Guru's blog

 River Navigation tales from Goa On the 10th of February 2025, I went on a small tour of two islands off the banks of Mandovi river. Starting off at Panaji, I travelled by car to Old Goa and reached the Ferry point behind 'Se Cathedral'. There was a waiting ferry and space for my car as well. So I drove into the ferry and got out of my car. Uniquely there is zero fare for individuals crossing to the island and back.  However, I knew cars and two wheelers had to pay a certain fare.  I had only Rs.500 denomination notes in my wallet, so I searched my glove compartment and found a Rs.100 note.  That was better, since I was expecting the fare to be not more than 100.  To my surprise when the ticket collector came to me he requested for change.  What is the fare I asked. Rs.8 he said.  That came as a surprise to me.  Most places fares have increased by multiple times and here was a ferry crossing with my car and all I had to pay was Rs.8.  I found...

This blog post from had a picture of the Alaskan way viaduct which is no longer available at that link. I thought I should update this issue with a new post since that viaduct has been removed. Here is the link to a video which shows how it was removed to make way for a more livable city.

My experiences with a Top Load Washing machine I have a Haier washing machine. It is a top load; Model number: HW M60-10. It is more than 10 years old and has been working fine.  It was serviced once about 6 to 8 months back wherein the main PC board was replaced. Within a month of replacing the board it started giving error E6 many times. Sometimes I would just adjust the door and it would stop, sometimes a small tap and sometimes it would stop with a juggle of the drum. It was strange and seemed random.  The error is supposed to be related to some sensor. Now the main water level sensor is located on the motherboard which is fitted on the top of the washing machine.  This was automatically replaced with the board.  So it was brand new. On examining I found that there is a plastic tube that connects that sensor on the main board and runs inside the outer drum of the washing machine.  I have wondered how this sensor functions.  Maybe some kind of echo based...

And also today morning a monkey came calling at our neighbour's place.  And ate all the ripe guavas.

Today morning our cat decided that it too, should study chemistry. And then like most of us fell asleep on the book

Making 'The Science Of Good Cooking' Look Easy : The Salt : NPR