Girish Gangadharan

Did i cheat ?

// January 6th, 2007 // 2 Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

That’s a nice couple. But wait…that’s not me! Who is this guy? He looks like me. A bit chubbier i guess. If i put on some extra weight, and took my glasses off, i’d probably look like him.

WOW!

I decided to have some fun with this pic and sent it to my other friends that were not in that group and also my family. Surprisingly, even my loved ones believed it was me (of course, at first glance..everybody realized it was not me once they paid close attention). Quite frankly, i really didn’t think the resemblance was that uncanny to dupe even my family.

Wait a minute…even if it was me indeed, why would you say i was cheating? (Remember that was the subject of the email Ashok sent to everyone). What was i cheating about? Or who was i cheating on?

Wrong choice of words, my friend.

What the F***ing hell ?

// November 28th, 2006 // No Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

How the hell did they get all this info? Half of it is outdated but still…domain privacy anyone?

Well… i guess the following lines as stated on the aboutus.org site should explain everything.

In addition to this site, if you would like to prevent your information from showing up anywhere, you may wish to contact your domain name registrar and purchase a privacy service which most of the majors domain name registrars have. That doesn’t deal with historical information which may already be out there, but at least it deals with it on a go forward basis.

For people that are not serious about spending those extra couple of bucks for private registration, here are a few tips that might help.

The information listed on your domain name has to be made publicly available per your Registrar?s agreement with ICANN, the international governing body of domain names. Providing false information will violate the registration agreement and could lead to the cancellation of your registration.

Most of the major registrars out there offer a solution to help protect your privacy. They offer something called private domain name registration service (usually for a relatively insignificant cost) which will list them as your proxy and thus it is their information (name, address and phone number) that is displayed in the public domains out there, for example, WHO-IS directory. Remember, you still are the real owner of your domain.

A small price to pay for peace of mind. Hope this helps someone.

Is that Sonu?

// November 26th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

Heyy…..that’s Sonu! Oh my God…look how little she was a few months back. She weighs 60 lbs now – 10 months old.

WOW!

The perks of turning older.

// July 4th, 2006 // No Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

For those reading this that are not in the United States, your car insurance rates drop quite a bit when you turn 25.

Here are some pics taken at the office. My colleagues threw me a lil’ party and to cut the cake, i had to wear the famous Birthday Hat. My friend says that i look like a school kid in these pics.

Hmm…Whatever!

New videos section

// June 1st, 2006 // No Comments » // Fun, Personal

A long time back i had uploaded a couple of videos of Mia right when Google had just released their videos program. Recently i added a few more to that list and was wondering if i could actually embed those videos on my site. I knew YouTube let you do it. Turns out that Google also offers that feature. Pretty cool.

So for starters, check out these videos of my nieces. I’m gonna embed a few more videos here later. Stay tuned…

Shreya’s innocence

// May 26th, 2006 // No Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

So we are all sitting in the living room watching TV and this beautiful girl shows up in a music video or a commercial or something. Her name is Asin and she is popular movie star in South Indian cinema.

I ask Chukku(that’s what i call Shreya) if she knew the name of the girl on TV. She took a look at her and said “Umm…No”. I told her it was Asin and then asked her whether she thought Asin was beautiful.

She paused for a second and ignored my question. I asked her again and looked at me and then looked away and mumbled “yeah..she is beautiful”.

Then she said the most incredibly sweetest and innocent thing i have ever heard from her.

With a serious I-am-not-kidding-about-this-and-don’t-ever-ask-me-that-question-again tone, she said

“But i like Mommy.”

Gotta love kids man…

Dell from Hell…

// October 11th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // Miscellaneous, Personal

Wow, where I do I begin on this one?

Ah yes, the evil underground customer service ring out to screw the world.

This time they have disguised themselves as Dell Representatives.

So after much consideration, I decided to purchase a Dell Inspiron 6000 with a WSXGA LCD screen and a bunch of other cool superdy dooper specs that simply means RAW POWER.

