Layoffs!

As much as I was complaining about software developers writing unnecessary complex code most of the time, my heart goes out to the same people today! My client laid off thousands of people today and most of those were from the IT departments. A black day in the history of my relationship with these people. It was very disheartening to hear that starting tomorrow morning, many of the people we had worked with over the past months will not be at their desks. The sad part in this whole affair is, this time around it is not the IT industry which is on a slump, yet it is the IT personnel who get the axe. I find it very unfair!

Apparently, the rate at which the projects are going to progress is going to be very slow; the projects will have to be rescoped. Since my program was not affected much, I hope the fixes I am expecting for my module and future analyses will not be affected.

All the best to everyone in their future endeavors!

Technology vs Occam's Razor

I think I will dedicate this post to all the software developers who come up with complex, near perfect enterprise-level code!!

In one of my undergrad classes, I studied about how Occam's Razor was to be used in any industry. And one of the industry that fails to make use of this principle is the software industry. I mention only the software industry because that is the only industry I have any knowledge about!

Before we delve into all the technical mumbo jumbo, let me say a little about what I do. I am an analyst for a complex, near-real-time, highly business critical application, which has been live for almost two and a half years now. My job - analyse the data that flows through this system and detect inconsistencies and come up with recommendations for fixing these issues. Basically, I know what I am talking about here!

Believe it or not, I see inconsistencies on a daily basis. Sometimes, it is a nightmare figuring out why these things are happening. When the Business Analysts too have no clue, you can imagine the nightmare for the rest of the folks. I can attribute most of these issues to non-compliance with the Occam's Razor. Occam's Razor states:

Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate

which roughly translates to Given two equally predictive theories, choose the simpler. In order to make this principle fit for this scenario, the alternative translation for this reads as: pluralities ought not be supposed without necessity. The pluralities here refer to the number of classes/layers used.

I do agree that there are situations where introducing such complexity is necessary. There may be requirements that drive such decisions. But should they be used all the time? There have been so many instances during my analyses where I have realised that the requirement could have been satisfied without introducing such complexities! Workflow in particular has been an area of particular concern to me and I feel most of the things that workflow achieves, can be achieved without its use. People who have used workflow are the ones who know what a beast it is and can be if not used properly.

Personally, I feel that complex concepts should not be used just because it is out there. There must be a valid reason for using it and that must be simplest way of solving that problem.


P.S.: I am watching this movie called Taking of Flight 847. This movie is very similar to Delta Force starring Chuck Norris.

Of relationships that turn sour...

...and people who bear the brunt of it!

One of my friends is writing a case study on the relationship of solution providers and customers. This post is dedicated to all the stakeholders involved in such relationships. The story goes thus...

As is the case with any solutions provider and customer, things start off very brightly. The customer is extremely happy with the solution, the solution is implemented in a grand scale, the solution saves the customer a lot of time and earns a lot of profit, the solutions provider too earns a profit as he gets more projects from the customer. The customer goes to the extent of calling the provider, a partner in its IT ventures.

In the background, the stakeholders know the exact reason for this success, of both the customer and the provider. The customer completely trusts the provider and the ideas he brings forth. The provider knows that the reason for his success is a lack of an IT backbone from the customer's side. As in, the customer does not a strong IT department. The customer is completely dependent on the provider for the solution.

As time goes by, it is but natural that the customer decides on a parallel venture - hiring its own IT professionals. The motive, probably hidden to the provider, is to judge the solution that has been implemented. At this juncture, please understand that the provider can do nothing even if he realised what the motive was. He cannot back out of this one venture as there are a lot of things at stake here. One wrong move and it can be a complete loss to him. All the provider can do is sit back and watch. And hope that the end result of this is that there will be someone else apart from him to take the rap, if there ever is a necessity.

As he sees the scene at the customer change day by day, he probably will also notice changes in behavior of the customer. Bonds that earlier were something more than professional will begin to weaken. People decide to change opinions. Rather, they develop different opinions. All this could happen because of one strongly opinionated person sitting at the top overseeing the daily affairs. This one person can then bring in more such people. The idea already implanted in their brain - the solution is mostly of inferior quality and we need to improvise upon it henceforth.

Such things harm relationships more than just a contractual agreement. The employees that work together, from both the customer and the provider, can no longer be indiscreet about their opinions. Diplomacy takes over in day to day affairs. Bureaucracy, rather than efficiency, becomes the key ingredient in all the stakeholders' professional lives. There is discontentment amongst the providers's team members and the oppressive nature of the customer's folks will have nothing to stop it. It will move forward like a hurricane - without a care in the world.

