Writer's Block

Want to word my thoughts,

How should the drive be brought,

Fingers have the force,

Cannot my mind coerce,

Is it, just the time of the day,

Or, my newness to the bay.

Maybe a literary style,

That I always kept away a mile,

Will act as a lucky charm,

To fill the writers chasm,

So, should I stick to prose,

Or somehow bloom this rose...

My first poem -> Dedicated to Dona Ines...

Targets for H1'09...

I have drawn up my targets for the first half of 2009, I have only four moths to achieve then, considering the fact that we are two months in to the year...

1. 1 chess tournament...
2. 1 one week holiday...
3. 1 new language...
4. Read at least 12 books...
5. 1 half marathon...
6. Blog more frequently...
7. Build 2X corpus...
8. 1 teaching workout...
9. Bullet Proof Manager, closure...
10. Visit Shiridi...
    

Unlike the last time around, this time I intend to post monthly status checks, in order to be able to course correct better...

Signing off...

Need advice - 1

At 12:34PM on 29th May, 2008 I spoke with M for the first time. She came across as a charming lady with a streak of naivete. My equation with her started on a smooth note and only improved with the passage of time. Like I did for most of her teammates, I meant good for her and tried motivating her at every possible opportunity.

When she pinged me on the 10th of February asking me for a convenient time to talk, I was not exactly sure what the scene was. Truth be told, I knew that his day would come, circumstances are something that I was not sure about.

I flashed my chivalrous side and expressed my willingness to reschedule my calendar to suit her...

I suggested Barista as a possible venue (my love for espresso has been well documented), which she also felt was an appropriate backdrop for the task on hand. So we descended upon the place with different modes of mind, calm and chaotic, mine and hers respectively.

I made some small talk, mainly to put her at ease. Then I made some more small talk, to help her compose her thoughts. You know what, I made some more small talk and realized that it was not helping the cause and got lost in my thoughts. Thankfully my americano arrived and so did her sizzling brownie.

She was a visual person, seeing the hissy bubbles of chocolate coming in contact with the vanilla scoop opened her perception and she erupted, well almost literally. She spoke for a good half hour, I did not do much to guide or direct the conversation and sailed with the flow. She was neither cohercive nor logical, two of the many aspects that I intended to address in a while...

She had issues but that was not the problem, the problem was her lack of clarity about the issues...

I might not be happy with my life but unless I know the exact reason for my unhappiness I can get no where and wore still, if I get the reason wrong and work towards setting it right, I will do more harm...

Her clarity or the lack or thereof and her make belief crystal castle will stand out in the following converstion exert:
M: I do not want to get married till I fulfill all my ambitions!!!
Me (picking up my red pen): So what are your ambitions?
M: 1) I want to learn all the dance forms in the world...
2) I want to paint all the emotions in the world...
3) I want to earn professional respect...
4) I want to be eternally independent...
Me: Wow...
M: I know I will never get them and I am not even making an effort in the direction so...
Me: Oh ok...

M has never been on a date, the person she names as a possible partner is her high school class mate...

She sure has issues...

Tried to clear her thoughts a bit and give her some techniques to work with...

Updations will be posted.

My first mini Marathon...

Tomorrow will be my first competitive step towards participating in a full marathon...

I will be running in the annual city 10k run...

Intend to do it under 60mins...

Signing off...

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Update

I did fine...

Notwithstanding nerves and tactical goofups, I reached the finish line in 1:08:15...

Could have easily shaved off atleast 15minutes, had it not been for my tactical oversight...

Lessons for future:
1) Stay as close to the start line as possible, not only will it give a head start but it will also help you avoid the path blocking runners...
2) Be clear about the rules, discuss beforehand with the organizers...

Signing off...

Three incidents...

The top right hand side of my mobile read 10:25, which meant I just about had enough time to reach my desk, regroup and head for the conference room...

'Excuse me, your id please', I hear a voice. I cursed Murphy under my breath and turn around to face the speaker. It was the new security personal. I flash a charming grin and lie that the card is at my desk and escape. 'Never take short-cuts', is what my Dona Ines always says, but old habits you see.

