Did anyone lose their posts / comments?

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhhhh

Has anyone lost their posts? For the last couple of days, I couldnt see my most recent posts.. the last 2!! And now that blogger is finally not under maintenance.... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... it was such an annoying experience.. really!! I couldnt log on.. and if I just went to the site, it showed a post I had written a few days back. A really frustrating time I had.. I was logging in every hour or so to check.

And then finally my net gave up. A friend checking the site yesterday told me it was still showing the same old post. I was extremely angry. I dont know why!! Maybe its the age.

Today the net has started working. My posts are back. BUT whatever comments were there HAVE GONE!!!!!!!!! I hate it.. absolutely. My precious comments.. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

A victim of cute salesmanship

I bought a bag today. My mother and MIL following me from one shop into another faithfully. We walked the entire length of commercial street.. their faces downcast when they realised I didnt intend to buy one today. I visited about 4 places and if you know me, thats a lot. I dont quite like shopping. I get bored very quickly.

Thats one of the reasons I have been sticking to HiDesign. Its quick and simple. I had actually liked one of their bags. But I have been picking up their bags for last 5 yrs and I felt like a change. My plan was to check out various places today and then go back to HiDesign to pick up the one I liked.

In any case, finally once we had seen every shop (Baggit, Westside, Green Hills etc) and I had rejected every garish / too small / too big pieces, I contemplated if I should climb into one final place called Thunderbird. I could see a lot of leather jackets and wallets in the place. We were feeling too tired and finally my mom prodded me on. One last place she said.

We walked in and I found at least 3 bags I liked. And I picked up a nice big brown (safe colour I know.. my next purchase will be purple / green, I swear) bag. It fits me properly, if you know what I mean.

And that boy who sold me the bag .. a teenager still in college probably. He talked so nicely, not the slang or "dude" type English which I find extremely annoying. That could have been easily one of the reasons why I may not have bought from there. I cannot stand obnoxious kids who think very highly of themselves. But this boy... not only was his English proper, his clothes were also not the falling off the bum variety!!!

He talked to my mom and MIL properly. In many of these places which are pretend swish places, they dont treat old ladies well.. as in they maybe polite but you can actually see them smirking away to glory probably thinking 'what do these old ladies know, they cannot be coming to such places'.

And here is the best part, he was not working there full time. He was actually helping out his mom in his free time!!! How cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He sold me the bag. The world is a better place...mmmmm..... I am easily swayed!! :))

Changeling, Percy Jackson, Grown ups etc

I am racing through books and movies I have on my laptop.

For some reason, my brain has decided that I would not be able to read  or watch movies much once I start working again.

So in the last few days, I have read and bought at least 10-15 books.. the entire Percy Jackson series, White Mogul, some Vampire novel I dont remember the name of, Anthony Bourdain, some Archies etc etc etc.... I am somewhere half way right now. Am racing through the books, reading continuously. For some strange reason I want to finish reading all this by coming Monday!!!

And am watching one movie after the other. Yesterday was Changeling & Grown ups and today I started watching Mothman Prophecies.

What is it with taking a break. I have this morbid fear (totally irrational as I used to read even when working like crazy) of not having the time to do things I like. It is the taste of freedom I think!!!

I promise, NJ, you will take a break someday for at least 2 months.. and for yourself.. to read, watch movies, write and learn dancing and swimming. And on that happy thought, I will retire for the night. :))

Turning into a shrew

Its not that difficult really. I have been developing (ed) into this mean creature. It has been festering inside me for quite a while. And while I know, I realise I am being mean, I am unable to let go of it. I like it, I am enjoying it.

I have been at home for now 2 weeks. 2 weeks that I thought would be for ME, about ME. But unfortunately, my parents and MIL arrived for these 2 weeks. My parents had planned for a trip in week 2. I was happy bout that as Week 1 I would have been alone. But MIL turned up in Week 1 (unplanned). Any other time would have ok (would it?). It would have been ok. MIL is reserved. You can see she is getting bored. But we dont have much common interests. While there is no expectation from me that I need to hang around with her every waking moment, you know it is. You feel guilty half the times!!! Thankfully my parents landed.. they can / have been entertaining each other.