All of a sudden, the partnership no longer ceases to exist and the solutions provider becomes a solutions vendor. (Non-techies: The difference between a provider and a vendor is that, a provider helps the customer come up with a solution and implements it whereas a vendor just implements a solution that the customer has come up with. Many would say, how does what you do matter as long as you earn a profit. But it is completely different. The ball lies in completely different courts.)

When you analyze the above scenario, one thing that would come to anyone's mind is, how does one decide that a solution is "inferior"? It is not like a calculus problem where you decide how efficient a solution is depending on the method used to arrive at the end result. When your solution is supporting a business and the business is quite satisfied with what they see and use (remember, no one is completely satisfied; not even the one who dates Angelina Jolie! :P), is it right to call the solution inferior? If the business is not happy with what they see, then being completely judgemental about the solution is justifiable.

This would in turn, probably decide the fate of upcoming projects (read above about the ball!). Because of the hasty (??!?) / opinionated judgement of one person. Truly maybe, you cannot be friends once you have broken up!

This is probably a very hasty ending to this post. The intention is to let you all come up with an analysis of this situation and decide whether what happened was right or wrong.

P.S: All who thought this was going to be a sentimental post about some relationship of mine that went sour, paaahaaaah *points fingers and laughs*. You should know me better than that!

Roadtrips in California...

It has been eight months since I moved to Southern California. People told me the place is very beautiful albeit hot. Every place I visited here in So Cal (please note that it is limited to Orange, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Irvine, Foothill Ranch, Escondido and San Diego) has been scorching hot. The temperature has reached almost 100F on many occasions.

But, I have had a different experience over the past two weekends. Two weekends ago I visited Lake Arrowhead. It is a small community in the San Bernardino mountains (a twenty mile drive uphill!). The place is awesome. Kind of like the places you would see in movies like Dante's Peak, where everyone knows everyone else. The temperature, well was not quite So Cal like. It was very very cold. I would roam about Orange County wearing just a cotton t-shirt and jeans. But, this place was cold, the pullover I had carried with me was not enough. Felt a wee bit like New Jersey in the late winter and made me a little nostalgic.

Last weekend I went to Big Bear Lake, again in the San Bernardino mountains. A bigger community than Lake Arrowhead and the temperature way lower. It was 40F there. My friends and I were literally shivering. I ate probably the best pizza I have had yet in the local pizzeria - Village Pizza something. I enjoyed pineapple on my pizza for the first time. We decided to hit one of the local sports bar - Sandy's Sports Bar. A very different experience for me. The sports bars I have visited so far (Lucky Strike and Dave and Buster's) had a totally different ambience. I saw incessant rains for the first time in eight months. All in all, I have had two very fun weekends.

Later on today, I am headed to the Bay Area - San Francisco to be precise. My aunt, cousin and a friend(she is in India now for a vacation!) live close by. I will not be able to visit them. Our schedule is very hectic. I hope this roadtrip will be as nice as my previous two ones.

A Day in the Life of an American Desi Bachelor

• Shut off three alarm clocks before finally opening my eyes. [No Mom waking you up with a cup of a hot beverage of your choice.]
  
• Curse my stars while I make my bed. [No Mom again!]
• Make the beverage of my choice. [Read above.]
• Switch channels on my TV till I find traffic watch on one of the early morning news channels to see which freeways are clogged and what alternate routes to take, while drinking my beverage. [No reading the cartoons in the newspaper anymore. :(]
• Ponder over what has to be eaten for breakfast - Bread and Peanut Butter/Jam or a Plain Toast or a Bagel or hit the nearest fast food joint to eat the same. [Damn, I miss those Idlis and Dosas and Rottis!]
• Oh S***! It is 9AM already and I have a meeting at 10. Doh!!! [I miss your reminders mom.]
• God Dammit...my clothes aren't pressed. [So nice to be in a typical Indian joint family where there are a lot of people to take care of all your needs and demands. Why did I move here??]
• I hate this freeway. I should have taken the surface streets. It would have been faster. Maybe, I should move closer to the office. The rent is a little higher, but I won't have to go through all this. [Not quite a difference for Bangloreans or Mumbaiites.]
• (Whispering) Sorry boss. The freeway was clogged. I should avoid this freeway from now on. Errr...I have one question. What is this meeting about? [I don't have a Blackberry to remind me of meetings from home. How can I remember what the agenda of a meeting is? It is the company's fault!]
• Coffee Time! Dude, let's go to the 8th floor. The coffee machine is much better there.
• It is 12PM already. I haven't even checked my mails. [Will there be any interesting mail in my inbox that will brighten the rest my day up? How much I miss the forwards that were being circulated almost everyday in college! Damn corporate security. What harm can a jpg or a 2MB movie file do?]
• Why hasn't anyone sent me any mails? Have I been forgotten by all my buddies?
• Lunch Time! Fast food joint next to the office or the Indian restaurant which is a 20 minute drive away? [Tough choice! Hehehe...]
• Back to my e-mails.
• I hate the time difference. All the guys will be sleeping. No one to talk to. :((
• Yes Boss. Working on the bugs to be fixed. The Dev team will have them tonight. I will have a conf call with them and tell them to send us another build first thing tomorrow morning. [There goes my plans of having coffee with that cute BA.]
• Forget the build. I want to have coffee with her. Saunter to the nearest Starbucks.
• (On the phone) Dude, you will not believe where I am right now. Let me get back to the office and then I will give you the details. We will work on the bugs later.
  
