Spring is here - Waiting for the yellow snow...

March 2013 has been pretty cold by Atlanta standards. Three days into April, I am convinced that its time now for the yellow snow. For those uninitiated out there, its the pollen from pine and other trees that is going to cover pretty much everything outside for the next few weeks. They say you get allergic to them as years go by. Its my seventh spring in the US and this time I am waiting to find out whether I will have to run and get my dose of Allegra.

 

Have you hulu-ed yet?

These days i get to know what Bart Simpson is upto from Hulu.com - the video-on-demand website which provides ultra-clear high resolution video streaming.And sub-titles are there too. This one definitely provides a richer experience for me when i compare it with youtube or any other mainstream video content providers. And to add to that new english movies are added every day; free to watch for all of us. The only hitch is that there are ads which come along once in a while during the streaming which gives us the same feeling as we are watching on a regular tv channel. Who cares? Now i dont have to rely entirely on 'Surf The Channel' all the time - Hurray!

What do you like for breakfast?

Well - To start off, let me tell you that I was not a breakfast person. I never used to have my breakfast properly and always felt it as a burden when i had to take it. One reason could be that i eat a lot before going to bed and also i like to have a heavy lunch. This changed some months back when one day I had McDonald's breakfast. The combination of pan cakes, scrambled eggs and sausages led me to believe that there is something to breakfast after all! That was the moment of truth in a way..

Gradually i started enjoying anything i ate for breakfast. Be it the conventional indian breakfast or an out and out american one. I now make it a point to have my breakfast everyday. My favorite for now is,without doubt, pancakes! The ready to make Aunt Jemima pancake mix and the maple syrup of the same kind assures an affordable and easy to prepare breakfast.I try to have them atleast twice a week. And on most of the days i take some fruits to complement them. I plan the rest of days in the week with some other breakfast item from the endless list to choose from. Be it dosa, the indian counterpart for pancakes, or Idli, or steam cake, or upma , Corn flakes etc. etc. the list goes on and on.

I hope all of you lazy starters find this interest for breakfast soon which is great healthwise!
Also do let me know what you have for breakfast! All the best!

Recession fear looms large...

Yesterday we were shopping at Smithfield mall when we saw the all too familiar 'Going out of business' sale board at Linens n Things. This gave me creeps at first since they have been in business for quite some time and have seen the ups and downs over the years. That prompted me in checking out how the rest of retail business is faring this month and the figures were shocking to say the least! Gap has registered a 15% drop in sales, which can be well understood by visiting any of their outlets in Rhode Island. Macy's have registered a drop and the list goes on. My wife was telling me the other day that she wasnt seeing a decrease in the number of shoppers at the malls or the shops but what i actually feel is that the number of window shoppers have increased manifold. The store visit to actual buying ratio has dipped in this case. With the easing of gas prices over the course of the last 2 months and a hopeful second stimulus , i believe there will be more shoppers. But one giant still remains tall - Wal*Mart which reminds me of the fact that China is sweating it out!

HotchPotch: A bitter experience - Part One

HotchPotch: A bitter experience - Part One

Michael Crichton dies...

I was shocked to read about his death yesterday - I am sure a lot of you would have been too..
He was by far the most entertaining and erudite sci-fi writer i have come across. Not to mention his 'Disclosure' and 'Rising Sun' side too..

I will dearly miss his books! I have planned to re-read all his books for the next couple of months!

A new dawn..

Well, today i mark the beginning of my blogs. Not officially though. I had a brief attempt at mastering this way back in 2003 but I failed miserably - one for the fact that I was at college and the other being not enough events happening in my life to blog about.

This has changed now and well you can see me actively cribbing about a lot of 'terrific' issues from now on.