Relocation, I guess is very much a part of life when you're working in the IT consulting field, are single, operate in a specialized domain and I dont want to sound conceit so I would just add etc etc etc...
I'll be moving to a new city, new client, new apartment. It wouldn't be a life-threatening change since well... from a very high level nothing much is changing!
Let's see how things go...
Cheers!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Public Transport
Why do things with the prefix 'public' have to always be so bad. I have yet to see one thing which is 'public' and yet is actually 'OK'. I'm not talking about great. I'm not talking about good even. Just average, mediocre, OK... But even that becomes a couple of notches too high.
To state an example... I'm not going to talk about public toilets because that's something which... well... is universally expected to be bad and because if I start on my experiences with this special category of public utility then this post will lose it's focus!
Being used some pretty bad public transport for all my life I was happy if not surprised to find clean, non-crowded buses here. It's actually quite convenient if you ask me. I had been told Chicago does rank among the better public transports in the US. I would agree but I have pretty low standards in this respect so I'm probably a bad judge!
Nevertheless it had me impressed but... that was till I came to know how badly managed it was! Yeah... I had almost forgotten about the invisible aspect of public transport. The Chicago metropolitan public transport is bleeding and very badly. It's cash strapped. Almost living the life of a parasite on the city's budget. They were going to cut down services and increase fares this month just to keep it going for the heck of it.
The issue was quite simple. There were not enough commuters to make it a sustainable, forget profitable, venture. So the very thing that had impressed me was some what of a problem for the transport authority. Here the problem was of not of plenty but of scanty. But instead of using the opportunity of increasing fuel prices, high parking charges, traffic congestion to leverage the public transport the authority was just sitting on it's back side waiting for the city council to bail them out.
They had played it pretty smart though. They had asked the city for additional funds (a few millions dollars) which was the issue being debated in the local council. And announcements had already been made about the services which had been chosen to be retained, quite clearly insufficient. Though the commuters are low to make the service sustainable, they do form a significant number and definitely was a very unwelcome move for them. The transport authority had avoided becoming the bad guys and if at all services were cut it would've been because they didn't get the funds!
And we all know how politicians are... The transport authority got the funds. No services were cut down. Even fares were not increased. The politicians even voted in favor of free rides for senior citizens! So we're again into the same mode till these allotted millions are finished. Without any action being taken to actually make a proactive effort to make something, which has the potential to be sustainable, work.
This also got me wondering how and why the public transport systems back home are bleeding? There is quite clearly no shortage of commuters. There's no expenditure whatsoever on maintenance. It really is puzzling when you come to think of it. I would even go as far as to say that it is pretty tough to make losses when you're in such a strong position!
But the answer to all these 'public' problems lies in the fact that these issues are public. It's easy not to be held accountable for anything when in reality everyone should be doing atleast something for it!
Cheers!
To state an example... I'm not going to talk about public toilets because that's something which... well... is universally expected to be bad and because if I start on my experiences with this special category of public utility then this post will lose it's focus!
Being used some pretty bad public transport for all my life I was happy if not surprised to find clean, non-crowded buses here. It's actually quite convenient if you ask me. I had been told Chicago does rank among the better public transports in the US. I would agree but I have pretty low standards in this respect so I'm probably a bad judge!
Nevertheless it had me impressed but... that was till I came to know how badly managed it was! Yeah... I had almost forgotten about the invisible aspect of public transport. The Chicago metropolitan public transport is bleeding and very badly. It's cash strapped. Almost living the life of a parasite on the city's budget. They were going to cut down services and increase fares this month just to keep it going for the heck of it.
The issue was quite simple. There were not enough commuters to make it a sustainable, forget profitable, venture. So the very thing that had impressed me was some what of a problem for the transport authority. Here the problem was of not of plenty but of scanty. But instead of using the opportunity of increasing fuel prices, high parking charges, traffic congestion to leverage the public transport the authority was just sitting on it's back side waiting for the city council to bail them out.
They had played it pretty smart though. They had asked the city for additional funds (a few millions dollars) which was the issue being debated in the local council. And announcements had already been made about the services which had been chosen to be retained, quite clearly insufficient. Though the commuters are low to make the service sustainable, they do form a significant number and definitely was a very unwelcome move for them. The transport authority had avoided becoming the bad guys and if at all services were cut it would've been because they didn't get the funds!
And we all know how politicians are... The transport authority got the funds. No services were cut down. Even fares were not increased. The politicians even voted in favor of free rides for senior citizens! So we're again into the same mode till these allotted millions are finished. Without any action being taken to actually make a proactive effort to make something, which has the potential to be sustainable, work.
This also got me wondering how and why the public transport systems back home are bleeding? There is quite clearly no shortage of commuters. There's no expenditure whatsoever on maintenance. It really is puzzling when you come to think of it. I would even go as far as to say that it is pretty tough to make losses when you're in such a strong position!
But the answer to all these 'public' problems lies in the fact that these issues are public. It's easy not to be held accountable for anything when in reality everyone should be doing atleast something for it!
Cheers!
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Irony
I was watching this old Hindi movie clip on Youtube.