I do not even archive this incident and went ahead with my work-day. In was on my way to another department and behold I notice a lady checking-me-out, not that I am averse to attention but what got me thinking was that she had broken a few unwritten ogling commandments . To quote a few, thou shall the act to a few seconds at a time, thou shall hold thyself back if thy object of desire is breaking the eye contact (unless you are drunk, drinkers have different rules, remember), make a pass or pass the chance - do not maintain the status-quo.

After a discussion that lasted a good three hours I get back to my desk and realize that someones presence. I throw a blank stare at her and she responds with a 'caught-you' smile and demands that I show her my identity card. Oh, it was the security lady. 'I am social' would be like saying 'Fish can swim', it is my second nature, however timelines or the lack of the same decided the couse I took. I confessd that I did not have my card. She pulled out a pen and wanted my 'number', I spell out my employee-id. She mobile to number, 'why?', I inquired innocenly. 'New policy', was all that she said. Once done, she takes down my name and walked off.

The project was taking its toll on me and it had been a good 72hrs since I smelt the proverbial roses. I rush in to another status check meeting and participate in a focus-group and shoot a dozen replys. I pull my mobile out to check waht the top right hand side corner has to say and I notice 8 missed calls, so I called back.

'Hello', I start off...
The line is blank...
'Hellloou', I go again...
'Who is this', a flat tone enquires...
'Archit, I recived missed calls from this number', I get to the point...
The call is cut and I am in no mood to call back...

My mobile runs out of charge and I have no patience to use my office charger, so I let it be...

I reach home late and just as I put the phone to charge, it starts ringing...

I answer reluctently...

'Your smile is fine', and the line goes blank...

That is when I experience a eureka moment, the security lady and the ogling lady and the caller were the same person, she changed her dress thrice in order to pull it off...

What am I going to do next, I have no idea...

Signing off...

My Marathon Memoirs...

Post a body numbing work-out, I began to wonder why I became so irregular the last couple of months after almost an year of consistency. I could not come up with a plausible answer. The dopamine rush after after a hard run is better than a spirit-high.

I have decided to train for a full marathon, 42kms of endurance test. My target is to ready up for one in an year, 365 days. I can do 10kms in a little over an hour but after that my output takes a drastic hit. That was on the endurance front but on the speed front I can do 5kms is under 30mins, never stretched myself further.

Given the speed, endurance and required numbers, it is a tall order. I have to cut my liquor intake to a bare minimum and hog on protein and stay away from white carbs. All this calls for detailed planning and meticulous execution.

I intent to use twitter to post my marathon updates on a daily basis and write a detailed weekly post stating the progress.

Signing off...

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1st of November, 2008

It may not been my most productive work-out week however I am fairly satisfied with the output, considering my hectic work schedule and under-par biorhythms...

I gave the whole idea a good amount of thought and came up with a training plan, milestones and targets - in the reverse order actually. I took a top-down approach where in the first the targets were decided upon, which were then broken down in to milestones and a plan to achieve the same was thought-off...

The target, to do my first 'full marathon' in under 3hrs. 42.5kms in under 3hrs sure seems herculean. The same translates to roughly 14kms per 1hr, now this breakup was unnerving as my personal best both in distance and time terms till then was 10kms in 85mins (on a treadmill). Given the two premises I had to work both on speed and endurance, I 'hit the wall' (a running phrase meaning 'near burn-out') after my previous best, but them again that was a good year and a half ago and after that I have only gotten in to better shape.

Given the fact that I had to work both on speed and stamina, I came up with a strategy which sufficiently addresses the two.

1. The idea was to keep the time constant and increase the speed everyday by .1km/hr on the treadmill and
   
2. To hit the road on at least one day of the week where it would be more about the distance covered rather than the time taken...
   

The first step would help me shave the seconds off and the second actually had two benefits, on one hand it would help me check my performance graph across the distance and secondly it would clear the webs covering my psyche about how far I can push myself. I realized that running a marathon is as much if not more related to the mind as it is to the body...

