Trip to Niagara & Pittsburg
( 23-25 Dec ’06)

I had landed the previous Sunday evening and we planned to travel to Niagara falls the Christmas weekend. ‘Twas my first weekend in the US. Nu too had gone to Niagara his 1st weekend in the US about 2.5 yrs back.

I was jus abt trying to get used to the chillin winters. But was definitely excited abt the trip..coz I would see the famous Niagara falls and It wld be my 1st long drive with my hubby. Sumthing I had been longing for. (Don ask me why!)

Come Saturday(23rd) , we set out early morning. The mountains around Vermont were white covered by snow. The long drive made me ‘oh..so nostalgic’ abt home ‘coz I was very used to these long drives to various places in Dads car with family. This was a 8 hr drive n we finally reached the Days Inn resort arnd 5 pm. In the winters, it starts getting dark as early as 4 pm. We freshened up and then as the falls was v.close to the hotel we decided to walk it up. So taking our winter gear (gloves, jackets,mufflers etc) we set out. We walked for obout 2 mins n the cold begun to sink in. The wind was so strong and the roads were empty…we were swayin n walking!. But not wanting to return we continued..the falls did look pretty, we took a long walk..the nite sky was amazing..but well..I think we almost froze ! There was unstoppable water drippin frm our noses (yuck!) cld see the revolvin restaurant on the opp side i.e Ontario, Canada,

The Canada-US border is a thin white line (like a zebra corssin) drawn on the road.But u need a passport n visa to cross that line:(

We went to a casino after that..my 1st experience in a Casino.. Was fun..lost some money though! N ya..i also lost Vinod's gloves. Now this is sumthing u ‘ll read as a regular feature in all my stories..I end up losin sumthign in every trip I make :

Next morning we went to the Balaji temple at Pittsburg. A 4 hr drive. Believe me the food (Prasad) available in temples is jus amazing..its sooooooooooo yummy ! n u will stop thinking “Wat a cheapo..” once u taste it. We wanted to pack some boxes for dinner too but din have cash ( thnx to the xtensive usage of credit cards at all places!). But the temple didn’t accept card so we drove abt a mile and got cash to buy food. N then drove back to Niagara.

The next morning we went to the falls agn..roamed arnd a bit, clicked pics (vinods fav thing to do) n then drove back home.

Was a fun trip…wit perfect no. of days to do the stuff we had planned to do without tiring ourselves too much.

Waitin to visit Niagara in summer ‘coz all the rides n stuff was closed durin winter! N long drives have bcom pretty much one of our fav things to do.

Pics at : http://picasaweb.google.com/vinodindia/NiagaraVisit
http://picasaweb.google.com/vinodindia/Pittsburgh

Wat Goes Around Comes Around…

My current project is in its closing phase. Now this project was for 4 mths but has been insanely adhoc n hectic…Our mgr has jus been makin things worse n as the weeks have passed by has proved that he is an amazing slave driver. My Tam Lead, on the other hand has been supportive, understanding and empathetic towards me. Though he has been getting slave driven himself! We have endlessly cribbed to each other about our manager. As an appreciation of how enduring he has been today I told him that I thot he has been good n kind. His response was “What goes around comes around Pavi. Ur good, so u get that in return. Noel has been a hard taskmaster, sometime he will be made to repent it”.
I have been confused & upset about a few things in Life at this point n hearing that made so much of a difference to me.
What goes Around indeed does come Around. So for all those things n people who have been getting on my nerves .I know they‘ll be made to pay for it. N I know, all that I have to do is continue fulfilling my responsibilities, God will take care n teach them a lesson when he has to. It’s not my business. N if it’s my turn to learn a lesson, I surely will be taught the same. I feel the lessons are learnt much easier when learnt early. Its important to stay quiet n let God do his job. I agree - Easy to Say, Hard to Do!
We are all equal Children of God’s. Have equal no. of ups n downs in Life. Things tht we are happy about n sad about. But having the faith n trust and not givin up is essential to survive. I have heard and at times feel its true that a plan has already been chalked out for each one of us. Then why do we make the mistakes we do, the things we repent n wish we hadn’t done? Has that all been planned? I often wonder. The answer maybe that God thinks, that’s the best way for us to learn.

Oh well. Thank You. N keep me a Good Human Being. That’s all I ask for.