Self-diagnosis, Dreams, Hydration - Not in any particular order

I've had recurring knee trouble for the last few years. The problem is exacerbated by excessive squash play, so I cut down on the number of days I played squash in a week. But more recently, my knees would be sore after every squash match, and I half contemplated getting an MRI to get my left knee checked out. A few days ago, I was stretching in the kitchenette at work the morning after an intense match - my knees were still sore - and a colleague happened to see me wince as I went through the stretches. She asked about the soreness, told me that she started out as a personal trainer, and then gave me a tip - hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

I've known for a long time that I don't drink enough water during my matches. Call it superstition, call it foolhardiness, but I feel if I drink water, my body will cool down and I will lose my edge. I didn't realize the edge came at the price of my joints; you see, hydrating sufficiently before, during, and after a match keeps your joints lubricated so that the constant motion doesn't cause too much friction. I was skeptical at first, but since her advice was so easy to follow, I decided to "water" up before and during all my matches this week.

The results - it's too early to say but the soreness has reduced substantially. I played for a little over an hour yesterday, during the course of which I consumed almost a litre of water. I had a couple glasses of warm water before the match, and a few after, and I didn't feel any of the aches I had grown accustomed to over the last two years. The hydration theory isn't a silver bullet; it's not going to protect me from my own stupidity. If I play longer than I should, I'll definitely be sore, but if I stay within limits, the prognosis is positive.

I've been having some weird dreams of late. Some of them centre around the hullabaloo that's going to be the November wedding, while others briefly touch upon my future. I woke up in the middle of the night earlier this week because I couldn't stop coughing. Now what would a normal person do? Get out of bed, walk over to the medicine cabinet, pop in the cough medicine, and go back to bed. Not me... All the episodes of House, M.D. that I've been watching have made me a faux diagnostician. My first thought was, is the cough due to environmental reasons, like for instance the pillow cover, the bed-sheet, the comforter I was wearing. During this process of diagnosis, I started coughing, and felt a tingling in my lungs - that's about when I passed out again; couldn't muster up the strength to look up what the tingling indicated. Yes I know, I'm nuts.

It's 9:20 on a Friday morning, and I want to be in at work before 10am. Have a great weekend...

30 and counting...

Growing up, I heard the adage, "With age comes wisdom", more often than I could count. Any argument or difference of opinion with my parents would eventually end with this statement, which would preclude any future debate on my part. I would be lying if I'd not admit that I was looking forward to getting older, so I could have the upper hand over someone else. I am older now...

What my parents didn't tell me was with the wisdom, age brought with it some hidden gifts - aching joints, funky food cravings, insomnia, stress (work, personal, 3rd party) - gifts that keep giving even when I am really not in the mood for taking! I should look on the bright side though; according to a colleague of mine, I have it good - his in-laws live with him :))

I lost my squash match last night, and it wasn't one of those matches that I had a good feeling about as I stretched to relieve my sore joints. Dumb mistakes and daft strategy (if you could call it that) were my undoing, but on the flip side, I tried my best to enjoy my time on the court. I don't know what to attribute this to but I have vowed to enjoy everything I do. You know what, I'm going to call extracting pleasure out of my activities the New Year resolution for 2008.

It took a lot of effort, but I have affected a change in my work schedule - I don't get in much after 10:30, and don't stay around after 6:30. When I am at my desk though, I am fixated on my tasks, I am prompt with email, on time for meetings, all in an effort to shutdown my work brain once I am out of Zune HQ. Not having a laptop that connects to Microsoft is a true blessing, and I'm going to try my hardest to not change that situation.

Another sure consequence of growing up - most of your friends enter a second phase of their life. People get married, they move away, they have less time to interact with you because all their time is spent in nourishing a new relationship, one that will hopefully see them through their life. It's interesting isn't it - when you start working, your friends act as a buffer for the stress that work induces; once you settle into work, you use work as a buffer to offshoot the flux in your personal life. More evidence to the fact that the tide is forever turning.

Hail the Anti-Social Manoj

What started out as just a fad has now become a problem - I just don't have the inclination to participate in social activities any more. If my time in India, both in October and January, is a harbinger of times to come, I need to do something to reverse this anti-social streak. I've been sleeping earlier, not been on facebook much, have little desire to talk on the phone, am getting more involved in solo activities like running and biking, haven't really gone out partying since I have been back - the list goes on and on and ...

This phase could be attributed to the shitty weather in Seattle since I've been back. Wait, I was in Bombay where the weather was smashing; why then did I not want to do anything much except sit around and watch cricket? Hmm, identifying the problem is half the battle won. Good thing there is an easy way to *start* fixing this problem - stop typing, get up, shower and bounce out of the house. Time to fill out the prescription.

