Shopping online hurts your wallet

... especially if you visit <a href="http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Cast-Resin-Outdoor-Wall-Clock-Thermometer/3861713/product.html?cid=123620&amp;fp=F&amp;ci_src=14110944&amp;ci_sku=11912743">Overstock</a> often!

[caption id="attachment_1262" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Looking for wall thermometer ..."]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/overstock1.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/overstock1.jpg?w=300" alt="" title="Looking for wall thermometer ..." width="300" height="159" class="size-medium wp-image-1262" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1263" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="... coming away with everything but that!"]<a href="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/overstock2.jpg"><img src="http://porcupyn.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/overstock2.jpg?w=300" alt="" title="... coming away with everything but that!" width="300" height="159" class="size-medium wp-image-1263" /></a>[/caption]

Photo quiz answer

I meant to put these photos up a couple of weeks ago, when "Me" responded with the correct answer. Better late than never ...

P.S.: I don't know what I am doing wrong, but I don't understand why WP fails to align these photos! :-(

<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4795.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1234" title="IMG_4794" src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4794.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4795.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1234" title="IMG_4795" src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4795.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>
<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4797.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1234" title="IMG_4797" src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/img_4797.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>

<a href="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/lasvegaspanoramic.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1244" title="las vegas panoramic" src="http://porcupyn.org/imgs/2009/11/lasvegaspanoramic.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="30" /></a>

Tennis Buddies

For the last few months, I have been playing Tennis (doubles) once a week with three buddies. We are most definitely amateurs ;-), but I sometimes like to compare ourselves with professionals (cricketers)!

Dude #1: He is definitely good (compared to our average level), but he definitely has his off-days. On any given day, he can boom in unreturnable serves (wide off the forehand corner or into the body) or serve double faults galore. His ground strokes can be precise, or they can pierce the bottom of the net or fly out of the court onto the road behind! If you play singles against him, all you need to do is keep the ball in play - he will do the rest. Is like Sehwag.

Dude #2: He is good but relatively predictable. His serves lack the punch of 'Sehwag' (above) but are precise. Rarely does he double fault, and rarely are his serves unreturnable either. His groundstrokes are precise and he can rally for quite some time without losing it! You have got to wrong foot him or outrally him to win a point. Is like Dravid.

Dude #3: He is better than me, but definitely unpredictable. He has a wicked backhand slice and no specific faults either on the forehand or the backhand side. 'Dravid' probably is a better groundstroke player, but this dude definitely has more of the unpredictability factor as to where his shots will land. His serves lack the 'Sehwag' punch, but - again because of their unpredictability - can result in more winners than the 'Dravid' serve. Is like Chandrashekhar.

Dude #4: And that leaves me. I am right about average, but steady. My serve is pathetic, but it is my only ploy to get the ball in play - that said, I would never serve underhand (I don't count <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU2-jsRJRJE">Michael Chang</a> or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M">Trevor Chappell</a> among my idols). I can rally with the best of them on forehand groundstrokes, but my backhand I don't want to talk about (I blame it on Racquetball). I love to run around the court, my weight notwithstanding, though I am clearly no Chang or Nadal. Once in a while, I try to vary my shots and - in general - I am working on improving the accuracy of my shots. I try not to beat myself - you gotta do the hard work (or serve an ace) to get a point out of me. I like to think of myself as Kumble ;-).

If I were to play singles, Dravid is the best bet - we could keep rallying, like, forever! I hope I don't get in trouble with 'Sehwag', 'Dravid' and Chandrashekhar' now ;-). As one of them once said (in jest, I should add), maybe I should get into Tennis coaching!

Image ... is nothing

It is what you are inside that matters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKlDXomMv0U