Part 1: Lessons from my composting experiments

As with anything else, internet is like the space. There are less active and productive satellites then there is that debris of defunct junked satellites.

Composting is one of those subjects where there are many schools of thoughts and actually many different ways to achieve composting.

We also have traveled a distance in a journey of composting and this is a summarized knowledge (at the point of time) which may help.

Things we want to compost:
1. Kitchen scraps (vegetarian)
    - Raw kitchen waste - Peels and other  waste as a result of cleaning of fruits and veggies.
    - Cooked / post consumed waste - What we throw away into sink and use trash disposal.
2. Lawn cuttings and garden waste produced by periodic cleaning  exercise
3. The power packed Fall leaves

Two key methods of composting:
1. Active composting
    Active composting is where we use any kind of worms to help us convert trash to treasure.

2. Passive composting
    Passive composting is where we pile things up and turn them periodically.

One - For Kitchen scraps, of all kinds - Vermicomposting is recommended and most productive.
Second -For Lawn cuttings and periodic garden waste - Pile based composting on the ground or
in a compost bin which can be easily turned - may be good idea.
Third - For Fall leaves - a separate pile or compost bin is recommended.

Now a key question everyone comes across - so you want us to have three composters ?
Simple answer Yes. Though, let me explain a bit more and ensure that it need not be a lot of work.

Stay tuned for part 2:
Part 2: Our experiments and learning from Active Composting

Uber Amazon!

It was February 14, 2025. My internet connected calendar woke me up early, reminding me that I had forgotten to order roses and diamond ring from the Tiffany and that I still have couple of hours if I made a decision now. I quickly get out of bed, brushed my teeth and reached for freshly brewed coffee (my internet connected toothbrush had informed my coffee machine that I was up!)

 As I was sipping coffee, my TV started presenting me with various options of Roses, (do I need to say it switched itself on because I picked-up the coffee mug ? :)) I selected one and asked to order. It went over to my second immediate to-do and asked me if I wanted to make an appointment with my personal adviser, Jennifer Lawrence, at the local Tiffany ? I said yes, and it continued to present what they have available in their inventory within my planned (internet connected) budget.

As I was finishing coffee, my TV (I have to figure out a cool name for this thing ...! :)) walking me through what was planned by my personal cloud based scheduler and that both of the items, Roses and the Ring, will be picked-up, gift-wrapped and delivered to my wife at her office at 10:00 AM.

It then informed me that I should write / sign a card, when I visit Tiffany,  Jenny will have my card ready, please hand it over to Jenny or if you want us to pick it up from your office, just let Jenny know to schedule a pick-up.

I said thank you, finished my coffee and went for my morning run.

As much as this sounds like a fiction, this is closer then 2025. Amazon has already succeeded in providing every consumer and (much of media) needs of a consumer at a flat fee for the service. Uber has the exact same ambition but with a bit different approach, methods and model. Combined these together with a rapidly growing product market of internet-of-things, it is just around the corner.

Two distinct approaches, two distinct era, two distinct models but a common goal of achieving monopoly over the access of the consumers. B2C is not an option anymore, it is a survival!

Reference:
Amazon same-day-shipping rates:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200105970

Amazon delivers on Sundays!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/11/11/amazon-sunday-delivery-usps/3479055/

Uber's ambitions:
http://allthingsd.com/20130627/ubers-travis-kalanick-on-numbers-competition-and-ambition-everything-but-funding/

Uber's aggression:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/29/lyft-be-more-than-a-number/

Knowing that is: I do not know

I grew up in India. India is a country of abundance and scarcity. People are in abundance but the employment is not so much. It is a country of survival of the fittest, fastest and most connected.

One is expected to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Emphasis is on getting it done, not on how and often not on how well, either. A common Indian thinks: one can not afford to say I do not know, If I have to get it done, how does it help me to say: I do not know ?

The phrase 'on the job training' was probably invented in India.

It was my first week at a client site in Los Angeles area. The project was in definition phase. I was in a project meeting where the project manager was compiling action items. She inquired from a team member: When can you get this started ? The answer came: 'Well, I do not know what is expected of me and I do not even know how to do this ?' I was bit shocked and thought - this guy is going to get fired, soon. I was not designed to say or witness  'I do not know'. 

Fast forward two decades, when I think about this - I notice how many times in a day I say 'I do not know'. I am realizing that, one's ability to express 'I do not know' is a very fundamental need to enable self-development. I have begun to think that a socioeconomic environment, which allows an individual to express one's inability, creates a solid foundation of freedom for an individual growth.

It is revealing to think: - you know a whole lot when you enable someone to say 'I do not know'.
You are saying I know me, I am self aware, when you say I do not know.

Reference:

India is a country of inflation. It is twice as populous than all 28 NATO countries combined. It produces more engineers then entire population of many small countries in the world.

India is a country of 'abundance and scarcity '.
India: Population: 1.2 Billion   # of Tax Payers: 32 Million.
US:    Population: 326 Million # of Tax Payers: 145 Million

Only 2.77% of India's population pay Income Tax, as reported by a minister in 2012.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/187531/only-277-percent-indias-population.html

A Country without Army!