Back in Seattle...

• Heavily Jet-lagged
  
• Unwell with a stuffed nose, and maybe a sinus infection
  
• Home Sick
  

The trip was an emotional roller-coaster. I got engaged, my aunt passed away, I travelled a lot, and in the end, I didn't want to return to Seattle. My heart is in India more and more now, and not just because Gouri happens to live on Indian shores.

Mayoneez == Soos In Face

Short Form: SIF, Mayon

Definition:
1. Like a Kux in Mouth, only in liquid form
2. You got Thrown
3. Something bad happened

Usage:
Soos in Your Face.
Soos in Face?
You're a mayoneez!

Just so you get the order of severity of these terms:
Soos In Face < Soos in Mouth < Kux in Face < Kux in Mouth

Thanks.

Life between the Lines

Yoga in the mornings, squash in the evenings, and some work in between - that's how my days go by. I am glad that I don't have much time left to be on Facebook, or MySpace, or be at work finding new things to fix. The quest for the rest of the year is to locate, and possibly acquire some measure of Zen.

Sumeet and I hung out after almost a year last week. You know, my love (and appreciation) for friendships that require very little maintenance has never been higher. It felt just like old times with Suri - we ate dinner, drank coffee, and had a few glasses of Wine. I might've mentioned this meeting with him in an earlier post, but for some reason, it's not passed into the nether regions of my consciousness. The only difference between the Suri of yesterday and today is the philosophical tilt of his conversations. We both have wanderlust, and are slowly discovering that the rat-race is not worth running for too long. Life's about taking a pause, and ...

Got my first squash lesson in almost a year, and I learnt two new things. Two bad habits that were negating the gains my game had made over the past six months; thanks Azam! I am looking forward to the rest of my sessions with him before I leave on vacation. Oh yeah, something else I hadn't done in more than a few months is gorge on curly fries with my lunch. Just felt like I have been spending enough time in the gym to earn me a treat - a complete serving of them curlies. And they were so tasty with the chipotle sauce - Ummmmmmm!! Time to live a little eh? No! That's it for this week, except if I get my hands on a bag of Jalapeno Chips :)

People like Deep give the Mac a bad name

:Link to Article:

I am sitting here in Portland, catching up with a good ol' friend, and we start talking about his new Mac Book Pro. He starts to relate his experience about the love for his Mac, its display, the way it blew his mind off when he first switched, etc. And finally, the truth comes out, he thinks Mac peripherals are too expensive. "The power supply was gonna cost me $80. That's just wrong!". Then I point him to the fact that a Lenovo T60's power supply costs $140+.

To all you people out there that think the Mac is over-priced, and its peripherals cost an arm and a leg, take pause and research the cost of comparable laptops. Thanks for bringing this to my attention Deep. :D

P.S. He's sitting right here cursing me for relating thist story. All you bloggers, he says there is a reason why we have no friends! Go get him...

Getting squashed on the court

Tuesday night is Seattle City League Night. Teams of at most 6 players in every skill category (A, B, C and D) all over the Seattle Tacoma area play against each other on Tuesday night. The league is like social hour; I end up playing and meeting both strangers and acquaintances, and had it not been for the league, it would be very hard to play against better opponents on such a regular basis. I have played against the Pro Club members so much now that I practically know their games, know what works against them, and have figured out how I can win, if at all. So last night, when I got a chance to play Jeff Evans, the Northgate team's Number One player, I relished the opportunity, and made the most of it.

In the lead-up to the match, I ran more, lifted weights, and ate healthy, so I was on top of my game. Turned out, I prepared a little too much, because I lost in 3 tough games to Jeff. My sole consolation prize was that I won the next 2 games we played but that didn't affect the final result. The rest of my team members lost their respective matches too, and the way things are going, the team might go lossless all season.

Now that the Zune launch is done, we have a week off to recharge, connect with friends and family (once again), and prepare ourselves for the next challenge - deliver a compelling set of follow-up features that increase the value proposition of a Zune purchase. This is a tall order mind you, because Apple is not going to sit still over the next couple of months. As I said yesterday though, the heat is on Apple for the first time in the Music Player business, and their response remains to be seen.

The stock markets today took another nosedive, which means my Microsoft stock is still worthless. Maybe greed isn't the way to go here - once the market rebounds from its current bear phase, I'll sell my holdings, and invest in mutual funds or in India. The market, and the dollar need to recover lost ground though, and both will hopefully sometime soon.

You heard about the Indian girl with 8 limbs??

