Philosophically speaking, all financial assets are operating assets

Here's a tip - if you want a job done right, do it yourself.

Took Lionel (the moron) with me to photocopy 30 odd cases to make packs of 5. The simplest job ever. An autistic child of 5 could execute this mission flawlessly. But not Lionel (the moron), no. He proceed to mix up all the papers and then I have to cart it all back home and spend 5 hours sorting the mess. Loser.

And then people complain to me that their pages are all three-holed punched on the wrong side. Get a life people. Punch it your own damn self. You didn't have to spend 2 hours at Staples with Lionel (the moron) who decided that the instructions for putting in paper face up was merely a guideline and not a strict rule. Moron.

School's in. One week done. Had my first Strategy Implementation class with Hatten this last week. He asked us to come up with the 10 rules we live our (professsional) life by. It took some thinking but here are my ten -

1. Integrity is important. Always do what you say and honor your commitments. This builds trust with your team and helps them help you when you’ve dropped the ball.

2. Responsibility is key. The only person responsible for your actions is yourself. You must always own your work. Not doing so is not only detrimental to the project you’re working on but also on morale.

3. Act towards others as you would prefer them to act towards you.
Everybody is busy and has tons of emails to attend to. Make sure you give people the time and attention they deserve. Not doing so, not only leads to poor morale but also could make your team lose faith in your managing capabilities.

4. Always fully define the terms and expectancies of your engagements – both in professional and personal life. When working on a project with a number of people, make sure that everybody is aware of what the other team members are doing. Not doing so, will lead to a chaotic project and stressful work environment.

5. Don’t sign up for something just because everybody else is – be convinced that that is the right thing for you. When someone is trying to sell you something, if you don’t make objective decisions about whether that is good for the project, the team and/or the company, question it. This includes directives from upper management.

6. Always research as comprehensively as possible before you make a decision. Then rest assured that you have made the best decision you could under the circumstances and don’t stress about it. Due diligence is important and the devil does live in the details. However, after you’ve done your due diligence, have faith in your skills and abilities to be able to follow through on the decisions you make.

7. Trust in God but tie your camel. Or alternatively, it’s ok to fail once in a while, but don’t make a habit of it. Have faith in your team’s abilities to deliver but don’t leave it entirely up to them.

8. Be nice to your family and loved ones. They deserve better. Working hard is nice and has its rewards but always have time for your family. They are more important than a paycheck.

9. Work hard, party hard. Always take the time to remove yourself from the project. This will help you and your project when you return to the job.

10. Don’t be self-destructive. Given your personality, you probably will be. But try not to. While company loyalty is a good thing, try not to be so loyal that you lose sight of your personal development.

I don't really feel much wiser after penning that down. Maybe it'll all come to me over 12 weeks.

Mum's here for the week. Black Cobra came down too. We spent Saturday shopping. Got me some nice suits at Filene's Basement. That place is awesome.

Here's another tip - don't pump petrol into your car while the engine is running. This could cause air to get into the innards of your machine and that, apparently, is a bad thing. This was determined by Black Cobra after spending $89.99 on a check up because her 'check engine' light came on right before her return to NY.

Took Mum out today. Went to Daph's to drop off nicely sorted aforementioned case pack and then to lunch at Super 88 for a large bowl of Viet Pho's noodle soup and a coconut drink. The soup was nice. The drink was not. Then to Shaw's for some fruit and back home. She's napping now, all curled up in my blue blanket, looking small. I'm lying here on the couch, trying not to bore myself with my Database Management book. Later I shall to school for a MEC meeting. Ah, the life we lead.

So, wot did you do this glorious Sunday?

Quotable quotes

"Cirque du Soleil is like Broadway." This one made me shudder.

"I was reading about India. Apparently all the businesses are going global. And the overall small time businessmen are getting out or run over by big US companies. So I can see US making world more global and making most chunk of the profits in the next 10 years. Since you are the major B school student with current information - what's ur opinion?" - Actually Niku said that. I'll blog about my opinion right after class today.

"Does anyone have OnStar in this class? No wonder GM is going out of business."

"Culture is power that is invisible."

"The rule may be fundamental - the speed makes it chaotic."

Also, if Mum bugs me about putting my profile up on shaadi.com, I shall do this - "Prefers food to most social interactions. Preferred mate must be an out of work chef. I am intrigued by fish filleting. My skin is strangely inept these days. It can't seem to absorb the meanest amount of cream. Must be all that drinking. Does alcohol close up your pores?"

"India - where sublime wisdom and supreme idiocy exist at the same time."

"They should make ties with mesh pockets so you can carry around things in it. I mean its just hanging there not doing anything, you may as well put in a few post-its and a muffin." - I think a professor said that.

"The CPU is the one that does the stuff to the bits." - says my Systems Architecture professor.

"Philosophically, the patient owns their own data" - Mickey Tripathi

"What do you call a professional Cro-Magnon? A Pro-Magnon."

"Privacy is a risk. It needs to be addressed. I'm going to punt on that." - also, I think Mickey Tripathi.

"This isn't flying. This is falling. With style" – Buzz Lightyear

"Sometimes the problem is the interface" - same Systems professor

"I can clean my carrots" - says my Financial Statements Analysis professor.

"Making turkey in 20 minutes is not relevant to anyone’s lives" - from my Integrated Marketing Communication professor.

Chew on this. I have to go to class.

Strange Days

Did I tell you about Walshy's blog? He's got one. Check out the Strange Days of Hunter S. Walsh. Good writer. Brilliant wit. I'm glad I... sort of... know him. He used to listen to my drunken ravings over long-distance. Now THOSE were Strange Days.

He's also bloody goodlooking. But don't tell him I said that.

From the couch to the desk to the bed

These painkillers are making me nauseous. Maybe I should lie on the floor.

Get loaded on Thorazine and get on a NY subway train. Now there's a trip.

Hello darlings. Sorry I've been away. Life gets in the way sometimes. Let's go back in time then shall we?

So work at the Hive is done and I was very gleeful about it. It may be for good, unless I take them up on the Director-ship suggestion. It felt good leaving a job on my own terms for once without the smell of burning bridges haunting me. Black Cobra and Mum came up from NYC for a rainy weekend. Cobra and I spent a lovely 6 hours in Harvard Square soaking up the intellectualism and bought 8 (yes, eight) books. Because, you know, I'm going to have so much time to read them. Bumped into Khan and that woman from Ukraine or some other Eastern Bloc country who Cobra (bless her) instinctively dislikes because her underwear was showing. To be frank, I instinctively dislike those people too.

Off we went back to the Bronx. Spent almost a week there. Was tres boring. I did make three pairs of earrings and rest my feet and read 3 books but it was bloody boring. Oh, and I wrote my internship paper. They make you write an internship paper if you're an F1. 8-10 pages. Would've been helpful if I had started working on it during the internship but then again, if I did everything when I'm s'posed to do it then where would be the challenge?

Have signed up for yet another research project involving mobile marketing with Prof. Venkat at school. Looking forward to it as it is EXACTLY the sort of project I've been looking for. Should be fun. Also, Khan and I and two other chaps were thinking of getting a task force together to try and come up with a commercially viable business idea. I mean, if you're not going to start a company while you're in b-school then well, wot's the point?

That was last weekend. Then last week happened. And I twisted both my ankles. Not together at the same time, you understand. One after the other. First one and then the other. I place the blame squarely on those blasted Payless sandals. So I threw them out.

Then Khan and I had a fight. Well not exactly a fight. More like a dissatisfied howl at each other. I'd been getting strange vibes from him all week (which is odd by itself because I'm hardly the most sensitive-to-other-people's-vibes sort of person) and his aura was decidedly blue. So while we're out illegally photocopying course packs (wot?! You'd do it too if they cost $140 a pop and you had to get 6. Don't judge me. HBS has enough money.), we howl over it. It made me quite sick. I hate relationship issues. This is probably why I should never EVER be in one. We talked it over at Espresso Royale and decide that it'd be best if we parted ways (actually, he decided that, I didn't). So that's wot we did. I went to the clinic and he went to rent a U-Haul to help Shipra move.

