for what the shuttle is worth

been to Yahoo yesterday to attend a BLUG talk given by Mark Shuttleworth
(those wondering who he is ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Shuttleworth)
Jaya and Rp were with me.
thanx to jaya for his invitation .. i just know Mark as a founder of Ubuntu Linux
but the fact about his being the first african space tourist ... was news to me ..
(I hardly read news papers or see news channels .. so no surprises there ...)
Supposedly he paid some 20 million dollars for being part of a Russian space craft's
crew.
I realised that i was in my T-shirt and track pants as I got ready to leave office
and confirmed from Jaya that i wont be an eye sore there as many people do come
even more crazily.
First he talked abt his plans for Ubuntu linux .. the details of which i'll not get into here.
More interestingly (atleast for most of us there) he spoke abt his space journey
with such a passion that i started to appreciate that money was immaterial for him
to follow his dreams ... the talk was full of anectodes silly and serious that kept the
audience spellbound. (except ofcourse one or two of those occasional freaks we meet
whose main aim in life is to talk over the cell phone everywhere possible)
I was happy to be there, shake hands with him and get an autograph
("Follow your dreams _ Mark Shuttleworth") on the free Ubuntu Linux CD pack i got.

Had some very good snacks in Yahoo cafeteria and went outside with Rp and Jaya to
CoffeeDay and had some snacks there as well. In my hurry to get back home, made a
few kotlus while in the coffee day that need not be mentioned here ..if u get my drift ...

anyway, it was worth the time i spent in presence of ShuttleWorth and double its worth
the time I spent with my friends..