THE DARK SIDE of the BLACK

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

December 2018 California-Nevada-Arizona-Utah

This is the reference sheet for myself and any traveller for the plan. Here is the layout.

Duration : December 22, 2018 - December 29, 2018

Day 1 (December 22) : Started from Fremont around 6:20 AM and reached Las Vegas by 8:30 PM. This was due to heavy traffic jam on interstate 5.
Checked into the Palms springs airbnb and had a nice sleep.

Day 2 (Dec 23) : First thing first, Make kids happy. Breakfast at Indian Masala and headed to Circus Circus Casino. Kids played plenty of games and won the toys. Watched couple of the circus performance at circus circus. Headed to LINQ high roller at LINQ casino and had a fantastic view of the glowing city from the high roller. Kids and big ones enjoyed the water rafting and roller coaster VR ride late in the evening.
Filled the tummies at Newyork Pizza. By the time we finished the pizza, Christmas show was performed by local folks and it was amazing.

Day 3(Dec 24) : Time for long drive. Drove to Hoover Dam and had lunch there on the top of the hill. Headed to West RIM of Grand Canyon. Parked the car at Hualapai ranch and took the Grand canyon shuttle. Enjoyed the views of the grand canyon and drove back to Vegas.

Day 4(Dec 25) : Second thing second, Make kids happy. Went to Mandalay Bay's Shark-Reef Aquarium. Kids loved it. Spent most of the day here and went to vegas strip and took some patel shots in and around multiple casinos. It was amazing to watch the Bellagio's water fountain late in the evening. Took the LIMO back to Paris Casino. Kids loved it. My son was not able to believe that it was a car.

Day 5(Dec 26) : Itchy Foot, time for long drive. Drove all the way to Zion National Park. Filled gas at Mevericks, It was freaking windy. Parked the car at park station #2 and took the free springdale city shuttle to Zion National park visitor center. From Zion National visitor center took the zion free shuttle. Zion national park allowed us to go only till Zion Lodge stop due to heavy snow. Got down at Zion lodge and did Emarald river trail hike. Headed back to Vegas.

Day 6(Dec 27): Checked out from the airbnb and headed to Speed Vegas. Drove Ferrari 488 GTB on the racing track for 5 laps. It was worth it. My 3.4 year old son was upset because, they did let him ride along with me. Checked into MGM grand Marquee suite later in the day. This was mind blowing. Ladies went to SPA and boys did the baby sitting.

Day7(Dec 28): Checked out MGM grand with heavy heart and headed to Death Valley. Took pit sopts at Zabriskie Point and bad water basin. Kids played enough in the sand dunes on the way to stovepipe village. Drove through the death valley and reached Bakersfield.

Day 8(Dec 29) : Headed back to home from Bakersfield. Reached home around 4:30. It was a mixed feeling. Happy to be home, sweet home. Sad that an amazing vacation came to an end so fast.

Total Miles : 1800
Cars : Honda Odyssey and Honda Pilot

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Sheer Driving Pleasure

My friend fell in love with my beloved ceevee, when I was moving to CA and it wasn't that hard for me to hand over the keys to him as I knew him from last 12 years and I knew he would take care of her very well. When I handed over the keys, not even a screw was loose in 5 year old dearly driver's 1.8L, 132BHP ceevee. Even after coming here, I made sure my friend is happy with her. :)

The hunt for new machine was ON since the day I arrived. I must admit that this place is ultimate heaven for petrol heads. One will be lured with options. Some of the cars who stole my heart at first sight were Dodge Charger, GM Camaro, and Ford Mustang GT350. Believe it or not, blue GT350 with black racing stripes with Shelby body kit is still my desktop's wallpaper. Every time I fell for these cars, It took me a good one minute to realize that, I am married and have two kids. My brain outright rejected them. Like everyone else, I also started looking for popular Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Everyday I read about these two cars and searched enough on truecar, But all this was half-hearted .. so coudn't convince myself. Strange fact was subconsciously I spent the same time on BMW, MERC and Audi :( . This was not going anywhere, so had to narrow down on something.

Since the day I know automobile, I have always respected the machines which were built keeping driver and driving dynamics in mind and Since the day I know automobiles better and better, I kept on falling in love with the "ultimate driving machine" aka BMW.