No, I'm not sick. I just had to get my shots. MMR, Td and Hepatitis B Part I. Remind me in 4 weeks to go back for Part II. Hurt like the dickens. Arms all sore. So I came back home to lie in bed and moan. Then Khan called and bribed me with icecream to go for a ride with him in the truck. Over some horrificly bad driving, we decide that we're not in fact going to part ways (actually, he decided that, I didn't). So that's wot we did.

Ordered dinner in from the shady place (of shady Middle Eastern origin) around the corner from Khan's place. He had a veggie pizza and I had a lovely chicken shawarma plate. The hummous was lacking but the lovely garlic lemon butter was excellent. But, horror of horrors, the jalapeno poppers were made with cheddar cheese and not, as they should be, with cream cheese. But still, they will get our repeat business.

After an extremely disconnected and large lunch at JMP, D'vya and I headed out to procure textbooks and course packs and other essentials for skool and I'm afraid I overdid the walking. By the time, I got home at 6:30, I was screaming in pain. But I'm a trooper. Put on my lovely new earrings and tottled off to Prithvi's for kababs and Bacardi (which I couldn't have because I was up on pain meds). Then, in the rain, on the way back, I stepped on a pebble. The pain was excruciating. And I may have been a leetle big mean to Khan. Which would probably be why we had the big howl at each other earlier. Right. Prolly shouldn't do that.

So I've been sitting on this couch since yesterday with my feet up and I'm bored stiff. I've got 85 pages of financial reporting and valuation to reach but I'm too bored to study.

The new roommates have moved in. They seem nice. Relatively normal. Keep forgetting to lock the front door thereby scaring the bejeezus outta me everytime I pad across the flat to go to the bathroom and see the front door gently swaying in the breeze. But normal. Hopefully I will not be murdered in my sleep.

Big Blue Brainstorm

The collective wisdom of crowds depends on your crowd, and IBM has one of the sharpest crowds around. CEO Samuel J. Palmisano knows this, and he wants to leverage it. He is pulling people together for the online equivalent of a town meeting. His hope: The opinions of some 100,000 minds will lead to catalytic innovations so powerful they will transform industries, alter human behavior, and lead to new businesses for IBM. He calls the project an Innovation Jam.

I'd be VERY interested to see how this turns out.

Today is my last day at the Hive

And I'm strangely not unhappy. Probably because I don't necessarily agree with their operating philosophy - "The people who are responsible are not going to execute and the ones who are going to execute are not the ones who are responsible. Otherwise, the various pieces will be fractured."

Also, can I just say, asking someone how much money did you make at the gambling tables in Vegas is very crass and extremely ugly American. Stop doing it. Once is forgivable but if you do it everytime you see someone, they lose all respect for you. Gambling is not a game, it's an personal art. And one's personal artistic talents should not be questioned.

I've been working on a help document for about 2 weeks now. Everytime I start, I start getting sleepy. Think I'll finish it today?

I've twisted my blasted ankle again

I'm going to throw these bloody useless sandals. Here's a tip - don't wear footwear without adequate support.

What is the point of Twizzlers anyway?

The PM just walked up to me with a Twizzler and said, "Bark like a seal". So I started singing Kiss from a Rose. He left the entire packet and ran away.

My tech lead writes very cryptic emails

* Pre-live event: CRM => CMS
* During live event: CMS only [for existing data]
* Post-live event: CMS => CRM

I just spent $150 on new clothes

And for those of you that know me, you know why this is significant.

It's Saturday night

And I'm at home. Watching Blade for the 18th time. Bored.

Dude, I so need to make new friends.

Wouldn't you like a levitating globe?

I know Resh would.

Pushing the new frontier

So like I'm sure you know about Virgin Comics. It's a comic book company owned by Branson. This is the new face of desi comics. Not your average Amar Chitra Katha. Leading comics creators include John Woo, Nicolas Cage, Guy Ritchie, Garth Ennis, Alex Ross, Shekhar Kapur, Deepak Chopra, Gotham Chopra and Samit Basu. I can't wait! Check out Issue #0.

Everybody should go to Vegas

At least once a year. It's splendid.

So like, 4 days of work to go and then I'm off till skool starts post Labor Day. Also, the number of emails in the inbox is getting outrageous so I simply must take care of this today.

Khan is off to Yale to meet long lost Badal. I shall listen to Pink Floyd now.

Miami Vice not so nice

I had a nice long post about how Miami Vice sucked and I lost the will to live for about 3 hours after I saw the movie (until of course I remembered that there are egg rolls in this world) and how Michael Mann must have been smoking the good stuff and how I thought the cameramen were rejects from a flop reality television show and that I needed to rent Heat and Collateral and Insider and mourn the loss of Mann's directive abilities. But Blogger ate it all. But still, you get the idea.

If this doesn't put CBS high on your list, I don't know what will

I still really do want to work for le Cirque du Soleil

Yesterday was nice. 6 more people have arrived. Just the sort of blithering idiots (Mr. and Mrs. BI with their son and his BI wife and their BI kid and cousin) you don't want around you. But still, they are RK's friends and must be tolerated.

After a leisurely nosh at breakfast at Cafe Bellagio by the Conservatory (seared pepper crusted ahi tuna on baby spinach and white bean ragout - quite mediocre, badly salted), I spent most of the day working. Which may sound like a drag but not with this view. Took a break to take the limo out to get kheema and zeera aloo with parathas from Gandhi and then back to writing damn specification documents. I'm tired of those. Any blithering idiot with half a brain can do those. Well maybe not this current crew.

Saw David Copperfield. Same show, same tricks as last time. He still does that funny thing with his unblinking eyes staring into the camera. Bloody good-looking chap too. His show is a little too theatrical for my taste but nice nonetheless. Those round tables are uncomfortable though.

And of course, we spent the entire evening and most of the night afterwards putting forth our own opinions on how the tricks were done. That gets old real fast. Would be nice to just enjoy a magic show.

A late night and a little lie in and it was back to damn specification documents at 7 this morning. Lovely sunrise over the mountains with the shadows of clouds falling on crags, slowly creeping up to the Strip, illuminating the blueness of the Bellagio fountain pond. Brilliant. Nothing like it.

Breakfast at the Cafe again (brioche french toast with orange butter, buttermilk pancakes with vanilla icecream) and back to work. Mrs. RK landed in today so that was nice. One more person has also arrived. The party is now 13 people. Two more are expected on Friday and one more on Sunday.

So like, I don't know if you've seen O but you simply must. It's spectacular. It's changed a little since the last time I saw it but it is still breathtaking. I also don't think it's physically possible to bend those sorts of ways like the contortionists in the show. I also wish I could dive like that. My God the hours of back-breaking practice that must go into that show. And they play 10 shows a week. Deserve a standing ovation just for that.

Have just had to go downstairs to the VIP Lounge to get Mrs. Blithering Idiot up to the suite since she does not have a key card to access the super fast (and I do mean fast) lifts to the VIP floor. Waited 5 minutes which is about 5 minutes more than I wanted to and then rang the room only to be told that she had already arrived. Stupid people were just going to let me wait until I was fed up. Yes, I know I would have eventually figured it out but still. It's not courteous to keep people waiting. Stupid idiots.

Can you tell I don't like them? Stupid incompetent mindless fucks.

I'm actually not even in a bad mood, mind you.

Now Mr. and Mrs. BI and RK and Pops are hanging out in the living room, snorting whiskey (except for Mrs. BI of course 'cuz women, especially Indian women, don't drink whiskey I was told. I wanted to laugh at that. Derisively. Out loud too. But I didn't. I just made myself a whiskey and tottled off to the bedroom under pretext of work. Stupid morons are now talking very loudly and disturbing the peace. Should open the window and throw them 32 floors to their death. That'll teach 'em.

Yes, ok, I know, I'll stop.

In fact, I'm sleepy so I'll head to bed. Maybe I'll dream about running away to join the circus :)

Neela aasmaan so gaya

So like, yes, I know its been a while but I've been busy with the 'rents. They're in town you know. Lettuce begin from the beginning...

