Update

...Well, more like an excuse why there have been no updates...

Well, you can't really blame me; things have been kinda dull on the long trip front; what with the almost-weekly trips back home to Mumbai. The car mostly stays put in its parking slot. My windshield got shattered again: this time the front one, and incredibly, by an unknown miscreant. I created a big fuss with the welfare committee, and my printed outpourings became the toast of the apartment cocktail circuit (the wife, her good friend who is on the commitee, and the miscellaneous three others who happened to read it). However, the committee chairman, one Asthana (may his soul burn in hell and what the hell kinda name is that anyway) steadfastly refused to accept any responsibility for the incident, which took place in my absence and hence, predictably, without any concrete action on the part of the teeming masses employed by the apartment committee as gardeners, landscapers, pool attendants, watchmen and, anecdotal evidence suggests, dogwalkers. As a result, I couldn't bully anyone into shelling out for the damage this time around (refer previous post). Asthana, to his credit, is a much better guy to deal with than the vile Bhattacharya, but the son-of-a-what-not refused to be drawn into even offering me an alternative parking slot. I had to count on the sympathy of one of the other committee members to find one, which I now use, except that the lady who so kindly offered her own spot has not made it official, and I keep having to go back to my exposed parking slot time and again.
I am sorely missing Sonal. In addition to being a great wife, she's an incredible travel mate and our journeys in the Accent are much-missed.