Fly to the sky

NoCOUG 11/9

2011-11-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

Attended the "North California Oracle Users Group" held in the Computer History Museum at Mountain view that my colleague recommended, and was so not disappointed at all! It was very informative and fun, with networking and socializing blended in.

Lot of us overlook the role physiology and psychology plays in writing good code. Playing games helps develop rationale and good debugging skills. Asking for help from colleagues is good, and should be encouraged. There is no such thing as too many questions posed. Helping each other builds team values, boosts confidence and mutual respect within the team. Senior people in the team should set an example by involving junior members in problem solving and asking for "help" proving that everyone is fallible and its okay to lend hand when need be.

There are lot of inbuilt features in Oracle we should exploit to our advantage. Function Result cache, available in Enterprise edition of Oracle helps improve performance significantly. Usage of varchar2(n) should be treated as a code bug, use Type and Subtype instead. Avoid hardcoding at multiple places eg: size limit, error code etc. Use Forall as opposed to For for better execution. Monitor your PGA usage even as Oracle manages it.

Oracle handles errors well, but doesnt report it clear enough. These issues can be addressed by raising bugs, and/or working around them. Any exception in the Begin block will be trapped by the following Exception block, if it exists. If the same happens within declare, it will be thrown out of the block to the exception handler, if it exists. Oracle initializes packages only once unless the users logout and log back in. This can get a little baffling to see the errors show up once and be not reproducible again. Use dbms utility error handling functions like call stack and error stack to log more information. Oracle can build error tables that can be used to log issues. These tables can be modified and maintained like any other database table.

See toadworld.com/sf for more.

Errors with Buffers is a pretty common scenario that DBAs face. Buffers can be designed as CBC, LRU, or WL, they can be data or index type. Buffers can be in any of these states at any common point- Free, Pinned or Dirty. When faced with a concurrency issue, it becomes imperative to diagnose the pattern in the file number, block number spit out by querying v$session. If you find a table/data block contention, moving data to the buffer cache can help reduce number of reads and help mitigate the issue. If it turns out to be table/segment header contention, we may need to free some blocks to make them available. If it is undo/segment header contention, adding some redo blocks will help. In case of Index/Root block contention, partitioning may be a good idea. With Index/Leaf block contention, try Reverse key indices. Usage of Reverse keyword while creating the index hints the optimizer to reverse the key index and not opt for serialized insertion that might impact performance.

SQL Monitoring is a pretty powerful tool that is available by default with Oracle. By default, it monitors the queries that run for 5+ secs. One can choose to provide a Monitor hint to alter this.

With Enterprise Manager, we can get a visual view of the report. Monitoring is always on, the number of reads, IO waits, Stack calls, Execution Plans can be viewed real time even as the query executes. With TopSQL, we can identify the worse performing SQLs. The optimizer can only help in bits to rectify the problem. DBOptimizer can analyze the queries and joins to give a visual diagram with the select columns, joins, and filters. Always start the join with the table with least rows. Even if the filter columns are indexed, the order in which these are joined will have an impact on the performance. By default, if joining more than 3 tables, Oracle optimizer joins 2 tables and then joins the result with the third one and so on. It never will join 2 tables, join 2 other tables and join the results. However, we can formulate our SQL to force this behavior if need be.

Some pics that I took in the museum, its the First harddrive ever used and the second one is a 10 digit adder-

Talk cloudy

2011-11-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

I attended a "Cloudy" conference in San Jose, 9/24 (didnt get a chance to blog yet!)- Great sessions with speakers from the industry on Cloud Management helped me hone my Cloud Fu, socializing and networking alongside awesome food, overall a good Saturday afternoon well spent.

There is no silver bullet to solve all the complex problems on performance, scalability, security, speed etc. More, faster and efficient Hardware is the closest to a magic bullet. However, choosing the right cloud platform can help us leverage many of the built-in advantages and features for free - Bulletproofing, easy access, dealing with contention, redundancy, reliablity etc. The decision of deploying the application on a Public vs Private cloud, or even going
with a Hybrid approach, Build vs buy, can vary with multiple parameters including Performance and Cost. The backend choice of Mongo, clusters, Hadoop, Greenplum technologies depends on the Ease of
Absorption within the organization, Speed, and Size of the data we deal with on the cloud.

As a buyer shopping in the Cloud for Paas/Iaas, network is our prime concern besides other factors like storage, servers, tools and virtualization. We would like to know the incident policy of the provider, their fraud detection mechanisms, and the turn-around time to handle customer complaints.

Here is a link of the schedule, each of them has a summary on the session and the speaker associated with it. The presentation slides will be shared on the site as well-
http://talkcloudy2011fall.sched.org/

Insomnia?

2009-08-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

Life is sometimes a puzzle, so much that we try to solve it, it gets only more intriguing. Life is a roller coster ride, we better enjoy the ups and downs while it lasts. Sleepless nights and me, never could it happen I thought, I could sleep in class, in lectures, watching movie, anywhere! But now I have thoughts racing in my mind in the middle of the night and I guess it best helps if I pin some down. So much that one thinks not to think about it, we end up doing just that.

I am thinking of the Hawaii trip last June, snorkelling with the fishes, yay! Am also thinking of the material things I crave for, things I probably missed out in life. I miss sprinting, miss playing squash, miss playing tennis, miss the good strong back I once had. I miss the good friends I have had. Mom and Dad are here with me, one less thing to miss :) Actually thinking about it, my social circle is getting smaller and smaller. O well, can set things right.

Have been painting lately and liking it too:) The camping trip to Clearlake SP was awesome, the Kailash Kher concert was surprisingly enjoyable, Uvas Canyon is great, Big Basin Redwood park is amazing, beaches in CA are breathtaking. Life is beautiful, people around are loving and kind, work pays well, but... totally despise it when 'but' creeps in, but it does!

I want to fly high at super speed cutting through the intense darkness of this seemingly never ending night. I want to swim into the most fierce waves of a mammoth water fall. I want to drive at lightning speed through the dense and daunting forest. I want to escape!

Rocking 2008 :)

2008-08-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

2008 rocks! I generally stick to nice, my sis-in-law has introduced me to 'Rocking':)

That aside, 2008 has easily been the most enjoyable year so far in my life. I have been the fittest this year too, got a raise, got a promotion, have cut my hair real short after about 10 years, may be :) Very eventful, the biggest event ofcourse is our wedding! I am still getting used to being referred to as Mrs and Mr though :D

India trip was hectic and packed with activities right from the instant we stepped into Bombay. Mom and Dad's Shashtipoorthi was the next day. It was beautiful, 13 priests were performing the rituals. Mom and Dad were exhausted by the end of the day, but ecstatic :) I and Suraj will have a similar one 35 years later, hehe.

Mehendi the next day, it was not so much fun for me as it was others watching me ;) 4 hrs hence, it looked all worth the ordeal. The next day was an ice-breaking day for his and my families to meet and talk. Pre-engagement or the Varadham was on the day prior to the weddding, engagement, car-ride(I forget the ritual name..) in the evening. The next day began with Oonjal, Kashi-yatra, wedding, Satya narayan Puja, then the reception. The rituals I enjoyed the most were the Oonjal and Kashi yatra. I set my eyes on Suraj and my, he was sooo good looking in the veshti, viboothi and all :P He seemed very comfortable throughout the ceremony, be it chanting the Sanskrit shlokas or handling the 100 aunties and their instructions; and this kept me at ease :) I loved the songs the ladies sang for our Oonjal. I found the dodging part in the mala-exchange very amusing :) The 9 yard saree, or the heavy embroidered sarees, or traditional gold sarees, with the countless jewelery clad head to toe, I looked like a supernatural deity! It was fun being treated like a queen, hehe.

Our honeymoon trip to Kerela was scheduled the very next day. Kerela, God's own country lives upto its name. It is beautiful, clean, green, and very well-maintained. We did Munnar, Periyar, Thekkady, Kumarakam, Cochin. Its hard to say whats the best, every place was prettier than the other. Elephant ride, boat rides, wild life sanctuary, tea gardens, massage parlours, Kathakali, Martial arts, were the highlights of the trip. Have never had that delicious Aapam ,veg stew ever!

Back to B'lore where my mom-in-law had arranged a reception function. Some of my collegues and friends, and all of his relatives attended. Puttaparti trip was something none of us would forget, for many reasons. Lost a paati on the way, finding restaurants, car registration expired, petroleum strike in B'lore. All in all, mom-in-law was happy that we could have a glance of Baba.

Bombay now for my bro's wedding. Had been stressed out at my wedding, and couldnt really enjoy the food as much. Made sure I had it all at my bro's wedding. We had a blast! They had a reception party in Pune, and the DJ was awesome.

Started packing for SF, and we realized how 3 weeks just flew by! Landed in SF, its been a month and we still have to unpack all ;)

Personally, life stays the same, just more exciting, every day feels a Fri now that I see him day in and day out :D

India trip

2007-12-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

Lots of food, lot of travel, brother's wedding and lots more encompassed my trip to India.

On our way to India, we did a brief tour of Singa-pura, the land of lions. Clean and green, very beautiful. A local told me the S'pore map resembles a crab, and that explains the greenery around there :) We took the 2 hr bus ride and the boat tour thats arranged by the S'pore airlines to promote tourism here. Covered the major landmarks and we couldnt stop our amazement at how well the city is maintained, planned, and connected. It was very humid though. Besides the weather, everything seemed perfect.

