Dumb and Dumber.

The Mission – Recall my most dumb and embarrassing incident over the past seven years of living in the USA.

After racking my brains for some part of the day, I realized that there were quite a few that qualified as my dumb moment and it would be a close call. I had to pick one of them and the one below takes the cake. well, atleast to the best of my memory.

I was new to Allentown having relocated from Charlotte on graduation to work in the industry. Most of my friends would vouch for my limited repertoire in the kitchen – although it's really hard for me to admit it, here it comes. I am a lousy cook, more so because I abhor the whole charade and go about it in a perfunctory manner.

Getting back to the issue, Subway used to be one of my favorite joints back then – it being closer to my apartment and offering healthy, tasty and spicy veggie patties that I devoured gratefully. On every occasion, the girl behind the counter would ask me if I needed any 'stamps' while ringing the cash register. I would always offer a polite 'no, thanks' in response.

One weekend I was due to mail some bills but I found that I had run out of stamps. You can guess what's coming, can't you? Yes, the 'dumb' me walks into a subway and orders a veggie patty. Ironically, the girl did not ask me if I needed 'stamps' on that day.

I politely ask her for a book of stamps and she hands me a book of coupons for subway sandwiches. Confused, I tell her that I need postage stamps. There's silence in the room, there are folks behind the counter and behind me puzzled, totally amused and stifling any laughs provoked by the whole incident. The girl just nods her head saying no.

The whole truth dawned on me in a few seconds (that seemed like an eternity) and I walked out of the joint muttering a quick thanks – face red with embarassment and cursing myself for being such a fool.

In hindsight, this does take the winning honors. Now that I have shared this with you, it's only fair that i hear yours. Cmmon, make me feel better, will ya?

Mission Acomplished.

Cool Tees

Is this the coolest Tees or what?

Sandstorms

We had a 'Take your sons and daughters to work' day yesterday. It was nice to see young kids between the ages of nine and fifteen walking around learning what their parents did and where they worked. Any corporation needs to encourage these kind of activities and community services – it makes the environment healthy and also exposes the future generation to the latest in technology and different career opportunities they could pursue if inclined.

A sandstorm in Iraq this week – reminds me of the movie 'The Mummy'.

Al-Asad, Iraq, April 27 2005

My 50th post, wonder when blogger will turn on user stats?

Of blogs and others

I like visiting other blogs.

Like this one.

I can't comprehend a word of what's in that blog.

Yet I like it.

Must be spanish.

Some corner of the world.

Pictures speak louder than words.

Wedding pictures.

Everyone's making merry.

Drinking, Dancing and Singing.

An elated couple dressed for the occasion.

Makes me happy.

Stirs emotions in anticipation.

R and I in ten days.

A couple in love with each other.

Living together, man and wife.

Ten more days.

End.

what’s in a name again?

"The name _______ creates the urge to understand and help others, we emphasize that it causes a interfering, bossy quality. This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses in the fluid systems, worry and mental tension.Your name of _______ gives you the desire to understand and help others with their problems but, at the same time, you can become too involved in their problems and, as a result, worry too much.

This name creates a pleasant, easy-going, yet responsible nature. It gives you a natural ability to express affection to those close to you, without feelings of embarrassment. You tend to avoid issues, however, and put off until tomorrow the things which should be done today. Accordingly, you would find difficulty in achieving success in positions requiring aggressiveness and drive."Not that I believe in this shit anyway. Here's the link if you are curious..

War of the trenches

Galipoli dead remembered today for their heroism, bravery and sacrifice in World War One. The tragic loss of lives sparked a sense of unity and identity and was one of the key factors that led to the birth of Australia and New Zealand as individual nations.The four year war (1914-1918) resulted in the loss of two million French, two million German and one million English lives and many more. John Keegan’s definitive account of World War One has been interesting to read. He constructs the events in detail – elaborating on each nation’s position prior to the war, turn of each event as it unfolded, how it could have been avoided and it’s consequences.

I have read Barbara Tuschman’s ‘Guns of August’ that covers the events that led to the war and how each nation fared in the month of August. The book although enlightening left me unsatisfied as I was looking for a more broader account of the war. John Keegan’s narrative fits in pretty well.

According to Keegan, the war was an unnecessary conflict and paved the way for the more destructive Second World War. The war could have been avoided if the European nations had been more prudent and had goodwill prevailed during the crisis.

The assassination of Austrian heir, Franz Ferdinand, in Bosnia in June 1914 by a Serb was perceived as a slight to the Austria-Hungary empire – the Serb Slavs were abhorred by the Austrians and posed a threat to their power. Keegan contends that had Austria acted alone and swiftly waged war with Serbia, the crisis could have been averted. But Austria in awe of the imposing ‘Slav brother’ Russia and indecisive, approached Germany leading to mobilisation of the Russian and German forces.

France bound by the treaty with Russia mobilized on the western front, the Triple Alliance between Italy, Austria and Germany came into effect and Italy declared itself neutral. The violation of neutrality of Belgium by Germany in line with the famous ‘Schlieffen’ Plan dragged England into the war. The die was cast and the rest is history.

It’s a mad mad mad world!