So after having Black Cobra's car broken into and then my purse stolen at Infusions bloody Tea Spa on Brighton Ave., we decided to pick ourselves up and drive to Niagara Falls on the weekend. Pleasant enough drive with Pops very excited about the prospect of eating fast food from chain restaurants along the way. So with a car full of eager participants and the requisite bag of food, off we went. Saw the Falls. Oohed and aahed appropriately and then off we went to meet Pops's long lost cousin/nephew (the relationship is still indeterminate). Stayed one very traumatic night at their place (sleeping on hard floor in freezing room with mine hosts yelling at each other all night - don't ask) we hit the road again and Pops and I were dropped off in Boston while the two docs pushed off to NYC.

Now, let's talk about these Falls here for a minute. I don't know if you've seen them but if you have you'll know what I mean and if you haven't, shame on you. From afar you can see the clear crystal waters merrily plodding along a shallow-bed river, picking up momentum, the kinetic energy hurtling what looks like sheets of pure ice off a mini cliff. I won't give you the statistics because you can look 'em up yourself but I will tell you that no number of stats and pictures do it justice. It's sheer poetry. The water is so clear that you can see the green moss underneath on the river bed and the air is so crisp that it makes you want to dive right into the icy green-tinted wonderfulness of it all. Don't believe me? Here, see pictures. Er, only problem is that the pictures are on a disc at home in Boston and I'm in Vegas. I'll post them when I get back.

So then after a couple of days in Boston, Pops went back to Dubai. He missed us so much that he decided to come back after a week as a surprise to the docs. And surprised they were. Well, Mum was more suspicious but it all went over well. Carefully orchestrated meeting of flights (his from Dubai and mine from Boston) at JFK and a taxi ride home met us with screams and hugs of delight. Nothing better than to spring surprises on Black Cobra, bless her. And the next day, here we are in Vegas with RK.

Staying at the Bellagio in our regular suite on the 32nd (last time we were on the 35th but the dip in 3 floors does nothing for the magnificient view). Pops threw a hissy fit on the plane because I wouldn't play cards with him but opted to work instead (apparently I'm still his little entertainment monkey and must dance on command). He got out of that soon enough after we pumped him full of airplane pretzels and Coca Cola. Bags were out fairly quickly and into the waiting limo we went (manned by a lovely woman with immense bag carrying capacity). A short drive later, and into the Bellagio's VIP Services we are, having a snack (chocolate covered strawberries, cheese sticks and assorted dried fruit) and checking in. Had a chat and a cheese plate up in the room and down we went to give Mum the grand tour. The Conservatory this time is done up showing major American pieces of culture and history with absolutely lovely flowers. This is why I like the Bellagio better than any other hotel on the strip - the flowers. Lovely exotic orchids, plain pretty petunias, tiny little roses. Very beautiful.

A few hours of gambling and into the limo to Gandhi for dinner we go. Food was nice, much better than Gaylord at the Rio. Back to the room for a king's view of the dancing fountains. Spent the evening working and gaping at the truly magnificient view and then as was tired, hit the sack early.

Still on East Coast time so was up by 3 as usual. Lazed around in bed until I couldn't anymore. Did the usual morning chores - ironing people's clothes, scheduling laundry pick-up and making reservations for the day. Now I shall shower and head down to the excellent Spa and Salon for my facialpedicurehaircut. Mum and Pops are already down at the tables, gambling away. RK is asleep since he was up at 3 as well only he decided to hit the tables instead of lazing about.

Alright luvvies, as comfy as this bathrobe is, I must to the Spa.

Oh, and the reason this post is titled as it is is because Pops put that song on repeat on the iPod and I'm too lazy to get up and change it.

I got the soundtrack

I'm so pipped.

This album rocks.

I'm in the wrong profession.

I need to be an actor.

Update

Yes, yes, I know, I forgot to tell you that Black Cobra's car was broken into and her purse was stolen and then last week my purse was stolen and we went to Niagara Falls and I shall post pictures soon.

I'm too lazy to blog.

I want to see Miami Vice so bad it hurts. BTW, the soundtrack is kick-ass.

Overheard at the watercooler

"Nothing's backed up. Well, the Internet is backed up but nothing else is."

Said by a Production Manager mind you. Who is this 35-yr old woman who has a baby voice. It is SO annoying.

She just asked me what does VPN stand for. Sigh.

I should get me one of these

My Big Mac is bigger than your Big Mac

Following its recent "Not bad for a McJob" campaign, McDonald's UK, to coincide with this Summer's World Cup, will introduce, for a limited time, the new Bigger Big Mac which will be 40 percent bigger than the current Big Mac. The current Big Mac already has 560 calories and more fat than you'd ever want to consume. But hey, as we've always said, no one's forcing the food down anyone's throat so if a big ass burger works from a marketing angle, go for it.

Read more here.

My purse was stolen yesterday

Right from under my nose.

Now I'm pissed.

I am very disturbed.

So like, they've retained the services of two sets of freelancers to make these maps for the conference map room. And I just saw the first one. Israel is missing, Libya is not marked and neither is Iran or Iraq.

And they call themselves professionals. Ugly Americans. No finesse. No aching for quality work. Where are the interactive media companies that actually want to do a good job and why the hell don't I work for one?!

Bah.

I don't get it

So like, this image of mi casa shows no parking lot. But then this other image shows Emirates Towers. I'm pretty sure the parking lot was built before the Towers. Wot gives?


103F in Boston today. Damn.

There were little pieces of blue glass all over the seat

It was pretty. Pretty frightening too.

So like, I went to NYC this last weekend to help set up BC's pad for the parents were arriving from their Scandinavian cruise (I now have a very cool Russian wrap with tassels and a lovely orange and black kurta from Dubai). And we huffed and puffed in the terrible heat (100F it was) and we tore boxes apart and we swept packing peanuts and we did 13 loads of laundry. Then we went to the airport and promptly got lost on the way.

But it was nice to see them. They've got swollen feet, poor things, from all that travelling.

I was all set to leave on Sunday and get back to Boston. But then as we were headed towards the car to drive me to the subway station, we saw him.

There he was. Big, black and a menance to society. Breaking the passenger side window of BC's car. Grabbing the lovely doctor's bag. She was running towards him. I was running towards the getaway car. Which nearly ran me over in its hurry to get away.

Here's a tip. DON'T EVER DO THAT. They could shoot you with guns and then where will you be?

The cops came. The cops went. We put the car in a secure lot and tottled back home. Poor BC was very upset. They took her Palm Pilot you know.

Dad woke me up at 4:30 am by shoving a bowl with cubes of Kraft cheddar cheese (yes, the kind you get in the tins in Dubai) under my nose. I'll bet you he wasn't hungry, he just wanted the tin to use as an ashtray. I unpacked 4 suitcases and repacked them. BC went to work and came home and we went to the police precinct and got the latest on this senseless crime. The getaway car was stolen.

Went to Sears and got an air conditioner because the parents were literally melting away (there were little pools at their feet). Got lots of groceries too. No, not at Sears, at the ShopRite. Installed the A/C. Ate an aloo. Got on the subway to get to the bus stop to get home. Crawled into my own bed at 1:30 am and couldn't sleep so was playing with Google Earth.

I can't find MIT on Google Earth. I found the Greens and most of KMC but I can't find MIT.

I did find lots of places in Dubai. You know, it's a fun thing to do, look for familiar places on Google Earth. Did you know that Sh. Rashid building, Zabeel Road is not rectangular? No, it's trapezoidal.

Finally got to sleep at 5 am. Have a vague feeling that Dad called at 7 but can't be sure. Had terrible dreams of ... something.. can't remember wot now. Eating bread and cheese and working from home because I'm exhausted.

BC is doing better. Could have been worse. We need to get her a secure parking spot in that building. Poor thing. She is quite small you know.

It's hotter than I've ever experienced. And I'm from the desert, I know hot. I shall get me an A/C too. If I can find the energy to get out of bed. Took a cold shower at 9 but it didn't work for long.