A friend of mine toured Costa Rica for a week. The experience he shared of his visit to this beautiful country, intrigued me to know more about it and share.

Costa Rica is a small, quaint, tropical, southern country of the continent of the north America. The Republic of Costa Rica abolished Army in 1949 and said to have replaced with the army of teachers.

The literacy rate in Costa Rica is 94.9%,^[2] one of the highest in Latin America.

There are many things unique and refreshing about Costa Rica:

- Costa Rica constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949, becoming the first and one of the few sovereign nations without a standing army.^[7][8][9]

- Costa Rica has consistently been among the top-ranking Latin American countries for the Human Development Index (HDI), placing 62nd in the world as of 2012.<sup>[6]

-</sup>  Costa Rica is known for its progressive environmental policies, being the only country to meet all five criteria established to measure environmental sustainability.^[12]

- The NEF also ranked Costa Rica in 2009 as the greenest country in the world. In 2012, Costa Rica became the first country in the Americas to ban recreational hunting after the country’s legislature approved the popular measure by a wide margin.
It sounds to be a country worth visiting.

Reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Rica

Patriotism is a Doctrine

An immigrant periodically confronts the term Patriotism. 
When someone recently asked me such a question, I decided to learn more about it.
Patriotism is perceived as a measure for the love of the land.

Please allow me to start with a context of my belief:
I believe that anything, which can not be measured, can not be managed.
Anything which can not be managed, should not be used to evaluate anything.
When we do utilize them as evaluators, it only creates unresolvable conflicts.
This applies to perceived measures like - Religious and Patriotism.

Thus, if the intent is to seek a solution, one may not use these perceived, unmeasurable performance indicators, to evaluate a problem or quality of a solution.

Based on this understanding, my current conclusion is, that "Patriotism is a doctrine to control masses and nothing beyond that". I can sure go into a longer version of why, by sharing my experiences of last two decades starting with my first migration from Anand to Mumbai (within India), but not today. (Phew! :))

Historically there is one common behavior which all of 7 billion homo sapiens have demonstrated, to varying degrees, is "Migration".  Humans seek for lands which tend to their needs better. That land can be within recent definition of a country or not.

Please refer to this wiki for the history of the word: Patriotism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriotism

There is a tonne of material out there to understand the origins and utility of the term Patriotism.

It is important to note that Patriotism is a fairly new term coined only in late 18th century. Coincidentally this is the same time frame when the world started seeking "Democracy" as a model of Governance more extensively. Starting with US in 1776. I have no specific data but I would want to believe that there has been a significant part of the earth, which became democratic, since 18th century.

It may be a coincidence, but my cynical mind derives that this has to do with a NEED of something other then religion (which reached limited masses, comparatively) which would help control a larger set of masses, beyond the boundary of a religion.

A final and a very prominent clue is - why are people within a nation, who call emigrants unpatriotic, (only because they do not live there) but continuously do things which damages their own motherland ? My take, because they really do not believe in patriotism nor understand it but just use it because Patriotism can not be measured. Patriotism in this specific case is confused with the term residents.

Having said all that - you may notice that most immigrants, especially who came to US in last decade or two, are always involved in varying degree of volunteering within US and they contribute to their "motherland" significantly (whatever the reasons or motivations may be) without getting into any claims or debate about it. This is the reason why India, for example measures its economic growth by FII - Foreign Institutional Investments - keyword is Foreign.

Point is if one has to be appraised for their love for the land (mother or father! :)) they should be appraised by their commitment to "Giving back", irrespective of where they are giving it back. Simply because  "Giving Back" is measurable and actionable, Patriotism is not.

Side Note:
I wonder: why do Politicians love their jobs and never want to resign ?
Because this is one job where the employer (citizens) has no clue what or how to question the employee and in most cases either loves their employee blindly OR gives up on him/her because they belong to a Union! :)

The other Indian

I had to replace the coolant reservoir tank for my car. Because the part (tank) was only available from a dealer, I went to my local dealer to prepay for the part. The gentlemen at the desk asked for my name. I handed over my credit car because I find it the easiest to convey the correct spellings of my name!

He pronounced my last name so perfectly, I exclaimed: how did you say it so well ? He pointed to his business card (visiting card in India) and said: can you say, my name ? His last name is: Yackytooahnipah (pronounced: Yaa Kee too naa pah) I attempted it fairly successfully.  (at least that is what Kelly said, not sure if he was being polite! ) He declared, "I am 100% Comanche".

I ordered the part, paid for it and said good bye, see you tomorrow and parted.

The next day, I went to pick up the part. Kelly was there, he quickly procured my part and handed me over. I paused and before I say good bye, I said, "Kelly: don't you find it funny that I am that Indian who he (Columbus) was searching for and you are the one who he found ?" .. he laughed out loud. We said good bye and parted.

I found this exchange quite enriching and humbling.

God is what happens when humanity is connected.

