Today GrameenPhone's MD, Mr. Ola Ree spent his last day at office; in Bangladesh. I never got the chance to work with him, but he seemed a good guy to me. Moreover, he was, indeed an inspirational leader. He worked for 4 full years here. I just felt like noting this down, cause maybe in the future I will need this info...hehe.
Things aren't going that well in my life. Getting confused everyday.....seeing a lot of "de-ja-vu"s abd experiencing some strange feelings. That's the summary of the story.
I think I've already said that I bought a new graphics card. Now one more thing to go, and I can say that I have achieved a dream, that I had been dreaming while I was a university student. That'd be a 17 inch monitor. It's funny how most my plans and dreams revolved around games. From my early childhood, I've been playing games. Should I go to retirement? I dunno....maybe yes. But another intriguing aspect needs to be imposed/imported into my life, in order to bring me outta game addiction. Chatting did the job for quite some time, and also forum participation. These things still work. But in order to eliminate it, something bigger is required. Sigh....who am I kidding? The hint is obvious :p
I wrote a number of personal mails today....to be precise, three. It's been a while, since I wrote the last mail. There was a time, when I'd spend a lot of time writing long mails to my dear ones...both friends and family. But nowadays, I feel bitter, whenever I try to write anything resembling a meaningful, and long mail.
6th November 2003 to 30th November 2004--is this a very long time? I guess not. But the changes are big, and easily noticeable. There has been a number of evolutions, and changes in my life. A lot of transitions, a lot of crazy spending, a number of crazy activities, and a number of "returning" old friends, and golden new friends.
Some core features never changes......
They won't change, and I'm happy with it! Will write more, later.
Thanks for reading.
About Me
- Ishtiaque
- I am a dreamer, procrastinator, last-minute worker. Music is my passion--I am an obsessive music collector. Often I collect gigabytes of music only with the hope to listen to'em "someday". I like writing, reading, and I also cherish to learn to play the guitar someday...
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
Monday, November 22, 2004
Welcome Back!
It's been a while since I last updated this blog'o mine. The reason being a long holiday, which is finally over. A lot of things happened within this period, of which I am feeling too bored to write about.
Last week I did a crazy thing. I just went ahead and bought an expensive ATI Radeon 9800 SE graphics card (20th November, 2004). It was expensive, but I forgot all the pain after looking at the graphics of Fifa 2005 and NFS UG2. It's just too good, compared to what I had beforehand (a Radeon 7000).
Eid was good, and so was the days before and after.....untill now.
Not feeling like writing anything more at this moment. Feeling too tired to do anything. Maybe I'll write more later.
Ciao
Last week I did a crazy thing. I just went ahead and bought an expensive ATI Radeon 9800 SE graphics card (20th November, 2004). It was expensive, but I forgot all the pain after looking at the graphics of Fifa 2005 and NFS UG2. It's just too good, compared to what I had beforehand (a Radeon 7000).
Eid was good, and so was the days before and after.....untill now.
Not feeling like writing anything more at this moment. Feeling too tired to do anything. Maybe I'll write more later.
Ciao
Monday, November 08, 2004
A Good Day At Office Ended Badly
I was suspecting something like this, when I woke up late in the morning. Actually I did wake up on time, as I had alarm set on my cell phone. But my response time was lagged...I managed to drag my body outta bed at 8:05. I had only 15 minutes to get ready, and get down for catching the bus. Tragedy--when I buckled my shoe laces and, and got outta my home, it was 8:22 and the bus had already left. I called my school friend Rahad, who lives nearby, from my cell. That pesky guy erased my name from his cell phone contacts list. Hence I heard "Assalamu Alaikum...ke bolchen?", from him. I decided not to get into that bit, and asked him straightaway, did ya managed to avail the office bus? He said "No, I am standing in front of my home now." So two long time pals, and sleep-addict colleagues decided to get together and avail a CNG vehicle to reach office. After a lot of chit chat, and a tedious journey, we paid the 44 taka fare (about 0.75 cents, if you count it in dollar terms), and went our separate ways. I work in the Sales and Marketing division, while he works in Customer Relations Division.