Long Time No Post

India brings out the hopeful despondent in me - an entity that thrives on the radiant sun, basks in the warmth of the people around him, and waxes eloquent about the Indian experience on this wall. If my quest was for literary excellence, I'd stay back. Alas, that's not the case; I eventually return to Seattle, where for the first week after I land, nothing quite feels the same. Everything is simpler in America, more accessible, therefore one could argue, less *special*. A typical day in Bombay is spent dealing with impatient, rude, rowdy, impertinent, impetuous, lazy and down-right ridiculous people. The thought of a few moments of solitude, drink in hand, within the four walls of your quiet home help you look beyond the cacophony, and takes you through the day. Survival is tougher in India, don't get me wrong, but the satisfaction of having survived another day is stupendous as well.

It is exactly 5pm, and the sun has set on what has been a cold and dank day in Seattle. Winter is upon us, and a pall hangs over the daily proceedings. The volatility in the stock market has resulted in almost all the gains of the last week to be nullified, and in the lead-up to the Zune v2 launch tomorrow, things have quietened significantly at work. People are beginning to jump ship, and I will be sad to see some faces go, though I did expect some departures. Working on a project like Zune comes at a dear price, which at first seems commensurate with the quality of work, but for some, the cross is too heavy to bear. While I definitely see my future on this team, I need to take active measures to attain a balance between my work and personal lives. Till that is sorted, I can't rest.

The beaming faces on my desktop bring a smile to my face. The fond memories from this trip involved both friends and family, and I'd like to take a moment and thank the powers that be for my good fortune. Regardless of promises kept or broken, I've returned to the US with an even stronger yearning to pursue a career in India. I just need the stars to align, and the right opportunity to present itself to take the plunge. Who knows, this might help jettison the abject loneliness too.

When it's 35 Degrees Celsius

The sunlight pouring in through the open window, my auditory senses are enthralled with a melange of melodic sounds from my computer and garish sounds from cars driving by. Cup of milk in hand, I am trying to shake the writer's block away but my muse eludes me. The highlight of this trip has been its soundtrack - India is famous as a country of many cultures, but it gets little credit for being a country of many sounds. It is rare, even at night, for the bustling city of Mumbai to be quiet. Either my Mac or my Zune have been a constant companion during my travels, and when the sounds of the city become monotonous, I create a soundtrack of my own. Release your inner ZJ...

The adjustment to the new time zone is almost complete, and one of the objectives of this trip is reaching fruition - I am sleeping better and longer hours. As this process runs its course, the crankiness borne of sleeplessness will dissipate, and I should calm down. As things stand right now, I stop myself in my tracks when I sense myself slipping into my Hitler garb, but it's still not early enough to avert every situation in which I exceed my bounds. It's time I took a chill pill though, and went back to being Happy Go Lucky; I wonder if becoming an adult comes at the price of loosing some "Happy-Go-Lucky"ness. If that is the case, it's an expensive tax to pay.

To Bangalore We Shall Go...

<This was written on the 19th but published today>

I couldn't sleep past 6am this morning; an expected outcome given that I had passed out around 10 the night before. My body clock stays warped for a day or two when I first arrive by the Arabian Sea, but within a few days, I am back to my regular shenanigans between 10 am and 2 am. Ready for the random fact of the day? If you use your laptop/cell phone in India, expect the keys to become sticky, and all white objects to turn a slight shade of brown.

I decided to check-in to my flight to Bangalore over the web, but I wasn't sure if the Indigo website would support this. I was pleasantly surprised with the experience, and barring the fact that I had to call the 1800 number to allocate a new pair of seats for Nikhil and myself, the operation was quite the success. I am sitting in this Bangalore guest house room singularly because of that bright idea. Read on to find out why; as for the airline, the site is http://www.goindigo.in/.

Complete co-ordination was needed between multiple members of the Mehta family this morning in order for two of us to be ready for our trip. Mom packed our bags with the help of Vikas and Tai, Nikhil drove to Nikita's to get a signed photocopy of her credit card, I got ready and guided the packing troops in their duties :). All was proceeding on schedule until I decided to pamper myself with a salon shave. Hey, it usually takes me 20 minutes to shave; considering I had mostly trimmed most of the hair down, I didn't think a professional barber would take any longer than it would take me to clean the fuzz. WRONG!

Almost thirty five minutes later, I sauntered into the living room, clean shaven and extremely late. The flight was to depart at 1:25 pm, and it was already 12:10pm when we left, which was cutting it very close. It is an hour long commute to get to the airport from Worli, and as the trip to the airport progressed, I readied myself to spend another 100$ on our tickets. Here is a play by play for your entertainment in the Manoj Mehta patented Mastercard-24 format: (12:15pm) Cab ride to the train station - 40 rupees in cash; (12:31pm) Train ride from Mahalakshmi to Vile Parle - 12 rupees in cash; (12:58pm) Auto rickshaw ride from station to airport - 50 rupees in cash. Arriving at the airport at 1:13pm and still getting on to the plane, PRICELESS.