Now I can average 10.1km/hr for 30mins...

I did 10.4kms (quarter marathon) in 72mins, considerably away from my target but way ahead of my previous best. The best thing being my previous best was a flat machine and my current best is on a hard road with slopes and inclines, if that was the icing the cherry is the fact that far from 'hitting the wall' I felt I easily had another 3 or 4kms in me...

On the input front, I have totally cut down on liquor and increased carb and protein intake.

Signing off...

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22nd of June

Well did little of what all I wanted to do, owing to multiple reasons...

• Work pressure
  
• Accident recovery
  
• Locational change

Will get back to achieving it...

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Ten tips to improve your bargaining skills...

1) Value versus want: Most bargain to get a good deal but some do for the sheer pleasure of doing it, be sure which category you fall in to. If you are at it to hone your skills or feel good about you skills then the product/service seizes to have any significance, on the other hand if you are looking for a deal then the act is not as important as the output. This tip might sound elementary but is profound.
Approach: Ask yourself how badly do you want the product, if the answer is 'very' then you are in the first category. If you do not need the product but are willing to buy if it comes if the intangible pleasure of victory then you fall in the second category.

2) Never drop an anchor: 'Anchor' is the base price that you are willing to pay. It is a factor of the quoted price, your perceived worth of the entity for sale and the urgency of your need. 'Dropping an anchor' is to let the seller how much you are wiling to pay in the least. By doing so you are handing the advantage to the seller.
Approach: Talk the seller in to slashing the price as much as possible, this will give you an indication of his intentions and also a lot of room to play around with.

3) Juggle expressions and emotions: People react differently to the same stimuli, so using different emotions is a very useful tool in making the seller react in a manner favorable to you. Some people react to emotion and logic while others are immune to pain, so to each his own.
Approach: Interact with the seller for a while and try to size the person's psyche, having done so attack the most vulnerable dimension. I used to buy paper backs from a person who could be convinced not by logic or reason but by ordering

4) Know when to walk away: Nobody can have a 100% strike rate, everyone has off days. If you feel the actual price is not in line with the perceived value do not let your emotion rule you, walk away.

Approach: When nothing seems to work, politely reject the offer and walk away. This will establish your character.

5) Nothing personal, purely business: At the end of it all all that you and the seller are looking for is a good deal, you want more bang for your buck and the seller wants a profit and a satisfied customer (ideal scenario). It is a purely a business transaction for both of you. One can never be too careful in their choice of enemies - Oscar Wilde.
Approach: Refrain from making scathing remarks or getting personal.

6) Introduce variables: Avoid speaking about the price in isolation, always refer to the price in association with variables. The variable need not necessary be intelligent or appropriate, they could actually have nothing to do with the item on sale but trigger the sellers right brain.
It always helps if your associations can target multiple senses, vision, auditory and kinesthetic (inspired by Unlimited Power).
Approach: Use the physical attributes of the product like the color or the texture and map it to the sellers carpet or the table wood, if you see where I an coming from there might be no correlation or causality but this will distract the seller.


7) Connect at one level at least: We generally buy from a person or a group of people, by implication one or more flesh and blood beings. Hence connecting with the seller gives us a huge leverage, the connection could be at either an emotional or psychological or spiritual level...
Approach: If there is something between the seller and you, get it to his notice. If you are feeling creative use tip number 2).

8) Bundling favors the seller: Bundling is putting more than one offering together and quoting a common price for the tied up entities. It might be counter intuitive but bundling goes against the buyers interests, I will not go in to the maths of it but it is true.
Approach: Arrive at individual prices and work towards reducing the overall price, then you gain at both ends.

9) Patience pays: Bargaining like all arts calls for patience. One needs to approach it like an artist treats her art.
Approach: Understand the dynamics and deploy the most tip or set of tips most likely to succeed.

10) Transactional or relational: Transactions are one off and relations are long standing. A transaction can lead to a relation. The way you transact once you are in a relation is different from how you would if you were not. The relation need not necessarily be with the seller but
with the establishment.