F: Can't buy a house even after 10 years of working.
C: Although there are a number of small reasons, the biggest and most important reason is that I did not negotiate my salary either at Nokia or at NetApp. At present, I could easily have saved $50K more.
A: Scrambling for a small house.
F: No GC after 10 8 years in the US.
C: Did not push for GC early at Nokia. At NetApp I have done better and atleast have my EAD.
A: Can't switch careers, only jobs.
F: Do not feel "important".
C: Did not plan my career smartly. Doing what most others are doing.
A: Low self-respect because for me self-respect comes from position.
Current plan:
May: Decision on MBA & promotion.
If not promoted, start planning for job change.
Sign up for course at Stanford.
[Wasted change in 2007 to take a few courses]
Nov: Start looking for startups to join. Time for some risk taking.
Get solid experience from the iWARP project.
Join someplace where lateral growth is possible.
Jan: Switch job. Things to look for: salary, position, growth, industry.
Might get delayed if the economy is really bad.
Make sure that GC is not affected. Need to make contacts.
Feb: Apply again for MBA.
Other things:
1. Keep looking for a house.
2. Keep building my network.
3. Increase industry awareness.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Looking Back
The past 2 weeks have been very eventful. My manager left the company and since then I get the feeling that the group is slowly disintegrating. I expect that John will announce on Monday that he is leaving. The news that Tom, from PTC, is leaving really shook me to the core. These are some of the things that are making me nervous.
However, I think that I can turn this situation into an opportunity. I have been turning out some good work lately. The CIFS changes, that I managed almost on my own, the TOE driver changes and finally the lock optimization changes.
Amongst all this, and the fact that we are getting ready to welcome a new arrival, we have Siddharth to take care of, and that I really want to reduce weight this year, I am not able to pay proper attention to things.
At work, I need to focus on the following things:
1. iWARP work.
2. RC work.
3. TOE performance work.
Other than this, there would be the obvious bug, review and meeting workload.
At home, I have to focus on:
1. Moni - help her out as much as I can.
2. Ootu - spend time with him, play and help with his studies.
For myself, I want to focus just on reducing weight.
On March 14th I will find out if I am going to Berkeley for MBA. If that does not happen, then I really need to start pushing my career. I am getting a lot of inquiries from companies, but I want to wait till May to see if I get promoted. Meanwhile I have to deliver on the 3 projects that I have noted above so that I can move on as a senior engineer. However, if I do get into the MBA program, and do not get promoted this May, then I will stay here so that I can focus on my studies.
There are some tough times ahead. I need to keep my head clear and focused.
However, I think that I can turn this situation into an opportunity. I have been turning out some good work lately. The CIFS changes, that I managed almost on my own, the TOE driver changes and finally the lock optimization changes.
Amongst all this, and the fact that we are getting ready to welcome a new arrival, we have Siddharth to take care of, and that I really want to reduce weight this year, I am not able to pay proper attention to things.
At work, I need to focus on the following things:
1. iWARP work.
2. RC work.
3. TOE performance work.
Other than this, there would be the obvious bug, review and meeting workload.
At home, I have to focus on:
1. Moni - help her out as much as I can.
2. Ootu - spend time with him, play and help with his studies.
For myself, I want to focus just on reducing weight.
On March 14th I will find out if I am going to Berkeley for MBA. If that does not happen, then I really need to start pushing my career. I am getting a lot of inquiries from companies, but I want to wait till May to see if I get promoted. Meanwhile I have to deliver on the 3 projects that I have noted above so that I can move on as a senior engineer. However, if I do get into the MBA program, and do not get promoted this May, then I will stay here so that I can focus on my studies.
There are some tough times ahead. I need to keep my head clear and focused.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Update: Week 3
Weight: 191
BMI: 29.0
Number of gym sessions: 3 + 3 Tennis sessions
Number of miles run: 8
This was a good week. I am starting to get some good momentum. Next week I want to see myself at 190lbs. The key is the food. I have to control my diet. The tennis is definitely helping, and I have to continue to play at least 2 times a week. Next week I shall try to run 12miles. My goal is to be able to run 5 miles in 2 months time. For this I am working with the PodRunner Intervals program. Yesterday I ran for 3mi and it was not very tiring, although I ran very late, around 9:15pm. When I update this report next week, I hope to report my weight as 190lbs and a BMI below 29. I feel good.
