Day One...

Today was the first day in Penang and luckily no jetlag... Lucky or meticulously controlled sleep during the flight will stay a mystery. I woke up after my 6 hour sleep and decided to try the gym... (it was too dark to go outside for a run). Mission accomplished for day 1.

The first two things that struck me about Altera Penang were - cleanliness of the carpet and the inviting brightness inside the building. As I observed and learned more I discovered that both had specific reasons - the reason for the later was the fact that all lights were on :-) I had forgotten how it feels with all lights turned on!

Meeting everyone was the best part of the day. 10 of us went for lunch together and thanks to a colleague who is also vegetarian all the meat-eaters were forced to eat veggie food for the day! But I am sure I need to find more hybrid places if we are to go out together for more than a week.

Dinner was with a colleague and a friend and we tried an Indian place. The food was pretty good except for the oil but more than anything we had a great time chatting and getting to know each other.

The most thoughtful gesture for the day was that by Tat Hui though, while I was trying to gather information on which pre-paid phone service to get and looking for someone with a pre-paid phone, he pulls out his old phone and passes it on to me - charged and ready to go with all our department contacts loaded. He it up just a day before for me and I hadnt even mentioned it, much less ask for it. A shout out to him for being to considerate!

Now time to get some sleep so that I can make it to my 7AM meeting!

Shredder RIP-off

Every Evening, W runs down to the mail box and gets a bunch of stuff. It includes our magazines, credit card statements, Pre-Approved offers , dvds etc etc...These are then (eventually) sorted . The DVDs goes near the TV, all the subsciption renewals, offers, coupons into one pile and everything else to be shredded into another. We got out Shredder last Nov From STAPLES hoping to keep our sensitive junk mail in check. Imagine our dismay when one evening, while trying to shred some paper, it groaned and churned and finally came to a halt. We could still hear the motor (trying maybe) to turn but the sharp teeth were at its place. Hmmm..Lucky we got a Store brand product. Right.....? WRONG !!!

That weekend we head off to a staples store fairly confident that "customer satisfaction is the number 1 priority"...
We Enter with our head held high. We stand in line over the customer service counter with a smile on our face.

Staples Rep : "How can we help you Sir ? "

W : "We got this shredder last Nov ..It hasn't yet been a year and it just died on us..The motor still runs but the teeth don't turn."

Staples Rep: "Do you have an extended Service plan ?"

W : " For a 30$ Shredder from your store ? No !!"

Staples Rep: " Sorry Sir , we cannot do anything in the store. You have to call the 1800-Number, Wait in the Queue..Then ship your 30$ Shredder to them which would cost you more than 40$ to ship and they may consider "..

Ehmm, Ehmm,.. Well he really did not add all the other lines ..

W : "Sir, So you expect me to call the 1800 number, Wait in the Queue, Then ship the 30$ shredder which would cost more than the shredder so that they might consider ? "

The Rep : ...Repeats the same S*** ..

W : "Sir, We prefered to get this Shredder and pay the sales tax so that if things did get to this point, we would have someone to talk to, to help us out. "

The Rep : Sorry , We cannot do anything.

How Naive were we to think that every product has atleast a year's Warrenty.....Guess not Staples !! Every time they change the model, we cannot do anything without the reciept.


Fine.....We give up against this corporate mumbo jumbo....
Let us pick out another shredder and hope to get a discount..So we go and pick up a decent shredder worth 64$ on sale for 34$...

We go to the checkout and talk with the assistant manager...
We think maybe we should look at the Extended service plan so that if anything goes wrong with our shredder, we can get it replaced...(read : The only think the reps would even consider talking about )
Ha Ha Ha....Keep wishing...
The plan had nothing to do with "replacing the shredder" or taking responsibility of the product..If it does go bad, we will get back the $$ that we spent for the shredder....(Dumdfounded)..

These were the two options we were given :
(1) Take the 15$ worth of plan and we will get out 22$ back if the shredder decides to die
(2) Pay the full price...(with the same outcome after 1 yr...)

