Summer is Over

Can't believe that summer is over and haven't done much. Arrival of summer makes me both excited and gloomy.

During school days, I used to remain eager for summer when I could stay at home and read variety of novels and comics. Summer was also the time when I would buy books for the next class and go through those by myself. Summer vacation would also spare mom from getting up early in the morning to prepare us for school. I used to like summer for it was season of different fruits -- mango, jackfruit, leechis. It was an occasion for me to visit grandparents, uncles and aunts.

Summer now means differently. Summer means no more classes, and teaching, its time for only research. Summer means less and light clothes. It means no more buzz of teen aged pretty girls in the campus, although I have never been in my university campus during any summer. Summer means opportunity to go to different research labs or companies and work full time like an employee. It also means planning new things and get charged for new academic calendar.

Snakes on a Plane

What does this title tell you about a movie ? Well, it tells you exactly what to expect from the movie. I haven't watched the movie, but I hear discussions about it everywhere these days. Supposedly this movie also hit the box office as #1 last weekend (??). So, what is the deal ? It seems a bunch of internet users got crazy over the title and hyped the movie. They even wanted it to be rated R. The title was supposed to something like Pacific Flight 121 but even Samuel Jackson preferred Snakes on a Plane. I guess, its a fun horror movie with Snakes terrorizing the passengers. There should be some high-mile-club steamy love making scenes. I would just love to hear Samuel Jackson yelling, "Waste those mother f***er Snakes". Kids of one of my colleagues were saying, "Is it for real ? What is the point of the movie ?" Should we consider such movie-makers to be creative, funny or dumbass ?

How to get back saved time ?

Sometimes I wonder how the Presidents, the PMs, CEO prioritize their time and activities. These days, I am under severe time crunch, I cannot account for the time I spent. I am having hard time finishing work by deadlines; multiple programmes demand my simultaneous attention. Earlier I used be satirical on busy people thinking - how come busy people have time to say they are busy.

Last night I was again sleeping on the common office-cum-lab couch, then woke up before the early-birds came in. It is convenient we have showers in the basement. All this was mainly to save travel time between apt and office. Hope such experiments will help me figure out which is the most productive strategy. To manage time, I did wierd things in life -- reading notes while I was taking shower (when I was applying soap on my body); I carried papers when I went to watch Kill Bill in theatre and baseball game in Fenway Stadium. Such wierdness cannot be justified since I know I wasted time equally crazily by watching movies back-to-back. The intention was always full utilization of time. I always wonder, what prevents me from thinking that tomorrow is a project deadline and then plan accordingly, or tomorrow is the last day of my life.

The motivation of the above question arose after I got in touch with one of the best students I have been ever known. She has been consistent since childhood in following her daily schedule. She goes to bed at 11pm and gets up at 4am and then does yoga, jogging and studies. No doubt she has always been topper in school and now in a university. Early birds really catch worms !

Incidentally I also worked with one of the researchers in a well-known company who had unusual schedule: He would come to office at 6am, and leave by 4pm. According to him, beginning work at early morning enables one to get more work done. He used to think printers, coffee machine and other accessories remain free early morning.

I feel I am a freak of biological evolution. Night makes me creative. No matter when I go to bed, I can never get up early. According to me, every shop, every market should be open 24 hrs. I have somehow made this habit of going to grocery at 12-1am when workers would shelve different articles. I feel irritated when I don't find cell phone customer service, etc after 7pm. I dislike it that the buses don't run all night (that's why I like Mumbai, Paris and New York train/subway systems). I tried being morning person too. It seems I am still trying hard to find the right way of scheduling things. Where do I lose the time that I save ?

Today's Fortune Cookie

Panda Express also serves a fortune cookie in lunch and today I received a cookie which had, "You will receive an importance advice from a child". So, only child I can consider was my sister with who I had a discussion today. She conjectured that people should not reveal everything in a relationship until they get married. One should supposedly get to know virtues of his or her spouse gradually and it can add excitement and charm to a married life. Hmm...didn't realize she had really grown up :)