Big Rocks

Rambabu recently sent me a nice short-story based on Leo Tolstoy's How Much Land Does a Man Need? Unlike Pahom (the main character in Tolstoy's story), Rambabu has his priorities straight, and knows what he needs. In spite of running a successful software company by spending long hours at work, he makes sure that he allocates time for family and friends. While reading the story sent by Rambabu, I thought of this Big Rocks story I received a long time ago from Ed - my ex-client, and good friend. This has been around for a while.

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz" and he pulled out a one-gallon, mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. Probably not," one of them answered.

Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always find time. No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life-- time with your loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all."

So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.

Free Coffee!

It is going to hurt, if I need a wallet to enter this store on Mondays for picking up coffee on the way to work!

A sign on the glass window of Exxon Tiger Mart, close to where I live

Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments II - The Domino Effect

251 bottles of Diet Coke and over 1,500 Mentos mints. Mint-powered version of the Bellagio fountains. One giant Coke & Mentos chain reaction Keywords: eepybird eepy bird mentos coke diet coke mentos experiment fountain soda science geyser experiments fountains geysers

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W - Part Deux

This is a follow-up to my previous Blog Post. Just to make sure, I checked on Terraserver to see if satellite image at this site matches with that in Google Earth. It did! (see below). You too may check it by entering the coordinates in decimal system (Lat=50.010611 deg, Long=110.113422 deg) on Terraserver. So, I would rule out Google's doctoring theory. I can't think of any explanation for this amazing resemblance to human face. Can you?

50° 0'38.20"N 110° 6'48.32"W

My colleague Tammy sent these coordinates to me. Here is the location of these coordinates on Google Earth!


Isn't it amazing? On a quick and dirty calculation, I found that the head is about the size of 5½ Football fields (~ 6½ without end zones!). I didn't research on this (as I am at work), but I wouldn't be surprised if one of the following possibilities turn out to be true.

(1) Google allows it's employees to spend 20% of the work-time on any project they like. Probably one of the employees doctored the map for fun, spread the rumor to a co-worker, and timed the arrival of an e-mail with this information from his/her aunt! (i.e., an experiment on finding the speed of gossip).

(2) This is a good way for Google to motivate people to install their product on our machines, w/o conventional advertisement! Even if a person from Zambia clicks on Chuy's in Austin (by turning the "Restaurants" layer on), Google gets the money per click!

PS: Noticed quite a bit of chatter on this topic. Didn't care to read, as I am on a short lunch break.

Halloween Festivities in Our Office

Here are a few pictures of Halloween party and Sue Rogers' farewell party.

Sue's farewell party

Susan (as a country girl), Stacy (as a bible lady), and Martin (as pimp daddy)


Martin, and Luda as a Russian princess. She made the costume herself!


A cow girl, and Peter as an aged employee


Martin and Peter in the hall way. Their offices are next to mine.


Costume award presentation in D-191 (the auditorium) downstairs.


A tug of war competition on campus


Martin as pimp daddy


Gary as a Bob Marley fan

New Words for 2006!

2006? Yes, its kind of late, but it is never too late! I came across this fun-mail I received from my colleage Roslyn. Njoy!

NEW WORDS FOR 2006: Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace (and elsewhere)

1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a Deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.

6. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8. SITCOMs: Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. It's what yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11. XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12. IRRITAINMENT: Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them. The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example - Michael Jackson, another.

13. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

14. ADMINISPHERE: The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15. 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16. GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17. OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting SEND on an email by mistake)

18. WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.

19. CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.