Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Time.

2009-04-08T08:05:39Z

Scary shit this is...

Time - Pink FLoyd

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but its sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but youre older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the english way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought Id something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
And when I come home cold and tired
Its good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

Trek!!

2009-03-16T15:18:09Z

I miss treks!! I haven't been on treks for a very long time now!!

I want to do a punishing trek soon!!

Long time, no post!

2009-03-16T15:13:38Z

Having well understood the futility of new year resolutions, this time, I did not even make any... Especially about writing regularly and posting it on my blog.

And that's something I want to rectify now.

Interesting lyrics...

2008-09-25T08:40:57Z

A song by Patrick Swayze, this song's from the movie "Dirty Dancing".. Surprisingly ( or not so...

She's like the wind through my tree
She rides the night next to me
She leads me through moonlight
Only to burn me with the sun
She's taken my heart
But she doesn't know what she's done

Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind

I look in the mirror and all I see
Is a young old man with only a dream
Am I just fooling myself
That she'll stop the pain
Living without her
I'd go insane

Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind

Feel your breath on my face
Your body close to me
Can't look in your eyes
You're out of my league
Just a fool to believe
(Just a fool to believe)
She's like the wind
(Just a fool to believe)
Just a fool to believe
(She's like the wind)
Just a fool to believe
(Just a fool to believe)
She's like the wind
(Just a fool to believe)
Just a fool to believe
She's like the wind

(Just a fool...)
(She's like the wind)
(She's like the wind)
(Just a fool...)
(She's like the wind)
(Just a fool...)

A long post ;)

2008-09-13T19:54:53Z

Being to concerts has the same effect on people as sitting in class...They go into the "Deep Sleep" mode! The result is that you are wide awake in the middle of the night, trying to think of something to do.. I chose to run through the chats that I've had with a cross-section of friends, straddling time-zones and occupations.. Here's a small sample of the gyaan that I've been given...

“blub glub dub glub

uuwendkioerxtryz

tonga tonga tonga

ding ding ding”

“One-liners belong in status messages; multiple paragraphs in blogs”

“ The world s**ks”

“I am just a dream rider”

“Can’t you leave a decent comment for once????”

“pichhle saat dinon mein maine khoya

kabhi khud pe hansa main,

aur kabhi khud pe roya”

“Am busy doing assignments. Do something useful too!”

“Don’t you dare drive!!”

“Karo wahi jo Dil Chahta Hai !!! “

Looks like I ain't the only gyaan guru around ;)

Sum-sumne

2008-08-25T07:40:25Z

Long time, no blog!

Eerie.....

2008-07-23T08:22:12Z

My workplace is so quiet today that I can hear my watch ticking!

The Leaky Cauldron

2008-05-30T06:51:16Z

This is Array, A Array.

waah! kya Idea hai!

2008-04-29T05:24:53Z

Being in the middle of the longest break he's ever had since he began his formal education ( which was by attending class exactly one day throughout all of the first year ;) ) , Harsh(a) [whichever way you prefer it ;) ] is now officially jobless! Ever since his graduation in March, he's been keeping himself busy with odd jobs round the house, making plans for that 'big' trip of his.. including:

A bike trip to the North-East
Scuba diving in the Antarctic Ocean
Camel training at Addis Ababa
A hike to Bhutan
Making sand castles in the Kalahari
Figuring out if they eat frozen Gobi manchurian after dinner at the Gobi desert [ It's a cold des(s)ert, you see! ]
A month long mountaineering course at Darjeeling / Shivalik Himalayas
Fishing for crocodiles in the Periyar lake
Planting mango trees in his family orchard, so that he too can tell his grandchildren that they (the humonguously huge mango trees) were "this" tall when he was young

But now that he's run out of ideas and also because his 'big' trip has been held up for reasons that frustrate him to no end, he's now hunting in the market for more ideas :D

What say? Let your imagination run wild and give whacky ideas for "What can Harsh(a) do this vacation?"!

A few pointers:

a) Ideas should not involve anything that you wouldn't do yourself ;)
b) Should involve some amount of physical/mental activity. Which rules out sitting on the couch and watching the idiot box (that's already being implemented!! )
c) Should be imaginative! No routine, mundane stuff! Exercise your grey cells!