The family man within me short listed Hyundai SantaFe Sport purely for space and driver within me said "it's gonna be BWM 328i, 4 cylinder, Twin Turbo".
The later won the battle and I had my girl on Valentine's weekend in 2016.

I got it from United Imports, and guys in united imports were great, though they refused to give me any discount.

Here is how I described here.

I named her Cheryl. She wears alpine white gown with black lingerie stitched using the RED thread. She wears 245/45/R18 Italian rubber on her heels made from Pirelli.
Her eyes with trademark corona rings are stretched a bit to meet the classic kidney shaped nose she has since her birth.She is curvy all over. She is not only beauty but also brainy and sporty too. Goes with Sport M-line packed vanity bag.
She copies her figure(trunk and tail lamps) from her big sister(5 series).
I can control her by my voice commands, just to get the feeling of me having the control over something in life. smile emoticoShe is very responsive(power on tap) with 8-speed auto box that is manufactured by ZF Friedrichshafen, Germany.
Seamlessly shifty with 2.0L under the hood, churning out 240 bhp and diesel like torque 320 Nm at mere @1250 rpm makes her unique.
The million dollar question, I was asked "KITNA DETI HAI" ..
I calculated it over last week and driving over 250 miles, it's been more than 25 MPG. Yes it is 25 MPG. This translates to the fact that operating cost of this girl per kilometer is actually cheaper than my civic in India(Do not forget gas is cheaper in US)
Took her to office everyday and over the week end drove her to Montery, (17 mile drive). It was awesome.

Some of her pics

Monday, December 8, 2014

The Power of Dreams

Way back in 2010, I lost my heart to a curvy girl. She was stunning and admired by me every time she passed by. Her eyes were not normal instead they were stretched a bit to give her a natural look of Yakshagana performer. It was a bliss to watch her after the perfect waxing job done. Every time I looked at her, I felt she a class. May be biased.. but taste is always subjective. Though my friends said she will be heavy on your vallet, the great MS excel showed the minor delta and signaled GREEN.Nod from Wifey was must to proceed and I always liked it to keep it transperant. So here it goes.

Me : I have to tell you something.
Wf : What ?
Me : How about over an ice cream at Corner House?
Wf : Fine .. But Only after the kiddo sleeps. ..Something Fishy ?? Huh ??
Me : Na na .. Just like that.
At Corner house and DBC on table
Me : I have fell in love with another lady ..
Wf : Not now and not again ... The one you have is already doing great..
Me : I agree .. But trust me the new one I fell for is amazing.
Wf : What's the problem with existing lady ?
Me : She is too old :(
Wf : How come all of sudden she become so old .... I remember you telling me she is pretty, a day before.
Me : I was forced to say .. :(

Silence for 5 mins and the hot chocolate sauce was getting colder and colder.

Me : BTW.. this dress looks nice on you.
Wf : I know your intentions and the reason behind the praise ...
Me : Really .. I mean it. .. I will not forget to say the same thing everytime you wear it.
Wf : You have not wished me for last Bday .. and u think you will be able to remember this one .. ?
Me : There are exceptions to everything in this world ... Anyways forget it .. How about the new lady ?

Wf : Are you serious you will sell our beloved Zen (Vxi 2004)
Me : Not sure .. But I can make up my mind for that ..
Wf : Who is the new girl in your mind ??
Me : i20
Wf : Won't it be costly ?
Me : I will manage...Excel sheet speaks the green and works out good on car lease.
Wf : Education for Kiddo should be plannned..
Me : I know and there is a plan in place.

Silence for 2 mins. .. All the ice cream got over and couple of the flies were trying to suck the dripping chocolate suace off the bowl.

Me: Planning to Sell it to Maruthi True Value and he is giving me 1.7L
Wf : You have already spoken ??
Me : Sort of .. at last serivce. ..
Wf : When do we get the new car .. Any waiting period ?
Me : Sales guy told me within a week..
Wf : You have already spoken ???
Me : Sort of .. when I had been to the show room to enquiry for my friend.
Wf : How long does it take to process loan in your company ??
Me : 4-5 working days
Wf : You have already spoken ??
Me : Sort of ... When I went to collect the shipment ... It's near by.
Wf : You must have decided on colour too then ??
Me : I will leave it on you.

