Pictures

This is a picture of my sister and I when we were small, not sure what age we are here.  But we both look very young.

I bet you guys could never guess who this is.  This is a very famous Movie and TV star.  This is Thomas Jane.  He has acted in lots of movies and is the star of Hung, the HBO TV series.

His first real big break was acting in a Telugu movie, and here he is in India.  In this picture you see, he is getting his fortune told my a parrot in India.  I acted in this movie also with him and we hung out for almost 6 months together in India.  We had an awesome time.

Company Blog

I really enjoy writing in my company blog, and I am not sure if you guys have seen it.  My company blog is at:

vxltraining.blogspot.com

I am amazed by how may of my own employees read my company blog.

I am very open and honest in that blog also, and I think you may enjoy reading that blog also.

Traverse City - Details

I guess more details about the family trip to Traverse City is being expected.  We had a total of 13 people total come on the trip.  This included Ramakka and her 3 kids, Sunitha and her 2 kids, Shoba and Rekha, Anu and Niki and finally my wife and myself.

We had been thinking about this trip for awhile but there was no firm dates fixed till the day before.   We actually wanted to stay at Sleep Bear Sand Dunes as a base and then travel to different areas of North Michigan.  Thank goodness all the hotels were booked and we stayed in Traverse City instead.

Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes was fun for a day, but beyond that I would have been bored to tears.  How many times can you climb a sand dune, really?  I did make the calls and all the hotels were full or could not accommodate such a large group.

So then I Google Traverse City since I had heard so much about it and then booked the most expensive hotel I could find.  For some reason my mind equates price with quality, so I booked the most expensive hotel I could find.  Later only did I realize that there was an indoor water park and that is why the first day the price of the hotel room was $500 a night, since it included the price of the indoor water park.

Either way, Srekar had a great time, since he was in the right age bracket to enjoy the water park and all the slides.  I enjoyed it somewhat also, but the teenage girls I had with me, were bored in 2 hours of the place.

The drive took us 4.5 hours and we got to the hotel, Great Wolf Lodge, around 3PM.  Checked in and then told all the kids that I did not want to see them till 6PM, since I wanted them out of the rooms and enjoying the water park.  Otherwise my teenage girls would have been happy watching TV.  I got to the water park around 6PM and by this time the girls were bored completely.  I hung out for another hour and then came back to the room and slept.

Next day we went and got 4 Jet Skis and a larger boat that could accommodate 7 people and pull a water raft behind.  Together it was fun.  I really enjoyed the Jet Skis on the lake  it was simply terrific.  The larger boat was tedious and I think everyone wished we had spend more time on the jet skis.  Went to dinner at Red Mesa Grill and I really enjoyed the place.

Third day we went to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes, and that was nice.  I like Silver Lake Sand Dunes much better since you can take jeeps on to the sand dunes.  On Sleeping Bear, you can climb the sand dunes and that is about it.  It was fun in its own way.

Came back to Traverse City, and the gang was split for dinner at a Thai restaurant and Jimmy John's.  The Thai food was very good.

Drove back home to Novi MI, while the kids mostly slept the whole way back.

There is a great fast food place in Traverse City called Culver's and you should really try their Mini Ice Cream Mixers.  They are the absolute perfect size to enjoy soft custard mixed with different toppings.  I had their Vanilla mixed with Peanut Butter and Fudge and it was heavenly.  The kids mostly got theirs mixed with Cookie Dough and Marshmallow and they loved their also.

The 3 days flew by, and for the next trip I am planning a 7 day adventure and likely a smaller group so that it is easier to manage.  It should be awesome.

To any of my friends that read my blog, come to MI and I will take you to Traverse City, and I can guarantee you that you will love the place.  All expenses are on me, so come for a free vacation it would be my pleasure to host a vacation for any of my friends.

Bike

I gave my sisters daughter a Missoni Bike that I had.  She really liked it and it is kind of cute.  I am not even sure who Missoni was when I bought the bike, but I bought it anyway.  I had it put together and it used to sit in my sun room.  I had never ridden it, and there it sat as an art piece.   It was amazing how many great compliments I got on that bike in the sun room, everyone that saw it, loved it.

