fckd@work

Late night meetings...Groggy mornings
Stuck with reports that don't mean a thing!
No time for friends...no time for booze
Damn it!..my neck's around a noose!
Bad estimations...work on weekends
Hell..when will this ordeal end!
Gone are those lazy sundays ..
Say good bye to all the fun
For you really are
f*ckd at work my friend!

Bruce Lee

Was wandering on youtube..nice video. Reminds me of the countless martial arts movies I used to religiously follow when I was a kid.

Sad Song

need sleep..
gatta work..
life sux..
wat the f*ck!

Randomizing

Work's been really hectic these days. I was moved to this new project which is a 2 month ordeal...literally! Its entirely new for me and the time is really short. Although I am maintaining a good pace but it comes with a price. Its been a week since I played my guitar...2 weeks since I played my precious Xbox..and I guess add another week of missing the World Cup action! However I do get to see the repeat telecast of the NBA finals which comes on late at night. Lakers are playing well...infact..come to think of it..Magic is playing bad. They are lacking on the Field Goals and Free Throws front. I just saw game 2 and 4..and thats what I could infer from those games. I would try and catch Game 5 early morning tomorrow. The good thing is that I am still regular with my running. I have started to run outdoors during weekends. Although it gets pretty warm by the time I am done..but its bearable. Hmm..wat else?...my phone is back. Got a nice li'l lecture from mom..again (the first time was when I came back from bangalore without it). Anyways all's well that ends well. It would be a one day weekend for me this week as well as for quite a few weeks now. Gatta squeeze everything in 1 sunday...lets see how it goes.

Xbox360 - Project Natal

wow! .. I really hope it ends up like that!

Sunfeast World 10K

It was a nice breezy day. I was woken up by Rohit at 6:00 am who was pacing up and down the room "preparing mentally" for the big event. I, on the other hand, was in no such pressure since it was my first race and I wanted to enjoy it. Anyways we left at about 6:45 am and reached a rendezvous point where we had to meet up with Rohit's running buddies. They would take us to the venue in their car(s). We reached the venue to see loads of runners all geared up for the event. There were different categories of events. There was this Elite - Men's, Elite - Women's and the Open 10K run (which we were a part off). The Elite - Men's had already started. Infact it had almost finished. As soon as we entered the stadium, there was this one "elite" guy throwing up in the middle of the track (ok..on the side). But the point is, just before your first race..you should not be subjected to scenes like these. There were some butterflies in my tummy at that time. Anyways that guy stopped throwing up and was on his way again to finish the final meters..but he stopped again and threw up some more. Poor guy...must have given his everything..all in vain. Anyways the women's elite run began right on time with some 15-20 odd runners on the starting line. They completed one lap around the stadium and went outside. Again there was this one girl who was out in the first 300 meters or so. So, not encouraging signs at all. My expectations for myself fell down a few points. Anyways with the elite women's on their way..it was time for the open 10K event. The open 10K was divided into 2 groups...the ones with a "timing chip" and the others without it. The timing chip guys started a few minutes before the non-timing chip guys. As soon as they were on their way..it was our chance. Now..if it were some place other than India..ppl would gradually move towards the "legal" entrance on to the tracks. However, this being India and we being Indians did what we do best...break the rules. People started jumping over the stadium barricades directly onto the tracks. The organizers never in their wildest of dreams thought this would happen. This continued for a few minutes till the cops began doing their stuff with their lathis. Me and Rohit were not interested to jump so we patiently waited in the holding area till we got our chance. So I began my run with Megadeth blaring from my headphones. At that time my adrenaline was really pumping. But it was not to last long. After the 2K mark my shins and ankles were in pain. It must be because I could not run that much during the entire week. I dragged my feet along till the 5K mark where psychologically I am always at a better position. No matter how tired I am, whenever I reach the 5K mark, I feel a bit relieved. Now running in the Sunfeast 10K was a different feeling altogether. There were soo many different kinds of ppl I saw on the way. You had these ppl who stood along the circuit, cheering you up on the way. It makes you feel really good about yourself. Especially for me, since all I am used to are angry looks that I get for hogging the treadmill in the office gym. Then there were people who took some big illegal shortcuts every chance they got , which was kinda stupid. It was like if you don't want to run..why take such a big pain in the first place. Then there were these "walkers". They are the most dangerous of 'em all. They would get to you and would make you wanna stop and walk for a while. I had a tough time..especially on the inclines. I soo wanted to stop and take some rest. But I kept telling myself to go on. Its moments like these where music takes you along. Atleast it helps me to get really pumped up and go for it. Anyways after the 5K, although I was comfortable, I saw so many ppl take the water break that I too went to the next stand and drank some water. I dont know if it was because I drank while running or not..somehow it dint feel good at all. That's when there was this nice incline between the 6K and the 7K mark to make matters worse. That was the toughest part of the circuit. Once that 7K mark was reached..I knew the race was pretty much over. Firstly, because almost all of the remaining part was down-hill and secondly the view was much much better. There were things to look around. That really gets your mind to divert from all the tiredness and exhaustion. Soon enough, I saw the 9K mark and was near the stadium area. I looked at my watch and was surprised to see the time. I was running exactly at the same pace as I do on the treadmill. I was expecting that I would be slower than the treadmill. The final meters were in between large crowds cheering you up and I crossed the finish line with 63 minutes and 11 seconds on the stop watch. Its the same as the time I take normally on my 10K runs. Rohit was there waiting...and also disappointed that he could not cover it under 50 minutes. Nevertheless I was kinda happy. We went to collect the certificates and thereafter went to Purple Haze to celebrate. A nice time overall but I want to improve upon my timing. The next race would be the Delhi Half Marathon. I have plenty of time to prepare but loads of training to do. This time I plan to follow a training routine. Lets hope Delhi is nice to me.

