and this too shall pass...

30th of June 2010, Wednesday - a day I will never ever forget in my life!!!

Our team got a call from an irate customer, who was angry that his data was missing - yes that was a very serious problem!!! Even before, we finished introducing ourselves in the phone call, he started yelling at us. His tone showed, how frustrated he was. If at all, that was a face-to-face conversation, I fear he would have certainly slapped us.

We promised to resolve the problem and convinced him saying we would give him a call in another 30 minutes, after looking into the log files. We searched this log file, that log file and all possible log files for his session, but nothing helped us.. When all these were happening, we forgot about that 30 minutes timeline - he called us after 45 minutes and the music started again.

Definitely, it was not our day :-(

The problem started at 8 pm IST and went on till the next day morning. The user (though he was from USA) was also awake after his day time - that showed how important that missing data was to him. At regular intervals, we called him or he called us.

Almost after 14 hours, the next day, we some how found the reason of the problem. It wasn't an application bug. It was because of a very silly mistake - both by the user and a usability problem on our side. Thankfully, the user was so kind enough to understand what really happened and also realized what mistake he did. We promised to address that usability in our next update.

and what happened next, was a sweet surprise to us all. He started praising us and promised to recommend our software to his clients :-) We are also happy that we learned, a new way to look into similar problems in the future.


The show started smoothly, had lots of tensions/thrills/pain or what ever you can call them as and finally had a very happy ending. What seemed like an end of life a 10 hours ago, turned out to be a good learning for life time at the end.

and we know even this shall pass by...

...and this is damn serious!!!!

There is a popular saying that goes like this "Time heals what a reason cannot". Yes, that's the power of time. But unfortunately, sometimes even some genuine things get lost/forgotten in the same course of time. That is really bad. (Just like how we all have forgotten our super cow-boy hero Ramarajan)

Well, being a common-man, I cannot turn the whole world upside down to save these things. But still today I can record as many good things I can in the internet, for the future generations to search, read, admire and why not even celebrate.

Here is one such attempt to preserve a truth in the history and that truth is - I am a Cricket Player!!!

I know some of you cannot tolerate this. Check the below image to see how I was portrayed in our team's website (for the intra-company cricket tournament)


Still you don't believe me. Just see the below picture to see a sample of how well I bowled on that day.

The batsman, even after trying to play like tennis, couldn't touch the ball with his bat. Don't miss the terror expressions in the runner's and umpire's faces. You believe it or not - the truth is always truth - I am a cricket player... cricket player... cricket player!!!

Well, if you want to know why I didn't bat and just stopped with bowling. Here is the history for that.

That Crazy thing called MONEY!!!!

Everytime when I have little money in excess, I will never find one single way to spend that usefully.

and on another day when there is some real useful and urgent need for money, that crazy idiot will not be in hand.

well to be really honest, its not the money that is crazy. Its me who is really really crazy when it comes to money management.

Hope I get better in future!!!
Nambikai Thaan epavumae Vazhkai [:-)]

Special Thanks to all my Friends, who were able to help me, even during such month ends.

image from : http://www.flickr.com/photos/mybigtrip/2954904100/

Arnold Schwarzenegger and me

Arnold, when he was concentrating in building his body muscles, had very big biceps. It is said that, when he picks up the telephone receiver in his right hand, it was very tough for him to keep the the receiver near the right ears. His biceps would be touching the fore arms and thus his hands couldn't reach the ears. Instead he used to keep the receiver near the left ears.

Interestingly, I also have a similar problem...


If it was telephone receiver for Arnold, its shoes' lace for me. Every time, when I sit in a chair and try to tie my shoes' lace, my tummy is bothering me a lot.

Great people face problems alike ;-)

Unfortunately, the same world that appreciated his biceps is laughing at my tummy - crazy world!!!

uno de mis malas habit

1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5.. 6.. 7.. 8.. 9.. and 10...

I m counting the marker pens on my desk.

In recent times I have developed this bad habit. Every time I go to any of my colleague's desk to discuss about something, I'll use their marker pens and when coming back, I somehow forget to return it to them.

I m not doing this intentionally, but somehow I am doing this regularly - or may be those marker pens are coming with me to my desk ;-)


PS: the title "uno de mis malas habit" means "0ne of my bad habits" in Spanish. Shouldn't be too honest right? ;-)

then pandi seemayilae....