Rajkumar has a very famous dialogue which goes something like this... "Chinoy Seth... Jinke ghar sheeshe ke ho woh doosron ke ghar pe patthar nahi phenka karte..."
My thoughts on this legendary dialogue:
Dude, I completely agree with you on that one... But why should people who dont live in glass houses be allowed to throw stones at others' houses? That kind of behaviour should make you land in some kind of an asylum.
My policy would be... No one is allowed to throw stones at houses irrespective of housing situation!
On second thought though, there would be one exception...
In case you're trapped in a glass house, as a part of some deranged scheme of an evil warlord, and you need to get out of it & happen to find a stone or an object which can be used as a makeshift stone... Then use it man! Throw the damn thing... Break the glass and just get the hell out of there!
So in fact people who stay in glass houses should be the only ones who have the right to throw stones...
Cheers!
Rajkumar has a very famous dialogue which goes something like this... "Chinoy Seth... Jinke ghar sheeshe ke ho woh doosron ke ghar pe patthar nahi phenka karte..."
My thoughts on this legendary dialogue:
Dude, I completely agree with you on that one... But why should people who dont live in glass houses be allowed to throw stones at others' houses? That kind of behaviour should make you land in some kind of an asylum.
My policy would be... No one is allowed to throw stones at houses irrespective of housing situation!
On second thought though, there would be one exception...
In case you're trapped in a glass house, as a part of some deranged scheme of an evil warlord, and you need to get out of it & happen to find a stone or an object which can be used as a makeshift stone... Then use it man! Throw the damn thing... Break the glass and just get the hell out of there!
So in fact people who stay in glass houses should be the only ones who have the right to throw stones...
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Monopoly
I think this is one of those divine conspiracies. I mean why do we have to start the year with filing taxes? Whoever came up with that idea never heard of well begun is half done!
I know people who go to great lengths, do all kinds of research trying to find the best split for the basket of allowances so that you can save maximum tax. I'm not that kind of guy. I love paying taxes you know. Better way to put it... I dont care how much tax I pay! Many accountants would be saying... What an idiot!
But seriously... if something which is inherently not of interest to me takes longer than a pre-stipulated variable unit of time to accomplish, I stop doing it! That's the rule... I cant break my head over 5 different types of allowances, each having a different formula, a different max limit, a different tax exemption etc in an attempt to save $10. Thank you very much keep the change I'll donate $10 to the IRS! I just look at it as my contribution towards the improvement of society which is surprising considering that I'm anti-social in a different way!
This entire financial planning reminds me of the game of Monopoly. This has to rank among the top 3 all time controversial games of all time. No game of Monopoly I've heard of has ended without a fight. It always has to end up with all the hotels destroyed and sprayed across the floor... the community chest cards hurled into the air... and almost like an unwritten rule someone has to go I'm never ever going to play this *&^$#%@ game and and and I hate all you #@$#@^%%$^!!
Have you been involved in a game of Monopoly which has ended with... Well played! That was some great tactical planning... You really set me up with that barrage of hotels in Atlanta, Tokyo and Melbourne... Now lets take a break, order pizza or something and start off once again in a while!! The reason for it is simple... Its the only game where you're playing for money.
Now in monopoly there are those who set about the game really methodically, plan it out, buy in patterns, evaluate the profitability of an investment etc (yawn!). And then there are those who go on an all out assualt in the first hour of the game to buy every damn thing they land up on. New York for $4 mn. I'll take that. Addis Ababa for $1 mn. Put it in the kitty!
Like any game Monopoly too reaches at that threshold limit, the point from which one player starts his ascent to total domination and the rest start slipping badly. Soon come the major decisions... Should I buy AT&T for $2.5 mn? But I got only $0.5 mn... I'll start mortgaging off some of the holdings... I'll be passing through the start-finish line in two turns. I'll pay it off then... I just have to ensure I dont get 3, 5, 8 or 12 on my next roll of dice... I think the strategy's set!!
People get frustrated with Monopoly because it shows you how well you're doing in reality... It's does possess some mystical powers like Jumanji or something... The exact financial picture, quite eerily, pans out right in front of you... Players are actually hoping they land on those dreaded income tax, luxury tax or such other spaces! That's how bad the situation becomes. It's better to land there and pay 10% of the few bucks you've left than be hit by an army of hotels!
It does hurt, doesnt it?? If not in real life everyone expects to win atleast in a stupid board game!
Cheers!
I know people who go to great lengths, do all kinds of research trying to find the best split for the basket of allowances so that you can save maximum tax. I'm not that kind of guy. I love paying taxes you know. Better way to put it... I dont care how much tax I pay! Many accountants would be saying... What an idiot!
But seriously... if something which is inherently not of interest to me takes longer than a pre-stipulated variable unit of time to accomplish, I stop doing it! That's the rule... I cant break my head over 5 different types of allowances, each having a different formula, a different max limit, a different tax exemption etc in an attempt to save $10. Thank you very much keep the change I'll donate $10 to the IRS! I just look at it as my contribution towards the improvement of society which is surprising considering that I'm anti-social in a different way!