P.S: If you are wondering about the third person narrative, it's because Harsh(a) is in the middle of an out-of-the-body experience.

Yawnnnn......

2008-04-19T17:27:53Z

Flower, flower everywhere, not a flower to eat.

Note:
1) The last flower refers to Cauliflower....
2) And I seem to have a sudden longing for gobi manchurian.

bulletharsha @ 2008-04-18T00:00:00

2008-04-17T18:13:40Z

The Leaky Cauldron.

Star date XQ1324W21: Operation Conquer Tadiyandamol

2008-04-09T14:50:43Z

"Let's go to Kudremukh!"

"Hmm.. Good idea. We'll go camping on Narasimha Parvata.. Awesome place."

This was the original plan for last weekend, with all of us gung-ho on getting in touch with our wild sides, strolling aside bison and the occasional leopard in the untouched forests of Kudremukh. Plans were afoot to get permits from the forest rangers at Kudremukh (Rangers) and making all the requisite preparations, until we were rudely brought to reality by the news that trekking had been disallowed in those areas for some time now due to some naxal issues.

The Plan

Since it was already Thursday, and we were adamant on a two day camping trek, we gave a shot at Brahmagiri, another wonderful place that has been on our must-climb list for quite a while. As Lady Luck would have it, the friendly neighbourhood forest rangers had decided to stay away from their telephones and we were left with no option but to go back to good ol' Tadiyandamol in Coorg.

Situated at a distance of 40 km from Madikeri and about 35 km from Virajpet on the way to Bhagamandala, it is a 7 hour drive from Bangalore, with some awesome Ghat sections thrown in for good measure. Beware though!! Attempting this drive on a full stomach will ensure that you have a literally unforgettable time ;-), with quite some rock-and-roll happening within the confines of your tummy!

The Preparation

Packing enough food to feed a small army for a week, including spicy, tasty khakras, besan ladoos, chikkis and some lip-smacking chutney, we set off by around 11 pm. A small adventure in the middle of the night ensued when we got lost in Vijaynagar, looking out for Maddy's house without a GPS locator ;)

And off we go!!!!

The onward journey was pretty cool, with Maddy taking the initiative to stay awake all night, keeping the driver company and in the process, ensuring that the rest of us had a good night's sleep. :) Reaching Madikeri by around 7 am, we stopped around for a quick deekho of the really awesome view from the city.

Clouds covering the entire valley below, with only the surrounding hilltops visible and a gentle breeze blowing across the entire stretch literally put us all on cloud nine :-) After some quick oohs & aahs and an instant pose-for-the-camera session by the Wannabe and the UniBro, we were off to our target for the day - Tadiyandamol.

The Assault Begins...

Having learnt from the last trek, we had loaded ourselves with water bottles and parked the car till almost the last motorable point… almost, because the last motorable point was still about 2 kms away, but our dear driver decided that he lacked the skill to take the car up narrow roads and steep inclines…

The trek consists of three phases - a tar road, a dirt track and a foot track, passing through a beautiful coffee estate, before weaving through patches of dense forests and rolling grasslands.

Depending on the means of transport availed, the trek can begin from various points -

From the main road, where the bus stops
From Palace Estate, which is where most private vehicles can drive comfortably to
From the end of the tar road, near Jungle Mount Adventures ( an adventure trail and camping ground) , which is where those with non-SUVs, but enough driving expertise, can maneouver to.

Meeting a Tempo Traveller full of people on the way, we were resigned to having to share the entire trek with a bunch of over-enthusiastic college kids yakking away to glory. All of a sudden, the Kid decides that these people are his juniors from CMRIT and starts salivating at the prospect of playing the big bro to a set of kiddies ;) However, they turn out to be from a Blr-based software company (name withheld :P ) and moreover, are there for a picnic of sorts, and have no intention of rushing up the hill as if there were a fire-on-the-mountain ;)

Having finished our morning ablutions at a small waterfall by the wayside, we had a power breakfast comprising of jam buns and khakras, post which the actual trek began. Again, it needs to be stressed that though this is a cool trek, be sure to carry loads of water along!