I just managed to get hold of the new Bryan Adams album, "Room Service". The album is really nice. I specifically liked the following tracks:
1. East Side Story
2. She's a Little Too Good For Me
3. Room Service
Isn't it strange to have another album with a similar theme? It's "Hotel Paper" by Michelle Branch. That's a nice album, too. And I really like Michelle's voice. I read her bio, where she said that she's been a lifelong fan of The Beatles. During her childhood, she used to listen to the song "Eight Days A Week", repeatedly. However, she was really disappointed when she got to know that it's "ticket", not "chicken". She always thought that the song was like this "She's gotta chicken to ride", and that's the way she sang it. No wonder her parents would always laugh out loud, whenver she started singing "she's gotta chicken to ride...oh she's gotta chicken to ride..and she don't care"
Lol, this reminds me of a review of that album I read about in Amazon. Here was this user, who said " I don't know why she named this album as Hotel Paper. It's one of the worst albums I have ever heard. It should've been named Toilet Paper instead". A very gross joke, indeed. But I laughed my heart out reading that :-D
Oh yeah...I spend the whole day in office, working really hard. I did spend some time idle chatting with my colleagues, browsing some forums and checking mails, but most part of it was work. Before I left office, I mailed a draft presentation for a proposed promotional feature for one of our cell phone products. This promotion has no chance of getting launched within the next month or two, and nobody's taking it seriously, as it's implementation and outcome depends on a lot of "what ifs". To make it short, the whole project is a damned crazy idea, involving a lot of resources, and the end result won't be nothing significant, which even the dumbest member of the cross-functional product team managed to realize. But this brilliant boss of mine, is just too adamant to realize this crude reality. Her own pride and arrogance overshadowed the better interest of the company, and the people who are doing the job under her. She had the nerve to call me back to office, when it was 4:15, and I was miles away from office, sitting idly in the bus. I explained my current state, and also told her that I'll be reaching home within 5 minutes. But she said "Either you come, or send your co-worker". Yeah, me and a guy (who's a one year university senior to me) works in the prepaid product team. I called him, and found out that he's also nearby, availing a different mode of transportation, and heading towards home. He asked me to call that woman and explain the issue again. I decided to be a rebel and remained silent. Sigh....tomorrow I'll face the consequences, which won't be that pleasurable. Nobody survived in the corporate world, enraging one's own boss. But I wasn't born for bowing down to undue pressure. Let's hope for the best.
Luckily enough, my colleague called the boss and calmed her, in some way...so she agreed to see "get explained" tomorrow. So I'm a failure...I failed to con my boss. But I ain't regrettin' this time.
Another thing to note: today was my cute lil' cousin Anif's birthday. It's his 3rd birthday, and he had a blast with all the gifts and affections, and we had a blast with the well decorated, nice tasting black forest cake.
View Count: 1993
So it's 33. Cool!
I wish this thing had a view count, too.
Anyways, finishing this now.
