Striking that perfect balance

I totally 'Digg' investigative reporting! Give me a topic and I will present you with facts, factoids, arguments for / against the motion and levels of details enough to kill anyone's enthusiasm on the subject.

I can spend hours at doing this without losing interest in the subject. While I am at it. At least.
I think my interest is compounded by the fact that this type of work give me the perfect balance in the equation :

Real Work + Appearance of Work = Total Work

Isn't it amazing how 'the appearance of work' is such a valuable component of corporate life. I learned this only recently. Every time I would ask a co-worker ' so how's work?' I usually got a reply on the lines of 'I have no time to breathe!'. I'd wonder (and panic) 'Huhh?!! I am on the same project as that person, pretty much doing the same thing and how come I am not THAT busy? Is my email working?? Did I miss an email?? Was there a meeting alarm that didn't go off as scheduled? What happened?!!!'

So after panicking for a good few months I've welcomed some handy cliches used in corporate America. Now I am always busy, my weekends always end too soon, dramatic Monday Morning groans are in place, Happy Friday is a greeting and my calendar is always booked!

The voices in my head

Ask for a raise when you think you've earned it

Well, what are the chances that my boss feels the same way?

Well, you'll never know until you ask.

Well, ask and you might regret.

Well, you are just being a pessimist.

Well, I would like to call it being a realist.

I didn't even know there was a term like that. Did you mean 'optimist'.

No I mean 'realist'.

What does that mean?

Why don't you use wiki to look up for the answer?

Oh so you don't know what that means?

Of course I know what that means but it's amazing how wiki explains it all so well.

Yeah, isn't wiki amazing.

I use it all the time.

Did you know that wiki taught me all about flossing?! Their content on dental floss is very good.

Ohh, can't remember the last time I flossed. I should be more regular with that.

Yeah. And the same goes for your blogging.

You are probably right.

So are you going to ask for a raise?

I first need to figure out if I have earned it.

Maybe you can blog about it.

Maybe. Or maybe I can blog about pessimism, optimism, realism, flossing, or wiki or ....

Go away!!!

Why I don't blog

I often find myself at a loss of what to blog about. So being gifted with an 'analytical mind' - at least that's what's earned me a place in my company ledger, I decided to root-cause my problem.

Here's the problem statement, causes and next steps :

Problem statement : Scribblings on Graffiti have decreased over time. The quality of matter posted is sub-standard, disorganized and some are down-right lame. This has lead to a decline in traffic volumes and a decreased intent to blog.
This re-vamping exercise hopes to revive reader interest by increasing blog count, frequency, using catchy phrases and shameless marketing.

Cause(s) :
1) The author gets overwhelmed by the amount of meaningful conversations she could drive though her blog and faces the classic 'starting problem'.
2) The author has a very limited attention time span for anything. By the time she gets decides to write about something, she is caught up in an altogether different world, equally interesting and blog-worthy (loops back to cause # 1)
3) The author lacks passion for anything in particular. This lack of emotion is reflected in her blogs.

Short term fix :
1) It is recommended that the author make blogspot her home page. The blatant reminder each time she opens her browser should drive her to blog something.

Long term goals :
1) Just blog. Any day, anywhere, anytime, anything.
2) The author should stop making excuses for not blogging. Cause no 1 is just baloney! She lacks ideas, originality, passion and creativity and has difficulty trying to accept that.

Expected outcome :
Project is unrealistic. Funding denied.

"Age is an issue of mind over matter "

Never understood this all my life until yesterday when, I came across the complete phrase :
'Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.' - Mark Twain
Aah. Smart guy MT!

With one down, I am curious to know what these mean :

- 'The child is the father of(/to) the man.'

- 'The king is dead. Long live the king.'

?????

Can it get any cheesier than this?

Commercial on a news website :

"NRI's, Ash look alike next door!
And you never knew?
Find love within a few miles.
Apply now."

2008 Olympics

So, are you caught up in the Olympic fever? Symptoms include : increased laziness, increased TV watching and increased beer belly.

On 08.08.08, a few of us got together at my place to watch the opening ceremony and WHAT a show it was! The drums, the fireworks ... SPECTACULAR! The sheer magnanimity of it gave me goosebumps.

Spent the whole weekend watching the games. And the ads. Gotta admit, US knows how to S.E.L.L. something. Can't remember the last time I followed the Olympics with such enthusiasm. Maybe it's because I am rooting for team USA this time and they are just all over the place. Maybe it's because I know they've gone there to win not just participate.

P.S: Here's what really pissed me off. A population of billion + and "A contingent of 56 athletes will represent India, and are supported by a support-staff of 42 officials."

What the heck! 42 officials for what???

Edited to add: Just saw the medal tally. We won a gold!! India's Bindra wins gold in the Men's 10m Air Rifle

Wow!! I am really excited. And SO proud.

The funniest thing I've been called

A zip file.
What about you?

Before and After

It's amazing how a workout can flush out all negative thoughts. Here's proof!

Earlier this evening, after I missed a call from my Director my mind went :
1) It's my turn now. Given the company-wide cost cuttings that's taking place, she is going to fire me from this project.
2) I've been browsing a lot lately. Maybe she's going to reprimand me for that.

After a 1-hr high intensity Latin Impact class :
1) She must have called me to make me a full time employee because she thinks I am indispensable.
2) I might also get a 30K signing bonus.
3) She must want me to join her team in NY and work from there permanently.

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing what her call was about until tomorrow morning. \

Till then, I'll dream moolah ! ;-$

TGIF

This has been an extremely productive day so far :

Refreshed my memory after elaborate discussions on 'Office Space'. I now know every scene, every joke, every concept it ridicules, like the back of my hand.

Solved one medium difficulty level Sudoku puzzle.

Chose between going for Hancock vs going for Happy Hour.

Followed the stock market.

Small-talked with everyone I know on this floor.

Researched the top 10 list of books that I want to read. 'The 4-hr workweek' tops my list.

Overate at lunch.

Blogged. Left comments on friends blogs.

Decided that I want to do an MBA from one of the top B-schools.

T(ed)GIF.

Yays and Nays of the week ahead

Yay's!

1) Going to CT for 10 days.
2) 3rd Wedding Anniversary coming up.
3) Spending the weekend in a Catskills resort.
4) Working out of the World Financial Center in NYC.
5) Train commute to work with coffee + donut + newspaper + laptop bag in in tow.
6) Eating tasty Aks-cooked food for as long as I'm there.

Nays.
1) None.