Yankee Game

So Lennox's wife, Tanya, got tickets for the Yankees game today from the firm at which she works, and since they offered me 2, I took Anand w/ me. I've been told that I have a really loud clap so you know I had to get my stadium-clap on! Oh my God, those seats were so hot! They were in the second section right by first base. We also got passes to the Yankee Clubhouse which was a pretty nice little bar. Since the game was rain delayed, we all went there for a few drinks. Tanya got us tickets last year as well and in that game we left early because the Yanks were getting blown out only to find out that while we were stuck in the parking lot trying to get out, the Yanks mounted an amazing 17 run comeback. We missed it. So today since T and Len had to leave early, Anand and I stuck around. In the 8th inning, stupid Farnsworth gave up a couple of runs to give so Anand and I were so pissed that we just left. So what happens? They go into extra innings and win the game!!!! Of course! Why would it work out any other way? I've learned my lesson. I'm never leaving early from a game again! (By the way, Farnsworth is garbage)

My Pics

We have a bunch of clowns at work. One of the biggest clowns is my lifelong friend, Mike. For those of you who don't know, Mike and I have known each other since we were 5. That has its upsides and downsides. The good: a really good friend. The bad: he has dirt on me! lol Well not really dirt, but rather embarrassing pics of me. A few years ago, he brought a picture of me from Kindergarten in which I had paper rabbit ears on and was holding a paper egg basket. He was actually in the picture w/ me but when he made a copy of it, he conveniently cut himself out. So this little bunny was photocopied and resized and put ALL over the office. He can still be found on various cubicle walls and even in the small kitchen by I.T. For a while, it seemed like he was actually multiplying like a real rabbit!

A couple of months ago, a doctor from England was taken in for being a terrorist and his face was blown up on the cover of The Post. This guy just happened to look like me. So by the time I got to work (and mind you, I get to work pretty early) I see a copy of the cover of the post on my desk. I proceed to find copies of it all over the place at work. So what do I do? I autograph them :-)

T got tickets to the Yankee game tomorrow! I'm going w/ Anand, Len and T! Woohoo!

Bathroom

We've been working on our basement bathroom ever since I bought this house 3 months ago. You may think that it took a long time, but a) we're not professionals, b) we didn't always have time to work on the bathroom, c) I was injured :-P (I had thrown my back out for a while moving cement bags.) Finally, however, we're done. Click on the link below to see my album of the bathroom's transformation. I'd like to thank everyone who helped us - especially Rishi for helping us tear it up, Prahlad Fua for helping us with the tiling and m&m for the support, encouragement and company on many a Home Depot runs. :-P

Basement Bathroom Renovation

But I AM a boy!

This is a funny story. When I was a little boy, I had gone back-to-school clothes shopping w/ my parents. My mother handed some clothes to me and instructed me to go try them on while she and my father went to check out more clothes. I walked into the changing room and went into a stall. Shortly afterwards, one of the employees at the store came into the changing room and said, "You know, this is a men's changing room." I replied, "But I AM a boy!" hahahaha I still crack up every time I think about it. Why did he think I was anything else but a little boy? Once I got out of the changing room, I told my dad what happened and he made fun of me. hehe Actually, back then I had not yet hit puberty so my voice was still soft. So I remember that when my dad made fun of me, he said it in a really high voice hahahaha

Fall Memories

I'm sure a lot of people are like me in this regard, but certain things tend to always trigger specific memories and feelings for me. For example, when I was younger, I dreaded fall because it meant back-to-school and I hated going back to school after summer vacation. I had associated such a negative feeling towards it that I couldn't bring myself to appreciate what a great season it really is. When I started to work, I began to figure out that it's not so bad after all. For the past 3 years, I've opted to take my 2 weeks' vacation at the end of September because the weather would be perfect - no overwhelming heat or mugginess. I had taken my official 2 weeks earlier this year because I was moving but I will probably end up using two more weeks before the year's out.

