My poor Chevy and me!

Started early on car driving classes during my first year on job! Managed to get a license, but since then never bothered or was serious about driving. Again, it happened when a long-term trip to US got confirmed officially. Ran and registered for the classes again as I could not recollect where the clutch and brake(s) are positioned.

The classes were not that bad. With the driver exhibiting lot of patience and confidence that I could drive, there was no stopping! I did repeat the mistakes like releasing the clutch fully that made the car to stop right at the junction where four roads met, frantically turning the wheel to left when Iam supposed to turn right! The driver’s irritation was disguised by a half broken smile saying “Madam…what Madam?!”. I should appreciate the persistence driver had to put up with me. Taking reverse is another big ordeal..! That was the story of 10 one-hour classes!

Then the big day came, I was in US and initially pooled with my colleagues to commute. That was not a permanent solution and neither my colleague nor me entertained it. A nice colleague of mine offered to sit beside me while I drive initially. So I drove the car and pooled in other colleagues for free rides. They just have to sit beside me and instruct. And one fine day, I drove to office all by myself! The first few days I almost woke up with the stress of me driving with a lot of “What if…” questions!! Iam not intending to share those questions here!

The highlight of all this is they gave me a brand new Chevy Impala 2008 model with just 90 miles in the odometer! The delivery person actually drove those 90 miles! Of course it’s kinda like giving a garland to a monkey! My motto while I was driving was not to dash anyone and follow the road rules!

After a huge retrospection, I was not bad after all. It has been 4 months and so far not a scratch! And guess what, Iam picking up two more gals and providing commutation to them! That’s a big deal – not me providing a ride, but them trusting me and joining the ride!

Recalling some funny scenes..

- Warning in the dashboard “The pressure is low in right rear tire”. Realized I need to pump it up but got totally panicked about it
- Went to the gas station, tried to put the nozzle in the fuel tank and it just doesn’t go. Well, I was holding a diesel nozzle! Such mistake-proofing techniques are there just for ppl like me
- Tried to press the accelerator so hard and the car is not even budging a mm, realized that the hand brake was on
- Defrosting the car was another lesson I learnt after realizing that one cannot drive with a frosted window!
- Always make up my mind to part with $300 when I start the car. $150 for penalty and another $150 for having no valid license!

Thank God the car is a latest model and most of the features are automated!!

Meals - Mexican to Indian

The other day we went to Salsarita and were excited to order Nachos, Tachos and Burritos. An innovative idea came up – Burritos actually has rice and beans rolled into a bread (similar to “roti” not made of wheat). If we separate it, then humara daal, chawal aur roti ho gaya!!! Btw, Nachos are like chips and Tachos are like roasted papads!! We can have that as side dish or complementary papads!!!

Infact we were pondering about business options to promote the same..any takers?
No wonder we lovvved Mexican food!

Golf..at a glance

Tee, Irons, Driver, Putter …of course, Iam talking GOLF here. Last week I got a chance to play the game and it was a team play. This was my first stint with Golf and it was good! Being an amateur in the group, I got o learn all the techniques/strategies to hit the ball from Teeing box (that’s the start point) to the Green(land with finely cut grass, where a ball should land before you push it into the hole/cup). The game is played on a course consisting of series of 9 or 18 holes.

The whole idea of the game is to put the ball into the hole with minimal strokes. I did not find that easy, as there is lot of obstacles either as bunkers or water hazards! The first stroke from the Tee is key to take the ball farthest from you on the fairway and closer to green. There are varieties of clubs like driver, irons or putter to use at various places. For example, you usually use a putter when the ball is on the green. In the game we played, it turned out that I was good as a putter - did consecutive 4 balls to the holes. On the driver, I was disgusting - the ball seldom lifted itself from the ground when I hit.

Scores are done based on Par. Par refers to the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play of the hole. As any other sport, this also needs good practice and ineterst to keep up the Pars. Men and Women have different Tee box points. And all this fun is added with good snacks and beer! So, who would say no to Golf?