Thanksgiving Stuffing

Thanks to Shal and Roopesh who invited me for Thanksgiving, I cant fit into my Levis' anymore.


Thanksgiving Turkey Chicken

Turkeys were sold out in the Bay Area and Shal did a wonderful job preparing the meal with chicken. Also, mashed potatotes didnt require boiled potatoes and the kneading process, She simply added potato 'flour' to boiling water.

Topped off with Apple Pie...in the end even freshly brewed cappucino couldnt prevent us from passing out on the couch after lunch.

In the Line of 'Fire'

Learning from QueenOfSky's experience at Delta (Diary of a Fired Flight Attendant), troutgirl's at Friendster (ShitCanned), Michael Hanscom's at Microsoft (Of blogging and unemployement), I have made a few changes to my blog for reasons of anonymity. I have removed any mention of my last name, email address and IM handle from this blog...with the assumption that my first name is as common in the bay Area as are Paul, John, George...and Ringo in the UK. More tips here if you need identity protection for your blog.

Things arent exactly rosy at work and while blogging is a welcome distraction I really dont want to join the ranks of the unemployed with my tirades. Its hard dealing with attrition at work, dealing with an exodus is even tougher. Colleagues who constitute a healthy part of a techies social circle are suddenly scarce. I can only take heart from this core truth identified by Buddhism: Everything changes, and our desire for things to stay the same causes us pain. My ranger colleague also motivates me with these lines from the Ranger Creed:

"Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor."

On a lighter note, the bloggers who got fired have found fame...as well as an alternate job which has only whetted their blogging appetites. On the same day that I read about QueenOfSky's termination on news.com (she had posted certain risqué pictures of herself in Delta air-hostess garb on her blog) I read this article in CNN Money about McDonald Gals featuring in a forthcoming edition of a bestselling girlie magazine, as a follow up to their pictorials on Walmart, HomeDepot and Starbucks women in their work attire...and also without their work attire ;)

Guesses on which corporation's women the magazine will feature next...not too sure about Delta Airlines!

Road Trip Blues

Like the migratory birds in winter, I decided to head south to Irvine this weekend...primarily to hangout with my high school buddy - Aditya Chauhan and his fiance. Unlike the migratory birds, however, I decided to drive down. Some lessons learnt from the trip follow:

• A road trip can become a guilt trip. If not the melting ice caps in the artic, the upwardly mobile gas prices should urge you to consider public transportation.
• Consider Mapquest instead of Yahoo! Maps for your directions finding needs. It can not only shave off 50 miles off your iterinary...but will also give you peace of mind.
• LA traffic is not for the faint hearted. 24 hour carpool lanes (I-405) should give you some idea. Graciously allow the southern californian swinging in from 3 lanes away to cut you off by inches.
  
• Consider renting audiobooks from the local library for the trip. Caution: If there was a book that you couldnt get past page 2 while reading (for example, Men are from Mars Women are from Venus) dont expect a narration to work miracles...you will only end up turning on the radio and gladly listening to fading radio stations playing mexican serenades.
• Exits marked with gas stations might be duds. Make sure you have atleast a quarter tank full at any time.
• The Lonely Planet guide to California has a section on San Luis Obispo in Central Coastal California. You can skip the Bubblegum alley on Higuera St. It is just a narrow alley abandoned by the municipality. For Indian travellers think of walls splattered by Paan (Betel) juice and if such an alley is worth visiting :)

Bubblegum Alley - San Luis Obispo

I have the Power...Book G4

After two years of staring enviously at my colleague's 15" PowerBook G4, I finally got my own..his powerbook. When I first laid my eyes on the PowerBook I had this klunky Dell that I used as weights for my on-the-road workouts. My colleague who owned the laptop, Dan, urged me to get the PBG4 (he owned several shares in Apple). I resisted the temptation at that time and persisted with Dells. Dan decided to to get a new one with a SuperDrive and now I got a hand-me down PB that I gladly use for my Blogger posts...notice the elegance of my recent posts.

This computer is now the "apple" of my eyes :)