A frozen Bryan

Updating fotografs of the freeze in Bryan-College Station.

My car... couldn't get in bcause the door handles were frozen over.




My bike... whooooooo!!



A tree in front... superbly frozen over.. looked like it was glass-encased.



Our balcony roof.. dripping icicles.




The railing outside the front door.




Frozen water from leaves of the bush out front.

The years I spent with you

The years I spent with you
 Went past like moments few
 In a flash the time flew
 Vanishing as does the morning dew.
 
 But now that you are with me no longer
 And the same time seems to stretch longer
 For the glimpse of your face I hunger
 Wishing on your beauty my eyes may linger.
 
 Things everywhere remind my heart of you
 And make my days so gloomy and blue
 To see, to touch, to hold you
 Other than these, my wishes are few.
 
 In the arms of your betrothed happy you are
 In a place from me away and far
 In me living only memories are
 Tears in the eyes my vision mar.
 
 I wish you everlasting happiness my love
 As I sail away from this protected cove
 To be a nomad and this earth rove
 In search of another to call my love.

The vagaries of weather

This year has been a strange one… weather-wise. We had a torrid summer which just refused to let go. Just a few days ago, during the first week of December, temperatures here were as high as 86 F (30 C). I had never experienced such a long summer in my four years at Bryan-College Station. We had even taken to joking that Texas has officially been handed over to the Australians.

And then, this week, winter kicked in with a bang! Last night, College Station froze over. The thermometer crashed to 25 F (~ -4 C) and to add to the fun, it was raining. The result?? Sheets of ice – on the roads, on the stairs… everywhere. When I got up this morning and looked out the window, I see that my car is covered with a layer of ice… with icicles hanging down the bottom. I come out of my room and look towards the balcony. More icicles!! This was again a new experience for me in B-CS. Talk about extremes!

People were slipping on the roads and stairs … falling… hurting. All because they were unaccustomed to this. The trees and plants had a coating of ice on them that crinkled whenever they swayed in the wind.

And then, when the sun started to peek out a bit, the ice began to melt and slide off the roofs and plants. The sound that made was something else again. “A continuous sliding, tinkling sound” doesn’t do it justice but those are the only words I can think of that even come close.

While I did take some pictures of a frozen B-CS, it’ll be a while before I can put them up here. I am yet to transition from a film SLR camera to a digital one. As of now, I have to get the film processed and the photos printed. I promise that I’ll put them up ASAP.



Hasta mañana.

The end is near...

The end is near… very near!!! Before you cast me as another one of those semi-crazed dorks forewarning you about how the “End Times” are upon us, let me clarify… I mean the end of the Fall semester. It is just 2 weeks away. But with the end in sight, things are threatening to get out of control. Too many deadlines to meet and too little time in a day to do it all. Just thinking of the things due makes me want to cry…

• a proposal evaluation/review due tomorrow for the Theory of Research course


• a term paper for the Statistics in Hydrology class (yet to finish the experimental work.. let alone the writing part)


• an assignment for the same class due this coming Monday


• 7 assignments (mostly all back-log) from the GIS programming course due in 2 weeks (how in hell did I fall so far behind?!?!)


• a journal paper on the application of Neural Networks to develop Pedo-Transfer Functions for soil hydraulic properties

Add to these the general house-keeping tasks, talking to friends, chatting, watching movies, blogging, (MS Word just told me that “blogging” is not a word… how typical!!) … and looks like I’ll hardly have time for oo ma hey (that’s code for eating, sleeping, and er… washing).

     Mixed feelings on missing out on a trip to San Francisco to attend the AGU Conference. Was almost sure of going but prof says no funds right now… so no go. Sad. But that means I have that whole week not going away from the 2 weeks left to finish all my academic dues in. Happy. With almost the entire last week going away without any meaningful work done (thanks to my jaunt to Phoenix, helping DB move… maybe I’ll write about that trip someday), this next week also not slipping away means a lot.

     So, after spending the last whatever minutes gainfully employed in writing this blog (another non-word according to MS), let me sign off for the duration… NO MORE!!! Until the end has come and gone. Wish me luck.

oorina maatu

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Just looking in

Long time no see... I meant that to the blogspot... hadn't run my eyes over a blog for a long long while... but then, I read 1 which made me chuckle...manadalada mathu....: RAM BaTra magaLu......

On the email side of things, Hari sent a link to the TAMU Kannadigaru group... a site dedicated to, of all things in this God's creation, the umpteen potholes on the roads(?) of Bangalore!! For all u curious cats out there, here's the url: www.bangalorepothole.com

My first impressions:

Adopt a pothole??? are they afraid that potholes may become extinct in the near future?? i had no idea that potholes have been added to the list of endangered species... i mean.. aren't they a-thriving in the land of maNNina maga Devve Gowda??

also, the "adoption" raises some bureaucracy-like querries... what would you do if (God forbid!!) the BMP takes it upon itself to wipe the pothole u just adopted off the face of the earth?? would that be tantamount to infanticide? can u get compensated for the loss of a beloved adopted one?? how about if a mechanic or a doctor adopted one and it was flattened?? would they be compensated for loss of income from the family's main bread earner??

and what are u expected to do once u adopt a pothole?? ensure its healthy growth?? feed it with motorists??

and what about those fotos they have up there??? what if some1 has adopted one of those potholes already?? does he/she get a compensation for the use of their loved one's likeness?? & if the age of the pothole is less than 18 yrs, did they take the permission of the legal guardians to put up these fotos on the net???

Thought of winding up there, but......couldn't resist 1 more....

Is BMP planning to do a "virtual"cover up of these potholes?? Might be easier doing it on photoshop than actually filling it up!!

Moments of Joblessness

In a few moments of joblessness, this blogspot came into existence. It is now up to the Gods that watch over the internet to take it someplace. So, as they say, "Watch this spot".