When I woke up this morning, it was pretty chilly and I didn't really want to get out from under my covers. It was so warm and cozy there. But at that moment, I got a really good feeling that rushed through me; the feeling of October baseball. No longer did I dread fall. No, I had embraced it. A bunch of great moments from the Yankees' post seasons past came back to me as I recounted Donnie Baseball's first playoff appearance and coincidentally his last year as a Yankee, Mr. November Derek Jeter, Jim Leyritz' homerun against the Braves to turn the series around, losing my voice after Aaron Bleeping Boone's hr verses the horrid Red Sox, Wetland's filthy cap, Paul Oneill tumbling over the pile of Yankees over the pitcher's mound after they won, Wade Boggs riding the horse around the park... man I love baseball. Just typing the last paragraph put a smile to my face. :-)

I don't understand how anyone would not want to be a Yankee fan in the fall. I believe that I've once spotted Elmer Fudd wearing a Yankees cap. "Oh those wascally Wed Sox!" :-)

Ankit's Nose Is Like A Rubber Hose!

My 9th grade Latin teacher, Mr. Martin, used to sing that in class. He also once drew a profile of me on the chalkboard w/ a realllly big nose hahaha. He's lucky that I have a good sense of humor! But seriously, that guy was awesome. I hope he's doing well.

Anyways, this new-post-a-day thing is kind of hard. I try to keep my subjects interesting - not just run in the mill stuff - so it's hard to think up interesting topics. I wonder how shows that air daily keep up the quality of their content. Well they have a team working on it so it's probably easier. Anyways, I digress.

My dada (grandfather) has been staying over for the past few weeks and I really like having him here. However, I can't help but feel that he feels isolated. I mean, in India, he knew everyone in the neighborhood and was a part of various organizations. Here, there aren't as many Indians in the neighborhood and during the day most of the family goes to work so there's not much else to do. He's a sharp guy so I know he needs to keep his mind active. He does go for walks to the Indian Senior Citizens center on Kennedy Blvd every once in a while and that's the closest he gets to attaining the contact he's used to. His situation isn't unheard of in our society. Many elderly people who do not have the means to go where they want, when they want and don't have a polished handle of the English language do feel isolated for much of the day. I'm sure this can be very frustrating for those that are used to enjoying a much more active lifestyle. That's why I think that the Senior Citizen's association is so important. Or going back to my previous post, it's also why the mandir is important for them. It gives them a place to re-form a community with those who can relate to them.

Requests, anyone?

So, as per request, I am going to post blog entries more frequently. Actually, I'm going to do one better. For the next week, I am going to post one blog entry per day. So be sure to check in between poopee and peepoo diaper changes :-P

I've done a lot of little finishing touches in the bathroom this weekend. Yesterday I put up the molding around the doorway and today I put wood putty along the ends of the ceiling molding. Maybe tomorrow, after work, I'll tape up the molding to paint it. I need to get a small paintbrush though. So why a sudden rush to finish off this bathroom after a period of very little work put into it? Well, this one pesky little critter, among others, have been asking for pictures of the bathroom. I feel like I do talk a lot about it so I should get to the point where I can show them some results.

I also went to the Swaminarayan mandir on Tonnelle Ave this evening. My mami sponsored something today because her mom recently passed away. We go there a couple of times a year but what I always like about it is the sense of community there. The kids have their little Sunday school type of classes, the elderly have a place to go and make contact with others and there are all sorts of things to do for the rest. I don't have much else to post on the topic - just that I liked the communal feeling you get when you go.

Yanks/Red Sox on. Go Yankees!

Superman Returns

So I finally saw Superman Returns last nite at Palu & Sagar's house and I have some issues with it. Well I have one big problem that really pissed me off.

Ok so the premise of this movie is that scientists believe that they may have found traces of the planet Krypton so Superman goes back to see if it's still there. Superman returns after he finds out that it's not there. Anyways, how'd he make the trip there and back? Well in the movie he flew. But how can he fly there? Everyone knows that Superman is super because of our galaxy's yellow sun. Krypton wasn't filled with super people because they had a red sun. So how can he go from one galaxy where he's super to another galaxy where he's not super without dying? Once he left our sun's reach he would've become normal and then died in the void of space. I mean, come on people! Do some fact-checking.