So the thing is, it is a weird state of mind. I dont do anything the entire day. I eat, sleep, read, watch TV...try to make conversation. By the end of the day,I feel lethargic which continues on to the next day.  The first few days were fun as I was alone. I would just get out of the house for sometime and do something.

Now I just feel very guilty of leaving them in the house while I go off gallivanting somewhere. So I dont go and I end up feeling insanely miserable and broody. Of course the feelings are more intense towards MIL. I can tell my own mom whatever I want!!! But you cannot do that to MIL. Poor her. She is a sweet soul who has to hang around a morose person like me. So we do go out.. but all of us together, not me alone.

And of course, A is having the most hectic week of his life. He leaves in the morning and doesnt show his face till 12 in the night when everyone is fast asleep.

As I cannot vent on anyone else in the house, I am taking out all my frustration on him. Everyday, my maid cooks food which we eat for both lunch and dinner. And invariably something falls short for dinner to be had by 4 people (A has dinner at home).  Day before, both the ladies decided to keep the potato subji (left from lunch) for A as potato is his favourite and made bhindi for us late in the night. I tried to tell them not to do all these things and that he can make himself an omlette if he likes (which he does most days) but they were like, no no let him have it. Not only this, they saved him a big bowl of daal (a small bowl is not enough, no sir)  just in case we finished it and he has nothing to eat.  And he left the damn potato!!!!!!!!!! Gotcha!!!!!

Yesterday saw a repeat performance but I put my foot down on anyone cooking anything late in the evening. Anyway, again we saved a big bowl of daal and subji for our man friday!! And we, the ladies had more of curd!!! And I told him off late in the night.. how people cut their dinner so that he gets fed nicely (yeah I can be very mean).

You may think why does this annoy me. This kind of a thing is always done by women. Have you ever seen a man do this?? In our house, my mom / aunts, all the ladies would sit later.. so all the curries will vanish. Only thing that would remain is the rice. If it is breakfast, then chutney would be over by the time they come into the picture. And no matter what amount of chutney you make, it will always be less.

Once I really scolded A and bro in law for not being considerate enough to notice that there are other people wanting to eat. This really really gets to me. Just because someone is at home, doesnt mean they are anyone's slaves. Really. I dont know what is it with housewives. Is it the guilt at self inflicted thoughts of non contribution?

My sis, being the smart one, found a remedy for this. If we are sitting in the 2nd round, she saves a big bowl of "whatever" for us. My mom of course keeps every damn thing on the table. Hmmmppphh.. she will never learn!!!

So coming back to the frustrations of the mind.. all this built up desperation is relieved on A. I punish him by not talking to him.I have been avoiding him. Poor thing, he has been trying to talk to me.. smsg me from work. But the ice wont melt. He should also be punished for what I am suffering. Dont ask me why I am doing all this. I think I am finding comfort in the fact that I am not going through this alone (I get fed have the babies talk by both parties.. isnt it reason enough). He can also suffer. Hrrrmmmphhh

The weird thing is.. weirdest I should say, I am also enjoying this. As in, if I dont brood, I am enjoying with my mom / MIL. We do whatever we want. Watch movies. Read. Watch IPL. I just dont tell A. Out of spite.

Its funny...as soon as they step out of the door I start missing them. Then I will be depressed. It really is depressing to come back to an empty house after a long time.

:((

So what is it, again, I am troubled about? I dont know. The evil me is enjoying attention while it lasts. I am trying to reign that part of me in without much success.

