Ever had one of those times when everything seems to come crashing on your head? Well last weekend was like that for me. It was hectic, hellish and whole lotta fun.

We learned a few lessons too, but more on that, later. After all, I need to have a cliffhanger to keep you lot coming back for more.

Day 0 - Friday

The ICTA sends Mettavihari an email asking him if The Linux Center would be interested in taking part in an "e-carnival" (ever notice that its all e-this and e-that?? Or at least it used to be. Thanks to Steve Jobs, i is the new e) on Sunday. This news hits us at 0900. I find that my phone has been outgoing barred a few minutes later. Shit!!

Metta and I have a long conversation about the pros and cons of doing this event, but eventually decide that it should be done. Time to rally the troops. I first thought of the two most jobless guys I know. Arunan and Dassa. Unfortunately Arunan had to take his mother for her annual checkup, and Dassa is in negotiations for his impending doom.. I mean marriage. Shitshit!!!

The clock is ticking and I still don't have anyone to go with. Talked my parents into letting me borrow the van and then talked me dear old dad into letting us borrow his official residence in Galle. After much negotiations, both were arranged. Even talked them into paying for the servicing of the van

Went to Colombo and picked up some cash, got my face trimmed and my cellphone paid. NOW we're cooking with gas (and not just abdominal). Started making phone calls and finally got a pretty insane crew together. Mifan, Janaka and Mahesh from the Sahana Lab. And showing dedication to Linux that went above and beyond the call of duty, Kunchana bused it down from Ampara to Matara to join us.

That night I got a call from Lahiru to come play pool. Went to Hotshots to find La, Farhard, Rishi, and Easy Boy (Easwaran from the band Mutt, I mean Mute) drinking coffee and playing pool. While we were there Mihirinie decided to join us too. And since it was 2200 and the sun was officially below the yardarm, we went on a crawl from CH&FC to Sopranos. There was much consumption of alcoholic libations at Sopranos, and many acts of karaoke were committed. The night ended with dinner at Pilawoos and a drive to the Center at 0430

Day 1 - Saturday

Got the van serviced and readied. Then I decide to take three of the FOSS pups home and deliver them to prospective owners. And as usual we have a hitch, in the form of a Creative Audigy that doesn't work on the kernel and ALSA module on Kasumi (my gaming machine, named after the three sisters in Ranma 1/2). Try everything I can, but end up loading it in anyway and hoping I can fix it on location. Head out of TLC at 1430, with Janaka, who cuts a class to come with us (and he's the teacher) and pick up Mifan on the way home.

Head out from home in the company of my dad's driver, who is to show us the way to the Official Residence. High point of the day was our first beach stop of the trip. Somewhere near Beruwala we stop for a quick "rAlla pAAgiima" because hey, you can NOT go down south and not hit a beach.

We hit Galle about 1900, and go looking for the OR, it is pretty much surrounded by faux Food Citys (some one tell Old Man Page about it). Its a nice house, and we say hi, show our faces, get introed to the caretaker and head back to Galle city to pick up Kuncha, who has finally arrived. A bonus for me was being able to finally deliver the white chocolate I had in the freezer to Tina. The guys were somewhat miffed that only Yours Truly got a kiss.

Everyone kept telling us that it takes 4 hours to get to Ambalantota, so after a pretty decent dinner, we all hit the sack. Alarms were set for 0230, and sleep - at least for me - was not slow in coming

D-Day - Sunday

Whoever thinks that setting the clocks back to the original time is a good idea should stay up and take a look at the sunrise. It was bright enough to drive without headlights by 0530. The hell with this time change bullshit. With that off my chest.. on with the show

Wake up at 0300, ready by 0345, on the road by 0400. Called up Mahesh and told him to be on the road by 0415, which would be about the time we would reach him. He wasn't there, so we had to drive back 5km to find the fucker. He is now the Late Mahesh.

The timing was right, the traffic was good, and we hit Ambalantota by 0630. Spent the next two hours setting up the banners and the machines. We had a LOT of banners up and it all looked very FOSSy

It was a slow start. We pretty much decided that if nothing happened soon, we were gonna pack up and leave. Maybe get some beach time. Especially since Janaka seemed obsessed with the idea of a nude beach. Then came the deluge. A whole bunch of kids came in and got uber interestid in the Linux boxen. We had Kasumi, the distro burner and a server box running, as well as our lappers. Had music from the 5.1 system (loud enough that the neighbours were complaining) and things were just great. A lot of the older kids were interested when we told them about the employment opportunities in Linux. A lot of them seem to want to leave the place and I really don't blame them.

