blogger and google accounts

So one more google service integrated into my google accounts. Right now the integration seems like just able to sign into blogger with my Google account, which is great as i don't have to keep typing my password and remember my numerous user names. Of course there are some other Googly features like lables, which I am yet to use. And I love the new UI where I can create a new post right from the dashboard. I guess we will see more coolness here, like integration with Talk etc.

29

well, inspite of all the problems with power outage and stuff, we all managed to have lot of fun over the weekend. Sunday night we (Sree, Srijan, Eera and I) finally got down to playing 29. Sree and I were a team, and totally won the game!! Srijan's total bluff over bidding for points on random cards showed me a new side of the game. We had always played it mostly truthfully.

This totally reminded me of the time years back when Ankit, Parul didi, mummy and I used to play 29 late at night during the summer vacation. It was such wonderful time. Parul didi and I were always a team, because I think Ankit believed that mummy is the best and he will win in her team :D. I don't really remember who used to win, and anyway we have played so much, maybe there was no pattern. I remember how we used to open sheets after sheets of reds and sometimes blacks., how Ankit used to be in crying mood once they had too many blacks and how mummy used to tell him, its ok, they will close them all in one game!! how sometimes the partners used to fight over putting the trump, and we used to make even 29 points.

The other game we used to enjoy so much, and I am yet to play here is कोट-पीस. There were coats and gu-coats!! Those were really some of the best memories of childhood I have.

Power outage - day 2 & 3

Saturday morning as usual we got up really late, though still not rested well, who could sleep well with full bright light outside and Palani's snores inside. We had a good breakfast of noodles, then heard that light is back at some places in Redmond, specifically at Eera's and Palani's places. So we packed our bags and headed back to our side of the lake. Coming back to Bellevue seemed like coming back to a ghost town, everything was still in a mess, and there was no light and no signals anywhere, and by now as people had settled in their places, there was very little traffic also. There was no sign of any progress near Srijan's place, though power was restored at some of Microsoft blgds, of course they were the top priority!!

So we decided to have a good hot bath in MS bldg 50. There were a bunch of people with same mission there. After bath all poor homeless 4 of us (Sree, Srijan, Aparajita and me again) went for a very late lunch. The restaurant was as usual packed, with lot of people not able to cook. Our schedules were so off by this time and I was really tired from lack of sleep Friday night. So after dinner when we setup our camps at Eera's place, I went for a nap. Got up, still no power, no idea of time, no e-mail, nothing, we played more, watched movie, cooked more food and just had fun. It was turning out to be not so bad a weekend, like camping in winter, inside a house :)

Saturday night sleep was good, got up around 9:00 on Sunday, still wanting to sleep more. More late breakfast, late lunch, more lachcha and time pass. I made a round of my room with Sree to pick up some clothes. On the way back we decided, its time to burn some calories. So we went to Marymoor park to run the washington river trail. Ran for 4 miles, it felt really good. Back to our adda at Eera's place. I took a nice long refreshing bath. Then we played Clue, it was ok. Then finally my landlord called me to tell that we got power back! It was such a sign of relief. But anyway I stayed for a game of 29 before finally heading back to my room.

Well, it did not turn out to be that bad afterall!!

Power outage - Friday night

While we were having the late lunch, Sree and Aparajita also finally arrived, all powerless homeless people. We were all packed with clothes, sleeping bag, blancket and pillow, ready to just camp anywhere, roaming like nomads. From Swati we heard that there is power at Shayon's place, who was conveniently in India. The logical thing to do was camp at his place where there was at least heating. So we all headed out there, joined by Palani, Swami and their gang. We had also packed bunch of games, all prepared for a night out.

In Seattle, Swati and Ravi also joined us. It was kind of fun with everyone there, no worry about work or anything. We made some great dinner at Shayon's place, and had another hearty meal. After dinner we started on a game of Sleuth with some vodka, tequila and orange juice. Sree was thankfully away at another party (he hates the game). The game was as usual fun. After the game, we all headed to Pioneer square to have some fun, and of course dancing. More surprises, Srijan actually danced, and with a gori!! I am still to get a photo of that and upload it here. it was so nice to finally hit the dance floor after long time.

After dancing, all exhausted, we came back to Shayon's place. People were still not done though, there was more card playing and it was judgement again. I played a game and then gave up and went to sleep.