My Blackberry, sniff sniff :(

My blackberry is behaving very erratically. At times it gives up and refuses to switch on. At times, it hangs.. wherein I cant make or receive calls, or sms. Some keys refuse to work - like I mentioned in my previous post, I just realised I use the keys N and H a lot!!! Its transferring mechanism from phone to laptop stopped working long time back. And its buttons (all rubber frame) fell off.. dont ask me how. First it was the volume button and then the camera and then whatever was left...  in order of usage. I use the phone a lot.. mis'use' as my husband would put it as.

I have about 200 songs on my phone.. about 100+ photographs .. the ones I keep posting as "pic of the week"... about 50 odd videos (all corrupted now).. I text a lot.. ever since I started using instant messenger on my BB, I stopped counting. Its for free you see!!! :)

So as I said, I use(d) my phone a lot.

Now am wondering which phone to pick up. I really like blackberry 8520 (my current phone), and A says I can just pick up the same phone...!!!!! Men will be men!!!!!!!!!!! I of course would love to try out something new.

You all must have understood my usage pattern - so please to suggest what should I buy now!!! I don't have any touchscreen preference. Even if I have a touch, I would prefer to have a QWERTY keyboard too. Any ideas??

Grrrrrrrrrrrr

He is expecting me to pay  electricity bill since I am anyway at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The cheek!!!!

Really. :(( Anyhoooo...

I will pay it tomorrow.

But today, have my MIL around. So wondering what to do. Yesterday spent my alone time at the bank, crossword.. remember? She was sitting and twiddling thumbs.

I have decided today is movie day. I will take her along as well... I had, before her arrival i.e., planned to experience watching a movie alone. Whats there I say!!! Its not as if you need to talk to people during the movie. And whats an interval really.. cant I spend 15 mins without blabbering / feeling secure that if I need to urgently talk, I have someone to do so. But whats there I say!!! I have my phone.So what if I need to slap it a bit to get it to function.

Anyhow, I am taking her along as well. The only change to the program being .. Source Code to Dum maaro dum. Hope she doesnt slap me after this movie!! Hahaha.

I want to be a Housewife

That is my new found ambition. And before you say it, I do not have kids..  So I would be doing exactly .. NOTHING except things I like .. like sleeping, eating, cooking, reading, watching TV.

I am so swayed by this entire thought.

Dont blame me. I spent the last week in Goa where I did nothing. And this week.. On Monday I went to a bookstore to browse, met a friend, cooked mutton curry. On Tuesday, met a friend for lunch, did some house work, met old colleagues and then watched TV at home. Today, I made breakfast, read Archies, watched the movie Parichay. The only taxing work I did was to go to the bank. 

And I really dont feel like going back to a hectic lifestyle. I just want to loll around more... I dont want to think about work for sometime.. sometime meaning a few months. It would be so nice to just plan your days with what you feel like doing. I would probably join a swimming class, go for a walk in the evenings, cook, learn a language maybe, meet friends, watch movies.. ah!!!!!

That moment when you realise... when you dont need to think of running back to work post a lunch.. well, you can have as long a lunch as you want.. and drink too.. that moment is just breathtakingly beautiful. You can sit in the sun for as long as you want, run around after butterflies if you want, sit and have coffee post lunch watching the raindrops pitter patter.. there is no hurry.. and you have all the time in the world. Mmmmmmmm...

Its kind of difficult to let go of this nice, insanely warm feeling.

And I wonder, when did I forget to live.

what ho, what ho, what ho...

I am back. tralalalalalalaa.. come to think of it, how many times I have started my post with the same sentence... I am back!!!

So in any case, the thing is.. I am very happy. Very very very very very happy. Why you might ask?

I am in between jobs. Isnt it the best feeling in this world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I spent the last week in GOA. The best part... the bestest part about the trip was there were no mails to check. No one called me to take my inputs on any presentation, on any crisis.. on anything. You see I had declared my last day in the company to be the day before I left for Goa.

So Goa was completely, bafflingly idle ... nothing.. NOTHING distracted me from  the pure blissful state I was in.