About Roses

Our local - Santa Ana Heritage museum organized a Rose Pruning Workshop. The speaker was Annie Hall, a local expert landscape designer and rose expert. This entry is my attempt to share the amazing things I learned.

Selection and Packaging: 

Bare root roses: 
During January to March roses are largely available in the form of bare root. (They will look like this when opened). Soil / material used in this type of packaging would generally have least nutrient soil. It is anticipated that these roses will be planted before spring.

When one buys this packaging, it is recommended that all the soil / material used should be discarded into compost bins or green waste bins.

Select those bare root roses which do not have a lot of growth, preferably no growth. Idea is to allow them to grow once they are able to access rich nutrients of its planted environment and really grow.

They also comes in three grades - 1, 1.5 and 2.
Grade # 1 are the best from its survivability perceptive. They are the healthiest.

When ready to plant, remove the roots couple of hours in advance and soak them in water. Discard all the material as advised.

Canned roses:
For rest of the year roses are available in canned / planted form. These roses are planted with proper nutrients and are cared for by respective nurseries.

Planting:

Roses need 6 hours of full Sun, so find a location accordingly.
Location should also be such that there is a good flow of air, though not very windy.
Rose should be planted such that the last growth is exposed.

Plant them in a rich soil and water them thoroughly.
After the soil settles, make sure it is planted at the correct depth.

Caring for Roses:

Watering:
Water roses early AM, they need deep watering but less frequent watering.
Watering them once a week and adjusting it according to weather is advisable.
Ensure there are no showering sprinklers around roses. Water on their leaves attract disease and insects. Water on leaves also prevent them to interact with Sun and hinders their growth.
With that in mind - replace sprinkler heads (manifold) with drip irrigation manifolds.

Hose them down couple of times during summer on a sunny day. This will remove harmful insects and mildew. It will also remove layers of dusting and help them with required photo synthesis.

Fertilizing:

Fertilize lightly when planting or pruning.
Use organic fertilizer to allow the good bacteria to survive and contribute.


Trimming:

Trim roses periodically for:
- Dead heading - dried roses. trim stems till only 5 and more leaf growth remains.
- Trim leafs with powder mildew, black spots and rust.
- Check for any pests such as aphids and rose slugs (not the slugs we know as slugs).

Pruning:

Prune heavily once an year preferably during late January to early February.
Established roses should be pruned to half of its full grown height.
Remove old much around the roots and replace it with new richer organic mulch.
Collect all pruned material - leafs, stems and much into a container at once and discard it.
This way if there are any insects, diseases in them they will not impact any other plants.
Prune all stems thinner than a pencil.
Prune such that the new growth will be in the direction which you intend it to grow.
Prune all the crisscrossing growth to ensure rose plant with get enough air flow.
At the end of the pruning it would look like an empty, open vase.

My first traffic ticket

I have written a lot about various incidents and experiences we have had during our most adult living in the USA. I have also written about two key attitudes of this country which outweighs everything which is good about India and makes people stay back: civility and fairness.

We were visiting the Endeavour, the Space Shuttle which went to the International Space station 25 times, delivered the payload and astronauts and brought them back to the earth safely.
 

As US Government retired the Space Shuttle program, the four of them are now in four museums across the country. We, the angelinos (people from Metro Los Angeles)  got Endeavour

The sight of this 'thing' which has been to space many times, can not be described.
 

Anyway it is not about Endeavour today, but about the parking ticket I got while I had parked in their PAID parking lot. I got a ticket for not having the registration displayed on my license plate. ($50).

The ticket is incorrect because I have a valid registration, it is just that I had forgotten to put the sticker on. (We in CA get one every year when we pay registration fees).
 

Couple of days later I called them and explained, so they advised I should go to nearest Police Station and get their certification / endorsement on the ticket.

 So we went last Saturday to HBPD, when the traffic section remains closed. Though, the officer on duty saw the ticket and said "You should contest this ticket" because it is incorrectly cited. (Can you believe this ?)
 

I have known of the pain of the process of contesting so I just wanted their endorsement and pay $10 administration fee and be done with it.

I went back to HBPD (Huntington Beach Police Dept) yesterday. The officer, a senior lady, heard my case and endorsed it in no time. She said, I do not even need to see your vehicle (I did presented her my valid registration), I believe you! "WHAT" ? Anyway after endorsing she read the ticket carefully and advised me to call them and "Not to pay $50 but only $10".

The Police caring for the pocket of their residents ? WOW .. that is a new concept! (Notice the word residents, US law protects anyone who is physically present in the USA irrespective of their legal status or race or religion)

I wanted to share this experience and help you (non-US readers) understand why US is called "Developed" country. It is not about roads, cars, malls and McDonalds but it is about the "Individual human development and their strong beliefs in liberty and Justice".

USA was gifted Statue of Liberty because they believed in it and demonstrated it.

 
खुद ही को कर बुलंद इतना, कि हर तक़दीर से पहेले |

खुदा अपने बन्दे से पुछे कि बोल, तेरी रझा क्या है | |

Please share, when did 'you' feel proud about your Police Officer ? ...........