BMI: 29.0
Number of gym sessions: 3 + 3 Tennis sessions
Number of miles run: 8
This was a good week. I am starting to get some good momentum. Next week I want to see myself at 190lbs. The key is the food. I have to control my diet. The tennis is definitely helping, and I have to continue to play at least 2 times a week. Next week I shall try to run 12miles. My goal is to be able to run 5 miles in 2 months time. For this I am working with the PodRunner Intervals program. Yesterday I ran for 3mi and it was not very tiring, although I ran very late, around 9:15pm. When I update this report next week, I hope to report my weight as 190lbs and a BMI below 29. I feel good.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Update: Week 2
Weight: 192
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 1
Number of miles run: 2
This week was really bad. I spent almost all my time searching for a home. It is a really good time to buy a house: the interest rates are so low and sellers are lowering prices, something that would have been hard to imagine a year back in the Bay Area.
However I think that we might not be ready to buy a house just yet. There are a number of reasons why. On Saturday we found out that we are expecting another child. It would be very stressful for Moni to commute from the new house to her college. Our current apartment is very conveniently located. Since it is close to work, I can always drive down and pick up Siddharth in case she is running late. The rent is not too high and we have plenty of space, although lately I have had the feeling that the walls are closing in.
Anyhow, now that I have sort of suspended the search for a house, I will get back to the gym and my weight loss campaign. The treadmill has arrived and I shall start using it this week. Also, I will visit the office gym this week.
My target weight for 02/11/2008 is 190lbs.
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 1
Number of miles run: 2
This week was really bad. I spent almost all my time searching for a home. It is a really good time to buy a house: the interest rates are so low and sellers are lowering prices, something that would have been hard to imagine a year back in the Bay Area.
However I think that we might not be ready to buy a house just yet. There are a number of reasons why. On Saturday we found out that we are expecting another child. It would be very stressful for Moni to commute from the new house to her college. Our current apartment is very conveniently located. Since it is close to work, I can always drive down and pick up Siddharth in case she is running late. The rent is not too high and we have plenty of space, although lately I have had the feeling that the walls are closing in.
Anyhow, now that I have sort of suspended the search for a house, I will get back to the gym and my weight loss campaign. The treadmill has arrived and I shall start using it this week. Also, I will visit the office gym this week.
My target weight for 02/11/2008 is 190lbs.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Book of the month: January - The Stranger
I finished reading The Stranger by Albert Camus yesterday. Since I had already read a lot of reviews about this book on Amazon, I decided to read both the introduction and the translator's note for this. And I am sure that reading these made a difference in my understanding of this book.
The story is very simple. Yet when you start thinking about it, it is very complex and upsetting. A young man named Meursault. Here is the main story, picked up from Wikipedia:
"At the start of the novel, Meursault attends his mother's funeral, where he does not express any usual emotions that such an event often induces. He is asked to see the body of his mother but refuses to do so. The novel goes on to document the next few days of his life through the first person point-of-view. He then befriends one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintès, whom Meursault aids in dismissing his Arab girlfriend because Raymond suspects her of infidelity. Later, Raymond and Meursault encounter her brothers on a beach. Raymond gets cut in a resulting knife fight. After retreating, Meursault returns to the beach and shoots one of them in response to the glare of the sun. Consequently, "The Arab" is killed. Meursault then fires four more times into the dead body.
At the trial, the prosecuting attorneys seem more interested in the inability or unwillingness of Meursault to cry at his mother's funeral than the murder of The Arab, because they don't believe him capable of remorse. The argument follows that if Meursault is incapable of remorse, he should be considered a dangerous misanthrope who should be executed in order to set an example for others who consider murder."
As I read this book I became more and more troubled by Meursault's personality. He seems to belong to a world where satisfying immediate physical needs is all that matters. He is emotionally detached from everything else and is able to "reason" and explain his detachment. Throughout this book Camus uses the phrase: "It doesn't really matter."
What disturbed me most about this book was the fact that I could see shades of myself in Meursault's character. Often I am doing things, knowing well that I am doing the wrong thing, but I do not stop myself. It is like "It doesn't really matter." Often I have done things just to risk the backlash, which brings some excitement to my life. This thought is disturbing in itself. But I think its not as bad as it seems. For someone with a simple life as mine, an occasional risk seems to indicate a very mundane and lifeless existence. However I am sure that people who live a more active life in fact take more of such risks because they are hooked on to it.
Anyway, I saw in Meursault shades of many people I know. But his emotional emptiness disturbed me. From the beginning he seemed to be an accident about to happen. And the worst does happen. For Meursault, dying now or twenty years from now is the same thing. Not for me. I feel that it makes sense to be prudent.
