Happy Thanksgiving!

This morning I had visitors in my dream. As I lay on my bed I was greeted by multiple voices. Opening my eyes I saw a Group of Seven (G7). They go by the names Success, Happiness, Health, Wealth, Confidence, Knowledge, Power.
They greeted me “Hey man, wassup?”.
Almost reflexively I blurted out “You are a fickle and capricious bunch, aren’t you?”
Together they demanded “What do you mean?”.
I said “You don’t visit us more often and even when you do you don’t stay for long”.
With a smile they replied “Everyone wants us all the time which means we can’t stay in one place for too long. If you desire our presence longer cherish us and nourish us”.
I mumbled “Ok, will do”.
They added “By the way if you have loving family and friends you will find us without even realizing it”.
I thought “Hmmm…that makes sense”.
Then they suggested to seek out the G7 cousins too: Contentment, Kindness, Forgiveness, Compassion, Generosity, Peace, Wisdom.
I gathered my thoughts and replied confidently “I have a loving family and good friends. I see G7 cousins in them and am thankful for that”.
Finally the G7 chorused “That’s good. Don’t worry, we will visit you more often and stay longer. Happy Thanksgiving!” 👍

Wide awake now I wish everyone Happy Thanksgiving! 🙏

TV Series# 3: Criminal Minds

The third in the series of TV Series is Criminal Minds. For a few years when I was working out of state I used to regularly watch reruns of this crime procedural series on ION Television after returning from work. Criminal Minds featured FBI agents criminal profilers working for Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), based in Quantico. Local law enforcement agencies sought help from BAU agents for their specialized skills in tracking down criminals and bring them to justice. The criminals featured were not the garden variety, run-of-the-mill types easy to track down but generally involved people of above average intelligence who planned their kills with precision and took pride in their ability to get away with it. Many were serial killers and some of them would even leave some clues to taunt the investigators in a catch me if you can kind of dare. To add to the difficulty of the local police (where a particular crime took place) the crimes generally spanned multiple jurisdictions as they went on their crime spree. Which meant reaching out to the good folks of BAU for their expertise and help 👍

The BAU team had a team with different areas of expertise that could piece together the pieces quickly and more efficiently due to their training and experience. Some of the team members were (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Minds)
1) Jason Gideon, Senior Supervisory Special Agent and BAU unit chief when the series started. Gideon was widely known as the BAU’s best profiler. He had a special talent analyzing the crimes and delivering very accurate profile of the criminal/s based on evidence available. Unfortunately after a few years of deep involvement in solving crimes he suffered burnout and left the BAU.
2) David Rossi, Senior Supervisory Special Agent. Highly experienced profiler who worked at the BAU when it was originally formed, then took early retirement to write books and go on lecture tours about criminal analysis, and then returned to the unit after SSA Jason Gideon left the unit.
3) Aaron Hotchner, BAU unit chief and Senior Supervisory Special Agent for many years. This character was a bit stiff 😃 (not to my liking) but the kind of manager that has the back of his team and tries to ensure that the Agents reporting to him don’t take excessive risks or do things, in their zeal to bring justice, that could jeopardize investigations or relationship with local police.
4) Derek Morgan, Supervisory Special Agent. A bit of a hothead but with his heart in the right place. He was also often the muscle guy knocking down doors or chasing suspects as FBI agents closed in on their target/s.
5) Spencer Reid, Supervisory Special Agent. A genius with very high IQ and elephantine memory and a great capacity to absorb and understand information.
6) Jennifer “JJ” Jareau, BAU communications liaison and Supervisory Special Agent. JJ served as the communications liaison on the team to local police agencies initially, left the team on a promotion to Pentagon and then returned to the team as profiler.
7) Penelope Garcia, BAU technical analyst and BAU communications liaison. A colorful character, who was originally an underground hacker. Garcia joined the BAU to avoid jail sentence as the team thought her skills could be put to better use on the right side of law. She has a remarkable ability to hack into any system and get any information that the team needs 😄
8) Emily Prentiss, Supervisory Special Agent and BAU Unit Chief after Aaron Hotchner left the post.

