Random notes from the week

Have to admit it, the food at the Google Mountain View campus is really, really good.
I miss getting emails from Eric Schmidt, especially when there's major things going on. (read this)
The word 'silver' is so damn pretty.
My capacity to consume alcohol is fairly diminished.
Wine-high makes me think of things like, "what if all the oxygen molecules in my body went on a strike."
I met an amazing girl this weekend, and have a crush on her.

The dilemma

I've moved home plenty of times. If I count correctly, I moved 5 houses in my 4 years in Hyderabad. Usually not a super-grand affair -- I never bought any furniture, or major appliances, and in fact, made a couple of my inter-Hyderabad moves in a few trips in rickshaws. Not complicated. I've always liked that fact, and wanted to adhere to the policy of not owning too much. Keep life clutter-free is a good motto. Right?

But, the darker side of me has always had a bit of a hoarder in it. It's in the blood, I would say. My grandmother owns a big house in Pune and it's literally full of things she's 'saved' for half a century. So while I'm often tempted to 'save' things for the distant future when that mundane object will play an irreplaceable part in my life, I have to do a quick reboot in the head. 

Because, after all, honestly, what are the chances that you're really going to EVER . Especially once it is dusty and musty and covered in cobwebs, after taking up a load of space not mansion-sized homes we live in.

So, anyway, back to the point at hand. I'm now on the brink of another repack. This time moving 838 miles to Seattle, Washington. This kind of distance basically eliminates the convenience of spreading the move across multiple trips or even multiple days. Everything has to fit in whatever truck we rent. Everything has to fit in these scores of cardboard boxes that are leering at me right now, blocking my light too, damn it.

I've been walking around the house the past couple of hours looking at the pretty ferocious volume of objects my husband and I have accumulated. Doesn't help the situation when the husband also has a bit of the-dark-side-with-the-hoarder part in him. Its in his blood too, I do say.

So, yes am talking about crates of books, 5 more of all kinds of video games (you name it), dvds, half a dozen guitars, half a dozen amps, bulky speakers and not to forget, a dog with a classic collection of half-eaten toys. Not even mentioning the stuff that's in the kitchen and bedroom. 

This reboot button usually helps me get rid of things I don't want to carry around. It's abandoned me this time. I'm staring at an abysmally small heap in the things-to-get-rid-of area. I hope this being-married-and-settling-down business hasn't brought about the victory of the dark side in me.

Gulp. Back to walking around the boxes for now.

What am I missing here?

It's 2:00 am. I'm awake for some absurd reason, and I look out of my window to see if it's still snowing. Barely. No one's around. But, I see something that's annoying. Every single shop across the street from my hotel has it's lights on bright.

I've seen this everywhere I have visited in the US. Shops/stores/offices that shut as early as 7 pm leave some or all of their lights on ALL NIGHT.

I don't get it. And I don't get why its not a big deal. I don't see even remotely, what purpose it serves, and I don't see why no one cares about it. Not only does it cost them money (which they should obviously care about) but is such a horrid misuse and waste of resources.

In India, we've recently seen a lot of awareness campaigns and initiatives to make people save every bit of electricity. Not in the room? Turn the lights off. Companies make an effort, and it's a great way of positive marketing if they demonstrate how green and conscious they are. At the Google office in Hyderabad, we had lights that came on when they sensed movement in the room, we were encouraged to use natural lights, turn our monitors off, and every other conceivable way of saving energy.

And while many things in the US are environmentally conscious and responsible, many things aren't.

I know ranting about it on my blog isn't going to make a difference, but for one, am wondering if I'm really missing something here and am completely off base, and there's a logical reason for this? For two, am going to have to looking into this, and see what I can do to start trying to change this.

More later. If you have any light to shed, please leave a note!

Snowflakes are falling on my bedhead

I feel terrible that I was sitting in a hotel room all day (to my defense, I was sick today), watching the news about it going to snow in the city this evening, and I didn't even look outside to really see that it was, indeed, snowing outside. Right outside my window, an inch of snow on everything, the same white blanket described in books. No big deal, other than the fact that it doesn't usually snow in Seattle. This climate change thing is yes, oh so alarming.