Getting on to the plane took a lot of two things - praying, stressing, and a little help from 2 complete strangers. The first one gave us 2 rupees so we could buy our train tickets. The other was the rickshaw driver who hauled ass from the station to the airport; he drove on the other side of the road, blared his horn, ruthlessly cut fellow drivers, and somehow managed to cover 2.5 crowded kilometers within 8 minutes (truly a mean feat of Bombay driving). As we entered the terminal, late as hell to begin with, Nikhil wanted to check our bags in, which I graciously accorded as the stupidest idea of the day, vetoed it, and instead directed our attention to the the security check-booth. Imagine my surprise when I was told that we were at the wrong check-point - halle-fucking-lujah. An alert airport assistant noticed our hapless situation, and led us to the right security gate where things proceeded smoothly until the cop wouldn't accept our printed boarding passes. Nikhil ran out and called the Indigo representative, who stamped our passes while simultaneously informing us that we had arrived in the nick of time - any further delay on our part and they would have departed without us. Phew!!

Bullets of sweat flowing down the sides of our faces, both of us took our seats as the air hostesses closed the airplane's gate. Through the "arduous" ride, we didn't feel hunger or thirst because of the continuous adrenalin rush. About the time we took our seats, our tiny celebration of making the "cut" was rudely interrupted by both parched throats and rumbling stomachs. That's when we started requesting bottles of water, and by the end of the flight, the two of us had gone through 12 bottles (250ml each). One of the air hostess' saw us, smiled at us, and kept bringing us water, sometimes without our explicit asking - the almost instant guzzling down of the entire bottle of water clued her in to how thirsty we were, maybe! :)

Our welcoming party consisted of a familiar face and a new one, but not for an instant during the ride to the hotel did I feel constrained. Gouri seems like a good sport, and if her friend is anything like she is, Gundapps is a lucky man. My opinion is that you can't truly love a person without spending time under the same roof; given my confidence in my friend's ability to love, I think this is going to be a very happy union.

What makes a product great?

What is it about a product that makes you want to go to a store and buy it? Some people would contend that there are various categories of products in our lives; I can think of three broad categories - the essentials, the luxury items, and the items we covet. Turns out, the items I covet are the ones that have established themselves as "great" products.

Regardless of the criticism leveled at great products, they usually are worthy of the hype that surrounds them. Take the iPhone for instance; it is reviled by a certain segment of the market, but it is hard to argue against the device's merits. From the moment I saw the first commercial for it, till it was pried out of my grubby hands, I was in complete awe of not just its capabilities, but also the attention to detail that had gone into its creation. If a device could have oomph, I'd say that device is the iPhone.

Forget the technology world. My tempur-pedic pillow, a Ferrari, Microsoft One-Note, Quicksilver for the Mac, True Religion jeans - these are all examples of great products. I think I have one part of the "why is this great" equation down. I know a product is great when using it gives me an "Ah-ha" feeling, a rush even. This brings me to a thought I've had all day - our philosophy at Microsoft is to think up a whole bunch of features when we start planning a product, and as we get closer to the ship date, to put certain features on the chopping block. Very often, the features that get cut are the ones that were conceived to give the user that Ah-Ha. Hopefully, the new Zune isn't headed in that direction. I digress...

Back to the thought that triggered this verbal avalanche. Another characteristic of a great product is the process of continuous discovery. As you use the product, it reveals subtle details about itself. Turning and holding the key on most BMWs and VWs rolls the windows up - I learnt this five years into owning one. gViM, my text editor, has many such features, but one I use everyday is auto-indenting (=%).The first time I was entering data on a web form, and I got a drop-down list with previously entered information, that discovery made my day. When listening to music on the iPhone, I happened to receive a phone call. The music's volume faded away as I heard the phone's ring. All these aren't core features, but discovering them endeared each of these product to me.

All of this leads me to my final reason for what makes a product great. When a product I own goes from being a luxury to an essential, when I can't imagine my life without something that I don't own, and ergo covet, it's a sure sign that it is great. It's not that life wouldn't go on without it, life just would be a little less enriched.

So, what do you think makes a product great?

Facebook Outage?

:Link to Article:

I spend a few minutes every evening checking out the activities of my nutty friends on facebook. Well, the site is down tonight because the "server is too busy". I think the site has crashed ... ;)

Things have been very hectic at work, but I am getting closer to finishing my feature work. Friday is the first big deadline, and I am trending towards finishing my work before Friday night. What a perfect weekend it would be if I didn't have to think about implementing another list of something!