Oh look. Dad's on MSN.

New Creative Director at work

And I just met him. And he totally creeps me out. He has an evil smile.

Yes, yes, I know, he's prolly perfectly harmless and a very nice man but still. He creeps me out.

Going to the Cambridge Center for the Arts to see Nat Simpkins and Henri Smith in action. Maybe do a late night movie after that. I've got Pirates of the Caribbean thefirstone.

Resh, send me that template. I'm all ready for it.

Spent the day designing requirements for the kiosks and entryway screens for the ASF. Found these really cool ones with infra-red sensors, proximity sensors, proximity mats, built-in thermal printers and overheard screens. On Zabeel Road too. Isn't that odd.

Suspicious daywalker activity

Have you seen Underworld Evolution? Can you tell me why suddenly at the end of the movie Selene turns into a daywalker? She is not burnt to a mrs-vickies-salt-and-pepper crisp in the morning sunlight. Why is this? What happened between having mad passionate monkey sex in an abandoned shipping container and spiking William's head with his own claw that made her all Blade-ish?

Explain! I demand to know! I take my vampires very seriously I'll have you know.

Flight tracking

So like if you wanted to know, say, which are the flights coming from Dallas Fort Worth to Boston's Logan you would have to go to the DFW website to see which ones are headed to Boston and then you would have to go to the MassPort website to see which ones arrive from Dallas because guess wot? There is no way of telling on either website both the arrival and departure times of a particular flight.

Daft bastards.

I need to stop grinding my teeth

Says the nice Persian doctor who filled my cavity.

Is it me or does the new Dove Refresh shower soap ad music sound like something Rishi Rich would do?

I shall now watch Underworld.

"The English Divide"

I have always believed that my school and college years were the first architects of my personality; like every middle-class Indian, I take pride in where I studied and what I was taught. And yet, the gentle idealism of this young girl made me pause to wonder: Had my public-school education been shamefully elitist?

Read it here.

You know they do background checks on incoming students in Delhi to enter kindergarten. To make sure they come from the 'right' families. Makes me ill it does. And then you people ask me why I don't want to live in India. Bah.

The emergency mocha

Is the sole reason for my composite filling eroding. Now I have to go get my molar looked at. I hate going to the dentist.

But it tastes so good.

Can you tell I don't want to work today? It would be nice if I had a friend to meet for lunch. Something to look forward to.

Good morning good morning good morning how are you?

So like, I've nearly finished making the necklace I started working on last night. Just one middle piece left. Thing is that the middle piece I want in there is a long one so I can't use a small ring to attach it to the links of the chain like the other pieces. Think I may have to do something nifty with a headpin. Which means another trip to the bead store. And this morning in the shower I had a lovely idea for matching earrings too. Maybe I'll try and finish them today so I can give them to Black Cobra when I go down to NYC this weekend.

Actually, they're too nice. I may just keep them for myself. :)

So like, my laptop died suddenly last night and checkdisk keeps hanging. Very worrying.

It's rainy and I'm hungry for breakfast.

The office is pretty dead. Half of them are on vacation. The other half are on a conference call with each other. Which is odd. Because everybody's cubby is right next to everybody elses.

I don't have a cubby. Which is fine by me. I abhor cubbies. I may go sneaking around to the Midpoint to stare out the window at the rain whilst pretending to work on functional specs.

Ooo, I could do with a bagel or something. Where shall we go for lunch today? Pick one for me.

Click. You know you want to.

NASA is a go for launch

Yes, it is. Crack in insulation notwithstanding. It's on its way. Watch the cam here.

Italy and Germany in Dortmund. Wimbledon on at the same time. Just ate a Dole fruit cup. All the fruits were square. Very interesting.

Holy Roma!

So like, Albert Pinto (who I must add is looking bloody good) went to Rome with la familia and took lots of lovely pictures. See them all here.

Explain this to me - in the land of geeks, how come I don't know any good-looking ones?!

P.P. Belkovich

So like the move to NY went fine. Very tiring but fine. Have 18 bruises and an achy left wrist and some sort of a strange cold but other than that, am fine. Black Cobra is fine. The new apartment is fine. It's all fine. I shall post pictures of the move just as soon as BC sends them to me.

So like, it's hot in Boston. Hot and limpid. Like a noodle. Not much work to do. Read that as not much income coming in. Still, there it is.

I like Adrants.com. Don't you?

You can just hear the model on the right in this United Bennetton ad screaming to the model on the left during the photo shoot, "Back off bitch! My boobs need more space than your sorry little boy chest!" Or at least that's what we hear in our sick, twisted mind.

I especially like how this has been tagged 'boobs' on Flickr. Nice.

So.. very.. tired...

Too many boxes.. too many clothes.. too many shoes.. too much being thrown..

Have bubbled wrapped everything in sight. There is no end.

Break over. Must pack more boxes.

Her sister's coming in the morning. Ding dong the bells are gonna chime.

Why is it that regardless of the culinary options available to Americans, they will still flock to McDonald's?

So like, I'm at O'Hare. Now, I don't know if you remember the last time you were at O'Hare but it's cooler now. I'll tell you exactly how in a minute but lets start with the book I was reading on the flight here.

Tip: When you have a 6 am flight, don't leave the house at 5 am. You get to the airport and they close counters on you and you have to run and apologize a lot. But they were nice about it. Melvyn Menezes was on the same flight in first class. They have hot breakfasts there you know. We should travel first class more often. It is fun.

I finished the book I had borrowed from Em - The Romantics by Pankaj Mishra. It started out engaging enough but then it dragged on a bit and now that I've finished it, I have mixed feelings about it. People's quest for serenity always baffle me. I can't relate to that. On one hand, I think there's someting to be said for the search for peace but on the other hand, if all we had was peace, wouldn't life be a bit boring?

So anyway. The coolness of O'Hare. They now have these huge screens which is nice but then they have the Accenture Interactive Network. It's a giant touchscreen that gives the news, weather, sports headlines etc. Tres cool. This is the sort of thing we should have for the ASF conference. Sadly, while they have wifi, it's not free so I can't dig up pictures or the website.

I've just bought Che Guevara's Motorcycle Diaries and I shall now get some egg rolls from Manchu wok for breakfast, settle in a corner, cover myself with my stolen American Airlines blanket and read.

Flight leaves in 2 hours. See you in Little Rock.

I've discovered a wonderful concoction

Brew cup of coffee with Dark Roast Columbian k-cup. Add one sachet of instant hot chocolate mix. Stir. Enjoy. Take heartburn pill. Repeat whenever feeling sleepy. Eat two mints. Provides the appropriate amount of caffiene and sugar with good taste to stay alert for at least 4 hours. I call it the emergency mocha.

Flying to Little Rock tomorrow and then driving to NYC

Black Cobra: I'm very excited you're coming.
Wolfe: Yes.
Black Cobra: Are you bringing your laptop?
Wolfe: Of course.
Black Cobra: Good good. We can look up directions along the way if we get lost.
Wolfe: How?
Black Cobra: With your laptop. And also we can look up cool things to see along the way.
Wolfe: Yes, you keep saying that, but how?
Black Cobra: Wirelessly.
Wolfe: Along the highways of America? There is wireless internet connectivity available?
Black Cobra: Yes. Isn't there?
Wolfe: I don't know. Is the moon broadcasting a network as a satellite that encompasses the earth?
Black Cobra: *giggle*
Wolfe: Look listen, you need an ISP to have wireless connectivity. It's not just randomly available you know.
Black Cobra: Why don't we have connection wherever we go?
Wolfe: Because we don't live in a Sim world. Yet.
Black Cobra: I don't know how these computers work. I just called to say 'yay'.
Wolfe: Yay.

*click*

Go buy yourself some indobundee happiness

And while you're there, get me this one and this one and this one.

Go see Hadid at the Guggenheim if you're in NYC

She designed the Dancing Towers in Dubai dontcha know. Besides, we don't see enough Middle Eastern arhitects out there.

I know this image is not related to this post

I just thought it was funny.