On September 8th I placed a phone order and received a confirmation number. Everything went smoothly.

So I thought.

To avoid tax I had my order shipped to my friend in New Hampshire.

Now I was just playing the waiting game.

And wait I did.

I checked the status of the order online and it showed pending.

A week later, it still showed pending!

So, I called Dell.

They asked for my confirmation number and in return proceeded to tell me that that confirmation number is not valid and apparently the order was never placed.

Here we go!

Hmmm. Excellent time to get some type of compensation for the delay.

They were happy to give me a $75.00 coupon.

And so the waiting game continued…

Oddly enough I received a phone call from them the following week explaining to me that they were out of the $75.00 coupons and would have to give me a $100 one.

After giving it much thought (for approx. about a second) I said ok!

And so everything was going as planned.

My friend received the laptop and shipped it to me.

I opened the box and…

WRONG LAPTOP!

No WSXGA but instead WXGA.

I immediately called Dell, in which they said, “No problem, we will have someone pick up the order.”

Amazingly it took them only ONE day to pick it up; if only there customer service were as amazing as that!

So this should be an easy mistake to fix. Just place the same order and hey, use the $100 coupon I received. Excellent!

So, I’m back on the phone with Dell placing the same order. Except there is one problem. About a $400 problem.

The promotion is over!

And even though it was THEIR mistake they cannot give me the same deal.

So I managed to rework the specs and even upgrade from a 512mb to a 1GB. This raised the price $100 from the original amount I was going to pay, but the coupon would cover that.

Great! Order is placed and I receive an acknowledgement email NOT a confirmation. I was told I would receive a confirmation via email within one day.

Four days pass.

Again calling Dell, in which by now I should have them on speed dial!

I can’t even believe what I’m about to type next.

The Dell representative replies “Sir, we show no order placed.”

WHAT THE F ***?

What do you means the order was not placed? I got an email ackowledgment from Dell.

“Sir, we don’t know what happened there. You will need to place the order again.”

So we have to redo the order once again. The price they gave me was $100 more. This is BULL S***!

“Hey, what about my coupon?” I asked.

“Sorry sir, that has been redeemed and can not be reused.”

Ok, how can an order never have been placed and yet the coupon used is redeemed? That question will never be answered.

However, after battling with these guys for an hour I was able to get another $100 coupon.

With restrictions of course! I have to use my credit card and not my preferred account in order to redeem it. At this point, who cares!

So once again, i go online praying that everything goes fine this time.

Order placed. Received confirmation email. My laptop is shipped to New Hampshire.

I get a call from my friend who not only tells me he received it but um…”Dude, you got two shipments!”

What the hell!!!

At this point everyone at Dell knows me by first name!

Apparently the FIRST order did go through and therefore I was charged twice!

I was instructed to tell my friend to NOT ACCEPT THE PACKAGE. If he did I would have to pay to have it shipped back.

Seriously, could someone please wake me up from this nightmare!

By now I have built up enough confidence in asking for some type of compensation.

Dell offered me a 720 printer (worth $49).

I declined saying I didn’t want a printer and that instead I would prefer a $100 coupon. Sound familiar?

The conversation was friendlier and briefer than last time.

Initially the representative declined the request. I asked them to talk to their supervisor. Again, declined!

And again, I pushed!

Hello $100 coupon…with only 30 days to redeem.

I still have not received my laptop but I should be getting it by Thursday.

Coupons anyone? Talk to me…

No playa and my name is Chris…

// October 7th, 2005 // No Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

My mp3 playa is no more.

I could go for the bigger GB but then I had to think reasonably.

Asking myself all those responsible questions we always ask ourselves AFTER the fact.

How often will I use this?

Is it worth the money?

So my answers were: not often.

I can’t use it in the car, no need to in the apartment.

And as far as work in concerned, I’m not the type to listen to music while working.

