MS and its .pub files

The other day Joy got a .pub file from one of his friends, Ja (from Stony Brook). Joy had done a lot of photography at SB and Ja is writing a small article about him. So she wanted him to review what she had written. But Joy couldn't open the .pub file since there is no free software for this. I searched the internet for some site which can convert .pub to some other format, say .pdf. I came across pdfonline but here file size was restricted to 2mb only! After a little bit of more search I stumbled upon zamzar which allows upto 100mb files... Well, I uploaded the .pub file and after some time a link containing the converted .pdf file was sent to my mailbox. The job was done that easily...

Well, while I was waiting for the converted file to be delivered, I found out that I actually had the 'Microsoft Publisher' to open that .pub file! Uddhav had installed it last year, and I had never used it before and hence didn't know of its existence in my comp :)

Anyway, one can never depend on MS... Long live the internet :)

Driving lessons...

Have started taking driving lessons this week. The first class on Tuesday was as it should have been for someone who has never tried it before! It took me some time to grasp the small intricacies of brake, gas and steering wheel... and I could barely follow the instructions of the instructor. I was really scared to drive it on the road and made several mistakes and the accidents were averted with the instructor's extra brake :) He kept saying 'you just hit the parked car' or 'you most probably killed that pedestrian' (I was learning in a low-traffic area, thankfully)... In the second class yesterday, I improved a little bit. Learned to take right turn and even that needs more practice of handling the steering wheel. Next class, its the left turn practice... hope to be confident enough to drive without mistake within 5 lessons...

Lake Tahoe...

Like last to last weekend, this weekend also we had a nice short bike trip. This time the destination was Lake Tahoe (around 220 mi). Our aptmate Piyush took his parents to Tahoe on Thursday night and they rented a nice furnished apartment. Friday night Uddhav (another aptmate) and Sarvesh joined them, while we rode down on Saturday morning. We started at 5.30 in the morning and reached Tahoe around 11am with a few stops. Had a fun time at the air-show being held at Tahoe airport. After that had a nice lunch at an Indian restaurant and then headed to beaches for water sports. We were seven of us and there was no boat available for seven in the first beach we went. The next one, Zephyr cove, had power boats and we rented one. Joy was initially scared to go for the ride but eventually enjoyed it. We had a great time riding the boat and we all tried riding it. It was already late by the time we returned to the shore and didn't have time for other sports like parasailing and water-skiing! Next time...

Back in the rented apartment, we enjoyed some nice tea and the lovely sunset. Had a fun time jumping and taking pics :) After a hearty Thai dinner, Uddhav and Sarvesh headed back for home while for the rest us it was time for 'Om Shanti Om'!!! It was already quite late by the time we hit the bed. Joy wanted to start quite early in the morning and I simply refused to get up early :) And it was 10.30 in the morning next day when we started back for home, while Piyush and his parents headed for Yosemite. They arrived at 10 that night.

All and all, it was a nice and relaxing trip for me. As for Joy, he enjoyed the Tahoe water and the boat ride, but didn't enjoy the ride as much as he had wanted. So ultimately he decided to sell off his bike and move on to the ultimate two-up tourer, the Honda Goldwing! Lets see whats there is the future...

Pics are at my flickr gallery.