Amidst many hot and sweatynesses, we got people hooked on Linux. The teachers in the school where the exhibition was held were very interested, and they even brought us bananas and biscuits and even lunch packets. I think Mifan and the rest were rather disappointed by the lack of good looking females, but there were quite a few. In quantity if not quality.

Things were so good in our area that they had to keep chasing the kids to other areas. But they kept coming back. Things calmed down enough in the late afternoon to allow Mifan and Janaka to go to the Nanasala and install Ubuntu and Kubuntu to dual boot the machines there. Meanwhile we were packing up the stuff and preparing for the long drive to Galle. After the heat and the early rising and the general exhaustion, it was going to be a difficult run. So we plan to leave early. And the best laid plans of mice and men end up looking like a dog's breakfast.

Things are not going well at the Nanasala. One of the CDs doesn't work, and minor screwups are happening all the time. Ultimately we DID get them all installed. And Kunchana had a great time cybersexing with himself. We left the Nanasala at 1900, turned the van towards Colombo and floored it.

There are "Matara Bath Kade"s all over Colombo. Which may explain why there is no place to eat in Matara. Ended up having dinner at the Solis, and it was quite good. Tasty, and cheap. We were there until about 2200, and then decided to hit Polhena beach. The place itself was hit rather hard by the tsunami, but it still is a great place to be. I have a great many memories of my time there. While 2200 may not be a good time for most people to hit the beach, when there are 5 of you and you are exhausted and elated by a job well done, you feel that nothing can stop you. Evidently there is one thing that can. Chasing each other around the beach trying to trow pwople in the water, we learned that time really IS a harsh master. It has taken from us the strength and fitness of our youth. Eris help us but we are SOO unfit

So on to Galle, no one lasted more than 15 minutes of getting to the house. Soon there was much snoring happening,

Ever had one of those times when everything seems to come crashing on your head? Well last weekend was like that for me. It was hectic, hellish and whole lotta fun.

We learned a few lessons too, but more on that, later. After all, I need to have a cliffhanger to keep you lot coming back for more.

Day 0 - Friday

The ICTA sends Mettavihari an email asking him if The Linux Center would be interested in taking part in an "e-carnival" (ever notice that its all e-this and e-that?? Or at least it used to be. Thanks to Steve Jobs, i is the new e) on Sunday. This news hits us at 0900. I find that my phone has been outgoing barred a few minutes later. Shit!!

Metta and I have a long conversation about the pros and cons of doing this event, but eventually decide that it should be done. Time to rally the troops. I first thought of the two most jobless guys I know. Arunan and Dassa. Unfortunately Arunan had to take his mother for her annual checkup, and Dassa is in negotiations for his impending doom.. I mean marriage. Shitshit!!!

The clock is ticking and I still don't have anyone to go with. Talked my parents into letting me borrow the van and then talked me dear old dad into letting us borrow his official residence in Galle. After much negotiations, both were arranged. Even talked them into paying for the servicing of the van

Went to Colombo and picked up some cash, got my face trimmed and my cellphone paid. NOW we're cooking with gas (and not just abdominal). Started making phone calls and finally got a pretty insane crew together. Mifan, Janaka and Mahesh from the Sahana Lab. And showing dedication to Linux that went above and beyond the call of duty, Kunchana bused it down from Ampara to Matara to join us.

That night I got a call from Lahiru to come play pool. Went to Hotshots to find La, Farhard, Rishi, and Easy Boy (Easwaran from the band Mutt, I mean Mute) drinking coffee and playing pool. While we were there Mihirinie decided to join us too. And since it was 2200 and the sun was officially below the yardarm, we went on a crawl from CH&FC to Sopranos. There was much consumption of alcoholic libations at Sopranos, and many acts of karaoke were committed. The night ended with dinner at Pilawoos and a drive to the Center at 0430

Day 1 - Saturday

Got the van serviced and readied. Then I decide to take three of the FOSS pups home and deliver them to prospective owners. And as usual we have a hitch, in the form of a Creative Audigy that doesn't work on the kernel and ALSA module on Kasumi (my gaming machine, named after the three sisters in Ranma 1/2). Try everything I can, but end up loading it in anyway and hoping I can fix it on location. Head out of TLC at 1430, with Janaka, who cuts a class to come with us (and he's the teacher) and pick up Mifan on the way home.

Head out from home in the company of my dad's driver, who is to show us the way to the Official Residence. High point of the day was our first beach stop of the trip. Somewhere near Beruwala we stop for a quick "rAlla pAAgiima" because hey, you can NOT go down south and not hit a beach.

