It is not a ‘typo’ and I am not totally nuts; not yet. It has been a week since the US Seal Team 6 swooped in on Abbottabad and put down Osama Bin Laden like a dog that he was.
Reports suggest that Osama Bin Laden was located with the help of a house which was an ‘electro magnetic hole’.
Over the same weekend, coincidentally my internet access was frequently cut off. Within a couple of minutes of logging on, the ‘Data’ LED in the modem would go off and the screen would display a ‘cannot display webpage’.
The connection was restored on 2nd April, after the technician replaced the splitter and changed the log-in server for good measure.
Thus I was forced off the net over that weekend. In the bargain, I realised that Chennai is getting too hot - while surfing the net, the heat wasn’t noticeable - and something has to be done. Inquiries revealed that the ‘cool roof’ solution is practicable and reduces the room temperature by as much as 5 deg Celsius.
For my 1500 sq. feet apartment the going rate was around Rs. 4,200/- (~ USD 90) and 2 man days. Slightly being off the rocker, I decided to do the job all by myself. After all,
Here is the picture of the terrace on 1st May. The 2 lighter coloured tiles are the wire brushed and cleaned tiles to offer contrast and an indication of what the job is about.
Turns out that it would be suicidal to work during the day in the open these days at Chennai, with the temperature hovering around 40 deg Celsius (104 deg Fahrenheit).
So the efforts were limited to about 2 hours in the morning and evenings - from 0530 to 0730. It also became impossible to engage the contractor as they felt ‘offended’ that the job was not given to them in the first place and shirked away giving excuses. Plus, there is also the embarrassment of abandoning the job as most of the neighbours ‘oohed and aahed’ when I so pompously started (and some of whom passed snide comments to my back).
:-P
Here is the terrace 3 days later, about 40% cleaned up - the view is from the far side of the earlier picture. The algae has been divided into patches so that progress of work can be seen, to boost confidence and encouragement.
And prove it did,
The downside? Well I came down with a slight fever over this weekend and the doctor’s advice to lie low for a few days. Thus what was supposed to be a two day job, stretched over a week, but now looks like a fortnight.
Reports suggest that Osama Bin Laden was located with the help of a house which was an ‘electro magnetic hole’.
Over the same weekend, coincidentally my internet access was frequently cut off. Within a couple of minutes of logging on, the ‘Data’ LED in the modem would go off and the screen would display a ‘cannot display webpage’.
The connection was restored on 2nd April, after the technician replaced the splitter and changed the log-in server for good measure.
Thus I was forced off the net over that weekend. In the bargain, I realised that Chennai is getting too hot - while surfing the net, the heat wasn’t noticeable - and something has to be done. Inquiries revealed that the ‘cool roof’ solution is practicable and reduces the room temperature by as much as 5 deg Celsius.
For my 1500 sq. feet apartment the going rate was around Rs. 4,200/- (~ USD 90) and 2 man days. Slightly being off the rocker, I decided to do the job all by myself. After all,
- the net access was off;
- the weekend was free;
- the material cost would be less than Rs. 1200; and
- the work would be better than that of any ‘paid’ workman.
Here is the picture of the terrace on 1st May. The 2 lighter coloured tiles are the wire brushed and cleaned tiles to offer contrast and an indication of what the job is about.
Turns out that it would be suicidal to work during the day in the open these days at Chennai, with the temperature hovering around 40 deg Celsius (104 deg Fahrenheit).
So the efforts were limited to about 2 hours in the morning and evenings - from 0530 to 0730. It also became impossible to engage the contractor as they felt ‘offended’ that the job was not given to them in the first place and shirked away giving excuses. Plus, there is also the embarrassment of abandoning the job as most of the neighbours ‘oohed and aahed’ when I so pompously started (and some of whom passed snide comments to my back).
:-P
Here is the terrace 3 days later, about 40% cleaned up - the view is from the far side of the earlier picture. The algae has been divided into patches so that progress of work can be seen, to boost confidence and encouragement.
And prove it did,
- that ‘donkey work’ is still within my ability;
- that all the muscles hasn’t turned into flab;
- improved the appetite and muscle tone; and
- the inch and a half ‘spare tire’ has almost disappeared.
The downside? Well I came down with a slight fever over this weekend and the doctor’s advice to lie low for a few days. Thus what was supposed to be a two day job, stretched over a week, but now looks like a fortnight.
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