This was a very good to have read. I am picking up Jack Kerouak's On the Road next.
The story is very simple. Yet when you start thinking about it, it is very complex and upsetting. A young man named Meursault. Here is the main story, picked up from Wikipedia:
"At the start of the novel, Meursault attends his mother's funeral, where he does not express any usual emotions that such an event often induces. He is asked to see the body of his mother but refuses to do so. The novel goes on to document the next few days of his life through the first person point-of-view. He then befriends one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintès, whom Meursault aids in dismissing his Arab girlfriend because Raymond suspects her of infidelity. Later, Raymond and Meursault encounter her brothers on a beach. Raymond gets cut in a resulting knife fight. After retreating, Meursault returns to the beach and shoots one of them in response to the glare of the sun. Consequently, "The Arab" is killed. Meursault then fires four more times into the dead body.
At the trial, the prosecuting attorneys seem more interested in the inability or unwillingness of Meursault to cry at his mother's funeral than the murder of The Arab, because they don't believe him capable of remorse. The argument follows that if Meursault is incapable of remorse, he should be considered a dangerous misanthrope who should be executed in order to set an example for others who consider murder."
As I read this book I became more and more troubled by Meursault's personality. He seems to belong to a world where satisfying immediate physical needs is all that matters. He is emotionally detached from everything else and is able to "reason" and explain his detachment. Throughout this book Camus uses the phrase: "It doesn't really matter."
What disturbed me most about this book was the fact that I could see shades of myself in Meursault's character. Often I am doing things, knowing well that I am doing the wrong thing, but I do not stop myself. It is like "It doesn't really matter." Often I have done things just to risk the backlash, which brings some excitement to my life. This thought is disturbing in itself. But I think its not as bad as it seems. For someone with a simple life as mine, an occasional risk seems to indicate a very mundane and lifeless existence. However I am sure that people who live a more active life in fact take more of such risks because they are hooked on to it.
Anyway, I saw in Meursault shades of many people I know. But his emotional emptiness disturbed me. From the beginning he seemed to be an accident about to happen. And the worst does happen. For Meursault, dying now or twenty years from now is the same thing. Not for me. I feel that it makes sense to be prudent.
This was a very good to have read. I am picking up Jack Kerouak's On the Road next.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Update: Week 1
Weight: 192lbs
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 4
Number of miles run: 8
I haven't received the treadmill yet. However I am doing a lot of things to make this happen.
1. Very carefully watching my calorie intake.
2. Weight training in the gym.
3. Healthy food options like brown rice, yogurt and fruits.
4. No food after 8pm in the night.
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 4
Number of miles run: 8
I haven't received the treadmill yet. However I am doing a lot of things to make this happen.
1. Very carefully watching my calorie intake.
2. Weight training in the gym.
3. Healthy food options like brown rice, yogurt and fruits.
4. No food after 8pm in the night.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
My quest
Today I ordered the Sole F85 treadmill. I had to take this step. With my life and routine, it is very hard for me to find the time to go to the gym for a run. The effort required to manage the gym bag is an extra hindrance. Now I will have this machine in my house. And I promise myself that I will not let it go waste.
Right now with my height of 5'8" and a weight of 195lb my BMI is 29.64, which is bordering on obesity. My goal by the end of the year is to get my weight to 175lb. This will give me a BMI of 26.6. I will still be in the overweight category but much better than what I am now.
Next year I will run a full marathon. By the time I run the marathon I will be 165lb, which is a BMI of 25.08, a tad above the 18.5 - 24.9 range recommended for my height.
I will start with a routine of 30 minute runs and try to do 2 - 2.5 miles for the first month. I will run everyday. Once I register a weight of less than 190lb at home I will move to 3 mile runs. Also I will go to the gym 2-3 times a week for weight training.
I cannot fail. I will not fail.
Right now with my height of 5'8" and a weight of 195lb my BMI is 29.64, which is bordering on obesity. My goal by the end of the year is to get my weight to 175lb. This will give me a BMI of 26.6. I will still be in the overweight category but much better than what I am now.
Next year I will run a full marathon. By the time I run the marathon I will be 165lb, which is a BMI of 25.08, a tad above the 18.5 - 24.9 range recommended for my height.
I will start with a routine of 30 minute runs and try to do 2 - 2.5 miles for the first month. I will run everyday. Once I register a weight of less than 190lb at home I will move to 3 mile runs. Also I will go to the gym 2-3 times a week for weight training.
I cannot fail. I will not fail.
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