We hit Galle about 1900, and go looking for the OR, it is pretty much surrounded by faux Food Citys (some one tell Old Man Page about it). Its a nice house, and we say hi, show our faces, get introed to the caretaker and head back to Galle city to pick up Kuncha, who has finally arrived. A bonus for me was being able to finally deliver the white chocolate I had in the freezer to Tina. The guys were somewhat miffed that only Yours Truly got a kiss.

Everyone kept telling us that it takes 4 hours to get to Ambalantota, so after a pretty decent dinner, we all hit the sack. Alarms were set for 0230, and sleep - at least for me - was not slow in coming

D-Day - Sunday

Whoever thinks that setting the clocks back to the original time is a good idea should stay up and take a look at the sunrise. It was bright enough to drive without headlights by 0530. The hell with this time change bullshit. With that off my chest.. on with the show

Wake up at 0300, ready by 0345, on the road by 0400. Called up Mahesh and told him to be on the road by 0415, which would be about the time we would reach him. He wasn't there, so we had to drive back 5km to find the fucker. He is now the Late Mahesh.

The timing was right, the traffic was good, and we hit Ambalantota by 0630. Spent the next two hours setting up the banners and the machines. We had a LOT of banners up and it all looked very FOSSy

It was a slow start. We pretty much decided that if nothing happened soon, we were gonna pack up and leave. Maybe get some beach time. Especially since Janaka seemed obsessed with the idea of a nude beach. Then came the deluge. A whole bunch of kids came in and got uber interestid in the Linux boxen. We had Kasumi, the distro burner and a server box running, as well as our lappers. Had music from the 5.1 system (loud enough that the neighbours were complaining) and things were just great. A lot of the older kids were interested when we told them about the employment opportunities in Linux. A lot of them seem to want to leave the place and I really don't blame them.

Amidst many hot and sweatynesses, we got people hooked on Linux. The teachers in the school where the exhibition was held were very interested, and they even brought us bananas and biscuits and even lunch packets. I think Mifan and the rest were rather disappointed by the lack of good looking females, but there were quite a few. In quantity if not quality.

Things were so good in our area that they had to keep chasing the kids to other areas. But they kept coming back. Things calmed down enough in the late afternoon to allow Mifan and Janaka to go to the Nanasala and install Ubuntu and Kubuntu to dual boot the machines there. Meanwhile we were packing up the stuff and preparing for the long drive to Galle. After the heat and the early rising and the general exhaustion, it was going to be a difficult run. So we plan to leave early. And the best laid plans of mice and men end up looking like a dog's breakfast.

Things are not going well at the Nanasala. One of the CDs doesn't work, and minor screwups are happening all the time. Ultimately we DID get them all installed. And Kunchana had a great time cybersexing with himself. We left the Nanasala at 1900, turned the van towards Colombo and floored it.

There are "Matara Bath Kade"s all over Colombo. Which may explain why there is no place to eat in Matara. Ended up having dinner at the Solis, and it was quite good. Tasty, and cheap. We were there until about 2200, and then decided to hit Polhena beach. The place itself was hit rather hard by the tsunami, but it still is a great place to be. I have a great many memories of my time there. While 2200 may not be a good time for most people to hit the beach, when there are 5 of you and you are exhausted and elated by a job well done, you feel that nothing can stop you. Evidently there is one thing that can. Chasing each other around the beach trying to trow pwople in the water, we learned that time really IS a harsh master. It has taken from us the strength and fitness of our youth. Eris help us but we are SOO unfit

So on to Galle, no one lasted more than 15 minutes of getting to the house. Soon there was much snoring happening, and I elected to stay awake for a while and have myself a beer. Beer goooddd!!

Day 3 - Monday

What would a trip to Galle be without a run to Unawatuna Beach? And a run was made. Althought we orginally planned to be there by 0800 for an early run home, none of us even woke up until 0900. Sunday definitely took a toll, and we had to pay it.

Drove down to Unawatuna, and spent the next 2 hours floating in the ocean, throwing rocks at each other and swearing. It turns out one of us has a nipple ring. Guess who.

Nothing much to say about Monday, except that it was a lot of fun. Unawatuna, a drive around Galle Fort, a long drive home. It was a great ending.

and I elected to stay awake for a while and have myself a beer. Beer goooddd!!

Day 3 - Monday

What would a trip to Galle be without a run to Unawatuna Beach? And a run was made. Althought we orginally planned to be there by 0800 for an early run home, none of us even woke up until 0900. Sunday definitely took a toll, and we had to pay it.

Drove down to Unawatuna, and spent the next 2 hours floating in the ocean, throwing rocks at each other and swearing. It turns out one of us has a nipple ring. Guess who.

Nothing much to say about Monday, except that it was a lot of fun. Unawatuna, a drive around Galle Fort, a long drive home. It was a great ending.