Random Thoughts

I bought a new car. More appropriately, I bought my mum a new car. She's been driving her rattling car for almost 8 years. I got some money to spend. I have but one mum. So I got her a brand spanking new car. It isn't the fanciest thing out there, but I think we are all pleased with it. It is a new Hyundai Sonata. Now I know what some of you may think when you read this: Hyundai? Why would you spend money on a Hyundai? Aren't they tin cans of junk? Well, they are. Or more appropriately, they were. This Sonata is a new car for the 2006 year and is real nice on the inside and out. The finish in the car is quite nice, the interior is spacious and quiet. The inline 4 cylinder engine is nice and powerful. The ABS brakes are solid. The "shifter" is fun to play with (it isn't a real manual transmission what with no clutch and everything). It has a sunroof. And some other goodies.

My boss is a neat kind of guy. He drinks beer. He has a flair for showing off. He does a tasteful job of it. He impresses. He had a keg party at his 20th floor apartment. A lot of people came. Not just from work. Some of his family and friends too. Some of my co-workers came. A couple brought along their friends. Terrifically *hot* female friends. The kind that make you wonder. I have new found respect for my co-workers. Those women are hot. These guys don't make a move on them. One's in a long term relationship it looks like with his girlfriend. The other bats for the other team. I hope you get the drift. Though he did date her apparently. One was Australian. The other was exotic enough. Her name was familiar. A relative has the same name. I told her that. She told me where I am from. My jaw drops. How would she know? She's bright, she's sly, she's full of energy and a little too full of drink. She's a Psychology major. With a Masters. She said Freud never ha...

So, it has been a couple of weeks almost since my company got bought out (or merged if you are in polite company) by the bigger company. Their people have been all over this place. They have been giving us the sales pitch. They do things differently. They seem to want to keep us around. It is still the honeymoon period but I am starting to like them. The new director we probably will report to took us out to lunch twice and once to the bar. He seems to be a straight-shooter and probably got an earful from the less than happy staff. Of course, the new team has sounded great. But it remains to be seen whether they will live up to their own self-generated hype. They are giving us hope again. And I think the sceptics amongst us are being silenced. Not physically with duct-tape. Just by our own minds. Most likely because we want to hope and be convinced of a better future. The sad thing is, as human beings, we are seldom capable of enjoying the present with all its conveniences. We always w...

For those keeping track, I work for a software company. That company is being bought out by another. I understand that the takeover is almost complete now that the two companies have been given the green light to merge by the United States Department of Justice. So, a lot of us are wondering whether we will get to keep our jobs... There is good and bad from this merger. Allegedly, the new owners are much richer. They are also better at business. Why? Well, for one, they bought us out. For a long time, it was an Us vs Them competition. We felt like we owned a (albeit tiny) part of the company. And we thought we were winning (or leading at least). We lost. We felt let down. Now we get cashed out. There is little more to stick around for, except for the money and to see what the new overlords decide to do with our little enterprise. A lot of us are looking for greener pastures or just a change. The one thing about working where I am is that I have made many good acquaintances, maybe ev...

I went to watch the Russell Peters show in Vancouver tonight. He had 3 comics: the MC (forgot his name), Deb DiGiovanni, this Japanese-American dude named Yoshi and of course, Russell Peters himself. The Queen Elizabeth II theatre is huge and was packed. The whole show was full of laughs. Just amazing. From kheer to what thin girls can't do... this was just a fun-filled night. Russell Peters said he is going to be releasing a DVD and I can honestly say I cannot wait to get a copy of it. As he said, we want to make it onto the charts and I think that is a novel way to market it. Most of the material was new (Deb had some old stuff with the thin chicks etc) and really funny. I think he appeals to everyone because of how well he can make things that happen during the course of the show funny. Like when a fellow out back yelled I love you Russell when he was taking a sip of water. He took that and ran with it. Or when the guy who asked about his parents was made to eat humble pie (o...

This damn song has been stuck in my head. Some UBC Engineers (allegedly anyway) had created this blasphemous video (okay, so its just funny, not blasphemous). You can see Wreck beach, UBC, areas close to Vancouver airport etc. Their antics are homo erotic as per one of my co-workers (an ex UBC Engineering student himself), I guess he's right there and there is a nudey old fogey in it as well. It is hillariously funny though that these fellows spent the time to make such a well done video, makes me wonder what they do for projects in school. I know a couple of Engineering students (sadly, they don't seem to have the trademark Red jacket) who seem to have cool things to do for projects. One is actually building a sailboat out of carbon fibre and racing it somewhere apparently. Pretty neat stuff. The best I did in school was a OS kernel on a simulator. Not quite the same cool factor. But back to the point: the damn song. Its banned in my corner of the office on account of it get...

