So it was a dilemma what offer to take... and that was a good kind of dilemma, I was on the top of the world and then.... kahani mein twist.

I got a call at 8 pm today from the COO of the parent company saying that they have decided that they will enforce the no-hire policy
against consultants. So that means I cannot work with any of the offers and have to start searching for a job all over again:-( I explained to him my problem and he said we can talk more about it tomorrow. I called the ACS guy and left him a voicemail about this. This is a big shocker since they had told us its going to be allright to work with consultants. I dont have the luxury of time to decide whether or not to take up a job now since I will have to leave the country if I my transfer doesnt start soon!

Its been quite a roller coaster.. job, no job, offer, no offer...

I also got a call from one of the small consulting companies and they are not making me an offer... boo hoo.. I wasnt going to take their offer any ways.

I am supposed to be on an interview trip tomorrow to another consulting company but I called them and let them know I will not be making this trip because of this phone call, I need to figure my life out from here on...

I had an interview with a local hospital for a typical industrial engineering job that I pushed to 11th September because of this trip tomorrow, I called the hr assistant there and left her a message that I can make it to that interview, lets see if thats going to happen. I have my doubts.. frankly I am not interested in that job at all... but at this point I might get desperate and take it up :-(

No system or machinery or economic doctrine or theory stands on its own feet: it is invariably built on a metaphysical foundation, that is to say, upon man's basic outlook on life, its meaning and its purpose. I have talked about the religion of economics, the idol worship of material possessions, of consumption and the so-called standard of living, and the fateful propensity that rejoices in the fact that 'what were luxuries to our fathers have become necessities for us.' --E. F. Schumacher

Inspiration of the Day:
Wal-mart: those who love the retailer say that it provides 1.8 million jobs and makes life's necessities affordable to its 176 million weekly customers with limited incomes; those who hate the $312-billion-a-year behemoth refer to the "externalities" of those low prices -- the environmental degradation caused by sourcing cheap goods, the public services required by low-paid employees unable to make ends meet, and the poor labor conditions under which many of its suppliers' products are made. So what would the world be like without a Wal-Mart? It isn't a simple answer but Michael Shuman takes it on his new book: Small-Mart Revolution. [ more ]

Secrets Of The Male Shopper
Marketers have been missing half the male population. They're finally
paying attention

A couple of years ago, you couldn't escape the metrosexual. He was
everywhere, with his Paul Smith pinstripes, $100 haircuts, and
chemical tan. This character became so much a part of the zeitgeist
that some regular guys began wondering if they were metrosexual. He
seemed hip and urban. Women, it was said, loved him because he smelled
good and knew gabardine from twill. And if a man wasn't a metrosexual,
he risked being tagged as the metro's alter ego: the retrosexual, a
guy's guy who wouldn't be caught dead wearing chartreuse.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_36/b3999001.htm?chan=search

 The following quotations are taken from official court records across the nation,
 showing how funny and embarrassing it is that recorders operate at all times in
courts of law, so that even the slightest inadvertence is preserved for posterity.

*  Lawyer: "Was that the same nose you broke as a child?"
    * Witness: "I only have one, you know."

    * Lawyer: "Now, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?"
    * Witness: "By death."
    * Lawyer: "And by whose death was it terminated?"

    * Accused, Defending His Own Case: "Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?"

The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in jail.

    * Lawyer: "What is your date of birth?"
    * Witness: "July 15th."
    * Lawyer: "What year?"
    * Witness: "Every year."

    * Lawyer: "Can you tell us what was stolen from your house?"
    * Witness: "There was a rifle that belonged to my father that was stolen from the hall closet."
    * Lawyer: "Can you identify the rifle?"
    * Witness: "Yes. There was something written on the side of it."
    * Lawyer: "And what did the writing say?"
    * Witness: "'Winchester'!"

    * Lawyer: "What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?"
    * Witness: "Gucci sweats and Reeboks."

    * Lawyer: "Can you describe what the person who attacked you looked like?"
    * Witness: "No. He was wearing a mask."
    * Lawyer: "What was he wearing under the mask?"
    * Witness: "Er...his face."

    * Lawyer: "This myasthenia gravis -- does it affect your memory at all?"
    * Witness: "Yes."
    * Lawyer: "And in what ways does it affect your memory?"
    * Witness: "I forget."
    * Lawyer: "You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?"

    * Lawyer: "How old is your son, the one living with you?"
    * Witness: "Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which."
    * Lawyer: "How long has he lived with you?"
    * Witness: "Forty-five years."

    * Lawyer: "What was the first thing your husband said to you when he woke that morning?"
    * Witness: "He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'"
    * Lawyer: "And why did that upset you?"
    * Witness: "My name is Susan."

