Another discovery at the barbers shop

Having nothing to do over the weekend, I decided to go get a haircut. While I was at the barbers shop, I discovered what seemed to be a new species of people. It took a while for it to strike me that this species has not yet been documented despite their numbers increasing daily. Since I had to wait a while for my turn anyway, I decided to put that time to some good use and document the distinct characteristics of this species. Please note that their population is still pretty low so no hunting will be allowed for now. I have listed a few of their most noticeable features below to make it easier for you to spot their type.

• They are usually skinny, have funny colored hair and wear sunglasses even when indoors.
  
• They usually wear jeans that have flashy designs printed on them along with different colored pockets, and a couple of other accessories hanging around different places.
  
• The jeans are paired up with a loose shirt that has half the buttons opened. To put more emphasis on the shirt, they sit in a relaxed type of pose that opens their shirt even more.
• You will usually find them singing along, or headbanging to the latest bollywood music hoping that they are being watched.
• They usually travel in packs and can be easily spotted if you keep and eye out for weird colours in the distance.
• They are sometimes accompanied by members of the opposite sex that share similar genes, but with even more colours. Did i say genes? sorry i meant jeans.
• The female counterparts can also be easily identified by the vernacular accent which they use when trying to speak in English.

If you find yourself near this species, it's safe to wait and observe for a while, but be ready to walk away if they show any signs of trying to strike a conversation.

Signboards... they help, but not always

I had recently been to fame adlabs to watch a movie. There was still 30 mins for the movie to start so i was left with no option but to roam around the mall to kill time. I couldn't help taking a few pics of some weird offers that they had.

You know your living in times of recession when you see offers like these.


I was tempted to buy this just to ask for 10 paise in back in change.

Here's another one taken at the same store


You can almost imagine the guy yelling "Coffee! Coffee! get your 3 is one coffee!" , can't you?
On a second thought, what is 3 in one coffee anyway?

And here is another signboard from the sandwich guy below my office. The signboard business could really use someone who is good at spellings.

Don't miss the last line on this one - "We tack birthday party & wedding order by order"

Dealing with those who just can't shut up

Each and every of us must be knowing at least one person who falls in the category of "people who just can't shut up". Not all of them are bad, some of them are really fun to talk to, but there are a few who go on and on about the most boring topics like, well mostly about themselves. I happened to know a few such people and they are solely responsible for me not signing into messengers as often as i used to.

After a couple of days it becomes really difficult to find topics to talk about and its a pain in carrying on the conversation. Not replying is down right rude and should be used only as the last resort. You must try and maintain a reasonable "conversation buffer" period between any consecutive conversation between yourself and such a person. Personally, i would consider 3 days a reasonable value for this "conversation buffer". This value can vary based on the average length of the conversations and the amount of boredom caused. Fortunately for you, you don't have to get into those complex calculations since I have come up with a series of plans to combat this threat to humanity.

Plan A: If your messenger comes with an invisible mode or an away mode, put it to use. This plan follows the popular principle of "prevention is better than cure". It's best to sign in in away mode and not reply when the said specimen messages you. It certainly beats carrying on the seemingly endless conversation.

Plan B: Keep talking about yourself. This plan was designed after the "Give a taste of their own medicine" principle. This is the most effective plan as per my experience. After trying this out on my test subjects, i found it to be effective 75% of the time. The said subjects can't stand it if they don't get a chance to talk about themselves. Don't worry if you can't come up with interesting topics about yourself, the beauty of this plan is that the boring topics are much more effective in getting the other person to end the conversation.

Plan C: Make excuses. I found that the most effective excuse is "I am having internet trouble, I don't think i am getting your messages". Feel free to use your creativity while coming up with such messages, and don't forget to leave me a comment if you stumble upon some good excuses.

Plan D: Don't reply. This is to be used only as the last resort, if all of the above plans fail and if that person is of no strategic importance to you or your career. The after effects of this plan can include an indifferent attitude from that person towards you. These after effects however, can be mitigated if the plan is used in moderation. The trick is to message the person the next day and make an excuse like "Sorry, it was my brother/sister using the computer the other day"

I hope this post is of help to you in dealing with such people. Do leave a comment if you have any other such plans that I don't know of

My new photoblog

I had been thinking of starting a photoblog for quite a while now and i finally got the time to do it on a lazy sunday afternoon. Heres the link

http://underexposed.aminus3.com/

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2 hours of hell

I don't know how i missed this in my previous Things that annoy me posts when it should have been number 1 on that list. But as they say, better late than never. The day was going on just fine, I met up with a few college friends, we had lunch at a nice restaurant at Andheri, The bill was much lesser than we expected, it all seemed too good to be true. Then came the suggestion that was going to ruin the evening. "Lets go to phoenix mills" they said, "why not?" we agreed. We somehow managed to fit in 7 people in the honda city and hit the road, with the radio to entertain us. There was some tone deaf covers of some old pop songs like "genie in a bottle" and "The sign" being sung, with improvised lyrics offcourse. But that wasn't as bad as what was instore. Infact I wouldn't be totally lying if i said it was a little entertaining.

Once we reached pohenix mills, We were faced by the dreaded "S" word. The memories are still fresh and painful, but i have to say it. Brace yourself.. they wanted to go "SHOPPING". I can't explain in words how much i hate shopping, The only time i enjoy shopping is when i am looking for electronics. The item the guys were looking for today was "shades". Personally, i am not a shades person, i find them too flashy. Infact, i find the word shades flashy as well, so i decided to switch to cribbing mode with hopes that they finish fast. The next 2 hours were hell. Imagine the following sentences being repeated continously at 4 different shops. "These glasses are too big, This one is too small, This one is silver i need mine in black, This one does not cover my eyes, This one is too loose, This one touches my eye brows, Do they look better in brown or in black, This ones too expensive, etc etc etc". A couple of other friends had a game going on to find the most expensive glares, and they found one that cost 22,000 rs. Thankfully after a harrowing 2 hours, they were done shopping and it was time to leave. The icing on the cake was that after that agonizing 2 hours, they still didn't buy anything. Fun evening, isn't it?

Going solo

Ever had one of those days when there are just too many people around you? or when you have been dealing with so many people that you need some time away from anything that talks? It happens many times at work these days. Fear not, there is a cure to it. That's when i like to go to the cafeteria and have a cup of coffee or a meal by myself, without anyone to bother me and without feeling the burden of carrying on a conversation with anyone. I try to go early and grab a seat at my favorite place by the window that overlooks a green lawn and the hills of national park, but its usually taken by someone else who is almost always blabbering over the cellphone. Talking on the phone kinda defeats the purpose of spending some time alone. One irritant is the reaction that i get from friends who walk in later. The get this surprised look on their as they ask "alone?" They then come and sit besides me and i am forced to hold a conversation. Makes me wonder why do people find it so astonishing. I've kind of taken a liking towards doing thing alone, it all started with a trek to lohagad where the friend who was supposed to accompany me backed out at the last minute and since i was really looking forward to the trek, i went alone (with the rest of the group of unknown people offcourse). The recent nature trail that i had been to further made me believe that it's not all that bad. It's a different experience, you get to interact with strangers and meet new interesting people, some of them who share the same interest as you. It certainly beats trying to convince friends to come for some event they are the least bit interested in. More importantly, it lets you spend some time with your thoughts, something that i rarely get to do these days.

I've been facing some trouble in blogger, so I have moved my travel blog to wordpress

http://twowheelsandme.wordpress.com/

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