59632423188863909772012-05-01T21:13:00.003+02:002012-05-01T21:13:47.771+02:00Aging<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">The signs that you are <i>really </i>getting old now: when you find a white hair...... in your nose! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">Nature's giving a warning to change my wardrobe and to stop living in the student dorm.</span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-90413570241746235932012-04-11T07:23:00.000+02:002012-04-11T07:23:00.212+02:00Downing's Street<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">Lately, some history teacher in Italy came up with a theory that people have been sexists from ages because she thinks almost all streets are named after men while very, very few streets are named after women. My first thought was, why would women want to have their names on something which is regularly walked upon? Besides, we in India named the rivers after women, names of houses in India are after women, ships are named after women and tornadoes are named after women. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d;">On a serious note, the names of the streets were after men probably because back then women stayed home, and if i am doing business with a man named Robert Downing, it is easier for me to name the street he lives as "Downing's street". Harder to forget that way. No?</span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-25716788715050722932012-04-10T07:06:00.003+02:002012-04-10T07:13:33.907+02:00Bus Driver<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #20124d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Once I was traveling southern Europe on a bus for a week. The driver Beno and I somehow ended up at the same table discussing things over coffee. Apart from me getting to know he is diabetic which left him cursing through most of Italy where they had bread, honey and marmalade for breakfast instead of Sausage and cheese, he got to know I am vegetarian which made him pull my leg, given a chance. We settled it elegantly, which involved me laughing at him at all the breakfasts in Italy. But, i've been given this look and lecture many times, and Beno was sensible enough not to. But sometimes these conversations don't go straight at all. Example, Beno laughing at me for being a vegetarian is like me laughing at him for being just a bus driver. Different worlds, no idea to each what the other is missing/gaining.</span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-63230249145884776042012-03-20T13:11:00.002+01:002012-03-20T13:15:07.477+01:00Haircut?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';color:#000066;">Q: When do you know you're up for a haircut?</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';color:#000066;">A: When you can no longer feel the jet of water from the shower hitting your scalp.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';color:#000066;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';color:#000066;">Looking shabby like I do doesn't necessarily mean being shabby. For example, people <i>look </i>smart and intelligent all the time! </span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-81730591194912713982011-05-15T21:56:00.004+02:002011-05-15T22:17:16.662+02:00I'm back, well, almost, but not quite.<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 102); font-family:'times new roman';">Feels like forever since i've been here. I see the follower's count hasn't increased. That is, perhaps, a little too much to expect when one isn't blogging. I have to see how to make this thing work on the phone so that i don't have to sit in front of the computer to do this. Or, so that i can write paragraph after paragraph every morning on the loo and post it at the end. I'm consider myself quite healthy not to finish an entire blog post in one sitting. Thank you. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">One of the reasons why i haven't written about anything lately, is quite simply because there isn't anything to write about. Some other parts in life, like culinary skills, running, a small matter of my thesis and not to mention the new found interest in languages are happily munching away my time. My "writing time" as well has been taken over by the fountain-pen. The pen, indeed is mightier than the sword, or here, more aptly, the keyboard. Finding new pen friends, having a mom who loves to write and a new found interest in making people take up philately by sending them new stamps, also consume time, especially when people set themes for what stamps i have to send them. Gladly, but takes time, you see. But lately, a person totally unrelated to my blogging sphere asked me whether i still keep writing. It was also inspirational and a reason to start again. Thank you Thomas. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Lately, my life has gone towards drooling over academic titles like "Model Concepts for Non Isothermal Compositional Liqid-Gas Flow and Transport" By Holger class or "Multiphase Flow and Transport Processes in the Subsurface" By rainer helmig. Firstly, because of this, i don't have enough time to read other stuff, like a normal book written by a non-acadmeic author. Secondly, i cannot write about what i read here, because, (a). I will have to cite everything, an annoying activity I try to avoid doing because it might lead to someone revoking my degree ten years later because of improper citation. See, german politics for example. (b). I need LaTeX and i don't wanna do that here, too many equations.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">I sometimes try to put out a post on my culinary achievements, later realizing that it would be a hundred times in the internet already (see my explanation about citations and relate to this).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">So, for the next months, i will have limited access to normal literature, normal english literature, normal non-academic english literature and hence a reduced posting frequency related to it. It's sad, but somehow i wish to get through this phase with my interest to blog still intact at the other end. Your wishes and inspirational words are warmly welcome! Till my next post! Ta-ta!</span></span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-75928237768415920762010-02-07T14:17:00.003+01:002010-02-07T15:04:26.928+01:00Thoughts<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 102); ">Here's the thing with weekends, they just end even before you get into a grove! And if you're in my phase of life, not to mention; part of the world, you'll spend it panicking about the week ahead, if you're good, or the entire month; and thats when you need professional help. Mind you, not worrying, under certain circumstances, will also be eligible to necessitate professional help, but in most cases a long whip will solve that trend.