The Incident of the Leech

If there were any doubts that any of us harboured about the trek-worthiness of the other gang, they were all dispelled when we met then inside a small forested patch. While the unseasonal rains ensured that there was a lot of greenery around, it also ensured that we now had to contend with a few unseasonal leeches as well.. And boy! If ever a leech can be described as beautiful, the ones we encountered would be top contenders for the title… blood-red in colour and looking well fed, they even looked endearing ;)

Anyway, back to the incident of the leech.. Encountering the gang on our way up, we were first surprised and concerned to see all of them crowding around one girl who seemed highly agitated. Going closer we heard them shouting words of encouragement while discussing ways on how to get rid of something that'd crawled up her leg.. Concerned that it might be a snake or some other reptile, we went closer, only to realise that it was a leech that had crawled up her leg.

By crowding around her in the middle of the forested patch, they were violating the two basic rules to follow when 'attacked' by a leech -

LEAVE the leech-infested region immediately
DO NOT crowd around! It'll only make it easier for the leeches!!

After giving them then some friendly advise, we left them to their own devices, especially when we heard one interesting suggestion - "Let's set fire to the leech. It will then drop off from her leg" …. Yeah right! Why not torch it with a flame thrower or attack it with a nuclear bomb!!! Reminds one of the pithy Kannada adage "Gubbi maele brahmastra" ;) [Using the Brahmastra (the Indian mythological version of an H-Bomb) to obliterate Gubbi (a small village near Bangalore) ]

The best way to get rid of a leech, my dear reader, is to simply sprinkle some salt onto it. This has immediate effect. However, prevention being better than cure, the best idea is to ensure that they do not even get a chance to get up your legs. This can be done by making a paste of snuff and coconut oil and coating a fine layer of said paste on all exposed parts.. Stinky, but effective!

Yunhi chala chal raahi..

We need to trek for an hour to reach the 'Rock', a huge boulder that lies approximately halfway on the trek. The real trek begins from here, with the route getting slightly arduous and with the advent of the grasslands, no tree cover for most part of the trek.

Stopping frequently to take in the breathtaking beauty of the mountains and clicking away to glory, we still managed to reach the peak almost an hour before the rest of the team and proceeded to take a short nap. But wait a minute! Just a few minutes after we closed our eyes, we were woken up by a tingling sensation as if a sudden chill had set in… Opening our eyes, it seemed as if a dense fog had set in, with visibility coming down to a few feet… It was only after a minute that we realised that the clouds hovering over the valley had decided to grace us with their presence!!! Talk of being with your head in the clouds while keeping your feet firmly grounded :) !!!!

Attack of the Mutated Raindrops

With the rest of the boys reaching the peak in due course, we had a sumptuous, if somwhat dry, lunch of jooLada rotti (rotis made of jowar) and assorted chutneys and retreated for our siesta. Half an hour later, we were woken by the urgent shouts of UniBro, who having woken early, decided to take a stroll. Turns out, he had just gone to the precipice and saw dark ominous rain clouds all over the place! With no shelter for atleast 5-6 kms, we had to make a dash for it if we had any plans of escaping a cloudburst. And dash we did! En route, I felt something big drop on my head.. Thinking it was J3 throwing pebbles at me, I kept going till I felt it again.. Plop! Plop! They were huge droplets of rain, the likes of which I'd never seen! And almost as if someone had opened a tap, it suddenly started pouring cats and dogs, with those HUGE droplets of rain almost physically beating us down.

Somehow managing to reach the forest ranger's hut, we, along with a number of others ( who were still on their way up!!) waited for the rain gods to calm down, before running back to the car. On the way, we even managed to click some snaps of minute droplets of water on flowers by the wayside ( I guess it must be the Abhijeeth / Lakshmi / Roma effect… The Macro-Photography Effect). In the meantime, Maddy managed to collide with a speeding dog that seemed intent on giving literal meaning to the phrase "hitting on someone" !! Luckily no one was hurt and neither party decided to press for damages or mental agony.