Landed in India, drained and sleepy, but was so excited to get back home and meet my parents, grandma, cousins, uncles and aunts. Was swamped with lots of love ... and a whole lot of movies, food, sweets. I just loved it all :D

A week since then had my visa stamped at the Mumbai Consulate, that went pretty smooth. All I was asked is to describe what I did at Oracle and what does the rest of my family do.

We did a Pune-Mahabaleshwar 3 day trip. That was one of the best trips I took, and may I add with some of the sweetest people I have known. Made 2 very good friends for life. We took the 4 hr Volvo Deluxe bus to Pune, pretty comfy. Went to a fancy garden restaurant in Pune. Early morning, we drove to Mahabaleshwar. Very scenic and superbly magnificient! Have been to Mahabaleshwar before, but this drive was beautiful! We covered some forts like Pratapgad chanting all the way 'Jai Shivaji', 'Jai Maharashtra'! :) We also did an awesome boat ride along the Koyna river.

The next week was my brother's wedding in Hyderabad. Being a mix of 2 cultures in the wedding, every occasion and celebration was so joyful and novel for all of us:) I thoroughly enjoyed every small festivity, be it Mehendi, Haldi, Mapalay Ayappu, Baraat, Kanyadaan, Shaadi, the n number of pujas, and the reception. I actually enjoyed dressing up, putting make up, jewelery, the photography and of course the constant flow of compliments and flattery ;)

We then went to Tirupati for 2 days. I loved the 3 and half hr trek from Alipuri to Tirumala, "Govinda GOvinda!". The weather was foggy and wet, cool and pleasant, beautiful and perfect! Felt so close to the nature, with the deer parks, dense forest and gorgeous climate. We did a Dharma Darshan at late night. Got back to the hotel at around 2 AM. We managed a few hrs of sleep and were back for the VIP darshan in the early morning. We, again had a 2 hr halt, but it felt like no time at all. The people around had so much energy and faith, love, it just rubs on you, well literally :) The God darshan sent a heavenly feeling, satiated and pleasantly happy and energetic.

Back to Bombay and now some final touches of shopping and hogging :)

It was all good but for my health that took a beating as I traveled, had the different varieties of food and drinks. Needless to add the pollution is something that took hard on me. Was sick for most of the time I was in India. The rest of things, however, were so nice and congenial, health issues looked meagre against all of the nice events happening around me :)

At the end of it was so tired and depleted, couldnt wait to be back home. Well, it is ironic, but this is where I feel home!

Developments - last few months

2007-11-12T00:23:00.000-08:00

Seems like ages since I blogged. So many events transpired, got to pen down the ones on the top of my head. Aug began with a bang, well literally. We went for the HRHK Rath yatra. Well, that was awesome. Amidst the Golden Gate park, the procession was very exciting, so was the food and the exhibits. All good but for my car parked. I parked in a drive-way! Well, it didnt look like one. It had broken red line.. ah, whatever, got towed, my first ticket and $350! So, may first times for my poor car who just turned an year.. an accident on a rainy day. A Hyundai Santro bumped into my car from the rear. His car skid, atleast thats what the driver claims.

Well, not all events were regretful. Went to Tahoe, my first in summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. Had friends visiting us from the east coast, some from India as well. My brothers moved here from Phoenix. Mom visited. Great food, trekking, visiting places, badminton, foosball, sketching, painting and many more. Lots of fun. Oracle Diwali was celebrated on the Nov 2. Performed this year as well, this year was particularly special because I was performing with my JM ;) There was a Qawali and a Tamil folk, Randakka. Have discovered dance as a new hobby now, one area I never dared to explore in my college times :)

We are gearing up for our India trip, the first one since I came to the US. Very excited, nervous and a bit apprehensive of lot of stuff. Its my bro's wedding and that sure is gonna be lot of fun! Will shuttle between Bombay and Hyderabad. Am hoping all goes well as expected :)

June and July

2007-08-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

June and July were giant months if you gauge the sum total of all the whopping events that transpired! Hehe, couldnt have been more dramatic :) But these 2 months did bring considerable difference in my perspective towards life, people and fun.

Why is so difficult to understand and get along with some people. The people you like, well, one side of them, the other side is the scary, cribby, whiny one. You like them when they are in their good mood, and can tolerate the other side, but not really enjoy that. They get offended soon, upset sooner, whiny the next second, and angry the next. Fine, they are your friends and you accept them just the way they are..BUT.... I end up with feelings like- Uh, what did I do today; Did I say or do something that might have triggered this, how do I apologize for something I donno I did? Well, I wanna end that guilt feeling, I wanna say it loud I cant take it any more. But, I think agan, friends are whom you forgive for their follies not forget them for that.

Ha, am I being too philosophical, well, I am like that at times, and I dont really like that :)

I moved in June, I realized it is not that big of a task like people generally make it out to be. I am a very detailed planner;) I hired the movers, they did all the work, so neat, so perfect, so professional. I was so thrilled and amazed at how efficient some people can be. They came in with bubble wrap, boxes, lots of tapes, a big truck, and man, were they fast! Its a good work out, you can consider a part time job for some quick money ;)

I attended the AR Rahman concert at the Oracle Arena, and you gotta acknowledge, this man is a genious! He kept the audience glued to their seats right from the start to finish. All his companions were really good too. What I liked about this show was they kept the momentum high at all times, did their mix and match of songs really well, the props were apt and wooed the audience everytime they made a appearance on the stage. All in all, a fun event with family and friends.

Was always a fan of fireworks on cruise, never got a chance to do one before this one. And, this was breathtakingly awesome! Felt like I was in a spaceship and the beautiful angels were partying just over my head. The fireworks were on just for us, the chilly weather, the beautiful night, the happening sf downtown and the cruise all added just the right effect!

Mom is with me and taking her to places is such fun. My brother has just joined Oracle too, lots of company. And now the news I had been waiting for like ever, He gets an offer in the Bay area and is set to move here in the next few weeks. All going good, everything I wished for, why do I crave for more and more, O yeah, I want more out of life! :)

April and May

2007-05-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

Been quite sometime since I blogged, gotta pen down my thoughts. Nothing eventful in April. Played a lot, worked out a good share, partied a good proportion of time, all this lead to a bad sore back, so the rest of the April left me recuperating. The nice part about falling ill is getting to know how much people around you love and care for you. Its only reassuring to know that I have great friends, awesome collegues, and a lovely family. Mom came to take care of me, I was good by then but for Mom to come, I need no reason. I come home for lunch, try to wake up early, return by early evening, go for a walk/jog in the park, do my exercises, watch some good television, follow a good routine. Try to take Mom out in the weekends, life seems so perfect now.

Attended a concert, the Incredibles in May. Sonu Nigam, Asha Bhosle, Kunal Ganjawalla, Kailash Kher. Had lot of fun, it was nice to see Mom having a good time as well. Kunal Ganjawalla was a big bore, but the rest of them more than compensated for the rather awful singer. Asian art museum was another pleasant trip. It is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art, the museum was a nice trip to Asia- India, Nepal, Korea, Japan and many more. So much about Buddhism, its origin, its spread, power and approval in the world. I especially liked the basket section- the different kinds of baskets, their styles, their usage across regions, and in various seasons. It was very knowledgeable, and lot of fun to pose with the diverse statues :)

Half moon bay is another favorite spot of mine, the beautiful beach thats so close to my place. With the water so cold Mom loved it, though she was quite cold in there. Cayote point at San Mateo is very scenic. There are small trails around the place thats so much enjoyable. The walk along the harbor was very exciting, to walk feeling the breeze in your face gives such pleasure, you feel heaven! There is a small park alongside that takes you back by some 10-15 yrs, hehe. I love the swing and slide and I am not ashamed to admit that, haha.

Long weekend comes and am at Phoenix. We drove to the White mountains, its like a 4 hr drive from here. It was amazing to drive around there. The incredibly beautiful mountains and small creeks and trails around, with some snow covered peeks were superb. We had a small wooden cottage booked for the 6 of us. Beautiful, scenic, isolated from the city, and perfect weather, we had an amazing time there. We hiked and trailed, walked and jogged. Played basketball, soccer, volleyball, it was wonderful. Went boating, one boat for all of us. It was motor operated, so we just had to steer it. To boat in between nowhere with gentle breeze blowing, clear sky and the speed, with good company, I felt like I rule the world! All I wished then was a garam chai and wada-paav :) A typical Bombayite that I am, I miss those simple treats..

June looks promising. I will be moving into a new apartment by mid June, moving is a pain, but am looking forward to it. A new home, and with that comes new dreams, new hopes, and I am hoping some new achievements as well.

The big month

2007-03-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah, am talking about February. I know it sounds ironic, Feb is indeed the shortest month on calendar, but it just proved to be a big month in my year :) It began with my Pittsburgh trip to CMU. It was dead cold, but the trip overall was awesome. It was in 60s when I left SF and landed in Pittsburgh at 10deg F. If I thought the cold was tough, I hadnt imagined the driving on icy hilly roads. If there is anything that can make this worse, it was getting lost, hehe. Was driving back to Hilton from the Indian Bistro near CMU, dropped off a friend and took one wrong turn, nothing seemed to go right after that :) All one ways, was going up the hill towards Dukenne point, on icy road. But had a great navigator on phone, so got back home safe and sound, but cold, cold and cold. That was just one such experience, the next few days were so smooth, in fact couldnt have been better.