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Typically an episode would start with a request from a local police department anywhere in the US for assistance in solving a crime. The team would meet quickly in a room, BAU chief would give a brief based on the information received, Penelope Garcia would have more details in astonishingly short time for the team and after a short meeting BAU chief would announce “Wheels up in 30”, meaning the team flying out in their unit’s airplane in 30 minutes! Upon arriving at the destination for investigation the team would set up office in double quick time, gather some details from the local police and the scene of crime trying to strike a delicate balance in order to not appear as overbearing while gathering facts. After the initial fact finding the team would hunker down, sift through the known facts and then deliver the most important first part of the investigation: Profile of the suspect/s to the local police! One funny part of this aspect was the uniform way the profile was delivered in each episode. Each member of the team would deliver a line about the profile developed by the team, always by turn. I used to be amused by it and think “Come on, man, it doesn’t have to be the same way all the time. It’s ok if some team members do not get equal speaking time always” 😄 Anyways the profile delivered would help narrow down the list of suspect considerably and go a long way in solving the crime! 👍

What did I like about the series? The analysis aspect and problem solving approach. Start with a wide list, analyze the pattern, connect the dots and whittle down the list to a manageable number. Not unlike support of software defects or errors: Start with a list of likely causes, look for a pattern, discard from the list causes that do not fit and zero in on the root cause! Most times it involves painstaking work and the reward is when all the dots are connected. 👌The other thing I liked is the sense of justice being served and closure for families of victims on knowing what happened to their loved ones and a knowledge that the perpetrators will be brought to justice 🙏

Among the things I learned watching Criminal Minds: “unsub” = unidentified subject (perpetrator of crime), the word zugzwang (used in one of the episodes) which means a situation in which the obligation to make a move in one’s turn is a serious, often decisive, disadvantage, more commonly used in chess, the term “eidetic memory” which refers to ability to recall an image from memory with high precision for a brief period after seeing it only once, and without using a mnemonic device. That kind of memory would certainly help in job interview or when appearing for tests/exams 😊

My imaginary dream Jeopardy! show appearance 😉

(Tribute to Alex Trebek below in the form of an imaginary appearance by me in Jeopardy! trivia game show)

Alex: Last clue of Double Jeopardy! round and…..it’s a Daily Double! in the category “Game show champions”. Raj, you buzzed first! How much of the $45542 that you have earned you want to wager?
Raj: I have always dreamed of saying this: Let’s make it a true Daily Double, Alex!
Alex: Wow, that’s a brave bet. Fortune favors the brave. Good luck! The clue is : “These are the winningest champions in Jeopardy!”
Raj: Who are Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter?
Alex: You got that right! You double your score to 91,084. Way to go! Incidentally 9/10/84 is the date I started hosting this show in its current format!
Raj: That’s cool! 😎

Final Jeopardy! round coming up after a break. The category is “Game show hosts”.

Funny Geico ad plays during the break. 😂

Alex: We could potentially have a winner with over $100,000 today. The clue is “This Canada born game show host has hosted more than 8,000 episodes of a show, spread over 36 years”
First 2 contestants give correct answer and their final score is < $25,000 each.
Alex: Raj had the most money to wager. Let’s see his response and how much he wagered
Raj: “Who is Alex Trebek? (You are the best! 🙏)”. Wager is $11,620!
Alex: That’s the right response and I see the amount you wagered is today’s date (11/6/20). Nice! The final winning amount is $102,704! Congratulations, Raj! That was a great game. So long, folks, hope you join us next time!

P.S. I guess some dreams are meant to remain unfulfilled 😭
But it was fun as long as the dream lasted 👍

The Bellwether Corp story

About 250 years ago The Bellwether Corp (TBC) was formed with the charter to create products that bring happiness, produce them in adundance and in an unabashed manner. Over the years TBC products reached all countries of the world making TBC well-known and expanding its reach. TBC’s success was built on high R&D spending, innovation, stable management, ability to attract good talent and willingness to make big bets on new products and innovations. In short, TBC was both admired and feared, loved and hated in equal measure. The one undisputed fact was the impact of TBC on many lives across the world. The charter of TBC called for 4-year contracts at a time for the CEO of the company and another 4-year term, if approved by majority of stakeholders, for a maximum of 8 years.

Around the turn of the last century the leadership changed hands when a scion of a previous CEO of TBC assumed charge. The scion’s plan called for aggressive expansion of business overseas and mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the country to fuel growth. The ambitious plan called for lot of money investment. While business grew for TBC its debt grew faster. Overseas investments got mired in low returns and internal M&As got bogged down due to the cost and complexity involved in integrating different products and cultures. This resulted in some of the divisions being shed and turmoil of the market due to the uncertainties and losses that ensued. After 8 years under the scion CEO it was time for change of leadership.

TBC’s next CEO came from within. A relative unknown and young person was heralded as the next big hope (NBH). NBH’s first priority was to bring calm and restore market faith in TBC and then fuel sustainable growth. NBH succeeded in the first priority but results were mixed in the growth aspect. There were notable successes accompanied by areas of frustration as the task involved a cultural shift which TBC was not fully prepared for or ready to embrace fully. TBC’s workers were also expecting more prosperity for the fruits of their labor and under NBH many felt it was not fully delivered. NBH’s 8-year contract ended with TBC more stable and secure and on a path of growth but with the dreams not fully realized.

For the next leader TBC looked outward for someone to spark more explosive growth. In came an outsider (OUTS), without a cultural connection to TBC, promising to change the way of conducting business by shattering established norms and doing away with what OUTS considered old shibboleths that were holding back TBC from fully realizing its greatness. Per OUTs the new approach would result in upgrading of infrastructure in a big way, usher in high growth, make TBC more safe and secure, reduce the debt burden of the company and increase the happiness and prosperity of TBC workers within the first few months itself. A tall order to achieve it all even in one full 4-year term but that’s what OUTS insisted would happen. For making it happen OUTS demanded absolute power and total fealty from all stakeholders of TBC. The first couple of years saw TBC grow at a rapid pace. TBC workers and other stakeholders saw their net worth grow. This was happening in the context of old, established structures for safety and governance being torn down and aggressive deals being negotiated with TBC suppliers and other 3rd party service providers and amidst whispers of malfeasance and ad-hoc decision making. Company debt also grew to alarming levels. Whistleblowers were silenced strongly and all competitive threats were dealt with lot of force. Disaster struck in the 4th year of OUTS’ first 4-year contract. A mystery illness swept through TBC affecting TBC workers. What first appeared as something minor soon spread like wildfire causing serious sickness and sometimes causing worker deaths. This caused consternation within TBC, prompting safety officials to sound the alarm about the likely far-reaching impact this could have on TBC workforce and potentially impact this could have on others doing business with TBC. The measures suggested to mitigate and contain the risk included shutting down TBC plants initially along with strict monitoring and putting additional safety plans in place to contain the fallout and reduce prolonged pain. This did not go well with OUTS who was daunted by the cost and consumed by renewal of a second 4-year contract due later in the year. With safety plans not implemented per experts’ recommendation the pain and economic impact spread far and wide. Loss of jobs and lives followed. When time came for considering whether to extend the contract of CEO for another four years, a majority of stakeholders, albeit small, voted against it and seem to have approved going forward with a TBC veteran (VET) insider steeped in company culture instead.

OUTs would appear to be on the way out but is not leaving without a fight. OUTS has filed lawsuit/s alleging sabotage from within and claiming to have majority support for another 4-year term. Will the courts step in and make a ruling or let TBC company board of directors and other stakeholders work it out? Like all stakeholders impacted directly or indirectly by the turn of events I am watching too, with concern.

