Would You Want To Have Pets?

I do not currently have a pet to call my own. As some of you will know, I’ve had a Golden Retriever named Shawny for 11 years from when she was 45 days old till her death. A few years before that I had a Pomerian-Alsatian mix pup named Lassie who only lasted a few days as she had an infection, from even before we got her, before she passed away. My sister’s dog, Shawny Jr., lived with me & my folks for year while my sister’s house was being built. And I’ve had 2 cats, Lollipop & Chocolate for a few years, as well as taken care of 4 strays for a few days. Include numerous fish and some love birds over the years.

From the age of 11 till 30 I’ve had some pet or the other, animals like cats & dogs. For almost 5 years now I’ve not had the companionship of a pet, the soft, warm, fuzzy feeling when you stroke fur and scratch their ears or belly. Nothing else is more down to Earth than getting an affection lick from your dog. In the last few years I’ve yearned to own a dog & maybe a cat or two of my own but since I live in an apartment it is impossible to keep one. Whenever I see certain types of dogs like retrievers or Labs, I get a twinge in my heart and I’d love to go and pet it.

In a funny weird way, I’m more excited about seeing people’s dogs than their babies! My cousin Raju just got a 2 month old male Rottweiler pup and I’m so happy for him. He got the pup a week ago but I just came to know it yesterday. Previously he had a Dobermann bitch for almost 12 years. My sister’s dog Jr had birthed two doggies – a male & a female – who I have never seen. But I really want to see them; they’re family.

Someday I will move to a different place or finally be able to afford my own place and I will get a dog and a couple of cats. If I have children, I would want them to know the pleasure & happiness of having pets. Taking care of them, playing with them and raising them. Humans aren’t just good enough on their own. We need our buddies with us.

Saturday Post

Hey what’s going on good people? Keep on Rocking and I hope you have a great weekend. Everyone should have a 2 day weekend but unfortunately in this developing nation of ours, we have 6 day work weeks for most jobs. I’m not really that used to it as for the best part of the last 2 years I’ve had atleast 2 Saturdays off in a month and for almost 3 years in a previous job I’ve had 2 day weekends (maybe not always Saturdays & Sundays due to rotating work shifts). This current job is tiring in the fact that I have a longer distance to commute and I have 6 day work weeks.

I plan to go out this Sunday and enjoy myself with some drinks. Meanwhile here are some pics. Over the last few days we had a cable fault in the office which meant no internet for us for 3 straight days. It was only fixed last evening but due to the fact that I had recently bought a USB internet device from Reliance, I was able to use my laptop and check mails and even play around on facebook. Here is my faithful laptop which I placed on a different cabinet. That’s the USB dongle hanging out on the left side of the picture.

Working Saturdays in this Infopark in Thrissur also has a downside. The main cafeteria does not open on Saturdays, mainly due to the fact that there are less people working on this day of the week. Plus, when I asked them they told me that the kitchen has not be completed and hence they are bringing in food from the main branch of the Infopark, which is all the way over in Kakkanad. They have assured us that they will begin 24/7 services from the 1st week of August. That will be good as we also work night shifts in our company. I myself will be moving back to night shifts in a few days.

So what do we do for lunch on Saturdays? Well the little town that the Infopark is located in has very little in terms of being able to eat out, so the Infopark has a smaller independently run canteen within the premises. Saturday is a lean day for them too however and they only stock snacks and biscuits. For lunch today me and my tech in charge ate the following; one omelet and a cup of noodles. The noodles does not taste that good at all and the masala seems to be attracted to the bottom of the cup. They do make a nice omelet though and we were grateful for the food. He also had a cup of tea while I chose a lemonade.

The only problem was within 4 hours I was feeling hungry again. On my way back home, I stopped at Cafe Coffee Day for some food. I had a Devil’s Own – a frappe with rich cream on top – and a grilled chicken tikka sandwich. I love the crunch and taste of grilled sandwiches and chicken tikka sandwiches are the bomb! I ate my sandwich, listened to some tunes in the cafe and chilled there for an hour. Then it was back home.

