This week

Ohh what a week! And 2 more days in it to go!

Monday started off as normal - a power struggle with the alarm clock, trouble getting up, quick shave and shower, breakfast in the office, and then the daily rituals of checking emails, replying to the more favorable ones, checking schedule for the day, etc. etc. Most of Monday went by as does every Monday, uneventful, and loaded with code.

Tuesday morning started off just exactly like Monday. But then, it was a roller coaster ride! My boss, the VP of the company and a couple of directors came over from Austin for the career fair in the university on Tuesday. We spent half the morning deciding plans of action, or plan of actions, whichever is appropriate. At about 11, we set off for the fair, set up the booth, laid out leaflets, pamphlets, and other paraphernalia. The university gave us coupons for lunch - which we ran to redeem coz lunch time was almost over. After a good chk bbq sw from the local eatery, we were all set for the onslaught of students. Ohh it was fun! Till now, I had been the one running around in the career fair talking to potential employers.. And lo, here, I was standing at a booth, talking to potential employees! I enjoyed my time there! Signed up a couple of people for interviews. It was a really different and enjoyable experience, and I'm glad I got to do it.

After about 3.5 hours, my shift was over, and I headed back to the office to resume my coding. A couple of hours later, we had a presentation and pizza party in my department building. So, off we went! That was an event in itself! We ordered 14 pizzas, 10 servings of salad and pasta! I got to talk to students in the presentation, and talk about my experience of working for my company so far, followed by answering sincere questions of eager students.. That went on till about 8 in the evening. Finally, after all of this we all headed home, each with a box of their favorite pizza left over from the party, the day was finally over!

Wednesday - today - started as usual, no changes there. The usual staring-at-code went on till about 11:45, after which I headed to the career center - which I usually head to only at the time of an interview. This time too, I was headed there for an interview, but I was calm, and not dressed in a suit - predominantly because I wasnt the one who was being interviewed; I was one of those who sit at an interview table, and TAKE an interview! Yep, I did 3 interviews today! It was soo different! I really enjoyed the experience. I'm starting to understand how it is so very important to be cool at an interview - and most of all - stand by what you think - its not as important to have all the answers as is having a cool and confident disposition while answering what you think, or what you dont think. Then it was back to the office for some more code, followed by a sumptous dinner. Over dinner, our boss told us that a professor from the CSE department wants to meet and talk about research opportunities with the company.. So, tomorrow, there are 4 interviews at the career center, followed by an additional interview with a highly potential candidate, followed by a meeting with the professor over lunch to discuss what he has on his mind. And ofcourse, coding will be omnipresent through all of this.

Ahh what a week!

Labor Day Weekend

Long weekend.. a wonderful time for a trip! So, I did decide to do a trip of my own, as opposed to peacefully resting at home, watching TV, sipping some juice, and taking some well needed rest.. Anyways, here I was, scrambling to finish the module before "COB" (Close of Business). I had multitasked to the max extent on Friday. Office issues, programming issues, rental car issues, cable-internet issues, etc. But I bravely trudged through, fortunately remembering all the little errands that I needed to get done before I left town for the weekend (though I did forget to do one little task, however, I requested a friend to do it for me, and he graciously did it.)

I left office at 5, rushed home to fill a bag with a couple of clothes. And post-errand-completion, I was on the highway headed towards Little Rock, AR. A "quick" 4.5 hour drive got me into AR, where I stopped over at a friend's place. This morning, which now feels like it was the morning of the day before yesterday, we left for Dallas. 5 more hours of gruelling highway, and we were into Dallas.. Then an hour spent picking up other friends, and driving to the rendezvous point where all of us met, finally! Then we had a blast! Had a snack, watched "Snakes on a Plane".. Pretty entertaining, I should say - a little comedy, lotsa horror and thrills, some total non-sensical moments.. Dont watch it if you are scared of snakes, or have just eaten a full stomach of food.. After the fangs, and bites, and poison, we were ready for some dinner. So, off we raced across town to a desi restaurant. We were in 3 cars, and one of the newbie-in-Dallas cars got lost.. So, we spent a good half hour phone-navigating them to the restaurant. We were concerned that we were getting so late that the restaurant would close. Then we'd probably have eaten up the newbie-in-Dallas car people; wouldnt have been good for them. A very sumptuous dinner, followed by plans for the next day, scrapped plans for the next day, and re-plans for the next day. This was followed by more driving.

Finally, at about 12ish we were at my friend's place. But the day didnt end there; we went out to satisfy an icecream/doughnut craving. Unfortunately, Krispie Kremes had decided to shut down for the night.. McDonalds welcomed us with open arms, and I must say, the 69c soft-serve was surprisingly good. The day at last wound to an end.

The next day begun with pictures of University of Texas at Arlingtonpuram. Took my friend who just came there around for some snaps of the university. The day was nice, not very sunny, somewhat overcast, the temperature was just right for a trip to Six Flags! (which was our original plan, but was ditched coz of exhaustion.) So, thats exactly what we did.. About an hour and a half more of driving, picking up people, and we were in Six Flags! An afternoon was well spent enjoying the rides (for the third time now!) We left at about 8:30.. The day didnt end though.. This was followed by dinner, and then a game of Monopoly which went on for about 3 hours.. I lost miserably. One wrong purchase, and my game went downhill all the way! It was easier to stay in "jail" and not land on other people's property and end up paying them! Abhijit had a good run, but that didnt last long either! Deepa emerged the winner by a huge margin. Finally, it was time to sleep.

The next morning, we went to Ikea, and got some furniture for my apartment.. Its still in boxes though; I have to find time to hack it all up still. After a goodbye coffee and some well-needed food, I headed back to Little Rock.. 5 hours later, and at the end of a very long day, we were in Little Rock. Some sleep, and then back to driving back to Starkville. 5 more hours in the wee hours of the morning. I was in office at 12, not that I was very productive the remaining part of the day. Came home, slept slept slept slept.

These past two weeks were indeed a roller-coaster. I havent had time to sit and relax at all, which I am doing right now, and I'm really enjoying it! Its soo much nicer to just sit at home and do nothing! I think I have had enough of vacationing and driving that should last me for the next couplea of months. I did a total of 1650 miles in 4 days over this trip to Dallas. Whew! Ahhh.. home sweet home.