Pawared away

How do Indians take such insults and not react or do so with reactions like "I don't think it was intended"? My blood boils when I hear such reactions.

If Team India needed some reason to rise above themselves and beat the so-called world champions the next time they face them (hopefully in a WC Knockout Game), here IT is.

De-Haired

Finally some good news from the Cricket world. After the disappointing performances from the Indian Cricket team, there was some solace for the Indian team. The only teams they've lost to in the last 4-6 months (Aus and WI) turn out to be the two best teams in the world at the moment which is what I've maintained all along. Now its upto Rahul and the boys to prove my theory right by beating SA in SA.

The other news that thrilled me to the core was Darrell Hair being removed from the elite panel. I know what you are thinking; why should his being removed from the umpiring panel thrill me?

Well, its just that things at the ICC level were almost like what Lalit Modi said. The East India Company at it again. So Hair getting removed from the elite panel is like a mini battle won against the East India company.

Is it any surprise that Ponting backs Hair? He's a member of the East India company who's been favored time and again by ICC Match-Referees. He verbally abuses umpires and gets away with warnings. On the other hand, Indians just have to increase the decibel level in their appeals to over 45dB and they are banned for 2 Tests. This can't go on forever. Especially when you guys are making a truckload of money from our stupid fascination with the sport. :)

Solar Water Heater - Where and How?

This was the topic of heated discussion at home over the last month or so. Several Vastu experts (virtually people who'd read one book on Vastu - by which definition I'm almost half a Vastu expert) had given several varied opinions on where to install it.

The two critical questions were:

Which corner of the roof to put the heater tank and heater panel?

According to Vastu experts, any overhead tank should be in the South west corner of the house. Unfortunately, the current overhead tank is in the center (almost North East Corner) of our house. To make up for it, the decision was to put another new tank in the south west corner of the house. But then, the biggest faux pas was that the plan for our house had the North-East line itself wrong because of which we almost ended up screwing up the Vastu of our house even more. That's where I come in. I had a compass in one of the key-chains I'd picked up as a memento of my Chicago Trip. When I took it to the roof of the house and placed it at the center of the building, the truth dawned upon us. :-)

Which direction should the solar heater plates face?

This didn't involve Vastu. It was just a question of getting the most of the sunlight. The sun doesn't rise in the pure east direction. Neither does it go right above you at Noon except at the equator. Nor does it set in the pure west. Because of which the heater plates need to face the south direction. Finally the decision was made and since this morning, haven't been able to enjoy my morning siesta and my afternoon siesta with all the plumbing work going on.

But since the Solar Heater is supposed to save about five to ten grand a year, I don't feel so bad losing a day's sleep over it. Atleast the right decision (on location and direction) was made. After all, this has some contribution from me too. If it wasn't for the trip to the terrace with my compass, we very well might have installed the Solar in the wrong location. It feels good to contribute to the team at home despite being a junior member of the TEAM. :-)

PS: An FAQ from the Government of India's Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy sources for those planning to get one installed.