a byte of me

Considering the events and gas prices of last year, does it come as any surprize that Exxon Mobil posted a profit of 36 billion US Dollars in 2005 - the largest ever for any US company ever in history! Just by the virtue of being in the business of oil, these companies control the US economy quite a bit. (For instance, many strategists fear the risks to the American economy because the Venezuelan government owns Chevron). And now, these companies, like Exxon, are making tons of money and have the financial muscle to wriggle their way through with their own agenda.

I feel that 2006 will be no different. Exxon will probably end up making more profit again this year. Gas had gotten cheaper just before Christmas '05 (in the high $1.90s) and is rising back up again (its in the 2.20s in Utah these days). I personally am glad my fuel usage has gone down after moving to Utah (where we have a great public transport system in Salt Lake City at least) from Ohio (where you practically have to drive to get anywhere). And I am more so also because I drive a fuel efficient vehicle which usually nets me 4o/30 mpg in highway/city driving usually. However, it really is time to consider alternative fuels and fuel efficient vehicles as a nation.I hope we make more advances in research soon. And I personally hope that SUV and truck usage and sales go down! (Sorry GM). I personally cant wait until I make more money so I can buy a Prius or some other hybrid. That dream is still 5 or 6 years away. Who knows what technology we will have by then ;).

Its very rare that one comes across good customer service. And even rarer to come across it consistently. And hence I believe it deserves a blog post of its own. Most of my experiences calling customer service numbers of big companies have ranged from being "okay, but nothing great" to "exceptionally horrible". (Here, I feel obligated to mention that I consider Sprint Wireless's customer service to be worse than exceptionally horrible).

However over the past few days I have had the best customer service experience of my life. I am still a 5/3 bank customer. 5/3 bank is primarily a Mid-west bank (probably just Ohio). I have a few accounts with them, including a loan and I havent bothered to move those to a local bank after I moved to Utah (because I just didnt wanna go through the hassle, really). Actually, on a side note, I must mention that once I looked up their bank location locator service on 5/3 website to see if any locations existed in Utah. The search returned with the message "No location found in a 1000 miles". Ha ha! Its too cool!

But, coming back to the main point, I have had some things to take care of and over the last 5 days or so I have had to call in three or four times to their customer service. And every single time I had an amazing experience. Firstly, I was connected to a real live speaking person within a minute of calling. I never had to hold longer. Secondly, the customer service didnt keep redirecting me to diffferent departments - a single person took care of multiple things that belonged to different departments herself. Other companies would have redirected me to the departments (and there would have been a few dropped calls during redirection etc.... who knows). But this was cool. And every single time I interacted with someone, they exactly understood what I wanted and took care of it within minutes. Today, I called in with two or three different things, that were really complicated too (I cant reveal much details, although I wish I could, but I'd rather keep my financial information to myself) - and the whole process was over in less than 10 minutes! I kept looking at my cell phone in disbelief that it was showing the total call time as 8 mins 34 seconds. If it were Dell or Sprint or something, I'd still be holding on the phone, waiting to speak to someone! This is amazing! I think, maybe, I should write to them and appreciate their efforts.

After starting to read Our Man in Hanoi's blog, I have sort of cultivated an interest in reading about work done by Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), especially in Vietnam. These days I only really only check NGO blogs in Vietnam, but thats because I don't yet know any interesting blogs by other NGOs in India or anywhere else.

But I recently came across a new blog run by Blue Dragon - I think its an Australian NGO in Hanoi that helps street children and provides them with support - especially saving from them getting exploited by unscrupulous people. They do a great job. The blog does make for a very interesting read. Check it out.

You must have heard the phrase that life is a kaleidoscope many a times. At least I have. And we take it as granted everytime we hear it. Never really thinking deep into what it means really? I have been reading a book and for some reason, this phrase just put me into deep thought like never before. And truly, the deeper you think, the more you realize what a genius the person who coined the phrase would have been.

On the very surface level, you can think about how a kaleidoscope has so many different colors. So many different pieces. These pieces represent the pieces of our life. Our work, our family, our friends and so on. The colors are there for the different roles each play in our life. But on a deeper level, have u ever thought that when we see a pattern, it represents our life at that point in time. Its a unique image. Once you turn the kaleidoscope, things change and you get a new pattern. i.e. For every small change, your life changes and your life is the same no more. Its a new pattern in and of itself.

But have you also ever wondered about the fact that when you turn the kaleidoscope slightly, shards of glass fall into chaos before forming a new pattern. When something in our life changes, we all go through the same chaos for the time being. For that period of time it seems like all hell has broken loose and nothing can change anymore. But its only for so long, before a new pattern emerges and the chaos disappears. Slowly you start to recognize the new beauty in the pattern. Slowly you get adjusted to the new life.

And have you ever wondered that everything that happens - in the kaleidoscope or in life - is in your hands. Even a little thing, like turning the kaleidoscope ever so slightly, can suddenly change everything. How your life proceeds ahead is completely in your hands. Things like treating work seriously, being nice to people are all things in our control. If we let loose on any of these, life can change drastically.

