November, 2006

The clear waters of the Tempe Lake fought with each other like kids in a school playground and were as beautiful as the children’s eyes. The Arizonian Sun, a muscular heat wave that even if one longed for it to set, was mystified by its ever presence and the beauty of its final show. She sat there awaiting, speechless in heart and mind. She wasn’t confused but she felt the nervous tweak in her ears, as if all this time someone had been kissing it lovingly. There was no one around but she held the most precious object in her hand – her mobile phone, the only communication she had, to hear his voice. A stranger he was but with the essence of a soul mate. She breathed the fresh air surrounded by the utmost tranquilized nature, hoping that she could hear the busy noises of New York to shatter her thoughts. She didn’t want it to be shattered, she clinched onto them like it was the last thing that kept her alive, kept her human and kept her waiting. A profound reader she was but she knew all too well that no words could describe the sweat in her palms or the uncontrollable desire for him. She smirked at her herself. For the first time, not only was she controlled by just mere thoughts and imaginations but she knew it consciously and she didn’t want to get rid of it. Waiting, she thought to herself, she might never feel this again. She looked back at distinguished memories where the human presence was null but existent. A complex relationship where she felt she had made all the right choices, rejected all that she felt would not make sense, and obliged to anything that made her heart just tick abnormally. She laughed again but this time at the pathetic Sri Lankan guy who had turned up at her house the other day and made a fool of himself. Funny, nice guy, but so were all the others she had met in her life. None had possessed the calm, calculated and yet vibrant presence that he had, even without him being in front of her. She felt as if she was Juliet and he was Romeo, caring less about his appearance, his background even his employment status. She laughed again at the possibilities of disappointment but she knew herself to well. She wasn’t the type to be easily misled by anyone, but she was led here and she was led to him.

Another huge breath of air, and she was about to throw a stone into the lake to see the ripple effects; somewhat an irony she thought as she was about to throw it, for her life had been like that till she had heard him - an effect of mere ripples and turmoil. A hand touched her shoulders and she squeezed her eyes in excitement, fear and love! She turned around to face the only wonder in life she wanted to meet. He held her softly and brought her to himself knowing that she was his and he was hers. A feeling that can be matched by the powers of the sun surrounded the small lake. He held her face and she closed her eyes, this time in waiting, and he planted the ultimate gift. The most sensual feeling swept through her body and she could see herself melt. She felt it and she knew he did too. He grabbed her hands firmly, and she saw felt his pulse and a refreshing feeling swept through her. A smile and no words yet, they didnt need none. There was no ultimatum, and as they saw each other with wonder and care, they realized and hoped that there can be no ending to such a sweet story.

Here you go, the producer, the director and moi - the main actor

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1725839949350817886

Check it out.

Cheers,

A colleague of mine decided to write a good post so I thought I should share that with my “readers”

Rajiv’s Blog - http://www.thousandtyone.com/blog/default,month,2006-11.aspx#a3f499763-b199-49f9-ba31-d63d8589664e

Its a pretty interesting article from an individual who takes his “passion” very seriously.

Here is my answer to his “riddle question” in Thanesh’s own sort of way - A “riddle” answer!!!

Am I a Coder?
—————

Its 8 and I am up and away,
Another day and whole another ball game,
Ipod is on, summer of 69 is bashing,
Just to get my thoughts on path and my adrenaline pumping.

Bugs, coding, and a whole lot of talking,
Seems to be a parcel,
And negative feedback back too,
Just seems to be another hassle.

“Can you fix” – People ask me,
I smile back thinking – “I am not that retarded or does it seem?”
Like many others, I am in transition to a new path,
Some say career, some say job, some say passion and I say – “I can’t be a Doc”!!!

A tech man, I will strive to be,
Hibernate, .NET, Java, spring – and more technologies that I will do for a fee,
The greatest, the best, and the awesome – I have not yet become,
A couple more years and my name will hopefully possess some.

Projects, tasks and time on bench,
We coders don’t rule our lives – just some henchmen,
We learn, we code, and we give it our best,
Only for someone else to reap the rewards from the bugs we just tested.

As I look around I see talent and a whole of dedication,
Damn did the VP of Solutions put these guys on some medication?
Some ask questions, some just don’t,
I like to cause trouble and just a little bit more.

I walk into the office, head held high,
Another day, and another beginning and I surely will fly,
The task is set; I need to train – so that I don’t have to save up for raining days, {FIREDDDDDDDD}
The laptop is on and the room is lightened – HOLY CRAP I AM DREAMING AGAIN –

“One day I will begin by running the whole SCEHME“

Cheers,

I am a huge cricket fan. Well fan would be an understatement if I had free cable or some connection to watch cricket for free in the USA, for I would do nothing else but watch cricket. Thank God its expensive, otherwise well I will get fired and also be broke.