Eventually we ended up buying grey colour i20 magna in october 2010. I must tell you the curvy grey lady never ever disappointed me. She is always been my companion for 49,000 kilometers of my all terrain drive covering almost all the south indian states and Maharastra plus Goa.
I used to take her regularly to her beloved beauty parlors..(Trident or Advaith). I used to wish her "looking young" every time she walked out of the parlor.

Enough being said about my second love .. In 2014 October Car lease came to an end and I had two options .. Either continue to own this great lady OR try something better.

Petrol head kicked in and the later sounded the better and background search started. Read the below thread many many times with the same enthu and interest, to find out at least two new things every iteration. GTO has written it in such a beautiful way that anybody ( Including mass) will get tempted to change their mind. Thanks a lot for such a wonderful thread.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/71707-article-best-used-enthusiast-cars-6-lakh-rupees-less.html and also read the below one

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/18859-article-how-buy-used-car-india.html

The requirements were fairly simple with reason stated against each.

1) Should have ABS and Airbags. - Missed in i20 due to magna.
2) Boot Space should be equal to or greater than my i20 (Practical 295L) - Do lot of long trip with my kiddo.
3) Steering should have proper feedback at high speeds. - This is one thing I always missed in my i20 EPS.
4) Interiors/Fit and Finish should be clean. - Expectations went up after spending good 4 years with my i20
5) Adequate power in the second gear - Missed in my underpowered/poorly tuned petrol i20.
7) Good AC - Air Condition wan't that effective when followed the manual (23 degree Cel) in my i20
6) Car should be good looking - Wifey's Requirement and I do not question "why" in such circumstances. :)

Below the the story of the entire process.

Bringing Head and Heart on the same page.

Heart was stolen by Honda Civic since it's inception on indian roads. I still remember the day I sold my soul to this beauty. Here it goes.

I was at Anil Kumble Circle, on the way to my office in M.G. Road Bangalore, on my black 150cc brand new Bajaj Pulsar.
The White Civic comes and stops on my left side. The blue illuminated Digital Speedo and the 2-tier layered dash made me glance her again, again and again. The driver's hand and head was obstacle to magnificent inner beauty and I was struggling a lot have clean view. The gentleman in the driver understood my intentions and leaned back and removed his hands from steering wheel. I just could not take my eyes off her. My thumb went up say thank you before I realized the signal turned green and the gentleman nodded his head.

In 2010, I did a lot of math to accommodate something which has boot.. However head and the heart never converged on the same page. New Civic was still a gorgeous 'princess sleeping' in the Devil's castle. Did not have the courage to fight five mountain's stand to become Master Roshi's student.
The financial obligations made me stay away from Honda show room till they started manufacturing Brio and Amaze and both the cars did not impress me much. No offense made to any owners.

Had chance to drive my friend's Honda City (V 2010 make) on our bachelor's trip to Mumbai in 2013 December. This trip made me lunge for honda engine. I really loved the racing dynamics and the highway stability of the car. This one trip really spinned my head to seriously think about Honda cars.

However I do not wanted to get baised and get into the used car market. Kept my mind and soul as clean as possible to make a note of pros and cons of everything I shortlist.

#1 Fait T-JET Linea : Fulfilled all my listed requirements except the sixth one. :( I should have put that as number one .. I am so much used to priority based preemptive schedulerthat, I apply "Lower the number Higher the priority" everywhere. Just forgot about priority inversion and LINEA was out.

#2 Ford Mondeo : I am a big fan of this car. The only reason I stayed away was reliability over the long term as I was planning keep the car for at least 4 years.

#3 Honda Civic : Fulfilled all the requirements including the wifey's sixth one. Well this was a general ask not being serious about buying or owning it. I keep asking about the likes and dislikes of all the cars generally.

Head and Heart converged on the same page. Three way hand shake done. Good to go for RX (Civic) and TX(i20).

