So Fri last was a comp day off...for putting in obscene number of hrs for 2-3-4-5 weeks i got ONE day off. AM was planning to go to the Bay area and I had been dilly dallying about going to BA...for no obvious reason than that I did have some work to get done.
Told BM about the development, she said OK but later she convinced me to shoot off to the BA to meet R and M. I said OK and hopped into the car with AM and K.
AM being AM it was 5 pm by the time we left and midnight by the time we reach the BA. Travel was uneventful...random, music, chat, some zzzzzs. I was looking fwd to patting and petting Kiwi, some home made food, some Bay area weather, and some good beer.
Chatted with BM, while having some of leftovers. The chat was good...slept around 2 am and I was up by 9 or so. M had trashed my room and BM suggested I use M's room but then I wanted my bed. And it was worth the suffering. The sleep was deep and delicious.
The next morning was calm and peaceful, initially dark but later bright and beautiful.
Two cups of tea hit the right spot as we waited for Ro to show up. Until then was easy chatter at home. Oh how I miss easy chatter at home on a Saturday. That done, we got ready and drove over to Fremont to pick Ro up. On the way back we discussed whether to go to Ming's Pavilion or to Windy's, a few million times. Finally, we settled on Windy's on University Ave. Some memories later we were sitting in the restaurant and man!, they had good food. Singapore noodles, some braised eggplant, brown rice and some interesting mahi mahi (fish) came in no time. Divine! Delicious! Subtle!
OK. That felt good. The food was good. Really good. I overate but didn't mind it one bit. Also there was an art exhibition going on in downtown Palo Alto so we walked around for a bit. BM wanted to buy some watercolors. So we stood around and suddenly met Sudhir kaka and his family. Was good catching up with him. He is a good guy.
The afternoon was laidback...and finally we geared up for our evening out at Gordon biersh. The evening was quiet, a few beers, one of the best salads I have ever eaten. We came back and I had one more beer as Ro and M lounged in the family room. The conversation again turned funny and finally I decided to turn in around 1 am.
That Pune book is pretty good. A light read and decent pics.
Next morning dawned at around 9 am for me. Again some tea, some chat, relaxed. Something I haven't been in a long time now. Later, in the morning we went to the farmer's market, and walked around and got some food. There were two desi food stalls! Go figure!
One of the desi food stalls had great stuff, especially the chicken curry and fresh naan from the tandoor.
Came home, stuffed some grub and as usual, I waited for AM to get his shit together and leave.
My 8:30 am meeting and blank slides weighed heavy on my mind. Yet, AM didnt get in till 5 pm yet again. We took multiple stops through the journey, as AM took a nap, or for food and then got delayed due to an accident on the Freeway. I was crapping slides in the back seat, feverishly. The next day, after 3 hrs of sleep, I worked a good 14-15 hr day. Regular shit for me by now.
And yet, today has been a more relaxed day...or evening.
The coming weekend promises to be some more relaxed time.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The Move: A retrospective
It all began one fateful evening (I refer to 10 pm as evening), when I turned the latchkey and brought my weary body into my apt at 1717 Malcolm, fully expecting my house gang to be asleep. Turns out the gang was awake and in good spirits. AM dropped the bomb. No warning.
'We have an order to vacate the apartment' he said. Always a bit of a sensationalist, this AM. I nearly fainted in my bone weary state.
'When!!!' I asked. 'Well, not right away, anyways, but it is on the cards. I think in a month or two.'
'Whew, so we don't need to vacate it tomorrow or ....today!'.
'No'.
Like I said, sensationalist.
In my nomadic life, a month was an eternity. Time enough to move out of, and settle into, three different homes.
So it dragged on for three months. Finally, we got THE notice. The final notice which suggested that the suspense was over and we really had to find a new abode.
Now that is easier said than done. In LA, in Westwood specifically, a decent apartment stays on the market no more than a few days.
We had a problem.
