Friday, August 29, 2008

Happy Long weekend, everyone

We are heading out with family friends for an outing at Ocean City, Maryland. This is the first time we will be staying over for a beach outing. We have rented a home for the next two days and I hope it will be an enjoyable experience for all of us. Here's wishing loads of fun for you all this long weekend..

Monday, August 25, 2008

Class Lists and Tooth Falling

Nikhil's front tooth which was wiggling for the past month or so was finally taken out yesterday by Dr.Daddy following the mini surgical procedure with a thread ( Dr.Daddy was trained by his Daddy). Nikhil was not only bold enough to face it, but was too excited about it. Now he tells us, "there is no such thing as tooth fairy. Only parents put the money under the pillow. So dont put money under mine!" . Ha Ha! And he looks so different without the front tooth..

He was also super excited coz his new class list comes out today morning. "I want to know who my new friends will be". I was too! The first thing we tried to do today morning was open his school website to load it. It wont come up! At work, as I hit the school web site and looked for the links to the class, I could not believe I am clicking on the link to 2nd grade list. Not Kindergarten, not 1st Grade anymore! Can't believe he is already in 2nd grade! Time is flying and my baby No.1 growing so fast!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

George Carlin quotes

In Tamil, there are two words I can use to lovingly describe what George Carlin's words symbolize. THIMIRU and LOLLU. Sometimes, his jokes cross the limit (that is limit in my dictionary, may not be for others), but I cant help bursting out with laughter hearing such remarks from him.

Some quotes I enjoyed:
  • If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
  • Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
  • I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
  • I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
  • Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
  • I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
  • Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.
Sad to think that he is no more.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Lay Offs

Three years back, it used to be a threat when we heard people at work talked about 'layoffs' and 'reduction of head count'. Eh, summa solraanga, appidi ellam onnum nadakkathu..that was my reaction to it. When you hear of an upcoming event like that, rumors float around and you pray to God. "Oh God, please not me. And not now". And one day, it did happen. Luckily I was not affected, but witnessing close friends pack their things and leaving the company within the notice of an hour or so, my heart ached.

I have seen that people who got laid off just got new jobs and are doing good now. It probably turned out good for them, in one way or the other.

And I heard of a similar layoff in my old company recently. I feel sad hearing the names of people I know, some close friends and some acquaintances.

It reminds me of the day I received the termination letter from the Indian consulting company I worked for. I was 7 months pregnant and my contract with the client ended due to the client's budget issues. And quite coolly, the company who employed us and processed our H1 visas let me go. This was within 1 year of our moving to US and we never had an idea of terminations/lay offs in India. This was the time when recession was at its peak. The company knew that if they keep me they will have to pay for my maternity benefits etc. Hmm, I cried a lot for some days. That is probably the first kind of rejection I am getting from any institution.

Over time, I consoled myself as it was so obvious that they did it for financial reasons and not because of my inability to perform. It suited my situation to be home with my baby then. And I eventually started working an year later.

It must be a painful moment when you hear the news. And you are shocked. Most people did not have a clue that their name could be in the list. Some of them were rated as exceeding expectations for performance reviews and yet were laid off. It used to be with great pride that we would say the name of the company we work for. There was a bond that was formed over time. But all of that could come to an end quite unexpectedly. It seems that it is better not to get too attached to anything ever. It is only practical that you don't fool yourself with such ideas as my company and my team. For people like me, it is hard to remember not to get attached.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Settling In

I felt much better driving to work today morning. Every time I am in distress, I cannot believe that this will get over some day/soon. I got frustrated and weak with the jet lag syndrome and after 2 consecutive nights of uninterrupted sleep, I am definitely feeling great!

Wanted to jot down some thoughts on India trip before I forget and fall into the mechanical groove again.

I was so worried about 3 weeks of time not being enough for an India trip. I feared about missing out on so many things due to the time restrictions. I was afraid that I will be disappointed in the end, with the loads of expectations and dreams I had when I started. I confess that I am overall happy and satisfied with the trip. Now I feel 3 weeks is JUST ENOUGH - not too less and not too more! We did everything one could possibly do on a 3 week trip covering 3 cities.

I am definitely a people person and I get so much happiness out of meeting old friends and relatives. One has to take some effort to first make contact, fix a time to meet and finally make it happen. One loses heart when the weather is hot and humid and the 2 boys are screaming at the top pof their voices when you would prefer a minute of calm. One is easily tempted to think, "Why am I doing this?" when I could be sitting somewhere relaxing, when we drive on horrible roads, literally shaking when your car is overtaking the vehicle in front and there are cars coming so close to you facing you.

All this pays off, when you meet them. Some you may be very close with, some you may be doing for the happiness of your parents. But it pays off when you see the smile/happiness on the faces of people you visited. Your efforts are very much appreciated and it gives you enormous satisfaction to relive old times in the talks.

There is always a debate on whether we should devote this much time on visiting people every time we go. Every time we determine not to do it, we end up not being able to say No to it. And I do ENJOY it for the most part. My only regrets about the time shortage is that I could not meet some old friends whom I planned to. I accepted the fact that it could become too much for me and kids if I try to do ALL that I want to do. There are some things you have to sacrifice or else you will go crazy.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Jet lag

"I wish Jet lag was never invented! "

This is the quote from my 7 year old son Nikhil. Poor boy could not sleep for two consecutive nights since the day we returned from India, however hard he tried. Nithin was fine right from day 1, thank Goodness! Obviously, my sleep got affected due to this and even otherwise, I have my own jet lag problems. I am uncontrollably sleepy during afternoon and evenings. Me and kids crashed to bed at 7.30 in the evening yesterday. When Nithin woke up and said 'Amma, I want something to eat, let us go downstairs' , I prayed to God and looked at the clock - fingers crossed, hoping it is not middle of the night AGAIN!

I was glad to see 5AM - this is so much better than yesterday!

The guy at the downstair deli at work said 'Welcome back'! He is the only friendly soul in the shop (others are too rude!) and I was glad he remembered I went on vacation and noticed that I am back! Isn't it strange that how totally unrelated people can brighten up your day by their acts?





Friday, August 1, 2008

Time Up, Bangalore!

The past week synopsis:

  • Traffic blocks and extremely frustrating wait periods at signals
  • Shopping mall visits with kids which were fun in the beginning and tiring after.
  • Pizzahut and McDonald everywhere wooing kids.
  • The one evening I watched 'Rang De Basanti' with my Appa on his big screen TV with Nikhil watching it nicely and Nithin troubling me to sleep with him.
  • Reunion with our CET Computer Science classmates' families at R and V's gorgeous apartment
  • Set Dosa at Sukh Sagar
  • Kesari Bath and Khara Bath and Adyar Anand Bhavan

Today night, we are leaving to Chennai to visit our relatives. My Appa will be with us in the trip, so it is not yet time to bid bye to him, but it is time already to wave bye to Bangalore, my home here and my mom! Until next time...adieu!