A few days can make such a big difference. Last Friday, my feature was completely broken, but persevering over the weekend, and some monumental check-ins later, 85% of the core functionality is working. The ritual of writing a post in bed was temporarily replaced by watching Sportscenter, but Sports news is a waste of time. The analysts spend so much time prognosticating the future of the college season, the NFL season, that it makes my head spin. Whatever happened to living in the *present*?

Hung with the goons last evening for a few hours, and it made me realize how much this new job has changed me. My focus is disproportionately skewed on work, and I need to achieve more of a balance. What's the To-Do List look like now?

- Achieve work-life balance
- Don't miss out on the subtle pleasures of life
- Get to 175
- Become a better squash player
- Max out the experience - at work, with friends, as a lover...

You believe in lists?

Disgusting food

... and no sleep, make manoj a sad man. I was doing great till we went to JiTB where I had a oreo shake, and then TGIF where I had a lotta food. Wanna barf!!

To Soar Like a Bird

Nelly Furtado, seemingly from another life, crooned about being in love that was doomed to fail:

It's not that I wanna say goodbye
It's just that every time you try to tell me that you love me
Each and every single day I know
I'm going to have to eventually give you away
And though my love is rare
And though my love is true
Hey I'm just scared
That we may fall through

I no longer wonder about what drives people into a relationship that they know is going to end. If in the course of such a relationship, they can truly soar like a bird, that itself is worth the cost of admission - the imminent heart-ache. Time to find more reasons to be happy now...

Riding Around, Singing a Song

I have been riding my bike to and from the Pro Club since this idea first occurred to me on Thursday. I am working towards a day when I ride my bike in, play an intense squash match, and ride my bike back without being completely destroyed. Where am I at this moment? I have an extremely sore arse from all the riding. Soreness or not - I ain't wearing no weird biker shorts!

The current routine is to bike the 5+ miles to the club, work a set of muscles in the weight room, and ride back. I played squash just once this past week, so I might play a match today. Actually, even though I had a great night's sleep, I am still feeling the after-effects of a tough week at work. The hours aren't grinding on me anymore, it's just the constant state of high alert that's bringing the fatigue on. The adrenaline constantly pumping through my veins through the day at work is exciting though.

We went to Trinity last night to "celebrate" Mitika's birthday. After multiple weekends of Ridik partying, last night was relatively chill. Threw a shirt on, drove in to Pioneer Square, and hung with friends. The music was inconsistent at best, the DJ seemed to have an identity crisis, or plain didn't know what to play next. Trinity has something for everyone though, so when the RnB section wasn't up to the mark, I'd walk over to the Trance floor to groove. My usual crew of crazies is in Chelan, so I got to hang with a mix of old and new folks - fun party.

Random notes from the week:
- Met Pant after a long time. We're gonna grab lunch this coming week; he has intellectual depth and I'd like to hang with him more often.
- Did I hear trench-coat dress?
- The Simpsons movie gets 4*'s.
- 'Rash is back and made me a new CD - yay!

That's all folks!

Just before we head out to the Simpsons Movie

If I were to write about the things I have been doing since the Legendary night this past weekend I'd be at a loss for words. I repeat, the night was Legendary, and if you missed it, you really missed something. Enough of this talk, instead of typing this, I should work on uploading the pictures from the party, shouldn't I?

Work has really become hectic, and it's going to be crazy like this for the next couple of months till we ship. I found out that the trip to NYC needs to be canceled because there is no business need anymore for me to be in the city. This is a good thing because it is one of my best friends' birthdays on the 3rd, and I'd be really bummed if I missed the occasion. I am also glad that I am not going because of the intense work pressure this week. Though the flip side of the coin is that the trip would present the ideal environment to decompress and recharge. Oh well....

A friend of mine leaves for Wharton this weekend, so I took him out to a celebratory lunch this afternoon. We talked about our expectations, our ambitions, our dreams, and what the immediate future holds for each other over burritos and salsa. It was interesting that both of us concluded that the kind of work pressure we are subjected to at Microsoft doesn't lend to a sustainable lifestyle. The hard choices we make always result in us sacrificing some aspect of our personal life for work, and at some point, that is infeasible. Since I don't think any amount of money is going to give me back these years of my life, I have decided to take matters in my own hands at the end of this release cycle, and seriously rethink my career. It's great to be ambitious, it's great to have aspirations, but it is all to naught if in realizing my dreams and aspirations, I lose out on the spice of life. Balance is an easy word to say, it's a very difficult state of mind to achieve.

I've droned on for longer than I should, and it's time for me to head to the movie hall. Before I leave though, I must say that I am excited for my workout with Amruta tomorrow morning at 8. Hopefully, we can make a habit out of this, and not only will we get fit, but we'll fix our busted sleep cycles as a bonus. Peace!

