The Monk who turned his job for a Dog!!!

One of my child hood dreams was to own a Dog... My own Dog.
Now let me go into retrospection and tell you about my childhood memories. One of my Uncles had 2 Dobermans. He used to take them for a daily run. And sometimes I used to accompany him. He asked me one day, if I would run them for him. I was too eager. Said yes. He gave me the leash for both of them, and asked if I was ready. I nodded with my head for a 'yes'. And then he said "RUN".

I always loved to see those 2 Dobermans, Johnny and Tom, running. But, never knew that they had so much force in them. They literally dragged me behind them. Being in the prime of my teens, and not taken up smoking, I was in proper health and ran for almost 2 Kms with the dogs. It was fun, to feel the power and force on the leash, to see those powerful muscles flexing behind the well groomed fur.

That day I made the decision, "I will buy a Dog for myself when I start earning".
After a long time, I finally became employed. Now I have all the means to fulfill my long awaited dream. And, guess what? I got an offer yesterday from a fellow Infoscian for a Lab at an affordable rate. I was too happy. I was on Cloud number Nine!!!
I told my room mates that we are going to buy a Lab soon. My room mate's reply was "We can invest that money to buy a TV instead". Not letting the comment dampen my spirit, I turned to the second of my roommate. He was serious. By seeing his look, I knew that he was weighing the Pros and Cons of the offer. Finally he said "I would advise you against it". Flabbergasted, I waited for his explanation.

He said "We are in the office from 9 to 9 on a normal day. Who would feed the Dog? We don't get up till 8 in the morning. Who would take the dog for a run and the daily walks? We roam out throughout the weekends. Who will keep company for the Dog? Bro, that would be an act of cruelty towards the animal. What will it do throughout the day? It would go mad locked in the confines of our house."

When I revised his words, I found a lot of wisdom in them. I consulted another friend of mine telling him about my childhood dream and the dilemma facing me. He also had the same opinion as of my roomie.

So, I concluded that I can't buy a Dog right now. "No Worries" I said to myself. I will wait for some more time. But when I looked deeper into the situation, it wasn't so simple. For having a Dog, either I have to get married so that my wife can keep the company of the animal, or keep a house keeper for the animal, in which case the animal would be more familiar towards the keeper. In a way it would be the keeper's Dog and not mine. And I don't want to get married. More over in Today's world it would be too difficult to find a girl who wouldn't mind staying home and taking care of my Dog.

What's the use of my earning when I can't fulfill my dreams with the money I earn? The only solution to this problem that comes into my mind is to Quit my Job and then buy a Dog. So I am planning to Quit my Job soon, and buy a Lab.
P.S - I haven't figured out till now, what will I do throughout the day, besides keeping the company of my Canine friend, once I quit the Job. Any suggestions will be welcome.

Flexibility in Work… A Virtue or Vice ?

Has your immediate Manager or Colleague ever accused you to be inflexible in work? If yes, then let's say that we are in the same boat. I can't understand why Flexibility is considered to be a virtue in work. I mean it's a personal issue, nothing to do with professional characteristics. Why should my Manager or Colleague bother about that part of my personality?

I know that this sounds like cribbing. But before you take any stand on the issue, let me explain my point to you. Consider that a particular task is estimated to take 8 hours. Whereas the reality is that the task actually requires 12 hours. This may be due to error in estimation or some other issue, which is beyond the scope of topic. So when you really slog 4 hours extra to complete the job, you are doing multiple wrongs.

First you are actually giving the impression that the task was actually feasible in 8 hours. Down the line, these small deviations in each task produce an avalanche in the schedule. Also, what we generally forget is that the current estimations serve as a foundation for the estimates of further projects and contracts.

Secondly, you are actually harming your own Company by robbing it of its justified revenue. The four hours you slogged extra don't get billed and the Company doesn't get paid for that. Thirdly and last you are spoiling the work culture of the Industry. If you are slogging today for 4 hours extra, when you become a Manager, you will expect your subordinates to do the same or more, which IMHO is wrong.

Also when you slog, you are diminishing the value of your own work. Consider the scenario from the client's perspective. He knows that you are delivering good quality service, in his budget (in which he is already saving some money). So when you deliver 12 hours of work in 8 hours he, in a way has successfully cheated you. By delivering the code you are not only diminishing the value of the work you have done, you are also encouraging him to cheat you again. You are also strengthening the impression that Labor is cheap in India.

Of Course, I understand the need to slog extra hours because of your or a team members error, or when you are still catching up with things and know that you are not doing the work with as much speed as it can be done. But is this the only reason people slog?