</span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">The interesting part of the weekend is how you can come up with seemingly unrelated stuff and worry about it for hours together, losing sleep and sometimes forgetting to cook and eat until your thought process dulls down and you realize you require some fuel. That's when i usually have several bars of chocolates to choose from handy, to take a bite from each would mean you get half an hour before the mind and body goes on strike to cook yourself a warm meal (if you're not used to cold sandwiches that is; I'm not).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">One of the thing i was wondering so much about the last weekend was, apart form my assignments and presentations which're coming up; and the exams too, was how civilizations seemingly managed to destroy themselves usually at the most advanced phase of their development . Like the Indus valley for example. They had water conduits and public baths and roads and everything. Some say the river dried up and so everyone died. But still, that was probably just one reason among many.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">The fact that mesmerizes me is that, in ancient times, every civilization, without being in touch with each other, went through the same phases of development, in the same chronological order, this is somewhat beautiful and in a certain way mysterious and, for the lack of a better word, fishy even! I say that because, all civilizations were not exposed to the same set of resources. Each civilization had a different set, some had more ores, some had more rocks, and some had more trees, and some had more sand. But the people with ores did not come up entirely with metal underwear, people with rocks, didn't exactly make everything with rocks, people with sand didn't come up with glass (if you look at it, that was how metal was discovered, when they had a fire, the ore melted and they found molten metal, but the same analogy doesn't go with sand and glass). Each one searched out for something particular, found it somewhere far away and dragged it all the way back to do something that meant something great to them. That's just one incident. But if you look at the bigger picture, almost without knowledge of each other, all civilizations, went through the same phases, the discovery of clothing and shelter, the evolution of language and script, the concept of God or a supreme being, formation of society and the workings of that, the concept of after-life, of building structures which are of seemingly no other use than to please some supreme being that they allege exists.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">It wasn't like they sent a pigeon saying "dude, we built a temple....... Losers!" and the other guys replied saying, "HAha, we built one too, and you know what, exactly on winter solstice, the sunlight comes straight into the inner temple, beat that, Suckers!". Think about it, doesn't seem right, does it?</span></span></div></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-45775327600814836272009-12-25T00:01:00.003+01:002009-12-25T00:08:25.012+01:00Glimpses<div>These are some snaps from the available resources i have in my reach! </div><div>#1: is the classroom</div><div>#2: left 1/3rd of my table. </div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOsfCVhS49ELxco9VoJ_R0hMFO4qGhFSwHu4qQUjsgAqwfzLq2TArtWwiakepwSpClgAZ_nNoQTtjDGQ6kJ2yZnGkp7782dhgDFn4of0Aqu6voW3Wx4VVS5P1-lOBkyGEUkd_67NUn_LT/s1600-h/IMG00009-20091216-2006.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqOsfCVhS49ELxco9VoJ_R0hMFO4qGhFSwHu4qQUjsgAqwfzLq2TArtWwiakepwSpClgAZ_nNoQTtjDGQ6kJ2yZnGkp7782dhgDFn4of0Aqu6voW3Wx4VVS5P1-lOBkyGEUkd_67NUn_LT/s400/IMG00009-20091216-2006.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418942314508046530" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoeoKYy6vHc7xgjJ1JLdBDRyHALMsqgdIZK78mBgHHyynjMqqOEvinKz_XJIB6kJE_y2XbYACsF181A67g-qaNhmOgfTf7bxc4_285__vfaEa7tXg0LgAGyw0KnkjSG7LLutrwzrbXeaX/s1600-h/IMG00016-20091224-2358.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoeoKYy6vHc7xgjJ1JLdBDRyHALMsqgdIZK78mBgHHyynjMqqOEvinKz_XJIB6kJE_y2XbYACsF181A67g-qaNhmOgfTf7bxc4_285__vfaEa7tXg0LgAGyw0KnkjSG7LLutrwzrbXeaX/s400/IMG00016-20091224-2358.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418942311789785442" /></a>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-67416940360565798222009-12-12T17:04:00.004+01:002009-12-12T17:13:02.174+01:00Snow!<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Finally! My first experience of Snow! well, was nothing special or tears-bringing, but still it was a strange feeling to touch it, cause of the humidity, it is still rough and "sharpy" quite unlike the image it portrays. As things start to get drier, it should soften up! Anyway, my first pics.</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVaQURI1VcXBU3i_ziYki5xiJS7sjzJ_TqLjef8aLmC9pxbmNor-6k4X6VPokO3F7sYy1LkKmkdKpR0e7rXGi1C1eRye-7AdTtJaEkJLDadlFnEx3l3eXlrvMhh3trN5clGE7Z69PMP-u/s1600-h/IMG00005-20091212-1619.jpg"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtna5hLv7pr2wpbiIr0lAB_J-wvy1F412-CSmQEcti6R9xrejY_4ifpRrtzqEUB305mw218hMLXMk53yfnZDA46ryCTCBTjnjE_sFF0IRajPqdqUlvIzCNDxxfEftmnNtis0nDjF2FQ09/s1600-h/IMG00004-20091212-1524.jpg"><img style="text-align: center;float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtna5hLv7pr2wpbiIr0lAB_J-wvy1F412-CSmQEcti6R9xrejY_4ifpRrtzqEUB305mw218hMLXMk53yfnZDA46ryCTCBTjnjE_sFF0IRajPqdqUlvIzCNDxxfEftmnNtis0nDjF2FQ09/s400/IMG00004-20091212-1524.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414382661186375026" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiF6cpe0kV9GtRQEj5qrgFg664vsZsA1vCpp7gCzhMOPIW9GMR3LJt2J_q3yjcjKAuBxfTy1iIe7Y2zmzrB013chrC9VRiXDslRmps3rnreqUJuDwzmwfVjQ-_ViFPGubjBxfGdjP49m1S/s1600-h/IMG00003-20091212-1521.jpg"><img style="text-align: center;float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiF6cpe0kV9GtRQEj5qrgFg664vsZsA1vCpp7gCzhMOPIW9GMR3LJt2J_q3yjcjKAuBxfTy1iIe7Y2zmzrB013chrC9VRiXDslRmps3rnreqUJuDwzmwfVjQ-_ViFPGubjBxfGdjP49m1S/s400/IMG00003-20091212-1521.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414382656194220962" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyD4elstKk3DF933PhSq9J1OKH2RzifiPebRZurtjj0l_RYfBx5JmbetZ1RvGxgsDtxn2Rkd1OAX2kgjMx8K3X4q_zsxfuuPuyERwGKAPbPvgj5tz7KkcHVyFBIWmIOKRCcgdQ-wvUpp21/s1600-h/IMG00002-20091212-1305.jpg"><img style="text-align: center;float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyD4elstKk3DF933PhSq9J1OKH2RzifiPebRZurtjj0l_RYfBx5JmbetZ1RvGxgsDtxn2Rkd1OAX2kgjMx8K3X4q_zsxfuuPuyERwGKAPbPvgj5tz7KkcHVyFBIWmIOKRCcgdQ-wvUpp21/s400/IMG00002-20091212-1305.