Home renovation - Windows and seaters

14 December 2024

I had been planning this home renovation for a while. However, due to my busy work schedule, I couldn’t start it. One Sunday, on the spur of the moment, I began with window cleaning. We have nine windows in our home, and I managed to clean three of them so far. Simple tasks like this have always helped calm my mind.

The following weekend, I planned to refurbish our furniture. After watching some YouTube videos, I purchased the necessary tools and materials for the project. These included an uli (a scraper), turpentine, thinner, sealer, stain, sandpaper, waterpaper, paint, and cotton cloths. I started with a chair, and the result turned out well, boosting my confidence.

Here’s the process I followed:

1. Clean the wooden surface with an uli to remove any dirt or old paint.
2. Sand the surface with sandpaper, then smooth it with waterpaper.
3. Clean the surface with water or turpentine.
4. Apply a coat of sealer thinned with thinner.
5. For the second coat, mix a few drops of color into the sealer to match the wood’s shade.
6. Once the sealer dries, apply a clear coat for the final finish.

So far, I’ve completed a three-seater and two single-seaters. One more chair is yet to be done. Next on the list is to get some new matching cushions.

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4 January 2025

A couple of days ago, when I had some free time, I decided to finish this work. I found an upholstery shop near my home. It was a start-up, but the owner was experienced. He had previously worked for other firms and had recently started his own business. Since he didn’t have any raw materials in stock, I had the opportunity to purchase them myself and know more about the actual price and things.

I got the list of required items and bought them from a wholesale dealer. The raw materials for three single-seaters and one three-seater cost me ₹10,000. The upholsterer completed the work in two days and charged ₹2,000 for his labor.

Although I’ve got the cushions done, I still have one more chair to sand, seal, and coat. Additionally, I have a big table to work on. I’ve decided to sand them using a rented sander. I will update them once finished. Till then Bye...

Squid tawa fry and Kalanji fry

Saturday, 4th March 2023

This day we went for dinner at Cheenavala, Edappaly - a sea food restaurant. Though costly the food was delicious. Especially the squid tawa fry, mutton curry and kalanji fish roast. That made me thinking why we are paying high price to get our local cuisines. Why don't we learn and try this at home ? Local cuisines cooking skills are becoming obsolete. Added to my "try list" to prepare squid tawa fry and kalanji roast in Cheenavala restaurant style. 

Update: 19 March 2023

I tried this squid fry at home and we loved it. Searched a lot in youtube for the recipe and finally I got it. Here is the youtube video. Theenga kothu fry - exactly what I was looking for. 

Love and priorities

Giving more importance to one's own parents than the partner can lead to family issues. We tries to align our priorities' order with our order of love. Every family has their precious time of togetherness where the parents take care of their children, work for the family, go to movies together and play with them at the beach. But that time is limited. As the children grow older, they are destined to build their own family. And when they marry and have children, the priority should be for them. Each one of the family has to accept this and embrace the change. 

We are part of various families in our lifetime. Play and gently enjoy the role.

Photo by Patricia Prudente on Unsplash

An evening at Ulavypu.

Last sunday I went to a birthday party. It was at Cherthala. The celebrations has finished by 4 and I had some time to kill. I thought I'd hang around the place for a while. Google suggested me this place called Ulavaypu which is just 2km from my location. A description of what I saw.

A gentle breeze from the lake...
The coconut grooves next to the lake...
and the country roads in between...
children playing cricket in the empty paddy fields...
The nostalgic picture of Chachan...
youngsters celebrating onam with bottles and Marshall..

Do what you love...

Many runs after what is trending in the industry. The problem with that is trends will change frequently and we will become good at everything i.e nothing. The world needs all kind of experts, whether it is software tester, sweeper or trainer. So be good at what you do. In my twenties, I have this notion that English language is crucial and I spend time to improve my language skills. I am now good at speaking but I lost plenty of time which I could have used to improve my expertise in programming from good to great. 

Recently I read a blog post on LinkedIn that shows the dangers of running after AI. Many academicians and amateur engineers are running after the current trend of AI. The truth is that our ego is deceive us. AI and machine learning are difficult subjects to learn. So there is a false belief that those who knows these subjects are brilliant and possess higher IQ. 

Need motivation - look back | sometimes only you can help you

I am grateful for what I have. Blessed with a family, surrounded by beautiful people in my personal and professional circles, a job that can pay my bills and a home to sleep in ( and to accumulate all useless stuff 😁). But at times I feel lost and my motivational levels go down.

I followed many leadership gurus. Robin Sharma, Vishen Lekiani, David Goggins, Jordan Peterson and many others. Yes, their ideas helped me a lot. But the person who can motivate you the most is none other than you. When you need motivation just think about why you came so long to this point. You could have dropped it on the way. But you struggled and reached here. Yes, there were times when we were emotionally down, lazy, and professionally weak. But those times will also go away. As Steve Jobs once quoted. You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them by looking backwards. Follow your intuitions. Your brain or your intellect is limited. Don't rely much on it. Living using your brain will not take you so long. But your heart is aware of what you need, what is your purpose, your future, even your next life (if there is any) and everything. That is why we have intuitions. Life will be full of perplexing situations.

Photo by Cristofer Maximilian on Unsplash

Mahal Foods Biriyani hut - food spots

Today I visited a restaurant on my food spots list - Mahal Foods Biriyani Hut Kollam. I had chicken biriyani. It was an above-average biriyani. I will give a 3/5 for the biriyani ( and 4/5 for biriyani from Grand hotel, Aluva). It was not a crowded place as I expected. Hardly 10 people were there and only chicken biriyani was available. It is 4km away from the bypass road.