  Ever since my last project concluded, on that fateful Friday eve, (wasn't that far back... I'm talkin about the Friday last) after that mammoth integration / wrapper creation session that lasted us twenty one consecutive hours, I have been asking myself, "What next ?".
The query has been hanging, much like time is, heavily over my head. "Fret not! ", says my boss, "for you shall find that your next assignment (which you shall, without a fragment of doubt attempt to complete in Bangalore) offers more challenges than the last one did!". The false sense of bonhomie is evident, and my boss makes no attempt to hide it. And how could he ? Oft, I have heard him speak about his failures as a dramatist ('Sire, I know now why...'). Digressing once more, I return to my griping; I don't like the way he describes my previous assignment.
I, for one, shall NOT call it "challenging". The "challenge" ended when I returned from California (*sigh*... a very audible one, at that). The final phase was truly painful. We learnt by experience; bad experiences taught us a lot. The problem with learning this way is that in the end, you start to wonder if the knowledge gained was worth it all. (Still get the creeps, when I think about the number of schedulers we wrote and discarded.). On a different note, the theft of my cellphone "SIM" card has left me worried, primarily, and fuming... Of course, I can blame none but myself for that.
I had, rather carelessly, left my drawer @ work unlocked. The observant chap who noticed that bit of carelessness ensured that I wouldn't repeat the same mistake by making me pay for it. I'm still awaiting my service provider's bill, and have steeled myself for the worst. It is truly an agonizing wait. Much has been said about changes. Human aversion to change is NOT hokum. It is evident in all of us. As one essay rightly pointed out, we are creatures of habit, and anything that might upset the routine is unacceptable. I was discussing this with a peabrained co-worker (my other colleagues have smaller brains than him). He crowed that change is acceptable, as long as it benefits the changee. "Ahem", I said, "How would you judge which change would be beneficial, and which one wouldn't ?". He mumbled an incoherent something in response to that, which I chose to ignore. That query is a puzzling one. Glib instances of 'beneficial change' do not reflect reality. Au contraire, no change can be judged beneficial, or not, unless the long term repercussions of it are not measured.
I have to think more about this, but I have a good enough start. I have been reading Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Ciphers, anagrams, symbolism... all right up my alley. No comments on the book, yet. Done with a mere one hundred sixty pages on the first read. Subsequent perusals will allow me to form an opinion. Check back after a fortnight for reviews. "As the sun sets over the Adriatic, I see a thousand pages of the good lord Heimdall take flight; they fly to Asgard, for the night is nigh, and the demons of the dark seek revenge..." 
