Bojan's blog                Home

We had some freezing rain falling today in Illinois, and conditions were less than ideal for driving. Thanks to the recent spate of unusually warm weather, the ground was still fairly warm and consequently roads were not slippery. That was all supposed to change tonight, so I needed to make my exit from Urbana quickly if I was going to travel this weekend. Plus, there is a good chance of rain turning into snow tomorrow morning, which would additionally exacerbate the driving conditions.

Ever sine I fixed my wiper problem I've felt much more confident driving in rain. The wiper problem was that my wiper rubber blades would gradually slide out of their metal grooves, so I would need to pull over every so many miles and painstakingly slide them back in. Eventually, I had enough of this, and a cheapskate that I am, I went for a quick and dirty solution: I super-glued the rubber blades to their metal groves. So far, this has worked like a charm.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pope Benedict XVI is visiting Turkey this week. This trip was scheduled well before his Regensburg address that caused a lot of stir in the Muslim world, and many had expected him to cancel this visit. However, he stood by his guns, and proceeded with the original plan. His visit is marked by massive demonstrations, planted bombs, and an unprecedented level of security. Through all this he is still preaching the same firm yet conciliatory message that he stands for. Yet another reason why admire this remarkable man so much.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We've been blessed with the amazing weather for the past couple of weeks: clear skies, temperature in 60s, no wind, no humidity, just perfect. Quite out of place for November, but no one is complaining. If all of Winter could be like this, one could get used to it. It would be a perfect weather to do some yard work, except that nothing really grows at this time of year, so it's of no use. No, weeds must grow in the middle of the oppressively humid summer months.

Christmas decorations are up. One thing that Sharmin's neighbors like to do is put little lights in plastic gallon milk jugs and put those around their yards. It looks really neat at night when the lights are on, but during the day it seems like someone had strewn garbage on their yard. For all it's worth, this way we can find out what kind of milk the neighbours are drinking. This may not seem like an important datum, but I think that the choice of milk says a lot about person. Full milk: old-fashioned, don't-care-much-about-all-that-health-thing types. 2%: I care about health, but I need taste too. 1%: you start to feel good about yourself. 0.5 %: you feel really good about yourself. Fat free: you think you're going to live to be 100.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just when I thought that the Thanksgiving could not get more food-gorging than it already is, I learned about turducken. It's a culinary concoction wheres a turkey is stuffed with a duck, which in turn is stuffed with a chicken. Hence the name: turkey+duck+chicken. This thing should be a poster image for the term "exercise in excess". Although, to be fair, from what I had learned about it it does look pretty yummy. Wouldn't mind having a slice of that, one of these days down the road when food becomes desirable again.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We celebrated Thanksgiving this Thursday, a day when we acknowledge everything we have been thankful for this past year. But that's not what most people have in mind when this holiday is mentioned. What comes to everyone's mind is a complete food debauchery, especially the one that involves making a whole turkey. Sharmin and I tried making the turkey last year, with less than spectacular results. It is very difficult to properly gauge the baking process, and it is easy to either overcook or undercook that poor bird. Besides, I don't find turkey meat the most appetizing anyways, unless it's the deli-style cold cuts. So, primarily for those reasons, we had ham for dinner. Sharmin and I love ham, and it's relatively easy to make. We also had our friend Brian over, and that livened up our moods even more. Brian is a very grateful guest to have, and he had no problems with our somewhat unorthodox menu. Being grateful, after all, is what Thanksgiving is all about.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was shopping for food at Wal-Mart this weekend, and the entire store is already well into the whole Thanksgiving atmosphere. The seasonal foods are heavily promoted, and it was really hard to resist the temptation. Eventually I gave in, but at least I decided to eat something as healthy as possible, which meant I had to make it myself. I bought reduced-fat graham pie crust, and the pumpkin pie mix. As soon as I got home I fired up the oven and put a pie together. Actually, I just turned the the oven on to the desired temperature; 'fired up' sounds more quaint, and, ehm, seasonal. The expression goes well with the holiday mood that I was aiming for. The pie was gone within 24 hours. Sure, Sharmin did her small part, but I ate the lion's share. Weight watching will have to wait for another day.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

On the average, I never used to be a big fan of Indian/Pakistani food ... until I started going out with Sharmin that is. Even so, I rarely eat out at Indian restaurants. But I must admit, when Indian food is good, it's really good! It's just that it's so darn rich!

Last weekend Sharmin and I had a dinner in a really good Indian restaurant in Indianapolis (get it - Indian restaurant in Indianapolis, Indiana!), and the food was just divine. However, one look at the waiters (all of whom were originally from India it seems), convinced me that consuming that sort of food on a regular basis would lead one to acquire a really large pot-belly in no time.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My next door neighbor is crazy. Literally. It seems like he has a split-personality disorder of some sort. I started hearing him talk to someone a few weeks back (my apartment complex has really thin walls), and at first I thought he had a guest over. Later on it became obvious that there was no one there except him, and that is a bit freaky. One can hear two different voices, one really deep and another high-pitched having a conversation. I felt like a I was in some bad horror movie. If that was not bad enough, he started talking to himself throughout the night, sometimes yelling at the top of his lungs, thus waking me up. The first time this happened I went over to his door the next day and asked him not to do it any more (he seems perfectly fine in person). Since then I had a few more restless nights due to his crazy behaviour. I tried calling the police once, but they never showed up. Finally, I called up the landlord this week, and they promised to talk to him about it. In the meanwhile, they told me to call the police if that were to happen again. So I did, once again two nights ago, and this time the police officers showed up. I don't know what they talked to him about, but later throughout the day he was yelling again, obviously not happy with this latest development. The landlord was also supposed to have talked with him yesterday, but I am not sure this happened. Last night I was not taking any chances, so I slept with earplugs. Even so, he seems to have calmed down, although that's not for sure. At any rate, I had one peaceful night's rest for the first time in a few days.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 09:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Yesterday was Halloween, one of those holidays that I don't know what exactly to think/do about. While growing up I never celebrated this holiday, so I never got to enjoy/partake in trick-and-treating. In college I was probably way too busy and overwhelmed with schoolwork to have done anything (I was probably too busy to even remember what I had been doing back then). The things changed radically in Grad school, when I discovered all the fun parties that grown-ups throw for the holiday (Sharmin and I met at one such party). However, now that I am pretty much done with Grad school, those things don't have the same charm any more.

One thing I've noticed, however: it seems that Halloween is getting increasingly commercialized, just like all the other holidays. I remember seeing a carved pumpkin or two before, but over the years those had been replaced by fancy plastic pumpkins of increasing size and gadgetry, plus all the skeletons the money can buy, and every other ghoulish plastic toy anyone has ever come up with. The decorations on the front yards of many houses are now on par or even exceed those put out for Christmas. It's high time that someone should campaign for the true spirit of Halloween. Let's call it 'Putting Hallow back in Halloween'.

Posted by Bojan Tunguz at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)