I have a perfect recipe for making you want to kick something, anything. First, make sure you have a frustrating as hell day at work. Then make sure that the people that run the public transit system go all the way to screw you over. In wonderfully rainy weather. By taking off just as you get to the bus. Then... you walk a kilometre and a half in the dark and wet night. Then have your god forsaken bank's online thingy not work. And have bills coming your way. Which you are *trying* to pay off via the online bank thing. I asked my managers at work for 2 things: 1) Laz-boy recliner with massager 2) Something softish to kick at when you need to kick at something So far, no go on the first one. Not even if I can somehow claim it alleviates my aching back. Oh well. Bollocks I say.

I am getting a new computer after 5 years. Oddly, I seem to be reversing trends in terms of pricing. My new computer will actually cost me more than my previous one. What am I going to do with the new one? Same sort as stuff as with the current one. I am going to install Linux on it and use it as my desktop. I will likely convert my current machine to a server to host files and who knows what else. So, what does it have? It has an Intel Dual Core processors clocked at 2.8Ghz, a really cool ASUS motherboard, an NCQ enabled Seagate hard drive, 2GB of DDR2 RAM running at 533Mhz, an LG 16x DVD burner, a 6600 LE MSI Video card (with DVI and TVO), one of those fancy floppy disks with multiple memory card readers and the kicker, a funky kick-ass case that looks like a critter from some game. It is called the NZXT Nemesis Elite and I have stolen a pic from a site and put it here: The eye of this case can be modified to change colours (wow!). I should get it next Saturday. My biggest surprise s...

I have been a distracted person. I have had other things on my mind. My mind wanders in directions I would rather it did not. If I were able to focus on what I doing instead of on the many other things that I could be doing, I might become a more productive person. I have been here before. I have fallen like this before too. She's new. I like her. I cross my fingers like I have many times before for the many different shes. I care a little less everytime it happens. I know how this will end. I dare to dream. I know the ending. I script it after all. I know the middle. Yet I dream. I get distracted. Eventually, I will fall. I will be crushed. I will survive. I will vow never to go down this path again. I will probably meet another she. I will go down this path. I will fall. I will suffer. I will not trade a day of this for almost anything. I dare to dream. Some day... the gods will be kind to me. Till then, I dream.

Picture New Years Eve. Me, 9 other guys, 2 girls. One very nervous fellow whose girlfriend was one of the 2 girls there. He kept looking at all the guys with a worried look. At a friend's place. One fellow was drinking. The rest just drank Yaletown's tap water. Traded lots of stories about pork and things. We wished each other Happy New Year at midnight, shook hands and left shortly for a walk around downtown. We did see a Maserati Quattroporte parked outside the Opus restaurant on Davie opposite my friend's apartment building. I was right about the car. Even if I saw it from the 14th floor window. Saw quite a few police officers. Saw a crowd, wished a bunch of strangers a Happy New Year. Went home after. It was a quiet beginning to the new year. I dreamt of chasing clouds. With a companion. Let us see if it comes true. Happy New Year!

I originally wanted to title this Shopping with Liz, but decided to add more Shopping stuff to the list. Anyway, I did go shopping with my co-worker (and shopping guru Liz) to Metrotown. I have never really went shopping with a girl before. For the most part, I am not a big fan of shopping anyway. Here's how a male Homo sapien usually does shopping, at least in North America: - Research what we want - Find out the cheapest price etc - Find out where to get it - Go there, buy it and leave Now, that is not quite how females of the same species function. Shopping with Liz was an eye-opener. For one, they want to go to every shop there is. I would never do that. I am in and out in a jiffy. But I learned something. There are pretty girls in some of those stores. It is worth going into them just for that. Before you say that is pathetic, think about my life for a minute: I work with a lot of men... and computer geeks. I work a lot of hours. I don't really see a lot of women. So, a...

And I am about as tired as I intend to get with all the god-forsaken advertisements for things you need to buy people for Christmas. You need a mobile phone for Christmas because Jesus was born a couple of millenia ago, you need baby diapers because of that too (okay, maybe that has something to do with the birth of the son of god as it were). You also need dogs that talk about the cool stuff you can get at Canadian Tire and those stupid easy button commercials from Staples. And yet, those bastards wish you happy holidays, so as not to offend the non-christian folk. Who cares? I am not Christian. But its nice that people like to include me in their celebrations. I get a day off, I get presents, what's there to offend? Weird political correctness nonsense. Oh well, it will soon be over. Thank Jesus.

My last vacation from work was on the 22nd of April. That was incidentally also the day I took a flight from Chennai, India to Vancouver. Well, its happened again. I took a day off work. And I had no choice. It was either take the day off or lose it. You see, we have a certain number of days off work and if we don't use all but 5 of them (which I am moving to next year), we lose them. So... I took Friday off. Made a long weekend of it. It was quite nice. I accomplished a lot on my day off. I got a bunch of things that I haven't had time to do for ever done. I was on the phone for an hour for work. I went to work. Well, I took chocolates to my work place and to my former work-place. I got hugged by a bunch of people there... and so forth. Godiva seems to make people do that. I went to the gym, I even went bowling after that. I went to the newly renovated BC Liquor Store on 39th and Cambie (and may I say it was impressive), I even dared to go into the mall... Oakridge was too ...

