On WeekendsWithJohnny :

• Quote : Why
• Quote : Twenty years …
• Quote : I Travel
• Photo : Into the wild

Started out as an intern in the GNOME team about 5 years back. Jumped between Evolution and iFolder a few times for different (voluntary/involuntary) reasons. Met a lot of good engineers. Had both good / bad times. Learned a lot work / non-work.

Gnomers,

I loved working on Evolution, Evolution MAPI (may not be perfect, but had a awesome time with it And i’m yet to cash in on the few beers i’ve been offered), Attachment Reminder (Trivial, but looks like you guys liked/hated/loved it), Redesign of Evolution search bar and so on. Best bug that I’ve worked on so far was changing a ’1′ to ‘-1′ in EText (Oh those early days! Had no clue what GDB can do.. Used hundreds of ‘printf’s, lots of coffee and tested the patience of office night guards and that adrenalin rush!). Thanks to Novell for the opportunity to contribute full-time and getting paid for that.

Special thanks to my mentor Srini. I’m looking forward for more new awesome fun things in GNOME.

Thanks.

I’ll miss the 1-1 coffee breaks talking games/gadgets/music, discussions on research papers that I don’t have a clue about, conversations during ‘tea breaks’ outside office (you would see me very inspired/productive after those sessions), thursday nights & nice friends that I found beyond ‘work’.

The End.

I’m not at liberty to disclose the details of the this trip. Its under bro-NDA dictated by the bro-code. I came back home with a huge bag of tissue papers!

02 : Dad’s

The surprise drive.

03 : Wayanad

Started the drive on Sunday morning – With the Green  & Black Ninja. But had to return midway because of ‘technical issues‘

04 : Kumara Parvatha

A trek to Kumara Parvatha. More here..

On WeekendsWithJohnny :

• Photo : Goa
• Travel Tips : Hand drawn maps
• Quote : Charles Darwin from Voyage of the Beagle
• Link : Travelling Cross Country Dirt Cheap
• Travel Tips : Plan B
• Photo : Drive/Ride to Yercaud

Odo says 25551 KMs – Yay! Crossed the 25K mark .

Lot of things can go against your travel plans. For some you carry spares. For some you know what to do. The probability of most of these not happening is very high. But there is one which has a higher probability and unpredictability. No – Not a puncture in the tyres.

People dropping out

Phases in your plan:

Urge – Time when that spontaneous urge that comes over you for a drive and to see / experience new things and places.

Plan – This is the time when you share your urge with bunch of your travel friends. As with everything, all want to be part of it. Exciting!! You start thinking of renting a RV / trailer. May be get some more cars.

Plan A – You sit over in evenings and start charting your course. Possible things to do and alternatives. Check on political conditions and local traditions.

But of-course - Plan A never happens. People drop out. They are more excited by the idea of travelling than the travel itself. Ånd some-thing _always_ comes UP. Since you read the title of the post, its always your Plan B.

Plan B – So cancel your RV. Make that awkward call to the resort to let them know that we won’t be taking over all the rooms. You are down to 3 – Including yourself. Perfect number for a drive. You just have a direction and everything else is figured out on the way. The plan is no plan. You all are connected. A little too perfect to be true.

Plan B has a lesser probability of failure. It fails. Inevitability.

Plan U – Get up early in the morning. Resist deciding your destination – not yet. Pack your usual travel bag with necessities. Now (very important) pick your equipment – Your MTB / DSLR / sewing kit / telescope / mmm … swimming trunks (yeah! whatever gets you ..).

Just start driving. *Slowly* roll your car out of your apartment… Still dark… Drive to the middle of the city. Stop at the red light at the traffic signal : This is the time/spot to decide your destination. Take the turn. Switch on your stereo. Drive.

Have a fantastic trip.

Also x-posted here.

First major non-fatal incident with the car. Right side of the car was full of dents and was unable to open the right side doors (Yup . Imagine that!). So dropped off the car in a workship in Chennai and crashed at a friend’s place. Everything from there was fun - Drive-in movie, Pondicherry – abandoned pier, near perfect weather, friends, food… Totally enjoyed that week as there was a lot going on and I had no plan or control over things happening around me. Loved the chaos.