    * Lawyer: "Sir, what is your IQ?"
    * Witness: "Well, I can see pretty well, I think."

    * Lawyer: "Did you blow your horn or anything?"
    * Witness: "After the accident?"
    * Lawyer: "Before the accident."
    * Witness: "Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it."

    * Lawyer: "Trooper, when you stopped the defendant, were your red and blue lights flashing?"
    * Witness: "Yes."
    * Lawyer: "Did the defendant say anything when she got out of her car?"
    * Witness: "Yes, sir."
    * Lawyer: "What did she say?"
    * Witness: "'What disco am I at?'"

    * Lawyer: "Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?"
    * Witness: "No."
    * Lawyer: "Did you check for blood pressure?"
    * Witness: "No."
    * Lawyer: "Did you check for breathing?"
    * Witness: "No."
    * Lawyer: "So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?"
    * Witness: "No."
    * Lawyer: "How can you be so sure, Doctor?"
    * Witness: "Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar."
    * Lawyer: "But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?"
    * Witness: "Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere."

    * Lawyer: "How far apart were the vehicles at the time of the collision?"

    * Lawyer: "And you check your radar unit frequently?"
    * Officer: "Yes, I do."
    * Lawyer: "And was your radar unit functioning correctly at the time you had the plaintiff on radar?"
    * Officer: "Yes, it was malfunctioning correctly."

    * Lawyer: "What happened then?"
    * Witness: "He told me, he says, 'I have to kill you because you can identify me.'"
    * Lawyer: "Did he kill you?"
    * Witness: "No."

    * Lawyer: "Now sir, I'm sure you are an intelligent and honest man--"
    * Witness: "Thank you. If I weren't under oath, I'd return the compliment."

    * Lawyer: "You were there until the time you left, is that true?"

    * Lawyer: "So you were gone until you returned?"

    * Lawyer: "The youngest son, the 20 year old, how old is he?"

    * Lawyer: "Were you alone or by yourself?"

    * Lawyer: "How long have you been a French Canadian?"

    * Witness: "He was about medium height and had a beard."
    * Lawyer: "Was this a male or a female?"

    * Lawyer: "Mr. Slatery, you went on a rather elaborate honeymoon, didn't you?"
    * Witness: "I went to Europe, sir."
    * Lawyer: "And you took your new wife?"

    * Lawyer: "I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture."
    * Witness: "That's me."
    * Lawyer: "Were you present when that picture was taken?"

    * Lawyer: "Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?"

    * Lawyer: "Do you know how far pregnant you are now?"
    * Witness: "I'll be three months on November 8."
    * Lawyer: "Apparently, then, the date of conception was August 8?"
    * Witness: "Yes."
    * Lawyer: "What were you doing at that time?"

    * Lawyer: "How many times have you committed suicide?"
    * Witness: "Four times."

    * Lawyer: "Do you have any children or anything of that kind?"

    * Lawyer: "She had three children, right?"
    * Witness: "Yes."
    * Lawyer: "How many were boys?"
    * Witness: "None."
    * Lawyer: "Were there girls?"

    * Lawyer: "You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?"

    * Lawyer: "You say that the stairs went down to the basement?"
    * Witness: "Yes."
    * Lawyer: "And these stairs, did they go up also?"

    * Lawyer: "Have you lived in this town all your life?"
    * Witness: "Not yet."

    * Lawyer: (realizing he was on the verge of asking a stupid question) "Your Honor, I'd like to strike the next question."

    * Lawyer: "Do you recall approximately the time that you examined the body of Mr. Eddington at the Rose Chapel?"
    * Witness: "It was in the evening. The autopsy started about 8:30pm."
    * Lawyer: "And Mr. Eddington was dead at the time, is that correct?"

    * Lawyer: "What is your brother-in-law's name?"
    * Witness: "Borofkin."
    * Lawyer: "What's his first name?"
    * Witness: "I can't remember."
    * Lawyer: "He's been your brother-in-law for years, and you can't remember his first name?"
    * Witness: "No. I tell you, I'm too excited." (rising and pointing to his brother-in-law) "Nathan, for heaven's sake, tell them your first name!"

    * Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?"
    * Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
    * Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?"
    * Witness: "I refuse to answer that question.
    * Lawyer: "Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?"
    * Witness: "No."

    * Lawyer: "Doctor, did you say he was shot in the woods?"
    * Witness: "No, I said he was shot in the lumbar region."

    * Lawyer: "What is your marital status?"
    * Witness: "Fair."

    * Lawyer: "Are you married?"
    * Witness: "No, I'm divorced."
    * Lawyer: "And what did your husband do before you divorced him?"
    * Witness: "A lot of things I didn't know about."

