Last through one winter!

The main attraction of agreeing to relocate to the east coast was the thrill of being in New England. The romance of the local history, the mountains and the magical spell of seasons changing scored higher than the obvious lack of career opportunities in the north east.

When my friends heard the last reason why I left a perfectly good job and a great career in India to come here they were aghast and very skeptical. "Last through one winter!" they dared.

In June the weather was perfect; sunshine, warmth, outdoors and crowds, just like in India, maybe tad better. Tennis, football games, roadside cafes and freeways with the windows rolled down were everyday activities. In the glorious sunny weather we hiked up Mt.Monadnock, Mt.Lincoln and Mt.Lafayett. When fall arrived we drove into the magical land of New Hampshire fall colors. We went up Mt.Washington and bravely stood in the place with the most severe weather in the world.

As the temperatures started to drop my excitement rose, friends and family started getting emails with daily updates of the weather. Finally one day the water puddle beside the road turned solid and I announced the official arrival of winter.

So also did CNN with the news that ski areas in north New Hampshire were open. Memories of my winter in Zugspitz, Germany brought images of me tumbling in deep snow on a mountain peak with surroundings blanketed in white snow. However when we visited Nashoba valley ski area I was shocked to see only the hill had a light snow sheath, and that too only some parts. It is a common practice to artificially blow snow to make ski tracks. I had presumed there would already be a deep snow cover. Pooh...!

Then one day WBZ's weather bulletin forecast 2-4 inches snow in Billerica; finally it was coming! But the day set and roads were still dry. One last peek outside before bed showed not a white speck anywhere.

As always, next morning when hubby left for work I opened the blinds...

...and it was like opening a door to a vast white magic world! The trees, the cars, the roads, the lawns, bushes, even my balcony and the thin iron railing had a thick layer of snow! For a moment the apartment filled with my squeals. I rushed excitedly onto the balcony and promptly went sliding away on the icy surface :-) While hubby groaned and swept the snow off the car I busily took as many photographs as possible before my fingers and feet froze.

No way I was going to stay indoors. Later in the afternoon swathed in 3 layers of woolens, a scarf, gloves, balaclava and snow jacket I stepped out. Remembering my experience walking the roads of Munich in winter I was careful stepping on the ice coated roads and after some wobbling managed to walk gingerly without sliding. The snow on the sidewalk was a dirty brown with imprints of all feet that had trodden upon it. But everywhere else it was a pristine white like a layer of shiny icing on a chocolate cake, tempting, very tempting. A young boy was clomping his way through the snow and I could feel a stupid grin creep up my face. All this was exactly what I had come here for!

Reaching the Billerica commons was like coming upon the perfect winter postcard; tall trees covered with snow, a little bandstand with icicles lining the roof and the entire ground one unbroken spread of white. Here no one had walked all day. Gaping at the beauty I missed the pedestrian signal turn green and back red.

I dropped in at the library and returned O! Jerusalem. After two hours when I prepared to leave the company of books it was dark outside and I knew exactly what to expect.

If in the daylight the commons had the picture perfect look, in the dark the colored twinkling Christmas lights on all trees turned it into a fairyland. The snow and the wet road reflected all light colors and the entire area had the look of zillions of shimmering balls floating about. My grin returned :)

When the sky smiled :-)

I got this in yet another of those forwards sitting in my Inbox. My sister had sent it wanting to cheer me up :)


It seemed coincidental that just few days ago my hubby had talked of another "smiley" picture made up of the moon.

After some digging around to bypass all the redirect URLs and reach the source of these pictures I found this post on a website called "Mighty Optical Illusions", an apt name for the content :-)

I also tried google-ing for the sky smiley with moon and stars and stumbled across quite a collection on Flickr.

Here is one of "When the sky smiled" :-)

Don't let problems paralyze you

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A professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it.

He held it up for all to see & asked the students "How much do you think this glass weighs?"

'50gms!' .... '100gms!' .....'125gms' the students answered.

"I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but, my question is What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?"

'Nothing' the students said.

'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked.

'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student

"You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?"

"Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!" ventured another student & all the students laughed

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the professor.

'No' was the answer.

"Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?"

The students were puzzled.

"What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked professor again.

"Put the glass down!" said one of the students

"Exactly!" said the professor.

Life's problems are something like this. Hold them for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK.

Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache. Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you.

It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life. But even more important is to 'PUT THEM DOWN' at the end of every day. That way you wake up every day fresh & strong ready to handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way!

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Part-3: The road test

On the day of the test we took the car out for one last quick spin .. and I goofed up the parallel parking. Was I a complete imbecile?

