myPhones

I managed to get all the phones used by me in one frame :)

1. Nokia 3310 [March 2004 - Dec 2005]
This is one amazing piece. It had great signal quality, decent battery life (which i screwed by using it when on charging). It was 2 yrs old when it was handed over to me (rather i snatched it from my Dad). I did try some modifications on it to make it look jazzy and cool, but it turned out to be a colored soap box. It was in working condition when i stopped using it. I still remember how i used to torture it by typing SMSes with my feet :). Talk about being Rough and Tough. It had this amazing feature: it used to break down into 3-5 pieces depending on the height from which it was dropped before it came in contact with the ground. Free SMS and Free Calling were the order of the day then and the phone didn't disappoint me to let me take full advantage of it. I handed this to shravan who failed to take advantage of it. It was dead by the time he started using it.

2. LG White Sleek Phone [Jan 2006 - Jun 2007]
My Love-Hate relationship with Reliance CDMA started with this sleek white phone which later turned brownish. Incidentally this was my first phone buy, 2400 bucks only. Like the previous one and the future ones, this was not spared from torture (as is apparent from the looks). It had some irritating ring tones. I remember one of my colleagues requesting me to change it.

3. ZTE Classic Cheapest model [Jun 2007 - May 2008]
Time had come to throw the old phone and replace it. But Reliance, as usual, was offering better price for new SIM card based phones rather than the old model ones. I decided to change my number and get a new  phone + connection for 700-800 bucks. This had an amazing feature, it would not let the user speak for more than 5 minutes. After which, it could be used for ironing clothes. Then, one fine day, its microphone got screwed and i had to junk it.


4. LG Some Weirdo Color model with FM [May 2008 - March 2009]
My first color mobile, FM mobile, etc etc. I used a wired headset with it. It made my biking experience enjoyable with its decent FM. I had to stop using the FM after I had a near miss. Yeh India hai mere yaar, You can drink, drive and survive but not drive closing your ears and survive! It was a very decent phone until i dropped it multiple times when it was charging to screw the charging port. The phone is still in working condition. It needs help in charging though ;).

5. Not Apple, Chinese hiPhone [Dec 2008 - ...]
My first GSM, Music Player, Camera mobile which is being used only as Music player and camera. I got this phone imported from china. My colleague had got it for me (of course, i had to pay for it). Unfortunately, our jobs got knocked off during this period and I was about to resell to somebody even at a minor loss. I couldn't change my number during this Job hunting season and decided not to get a new number and put this mobile to use. However, this has been serving me in quite a few trips. It has auto Turn Off feature(!!!) too. Oh, Did i forget to mention 1 GB memory :-? [I invested 5-6K on this piece of $h14]


6. LG Some Weirdo Color Model with FM 2 [April 2009 - ...]
Same as 4. Supposed to be advanced but it is worse than 4 and cheaper too. Both are sub 2K phones. It's going strong after lapping more than 600 hrs of talktime and few thousand smses.

Not bad, I spent <13K over the last 6 years on phone (Got some 2K worth talktime too. Anyways, leaving it for simplicity purposes). Kanjos, Makki choos. Time to change my mobile based on the above collected stats. 6 phones in 6 years, means i gotta get a new one next fiscal.

A snap of all the phones in my house now (includes Asko's and Shravan's)

Just like that

Most of the times i love to start with something like "Its been long time since  I did this that blah blah ... ". This is no different. I managed to start with the same words ;). In 2010, I have been to the theatres 4 times already. This is equal to the entire 2009 or may be more. Recession is gone? Dream on buddy! I would love to write a review of all the movies I watched but unfortunately my memory power is not helping me.
But I do have a parody for one of the songs (Co-created by 3 Idiots - Shravan, Asko and Me):
Give him some shoe shine, give him a brain,
Give him another trance, He wont dance again...
Na Na Na
Na Na Na
Give him a sore throat, Give him some pain (if possible lots of pain),
Give him another glance, he wont sing again...
Na Na Na
Na Na Na

No points for guessing who "him" is. Anyways, apart from doing such humorless and uncreative stuff, i have been upto nothing. Which is good because thats what i have been doing for so many years in a row now. Am a veteran! :). End of 2009, had been on a road trip to Goa. Hopefully will post a blog for that sometime this year (before i forget the places visited, routes taken, etc).

Everything is "Fair" for a party

From learning Pottery to spinning tops, flying kites, folk dance to DJ. It was a visual treat and a fascinating one too. The party was on the theme of Village Fair mixed with some modern amenities for the urban folk. This is more of a photo blog, so enjoy the pics. I enjoyed the Cotton Candy :).

Getting these pics copied from Asko's book did take sometime though ;). First we tried Bluetooth, then FTP and later decided to use the usb memory lying near our laptops. Asko did have doubts on using it on his book, fear of virus i say. tch tch. I did ask him to buy a condom for it, it went in vain though. Anyways, given that format is always around the corner, he decided to take the usb stick and stick it up his book. 

 

Whos the Farmer?

This is not about FarmVille. This is the story of how i managed to get returns from one of the hazaar plants that tried to take shelter in my pot. I got to harvest Moong dal in my garden (If i can call one pot in my balcony my Garden :-?). The harvesting is happening in a staggered way (even though there is only one plant :D). All the beans do not ripe/dry at the same time. So i have been harvesting one at a time over the past few days. Some pics to enlighten what i am talking about. This was planted by my cousin in the already overcrowded pot a couple of months back (I think). One moong dal grain has given almost 75 moong dal grains :D. It could have been more if we had used better soil and the plant didn't get infected so early.