    * Lawyer: "And who is this person you are speaking of?"
    * Witness: "My ex-widow said it.

    * Lawyer: "How did you happen to go to Dr. Cherney?"
    * Witness: "Well, a gal down the road had had several of her children by Dr. Cherney and said he was really good."

    * Lawyer: "Doctor, how many autopsies have you performed on dead people?"
    * Witness: "All my autopsies have been performed on dead people."

    * Lawyer: "Were you acquainted with the deceased?"
    * Witness: "Yes sir."
    * Lawyer: "Before or after he died?"

    * Lawyer: "Mrs. Jones, is your appearance this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?"
    * Witness: "No. This is how I dress when I go to work."

    * The Court: "Now, as we begin, I must ask you to banish all present information and prejudice from your minds, if you have any."

    * Lawyer: "Did he pick the dog up by the ears?"
    * Witness: "No."
    * Lawyer: "What was he doing with the dog's ears?"
    * Witness: "Picking them up in the air."
    * Lawyer: "Where was the dog at this time?"
    * Witness: "Attached to the ears."

    * Lawyer: "When he went, had you gone and had she, if she wanted to and were able, for the time being excluding all the restraints on her not to go, gone also, would he have brought you, meaning you and she, with him to the station?"
    * Other Lawyer: "Objection. That question should be taken out and shot."

    * Lawyer: "And lastly, Gary, all your responses must be oral. Ok? What school do you go to?"
    * Witness: "Oral."
    * Lawyer: "How old are you?"
    * Witness: "Oral."

    * Lawyer: "What is your relationship with the plaintiff?"
    * Witness: "She is my daughter."
    * Lawyer: "Was she your daughter on February 13, 1979?"

    * Lawyer: "Now, you have investigated other murders, have you not, where there was a victim?"

    * Lawyer: "Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?"

    * Lawyer: "And what did he do then?"
    * Witness: "He came home, and next morning he was dead."
    * Lawyer: "So when he woke up the next morning he was dead?"

    * Lawyer: "Did you tell your lawyer that your husband had offered you indignities?"
    * Witness: "He didn't offer me nothing. He just said I could have the furniture."

    * Lawyer: "So, after the anesthesia, when you came out of it, what did you observe with respect to your scalp?"
    * Witness: "I didn't see my scalp the whole time I was in the hospital."
    * Lawyer: "It was covered?"
    * Witness: "Yes, bandaged."
    * Lawyer: "Then, later on...what did you see?"
    * Witness: "I had a skin graft. My whole buttocks and leg were removed and put on top of my head."

    * Lawyer: "Could you see him from where you were standing?"
    * Witness: "I could see his head."
    * Lawyer: "And where was his head?"
    * Witness: "Just above his shoulders."

    * Lawyer: "Do you drink when you're on duty?"
    * Witness: "I don't drink when I'm on duty, unless I come on duty drunk."

    * Lawyer: "Any suggestions as to what prevented this from being a murder trial instead of an attempted murder trial?"
    * Witness: "The victim lived."

    * Lawyer: "The truth of the matter is that you were not an unbiased, objective witness, isn't it? You too were shot in the fracas."
    * Witness: "No, sir. I was shot midway between the fracas and the naval."

    * Lawyer: "Officer, what led you to believe the defendant was under the influence?"
    * Witness: "Because he was argumentary, and he couldn't pronunciate his words."

Yes, last weekend was not a long weekend per say, but it was for me. I got back after 16  hours of travelling to NYC on thursday night. Over amazing home made Tacos and corn toast I decided that I am taking friday off.

Friday Sis, Selmin and I went for a walk in Central Park and breakfast at the boathouse in there. That was beautiful. After that we went to shop for my shirt at Banana Republic. Got back home and hung out with Puneet's friends Aidan, Ankur and Vikram (who I called Tushar till the last day). Mauli, Denise and Karen (who I called Carol on her face) were there too. Had a nice party, little  wine drinking competition with Mauli was a disasted and I ended up taking care of her rest of the night. Went to the Roof-top later in the night which was great.

Saturday started of slow. Met up with Mrugesh and Jasmili. Went for lunch at Lemongrass with the group. Arpit and Toral joined us then. Got ready and headed to Diwan. Party was a big success met a lot of people, made sure everyone had enought eat, drink... danced a little with Selmin. Later in the night Heena and Jatan joined us for Kati Roll. Sung Disney songs with Selmin and Denise till early morning.

Sunday morning started with some great Mimosas and bagels. Lousy day, decided to walk around by myself around time square. Ended up at TKTS and bought tickets for Hairspray. Lunch at Mama Mexicana and then play at Henry Simon theater. Absolutely brilliant performance, great songs and amazing sets. After that I caught an earlier flight back, first class upgrade so I was drinking Mojitos all the way back.

