30minutes or free!

I love pizzas; particularly the cheese burst kind from dominos. But I am not to sure about the pizza house’s 30 min or free sales pitch. What ever little I know about gourmet, it would take at least 10 minutes to get the Italian dish ready, add to it the traffic during Diwali, or any other day for that matter, and it seems pretty tight delivering the pizza in 30 minutes after having placed an order.
But these guys, astride CT 100s manage to do that! Okay, my order was exactly two minutes late, but it’s still quite an achievement. Especially, if you factor in the fact that the CT 100 isn’t exactly a capable bike; her acceleration is probably a tad better than a tortoise, and her drum brakes, well, you’d be lucky if she stopped at all! But these delivery guys manage it, and manage it with a smile on their faces, not the fear of death in their eyes as you’d expect after a guy has had probably a million death situations along the way!
And how they do it, is almost certainly known too you all; slicing though traffic, dangerously at that; not giving too hoots about others’ safety; and riding like their life depended on it; which my guess is, it does, mostly if the bill goes straight out of their pockets, or three late orders later, they are fired!
Maybe the pizza chain should refrain from such antics. After all, a few minutes here or there isn’t exactly going to leave the customer starving to death. But mainly, it’s the quality and taste of the stuff one sells that should be the differentiating factor, rather than lightning quick delivery; I mean who’d prefer consuming cow dung served to you in a minute instead of raas malai, which takes a ten extra minutes to arrive at your table! Above all, I don’t think you’d exactly enjoy your pizza, if the delivery boy might have knocked off one of your family members on the way, in order to make that 30 minutes or free, delivery efficiency.
As for the boys themselves, I wonder if Dominos has a high risk insurance cover for them, or any insurance whatsoever; they do risk their lives every other second you know…

Casey Stoner: the next big thing?

I believe Valentino Rossi is phenomenal rider. The best there is both as a racer and as a character. Not that I know him personally, but I did meet the guy last year at the Donington MotoGp. He was more or less at the top of his game at the time, but given his stature and fan following, he still came across as a humble guy.
Today, he is struggling. To cope with an average machine, and less than average tyres. Or so we are made to believe.
Maybe the truth is: he has finally met his match in the young Aussie Casey Stoner. And Rossi’s fun and games off track have done little to psyche this particular bloke. Casey, of course, doesn’t come close to the Italian for being someone you’d want to watch after the chequered flag has been brought down – he doesn’t entertain with his bowling (the 10-pin sort), or with his on-track surgery among a host of fans dressed in doctor coats, or play out the snow white and the seven dwarfs fairy tale on his victory lap. No sir, Stoner wins, waves to his fans, and then hugs all and sundry in the pit lane.
But during the race, he is certainly worth a watch and more. You won’t obviously find me power sliding out of corners like Hayden, or hanging off and sliding into rider under braking like Elias, or even brushing his elbows on the tarmac like Hopkins, but Casey, much like Rossi is deceptively fast. Clean, devoid of drama, but very fast indeed. But what really makes him a brilliant watch, is his ability to absorb pressure and deliver without a hitch come what may.
The 2007 MotoGp season is a testimony to the same – watching Rossi slide, running wide, and making mistakes has been a common sight this season. But I can’t remember many occasions when Stoner slipped.
Sure, he had a faster bike, but the Ducati isn’t as great a handler as the Yamaha. And at the end of the day, you need someone talented - gifted would be the right word here – to ride the stead home.
Stoner is just that guy.
Look at Capirossi, Casey’s teammate for comparison; the Italian has been nowhere near the Aussie this season, and he is talented too.
There is also the argument about tyres, highlighted by the Rossi camp no doubt, that Bridgestones were a better bet than Michelins, and Rossi’s move to ride on the former in 2008 just stamps that, doesn’t it.
You can’t really argue about that, but my point is, Rossi has seen worse, and he has managed to come up triumph in the past. So what’s different this time? Stoner. Period.
I saw Casey ride on the Honda last year, and boy was he good. But watching him this year, I believe Stoner is probably as gifted as the charming Italian. And maybe, he might replace Rossi as the best MotoGp rider ever, in the coming years.
The 2008 season should reveal all…