Buy or Wait?

When I buy a air-ticket the price invariably drops in the following days. This 'buy or wait' is always a daunting question. There is some hope for those seeking an answer. http://www.farecast.com is the answer. The site along with providing the lowest fare provides a tip on whether to buy or wait . In the current beta version only Boston & Seattle is available for search. Look forward to the full launch in 2007 !!!

Update on 8/21/06 : Having attracted a lot of attention from its launch, the site has added 55+ cities to its search!!

Long absence

I know I have not been updating the blog on a regular basis. But there is a long absence in the year 2005 which has a reason. I took a break (from Blog) to do my CPA.

Ok.... I did complete my CPA in this period. It just struck me why not a separate blog for topics relating to this and hence born the othere blog 'The Journal' . May be I will post pretty much anything that comes to my mind relating to this topic and all the updates in the accounting field that I come across. A good CPA friend will also be joining me in updating the posts.

Good Luck to the jus' born
'The Journal' - of CPA rookies..........

RD Rudeness survey

This survey by Readers Digest has drawn varied opinion from the bloggers. I agree with most as the criteria not being apt and the cultural difference that exist between New York & Mumbai. The most satisfying analysis ofcourse is from Abheek Bhattacharya in WSJ . Lets only hope that we move forward that way.

By coincidence I recently read this book (more about the book in a later post) on 9/11 attack which slightly changes my perspective on the issue. The book is a vivid account about the 102 minutes of battling before the twin towers came down. One thing that amazed me is the discipline with which the people decended down the stairs in both the towers as a single file to make way for the firefighters movement upwards. This discipline in a way is a result of their courteousness. This goes to show how politness could pay at the time of a crisis. Needless to say any other behaviour could have resulted in a stampede.

Now the topic is back in talk showing the blood donation that poured in at the time of the blast & how the people of Mumbai stepped up to the rescue efforts. Sure enough none can take the credit away from them for the efforts, but the blood donation again is humanity and should not be linked with the rudeness issue . So the rudeness survey should be looked at with a broader outlook. Its a discipline than mere courtesy.

Mumbai Serial Blast

Serial blasts rocked the Mumbai trains and as of this post 137 is feared dead. The number of blast sites reported varies as to seven and eight. This comes shortly after the Srinagar incident. Blast sites (in order reported)

1. Near Khar Railway station
2. Bandra station
3. Matunga
4. Jogeshwari
5. Borivali (2)

Read more on Mumbai Help.

In case you are seeking some info/having something to share visit the site at "How can we Help you ? "

Two nice weeks

The past two weeks had been pretty interesting..... two contrasting games in full roll with this historic win for India inbetween.

Tennis with all its softness came down to a final between the cool Federer & tough Nadal. Federer win has sure reignited the rivalry. A couple of matches sure to look back at the memory lane like this second round match between Nadal & the qualifier Robert Kendrick and the win of Bryan brothers in the final. Legend Aggasi bid his adieu . Lucky me got an opportunity to watch most of them live due to this subscription..... worth every cent !!!!

And for the foot ball fans its been a roller coaster with surprise finalist France & Italy. Add to it the bizzare Zidane incident came as an anticlimax. It all came down to PKs & Italy made the best use.

Sure all this had been a feast for every sports fan.

I am a Finalist

After waitng all day long & checking the mail 3times a minute gave up in the end.

Now has this mail in by inbox....


FINALIST - The Da Vinci Code Quest on Google
2 messages

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The Da Vinci Code Quest	Mon, May 15, 2006 at 10:13 PM
Reply-To: The Da Vinci Code Quest
Your journey does not end here. You have also qualified to compete for the grand prize which includes trips for four to New York, Paris, Rome and London, a colossal Sony® Electronics package and more valued at over $100,000! See official rules. Beginning on or around 1pm EDT May 19th at www.google.com/davincicode, the final challenge, which is a time trial, will be made available to you for 48 hours. You can begin whenever you like, but prepare well, for once you begin there is no turning back. The player who completes all five tasks in the shortest amount of time will be declared the winner. As for your previous accomplishments, your skill and perseverance will be rewarded with a limited edition replica cryptex arriving in your mailbox in the coming days. While you wait, Click here to watch a congratulatory message from Sir Ian McKellen and a sneak peek of The Da Vinci Code and then continue on to view special offers and discounts from our Quest partners. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Void where prohibited by law. Open only to legal residents located and residing in the 50 United States and D.C., 13 years or older as of 4/17/06. Phase 1 of Contest ends at 1:00 pm EDT on 5/11/06. Final Phase of Contest ends at 1:00 p.m. EDT on 5/21/06. Eligibility, prize and travel restrictions apply. Contest subject to Official Rules. For rating reasons, go to FILMRATINGS.COM, MPAA.ORG. Parents, please refer to PARENTALGUIDE.ORG. ©2006 Columbia TriStar Marketing Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | See official rules | See Prizing | Google is a trademark of Google Inc. © 2006 Sony Pictures Digital Inc. All rights reserved. Sony Pictures Webmaster C/O Sony Pictures Digital 9050 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232-2518 So the contest opens on 19th May & sure is not going to be easy. Its been fun so far........

I got Cryptex

Wow.... Feels nice. I got my cryptex today.

The date for the finalist announcement was set as 15th May and the waiting game for the email began. But surprise... surprise no mails yet but the box of cryptex arrived @ 10.30 a.m. via USPS.

No word yet if I am a finalist & the package did not have any screen shot/puzzle as set out in the rules. It opened with the code mentioned in the box ("Grail") and had the congratulatory note and directed to this site.

Happy to share the news with the fellow-questers(??) at google fact. Thanks google fact, it was a fun journey with you all.