Enigma (as defined by dictionary.com) is a) a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation, b) a person of puzzling or contradictory character, c) a saying, question, picture,  etc.,  containing hidden meaning and finally d) a German-built enciphering machine developed for commercial use in the 1920s and later adapted and appropriated by German  and other Axis powers for military use throught the WWII.

Over the weekend, I saw the movie Engima and fell in love once again with ciphers and codebreakers. It is good movie, not a great one, simply because, I would have liked to see more of the codebreakers work. But the story line is good, and of course the music was a tad haunting, but great.  I saw the movie once and then again with the subtitles on as I really wanted to catch all the codebreakers logic. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it, it is good one.

It has been a while since I blogged something or the other, regards something or the other interesting things going on in my life. But the past week has been rather hectic and frenzied at work with a major deadline for four interconnected projects that I manage. All four projects were in flux and under developement for enhancements for the past 8 months and finally I see the light at the end of the tunnel. After endless iterative design, changes, developement, testing and managing multiple projects, these all were delivered. I am proud to say that my 'babies' have grown into well behaved (well, most of the time!) 'toddlers'.  I should be blogging more this month.

Day to celebrate!!!

Allegra front completed. It was a test of patience, counting and courage to believe that I could complete this one. The front as described before (Stage 2) consisted of the piece which starts of being similar to back and then goes into a fancy miter and the two sides like flappy wings, and then a twist and great V-neck. 

I think it is stunning!! I still need to complete the seaming and finishing the edges, but I love it and cannot wait to wear this one.

I am trying to recover from a major sore throat, cold, runny nose, sneezing and high fever. From past Monday onwards, a miserable summer cold set in and was finally able to shake it off Thursday afternoon. This was a weird illness; I was relatively fine in the mornings (although fever was high), but towards noon it went downhill fast and stayed there till next morning. I could get some work done from home, chatted with team to get them on their merry way, and then afternoon slept like a log (thanks nyquil!).

During this time, I did a lot of thinking of why I don't like being ill. Some of the reasons are:

1. I don't like being ill, because it makes my todo list grow longer as nothing is being taken off. The list has a habit of growing exponentially when I am ill. So when I am recovered, I have twice the amount of work and half the time to get it done in.

2. I don't like being ill, because it means I have to take medicines. And I hate dumping medicines into me, which have more side effects than curing or preventing anything.

3. I don't like being ill, because I any given time, I am not sure, if I am really hungry or thirsty, should I be eating or drinking. Maybe I should eat, but then that may make me more ill. Perhaps drinking will help, but my nose and head is already swimming. It is all so confused.

4. I don't like being ill, because my house is a mess and it takes a week or two get it back in order. Under the guise of being ill, I tend to neglect good housekeeping principles.

5. Lastly, I don't like being ill, because there is nothing good on the idiot box (TV).

You think I have a future in non-computer related jobs like.... the army, or pressure washing, or for that matter anything else that needs hands on expertise. (This was taken by my uncle, when I was being hypnotised with the power of the pressure washer)

This past weekend, my uncle from Washington DC, paid us a visit. He was in town for a conference and stayed over the weekend to meet up with family. He is indeed a wonderful guest, as he takes so much interest in what is happening in his nieces (one of them being....me) and nephews lives. And far more, knows so much about home improvement and not only suggests what to do, but gets down and lends a helping hand to get it implemented. One of the major tasks for my yard was to get the deck and fence cleaned. It would have probably stayed on the todo list for another season and another year, if it had not been for him, suggesting and helping me to find a good power pressure washer and help me wash the deck.

For about the same price as renting, I am now a proud owner of a 1000psi Pressure washer, a one-gallon sprayer and experience of pressure washing deck and fence (Got tools, have deck, will clean for a lunch/dinner/movie!). Both the deck and fence were is dull gray and grimmy. After washing the deck, the gray is lessened to expose some wood grain and also some stain/paint in dark mahogany color. The plan was to wash and clean the deck and apply a sealant. But, now I am thinking of doing some stripping (maybe) and then applying a amber tinted transparent sealer. Hmmm..... did my one task of cleaning the deck, just blossom into a multi-step project. But I am jazzed with it, so, I think I will continue down the path. Couple of more trips to Lowes or local hardware store will do it. But I think my good deck will be great. Along with the deck we also pressure washed and cleaned the fence to completely brighten it from the dull, crappy gray to warm glow of pine. The plan is to use the same amber tint on the fence. It will look awesome. Thanks Uncle, love it when you are here. Thank you so very much for helping me along my home improvement & maintenance projects.

It truely feels being an home owner this summer, with so many items to do and more importantly done for the home. Interestingly, everytime a project is done, three more get added to the list. In one way I am happy as, this keeps me busy with the home and hearth. I dread the day, if I have nothing to do for the place.

Didn't think I would be here today...... it is awesome. I want to share this excitment, this is really wonderful. The retaining walls look really lovely. Here are the before and after pictures for the space. What a difference. I cannot wait for the planting season to begin again and phase 2-3 can start off.

  

More digging, leveling, gravel, stone dust and now the blocks. Block-by-block, pin-by-pin, the stacked blocks take shape into a a beautiful retaining wall and then another and then another. Now it is getting monotonous and repetitive news. Pictures coming soon..... I promise, stay tuned.

Mostly diggging, leveling, laying gravel and stone dust. I have kept some samples as a reference of what was used (I know, it is silly, but it is so cool to be able to say, this gravel type and this stone dust and that rock, and actually show samples). And of course, we make a field trip to get the Granite Gray Versalock blocks and caps (for the enthusiast: 248 blocks, and 237 caps). We ordered them and they had it all in stock, but no delivery until next day afternoon. Wah! But, just as we were walking out, we crossed the delivery man, and our delivery was scheduled for that day. It arrived one hour after we reached home. Wow! So we went from Wah to Wow in a matter of few hours. The blocks find a new home!