Talacauvery

With the main trek out of the way, we now had to take a call on future plans, especially with the rains deciding to play spoilsport. After some debate, we decided to change our original plan of camping near Malalli Falls and instead stay over at Madikeri. Leaving for Madikeri, we went via Bhagamandala and Talacauvery, having lunch at a quaint little temple town. The Talacauvery temple has been recently renovated and is very well maintained. Spending a short while there, we reached Madikeri at 8pm, and after a minor incident with a traffic cop, managed to get a huge room ( more a suite, complete with two bedrooms and a kitchen).

After another heavy meal, we hit the sack, with most people totally tired out after the day's travails.

Interesting fact #1 - Sleeping bags are fun!!! Even when spread out on a bed.. especially when the bed and sheets happen to be of suspect quality.

Interesting fact #2 - NEVER ever get into a sleeping back before your roomies do. Especially when they are feeling frisky and in the mood for mischief.

Interesting fact #3 - If you have disregarded fact #2, ensure that your hands are out of the sleeping bag. Else be resigned to being like a dressed turkey and submit yourself to an extended tickling session ;)

Day 2

Day Two was supposed to be a trek to Malalli Falls, then to Kotebetta and finally back to Bangalore. However, with most of the gang tired out, we decided to retain Kotebetta for a future trek and vouched to go to Malalli Falls and visit Hassan en route to Bangalore.

Malalli Falls

Malhalli Falls is located at a distance of 22 kms from Somwarpet, on the way to Pushpagiri. A small deviation on the road from Somwarpet to Kukke leads to a dirt track that ends at almost the top of the falls. A short, but vigorous, 20 minute trek takes us downhill to the rocky waterfalls. Doing quite some acrobatics at the water falls, we spent over 3 hours splashing around in the water and scaling every possible rock. By a coincidence, we met the same guide we'd hired on a trek to Kumara Parvata a couple of months ago. At that time, he'd taken us through some dense jungles, along a non-existent path, ensuring that we reached the foothills of Pushpagiri before nightfall, while the conventional route would have rendered us late by atleast 3 hours!

Time to Head Back

With most plans for the trip out of the way, we decided to call it a day and head home via the Hassan-Nelamangala route, stopping over at the Kamat Restaurant at Chennarayapatna for dinner. After a short bajji-bonda break on the way, we reached the restaurant by around 7:30 pm. Packing off a heavy dinner, it was finally time to return home. Dropping off the gang at their respective homes, I finally reached home by 1 am… just in time to wish my parents a happy Ugadi before popping off into deep, dreamless slumber.

Key Learnings:

Never carry tents if you intend to go for 2 single day treks. You just end up carrying around unwanted luggage.
Carry food only for the first day. You'll get bored soon!
Carry food that has a high liquid content! You'll need it!
Always take music CDs along! Most cars do not have DVD players!
Be sure to carry lots of water!
Ensure that you take contact details of all hotels you stay in. You'll get a hefty discount the next time you visit them, especially at those in offbeat places.
Carry fully charged batteries for the trek. And keep a set fully charged spares as well. You wouldn’t want to end up missing out on snaps for lack of charge!

The curious incident of the boy at the bus-stop (Part 1)

2008-03-28T21:17:48Z

Disclaimer: This may/may not be a work of fiction. It may or may not refer to real-life people and/or real-life incidents. All resemblances may or may not be coincidental.

Once upon a time, in a locality far far away [so far away that most people don’t even consider it a part of The City of Baked Peas], there was a boy and his dog. Let’s call the boy JJJ and his dog Dog. The boy was an introvert, while Dog was anything but. Curiously enough, Dog was prone to giving love bites to JJJ, because of which he’d have to visit the doctor often to take the morning-after injections.

Contrary to what you may think, this story is not about JJJ and Dog. Nor is it about the collateral damage of Dog’s affection towards JJJ [ which is a separate story by itself ]. This story is about the curious incident of JJJ and JJ.

JJ was a kindly soul born in the warm environs of the City of Baked Peas, living an innocent, sheltered existence. By dint of sheer hard work, JJ got a prized seat at The School. Little did she know what was in store for her, for she was to launch herself into an odyssey, the sorts which she was hardly prepared for.