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414382651156389314" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXA_DJYWhM02VQG-f8tqVJOuuQvU9WnZJxROUnW5KDjzDNK053vSwOBeVDUhEv0FXaNL_2n8JJDOGAPFzw1veAveWMG-lWbx4s6vbOJSRc0o3Q_20rvvD9xcdW-9w88UUjmoKOjOuHZ1n/s1600-h/IMG00001-20091212-1304.jpg"><img style="text-align: center;float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXA_DJYWhM02VQG-f8tqVJOuuQvU9WnZJxROUnW5KDjzDNK053vSwOBeVDUhEv0FXaNL_2n8JJDOGAPFzw1veAveWMG-lWbx4s6vbOJSRc0o3Q_20rvvD9xcdW-9w88UUjmoKOjOuHZ1n/s400/IMG00001-20091212-1304.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414382648063681954" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVaQURI1VcXBU3i_ziYki5xiJS7sjzJ_TqLjef8aLmC9pxbmNor-6k4X6VPokO3F7sYy1LkKmkdKpR0e7rXGi1C1eRye-7AdTtJaEkJLDadlFnEx3l3eXlrvMhh3trN5clGE7Z69PMP-u/s1600-h/IMG00005-20091212-1619.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVaQURI1VcXBU3i_ziYki5xiJS7sjzJ_TqLjef8aLmC9pxbmNor-6k4X6VPokO3F7sYy1LkKmkdKpR0e7rXGi1C1eRye-7AdTtJaEkJLDadlFnEx3l3eXlrvMhh3trN5clGE7Z69PMP-u/s400/IMG00005-20091212-1619.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414382661319310290" style="text-align: center; float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-80813693300438079112009-12-03T20:27:00.003+01:002009-12-03T20:33:59.275+01:00Guessing Game!<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Some interesting stuff i got my hands on this morning, and really complex stuff i learnt about them in my engineering and also learning a great detail now. Lets start a guessing game, what is it, where exactly it is used. If you can mention it to an accuracy of 5 inches. you're good! :D</span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4LMQy-xwsYIIB0VlgDY1oLARnJBx82bxNLO6CoVLNzKTsnKyaOjPJFoRy-xRjYYcSq-nbfQIoD6-Z55nnm0CnAHU0JBxyM2GUezxK0v6Y2hcYypazZOGvRJKKJOtVIDUZ5xFzpEHMJ_y/s1600-h/IMG00015-20091203-1101.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4LMQy-xwsYIIB0VlgDY1oLARnJBx82bxNLO6CoVLNzKTsnKyaOjPJFoRy-xRjYYcSq-nbfQIoD6-Z55nnm0CnAHU0JBxyM2GUezxK0v6Y2hcYypazZOGvRJKKJOtVIDUZ5xFzpEHMJ_y/s400/IMG00015-20091203-1101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411095027816212610" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGkjw95fzjTxPsCSin3pqaJBV-S66tbxmfY3yyxk4cyijB99UOvFfKSXj3O1czQNYD2T5DDSdi9lwNANR36BygMR28GDqFP_iiZKauyiwvlg56J8IQzlT3xUy4mMh8VmkWgebPAo0W7yK/s1600-h/IMG00014-20091203-1101.jpg"></a><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGkjw95fzjTxPsCSin3pqaJBV-S66tbxmfY3yyxk4cyijB99UOvFfKSXj3O1czQNYD2T5DDSdi9lwNANR36BygMR28GDqFP_iiZKauyiwvlg56J8IQzlT3xUy4mMh8VmkWgebPAo0W7yK/s1600-h/IMG00014-20091203-1101.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcGkjw95fzjTxPsCSin3pqaJBV-S66tbxmfY3yyxk4cyijB99UOvFfKSXj3O1czQNYD2T5DDSdi9lwNANR36BygMR28GDqFP_iiZKauyiwvlg56J8IQzlT3xUy4mMh8VmkWgebPAo0W7yK/s400/IMG00014-20091203-1101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411095024403283218" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLC8ssrDDh3vK5dR6FAvro6ldwPbOn7fgxocWPU-Nk_o6WQD_w31wHKoWpfI4AjRLxDxWuqjx2CoLUIIKmY2FxMn5AzJUrC3hxplwK3LrPYakXk3DQ5MjqpxtMdWXvsidDfwho-rOfQonh/s1600-h/IMG00017-20091203-1102.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLC8ssrDDh3vK5dR6FAvro6ldwPbOn7fgxocWPU-Nk_o6WQD_w31wHKoWpfI4AjRLxDxWuqjx2CoLUIIKmY2FxMn5AzJUrC3hxplwK3LrPYakXk3DQ5MjqpxtMdWXvsidDfwho-rOfQonh/s400/IMG00017-20091203-1102.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411095022652699378" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rz1l1gOnNSarc6BGZV9A7QeHDixc2TVJZ3KFHHhC026Y7VRWgc_4MkswmCLkgnuGDE7cdRLS2I5cT86WL_WyI_ExLN9gm9iv5Yyt6p3ag-DhUar9RX8_zyOKERyqeFyDCjZSuIh-tzO0/s1600-h/IMG00018-20091203-1102.jpg"></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rz1l1gOnNSarc6BGZV9A7QeHDixc2TVJZ3KFHHhC026Y7VRWgc_4MkswmCLkgnuGDE7cdRLS2I5cT86WL_WyI_ExLN9gm9iv5Yyt6p3ag-DhUar9RX8_zyOKERyqeFyDCjZSuIh-tzO0/s1600-h/IMG00018-20091203-1102.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9rz1l1gOnNSarc6BGZV9A7QeHDixc2TVJZ3KFHHhC026Y7VRWgc_4MkswmCLkgnuGDE7cdRLS2I5cT86WL_WyI_ExLN9gm9iv5Yyt6p3ag-DhUar9RX8_zyOKERyqeFyDCjZSuIh-tzO0/s400/IMG00018-20091203-1102.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411095013557656258" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jlQZw7muokUmzQX2HBTW7Ok6uzP5VGgmXKAofI7VTb56WMeGkE12pzngw399Yon-mmVQAhPbRrdBaXhSGy4vH2uvKQJk2Up0bC1FT5c5QX4sFnc-weyuG_4u6k76eTnJcY25LYtd3MMP/s1600-h/IMG00012-20091203-1101.jpg"></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jlQZw7muokUmzQX2HBTW7Ok6uzP5VGgmXKAofI7VTb56WMeGkE12pzngw399Yon-mmVQAhPbRrdBaXhSGy4vH2uvKQJk2Up0bC1FT5c5QX4sFnc-weyuG_4u6k76eTnJcY25LYtd3MMP/s1600-h/IMG00012-20091203-1101.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9jlQZw7muokUmzQX2HBTW7Ok6uzP5VGgmXKAofI7VTb56WMeGkE12pzngw399Yon-mmVQAhPbRrdBaXhSGy4vH2uvKQJk2Up0bC1FT5c5QX4sFnc-weyuG_4u6k76eTnJcY25LYtd3MMP/s400/IMG00012-20091203-1101.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411095006323728354" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-70750875592360788282009-11-21T19:46:00.002+01:002009-11-21T19:51:31.551+01:00Random Pics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnHBZRDlyfZRw8V74zH3SsbEakI01MFXsWsQ3JhcopYJi7dNul90zB-BR276uf2YXLNaanEoYci4VoQ_9jWWUm19dt3YvWgjwbVIrJMLlQJSXDb_ArAi9c517LYzKhaOJnfKMIa3_EKPy/s1600/IMG00009-20091031-1519.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnHBZRDlyfZRw8V74zH3SsbEakI01MFXsWsQ3JhcopYJi7dNul90zB-BR276uf2YXLNaanEoYci4VoQ_9jWWUm19dt3YvWgjwbVIrJMLlQJSXDb_ArAi9c517LYzKhaOJnfKMIa3_EKPy/s400/IMG00009-20091031-1519.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406630536913820226" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Dhobi Central @ Stuttgart<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt7n2wwljpQfS0mH83nLzQ0ng96Cipjhm6VouS1kWMUKf03Yvr2rPJKvIPY7rMqwCdwqhjCovdnuurAK5nOcHeqOCxsthAZ0cWDVETANIzzDPCnjDUpRBfsbRA9T-GWwPlFtTMg9MCdw9/s1600/IMG00008-20091031-1518.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxt7n2wwljpQfS0mH83nLzQ0ng96Cipjhm6VouS1kWMUKf03Yvr2rPJKvIPY7rMqwCdwqhjCovdnuurAK5nOcHeqOCxsthAZ0cWDVETANIzzDPCnjDUpRBfsbRA9T-GWwPlFtTMg9MCdw9/s400/IMG00008-20091031-1518.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406630532528775186" /></a><br /></div><div>This one is the dhobi ghat for coloured clothes :P</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3GyBDvEgIGlPpcIRkcbCAcOtE9oaCpSZtT5Z1Qw_HA4aabV-HnCD6tCNRdcN3Fvlf3GjRXiLk5r7ff7CPUzi-tpL7Yg6zAEM8gYHUxUF41x-FXAL97AtIVu9NNY4SLzEVqTTN3NEuViP/s1600/IMG00007-20091104-1132.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt3GyBDvEgIGlPpcIRkcbCAcOtE9oaCpSZtT5Z1Qw_HA4aabV-HnCD6tCNRdcN3Fvlf3GjRXiLk5r7ff7CPUzi-tpL7Yg6zAEM8gYHUxUF41x-FXAL97AtIVu9NNY4SLzEVqTTN3NEuViP/s400/IMG00007-20091104-1132.