New blog

Folks, I am moving...

Moving to Wordpress.com, @ wordsdownunder.wordpress.com, something with a name akin to the blog's name, rather than vdeepakis. Anyway, please update your bookmarks and continue to visit ...

Mental block & Officeworks

I have been through certain things in my life which have taken my focus away from blogging for sometime now, am facing a blogger block, thankful to know that I am not alone - Chakra feels the same too.

This incident yesterday at the Officeworks store at Elsternwick was so interesting that I cannot help not posting about it. I had bought the laptop at this store on Sep 11 (!!!), 2005 and have the invoice for the purchase and everything, with a small hitch. Now, I have a method of salary sacrifice at ANZ which helps me get back the GST of 10% and some more money on top of it, basically, the money that I spent on the laptop ($1399) is non taxable. The invoice has to have my name on it to prove to the payroll dept that I bought it, which is fair enough. The hitch was that the original invoice did not have my name, because as of the day of purchase I was not aware of this particular tax claim. I went back to the store and asked for the name to be amended, which I thought was a small thing that they do on their billing records, but not so. The counter person was not helpful at all, and then I had to ask for the Manager who came along and said the same thing ... We cannot do it, we dont have a procedure to do it, we cannot back date anything.

Everything changed when I told the Manager that I have already spoken by phone to their colleague the day before and mentioned her name as well, she was not there. I also pointed that she promised that this was an every day affair that they go through, and it is very easy to be amended, only that I visit them during the office hours, which I did. Those magic words did the trick and within the next two mins in front of my eyes, they reissued the invoice with my name and address on it.

They knew how to do it, where do it, the works but somehow decline everything when asked for the first time. Moral of the story, jot down the names of the store people you speak with on the phone or if you meet them at the store. It was a mini triumph for me ...

A Sad post

This post is dedicated to my neighbour at Coimbatore Mr Lakshmanan who passed away on Sunday afternoon after a sudden illness.

I cannot help but remember with tears the cheerful man who saw me as more than his son during the course of ten years since 1994 till last Sunday. Every weekend he will check the zodiac of my sign before checking everyone's else, including his own sons. He was the man who when I was leaving for Australia, hugged me in front of my our home, without any shame, "I will miss you, I dont know what I will do without you !". He knows everyone of my friends - Prabukarthik, Mahadevan and so many else. Everytime he and auntie went to some temple, they have never returned without making a puja for me, he knew my details by heart. A man who did not have any bad habits, was quite fit for his age, he was around 64 +, if I am not sure. Whenever he was cutting down tender coconuts from the trees in his house, he always made sure, I got my share as well. Life after this will never be the same in that street.

I have never been affected by a person's passing away until now, before Mr Lakshmanan. We will not get in contact with human beings like him every now and then.

I am only disheartened that I was not there when this happened. No more Engineer uncle for me and everyone else. I will miss you...

Learners Permit

I have got the Learners Permit for driving car from Vicroads, the transport and roads authority for Victoria. I had to take a computer test, TOEFL alike, for the permit. The questions are based from a question bank of 320 questions. Similar to the one in India, where the driving school instructor provides the list of all questions that might be asked by the license inspector. The only thing here, is that you have to practise the questions and take the test. I had to work with it for nearly two weeks before I can take the test. The score to pass is 78% and I managed to score 86%, not bad for a two week effort. Couple of guys who took the test with me yesterday, actually failed the test.

The problem with failing the test, is that you have to pay $28.30 for everytime you want to take the test. If you want to get the Learner's permit as an identification card it would cost a further $17.80. Now, that I have got this card, I dont have to carry my passport everytime I want to show some ID. Thats a relief.

Broadband up and running

At last, the Dodo broadband service is ready from today morning and it is going well. This is after three weeks after the first application, nearly ten calls to them between then and today and this the result. My argument was that if, they were not able to provide the service, they should be able to refund the money that I spent for purchasing the modem, which they were not ready to...

Anyway, it is up and running, and the first thing that I did, was to update my Norton Antivirus virus definition files. And it was a good speed too.. And, downloaded a couple of Crazy Mohan dramas, without that, nothing is complete.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Mastercard fraud

Your two famous minutes on TV are up along with your Mastercard number if you were careless enough to show it on TV. Like what happened to Latesha Vinette, showing her Mastercard debit card in this news link.

Tagged !!!

My list of Seven Things after being tagged by Mona ...

Seven Things I want to do before I die :

1. Live life fully.
2. Be capable of changing the life of atleast one person.
3. Travel as much as I can.
4. Become a better photographer.
5. Hope that in the future if someone says my name, it brings laughter and joy.
6. Reserved for future use.
7. Reserved for future use.

Seven Things that I can do :

1. Cook, something that is palatable atleast to me.
2. Keep trying for a goal until I get that.
3. Read current affairs endlessly.
4. Keep watching Mani Rathnam movies for countless times.
5. Keep thinking about my school days and college days.
6. Listen to S V Sheker and 'Crazy' Mohan dramas continuously.
7. Reserved for future use.

Seven Things I say the most :

1. Damn
2. Thats alright.
3. Hows it going ?
4. Hello (that is part of my work script)
5. How are you doing ?
6. Maapillai.
7. Reserved for future use.

Seven Things I can't do :

1. Stay awake after a heavy meal.
2. Persist to a exercise regimen.
3. Watch animation movies.
4. Listen to songs of newer bands.
5. Keep my concentration on one thing at a time, I find it very hard.
6. Read non fiction books with the same conviction as I read fiction books.
7. Reserved for future use.

Seven Things that attracts to the opposite sex :

1. Intelligence.
2. Individuality.
3. Broad mindedness.
4. Respect to tradition and elders.
5. Reserved for future use.
6. Reserved for future use.
7. Reserved for future use.

Seven celebrities that I like:

1. Shobana.
2. Jennifer Aniston.
3. Pierce Brosnan (I know he is a guy, but the man oozes charisma)
4. Rani Mukherjee.
5. Tabu.
6. Kajol.
7. Priety Zinta.