Nonetheless we went to the Massachusetts RMV and after all the formalities waited in the car for the officer. To ease my tension I tried imagining him as he would be with his family :) I was easing up when he slid into the seat next to mine with a comforting smile. We exchanged hellos and the conversation was:

"So, are you ready to go?", he asked.
"Yes, I am", I replied meekly with a tinge of confidence.
"Today we will test you for 2 things", the officer said, "your ability to control the car and your ability to drive safely within the rules of the road. Is that OK?", he added.
"Yes, that's fine", was my meek reply.
"Have you been driving before", the officer asked looking at some papers in his hand.
"Yes, I have", I answered with a shade more confidence.
"Hmmm, then you should not have problem with the car", he said with a tiny sigh. "But I see a problem here", he continued, "If you have been driving you have also picked up some bad driving habits", he explained. He then proceeded to cite me an example of how a young man lost his license due to speeding.
"So, when you are ready..." ... and the rest is too cumbersome to write as a conversation.

He pointed to 2 signs on the other side of the parking lot and asked me exit the parking lot through an alley between the signs. How I navigated through the parking lot was up to me. I waited awhile to let an approaching car pass before pulling out. He didn't mind it; I was driving and the car would move under my decision. As soon as I started entering the parking lot three more cars emerged; a car started pulling out, a car that had pulled out came rather wide in the opposite direction, and a small truck sped into the parking lot from the other end of the aisle! It seemed like I was stranded amid this chaos. I let them settle before I moved and we emerged from the huddle without any obvious errors on my side.

In a way I thank my luck for that situation; it allowed me to demonstrate my cool to the officer. Maybe that's the reason he shortly commented that not me, but the others should be tested :-)

I realized soon enough that his remarks were intentionally made to lull me into a sense of complacence to see if I erred when caught unawares. More than once he asked me to go straight through, or take a turn just as we were approaching an intersection. I don't know if any one has fallen into the trap, but I can imagine it could be easy to blindly follow the officer's instruction and not halt on a STOP sign.

After we had correctly passed through our 1st intersection with a 2-way STOP sign he remarked I obviously knew what I was doing; it was a waste of time taking me on a road test and he would rather end it right away. While I visibly relaxed at this comment he continued navigating me back towards the RMV. After some lefts and rights we were approaching a junction and the officer told me to keep going straight ahead. Once again presence of mind prevailed and I was quick to notice the 4-way STOP sign, which I flawlessly passed through.

I think that pleased the officer even more and without trying to drag me through any further traps he navigated me back to the RMV where he asked me to demonstrate hand signals.

His parting words to me were "You can obviously control the car well and know what to do on the road. Drive safe and always follow the rules. All the best". He scrawled a large PASS on my learner's permit, stamped it and stepped out.

Boy, was I delirious!!

I was also thankful for the way circumstances turned out. I'm sure my control of the confusion in the parking lot at the start impressed him. Luck was in my favor when she created that huddle. And oh yes, there were 36 drivers waiting to be tested, so obviously he did not want to waste more time then necessary with a driver who "obviously knew what she was doing" ;-)

Moral of the story : During the road test even when the officer calls the shots, you are the one driving; keep your cool, stay alert and drive well.


___end

Part-2: Driving school; to be or not to be

Now it was time to try handling the monster car Honda Accord. At one point I got so fed up of the sheer mass that I almost test drove a relatively petite Honda Fit SX. Sigh...

To be fair handling the Accord wasn't so terrible once I got used to feeling the size. I could soon easily negotiate round curbs, slide between parked cars and estimate distances from my limited view at bottom of the windshield (rising 5 feet nothing I can only see the base of the wipers :-) One cold wintry day I convinced hubby to pretend being the left bumper of a car so I could attempt parallel parking around him!

All I needed was some road experience at 65 mph on R-495 and I would be well equipped for my road test... or so my naive brain once again presumed.

Few days later with my confidence soaring supreme after the great parallel parking exercise I was watching Mr. Monk and The Three Julies. As I watched Julie attempt her road test I got a nasty shock; she was driving in a parking lot scattered with orange cones to mark routes! This was crazy!

Wanting to find how road tests were conducted by the Mass RMV I googled but in vain. No one had bothered to share their experiences. Over the past 6 month I had already suffered through one unexpected shock of false bravado (no job still!) But now I did not want to face the fate with my road test. So I finally gave in to hubby's advice and agreed to enroll at a driving school.

Billerica has a Tri Town but their prices made me look for alternatives. When I called the Chelmsford Auto School I had an inordinately long hold time so I hung up. Next was Sim's Driving School; conversation flowed smoothly and it was agreed they would pick me up the very next day.

Meeting Mr. Sim was like meeting Santa; smiling always he puts you totally at ease. He sat patiently while I strapped on my seat belt and went through numerous iterations of adjusting my seat and all mirrors (it's compulsive; I do it at least three times) I started to back out of the parking slot.. and then began the fun !

