Random Musings

Posted on Thursday, June 02, 2016 No Comments
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Its been a while I had blogged. Between now and the last time I blogged, there have been a lot many things happening.


One incident was that I managed to crack GRE. I had been preparing to take GMAT which somehow couldn't get finalized. I then set myself a 1 month timeline to prepare GRE and booked the slot for 2nd Nov'15.


I had prepared the High Frequency Word list from Barrons sincerely. One word of caution though is that you are bound to forget a few words.


I bought a practice book having 6 tests to get into the test groove. I took 1 test each day towards the end. And I began to realize only a week before the exams that I have been practicing for GRE paper based test and not computer based test. The only difference was that the questions and time limits are a bit less in the computer based test.


I had an experience of taking GRE prior in 2009 where I had scored 1140 (Q700 V440) which was poor. I was just hoping I wouldn't flunk that bad here.


The AWA involving an essay and an argument was little of a challenge as I had not focused much on that. I was confident on Argument as I had a score of 5.5 previously. I was more concerned about the issue part. After the module, I thought I managed it ok but the score of 4/6 was a bit of disappointment.


For the 4 modules on Quants and Verbal, Quants was easy and it wasn't much of a challenge. Time was available to finish the set and review the starred questions.


But for Verbal, I had lot of time but each time I reviewed an answer, I always found the other option more closer to the actual answer. This was a challenge and I was not able to exactly narrow down on the meaning of the word.


Getting down to the exact meaning of the word is very essential and is important to crack Verbal. I would suggest people who are going to take GRE, to concentrate on getting down to the exact meaning.


At the end of the exam, I was relieved to have got 320 (Q166 V154) and for some time couldn't calculate my scores. I just went numb.


Alas, end was good and I am able to apply to universities with a decent score.


Fingers crossed for which university I would be heading. 

My experience with Brevet – 200km – Night ride from Bangalore to Mandya and back

Posted on Saturday, June 07, 2014 No Comments
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While reading about cycling, I came across the term randonneuring. Randonneuring is long distance cycling ranging from 200 km to 1200 kms. A person is called a randonneur if he completes any one of the long distance event and a Super Randonneur if he completes  200km, 300 km, 400 km and 600 km within the same calendar year. The randonneuring event is also called randonee or a brevet. I will be using the term brevet here.

I was intent to complete my first brevet at the earliest and registered at Coimbatore in the first week of March’14. However, I was not able to get leave and had to cancel the plan. I was lucky enough to find another event planned in Apr’14 in Bangalore during which we had an extended weekend off. I registered for it along with 2 other friends Gopi sir and Ram, former my office colleague and regular cyclist and the other my college friend who is a hockey player but new to cycling.

Brevet was scheduled at 8.00 PM from BTM layout near Silk Board on 12th Apr’14. We had made plans to reach Bangalore by afternoon, take rest and then head fresh for the brevet. However, the plans went awry and we never had an opportunity to take rest. Also, Gopi sir had to drop out of the brevet due to personal reasons. Now Ram and I, completely new to the city, were left to accomplish the task. We had transported our bikes in car and hence we had to do assemble our bikes which took us time. Finally, when we were off to the start point, we were running late. We arrived at the start point at 8.20 PM and the brevet had already begun.

We were at a disadvantage on the route, as traffic routes in Bangalore were something that we had no idea. We kept asking the motorists and shop people for the routes and kept going. Alas, we had overshot a left turn by certain 5 – 10 kms when we realized the folly. It took sometime for us to get back on the route and at 10.00 PM, we had covered 18 kms of the official route. We had a task in our hand now, with a straight route ahead of us we had ticked off the route issue.

What began as an easily doable target, seemed to be excruciatingly painful. We had minor gear issues in both of our cycles which took less than 5 minutes to put it back. The road was like the snake in a snake and ladder with lots of ups and downs, the downhill were fun for us which made the uphill even more difficult, this continued on till the half stop. We had set us cut-off for the distance that had to be achieved every 25 kms mostly coinciding with the towns that were along the path.