I wanted to live close to work and my homies, though they wanted to share an apt, wanted to live cheap. Typically desi. I was willing to lay down a big bit more than they were. So to meet proportions, we were going to have to find a crappy place. I told them that I had sworn off crappy places. I worked 12-14 hr days so I could afford better.
Long story short, some strategy, some finance logic, and some serendipity helped us find a decent apt building VERY close to work. I can see the light in the senr VP's office. And it is a half block off the famous Wilshire Blvd and right next to the Westwood Village.
This is what we saw when we entered the apartment.
The view was nice. The apartment had a very homey feel to it. AK and I waffled for all of 7 mins and then ran back to the manager to tell her that we would take it.
The next few weeks were crazy at work and there was a point when in the middle of a catastrophe week, we heard that we couldn't move into the new place because the current (then) tenant could not move out, leaving us in a horrible situation.
It was extremely stressful.
I was going to be homeless for the first time in my life, despite having a lease for a really nice apt in my name. Go figure!
The situation de-escalated, and we were in the last weekend, and I was packing like crazy to get my clothes and stuff in. Frankly, my stuff packed in easy, very easy. The kitchen stuff, common stuff and AM's stuff took the most physical and time bandwidth.
But the boys did do a few things that saved the day.
Note for the future: don't be lazy and hire professional labor to do this shit. I can afford it for sure. Not worth my while breaking my back for this!
The house looked like this: lots of stuff, lots of packing!
The next day, I dare add, was spent doing hard physical labor!
For 8-9 hrs, we did 3 trips from our old apt to the new one, in a hired U Haul moving stuff.
That evening our place looked like a warehouse but finally in a few days everything settled down, as we all did. I settle very easily into new places. No 'new place' anxiety, no sleepless nights.
One of the benefits of working hard.
One is too tired to care...one merely needs a place to call one's own and spread out.
The new place has much to offer...a nice view, a good homey feel due to the hard wood floors, and a spanking rooftop pool and jacuzzi.
You see this:
and this:
and this:
The view from my room is similar to the one above and in addition I see some really pretty houses around like this one:
It need not be stressed that I am fairly happier for the move.
The place is decent (though everything can be better), the location is nice and stuff is gelling.
The move will be memorable, as have been the last 'n' moves.
'We have an order to vacate the apartment' he said. Always a bit of a sensationalist, this AM. I nearly fainted in my bone weary state.
'When!!!' I asked. 'Well, not right away, anyways, but it is on the cards. I think in a month or two.'
'Whew, so we don't need to vacate it tomorrow or ....today!'.
'No'.
Like I said, sensationalist.
In my nomadic life, a month was an eternity. Time enough to move out of, and settle into, three different homes.
So it dragged on for three months. Finally, we got THE notice. The final notice which suggested that the suspense was over and we really had to find a new abode.
Now that is easier said than done. In LA, in Westwood specifically, a decent apartment stays on the market no more than a few days.
We had a problem.
I wanted to live close to work and my homies, though they wanted to share an apt, wanted to live cheap. Typically desi. I was willing to lay down a big bit more than they were. So to meet proportions, we were going to have to find a crappy place. I told them that I had sworn off crappy places. I worked 12-14 hr days so I could afford better.
Long story short, some strategy, some finance logic, and some serendipity helped us find a decent apt building VERY close to work. I can see the light in the senr VP's office. And it is a half block off the famous Wilshire Blvd and right next to the Westwood Village.
This is what we saw when we entered the apartment.
The view was nice. The apartment had a very homey feel to it. AK and I waffled for all of 7 mins and then ran back to the manager to tell her that we would take it.
The next few weeks were crazy at work and there was a point when in the middle of a catastrophe week, we heard that we couldn't move into the new place because the current (then) tenant could not move out, leaving us in a horrible situation.
It was extremely stressful.
I was going to be homeless for the first time in my life, despite having a lease for a really nice apt in my name. Go figure!
