Friday, April 14, 2006

Weeeeeeek-Yend!

First with reference to my last post, small piece of advice to General Motors India. Next time you make a car, please put in a regular gearbox (preferably Japanese or German) instead of the cement mixer I'm having to churn right now. The Aveo is a nice car as I've said but it is ruined by the worst cogs in its class, they're worse than the gears in the Hyundai Accent (not surprising given that both the Accent and the Aveo are Korean) because not only are they difficult to change it also couples with the sudden declutching guarantee a bone-shaking change every time. And somehow inside the city, unless you're speeding down marine Drive or Reclamation at night, you always find yourself in the wrong gear. However, the sound system does make the Harold and Kumar OST sound awesome, which kinda forgives the bad driving experience.
Anyway, there really isn't that much to add to this post - oh, office is shifting back to where we were earlier now that a 'refurbished' swanky office has been made for us. Which is a good thing because I was dying in the temporary office that was made for us. Other than that, I don't really have anything really special or dramatic lined up for the weekend. But, since it is a weekend and it is Bombay, you never know.
Lately, I've been having quite a few Subway sandwiches from their outlet on Waterfield Road. These guys are not as miserly as the Subway joint at Def Col or Saket. But I was reading about a sandwich which costs 85 pounds. That is a lot of money like almost Rs 7000. For a sandwich! Who cares if it has rare Wagyu beef, the finest pure duck foie gras, its still seven grand! I can have a decent lunch at Wasabi for that much! Heck, this would buy me lunch for the next two months even if I splurge once in a while. There is way too much money doing the rounds.
I'm also getting addicted to Gatorade. Since I've been told to lay off the sugar - i.e: No Coke or Pepsi (and thankfully no Pepsi Cafechino - hey even those girls say "Its bad, but its cool", trust me its BAD, it tastes like cough syrup gone nasty) Gatorade is a good replacement. But now I just discovered the Gatorade conspiracy and it really makes me wonder. Hmmm.. Someone has too much time on their hands.
And the latest Sugasm is out (EDIT : Sorry 'bout that), nice stuff to read! Other than that not much. Rather pointless week its been, but maybe I needed a bit of chill time. And now we must return to the Western suburbs. And by the way, whats with the Digas, I always thought they were the most sober Southie community. It seems that they lost it, and how. For a man who died of natural causes. Scary!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is in response to your last comment on the riots in Bangalore. While personally tryin to grapple with the fanatical violence that we've witnessed here, i can but only believe that this is a part of a larger scary phenomena thats unfolding in this city. Behind the unruly mob behaviour was the fact that there was an enforced mourning imposed on more than half the populace, All entertainment channels bein taken off air, organisations under threat to shut shop abruptly if not to pay for heavy material damages,and an all pervading sense of fear. i was even waylaid by a bunch of hooligans who appeared more vindictive than grieving and were especially singling out non-kannadigas for inflicting damage. There seems to be a silent rage going on here what with the loss of identity brought on by the heavy onslaught of immigrants. The demise of a local demi-god i presume gave them a legit cause to assert themselves viciously.the 'them' is ofcouse a wee % of the whole lot , but enuf to wreak havoc and bring the city to a grinding halt.

Anonymous said...

Subways is my food destination of last resort. The one next to my apartment is open 24 hrs, so when food emergency strikes, that's where I go.

I'm a plebian who really doesn't get the fuss over foie gras. At least caviar has texture.

About Dr. Raj Kumar, I think blorean is right on the money there. This is about Kannadiga assertion, something that's been simmering under the surface for a while now.

It is also a tad hypocritical, given that most Southern Indian communities have benefitted immensely from migration to different parts of India and the world (all the Gelf money in Kerala).

Anonymous said...

Strange, the Optra 1.6 has gears which are quite good, thank you. Wonder where they cocked up with the Aveo? Or did you get a car which has been (mis)used by some of the "motoring media" before it reached you?

Anonymous said...

the gearbox is bad, is it?

i liked your last one, coz those are the three on my shortlist - though, i think, i will eventually settle for the City. the gxi possibly, for it has more frills ...

the fourth in my consideration set is the Optra - it is a damn good car, pretty spacious in the interior, rides over the bumps quite smoothly, the offers right now are great, and I believe the new VGIS gives 12 ltr .. don't know whether to believe that!! Then again, the Chevy bow is the Chevy bow :-)

Anonymous said...

Yup, the Optra 1.6 does give 10-12 kmpl in city, but drive with a light foot, and rides very well too. Had one bad hair split-moment in it once and some high speed twists and turns and it handled like a cat.

Neighbour's envy, too. Keep 32 pounds tyre pressure, though.

And K, how was the ride in First?

K said...

Blorean - Your point is well taken and after speaking to my friends in that city, all of whom are non-K'diga it seems to be the truth. However, it remains to be seen if Rajkumar's funeral is the end of the protests that have been ongoing or will give the protests a new lease of life.
In Mumbai, after years the Thackeray's are all chasing the non-Maharashtrian voter, because they've realised both the economic and political power of these people. Thankfully, in Bangalore politicians haven't started pandering to the lumpens.
T_M : Out there you get nicer sandwiches - like Quiznos or at Sloppy Joes (yummy!). But would you spend $150 on a sanwich.. insane!
GBO - I don't know whether the people who had the car before me screwed the gears up, but when I returned the car today morning, the showroom manager told me "You also feel that" when I voiced this problem. Maybe it does need a slight refining touch. Ride in first - needs a bit of power down there.
Bona - The Chevy bow should be the Daewoo whatever. The Aveo does have a lot of toys, but before you buy the city give the Fiesta a drive. The Fiesta 1.6 is the best drive of the three (if you ignore the City VTEC).

Anonymous said...

Boss, K, some of the re-packaged chimpanzees who "media test" cars do not operate cars of their own, and can not understand the least bit on how to drive one.

In addition, if your Aveo car was presented to you by the GM/Opel dealer in Santa Cruz, then I've had some amazing experiences there with the car they gave me. I had to leave it with them in disgust. The GM dealer in Vikhroli seems to be better.

In this whole thing, why would you not look at the Indigo petrol too, or even the diesel turbo?

K said...

GBO - Indica Petrol are you serious, I've driven one long ago and it was noiser than the Diesel, and I don't want to have anything to do with it anymore. In fact, I never want to drive an Indica if I can help it. I got this car from the dealer in Mahalaxmi. Seemed to be a nice chap.

Anonymous said...

Then why phor the Indica Indigo are top sellers? Buy one, or drive one, the upper end DLX and above models with the 3M sound proofing already done, add some more.

the new diesel Indica with the turbo and tubeless 14" rims, I am not joking, play catch me if you can with cars that cost 2-3 times as much, add driving skills ofcourse.

K said...

GBO - The petrol Indica sucks and while the Diesel is a nice toy to drive around in, I would still not buy one. My previous life did leave me as a bit of an elitist.

Anonymous said...

K,

Please, post links with warning if they contain stuff not to be viewed in public.

Thanks,

K said...

Anon, Sorry 'bout that. Will do henceforth.

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