A Week of Firsts

I usually miss Nikhil's presence in America, but never as much as I did this past Tuesday. Around 7pm on 17 July 2007, I strapped on a helmet, and walked out to bat at the first cricket nets session in my life. Nik and I have been talking about me trying out for one of the many Microsoft Cricket teams, but I hadn't applied myself to the task. All that changed this past Tuesday when I received an email from Santy about the evening's practice session.

I'd say that I played confident strokes 50% of the time I was at the crease, my right thigh is still fresh from the hit it took while I was batting, but this is just the beginning. If I can apply myself, practice often, and concentrate while I am batting, this could be a lot of fun. As regards the other players - they all seemed friendly and accommodating enough to make the entire experience pleasurable.

Spent Monday evening with Karan, Monu and Nikko Aunty; we talked about politics, religion, work, Apple and its ability to be on the cutting edge of innovation, etc. I didn't sleep much that night, but the yoga session with aunty in the morning powered me through the day. I have woken up a little earlier every day since so I hope the trend continues.

Random Stuff"s":
- After listening to Amru ramble on about not eating carbs at night, I gave it a shot today, and my stomach is rumbling right now
- I drove on 520 today and they have done a great job repaving the freeway. Kudos WSDOT
- My car is street legal till 2008 now, what with the shiny new tabs affixed to the license plate
- I played 2 squash matches this evening, both against Erich. The result was the same in both
- Work is fun, but will be very hectic the next couple of weeks. The furious activity and the long nights will culminate in a Marketing trip to NYC. I am hella excited about that.

And finally, ZJ Manoj takes over the booth this evening at 4 for two hours of hip hop, trance, reggae, and some rock. I'll put up a list of the songs I played soon.

Peace Out!

Trust

I find it very hard to absolutely, and unconditionally trust anyone, me included. There is too much variance, and unpredictability built into the fabric of society, and therefore, our existence to believe anything is constant. If this is a truism, why do people not extend its bounds to include trusting another individual? Call me a skeptic, but you can't dismiss my claim without giving it some thought! When was the last time your trust, implicit, tacit or explicit, was violated by another person? When was the last time you couldn't believe you did something? For me it was today, when I was calm, serene even, as I jotted down the details of the person who rear-ended Saqib's car. Tuesday evening I surprised myself again by not losing my cool during an entire squash match.

Tell me your story in either a comment, an email, or on the phone. It helps to get shit like this off your chest...

In Bed... At Last!

It's past 1am, and though I have been sleepy since midnight, I stayed awake to finish watching "Life In A Metro". The movie had a promising start but ambled on slowly during the 2nd half; I really don't have the patience to write a review right now but will soon. This movie, and other life experiences have taught me this much - falling in love and picking up the newspaper slid under your door every morning are kinda the same. I say this because after a little while, both actions become second nature. Both the newspaper, and the person you fall for are conveniently around when you need 'em most, and you miss both most when one morning you wake up, and they aren't around. You know the worst part - you act like you don't care if they aren't around. You know what I am talking - we try so hard to avoid the truth about being in love with someone. The game is up as soon as you start to miss your special friend when they aren't around. Once you begin to wonder when the person will be back, you're in love.

Case Closed! Manoj Mehta.

TGFWW

acronym

Full Form:
Thank God For White Women

Not to be confused with "White Girl", a coloquilism for crack cocaine, though White Women are equally addictive.

Usage:
She's such a hottie. Dude, TGFWW...

Glow in the Dark for Charity

:Link to Article:

A New Word Every Day?

:Link to Article:

Want to learn a new word every day? Stumbled upon a word you want to share with the community? Look no further - visit A Word A Day and satisfy both urges.

Comments and suggestions welcome...

My Favourite Laptop

I don't work for CNET, I am not a hardware reviewer and I am not someone who works for a Hardware company. What am I then? I am a Software Engineer who works for Microsoft and loves computers. Why should you pay heed to my opinion on a good laptop? I'll quote my colleague John, who said in response to my farewell email, "By the way, we both know it would border on abuse to use your impressive hardware-stockpiling skills on a hardware team". To summarize, I am a Hardware Ho; I am friends with people who buy this stuff so laptops just come my way for testing, usability, etc, etc. Here is a list of the top 5 laptops I have had, ranked in order of most favourite to least favourite:

1. Lenovo Thinkpad T60p - My current laptop and the first to be at par with a desktop. Lenovo has a winner in this machine - sturdy, rugged and extremely stable.
2. IBM Thinkpad T21 - My first personally bought computer, maybe the last.
3. Apple Powerbook G4 - 256MB of RAM never felt so powerful.
4. Acer Ferrari 4000 - The first AMD64 laptop released by a real laptop company and with 2GB of RAM, it is a really fantastic laptop. The keyboard has to be the most responsive I have used.
5. Apple Mac Book Pro - Better than the others I have used but not pimp enough to be #1. A Wonky battery driver and a trackpad too large for my liking. :(
Honorable Mention:
6. Toshiba Tecra M4 - The Tablet idea is bogus but the laptop was performant so it makes the list.