The power outage

Nature is not happy with Seattle and I don't blame it. Thursday (12/14) we had another big storm here, this time it was not snow, but water and wind. It was pretty much predicted, but I guess as in case of snow, we were not at all prepared for the aftermath. The storm brought down lot of trees and with that power lines. Power went out in most parts of King County (Bothell, Kirkland, Redmond, Bellevue) and some of Seattle on Thursday late night. The seriousness of the situation had not hit me yet, so I got into my rajai and thought we will just sleep it off. The morning brought a surprise, no power yet. I had a 7:00a.m. meeting, so inspite of what my head told me , I won't believe that there is no power in office. So I got into my car @6:30 and headed to office. On the way, no lights, no signals. Once near office, I could clearly see that it was a lost cause, no power there also. Missed the meeting. Back home, thought it will come, and then I will have maggie for breakfast.
10:00a.m., still no light, it was time to get worried. The house was getting colder, and there was nothing to eat. By this time it hit me that there is no power anywhere. So I started calling friends to figure out what to do, or at least just get some food. More surprise, the phones won't work!! The call to anyone just won't go thru. Finally after more than an hour of trying I could talk to Sree, I had never been happier to hear his voice. Finally we synced and decided to meet at Srijan's place, he after all had gas stove, so we could cook! I packed my bag for 2 days, grabbed my blanket and pillow and left my room not knowing for how long.

In the absense of signals, it took me more than 45 min to get to his place, and it was so nice to see their cars parked outside. Inside it was different story, the stove will not start without electricity, well it needed matches, which Srijan did not have. So after some time we walked to crossroads to find a shop which is open and get some matchboxes. There were trees walken everywhere, and the walk reminded me of the walk I took in snow storm after abandoning my car on road. Only this time thankfully I was not alone and not nervous. We found matchboxes at sports authority. Back to Srijan's place, we heated some food, and ate it. It was pretty good food.

Another record breaker

We are not done with record breaking storms yet, and this time its wind and rain and it is indeed serious, not just a American style storm. Sitting in office it was feeling nice, all the rain splashing on my window. Then power flickered and a mail came that parking garage is flooded! I could not believe it, first snow and now water! Rushing out, I was met with another swimming pool on the road. Thankfully rain had turned into a drizzle by now, but it was so windy that my umbrella had no hope. Where was the fancy rain coat when I needed it!!
So anyway I braved the water filled road in my new like high heel leather boots, found another river flowing with the speed of a mountain river near office. Reached office to find almost knee deep water in the garage, flooded lift. Someone dropped me into the garage in his Jeep.
Stepping into the very filthy water bare feet reminded me of the monsoon time in school, we used to walk through that water, splashing, enjoying the dirt! Thankfully today also I did not flinch at the thought of putting my feet in it, good to know that I am still not civilized enough :) If I was not worried about my car, I might have enjoyed it.
So anyway I got into the car, drove it real slow out on the street. Then also decided to drive back home and not leave the car there, and not take the freeway. It turned out to be a good decision. As soon as I got out of the downtown area, road and traffic was almost normal. There were some puddles of water on the side, but it was much easier to drive thru them slowly than it is on the freeway. I was home without incidents this time and in less than 20 min :)
Now at home, the power is flickering and threatening to quit. Well, now that I am home safely, I am not that worried about it, will just get in my rajai and sleep it off.

More snow

Tuesday and Wednesday were snow days in Seattle. Roads were still icy, temperatures broken all records and below 0. -7 in Bothell on Tuesday night. And wednesday night brought in more rain and more snow. Though the temperatures have moved above 0, so hopefully some of the snow is going to start melting now. Today too is a snow day, everything is still white, and staying at home I have totally lost track of the time. It still looks doubtful that I would be able to go to office today either, though I am going to try for sure.
And since the temperature has gone up a couple of degrees, the meltdown has also begun. I went out to see a few patches of black driveway, side street. Its somewhat sad as the snow was indeed beautiful, but I am not going to go down in tears seeing the dry or at least ice free road.