W : Lady you asking me to pay a 70% premium so that I can get my 22$ back..

Rep : Sorry the system does not allow us to do anything else..

I chime in : Can't you even write a comment describing the situation ?

Rep : Nope..

So off we go with our new shredder and the 15$ "warrenty"...Vowing to ourselves never to go back again..

If Staples keeps on this kind of service it would be next in lineto follow Circuit city.
From the store's standpoint, this model might be good...But unfortunately its not for the customers... Talk about total RIPoff .. Hmphhh....

The ideals.

You've got mail !!

Gears of thought started churning when I got (yet to be updated) mail from my Friend, and I started to ponder...

I looked up the meaning of ideal as the webster dictionary states.

1: existing as an archetypal idea
2 a: existing as a mental image or in fancy or imagination only ;
b.broadly : lacking practicality
c: relating to or constituting mental images, ideas, or conceptions

I liked 2b. the best.

“Ideal” though seemingly absolute, is hardly so. Especially when coupled with the word “wife” or “husband”. Over the years, generations , society and the media, have created a solid mold for an “ideal wife” and anything outside the mold is perceived to be non ideal, not necessary bad of course.

I believe, as the pieces of a jigsaw, no piece by themselves can have a label of perfection, but it’s the picture that they make together. That is the metaphor I use when describing a marriage. It is the couple that can make their marriage an ideal picture for themselves. “Compatibility is not overrated".

Would you call a wife ideal if she does not empty the dishwasher or load the washer/dryer as her husband loves to do it? ( you would sure call her lucky).

How about the husband, if he likes taking it slow when his wife is earning enough and willingly so?

Well, at least the dictionary tends to agree "its all in the mind" :)

ponder on !!

The Sur`prize'

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME, .... Is this really it ? "

" Excuse me ? "

"Do you know what this is ? Do you know what its called ? "

" Not really Maam ! " {with a wild look}

"Oh My Gosh! I dont believe this, I have found it, I have finally found it ".

"My Precious.... Finally after a year's search in Watsonville , Menlo Park Farmers Market , San Jose flea market, And ..and ....its right here, 2 miles away from my home, Under my very nose,
a constant supply of Purslane.... Verdogala .... `my mumma's Gol Ki Bhaji ' , Haven't been this estatic before " ..

"(Thinking) Crazy lady"...

55 Fiction

Friends

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?"

"I'm just...I really wasn't expecting this."

"Say something. Anything."

"I'm sorry. But I don't feel about you that way."

"Oh."

"I mean you're a great guy and I like you but..."

"Oh."

"I hope we can still stay friends."

"Hmm..."


The Study Group

The readings did not match the graph. Five people, four months and no results. He heard the beep of her cellphone. She excused herself. He saw her blush as she closed the door behind her. He leaned back in the chair and sighed.

He knew she would leave now. The simulation would have to wait.


The Invite

He had been away. A business trip. The mailbox looked like it was about to burst. Bills, preapproved offers, a wedding invite, dvds, more bills, flyers...wait! Her wedding invite. He threw it into the trash.

He couldn't sleep. He came back and fished it out. Better shred it. Too much id theft nowadays.


Terminal C

"Hi."

"Hey, fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, work travel. How about you? Another annual trip home?"

"Yes."

"Alone?"

"Yeah, actually he...uhhh...Why don't you sit down?"

"No, my flight leaves soon. I just saw you so stopped by to say hi. Sorry, gotta run."

He seems happy.

She's been crying.


Opinions

"Who is this girl?"

"Huh?"

"The one you write about."

"No one. She doesn't exist. It's fiction."

"Raaaight..."

"Anyhoo, could you just tell me what you thought about the stories?"

"I can't, without knowing more about the characters. So, who is this girl?"

He sighed. He would just have to post it as it was.