And if I did have a need I have up to 4 gb on my office server.

Thanks to the coworkers who dumped the music collection onto the server.

Maybe if I were a traveler sitting in airports, riding trains…

And as far as the money…I’ve other things to spend it on.

Like my new laptop & my student loans.

I enjoyed the concept and perhaps when I have money to blow and time I will reconsider.

So I returned the mp3 to Circuit City.

In which I thought I had the receipt but no problem they can pull it up with my phone number.

And the customer service (kid) asked “Ok sir you live in Carrolton and your name is Chris Israelson?”

Ummmm.. NO!

Well your number shows up with this information.

Well I’m not Chris.

Do you remember which credit card you put it on? We can pull it up from there.

Hmmm….thumbing through my collection. Bingo.

Hand it to the guy.

Okay sir your credit card purchase is still showing up under the name Chris Israelson.

Do I look like I would have the name Chris Israelson?

C’mon!

Anyways…

They proceeded to get another person involved.

And then another, being the one that checked me out initially.

I said “hey remember me; you helped me with the mp3 playa?”

She looked at me like I was from mars.

I guess if I were a scared teen thinking I did something wrong I would play dumb.

Obviously my concern here was the fact that my credit card was under someone else name in their system.

I mean could this Chris guy go on a shopping binge with my card?

They (all 3) tried reassuring me that Chris doesn’t have access to it.

That when a buyer checks out they ask for a phone number.

That Chris probably had my number at one time.

The girl that helped me, whom suddenly lost her tongue, never checked what name came up when she typed the phone number in to ring up my purchase.

And as far as the credit card, since the name was not changed at that moment I bought an mp3 under Chris’s name.

To further reassure me they said they would physically have to have my credit card to pull up any information.

Ok. I get it. So let’s change the information under that phone number.

Sorry Sir you have to purchase something for us to access the number.

n>

WHAT?

You know I’m starting to think there is some kind of evil underground customer service rings purposely out to screw the world.

It’s like they meticulously have everything planned.

So just when I was thinking that the Vet and Circuit City was lacking in the definition of customer service this underground ring was planning their greatest hit against me.

Stay tuned for what I feel is an award winning attempt to screw me on my purchase of a Dell laptop.

What about Mia?

// October 6th, 2005 // No Comments » // Miscellaneous, Personal

Well it’s official. Any chances of little Mia’s running around have ceased.

Last Monday Mia went under the knife.

I don’t think she quite understood why I wasn’t feeding her or giving her water that morning.

These are the instructions the Vet office gave me prior to her surgery day.

It tugged at my heart to see her confused; somewhat out of her element.

When I picked her up the following day she was a bit groggy with less hair on her belly and approx. 5” of stitches of where her motherhood was stripped away.

The vet assistant gave me the bill and told me that the stitches on Mia would dissolve and there was no need to bring her in.

Cool I thought.

Of course I would need to keep an eye on her to make sure she would not chew or lick the stitches before they dissolved; as this could cause an infection.

So everything seemed great.

I get home and Mia seems happy to climb in her crate for a long nap.

That’s fine. I’ll just read the information sheet the vet gave me with the bill.

Hmmm that’s interesting.

“Bring your animal in approx 2 weeks to have stitches removed.”

What?

Didn’t the assistant tell me that they would dissolve?

Did I misunderstand her?

So I call them.

Her response “Oh no, it just says that. They are dissolvable stitches. You don’t have to bring her in.”

“Well why does the sheet say to bring her back in?” I asked.

“Well sir I told you that you didn’t have to bring her in didn’t I?”

“Yes, but the paper says otherwise.”

“Yeah but we just give the same paper out to every customer”

I replied, “Yes i understand that its just that its misleading. “

“Yeah but i don’t understand, you were told what to do….

Um…so…uh..why is there a problem sir?”

At this point i just gave up. And said, ” Alright thanks a lot.”