Monday started with a ton of work, interview calls, expenses, laundry... all the other fun stuff. Met up with Toraldidi for lunch at Tindrum. Evening we had some left overs from a Arpit's 'baby shower' event which he couldnt make it. Watched 'Proteus' last night which is a canadian gay film festival winner: Based in 1700s in Dutch occupied South Africa about Sodomy and Slavery. Very strange light, almost as if its a documentary. Very amatuerish cintematography - almost forced.

First thing I did today was go for a run, that felt good! Then stated the calls, went to get Arpit's car serviced to Navez in the afternoon. Met up with Arpit and Toral at Tindrum again, spent 4 hours at Barnes and Nobles doing work and then researching on consultants. Got back home and did some more research and then work and then phone calls again.

Cant figure out for the life of me what offer to consider... here are some pros and cons between offers:

Small company - 200 people. Offering more money and assured bonus. Not much growth possible, stability seems good. It probably will get acquired in the long run. Also they are starting my residency process almost immediately.

Mid size company- 20k people. Benefits look better. Less money and no assured bonus though they mentioned it. Growth possible, horizonal and vertical movement possible. Stability seems good.They have been around for longer and survived in the market. They are growing their practice in this consulting a lot. They wont start residency for another 6 months.

Dinner at home.. and was about to watch 2046 but feeling really tired. need sleep.....

So  I wrote a whole blog entry and it didnt publish.... oh well.. lets write down the 5 second version

ATL to Madison was last sunday. Trip with a CHOA employee going for training, it was a great flight, imparted a lot of knowledge :-)

Madison was a good day. Staff meeting was very good, packed my last remaining stuff to move office next week (which i wont be using). Travel rest of the day via chicago to houston. Drive from houston to Galveston.

Sleep most of tuesday. Start work at UTMB at 6.30 pm. Very quiet night.

Sleep some on Wednesday. Inteviews with Deloitte. Progress report time. Pack up since we are leaving early on Thursday. Start work at 6.30 to 4 am. Fun with John and Susana.

Nap for an hour on hotel Galvez couch. Drive at 3.30 am to Houston. Fly from Houston to Chicago (delays for 4 hours) and then to NYC last night. Taco and wine night.

When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him. --Albert Camus

Good News of the Day:
A new Canadian index will gauge how people are faring overall, not just how much they're spending. The Canadian Index of Wellbeing hopes to be more accurate than its economic cousin, the gross domestic product (GDP). "GDP tells us how much total income we're producing but tells us nothing about how that income is distributed," says Roy Romanow, the former Saskatchewan premier who chaired the 2002 commission into medicare. The index has been five years in the making and some of its quarterly figures are due to be published in the fall. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Find out how 'World Happiness Database' rates your country. [ more ]

Lets start playing catch up again... its been a very hectic week. Took 7 different planes over the last 7 days.

Started off last sunday to Grand Rapids from Atlanta. Got to Staybridge around 7 pm. Ordered food from grubgetters.com which was really cool, the basically pick up food from anythere and get it to the hotel. I ordered some Gobi Masala and Nan from Bombay Cafe. Watched few Seinfeld episodes with Brian.

Monday we spent that day at Metro with the clients. They were bummed to know that I was gonna be leaving, they met with Rachel. Jenny, our project manager gave us a surprise visit (she was on maternity leave) with her baby. Gave me a card and everything, she was very sweet. I had couple of calls from Recruiters, CTG called me so that was cool. Dinner at Mongolian BBQ was pretty fun. I had a very bright pink Cosmo just to annoy Joe since he is always making fun of my drinks.

Tuesday we started really early (4.30 am!) and couple of glitches but everything else was very smooth. The workflow Walkthrough went amazing. They let us go home early. I was back in ATL by 5 pm. Hung out with Toraldidi for sometime and then met up with Chetan. Went to Nan, this amazing Thai place - service was a bit disappointing but food was excellent. Wine selection was not that amazing. Watched Descent after that. That was really awesome, if u want to feel claustrophobic this is your movie. Lots of powerful camera work and great music to give it a scary feel.

Wednesday morning I left for Madison again, John and Terry were with me. Talked with John for a long time, it was nice catching up. We worked together but never had a chance to really sit down and talk and with this whole scenario of working towards getting a job it was easier to find things in common. Stayed in Mariott, had to rush to get ready and go for the ACS interview. It was very surprised, the interview was more of their sales pitch about ACS than talking about my skills. It was kinda fun. Dinner with Terry, Brad (and his fiance) and Kim.Called it an early night after a Gimlet.