I have been unsuccessfully waiting for the 6 month old Lychee tree (Plant) to grow. It seems to have forgotten its purpose on this planet. Anyways, may be it didn't like the other 10 plants growing in the same pot ;). Not to forget the 6-8 Chilli plants which were quick to sprout and grow but seem to like the Lychee way of living. Next what? Time to get more pots i guess.

Move V

2009 is drawing to a close. The last 2 weekends will be busy ones. More about them when they become past tense :). I have a long list of movies which are there on my system begging to be watched. I am more interested in watching Avatar/3 Idiots in theatre. Its been ages since I went for a movie in a theatre. Damn costly tickets i say. Its lack of options that drives the ticket sales at the insanely priced Multiplexes. All the crooks have joined hands and have similar pricing patterns. I don't feel that the recession is over but the retail and entertainment industry claims that recession is history. When people say worst is behind them, they should know whether its right behind to come back any moment or its history. I still feel its just standing next to me waiting for a chance >:). I wish Bangalore had more Multiplexes than the number of upcoming states. If these people continue such pricing practices, I don't see an end to the piracy business. I would feel bad to watch a pirated movie if the ticket costs were around 30-40 bucks. At 250-1k per ticket, i am encouraged to go the wrong way. On one hand we have the TV channels which play a new movie for 6 hrs (#@$@#) on the other hand the magnificent Multiplexes. Difficult choice eh? Anyways, whats the point of ranting in my blog :P, i will continue my movie watching in HBO/Star Movies.

Taking Stock

Last weekend, I was supposed to be in Chennai but ended up canceling the trip. Was not really feeling too great to travel for the weekend. Given that i had been out of Bangalore for 6 out of the last 8 weekends (dragging throat infection along spreading across the state borders). Hmm, not that i got rid of the throat infection over the last weekend :). The doc visit didn't seem to help (even though it was ages back). Got a free flu shot from the company. Hopefully that will prevent complications in the current Flu season.
Weekends in Bangalore remind of the innumerable pending chores. Property tax was one of them and it was supposed to be paid by July this year. "Better late than never" being my motto for life, i decided to drive (ride!!) to the BBMP setup near my house. The moment i entered in one fellow was interested to fill up the Tax form for me (Damn, i always end up with the Kannada form). Lucky me, the officer who sells the forms had gone for pre-lunch meal and i had to wait for half an hour. In the meantime, i kept disturbing the other officers(/agents??) sitting there to find out if i could get the form and get going. It took me 4 months to visit this office which is 3 KM from my home and now, it looked like further delay was inevitable. Phew, somebody rightfully said "You don't get it until you sweat it out". Yeah right. Just when I was fooling around, I lost the lonely chair which i had reserved for myself. Wonder what happens to people when they step into govt offices. They seem to lose their integrity. I just stood up and one supposedly "well-educated" lady snatched the chair and sat on it. I didn't want to create a fuss about it. Move on buddy, its just a chair!!! After losing the chair, I lost interest in waiting for the ever punctual and duty conscious officer and decided to leave. Hopefully next weekend or some other weekend in the future will be a better one. Near the entrance, I saw a couple of Software folks talking about paying taxes online and were looking confused. I pinged one of them and asked him about online payment. He said he didnt take a chance and indicated that one of his friend's dog's friend's owner's relative's cousin had tried it and it was very simple but it had some issues. I was happy to hear that people have tested the site and rushed back home. I switched on my machine and decided to explore the tech provided by the Govt body (BBMP). Of course, the first thing you do when you are entering unexplored territory is "google search". There are lot of nice angels who curse, swear and sometimes praise the available facilities on the web. The site from where the Online filing and payment is supposed to be done is http://218.248.41.198/. I was not too keen to do online transactions via this "nameless" site. After reading a couple of blog posts and articles, i decided to give it a shot. The only input which i needed to enter was the previous year's application number and viola, the new form filled with all the necessary details and amount due shows up. At every stage of the process i was printing out the page to pdf file for reference. You never know when the dark angel attacks. AS usual, clever me, was trying to pay taxes online without credit card in vicinity. After hunting down the Key to life, i completed the payment procedure smoothly. I saved some 50-100 bucks by not letting some agent fill the form and do some magic math which i never understood. I vaguely remember somebody telling me that you end paying more online because the calculations are accurate ;). I would prefer paying the govt rather than some fella who does magic. Anyways, given the process is so simple, i would advise people to follow this route rather than standing at the govt office's door waiting for your turn and the irritating mid-meal and mid-snack breaks taken by people there. Way to go BBMP. I am very appreciative for this feature. I guess, we just need to open our eyes to such technological advancements made by the govt and start utilizing them. (Else the govt may decide to stop such advancements for poor response). "Trust in Govt" eh ?
Not sure how many more chores are left.
Let me count:
1. Need to call the Electrician.
2. Need to call the Plumber.
3. Need to call the Carpenter.
4. Bike servicing
5. Address change for Demat
6. Bike Tyre change
and many more :(

Huh.... somebody said haircut !!!

Back on Rolls, Rock n Roll

Good to be back on the payroll of the company. I am glad and very happy that it happened. Better late than never ;). End-of-my-smallest-post :D