roomy dilemma

Last night- after guzzling a 6 pack of beer, my roommate started talking.

So he was married. has 2 little girls.
His ex-wife, he said, had a series of boyfriends ( reminds me of my own ex!) during their marriage. As he spoke about his life, I realized, he is depressed. He had hid it well - considering that we live under the same roof, and talk to each other every day.
In fact, I got a hint earlier that day itself - he had bagged a high paying job offer earlier that day; but there was no celebratory spirit. Instead there was just a wallowing in sorrow in the evening.

"I told her not to go once" he said. "but she said her boyfriend is waiting".
"I was drunk - she thought I won't even remember. But I know she was gone for 3 hours while I was alone at home."

Its the first time I heard my friend speak straight from the heart. Though this was heart rending to hear, I am happy he mentioned what was on his mind.

I believe that the first step to resolving depression is to talk to someone. This simple step is often the toughest one to take. I am glad my roomy started talking. Now I can understand him better and at least try to help.

GMAT jitters

GMAT next monday.

was doing well in mock gmats- but got a (what I consider) crappy 690 in my last exam.

so now I'm left wondering if I'm qoing to have the same poor performance in the finale!

oh well-strategy now is to look at weak spots. practice. look at weak spots, & practice some more!

anyone out there w/last week gmat advice?

The Nameless

Sometimes people without a name come out of nowhere and teach you an important lesson.
Even a lesson that can change your life.

Last week I woke up stressed. On a Sunday.
I felt overwhelmed with all that was going on in my life.

I decided a little nature might do me some good, and set off to Wanskuck Park - a mile from home.
Walking through the park was refreshing - with the breeze gently blowing, and soft greenery all around.
As I was walking through the park, trying to absorb the scene, I saw a man. Arguably, there wasn't much to say about him. He was in shorts taking a walk, a dog by his side. But his calm appearance impressed me. He was the very picture of relaxation.

I realized suddenly that in this moment, there was nothing to be stressed about. I can just take it easy, just relax. At that point in time, all the stresses were just in my mind. In that moment, there was nothing to really be worked up about.

Though I'd read this many times in books, the realization dawned on me at that moment.
And that realization has carried on since. The image of that person comes to mind often, when I see myself stressed, and I automatically tune into that relaxed state of mind.

So to you, the person with no name - While I cannot personally thank you for this lesson and may never see you again - you have changed a part of me. Thanks.

Mail-in Rebates 911

So after shopping for stuff on the internet, getting great deals (thanks often to MIRs - Mail-in Rebates), I started to feel frustrated and cheated time and again!
Valid rebates get returned and barely damaged UPC barcodes are rejected. While some companies were liberal and more customer oriented, others just didn't care a hoot.
So that brings me to OneClickRebates . I set up this website with the whole idea that people should be able to take corporates to the task, and companies need to realize their financial liability.
Currently it speaks about MIRs, and has a discussion forum setup.
Will be setting up polls on the good and bad deals/companies out there, and plan to bring out a host of features to help the beleaguered net shopper.
So drop by to check on the MIR deal you're planning on - is it a real deal?

Niagara Falling

Yes, so we did the typical Indian thing.
Wife and I. Another couple. Four of us Indians... headed to Niagara falls. Memorial day weekend.
DARNED! The whole place is full of Indians! Where did so many Indians come from! Did all the Indians in the US decide to descend in that weekend? From what I hear, that's not the case. Niagara is a perennial spot for Indians.
Apart from the plethora of Indian restaurants, what really "blew me" - was the fact that you would see not only the American and Canadian flags, but also the Indian flag flapping in the wind.

So where did so many Indians come from? Why at Niagara? Well I have done some investigations, and have found that another natural wonder - the Grand Canyon - is also overflowing with Indian tourists.

In another blog, I found a theory about two types of Indians - 1. A bunch of guys who decided to jump in a car and go to Niagara. 2. A married Indian husband bringing his wife and parents (possibly in-laws) to see the falls.
I believe there exists a third group - the newly married Indian who wants to show his wife something spectacular. I belong to this group.

So by this time, it should be an established fact that there are a lot of Indians at Niagara. I'm not particularly proud of my nationals swarming the holiday spot... but here's something I found snooty - there were language translations into French and Spanish, but there weren't any translations into Hindi or any of the Indian languages. I can understand the desire to be hospitable to Canadian neighbours coming to see the falls - but I can't understand how the large throngs of Indians are completely ignored in translating for the tourists.

It's Promotion Time!

No, not job promotion. Code Promotion.
So I've been working on this piece of code for ages... first step is to get offshore working on it. Train them... explain the requirement... and how it is to be implemented. For no fault of theirs, they take a week. Darned, I feel I could've done it in a day! But that's human nature I guess - it always seems to be so much simpler than the task is.

Anyway, after all the review sessions, in the code goes to QA.
Manager is hovering over us... 'is it done yet' is the mantra he's chanting. As if that was not enough, he also passes some other tasks onto my plate.
Nonetheless... QA starts on the testing... no, they don't understand the system too well. They come back to me - 'can you run a test on our environment please?'. Innocent and sweet is they way they ask it... but innocent and sweet the request is not. The environment is warped, nothing is setup as it ought to. Finally I run an entire test run in their environment.
Yes, the test run includes a data refresh.
"Where's all our test data gone!!" whimpers QA! Well that was gonna happen if there's a data refresh!
And all the clients come pointing fingers... 'YOU! You are the one who erased all the data'.
"Dude! I was working on QAs request! They need to know what they are asking for! They need some ownership training !'

A day passes... "there's a defect #6845 assigned to you" says QA. The developers heart is in my mouth - "huh? me? a defect? OH NO! "
On looking it up... "pah -its a dud". That was no defect... working as planned.
Next day, another defect raised... That was no defect... testing not correctly done.

And so the day draws close... another release... full of the twists and turns that Information Technology includes... gets ready to go to production.
Will it make it okay in production? will it bomb? Only time will tell... not the QA sign-off.

Well only time will tell! With QA Sign-off, atleast I'm covered.

Obama for Change

Yes, Barack Obama is winning hearts all over the United States. He just won me over.
Though politics is not really my area of interest, but reading this article (one of the first commentaries on Obama's speech I've come across), one can't help but feel great about this guy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/us/politics/07cnd-obama.html
He's matter-of-fact and willing to speak out about what we may be doing wrong - and that makes him just the change the US needs.
I'm waiting to come across other speeches of Obama.

I do hope the US can go through elections next year without skin-colour or hardened political allegiances coming into play. The country should consider the qualities of the President they bring in -after all, it impacts not just the United States, but the world at large.

And so I join the chorus: "Obama for Change"

PS: No, I'm not affiliated in any way to Obama's campaign. Thanks for asking.