OMG Its so cool!

Two days of working on my research and finally when it looked like it would just glide, I face something really unexpected. Known as Obstacles, they can be really, really frustrating. I was just about to test my final version of my experiment when suddenly, I receive a system message saying that all the machines are going down for some updating patches. I thought, "Here I am, with a working piece of code and this system does this shit now. Great!". So, I wait for an hour. Systems reboot and I set everything up for my experiment. Guess what? Scripts doesn't work. The updates did something to the environment which screwed up my runs. So now what do I do? Check for alternatives. Let's search on Google. Opened browser and that shit shows me the annoying 'page cannot be displayed' page. "Aren't you showing me a p-a-g-e? Then, WTF. Say, you can't show me the page I want". So, finally here I am, sitting offline, writing my blog in a notepad (eventua...

Look out for a man age 30+, walking around Clemson campus and downtown in his grey/white tshirt and blue denims! I call him the Walk-man. Blonde hair, head up and his big tummy hanging down, I have always seen him walking at a steady place. Saw him at different times of the day and at different places (Brackett Hall, Outside Riggs, Downtown, Papa John's, US123 signal). So far, Walk-man count is around 8-9 (Obviously, I don't know the exact number cuz I never knew he'd be walking around Clemson all the time.) Walkman fact: His walking speed - roughly around 6-7 mph cuz he reached Papa John's from Sikes Hall in 10 minutes and that would be 1.1 miles of distance (Yahoo maps ;) ). Hehe, I did not follow him. I was waiting for my ride at Sikes and when I reached Papas I saw Walkman pass me by.

Last week, 10 Clemson students were found on Vtech campus in nice formals (a couple of them in suits!). They were in fact, even spotted in the Career Fair at Vtech. What the Hokies are wondering is how did they enter the Career Fair? Guards say all 10 had the security tag on each of them. A couple of them also got interview calls from companies from the career fair. Well, I call them 'Clemson's Eleven'. I am fortunate to be part of that 11. Hehe, btw, the 11th is actually from Vtech. He is, I would say, the informer. In the snap below, we were heading towards VA. You could actually see my hair in it :P To Vtech!!! P.S. Real purpose of this blog: To test whether Hello.com software rocks or sucks! It took me few minutes to understand Hello software but I figured it out eventually. I say it rocks and you would see more picture stories in my blogs in the future. --v

Yup. Got bored with my first title within the first seven months on Blogger. I have officially changed it now to something professional :) Lol, the real reason is that my blog got googled a few weeks back but my name was no where on the blog; so, changed the blog title to my name. Hehe. Looks lot more professional, creative and personal. P.S. My title reflects something I have been working in for the past two months - Unix shells and shell scripts .... Update: Paladin took over this blog now! muhahahahaaw

Today was just another normal day for me until my friends, my family made me realise that I am getting old. Its my birthday today. Silver Jubilee! I know they are all concerned about me of what I should be doing after living off 25 years of my life. Should I be partying more or should I be more matured? More dynamic? More happy? More Studious (That is no way gonna happen!)? Or more healthier? Or settle down in life? Whatever they want from me, I'll give a try. Let me walk you through my big day. I kept pretty much busy myself with job and phone calls today. My manager fired me a zillion times, "Vipul, Get off the phone! Get back to work!", she was just kidding. And my supervisor was puzzled while I was talking in my mother tongue with my brother. What shit is this kid talking? Of the 9 hours I worked today, I think I was on phone for 3 hours. I have a Clemson game to watch tonite and I might just relax off my day with some beer. Vipul.B

Yesterday, I had been to a new Walmart which is very close to our home. The very reason we went there was to save time (and the gas money!) but little did I know that my credit card would become my own enemy. A couple of days back, I received a new credit card from Bank of America (BoA) with some great perks (0% APR, mini keychain card etc). I activated that very night and kept it in my wallet as my primary card. I thought it would be great if I start using from day 1. I took it out at Walmart to pay my bill. Knight Rider theme was running in background. Cam and I were happy that we finished our grocery early and only the payment is left. That's when the trouble started. The Walmart cashier got a white slip. Said, "His identity needs to be checked, call us!" She immediately called her manager. The manager looked at me with some suspicion. She told me to wait with our cart at the cashier while she discusses about my card with BoA. I offered her my other credit card but ...