EOC was fun, meeting up with school profs and friends, juniors, and all Oracle aspirants. It seems like just yesterday when I was one in that crowd running around with the resume in my hand :) Movies at home, shopping around Pittsburgh, eating out, driving around, and squash/racket ball at CMU. Then, the big thing - a ring in my hand! Ha, well, nothing official yet, but a big step in our relationship. Wouldnt write more on that, actually can never find enough words to describe this heavenly feeling when everything feels just perfect..

Made a quick trip to Phoenix in one of the weekends. This trip was splendid, met up with my bros as well. Its always nice when all of us get together... went for a swim, a games arcade, the 300 movie, and the best was the Canyon lake and the drive thru the Apache trail. From within the mountains, really narrow route, the drive was spectacular! Stopped by the lake for a while, took and a small trail. The sunset was brilliant, such beauty and so close to nature one feels...

The rest in my life seems just the same. Good work, a nice boss, wonderful friends around, caring and comforting family - far yet near :) Get to work, play and party, nothing I could complain of. Yet, being human, we are far from satisfaction, we just want more from life and I cant exclude myself from this lot. I want a promotion, a hike, I yearn to see my parents close to me, I wish he moves here, finds a job, we get to spend more time together.. Ha, I hate people who whine ;)

Last 2 months

2007-01-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

Long time since I blogged. Reason- Was too bz for this :) Last few months have been packed with so much activity, I decided to pen down some of the events. Been to Phoenix for thanks giving, managed to visit Grand Canyon this time. Finally, managed to see the canyon that eluded me for so long :p It was massive, and beautiful. Spent some 2 hours walking around the small trails there...almost sunset when we reached and we got to see both the dark and the lit views.

Most weekends are movies and games, now that the weather doesnt permit hike and treks. But, a good time for skiing. Went to Lake Tahoe and had a marvellous time skiing. Went to SF and saw the fireworks in the new year. Colorful, yes but the patterns formed with the fireworks were awesome - ring, squares, cubes, star, rocket and the usual spirals and flowers was such a beauty! It was crowded yes, but very well managed crowd only to add more exuberance to the already building enthusiasm. There was this one festival called the Bethlehem celebration. It kinda painted the Christ time, his village, the birth of the Christ, the ponies, camels, cattle, the orchestra. Very beautifully done, glad I visited it...

Took the 17 mile drive, so what if we had to drive more than 100 miles to reach there. It was a marvellous drive. The gorgeous beach on one side and beautiful mountains, the whole ride was scenic and so exquisite! Half moon bay was another good place we went to. Lost count on the number of good restaurants we gorged in. Hard to pick up on the best- Kabul, Shivas, Saravana Bhavan were the toppers. The afghani icecream and the chaat paradise were again top class. I gotto mention the best movies I saw, maybe in my entire lietime. Pursuit of Happiness saw Will Smith surpass all the acting talents. Guru is Abhishek Bachan's best so far. He outshines everyone and I bet he deserves the Filmfare for this.

Ah, well, with the kind of company I had in the last month, everything we did was amazing! Be it the workouts, the restaurants we frequented, badminton games, dart, pool, movies or plain TV, it was fun all the way.

Packed weekends

2006-11-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

Been to Mt Diablo last weekend. Not an enthu hiker, but had definitely some energy to say a yes to the 4000 feet hike, little did I know about the madness that I was about to get myself into :)

So, we left our home at 7, reached the hike zone at 8:30. All set and we started our hike. We started jogging and running and singing. And so, we hiked the first 3 hours. Now, it was steeper and steeper and we were tired too. We had selected a trail of about 5 miles, but we diverted from our initial set goal and started on some unnamed trial. The next 3 miles were so steap, I wish we returned back, but no...so close to the summit and we cannot trace steps back now! And so, we dragged ourselves. Reached the peak and it was 12:50. Such beauty! Felt so close to Nature, and all the effort was worth it. Rested for a while, and started downhill. We thought the path back shouldnt take more than 2 hours. But 3 hours gone and we found ourselves lost in the jungle, minus our water and the little food we carried along....ah, tired, pain all over and we were trying to find our way....finally, at 5:30 we reached our parking lot. Grabbed food at the 1st restaurant we set our eyes on and back home...hit the bed as soon as I was home :)

This weekend was far more relaxing. Played badminton on Sat and did some household stuff for the rest of the day, movies at home...Sunday, payed a visit to the DON and I loved it! Ok, not very realistic and some poor dialogues but great locales, some cool action scenes and finally a thorough entertainer!

The Diwali fest at Oracle

2006-10-17T23:17:00.000-07:00

All practices done till the last moment, props readied, costumes and accessories ready and we were all set to rock the place! Around 2,000 people turned up for the show and it was a sell-out concert! The Bunty-Babli theme around the wedding setting was a hit and the audience just loved it and we loved the fact that they enjoyed every bit of it :)

The function had some brilliant music, some superb songs, fantastic tabla performances, a breathtaking kathak natya, and the magnificient Bollywood wedding medley around the Bunty-Babli skit. Our Thee-Thee song with the Mallu saree was a diya dance beautifully choreographed and we had an amazing time as the audience applauded and cheered for the diyas. We had fun too, never worn a Mallu saree and so much gold jewellery before, hehe. Then the finale of the medley was the Bole chudiyan followed by Say na Say na. Lost count on the number of compliments my lehenga received :D

All done now, and am already missing the practice sessions and all the fun we had. No more running around during the lunch sessions for practice, no more sneaking time in the evenings for a few dance steps, no more dinners at dhabas in Cupertino, hehe. Raising funds for the function was another small task I had undertaken and man, was that tuff or what! All that and so much more will I miss. Will have more time in hand for the work I am paid for, haha. But jokes aside, I am already missing all the sweet friends we used to meet up with...cant wait for the next Diwali when we start planning for the grand function.

What happens in Vegas stays at Vegas:)

2006-10-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

by venkatnv

An amazing trip, back from Vegas last weekend and all the events are still so vivid in the mind after such an incredibly marvelous trip. Landed in Vegas at 1:30 AM Saturday morning. Had the food that Mom packed for me, and was ready to hit the bed, little did I know that Sun never sets in Vegas and I was in for such a startling adventure. We drove along the casinos, taking a glimpse of this massive game zone. I was struck by the city even as the flight was about to land...

We parked at MGM and walked along the Harrahs, Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Each casino was unique in its own way. Managed to catch a glimpse of some live shows. Reached back at the hotel at 4, were up at 9 and ready to go:) Venetian, wax museum and the Music fountain at Bellagio. Personally, I loved the wax museum the most and the horror show could be easily rated as the most enchanting. Mom was horror struck, she got damn scared and I was not doing anything to ease the tension either:) The flower garden, New York New York, Paris were real cool too.

The next days we covered Alladin, Excalibur, Bellagio, Caesars. Made a brief stop at Ghiradelli chocolate factory for some chocs :D Some window shopping along the Arabian streets and other shopping places around. There was this crystal engrave stores at MGM where we got our parents a 3D crystal with their images engraved. It glows with different colors when lit... A small gift that could be a reminiscence of their Vegas trip ;)

We took a ride in a roller coaster that was at a height of atleast some 60 floors or so. Something to take care of my adventure 'must dos' in any trip. It was so much fun, so what if my throat was aching that badly from my constant scream :) The Stratosphere was another must see we didnt miss. At 105 floors, you get a 360 degree view of the entire city. Reached at a good time, we managed to see both the day view as well as the lit sight after sunset.

So much done, so much more you could do if only there is some more time and money....as everyone agrees, what happens in Vegas stays at Vegas :)

Busy week

2006-09-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, am so busy these days and am loving it! Dance, music and dandiya...okay, some work in between, some deadlines to meet and some transactions to merge...hehe. But yeah, I am happy when am busy and running errands. I manage time for my gym and the fooseball, ping-pong games. Took some time off from work for a game of pool the other day. So much happening, its fun. Did some shopping yesterday for the Diwali fest coming up at Oracle. I love the practice sessions. Catching up with some things I missed in my undergrad coll days :) I could always do fashion shows, thats the easy stuff but you need lot of attitude to shake a leg ;) We go to Cupertino some days to practice, our choreographer stays there, but one thing that drags me there is the good food in a dhaba close by :D Choreography is almost done, but people are still nervous, a lot excited, but damn anxious...we are far from done, but its a lot of fun. Am sure, I will miss these dance sessions once the D day is gone past.

Went for the Dandiya organized by the SEF at Santaclara in the weekend and wow, was it entertaining. Such adventure! Went for a wonderful concert organized by Saniti, one of my friends was performing. She is an amazing dancer, have always admired talented skillful dancers, one area I always dreaded to explore without the support of 2 drinks, hehe.... There were some 12 dances and intermittent skits. Out of it and decided to go try my luck with the Dandiya tickets...it was tuff I knew but the task looked impossible when we saw so many people returning back without tickets....but we still went in. Talked to a nice lady who knew of someone wanting to selling extra ticket, got that and apparently that ticket had free Dandiya along, hehe. The dance was fun, we were a huge group, not really good dancers, overly under-dressed compared to the stunning ghagra cholis and kurtis we saw there. But we had a great time there. Good music, some food and water, fun people to hang around with, cute guys to look at and the night was gratifying ;)

Mystery spot and Broadwalk

2006-09-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! Had a blast today, and oops my throat is hurting by the Aaah-Ooh yellings :) Hehe, had so much fun. Started the day on a good note - pushed myself out of bed and had a good breakfast. Reached Sunnywale, rented a car with a friend. Had lots of food, and man, it was oh so Yummy! What better way to start than good food.