• I better get working on the bugs. It will be my a** this time. [Coffee was awesome. Maybe, I should ask her out to dinner sometime.]
• Finally, a decent forward. Something nice in my inbox. [God bless you dude!]
• Will the boss notice me if I head home now? It is 530PM already. Maybe, I will stay back for a while and go for the happy hour with the rest of the folks. [Why are there so many bugs? Looks like I will have to work late from home if I have to get the build tomorrow morning!]
• Beer!
• More beer!
• Better drive slowly and carefully. [How much did I drink? How much will my BAC be? I think I am ok. I never worried about this back in India. How much I miss the binging at Peco's and Styx!]
• Where did all the food I cooked go? I possibly couldn't have eaten so much in just two days. I don't want to cook now. [I never ate leftover food in India. I miss you mom! I wonder if she will fly down here for a few days? Hmmm...I will call up and find out.]
• Oh S***! The conf call!!!!
• Why do the developers ask so many questions? It is the middle of the night here. They should understand our situation here.
• Let me hit the sack now. Tomorrow is going to be more hectic than today. [When should I ask that BA for dinner? This Friday maybe...]

P.S.: Most of these situations are fictitious. Don't make any assumptions as to which ones are not. I am pretty sure you will get it all wrong.

Me, me and only me!!

This is me on the way back from Escondido.

Escondido is a beautiful city, about 35 miles north of San Diego. It has the San Diego Wild Animal Park. A very beautiful place. This shot was taken by a friend of mine.

Horror!

Vampires, Lycans (Werewolves for the ignoramus!), Warlocks, Witches and other creatures of the night intrigue me. Back in my early teens, I used to ponder over literature about this creatures and learnt quite a bit about them. More than the creatures themselves, I guess it was the environment where the stories were setup that interested me more. There is something irresistably attractive about the big castles, grey and cloudy skies, remote European villages, god-fearing villagers, brave hearted protagonists from more distant lands to battle these creatures and last but not the least the creatures themselves and their super-powers!!

It was not just these. Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein were one of my favorites. If it weren't for the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley amongst others, we probably would not have had a genre of modern entertainment at all. Agreed that today's horror genre is full of gore-obssessed, virulent and potent zombies (they are are not scary!!) whose one bite would turn you into one of them, but the classics such as Dracula, Frankenstein and Wolfen would still probably give anyone the creeps. Some of today's horror movies like Wes Craven's Dracula series and Underground, do present some of that eerie ambience.

Enough of the movies. Back to the creepy creatures. There are enough stories to link some of these creatures. Like, lycans were probably the only creatures capable of killing the vampires. The vampires, by enslaving the lycans, got them to protect their graves, thus stopping what could probably have been a war to the end between the two kinds. But later on, the lycans broke free (by breaking a curse) and fought the vampires to the bitter end.

Amongst all the exotic locations that have been visited in horror literature, Transylvania(which is believed to parts of Romania) has been described to no ends bound and oh boy, has it been described beautifully! If there actually existed a place like that, I would definitely love to visit it. Especially in Bram Stoker's Dracula. It has been described to be so picturesque and as you read through the novel, you feel as if you are moving through the land, especially in the initial chapters, where Jonathan Harker is making his way to meet the count. At the same time, there is an eerie music playing in your head that you would jump out of your skin at the slightest of disturbances.

Probably, what causes these places to become creepy is the way the setting in of mist at sunset is described. The mist when it settles down over the town, plays such a special part in the whole plot. The misty twilight provides a perfect cover for the evil creatures to make their way towards the innocent town-folk.

If the mist settling over entire villages in mainland Europe adds to the creep factor, horror sequences set in England have the mist, the rain and the dreaded moors. The moors were probably made most famous in the scary scenes of The Hound of the Baskervilles, where the hound hunted the Baskerville family members. We all know dogs and wolves(therefore, the lycans) are of the same family. And, it is but natural that they are used in the horror setting.