Generally I do not like bringing issue of having faith in God out in the public. It is a personal thing. Either one has faith in God or not. I am in the former group who believes in God but do not create lot of publicity about it. But today's incident strengthens my belief though it may still be considered luck by others. I was working for my part-time job today with a supervisor and she did nothing but count her tip money at the bar. On the other hand, I was working my a** out to make sure the function runs smoothly. By the end of the function, I was thinking, "if she is gonna keep all that tip money for not doing anything while I worked so hard for this function, it would be a big injustice done to a person." I continued my work and just as the host was leaving, he left 100 bucks with my supervisor and made sure i got 50% out of it. I could not believe it. I mean, nobody generally does that. But he was happy the event went well. So, he left out 50 bucks for me :) I have...

This is a true incident and note that I took the decision to follow him. The rest - he has nicely taken care off :) 5:00pm: Martin Computer lab closes down. Followed SD. 5:05pm: Went to the Library but it was summer schedule and was already closed. So, headed to SD's department. Why? Silly! It's closer from out there! Actually, SD wanted to grab his Prof's camcorder. 5:10pm: Got into Rigg's Elevator. Takes about a minute to open/close the doors and 3 minutes to reach 3rd floor. 5:15pm: Reached his office. Suddenly, he gets a thought, "Why do we need a camcorder anyway?". 5:20pm: Left Riggs.

One of my childhood hobbies was running fake business. I would have a company with different divisions and each would handle a part of the activities I was involved in. Since, as a child, I was mostly involved with sports and games, most of my company's division was in sports. The best part about the business I liked was giving names to the company's divisions. For cricket, it was ViCri and for music it was Vi Music. I used to get sponsors for these too. They were nothing but the pens, stationary, electronics and commercials I got influenced from. I guess sometime in my life, I'll be running a business for real. Willing to be partners with friends. Like Ankur. He can be a good business partner as he defeated the Mysore-Shetty in Monopoly :) or I could take the Mysore-Shetty as my partner. Shettys are a lucky lot. Or I have the power-hungry DSouza, the great politician Pamya or Rutvij the gujjubhai. Am just wondering of a company with all these great people =))

All good things come to end and so did my trip. The return trip felt longer, the food was pathetic in the flight, the neighbors too and on top of all this, both my bags were opened on Mumbai Airport and Detroit Airport. I guess there were some security threats that day which led them to search people's bags randomly. One advice - don't wear a tshirt with a bacardi bottle printed right in the middle. That's provoking!

All went well so far and am enjoying my short 3-week trip in mumbai. I look back at my preparations and find that even with a few hiccups, like the Findley phenomenon or the Newegg mixup, the trip planning was total success. The feeling after I landed in Mumbai - A Complete Desi Experience! - the plane did not get the right terminal to park. So, it took a round and finally parked at the right terminal(I guess!). - once on the airport, I did not feel as if the Airport A/C was even working - I could not spot the "ugly" water fountain which pal n dsouza told me about. Probably, I'd look for it during my return trip. - a junior officer was helping a "madam" find her luggage. I figured out she must be so-and-so's wife getting a v.i.p. treatment. - my family got a nice (and shocking) surprise as I showed up without letting them know that I was coming. [Posted in IST]

I am actually writing this on the 16th. I finished my job early today and am sitting in Lee Hall making plans for my big trip to aamchi mumbai. Before I even make plans of what I'd do in mumbai, I have a few things on mind currently. I have yet to get the tickets in my hand; I have to do my shopping; I am waiting for my digicam I ordered online; I have complete 2 projects before next Friday; I have to prepare for my exams after the projects are done; I need to show my final research work to my prof; I need to pack stuff; I need to get all the official paperwork ready for the trip; I need to make sure my parents do not know anything about this trip - its a surprise for them; I have to make sure my brother comes to pick me up at the right time; And I have to make sure I reach the airport on time and don't miss the flight :) All this in 2 weeks - makes it even more exciting!

