Long Time No Write

I think it is time for me to resurrect "Free Form Writing", the idea that I should sit in front of the screen, and type away for 10 minutes. The post will be my raw thoughts (or blank if I don't have any) sans editing, and post typing touch-up. Here goes my *first* new attempt at this concept...

While I thought this new job would spark the creative juices inside me, the truth is that three months into this stint, I am tired like never before. Earlier, I used to be tired because I'd have worked out too much; physical exhaustion in isolation is completely my fault, and can be dealt with. The excitement of getting better at a sport or lifting more weights leads to temporary aches and pains. It is the physical exhaustion brought on by long and intense hours at work, the kind that accompanies mental exhaustion, which stays with you till you do one of two things - stop working hard or cut out extra-curricular activities.

Part of the exhaustion can be attributed to my wonky sleeping habits. I thought it was all the coffee and diet coke so I stopped, cold turkey. No caffeine, you'd think I'd sleep better now, right? Wrong; I forgot all about what the stress of work can do! I feel like I am constantly behind on my work items, and I have a whole slew of bugs assigned to me. Don't get me wrong, there hasn't been another phase in my professional life in which I have learnt more. But learning comes at a price, a steep one at that, is the lesson I am learning. Turns out, quitting caffeine alone isn't the cure, I must bust stress too.

Having enough work to do during the day has resulted in fewer indulgences, a consequence that my friends and immediate family have begun to notice. I logged on to online chat programs this week after a long hiatus, and social networking has been put on the back-burner to make time for other idle pleasures. This has certainly been a great change in my life - I read more, have more time to do stuff outdoors, and in general avoid spending time in front of the computer if I can avoid it. As exhausting as work has been, I have a strong reason to wake up every morning and work some more; there definitely is something about making a consumer product that my previous jobs lacked. This enthusiastically exhausted state has a lot to do with our tight delivery schedule. If you take into consideration the fact that the last product I worked on was in the works for 4 years, you will realize what a huge change this has been for me. The Zune is on a yearly shipping schedule.

Things have been trudging along on the social front. I have reached my breaking point with clubs. Henceforth, I am going to vote for the team to go to a lounge any day over going into a noisy club. With this being said, I have finally found the perfect crew to hang with, and my moving in with Juggy will only make my social life more tolerable :) I consider myself fortunate to have narrowly escaped the vortex that is the other Indian crew on the East Side; all that gossiping and bitching is bad karma. Given my track record, I don't need any more of that ingredient in my life. Phew!!

First night of the week that I am attempting to hit the sack before midnight. The idea is to wake up at the same time every morning, regardless of when I sleep. Let's see how long I can keep this up. I know one thing for sure, if this does work, I might have to go back to drinking caffeine again cuz there is no way in hell I am going to survive through the afternoon on less than 6 hours of sleep :)

Greed, Control, the Government and the Black Market

I am reading a great book by Gregory David Roberts - Shantaram. As the story unfolds, I am stricken by a thought that involves economics and governments. There is one established fact about human nature - we are all greedy. Even the saintly ones want to be recognized for their sainthood, and reap the benefits that their exalted status affords. Humanitarians, charities, every institution erected by man suffers from some need for recognition, and therein lies its greed factor.

I digress; I wanted to address the related concepts of greed, regulations and control. Governments, like the one established in India, have made a science out of imposing ridiculous regulations on the market. The British invented many of these regulations and took these along to their colonies. It's sad to see that India continues to adopt such regulatory practices almost 60 years after independence. Contrast this with America, where everything British is reviled. Therefore, there are almost no regulations, translating into unrestricted flow of anything (goods, people, cash) from one part of the country to another. This free flow is what stymies the growth of the Black Market in the US. Everything you need can be easily obtained locally or from the Internet. Free enterprise and easy access to goods for the entire population are the anathema for smugglers, and the death knell for the black market.

Going back to India - everything in the country is regulated. I remember the first time I was to leave Bombay for New York to get my graduate degree. A limit was imposed on how many dollars I could legally purchase for my fees and travel. An entry was made in my passport with the details, and I couldn't be caught traveling with any more US currency than stated in my passport. Now, what if I needed more to kick-start my life in this foreign land? I would have to go through unofficial channels; fortunately that wasn't the case, but if I was in such a situation, I'd have no recourse except the Black Market.

What I have not yet grasped is why the Indian government (and for that matter, any government that stipulates unnecessary regulation) would knowingly force my hand, and make me resort to an illegal activity. Come to think of it, the government should be most concerned with getting more of my money when I am willing to part with it. I'll go further in saying that the government should encourage me to use its services over the aforementioned private concerns. Instead, it focuses its attention on increasing taxes to buoy its revenue, taxes that businesses do their darndest to evade. Sometimes I wonder if governments secretly want illegitimate businesses to thrive; that way the politicians (and government employees) have multiple revenue streams - one official and another unofficial...

How to punctuate a sentence

When preparing for my GRE, understanding when to use the ';' to punctuate sentences was the one thing I couldn't quite get my head around. That was 1999; after blogging for the last 5 or so years, I think I have a firmer handle on how to use the ';' to punctuate sentences. For all of you out there taking the GRE/GMAT, here is a the key rule (the others are useful too):

Rule five

Complete sentences that are joined without a coordinating conjunction need a semi-colon instead of a comma; the semi-colon shows the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next. Semi-colons are often followed by a connecting word or phrase; however, a connecting word or phrase is not necessary. Sentences joined with only a comma are called comma splices; they’re among the most common errors that come up in college writing.

Good luck with the exam prep, your writing assignments ... life.