And for the first time in.. in about 8-9 yrs.. ever since I have had a cell phone, I discovered that I can .. REALLY CAN, live without my phone .. for at least 5 days. I was using my phone only to clock in with my parents everyday. That is IT!!! Well, mostly... a couple of messages did happen. But if you know me.. I send and receive at least 30 messages a day!!!! So you can imagine what it was like. Unadulterated fun and no phone.

This is what our typical day looked like :

a) Wake up at 9 (me, not A.. he was up at 6 am everyday)
b) Go for breakfast
c) Come back to the room, wash.. wear a sundress.
d) Sit in the sun deck chairs by the pool, in the shade..
e) Order bloody marys, jal jeera, lassi (that was A), aam panna.... and read.
f) Break for lunch.
g) Come back to the same position.. and read more.. drink more
h) Go to the beach by around 5ish
i) Stand in the water hand in hand.. just stare at the far yonder.. and ponder..will the next wave reach till our knees.. will it splash my dress
j) At 7, walk back to room.. change into swimsuit and jump into the pool. I dont know swimming... well I tried. A tried to teach me. I can just about manage to float!!!!!  Note to my self : I must try to continue with the swimming lessons
k) At 9, dress nicely.. toodle off to one the restaurants.. it used to be a tough decision : free meal vs paid meal. Not free free... we had taken an all meals inclusive offer. But the buffet gets boring after 3 meals!!!!!
l) Take a walk.. and crash

Add to these .. a spa session.. a TT match with A.. cycling..a tatoo (the washable variety.. I got a pretty butterfly done on my shoulder) Awesome. Why cant everyday be like this, I ask you!!

The hotel was Taj Exotica in the south of Goa. It was really really nice. The best part about staying in a hotel.. you dont need to clean up.. you mess up the room during the day and when you come back in the night.. the room is beautiful, sweet smelling room again!!!!

We spent a bit.. a fair bit..  but whats money in the face of a bit of peace of mind!!! Its the memories A says.. I agree.. well, I better!!!!!!!!! Thats how I console myself... turn a blind eye ..

We celebrated our 5th anniversary there!!!! Doing the same as above from points a - l. And a special dinner. What an anniv but. A very superior experience :)  I recommend it to everyone.

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My phone is not working.. you can make calls.. kind of.. and you can sms.. though it is a bit trying as half the keys are not working.. apparently I use a lot of n, h, space key  exclamations etc. I just found out.. it works if I slap its behind!!! lol

No matter.... I am still on leave.. in the nether world.. phones do not matter! Have i received enlightenment you think?

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I watched Chalo Dilli. An above average movie. I liked Vinay Pathak. Lara Dutta was also good. But the moral of the story was so not required!!!!!!!!!!! Niether was the entire skirmish with hooligans. Besides that, the movie was quite fine.

There have been so many movies on Delhi recently - I guess it is because movie makers have suddenly discovered that there is a lot of personality to people from Delhi.

Whatever it maybe, I am happy to hear the sights and sounds of Delhi!!

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Today is Monday and didnt have to go to work. Thats why the song. I am enjoying my time off.. by sleeping in.. going to Blossoms and buying many books.. and chatting with a friend over lemon juice..

I also discovered, at Blossoms, that there are many PGW that I havent read. And many of these are out of print.. but joy....I found them on Flipkart.. well some of them.. And I intend to order all of them. This month no salary.. so I will order them One by One!

Right now, I am trying to make mutton curry.. a recipe I caught on BBC entertainment today. I am also discovering interesting TV shows!!!BBC entertainment (a channel I never watch BTW and which I intend to correct) has quite an entertaining programme called the antique roadshow. People come with their bric bracs and get them valued. A very interesting show! Where do people get all these ideas!!!

And now am onto Uma Thurman and Kill Bill  Vol 1.

Ah.. life is but a song....... lalalalalalalalalaaaaaaaaaaaa