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406630525229905682" /></a><br /></div><div>Glipses of Fall</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLjgt-I3VVO1UXRxdDQvRAg0b0XR31v09m2qoF2G9MhqrHGMj0_lJXxITDP4Dkrdrbbls99XoVIr5PczQPhYxu0-ooLv8SfBsHqm1_D9bJX90766ofkA-PP2m-6FWkDszVCUMwRYNYT6b/s1600/IMG00006-20091031-1331.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizLjgt-I3VVO1UXRxdDQvRAg0b0XR31v09m2qoF2G9MhqrHGMj0_lJXxITDP4Dkrdrbbls99XoVIr5PczQPhYxu0-ooLv8SfBsHqm1_D9bJX90766ofkA-PP2m-6FWkDszVCUMwRYNYT6b/s400/IMG00006-20091031-1331.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406630522727282194" /></a><br /></div><div>More Gadgets</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-beKEOpUnRKz3zOjcLyi82hg6TaZt3yPrQvE_W5pPwRHrZCAm7tDP5dT4juaI2HRLisvpNZYbIZuOLDj-3g6sDMlj23ZPGXmVoymcxSOyOLKfU6Hmdrz_3X_f84DjqJmSXeojD1CPBhw/s1600/IMG00001-20091030-1544.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-beKEOpUnRKz3zOjcLyi82hg6TaZt3yPrQvE_W5pPwRHrZCAm7tDP5dT4juaI2HRLisvpNZYbIZuOLDj-3g6sDMlj23ZPGXmVoymcxSOyOLKfU6Hmdrz_3X_f84DjqJmSXeojD1CPBhw/s400/IMG00001-20091030-1544.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5406630518585468834" /></a>The Wohnheim</div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-16618270900693482562009-11-14T23:08:00.002+01:002009-11-14T23:36:02.258+01:00Race 2 Tee<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">So, Boring </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Saturday</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> afternoon in </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Stuttgart</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">, with even the sun on holiday for all of central </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Europe</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">, a promise of a beautiful weekend by the weather forecast was ruined by mother nature. I, for one missed my weekend run, and stayed home all day long. So, when i was getting bored in the evening, so was </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Subbu</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> on the port of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Goteborg</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">, and we both had no clue what to do to drive away the boredom. The crazier of the two came up with a plan, a race, to make tea, yeah, however stupid sounds, it was actually what was agreed upon! a race to make tea. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">The rules were:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">on count of 5 we'd go to the kitchen put the kettle on, boil water and put the tea bag. But then it was agreed that since the tea bags are dipped for 2 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">mins</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> constant by both of us, only the time taken to heat the water, put it in a mug and getting it back to the computer desk is what counts. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">So, the race started on the count of 5. How much time we each took is immaterial, but then what's important is that he took about 20 seconds later to to finish it. you know why? duh! you'd be a total idiot if you hadn't guessed it out by now already! a total dork! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">I'm</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> telling you, if it doesn't flash by the time you reach the end of this sentence, then you shouldn't be reading this, really, because then you'd be too stupid to own a computer! give it back! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">oh well, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">I'll</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> tell you anyway, let me ask, you, can you handle it? the truth? well, don't say i didn't warn you! the reason is so simple, i gave away the clues in the first paragraph of this blog! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">c'mon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">! nothing yet?</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">well anyway, this time for real! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Stuttgart</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> is at a elevation of 450M above sea level and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Goteborg</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"> is a port! nothing yet? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">doh</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">! well, water boils faster at higher elevations than at sea level! water boils in Goteborg at 99.997 degrees and at Stuttgart at 98.7 degrees. So, the time to bring 250ml of water through 2˚C took 20 seconds :D (Specific heat+latent heat)! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">C'mon</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">, you didn't know that much? Get back to books! who ever bought you a computer! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Dorks</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Kidding! Cheers!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">--Gecko.</span></span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-38921043378099938812009-10-08T21:11:00.004+02:002009-10-08T21:28:10.640+02:00Differences<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Having students from different countries around can be really amusing sometimes. Today in the break (literally!) from the German class, there was a small group which was formed, in it there was a person from Palestine, one from Jordan, one from Bengal, one from Gujrat, and one from Maharashtra. Eventually, we were tired of speaking a foreign language all the time so the Palestine and the Jordanian started talking in Arabic. That was when i thought "those two are from two different countries, how can they speak the different languages!!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">But immediately i realized the various questions asked to me by other people. A few are</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Brazil: how can two Indians not speak the same language</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Turkey: Is it true that India has more than 200 Languages</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Somebody i don't remember: How can all three of you be the same country and still talk in english all the time! </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">This is how the world is, we all have our own notions about the world, and distant parts of it which really come as a "culture shock" when we actually experience it. One guy though did really believe it till i pulled out one of my Indian currency notes and counted the languages for him.