Jolie Number 2

We're thinking of adopting another puppy. It's exactly a year since we got our precious little Jolie, and there's no doubt in my mind that our lives wouldn't be the same without her. It's like having a baby, you know? You are literally responsible for a living thing -- one that is completely dependent on you for its well being, and protection, and in return, one that showers you with unconditional love, and unending entertainment.

So while, a few months ago, I did turn into a paranoid mommy, hardly taking my eyes off Jolie, to ensure she's not peeing or pooping in our small, carpeted apartment, or eating something completely disastrous, or even sometimes just being grumpy with her because I was at home alone with her for hours on end, all that changed recently.

When I just had to go out for a few hours, and left her alone, and later came back to discover the house was completely intact. No cushions on the floor, no half eaten chapstick, no ballpen chewed up. Instead, wagging her bottom at me in a mad, mad frenzy, and trying to climb up my leg, was my adorable little puppy.

Ok, I could go on for another hour at least, about how awesome Jolie is, so getting back to what I want to say, a few days ago when we had another puppy at home for about 24 hours, I had to admit, we were ready to welcome another one into our lives. A baby sister for Jolie, someone as small, tiny, playful, energetic, and smart as her, to keep each other company.

I had a profound moment months ago, after having consumed several glasses of wine, when I looked at Jolie on my lap, and fully experienced the fact that here is a creature, a living breathing creature who is so unconscious of herself, but so alive. It's hard to explain what I was feeling and thinking, but my husband understood, and its our little joke... about our little creature.

So yes, we are in conversation with someone about adopting one of their puppies -- and fingers crossed, in a few weeks, we will welcome puppy number 2 into the pack.

Bloody Nigerian Scammers

Last week, I posted my first Craigslist ad. To sell my Nikon D80 so that we can upgrade to a bigger/better/newer. And after a couple of disheartening emails from people asking if I will sell at half the price I offered, I got a reply from a "Doctor from San Jose" who went on the explain that he wanted to buy the camera for his son who is currently transferred to Africa. He offered to pay me a $100 extra for the shipping.

I was definitely a bit skeptical about this possibly shady deal, but we decided that we had no grounds for being suspicious, yet. He had asked us to send him a paypal invoice, and knowing that paypal is a reliable service, we sent him one. Our plan being let's see if the cash comes through.

So I sent the invoice, and within minutes I got a reply from him saying he had made the payment and that I should ship the camera instantly. His excuse was he was out of town on business, and couldn't do the shipping to Africa bit himself.

By now, I was slightly more distressed. His English in the emails was weak (big flag) and he hadn't even sent me a shipping address. And he insisted that the paypal payment was made, while I saw nothing in our account.

Now feeling more certain that this was some scam, we looked up his gmail address on Google. (Gerraldphilips@gmail.com)
And there were multiple blogs articles that listed this email address associated with what is called the 419 Nigerian scam. Where he (the scammer/fake doctor) does the same thing, makes a offer to buy, at whatever price you're asking, plus pay for shipping to Nigeria.  Then proceeds to send you a fake email from Paypal saying that your money has arrived.

I dunno how many people fall for this, because the fake email was so bad, we only saw it when we looked in the Junk folder, and had an infinite number of typos and grammatical errors. So anyway, after making sure he hadn't got any of our information via paypal, we felt a bit foolish for not going with our instinct right-away, but were now better prepared to identify the next scam, and had a funny story to narrate the next couple of days.

Our chance to use our newly gained knowledge came pretty soon. A week later, we're here in Seattle, looking up ads on Craigslist for apartments. We called a few places, made appointments, and I emailed one lady who had a great looking house up for rent for a lowish price.