Got up at 4 am, to go to the airport. Flight to Minneapolis, connecting via Milwaukee. Had to really such for that the connecting, very short time in the middle. We had a propeller from Madison to Milwaukee which was kinda scary. Prashanth from Virtillegence came to pick me up from the airport. Talked to most of the people in that company, they too seemed real nice and very friendly. They want me bad.. i could tell and it felt good! I got a verbal offer from them which was pretty sweet, they were trying to pressurize me to sign up and I had to ask them to take it easy. Lunch at an indian restaurant (Taste of India) was nice. Went for a happy hour with them to a nice place on 41st and broadway. Met with a few other consultants, who had either clinical degrees or 5-10 years of experience working at a hospital. Got to Springhill around 7 and went to sleep at 7.30 pm.

Friday was very disorganized, Healthia HR person was on vacation. I didnt even know where to go, basically I just winged it and got there. Managed to talk with a few of the top people there and thats it, there wasnt much so I just decided to take an earlier flight. Got to Atlanta at 5 instead of 11, managed to meet up with Sumier, Janak and Ashley for dinner at Pazoles. Met Chetan later on, stole some of Sumierz clothes and went home around 10 ish...

Saturday started early, managed to get some of my expenses done. Went for Toraldidi's dance at Gwinett Center, got my laundry done, haircut taken care of. Met up with Harsh, checked out his new maxima (pretty sweet ride) and lunched with him at Bhojanic.  Hung out with Samir and Dale for the rest of the evening. Nupur and Kabir were there too, it was nice catching up. Got home by 11 pm and then worked some more on my expenses and called it a night.

Today was been a great day. I managed to run outside around 4 miles, lots of hills and craters. It was very different from running on the treadmill, lot more tiring. Got my stuff packed for the whole week (Madison, Gavelston and NYC this week), finalized my receipts for last weeks trips. Tried to go to the temple but got lost and finally when I got there they were closed. Got back and went for lunch with Sharvi, Arpit and Toraldidi at Udipi. I guess now that I am here so early, I'll go in a get some reading done.

I find that because of modern technological evolution and our global economy, and as a result of the great increase in population, our world has greatly changed: it has become much smaller. However, our perceptions have not evolved at the same pace; we continue to cling to old national demarcations and the old feelings of 'us' and 'them'. --Dalai Lama

Fact of the Day:
Female soccer fans in Iran set aside the 'hijab' to celebrate the national team's victory halfway across the globe. Brazilian managers swindle American corporations abroad and exploit their own players at home. Undisciplined soccer stars from Nigeria are sold to Ukrainian teams and forced to adapt to chess-like coaching strategies in the dead of winter. Globalization never seems so vivid as when seen through the eyes of a soccer fan. In 'How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization', Franklin Foer notes that soccer is "further along in the globalization game than any other economy on the planet." As such, soccer offers insight into, among other things, why multinational corporations fail to alleviate poverty; how religious fundamentalism can be undermined; and how nationalism can emerge in a more enlightened form. [ more ]

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one. --John Lennon

Inspiration of the Day:
Imagine: the 100 million disabled people in developing countries, who today must crawl on the ground, suddenly owning a wheelchair. That's the goal of Free Wheelchair Mission, which will benefit from the efforts of William Hibbard, a long time marathon runner, as he undertakes a cross-country trek to raise money to deliver 25,000 wheelchairs worldwide. Titled, "Imagine: A Run Across America", Hibbard will run 52.5 miles a day, the equivalent of two marathons, in hopes of raising awareness of the plight of the developing world's disabled population. "The idea came to me while marathon training and thinking about John Lennon," said William Hibbard, a long-time John Lennon fan. "I realized how Lennon's song Imagine took a simple idea and inspired millions of people. The one thing God gave me is a pair of sturdy legs that can run well, and if I can run and help get people wheelchairs that so desperately need them, then I've done my small part." [ more ]

Was a really tiring weekend and this time not because of parties or social gatherings. Saturday was pretty much work all day. kinda crazy.

I managed to get out early on friday from the 9-10 meeting. Went to the mall to exchange my crappy head set for the phone. I never expected the airport to be a full day thing. I was sitting there all the way from 11 am to 4 pm when I finally caught the noon flight. I got a lot of reading done in terms of catching up with my yahoo emails which are just different newspapers and other current affairs, arts daily, healthcare news... it took me till 12.30 to get them to restart the router at the airport, I was talking to them over the phone for over an hour before I could get someone on the line to listen to me that the airport wireless was down. Finally got it working and then time went by rather quickly. Till it was 4 pm and I was starving. Didnt get home till 7.30. Went directly to Sumiers and then went to dinner with Soumya, Chetan, Rahul and him. We went to RuSans and thats always a pleasure. Only one Saki bomb but it was great and a ton of veggie sushi, I love the fact that they have so many options for me. Called it an early night... I was so tired.