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Heh! And in Germany, it seems there're dialects which sound nothing like textbook German and this evening, luckily, when one of my neighbors had his friend, from just-out-of-Stuttgart, over for dinner, i had the privilege of listening to one, and compared to the "special German" (compare to 'news in special English' from VOA) we're used to at class, it sounded something like how Brad Pitt sounded in snatch, talking "English" to a slick looking, country-speaking, Jason Statham in "Snatch"!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">And, @Adithya's comment about chucking the dictionary for one of my previous posts.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Learning German by chucking the dictionary is like trying to learn Sanskrit by listening to the Sanskrit news on TV every weekend, you'll miss the news, and will never learn the language too, apart from wasting time that is. Well, even if it's slow, when you learn, learn it technically!</span></span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-40190569526508844162009-09-29T22:22:00.003+02:002009-09-29T23:21:25.439+02:00Culture<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Well this might come as an old topic but then i felt the need to state it yet another time, as a few incidents, in which i was involved, reminded me of it once again this evening in the Masters' students meet arranged by the international students office in my college. It was supposed to be an evening where people would get to know others cultures, traditions, their views and opinions in a way which would benefit us all, but then as with most cases involving two, or rather, three very explosive factors, namely young age, freedom and to a certain extent, fundamentalism, of a sort which is not really dangerous (certainly not as dangerous as explained by the media) but all while equally annoying and insulting to the person at the opposite end.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">The event began as usual, with a very warm welcome by a very polished German lady wishing us all a good time. And then we were all asked to help ourselves to some cookies and some juice and sit down in a circle, chairs already arranged. We then had to introduce ourselves and tell our names, the country we're from, what we're here to study in and what we expect from these two years in general.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">So, People were like, all enthusiastic, with replies ranging from learning languages, to learning cultures, meeting new people, seeing new places, drinking lots of beer and, like i said, just having a good time. But then, the thugs probably forgot, you don't get to learn new cultures or you don't get to meet new people, learn their language or have a good time if you laugh on their face for the way they speak their language, make laugh at their beliefs, mock their population or the demographic distribution of their population in other parts of the world, and not of all things, their religion or their religious beliefs, and neither if you start comparing with your own.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">The main activity of the evening was for people to group around according to the continents (almost) and then come up with a proverb that everybody, in that group, knows, write it down in the language in which originated, and explain the literal meaning and then the actual/contextual meaning of the proverb. That was when, the very same people who came up with some really beautiful proverbs and read it out with all vigor and enthusiasm to the audience were acting like jokers, laughing at the meanings of the other proverbs and making fun of the way its spoken, thankfully it didn't really run anyone in the wrong way (i think and i dearly hope, cause i don't wanna be punished for something I'm not responsible for), but then it got me thinking, fundamentalism is in each and everyone of us, it is not our duty to question whether its wrong or right, it's our responsibility that it doesn't come in the way of others or that we don't step on anyone's toes because of it. Cause yes, i too sometimes am angered that, people here expect me to know German from the day i landed here, immediately, *poof* and I'm German!, like that! and the anger is not cause they're don't speak English, but because they're not giving me time to learn german, We're all humans </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">oder? </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">But, i don't go around accusing Germans in front of other Germans, or keep reminding them of things they're trying to forget and, mind you, especially, for those of the things they're trying to forget that the present generation was never ever even remotely responsible for.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Accept it! you prove nothing by arguing, they're like that cause they're like that, they wouldn't be Chinese or Russian or German or Indian or Spanish if they weren't like that. Had they been anything else, they would just be "people from" China or Russia or Germany or India or Spain.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Rule number one, don't question "why" in a culture; that is that way cause it was in any other way, it wouldn't be "that" culture, now would it? Now don't try to act smart, i know what's on your mind, yes you can question some things, but if you don't know what to question and what not to, then learning other cultures is not your cup of tea, try table-tennis.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">I hope those of you reading this would try not to piss someone from another region off. Learning is fun, don't spoil it. Cheers.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;">Gecko.</span></span></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-29576695925703135742009-09-24T22:23:00.008+02:002009-09-26T13:43:51.171+02:00A flashback, sort of<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">A few days ago, when i had nothing to do after my class, i decided to take a walk to the supermarket instead of a bus, do myself, my legs and my pocket a big favour! Save 4 euros and stuff, while i was walking one the small quiet roads, i came across, in a narrow road, parked silently at the side, one of the most iconic cars of the 2000's era in terms of competition.