The next day, I got a reply from her; this time it was two doctors who are "committed in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS". Before I got a chance to flag the ad, it was already flagged off. Disgusting.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATION FOR THE APARTMENT FOR RENT  
 
Thanks for the email and interest in our home. I am a Medical doctor and I work for RED CROSS SOCIETY,we  arrive London a Month Ago with my husband and we are committed in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS which kills more that 3,000 people everyday and also supporting community garden programs for AIDS sufferers and their families
 
If you are interested in renting our home you can call me for further details on my Cell number + (+44 702 407 2434): Please note that the property is locked & the keys will be sent once we approved you as our tenant. Also this is not a share or sublet so I prefer dealing directly with my tenant no third party or agent. You can also reach my attorney once you have been approved on (802) 375-7213. 
 
RENTALS APPLICATION 
FIRST NAME:__________________ 
MIDDLE NAME:_________________ 
LAST NAME:__________________ 
PROFESSION: ________________ 
HOME PHONE (____)__________ 
(CELL)PHONE (____)__________ 
(WORK)PHONE (____)__________ 
KIDS _____ (YES/NO), HOW MANY________ 
PRESENT ADDRESS:_____________________ 
CITY: _______________ 
STATE: ______________ 
ZIPCODE: ____________ 
HOW LONG DO YOU INTEND STAYING?____________ 
WHEN DO YOU INTEND MOVING IN?______________ 
HOW SOON CAN YOU HAVE THE DEPOSIT PAYMENT SENT TO ME___________________________ 
HOW SOON DO YOU WANT TO RECEIVE THE KEYS AND DOCUMETS OF THE HOUSE_________________________

__
DO YOU HAVE A PET:_____________
NAME OF PET:_____________
KIND OF PETS:_____________
DO YOU SMOKE?______________

Wide Parking place is available/Washer & Dryer/Internet/Air Condition E.t.c

We decided to rent our property to a responsible person because we will be spending a long time around Europe for Missionary work. To avoid keeping our home Empty during these periods of time we both have decided to lease our property to a good and God fearing person that will take good care of the property.

There is no Registration fee only deposit payment required in other to send keys and paper works. I would like you to know that am doing this base on trust and putting everything is God Hands.
Pets are allowed and utilities are included in the rent.

I hope to hear from you soonest.
Thanks & God Bless.
Dr Sarah & Jeremiah Lawrence.

Do you pee in the shower?

When my husband casually mentioned to me, a couple of months ago, that he pees in the shower, I was shocked. Aghast. His argument was -- its sterile, and that he'd been doing it all his life. I don't remember WHY or HOW that conversation sort of slipped out of my mind for a few more months, until today.


We are moving to Seattle in a couple of weeks, and are currently in the city, house-hunting. So this morning I decided to exercise my wifely powers, and impose a DO NOT URINATE rule in the new shower/bathtub. And what followed were these arguments.


1) Even if I tried, I couldn't stop. It's like being in a swimming pool. You have to pee.
2) I always pee in the shower. And it's sterile.
3) Everyone pees in the shower!
When he made that last declaration. I uttered a soundless grunt of scorn, and decided to consult Google to make my investigations on that impossible proclamation. After all, I have never known anyone who pees in the shower.  (Well, I guess I can't say that because I haven't asked everyone I know if they pee in the shower, but it has never occurred to me or come up in conversation.) It's going to.


Anyway, so to proceed with my Google findings, I have to say, I was defeated. The various links I clicked through to, ALL concluded that most men admit freely to peeing in showers. Here's the crux of my investigations.


1) It's a primal instinct. I wont elaborate (because I can't) but they can't help the urge. Nor would they want to. 
2) "One of the most liberating things a man can do is pee in nature, the only thing that can come close is peeing in the shower."
3) "You're taking a shower! Of course you're rinsing the tub out! There's water running constantly, with soap!!"
3) I came across a blog post that says a Brazilian environmental group actually encourages people to pee in the shower because it helps conserve water that would otherwise be used in the flush.



While I'm definitely not converted to the cause, I will have to refute my ban, turn a blind eye, and pretend I don't care. Husbands are stubborn creatures. And what I can say to the saving water bit anyway?


PS: Here's a link to a rather entertaining investigation a woman conducted and another link to the blog post about the Brazilian message with a video!