Saturday started off with me unpacking my boxes, then  tried to fix the printer which has a ton of those packaging material all into it so it was malfunctioning, I just couldnt get the photocopier to work. I did my expenses, caught up on some work stuff. Then packed all my home office stuff - monitor, photocopier/printer, keyboard, docking station, laptop bag. Went to kinkos and did my photocopies, went to fed ex store and sent everything in. Then got back and sat with Arpit-Toral to clean up the room, moved all the books to one book shelf, got more room in the closet to keep things. Arranged some of my stuff, in boxes under the bed. Was exhausted by the end of it. Got an ice cream later on at brusters, my outing of the day. I couldnt go for 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' since I didnt buy my tickets early enough :-(

Today, I just managed to make some travel arrangements for this week. In addition I managed to clean up most of the room and pack my stuff. Joined Altaf, Samir, Dale, Sumier, Aditya, Ashley, Shameet, Abid, Mehboob for brunch at Toast. It was nice seeing everyone. I couldnt eat much besides fruit but it was nice. I have to miss Bombay Dreams since my flight is at 3 instead of 8.30 which is normally what I flights are at. So thats the second disappoinment of the weekend. Fortunately I have heard both these things were quite mediocre so I am not that disappointed.

I got selected as the 'random selectee' today, and this is the first time in last 9 months of travelling every week that this has happened. I am bound to think this has something to do with last week's events since I was the 2nd indian that was 'randomly' selected. Let them select me, I just need to realise that this is finally for the betterment and safety of us travellers. Shut up and bear it.. it'll be over soon.

I should be boarding soon... I am glad I am connecting with so many people on Orkut.I am about 1/3 into the name sake.. I should be able to get some reading done on the plane today, i hope....

I knew I was buying a great pair of shoes when I bought this. Finally the world recognizes !!!

Not Such A Croc
Might a Fad Shoe's Health Claims Stand?

By Jennifer Huget
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, August 1, 2006; HE01

You've tried to ignore them, but they've spread like vermin. Crocs are everywhere. That's often the way with shoe crazes -- think Birkenstocks, Earth shoes, Dr. Scholl's. Crocs wearers are practically evangelical about the shoes' supposed comfort, but really, how can you trust people who go out in public wearing goofy rubbery clogs with vent holes in them? Might as well ascribe health benefits to chopped-off garden galoshes or jelly shoes.

Time to call in the foot experts and expose the things for the frauds they are. Except -- surprise -- that turns out to be more difficult than you might imagine.

Crocs, made of a resin foam called Croslite and listing for $29.99, are featured prominently on the Web site of the Bethesda-based American Podiatric Medical Association ( http://www.apma.org/ ) as one healthy alternative to flip-flops; two Crocs models -- both in the Crocs Rx line, designed for people with diabetes and others with circulatory and foot ailments -- recently have been awarded the APMA Seal of Acceptance. The APMA takes special note of the fact that Croslite "warms and softens with body heat and molds to the users' feet, while remaining extremely lightweight."

Totally my problem... I have tried so hard to not start a new book and complete the one I have on my shelf, but I keep starting new books. I am easily reading about 10-15 books at a time. But my problem also extends further.. because I practically never finish a book!

Why I Can’t Stop Starting Books

When taking my fledgling steps toward literacy, I lived in a neighborhood with no library. Luckily, there was a bookmobile that came around every week. Each Tuesday night, I would borrow as many books as permitted, devour them and come back next week for more. I would also read any palatable materials my sisters brought home, excluding obviously unsuitable items like “The Child’s ‘Northanger Abbey’ ” or anything involving Trixie Belden. Like many children growing up in crummy neighborhoods, I honestly believed that if I read enough books, I would one day possess a gorgeous house with two cars, two children and a white picket fence. This is exactly what has come to pass.

Unfortunately, my youthful experiences got me into the habit of reading too many books simultaneously. Most of my female friends read one or two books at a time; my male friends insist that they are always reading at least one, though I suspect this figure may be aspirational. But I am never reading fewer than 25 books. I am not talking about books I have delved into, perused and set aside, like “Finnegans Wake” or Pamela Anderson’s first novel — that would get me up way over a hundred. I am talking about books I am actively reading, books that are on my nightstand and are not leaving there until I am done with them. Right now, the number is 27.

Like any addiction, the insatiable desire to start new books provides immense pleasure. Still, it is a monkey I often wish to get off my back, because I do not want to wait another five years to find out how “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” turns out, and would love to know what Shelby Foote (“The Civil War”) thinks about the stand-alone burial of Stonewall Jackson’s arm. At my current glacial pace — I am now roughly 400 pages into each — I will be a grandfather before I get to the part where the Crusaders sack Constantinople, and will be festering in my grave long before Pickett rolls the dice at Gettysburg.