The snowstorm of november 2006

I am sure that is how this snow storm is going to be remembered. Monday morning started as usual, snow from yesterday somewhat melted, but the streets were good as usual. So I drove to office. Around 5:45, when I was about to leave, heavy snow started falling. When I started I was not too worried about it, its falling, and as usual it will go away, just have to drive slow. I had no idea what lay ahead of me. The traffic on 405 was less than a crawl, inching along at less than 2 miles per hour, my speedometer never ticked above 0. It took me almost an hour to reach the 124th St exit. That is where I decided to ditch the freeway and take internal roads thinking that there will be traffic, but it can't be worse! I was so naive. First I almost missed the totem lake blvd turn as the road was covered in snow and the turn looked deserted. Reached the signal, took left on totem lake blvd. The cars were moving ever so slow. One car had blocked the road, so once I passed it, I thought, good now we can move. But 132nd St was worse, its a uphill drive, and I was so scared of the car skidding back everytime we start. But super slowly I managed that, even managed the final hill to 124th Ave and the left turn. After that I thought its going to get better. It had already been 2 hrs since I left office. But it just kept getting worse. The storm got stronger, dumping even more snow and it was really really cold. I slowly kept moving moving. After I crossed safeway, I thought good, another 1 mile and probably 30 min I will be home. I also cursed myself 30 times for leaving the freeway. Then the 30 min passed and I was still at the 160th st signal. Inching along reached 164th, and guess what, I experienced my first skid in the snow. The car was total out of control, tires going somewhere, I tried breaks, but then realized I should not, for a moment I was in total panic that I am going to hit the car in front. Then sobered up, moved the tires towards the curb, applying breaks every so slowly. The car hit the curb, and came to a stop. That was a huge relief, I did not care what happened next, but I was not moving the car, I put it in parking, applied the hand break and got out. The scene on road was a total mess, all the cars were skidding like anything, even the 4x4 trucks were going everywhere out of control. People had started leaving their cars on the way and walking home. I decided to do the same, then a very nice lady came along. She said she and some of the guys there can help me push the car out of the road, I was so so thankful. very scared, I got behind the wheel again, very slowly moved the car forward, got it out of the road, parked it and left it there to walk home. A big part of the ordeal was over. As I was walking home, downhill from 165th, all the cars there had the same story, skidding in snow, not able to move. Some were about to turn around and get back, others skidded along and turned from 169th. I again cursed myself for leaving the freeway, thinking that maybe I could have reached the brickyard road or something and parked the car somewhere nice. More naivity.
Of course I was worried about the car all night. Then I came back and heard the news and the nightmare of drivers on 405. Since the traffic was not moving and snow was falling hard and temperatures were below 0, the freeway had become icy too. Drivers were stuck near by exit and further north for 6-8 hours, lot had to abandon their cars on freeway, like I did. Now I was almost thankful for leaving the freeway, who knows in what condition I would have been. The cars on freeway were also towed away, that would have been a real nightmare to me. I think I was really lucky to get his close to home without any incidents, I thanked God a 100 times and also the people who helped me get the car out of road.
Finally Tuesday morning I went to look at the car. The 124th Ave was looking like a graveyard of cars, all abandoned by owners, walk up to the car was also not easy. Anyway I reached my car, saw it safe, felt better, but still no way to drive it back to the house. AAA was no use here, the roads were just too dangerous. I came back, feeling a little better that there are too many cars and they are not going to tow. It was a sunny day, though temp was still below 0, but some ice was melting from sun's heat. The road was also sanded a couple of times. So I decided that its time to get some help and get the car back before things for worse. Then Ekta came along, she very generously agreed to come and help me get the car along with her husband. They were real help, they came in the cold, Kartik drove my car to its safety, and it finally seemed to be over.

Birthday 2006

Another birthday, now it no more looks exciting and special day,it should just go by like any normal day. But this year I had decided to run the Seattle half marathon to make the birthday special. Finished the race well inspite of the nasty weather. And then came back and Rahul and I had lunch at Spice route. I don't think that I had ever eaten so much in one sitting and that too totally guilt free. Maybe when I came to Redmond for Microsoft interview, ate a lot as I was eating alone, had a big budget and eating Indian food after long time. Anyway, so had a really good satisfying lunch. Then we came back, and I tried to get some sleep. Woke up to find out a snow stom in Seattle. Lot of snow falling, collecting on the ground. That got me worried how I am going to be able to drop Rahul to airport, my little car and not so good driving skills cannot handle the snowy conditions at all. So we requested Bash to drop him. I somehow managed to go to office slow slow. Luckily the flight was not delayed. Can back around midnight, still raining, drove back slowly, very scared on the freeway and big trucks were passing by in full speed. Drive up the hill on 169th was a little difficult, but in the end managed to get my car safely in parking.