03 : Madurai

Delayed by the workshop in Chennai, I ended up driving the entire evening till midnight to Madurai to meet my folks and brother for christmas. Finally NH45 -done-. On the way back to Bangalore, car freaked me out by simply switching off (Like I was hit by EMP) while I was pulling into a fuel station. Shocked for a minute. Good that I had my ‘toolkit’ with me. Proved useful!

Ideas for 2011

- Drive to Nepal

- Drive to Mumbai/Pune

- Drive the GQ

Hopefully I would be have time for all the above

ODO : 23057 KMs.

03 – Madurai

Grandpa passed away. Emotions deep from past surfaced. Didn’t enjoy the drive because of the grim mood around.

04 – Yercaud

I decided not to go (Pu insisted that I should join them). Saturday, woke up and I could spend only 30 mins at home. The gang was already in Yercaud. Me being stupid and crazy, started off. Loved the drive up/down the hills. Lovely place! This time tailing the Green (Pu) and Black (De) Ninja. Should say that they are growing up. Sr joined us (or we barged in to his ride?) on his Royal Enfield Machismo 500. I developed a new respect for the 500. Thumping steadily.. Majestic.. (Thoughts of buying a motor bike started to linger! probably not). Pics here…

Odo : 21264 KMs. Semper Exploro!

This was the one that was predicted to die. Not anymore.

The Ninjas. Tailing the green (Pu) and black (De) Ninja  was a challenge! Cutting through the traffic like a katakana. Nimble and super quick!! Another lazy evening spent eating coorgi foods. Visited a future ‘home stay’ twice! . Next day pit stop at Kushalnagar. Re was quite eager to find the praying wheels and started chasing monks . Had a interesting and a short tour. Fun.

03 – Mangalore

Friday afternoon, on chat :

(02:23:03 PM) Ri: ready to drive ?
(02:23:33 PM) Johnny: where to ?

And thats how it started. Off to Mangalore with one planned stop at Kukke.

On Twitter: Mangalore . On the way : French Press, Craters, No roads, 22*2 kms of awesome drive, Slept in the car for 2 hours (woot!), Mangalore bun.

When Ra was off  to the temple, I slept in the car (for about 2 hours) and was ready for the second leg of the drive. Also, on foot did a recon of KP base. Like a idiot I was scraping (collecting) moss off walls.. After a short nap (mm.. Not really), started off to a ‘private’ beach . Soaked wet in the sea. As always the ocean makes me think .. Hmm..

On Twitter: Soaked in salt water to an extent that I was puking sand. Now to taste some local food and brew …

After a bunch of phone calls, resourceful Ra finds some interesting places to spend the evening. Off at 1700 to ‘Liquid Lounge’ & ‘Froth on the top’ . Met a bunch of people. Back at 2200 (early, i know. Was tired & sleep deprived).

One thing I loved about this trip was that it was simple. No fancy hotels. No photos stops. No list of places to visit.  I would remember: 5 minute stop near a small stream with *fresh* water flowing,  Shiradi ghats drive and driving off with the 5l water bottle on top of the car  …

04 – Visit Dad.

Drove back through heavy rains! for about 4 – 5 hours.

05 – Chennai

DakshinaChitra . Enjoyed the “Shadow Puppet” show and the “Phou-Oibi dance by Laihui group from Manipur”. Interesting short day trip. Good conversations.

The chosen ones

Two new saplings recommended and supplied by Dad. I’m afraid that the one on the left wouldn’t survive. Looks like a day in the car boot was too traumatic. .

A long long weekend and 4 days to kill. And I needed solitude to recharge, pay off sleep debts, connect with people, read/finish a book and get some tasty food into the system. And thats what exactly happened. In a solo drive, you’ve lot of time to think through many things. Therapeutic.

02.0 – Drive to Madurai

Bro gives me a heads up that there *might* be a drive to Madurai. Got a green at 2300. Picked up his friend and out of Bangalore by 0100. We reached Madurai outskirts by 0630. NH4.

02.1 – Drive to Chitradurga

Since I had my sunday free and to satisfy the urge of one of my friends to ‘drive out’. But not in my car this time. Was good. But mostly was mostly exhausted. Tried out ‘thatte idly’ from Tumkur. Huge Idlies!!

03, 04 – Bangalore.

Semper Exploro!