Happy 2006!

Murthy writes:

What are years but shifting lines of reference placed on the
waves of timeless time to count seashells of happiness and
sorrows. To seek solace from the past disasters, contentment
in our achievements, and look forward with hope for the next
wave of time expecting to pick up a better, more beautiful
shell washed ashore.

Wishing you a very happy new year!

And while you revel in the expectation of picking up a few good shells, singing a few shelleys and avoiding the stingrays, here is an LMAO category ad from Petronas Corp. to keep you laughing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=JjvzQm4bJ8s&search=petronas

Conversational Tamil skills required... :-)

Credits: Murthy and The mottai boss, who in turn wishes to credit the sambar mafia...

Pyramid Rock Trail, Red Rocks State Park, Gallup, NM.

To loo or not to loo?

Karthik posing in front of his discovery: what is a loo for if you cannot park there?!
(Grand Canyon, 2005)

Random stuff...

All hands at the lab are required to take a series of training sessions. Some of them are interesting and contain good engineering. A few are boring beyond belief. I, like 20 others, suffered the torture of one of these classes this week. It was a lead safety training class:

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Other than the voice of the instructor who rambles on, silence in the class is broken only by the occasional deep breath drawn by an employee in semi-slumber.

Instructor: In early days, zinc welders drank milk before they went to work. The milk helps reduce the amount of zinc absorbed by their body...

Instructor: Are there any questions?

Nobody answers.

Instructor (insistent tone): I want questions, folks.

Bored lady in class whips: The milk... is it skim or whole?

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Dude in class: If a chunk of lead is injected into my body, how soon should I remove it?

Instructor: Do you mean a bullet?

Some of us laughed but neither of them was joking. I wonder what kind of people I work with.

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Maria Martinez greeted me with an infectious smile. I was not surprised. Afterall, she was a car insurance agent trying to sell her service for my Honda Accord. Most of the interaction was uninteresting but I was stumped by two facts:

1. If you are less than 30 and unmarried, you are considered an irresponsible adult, and the premium increases by ~15%!

2. The insurance on a new BMW 325i is less than that on a new Honda Civic EX, although the Bimmer(*) costs 150% of the Civic!

On the face of it, both these observations look ridiculous. Is there a deeper meaning to it all?

(*) BMW cars are called "Bimmers" and the bikes are called "Beemers"... This dates back to the early days of BMW when they built motorbikes and sent a few of them for racing. BMWs competed with BSA bikes which were called Beasers... And naturally, BMWs were called Beemers. When the cars came around, they were christened Bimmers to avoid any confusion with their 2-wheeled brothers.

Tendulkar's 35th ton...

Excerpt from Indiatimes cricket:

"It is a great reward for all the sacrifices Sachin has made. He has stayed away from the family for long durations, but has not let it affect his performances...he has always given his 100 per cent on the field," Anjali Tendulkar said.

While the family has planned a celebration when Sachin returns home, Anjali said she may fly down to Delhi to be by her husband's side in his hour of glory.

Though Sara and Arjun (Tendulkar's little kids) had no time for the media, busy as they were with the sparklers, we managed to slip in a question to the master-blaster's daughter. We asked what the big fuss was all about?

"My daddy has made a record by scoring the 35th century. I am very happy and we will have a big party when daddy comes back."

When we put the same question to Arjun, he said: "Because India won the toss."

Boys will remain boys!

Dante's inferno!

I got this link from Ideasmith's website. I was expecting a lot more than Limbo but hit jackpot with accounting. Were we wondering where Anderson consultants went?

I am told its just a few days of hard labor and then, an honorable discharge to... err, the local 'wings of buffallo' aircraft Inc. See you soon...

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent littlecow to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!

Here is how littlecow matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Moderate
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Moderate
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Very Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Test