I offered my customer advice in how they should correct the writing and the assistant just kept saying but I told you in person and that’s all that counts.

Ok. I’m just thinking about all those whose memory is not as sharp as mine.

Imagine they looking at the paper a week later and saying “Oh no, I was to bring my pet in to have the stitches removed.”

Show up at the vet’s office and the same assistant saying “Sir/ Mam didn’t I tell you the stitches would resolve?!”

What the hell. This is a simple problem that could easily be resolved with a couple of strokes from a keyboard.

Anyways…

So Mia is healing nicely and so far the stitches are still in tact.

And I’m hoping dissolving!

This last Sunday, Oct. 2, I took her to her first training class.

It is time for my Mia to learn some manners.

I can tell she’s is going to be a quick learner.

Of course she already knows how to sit and shake.

In which she graciously flaunted.

There was another puppy in the class.

The owners claimed it was a Labrador.

Notice I said “claimed.”

So the trainer used Mia as the assistant in his training techniques.

She did everything right.

While the other puppy was barking and showing all the reasons why it needed to be in training!

My Mia just sat there being a good girl!

I was so proud; grinning from ear to ear.

This first class was just basic dos and don’ts.

What collar/leash to use, how to hold your hand with the treats to get your dog to perform a trick, how to keep him/her from jumping.

The class is every Sunday at 3 o’clock for an hour.

I’m certain I will have much more to brag um…excuse me, BLOG about with the training to come.

Lost and found (not)…

// September 25th, 2005 // 1 Comment » // Miscellaneous, Personal

Seems like something remarkable ALWAYS happens in my life. I was working late on friday and wanted to take a break after hours of brain-hurricaning(i just made that word up. Brain storming is old-school. Hurricanes are “in”.)

So decided to blog. It was a pretty big post. I enjoyed writing each and every word of it.

It was around 10.30pm that my friend called. And i got out of the office to let her in. And that’s when it dawned upon me that “Wow..you are locked out Mr.Girish Gangadharan!”

Remember…i haven’t clicked on the “Publish post” button yet.

So…anyways, i and my friend were standing outside my office door staring at the door knob, wondering if i should be happy that i wasn’t locked out of the building.

But guess what? Didn’t matter at that point if i was inside the building or outside. Cuz, God dang it. I had all my stuff on my office desk including my wallet, keys and the most important of all, my CELL PHONE.

What would a man do if he were in such a situation?

What were my options at that point?

All offices in the building were closed.

Yeah…you know what? Screw it. I’ll just go home.

Ohh…that’s right. I can’t. Cuz my car keys are on my desk. So i have to walk to my apartment.

Fabulous!

“It’s less than 2 miles, Girish. Just walk. It’s ok. This place is not that bad.

Even if someone were to mug you, you have nothing to lose other than your Walmart $5 shirt and $20 jeans (Not sure where i got it). Your wallet is on your desk.

They would just kick your cheap ass and cuss their fate that they picked an idiot to rob.”

Fortunately didn’t have to go through all that since my friend had a car. We drove back home.

Brilliant!

Ok…What next?

After you go to your apartment, drink some water. Play with Mia. Tell her what happened. If she sadly walks away into her crate, just understand that she is thinking in her mind “Why? Why God, Why Girish? So many beautiful families out there. Why let this idiot adopt me?”

Things just keep on getting better.

Alright…Now what?

Call someone from your office and let them know what happened and see if they can help you.

“Uh-Oh!”

What?

I don’t have any of my colleagues numbers.

Why?

It’s all on my cell phone and the phone is on my office desk.

When i screwed my car, the same day Mia tripped over my laptop and broke it’s screen, i thought that was THE worst day EVER in my life. Well, apparently not.

Ohh…wait…wait…

I called Russ the other day to get Garret’s number and wrote it down on a piece of paper before i saved it to my cell phone.

Hope!

Look for that piece of paper.