I just managed to get hold of the new Bryan Adams album, "Room Service". The album is really nice. I specifically liked the following tracks:
1. East Side Story
2. She's a Little Too Good For Me
3. Room Service
Isn't it strange to have another album with a similar theme? It's "Hotel Paper" by Michelle Branch. That's a nice album, too. And I really like Michelle's voice. I read her bio, where she said that she's been a lifelong fan of The Beatles. During her childhood, she used to listen to the song "Eight Days A Week", repeatedly. However, she was really disappointed when she got to know that it's "ticket", not "chicken". She always thought that the song was like this "She's gotta chicken to ride", and that's the way she sang it. No wonder her parents would always laugh out loud, whenver she started singing "she's gotta chicken to ride...oh she's gotta chicken to ride..and she don't care"
Lol, this reminds me of a review of that album I read about in Amazon. Here was this user, who said " I don't know why she named this album as Hotel Paper. It's one of the worst albums I have ever heard. It should've been named Toilet Paper instead". A very gross joke, indeed. But I laughed my heart out reading that :-D
Oh yeah...I spend the whole day in office, working really hard. I did spend some time idle chatting with my colleagues, browsing some forums and checking mails, but most part of it was work. Before I left office, I mailed a draft presentation for a proposed promotional feature for one of our cell phone products. This promotion has no chance of getting launched within the next month or two, and nobody's taking it seriously, as it's implementation and outcome depends on a lot of "what ifs". To make it short, the whole project is a damned crazy idea, involving a lot of resources, and the end result won't be nothing significant, which even the dumbest member of the cross-functional product team managed to realize. But this brilliant boss of mine, is just too adamant to realize this crude reality. Her own pride and arrogance overshadowed the better interest of the company, and the people who are doing the job under her. She had the nerve to call me back to office, when it was 4:15, and I was miles away from office, sitting idly in the bus. I explained my current state, and also told her that I'll be reaching home within 5 minutes. But she said "Either you come, or send your co-worker". Yeah, me and a guy (who's a one year university senior to me) works in the prepaid product team. I called him, and found out that he's also nearby, availing a different mode of transportation, and heading towards home. He asked me to call that woman and explain the issue again. I decided to be a rebel and remained silent. Sigh....tomorrow I'll face the consequences, which won't be that pleasurable. Nobody survived in the corporate world, enraging one's own boss. But I wasn't born for bowing down to undue pressure. Let's hope for the best.
Luckily enough, my colleague called the boss and calmed her, in some way...so she agreed to see "get explained" tomorrow. So I'm a failure...I failed to con my boss. But I ain't regrettin' this time.
Another thing to note: today was my cute lil' cousin Anif's birthday. It's his 3rd birthday, and he had a blast with all the gifts and affections, and we had a blast with the well decorated, nice tasting black forest cake.
View Count: 1993
So it's 33. Cool!
I wish this thing had a view count, too.
Anyways, finishing this now.
Good Morning!
View Count: 1988
So...I got 28 readers! Wow! I am really surprised. I wonder whether I'd get a figure that'd even come close 28 for these entries. No wonder I don't want to leave that place.
It's 9:40 AM in the morning...still a calm, quiet and serene environment is prevailing in office. I can log in to MSN, but not feeling like doing so. I haven't been bothered by any of my colleagues or the boss yet. Just Mr. S asked for a Nokia charger, and that's all. Strangely, the charger for Nokia 3315 did not work for his new Nokia set (dunno the model, probably belonging to the new 5xxx series).
Hehe...just received a forward mail. Maybe I should share this here:
Lawyers should NEVER ask a witness a question, if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial, a Southern small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grand motherly, elderly woman to the stand.
Approaching her he asked: "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded:
"Why, yes I do know u, Mr. Williams. I know u since you were a young boy, &
frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me.
Y lie, u cheat on u'r wife, u manipulate people & talk about them
behind their backs. Y think u're a big shot when u haven't the
brains to realize u never will amount to anything more than a two-bit
paper pusher. Yes, I know u."
The Lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the
room & asked:
"Mrs. Jones, do u know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster too. He's lazy, bigoted, & he has a drinking problem. He can't
build a normal relationship with anyone & his law practice is one of the
worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with
three different women.
One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him." The defense attorney almost died!
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench, and in a very quiet voice, said:
"If either of u bastards asks her if she knows me, I'll throw your sorry asses in jail for contempt."
Lol...now that was funny indeed.
Damn...got an official mail from the guy sitting a few cubicles ahead. They are outta ruin my peace. I hate these people. Like 3 days before the Eid holiday, why don't these guys just pass the days peacefully? Why ponder over a certain promotional plan, which doesn't even have the remotest possibility of getting introduced this year? Wastage of brain resources...I must say.
Anyways, I guess I'll have to go and do something about that mail.
Beimaan Duniya :(
So...I got 28 readers! Wow! I am really surprised. I wonder whether I'd get a figure that'd even come close 28 for these entries. No wonder I don't want to leave that place.
