Tracking the Hurricane

Finally, the serious Hurricane Irene warning is here and in effect for the East Coast. We heard about it on Friday and after talking to one of my friends, we also got into the mode of caution. And that has lead to a fully stocked fridge, cooked food to last a day or two, tapes on the windows and probably a complete weekend spent at home watching t.v. and eating.

Staying at home all weekend will be such a waste of a summer weekend but of course hurricane arrives at its pleasure. So, like normal weekends, we went to the mall this (Saturday) morning, and had to come back in few hours, as it started raining heavily. The day, definitely has been gloomy right from the morning, it has been cloudy and dark and its been raining on & off.

And coming to, hurricane tracking, it was in North Carolina in the morning and now in the evening it is all the way up to D.C.

According to the weather forecast, the hurricane will be reaching the jersey shore tonight with very high winds and heavy rains; and there might be power outages too. Let's see, what happens.

28th August -8:00 a.m : Just woke up, its raining heavily outside along with strong winds. Another dark and gloomy day. And no power outage.

3:15 p.m. : Enjoying a cool and breezy summer afternoon, great after-effect of Hurricane Irene, which went away quietly.

29th  August : Woke up to a sunny morning. And life is back to normal.

Earthquake Tremors: Across the East Coast

Just saw the news about earthquake rocking the East Coast at 1:41 p.m. today and yes, I felt it. I was sitting on the sofa working on my laptop, when the sofa started rocking; it went on for quite a while almost for more than 30 seconds. 

At that time, I didn't realize that it was an earthquake, I just thought that maybe am having a headache or its the very strong and gutsy winds which are making the whole building shake. It was quite strange. Though I have been in this kind of situation before once in India, when there was an earthquake in Kashmir in 2005 and the tremors were felt all the way in Haryana. At that time, I was standing near the door, when all of a sudden everything started shaking, the door, the floor beneath my feet; I almost felt like my head was spinning. That one was very strong. 

Apart from that, I don't recall any.

And I just hope that the Hurricane warning goes wrong. It's so damn scary.

Lucky Bamboo: Growing long n strong

I bought three Bamboo shoots two months back to bring some green into the living space. And it has been growing long and strong, for sure. I can see some eight new leaves and the plant looks healthy and green. As advised, I usually change the water in the vase every week, and that seems to be working.

                                                                      Latest picture of the bamboo shoots

Though overall healthy, I was concerned when one of the leaves started turning brown. Read some more, about the upkeep of plant and spraying the leaves with water was the solution to the problem. Anyways, with some extra care, it will become healthier.

                                                Another look at the plant, with the browning leaf visible

 And of-course, the picture says it all; it's going strong - 'Lucky Bamboo'.

Ordering a Cake : An ordeal or just a piece o' cake

Last week, I ordered a cake online and it took me quite some time to finally decide on the perfect one. Yes, getting a customized cake is no piece of cake. 

First of all, I tried to find the best bakery in the town to get the best cake possible. Then it was time for some real hard-work, which started right after I clicked on the custom cakes icon. And there began my journey into the unknown world of cake and its parts. 

It began with the choice of six different kinds of cakes, I had to select one (obviously). And that led me to the next page, where the decision had to be made about the size of the cake depending on the number of people to be served; which was not that complicated. Another hurdle cleared, it was time to decide on the filling for the cake from the long drop-down list of 20 available fillings, this one was complicated.

Three down, I moved to the next question with far less choices than the last one; it was about icing options from a list of just 5; this one was real easy. The next challenge was about toppings, the most fun part of the whole process; definitely no one can go wrong with the chocolate sprinkles. 

The fifth multiple-choice question was the fruit choices; I was quick to pick the perfect fruit for the cake. The one that followed was very colorful of them all, I had to pick the decorating color and yes, this time there was some room for imagination, as there was the option of 'other'; and I selected just the right shade. 

And of course, the bakery needs to be aware of the occasion for which the cake is being customized and bingo, right on target the next question dealt with this crucial issue. So, now that the question-answer round was over, it was time for the birthday message to be written on the cake; which I had been thinking about since long.

Last but not the least, the most important piece of information had to be provided - the name of the person and address where the cake had to be delivered on the scheduled date.

Huff !! That was quite an ordeal !! But at last, the most beautiful and yummiest cake was constructed (brick by brick), and after tasting that cake, I realized that it sure was just a 'piece o' cake'.