One movie that comes to my mind when I speak of moors and England is Sleepy Hollow. Though the setting is in New York and Sleepy Hollow on this side of the Atlantic, the entire movie was shot in England. I personally feel there could not have been any other apt place to film the movie. The headless horseman coming out of the trees (literally out of the trees!) probably could not have been shown to that effect in any place else.

Then come the protagonists. The one in a million soul, who believes that he/she can save mankind. It is always mankind, not just the folks in the area infested by the creatures. The most famous hunter/killer/savior of mankind of them all is Van Helsing. He comes in many forms - from being the archetypal vampire hunter in Bram Stoker's Dracula to the vampire hunter-turned into a lycan Gabriel Van Helsing in the movie Van Helsing. No matter who the protagonist is, that person always possesses that extra confidence in oneself that helps is vanquishing the demon creature.

One point that comes to my mind everytime I see a horror movie or read such a novel, is what the purpose was to create a whole genre of entertainment/belief. I say belief because there are people who take this the extra mile; they even think they are one of these creatures and behave accordingly. I feel there is more to this than just horror. There is more to this than just scare the bejeezes out of any person. It could be symbolic of what some people are. Going in a more literal way, vampires could actually refer to those people who survive by sucking the life out of others - those who make others' lives a complete misery just for their survival. The undead or the nosferatu, could be more of a state of mind than an existential level. The lycans and to some extent Dr. Jekyll (therefore Mr. Hyde), probably refer to those people who appear goody-goody on the outside, but actually have a meaner way inside. This meaner side to them is brought out once in a way. The trigger could be anything - in fiction, it is a vial of an instable mixture of chemicals or the full moon; in real life it could be anything from a desire of something to being plain simple diplomatic. Frankenstein is probably symbolic of those who are grossly misunderstood by society. These people want to be accepted by society just the way they are and the society is probably not ready for them. Or, the majority of the society feels threatened by such people and tries to subject them to cruelty and they have to take on a rough exterior just to protect themselves.

More on this topic a little later...

P.S: I got my TV fixed and I was totally inspired to write this while watching a horror movie!

Life without a television

In my entire life, there have been very few moments when I was without a television in my house. In fact, I have forgotten how life can be without one. The few times I was without a television was when it was being repaired for some problem or those few minutes when the old telly was being unplugged to make way for the new one.

My television has been broken for six days now. The repairman came, inspected, placed an order for a spare part and left. The sad part in this whole fiasco is that the spare part will arrive depending on the availability. That guy said it could take nearly five to ten business days for the spare part to arrive. He said this problem was noticed a week ago and was specific to the model I own. If that is the case and the manufacturers know of this issue, why not make the required spare parts in a larger quantity to ensure timely repairs.

It took nearly three days from the time I placed a complaint, for the repairman to come to my house to take a look at it. After waiting a couple of weeks, it could be another three or four days for that guy to come home and repair it. All in all, I may not be having a television for nearly a month!!!

THIS SUCKS!!!

I have been spending time trying to find things to do to kill time. I spent this weekend playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein (for like the millionth time I guess. But I still like to play this game!!!) and continuing my research on design patterns. I also found a few CDs that I thought I had misplaced and played them over and over again till I got bored. At this rate, I definitely am going to run out of things to do to spend time this week and the coming weekend. Suggestions anyone????

The City Kills

Check this out. It may appear to be seriously disturbing to some of you. I can associate this totally with me (me, a long time ago!).

Hello Grace-Monday!

California and Mother Nature

A few weeks ago, I got a taste of what living in California is like. Residents of Florida are under perennial threat of hurricanes during the monsoon. Californians live under the constant threat of earthquakes. There is always a distinct possibility of a 10.5 hitting the San Andreas fault; near which I reside.

Florida got five hurricanes this past year. In the middle of the June Gloom in California, we had a week of three earthquakes and one tsunami warning. Talk about activity! The earthquakes were not major; the destruction was very minimal. Just a few evacuations here and there. But still, the threat exists. A major earthquake hits California and voila, this part of the world has another island. This thought makes me realise how small and insignificant our race is in the bigger picture!

The human race has been around for just about hundred thousand years now and we go about our daily stuff thinking we are the ultimate power on this planet and we can do as we please. Such a false pretense on our part! We constantly forget the ultimate force in this universe, that can do as it pleases without being answerable to anyone - Nature. Theologists/religious scholars call this force the Work of God and scientists break this force down to electrons, neutrons and beyond. Do as you may please, you just cannot ignore the force of nature.

There is no way we can predict, let alone prevent such catastrophes. Mother Nature does as she pleases and there is no one who can stop her from doing so!