I have used 10 laptops in this life and the way I am going, I will use maybe 25 more before I die. That is unless I no longer have my sway with people (girls in particular) ;) You trust my hardware opinions now?

What has gone wrong with 24?

These lines summarize it all:

A little less conversation, a little more action please
All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me
A little more bite and a little less bark

24 Writers, please get on with it and kick Heroes in the nuts. How can you take this ratings beating sitting down?

Snow Day 2007

The second serving of snow to the Seattle Metropolitan Area had the same effect on life as the first one did - it crippled everything! It took some of my colleagues upwards of two hours to get home last night and the roads this morning are slick. Perfect day to drive on the freeway since there is no traffic whatsoever but then again, it might not be such a good idea if you don't have snow driving experience.

For my own part, the four mile ride in to work this morning started with a walk which became a run to the 233 bus stop. Some dude was clicking pictures of the snow covered fields on the other side of Avondale Road and I was watching him work the camera when I caught a glimpse of the bus making its way down the road. What ensued was a funny sight (not pretty) of me running towards the stop; the end result was me getting on to the bus so it's all good!

The snow chains made for slow progress but after trundling along at 30 miles an hour, I finally made it to work a nudge before 11am. No one is here so I have a lot of time to get my work completed before I leave for India. I have been more organized this time around but it won't hurt to start working on a list of things to do before I leave. A shopping list might be needed too. Time to stop blogging and start working instead. If you're in the Seattle area, please be safe and try to avoid driving today. Peace!

The First Weekend of 2007

The first week of 2007 has sped by me. I had a hard time waking up the first few days what with the long hiatus from seeing the clock strike 9. It didn't help that my eyes were recovering from an infection I picked up in San Francisco - 'tis true what they say about that city! As I have said earlier, 2007 is the year for change, for a fresh start. I try to make it to meetings on time, try to avoid getting mad for the small things in life and to work out as often as I can while I watch what I eat.

Watching what you consume can be a very difficult task especially in America - this is truly the land of temptation, where small amounts of money can buy you the tastiest and therefore, the unhealthiest food. My friend Karan would concur with me here - why are the best things in life either unhealthy, illegal or immoral?! These existential questions...

My way of watching what I eat is to allow me one day in the week when I can eat the foods I eschew the rest of the week namely, carbohydrates. I like my cakes, my pastries, bread, ice-cream and desserts. The less I have been eating these foods, the more I am grossed out every time my "carbs" day rolls along. Okay, enough of this stupid rambling.

Terrence and Phillip are doing their thing on South Park and Stan's Grandpa wants to be killed. Aah, the joys of American Late Night television. Time for me to immerse myself...

The Post To Celebrate Power Restoration

I spent the better part of today working in Outlook, doing laundry, folding clothes and hanging with Jyot. On the one hand, I really enjoy being outside my apartment with my new found family and on the other, I want to go back home, to my own home! I miss being in my own little slice of heaven, however good or bad it is. This might be the reason why I sometimes go quiet, because I miss the times when I am just by myself doing my own thing. I am not one to enjoy the limelight, be around people watching me at all times. My craziness manifests itself in many ways, and at moments when I least expect it to. Being around people who are constantly judging throws me off, makes me say or do something that might embarrass those around me.

I was called high-strung yesterday and uptight today. These are not adjectives I want to be associated with yet I get the feeling that I am slowly becoming an amalgam of both. I had to say this before I proceeded but I feel so special that I thought The Emperor and Chancellor Palpatine were played by the same actor - Ian McDiarmid. The end of the year is a time to take stock and these statements have kick-started this process. This past year has been anything but ordinary - I decided to take a break and headed to Bombay for a mere 2 weeks, I spent a lot more time with friends, got back on the squash court and have set myself on the path to attaining a semblance of equanimity and physical fitness. The old Manoj would think about what was said and via analysis become just the person I didn't want to be. This is the new Manoj so I am going to talk about Star Wars instead!

How stupid of Luke to throw his sword away after he is done taking care of Vader (my favorite character of all time). If he had his sword with him, he could have fought off the energy blasts from The Emperor but no, hes got to be the stupid noble kid that he is! There are more instances of him being totally stupid, like revealing that he has a sister to Vader. Ok, enough of this madness too. I can't wait to get back to my apartment, did I say that already? Ok, time to go to bed now.