When the first person asked that question - I had funny reply, which I too enjoyed.

when the second person asked the same question - I had the same reply, but the fun was missing.

Then, when few more asked the same question - the reply shrinked and in some point I only had a simple smile as the reply.

and when another few more people asked the same question - frustration was added to my eyes with that smile.

I know there are more people to ask the same question and I don't know how I would react to them..

image from flickr

I can understand there is no point in getting angry on them. None of them is actually intended to hurt me. Bug what seems just ONE to many people is actually MANY to me.

Though the day is spoiled (that too a friday!!!), its a good experience for the day. Need to keep moving, taking life the way it comes. Well that is the best part of life.

1 Motorcycle, 1 scooty and some amazing science!!!

Something very interesting happened this morning, when I was driving to office. After I crossed the Kamrajpuram bus stop, I noticed one old man driving a scooty, about 5 to 10 meters ahead of me. Only then, this interesting thing happened.

Every time I decided to increase the speed of my bike, just a second before that that old man would have increased accelerated his speed. That didn't stop with that, next time when my bike slowed down a bit, again just a second before that, his scooty also slowed down a little. Believe me or not, this happened not just once or twice, but several times.


Artificial Intelligence?? Chaos theory?? Newton's theory?? Telepathy?? Bike theory?? I really don't know what this interesting pattern is called in Science?

Both of us were thinking in the same way and we were following the same pattern of driving - only difference he did everything just few milliseconds before me. Even after driving for some distance both the vehicles were moving at the same 5 - 10 mts distance between them.

It was really amazing!!!

Oops, forgot to mention about something. In the pillion seat of that scooty, there was a pretty girl - I think she should be the daughter of that old gentleman. Her age should mostly be somewhere between late Teens to early 20s.

The girl was smiling to herself and there was a cute pride attached to that smile. Then when I looked at that old man, he was not smiling - instead his face was filled with some angry expressions.

Aaaah... aaaaah..... once again this world have mistaken a Gentle Man!!!

Strange World!!!

friend's wedding @ Tirunelveli

Our friends group have one simple problem.

Every time when we go for a marriage, we will always be late and will miss the main events in the function. It might be due to teh logistics delay or climate or our laziness, we have been following this pattern for every marriage.

However, we will be there for the food at right time [:-)]

This time, it was a friend's marriage at Tirunelveli. Surprisingly we were there in the town at 6.00 am in the morning. To add to our surprise, we got ourselves ready to attend the marriage at right time.

We then hired an auto rickshaw to reach the Church. There were many people inside the Church, the marriage proceedings were going on. We didn't want to disturb them, so we decided to sit outside the Church and wait till those prayers were over.

After 20 minutes of unlimited fun, tease and all useless talks, we heard the voice of the bride speaking something in the mic from inside the Church. After hearing that in detail we found one thing - that wasn't our friend's voice. Only then we looked into the couple - it was not our friend's wedding. All this time we were attending the marriage of some other couple.

Then somehow we managed to find the correct place and by the time we reached there it was time for the food [:)]

I really wanted to do something good.. right???

Today morning, after parking my bike at the parking I was walking towards the office entrance. On the way I saw two motorcycles, parked improperly and were occupying plenty of space.

Both these motorcycles were parked on their side stands and were parked slightly vertical to other vehicles. If those bikes were parked properly, another two more bikes could be parked in that same space.

I really don't know why that happened, some batshee from inside urged me to park those motorcycle properly and thus do a little good to the society

I had no problem in moving and parking the first bike. I was half happy then.

Then holding the handle of the second motorcycle and I tried moving it. Just when I pulled that bike backwards..

...ZOINKKKKK......

The handle grip was in my hands. The bike was at its original position. I really don't know if that was already broken or I broke that.

After all it was only the handle grip right? So I didn't want to give up my good work(!!!) I put the handle grip back in its position. Next time, I was holding the middle of the handle, placed my leg on the center stand and just when I tried pulling the bike

...DA...DA...DAMAAAAR..!!!

Oops this time the center stand was on the floor. Again I don't know if that was already broken or I broke it. I somehow managed to hang that stand in its position and escape.....

I know the owner should be searching for me now [:)]

Pillayar pidika Kurangai mudindha kadhai...

Done...!!!!!!