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">A car which came in and dessimated the competiton on all surfaces, tarmac, gravel, ice&snow, mud, mized, you name it, it's won on that. One of the rare pieces of engineering excellence which help shed off the image of the French as "tarmac-specialists" (drivers and cars).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">What looks like this</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47i4kV8D2wwFwA4YVCX23Ae1BPOj5TPE3EqHfDytBCq3VRodG12a-oX4MSQ3XpKL8Nvk2V4_gV-wsMeOjUGCXZK3ESYTdceW1FCgD-K9HDK5OGer1MhqGN1nNIoSnD4JU8Lt3ZO4qeimn/s1600-h/IMG00020-20090924-1911.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47i4kV8D2wwFwA4YVCX23Ae1BPOj5TPE3EqHfDytBCq3VRodG12a-oX4MSQ3XpKL8Nvk2V4_gV-wsMeOjUGCXZK3ESYTdceW1FCgD-K9HDK5OGer1MhqGN1nNIoSnD4JU8Lt3ZO4qeimn/s400/IMG00020-20090924-1911.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385739922644834658" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">take this mule, keep the Logo, the name of the car and donate the rest to a washing machine plant. now, build a tubular space frame chassis, fit magnesium alloy wheels, enough braking power for 5 average cars and dampers and springs capable of taking a 10G impact. add a transverse mounted 2 litre, turbo charged, intercooled, in-line 4 cylinder, water injected, 310bhp, Magnetti-Marelli controlled engine. Put in a fire spitting anti-lag system for the fun factor. Gel this machichery to a longitudinally mounted non synchonized six speed sequential shift gearbox through a high performance clutch. finally throw-in three high performance, electronically controlled, active differentials, cockpit contollable anti-rollbars, variable engine maps and such small fancy things and you get this!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAC81zvG9yDwHoCjw4vsrKHvmcYI9qVoP5PAhJpHdeuNxGLLIXWuF8b-GTtx4hoUWtaxG5zTTlHfJr518x7a2EcB-4Ug7BIETHDlM9_IyENWSDS66YiWLRJidLQf-LHrL_3mtZj2RGNTJm/s1600-h/Citroen_Xsara_WRC_3.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAC81zvG9yDwHoCjw4vsrKHvmcYI9qVoP5PAhJpHdeuNxGLLIXWuF8b-GTtx4hoUWtaxG5zTTlHfJr518x7a2EcB-4Ug7BIETHDlM9_IyENWSDS66YiWLRJidLQf-LHrL_3mtZj2RGNTJm/s400/Citroen_Xsara_WRC_3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385739927261673234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpceGkqHASi2sVxJzLPlBOCSerseLJY4hZ6EGFnaxu9m4y4yn3RT1RMzXokCt7BaXBu8F2W_vjwr1ZWVGTe5LUlzfRiBLWYjNNLdTeh6DxM53qE_attAumFHlwx0WACJs32BHhCLSg9Nuk/s1600-h/citroen-xsara-wrc-loeb.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpceGkqHASi2sVxJzLPlBOCSerseLJY4hZ6EGFnaxu9m4y4yn3RT1RMzXokCt7BaXBu8F2W_vjwr1ZWVGTe5LUlzfRiBLWYjNNLdTeh6DxM53qE_attAumFHlwx0WACJs32BHhCLSg9Nuk/s400/citroen-xsara-wrc-loeb.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385739930310354194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px; " /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">which, by the way looks nothing like the original road-going car, except for the name and the logo of course. but, you get a car which can do 0-100kmph in 2.5 seconds on gravel! or take a jump at 170kmph (and "fly" for 55 meters), or hit 230kmph on snow with tungsten spikes in the tyres. It's a Citroen Xsara WRC. One of the many French cars to have dominated rallying (and specially tarmac events in the past). </span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">This domination started as early as the Group-B era in the 1980's and the Renault Maxi Turbo, then the Peugeot 205 T 16, and later in specialised dakar cars, the Peugeot 405, the Pikes peak Peugeot and the Cirtoen ZX (that time both had pulled out of rallying and were looking into rallyraids). Then the 90's was a quiet time for the French, as most of the sweeping was done was Lancia (late '80s and early to mid '90s) which went on to become the most successful Company in WRC history and also Mitsubishi to a considerable extent (mid '90s to late '90s and years 2000 and 2001). Somewhere in the middle, Carlos Sainz (Toyota Celica, Corolla group-A cars, champion 1990, 1992), Didier Auriol (Toyota Corolla Group A , Champion 1994) and Colin McRae (Subaru Impreza Group A, Champion 1995) turned up and won everything they laid their hands on!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">At the end of the 1990's Ford announced their new car to replace the Escort, which was the Ford Focus WRC and Peugeot announced their return to WRC in 1999, and made the debut with the Peugeot 206 WRC. Citroen did too, but with a modified two wheel drive Citroen Xsara Kit car. The xsara was immediately on the pace, Philippe Bugalski, who was somewhat of a mad man, capable of lightening speeds on tarmac but could not always keep his head together, he gave the Xsara Kit car (which was still a semi-official entry by Citroen) its first victories in 1999 in the Rally of Catalunya in Spain and the Tour de Corse in Corsica. The year 2000 had three Tarmac events, Spain, Italy and France. Bugalski (he's French) won again in Spain, and Gilles Panizzi won in France and Italy in a Peugeot 206 WRC. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Marcus Gronholm was crowned champion in 2000, him alongside with tarmac specialists like Didier Auriol & Gilles Panizzi who dominated tarmac events gave Peugeot a very high rate of success as soon as their debut. During those times Citroen, peugeot and many such teams employed surface-specialists (there were really few drivers who could win anywhere, any time, any condition, any car, Carlos, Tommi and Colin were almost the only ones). </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">2001 marked the announcement of the Citroen Xsara WRC, the official car prepared and entered by the Citroen factory team into selected events, and had it's first win in the Tour de Corse 2001, this time piloted by Jesus Puras. The other two Tarmac events, Sanremo of Italy went to Panizzi and Catalunya went to Dider Auriol.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">2002 was the year of Peugeot, With them winning in most of the events, but, however, their luck on safari continued to be down, they haven't won in Kenya since 1978 and although a peugeot finished second, it's still just second. Citroen competed for the first time, officially in many rallies with tarmac specialist Philippe Bugalski, Gravel Specialist Thomas Radstrom, and the-then rising star Sebastien Loeb (he had his first ever WRC win in the Rally Germany that year)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">2003 was Citroen's year, although petter won the championship, citroen made quantum leap in development and with Carlos and Colin joining, were easily crowned the Manufacturers Champions. </span></span></div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">During the years 2004, 05, 06, 07 and 08 Sebastien Loeb was unbeatable, with only ford being able to take the chase to the line on some rallies, during this period, Sebastien has either made or broken most of the records in the WRC.