Here is a picture of it:

Rekha is now going to The Ohio State University and she wanted to use it on campus and I thought it was a great idea so I gave it to her.

But this caused me to think, if my ex-kids had bikes and I wanted to buy some for them.  I text'd the ex to ask if they had bikes already, no response.  Then I realized it, it was not who I was, or who I am now, but who she perceives me to be, and that is why there was no response.

I may have had good intentions, but the no response was a reminder that a mother did not want a stranger involved in her kids life.

So I took that message to heart.  I have removed every vestige of the ex and the kids from my phone and computer so far.  I am unsure if I should throw away all the old marriage pictures and all the other small nicknacks you collect in a life together.

I have so far, as a start, removed everything there is to do with the ex and all her family and friends from my phone and computer.  I will work on the all the other stuff I have in storage, like marriage pictures, love letters etc...  I will likely just throw all the rest of the stuff away also over the next 2 days.

I guess I was just a little dense to figure it out.  I want out of the life of everything and everyone having to do with the ex.  If I see you I will ignore you, if I hear from you I will not respond, and eventually all memory will fade of the people and events.

I have no regrets.

Traverse City

I am in Traverse City with the family and we are staying at Great Wolf Lodge.  Anyone with kids that are 13 or younger should stay at the Great Wolf Lodge when they get a chance (there are multiple locations).  There are a lot of activities for the kids here and besides the indoor water park there is something called Magic Quest and the kids have to go around with a wand activating stuff and doing things all over the hotel.  This will entertain the kids for days.

When you come to Traverse City make sure to give yourself at least 1 week time to enjoy everything.  There is so much to do, you cannot enjoy it all without at least 1 week.

In the one week here are the activities you have to do and a day by day of what you should do:

Day 1 -   Enjoy the water park in Great Wolf Lodge with the kids.  Make sure to buy the kids the magic wands and game on the third floor for Magic Quest.

Day 2 - On the main strip go to Holiday Inn and park in their parking lot.  Behind Holiday Inn they rest Jet Skis for $95 per hour.  Go and rent Jet Skis, and make to get the Yamaha's.  If you have smaller kids, rent the Seadoo Explorer, in which you can fit up to 4 people.

Day 3 - Go to Mackinac Island and Pictured Rocks - This is about 2 hours from Traverse City so start early in the day to get both of them done.  If you have girls, make sure to go to High Tea at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac.  Remember that you have to dress up for High Tea.

Day 4 - Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes - There is the scenic drive and on stop number 9 there is a lookout to Lake Michigan.  There you can go all the way down to the lake and it is a very steep hill, and then you have to climb back.  Do not do this unless you are in excellent shape.  It is very taxing.  Next will be the Dune Climb and this is much easier and almost everyone can do this.

Day 5 - Relax - I would say relax and walk the main street and go shopping and have a chill day at the hotel.

Day 6 - Ballooning - Here are the details:

Grand Traverse Balloons

225 Cross Country Trail

Traverse City, MI 49686

Phone: (231) 947-7433

Day 7 - Beach Day - Enjoy the fresh water lake and enjoy the beach or an island.

This would be my one week trip net time I come.  This time we were only here for 3 days and it was not enough time to do anything, but next trip this is my plan.  If you do not have kids, your trip will be very different.

The fresh water lake is amazing and is an excellent place just for beach activities.  I had a lot of fun in the fresh water.  There is such a big difference in the ocean and a fresh water lake. 

Switcheroo

I have a dog that acts like a cat.

I have a wife that works twice as hard I do.

I have a friend that is guy that acts like a girl.

I have a lot of contradictions in my life.

Let me explain the last one.  I have a friend that I started a business together with and he was without questions one of the hardest working persons I know.  He would work 18 hours a day with boundless energy.  But he had two major flaws.

1) He does not trust anyone
2) He thinks everything is a conspiracy

Let us get to the point and on why I feel he acts like a girl.  Like a girl he will not tell you if there is a problem.  Like a girl he will stop picking up phone calls or answering emails.  Like a girl he expects you to guess what is the problem and to fix it.  I could go on and on.

