1. What time did you get up this morning?  don't know
2. Diamonds or pearls? don't care
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Serenity
   
4. What is your favorite TV show?  Mythbusters, perhaps
5. What did you have for breakfast?  blueberry Pop Tarts
6. What is your middle name?  Shailendu
7. What is your favorite cuisine?  uh...  we have chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry
8. What foods do you dislike?  tindora
9. What is your favorite chip?  Poker
10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?  Jud Jud / No Tolerance for Instruments
11. What kind of car do you drive?  Audi A4
12. What is your favorite sandwich?  a Cuban from Kool Korner Grocery
13. What characteristics do you despise?  stupidity,
    
14. Favorite item of clothing?  my suede jacket
15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?  India, China, Australia
    
16. What color is your bathroom?  yellow
17. Favorite brand of clothing: I don't particularly care.
    
18. Favorite time of day?  dawn
19. Where were you born?  Ahmedabad, India
20. Favorite sport to watch?  college football
21. Who do you least expect to do this meme?  me
22. Person you expect to do it first?  thepeopleseason
    
23. What type of detergent do you use?  Tide
24. Coke or Pepsi?  Coke.  Pepsi or Choke, motherfucker?!
25. Are you a morning person or night owl?  yes
26. What size shoe do you wear?  10.5-11
27. Do you have pets?  yes
28. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone?  no
29. What did you want to be when you were little?  a "scientist"
30. Favorite Candy Bar?  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
31. What is your best childhood memory?  when my sister was born
32. What are 3 different jobs you have had in your life?  veterinary assistant, T.A., programmer
33. What color underwear are you wearing?  black
34. Nicknames: Nunni
35. Piercing?  both ears
36. Eye color?  brown
37. Ever been to Africa?  no
38. Ever been toilet papered?  no
39. Love someone so much it made you cry?  yes
40. Been in a car accident?  yes
41. Croutons or bacon bits?  yes
42. Favorite day of the week?  Saturday
43. Favorite restaurant?  Bone's
44. Favorite flower?  gerber daisy
45. Favorite ice cream?  my dad's rose ice cream
46. Disney or Warner Brothers?  Warner Brothers
47. Favorite fast food restaurant?  Wendy's
48. What color is your bedroom carpet?  off-white
49. How many times did you fail your driver's test?  zero
50. From whom did you get your last e-mail?  hard to say
51. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?  Fry's
52. What do you do most often when you are bored?  whine about being bored
53. Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire?  me
54. Last person you ate out with?  a bunch of friends
55. Ford or Chevy?  Audi
56. What are you listening to right now?  ambient office noise
57. How many tattoos do you have?  zero
58. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  the egg
59. Time you finished this?  12:46
    

I have a spare Gmail account invitation. At the risk of sounding like a Cap'n Ken wannabe, I'm offering it to my friends. Anybody want it? And if more than one of you asks, how will you differentiate yourselves from one another?

batnandu: i just got paid $30 to eat a chicken sandwich
batnandu: a sundried tomato garlic grilled chicken sandwich
thepeopleseason: dude, how did that come about?
batnandu: i was hungry and broke and the gods noticed?
batnandu: or
tmhsiao: oh.
batnandu: we share a building with a market research company
tmhsiao: whoa
batnandu: they're always doing focus groups
batnandu: they needed a few more people, so they asked us
tmhsiao: that's pretty cool
batnandu: and we did it
batnandu: yeah
tmhsiao: and got paid 30 bucks.
batnandu: we were just discussing what to do for lunch and the lady dropped by
batnandu: so we got a filling, tasty sandwich and $30
[...]

batnandu: as we were going in
batnandu: i said to garry, "if the sandwich sucks, we still get $30 to go get lunch"
[...]

tmhsiao: well, I guess there's some perks to working in duluth.

Date:	2004-06-13 20:05
Subject:	Slippery When Wet
Security:	Public
Mood:	thankful

I'm driving lillania's beetle on I-75 near Valdosta (just south of mile marker 11). It's been raining on and off since Lake City, and the road is wet, though it's not raining right now. We're in the far left of three northbound lanes, rounding a gentle curve to the left at about 75 mph, when the tires stop paying attention. ( On a closed track, this would probably be a lot of fun. )

After two days of wrestling with Mandrake, PCMCIA, and a Belkin F5D6020, I'm finally wireless. Of course, the whole endeavor was like crawling around in a dark room with a round peg that you're not sure is actually in your hand, looking for a hole that may or may not be square. Matters improved considerably once I realized that some things really do work better as root. Meanwhile the realization that we'd more or less accidentally chosen one of the best supported cards simultaneously elated me (because it's one of the best supported cards) and embarassed me (because we seemed to be the only people unable to make this combination work). Oh, and let's not forget the interminable mockery of the Windows users who frequently find themselves downwind of my derision.