Humans do possess the capability of creating such destruction, but our force is ultimately controlled by someone and our behavior is more or less completely predictable.

And on the other hand, we have Mother Nature creating animals such as the raccoons; one of their brethren running under and almost getting run over by my car a few days ago. Such is the varied behavior of this force.

I got a taste of all this within 10 days. My days in California seem to be becoming interesting!!

Blooper!

SUPER BLOOPER actually!

Check this out!

Madras, a South Indian state??! What next? International press reports formation of a new state by splitting Karnataka?? (For the ignorant - there used to be rumors about this during the whole need for a new high court for Northern Karnataka fiasco more than a year ago!!!)

This piece of news is from Associated Press!!!

Voice out your opinions.

Bliss in the Meadows!

There is a God!!!

They say that music can tame the soul of a beast. I really don't know how true that is. But music makes me feel alive! It maybe a cliche, but it is true. No matter where I am, as long as I have my music ringing in my ears, I feel comfortable. There was a time when I used to practically live for my music. That may not be the sole cause of my existence right now, but my feelings/enthusiasm haven't changed one bit. Can you even imagine how I would feel if bands like Symphony-X, Nevermore, Fear Factory, Dream Theater and Megadeth amongst others, played at the same venue????

IT WAS NOT WOODSTOCK, PEOPLE!!!

There is a small amphi-theatre in the city of Irvine (about 18 miles from where I live), which plays host to many concerts. Oh boy, am I glad it is, as is!!!

It was a hot California afternoon, when the first band on the second stage - Bobaflex, started the proceedings. They are an alternative band with hip-hop influences. The band, though they did not play my kind of music, were extremely tight on stage (the bass player had his guitar up so high on his chest, it appeared as if he was in pain when playing, at times!). Then came the band Dry Kill Logic. The band appears to be influenced by Pantera and System of a Down. Their energy on stage was awesome! This band would definitely get my vote for stage prescence, if any awards were to be given out.

Then, the sea of people moved to the main stage where Nevermore had started their performance. This is an extreme thrash metal band. The band promised to "bastardize" the 1960's classic - Sounds of Silence. Oh boy, did they bastardize it or what!!!! Though it would have been good if they did not convert a 1960's rock and roll(??!!) classic into a moshing song, I donot regret what I saw and heard. :)))) They ended their setlist with the title track of their album Enemies of Reality.

I headed back to the second stage where Symphony-X were on. This progressive band is mindblowingly tight!!! The crowd that was quite sedate, even during the Nevermore performance, rose to its feet and you could see people swaying to the music (probably a decent way to address head-banging...hehhee!!!). Then I went back to the main stage to witness what can be called a BIG disappointment. I never expected to be so disappointed to see Fear Factory. They were good and everything, but not quite what I expected from hearing most of their albums. In the middle of their set, the guitarist started strumming the intro of Walk by Pantera (RIP Dimebag!) and the crowd got to its feet immediately, which even provoked a comment from the vocalist Burton C Bell.

I took a break from everything to grab a quick bite. In the meantime, Life of Agony were playing on the second stage.

I headed back to the main stage where Dream Theater were all set to start their set list. Need I say any more about Dream Theater? They were absolutely mind-f***in-blowin!!! Though James LaBrie decided to go his own way a couple of times in one of their songs. Their setlist comprised of songs mainly from their new album, Octavarium. I was quite sad to see them leave off-stage!

Then came the juggernaut called Megadeth!!! The band is completely revamped after the split a few years ago. No more David Ellefson on bass or Marty Friedman on guitars or Nick Menza on drums. Dave Mustaine is the only surviving member of the band that released classics like Rust In Peace, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying, Countdown to Extinction, et all. They played some of my all time favs like Skin o my Teeth, Tornado of Souls, Hangar 18, In My Darkest Hour, Symphony of Destruction and ended their set with HOLY WARS...THE PUNISHMENT DUE. I got back my money's worth in just that one song!!! Shawn Grover was absolutely brutal on the double bass drum. It was any metalhead's heaven!! It was absolutely awesome.

I thank the sponsors Verizon Wireless for this whole show and the beautiful amphitheatre!

They killed my wife, and my baby
With hopes to enslave me
First mistake... last mistake!
Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants
Next mistake... no more mistakes!

Water Woes - Part 2

a.k.a. I can do that!

By this point in time, all who have read this post of mine, know that I am petrified by water. Because of that fear of mine, I have been terrorized by all my friends who could swim whenever we visited a water theme park or any holiday spot involving a water body. They have no doubt tried to rid me of the fear many a time but my obstinance towards entering water made them give up more often than not. And believe you me, I can be stubborn when it comes to entering water!

It was on one of these vacations that the famed I can do that! happened.