Old Blog, New Tagline

In this life, I've learnt that not only is the truth stranger than fiction, it's funnier too. As I was telling a friend, life is funny because when you least expect it, people poke fun at you! :) Now that I know this, I should spread the gospel and sign off with this quote from the erudite Van Wilder:

Don't take life so seriously, you're not gonna get out of it alive.

Blogging

I have lost interest in maintaining this blog. In fact, I have lost interest in a lot of things this past month. Maybe it's a phase that will result in a dire need to write out my thoughts. Maybe...

I've been reading the Life Hacker blog of late and have stumbled upon a realization. I need to think of a way to create a blog that helps people, that provides them with tips and information. So my blog on wordpress is going to get an overhaul and I'm going to start posting tips on Windows and random stuff I find on the Internet that people might find useful. Let's see how long this lasts :)

Work has been hectic but fun these past couple weeks. The reduced set of people at work means fewer meetings resulting in more throughput. This also requires me to be at work for a shorter duration of time; funny then that I stay on for longer now, because I actually want to be there and it isn't mandated. Aah, my problems with authority continue...

It's about 40 days till I go to India and what better time than now to embark on my final quest of 2006 to get in shape. The plan is to work out 5 days every week and to eat healthy. Regardless of whether I shed a few pounds, I want to feel fit and in shape again. This seems to be an elusive target of late but this hail mary effort might just be what I need. I'll keep this space updated with the results. Peace out for now, hopefully I'll write more often, especially at wordpress.

Near Death Experiences

... fill me with the desire to live life to the fullest. I had two just this evening while ensuring Gundapps gets to ride home with a familiar face after a 4 hour flight. I don't need to read about how such experiences put things in perspective because I can vouch for the fact. I am living proof that everyone needs to get a slight whiff of death in order to kick start their listless life.

Wait a moment, listless and dull - when did those become adjectives that described my life. Well, anyone whose day is made when he has had a great workout needs to get a life! :) With that being said, the endorphin rush one gets from an intense workout is akin to the post-sexual rush. Since the chemical reaction is the same, why try so hard to get into a woman's pants (and spend a whole lotta money on your way in)?

So Tired, So Happy

I just wish I didn't have this headache and that my eyes could stay open for longer than 1 minute. The show must go on...

I've Been Told

That I tend to use difficult words in my blog posts. In the future, if I end up using a word that's not part of common parlance, I'll add a simple English definition in brackets while reviewing the post for errors (grammatical and factual).

Thanks to Sharonyka for apprising (informing) me of this.

Intoxicated Blogging

:Link to Article:

Vista shipped this week and that's reason enough to be intoxicated everyday! Yes, I said it, EVERYDAY!!! This is the first release of Windows that I have worked on from start to finish. RMS SP1 bits were released almost as is in Vista and there is the work I put on on Security Processor that really counts in Vista. No SecProc, no ...

I've been in super high spirits since Thursday morning. Wednesday has to go down as the worst day I've had since I've been back from India; which is what makes Thursday so special because I haven't been happier! Woke up early, went to work on time, hung with the boys at work, made some contribution and then partied with the team. We started drinking at 3:30 in the afternoon and when we were done at around 6pm, I was "merry"! I had spoken to almost everyone in our party, chatted up the waitress and mooched food off every table! :) Thank God Linsley drove me home.

The official Vista ship party was yesterday (Friday) and I had to stay sober till after my squash match at 5pm. All hell broke loose after though, first in Helle's office and later in Belltown at Arjun's place. I am so fortunate to have found a great crew to hang out with - Satya, Anshu, Rajit, Arun and recently Pooja make for great company. In fact, that was the core crew this evening at Cedar's (dinner) and then Havana.

First up though, today was the second circuit of the week. I biked for twenty minutes before launching into the 8 round circuit that I've been indulging in twice a week. Today's was especially difficult and I almost didn't make it through the final round (10 reps on all 5 exercises). The utter satisfaction and sense of accomplishment when I finished the slated number of rounds is hard to describe in this medium...

I was in the mood for an omlette after the workout. I don't store vegetables in the fridge anymore so the first stop was Whole Foods Market. Groceries in tow, I drove home and listened to some great tunes as the omlette materialized - damn I'm a good cook! I didn't wanna drive tonight (my car's heater is on the fritz) and when the boys didn't call till 9, I assumed that this was going to be a night spent in front of the idiot box. They gave me 10 minutes, yes 10 minutes, to get ready (I hadn't showered after my workout) and then gave me hell for taking 15. Satya's whining stopped the instant he had eaten enough food; he had to focus on digesting instead. What followed was a great evening of drinking and dancing at Havana. Here's to many more weekends like the one gone by...