The situation de-escalated, and we were in the last weekend, and I was packing like crazy to get my clothes and stuff in. Frankly, my stuff packed in easy, very easy. The kitchen stuff, common stuff and AM's stuff took the most physical and time bandwidth.
But the boys did do a few things that saved the day.
Note for the future: don't be lazy and hire professional labor to do this shit. I can afford it for sure. Not worth my while breaking my back for this!
The house looked like this: lots of stuff, lots of packing!
The next day, I dare add, was spent doing hard physical labor!
For 8-9 hrs, we did 3 trips from our old apt to the new one, in a hired U Haul moving stuff.
That evening our place looked like a warehouse but finally in a few days everything settled down, as we all did. I settle very easily into new places. No 'new place' anxiety, no sleepless nights.
One of the benefits of working hard.
One is too tired to care...one merely needs a place to call one's own and spread out.
The new place has much to offer...a nice view, a good homey feel due to the hard wood floors, and a spanking rooftop pool and jacuzzi.
You see this:
and this:
and this:
The view from my room is similar to the one above and in addition I see some really pretty houses around like this one:
It need not be stressed that I am fairly happier for the move.
The place is decent (though everything can be better), the location is nice and stuff is gelling.
The move will be memorable, as have been the last 'n' moves.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Wine review: Morro Bay Central Coast Cabernet 2002
Wine: Morro Bay Central Coast Cabernet 2002
Cheese: Morbier
Pocket hemorrhage: $8.99
The expert/marketing take on it:
Morro Bay Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the vineyards of Californias central coast showing ripe opulent fruit. Delightful cherry, blackberry and currant flavors finish with black-pepper and toast from 9 months of ageing in French and American oak barrels.
My take on it:
Mellow wine with a slightly sharp taste, possibly due to the black pepper. Given the vintage I checked with the boys at home. One of the guys declared 'watery', which told me he meant 'mellow'. I detected the faint aroma of blackberry and I forced myself to smell the currant but I couldn't smell the cherry for the life of me.
Overall, a decent wine.
One for instant consumption, not for that rare event storage.
Cheese: Morbier
Pocket hemorrhage: $8.99
The expert/marketing take on it:
Morro Bay Cabernet Sauvignon reflects the vineyards of Californias central coast showing ripe opulent fruit. Delightful cherry, blackberry and currant flavors finish with black-pepper and toast from 9 months of ageing in French and American oak barrels.
My take on it:
Mellow wine with a slightly sharp taste, possibly due to the black pepper. Given the vintage I checked with the boys at home. One of the guys declared 'watery', which told me he meant 'mellow'. I detected the faint aroma of blackberry and I forced myself to smell the currant but I couldn't smell the cherry for the life of me.
Overall, a decent wine.
One for instant consumption, not for that rare event storage.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
A time to heal
After a week of battering work today was a day of healing rest.
I had a good 8 hrs sleep yesterday night. Spent some time reading in the morning. my Saturday morning cuppa tea was fun too. Later spent some time chatting with my ma and then with Rohit. Heard about a fiasco he experienced on his b'day. Too much. The boy is out of control!
Later, I settled in to make a nice lunch of pesto tortellini with a smattering of olive oil, basil & oregano and crabcakes with some spicy horseradish sauce. Was a hearty meal. Later I slept again for 2 odd hrs, and now is the time to clean up and prep to get out of this place. It's been a fair 10 months here. It's time to call another place home.
More later.
I had a good 8 hrs sleep yesterday night. Spent some time reading in the morning. my Saturday morning cuppa tea was fun too. Later spent some time chatting with my ma and then with Rohit. Heard about a fiasco he experienced on his b'day. Too much. The boy is out of control!
Later, I settled in to make a nice lunch of pesto tortellini with a smattering of olive oil, basil & oregano and crabcakes with some spicy horseradish sauce. Was a hearty meal. Later I slept again for 2 odd hrs, and now is the time to clean up and prep to get out of this place. It's been a fair 10 months here. It's time to call another place home.
More later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)