Rama-Santhi

I recently had to replace my Vonage phone modem and ATT DSL modem as both died of a single lightening strike in our neighbor's yard (sure I will use a surge protector from now on). Called Vonage and got the modem for free (thanks Vonage) and had to buy the DSL modem from ATT - whopping $75 at a local ATT store for an otherwise $30 modem on the internet. The set up was easy. I first had to connect my Motorola 2210 to my computer, go to att.net/activate to start the activation process, which was smooth. The real problem started when I wanted to insert the Vonage modem in between the computer and the DSL modem. No set up is required on the Vonage box (even though the literature that comes with the Vonage box tells you to go to v-configure.com and do the basic set up, you dont have to when you are using a Motorola modem and did the previous "activate" step) and it connects seemlessly to the internet. The trouble is, getting your Vonage modem to work with this. I had to ...

(This information may not be relevant now as I see that both NewYork and Houston consulates are outsourcing the OCI (and other processings) to a third party... THANK GOD!!!!) As with any processing that is done by the Indian consulate in the USA, OCI card processing also is a blackbox with minimum feedback and unanswered questions by emails and phones. We recently applied for the OCI card and experienced frustration like many others who applied too. They stick relatively close to the times described on the consulate's web site but lack of feedback puts you in a tense spot. Here is a sequence of how our OCI processing went - this can be used as a guide for your situation. The processing times for various stages of this application vary greatly between different people's applications. Send your US Passports to the consulate at this point.................... As you can see, Printing of the documents took 22 days for us, whereas it was done in 4 days for my brother. Even if y...

We recently had a birthday party for our son and I was looking for estimates on how much food to order for the same on the internet but could not find many sources - especially with Indian food. So I am bloggifying my experiences with the food planning for the party. This would probably be more easier in numbers than letters: Number of invitees for the party: 65 adults and approximately 35 children (ranging from months old to 15-16 year olds). All "full tray"s are 8 Quarts, All "medium tray"s are about 6 Quarts. Dish Ordered/made Outcome Mirchi Bajji Full tray Finished Onion Pakodi Medium tray About 20% left Chapatis 125 count About 40 left Malai Kofta Full tray Very little left Chana Curry Medium tray About 10% left White rice 16 cups About 5 cups left Pulihora 10 cups About 1 cup left Dondakaya (Tindora) Curry Full tray About 20% left Bendakaya (Bhindi) Masala Full Tray About 30% left Sambar Full tray About 30% left Kobbari (coconut) Mamidi (mango) Pachchadi (chut...

Here is something that worked with our 15 month old. We tried various recipes for breakfast - but one thing that kids always want is "change". If you try to give them something without a break, they turn away and you can never force them to eat - that is the rule. But well, there are exceptions to rules - such as this. Whole grains is always good, both for you and your kid. We took a couple of whole grain cereals - Raisin Bran and Honey Bunches of Oats. Mix them in equal amounts (dont worry if you dont stock up on both, it will work even if you choose one of these - but usually, the taste of "honey" in the Bunches of Oats helps them adapt to this quickly). Remove raisins from the Raisin Bran and Almond pieces from the Honey Bunches if you think he can't chew on them. Crush the cereal with your fingers so that it turns into little pieces (not so much as to make a powder). Add Soy Milk (Natural Silk, for example, as shown, which is available everywhere, need not n...

We recently had to go through this whole exercise and were surprised to find out that there are no resources on the net explaining some of the confusing aspects. Here is the process (This assumes that your's is a "normal" case - you and your spouse is Indian-born, Indian Citizens, holding Indian Passports, living in USA on H-1 or Green Card and this Passport and PIO card is for your new born baby). Passport: We thought that this is a very straight forward process and mostly it is, except for the passport photos. The USPS web site indicates that most of the post offices have facilities to make your passport photograph, but when we went to our local post office, they told us that they no longer offer this service for infants!. They said that it is because the pictures they take for infants are not coming out well. We went to CVS Pharmacy and got ours. So, it is a good idea to inquire ahead of time whether a certain place offers this service. The travel.gov web site has wel...

Earl did last week and The Office is doing this week, coming back that is!. They are on a new season, bringing back cheer to Thursdays. Watched Earl yesterday and it was as hillarious as ever!. For a change, Joy started with a flat-belly (she always seems to carry a 45-week pregnancy). If Earl's brother Randy is on one end of the dumbo spectrum, the other end has - Dunder Mifflin's Michael from The Office. If you get NBC (in US), watch these if you are not already watching - sure worth your time.