Late Night talk

A Typical Afternoon in the office includes a hot cup of coffee which usually just sits there half empty, a colorful screen with all kinds of red, orange and if lucky green-blue simulation signals, and a good set of sony headphones, the kind which I recently received from D. No, unlike what you might be thinking, I did title this correctly. It not about afternoon that I wish to talk to you about. From the "circumaural" headphones comes out a very sweet sound of a song which takes me back to those cold nights in Cincinnati at a speed more than my simulation can run.

Those were the days. Me and one of my very close girlfriend with our class of 2007 use to spend nights after nights in our VLSI lab at Cinci. Our survival kit included the fudge cookies, brisk ICE tea from the wending machine across the hall in the nap room/break room and the our lone CD in the lab. We used to play our favourite song, "bheegi bheggi ratoon mein by leslie lewis". And not only did we play it , we kept on playing it. As the number of nights we spent in the lab increased, the sweet sound of the song was followed by our out of Sync voices. The song transcended from being an addition to the project nights to an addiction.The nights I spent in the 880 Lab does not remind me of the project deadlines or blood shot eyes but more about the fun we had as a group.

It would be close to a year now since I left my student life, but every little thing brings back memories including the 9'O clock Fox shows. My rommie's blog does not make the task any simpler. I miss those days and above all I miss the people. Wish I could go back in time for just a day back to the lab, back to my friends back to Apt 12, relive the moment over again.

Confessions Of A Cynic

The following thoughts and ideas have been loosely abridged from my observations of life and are postulates so to speak, to be accepted without proof.

Expectation is the root of all misery

Expectation sets mental standards. Failure by people around you and life in general to meet these standards leads to misery. So ingrained in our minds and lives is the law of action & reaction that we subconsciously expect returns for each and every action, no matter how small it might be. Master the art of giving up expectation and you will overcome unhappiness once and for all. However, the fact that you won't be unhappy does not mean that you will be happy.

The worst unanswered questions in life start with Why

"Why did he say that?" "Why did she do this to me?" "Why must life suck so much?" "Why Me?" It all starts with Why? We all wonder Why? Given a choice, most people would rather want to know "Why can't we be truly happy?" instead of "What is true happiness?" Answers to What questions are philosophical. Answers to Why questions are practical.

Hope is the biggest trick of them all

The biggest trick that was ever pulled on mankind was to make one believe that having hope can somehow affect the outcome of whatever it is one is hoping for. Thinking about it logically for a second makes one realize how ridiculous the idea is. However, the success stories of a small percentage of people hoping for something and then getting it, usually get more media attention and thereby overshadow the huge failure rate. It is this fact that keeps up the smoke screen. I put it rather bluntly though. Hopeful people would rather put it as: This is what keeps people going.

Rejection is the root of all conflict

Rejection: Of ideas, of love and often of common sense. Wars, heartbreak, crimes, divorce, global warming...the list is endless. But it can all be traced down to rejection. Rejection of one basic value, on which had the conflicting parties been able to agree upon, would have led them to not being conflicting parties in the first place. Variety is not the spice of life. The varieties of rejection are the spice of life. In fact, it would be a safe bet on my part to assume that many of you readers would rather reject my ideas of cynicism after having convinced yourself that optimism is a better choice.

Love is a scarce natural resource in need of conservation

Understanding a quality as complex as love requires the application of logic beyond the normal realms and boundaries of analysis. The world population is constantly on the rise. However, there is only enough love to go around. A common scenario of demand exceeding supply. It would help you to understand if you think of love as a spiritual or psychological oxygen for the human race. Or for the technically inclined, an internet connection with limited bandwidth. For new people to fall in love, people already in love have to fall out of love to make resources available, leading to divorces and split-ups. However, if the feelings of mutual affection of the new people who want to be in love are not stronger than those of the current people, resources are not freed up, leading to heartbreak. Love, therefore is a non-renewable scarce natural resource in dire need of conservation.

Footnote:

These ideas have not been presented with an aim of converting you into followers of cynicism. In fact, I suggest to the optimists among you that you feed on these golden morsels of information and think of how lucky you are to be privy to this knowledge without having to undergo the arduous quest to cynical enlightenment.