NOTE:
If you are in some hurry or don't want to waste few minuetes, kindly skip to the bottom line section of this post.

AIM:
To measure the mileage of my bike - Hero Honda Passion Plus.

OBSERVATIONS:
Odometer reading when the fuel fell to Reserve level (D1) : 24376.2 kms.
Amount paid for the petrol filled in the nearby bunk : Rs. 100.00
Cost of 1 litre petrol : Rs. 57.60
Odometer reading when the fuel fell to Reserve level, next time (D2) : 24506.8 kms.


CALCULATIONS:

Quantity of Petrol filled : Amount paid/Cost of Petrol
= 100/57.61
= 1.74 L

Distance traveled for 1.74 L of Petrol : D2-D1
= 24506.8 - 24376.2
= 130.6 Km

Distance travelled for 1 L of Petrol : Distance Travelled/Quantity of Petrol
= 130.6/1.74
= 75.06 km

RESULT:
Mileage of the bike = 75* KMPL (aprx.)

*conditions apply
Testing time : mostly around 11 am and 10 pm.
Max speed : 40-50 km/hr
No pillion passenger


Bottom Line:

• Mileage of my bike is 75* KMPL (aprx.) - need to check again : bike & my eyes [:)]
• Above section of this post is just a sample on How to answer a 12 marks question, with just knowing a single word in the whole text book (image - as usual to fill the space)
• This can happen to you, if you stay for too long in the office, on a friday evening, without any valid reason/work.

Vijay, Kuruvi, IPL and then fatal Error...

One of my friends, who is a die-hard fan of actor Vijay, sent me the promotional picture of their hero's next movie Kuruvi and a link to his official website (by fans!!!) : www.vijaynet.com


Just while browsing through the home page of the website, found a message that said - "Vijay endorses Chennai Super Kings". Since it was about the Chennai Cricket team for the Indian Cricket League (IPL) Tournament, I was eager to read further and clicked on the link.

Ooops the next screen said : "Fatal error"

a bug or the message???


PS: Vijay and Actress Nayanthara endorse the Chennai Cricket Team for IPL.

I m not the only one..... [;)]

This afternoon, when I withdrew Rs.200/- from the ATM inside our office, the transaction slip showed the current balance of my account in few hundreds. It is only the mid of this month and another twooooo weeks to go for my next salary.

Such a low bank balance just in two weeks after salary is really bad. Definitely not a good thing, that too when the recession is nearing [;)]

Thank God that there isn't any minimum balance restrictions for the salary accounts , else half of our salary would go as penalty.

Just when I was about to leave the ATM cabin, I saw another transaction slip on the nearby writing-stand. I know it is unfair to look into others' bank balance but still couldn't resist.

Ohhhhh!!!!!

that unknown friend had withdrawn only Rs. 100/- and after that transaction his balance was in few tens only. If tens and coins can be taken from the ATMs, I m sure that friend would have cleared all his bank balance.

Feeling a bit relaxed now.. I m not the only one!!!

Aeroplane over the head...

Every time when saying "Good Bye" to a friend at the Airport, when another friend updates his Orkut album with some cools snaps taken at a scenic foreign location, when another good friend keeps talking about his traveling experience, when a aeroplane flies over my head, feeling something odd in the heart.

Definitely not feeling jealous or envying them, but feel like missing something in life. I can understand flying abroad is not Everything in life, but at the same time I m not a Gautama Buddha.

Should fly at least to the nearby Singapore/Malaysia/Sri Lanka soon..

User friendly ATM????

I really can't understand why the ATMs in this part of the world have such interfaces.


Every time, when I insert the card to withdraw some amount it prompts for the Language.

When I choose my Language it will ask for the Account Type - Saving or Current

When this data is provided, it will ask "Do you need a print out for the transaction?"

... and only when all these information is provided it will ask for the PIN number and proceed the transaction. This is same for all Banks, here.

Leave the PIN number.

Why aren't the other information not being stored in the card (or somewhere), when I provide them for the first time??? I don't change these information very frequently and I guess even others don't.

I m feeling very tired of keying these information, every time [:-(]
Hope I m not the only one.

Latest jollu... [;-)]

Even after crossing the teen age, continuing to flow [;-)]

btw, this is happening....

