Hop over at Chicago

What must you do... if you have to catch a connecting flight.... at Chicago... and you are traveling alone?

• keep enough time between flights so that you can walk to the departure gate at a comfortable pace
• keep some cash on hand or carry a credit card so you can pay for a flight if you need to
• keep your carry-on bag very light 
• wear comfortable shoes
• keep a charged cell phone so you are in touch with family
• if you need to rebook, try getting on a flight by the SAME airlines

And I did none of these!!!

I was flying from San Fransisco to Louisville with a hop-over at Chicago. 

I landed in Chicago O'Hare ORD airport at 3pm at Terminal 2 and I had to board my flight to Louisville at 3:55. The lady at the counter says, hurry, go to terminal1 gate B22. I have this humongous black bag. It is heavy and has no wheels. 

Wah!

I scramble like mad for a good 15 minutes to B22. Oops I need to trace back to the restroom 

and huff back again......
crackle crackle ..... Passengers please note flight blah blah to Louisville is delayed. It will leave at 6pm. I need to warn my daughter who is waiting at Louisville airport, with two small kids in tow... and I have no cell phone.

errr lady, may I borrow your cell phone? Hello chinnu... My flight is delayed by 2 hours!

half hour later they tell us ...YOUR  flight captain has not reported to duty. The flight is CANCELLED! Crackle ... Please get to customer service. We regret the inconvenience....Ya right...

errr lady ... may I borrow your cell phone? hello chinnu

So I trudge to the customer desk. They offer me tickets on a 7pm flight to Lexington on American Eagle.. Yippee

errr lady ... may I borrow your cell phone? hey chinnu

So, I plod with the now double humongous bag ...  to G14 at terminal 3. It takes me a solid 22 minutes. It is now 6pm. American Eagle refuses to let me board the flight. They have no intimation or money transfer from United she tells me. Go back to the customer service at terminal 1.

My bag seems to now weigh a hundred kilos, my shoes a fifty, and my knees are jelly. But I need to reach before this flight takes off.... or I may not get a replacement ticket... I manage to reach customer service in B8.
Hi how r u today... Sorry about that. We have a last seat in the United 9pm flight. U r lucky!
ya right! 

errr lady ... may I borrow your cell phone? Aa.a... chinnu

This flight leaves from the other end of terminal 2. I am past thinking. and way beyond fatigue point. I drag my bag, my feet and my soul to F14. I plonk into a seat. And burst into silent wet tears.

This flight did take off. and I was in it.

So If you are travelling alone, and if you have a hop-over flight, do follow the pointers at the beginning of this blog post 

or else  !!

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Cardiac symptoms we tend to ignore

The doctors can revive a failing heart, they can detect a murmur in the heart,
there are pacemakers to help the heart keep up the beat and
able surgeons use various techniques to help us live better, longer.
but the most important part of all this
is that we need to go to the doctor
in time
well yes, I do believe that Life and Death are beyond the control of man
yet I suggest that if a loved one has more than 3 of these symptoms at the same time ... do consult a cardiac specialist ... for a routine check up. We did not, and paid dearly for it.
These are symptoms...some the doctors suggested i put in... some i notice in hind-sight.

• hands and feet exceptionally dry (we attributed it to the delhi winter)
• stomach upset (we attributed it to eating out)
• serious demeanor, not feel like talking (we attributed it to an important professional assignment) 
• exceptional deep slumber at night (surely nothing to complain about?)
• a general apathy or disinterest in whats happening around 
• loss of weight 
• avoid going for the walks/workouts/meets that one is used to
• an unusual sense of confusion 

If you find more than 3 of these ...  go for a routine cardiac check up.
Have a great life.

What I did not do

Making lists tells you what you have got to do. And there is a satisfying finality in striking off Job-Done from the list… burp. Making lists also tells you what you did not do.

Look at tasks left pending on 10 different to-do lists. Watch for a pattern. Sometimes without being aware of it, we tend to put off a particular category of tasks. Looking for a pattern makes us more aware of our thoughts and fears.



tasks left pending



What tasks are left pending on a regular basis? What always gets left out, postponed, forgotten, dumped?

Is it personal pampering like visits to the beauty parlour, coffee with a friend? (are you neglecting your needs?)

Is it family time? (do you need to re-look at your work-life balance? or attitude?)

Tasks that are too tough? (do you need a knowledge upgrade?)

Or too time consuming? (do you need someone to share work with you?)

Or too strenuous for you? (do you need a medical checkup?)

Social commitments? (are you not interested?)

I wish I knew all this 20 years ago!!

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Lists are like mirrors. They say what is, leaving no escape routes! 

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Make a to do list

About a note pad and a pen



The soothing aroma of roasted rava cooking with green chillies, ginger and fried onions wafted into the air as the lid came off the frying pan. I tenderly spread grated coconut and stirred it to perfection… like Sanjeev Kapoor (I like to imagine)

Not AGAAAINNN …. The twin alaap of my daughters broke into the faultless TV moment. You always make upittu. Every DAY we have upittu.

Hey! I say and march them to this list stuck behind the door ... 



organising the kitchen

Look! I make rava only on Wednesdays… and last Wednesday you had rava halwa with hirekai-bondas…so don’t you…

Whaaat? You made a list for this too? They look at me like I have developed two antennas or sprouted purple hair. But yes. I adore making lists…

Why I like making lists:

Advantages:

• It brings tasks into immediate focus making me aware of what I can do with the day.
• I can prioritize them
• I can assemble things required to complete a task ….. And if I need to make one more list for that, yippee!
• There is a satisfying finality in striking off Job-Done from the list … burp!
• When plans are only in the head I fail to see the shortcomings (in time allocation, material, skill, information) and the flaws crop up at inopportune moments leading to stress and discomfort. Andrey only if you have planned baby-corn pakodas will you buy the baby-corn…. else you make do with bread.
• I can consult others if their cooperation is required … I am coming at 6, are you free?
• When a list is made I cannot cheat. I can see what remains pending.

 Disadvantages:

• Come to think of it…the last Advantage is actually more of a Disadvantage!
• I can see that nowadays it takes me longer and longer to fill the Things-To-Do note pad! I am pathetically under-worked.
• On a more serious note, making lists requires concentrated planning. It demands my complete attention.
• It gobbles precious minutes from an over loaded schedule (Well. It used to when I was working and my kids and mom were at home)
• One can get quite ambitious and put a lot more into the list than can be done in a day. That can get pretty stressful…!!



Making a list

To tell you the truth, I am a big fan of making lists. shopping list, to-do list, where's what list, wish list, topic list .... and list of what to list!!

Are you a list-fan too?

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How to get RID of Cockroaches

About the magic of finding solutions

Newspapers…Oh!

Chilling scams, Hot Hollywood babes, Saucy political comments, Juicy film gossip, Sweet Sales info, Crisp trade analysis, Cool gadget gyan, disasters that Shock and editorials that Tease…
We love our newspapers. Don’t we?

Cockroaches like newspapers too! No … Not for all the above reasons but for the printing ink. Slurrrp!

Nauseating sprays, rangoli patterns with special chalk, tablets in strategic places are futile if you spread out a sumptuous dinner on every shelf. The newspaper sheet you line your shelf with is sumptuous dinner for the cockroach.

No newspapers line kitchen shelves and hey, the cockroaches disappear.
No magic here. Actually they just stop coming. No food no visit.

Most often we entangle ourselves with symptoms. Just remove the cause and symptoms go away … like magic. Getting to the cause…yes, that is magic.

Now performing thaaat magic....is a habit we can adopt?