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...