The weather was just perfect. The location, scenic beyond description. There was greenery as far as the eye could see. The chirping of birds was like soothing music to the ears. The only rule to be followed was have fun and let other's have fun! I guess this is what some people refer to as utopia. Kodagu seemed to be the perfect place to spend the holidays in between semesters in college. And Abbey Falls was one of the star attraction to vacationers in Kodagu.

As it is at any other waterfall, the best place to hang around is right underneath it. And due to my rabid fear of water, I refused to go anywhere close to it. Plus the fact that the pond had a 12 feet drop midway to the falls did not encourage me to make that journey one bit! After much coaxing and cajoling by Setha and Gagan, I decided to make that trip. We reached base of the waterfall without any incident whatsoever. Water was neck deep at that point and my senses were at a heightened state of alert. I did not want to move anywhere without anyone who could swim accompanying me. At this juncture, I saw one of my friends dive into the murky water off the rockface and become parallel to the surface of the water. I competely disregarded my fear of water and decided to swim (what was I thinking!!). With a rush of adrenaline and uttering the words "I can do that!", I lifted my feet off the ground. There I was in the middle of the pond with nowhere to go but down. I was splashing to attract attention as if there was no tomorrow (if I had not done that, there probably would not have been!). I grabbed on to the shoulder of one of my friends who came to rescue me. The next couple of minutes are a complete blur to me as I was just thrilled to see sunlight again and did not think of anything else.

Apparently, I was a sight to be seen those couple of minutes, with my specs positioned at an awkward angle across my face and me searching for hard ground to place my feet on. I could not have been otherwise - it was a Near Death Experience (har har!) after all. I was rushed away from the water immediately and did not enter the pond from then on. Unfortunately, there are no photographs that captured those priceless moments.

Since then, I have entered even waist deep water with great caution. If the ground appeared slippery (especially near river beds!), those places were a definite no-go for me.

Lesson Learnt: The proverbial saying Don't go near the water until you learn how to swim has somewhat a literal meaning to me (what say you all??).

Game of Tag

I was tagged by Setha.

Three names I go by:

• Dileep
• Soapy
• Dundee

Three screen names I would like to have:

• Flame Boy!
• Mark Antony
• Victor Hugo

Three physical things I like about myself:

• The fine frenchie I once possessed!
• My ever-so-charming smile
• My self manicured fingers

Three physical things I don't like about myself:

• Dry scalp
• Large pores on my face
• Flaring nostrils

Three parts of your heritage:

• Patience
• Verbal prowess
• A balding head!

Three things that scare me:

• Cockroaches (even the babies!)
• Ordering food at Twin Dragon (the Chinese food place near work)
• Swiping my credit card at month-ends

Three of my everyday essentials:

• Chocolate milk
• Car
• Cell phone

Three things I badly want to do before I die:

• Visit a lion safari in Africa
• Swim, atleast once! (check this out)
• Write a song with a bassline that would put Geezer Butler/John Paul Jones/Paul McCartney to shame

Three careers I am considering:

• Freelance journalism
• Sell ice to the scientists in Antarctica :D
• Business Systems Architect for any finance industry major

Three places I want to go:

• Florida (in the hurricane season)
• Australia/New Zealand
• Any Latin American country during the monsoon

Two truths and a lie (in no particular order):

• I was part of a two on two fist fight in public.
• I am going to follow the path of ahimsa to the very end.
• I really really dig sequels to popular sitcoms.

I tag Parku, Aparna and Shetty.

Perspective...

How many of us take life for granted? And how many take work for granted? I bet a lot of people who are asked the questions - "Do you take life for granted?" or "Do you take your work/job for granted?", answer them in the positive. Most of us tend to consider work to be just a daily routine/a drag/a drudgery etc. We donot probably appreciate what we do. In our quest for more, we probably forget the proverb - "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.". I am not saying that all of us fail in that quest, but the ones that do get hit real bad.

In our quest for more, it could be that we pester our supervisors for a better job profile or it could be that we seek our fortunes elsewhere. What we end up doing is considering the present to be hardly exciting/interesting.

Something happened that changed my perspective towards work completely.