"Is that the best you can do", Mr. Sim asked.
"Maybe better", I replied defensively and stopped backing to try once more.
"OK", said Mr. Sim, "show me again what you can do".

My second attempt was as good as the first, and Mr. Sim sighed. Obviously I had a lot to learn. After my first drive in the car with "Student Driver" splashed all over Mr. Sim decided it would be OK for me to have 2 more sessions. We'd practice parking in the 2nd session.

Without going through the details of everything that he and his younger and sterner assistant, Mr. Pishit taught me, suffice to say I changed my driving style considerably. IMO looking over the shoulder during backup and lane-changes was for sissies; now of course I realize the significance. Speed limits were never a problem; when I cruise I'm in fact showing off my total control over the car ;-) The mystery behind STOP signs was easily unraveled; 3-point turns were a piece of cake for I can confidently U-turn between any set of curbs.

Parallel parking was the only seemingly insurmountable peak, more so for the algorithm it involved. All my previous experiences with parallel parking had been ad-hoc attempts. Now I learned how it was a rather precise science with 5 exact maneuvers, each achieving the next position until the car slid smoothly into position.

At the end of my 3rd class I wanted to have 3 more. Now my confidence was not falsely based on naive bravado, but on the secure knowledge that I had learned the correct way.

So we scheduled the road test.

Moral of the story : the best way to do anything is always only the right way; study local requirements before jumping headlong


___cont part-3

Part-1: Getting the learner's permit

I had promised myself I would write about my driving experience after I got my Massachusetts Driver's license.

Admittedly very different from my experience in India where I've held a license for more than 7 years. I rode a Yamaha RX-100 motorcycle for first 3 years and then bought a Santro Xing XG.

My best friend taught me to ride the motorcycle and I enrolled at a driving school to get my hands on a steering wheel. I did not face any written test; my road test for the motorcycle had me driving down the road next to the RTO office (Indian DMV) demonstrating hand signals and basic maneuvering control. No figure-8, nor 360 circles.

When I bought my car 3 years later driving the motorcycle had become second nature and I could sense the machine like a second skin. Controlling the steering wheel was absolutely no effort. After 3 sessions with the driving school car my instructor pronounced me ready to handle my brand new untouched Santro. I still remember the first ride on a 6-lane road with scant traffic; the Santro still had it's showroom silver ribbon tied in a cute bow over the hood :-)

Friends who lived in America say I am an "adventurous" driver! Even the best driver who I know had become defensive after driving in USA for 2 years. So when it was time for me to hit the roads of Massachusetts apprehension wasn't too away.

Did I mention that the Santro Xing is 3.5 x 1.5 meters while the Accord is 7.2 x 1.9 meters!

Part-1: Getting the learner's permit

You need to answer a Computer based test. The Massachusetts Driver's Manual gives details of the process, study material and requirements for the test. It took me 3 readings to familiarize myself with the contents. I studied safe driving, parking, signals, laws, speed limits, DUI conditions, medication restrictions; I pretty much studied the entire manual, except the part on junior drivers.

Junior drivers are under 16 years, and a different, more stringent set of rules are applicable. I rather naively assumed it was sufficient for me to merely know that breaking rules had repercussions; the cops would know what fines to apply. I also took some free online practice tests to prepare myself on the kind of questions to expect.

To my utter shock and dismay almost 75% questions were about regulations for junior drivers. 15 were junior driver, 2 were DUI, 3 were drugs related! Nothing on speed limits or safe driving or technicalities. It was a thoroughly theory question set and caught me totally off guard.

Mercifully I scrapped through scoring 15/20; the passing is 14/20.

In retrospect it however made sense. Only kids would be applying for a learner's permit; the grown ups already held driver's licenses.

Moral of the story : don't presume; learn everything; pay special attention to junior driver regulations


___cont part-2

Not my usual stuff :-)

My gmail popped up an email with the subject "The case for network traffic filtering". It was from SearchSecurity.com enclosing an article titled "Writing Wireshark network traffic filters".

I had just then been looking at a tcpdump for some arp traffic. Naturally I clicked on the heading. The first paragraph made a reference to an earlier introductory post so like any good engineer I decided to go systematically (sic! ;-) and read that one first.

The introduction is nicely written and very easy to follow. It has several images for illustration but at the same time does not go even near looking like any of the D-rated instruction manuals with screen snapshots :-)

It has the feel of having been written by someone who knows what he's (Mike Chapple) talking about; quoting from the introduction "The best way to become an expert quickly is to get your hands dirty and start capturing network traffic" :-)

I not only emailed the 2 URLs to friends at my former office in Bangalore, I also wrote up this quick post and put it up on my blog... for posterity :-)

The introduction: Wireshark tutorial: How to sniff network traffic

What got me writing this post: Writing Wireshark network traffic filters

And finally here is the Wireshark Manual from the wireshark homepage.

Happy sniffing ;-)