... It was around 3000 ft. above sea-level. I could see the lake from the top. I knew we were quite high in the mountains. We were catching our breath after a long run downhill. We waited and waited. Our fifth member was nowhere in sight. I thought we lost him. Deep in the forest. Forests of the Slaughter Mountains. We shouted out "Vishal ! Vishal !" for 30 long secs but no response. At the spot where we stopped, Sunil noticed an old, burnt camping fireground. No one was around. Not even the bears. Ankur was looking at an old, wooden board that was showing directions. I was looking at the map to help Ankur out. Suddenly, Ashwin calls us. He thought he saw something. He spotted Patil. On a cold and sunny afternoon, we had gone out to trek a 12 mile Coosa Backcountry trail in the Vogel State Park. The park was beautiful with a lake and some activity spots. There was a minigolf course, a volleyball sand pit and some camping sites. We had camped at the base the previous ...

(edited) Its 9:44 am now... and after a night-out, I really don't know how long I would take to finish this post ... its really tough to write when you are sleepy but after a night out, you really don't know what is being typed on screen. Subconsiously, I may be awake; the screen looks ok to me.... no spelling mistakes, no blurry images and no heavy stomach. but actually, there may be grammatical mistakes and I may feel they are right; I can see clearly though can't find silly mistakes and ... I am hungry! I feel high even without drinking. I did not even enjoy the night-out ... I was busy preparing a project document. Half the time, I slept. Other half I stared at the document. But still, it works! By morning, I am ready with my project. Now, I just need to add a para or so and am ready to submit. Only problem now is I have to sit for the 12:25pm class. That sucks! P.S. Its an edited version. I am posting it a day late as I was short of a couple of lines for the blo...

Yesterday, I went home at 1pm. Generally, thats the time I come to the University. It was because of a night-out. A night-out to study. Last friday, I went to sleep at 5am. There was a party at my place till 3am. Another night-out. To party. Both of these night-outs are like the two sides of a coin - they can never occur together but they are conceptually the same. You enjoy partying and have fun but you need to finish assignments and complete the coursework. Both are essential and is a part of life. However hard you try to avoid night-outs, you land up with at least one in either way.

... Madren Catering Center - There is a lovely bunch of people working out there. I happen to know each one of them very closely now (after sweating my a** for 8 months out there). Take for instance Christy. She is the manager out there. I am mostly scheduled with her and she is really sweet. As soon as I reach there, she'll put me to work. Isn't that wonderful ? And who can forget Sue ? Even if I am not working with her, she is always ready to give you work. I wonder whether she is going over my humble face or she thinks I am going to be one of her bakras. Whatever, I always avoid her even when I am with her. Then there is the team of Michael and company. They only do two things. Eat and talk. Work? Oh ya, they do in between sometimes. Then there is Ginger the head manager; looks exactly like a piece of ginger. Anyways, when I tell her I can work for 20 hours she schedules me only for 10 hours and when I told her to officially reduce to 10 hours, she now schedules me for...

... Monday: Saw the movie Torque. company: Sunil, Ankur. Tuesday: Ate pizzas at Backstreet, Downtown and played pool. company: Sunil, Vikram Wednesday: Went to see movie Along Came Polly but reached late (... I told everyone to come at 9:30 instead of 9:00 :D); so rented a movie and watched at home. Movie - Jodi No. 1. company: Ankur, Vishal Patil, Pradeep, Abhijeet. Thursday: Snowfall. I woke up at 8:30 (my earliest time to get up this semester) to see my frontyard covered with snow. By 11, Shanbhag and I were taking pictures of snow covered university, making snowman and playing snowfight. By 1, others joined in for a bigger snowfight. By 2, playing pool at Peppinos. At 4, drinking coffee and having hashbrowns for more than an hour or so. At 6, watching Barbershop the movie. At 9, we were dancing the night away at Ankur's place. At 10, finished eating a delicious meal made by Pradeep and Patil watching the movie L.A. Confidential. company: Ankur, Abhij...