It was a bright and sunny Wednesday morning. Even though the air was filled with the smell of warm California summer, I headed towards my car in a not very pleasant mood. My job seemed to me exactly how I have described above. Not that my job is bad or anything - analyzing the dynamics of a real-time system that has lots of cash flowing through it poses interesting problems many a time. But it can become a pain in the behind at times because of some mindless bureaucracy. The previous day involved some intense action at work and I really did not cherish going back to the same that day. I was wishing for a better profile/a wider range of authority. The roads in my apartment complex were being re-layed. Because of which, I had parked my car in one of the streets around my complex. I was heading towards my car when at one intersection, there was an old man, about 55 years probably, sitting on a bench with a cigarette in his hand. We greeted each other and commented on the beautiful weather that was given to us by Mother Nature. As I turned away towards my car, he made a statement that probably has changed the way I look at things now. He said "Real lucky to have a job, ain't ya!". At that moment, lots of thoughts entered my head.I really did not know how to react to that at that point because I was expecting another heated discussion at work that day, that too early in the morning (not a nice way to start the day!).

Nevertheless, I replied "Yeah!" and I made my way towards my car and sped off in it. On my way to office, I began analyzing that comment of his. It was not the statement, but the tone of his voice that made me do it. It seemed to me that he was unemployed at that time. Not many employed people on a Wednesday morning sit on a bench at an intersection and comment in such a manner. He probably had a job sometime ago. Due to some reason - a sickness or an inexplicable whim of a higher up in his organization or whatever be it, he probably was laid off. He probably had not told his family about his termination of employment. Or his social security money was not being given to him every month. His family probably had to survive on his dwindling savings. He was probably roaming around the streets of Anaheim searching for a job but in vain.

I make quite a decent living. My everyday job schedule, is not all that monotonous. Some of the issues I analyze does require usage of grey matter - they are not very straightforward! One mindless bureaucrat should not be ruining my view of my job. I told myself that moment, that I would not let one person's views about an issue that is inconsequential in the broader way of things, come in the way of my daily work. I should not take my job for granted and not let someone else take my work for granted. Every job is there for a reason and it must be respected for that effect. I will bury the hatchet with anyone who comes up with a idea that opposes mine. I will go to work, each day a different person with a BIG broad smile on my face, happy for the fact that I have a job.

I really wish that others do the same as well, because, believe me it will make you feel like a different person...a better person!

P.S: It may seem like mindless gyaan (advice) to many, but it is small things such as this that changes peoples lives!

Water Woes - Part 1

How many of you swim?? How many of you take to water like a fish?

And on the flip side, how many of you step into waist-deep water and feel like you have stepped on another planet?

I belong to the second category. I have probably been in waist-deep water about eight times in my whole life. And each of those times, I may as well have landed on Mars, as I was spooked to the core. Even if the water body was a swimming pool, I have been scared to quite an extent. If that were the case, you can imagine how I might feel if I were to be standing in a pond under a waterfall or in an ocean!

Here is the deal. It is not like I have never tried learning swimming. I did have a coach in my younger days (read 13 years ago) to teach me with the intricacies of swimming. In my mind's eye, I saw myself swimming like a champion. In reality, I stopped attending swimming class after 10 days into the course. The reason - I was mercilessly left to drown (I may be exaggerating here...) in the middle of the pool by my coach. I attended the classes zealously for a while. I enjoyed being in water (even though it was under the watchful eyes of my coach). And, he had to throw me in the middle of the pool!!

There began my hydrophobia. I have not been able to feel comfortable in water since. And it has been the cause of my anguish a lot of times now. Aaarrgghh...

Manchester United sold??

Manchester United sold?? The owners of this awesome, once-upon-a-time-feared-by-all English football (oops!! soccer...) club are from the USA, a country where soccer is almost non-existent. MLS does exist, but I donot see much coverage on TV. Maybe I have to subscribe to some channel and pay more to the already blown-sky-high cable TV bill, just to see some soccer action! Hmmm...

A long time ago, I was shell-shocked when I heard that the great Roberto Baggio moved to NY-NJ MetroStars of the MLS. For a moment, I thought I had turned on a super bloopers show and the anchor was kidding! Somehow, the thought of soccer and USA together does not present a pretty picture to me. EVER (and I live in this country, people)!

I have been an ardent follower of this soccer club for the past 10 years. I have worshipped them through thick and thin - when they were the undisputed champions of England for years together in a row and when they went through a slump in their form - post 2000 when most of their stars were transferred to lesser worthy (??) clubs. I can't even remember which clubs Dwight Yorke and Andy (Andrew) Cole transferred to. But they came back to form again. Some very talented players were brought into the squad. All those moves showed that the aggresiveness that is characteristic of Manchester United was still present.

Does this takeover of a great club by an American tycoon depict the start of the demise of a great club? I mean, I read here that a lot of external financing was required to complete the takeover. The possibility of raising the ticket fares and decreasing the transfer spending foretells doom for this club (I hope I am wrong!).