And just when you are about to think I better not do anything wrong with my life or else things will change, hits you the realization that if you keep staring at the same pattern, the kaleidoscope gets boring. In fact a kaleidoscope that couldnt be turned wouldnt be much fun, now would it? Isnt it same with life? We all need a change from time to time. Just when we want to change is in our hands, but the just like the kaleidoscope, we have no control over what will change and what the new pattern will look like! We should always remember though, that life, like kaleidoscope is always beautiful; no matter what pattern is formed. Have you ever realized that you have never disliked a new pattern. At least I haven't. Isnt the same true with life?

Life is like a kaleidoscope. In so many ways.

So, I just read that Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU - pronounced as Oh-Woo), my alma mater, got a new welcome sign board. The Sandusky Street and Jaywalk intersection is one of the most prominent places on campus, where every visitor to Delaware at least passes by while driving on Sandusky Street and almost all students pass by this area everyday to classes and back. Having lived there for four years, I can still imagine the whole campus if I close my eyes. And I really enjoyed my time there and I really like the campus. I think its really pretty.

Recently OWU has gone through a lot of changes and I like most of them. Like the new steps to go down to Hayes from Welch residence halls (instead of the slippery, icy path). Like the new welcome center across from the Edwards Gym and its parking lot. But today I was just reading news from OWU and saw picture of a new welcome sign board it got and honestly, my first reaction was very disappointed. I think it looks ghastly. I know the old sign that was there was not great, but I think it at least looked better. No, make that - the old sign was awesome! They had gotten quite a few things right, the first time, which they just screwed up. This new sign has no majestic quality to it. Just see what I mean!


This is a picture of the old sign, taken when I graduated in summer '05. It looks green. Its pretty. I dont like the shiny tiles, but it at least says Ohio Wesleyan University properly.


This is a picture of the new sign, that was just recently constructed. Firstly, I think the pillars are too big and the words .OHIO.WESLEYAN. take a few minutes to digest (even for me, forget a visitor) and understand what really is written there. The sign should have been bigger, and there should have been more space between the words "Ohio" and "Wesleyan". (maybe I should become a branding consultant in life)!

Now, I agree that the new sign is placed much higher than before and is better visible to motorists who drive on Sandusky Street, rather than being half-hidden by grass. Also, the sign is much more consistent with the Ohio Wesleyan branding image and logo (which it probably adopted after the old sign was constructed), but still, it does nto have the same effect on people. I bet most people would just take it for granted. Everybody noticed the old one. Also, notice that the placement has changed... and it is really weird. It somehow is made to face its back to students who walk on Jaywalk everyday and the sign now faces the North Sandusky side more prominently. Whereas, the old sign, faced the Jaywalk as well as the students walking on the Jaywalk towards the academic side as well as both the North and the South Sandusky directions. It was perfect. The new one, its more business-like. As if the visitors and the perpectives are more important the students who actually go there. Plus the pillars look too big for the sign board. Its almost like having two large wrestlers carrying a little thing! Unh Unh! Not fun!

Oh well, I aint there anymore. So maybe it shouldn't matter. Or maybe it does! You know, only if such things matter to me, only if I feel strongly about my old school, my alma mater, will I still bewant to give money, and make an affordable education possible for other students like us. So maybe its a good thing that I still have such strong opinions about OWU!

Tagged: Ohio Wesleyan University, OWU, Delaware, OH

I was going through my old files and binders and I came across the one I had used for my spring break trip to the Lakota Nation a few years ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in the back cover insert, there was still a page that I had read a few years ago, that held the four virtues of the Lakota people, sacredly imbibed into their Medicine Wheel.

Within the medicine wheel, the sacred hoop of the Lakota people, are four virtues:

WOOHITIKA
Bravery: doing the difficult things instead of running away.

WAKSAPE
Wisdom: the idea that learning is a lifelong process

WOWACINTANKA
Perseverence: the fortitude to keep trying

WACANTOGNAKA
Generosity: sharing of oneself with empathy and compassion

I do believe that these four virtues are not only necessary but also sufficient for one to live a happy and fulfilling life. All we need is faith in ourselves and in Lakota wisdom.

Tagged: Lakota, Wisdom

Maan! Hanoi is pretty! All I gotta do to start missing it again is just look at its pictures again! Thats it. And it brings back all the memories of my time there, the people, the team and the experience we had! The fun, the difficult moments working with children with AO. All of it. And yet it is such a mesmerizing memory because almost everyone we met, AO victim or not, had the most amazing smile ever. It is aptly reflected in the pictures taken by OMIH that I came across tonight!

Maan, what is it with the people there? How do they get it? Their attitude, their smiles are so addicting. So charming. How do people manage to be so happy. To be more specific, even the most poor, old women who would weave things by the side of the road and sell them for really cheap seemed to be perfectly happy with their life. It was as if they had nothing to complain about. (And contrast that to the lives we live ourselves in the developed world!)

Thats the charm Viet Nam has for me. I believe that a place is defined not by how developed it is or how many sky scrapers it has, but by the people that live there. The locals. And hence I am in love with Hanoi. From almost everywhere I have travelled, Hanoi has been the only large city where I have seen such happy and beautiful people. I spent an hour looking through these pictures and missing hanoi!

Hanoi oi, the nao roi? Toi yeo hanoi!
(It means, Hey Hanoi, whats up? I love you, Hanoi)

Tagged: Hanoi, Vietnam