( He has fantastic good qualities also, but his bad qualities take over rather quickly, when he feels something has gone wrong)

I have the opposite problem in life.

I will usually trust everybody and this allows me to get cheated easily.
I will usually tell you to your face if I have a problem with you.

One day he simply stopped picking up my phone calls or answering my emails, and I asked him what was wrong, and he said, nothing and that he was sick, or the next time, he was busy or the next time, that his phone was having a problem.  You get the picture.

Finally after lots of coaxing, he did tell me what was wrong.  He also said just like a girl, I should have figured out that something was wrong and should have worked to correct it.  The day I heard that, I knew I was dealing with a girl mentality. 

I tried to give him an explanation as to what he felt was wrong.  Basically it was an issue with profit distribution.  He wanted to buy a house and a Mercedes in India, and because of cash flow issues, there were no distributions coming out of the company.  We were profitable, but all the cash was stuck in accounts receivable, since we were still a young business. 

I explained and explained, but finally in the end he wanted to sell his share of the company and I bought it back from him for $150,000.  I begged him to keep his shares and step back for a while and I would lend him $50,000 at zero percent interest.  But no, he insisted that someone buy his shares out and finally after lots of back and forth negotiations I paid him $150,000 over 4-5 months, it might have been 6 months.  He had some valid points for selling his shares and I agree with him on a few of his points, but I told him to trust me and everything will work itself out and he can make lots of money.  But he chose not to do so and he got paid his money.

He is crazy talented at what he does and I am sure he thought that we would fall apart after he left, but we have succeed and diversified in what we do, and tell you the truth I was very scared and worried after he left, but we did succeed.  The exact feeling I had when my friend left was the same feeling I got when my ex-wife left me.  I was so scared and wondered what the hell I was going to do, and now everything depended on me. When I paid him the $150,000, I had borrowed that entire $150,000 to pay him and we were barely making any money in the company on a cash flow basis, but we had the potential to make money with all the finished resources that he had on the bench.

Based on our current profit and growth he would currently be making about $30,000 a month.  I wish he had kept his shares, because I think after a year of sitting out he would have come back to us on his own and would have wanted to help us grow even more.  I am sure if he was with us we would be making even more money then we are now, that is how talented my friend is.  There is no question that without his help there is no way I could have started this business.

As far as his 2nd quality he constantly thinks that there are conspiracies afoot.  He still thinks that YSR was murdered and that the helicopter accident was not an accident at all.  He reminds me of a documentary I saw called Zeitgeist. 

Part I: The Greatest Story Ever Told

Part I questions religions as being god-given stories, arguing that the Christian religion specifically is mainly derived from other religions, astronomical assertions, astrological myths and traditions, which in turn were derived from or shared elements with other traditions. In furtherance of the Jesus myth hypothesis this part argues that the historical Jesus is a literary and astrological hybrid, nurtured politically. The work of Acharya S, author of The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold, was used extensively in Part I of the movie.

Part II: All the World's a Stage

Part II uses integral footage of several 9/11 conspiracy theory films and claims that the September 11 attacks were either orchestrated or allowed to happen by elements within the United States government in order to generate mass fear, initiate and justify the War on Terror, provide a pretext for the curtailment of civil liberties, and produce economic gain. These claims assert that the US government had advance knowledge of the attacks, that the military deliberately allowed the planes to reach their targets, and that World Trade Center buildings 1, 2, and 7 underwent a controlled demolition.

Part III: Don't Mind the Men Behind the Curtain

Part III argues that three wars of the United States during the twentieth century were waged purely for economic gain by what the film refers to as "international bankers". The film alleges that certain events were engineered as excuses to enter into war including the sinking of the RMS Lusitania, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

According to the film, Many US Wars were not to win but to sustain the conflict, as this forces the US government to borrow money from the bank, allegedly increasing the profits of the "international bankers". The film then goes on to claim that the Federal Income Tax is illegal.

Back to our story:

Like I said he is just like this movie.  You can maybe agree on the 1 or 2 points in his conspiracy theory, but then his opinions start getting more and more outlandish and that is when you know how his brain thinks.  He simply thinks that almost everything is some sort of crazy conspiracy.