I just can't understand the concept of Slogging. Can somebody explain it to me please?

P.S – This is one of the things I wanted to see getting changed in my company's working environment.

My Experiences while Working...

Working for an English Client has it's difficulties, especially if the client you are working for has Scotlandish accent. I remember such 2 incidents particularly, because during both of them I cant figure out whether I should have been laughing my guts out or kicking myself to Death.

The first incident happened when i was on a call to the Support client team. I had locked my client account, and needed the account password to be reset. Following is an account of the conversation:-

Client:            Hi, Paul Balker here. What can i do for you?

Me     :            Hi, Good morning Mr. Balker. Rajesh here.

Mr Balker:   Hi <*Rajeewsh*>. A very good morning  to you too.

                        My name is <* Walker*>

(Feeling like kicking myself)

Me:                  I have got my account locked. Can you please reset the 

                         Password?

Mr Walker:  But of course <*Rajesswsh*>. Kindly hold the line.

(Feeling mad, the way he is pronouncing my name)

Me:                 But of Course

(After keeping me on hold for 5 mins)

Mr Walker:  Sorry <*Rajeewsh*> for keeping you waiting. Your account 

                         password has been reset to Waler1

(Feeling Happy that the interview has come to an End)

Me:                 Thank you Mr. Walker.

After 15 mins, I am back on the call, since my account doesn’t open with password Waler1.

(Feeling Sheepish)

Me:                 Hello, Mr. walker My account password was reset by you 10 

                         minutes ago, but there seems to be some mistake. My account 

                         doesn’t open with this Password.

Mr Walker:  Hello <*Rajeewsh*> Can you please hold on and let me 

                         check.

(Cursing myself Why didn’t I check it the first time when I was on line)

Me:                 Sure Mr. Walker.

Mr Walker:  Hello <*Rajeewsh*>, Everything seems to be right here. I 

                        have reset your Password again to Waler1.

Me:                 Mr. Walker, Can you please hold on, while I confirm whether 

                        my account gets unlocked with this password.

Mr Walker:  Sure <*Rajeewsh*>

I tried it again, it didn’t open, and I was real mad now.

Me:                 Mr Walker, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Mr Walker:  <*Rajeewsh*>, I will spell the password for you, Can you 

                        please enter it  as I say it?

(Mad that this guy thinks me to be ninocompoop)

Me:                Sure, Mr. Walker

Mr Walker:  Your password is Waler1, W for Woods.

                        A for alpha,

                        M for Mango….

(Interrupting him)

Me:                I thought you said L last time.

Mr Walker: No <*Rajeewsh*> It’s B for Bango…

(Totally confused but still trusting my knowledge of English)

Me:                B for Bat?

Mr Walker: No It’s K for Kango….

(Wondering whether I am hard of hearing or is this guy Nuts!!!)

Me:                 K for Kite…???

Mr Walker:  No <*Rajeewsh*> I think you are not getting me. Hold on for

                        a sec, and let me think of a suitable example.

(Cursing myself, and the time when I started working for a Scottish Client)

Me:               Sure.

(Giving a cry of joy)

Mr Walker: <*Rajeewsh*> It’s T for Tendulkar.

(Not believing my ears) 

Me:               T for Tendulkar, Sachin Tendulkar???

(Happiness reflecting in his voice) 

Mr Walker:  Yes <*Rajeewsh*> T for Tango, T for Tendulkar. I am a big 

                        time fan of Tendulkar. I would like to meet him, when I 

                        come to India. Do you think I can get hold of such an 

                        opportunity?

(Still trying to overcome the shock)

Me:                 I don’t know Mr Walker. You see, I am not much into cricket. 

                        But you may!!!

Mr Walker: You don’t follow cricket <*Rajeewsh*> !!!

(Believing that I have commited a sin or broken a law by not following cricket)

Me:                No Mr Walker, not very much.

Mr Walker: But you should <*Rajeewsh>, especially when you are from 

                        the country of Tendulkar.

(Buried half in ground, embarrassed)

Me:              Yes Mr Walker, Will do so. Thanks for the Help.

Burgled!!!

Had a burglary last night at my place. Me and my friends were out for dinner at 10:30, we came back at 10:45, only to see the doors wide open, Lock broken, Havoc wrecked over the place...:(( I lost my Film Nikon SLR with 1 AFS lens, some how they missed my telephoto lens. They also took my Ipod, My office bag, some cash around 2.5K, and my Ray-Ban sunglasses.Strangely enough, except for the I-Pod, everything they took was gifted by family. I am really not able to digest the loss due to my intense emotional attachment with these things.Feeling Totally Downhearted!!!!