By a curious quirk of fate, which only goes to show the far-reaching effects of a butterfly flapping it’s wings in the pleasantly warm climes of Europa’s geysers, JJJ and JJ were not only contemporaries but celestial gas trails had been deciphered to mean that these two were destined to meet.

And meet they did, at The School. Famed for imparting education for the real world, The School was known for the liberal values it preached. With a model of instruction imported from Sunnyvale, California, great emphasis was paid to co-ed bonding. A special award, aptly called (sic) ‘Best Outstanding Student Award’, had even been instituted for the student who managed to stand outside in the corridors the most.

( To be continued.. )

My literary pursuit

2008-03-28T21:11:11Z

Starting today, I shall start posting chapters of my latest blockbuster - "The *** Omnibus"

This in intended to be a collection of short stories, wound by a common thread, that of whateverness..

Disclaimer: These may/may not be a work of fiction. It may or may not refer to real-life people and/or real-life incidents. All resemblances may or may not be coincidental.

We shall kick off with "The curious incident of the boy at the bus-stop".

Convocation

2008-03-27T19:26:19Z

It was supposed to be a bright sunny day where we would all gather in the breathtakingly beautiful Open Air Theatre and get our degree certificates from The Guru himself ;)

Instead, it turned out to be a damp affair, with the rain gods deciding to weep with joy to mark the passing of PGP 10 ;) And weep they did! With bucketloads of water on the jealously guarded lawns and the sun deciding to take the weekend off, we were left with no option but to be prepared for all eventualities. After all, as managers with one of the best pedigrees across the globe, we needed a risk-mitigation strategy and an impact analysis matrix so as to ensure that our project would not throw any unforeseen issues that would affect quality output and give less than optimal results to all stakeholders involved. [Yay! I can finally spout management jargon!!!]

This essentially ensured that we had done scenario gaming exercises, also called rehersals, making reasonable assumptions and applying probable buffers for most situations [English – we went through the entire program multiple times…]

With the rain Gods playing hide and seek, it was finally decided that we’d all assemble into our auditorium while our parents would watch a live telecast of the proceedings from the classrooms. Talk of watching it on a 70mm screen!! I do hope this is taken forward to it’s logical end and a live webcast of the entire ceremony be made from next year on.

Anyway, with my folks coming over and the usual oohs and aahs on how beautiful our campus was, how it seemed more of a resort than a b-school, it was quite some fun!

The end of an epoch!

2008-03-20T20:26:51Z

By tomorrow evening, PGP10 will be history...

<text to be written when i start feeling senti> [no, not senti as in Senti a.k.a Senthilnathan... senti as in 'sentimental' ]

Some things are just impossible. For everything else, there is PGP10! \m/ \m/

Wokay!

2008-02-08T10:51:35Z

The masterpiece :D

2008-01-18T17:40:42Z

You Are From Uranus

You shine with brilliant creativity, and you're more than a little eccentric.
You love everything unusual and shocking. You're one far-out chick or dude.
Anything unconventional excites you - and you have genius potential.
Just don't let your rebel side get the best of you, or else you'll alienate everyone.
Your original thinking and funky attitude is all you need to be you.

What Planet Are You From?

bulletharsha @ 2008-01-18T23:05:00

2008-01-18T17:36:33Z

You're a Total Grinch

Ouch! You make the Grinch seem like Santa Claus. Holidays definitely aren't your thing.

Just relax, and create your own tradition. Even if it's drinking spiked hot chocolate and heckling carolers.

Are You a Grinch?

bulletharsha @ 2008-01-18T23:01:00

2008-01-18T17:32:34Z

You Could Definitely Be a Vampire

Immortality, staying pretty forever, not having to get a job... you could definitely eat some flesh for these things.
It's not that you're a murderer by nature. In fact, you're probably the furthest thing from it.
However, if you woke up a vampire, you'd certainly be able to adapt and enjoy your new lifestyle.
There might not be much better than living forever, even if it means giving up your soul.

What you would like best about being a vampire: Being a total outsider

What you would like least about being a vampire: Other vampires

Could You Be a Vampire?

Moi? Messy?