But I would still consider him to be a friend but when he constantly keeps acting like a girl, I do not think I can associate with him anymore.

I do not have the inclination to play those girl type games with my guy friends also.

I am still contemplating removing his phone number from my contacts.  Let me sleep on it for a day before I make that decision.

Cute Picture - Ducks

We always get cute picture opportunities like this when you live in Michigan.  The cutest scene I ever saw was one of a mother duck and her 8 babies following her in a line and it was so amazing.  I wish I had taken a picture of that.  I always regret not having a picture of that.  These look to be all adults.  I wonder how they organize who follows in what order?

More Movies

My Name is Khan - One of the best movies of all time.  A must watch.  I was crying a lot near the end.  Simple amazing movie.  I would say it is one of the top 20 movies I have seen of all time.

I just saw:

3 Idiots - It was nice, but for being such a big hit movie, I expected so much more.  I guessed the ending way before the actual ending.   I am unsure why it was such a big hit movie.  It was nice and that is about all I can say about it.

Life and Prespective

There are a lot of things you will come across when taken in perspective and different view point will make you much happier.

When there are no parking spaces except for the handicapped spaces in a parking lot and you have to park very far, how do you take that?

There are so many people that would park in the handicapped space or be unhappy about having to park so far, but when I am in this situation my view is that I am extremely happy that I am healthy and do not have to park in the handicap space.  When you view it from my point of view, doesn't it make you happy?

You have a big bill at a restaurant and have to leave a tip.  There are so many people that are unhappy having to leave a 15% tip.  My view on this is, thank goodness that God has blessed us that we do not have to work as a waiter (There is nothing wrong with this job, except for being extremely hard), and we can afford to enjoy eating out.  I usually leave anywhere from 20-30% in tips, not because I am trying to impress anybody, but simply I can afford it and I know how hard a waiter or waitress works.

A small side note here on perspective: (This really happened)

I have to admit something here and I am not proud of it, but about 3 years ago when I was in Houston I had gone to an Indian Store to get some Samosas as an evening snack and I was driving the S55 (The big Mercedes) and the parking lot was very small and I was waiting for a parking spot, one opened up in front of me and I turned the car forwards away from the parking spot so that I could back my car in.  Meanwhile an older Indian quickly took his small car and squeezed into the spot.

I was pissed.  I park the car right where I was blocking the entire parking lot.  So you can imagine right.  Only 2 rows of cars that are parking and my big Mercedes blocking the entire lot so that no one can leave or come in.  Not sure why this incident pissed me off so much, but it did.  It was an older Indian man and I told him that this was my spot and he had better move his car out.  He said no, because if I wanted it, I should have taken it first.  I was yelling at him and instead of getting out of the car he rolled the window down.  I grabbed him by the throat and pulled him out of the car.  He was a smallish Indian man and I am not sure if I was strong back then or just the adrenaline rushing through me, but yes, I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him out of the car.

Being in an Indian shopping center all the Indians came out of all the shops and were watching this.  Another Indian approached me and said, "Yar, why get upset, I am leaving, come and take my spot."

I said no, that this was my spot and I only wanted this spot.

Meanwhile 3 police cars came with lights flashing, and the police came and asked both of what was going on, I told them my story how this guy had stolen my parking spot and how this was not right and truly embarrassed here, but I told them to check this guys papers since he was talking very poor English and I was sure he was an illegal.  (I told you I was pissed)  The cop just stared at me when I said this and I could tell he was upset when I said this.  (The cop was Mexican descent)

Meanwhile on the neck of the old an there was a small spot of blood.  I had not cut my nails and my nail had dug into his neck when I was pulling him out of the car and there was spots where my nails cut into his neck.  The police asked him if he wanted to press assault charges against me, since he had the injury and the other Indians were telling him to say no and finally after thinking about it, the old man said no.  The police left.

My car was still blocking everything, and I went into the store, the people in line moved away and let me go first and I bought my samosas and then got in my car, still parked in the middle of the parking lot and went back to work.

You have to remember that this was the time that B**** and I was engaged in a court battle and I can see how her lawyer would have loved for me to be booked on an assault charge.  I think in retrospect it would have changed the entire tone of the lawsuit.