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">But as it is with any sport, there's always progress, and the Citroen Xsara WRC had to give way to the Citroen C4 WRC in 2007 which has proved to be just as successful (or maybe better?) as the Xsara, while Peugeot entered their 307 WRC replacing the 206 WRC in 2004 and pulled out at the end of 2005. Citroen pulled out the same year too but promised to come back in 2007 (with the new C4), in the meanwhile helped Sebastien who competed as a privateer (and was perhaps the most successful privateer world Champion, when he won it in 2006).</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000066;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">When i saw this car, a memory of an era, perhaps not as inspirational as the Golden era of world rallying, but tough nonetheless came back to me, an era which inspired me to follow rallying, to know more about the drivers, the cars, teams, the history of the sport, the skills involved, the techniques (and perhaps to implement a few in my everyday riding, for which i've been cruelly criticized either as being suicidal or as a show-off :| ). Just felt like writing it down, so that next time i see a Xsara/Focus/Impreza/206 /307 i can open this, read and feel good :) Cheers! </span></span></div></div>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212007934453140532.post-26442461140679547102009-09-14T18:48:00.002+02:002009-09-14T18:50:28.718+02:00Und Part - 4<p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman', serif;color:#000066;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica"></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Things are going smoothly, I'm getting used to the weather and all such</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">minor things which become a major problem if you try and fright it! so</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I'm officially "with the flow" now. Things are quite 'European' with me</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">too. I spend like crazy and spend like crazy for food and travel! Bought</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">a lot of healthy stuff. Being a leaf-eater is kinda frowned upon here</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">(up yours! Europeans!). Finally cleaned my room on Saturday, don't even</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">try to imagine how much of my own stuff i had to sweep out, then moped</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">it with dettol and had it smelling like a hospital for a few hours. Now</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">things are getting back no normal! some dirt is unavoidable though.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Had bought some chocolates in the flea market (no, not second hand</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">chocolates, they sell them first hand at cheap price, 1 EUR for each bar</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">of Lindt & Sprungli). So I'd bought a bar each of milk+choco, 85% coca,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">99% coca, pure milk and caramel and a bag of small dark chocolates. I</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">finished the milk+choco, and opened teh 99% coca and man was it</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">something! you can't eat more than 1 square at a time! it's the espresso</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">equivalent of chocolate! but anyway, I'm not giving it away or anything,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">even if i have to eat it for two years!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Finally made my first few bowls of rice this week. Have to say, it's not</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">that easy as my folks had scared me back home, as long as you're hungry</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">enough to be prepared to eat anything which comes out of the vessel at</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">the end of half an hour of being on the stove, you'll be be the best</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">cook in the world! simple! But, that said, it wasn't awful either. I'm</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">surely short of all the spices, and having to cook anything i want in</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">just one vessel! but then, I've never been starved of food here. I have</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">been starved of time and so have had to make some compromises on my</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">afternoon lunch on most days! (BTW peaches taste yum, and i don't mean</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">the girls!)</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">The German class is going on quite ok too, German is a confusing</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">language, much like Sanskrit, they have a very strange similarity with</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">each other, in the terms of addressing people formally (with respect)</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">and informally, and singular, double and plural of nouns. and also the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">way some pronouns are used when referring to some objects which are</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">classified as masculine (dog, book pencil, stool) or feminine (watch,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">lamp, spectacles, plug-socket) (plug is masculine) (those two were the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">only ones i could guess why!) and so depending on the gender of the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">noun, the possessive pronouns (like mine, yours, his, hers, it's, ours,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">theirs) and the articles (like a, an, and the) also change. This is</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">kinda difficult to catch and I'm guessing, comes only with practice and</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">experience. There's one more aspect which adds to the confusion. The</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">forms of the verbs, derived from the infinitives, are