Seattle Marathon 2006

Its finally over, and was quite a eventful run. The day started with some light snow flakes falling mixed with rain. I had to change the attire couple of times to need the changing weather. Finally I decided on synthetic socks, same green cotton pants, green chuckit inner t-shirt and while Asha outer t-shirt, cisco cap to safe the face from rain and my pink raincoat's cap to save the cap, head and ears from getting wet. On top of that I also made a (not so successful) rain ponchu out of a trash bag. Dressed in all this paraphernelia, we were standing outside EMP, looking at everyone else also cold and dresses in same silly way. Magically the snow stopped just before the race, and rain also turned into light drizzle.
We started with lot of enthu and some apprehension of cold. My ponchu was gone by the end of first hill, but the pink cap worked like magic, kept the head dry and saved the ears from getting cold. When we got on I90, it was some sight, whole ramp was covered with runners, it was like a stream of colourful water flowing along it.
The first 6 miles passed quite peacefully, I was not that tired also and the course was mostly flat, so that helped, also what helped was few gulps of gatorate. Then I reached the Asha water booth, had some Gu and water. I had left my dry clothes there for change. But this is where I made a mistake, my hands were really cold from wet t-shirt, so I thought I can just get rid of the top long sleeve thing, since I am running so much, its not going to get cold! And wet sleeves just make the hands colder. So from there I started in just the half t-shirt. It seemed to be a ok decision, as though my hands were getting wet, I could wipe off the water and they were dry again. I met the 2:45 pacer at mile 7, overtook her a little on the downhill and then fell behind her on the hills of Galer and Madison. But then I ran hard on the downhill (not a very good idea though), and again overtook her. This filled me with more enthu that I can possibly make it in 2hrs 45 min or less. It went well on the hills of interlaken too, they were hard, never ending uphill, but I managed it. But as we came down the hill by I5, I realized what a mistake half sleeves was. My hands started giving problems, loosing blood circulation or something from being very wet, cold and in just one position for long time. So I had to shake them and move then constantly. This costed me lot of misery and few min in running time. I was so much wishing that Rahul will meet me soon and give me a rain jacket. The hills of downtown were the worst, killing. Finally I met Rahul at mile 12 or something, got the rain jacket from him for hands, and after that it became a little easier. Finally finished in 2 hrs 40 min. At the end, all I was thinking of being warm and dry again.

Its tomorrow

So the big day is tomorrow and there are predictions of rain and snow, what fun. Today I walked on that new machine for 15 min and then did yoga, mainly to relax all the muscles. I think doing yoga the day before long runs really helps.

Day 64

This is turning out to be a perfect week with 4 short runs. Today I decided to run a little longer outside to make sure that this cold is not going to kill me, and the amount of clothes I am wearing is sufficient etc, kind of like a dry run. Started from my place towards 405 and then Juanita-Woodinville drive till the first signal, must be close to 3 mile round trip. Discovered that I definately need something to cover my ears, else they just start paining so badly and wearing spects makes it worse.

Day 63

Another very cold day in November, after lot of yes and nos, decided to run outside for 15 min. The run was ok, hills are indeed somewhat easier to cross now, even in the cold. The marathon is right around the corner, keeping my fingers crossed for no rain.

Day 62

Ran another 15 min on the treadmill, outside is just too cold. The variable speed treadmill run has become easier or at least possible now.

Day 61

Since this is slowing down week, ran just 20 min near the house only, nothing remarkable, trying to get used to the cold.

Amazing Rainier

It seemed like a perfect day, cloudless skies, sun trying to give some heat, and to top it all off, Rainier was looking just perfect from 520. In fact I could also see it clearly from 405 in morning, but the view from 520 was flawless. I wished I was not driving and could look at it some more. They should make a view point there for the people to just sit and take in the view.

Day 60 Week 22

So its been 2 months of running (60 days). Today we ran about 8 miles near Greenlake. It was a good run, the day turned out to be perfect, cloudless sky and not so cold. The last couple of miles were on the BurkeGilman train we used to take in the initial days of running. While at Red Square, we were recalling how we used to be dead by this time, and today we ran 6 miles before this and still had the energy to finish the last stretch smiling. Though today we were running quite slow, it took us almost 2 hrs to complete 8 miles, at this pace, I won't be able to finish 13 in under 3 hrs. Hopefully that day I would be able to run faster, at least I am getting more confident that I can run the whole 13 miles.

wettest november

its mid-nov and we have already seen record rains for nov, about 11.6 inches. This has been the wettest nov so far, but I think that has also prevented this from being a very cold one. If you ask me, I prefer the cloudy skies and higher temperatures, than the freezing sunny days.

Day 59

Did not go for practice this Wednesday, just lazy, and made the bahana that its not a good day to run !!
So anyway, to compensate, ran 2 miles today, speeds from 4.5 to 5 to 5.5. As I have always noticed, the first 1 mile is really hard and its always hard, when outside, you cannot quit in the first mile, but when on treadmill, I always quit at that time. But today I decided, I had to run, I had to get past my 10 min barrier. Varying the speed helped, I started out with 4.5, which did not make me too tired, after that moved up to 5, again reducing the speed when I thought of quitting. After the first mile, I ran a bit at 5.5 also, seemed like a good strategy.

Day 58

As part of preparing to run in the cold, I decided to run outside. The hills do not scare me that much now, but the cold does. And it was a very cold sunny morning. I started out real bad, the first hill was the worst to climb, but after that warm up, rest was not that difficult. Ran for 30 min, uphill downhill, about 2 miles I guess, so really show. Next time will try to go out on the woodinville road.