It's 9:40 AM in the morning...still a calm, quiet and serene environment is prevailing in office. I can log in to MSN, but not feeling like doing so. I haven't been bothered by any of my colleagues or the boss yet. Just Mr. S asked for a Nokia charger, and that's all. Strangely, the charger for Nokia 3315 did not work for his new Nokia set (dunno the model, probably belonging to the new 5xxx series).
Hehe...just received a forward mail. Maybe I should share this here:
Lawyers should NEVER ask a witness a question, if they aren't prepared for the answer.
In a trial, a Southern small town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grand motherly, elderly woman to the stand.
Approaching her he asked: "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"
She responded:
"Why, yes I do know u, Mr. Williams. I know u since you were a young boy, &
frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me.
Y lie, u cheat on u'r wife, u manipulate people & talk about them
behind their backs. Y think u're a big shot when u haven't the
brains to realize u never will amount to anything more than a two-bit
paper pusher. Yes, I know u."
The Lawyer was stunned! Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the
room & asked:
"Mrs. Jones, do u know the defense attorney?"
She again replied, "Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a
youngster too. He's lazy, bigoted, & he has a drinking problem. He can't
build a normal relationship with anyone & his law practice is one of the
worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with
three different women.
One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him." The defense attorney almost died!
The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench, and in a very quiet voice, said:
"If either of u bastards asks her if she knows me, I'll throw your sorry asses in jail for contempt."
Lol...now that was funny indeed.
Damn...got an official mail from the guy sitting a few cubicles ahead. They are outta ruin my peace. I hate these people. Like 3 days before the Eid holiday, why don't these guys just pass the days peacefully? Why ponder over a certain promotional plan, which doesn't even have the remotest possibility of getting introduced this year? Wastage of brain resources...I must say.
Anyways, I guess I'll have to go and do something about that mail.
Beimaan Duniya :(
Sunday, November 07, 2004
72 Hours of Holiday: Unutilized or Utilized?
Entry 2
Yeah...it's almost a miracle, that I managed to enjoy 72 hours of holiday! No work, no deadlines, no pressure from the boss--absolutely no tension at all. Oh well, I should rephrase this. There was tension, and it came very unexpectedly. No, one source of tension was not totally unexpected, but the way it came in was quite unexpected. Someone pissed me off, and I pissed him off, too...and then he pissed me off again! End result, I'm trying to delete the incidents from my mind. But the other issue got solved in a nice manner. The person who got pissed off at a comment of mine got an explanation from me, which sounded logical to her...and then she agreed that she overreacted. All well and good.
Today Bangladesh lost yet another match to New Zealand. However, this time the score crossed 150, and the defeat margin was a bit respectable. Still, a defeat is a defeat, and that's all we get from the team whom we really adore. Like, Cricket is the only sport were we get to play in the world cup. Shouldn't we try and get better in this sport? The shots I saw Manzarul Rana playing on the 49th over of the match was simply idiotic. He was practicing "forward defense" and also some other defensive shots. I know, at that point of time, there was nothing more to achieve from the game, and giving away one's wicket through playing extravagant shots is indeed a dumb idea, but again, it looked really bad. Especially when the stadium audience was booing him for his effort(!). People want to see some big hits during the final overs of a match. It has always been like that. Now if some smart ass guy wants to defy the rules and play test cricket in a one day match, I can just ask him to "Go ta hell".
My mom and sister ain't home tonight. They wen't to grandma's home in Mohammadpur. The house is really empty. I thought I won't be missing them (cause it's just a one night matter) , but I am really missing them :(
My dad just came here and told me that he'd get to sleep once I go to sleep. So this is a psychological pressure. Dad is a heart patient, he had one minor and one severe stroke. So I always have to remain intimidated and careful, in case he gets angry at me. I have taken this for granted, just like I have taken up many other things, too. Compromising is good, but is too much compromising good for me?
