My Birthday!

Wow!!! Thanks to Facebook, e-mail and sms; I got more than 80 birthday wishes today - more than I ever got when people used to send you birthday cards or call you up... Half of the wishes pointed out that I am reaching 40 this year. Yup, a major milestone in life indeed. The way I see it; yes, I'm 40 - and I am proud of it!

I also realized how many friends I have. I mean, real friends (not the 1,300+ friends I collected from playing games on Facebook during one of my lonely assignments at the corner of the world a few years back) who know of your existence, who actually thought about you and who genuinely want to wish the best for you on your birthday. I think you all do, right? And I am deeply honoured and thankful for that.

So, been there, done that, turned 40 and now life continues. It ain't so bad. In fact it was quite good. The fact that I still am reasonably healthy (yeah, a bit of back pain problem but never stop me from riding my bike), still plenty of hair on my head (yeah, not as much as they used to be, but still some), not so grumpy yet (although, admittedly, having less tolerance towards inefficiencies, rudeness, ignorance and everything else to be annoyed about) and having a positive view towards life. Yup, still a long way to go (hopefully) and many more things to do.

The best part of a birthday; here's the birthday cards (yup, they still come in other forms than sms!) from my lovely wife and kids and the special carrot cake with the super special butter and yogurt topping that my wife made just for me! Hmmm... what more can a man ask for...

.... and oh, by the way, the even better part.... the birthday present!!!!

My dream came through (not to mention the dozens of hints I have been dropping around for the last few months - and thanks for the vote in my previous blog post, guys!).

Here it is just the way I imagine it... Now I just need a matching helmet...!









Thanks to all of you for following the blog and for the support and encouragement for me to make the trip. You're the strength I need...

Ride on...!!!