Drove to the mystery spot, and the drive was so cool...twists and turns and a good speed, had all that and an amazing scenary to relish, felt heaven! The mystery spot is much more than just the gravity shift. The guide we had narrated funny stories and demonstrated some fun stuff like the rolling down of soda bottles and billiard balls against earth's gravity. He rolled off these on what looked like steep slope to us. This was anti-gravity and they actually rolled up the slope. We could feel the gravity pushing us on the higher end of slope. We stood slant at 45 degrees to feel straight above ground. This and many more mysterious stuff there, had my head spinning when I left the place. Oops, never experienced that w/o any rum or Tequila ;)

Next was a drive to the Santacruz beach. Spent some time there as we walked along the Boardwalk...again, an amazing place to spend your evenings. If I thought I was seeing things straight now, it was only shortlived :) Took all the crazy rides in the theme park. The top one on my list is Fire ball. Ohhh...I had never felt so close to God before :) The thrill, the kick, the adrenalin rush and a lot more plain fun is something I did after a long time. I would like to do this all over again right now, haha.

This, I should do atleast once in a month to envigor myself. I feel like a kid again, I feel the ecstacy, I feel the energy!

Fun month

2006-09-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Wow, have never been more happy in life! All looks so good. Oops, touch wood...But yeah, I seem to be so much under control. Be it work, career, activities, fun or just plain life in general.

Yosemite trip is the best way to begin narrating this mood of mine :) Aah, got to drive a lot in the journey, well not as much as I would have liked, but quite a lot for a beginner...its not easy to drive with 4 other pseudo-drivers in the car! But, enjoyed it nevertheless. The hotel, Apple tree Inn was beautiful cottage-like, amidst the woods, secure yet having the mysterious feel.

We drove, trekked, hiked, swam, fed the deer and so much more! The Tenaya lake was the most beautiful thing I have set my eyes on. Its calm and clear, surrounded by mountains all around. Being 8000 feet above sea level, the sun shine seemed to have no effect at all in that chill cold freezing water. But, we took a dip...froze to death for a few minutes but were good later. Got a chance to flaunt my rather skillful swimming talents in this chilly icy place;) It was heaven!

The next stop, we drove to the Glacier point. The scenic beauty is breathtaking. We trekked for about a mile there. the next time, will target the half dome:) The next stop was Bridal falls. Again, an awesome sight, a treat to eyes. You feel so close to nature in such a stunningly beautiful place. My parents loved the place, which was the most important to me.

The coming weekend I saw Lage Raho Munnabhai, aha, a very funny, amazing Hindi movie I saw in ages, it feels. Its a very well made movie, a must see! I must have seen some 100 movies in the recent times, but this one peaks all in its entertaining aspect, Circuit rocks!

Work is seeming up pick up speed and I am rather enjoying it. Its enuf to keep me busy. The Diwali bash at Oracle has some dance performances that I am participating. Donno how its gonna shape at the end, but the practice sessions are so much fun. We had a promotional program for Latin dancing, and man...its so overwhelming, tired but longing for more, cant wait for the next week. This feels so good. Gonna hit the gym now...

Cable car trip

2006-08-06T23:16:00.000-07:00

Cable car trip was one of the most well planned trips I took my parents to. The cab came on time to take us to the Hillsdale Cal train station, the train on time, the connecting bus#30 on time, and we were aboard the cable car at 4! We covered the Golden Gate Bridge, China town, Union square, Presidio. The cable car left from the Fisherman’s wharf, and covered all the places very beautifully. The tour guide explains all the history and events as they happen. We drove past the Lombard, crooked street. We stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge for snaps, drove across the bridge. Always wondered why you would call a Brick-Red Bridge golden…I understand the mystery and awe that the construction and the artistic architecture this structure holds, but wish it was actually “Golden”. Wow, the 2 hour trip was an absolute joy! Had a quick bite at a restaurant, and headed back home. Bus#30 at 7, at the SFO station at 7:45, the train at 8, connecting cab on time and home by 9! Parents were so happy, am glad they had a good time. They felt so proud, and I smile as they say ‘This is the most beautiful city I have been to’!

On a different note…I go one way one day and the other way on another day. Guess, am befuddled to the core, to say that am puzzled is just an understatement. I thought I knew what I wanted from life, but no…I have not the slightest idea. I try to distance myself from things I like…I humor myself by thinking this makes me emotionally stronger, but it leaves me enervated….there is no action that you could do to please everybody, every act causes pain to at least one beloved, what does one do then? I just want to follow my heart, do what it tells me to…. And not meditate on right or wrong. The more I mull over a matter, the muddier it gets.

First month at CA

2006-07-16T15:51:00.000-07:00

Moved to CA on the 18th June, at a friend's place for the first week. Already finalized the apt formalities from Pittsburgh...joined work on the 19th, got all the essentials for the living, moved into my apartment! Just one week past and I was all set at the new place. Was enjoying the rahter slow start at Oracle :)

1 more week and it was a long weekend...went to Colorado springs. White water rafting, trekking, site seeing, and the Rocky mountains drive were only a few of the many things we did :) It was a lot of fun. Back home, made a quick dinner and rushed to the airport to pick my parents. Mom and Dad will be with me for a few months. Another reason to why I should hurry with my license and car;)

Work is starting to pick up, there is enough in hand to keep me busy. Took Mom and Dad to Pier39, and the Half Moon Bay in the 2 weekends so far. With Caltrains, Bart and Samtrans, the transportation is not really a problem...Its funny that I hardly know the city myself and I act as a guide to show them around:) This helps me explore the city as well. We take long walks around the neighborhood, parents do the groceries and food is the last thing I need to worry about when they are here...

I never think of myself as impulsive, but yeah these days the decisions I make are not really after much deliberation. Got to rethink about a lot of things...let time reveal itself and it doesnt help much to worry about events before they unfold...

Snowflake and Niagara

2006-06-17T22:38:00.000-07:00

Last few weeks has seen me travel a lot...10 days visit to Phoenix. Was quite a weather-shock to land in a place with 100 deg temp from one at 60! But was fun, at the end of the trip...not a bit of regret, in fact was surprised that 10 days flew so fast. South mountain, tempe lake, ASU campus, research parks, the Fanaa movie were just a few of the many exciting things that happened. Snowflake trip was easily one of the best ones I have taken at Phoenix. Horse riding, fishing, clubbing, the native Indian festivals were some of the fun activities in the 2 day long stay at a friends' place at Snowflake, a 3 hr drive from Phoenix. With a ranch of their own, they bred horses, goats, rabbits...it was so much exciting to be at a place cut out from the hussle-bustle of the city. Made quite a few friends and had loadds of fun!

Back to Columbus, and now was a trip to Niagara, my third visit to the falls but was the first one with parents and bros, was meant to be exciting! Drove to Pittsburgh from Columbus, a quick visit to the SV temple, some archanas for my Dad's b'day and drove thru the city bfore we headed to Niagara. The night view of the grand falls is awesome, I wont be exaggerating if I said I have never seen anything more spectacular in life! The lighting at the river side continues till midnight, after which we headed back to the hotel. The boat ride at Maid of the mist takes a close view of the Canadian falls in addition to the American falls. Its one thrilling ride! By the time we left for the hotel back, we were drenched but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Will fly tomorr to CA and join work soon...little excited, a bit nervous...the next few weeks are quite crucial... new place, new people, new work place, new boss...a beginning of yet another chapter in life :)

Hocking hills trip

2006-06-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

At Columbus with parents and bro, came in after graduation...and its just chill time. Never ever get tired of doing the routine eat-sleep-workout-movies thingy, its fun. We thought of breaking this routine and throw some adventure into the otherwise lazy days and hence came up the trip to Hocking hills - exciting, thrilling and electrifying are just a few words I can come up with to describe the experience. Mom and Dad were exhausted and worn-out, but they thoroughly enjoyed nevertheless.

We drove from Columbus on the Friday night, took us a few hours to reach Hocking hills, the drive was scenic and beautiful, cool and relaxing, there have been only a few times I felt so close to nature...the cabin was an 'A-frame', set in a private and wooded area. All amenities, very comfy, with family for company, in the woods, nice weather, Mom's food, greenery so far that your eyes can see, there is nothing on earth you could wish for...hehe, thats an overstatement, but you get the point.