I revealed some information to Ziko today. I don't like to discuss these issues, but I really like the kid, and he's been asking me about this issue for quite some time. I always avoided answering him straightaway. But today I decided to open myself, and bingo.....he blurted out an "Ahare" for me. Thanks :-)
Anyways, gotta go to bed now. A big day is ahead.
View count:
1960 (for my AG blog, just after I've posted my 96th entry over there!)
like wow....now it's 1966, and only about 15 minutes have passed. Damn my blog must be popular :D
Yeah...it's almost a miracle, that I managed to enjoy 72 hours of holiday! No work, no deadlines, no pressure from the boss--absolutely no tension at all. Oh well, I should rephrase this. There was tension, and it came very unexpectedly. No, one source of tension was not totally unexpected, but the way it came in was quite unexpected. Someone pissed me off, and I pissed him off, too...and then he pissed me off again! End result, I'm trying to delete the incidents from my mind. But the other issue got solved in a nice manner. The person who got pissed off at a comment of mine got an explanation from me, which sounded logical to her...and then she agreed that she overreacted. All well and good.
Today Bangladesh lost yet another match to New Zealand. However, this time the score crossed 150, and the defeat margin was a bit respectable. Still, a defeat is a defeat, and that's all we get from the team whom we really adore. Like, Cricket is the only sport were we get to play in the world cup. Shouldn't we try and get better in this sport? The shots I saw Manzarul Rana playing on the 49th over of the match was simply idiotic. He was practicing "forward defense" and also some other defensive shots. I know, at that point of time, there was nothing more to achieve from the game, and giving away one's wicket through playing extravagant shots is indeed a dumb idea, but again, it looked really bad. Especially when the stadium audience was booing him for his effort(!). People want to see some big hits during the final overs of a match. It has always been like that. Now if some smart ass guy wants to defy the rules and play test cricket in a one day match, I can just ask him to "Go ta hell".
My mom and sister ain't home tonight. They wen't to grandma's home in Mohammadpur. The house is really empty. I thought I won't be missing them (cause it's just a one night matter) , but I am really missing them :(
My dad just came here and told me that he'd get to sleep once I go to sleep. So this is a psychological pressure. Dad is a heart patient, he had one minor and one severe stroke. So I always have to remain intimidated and careful, in case he gets angry at me. I have taken this for granted, just like I have taken up many other things, too. Compromising is good, but is too much compromising good for me?
I revealed some information to Ziko today. I don't like to discuss these issues, but I really like the kid, and he's been asking me about this issue for quite some time. I always avoided answering him straightaway. But today I decided to open myself, and bingo.....he blurted out an "Ahare" for me. Thanks :-)
Anyways, gotta go to bed now. A big day is ahead.
View count:
1960 (for my AG blog, just after I've posted my 96th entry over there!)
like wow....now it's 1966, and only about 15 minutes have passed. Damn my blog must be popular :D
Saturday, November 06, 2004
First and The Furious
Day 1: Entry 1
6th November
BDT 19:49 (GMT 13:49)
One of my favorite hobby is to customize song and movie titles, to make'em a bit funnier, or to make'em more suited for being set as my MSN messenger nick. Hehe...so the other day, when I was listening to "Still Loving You" by The Scorpions, I just set my MSN nick as "Still Hating You", which generated two responses from two of my msn contacts.
One is an old and very close friend of mine, who asked "What's the meaning of this nick?". I told her..that's a tricky nick...I want everyone to have this impression that he or she is the hated one. She replied that I got smarter. Then I said, it is you who have taught me this technique, cause she was the one who had "I love you :) " as her nick on the valentine's day this year.
The other response I got was from another close and new friend of mine. She was a she, just like the first person. She said, "Why do you hate me so much???". lol...that was a funny comment to hear, at 1:15 Am in the morning. I retaliated by saying that you are also asking me to die. Cause she had this nick 'mor mor mor mor mor shala"...which means "die die die you brother of my wife".. ahem I know it doesn't ring a bell to you, if you're not from Bangladesh like me, but the word (despite of having an innocent meaning) isn't a very pleasant word to hear. Infact it's kind of a slang.
