Vim rants...

I woke up around 2 AM. I felt uncomfortable and it was painfully cold.
It was dark except for the occasional light beams that swept past through the glass windows.
I could feel the train was moving, and the sound of moving machinery beneath told me we were cruising at a high speed. I was on the upper berth, that too the one on the side.

I sat up wondering how to combat the cold that was cutting deep into my bones.
I was wearing a jacket, but for some reason, I could feel my bones freeze. It took me a few minutes to figure it out; the fan was blowing the cold air right into me. I could feel numbness in my head as well. After what seemed to be quite a long time; I climbed down, switched off the fan and looked around. Everyone seemed to be fast asleep. As it grew warm I felt better.

Around 7 AM we passed the Palghat Junction. I also bought a copy of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, someone was selling it in the train. For some part of the journey, I sat reading the book. It is better to say I was pretending to read the book, my mind was not at rest, haunting memories.

Our last trip together on a train, to Guruvayoor.
I could see my Kuttan and her very dear Kuttetan on the upper berths, lying there looking at each other, wishing that the journey never ended, and that we never parted…

I could hear someone play that song- Lionell Richie’s voice,

I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again how much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow
Hello, I've just got to let you know

'Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely, or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven't got a clue
But let me start by saying, I love you ...

Yes! I was wondering…
I had a thousand unanswered questions in my mind.
I would like an answer, hope that could lessen this pain.
It has been many months; would these memories haunt me forever?

Am I not getting a little too sentimental and personal?
Hey! You don’t want to spoil your mood, do you?
What are you waiting for? Close this!!!

Coming to the end of the journey, I reached my destination around 12:30 PM.
Arun was waiting at the station, and we drove home.
Looking forward to a wonderful vacation!!!

Last Friday, the SP-Belk desks observed a moment of silence.
It was parting time again. It was time for Bharath to say Goodbye.
The ritual, a game of Halo...the last one for Predator. No more Bloodshed at his hands.
The Covenants rejoiced, another fellow marine quit the company.
I never believed it, you would have seen his comment on the Goodbye note to Stardust .
He was quiting, for better prospectives, to take up his family business, to run a coffee plantation.

Halo 2 is a ver popular game among us guys in office.
War cries fill the atmosphere during off production hours.
I can remember those early days in SP&Belk, you could hear people cry "Dont kill me, I am on a call". Gone are those days, we rarely play now, a lot of work and people are too busy for a game. Of all the players, Muggy and Dev were the first to leave the team. We missed them, but Terrorist and Demolish soon bridged the gap.
Over 18 months as a part of the Sp-Belk Team, Terminator seen many members come and a many go...and most of them loved playing Halo.

I tried introducing other network games as well, UT, NFS, F.I.R.E, etc.
However, Halo has always been the most played and most popular among them.
The facts, that it can be played on a number of machines from a single installation and that it runs well on both new and old PCs are the advantages over the rest.

Now, Stardust is leaving, he has found a new job elsewhere.

Here is the Goodbye note from the Terminator's desk.

From the Desk of Terminator

Dear Stardust,

Wipe your bloody Visor,
Put down your weapons,
Ease your flexed muscles.
Let our armours clash one last time,
I want to say Goodbye Mate.

No more Double Kill.
No more Killing spree!
Never again, a "Back me up!"
I wouldn't hear you say, "All right, mate, I'm right behind you!"
Stardust wouldn't grunt again.

My rockets wouldn't find you in camouflage again.
My grenades wouldn't stick to your torso, no more blue flames to devour you.
I wouldn't fly a Banshee over Stardust, nor would my Warthog pump fire into your chest.
Our snipers would never again spot a hidden Stardust and knock life out of his brain.
No more suicide penalty for you, no seconds countdown.

We will miss killing you Stardust.
We will miss your war cry and seeing our blood at your hands.
Covenants would be happy that a great soldier has left Halo,
But Bhailog would continue to be strong and hold the base...in your name.

Fight every battle, win every game...like you won last night!
Wish you success in the game called LIFE!
Bhailog, lets bid adieu to Stardust.
Long live Stardust, the Great Warrior of our times!
Miss Terrorist, Demolish, Maverick, Terminator, Yo!Man, Chunnibaba, Hacker, New001 and all the other warriors!

Alternate link: click here to download the pic

Folks, apologies for not being around for long.

I had to visit my home-town, and was gone for a few days. Ask why? Haha, that's what's my next post is gonna be all about!