On a project of this length, this far from home, it's unacceptable for us to have no internet access after hours. So we were quite concerned when we checked into the hotel and they told us the only access they offer is wireless. None of us knew the first thing about wifi, so we were prepared to switch to a hotel with copper. But the guys at the company we're working for lent us some Nortel wifi cards. For Windows XP, this wasn't a problem--the card had a CD with drivers on it. For Mandrake, not so much. Now, prior to the Belkin, my only NIC on this laptop was a Xircom 10/100 ethernet adapter that occupies one PCMCIA slot and obscures the other. I always thought it looked kind of cool. But when you have to search the web and download drivers for a NIC, it really helps to have two, so you can surf with one while you test the other. On the other hand, it was convenient to have a wired net as well as a wireless net at the office so I could do both. It was pretty slow going for a while, swapping cards so I could alternately test and search. In the end, we gave up on those cards.

Somehow we settled on the Belkin, but the results were mostly the same at the office. Everything seemed to be fine, but I had no IP address. Eventually, on the verge of giving up not only on a second card, but on Linux wifi in general as well as this hotel, I tried it at the hotel. Out of thin air appeared an IP address for me! It turns out that I did have a round peg, and the hole (at the office) was actually square. But the network at the hotel is wide open.

So tonight, after we savored scotches and the novelty of surfing at the hotel bar, I decided to explore a bit. I think ethereal and nmap are going to waste more of my time than Homestar. I checked the version of Cisco IOS running on the access point downstairs. I saw Windows machines whose users probably never considered I might be watching or what I might see coming from their computers. I found networked MP3 players! And that was all at 1am. I can't wait to do this tomorrow or back home.

Gemini Horoscope
Thu Jan. 22, 2004 by Astrocenter.com
Today is a great day for you, and you should enjoy a great deal of playful conversation, dear Gemini. Fantasy is likely to play a big role in the events of the day, and you may find yourself daydreaming as you walk down the street. Don't bother with reality if you don't have to. You are much better off keeping the tone of things light and playful. Enjoy your fantasy world and feel free to invite others into it.


If my dream last night was any indication, my fantasy world is HELL. And by that, I don't mean simply that I had a bad dream. I mean that my fantasy world is apparently a place that would make Darth Vader shit his pants. Do yourself a favor and stay where you are.

And, oh, yeah--happy New Year, everyone.

Date:	2003-11-07 13:14
Subject:	Oh, here I come, back from the dead!
Security:	Public
Mood:	giddy

I got paid today. Holy crap!

Jay: i taught jessica the planets.
Me: that's pretty cool
Jay: while she was learning them, she occasionally added a 10th planet called "your highness"
Me: that
Me: is the fucking funniest thing i have EVER heard IN MY LIFE
Me: i can't stop laughing now
Me: and i'm alone
Jay: i'd like to say it was just a mispronounciation of uranus, but she would say both when enumerating them.
Me: uranus, neptune, pluto, yourhighness
Jay: it was more like, mercury, venus, earth, your higness, mars, jupiter saturn, uranus, neptune pluto.

Me: [mumbling something about having to drive to Duluth]
Her: [imitating Sloth from the Goonies] Duluth! Baby, Duluth!

That, my friends, is a rare woman.

Date:	2003-09-18 16:53
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy

Earlier this week I saw a praying mantis outside my house for the first time in the nearly two years I've lived there. Jubilation ensued.

I'm sure I missed some stuff, but I think I've accurately depicted the spirit of the past 7 days:

5 Aug:

• "a delightful snacking assortment"
  
• beef "hit by a car" & cabrito
  
• irish whiskey, beer, tequila
  
• ribs, wings, corn, beer
  
• scotch
  

• corn pops with milk, coffee
  
• ham & cheese on baguette, beer
  
• carrot cake, espresso
  
• coffee
  
• beer
  
• "a delightful snacking assortment"
  