I was listening to the news on radio today while driving back to Allentown from NJ and one of the broadcast caught my interest – a peculiar character John Francis by name, had not spoken for seventeen years and avoided cars, planes and other autos preferring to walk or bike. The reason?? Some weird story about a oil tanker spilling 400 gallons of oil near Golden Gate, San Francisco and he realizing that he had a "responsibility".Inquisitive, I googled for his name and came up with this site – he has apparently written a book about it all. All kinds of people live on this planet I guess – although I find his feats astonishing, incredulous and humbling . Imagine not speaking for seventeen days let alone years! Apparently, he had this bouts of urges to vent his emotions out and had to communicate with others with funny faces and signs..

Two guys, a gal and a movie

Another weekend passed by quickly, I am not going to whine about it – That makes it a weekend closer to the D-day. Another sixteen days and counting. I had been to NJ this weekend visiting one of my friends – had to try out the reception suit after the alterations. It was a perfect fit, they had done a good job of it but I am unhappy about the way it was shipped – all crumpled and creasy.The highlight of this weekend – watched Mumbai Xpress at a Edison theater! That Kamal is arguably the best Indian actor around (yes, the "also-ran" includes Amitabh, Shahrukh and Rajni too!) and a genius is an understatement. That cinema is his passion and he has a flair for comedy and versatility is also stating the obvious.

I enjoy watching Kamal's movies, I walk into the theater with a lot of expectations and I have never come out disappointed – hmm, maybe once! (Singaravelan, what was he thinking?!!) Although it's really hard to pick the best movies in his long career, I believe his landmark movie is Gunah, it is one of my favorite movies of all time and his performance was under-rated and stupendous.

Anyways, coming back to the movie – I had watched PKS in Bangalore and I was convulsing with laughter and clapped with joy enjoying each and every scene in it! My parents were really worried that I had gone bonkers, something they did not expect from me having lived in the usa all these years. I watched his other "inspired" slapsticks in between, Panchatantiram and Vasoolraja, but they were not satisfying although a few scenes made them worth the money.

We drove to the movie complex early and there were guys coming out having watched the previous show and shouting aloud "Not to watch the movie and how boring it was." I was instantly disappointed and felt let-down, maybe Kamal did not deliver this time around. So with some apprehensions, I walked to my seat and settled down to watch the plot unroll.

The first half had me in splits as the movie unravelled at a furious pace – the characters were sketched quite well including pasupathi (best performance ever, better than virumandi), Kamal (underplayed) and Santhanabarathi. The first part of second half kind of dragged ( including commercial stuff like songs and romance) but Kamal and Singeetham pick up the pace and deliver a riot. A treat – especially for kamal fans. In short words, dont miss it!

On the debate about who is better – kamalhassan or rajnikanth, Here's a post that rings true to my ears and one that I liked!

My workplace

What a difference a year can make! In late 2003, I had an inconsequential role to play as a designer in a large team devising a product about to be discontinued. It was dissatisfying to go to work everyday and work on mundane issues without exercising my brainpower. I was depressed, I was itching to move onto a newer project more challenging to realize my own potential – I came close to resigning my post and relocating to Bangalore with a suitable job in hand.And then things fell into place in early 2004. Call it Providence, call it Destiny, it doesn't matter. I was moved along with five of my colleagues to an exciting and refreshingly innovative product in the consumer space. The awe-inspiring and untiring Director conceived the whole product, pooled all the resources together and carried us forward as a team.

I was filled with a sense of excitement and trepidation at the initial stages of the project. All things said and done, I was in a new environment not aware of my capabilities and functioning in a new role as a system architect. Any doubts or fears dissipated over the course of the project. I have come to realize that I thrive in a challenging and a stimulating environment – it's very easy for me to be enthusiastic and diligent at the workplace while reposed with trust and assigned interesting tasks.

G.H.Hardy in Mathematician's Apology states that if all his works were disregarded, he still had achieved something that no other person could ever lay claim to – he had rubbed shoulders with the likes of Ramanujan and Littlewood. My sentiments are similar, it's a blessing that occurs not often in everyone's life – I work with a esteemed and well-respected team of colleagues. I am the youngest of them all, a novice compared to their collective years of experience in the industry.

They have mentored and guided me in times of uncertainty and I have learnt a lot working with them over the past one and half years. I am often amazed by their humility and dedication to the product's success. The product is in final stages and should be validated in the coming months. I sincerely wish that it is a resounding success for all the effort that has gone into it.

I believe it will.

Library and me

One of my Twenty six objectives has been consumed today – I enrolled at the public library in my neighborhood!!

I had been intending to do this, been procrastinating for a long time now. So after living here for four years, I looked up the main public library on the net. Much to my chagrin, the library was open to all residents in their vicinity and non-residents had to pay 40 bucks a year for membership.

To avoid this fee, I looked up the local library about five minutes away from my place – paid a paltry sum of two bucks and registered myself. The local library collection is quite small and is completely disorganized – their catalogue is in cabinets filed carefully with tabs and indexes. Hello?? This is the twenty first century, ever heard of a computer? They actually had four PCs on a desk – not open for chat sessions and restricted access to internet with 50 cents fee for using a FLOPPY!

I went around the different sections in the room, found Winston Churchill's accounts of WWII, a few notable science and management books but nothing that captured my interest. I borrowed three books from the shelves to be returned/renewed in two weeks time.

I could not find any of the books in my Wishlist (hint, hint!), so that was disappointing but guess what – I can walk into any of the public libraries in the vicinity and flash my library card to gain access to their collection including the main library!

Buoyed by this success, I added a couple of entries to my 43 things – living without watching tv and sleeping for no more than six hours a day for a whole week starting today.