The Persuade Process

Me : What do you think I should do ?? Should I transfer i20 to my name or sell it..?
Wf : You must have gone crazy .. New car again ??
Me : What again ?? .. It's been Fooooooour years.
Wf : Say it like 4. Not Foooooouur.
Me : Ok .. 4 years but don't you think it is still old given the fact that two facelift and an all new in the market already ?
Wf : No .. It still looks the brand new inside out.
Me : Agree .. No doubt on that. .. We have to change the battery now.
Wf : You are trading battery change for an car upgrade ??
Me: Not only battery .. Tyres/Wiper blades as well.. and there is some sort of noise from the engine bay.
Wf : Noise from when ?
Me : Yesterday afternoon. ..
Wf : We have committed for a flat and we are not selling our i20.
Me : Who said I am running away from that...What I am saying is we will monitor the progress of the project using Civic... :)
Wf : Civic ?? I remember you telling me it's heavy on the vallet.
Me: Yes it is the new one .. .. Not the used one :)
Wf : What's the deal... tell me .. What is running in your mind ?
Me : Sell i20 and put the delta and buy Civic. ..No loan nothing. .. Like GTO did.
Wf : Who is this GTO now?
Silence for 2 mins. .. Good that my mom interrupted this conversation to tell me that my car is still good.

Me : What do you think which colour civic looks better ?
Wf : i20 grey
Me : mom How about the new car ??
Mom : Why do you need one .. This one is so good. .. and all have four tyres and can carry only 5 people.
Me : Yeah .. Both you said the same thing while selling zen four years back. What do you expect ?? The car should have 8 tyres and carry 15 of them.. huh ??

Silence for 1 minute...

Me : Tanvi (My daughter) which color car you want papa to buy beta?
Dtr : Pink .. :)

All started laughing.

Wf : So you have made up your mind and just completing the formalities..
Me : No ... not yet. But there is NO confusion in my mind at least ..
Wf : Both are one and the same.
Me : Not really .. What I mean is Either I am sticking to the old car OR buying the used one. Not the new car. No confusion on that.
Wf : So changing the tyres and battery ?
Me : Yes .. With the car itself .. Not separately ..
Wf : If it makes sense to you . ... Go ahead.
Me : Thanks ..

The deal is sealed. Good start is half the work done..:)

Hunting Process

First thing first checked with Honda Terrace and found no Civic. Started looking into team-bhp/OLX/quickr/carwale etc and started comparing them.
Saw couple of the cars across bangalore and they were ill maintained. Ruled them out in less than 30 minutes.
Some brokers showed me some good cars but I felt the ask was little more than the market price.

In the process of searching came across a beautiful black Skoda Superb, which was just a little over my budget. It was very tempting. Head won the battle over the heart.

Here the deal got sealed. One of the employee was flying to US and had to settle his CeeVee before the D-Day.
Ask for 1.8 V i-VTEC/Dec 2010/42K on Odometer/Second owner was 7.5L and I offered him 6.2L and deal got closed at 6.3L.
Checked with Dakshin Honda for the service history and insurance claim. Both were clean and Major 40K service was done.

The D-Day

I could barely sleep once I made up mind and we settled on the price. He handed over the keys to me in IndiraNagar RTO office.
First time I got into the driver's seat of the Civic. I was excited and nervous at the same time. Don't know how to explain that.

I wasn't really comfortable driving such a big car in the city for the first time and also had to remember all the time about the boot and it's width. Somehow managed to reach home.
Next week took her to parlour. The following were checked/changed.
1) Mineral Oil to Synthetic Oil
2) AC duct cleaning (again)
3) Check Engine Mount/Air and Oil Filter / Brake pads/ wheel alignment / Wiper blades etc. - All seemed fine and Honda certified it :)
4)OSRAM night breaker bulbs of same capacity .. but sharper beam.

Including wash and other normal checking costed me 7.1K on my vallet. This I felt reasonable.

Driving Experience so Far

Likes :

Though she is made for highway criusing, did not get a chance to take her out for a fresh breath. Did only one mysore trip in last three months.
She is very handy in overtaking.
She likes to be revved and redlined.
Awesome above 3K RPM.
She makes the cabin cool within 60 seconds.
Makes me smile every time I drive her ..
Her seats feels like someone is hugging you from the behind, so that you do not fall.
The engine noise. I really love it.

Dislikes:

Inadequate torque at lower rpm.
Little hard gearbox, though it is slot-keen.