The first set of cyclists we could see was in the 70ish mark and we were relieved to have actually closed the gap. Somewhere near 100ish mark, where we had only 3-5 kms to reach the half way mark, Ram had started having muscle pull in his leg which was giving him a tough time. However, with ample glucose, electral, fresh juices and water we managed to reach the half way mark at 2.15 AM. We were happy that we had reached the half way mark and happily relished the parattas given by Gopi sir’s sister family who were magnanimous hosts.

In the half way mark, during the interaction with our organizers, we came to know that when compared to the first half, second half is even more tougher with more elevations than drops. This was the last thing which we wanted to hear and was really difficult.

We started our return at around 3 AM after the control point had closed and were focused to complete it. This was the time when I enjoyed the night ride with cool weather and little traffic. Night rides are something which I hadn’t thought of before and kudos to the organizers for arranging this ride. Although we were in a divided carriageway, the high beam from the vehicles in the opposite direction was causing some discomfort. This and cyclist’s best friend, the street dogs barking at us whenever we stop were the aberrations. Please ensure to have good lights and take adequate safety precautions while doing night rides.

The dawn proved to be a blessing as with the light available we could progress faster. And also, all my cycling long rides were in the morning, it was like getting into my comfort zone. As was customary in morning rides, we stopped at a coffee shop, and it was bliss. Rejuvenated with a coffee, we pedaled faster hoping to complete the ride 1 hour prior to the cut-off. However, we had surprises on the way. Ram was famished and was finding it difficult to pedal further, that was when we had stopped in a roadside eatery to have our breakfast at around 7.15ish. After that, I had overeaten and found pedaling very tough, however, having worked the entire night, we were not willing to stop at all. With the sun coming up, it was getting difficult, but what made it more difficult was the route once inside Bangalore. The city route was confusing and we had get trouble finding the correct route.

All is well that ends well and hence, we reached the end point in the nick of time.

Cycling

Posted on Thursday, May 29, 2014 No Comments

How I was into cycling

My tryst with cycling began when I was preparing for my first half marathon (21 km) which was scheduled in Dec’13. I began my preparation in Aug and was determined to complete it. However, being a lazy guy I soon ran out of steam to go for a run every morning and would always postpone it. To ensure I am doing some workout, dusted my old cycle used during school days and began cycling alternatively. Now, the rides to Marina and Besant Nagar early in the day would always be refreshing and being drenched in sweat on my return home would always make me satisfied about the workout I have had.

Initial Steps

I was able to complete my Half marathon and during the time I began doing research about cycling. I became excited when I could see so much information about cycling and the awareness about it world over. It was teaming with activities and resources which  made me impatient to get a bike and I narrowed down to Scott Sportster Comfort 20.

Our mindset has been typically set as cycle being a poor man’s vehicle. With all the revolutions taking around in every sphere, this is sure to change. Nowadays, it is more of rich man’s toy and is only going ot get better. The technology in cycle has evolved to a great extent that one could feel a marked difference in the ride quality of the new generation cycles.

 What I enjoy

Best thing in cycling for me is that it takes me to farther distances pollution free, keeps me worked up and most importantly makes me aware of my surroundings.

On our long rides, typically 50+ kms, you get to value about time and appreciate patience. It is like as my friend put it ‘meditation.’ What happens is you are physically tired and still have some distance to cover but you want to reach home immediately. Situation like this makes you practical and tells you that you are not invincible.
More in next post


Run-up to my First Half Marathon

Posted on Sunday, December 15, 2013 No Comments

The Wipro Chennai Marathon 2013 was my first Haf marathon experience in which I finished with a time of 2:41:39. I had been eager to run a HM last time when I was in Delhi but couldnt somehow practise. I started my preparation in August with a 21 day swimming course. This helped me in having a proper breath control.

I was able to feel the difference in running before and after swimming course. I checked on various plans for HM training in a 12 week period but never followed one. I started doing cycling and running parallely so that I wouldn't feel bored. My first long distance was a 10.5 km run which I couldn't complete due to bleeding in my nose. On examination it was suggested to undergo a corrective surgery. This put off my schedule by 1 week.

My successful distance run was a 12 km run which I incidently planned just the night before. It was on a normal road between my place and Guindy and back. With great difficulty (literaly) I was able to complete it and managed to go for work the same day. With this confidence I went for 2-3 runs in 2 weeks after that in 7-9 km running. My next long run increment was to run 14.5 km at IIT, Madras. I wanted to extend that to 18kms which somehow I couldnt extend.