The Perfect Party Size

Ah, I’m stumped by this question. How on earth do you define the perfect number of people for a perfect party? More importantly is your number the same as my number or someone else’s number? I think this depends on what kind of party you have and where it is happening.

If you are having a family party, a getogether or a birthday party or a wedding or even an anniversary, then the right number is always going to be the number of family members you have! Plain and simple; if my family size (which will be nuclear family, uncle, aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces) is say around 70, then 70 is the perfect number for a family party. I tend to avoid most parties but if I do go for a family party, then I would want to see everyone there.

Now with friends it is a little more complicated. You have groups of friends, some of whom do not know each other. Like you could have friends from work and the previous companies that you have worked for and they won’t all know each other. What about your childhood school & college friends? They might not know each other. Now unless it’s a common theme party, like your birthday or engagement or wedding or a house warming party then everyone can come. Otherwise it’s always better if you can keep separate parties for groups.

Now this is just me and my opinion. I do not really enjoy large gatherings and avoid them as much as I can. I prefer smaller parties, groups of 5 to 10 and where everyone knows each other really well. Everyone can relax and put their feet up, drink a few, eat some good food and have a fun, relaxing time which is to unwind after the stress of the world. That is my kind of party.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry

The very premise of this movie was hilarious enough for a big hearty laugh from me. Just thinking about a possible gay marriage between funny men Kevin James & Adam Sandler is enough to ……..hahahaha, see? I can’t help it!

A 2007 buddy comedy movie directed by Dennis Dugan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry stars the two comedians as two friends who are firefighters in Brooklyn, New York. Along for the ride are the hot Jessica Biel and a host of other great comedy stars. Chuck (James) is a widower with two young kids while Larry is an irresponsible womanizer. In order to help Chuck with an insurance policy problem that makes it difficult for him to name his two kids as his beneficiaries, Larry is reluctantly dragged into Chuck’s charade of making the two of them seem to be a gay couple. Chuck reminds Larry of the promise of a favour the latter made to him after Chuck saved Larry in a burning building.

When city officials, headed by investigator Clinton Fitzer (Steve Buscemi) suspects that the two are fraud, Larry & Chuck head to Canada and get married in Niagra Falls. They also enlist the help of a gay rights sympathetic lawyer, Alex McDonough (Biel) who unfortunately for Larry is so hot & just right for him. For the first time in his life Larry finds a woman who he thinks he can commit to but she thinks he is gay! The pair also face hostilities from their friends in the Fire Department as the other men do not want to do anything with the gay couple. However, in a funny scene, big & tough Duncan (Vig Rhames) goes from being an angry & intimidating loner to being the pair’s best ally – he comes out as being gay being inspired by the love of the two friends!

Having come face to face with homophobic protesters, Larry & Chuck become more sympathetic to the causes of the gay people. Larry becomes close to Alex, whose brother is gay, and in a scene she makes him feel her breasts to show that they are natural, thinking that since he is gay, it doesn’t matter if he touches her. When numerous women testify that Larry slept with them, the pair’s marriage comes under fire and they are dragged to court on charges of fraud. Their friends apologize to the two and come to show support and as a final test the investigator asks the two to kiss on the lips in front of the court to prove that they are actually gay. However NYFD Captain Tucker (Dan Aykroyd), their boss,  protests and lets the court know that the two are not gay. Tucker attempts to save them by claiming that he would have to be arrested as well, since he knew about the fakery but failed to report it. This prompts the other firefighters to each claim a role in the wedding in a show of solidarity.

Unfortunately, with these revelations, the pair, along with all their fellow firefighters, are sent to prison, but they are quickly released after negotiating a deal to provide photos for an AIDS research benefit calendar. Two months later, Duncan and Alex’s brother, Kevin (Nick Swardson) are married in Canada at the same chapel as Larry and Chuck were. At the wedding party, Larry finally moves on after the death of his wife and talks to a new woman, while Alex tentatively agrees to a dance with Chuck. All’s well that ends well.

Great for some laughs. 8 out of 10!