Blind Dude and Me

Today, there I was inside a train station, on my way to work. There's nothing unusual about it you might say and of course there isn't. There was an escalator, an ascending one at that but still there's nothing unusual about it of course. However when I was about to step onto it came a dude out of nowhere, and seeing his white walking stick I realized he's a blind person so waited a moment to let him pass wondering at the same time how the hell is he going to step onto the escalator without stumbling.

Then the dude stepped on to it as effortlessly as Justin Bieber would pass for a woman. It was perfection personified; the blind dude's movement, not Bieber's feminine qualities though one can argue that they also are near perfect. I was so surprised that I almost stumbled stepping onto the thing following him.

Thank god he didn't offer me any help; probably he realized the irony of it all.

Keeping my Word(s)

Days fly by quite fast these days, weekends even more so. There I was on last Friday getting drunk merrily with the thought of the weekend ahead, thinking how I would relax and before I know it here I am typing this out on a Monday night and wondering how the hell did the weekend go by that quickly. Maybe the world really does spin faster on weekends. If I were an astrophysicist I would do my thesis for the doctorate on that. However I am not one, and I am glad about it for two reasons; a) I have a feeling I might find it difficult to defend that thesis and b) astrophysicists is a ridiculously difficult word to pronounce. I would continually run into trouble whenever I introduce myself to hot chicks and they ask what I do.

However, as said in my last post, we finally did play our first match of the season and it was quite dramatic I must say. For starters it was the first match of the season and it was 2.00 in the morning when we finally located where our cricket gear was, since nobody really remembered who took them home after the last season. Plans were such that we would meet at a nearby place at 7 in the morning, then be at the ground by 8.30 and the match would start an hour later. So staying true to our nationality, we met at 8.30 or something, was at the ground around 11 a.m. and the match was started past midday. The opposition was an Indian team which means they were worse than us, so nobody was there to bitch about us being late.

So finally proceedings went ahead, the match was reduced to 30 overs a side, and our captain A won the toss (that bugger!) and elected to bat. So I opened the innings, and though I did not get my promised run-a-ball 100, I did top score with a 53 not out. It wasn't really a pretty innings, was too rusty, and also our good old Indian friends were nice enough to drop a couple of sitters I offered earlier on. Sweet. So finally we got to 140 with only one wicket to spare before our 30 overs finished, a below par score but considering we were 50 for 5 or something like that it was a reasonable score. Then we leaked 40 off first 3 overs, which is not really you'd want defending 140 but then we pulled them back with some tight bowling and continuous wickets. Finally it came down to 12 off 12 with their last pair in the middle and the bastard hit one in the air straight at me off the first ball of the penultimate over. That son of a bitch. It took ages to come at me, and I was contemplating whether I should take the catch fingers pointed upwards, downwards, or if I should just let it go returning the favor. I finally decided, just in time, that I should go with the third option. I'm generous like that. Oh and it went for a six too. Now only 6 off 11, and the Indian dude thought he too should return the favor which I returned and hit one in the air again, and our teammates were not as generous as me. So that ended the day with a satisfactory six run win to kick off the season.

On a slightly different note, reading one of the articles I wrote for The Score, some of my 'friends' suggested that I should walk the talk and play cricket without a helmet like I said in that article. They were even nice enough to pull out an old photo from my FB albums where I was playing a match with a helmet on. Such nice guys they are, aren't they? However, fear not for yours truly didn't chicken out but did play without a helmet and will do so for the remainder of the season as well. Have that $200 ready folks.

Status Update

Today is the end of two insanely busy weeks and what a friggin' relief it is. I literally had to work day in and day out for the last two weeks, including Saturday and Sunday, which is far from my idea of how weekend should be spent. Add 3 hours of daily travel to it which in fact is the worst part of it. I can work till late no problem, but I can't friggin' wake up so early everyday. But that's what I had to do, so the last two weeks was pretty much wake up at 7 in the morning, be at work at 9.30, work till about 10 or 11 - P.M. that is, not A.M. - and then be back home at midnight. And then the same routine again. And again. And then again. You get the drift right. Anyway I'm not complaining for a) I knew what I was in for when I came here and b) late night and weekend work means a fat pay check. As someone somewhere said, whoever said money can't buy you happiness simply didn't know where to shop. So yeah, I went ahead and ordered online a CASIO G-Shock watch; a present to myself for no particular reason. A note to everyone who doesn't know where to buy happiness; go to Amazon.com - you don't even have to spend a lot as things are quite cheap over there.

On other things, Sunday will be our third (I think so, I've lost count (losing count when you count up to 3 is sad, I know, but still)) attempt at starting the much awaited cricket season this year and I pray to the non-existent gods please don't spoil the party. I don't remember why but the first time we couldn't play as scheduled for some reason, then last week we couldn't play because of weather. Of course I wouldn't have played anyway since I was at work, so I didn't really miss much there, but I'm not going to miss it a third time too. Bashing a hapless Indian team is always fun so there's extra motivation as well. Wish me luck, as I have a feeling that I might need it since I'm planning on scoring a run-a-ball 100 and following it up with a five-fer, but of course that would be possible only if we bat first, and since I have not planned to take five wickets and follow it up with a hundred, run-a-ball or otherwise, it all depends on our newly appointed enthusiastic captain, let's call him A, winning the toss.

P.S.
Keep this quiet; I'm hoping against hope the bugger will lose the toss.

P.P.S.
There will be a company gathering sort of thing this evening, which means getting drunk to your heart's content, and god (no-existent again) I can do with a good ol' shot of whiskey right now. Off to getting drunk then. Later peeps!

Smartass Fail

Me : So where's the pervert?

S : I'm talking to one, and the other must be cooking.

Me : No no, I'm not cooking.

...

Oh shit.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

S : LOL, do I own you or what?

A Plug and a Bit More

I just realized that 5% Vodka with bread, omelette and Marmite breakfast is just what you need to kick-start your weekend. I didn't plan it though; I got home late last night so bought a small bottle of Vodka too, thinking of having a little 'me time' but I was so tired I left the Vodka to have it's own 'me time' and fell asleep. I was so fast asleep that even several chat and phone calls have failed to wake me up, I see, to my utmost pleasure. There's something so satisfying with a good old sleep isn't it? However, that left me with an unopened and an inviting bottle of Vodka so I thought what the hell and went ahead. Trust me it's quite the right blend, just don't go for a 40% Vodka though, not at 10 in the morning anyway.

So then, to the plug. Some of my friends have put up this new web site, The Score, which is for all kinds of Sri Lankan sports. And I must say the guys are doing a quite impressive job with it. So far they have been giving continuous updates on almost all major schools rugby and cricket matches and also they've streamed a lot of matches online, something that's worth a lot specially for people like us who live abroad. I've been a rugby fan ever since I can remember, when I was back in Sri Lanka I hardly ever missed a rugby game either my school, St. Anthony's, or Kandy Sports Club played. But ever since I came here, the first match I happened to watch was a school game they streamed, so, thank you guys. I really do recommend you go check it out, it is certainly better than The Papare. Oh and I've been writing a column for them too, so check it out too. That's a shameless plug to myself.

Moving onto the 'bit more' bit of the title. It is really only a bit. You see, I've planned to go watch Pirate's of the Caribbean : On Stranger Tides this weekend, so was doing my homework and watched all three past movies. I'm dedicated like that. It goes without saying that Johnny Depp is awesome, but so is Keira, at least for me. Pity that they didn't choose her this time. She really does have the best nose since Cleopatra.