This entire financial planning reminds me of the game of Monopoly. This has to rank among the top 3 all time controversial games of all time. No game of Monopoly I've heard of has ended without a fight. It always has to end up with all the hotels destroyed and sprayed across the floor... the community chest cards hurled into the air... and almost like an unwritten rule someone has to go I'm never ever going to play this *&^$#%@ game and and and I hate all you #@$#@^%%$^!!
Have you been involved in a game of Monopoly which has ended with... Well played! That was some great tactical planning... You really set me up with that barrage of hotels in Atlanta, Tokyo and Melbourne... Now lets take a break, order pizza or something and start off once again in a while!! The reason for it is simple... Its the only game where you're playing for money.
Now in monopoly there are those who set about the game really methodically, plan it out, buy in patterns, evaluate the profitability of an investment etc (yawn!). And then there are those who go on an all out assualt in the first hour of the game to buy every damn thing they land up on. New York for $4 mn. I'll take that. Addis Ababa for $1 mn. Put it in the kitty!
Like any game Monopoly too reaches at that threshold limit, the point from which one player starts his ascent to total domination and the rest start slipping badly. Soon come the major decisions... Should I buy AT&T for $2.5 mn? But I got only $0.5 mn... I'll start mortgaging off some of the holdings... I'll be passing through the start-finish line in two turns. I'll pay it off then... I just have to ensure I dont get 3, 5, 8 or 12 on my next roll of dice... I think the strategy's set!!
People get frustrated with Monopoly because it shows you how well you're doing in reality... It's does possess some mystical powers like Jumanji or something... The exact financial picture, quite eerily, pans out right in front of you... Players are actually hoping they land on those dreaded income tax, luxury tax or such other spaces! That's how bad the situation becomes. It's better to land there and pay 10% of the few bucks you've left than be hit by an army of hotels!
It does hurt, doesnt it?? If not in real life everyone expects to win atleast in a stupid board game!
Cheers!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year
Dont you think we've all been robbed? I mean... seriously, seriously, seriously robbed!!
It's going to be 2008 in a few hours and look around; It's nothing like what they had showed us. I loved all those space movies and TV shows. All of them were set in the year 2000-something and we had all kinds of gadgets, robots doing chores, flying cars etc... We were promised all that. They had made us dream of that world.
We even had machine versus human wars!! I mean can you beat that?? We're just about lucky if all our really pathetically primary instruments get through the day without a glitch. I'm really disappointed with the whole way in which this 21st century has come off so far. Not even one thing's been upto the mark. Lets forget about time travel, journey at the speed of light, light sabres and things like that. We haven't even got those video units available at public phones a la Total Recall.
We get all excited because NASA found some bacterial excreta frozen in space and time some quad-zillion years ago. What happened to all those bad guys we were supposed to fight for the survival of earth?? We can't even reach the stupid Mars which according to me never had life and will never have life. Out of billions of planets in the universe what are the odds of two adjacent planets having life? This is Grade 8 probability!! So my hopes to meet aliens too have been dashed...
But I had some issues with the fashion industry of the future. I mean what happens between the 70s-80s and 2000-something that everyone seems to be wearing those tight gray suits with a colored 'V' depending on your position in society. Probably the fashion designers were all killed by an irritated robot or something but what happened to all the clothes which normal people wear? That was the only thing, I dreaded about the future.
It's going to be 2008 in a few hours and look around; It's nothing like what they had showed us. I loved all those space movies and TV shows. All of them were set in the year 2000-something and we had all kinds of gadgets, robots doing chores, flying cars etc... We were promised all that. They had made us dream of that world.
We even had machine versus human wars!! I mean can you beat that?? We're just about lucky if all our really pathetically primary instruments get through the day without a glitch. I'm really disappointed with the whole way in which this 21st century has come off so far. Not even one thing's been upto the mark. Lets forget about time travel, journey at the speed of light, light sabres and things like that. We haven't even got those video units available at public phones a la Total Recall.
We get all excited because NASA found some bacterial excreta frozen in space and time some quad-zillion years ago. What happened to all those bad guys we were supposed to fight for the survival of earth?? We can't even reach the stupid Mars which according to me never had life and will never have life. Out of billions of planets in the universe what are the odds of two adjacent planets having life? This is Grade 8 probability!! So my hopes to meet aliens too have been dashed...
But I had some issues with the fashion industry of the future. I mean what happens between the 70s-80s and 2000-something that everyone seems to be wearing those tight gray suits with a colored 'V' depending on your position in society. Probably the fashion designers were all killed by an irritated robot or something but what happened to all the clothes which normal people wear? That was the only thing, I dreaded about the future.
The Starship Enterprise was my ideal living room. You know what I mean? Big chair, nice screen, remote control.. that's why Star Trek really was the ultimate fantasy. Just hurling through space in your living room, watching TV. That's why all the aliens were always dropping in, because they were the only one that had a big screen. Friday night game... gotta be there!!
So that is what I'm wishing for, like every year, this new year's. I want all those sci-fi stuff we'd been shown to come into existence and quick!
Happy New Year to you all...
Cheers!
Happy New Year to you all...
Cheers!
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