Hey, howz my new template?

This one quite impressed me. Simple yet attractive, that is what I felt. I thought of giving my blog a new look, on new year! Oh yeah, and a new title and name, "Chaayakada" ! -the Tea shop - a place were mallus love hang around. They can gossip, rave and rant, discuss international politics or household affairs and what not, all over a cup of tea and pazham pori!

http://chaayakada.blogspot.com/
-----------that would be the new URL for this blog(in a few weeks).

Well, that goes with the kinda talk I do on this blog :) , what do you feel?

Cucek-ians from the 2004 IT batch wouldn't forget our MSN Chat room, Kelappan's Chaayakada.

The template, I got this one from http://www.oinam.com/ . They call it the KISS template.

Their version of KISS for blogger had some bugs and didn't go quite well with my blog layout, hence had to modify it. I had to fix a few tags, and added some scripts and modified the CSS.
I would appreciate, if you could scribble a comment and let me know how this one looks.
My version of the code is available, click here.

Merry Christmas to all you folks out there!

Pic courtesy : Deviant Art

Another cool thing from Blogthings!
This one made me proud !

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read. Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few.

I am a Pundit Blogger!

Here comes the next one...

You Are 27% Selfish

In general, you are a very giving person who treats others very well. But at times, you insist on getting your way - when it matters most to you.

So I am selfish

More...

You Are 24% Abnormal

You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul. You are at low risk for having a borderline personality. It is unlikely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at low risk for having a social phobia. It is unlikely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at medium risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is somewhat likely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

Ah! I'm kinda mentally stable, uh?

Next...

You Are 77% Grown Up, 23% Kid

Congratulations, you are definitely quite emotionally mature. Although you have your moments of moodiness, you're usually stable and level headed.

The Kid in me wants something

Another one that made me proud ...

You Are a Dare Devil

For you, life is one big dare. And you're all in for any adventure. Others find you exciting, inspiring, and a bit intimidating. You're biggest challenge at this point is trying to top yourself!

Ah! Kinda interesting...
I think I should tag someone.
Let me invite Subhadip and Palas.

How to do this tag?

Simple, follow these links, do the tests and copy paste the code generated into ye post!

1) What Kind of Blogger Are You?
2) How Selfish Are You?
3) How Abnormal Are You?
4) How Emotionally Mature Are You?
5) How Daring Are You?

From the time I could remember I did not like the idea of getting to know her. I always felt she is something beyond my reach.
People said she was tough, and that she was the best. Somewhere in my mind I got this feeling, I wanted to know her. As I grew up, that feeling got buried somewhere in my mind, I never got to meet her, lack of oppurtunity and I was too busy with other things.

Now I have grown up, i was reluctant, but I wanted to give a try. "Am I ready" was the question that lurked in my mind. I told myself I am ready...I should be, com'on I am a grown up and a comp tech, I would be able to tackle any unpleasant situation that might arise. I wanted to give it a try.

It took me 5 months to arrange a rendevous. When I started, I had no hope that I would make it to her...i had to face a lotta hurdles!
Eventually it happened... I got a email briefing me on the date, time and venue.
06/11/2006...I started early from my home, I didnt want to be late...it was gonna be a new day, a new begining, and I had made up my mind : if she turns out to be interesting, she is gonna be with me for long! The traffic was heavy, as anticipated and I was late. My heart pounding hard as I neared the venue. I opened the door, and there... She was in all her glory, I loved her at the first sight. I found myself whispering "Been waiting for this day babe"

A couple of days went by and I got to know more about her. I was starting to like her. She wasn't that tough..."Oh babe!"

Wednesday... I thought I should sit next to her, it might help me get to know her more. I dont know if I was lucky, but this was going to be a rather eventful day.

About 2 hrs later, i realised we were alone. I moved closer....my heart was beating faster... I found she her top wasn't fastened... I was feeling lucky! i looked around... and undressed her! I loved what I saw... I was enjoying every bit of it.. beautiful, awsome! I was left dumbstruck... did not utter a word...

Did I stay away for years...to like her like hell ?

I regained my senses after a while, brought out my cell and clicked a few snaps!
I didn't know where to start clicking...i could not find the processor, all I could see were arrays of boards and cables. But I did make out a few parts. AIX! Unix for the RS/6000 machines...IBM eServer...the architecture... extremely beautiful, atleast I felt so!