Anyway I am not proud of myself, but I can see how people can get mad and sometimes do the most foolish things and so out of character of their normal self.

I bet you could never imagine that I could do something like that, right?

Now back to our perspective story.

I have this amazing garden and landscaping in my house.  I mean it is truly amazing, I heard it cost the former owner almost $100,000 putting in the initial landscaping.  Anyway it was overgrown with weeds and generally very unruly and I had gotten an estimate for cleaning it up and getting new mulch and the quote from Begonia Brothers was over $7000 just to clean it up and get new mulch.  I was shocked, for landscaping $7000, are they crazy.  But I get House Beautiful and Elle Decor and I forgot which magazine, but I was reading on perspective and how an 70-80 year old was talking about gardening and she was saying that she was happy God gave her another year and it was her duty to make the garden as beautiful as possible since she was given another year.  In a way that is correct, I pass by a few houses in my neighborhood and the gardens are soo beautiful, and I always to think what a waste of time, but I can guarantee you that if I am around for next year, my garden will be the most beautiful in the neighborhood.  So you can view the garden as an expense and a nuicence and you can view at as God giving you another year to view beauty and giving you a chance to participate.

Do you complain that you have to walk the dog twice a day.  My view has always been it is my pleasure to take my dog for a walk.  I enjoy it just as much as he does and what is sweeter that a boy and his dog out for a walk.  I am happy that  I am healthy enough to walk with my dog and it will always be my pleasure to take my boy out for a walk.  I know so many people that have dogs that do not take them for a walk and it is such a shame that they view this is a chore or some sort of work.

Whatever situation you face in life, take things in perspective and be happy for what you are able to do and what you have.  Look on life in a positive way and you live a much fuller life.

Nirmalamma - My Grandmother

My grandmother was Nirmalamma and she was a huge movie star in Telugu movie industry.  She acted in hundreds if not thousands of films.

She was married to GV Krishna Rao who is my mom's mother's brother.  My grandfather used to organize shows in different towns in Andhra and Nirmalamma was an actress in the troupe that used to preform.  In the old days before there were movies, this was the major form of entertainment.

My grandfather was married at that time, but he fell in love with Nirmalamma and they got married.  I am unsure about his first wife, no one ever talks about her.

GV Krishna Rao was famous in his own right since we has the production manager for all NTR movies.  I remember there was a story that the family always tells about me.  I went on set to VGP in Chennai and I was with my grandfather on set at an NTR movie.  NTR walks in and everybody is standing up and I just sat down.  NTR stops and asks someone in the booming NTR voice who I was and they told him that I was from USA and I was GV Krishna Rao grandson and then NTR said OK and kept going.

Those days I had no clue who NTR was nor did I know Telugu.  I actually met NTR after he watched Padamati Sandya Ragam.  He had watched the movie and really enjoyed it and called Tom and me to his house.  He was wearing a Saffron robe at that time and spoke to us about 30 minutes and he was brilliant.

What do I remember about my grandmother.  She was a very loving women and really took care of me when I stayed with her.  She used to a wonderful cook and in the evenings at her house on Bazulla Road in Chennai all the most famous actors used to stop by just to eat her cooking.  She made the best Crab Curry and I have eaten it lots of places, but no one came close to her.  Whenever I would come over she would go to the market and get fresh crabs and make it for me.

She loved to play cards and even when we went to sets she would carry a full setup so that she can play cards int he train to a set and at the set.

She was a brilliant actress.  She told me that she started off as a street drama actress and then went to radio and then finally to movies.  She used to tell me about the brilliant voices that they had in the radio business but never made it to the movies, because they did not look good enough.

She was a Gowda (caste wise) and apparently they are a very low caste in our village area and my grandmother used to treat her very bad.  She always talked about his after a few drinks.  Yes, she liked to drink.  She must have been a very fun girlfriend and wife and I know my grandfather loved her a lot.  I remember how well she took care of him.  She may have been the big star, but when she got home she changed into housewife mode and was a wonderful wife and mother.

Here are some pictures of my Grandmother: