Interesting read on Kobe, Shaq and Kobe beef with Shaq! At his peak (and pretty much most of his career) Shaq was a force of nature. When he was playing in the NBA and taking all the punishment from “defenders” of opposing teams I was always amazed at his restraint and not retaliating back as many were throwing themselves at him to stop him and fall like flies 😀 If he retaliated it would have probably resulted in involuntary manslaughter 🙂 Wise of him not to retaliate! Kobe was quite good too but I think Shaq made getting his first three rings easier
Snatching victory in 2 matches that England had technically lost is incredible. Stokes can walk on water 😊 What a summer for a guy who got tonked for 4 consecutive sixes in T20 WC final 3 years ago and whose career appeared to be derailed after a barroom brawl a year or two ago. Pontingesque resurrection of career 👍 When greatness unfolds like this all one can do is stand and applaud 👏 Fortune favors the brave 👍
I admire the ability of those who can memorize well. Have always had difficulty in memorizing. This was probably evident at a young age itself. I remember my dad telling me when I was in elementary school whenever he would ask questions on any subject the words in my response would not be the same most times for the same question even if substance was the same. Was probably seen as a positive at that time. It works as long as one understands everything one reads. As subject matter complexity increases lack of ability to memorize comes in the way. People who commit to memory and think have the advantage of being able to work out a problem later which obviates the need to remember everything. Over a period of time I think it’s also become a bit of psychological thing as I can’t convince myself to memorize more than couple of sentences or more than 3 or 4 digits of a long numbers. Few years ago when I had to drop my son for some high school project I had a brief look at the address and direction to the place. Those were the days I was scared of GPS lady yelling at me for missing a turn or an exit and preferred to drive to most places by memory 😀 We neared our destination and could not find the place. Kept looking out of the car and the place appeared to be nonexistent! After driving back and forth couple of times kept wondering “Where the heck did the place go?” 🙂 Then we spotted a person whose son was also presenting his project at the same place. Turns out the destination address started with 525 and I had it in my memory as 520 and had kept looking on the other side of the street 😀 Anyways we just made it on time 🙂
So, how does one deal with not being able to memorize or remember? Just as people without sight (or other difficulties) have more heightened awareness of their other senses one tries to make up for the shortcoming in different ways. One tries to create acronyms of key words or write down a few short sentences of important things. Did I hear someone say “Well, that did not work out so well in college”. That’s true 😀 Exams are not best situations to get creative in response and even creating acronyms also requires retaining them in memory. One of my worst fears is attending a job interview and not being able to recollect in detail what I had done in a particular situation to achieve an objective. Can’t say “I am trying to recollect and will get back to you shortly” 😦 In day to day calls that I host for my projects it’s not as much of a problem for couple of reasons: I have accepted that shortcoming and I jot down a few points prior to the calls (or anytime prior when I remember) to ensure key points are not missed out. But when a co-worker sometimes asks what are the steps for solving a particular problem and it’s not something I have worked on recently or noted the steps down it takes an effort to reconstruct as name of persons and other details have to be prised out from the inner recesses of memory and it takes time. Tasks requiring creative thinking are not that much of an issue as there is less reliance on memory and one can look for information in available documentation or google it up. Most times there is someone who has had a similar requirement and solution is there somewhere up in the ether captured electronically 🙂 In personal interactions or social situations when I run into someone after a long time and don’t remember the person’s name I try to admit very early with something like “Sorry man, I forgot your name” before the conversation proceeds further instead of trying to wrack my brain trying to remember the person’s name 🙂
In sum lack of memorizing skills while it’s an impediment is also a blessing in disguise as it forces one to find creative ways of solving a problem. If I could memorize well might probably have not tapped into latent creative skills, which most people are blessed with too, as much. You make the most of what you have!
Not being a professional writer I have myself wondered why I write. The objective is to put into words something that others can relate to and brighten up the day by bringing a smile. I liken my writing to an amateur and enthusiastic cook making and serving a dish to see the reaction of those who taste the creation. As I pondered some more other reasons came to mind too
1) Writing for me is a creative and exhilarating experience. The fun is as much in the journey as one puts together the different ingredients and seeing how the final product shapes up
2) Writing has a meditative effect for me in that it helps me calm down and focus on what I am trying to convey. For others similar experience might come from walking, cooking, cleaning, building or fixing gadgets, meditation, painting or whatever an individual’s passion is
3) Trying to write something light or positive also keeps negative thoughts at bay which is very important in today’s world
4) I am more of semantics guy who doesn’t like to worry about syntax. When one writes for fun there is less of a need to conform which appeals to me
5) There are multiple thoughts or ideas running in my mind many a time. Putting into words one idea or thought brings that thought or idea to a logical end and frees up space for others waiting in a queue. Find it kind of liberating
6) As forgetfulness increases find it useful to note down a thought before it is lost
7) I have always admired those who are good at different things or do routine things differently. In relation to writing that translates to bringing an unique and different perspective
8) To be effective my mind likes to drift in and out of a problem. Has the effect of taking a break and coming back to take a fresh look at a problem. If solution to a problem appears to be elusive it helps to push it into the background for the subconscious mind to mull over it and do something like writing in the foreground
9) The joy is more when there is not much of an expectation other than sharing some experience and having a good time. Writing brings that kind of joy
10) When one wakes up early even on a weekend with no planned activity writing helps kill time 😀
I could use sage advice from my wise friends. Plants in Raj Farm seem to be afflicted by kiss of death 😦 Yeah, those pesky rabbits are it again and they seem to have upped their game. This morning as I was looking out at my beloved plants I saw a rabbit chomping merrily one of my flowering plants. Earlier they used to run away on sighting me. Now they have grown more brazen in their ways. As I opened the door to get closer to the victim plant the rabbit took its own sweet time enjoying its meal and after what seemed an eternity bit off a branch and ran away. And they have grown smarter too. They refuse to take a nibble at the peppers. I have a tried a few times to goad them into having a go at the peppers by calling them wimp or sweet talk them to have a bite of the peppers but I guess I have to admit they are smarter than me 😀 To add insult to injury the rabbits have turned my family against me 😦 Wife finds them cute and son finds the sight of them running around, taking a bite here and taking a bite there, funny. This morning son burst out laughing looking at the rabbit having a jolly good time with my plants. I asked him why he didn’t support me. He explained rabbits are his friends and their relationship is based on mutual respect. I respect that. Where there was promise of full grown plants I see stumps. And where there were green stumps I see look of despair. The rose plants are the worst sufferers as the rabbits show no mercy and I see dry twigs where the promise of a colorful future seemed bright.
I could put a protective barrier around the plants. For years Raj Farm has been a mecca for cage free plants and it has been a source of pride (It’s more like 2 years actually but we live in an age where “truthful exaggeration” qualifies as truth so 2 is good enough to suggest many 😀 ). Left to thinking it would be better if the rabbits displayed even more smarts to ensure their food supply by leaving enough on the plants to let them grow. It will help make my summers a bit more enjoyable when I talk to the plants 🙂
This afternoon, after a long time, we added donuts to the shopping list. Donuts brought back memories of few years ago. When my son was in middle school one day he came back home from school and excitedly announced local Krispy Kreme shop was offering free donuts to students who got A grade in school at the end of a semester. Nothing like a prize or a freebie to boost students’ confidence and validation of their good performance. So, off we went to the shop. I was expecting one or two free donuts. I showed my son’s report card. Imagine my surprise when the girl at the counter said he was eligible to get about a dozen free donuts after looking at the report card. I was thinking up to 10 donuts is fine 🙂 but a dozen is bit too much 😀 But who says no to the prospect of fresh and sweet glazed donut melting in the mouth on first bite, right? 😉 For the next couple of years the same routine followed at the end of each semester. In later visits I requested the shop folks to reduce the # of donuts they offered to us. The owner of the shop must have been a nice person wanting to encourage students. His love for education probably matched my love for donuts then. The shop closed 3-4 years later. I was kidding to my son today “We probably helped that shop close business by cleaning out the shop with our end of semester visits” 😦 To the owner of the shop: Sorry, I did not thank you enough earlier as I was too busy sinking my teeth into those tasty donuts. Thanks a lot, may your tribe grow and prosper.
I was eating most of those donuts. Actually a co-worker and good friend indulged my sweet tooth when we both worked in the same office for the company we worked for, in Iowa. She used to drive in from Chicago area and me from Wisconsin. On some Monday mornings she would show up to work with 2 dozen fresh donuts for our group. Before lunch I would help myself to couple. Then guilt would take over and I would stop myself from having more. After lunch the longing for some more donuts would soon come back. I would rationalize to myself “I gave others a chance to grab their share. I can help myself to some more now as these donuts are meant to be consumed fresh 😉 😀 Felt sinful afterwards but I was committed to committing the sin on first bite 😀
If the local donut shop was still open I would be sugared up and bouncing off the walls now 😀 Even a sad ending had some positive effect 🙂
Long ago, at the beginning of my career, I was part of a team developing software package for Stock Brokers. There were five of us slaving away round the clock at a Stock Broker’s place near BSE : one PM, one functional expert, two senior programmers and yours truly. The agreement with the Broker was that they would get first crack at using the package once it was released. Being the juniormost my responsibilities were to develop reports and keep everyone in good humor while the senior guys were cranking out serious, sexy, complicated transaction code for share trading. The package also had integration to Accounting which was being developed at our company’s Product Development Center in Pune. A senior manager was responsible for overall management of both packages and ensuring they were on track and worked together. This was the successor to the first version of the package which was quite successful. As you can imagine the expectations were sky high and all kinds of features and functionality were expected from the latest and greatest next release. The pressures were high and the small room where we were developing was more of a rat-hole with a big server on a table for six people and the five of us around it banging out code for months. Folks from the broker’s office would peep in regularly asking how things were progressing and demanding impromptu demos of the work in progress product. Since the outer office did not have air conditioning the folks working there used to keep the door of our room open for some cool air to flow out. Which mean the heat was on for us literally. With sundry new features being thrown in ad hoc for various considerations this project also hit a rough patch like many projects do. Company management decided to dispatch senior manager to bring order and also to supervise project team work for a week. This manager was one of the oldest and most trusted employees in the company. We had about one week notice about the manager’s visit to prepare and rehearse our routine 🙂
I had had brief interactions in the past with this manager. He was good but given to talking about good old times and how the youngsters don’t realize how good they have it. I don’t think he liked my habit of cracking jokes. People find it difficult to understand one can be serious and have fun at the same time 😦 Needless to say I had preferred to keep my distance from him. But this time there was no possibility of avoiding direct contact. Luckily one of the senior guys had recent experience working with the manager in Pune and gave us few pointers to keep the guy happy: Always agree with him, maintain a serious look, laugh loudly at his jokes and if ever there was discussion about movies praise actress Sridevi a lot as she was his favorite actress. For the next week I worked hard on internalizing the following: 1) Curb enthusiasm (to crack jokes) 2) Rehearsing loud laughter 3) Gleaning knowledge about Sridevi and her movies
Came the week and arrived the manager. For the most part my preparation paid off. The manager was quite pleased with our dedication and progress. He even joked with the heat we were working under we should have no problem finding a job in a crematorium 😀 My timing did go awry at times. I blame it for being overprepared. A few times I would start laughing the moment he opened his mouth to crack a joke and he would cast a glance at me suggesting “Why can’t this dickhead wait for me to finish my joke before he starts laughing” 🙂 But by and large I managed to curb my enthusiasm to crack jokes and maintain a serious look. The movie Chandni had released around that time. Towards the end of the week we reserved tickets for viewing the movie in Metro. He had already watched the movie but we insisted he watch again (to get him in good mood to send glowing report about the team to management). He quite enjoyed the movie but every few minutes he would say they did not show a particular scene in the other theater he had watched. After a few times, unable to contain myself, I asked whether he had watched the movie or its trailer 😀 Immediately he shot back “Yeh dhimaag tu programming mein lagayega toh kitna achcha rahega” (You would do better to apply your thinking to coding rather than cracking jokes) 😀 Overall the week was peaceful and I did not do my cause any further damage. We went back to slaving for a few more months and developed the product with our sanity intact!
The Twain met in 2015 on the west shore of the writers’ beloved Mississippi river in Dubuque, IA when Raj and family drove in from east of the river and visited the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium! Thought the East and West part fit in with Easterner/s driving in from East of the river meeting with Westerner on West side of the river and the fact that the phrase “West/East of the Mississippi” is sometimes symbolically used as demarcation for Western and Eastern parts of the country 🙂
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