With all being said .. I still owe an answer to the question "Kitna Deti Hai " ??
She needs a litre to drive me about 10.3 kilometer with all time windows rolled up keeping me cool inside the cabin.
Eveytime I drive her .. I fall in love with her.
I am taking her to Konkan side of Maharastra this december . Will keep you posted.

Friday, June 3, 2011

ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ಥೆನೆ

ಕಂಪ್ಯೂಟರ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಬೀ.ಈ. ಮುಗಿಸಿ
ಕ್ಯಾಮಪಸ್ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸಾ ಬಾಚಿ
ಸಾಫ್ಟ್ವೇರ್ ಕಂಪನಿ ಬಂದು ಸೇರ್ಕೋ .. ! ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ತೇನೆ

ಊರಾಚೆಯಲಿ ಟ್ರೇನಿಂಗ ಮುಗಿಸಿ
ಕಾಪಿ ಹೊಡೆದು ಕೊಡು ಬರೆದು
ಓಡಿ ಬಂದು ಪ್ರಾಜೆಕ್ಟ್ ಸೇರ್ಕೋ .. !ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ಥೆನೆ .. ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ ಪಾವಂ ಪಾವಂ

ಎರ್ರಾ ಬಿರ್ರಿ ತಿಂದು ತಿರಿಗಿ
ಗೂಗಲ್ ಹುಡುಕಿ ಮಾಡುಲ್ ಮುಗಿಸಿ
ಆನ್ ಸೈಟ್ ಅಂತಾ ಹೊರಗೆ ಹೋಗು .. !ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ಥೆನೆ

ನಮ್ಮ ಮಂದಿ ಪಾಪದವರು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಹಂಗೇನೆ
ಗೂಗಲ್ ಬ್ಲಾಕು ಮಾಡಿ ನೋಡು ಪ್ರಾಜೆಕ್ಟ್ ಗೋತಾನೆ ..

ಕ್ಲೈಂಟ್ ದು ಕಿರಿ ಕಿರಿ ಅಯ್ಯಯಪ್ಪೋ ..ಮ್ಯನೆಜೆರ್ ಕಾಟ್ ಸಾಕಪ್ಪೋ ..

ಹಗಲು ರಾತ್ರಿ ಕೆಲಸಾ ಮಾಡಿ
ಮೋಟೆಲ್ ಅಲ್ಲೇ ಅಡುಗೆ ಮಾಡಿ
ಸಂಡೇ ಮಾತ್ರ ಫೋನು ಮಾಡು .. !ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ಥೆನೆ .. ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ ಪಾವಂ ಪಾವಂ

ಹಂಗು ಹಿಂಗು ಲೆಕ್ಕಾ ಹಾಕಿ
ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ಲಕ್ಷಾ ಸಾಲಾ ಮಾಡಿ
ಫ್ಲಾಟು ತೆಗೆದು ಬಡ್ಡಿ ಕಟ್ಟು .... !ಲೈಫು ಇಸ್ಥೆನೆ

ಎಕ್ಷ ಕುಎಸ್ ಮೀ ಸೈಡ್ ಪ್ಲೀಸ್ : ಸಾಲದಕ್ಕೆ ಪೆಟ್ರೋಲ್ ಕಾರ್ ಬೇರೆ .. ಪಂಚರಂಗಿ ಪಾವಂ ಪಾವಂ

Monday, June 28, 2010

Changing Font in Source Insight

Options - > Documents choose default in the combo box "Document Type"
And now change the font by clicking "Screen Fonts". Choose your favourite font and happy browsing.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Baz Luhrman's sunscreen

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, nevermind, you won't understand the power and
beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of
yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous
you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future, or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind: the kind that blindsides you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts; don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive; forget the insults. (if you succeed in doing this, tell me how).

Keep your old love letters; throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives; some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of Calcium. Be kind to your knees -- you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40; maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body: use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it; it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance...even if you have no where to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions (even if you don't follow them).

Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents; you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings: they're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but what a precious few should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps and geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.

Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old; and when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you are 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia; dispensing it is a way of wishing the past from the disposal--wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts, and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me, I'm the sunscreen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5NAPZp2w-o

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

All Government Links