Anyways I was going through some old articles on the net about Sri Lankan cricket and suddenly came across an interesting one. It said that the Sri Lankan Cricket Board should provide more match practice for touring teams especially the weaker test nations to get used to the “spinning” conditions and flat tracks. Hmmmm interesting isn’t it and absolutely right.

Why?

Because with match practice comes confidence and the ability to cope in a real match situation. If one’s confidence increases so does one’s ability perform better and yeild in excellent results. Of course there are exceptional cases.

Well, I was thinking about the days on my first project when there was alot {ALOT} of work, and my mind was kept consistently busy with deadlines {which I didnt meet of course LOL}, meetings, lessons to learn and mistakes to make. Thus this match practice/environment or work/coding that takes place ensured that my confidence level rised. Yes I did muck up on more then a few instances but so does a batsman or a bowler on a given Test Match or ODI. But I was in match mood, because of my previous “match practices” or as some call it “initial development stage or learning stage of the SDLC”. So when the matches/tasks came along - I was ready and continuing to progress. Thats what happens to cricketers too as the play in more real matches and get more time at the “crease”. Confidence level rises, you put your mistakes behind and look forward to the new task/match.

Recently, it seems like this is not happening because I am spending a tiny bit of time “on bench”. Something like practicing in the nets. It does help since that phrase “practice makes perfect” is apparently true but you still need to play the game to feel the pressure, excitement and the thrill of satisfaction of finishing a task or scoring a hundred.

I am a batsman in the nets but hopefully I caught the selectors’ eyes.

Cheers,

So lately I have been counting my calories. Yes the calories consumed by my body everyday. Not all the time but whenever it consciously hits my idle mind. Saturday was a very interesting day. After wacking a really good lunch - chicken curry and rice cooked by yours truly, I decided to take a good afternoon nap to burn it all off. Night came along and it was time to meet my friends Coors Light and Bud Light. Now a 12 oz bottle of Coors Light has apparently 105 calories whilst a 12 oz can of Bud Light contains 110 calories. Dinner was good again adding more calories. After 3 bottles of Coors Light and 4 cans of 16 oz BudLight, I set my eyes on the 5th can when suddenly my idle mind started thinking.

“How much calories have I consumed today?”

Ok time for my mathematical mind to start computing. Assuming that dinner and lunch added to around 1000 - 1500 calories and a couple of coffee breaks - that would be hmmm something along 1500 i guess. So 5 cans of BudLight anad 3 bottles of Coors Light. But the BudLight was 16oz and I read that only a 12oz can contains 110 calories. So thats going to be lets see - 110/12 * 16 * 5 + 105 * 3 = A rather odd number.

Result = I consumed more calories then I needed and ended up with a blistering headache because I was doing mathematical calculations while drunk.

Moral of the Story:

“Do not think while you are in the company of alcohol” - It doesnt help with computation issues or with women.

We all have feelings of ambitions/affinities, in ourselves about certain things we want to achieve in life or would like to do. Some can be considered dreams and dreams only while others become a reality. The difference of an ambition/affiinity that is only a dream and one that becomes reality depends on various factors. Some key ones are luck, hard work, sacrifice, talent, intelligent decision making and a whole lot of gut and the courage to follow what you believe in. I do not try to follow all issues that I think about but I have a small philosophy that I abide by on almost all days - “Don try to change yourself personally Thanesh and go with what you feel”. Very simple and allows me to sleep at night in peace because I just went with my gut and I trust that alot.

The real question to ponder on is “why shouldnt i follow my affinity”? {people seem to easily forget this these days}. Do I just want to be another person who walks into work and follows his “job description”? Personally I think job descriptions or following them just keeps management from giving freedom in most instances and thus no room for exploration/experimentation and mistakes. My organization has certainly given me more than that freedom and for that I am lucky, but I want to push further. I know if I stick to just one technology or one area of work, yes it will be great to become focused and specialized but I rather take my chance being a rouonded person. So far, I think I am able to adjust and carry out my job description but add some value {ok its minimum thus far but I am trying }. {Well some might argue I am not adding any value right now since I am blogging :), but its Friday evening, come on}.

My affinity is towards people management and my job description says developer - hmmm time to put two connecting tributaries together and get on the main stream …

I was watching a Jon Stewart Clip from Youtube.com the other day and was just completely amused at not only the humor in the small clip but also at its relation to the current situation in Sri Lanka. Well I guess the peace talks failed and obviously from what I have been reading so far, the closure of the A-9 road seems to be beneficial to more than one minister and their friends in the business world - especially the shipping business. Selling food, clothes and other basic necessities in a war ridden place is a good revenue and I guess some “ethical” {sarcastic} businessmen are making good of it. Alright anyways this is the clip from youtube.com:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBd3pYaEcA0

Is Sri Lanka at War? Is the CFA implemented or no?

Anyways, just a random correlation analysis.

Cheers,

P.S Read my post on War Ridden Countries Ready for Business - http://thaneshk.blogspot.com/2006/07/breaking-news-war-ridden-countries.html