Friday night was spent just exploring the neighborhood, gazing at the starry clear sky, and the spa, food and beer :) Our adventure began with canoeing on Saturday morning at the Hocking river...Mom and bro on one canoe, me and Dad in the other. It was a two hour ride and I have not laughed so much in a long time now, haha...my bro's canoe toppled, they dropped their rowing paddle, it was scary but a damn funny sight. We were fast and cool, I didnt bother for the life jacket either...the weather was hot that day, but Mom and bro swore the water was dead cold, hehe....We went for horse ride at 4. The ride was throught the woods, some steep slopes, muddy roads, small streams, and the rest of the roads were smooth. It was about an hour...my first ride on a horse but definitely would not be the last one:) We were taught some signals to control the horse, to steer it, to prevent it from hogging on the grass on the way, to 'Who-who' stop it when it gallops fast n all. It was a dead-beat event, but thoroughly lively. A deer crossed us once, my horse got excited and jumped at the sight, but nothing scares me...hehe:D

We trekked on Conkle's hollow for the rest of the evening, and by the time we headed home I was absolutely exhausted. Some time in the spa and I was rejunevated, and could be up for 2 movies after some food and drinks :) If we thought day1 was action-packed, day2 was a lot more hectic and thrilling. We covered Old man's cave, Ash cave, and Cedar falls. Each trek was close to 2 miles, some involved such hilly routes and so much curvy ups and downs, it could have tired any great athlete to death. But I was longing for only more of this greenery, and the thrill and adventure.

On Day3, we started with the Rock house, and Cantwell Cliffs. The tunnel like corridors on our ways added only more spice to the ever beautiful forest. The Cantwell cliffs has such dense forest area and so many streams to cross by, we almost got lost in one of the never ending oh-so-narrow trails....a little freaky, but it seemed so much fun when we were out of the trail. Lost my sunglasses in one of these treks and the sun suddenly seemed harder on me. Lake Logan was our next destination, helped me cool down....We drove through Athens. Spent some time in the State park and Ohio University, where my bro graduated from 3 yrs back...

Drove back to Columbus, slept thru the drive...drained but pleased that this trip happened.

The big day of my life: Graduation

2006-05-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

I took almost 2 years to finish my Masters, could have chosen to finish it up in an year and half, but never bothered to try that...always thought it was a cool journey, did put in some effort, some night outs, some big fights and arguments but never felt any pain, hehe...okay, some pain but a lot of fun! Made the best of friends here without whom CMU would not have been the same for sure, the profs with whom we fought, those we bitched about, those we really loved and respected, the researches and the crib about funds, the ever soporific lectures, the assignments, vivas, endless presentations and the ever lasting demos, our constant excuse for the clients whenever the demo fails, 'O, it just ran fine in my system...must be some version or compatibility problem', and all the free food we managed to get in the campus, haha. Will never forget any of these...

Mom, Dad, brothers, friends were there for my graduation ceremony. Wow, never did I imagine I did such a great deal by graduating from CMU....could feel the sense of pride as we marched towards the Gesling stadium from Wean hall, only then was the sense of achievement and pride sinking in. I told myself, if everybody says so, yeah...must be true, I must have done something truly remarkable :) Cant say about everybody else, but Mom/Dad were on the seventh heaven...I could see the excitement and delight in their faces. Qutar highness, the keynote speaker was a drag...but the rest were bearable, hehe. The student representative lecture was quite inspiring...others said so, I slept thru all the lectures, man...havent been to a single
lecture in life that had kept me up and 'listening' :) If breakfast was good, lunch was even better...desserts were just amazing!

Our degrees were conferred upon at the Carnegie Music Hall. Wonder why these Americans ask for Phonetic names, they make a mess of the names anyways...wouldnt necessarily blame them, if Indian names are tough, south indian names are a big time tongue twister:)

At the end of the day, lot of photo sessions, some sob talk, some happy memories...and some special intimate moments to cherish :)

Too many things happening too fast...

2006-05-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

Grades declared...A+ in the project! So, finally all the hard work payed off! Wow, so we faked the metrics, faked the process blah blah, whats with that...the fact remains that the product is functional, system is up and running, deployed for the clients to demo, gave countless presentations already, some to the research group, 1 for Cylab, 1 for Boeing, 1 poster presentation, hehe...not that these were rocket science, it was easy and we enjoyed the stuff, more so we learnt so much stuff!

This has boosted my QPA to 3.99! Wow, am I proud of the achievement? No, am the most humble and modest person on earth, or so I would like to believe, hehe. The graduation ceremony is a few days away and am so excited, well...for a number of reasons, this being one :)

My H1 has got its approval for 3 yrs. Thats one colossal issue resolved, all the running around I had to do for the paper work involved is finally looking fruitful....it will be cool to start work now in June end...

Amazing food at Tamarind, our mentor treated us for one final time now at Pittsburgh. Gorged and stuffed ourselves like the ever hungry, ever starved grad students :) Rasam for soup, idli for starters, spl rava dosa, bisibella bath and ras malai! Long live the Acme project that had bagged now so many treats, hehe. Our mentor seemed so good now, anybody who feeds me to my hearts content is a darling, haha. Some good discussion on the topics of industry work, American culture, mannerisms, our future work, the whole CMU experience filled in the rest of the evening. The drive was enjoyable as well...spring has never seemed more welcome...

On a different note, slight health probs, the cold and cough has been troubling me for over a week now and its beyond comprehension why this virus hangs on to me for such a long time, hehe...will be good by tomorrow. And the first tiff with the guy in my life over some silly happenings...surprised at how I over-react at times......and now, amicably resolved as well :)

Last week of work at school and Mom/Dad's visit

2006-05-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Break from school for a week, wow! Slogged like a dog in the last week and finished up all work before I left for Columbus. All work was wrapped up, integrated the performance and security simulator with Acme version 3. The only thing left was to create the plugin and deploy. Some metrics to fake and the presentation content.

Mom/dad's visit, oow, was I excited or what! Their first visit to the US and they r gonna see me after almost an year. Was expecting the usual dialogues of my parents, 'U have thinned down, don eat well? U have gotten so dark, r u out in the sun a lot??' hehe, all this and more. Mom and Dad had loads of stories to tell me, it was so much fun...

This is what I did when I was with them: Eat-sleep-eat-sleep infinite loop, and desserts...Maaladu, mysore pak, muruku, adharsam and some more than Mom got along...the idli, dosas, apalams and vethals, vethu kozhumbu, arachiutta kozhambu...the tastes of which I almost forgot in life, all brought back was like a dream. Not to mention about the regular desserts: Chocolate pudding over butter peacon icecream, some banana and apples, grapes over it with chocolate sauce sprinkled over!

My initial plan was to learn to drive and look for apts at SFO , done neither.... not many movies either...was too bz in eating and sleeping. Pampered to the core, being fed food and hardly moving from the couch could have easily put on some 20 pounds! Oil massage by Dad, Mom making my hair, listening to Tamil devotional songs all day brought back my childhood times in Bombay.

Nice jog in the evenings while my parents walked along, enjoying the scenary alongside the nearby park were the very small things that made my day and nights.

Mom still cribbed about my odd sleep habits, I cant sleep bfore 3, cant open my eyes to the daylight bfore 10. She tried hard to make me change that. Dad tried real hard to find out who the guy was, whom I talk to for hours together, hehe. Neither of them succeeded, but had an amazing time at my bro' s place at Columbus.

Back to work on wednesday. Had the final presentation on the Thu, 11th And we rocked the place! People loved the presentation and the demo was smooth and nothing broke loose! All was good...the stories we made up on the metrics, the blah blah on reflection, data and lessons learnt...and the demo of our system. Some were shocked to see the system up on Acme 3 and performance and security together for the first time, some were awed, some were confused...but all in all, everybody loved the presenter, hehe.

The nice things about the presentation here at CMU, we have some real mean guys in the audience who throw the most perplexing questions, there are some real smart people who make u think and wonder over the correctness and rightness of the working on the system, there are some HCI experts, there are architecture experts, and some people I dislike the most, the process experts, the risk mgmt experts, the management endorsers...but all were good to us this time around. We dodged the trick questions quite well, and yes some were real good bouncers, haha.

We have different kinds of presenters from different cultures, varying accents and distinct speaking styles and personalities. All agree that Indians are fast, "Pls slow down" I have
been told since I remember, but I guess this time they said U were good! In fact, one prof came along, 'Did u guys take some capsules to slow u down?' :) There are Koreans who can barely talk in English, but they try hard and man, they r good. There were these cute guys whom I met on my way to the audi here...and they went, ' Hello, the shirt u are..uhhh...wearing....uhhh...is good' I said ' Sure, it is, thanks'. And he goes, ' It is.... uhhh....hmm....traditional', I laughed and said, 'Yes, very Indian, we call it the Kurta'. Hehe....they are not very tuff to comprehend. But, yeah...they r so cute! ;)

Always wondered how the Americans manage to maintain that 'Am the coolest' attitude even in the most formal occassion. They seem confident, but cannot deny the arrogance that comes along. Heheh, I wish i could get some of that confidence. I get damn nervous befor I talk, I fidget all times anyways, but u cant imagine the speed when am nervous, hehe. I might have had a full bottle of water before I got up to present...but once I start talking, am all good :)

All done now, will kill time for a while and then party hard in the evening, no plans as of now....but am sure, something will come up soon...will it be a repeat of the wine tasting at Highland Park, nah...dont think so:)

Jam packed Fun day!

2006-04-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

A fun day, time well-spent, satisfying to the core. Things I did today...woke up at 12, rushed to school for the Holi party organized by Om. Great food, and the best part it was unlimited:) Have no count on the parathas and ras malais I must have gulped...hehe. Didnt hand arnd for long there for the color play...friends rushed me to the fun-fair. Not very different from any mela in our towns...all crafty items around...Egyptian culture stall, Aladdin and 40 chor ones, science exhibits, Red Indian history, Alice in wonderland and many more like that. Very arty stuff, am sure must have taken months to make. Very beautiful and stylish, all of them without any exception! There were kiddish games at many stalls...throw the balls within the holes drilled, or the rings around the toys and u win some prize. Won many chocolates along these ;) Then the crazy rides. I know them as Giant wheel, Tora tora and break dancers. They r known as Hurricane, Sizzlers and Ferry wheels here...but all the same...it was so much fun, my head was spinning after a while!