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To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed is to be a pilgrim. --Mark Nepo

Inspiration of the Day:
It isn't easy living on a dollar a day, even when you're trekking through poverty-stricken parts of rural India. Just ask Nipun and Guri Mehta, who held themselves to that budget while taking a walking pilgrimage through the country last year. Six months into their marriage, this Berkeley couple left with a one-way ticket to journey India by foot. Eating wherever food was offered, sleeping wherever a flat surface was found, and profiling everyday heroes encountered along the way, theirs was an unscripted spiritual pilgrimage in search of the good -- both inside and out. [ more ]

7 am meeting... I am not very happy but I am accomodating (I just filled out this survey from Healthia about how people might say how I am and how I would say I am) so I say ok to meeting at 7 if thats the only time she has.. well I call her at 6,45 before I leave to confirm the meeting. Voicemail...

I get a call back where she is like, actually I just got up ... so I am not ready. Can we do it at 7.45- 8.00. We pushed it to 8.15 then and I am here all ready like an idiot. I thought i'd do my packing which takes 15 minutes. Gosh.. I am like make up your mind woman! Allright, who is this girl? Its my replacement, just like an android - I am being replaced as an AC for my client. I pushed for it, so that my client can meet her face to face next week and we can have a good transition. Still it doesnt make me feel great, trying to pass on my baby to someone else. She seems to be a nice person though, they all are. Worse part about this is that I have no one to blame for my lay-off. I cant make it personal, which really sux!!! I want a scape goat... it'll make me feel better.

Day before was boring, McDonald's fruit and walnut salad again. Meeting with Melissa for her Go-live was fun, caught up with her. Ran for about 2.5 miles. Evening consisted of drinking Canua (really nice wine) at Vin Santos. Always a good feeling when I go there. Got back and did some solid job search for 2 hours. Nothing else besides that.

Yesterday was the same. Got up early, at work at 8.10 am. Calls all morning with consultants and then with my customer. Brains were fried by 3 pm. I decided to leave for the mall.. bought myself a new head set which does not work!!! It looks fancy this body glove shit but somehow its permanently mute. Will have to go get a new one today. I ran out of underwears so that gave me a chance to get another BR one.. those feel so good :-) I kinda like it when I dont pack correctly, gives me a damn good reason to buy new stuff. Back in the hotel room after some calls (Sis and Puneet are so nice, they have been extremely supportive during this hard time - i mean its a bitch trying to wait for all these recruiters to get back. They keep this up.. I may have to move to nyc:-) I watched 3 movies back to back yesterday:

1. Family Stone - Ok movie, I would'nt give it more than a 2/5. Very 'christmasy' and frankly gets a little boring. I mean Meredith is a mess and she never totally redeems herself.. everyone else is just equally messed up so whats the big deal. I didnt think they really apologised/learned a lesson either.

2. The Squid and the Whale - Brilliant movie, I thought its a must for anyone who wants to watch a serious - surprisingly frank/true effects of self-projecting successful intellectual parents on their kids. One kid is around 10 and other in high school. Some points are very touching but the director never dwells on those moments where we want to provide support to the kids, maybe because he doesnt want that. He wants it to be as close to reality. I really enjoyed this movie. Easily a 4/5

3. Jhankar Beats - Heard so much about this movie. It was a fun movie, a one-time watcher for sure. Nothing against it but I didnt see that much material in it either. Not much to talk about here, definately disliked Riya Sen's outfits! I mean seriously, you wear tube tops and skin tight jeans in a church... call me traditional but it was very inappropriate. Tons of bad acting combined with really bad dialogues.. well atleast it had a plot.. oh well... 2/5

Life is the only real counseler; wisdom unfiltered through personal experience does not become a part of the moral tissue. --Edith Wharton

Inspiration of the Day:
If you could send a letter back through time to your younger self what would that letter say? In this inspiring new publication "What I Know Now" forty-one famous women from diverse fields write letters to the women they once were, filled with the advice and insights they wish they had then. Honest, wise and compassionate these letters reveal rare glimpses of the personal struggles and triumphs of celebrities from Madeleine Albright and Macy Gray to Maya Angelou. Click here to read an extract. [ more ]

So I have been trying to ramp up my running distance.. slowly and steadily. I have written before that it all depends on your mood at the time of running. Sometimes 2 miles is really difficult and then again sometimes 4 miles and you are still going..

