Writing a Blog Using a Desktop Client

This is my first post using a desktop client for blogging. When I googled for WordPress desktop clients, I found a handful of them. I thought I would give Zoundry Raven a try, and here is my blog post using Raven.

Just by looking at its editor, I feel it is neat and simple. I will explore its user interface and post a review later. You create an account by providing details of your blog, and within minutes everything is set up.

When You Got Your Money Back

You might have encountered them: the direct marketing-cum-sales representatives who sell books, CDs, and similar stuff. One such person came to my wife’s office and tried to sell a pack of Britannica Encyclopedia CDs for Rs. 400 (introductory offer, you know). Considering that one of the CDs was on the Solar System, which my daughter would love to watch and learn, my wife purchased the pack.

While installing the Encyclopedia on our computer, the CD took unusually long time to install, so I cancelled the installation. Later I found that there was a data error. The other four CDs also didn’t show any life. When I carefully read the system requirements, I found that except the Encyclopedia CD, others were not meant for Windows Vista, but for the older versions. Now I only had one option: to return the pack to the address mentioned in the bill and get a replacement.

When I went to the sales office, I was thinking that they would offer another pack or maybe a different collection or even some of the books that they sell. I waited patiently at the reception while the manager was discussing the day’s work with the sales reps. When I was called in, I was thinking that he would try to convince me, but to my surprise, he accepted to take back the pack. He suggested that I take a look at the books they sell,  but when I told him that my 6-year old daughter would have to plough through the books that are not meant for her age, he refunded the money without hesitating.

You may be thinking that if a product was not up to the mark, the manufacturer or seller would have to take it back. You are right, but in my case, the manager didn’t force me to settle for something which I didn’t like.

Endnote

I would not have purchased the product had the manufacturer clearly mentioned the system requirements on the outer pack. (Maybe, they didn’t want to lose a customer by telling the system requirements. Who knows:))

Sumptuous Meal, Delicious Meal

I have heard about this place–Sanjeevanam–but only recently I had an opportunity to taste its famous, nutrition-rich Kerala food. The lunch menu comprises a speciality-Rajakeeyam. It’s a fully fledged meal, which is sumptuous as well as delicious. It’s not spicy, yet tasty.

To the uninitiated, each dining table has a card that tells you how to enjoy the meal in a proper manner. First, you start with ripe banana sprinkled with grated coconut. The card shows a lot of banana slices, but they serve you just two; maybe, two pieces are sufficient to whet your appetite. Next, you taste five types of soups and juices served in small glass tumblers. You can gulp them down in one shot.

Are you feeling hungry? Now, they serve you an array of uncooked vegetables and wait until you finish them off. Next come semi-cooked veggies. I swear the plantain pith hasn’t tasted this better anywhere. Yummy.

Before you start the main courses, they serve you four types of fully cooked dishes. First course is of course, paruppu sadam aka dal chawal. The rice they serve is bran rice, the variety which is red in colour and preserves all the nutrients rice can offer you. The other courses are the usual ones that occupy a South Indian meal: sambar, mor kuzhambu, rasam, and buttermilk; only they taste better here.

You still have an empty place in your stomach? Then how about a pint of ambrosia, I mean, payasam? Wow! Do you feel satiated now? Wait, they will serve you honey to help you digest all you have gorged. Honey is served in the same fashion thulasi theertham is offerd in Perumal koil—in your plams. Lick it to your heart’s content.

Well, during the course of your meal, you will notice that one important thing is missing: water. They won’t serve you water until you finish off your meal (or until you beg them to pour some). It is the famous chukku vallam, medicated water, served in brass tumbler. Now go wash your hands and chew the thamboolam. This sweet paan will not put make you intoxicated.

The meal costs you Rs.120+10% service charge+VAT, but it’s worth every paise. Sanjeevanam, abutting Valluvar Kottam High Road, will not let you down if you are searching for a place to have a good lunch. Go, try it. Burp.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

I confess that I made a mistake in my last post. I accidentally wrote that the North-East monsoon had somehow eased out. Wrong. Well, blame it on my clairvoyance; the lack of it, that is. It’s been almost a week since it started raining, pouring, down pouring, and what not. It’s been raining cats and dogs, and lions and elephants these days. Chitlapakkam, where I live, is inundated like any other square inch of Chennai. As it always happens to me always, Street #2, where I live, is the most suffering. Our street (an alley, really) is submerged in knee-deep water, resembling a reservoir for this locality. Street #1 and 3 have concrete roads and are safe.

So, let me pray. Could you please join me?

Rain, rain, go away. Come again next year.

Festival of Light Beckons

The festival of light Dheepavali (or Diwali) is just two days away, but the sub-prime crisis, global financial meltdown, and all such clichéd buzzwords have dampened the festive mood a bit. People working in the IT and Finance sectors are chewing their finger nails in anxiety; a few major banks have temporarily stopped providing loans; a power crisis is crippling the entire Tamil Nadu. Now, is there anything to cheer about?

The only antidote I can prescribe is optimism. Dheepavali (light) beckons at the end of the tunnel. It will bring with it hope, promise, confidence, faith, and all such good things.

I wish all a very happy and safe Dheepavali.

Once in a Black Moon

Last Sunday (17 Aug), I was awake till 3 in the morning for some important work. At midnight, I realized that a partial lunar eclipse would occur at around 1. So I went out of my flat to have a glimpse of the rare celestial phenomenon. No one was around, but the street lights were illuminating the locality brilliantly. The air was still, and the ether was filled with clouds. I sighed, “I would not be able to see the eclipse.” Came back to my room and gazed at the computer monitor. At 1:30, I went out again. A drizzle had already started, and it gained momentum every passing minute. “OK, man, pack up,” I told myself. Completed the assignment, shut down the system (real quick this Ubuntu thing is, by the way), made the bed, and settled.

“Wait, why can’t try again,” my conscience persisted. At 2:30, I went out again. The sky remained shrouded, but from a corner of our flat I was able to see a near-total eclipse. The moon within the umbra was morbidly fascinating. A cloud hiding the moon is an everyday phenomenon, but the Earth shadowing the moon? Wow! I have seen total solar eclipses and lunar eclipses. But this was special. Nobody was around, it was well past midnight, and it was almost raining. Surrealistic, isn’t it? I tried capturing it with my Canon 7.1 mp digicam, and the shot was OK. (Please click the image to view its full size. The moon looks like a peanut up in the pitch black night sky )

Total Lunar Eclipse