It was nearing 4:30 now, and we headed to the soft ball game organized in honor of Late Prof Jim Tomayko...it was raining and hence the game replaced with Volley ball. Ow, played after real long I know. Wasnt very good at it, hurt my wrists in a couple of shots but it was fun and I enjoyed that a lot despite the fact that my legs were killing me...went on for an hour and a half or so. Had pizza now, it does taste better when u r absolutely worn out, hehe.

A quick email/voice mail check and rushed home for some rest...and back to school for the fireworks at the carnival. The air was misty with rain and the moisture, but there could be nothing to dampen the spirit of the Spring fest at CMU! The fireworks were breath taking, it was awesome. Initially began with the different colors sent in one after the other, then followed it up with some patterns, then the sparklers which were like the shooting stars....The grand finale was terrific, the melding of different colors was so cool. The whole show must have lasted for like 40 mins I guess, it was amazing!

Didnt feel like heading for home so soon...had clubbing plans but decided against that...went to the SCS Lounge, had some coffee and chocolates, wafers for food:) Played scrabble ekdum my style, full with cheating over scores and fighting over non-existent words, borrowing of tokens...hehe, felt like I was back home...then, the word building where I am the reigning queen, never-beaten by anyone on earth:) The 20 questions game where again we fought over cheating rules, hehe. TT was fun, played after long but man, do I ever lose touch with any game, hehe...and before we realized it was 2:30. Left for home soon by the next shuttle....

A fun-filled total time pass day, haha...laughed and gossiped to my heart's content...

An eventful week

2006-04-21T00:39:00.000-07:00

Ow, too many things happened too fast this week. My Mom/Dad got their visas, they will be here for my graduation! Thats the biggest news of all, and their visa has been granted for 10 yrs...I could invite them over anytime I miss them:) They have already started making elaborate plans on the things they wanna do when they are here, many got to do with the variety of food stuff they wanna feed me;)

On the work front, things have been looking real good...what with the presentations we are asked to make to the industry guys. There had been a poster presentation scheduled for the security researchers and our project was selected for the same. CMU is nerdy, this I knew...but you put in a bunch of damn smart people, provide them the required infrastructure, fund their projects, provide them the required ambience to groom their ideas and Boom! what do u get, an excellent futuristic world. The projects that were showcased were truly mindblowing. Biometric face recognition, iris matching, survellience systems, the automatic network recognition, self healing systems, threat modelling, vulnerability anaalysis, automatic code generation, system modelling etc etc. The topics were varied and each one was only better than the other.

Our project fell under the threat modelling category...and grabbed quite a few interesting personalities' interest:) We had visitors from Boeing, TCS, JP Morgan Chase and a lot more companies. Many researchers asked for a demo. Some company representatives asked if they could install a prototype in their own company. The JP Morgan Chase got amazingly interested in the topic, he has been researching the area for more than 10 yrs now...and when he heard that I am graduating this May, he immediately got his visiting card out and asked us if we would be interested to work with him, hehe...so much for this project that I crib about these days...it was good work and I did have fun researching it, but can I do that for my living, I guess not...I am quite practical and unless I see the immediate value and applicability in real life projects, its difficult for me to sustain my interest. Call me short-term visionary or whatever, but thats what I am!

And after this eventful evening, all participants were treated for dinner at the Carnegie Museum. There was this huge hall with paintings and sculptures all around...it was like being in a place of so much peace yet a sense of magnificence and mystery to it. The ambience was amazing! Had a few drinks before the food arrived. The lecture that followed it was quite boring, and the speaker was monotonous, speech was uninteresting...I have listened to a lot of software engineering stuff in my Masters already now...and was a bit too buzzed to concentrate too...but the good food and surrounding more than made up for it. Overall, a very satisfying day, I must say!

Our client is happy with the way the projects shaping up and as a token of her appreciation, she treated us in an Indian restaurant. She was so much fun. We talked on all topics from American culture, religion, Indian men, Bollywood movies, parent's tolerance level towards kids in India v/s here....our future goals, the career path, arranged marriage etc etc...It was nice. One thing I realize and accept is to never generalize on anything or anyone. Every individual is different under different circumstances under different influence:)

We have a carnival on in the university to commemorate the SCS 50 yrs. There are seminars held all day, so can easily grab pizzas and cookies, brownies for food;) There are fun-fairs, soft ball games, and plays, movies, musicals held all week long. Its fun, so much to do when no classes to attend...and on the personal front too, things are looking great...am I finally getting into something serious, guess only time will tell...

Canaan valley camping trip

2006-04-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

If there is anything I could call it as a perfect holiday, this was it! We had a camping trip to the Canaan Valley resort, WV organized by the IASTE and the CMU-explorers club this weekend. We had to leave the CMU campus by Fri evening and return by Sun afternoon. The schools
participating: CMU, UPitt, Maryland College. There were 4 cars driven, we were 25 in all...

Left the campus at 6 in a Kia, reached the resort at 10. We drove straight, read 'never got lost'. Bcos, the ppl who left earlier at 3 and 4 did lose track quite a number of times, we all reached the place at the same time:) There was one mishap though, one of our friends who drove from Virginia met with an accident, her car skid on the ice, toppled and the car was in bad shape. Though the car got totaled, miraculously, she was unhurt and safe....

Reached the place, it was like amidst a dense forest, the resort was beautiful. Deers all around the place, their skin was glowing in the dark, some found that menacing I found it enchanting though:) Fri nite was fun...We began with an ice-breaker...had food, got drunk, danced like crazy, lit camp fire, had mash mellows with hersheys' chocs and biscuits...it was 2 and the party was still on. Obviously, we were not up bfore 10 the next day.

Sat morn began with a heavy breakfast - pancakes, bagels, orange juice. Headed to the lodge to find the activities available...found that the bungee jumping, chair ride, rock climbing are not gonna be open till May. This leaves us with little we thought, but we had little idea on what fun awaited us:) We got to explore mother nature more than ever before...we went for a trek. Took the deer trail first. Took a long walk along the woods, fed the deers with bread, we played hand ball and foot ball along the way...a little tired now, we needed to pamper ourselves. Went to the hot bath, then to the pool and the sauna. Wow, this felt like a perfect holiday. Played pool, discovered new skills I have...quite a number of air hockey games and we were ready to head
back to the cabin. Now, it was pitch dark! I had my cell phone to provide the little light we could travel with...we talked about ghosts in this ever dark night, the 15 min walk seemed like an eternity...

Had food, too tired for drinks and dance tonite I thought...played truth or dare kind of games...hit the bed at 1 and was up at 7. We took the club trail, took us an hr to cover that...the forest looked much more calm and serene in the morning...the trees, most of them barren...were wild but looked peaceful. We could hear the wind and our voices echo...the trail was a little marshy, it had rained last night, there was dew in the air...Back at 8:30, headed to the pool and sauna. Back to the cabin at 10, had breakfast, packed the stuff. Seemed like the trip had just begun and we were already heading back home.

Made so many good friends in this short trip, each one was funny in his own way. I still remember each one by their nick names we kept:) The German guy who couldnt follow a word of what I said, I was high but am sure I couldnt have been that incoherent either;) The guy who tried to flirt with me to make his girl friend jealous...the guy who danced salsa like I never could imagine, forced me to follow his steps and man, was I good or what, hehe...the babe who could do gymnastics in her dance steps...the sweet lady who cooked us pancakes...donno if I will
be in touch with any of these ppl, but each one was special and am glad I met them.

Started at 12 from the place, we took a wrong turn, rode an extra 55 mile stretch, that cost us an hr more and then the day light saving, man...I lost 2 hrs, hehe...but had fun, now damn tired...cant stop thinking about the various stuff we did.

NY trip

2006-03-06T19:41:00.000-08:00

Had an interview at Battery Park, NY. Combined business with pleasure :) And I fell in love with this city on my very first trip. I started not on a very good note though. Missed my flight in the morn, rescheduled my interview...the next flight was at noon, and that again got delayed due to bad weather. Finally landed at Newark at 2:40 PM. Caught the trains and reached the interview site at only 4:30! But they were very accomodating, didnt really make me feel bad on being late and all...Reached my cousin's place at about 8 or so....Her apartment is in the Jersey city along the Hudson river and she stays on the 17th floor. Can see the statue of Liberty from her bacony! Reached her place; Damn tired, had amazing home made food and hit the bed.

The next days were awesome, little did I imagine that this city would elevate my spirits to these great heights, hehe. Literally, NY is no diff from Bombay, and I felt at home. We went to Ground zero first. The historic tragedy and now a tourist spot, was quite moved by the sight...the hoardings and pictures there say it all...'No History is without a heartache' went one of the postings.

