Daddy come, Daddy go... and Daddy come again!

I have to drop my dad off at the airport tomorrow morning at 5am. He is going back to India! His trip was cut short by a week by some steeewwwpid meeting. IBM sucks! Very annoyed at present.

Well, that was the bad news. Now for the good news.

He will be back home again next Monday to resume his holiday! Once the meeting is finished, he said he will stay back and finalise a few things then come back and stay for an extra two weeks or so.

(Still annoyed with IBM mind you!)

He was originally only going to go back to India for A DAY! Can you believe that? India is like in a different continent! Both my brother and I said, "Appa... honestly, we can tell IBM that you are not worth that much!". It is silly to make someone travel 1000s of kms just for a single meeting - especially in the days of video conferencing! Does anyone else see a major flaw in their planning?? Do you all agree that IBM is stupid???

As a result of all this, I just know that some day I am going to become an over protective, over bearing parent!

(Just for the record, I have blogged on this page for a year and 14 days :D. I have blogged in total (minus the lapses), for about 2 years and 4 months! Pretty good!!)

Time on my Hands...

All of a sudden, I seem to have all this time on my hands! I don't know where all this time was before! I am still at the hospital for as long as I used to be. I am still doing stuff for the same social groups and yet I find that I have a lot of time to do things I want. A change in attitude or personality perhaps?

A couple of days ago I was feeling extremely lucky - a bit like the opposite of when I was drowning myself in self pity really. I am doing all the things I want to do. I realised that I am at a point in my life when I can do what I want. I am studying what I want and love my work and my work mates. I can come home and watch TV, play games and read books. I don't have to worry about anything - cooking, cleaning, washing, paying bills... THAT IS LUCKY!

I have also realised that I can now do all those things I have wanted to do but couldn't either because I was too lazy to make the effort, or did not have the "time". When I joined the gym last year, I didn't think that I would keep to it. Yet, it has made me realise that if you actually get off your backside, you can make time for MANY things! Last week I decided to join a "Kathak" class. Not because I want to perform or anything like that, but because I know I am too old to learn anything professionally now. However, I enjoyed it and its nice to be able to do something you enjoy.

I feel like I am living the life that I want and I want to enjoy it while I can because I know that this won't last forever. I am not being pessimistic - just realistic.

So why was I indulging in self pity????

On my desk...

I feel like writing but don't have anything to say!

So here is some useless information...

Books currently on my desk:

"Execution" by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. I have no idea what this book is about. I used it yesterday while palying Cluedo to have something to lean on...

"Mumbai - Tourist Guide and Map". I got this from the lovely people at Grant Hyatt, Mumbai. They did their best to make me feel at home. "Thane" is pronounced "Tha-ney" not "Thain"!!!

"A Malgudi Ominibus" - R.K. Narayan. I still haven't started reading it!

"Cloudstreet" by Tim Winton. I was halfway through this book, then I lost it. I found it again yesterday!!

"Oliver Twist" Charles Dickens. I don't think I will ever be able to read it fully - it is tooooo depressing!!

Other Random things on my Desk:

Gold Coast Postcard - Yumna sent it to me!
My Hospital Swipe card - should put it in my bag before I forget!
My wallet - Should put that in my bag too
My phone - I don't think it works anymore!
An almost empty tube of "Fair and Lovely".
Tissue Box
Almost dry Metallic Markers
Bottle of Water
An empty journal that was a birthday present from two years ago.
Scissors
Lots of Pens that probably don't work.
Hair slides
A mouse that I should connect to my laptop.
A few credit card bills (PAID!!)

Hmm... So what does this say about me??? It says that I should clean up my desk!

3 times in 4 days!

YAAYY!!! Everyone is home!! It is great to have everyone back at home!

Rama arrived on Friday, then my Dad on Sunday and Srini on Monday! This means that I have been to airport 3 times in the last 4 days!

I love the airport. When we used to live in Fiji, my dad would take the three of us to Nadi airport. My brothers used to love watching the planes land and take-off. After watching the planes for a bit, my dad would buy us a little treat. I would go for chocolate (Milky Bars or a Crunchie Bar) while my brothers would buy icecream. Now, I just buy myself a hot chocolate and almost always burn my tongue. (:P <- see!)

I love watching people at the airport - especially at Arrivals. I can remain amused for hours just watching people meet and greet. Departures is always more depressing though.

Yesterday, as I was waiting for my dad to arrive, I realised just how multicultural Sydney is. You know Sydney is multicultural when you can't distinguish the visitors from the residents. People from all sorts of countries were there and almost all of them were met by Australians.

I hope I won't have to go back to the airport for a while now though because the next time I go it will mean saying "Bye" rather than "OI! HERE!!!" (followed by a frantic above-the-head wave).

On another note: Is anyone else upset by yesterday's cricket as much as I am?? Come on Sri Lanka! I am counting on you guys for tomorrow!!! Lanka Lanka Lanka - OI OI OI!

A productive day!

I said:

"What is it about empty cardboard boxes that compels people to place them over their heads??"

"I may as well get excited about binding other people's thesis, as I will probably never have one of my own to get excited about!" (BTW - if I ever publish a thesis, it is going to be black with gold embossing.)

I learnt:

I wrote the following on a piece of cardboard that I put through the photo developer yesterday: "This is NOT a piece of film!".

There are two sides to plain A4 paper - a side that will curl up once it has passed through a printer, and a side that won't! Did you all know that??? It is a piece of knowledge that has truly revolutionised my way of life forever! (A bit like when I first discovered that it is often better to draw graphs on landscape rather than protrait. Or like when I was taught how to re-use latex gloves... or how to find the centre of a page by folding it in half before placing it in the hole puncher thingy...)

Thoughts:

People who care, often show that they do by pretending not to care.

I am ashamed to admit that I have been indulging in far too much self pity lately - sometimes I need to reminded as to just how lucky I am! The world is how you see it.

The day the neighbours stopped by...

My title is just keeping with the style of my previous title... As it suggests, our neighbours from when we were living in Fiji stopped by last night. They have moved to Canberra from Auckland and decided to spend the night at our house. It was really lovely to catch up. I haven't seen them since I left Fiji!

I was speaking to our neighbour's daughter-in-law today and she was telling me how it was so good to just have someone to talk to. She is from India and got married about two years ago and moved to Auckland. She was telling me how apart from her in-laws, there wasn't that many people to converse with. Now that she has moved to Canberra, apart from her husband and her 1 year old, there was really noone for her to talk with.

I was wondering how I would be if I was to take on the role of a housewife in a country where I had noone! I would find it very hard to meet people if it wasn't for things like work and uni. I would probably have a lot of acquaintances but I think it would be really hard for me to talk to strangers. It would be terrible!

I then started thinking about times when I have spoken to strangers. Usually it is because I have to - like when I was in Sweden, or because strangers have spoken to me. I don't see myself as someone who is unapproachable but I find that I can extremely hesitant to break the ice with even the most approachable of people. I don't know why it is because often with strangers you have nothing to lose! I can't start conversations... but I find it hard to end them as well!

I am going to the cricket tomorrow!!! Watch out for me on the telly!!! (RSA vs AUS at the SCG)!! Let me know if you will be there!!! SOOO EXCITED!!!