The above fictional story could very well be a tale of real companies or even real countries 🙏

RIP Sir Sean Connery, first Bond on screen 🙏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9FzgsF2T-s

RIP Sir Sean Connery 🙏
Exuding feline grace and the ferocity of a wild cat he brought a pizzazz to the role that was undeniable 👏 Haven’t read any of the Ian Fleming novels but it’s quite possible the franchise may be an instance of the movies being more entertaining and interesting than the novels. I think I have watched only Thunderball with Mr Connery as Bond and he had quite a presence and it’s understandable why he’s thought of so highly whenever there is discussion about the actors who have played Bond on the big screen. 👌There was a mischievous glint in his eye when he played Indy’s father in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Mr Connery essayed other roles too with distinction. 👍 While I prefer my heroes among regular folks and think of James Bond character as more of the Brits trying to relive their glory days and imagining one of the own saving the world 😂 the films make for good entertainment if you can just suspend disbelief and enjoy the thrilling ride. Off and on I play and enjoy the title music and even as I am typing this post it’s playing on loop. The creator of Mr Bond character probably did not realize he had you in mind when he wrote his novels. You played the role as if you were to the manor born 👍 We have come a long way from the time “Dr. No” was filmed. This year “Dr., No” sounds more like anguished cry of a person diagnosed positive for coronavirus infection. The franchise has had a good run and IMHO it may be appropriate to draw the curtains on the franchise after the latest Bond movie is released, especially with the original Mr Bond passing away 🙏
Well played, Sir Sean Connery, you were one of a kind 🙏

Trusty, old PBS!

Last Saturday evening, after seeing and reading bad news – record COVID-19 cases, businesses going bust as the restrictions resulting from the pandemic continues to take its toll, I was looking for some news to brighten up my mood. Hoping for some entertainment I switched on the TV. There was no live broadcast of games in sports I follow. Aimlessly surfing through the channels I found the perfect go to channel for such times: PBS! 👍 They were airing back to back one-hour documentaries on wild cats. I settled down and started watching midway through the first hour of the documentary.

The first hour featured wild cats of America and traced their journey through Asia. Majestic mountain lion (cougar) in the wilds around LA area was the first creature featured When I started watching. Those cats certainly know how to hide their kill and come back to savor their meal for multiple helpings spread over time. The documentary then featured margays and ocelots (these are wild cats found in Central and South America and I did not know about them earlier). It appears the ocelots have a keen sense of smell that is also used to find their mate! They showed a rescued ocelot being trained to develop its sense of smell before being released to the wild. In this particularly interesting segment a wildlife worker, who had developed a special relationship with a young ocelot over a year, sprayed perfumes on three tree stumps. The brands were Chanel, Estée Lauder and Calvin Klein. 🙂 I know you are interested in knowing which brand interested the wild cat the most. 😃 Estée Lauder was the most preferred brand by the cat. Chanel did not have a sniffing chance after that 😂 The next big cat on display was the magnificent jaguar, known for its size, ferocity and allround ability in terms of climbing trees and swimming too in addition to its predatory instincts. Seeing the jaguar silently attacking and overpowering a caiman was absolutely terrifying and thrilling at the same time. The documentary then moved east and covered Siamese cats and the tiny rusty-spotted cat, found in the forests of Sri Lanka. These little cats go for smaller prey like locusts and are no less ferocious. It seems as part of evolution some of the cats downsized and adapted for smaller bites on offer. The second hour took one to Africa where the wildlife workers were releasing wild dogs to restore balance in the wild. Lions and the rarely sighted leopard also featured in this hour.

I have always been amazed by the passion and dedication of wildlife researchers, photographers and workers. They must find their experience so rewarding that they are able to work for months and years in extreme and potentially risky conditions. Kudos to their efforts and thanks to them for expanding our knowledge of other forms of life around us. 👏 There is also a timelessness to documentaries and other shows on PBS and on some days when you need a mood lift these shows can be quite timely too. Trusty, old PBS 👌 certainly trumps crusty, old men fighting for power, covered on other TV channels. Long live public television and more power to those who support the endeavor 👍🙏