We next took a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty. And wow, I had the time of my life! The weather was terribly windy, but nothing could deter our frenzy and enthusiasm. Took a lot of snaps there. Statue of Liberty, had always read and heard about it and now here I was, facing the magnificient structure. Its made of Copper, but over time as it underwent oxidation, its green now. ..the next stop was at the Ellis island. I am not a very museum kind of person, but this one was real cool. An insight into the immigrant origin in this country was quite an eye opener. A must visit I will say. Returned back to the Battery Park, and we saw a street dance...ow, these guys could give Michael Jackson a complex :)

Dead tired, home and already planning for the next day. I could not stop raving about the city. Crowded, you never will find the streets deserted:) And the city is a melting pot, you find people from different backgrounds and that explains the wide variety of cuisines here!

The next day, we started at about 2. Had an elaborate lunch, my cousin is an awesome cook, I should learn a few tips from her some day! We headed to the Empire State building. We were hoping that we would face a smaller queue, and with the weather being that cold, not many people turned up. We went to the 86th floor, and oh God! The view was breathtaking. Took an audio tour and that explained the history of the buildings, bridges, and the rivers there. Each buiding was taller than the other. Financial center of the country, this city stands out from the rest of the other places in the country. The wind was blowing at not less than 25 miles per hour and at that height, it hit us real hard...frozen to death, but thoroughly enjoyed. Stayed for a few hours and it was 6. Now, the sun set and the city got lit. What an awesome sight!

We were now walking towards Times Square. And the streets there bring back my Bombay memories. Lights everywhere, huge hoardings, advertisements displayed all over. NYPD, ESPN center, Mc Donalds all lit up. You see the horse rides...hawkers on the road sides. I was home and this city rules! We wanted to walk to the the street where you see all the Indian restaurants, there is a Saravana bhavan too and I hear the food there is heavenly. My cousin told me there is a Chaat street as JSQ and I would have loved that. But, we were too tired to do that. Did some window shopping at Manhattan mall, before we returned home.

Home now, my holidays are never complete without some movies and I saw Aaru, a Surya starring Tamil flick. Somebody had told me that it was a hit...but not impressed at all, dry dialogues and the violence looked absolutely unwarranted. Cannot sleep over a bad movie...so washed that over with the Sylvester Stallone's The Specialist. Satisfied, dead tired and I hit the bed at 1. Back to Pittsburgh on Monday. Left home quite early, could not afford to miss the flight again!

What a week !

2006-02-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

Easily, the best week I have had at Pittsburgh ! Had a blast in the weekend. We had friends visit us who wanted to see what Pittsburgh night life is like :) We went to Tequilla Willes, a disc at Strip district in Downtown. Let my hair down after real long, I know. The party went on till 2:30 AM. We managed to find a pizza place open. Talked and talked, before we eralized it was 4:30AM. Back home, and was up till 6-7 !

Worked dead hard in the next 2 days, preparing for the demo we had to give. I knew this demo was important for my client, but had not anticipated this....the classroom was solid hi-tech! Students there were mostly PhD guys, each had a microphone on their desk. The class was being wired live to Japan. The Japanese students were video-conferencing with us. So, a special huge touchscreen for the class. Did not expect this, so was not really that well prepared too...I began like , 'Hi...Pittsburgh and Japan...', and then it was all smooth...The lecturer was happy, he asked me for a copy of this system for his class too. My prof was glad it went well.

The next day, my professor was very happy, and she has offered me a TAship for her class starting in April. This class is a distant program, and I would be required to help students on email, and correct their assignments and tests. I havent heard the details from her yet. But its nice that I will have another small income coming my way :)

A mixed day - Steelers won:) India lost:(

2006-02-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a day of mixed feelings, India lost to Pakistan in cricket by 7 runs. I knew after the last test match that we had a dim chance but I know India has the potential. Perhaps, they get nervous when they play Pakistan...whatever the reason, we have to accept that the team these days is not performing too well, damn! We could get a series match ticket at our school for $25, but I guess with this kind of team performance, they are not worth so much time...Tendulkar plays, the team wins was the motto of the Indian cricket team and ICC for long. Sachin hit a century yest, so what; Pakistan had a Salman Butt on their side. Anyways, that was the sad part.

The good thing is that Steelers won the Super Bowl! We are the world champions now! It was all crazy outside on the roads; the South side had everybody on the streets with beer in their hand and slogan on their lips...The station square area again was blocked for the crowd on the streets. Happy people, honking on the streets; it reminded me of Bombay. Saw the match at a freinds' place with a gang of Steelers fans to keep company, chakli and chips and moong to munch on, paav bhaji for food; and the atmosphere could not have been better.

Seven springs and skiing

2006-02-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa", this was the sound I made everytime I fell, no doubt got hurt but it was fun :) I am talking of the skii trip I did today. The first time I have ever skiied, and I just experienced heaven...The GSA from our school had organized this trip, and nothing could go wrong. Left our home at 6:45 AM, caught the 6:50 bus to school and the school shuttle left for Seven Springs at 7:30, reached the place at about 9:30 AM. Collected our equipments - one pair of iron shoes, man that alone could have weighed 10 pounds; skii boards and holders. We had skiing lessons for about an hour. The tutor was so cute, though he made fun of me everytime I skiied; he said u don need to be so serious, this is no war, its okay to fall, no need for fear. I picked up the tricks quite fast. Then, we were on our own in the vast field.

They had made seperate tracks for beginners, intermediate and expert skiiers. The beginners track was about 200 metres, slope taking us down, and there was a lift to get us up again. We skiied till 1. I fell about 3-4 times. The first time, I fell on my back and was in no position to balance back myself, I had to call for help....but the next few times, I realized not to repeat the same mistake, and fell on the front, you can easily stand back or even untie you ski board if need be. Now, time for lunch. Came back at 2, and were there till 4. This period was the best. I knew I skii now :) I fall lesser, balance better and help some other less skilled people giving tips too ;) Time for a tea break now. Returned at 4:45. By this time, it started raining. This made the snow melt and was quite icy, very slippery. You could skii at great speed, but with not much balance and control. I found it very difficult to land and pause. At one time while landing, I was well in control,reduced the speed as well and then, the guy ahead of me on snowboard slipped and fell...I havent perfected the art of making a turn yet, and I dashed into him. This time again, I fell on the ice. There was one time when I was speeding, I had to slow down...crossed my ski boards, tried to break...tried to put in extra weight by kneeling down, sitting position...no effect on the damn slippery ice, put my hand on the ground to stop, toppled and fell down hard. This time, a friend commented he had not seen anybody skiing in the sitting position, I could be a trend setter:) As time passed, the rain increased in intensity and skiing became tougher. But, still I skiied, speeded, fell as I landed, bounced back and continued.

Now, it was 6:30 PM; my hands and feet had gone numb quite long back, but now I started getting cramps at my fingers...rertuned the equipment stuff, and back to the bus. We left the place at about 7:30 PM. Long day... pain all over my body, but quenched my thirst for adventure, and swore to come back again, that time it will be the experts' track:)

Phoenix - Sedona trip

2006-01-30T21:35:00.000-08:00

Reached my brother's place on the Friday night...drove to Little India, a small place but nothin less than a typical dhaba. Had parathas, pav bhaji, lassi and chat as well. It was damn cool. Had ice-cream from Coldstore, this was one Icecream thta finally beats Bombay's Naturals! Watched back-to-back movies on Saturday. 'Life ho to Aisi' is something u can watch with no thinking, see it for Sanju Baba's sake, hes dead smart in this movie. Went for Rang De Basanti the night show. Man, its after all an Amir Khan movie, and his movies hardly ever go wrong and this sure was no exception; an out and out entertainer! The show was house-full, had never seen so many desis together in any one place, guess it was the whole big ASU crowd.

The next day, we decided to go to Grand Canyon. But, I woke up at 12, and Grand Canyon was a NO to start so late. We started for Sedona after food. U should see the scenary change along the way. It was all brown, dry and mountainous for some 50 miles, then turns green for the next 100, and then its red mountains all over with snow at some places. If u r a nature lover, then this place is heaven! Our first stop was at Mountezuma castle. Came up in 1400s. Tribal inhabitation was at these places, saw the castles, their water springs...took a nice walk along the forest-like place. Calm and peaceful, it was beautiful. Drove thru the Montezuma well.

And we were now headed to Oak Greek Canyon on 80A, no substitute for Grand Canyon, but it sure is damn wide and dead deep. This place is real cool, and is a wonderful place for hikers and over-night campers. The next time we come in here, we shall plan to camp over-night. Now hungry, we stopped by on Sub-way. Satisfied and happy with the nature's immense beauty, we headed back home...

Intel and Phoenix

2006-01-30T20:20:00.000-08:00

My final round Intel interview lead to my third trip to Phoenix, and I had nothing to complain :)

My first round was on phone, a cool 20 minute talk, discussed on:
1. my background
2. project work
3. Database interest, since the position was for Database Engineer
4. Basic DB questions - Whats a database? whats a table? whats a join?

This took me to Intel, Phoenix. Arrived at the airport; there were no taxis around, only limos...or probably I see only good things :) Took a limo to San Marcos resort, wow...my first limo trip and I was amazed. Ordered food and watched TV, dozed off. I had a dinner-reception hosted by Intel at 5:00 PM but I slept like a log only to wake up at 6:45, rushed downstairs. The presentation was over and people were almost done with the food too. My manager-to-be was about to leave, I barely managed to say Hi and that I was sorry that I had a headache and I took a nap, too long. He smiled and said that its okay, dont oversleep tomorr and be on time for the interview. U bet, I was on time for the interview. 4 rounds; 2 were technical, 2 were behavorial, each was around an hour. I guess I did well.