2008-01-18T17:30:33Z

You Are Very Messy

You are a slob, and you really don't care if other people know it.
You don't love messes, but you just can't be bothered to clean on a regular basis.
While being messy and disorganized feels easy, it's probably making your life harder.
Maybe it's time for you to get a maid.

Are You Messy?

bulletharsha @ 2008-01-07T00:51:00

2008-01-06T19:23:18Z

You Are Jean Grey

Although your fate is often unknown, you always seem to survive (even after death).
Your mind is your greatest weapon, literally!

Powers: telepathy and telekinesis, the ability to project thoughts into the mind of others, communication with animals

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Snake!

2007-12-23T10:26:19Z

While denizens of the non-human variety are pretty common at K, this is the first time one of them has made me late for class ;)

Picture this:

There's a class at 1515 hours which will have a quiz. Our protagonist (yours truly) is so engrossed in reading the adventures of Hans Solo that he forgets he had a class. Suddenly. there's a loud knock at his door at 15:13 by a neighbour who reminds our boy of the quiz. Cursing the fact that he has to attend classes on a Sunday, our boy fumbles around, trying to get dressed up, while simultaneously trying to find out what to study for the quiz. You see, he's so much wrapped up with the trials and tribulation of Princess Leia that he's conveniently blanked out the quiz.

It is now already 15:15. Rushing up the stairs ( yes, all 96 of them, since our man lives in the ground floor.. and the academic area is almost 100 feet above his current altitude), our protagonist is brought to a screeching halt at the top of the stairs by a thick dark coloured reptile which has decided that the middle of the corridor is the best place for its siesta!

It is already 15:17. The quiz will start anytime now. Our man is now desperate. He plans to execute a flying leap over the beatific creature when fortunately (for our man, of course) a security guard come along and prods at the snake with a stick.. And voila! The snake, as it turns out, a four foot long cobra!! Raising it's hood, it eyes the two intruders balefully... tryingto make up it's mind whether to go for the man with the stick or the one with the bulky black box (which the humans call a Thinkpad) in his hands. Thankfully, the security guard acts first, and with a flick of his wrists that would have done Azharuddin proud, throws the snake in the air and into the valley below.

Our man thanks the guard profusely and, warning him that the copybook flick has ensured that the enraged cobra is now squarely outside Hostel A, runs to his class, mentally making a note to keep his valley facing balcony closed for the next few days ;)
-

And it's back to academics now :)

Midnight Musings

2007-11-21T19:54:28Z

Ok! A big departure from the norm. What am I doing here writing about a person whose ___ tendencies are suspect? ;)

Having heard quite a few friends pan the recent SRK starrer Om Shanti Om, I was quite prepared to watch the movie, if not for anything, then for pure b****ing value. Turned out, the movie is actually a nice one. Yes, the movie is unrealistic, candyfloss and melodramatic, but hey! it ain't pretending to be an Akiro Kurosawa classic! It knows what it's positioning should be, and unabashedly panders to it's target segment. Considering that the whole purpose of slipping into a theatre is to rid oneself of 'reality', for however short a duration, I believe OSO does a pretty decent good job.

It bring out the child in you, who, somewhere deep down, implicitly believes in fairytales :) .. always willing to believe that agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho, to puri quainat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai… that agar sab kuch theek na ho, to picture abhi khatam nahin hui… Cheesy?? Candyfloss?? Clichéd?? All that and much more!! But so what? Deep inside, wouldn't you want to believe in it?

Oh, and did I mention Deepika Padukone looks awesome in the movie? No? Ok, hear it now. She looks like a gadzillion rupees (the dollar is now on a southward journey, so can't say she looks like a billion dollars).. Subtle, understated and uncomplicated.. Just the way they are supposed to be ;-)

Instant gratifiation, delayed response.

2007-10-02T07:12:03Z

A month ago, I'd posted about not having to pack my bags again till the end of my PGDM in March. And of all coincidences, the very next day, there was a notification from the administration telling us that, in a break from tradition, we have a term break from the 1st to the 9th of December!

And looking at the fact that it took me a month to post this.. more because of lack of, err..ummm...motivation(??), than for a paucity of time, it means that it's time to pull up my socks :)