I have decided never to talk about my work, research or projects on my blog. I mean they are the stuff you want to take a break from and here you are discussing them too. I can talk about the incidents that may have happened during class/research/project but not ABOUT them. Talking about academics, 5+5 is ............... Ten-is (- means n egative ... hehe .... this was a sadela PJ, I know). Now, I love playing Tennis but I was brought down to reality when I realised I don't play good. I play worse. My serves are slow and mostly double faults and I don't have enough stamina. I could back down but HELL NO!!! I bought a tennis racket already and I am going to make sure that it gets its right to play. My racket will be my inspiration until I really break it down in utter frustration. I am in complete control over myself but unfortunately not on the tennis ball. I need a player who is worse than me to make sure I win at least one set and boost my confidence. Newbies, anyone for ...

... Chinaman - Hangout place in Matunga Crowd: Ruia College, Podar College and Vesit's Cell Group Editied version of a review posted on a website www.mouthshut.com Interiors: Less space, Congestion. Well, good for people who come with chics. Why do you its such a popular hangout place? Kitchen:(3 cooks) Kitchen area is very dirty. Chopped vegetables brought in dirty gunny bags. Half the tiles damaged vegetables and rice kept open. Well, we do need some junk in our body. How else can you survive in Mumbai? Service: Waiters attend customers only when they are called several times. Cuz this place is always crowded ... Water served only when asked. Who drinks water anyways ? Waiters dip their fingers while serving it. Haha ... Serves you right ! Only 1 menu card given “per table” irrespective number of customers. Menu card? Don't you have your favorites? Order taken after 7 minutes. Actually, its 16 minutes. Cold drinks served wit...

... with a twist ! Attending classes in the week: 10 hours Completing assignments, homework and projects in a week: 40 hours Working on-campus for a part-time job: 10 hours Travelling to the University using the local CAT bus: 5*4*20 mins/trip ..... 7 hours Playing tennis, cricket or exercising: 10 hours Spending the weekend at your friends' place having beer: Timeless !!!

... Eating chinese in US and in India is totally different; we use spoons or maybe, if you are lucky, forks in India but in US, its with the fork or chopsticks. Big food chains handle Chinese restaurants in the US but in India, the stalls ( bakdewala ) makes the best. Dirt cheap rates at the stall .... prices in cents but the quality was also same. Our motto - take in the regular doses of this junk; that saves you from getting infected though. And trust me, it works ! I haven't had proper Chinese meal for a long time now. There's a grocery store nearby who sells frozen chinese food. Tried there once but it doesn't even taste like the roadside junk. I hope to go to Anderson someday and try out Chinese at Grand China - heard they r good. And why did I come up with this topic ? Because. Chinese is one of my favorite food; a chinese joint (Chinaman) used to be our favorite past-time during my undergraduate studies; and I used to get Free home delivery anytime from my nei...

... aajkal aakaal ne apna dhyan kissi aur disha mein kar diya hai. Hamare khaas sutro ke anusaar aakaal ne apne ilake mein khaane ki har cheej ko saaf karke rakha hai. sutro ka yeh bhi maanana hai ki wo ab likhai ki samagri ko nishana banaya hai. Kal tak jab aakal dikhai deta tha to khaana gayab hota tha; abto pen, pencil bhi gayab hone lagi hai. aaj hamne pramod se interview liya tha to unhone bhi kaha ki unki pen gayab ho gayi hai. Hamare paas thos saboot nahi hai ki iske peeche aakaal ka haath ho. Lekin lagta hai aakaal ne yeh maha-attack shuru kia hai ...... aur abhi abhi hame khabar milli hai ki jardan ki kissi ek lab mein aakaal ne pen shodhan chalu ki hai ....... agar aisa hi chalte raha, to clemson ko aakalistan ka naam dena padega .....

"Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!" "And you think it will work?" "Ofcourse, everybody makes on something, why not make on nothing?" "You know, maybe you are right. Lets make on nothing." - From the hit comedy 'Seinfeld' (one of my favorites) And thats what I feel my blogs are going to be. About Nothing.