When the team is asked work on a weekend...

when the whole team is making a mess around for the next hot fix release...

when I m suppose to work on a critical bug, which is delaying the works of other team members...

when the boss is regularly asking for the status - just like the cuckoo bird in the alarm clocks [;-)]


He.. He.. He.. life is always Khooool and the link to album is HERE.

Small steps to fight Obsesity

Four years back I was only 65+ kgs of weight, but today thanks to my life-style and laziness, I weigh nearly 85+ kgs.

Few innocent people call me Uncle

New neighbors identify me as the fat guy at home

Long met relatives mistake me to be the eldest in the family

Dear and Near ones always talking about this physical progress!!!!

Hmm... Life isn't easy when one have such rapid growth. At times such frequent comments really hurt in some corner of the heart, as it had happened today.

As usual with the same determination which will last only for one day, I started browsing the internet

Just happened to step in to one good website for people like me - www.smallstep.gov


The have listed nearly 100+ small steps to reduce body weight. Here's just a few of them :

• Take the stairs instead of the escalator.
• Get of the bus a stop early and walk.
• Portion out your snack on a plate, not from the bag.
• Park farther from your destination and walk.
• Don't eat late at night.
• Don't take seconds.
• Try smaller sized items when snacking or eating out.
• Bicycle to the store instead of driving.

In words, these tips seems to be very simple.
I need to check if they will work out for me, at least this time [:-)]

Obsesity, Over weight, getting smart, getting slim

He.. He.. He..

What happens if you take a long break from work??
(4 days is tooooo long in the Indian IT industry[:)])


when you are back in the seat, will have more and more nails to be removed!!!

...btw even this is interesting!!!

Maiden Century...

800+ Days....

7000+ Visits... (resource : www.sitemeter.com)

and.. this is the 100th Post [:-)]



I know most of the posts are mere craps (to put in local phrase - MOKKAIs)
Anyways I m enjoying posting them. [:-)]

Lot more to flow...

Tirupathi - a visit and some thoughts...

Last weekend, me and some of my friends had been to Tirupathi. We had some wonderful time during the visit and here are some random thoughts, tips, experience....

1. Plan the visit properly. If you are taking old people to the temple, plan the trip during some weekday and if possible avoid the second weekend of the month.

An old lady standing in front of me in the Queue said it will be heavily crowded during the second weekend .

2. If you are from Chennai, check if the dharshan token can be obtained in Chennai. Token counters in Tirupathi are crowded even during the midnight.

3. Book your rooms at the Tirupathi Town. The rooms at the Tirumala are expensive and is always booked. We had to search nearly 1+ hr for a room. Finally we managed to get only a bathroom to get refreshed for Rs. 50.00 each.

4. Leave your Foot-wear, Mobile Phones, bags, etc. in the room. Standing in Queue to worship God can be taken as blessing, for the token is also fine, but waiting in a queue for leaving the foot-wear is horrible.

5. On my personal view, most of the North Indians coming Tirupathi are less adjustable/ controllable/ ... They always wait for any small opportunity to break the queues, push others, shout at the bottom of their voice and lot more...

6. Too much of crowd to be controlled. Still the Temple Administration team can organize the crowd in much better way. In halfway, there was a confusion between the free dharshan queue and the Rs 50.00 queue.

7. When moving in queues in a cell-like room, there is No Emergency Exit or any option for first aid.

8. In recent times, Laddoos in Tirupathi looks like Idlies, in shape and size.

9. After waiting for so many hours, when you get the Swami dharshan for few seconds, the man on your left will be stepping your feet, the man from back will be pushing you, the man in your right will be shouting Govinda Govinda, at the bottom of his voice, meanwhile the Devasthana people will be pushing outside.

10. Just when moving out of the temple, the Lord Ganesh near the Tambaram Railway station flashed in mind saying :

"My dear Little Boy..... When you were searching for a work, you would come to my temple atleast once in a week, Now you are placed, and acting to be busy always, don't come even once in a year!!! My uncle Vishnu should have taught you a lesson Now.. [:-)] "

Image from : www.namasthekerala.com

Alae.. Alae.. Alae.. Alae..

Few months back, when I had nothing to do, posted a blog on Debugging. Few of my friends said it was interesting - not to mention they all have a good sense of humor.

Today, Brian Whaley, a blogger from US, says the afore mentioned post in one of the great articles on the Methodology of Debugging!!!! (Link to his post HERE)

Alae.. Alae.. Alae.. Alae..