Technical questions: Algorithms and datastructures, OS, Diff between windows and Linux, OSI, TCP/IP, Ethernet...Hashing, Indexing, Normalization, some DBA stuff, basic Java, basic C

Behavorial questions: Tell me about yourself, what will you do in these type of situation...your strong points, your weak points, your biggest challenges, your biggest achievements n so on...

It is very important that u ask good questions when they say, Do u have any questions for me, and I had done some research to get real good questions. They were impressed and my interviewers went - I never expected such good questions from a fresh coll grad :)

Then, it was time for lunch. Had food in one of the best cafetarias of Intel. There was a break now, and we drove to the Chandler fashion mall. Major sale in all outlets, did some window shopping...back to the campus, and now it was time for a fab-tour. They took us around the fab labs at Intel and wow, it was so cool. The bunny-suit clad engineers and all the automated machines doing wonderful stuff. The amber color lighting was to enable the chips to withstand light, the floors were porous, the holes were to let the air circulate. The ambience here was purer than the best hospital. And yes, the bunny-suits and the special shoes the engineers wear is not for the protection of the people but for the security of the chips. This was one common misconception people generally have. These areas have to be absolutely dust free.

Intel is coming up with another fab lab in an year time. We saw the construction on. The crane they use is one of the biggest in the US, this crane gets redistributed to other construction sites as and when necessary....We drove through ASU and returned back to the hotel, dead tired. Rested for a while and then, called my brother to come pick me up...

Oracle

2006-01-18T18:51:00.000-08:00

Thats one of the 5 buildings of Oracle. They have these 5 buildings surrounding a small lake with a fountain in between, its beautiful. In each of these 5 buildings' lobby, they have cafetarias, each one devoted to a different theme. Came in here for the final round of interviews. My first round was a breeze at the campus. The second and the final one brought me here. Needless to say, I am impressed and am looking forward to start my work here after school. I have a few other interviews lined up in the coming weeks, a few startups and some biggies. The only offer that can beat Oracle's is Google's. I graduate in May, will take a small break and join sometime in July.

Offer from Oracle

2006-01-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a week I had. Flew from Sanfransisco to Phoenix. Planned for Grand Canyon but was too lazy and tired for that. Saw loads of movies, among the most important ones - Mickel Madan Kama Raj, Kamal Hassan in 4 roles, wanted to watch this movie ever since I was a kid, heard abt that for so long but got to watch it only now. No Entry had a bad start, but towards the end, we were laughing as we rolled on the ground, damn hilarious. Heat, and Saw were great too. Went for Bowling in the evening, many friends also joined in. It was fun, only now do I know am no less than an expert :) We got a free game as well as a bonus. Have had so much Indian food in this week, I miss India not even the slightest bit. Had a great flight back home to Pittsburgh, was so tired I slept for like 5 hours in the day. I wake up feeling so good, and now...icing on the cake, I check my mail and I have an offer from Oracle, Redwood Shores, CA! What a cool way to start my new year ;)

Silicon valley trip

2006-01-12T16:48:00.000-08:00

3 days of Silicon valley trip organized by CMU career center for the graduating students and it was much more than just fun. Got to see the company's campus, their offices, the products they
are currently developing and their cafetarias! Most of them had a gathering organized, small presentations about the company's history, their clients, their development, the career path n all. Every cmpany has to tell us on what makes their org diff from the many others in the silicon valey. Some companies even pick on the others, its fun...like Broadcomm constantly picked on Intel. Its nice to know about so much more stuff than just technical jargons that we always heard all around. What is a career in Venture capitalism like? What do service companies have that lure bright intelligent developers every year? What do startups have to offer that the biggies can never? These questions and many more have been answered in the trip organized for us.

How else could you tour Intel Museum without being a part of Intel organization iteself. See the latest Sun products, Sun Ray- a new product launched for secure software systems with the
intelligent badges and finger print technology to back it up. Tour the Googleplex and see the laundary rooms and the gym, not to mention the so much food everywhere. Tell me has a very open atmosphere, no cubes, no cabins...its all under an umbrella, a very college like atmosphere.
First day
---------
1. Google
2. Intel

Second day
---------
1. Broadcomm
2. Tell me
3. Sun Microsystems

Third day
----------
1. Juniper
2. Sales force
3. VM Ware

Its been fun, will leave for Phoenix for the weekend...should be back to Pittsburgh on Monday.

Site seeing at San fransisco

2006-01-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

Reached the campus on the 7th afternoon, lazed around for a while. The NASA campus is huge, its tuff to walk around without a map in hand. Decided to see some places around, but no idea how close or how good they were. Talked to the guards and started moving to the Mountain View station. Got the tickets, took the small train towards San Jose (green). Got down at one station, forgot the name, it rhymes with Tarzan...took a blue train from there, got down at the Grand Mall station. That was a beautiful place, you name a brand and you found it here...may eating joints also around...roamed for a while, purchased a few stuff, done some window shopping...thought of checking out some movies, a huge movie buff that I am, saw Munich, a very nice movie, quite heavy and long though...and now it was 10:00 PM, and the last train was at 10:18, made it on time and it was a relaxed walk back to the campus from the Mountain view station...quite tired and hungry at that time, there was just one pizza place open at this time, Dominos veg pizza never tasted better than this, a juice corner nearby, had a wonderful water melon juice...

The next day, I was better prepared, browsed thru the net for some good places to site-see, everybody recommended Pier 39, printed the routes, and train schedules and was ready to start the journey. Had food at the Monsoon, Indian cuisine. Got the Caltrain to San fransisco. The trains were so damn comfy, a double-decker train with luxury seats and a cool decor. It was a 1 and a half hour long trip and reached San fransisco. Now, it was a long walk towards Pier 39. Saw Pier 40, 36, ....the numbers just went on and on. The walk was a long one but thoroughly enjoyed it, the nice weather just complemented the good scenic locales. Finally made it to Pier 39. This place was definitely worth the long 3 hour journey. Went to the underwater Bay acquarium first. It was heaven ! Such wonderful fishes moving all around you...spent about half an hour there. There was a comedy show at the center stage, it was nice too, the fat guy was very amusing. Next went to the Turbo simulator, a 3D virtual ride, its been long since I been to a thrill ride so good...there were amazzing eating joints and food courts so inviting.
Took a lot of pics and decided to move over. Coming up was the Gheradelli chocolate factory. Wow, a chocoholic that I am, I just loved this place. Had a sundae-chocolate-fudge icecream. Ooo, it had a layer of cream, with some icecream and hot chocolate sprayed all over, some almonds and nuts topping it. With my stomach full and a content heart, headed back home. Long walk, a bus and the Caltrain finally brought me back to the Mountain view station. It was 11, and the only shop open was Dominos. Had pizza, garlic bread and now, the long walk seemed even longer than over. Back to bed and kept dreaming about the most amazing place I have ever been to...

San fransisco

2006-01-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

In the CMU West, NASA Campus now. Peaceful and cool, this place is beautiful. The last week has been full of fun and excitement. Phone interview with Intel on the 4th, they asked me to fly to Phoenix for the next rounds sometime in Jan last week. 3rd round Google interview on the 5th. Flew from Pittsburgh to Sanfransisco on the 5th, had my interview with Oracle on the 6th. The day was hectic but I guess it was fun too. The buildings were nicely laid in circles around a lake. The scenic beauty was breathtaking. There are caffetarias and canteens in each building, each one devoted to a variety of cuisines. There is a huge gym, basket ball and badminton courts as well. Had selected 5 groups, mostly architecture related, development position. Each group took 1 hour, 15 mins. There was an interview with the manager and the lead developer in each team. There were puzzles, algorithms, technical questions, was even asked to code on the white board. I fumbled at a few points but they were there to help. They were there to look at the aptitude and the approach that you took to problem solution. Had lunch with a CMU alumnus, he was damn cool too. He took me around the campus, gave me inside tips as well :) Overall had a good day, was damn tired when I was done with all the interviews at 6 and headed back to the hotel, my last interviewer dropped me to the hotel...had a good dinner at the hotel, watched back2back Monk series before I hit the bed.

New year 2006

2005-12-31T22:38:00.000-08:00

My first new year celebration in the United States, and man...it was amazzing. Had a great time with my brother at Columbus. We came to the downtown area to see the fireworks. There was an event organized here, they call it First Night Columbus, guess every city has one that goes by this name...There were concerts in the open arena, water fire was the one I enjoyed the most, they were playing Jazz and the lyrics (how much ever I followed) were funny. This place was on the east of Cosi. A South American band played in the Cosi lobby and was damn cool . We went to the city mall the next and listened to an orchestra there. There was music all over the place, and everyone around was in a festive mood. We returned back to the Cosi, had some food...Veggie stuff and it sucked, but the music more than made up for the bad food.

It was now time for the fireworks as the clock ticked towards 12. Wow, had never seen such beautiful fireworks, so many colors and such beautiful patterns. The mayor inaugurated the stuff and was funny, comparing these politicians to the ones in India is unimaginable - we have Laloo, Rabri and Thackeray there...was home at 12:30. Called up home, talked to my parents in India, wished all my friends here.

Had a nice time in Columbus, will be back to Pitt soon... and have to prepare for my Google and Oracle interviews, hope things click in the new year.