The Trip

Whew!..just back..and damn!..what an awesome trip!!..as good as it gets. I reached Bangalore on Friday and as soon as I landed, I got a call from Rohit that he wont be coming to pick me up! He was not on time for the shuttle bus and since the distance between the Airport and Koramangla is H-U-G-E, taking the next bus wasn't an option. Anyways he gave me directions to the bus stop from where I could board a nice Volvo to his place. I boarded the bus which had loads of space and after waiting for almost 30 minutes, we finally started to move. It was a cool ride..the AC kept me very comfortable..in fact I started feeling a bit cold by the end of it. I reached Koramangla at 11:40ish and waited for Rohit. Back at his place there was Blender's Pride waiting for us. We finished off the daaru session and some of the Coffee Liqueur which was lying around and went to sleep at 3:00 am. We were up bright and early at ..uhh...10 am on saturday. Hungry for some breakfast, we ventured to a place called Krishna Cafe. However we were a bit late and the cafe had closed. Hence, we went to some other place where we had some Masala Dosa and a nice cup of coffee. The next item on the list was some games for my 360. I was hoping to get Gears 2 and Street Fighter 4. I could not find them anywhere in Delhi (ok..i dint really look for them but the places near my house dint have them). Anyways we went to Forum mall and headed inside Landmark...the place for a lotta cool stuff. However, even Landmark dint have Gears of War 2..but after searching for a bit..I managed to find SF4. Next up we went to this Toy Shop. We had nothing particular in mind to buy, but we were impressed with some really cool Robots. Rohit had these gift coupons he won in some excercise competition in his office, and he thought spending it on the robots. However, sadly, the coupons were not valid at Landmark and hence we had to return empty handed. I was really looking forward to having some fun with the robots. Anyways we headed towards Windsor Pub for lunch. It was a long way..plenty of traffic jams before we finally reached the beering place. Its an old joint with a nice ambience and an even nicer beer. The food was also awesome. After having lunch it was nearly 4pm. We headed back..had a nice afternoon siesta. I woke up at around 6 and we went out for some coffee. It was dinner time soon but as soon as we started the bike, it started pouring. We waited for a while inside the house and ventured out again once the downpour was reduced to a mild drizzle. We headed over to a place called Rendezvous. We decided not to have beer too much beer for dinner since there was this big race the next day (I wont mention the race here..it deserves another blog for itself). Anyways we slept at around 11 and got up at 6 and left for the race. It was fun to run in the marathon...and I wasnt under much pressure since it was my first race and I dint have huge expectations from myself. After the race, we headed back home to freshen up and decided to go to a new place called Jimi's for breakfast. Its a new beer cafe and we were really interested in checking it out. However, when we reached there, it was closed. We headed to Purple Haze and our breakfast was 2 pitchers of beer..chilly chicken, french fries and masala peanuts. Hey! we just ran for 10 kilometers..we have all the right to indulge! We headed for lunch at a nice li'l restaurant and stuffed our stomachs with more food. We headed back to the house and decided to rest for a while since we had plans for a "herbal" evening before going to Haze again in the night. We reached Rohit's friends' place at around 7pm where the "herb" was kept. It was my first time and damn!..its nothing like I had experienced before. It went straight to my head. I was really high. In fact so high that I had to pass off the booze plan at Haze. I was really out. After lying around for dunno how many hours..it was time to leave. I enjoyed the ride back home though. The effects of the herb had lessened and it wasnt as strong as it was earlier. Also there was this nice li'l drizzle which helped calm down my nerves (even more :D ). I went straight to bed because I had an early flight the next (today) morning. I left from Rohit's place at 5:45 am and was kinda hoping to catch up with some sleep on the way. Sadly, the roads were totally empty and I reached the airport in like 30 minutes. I slept all the way to Delhi though. Ohh...I also realized when I reached the airport, that I had forgotten my cellphone at Rohit's place. After cursing myself for several minutes..I finally accepted the situation and thought of calling up Rohit as soon as I reach home. As it turned out he already noticed the phone and called up my folks to let them know of the situation. That did help a lot. I am pretty sure my mom would have been very scared. Anyways back at home..I had a nice lunch. I was really hungry since I dint have dinner and no substantial breakfast. I tried the SF4 on the 360 and man!!..its soo cool...its really fun. Again, I wont mention it here since it also deserves a separate blog. Whew!..it was an awesome trip. The booze..the race...the weather..everything was sooo cool. Truly one of the best trips ever!