A week before my actual marathon with the route almost finalised, I went on a 20.4 km run along the same route to understand the course. I was very much relieved when I was able to complete it and wanted to focus on better my timing.

In the last week run-up to the marathon I wanted to focus on improving my timing for which I had planned to do a lot of cycling and less of running. However, there was an issue with my cycle's rear tyre going flat. I couldnt find time to repair it and so wasted 3 days. I then began rope-skipping with the hope of increasing my stamina. But what happened was consistent knee pain and it proved counter productive. Alas, I was having the pain till the Marathon began.

Gosh!!!

Posted on Wednesday, December 02, 2009 No Comments
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Its been a month and 23 days since the last post. A month full of semester preparations and a wet semester examinations ( full of postponements due to rains) and then a lengthy but a fun ridden survey camp was all we, civil engineers in CEG had to go through.

The way our survey camp went goes like this :
We were supposed to do surveying in the hills of Kodaikonal. The thought of the cool climate was soothing for some while some had their own reservations and so it was finally decided the camp be held at our campus itself.
The camp ( sorry it is fitting to be called only a class) was to start at 10 daily but our mam walks in at 10.30 and we have our works assigned by 11. Slowly and chattingly (lol) we begin our walk to locate our points. Our group of 6 would end up with points at the fag end of the boundary and it would be lunchtime when we begin planning our mission. With all the odds against us we rush at the end to complete our mission. Fortunately, we were able to submit our reports with some success. Our final results though will be known only in next semester.
Bye to Surveying!!!

THE RAGING BULL

Posted on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 No Comments



The car I am going to describe is from the RAGING BULL and it is Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4.
LP stands for Longitudinale Posteriore which means that the engine is mounted longitudinally in the middle.560 is the number denoted for this beast's horsepower supplied by its 5.2 litre V10 engine(Vrooomm) and 4 is to indicate it is a four wheel drive.
They have evolved a new system for gears i.e changing of gears through rotational movement which promises a smoother and a faster gear change.
It takes only 3.7 seconds to race up to 62 mph faster than its predecessor by a cool .3 second margin.Care had been taken in the designing by which LP560-4 is slicker by 20 kilos and the big thing is it is more environmental friendly (it emits less CO2) and also fuel efficient by almost 18% when compared with 2008 Gallardo.
For more details check out Automobile Magazine

Coin Dealer

Posted on Friday, October 16, 2009 No Comments
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Looking for ways to invest your wealth.One novel way to invest is by collection of artifacts.Collection of artifacts has two advantages.One is that it satisfies one's emotional appeal (for the art lovers) and two, it offers very good returns.

Why is a coin dealer required?

Coin dealer is required to judge the value of a coin,ascertain its history and evaluate its current market rate.

Here is a site that tells all you need to know about coins.Check on @coin dealer which is managed by the Monex family of companies which has been in the forefront of coin collection for the past 40 years. 

TIPS TO MAKE MONEY!!!!

Posted on Thursday, October 15, 2009 comments (1)
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Hey,
When I came to know that you can make money through blogging,I just took it and believe me it is doing wonders!!!
Here's the simplest and the most well explained on how to make money.

1. As soon as you start the blog,apply for Google Adsense.
The money through this very slow but still why waste a chance.
2. Post as many as posts as possible preferably popular and exciting topics and spread the word about your blog to your friends.
After you have written a minimum of 10 posts and about 2 - 3 months (depending on blog's popularity)
begin applying for review sites
3. Apply for payperpost (Check out about this in my loading page),when your blog is accepted right away you get $20.
4. Apply for smorty and blogvertise, though I didn't get any offers my friends have got some.Give it a try!!!
5. Apply for Sponsored Reviews, one of the major revenue generator sites of mine.
6. Blogitive is also one of such sites but the process time takes longer time.
7. My gold mine is Socialspark, great one.

You need to have as many as non paid posts as possible before you begin to write paid ones because you won't feel like writing them at all afterwards.

Keep track of your blog and never leave it for long without any posts.

HAPPY BLOGGING
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