Starbucks, Sidewalks and the Indian Embassy

Here I am, at a Starbucks in NYC, a few blocks from B's office, people watching while I wait for the Indian Embassy to renew my passport. I may be able to go to India in December after all but I still need to work with the US Consulate in Bombay. Hopefully I will get the appointment in time and it will all work out. I took the train in with B this morning and slept all the way. It is really amazing that she has done this for so long. Let me tell you, it can get long and uncomfortable.

Talking about Starbucks, I cannot believe that their Christmas drink specials are out already - Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away! However, I am not complaining too much since their peppermint mocha is awesome; you could not go wrong with it...
From a technical perspective, here is an insightful article about Starbucks and the 2 phased message commit, written by a former colleague at ThoughtWorks.

The last couple of months in the year are the best time to be in New York City - it is very festive and beautiful - always puts me in a great mood. Apparently, someone has also noticed that I sing Christmas songs whenever I am happy... ALL year round. I will not get to be here this year but that's alright since I get to see family again!

This week in India (with Diwali and Id celebrations) is a lot like Christmas time in the US. All the buildings and streets are lit up and everyone is in an awesome mood. Hopefully the Delhi attacks (earlier this week) did not dampen the resilient Indian spirit too much...

Red Tape

Well, now is as good a time as any to start blogging... I have been thinking about doing this for a while now and finally decided to get to it.


I am really looking forward to my trip to India in December! Will see my family again - my mom, my brother and his wife and their beautiful baby girl (my brother is too lazy to put up pictures of her so all I have seen of her are the first hours after birth), my crazy cousins in bombay and the rest of my awesome family! Looking forward to seeing Mish and Huz as well - I spoke to Mish recently and it felt like we never lost touch! Also, B will be travelling to India with me - this is the first time she is visiting India and I hope she has a fun time as well... hopefully she will get to see and enjoy South India and Bombay (while I reminisce)...

Anyway, it was all awesome until I discovered the red tape surrounding travel documents (to fly in and out of India) - It can be a cumbersome, stressful experience that may jeopardize the entire trip. I have to visit the US Consulate in India and there are no appointments available till March 2006!?!

I really hope all this works out soon and I get to go home next month... It really has been a long time since I have been home - ever since my brothers wedding - I am sure a lot has changed but, hopefully, everything remains the same...