Sunday, September 19, 2010
26 Days to 26 Miles
Back to blogging. I have finally decided on a marathon to run. Finally! Its going to be Kansas City Marathon on October 16, 2010. Its 26 days to the race day. So I thought I would blog about my training and diet schedule for these last 26 days. I have been running for quite while now and have accumulated good enough mileage to finish a marathon, I think. But as any runner would know the last 30 days or so are very critical and crucial for an injury free marathon finish. Hopefully, I will.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Canoe Trip
Its been ages since I last updated this blog. I have a canoe trip coming up this weekend so I thought this is the right time and place to update about it and provide the details to my fellow 'canoeists'.
On Friday, June 19, 2009 Sushanth, Raja, Shiva, Prasanna and myself are starting for a two day canoeing trip on Kansas river. We will be starting around 7:00 pm from the Manhattan US24 docking point and ending the following day at Wamego US99 docking point. We will have to find a place to camp before the sunset. So it is advisable to hit the river as early as possible.
I have reserved two tandem canoes (each tandem canoe accommodates two people) and one single kayak for two days from the K-state outdoor rental center. We will have to pick them up on Friday between 4:00-6:00 pm, which is when they are open. I have not reserved any camping paraphernalia yet but I am assuming we can get them when we go to pick up canoes. We will need three cars to carry two canoes and one kayak. The outdoor rental center will provide us with the car top carriers.
Here is the map of the Kansas River, a part of which we will be coursing:
We will put in our canoes at the Hwy 24 Blue River boat ramp and access point and take out at the Wamego Hwy 99 bridge as shown in the following two maps.
Here is a link to the forecast for weather on Friday and Saturday from Accuweather:
Note that the UV and mosquito indices are quite high! A note on the attire. Plan on wearing quick-drying pants/shorts. Shirt is optional! A hat/bandana is a must. No flip-flops please! If you are planning on getting into the water, I strongly recommend sandals or shoes.
I have prepared the following checklist for this canoeing/camping trip. If you think of something that I have missed, leave me a comment. I am taking the responsibility of getting all the stuff unless otherwise stated in parentheses.
- Two canoes and one kayak, reserved at K-state outdoor rental center
- One paddle per person, reserved at K-state outdoor rental center
- Life jackets, one per person, reserved at K-state outdoor rental center
- Flashlight
- Water proof container for keys, cell phones, etc.
- Fire-starter/matches
- Sunglasses (bring your own, unless you want to use my prescription sunglasses!)
- Sunscreen
- Mosquito repellent
- Drinking water
- Pocket knife (Does any of you have one?)
- Binoculars and a Kansas birds guide
- Camera
- Toilet paper
- Lip balm (bring your own)
- Drinking cups
- Paper plates
- Plastic garbage bags
- Lantern
- Tent
- Sleeping bags
- Ice chest
- Ice bags
- Food (I will bring the veggie food, one of you please take care of the non-veg stuff)
- Beer (Let me know what kind)
Monday, November 10, 2008
Art for sale
I usually gift my art work to friends and relatives as a good will gesture or so I would like to think. Nonetheless, here are a few of my pencil drawings that I would like to sell (get rid of, perhaps!) for a price. I have had no formal training and I dont claim any particular style or for that matter, unusual style of drawing. I draw whatever I feel like drawing at that moment. So if you are fascinated by my work and feel like owning a piece of history for your selves, leave me a comment. You don't have to be fascinated to buy though.
"Aish" $50
"Crystal" $75
"NYC Mourning" $75
"Grade I" $50
"Aish" $50
"Crystal" $75
"NYC Mourning" $75
"Grade I" $50
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Crash Course in American Politics
Donkeys did populism of the 1890s, the antibusiness reformism of the 1930s and the civil rights crusade of the 1960s, while the elephants did abolitionism in the 1850s, anti-Communism in the 1950s, antitax revolts in the 1970s and 1980s and the evangelical conservatism of the 1990s and 2000s.
Source: Sam Tanenhaus, NYT
Source: Sam Tanenhaus, NYT
Friday, December 28, 2007
Day 1 - Endured it!
What was I thinking? Just three hours of sleep a day? Definitely, I was out of my mind! In the last 36 hours, I had two hours of cumulative sleep. I decided to sleep for 30 minutes every 31/2 hours and so my sleep times were 11:00 p.m., 3:00 a.m., 7:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. for a 24 hour period. I chose these times because they kind of fit my daily schedule. especially the 8:30 a.m. lab meetings, and 4:30 p.m. squash games. However, it was difficult to find a sleeping place during day time. I tried sleeping on chair in my lab. It was pretty uncomfortable. I must find some other place. I am pinning on Vetmed library once it opens in the new year. They have very good leather recliners.