Well today I took the leap.. 4 miles was my aim but I kept going... for 5 miles! I have never done this much at one go.. so I am pretty pumped right now. Thanks to yesterday's mojitos for sure :-)

I was really tired when I woke up yesterday.. had a meeting at 8 am.. quite bummed about that. Went for the meeting and then the day continued, one after the other. My attention was on my gmail and phone, hoping to get some interviews lined up next week. One of the consulting guys I am talking to: Prashanth was like 'we dont need you to interview, we just want you to start because we know indians work very hard. We just need to talk about the final offer and stuff.. besides we can start green card in 3 months.' As great as it sounds, its kinda shady too.. I said I want to come see some people who I am going to be working with and then we can decide on the final numbers. So I'll probably take a trip next week to see them.

Another guy Brian has been emailing me back and forth. Hopefully I will talk to him today about the next round of interviews with that company. Then there is this Suzanne lady who seems to be talking with most people from my company told me she wants me to be in Madison next week. I have changed that ticket around 3 times now. I told her she has to fly me now because I cant keep doing this to my customer, they have to pay for the change fees! So most likely I will have those 3 interviews next week. I am still waiting on big giants like Deloitte, IBM and Bearing point to contact me. Accenture already said no. Today I plan to contact two indian companies, Wipro and Infosys and see what they have to offer.

I stopped working at 5 pm and went for an early dinner to Abuelos (one last time, i keep telling myself); took my book with me so after 3 mojitos (2.99 special :-) and a basket of chips and salsa/chili con queso, I had some quesadillas and got back to the hotel room and collapsed. Woke up around 9, checked some emails... spoke with Ravi sinha for some time. Apparently he just got a job at Oracle and wanted to gloat... whatever. Another few phone calls, and I am done for the day. Been up since 3 am today, checking my emails and had about 2 hours of workout. Its 6 am and I am ready to go to work!

"The purpose of life is ... to know oneself. We cannot do so unless we learn to identify ourselves with all that lives." -- Mohandas K. Gandhi.

I have never seen a conflict in which everyone could see the whole. On the contrary, I have only experienced conflicts in which some, and usually all, of the "part-ies" were identified with the "part." They were, literally, "partisan."

This is the basic human condition, the natural worldview of organisms that are born, live and die as seemingly separate entities. When our bodies shout "Me first!" -- we listen. We are wired to survive, and to put our survival before others (an instinct which can be trumped by only one other: protecting our offspring). As a natural extension of our survival instinct, we tend to care more about the welfare of those near and dear to us than those who are, by whatever definition, far away. Our language provides convenient words for each: the first we call "us;" the latter, "them."

The challenge of integrity -- or integral vision, which literally means "seeing" or "holding" the whole -- is to balance this very natural allegiance to the part ("partisan") with an allegiance to what it is but a part of. [...]

This intention toward integrity -- from the Latin integer, meaning "undivided, untouched whole -- is our first, critical step toward transforming conflict. Because of our commitment to "hold" or to "see" the whole conflict, we can become part of the solution to the conflict rather than just adding our energy to it. [...]

Integrity grows out of the humbling realization that there are many ways of seeing the world, and that we cannot take our worldviews for granted. Doing so blinds us to the possibility that our worldviews may be incomplete, skewed or -- to oversimplify -- "wrong." If this is so, then no matter how noble our intentions may be ("freeing the people," "creating jobs," "protecting human rights," etc.), everything we do will backfire.

--Mark Gerzon

Weekend was very packed as usual...

Friday.. I was kinda down all day with those devastating news so I did not want to be alone. Hung out with Sumier and Vilas - went to Rama 5 and had some Eco Domani Pinot Grigio. Stuck around Arpit, Chirag, Khagesh and Dharmesh's carrom game and made fun of Arpit... 'u suck!' was the line of the hour.

Saturday started off with a visit to Raj Bhog to get some 'Fasting' food.. thats almost an oxymoron.. arent you not supposed to eat in a fast. Then a trip to my sport manicure-pedicure at Sugarcoat. After that I helped Rahul get some food to the IACA temple from indian restaurants like Bombay Grill and Haveli. Then we delivered the food and had dinner there. Got back and chilled out at his place. Smoked some hukkah and then met up with Samir, Dale, Sumier and Vishwas at Smith Old bar on Piedmont. Couple of Harps was followed by mojitos in Loca Luna, Stella at 6th street tavern and lots of water at Cheetah. Night ended with chillaxing over couple of rose tobacco refill rounds of hukkah.

Today was relatively slow. Did the Rakshabandhan thing with Toral didi in the morning. Got  Mansibens and Minals Rakhi with hers too.. so now i have 4 of them on my hand. Then another nap.. followed by hanging out at Samir's and then at Sumiers (Project Runway catch up... bonnie and keith leave in one show.. crazaaay). Back at the airport right now.. off to an emergency build trip to Madison for the whole week...