6 hrs

Hmm .. Finally she's coming. In 6 hours to be precise.

It's been a considerably long month. Newlyweds staying away for a month isn't good for a lot of things ;) ... The arid landscape and prickly cacti didn't help. But finally the wait seems to be over.

The moment I landed in Phx 4 weeks ago, I had this impression of being a bachelor again, in the wild and all on my own. It sounded and felt adventurous to once again be venturing out without any responsibilities and all the confidence of a teen. The feeling lasted for some time. And then it began to wane. On the work front, it was all good and I had begun to like it. Even enjoy it if I might say so. But I had started missing her. It started with sleepless nights initially, and soon took the form of a flight ticket back to her one weekend. Three days flew by unnoticed, and I was on my way back to the desert. But this time, I knew that she would be with me shortly. Having set up a new house and car and all the basic stuff that we would need, I looked forward to meeting her. I killed time working and working out. I watched late night Thai movies trying to keep my mind occupied with anything other than the thought of her not being around. My! It wasn't a good time. But that seems to be a thing of the past now. 6 hrs - nopes, less than that - and she'll be here, with me, and I guess I'll no longer notice the thorns on the cacti but gaze agape at their magnificent height before a red-riot sunset!

Safety

This country is paranoid to the core, and growing by the minute. It's all about safety. It's all about security. It's always value-for-life. Anything that'll put your life in danger, I, the government, will take you away from it. I'll protect you. I'll put straps and cushions and airbags - front, side, overhead, passenger, up your ass - into your SUV. Why? To save you from having your brains turn into sushi and bowels into spaghetti in case you turtle off a highway cruising at a hundred! But what do these suckers do? They drive to 6 flags round the corner and pay a stash of bills to just be thrown from a 10 storey roller coaster and they call it thrill! I mean, I fail to comprehend! Where's the safety talk gone? People lllike adventure! People know they'll die! People know that if you start strapping NASCAR with a zillion safety features, it'll cease to be NASCAR and become TRAFFIC!

Grow up guys ..