PCQLinux 2005 failed to start

After I received my PC yesterday, I just couldn't wait to start working on it. Pulled out the PCQ Linux 2005 CDs distributed with this month's (March 2005) PC Quest magazine and started installation. The very first attempt to start the installation in graphical mode failed with some message "X Server kiiled by the peer". It was a shock for me. Decided to try text mode and rebooted. Just then I received a call and this time it booted fine in the graphical mode. It detected my earlier installation and I continued with the "Upgrade" option. By this time it was 10:30 pm. The installation process asked for the second CD around 11:20 pm. I changed the CD and slept. Changed the 3rd CD at around 3:00 am. Installation was complete by 3:30 am. Eagerly rebooted the PC ignoring the swearings from Shilpa (my wife) for making noise at such late hours. It autodetected my mouse. That was strange since I havent changed my mouse since long. and then after few more steps, It just stopped completely. No activity, nothing. I just sat there staring at the monitor hoping it will proceed further. But unfortunately I did not. So after I go home today I know what I will be doing. :-)

My PC is working after being dead for more than 6 months

Initially it started hanging randomly. I suspected RAM to be the culprit. Took around 1 month to start searching for the appropriate RAM. The motherboard is special and requires specific kind of RAM modules. First tried to get it around my house. Searched Sion, Matunga etc. but no luck there. Was on the streets on Lamington road then along with my motherboard to buy RAM and sure enough I found it there. So baught another module of 256 MB but unfortunately I did not take my HDD along with me so could not verify if everything is OK. Back home the problem persisted. My next suspect was the motherboard. Contacted "Rashi Peripherals" but they accept components only on weekdays and that too between 11:00 to 5:00. Spent another 2 months finding time to go there personally so that I can explain them the details about the motherboard. They sent it to their Vasai office after trying for another week or so and it returned from there after another 15 days. It did not work at my home. It booted once fine but next time no display not even bios. After again a month or soI went back to them with the motherboard and they sent it back to Vasai office. And finally after 3 more weeks, yesterday I received it. It worked fine yesterday.
So now I can call the cable guy to provide me with the internet connection. Oooooh... now I have the working PC, the Internet, the time to spend (due to the new company) and the will to do so many things online. I just can't wait to start surfing from home.

A weekend out of Mumbai

It was a long weekend due to a holiday for "Good Friday". I took this opportunity to visit my brother-in-law's farm-house at "Poynad". Its a small village near well known beach "Alibag". We went there by "State Transport" (ST) bus. Took around 2.5 hours to reach there. the ST fare is surprisingly low at Rs. 48/- per person. It was a nice journey and since we started early in the morning we could avoid the heat.

The farmhouse is really small. A big 20x25 studio room. Has all the amneties like fridge and mixer except the idiot box. Who needs it anyway. The farm again is a small 10 Are field. For those who don't know, an "Are" is an unit of area. Approx 40 are = 1 acre = 0.4 hector. But my "Saala" has got many trees there like "FaNas (Jackfruite)", "Kaaju (Cashew-Nut)", "Chinch (Tamrind), "Chiku", "SitaafaL (Custard-Apple)", "RamfaL", "Ananas (Pine-Apple), "Aamba (Mango)", "Jam" etc. He also grew vegetables and some flowering plants like Rose and Jerbera. Earlier we planned to be back in Mumbai on Saturday but then extended our stay by one more day. Its a very nice feeling to pluck the fruite directly from the tree and eat it. In fact I saw Pineapple first time in my life on the tree, well bush....err... whatever. The vegitables tasted better. It can be due to the psycological effect also but my saala told us that he does not use any chemical fertilizers and hence the taste improves. That small peice of land is more than sufficient to fulfill his daily needs of food. He needs to buy only the grains (wheat, rice etc) and suger etc. He even grows Chilly, Ginger and Lemons and some other spices.

For long I have been dreaming about my own farm. You can just relax there without any tension, do enough physical activity to stay fit. I currently have a plan according to which I can retire by the time I reach 45 or max by 50 depending on the situation at that time and then go away from the city life and enjoy.

More about this dream plan sometimes later.

Finally got assigned to a project...

After almost a week of inactivity, today I was assigned to a project. I had 2 choices. Wait for a C++/Unix based project (which are very less) to come by or join existing projects on other technologies. The only other technology close to C++ is Java. So I am now joining a project on Java. It includes JSP/Servlets, XML/XSL, PostgreSQL database and Apache/Tomcat on unix server and some unix scripting. I am now gearing up to learn Java. Lets see how this interaction turns out to be. Will keep ya informed. :-)

I resigned from my earlier organization (L&T Infotech Ltd.) on 11th March and joined the new one (Capgemini Consulting India Pvt. Ltd.) on 21st March. After a long long time had a nice relaxed vacation at home. The last this big vacation I remember was at the time I got married. Since then I was not able to relax. Now don't you dare relate my marriage with my leisure time. :-)

So it was a nice time spent mostly reading and playing with my daughter. Did some housekeeping. Cleaned the dust off the books. Cleaned my drawers, which took more than half a day. Found many interesting things burried there, like the greetings I sent to my wife before we got married. Strolled down the memory lane with it.

Was not thinking about how the new company will be, what kind of project I would get assigned to. I think after you switch job once, the anxiety level is much less the subsequent times.

This is my second day at work. I have not been assigned to any project as of yet. There is a very good concept of "Buddies" in the company. Each new member is assigned a buddy from the existing employees. Now the buddy introduces the new one to the culture of the company and guides throuhgh all the situations. My buddy is a nice guy. Since I dont have a project assigned yet, I dont have a PC to work on. But my buddy allowed me to use one of the idle PCs from his projects to surf. So I am able to blog due to him. Thanx buddy!

Will keep blogging here as and when something interesting happens and/or when I get some time to blog. Till then see ya!

Well, After I created this blog in september 2003, This is my first post to it. :-)

Meanwhile I did use "wordpress" blog on intranet of L&T Infotech, where I am working currently.
Now that I have resigned from here, I think a blog is the best way to keep in touch with all the friends who care to know whats happening in my life.

So I will make it a point to blog at regular intervals.

Till then see ya guys.