30 minutes is really short. I mean it literally flew away in no time. Efficient wise, I must have slept for ~10 minutes. And I did get a dream in that short time. I usually get a lot of dreams. However, I do not remember most of them. I wake up from sleep once the dream is finished or broken. May be with this new sleep schedule, I will remember them. And may be, I will compile them to publish a novel or something like that.
In contrast, 3 and 1/2 hours between sleep times is really long. I mean if you are pretty laid back person and do not have lot of stuff on the table, its difficult to kill time. For me, I am working on my preliminary examination so its actually coming pretty handy. And between study times, I get to log for this blog!
On the whole, it was a good day. Or should I say an 'Uberday'!
30 minutes is really short. I mean it literally flew away in no time. Efficient wise, I must have slept for ~10 minutes. And I did get a dream in that short time. I usually get a lot of dreams. However, I do not remember most of them. I wake up from sleep once the dream is finished or broken. May be with this new sleep schedule, I will remember them. And may be, I will compile them to publish a novel or something like that.
In contrast, 3 and 1/2 hours between sleep times is really long. I mean if you are pretty laid back person and do not have lot of stuff on the table, its difficult to kill time. For me, I am working on my preliminary examination so its actually coming pretty handy. And between study times, I get to log for this blog!
On the whole, it was a good day. Or should I say an 'Uberday'!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Uberman's Sleep Schedule
Who am I? I am Uberman! Nevermind! Today, I have decided to give a try to the so called Uberman's Sleep Schedule which is a kind of polyphasic sleep. Most humans on planet Earth are monophasic that is, they get all stages of their sleep (REM, non-REM, etc.) in one long shot usually at night. It is a known fact that a good night's sleep (~8 hours) is required to recuperate both brain and body. However, it is the REM for Rapid Eye Movement stage of sleep that is very critical. It is the stage where one get dreams while the brain reboots. It usually lasts for about 20-30 minutes and recurrs 5-6 times. So in polyphasic sleep one bypasses all other stages and directly enters the REM stage for 20-30 minutes every 31/2 -4 hours.
I decided to start this new 'pursuit' begining at 11:00 p.m. tonight. The research (non-scientific) states that it takes about 2 weeks to adapt to this new schedule and is very difficult to do so. Lets see how it goes. The apparent advantage from this 'maniacal' sleep schedule is 21 hours a day to knock my socks off! Keep reading my blog as I log how my day went!
I decided to start this new 'pursuit' begining at 11:00 p.m. tonight. The research (non-scientific) states that it takes about 2 weeks to adapt to this new schedule and is very difficult to do so. Lets see how it goes. The apparent advantage from this 'maniacal' sleep schedule is 21 hours a day to knock my socks off! Keep reading my blog as I log how my day went!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Loans That Change Lives
My new business partner is a 25 year old mother of two girls from Uganda and is into Construction Supplies business. And guess what? There are 24 more business partners with her each of whom have loaned (no invested!) to alleviate poverty from her life!
The concept of micro finance or micro credit was pioneered by the 2006 Peace Nobel Laureate, Dr. Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh and is taken a step further by the founders of kiva.org. Since its inception last year this website has financed or in the midst of financing ~14,000 poor entrepreneurs around the world and giving them an opportunity to start a new and better life and in the process making the world a better place.
Nonetheless, it has given me an opportunity as well, to serve the poor. Here is a scenario in perspective. I have decided on lending $25 each t0 two businesses every month for the next five years. The loan repayment term is mostly 6 months and so assuming that I get back my first months' investment at the end of 6 months (which I don't doubt a bit given the startling default rate of about 0.21%), and I recycle it into a new business every month thereafter, I would have helped 660 businesses to kick start at the end of 5 years. What else could be more gratifying than this? I mean, whats $50 per month to me or anyone for that matter? Its' skipping 4 Little Apple Brewery sittings or, 3 outings for lunch or, 2 nights of restaurant dinners or, even 1 "impulsive" shopping for groceries at Walmart! Well, I did my math.
The concept of micro finance or micro credit was pioneered by the 2006 Peace Nobel Laureate, Dr. Mohammed Yunus of Bangladesh and is taken a step further by the founders of kiva.org. Since its inception last year this website has financed or in the midst of financing ~14,000 poor entrepreneurs around the world and giving them an opportunity to start a new and better life and in the process making the world a better place.
Nonetheless, it has given me an opportunity as well, to serve the poor. Here is a scenario in perspective. I have decided on lending $25 each t0 two businesses every month for the next five years. The loan repayment term is mostly 6 months and so assuming that I get back my first months' investment at the end of 6 months (which I don't doubt a bit given the startling default rate of about 0.21%), and I recycle it into a new business every month thereafter, I would have helped 660 businesses to kick start at the end of 5 years. What else could be more gratifying than this? I mean, whats $50 per month to me or anyone for that matter? Its' skipping 4 Little Apple Brewery sittings or, 3 outings for lunch or, 2 nights of restaurant dinners or, even 1 "impulsive" shopping for groceries at Walmart! Well, I did my math.
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