Hamza Mustafa, GM of The World said, "Sir Richard Branson symbolizes the best of British and is the ideal person today to plant the Union Jack on Great Britain."

In context...

They say it's my birthday...

... doo doo doo doo dooooooo..

is it your birthday toooo?

I don't understand a single word of this but it sounds so cool, I just had to share it.

Explaining the product, glass bubbles, in detail, Arco said, "The hollow glass spheres are microscopic particles used to decrease the density of cement slurries."

The same weight reduction technology also finds applications in the construction of buoyancy modules and as a thermal insulation component for flow assurance in offshore operations. The hollow glass spheres represent apparently a simple, efficient and effective way to deal with density reduction.

Arco also sees the product as being environmentally inert and very safe compared to alternative methods to lighten cement slurries that involve energised gases and the associated handling and safety problems with these systems.

Read it all here.

Something tells me this is not exactly Etisalat's cup of tea

Rather than being simply a cleaner and perhaps more obedient pet, the robodog will actually be an integral part of the residence's communications.

"It acts as a surveillance camera." Should your apartment be burgled, the dog is designed to take a photo of the person who has broken in and send it to the police. It also reads out your e-mails. "So when you come home it will say 'master, you have two e-mails,' and then read them out. It will also play music. You can ask it questions, such as 'what is the weather like in London?' It will be connected to WiFi so it can find the information and read it out to you." Apparently it is possible to select either a male or female voice for the creature, but having got used to a robotic animal speaking at all, it is unlikely the gender is terribly important.

Read more...

Ek Khatarnak Khwatoon ki Jung

Hah, I get to work from home tomorrow. And I've just ordered greasy Chinese food from Quan's Kitchen (eggplant in spicy sauce with egg fried rice for Mingus Khan and beef with broccoli and pork lo mein and a veggie spring roll for me). Soon I shall change into Em's hideously soft t-shirts and veg out in front of his newly installed cable and life will be good.

So like, Black Cobra is graduating tomorrow (all rise!) and she has been secretly planning to start a political party very aptly named "Khatarnak Khwatoono ki Jung". Remember to contribute to the fund. She has also very much lost her mind and all sense of familial responsibility because she claims that she told me about her graduation whereas in fact she did not. Oh there's no point denying it BC, we all know you don't love us no more. Don't want us at your graduation wearing summer dresses with white sandals and wide-brimmed hats dabbing at our eyes with crumpled tissues. That's ok. No problem. We'll live.

But if you think you're going to get out of coming to my graduation, you are sorely mistaken. Your arse better be solidly planted in a seat watching me walk or else. Or you could stand and clap madly at my genius too. I wouldn't mind.

Ok. Motivate karo. Or as BC would say, Moti vate kam karo. I shall get into jammies now.

Tiddy boom baby. Tiddy boom.

ثقب is the word of the day

Hello darlings, sorry I haven't written in ages. I had only just gotten over Spring term when the rains came in. DelicateRed came to visit from M'ke and we had lots of fun traipsing around town in our boots and raincoats visiting museums and the like and then when she left summer intensives started and then it was three weeks of IT geekiness with systems architecture and telecom and networking and then just one short weekend and it was back to work.

Yes, you heard me. Work. As in the paying kind. Got me an internship for the summer didn't I. Working for the Hive to deliver a technology platform for the Arab Strategic Forum 2006 in Dubai dontcha know. Fun times my friends. Fun times.

But it is that time of year again and so I give you, once again, Garfield in all his awesome wonder -


So like, the Hive is an interesting place. Very much like Spin Group. President looks like a mild-mannered Vin Diesel and is very much like the Wong. Maybe all small business web services company owners are the same. Also, I hate cubicles. Granted mine is a large open one but still. It's a stupid idea. Although it is nice to be able to stick things up on the walls.

I also cannot sit still for 8 hours a day at a desk. It's too much to ask a girl to stay put. I treated myself to lunch out every day last week (in sheer glee of getting paid) (rather preemptively since I haven't been paid yet). Souper Salad makes a brilliant salad. Or soup. Whichever you're in the mood for. But soon, I shall Ramen Noodle for lunch. You know, the complicated kind. Like a stir-fry with beans.

Aaaaaand now I'm hungry.

Back to work. Have to figure out how to search Arabic text in an Oracle database. Do you know how?

P.S. Do you like my little joke with the ثقب ? You know, as in, it is hard to translated from English to Arabic literally. Get it? Get it?

I'm back!

Boom baby! Intensives are over. I'm done with school for the summer. Now all I have is back-breaking long hours of work but that's almost normal. So you know wot that means. Yes, that's right, you guessed it chickie-poos - more blogging!

Miss Marple solves a Sleeping Mystery on GBH2 on June 11. Remind me to watch it.

The annual congressional picnic is on. Bet it's not raining there. It's raining here.

I bought a Troy book from a thrift store today and the curtains are finally up in my room. Crazypsychobitchhousemate has left and new one has moved in. I shall now begin reading my 312 emails and clean up my inbox. Stay tuned.

God forbid you tell a chap something

Done with the first two weeks of intensives and two very long and quite hard finals. And there's a long weekend ahead. And there is thunder in the air. And perhaps some rain. Perfect evening to cuddle on the couch with some candlelight and a home-cooked meal and a board game and a movie on the tele and some wine. The only problem is that I don't know any non-CroMagnon men who would be nice to cuddle with.

I would venture to say that if your near and dear ones can't give you some constructive feedback and if you constantly find yourself being miffed at them then then you need to get yo 'tude and go find yourself some other near and dear ones. You know the kind. Those ones that don't give a shit about you. I guarantee that they will ALWAYS be pleasant to you. I highly recommend them. They're the perfect bonk partners too. They will never want you to stay to cuddle or make you breakfast or make you smile.

I, meanwhile, will find some other way to spend my lovely rainy sunny movie-filled casual sandals walking around town swimming weekend with people who don't yell at me in public and could be bothered to change their clothes and take a shower and shave once a while. And not just for other random women but for me. You know. Me. The one that puts up with your sensitive ass. And no, that's not too much to ask.

Tell me something

Why is it that stupid HVAC engineers put sensors OUTSIDE the building but not inside? I mean, shouldn't the temperature inside depend on what temperature it is already?! So the warmer the day is outside, the colder it is inside. Which means that it doesn't matter if we go below zero, this inverse proportional relationship holds true regardless of the icicles forming on the edge of my nose. This is how they build the buildings at BU.

I'm in intensives. It's boring. I shall blog later.

I have no time to blog. Don't judge me.

I actually have my two hours of social drinking scheduled into my calendar. This is sad.

You know wot I want to do?

I want to go to Bhutan. And Sikkim. Don't you? We should go. Comment in if you want to and maybe after I'm done with this MBA bizznizz we'll plan a trip. I was thinking South American at first but you know, Bhutan might be a good idea. And Sikkim. And Bruneii. Wot do you think?

Me Mum's sick :(

And she's in the hospital and they say she might have TB and I don't know wot to do.

:(

Down to 190 emails

I think I'll take a nap.

The Smithsonian store

I don't know if you're been to the Smithsonian store in a while but it is full of ugly pointless things. Which are ridiculously overpriced. Who buys this stuff? No really. Who in their right mind would pay $315 for a dragonfly lamp with illumniated base?!

Would you like a chocolate hand bag?

Well who wouldn't? That's wots on Phantom Gourmet on the tele right now. Why is that daytime television is so boring?

So like finals are done with. They were relatively painless. The grades, I fear, will probably not be so kind. But such is life.

Now the Phantom Gourmet is showing how to make chocolate peanut butter banana sammiches with deep fried pickles and buttermilk. Apparently this is wot Elvis used to like. No wonder the aliens kidnapped him. He belongs with them.

I'm back in my pajammies now. Sitting in bed. Blogging. Watching tele. Chatting with Em who is in Seattle. I shall now read the 289 emails in my inbox.

Overheard at the watercooler

"Nicotine slaves are all the same
At a pettin' party or a poker game
Everything gotta stop while they have a cigarette
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Puff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette"
-- Tex Williams

Got finals dahlings. Pray for my scholarship-retaining ass.