Drawers, Kitchen counters, bathroom, pantry, closet, Mia’s mouth…

Nope…

Heyy…i just cleaned the drawers last night.

Tore the unwanted papers into pieces before i put them in the trash.

TRASH!

Now i have to go through the trash to find pieces of a paper that could possibly carry Garret’s number.

Let’s get to work.

Damn…that STINKS.

This is a nightmare. i just found atleast 500 pieces of paper of different size and colors.

Gotta fix the jigsaw puzzle to get his number.

Man…do i really have to do this? Is there anyway out?

Can i wait?

Can this wait?

Let me re-think my options here….

So..just when i’m staring at the trash can, wondering why i was blessed so much to experience all this, something fell from my shirt’s pocket into the trash can.

WHOA!

What was that?

HOLY CRAP. That’s my Samsung YP-T7 mp3 player.

Oh Lord! I just got it from Circuit City 2 hours back when i was taking a dinner break.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??????????????/

So i have officially run out of choices now. I have to go in.

And boy…did i go in.

Took the whole garbage apart.

Found my playa! Unhurt. Un-scratched.

Now for the paper that had the number.

Ok…gathered all the pieces. Let’s try to solve the puzzle.

20 mins later….

Solved the puzzle.

YEAH!

Got the number.

Here’s the fun part. That was not Garrett’s number.

It was a customer service number of some company.

I love my life.

Turned around to see what Mia was doing.

She was sitting there just watching me.

Awwww……

Yeah…no time for that!

Did i look under that laptop bag there?

Heyy…what’s this?

WOW…This is the paper that has his number…

So..i never actually trashed it. Excellent.

Ok..lets call him.

Wait…what’s the time man?

11.00 pm.

Not a good time to call a 26 yr old single American guy on a Friday night.

Desperate time calls for desperate measures.

Call him.

He’s not answering.

Let’s think here.

Who would answer their calls at this time of the night?

Umm..i would.

Yeah..But unfortunately you can’t help yourself here.

Who else can I call now? I don’t have anyones’ number…everything is on my cell.

OK ok think Girish. Ah yes…my company’s website. Contact information! YES!

Simple enough.

So I went online and I could feel the numbers at my fingertips. The music is playing of celebration! I’m almost there… SILENCE!

Login: xxxxxx

Password: OH Sh*$(#*$). I don’t remember the password.

Never had to remember any password because my browser did that for me.

You know sometimes you it’s very difficult to appreciate the concept of “remember password” option especially when you are in situations like this.

SIGH!

So I’m trying all the different passwords I’ve ever used in my life. Nope, not working!

Alright, alright. I will do the forget password thing and have it email me the password.

Ok, email sent.

Login to webmail.infoquest.com. User ID: XXXXXXXXXX Password: Holy Sh*$#(. Not again?!!

Well thanks to outlook I never had to login to the web interface to read my emails.

Now, I don’t remember the password to my email login.

Fantastic!

Now what?

Alright, trial and error. Keep trying, keep trying, keep trying…

What tha? It worked!

Here’s your password.

Alright. Finally access to every employees’ phone numbers.

Ok. Who to call now?

Parag, first choice.

He answers…cool!

But he is in Bedford.

Wow…my luck.

Ok. Luis.

Location: Downtown Dallas.

Can’t make it, sorry.

Damn it!

I hate to bother him but…Russ. Final option for the night.

Nope. Doesn’t answer the call.

Alright, I give up.

I’m going to bed now. Wake up tomorrow morning and start all over again.

Next morning. 8:00 a.m.

Now trying to figure out who is up this early to call.

Tried a couple of numbers.

Finally! Mike’s wife comes to the rescue.

Thanks Susan.

Problem solved. I’m back in business!

Back at my desk…ahh!!

Ok, remember I did not hit the “publish post” button to my blog.

I click and guess what…session timed out!

Lost my hundred line post. Vanished into thin air.

I love my life!

Until next time…

Happy living.