sometimes the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">same, as the infinitive itself, depending on where it's used! in</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">English, at least that is easy cause the infinitive is "to live" and the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">different forms will be "live" "lived" "is living" "was living" "has</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">lived" "had lived" "has been living" and "had been living" (present,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">past, present continuous, past continuous, present perfect, past</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">perfect, present continuous progressive and past continuous progressive</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">respectively) (please correct me if I'm wrong) (if you thought the last</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">line was confusing, then German is not your cup of tea, try chamomile</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">:P) and then the corresponding infinitive in German is all confusing</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">(at least to me) cause just the present form of the infinitive "to live"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">in German "Wohnen" becomes</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I live "ich Wohne"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">you live "du Wohnst"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">You live (with respect) "Sie Wohnen"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">He/she/it lives "er/sie/es wohnt"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">we live "wir Whonen"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">he lives (with respect) "ihr Wohnt"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">they live "sie Wohnen"</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica; min-height: 14.0px"><br /></p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">(i think i got this right, but corrections always welcome, I'll have to</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">write a test in any case!)</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Maybe i find it confusing because i try to correlate everything to</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">English and then learn German by English (that's cause i don't get a</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Kannada-Deutsch/Deutsch-Kannada dictionary)! Some people say it's wrong,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">but then, I'd like to invite them to learn Kannada or Sanskrit, and I'll</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">have their head on my wall the minute they open a</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">English-Sanskrit/Sanskrti-English Dictionary!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">(Deutsch-Sanskrit/Sanskrit-Deutsch too).</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I now feel like I'm in 6th and 7th Standard again and it's all coming</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">back to me, the exercises i used to solve in McMillan English -2 books!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">the scoldings of Mrs. Sudha Rao and Mrs. Geeta Venkatesh and Mrs.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Lalitha Jagadish for using bad English is all coming back to me! Today,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">if i know some English, then it's because of the foundations that</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">they've laid in me and my fellow classmates, of the 1996-97 batch!</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">But sadly, nobody has time here to teach us in such a systematic manner,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">it's a crash course, and they're expected to drill and cram and we're</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">expected to get drilled and get stuffed with German down our throats, so</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">nobody uses a word of English, it's all taught purely in German, and</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">very soon you begin to recognize the phrases and words and will be able</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">to compose some broken German sentences yourself (with quite a lot of</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">help from the dictionary). So i guess things are not that bad. Later if</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I'm interested, i can always read up on my own and learn more German.</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Right now there's no problem as such, but a general discomfort, but,</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">also, some confidence seeing the smiles on the face of the Chinese and</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">the Middle-Easterners (the can't speak jack of english, forget German!)</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">I spend most of the morning doing homework (we're given a lot). And this</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">weekend i spent fiddling with the new blackberry that i bought, the</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">BlackBerry Bold 9000 (number attached to my signature), an awesome piece</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">of machine (sometimes requiring a battery-pull). It was a pretty lazy</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">weekend, compared to the week which vanished away so quickly! Monday is</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">here again, and my half-british/half-German teacher will be breathing</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">down my neck by noon tomorrow! Well, that's about it, expecting a huge</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">shipment of stuff from back home! i hope it all arrives in one piece and</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">hope I'll have enough space to keep all in my room! else I'll be in big</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">trouble (will have to stuff all the kitchen shelves with my stuff!).</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">Well, I'll get some more sleep and will see how the week goes! Till</p> <p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Helvetica">then! Auf wiedersehen!</p><p></p></span><p></p>Geckohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15073790663506308469noreply@blogger.com1