You'll never know how the world is going to break down

Which is why you need to have friends. Like Em. Who hold your hand and make jokes.

At the Union trying to study after Nicole the bitch housemate spent the better part of the morning yelling at me. Don't ask.

Somewhere there's a piano playing.

Here. Read how to stay awake in boring presentations.

1. Before (or during) the next class, presentation, or lecture, prepare yourself by drawing a square. I find that 5" x 5" is a good size. Divide the card into columns-five across and five down. That will give you 25 one-inch blocks.

2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block: Synergy, strategic fit, core competencies, best practice, bottom line, revisit, expeditious, to tell you the truth (or "the truth is), 24/7, out of the loop, benchmark, value-added, proactive, win-win, think outside the box, fast track, result-driven, knowledge base, at the end of the day, touch base, mindset, client focus(ed), paradigm, game plan, leverage.

3. Now check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!"

Now read "Real Testimonials" from satisfied players.

"I had been in the class for only five minutes when I won." - Adam W., Atlanta
"My attention span in class has improved dramatically." - David T., Orlando
"What a gas! Class will never be the same for me after my first win." - Dan J., New York City
"The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." - Ben G., Denver
"The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'BULLSHIT!' for the third time in two hours. The Bull**** Bingo Championship will be played at the next meeting." - Rod H

Happy playing.

Martinis at Mantra

So like JJ got married in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago. Tell me this picture doesn't make you want to throw caution to the winds and take a vacation!

Last day of classes

Was the last day of classes today. Had a nice little cohort event and thankfully did not get the class vote for worst-dressed woman. Also did not get the vote for most likely to be the first millionaire but that's ok.

Should've gone to Cornwall's with the crew for some beer and conversation but instead stupidly decided to spend some time with Em who is a royal pain in the arse. Why the hell do I always end up bonking barbaric desi men?! Why can't I find a nice metrosexual who lets you order first at restaurants and treats you with respect in front of your friends?! Is it so wrong to want to be thought of as a lady simply because I AM ONE?!

Sigh. Mysteries of life. We may never know. Maybe he's just jealous that my boobs are nicer than his. Or maybe my balls are bigger. We may truly never know.

Mike Zapolin is coming to speak at 7 pm. I have one hour to kill. I am too irritated at Em to study. Maybe I will go sit in the sun for a bit. That is if there is any sun. Was 65F this morning and will be 40F this evening. Stupid Boston weather. Stupid Boston. Stupid Boston people. Stupid Boston desi people. Stupid Boston desi men. Stupid desi men that I always end up bonking.

AAAAARRRRGHHH!

Us to Samsung: Viral Marketing Doesn’t Work, Please Stop

Did you ever click a link and then have the window open up somewhere under all your other windows and then all of a sudden some crappy happy house starts wiggling through your speakers and you can’t find the window to turn it off and then you find out it’s some half-assed viral marketing crap designed to create a buzz for a product—most probably a UMPC—that’s already been flogged to death but by God they have a little countdown timer on there in hopes that your ass will return and stare at an annoying, constantly looping commercial? Well it just happened to me. It’s something called WhatsEveryoneLookingAt.

Vos oeufs et mon poisson

Em is back from Gotham looking very brown and quite cute. If only he would do something about those red eyes. Looks a bit freaky at the best of times.

Spent the morning working on my operations management presentation with The Evil Empire team. We now begin the analysis on the dairy farm with a loud, resonating moo. Gawd help us.

Then had a very bland lunch with VR at Pho's Lemongrass restaurant. Ordered Pad Thai. Prolly shouldn't have. VR was telling me about the play at HBS that had Erik Petersen build a robo-dean that was programmed with all the key learnings of every HBS case ever written and then takes over the world (or at very least, the campus).

iiriiiiriiririiiririiriririiririririiriiiririririririiiiririririririririririririririririririririrrrrriririi

Sorry, that was me tapping Classical Gas on the keyboard.

Spent 8 hours working on my strategy paper with Vannie and Vishal. Now at the Union with Em. And they're kicking us out. So I shall post and head out into the rain. See you on the flip side.

So annoyed now

I've been stood up. Stupid boys.

Wake Shake!

Booyah! Just finished my marketing plan in a record 1.5 hours. Professors, I know you try to get me to do my work in advance but you just don't get us hot potato managers. If there ain't a deadline looming, the work ain't gonna git done. But oh the quality of output when stressed for time! Wot price I ask you, wot price the quality?! Ah the adrenaline. Calm down Wolfey you say? It's just a paper you say? 40% of my grade I say! Yes, but Wolfey, no great guns. Doctors save lives everyday you know. Go eat a rabbit I say.

It's raining again, blast it. I'm hungry. I shall heat leftover pizza and veg out in front of tele until lovely-haired Jamie writes back to say that my plan is crap and that I've been voted off the island.

In the mood for drinks tonight but still nursing strange chest/lung infection and so think best course is to drink more hot milk with coffee and pile on the blankets.

Here, read snippets of marketing team meeting conversations:

Jamie: Wolfe, are you writing your part in 1st or 3rd person?
Wolfe: 1st... makes more sense
Jamie: hm this worries me because the rest of the paper is in 3rd
Wolfe: oook then.. i shall change it to 3rd

Wolfe: everytime amr changes his stuff, the marketing plan changes

Wolfe: so since our product has changed from juice with drugs to meal replacement with drugs, i would think our product X segment changes too
Wolfe: pxsm.. for short... because product x segment matrix is hard to type

Jamie: ok you know the benefit seg
Wolfe: which one?
Jamie: the one amr recently sent
Wolfe: 1st or 2nd? pre or post?
Jamie: should be done with the same attributes on the value curve
Wolfe: ah..yes.. it should.. which it is not
Jamie: correct.. i think amr used the attributes that describe the concept
Wolfe: so change the benefit segment would be the 2 million dollar answer
Jamie: yes - but which groups do we form then
Wolfe: i still don't like the idea of changing the value curve mind you
Jamie: maybe both?
Wolfe: it confuses everything
Jamie: oh no we shouldn't change that
Jamie: defintiely not
Jamie: leave it as is
Wolfe: how form both groups?
Wolfe: no no.. i mean.. i don't like that we changed it from the original
Wolfe: sigh
Wolfe: so ... now wot?
Wolfe: who am i targeting?
Wolfe: what's going on?
Jamie: ahaghhgahgahgh
Wolfe: who shot the sheriff?

Wolfe: we stay with the first 3 groups.. see.. we take the 2nd round people and sort them into AIOs and others.. no no! we take the 2nd round people and we identify their AIO behaviors! and from THAT we make our bene seg.. since we are finding out how consumers fill the need
Jamie: ok, so are you saying all of them should fit in AIO
Wolfe: in some way shape or form, yes! (on a global zen-like manner)

Amr: this is very important

Wolfe: all this talking has made my throat dry.. i shall get a refil of tea and brb
Amr: Jamie, what needs to be modified? I don't understand
Jamie: ok sorry.. we have the 2 charts, the product x seg matrix, and the benefit segmentation.. these are segmenting attributes and products into 3 groups.. and in the updated versions, they are different groups.. according to the examples, these groups need to be the same
Amr: can I call u?
Jamie: yes
Wolfe: don't cry for me argentina
Wolfe: dum dee dum dum
Wolfe: can i call you too
Wolfe: you can conference me in
Wolfe: ah it's lonely at the top

Jamie: i am super confused about amr's exhibit now
Wolfe: hah
Wolfe: he used a 5X model instead of a 3X one
Jamie: hmm
Wolfe: is it legal you ask.. is it kosher? can this be done? i see the doubt

Jamie: the marketing plan looks good!
Wolfe: you like it you like it? i'm very proud of myself..
Jamie: haha good job!
Wolfe: and i used a framework
Wolfe: voluntarily
Wolfe: with no coercion

Jamie: ok i will do some editing tonight.. still have not gotten Juan's part :(
Wolfe: he's online i think
Raymond has been added to the conversation.
Weimin has been added to the conversation.
Wolfe: oops.. wrong buttons
Wolfe: juan is not online.. and now weimin and raymond will wonder why they're talking to each other
Jamie: HAHHAA
Wolfe: i should have been voted cohort rep.. i bring people together
Jamie: LOL

Is it wrong to want a cheeseburger for breakfast?