I am not following the sport or any associated event with this sport currently, because of the reasons mentioned above. So, I may not have the complete picture when I say this. But, was there nothing that could have been done to prevent this takeover? Soccer has predominantly been a European and South American sport. A European club, in the hands of an American NFL owner can only present an interesting (may not be favorable!) series of events to this fan. I can just hope for better fortunes to this club. They ended up third in the English Premier League this season. I pray to the Almighty and the new owners to take up the right steps in order to restore glory to Manchester United.

GO RED DEVILS!!!

P.S: All you Real Madrid fans can say what you want, but Man Utd is still the best ever... :D.

War of the Worlds - what the *#$@?!!

How many of you out there revere Steven Spielberg as a master story teller and a director par excellence?? I, for one, revere him as both the above. Believe it or not, I have seen Jurassic Park 17 times and ET, god knows how many times!! And these were just his OK movies. Both were nice movies, stories a tad bit (?!?!) out of the ordinary. Agreed there were movies about aliens before ET, but those movies depicted aliens as creatures set to blow the entire world sky high!! They did not have cute and cuddly aliens - a la ET.

A few days ago, I saw the trailer for War of the Worlds during my visit to the local AMC theatres. It looked interesting and decided to see the movie once it was released. With all the destruction shown in the trailer, I thought it would be one more action packed adventure from the master. And I did get a chance to see this thanks to my boss who gave me free tickets to go catch the spectacle (seemed like a debacle at the end of the movie!).

All those people who are interested in seeing the movie, please exit at this point as the climax of the movie is going to be blown to smithereens here (atleast it is an attempt to do so!). The rest of you can read on.

This movie starts of with the focus on Tom Cruise - a divorcee with two kids. The ex is on a vacation and decides to leave the kids with the dad. Then, the skies open up. There are reports of lightning strikes, thunderstorms, EMP blasts all over the world. Yeah, you guessed it right. The same things happen in Tom Cruise's town as well. The the alien machines rise from the under the ground. The sub-terrain has been the hibernating ground for these creatures for god knows how long!

The next few minutes is nothing but bloody carnage! And by bloody, I mean it literally. These creatures suck the blood from the humans and spew it all over the place. It is not exactly the place for hematophobics. While all this happening, you would expect some heavy artillery from the earthlings. And not the kind that involves war tanks and rocket launchers. Coming to the climax, it is quite lame. The action in the movie lasts for about an hour and a half. The destruction of the aliens last just 2 minutes! I mean, shouldn't there be something more to destroying the creatures than see the alien machines stop moving and having the military fire their rocket launchers at them?

That's it. The movie is over at that point. I mean, el finito! There is a small description as to what happened that brought about this demise of the intelligent species from another world that had its machines buried deep underground in our planet and decided to wake these machines up one fine day. The secret weapon that destroyed the alien species was nothing but the millions and millions of viruses and bacteria that exist in our planet. Humans have evolved over time, adjusting their bodies to these viruses and bacteria. The aliens apparently donot have the antibodies to defend themselves from these creatures. Hence, they were dying a slow death from the time they stepped foot on our planet.

It could probably be an intelligent answer to what may happen if and when Earth is attacked by aliens. But, for a movie coming in the wake of a high octane thriller called Star Wars, I thought it was a lame ending. I would definitely give 8 or 9 out of 10 for special effects, 7 for the overall acting and another 8 or 9 for the photography/videography (I donot know the right word here!! I am sorry.). But overall, the movie would rate just about a 5 or 6 because of the ending. I am no professional movie critic, but I do have a right to voice my opinion. But one thing I really liked about this movie was the way the alien creatures are portrayed. I mean, starting off with creatures that looked like a cuddly teddy (that is how I would like to describe ET), Spielberg has come a long way showing us real life-like alien creatures. They looked so real!

Spielberg fans, flame me all you want. But that is the truth and you all know it.

My first post!

This is my very first blog and hence, the very first post! I can't say I am too thrilled about it, like some people (the last post on this page). Neither can I say that I am taking a pensive view like this.

Frankly speaking, I donot even know the purpose of this blog. The title of the blog roughly translates to Welcome To My Mind. But the question I have now and that which you will probably have is that, do people want to be welcome to my mind? I have very few thoughts/ideas/musings that make sense to the outside world, barring a few people who are my close and dear friends (it gets to these people most of the time as well!!!). "My Mind" probably has nothing of significance to offer you all. Except probably a random opinion of some matter which may provoke your thought process and cause you to post yours.

One thing I can tell you right away is that, why I created this blog. I was going through the latest posts in some of my friends' blogs - Maka, Setha and Shetty and I thought- "I can do that!". That last statement has some "historical" value, which I shall probably explain in due course of time.

It is early Monday now(12:16 AM) and I have a loooooong day ahead at work. I shall sign off now and continue my writing at a later point of time.

Cheers!