• sausage, egg, cheese on an english muffin
  
• pretzels
  
• steamers, mussels, shrimp, white wine
  
• salad, lobster, asparagus, pasta with portugese chorizo
  

• corn pops with milk, coffee
  
• ice cream
  
• steamers, mussels, lobster
  
• white wine
  
• salad, london broil, icelandic schnapps
  
• ice cream
  
• scotch
  

• strawberry-walnut pancakes, coffee
  
• onion rings, ice cream
  
• fudge samples
  
• lobster bisque, martini
  
• irish whiskey
  

• frosted flakes with milk
  
• bagel with cream cheese, hash browns
  
• cheese and crackers, white wine
  
• steak, corn, salad, red wine
  

• fried egg on english muffin
  
• potato chips, beer
  
• ham & cheese sandwich
  
• pretzels, fudge
  
• irish whiskey
  

Date:	2003-07-29 11:08
Subject:	Coincidence... or FATE???
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited

Consider going on a trip with a close loved one of yours, dear Gemini. A long-term break from your current reality may be just the thing that is needed to infuse a new blast of romance into your life. For you unattached twins, you might find that going off on an adventure to a foreign country might result in your meeting the love of your life. Broaden your horizons and look toward new ways of thinking and believing.

Today is not a great day for inspiring enthusiasm in others, dear
Gemini. You might find that there is a sober, conservative tone to the
day that is stealing the fuel from your fire. Realize that this is
just a part of the natural cycle of things. Don't feel that you need
to be up and bouncing around all the time. Give yourself a rest and
focus your energy inward. Settle your nerves and get down to business.

Easier said than done, as usual.

Let's say you own a beard trimmer. Let's also say that you have a beard, which you keep trimmed to 5mm, courtesy of the trimmer's handy setting. Imagine trimming your beard with your trimmer, but noticing more than the usual amount of hair falling into the sink. Can you now imagine looking up into the mirror to see half your beard gone? Exactly what fraction of a second do you think elapses between seing half your beard gone and checking the trimmer setting? And when you notice that it's somehow set to 1mm, exactly how much would you feel like Charlie Brown as you scream, "AAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH"?

Once I had done all of the above, there was nothing left to do but shave my face. I'm talking about the WHOLE THING. Which one of you punks snuck into my house and reconfigured my beard trimmer?

Date:	2003-07-14 16:16
Subject:	PocketLJ
Security:	Public
Mood:	curious

I just installed PocketLJ on my visor, so I thought I should take it for a spin.

Since khubli brought it up, I thought I'd share mine as well. At lunch with him, I got a really lame one: No one is happy who does not think himself so. Blech.

But the night before, there was a nice pair (in separate cookies): (1) Your current plans will succeed, and (2) You will have to modify your plans. I thought that was kinda weird. One dinner, two cookies, related fortunes. Strange, yes, and odd.

batnandu Magic Number 17 Job Computer Nerd Personality Focussed And Driven Temperament Angry - At Everthing Sexual If I Have To Likely To Win Nothing Me - In A Word Divine Colour Brought to you by MemeJack

I mean, who wouldn't?

You're a force of nature barely contained in your clothes, Gemini. You're elemental and irresistible; primordial yet playful. You're laughing like a river, dreaming like a volcano, and as surprising as a snowstorm on a summer day. You can talk the way the animals think. You remind me of a waterfall exuding fireworks. How could anyone not be drawn to you? How could anyone not feel a bit nervous while drinking in your unpredictable charisma? You're way over the top, and I like it very much.

T-22 days and the itinerary is set:

Tuesday, 27 May: depart Atlanta at 8:35 am, arrive in San Jose at 10:48 am
Thursday, 29 May: depart San Jose at ?? am, drive down the coast, arrive in Los Angeles at ?? pm
Friday, 30 May: depart LA at ?? pm, arrive in San Diego at ?? pm
Sunday, 1 June: depart San Diego at 10:20 pm
Monday, 2 June: arrive in Atlanta at 5:29 am

Plans for activities along the way are slowly taking shape. In San Jose I'll be staying with Jay & Sheri, and I know they're more than capable of entertaining me. And if they're not, I can count on their two-year-old daughter Jessica and her two-month-old brother Noah. But I need to get into San Francisco for a little while to deposit a geocache for Keely and visit the Bow Bow Cocktail Lounge.

The drive to LA is little more than an excuse to take photos. Well, that, and to drive down the California coast.

I'll only get to stay with Galen one night in LA, but he may take Friday off from work. And he's also going to San Diego to run a marathon on Sunday, so I'll get to hang out with him in two cities. It'd be nice if Velvet Chain were playing that weekend, but right now it doesn't look like it.

Two nights and two days in San Diego with Angela. If things work out, I'll get to photograph her band band on Saturday or Sunday. And maybe I can get some shots of Galen in the race.

So, six days doesn't seem like a long time any more, but I still don't have enough activities planned to fill all my time. I'll work on that.

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to Purgatory!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

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

Take the Dante Inferno Hell Test