Saturday morning cartoons are getting worse. I miss Cartoon Network. Kids WB sucks. I need to get cable. So like Sketchers has the Z-strap to replace laces on sneakers. 'Cuz you know, kids these days are too stupid to learn how to keep their laces tied. Yes, I know that I have problems with that too but that's not the point. Have you noticed that green tea really has no taste? Somewhere in the hype of antioxidants and therapeutic properties, we have forgotten that green tea tastes like dishwater water. On the flip side, I have nice Turkish biscuits. Looking to get a nice jacket for Em since I was mean to him yesterday. You will be horrified to learn that all online men's clothing websites have nothing but overpriced crap. Oh look, Batman's on. I like batman. Wot's a good website for nice jackets? You know, the Spring/Fall types. Casual yet smart. I have coffee with Ashan at 10:30 at Campo di Fiori. Can't decide if I want to work there or come back home. 'Sposed to be cold today. I DO NOT get the deal with Pokemon. What is up with that?! No really. Didn't sleep again last night. Em's gone to Gotham to fight the evil Crank. Or rather NYC to see his uncle. I shall lie down for a bit.

I'm cold

And my hot water bottle has renegaded. Stupid boys.

Now I can't sleep.

Blech blech blech.

Stupid boys

Stay with you when they want and won't stay with you when you want.

An object is an object until it's a class

Does this mean that otherwise they're classless?

Gave the OOP course waiver exam today. Pray I pass. I refuse to fork out $4k on veebeedotnet. I will revolt.

Start by fixing your day

So like I'm at Espresso Royale trying to write my marketing plan for the fabulous Consumer Behavior final project which, if you must know, is this revolutionary beverage that is essentially juice with drugs. Yes, it will sell. Especially after I write this kick-ass marketing plan for it.

But I got distracted by this BW report on building the Airbus A380. Dude, you so have to check this out. I want one.

And if you didn't think that Virgin would make much of a splash in MENA, think again. BTW, I didn't know Emirates had so much moolah! I want to work for Virgin. There was a Virgin idea competition at school earlier this year. But I didn't have enough team members. Plus it was $75. Charging MBAs a nominal $75 to come up with your next million dollar idea is just stupid. As Resh would say - eat the costs, bastards.

I've heard Chug de Punjabi 4 times now. It's on repeat. I think I'll leave it on.

The rising tide raises all ships which is free unless you're the moon

So like after being admonished for not reading Resh's inner thots for like 3 months now, I figured I'd take a break from the Nokia case and catch up. Turns out that he's discovered style. Who knew. And apparently there's this big bruhaha (stop there, it's not meant to be a bruhahahahaha) about 3 flat panels at work. Ah, if I only had the Spin pictures handy. Listen, foo, the world is beyond 3 flat panels! You need to get you some wall-mounted television action so you can do some serious stock quote news headlines Brit comedies Photoshop editing.

Also, I have to watch all these desi movies man. And who is this Vish chap anyway?

Is it wrong that I want to be Johnny Kalsi? No really. With every fibre of my being.

Resh, you need to open up the portals of punjab to me once again. I'm running out of music. However, I have discovered Reza Derakshani. Don't ask, just Google.

Dige is a very cool word. We should use it in everyday language. Like maybe "Dige to me baby".

Sigh. Should get out of bed now and get showered and head off to skool.

iPorn

Brilliant. And about time.

He didn't want to disappoint me

Do you sometimes feel that your heart is being ripped out and taken away from you and you can't do anything about it? I do. I feel that way now. And I don't know what to do about it.

BTW, we lost the competition. We lost to a company that wanted to put a fake product on the market and raise the prices for it. I was angry about that earlier but now I'm not. Prolly 'cuz Niku called and make donkey jokes but mostly because he reminded me of something I haven't said in a long long time.

I miss you, Ko. I hope you're well. I hope Smooches hasn't forgotten how to explode into socks. I wish I had a sock-exploder. But I don't. I have someone who doesn't want to disappoint me. I should be glad about that but I'm not.

Bakdafukup.

And it makes me wonder.

I don't want to sleep. I haven't not wanted to sleep since the days of Go.com. I used to like to sleep.

I wonder where he is now.

Net Impact Case Competition

So like I've entered this case competition with Em and Andrey and Yogi. Beech-Nut is the case. Just gave our presentations. Which, quite frankly, did not do justice to our analysis. But I did kick some butt at QnA. Find out at 7:15 if we're in the finals. Then we present again. Before that I get to hear Mike Sears speak and schmooze with Dean and CEO types. Then it's off to Boston Beer Works for some drinky drinky. Then home to stare at my piles of unwashed laundry. And to bed. Blissful blissful sleep. I've found a new way to make my bed and I quite like it. Problem is, I haven't seen the business side of my sheets in about two weeks. Was up again all night yesterday. So very very very tired now.

Em is being mildly offensive. But maybe I'm being sensitive. Who knows. At Starbucks on the 2nd floor now. I shall suffer my high heels and go back upstairs to competition realm to mingle. Wish me luck. I hope we get into finals. I hope we win too. Second or first place. Third wouldn't be too nice.

I'm too competitive they tell me. Fok off I tell them.

In lieu of interesting posts

Piyo piyo coffee piyo

I need more music. I have 2 gigs of memory left. Does anybody want my porn so I can free up space for music? Somehow burning backup cds of porn seems wrong.

Fall registration for classes opened at 7 am. Three classes were full up by 7:03 am. It's a competitive world we live in.

Fun classes for Fall - systems design for business networks, marketing research, strategy implementation and integrated marketing communication. And they're making me take database management would you believe. Gary will prolly be very glad that I officially get to learn about databases but I say I have enough experience crashing Pick'n Save's dbs to know all I need to know.

Plus, I have to take an OOP class in the summer. Trying to test out of that one. Do NOT want to spend $4000 on a stupid VB class. VB is not for me. I hire people who do VB. Stupid course. Bet they don't make the chaps at Harvard take VB *grumble*.

No rest for the wicked

Stop giving me grief about not blogging. I'm a busy woman.

Too many Chinese

It irritates me to see Arab people in global ads. Don't know why. But it does.

A chick with no chap

Horrid throat this morning. Got in late last night. Hit a lady with my bag on the train. No, not on purpose. It was an accident. Things like that happen on crowded trains. She was not pleased. Em and I jumped ship (or er... train) to avoid unpleasantness. Was hijacked on the way home by Campa and taken to Punjabi Dhaba for some chicken tikka masala goodness and really bad sardar jokes.

Got my sausage, egg and cheese bagel and other assorted baked goods from Citi Convenience and am at work trying to surreptiously read a case. I'm sure someone will figure out that I don't do anything work related when I'm at work.

I think I'll take a coffee break. Heh.

Best job ever. Hardware keeps crashing all around me and here I am blogging. Fun. Hey, this is how I could afford NYC two weeks ago.

Don't judge me.

Electives

Have registered for NetImpact's case competition with Em and Russian Tov. Any ideas on a team name?

So should I drop the MS or not?

The new Middle East oil bonanza

The tale of Mideast money is not just a local story, however. This year, with oil prices stuck in the $55-to-$65-per-barrel range, perhaps half a trillion dollars will land in OPEC coffers -- more than at any time since the boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The Mideast oil states alone will gather in $320 billion in oil and gas export revenues.

Interesting article.

Vitamin water. Essential

Good morning!

Lovely day out there. Spent the entire weekend thinking about how much work I have to take care of but not doing an ounce of it. In fact, except for reading for today's class, I did nothing. Well I played Scrabble with Em at Brighton Cafe for our Saturday morning breakfasts but that's about it.