I went snowboarding for the first ever time to Whistler on Sunday December 4.

Friday (December 2) was the company Christmas party. I have been to one before this for this company. The party was pretty tame the last time around. I was fairly new as well. This time around however, it was a lot better. There were more people I knew and the venue was closer to the office. There was even a fellow in a kilt. That makes for a fun evening. The food was reasonable, the DJ was surprising on account of his age and the music he played, the company delightful. Around 9pm, the developers went to bed. Really. It was as if an inaudible WebCT developers only alarm had gone off; all of them picked up and left. That left behind Support and part of IT. One of the IT fellows was celebrating his birthday as well. One of my managers started to dance. I was thoroughly entertained. There was plenty of video footage to take and I did. They shall entertain me forever. I had to drop some people (including my date, who is a co-worker not invited to the party on account of the fact that she...

Today it snowed at the lower elevations. Vancouver was a spotty white winter wonderland. It looked so pretty and bright. Until you step out and get pelted by the cold water falling out of the sky. Transit was a little on the slippery side, my bus kept lurching to the side every time it came to a complete stop. And it was cold to walk while it snowed. Made me feel very bad for the bums on the street. I saw one fellow with one leg sitting under a traffic lamp begging for money. He was right next to a begging meter as well. On Robson and Burrard. Outside the Roots store, a stone's throw away from the Lacoste store. It is sad that he has to be here. Of course, on the other corner is the fellow with HIV sitting out there in the bitter (by Vancouver standards) cold. Asking for help. Or choosing a lifestyle. But is he really? Are any of them? People tell me that people who are bums choose to do so. I am no so sure they choose such a lifestyle in this kind of weather. You may be a bit on t...

This weekend was a damaging one for the pocket. I have learned the art of shopping. I had to cut up my credit card on account of some funny business on part of my managers at work (I still don't get what they were trying to achieve by annoying me that much). I went downtown on Saturday on Grey Cup weekend. That was a fun time. The streets were packed with drunk people. There was even a 3 man pipe band. Anyway, I have this Christmas thing at work and as such, I like to go to that looking half decent. Its not every day that you see many of your co-workers and other people in a social situation without computers. And, allegedly, I have a date. With a real-live girl no less! Anyway, I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon walking in and out of stores on Robson Street and Pacific Centre. I saw way too many things and came home with all sorts of things I can't justify needing. I had also gone to this place called Caban . They were having some kind of sale and the place looked...

I have been bar hopping. Lots of it. I went to a co-worker's birthday thing Wednesday night, went to 3 bars (including Nelson's Cafe ) and then some, drove them home and then walked home after that (I live close by). Got 2 and a ½ hours of sleep, went to work. Then I went to the bar with another co-worker that evening for "one" drink. A few pitchers later, having had enough fun for the night, I decided to walk home around 1am. Walked for 2 hours. Slept for 2 hours. Went to work. Learned some really neat stuff on my walk home. I learned that electric sub-stations hum very loudly. I learned that wires going out of electric sub-stations make a different but equally interesting noise. Learned that other people are awake at that time of the night. Saw many cars on the streets. Learned that one drink does not necessarily mean one drink. Why did I walk when I could have taken a taxi? Well, I wanted to prove a point to myself. I wanted to see if I could make it home on nothin...

I went to this establishment on Nelson street last Saturday called Nelson's cafe. How did we end up there? Well, after walking through some of the less than savoury neighbourhoods of Vancouver, a group of friends and I ended up in Gastown, allegedly heading for an establishment called the Shine. That was however, not to be. The names were not on the guest list and the night was a cold one. So, off we headed back to Granville Street, looking for a suitable place with a not so long line-up. We saw some spectacular lines at the Caprice , presumably waiting to see the "Rock", saw some sort of line-up outside the Commodore (looked like a Reggae concert) and so on. No luck getting into any place around 11pm on a Saturday night. So, we went to the pizza place next to Stone Temple and then decided to go to Nelson's cafe. Nelson's cafe is this little place on Nelson Street between Granville and Seymour. It is a rather small and comfy place. They have Guiness on tap which ...

I live in Canada. To be a bit more exact, I live in the Vancouver area in British Columbia. There happens to be a bit of a buzz around here these days because of the lottery tickets. The takings? Estimated at 40 million Canadian dollars. Tax free. That's a lot of money. It seems to be growing at every draw. There are people lining up to give up their hard earned money for a chance to win a lot more (not so hard earned) money. I spent money too. Didn't win. My chances of winning are probably something like 1 in 13,983,816 . A ticket costs $2. That's a pretty good chance of kissing your $2 (or $4 or $20) goodbye. Most people know that. They still willingly kiss it goodbye. Why? They hope that their ticket is the winning one. It would be amazing to win that much money. People have these what will I do when I win stories to go over. So far... I have allegedly promised a few vehicles and a couple of houses to various folks. I am not sure why I did that. Because in reality, I wo...