I am very close with an online community, namely Amadergaan
The incidents that happen there often affects me in my real life, which is not a very good thing.
Today I did my shopping for Eid. Eid is one of the largest festivals of our lives. Bought a pair of trousers, matched with the pair of shirts that I received as birthday gifts last month. The shopping was a mixed experience. I always enjoy shopping with my mom and sister, which highly contradicts with the liking of guys who have the same age as mine.
I also bought a DVD compilation of all the LOTR games released till date (on PC). I installed "Return of The King", and played it for half an hour. As I really enjoyed the last part of the trilogy, I liked the game, too. After playing the game, I read a few reviews on gamefaqs, where people said that the game is really crappy. Infact out of 10 people, only 2 gave less than 5 scores (in a 10 scale) to the game. I checked out gamespot review before buying the game. They gave it 8.5 or something like that, which is a pretty good score.
While I'm writing this, I am hearing my mom weeping beside me, on the phone. My uncle, and my mom's younger brother, died off a terrible accident, 2 years ago. She recalls the sad incedent every now and then, and sheds tears. Right now she is sharing her tears with my aunt (her elder sister). Everytime my mother cries, I feel terribly helpless, cause death is such a loss which cannot be condoled. It gets even more difficult when it's a premature death. My uncle was only 33 when he died.
Anyways, that was my first entry here. Hope at least someone out there found it interesting.
Bye and take care all
Ishtiaque
6th November
BDT 19:49 (GMT 13:49)
One of my favorite hobby is to customize song and movie titles, to make'em a bit funnier, or to make'em more suited for being set as my MSN messenger nick. Hehe...so the other day, when I was listening to "Still Loving You" by The Scorpions, I just set my MSN nick as "Still Hating You", which generated two responses from two of my msn contacts.
One is an old and very close friend of mine, who asked "What's the meaning of this nick?". I told her..that's a tricky nick...I want everyone to have this impression that he or she is the hated one. She replied that I got smarter. Then I said, it is you who have taught me this technique, cause she was the one who had "I love you :) " as her nick on the valentine's day this year.
The other response I got was from another close and new friend of mine. She was a she, just like the first person. She said, "Why do you hate me so much???". lol...that was a funny comment to hear, at 1:15 Am in the morning. I retaliated by saying that you are also asking me to die. Cause she had this nick 'mor mor mor mor mor shala"...which means "die die die you brother of my wife".. ahem I know it doesn't ring a bell to you, if you're not from Bangladesh like me, but the word (despite of having an innocent meaning) isn't a very pleasant word to hear. Infact it's kind of a slang.
I am very close with an online community, namely Amadergaan
The incidents that happen there often affects me in my real life, which is not a very good thing.
Today I did my shopping for Eid. Eid is one of the largest festivals of our lives. Bought a pair of trousers, matched with the pair of shirts that I received as birthday gifts last month. The shopping was a mixed experience. I always enjoy shopping with my mom and sister, which highly contradicts with the liking of guys who have the same age as mine.
I also bought a DVD compilation of all the LOTR games released till date (on PC). I installed "Return of The King", and played it for half an hour. As I really enjoyed the last part of the trilogy, I liked the game, too. After playing the game, I read a few reviews on gamefaqs, where people said that the game is really crappy. Infact out of 10 people, only 2 gave less than 5 scores (in a 10 scale) to the game. I checked out gamespot review before buying the game. They gave it 8.5 or something like that, which is a pretty good score.
While I'm writing this, I am hearing my mom weeping beside me, on the phone. My uncle, and my mom's younger brother, died off a terrible accident, 2 years ago. She recalls the sad incedent every now and then, and sheds tears. Right now she is sharing her tears with my aunt (her elder sister). Everytime my mother cries, I feel terribly helpless, cause death is such a loss which cannot be condoled. It gets even more difficult when it's a premature death. My uncle was only 33 when he died.
Anyways, that was my first entry here. Hope at least someone out there found it interesting.
Bye and take care all
Ishtiaque
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