Sat in on the Technology Entrepreneurship Forum Friday night. Had a tray of whipped cream mousses thrown at me by a twitchy server. The dining department here at GSM does us proud sometimes with the perfect crispiness of their asparagus but they have very wound up servers. Must be all that collective knowledge in the room. Drives them batty. I know it drives me batty.

Went to the 1st Annual International Tech Strategy Business Case Competition dinner banquet (phew) on Saturday. Missed the actual case presentations but hobnobbled with IIM (Calcutta) folks at dinner who collectively said that I a)looked like a very young and pretty Farida Jalal, b)did not look Indian but could pass off as royalty and c)should be in theatre because of my expressive face. I collectively told them to fok off and quizzed them relentlessly about the b-school practices at IIM and proved, over a lovely meal of salmon, steak and more asparagus topped up with copious amounts of red wine, a mint sorbet and a fruit tart, that BU is better than IIM. Hah.

It is you know.

Pops called to tell me that some chap from some IIM got a job somewhere which pays over 10,000 pounds a month and then asked me how much I would get paid after I graduate (for the 14th time) and then asked why I wasn't getting paid as much as that Advani chap (for the 6th time) and then didn't listen when I tried to explain to him the differences between marketing and strategy folks and finance folks so I told him to go to bed.

Then went to International Night at Embassy and Modern and was bored so left at 12:30 am to come home and put in an application for structural second slab checking (which was passed, if you must know).

Went to Espresso Royale to read my NTT DoCoMo case for today and got the inside scoop on secret HBS parties from Rao. Apparently there are no orgies. The rumors are untrue. There isn't any dancing on sofas either.

Locked out of work this morning so went around the corner for a Glaceau and a chocolate croissant. Breakfast puts a whole new perspective on things, I tell you.

Psychotic bitch housemate Nicole has hidden/stolen/eaten/baked/thrown all the dish scrubby sponges for some strange inexplicable reason. Had to scrub my pots and pans with the emergency wire mesh. Blast that woman, can't wait for her to leave. So desperately want a studio of my own. People are just nasty to live with. This is why I shall never get married. I hate roommates.

Aha, I espy Basil. I shall follow him into office. Damn. Monthly reports are due.

Em finds surveys very annoying. To do.

Technology Entrepreneurship Night was fun. Met Sudha Jamthe from Moomli again. She's always fun to talk to. Had a nice dinner with some red wine and chicken with carrots and potatoes. Had a server violently throw about 16 cups of chocolate mousse (with whipped cream toppings) at me so had to excuse self and sponge down pants in the ladies'. That was fun too. Met a chap who does funky things with solar panels and a Norwegian student who smelt nice. Exchanged business cards. Schmoozed. Was fun.

Went to Al Reef after that with Em to wax philosophic over cafe and baklava. Salaam is losing weight to look good for the ladies. His dad was ferrying shawarmas back and forth. Very hospitable that crew.

Saw Aksar the other day. Good movie. Lousy acting but good plot. Horrible songs.

I shall now totter off to bed and watch March of the Penguins.

Call now for a free brochure

I was sitting at Campo Fiori yesterday playing Scrabble with Em and there was these two chaps playing Mastermind. Remember Mastermind? Googs used to cheat all the time.

Did not go to Hill, Holliday this morning as scheduled as was too damn tired. Need to not make so many appointments in a day. Draining me out it is.

So I'm watching Martha Stewart (because there's nothing else on tele) and they're showing the dirty dishes in the sink. And she glittered a chair. It was hideous. Now she's charring pieces of meat for no reason. Apparently the aim is inedibility. And she will show us later how to arrange our garbage so it is pleasing to the eye. It's just this sort of utter garbage that makes you want to pluck your eyeballs out one at a time. Stay with us, coming up, how to vaccum your moss. Quite frankly I think prison has unhinged her. Prolly why only Trump will have her on his show.

I should really tackle that large pile of paper on my desk but I'm in no mood. Technology Entrepreneurship Night tonight. I should do laundry.

Is Desperate Housewives worth watching?

Rao's back from Peru. He said Macchu Picchu was ok and the Lost City of the Incas wasn't all that spectacular. But they did go white water rafting and jumped off bridges into lakes and drank unusual and illegal substances. Sounds like a lovely vacation to me.

Blast it. The milk's gone bad.

13 ball in corner pocket

Junior Academy was a bit annoying. High school kids, while bright, can be very unfocused.

Went to Boston Billards for pool with the Entrepreneurship Club. Got my ass kicked multiple times since am hideously out of practice. Was fun anyway.

Still have to read my IBM case for Strategy tomorrow. Em came over and we played a limpid game of Scrabble. That's my in thing these days. Scrabble. You know, it's been so long since I've written to you that you may not know what's going on in my life. You're just going to have to keep up.

Yay Googie Yay!

You'd be pleased to know that Googie is indeed back. I cried when I read her comment. It freaked Em (Mungus Khan) out.

I also cry at the Duracell commercials so don't get too excited.

I will crawl into your bed every morning and scream "Games" whilst waving a fat sausage on a fork I'll have you know. Better warn your husband.

You should see the outputs of my nose today. Very green.

Spent 3 hours this morning playing the Beer game in OM today to learn about the Bullwhip Effect. I'm pretty sure we didn't have to go through the torture - a simple lecture may have been less painful. At least he didn't scream. Did I mention that? My OM professor screams. In class. Perodically. For no reason. One day I'm going to scream back and see how he likes it.

Junior Academy in 30 minutes and I have to pick electives for Fall.

Old married couple

That's wot we were. We would cuddle up in bed with bowls of Ramen noodle soup and watch teevee. With no remote control. And then we'd squabble over who would change the channel. And I would poke my foot out from under the big blue blanket and try to poke at the buttons with my big toe.

That never did work.

And we'd watch British comedies on Sunday. And speak in funny accents on the bus.

And now she's gone.

:(

I was going to watch Gilmore Girls but it had too many memories and I got depressed

If you're out on the road
Feeling lonely, and so cold
All you have to do is call my name
And I'll be there in the next train

And where you lead, I will follow
Anywhere that you tell me to
If you need, you need me to be with you
I will follow where you lead

:(

I wan my Googie.

Life's been careening dangerously towards steep cliffs lately. I've been told that world news less and Wolfie news more needs to be published. I'll work on that. Now I have to take my pills and go to class.

I think I got my Boston-Dubai job. I'll let you know.

I wish our family was less pig-headed.

How did they get that up there?!

Obesity is not marketers' fault

Dan Jaffe over at the ANA's Regulatory Rumblings blog makes a concise argument, as we have before but with far fewer facts, that lays blame for obesity not on the action of marketers and advertisers b ut squarely on the shoulders of lazy-ass kids, their parents that let them sit on their ass all day long playing video games and schools which have drastically cut back on physical education.

Stupid parents, get your kids to get their fat asses off the couch. Playing video games won't teach them jack about life but riding a bike and falling down playing football will.

Hot daym!

Kuwait has announced the discovery of more than 35 trillion cubic feet of untapped natural gas reserves. The huge find marks the first time that the emirate has unearthed non-associated gas in commercially viable quantities, and threatens provisional deals to import gas from other Gulf states.

It's a pity

It's a pity M. Night Shyamalan's married with babies and all. 'Cuz he's so hot and all. Watch the video. I think it's brilliant.

The Manipal brand

Watch this somewhat cheesy but very inspiring video on Manipal. Now I miss it. The music in the second half is very inspiring. I like inspiring music. Anyway, watch the video.

Emirates Airlines gets its nose rubbed in it

Arsenal's deal with Israel, after its Emirates agreement, makes no sense at all.

I think it makes PERFECT sense! If I was in the business of jipping big business, Emirates Airlines is the first one I'd go after. This article is brilliant!

Pretty pretty sky

Japanese researchers have developed a laser display which can produce "real" 3D images in the air, instead of the pseudo-3D images on two-dimensional planes created by current devices, according to an article in New Scientist (via Roland Piquepaille in his Emerging Technology Trends blog). While these displays are still in demonstration stage, they could soon be used to shine giant 3D ads in the air.

The system has been built by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and Keio University, in collaboration with Burton Inc.