Me and a pickup artist at Stabrucks!

For all the coffee drinker that I am, I rarely ever go to Starbucks.

Because, the dark roast there kills all the subtle flavors that are otherwise present if the beans are not burnt down to charcoal.  Neither am I a fan of all the different concoctions they produce with coffee as the base--as I often remark to people, with all the cream and sugar, those are desserts not coffee!

Yet, I have a Starbucks gift card in my wallet.  I have had it for two years, actually.  A graduating student, who was moving to Wales with his Welsh wife, gave me that Starbucks card as his gift--because he, like most students in my classes, knew all too well that I even have a coffeemaker in my office.  One student told me that whenever she came to my office, the aroma made her feel that she was entering a café. 

So, anyway, I retained the gift card more as a trophy.  A reminder that a student thought I was worth having as a professor.  Thus, I never used it.

Until very recently.

I got myself a cappuccino and sat outside the Starbucks store, at a table right outside the door.  It was a gorgeous sunny day, just the right temperature for me sit half in the shade of the parasol while enjoying the sun's rays partially on my body.

At the table to my left were three young adults having a good time, though it looked like they were frequently forcing themselves to do real work.

To my right was a solitary young woman, sipping her coffee and reading.

A solitary young woman, and me.  This is where the pickup happens, you are probably thinking. 

Think again.

A huge pickup, with remarkably over-sized tires and one of the loudest possible engine roars pulled up.  The driver, a woman, was holding a cellphone on one hand, and at the same time trying to park it into a spot that clearly was not intended for vehicle sizes like this one.  I wondered why she didn't want to drive towards the many other vacant parking spots a couple of cars away.

Then, even while holding the cellphone, she started backing into the spot.  Visualize this: huge pickup, driver holding a cellphone on one hand, squeezing into a regular-sized parking spot in between two small cars.

I looked at the solitary woman--she had stopped reading and, like me, was following this action.  And she slowly shook her head, as if to mean, "I cannot believe this!"

Meanwhile, one of the cars was getting ready to pull out, and the driver wisely decided to stay put until this action ended.  The pickup driver expertly eased into the spot.

The license plate says a lot about the driver's attitude, I suppose!

She climbed out of the pickup, continuing her cellphone conversation as she entered the store.  A petite woman she was, in total contrast to the huge pickup.

The solitary woman went back to her reading.  I was practically done with my cappuccino, which was not all that exciting.  After taking a couple of photos, I walked towards my vehicle.

Soon, I was back on the road, looking forward to going home where I can brew coffee to my tastes, and enjoy it in peace.

Life is what happens when you are busily planning for it!

The last few days have been yet another reminder about the unpredictability that life is.

Strange events have made me stay in, and familiarize myself with, Seattle.  Not some suburb, but Seattle.  The city from where Frasier pontificated after returning from Boston.  With the little I have understood the city, it seems like I am not too far from where Frasier's fictional home might have been located.

That is life.

The summer sun finally broke through on a wonderfully sunny and pleasant Fourth of July.  I walked over the nearby lake/park.  Under the mid-afternoon sun, there was so much of life all so sudden that it was quite overwhelming.  Older adults taking in the sun while making sure they don't harm their skins.  Young women feeling immortal and warming up under the glorious rays.

And, of course, the kids.  They were having fun like nobody else could.  The best part: without any unnecessary shrieking.  Perhaps because it is the Pacific Northwest?

I spotted a number of toy sail boats whizzing by in the fountain/pond.  It was a pleasant sight--the simple toys and their "owner" kids rushing around with their remote controls.

A kid with his head overflowing with blond hair eagerly pointed out to me his boat.  And then added, "you see that blue one there?  That is a monster.  It keeps hitting other boats."

As much as I love interacting with kids, these days, when I walk around as a single man in a public place, I am increasingly worried that paranoid parents might think that I, with my strange appearance, am one with whom kids should not even talk.

So, I merely "aha"d, which didn't make the kid all too excited to share his joys with me.  Soon, he rushed somewhere else where, I suppose, he could find people who would be animated along with him.

That is life.

Not what I had planned for.

It is another day, and it continues to be sunny and pleasant.  I am glad I brought along my hat with me.  Surya, my friend from the Neyveli days, who is always delighted with photos of me in a hat, and keeps referring to Indiana Jones, will be happy if I had taken a photo of myself, I suppose.

I walked the ups and downs of the city under the warming sun.  I saw a steep series of steps going somewhere.  I climbed them. Panted quite a bit after reaching the top.  I kept walking.  I crossed the bridge when I came to it.

It was a lovely scene.  Cars and trucks whizzed past.I wondered whether the drivers even knew how lovely the world looked.  Did they care?  Were they bored with the cityscape already?

I looked at the other side, past the traffic in between.

"Suicidial?" asked a sign, and included a hotline number.

Not me. I am curious to find out what other surprises life has in store for me, even as I develop plans for the rest of this summer, the rest of the year, and the rest of my life.

Seattle, I'm listening :)

Because, it is past midnight and I am Sleepless in Seattle? :)

Has Microsoft become "soft" and is becoming "micro" as well?

Microsoft’s huge profits — $6.7 billion for the past quarter — come almost entirely from Windows and Office programs first developed decades ago. Like G.M. with its trucks and S.U.V.’s, Microsoft can’t count on these venerable products to sustain it forever. Perhaps worst of all, Microsoft is no longer considered the cool or cutting-edge place to work. There has been a steady exit of its best and brightest.
What happened?

That is what a former Microsoft VP discusses in this NY Times oped.

The Silicon Valley/Seattle rivalry seems to be tilting again in favor of California.  Meanwhile, Boeing is spreading its wings (ha, pun!) into South Carolina. So, it will be left to Amazon and Starbucks to prop things up?