Volvo Ocean Race

The weather this midsummer in Helsinki wasn't inspiring enough to spend the long weekend in Finland, so I decided to spend the long weekend in Stockholm. Luckily it was also the time for Volvo Ocean race's Stockholm port stopover. This meant that for the first time I could see the yachts from this famous sporting event.



This year the race started from Alicante, Spain eneded on June 27th at St Petersburg, Russia.









Ericsson 4, which was leading the race till the Stockholm leg won the race eventually. The skipper of this boat was Brazilian Torben Grael.





It sure is an unparalled feat to cross the world oceans in nothing but a yacht and one can just imagine the endurance of all those who participated in the race..

Counting Years

Five years ago, it was around this time when this blog was born. I needed a platform to share my views on the outcome of Indian election and created this blog, about an year after I got introduced to the blogging. It’s again the same election time in India, the voting exercise is over and results would come in few hours from now. Though I was not in India for the better part of the present government, still I would be sad to see it go. Anyway it would be time for my views on Indian elections and democracy again, that is if I get time.
It seems the shelf life of my blog was not even five years. It is practically dead after going through its life cycle. The post below about my India trip has become so old that by now I have made one more India trip and going on another such trip next week. My blogging was a direct corollary of my reading and opinionating and when I am not blogging, I am not even doing these.
Anyhow, right now I am hooked on BBC, they are showing Indian elections result live.

India visit

I am travelling; would be in India for next 10 days.

Main Street or Wall Street ?

Almost a day later, things are looking a bit better. The angst and frustrations are bit modified on seeing the ‘greens’. None the less it was unbelievable – a deal which took a week to be accepted by two political parties fell by 12 votes! I can’t seem to understand who stood defeated, the political managers or the bill?

The worst outcome of the whole process is the debate on Main Street and Wall Street. There can’t be an inopportune time to discuss this topic than at this juncture. Why is it a problem of Wall Street? Does not the main street lead to Wall Street or may be Wall Street is on an island?

I agree firms and associated eco-system took a little more than necessary risk, there were maybe little less regulation, lure of lucre, but did these lead to the fall? Let me try to put this in simplest way possible. The Wall Street went down because they had too much confidence on Main Street. After using all of the Financial Engineering, they carved out, bundled few other assortments and created instruments called Credit Default Swaps(CDS). Guess what, these CDS are derivatives, which inherently mean they derive their value from underlying asset, and in this case the asset was those mortgages. Those mortgages, which people from Main Street took, without giving a damn, because they were cheap! Yes, because they were cheap and the government had totally incentivized the whole borrowing process. The CDS went bust because those living on Main Street didn’t pay back their mortgages. Consider an analogy. If all of us have car accidents and the insurance company goes bust, then we will blame insurance company for taking risk. But remember the insurance company is dependent on a fact that not all of us will have car accidents.

Further, this whole thing is not about Wall Street and Main Street. If our neighbor’s big house, which we envied when they bought, faces foreclosure then this whole phenomenon, is also bringing down the price of our own house as well. The credit crisis not only hurt Bear Sterns, or Merrill Lynch but is also hurting the small mom and pop stores. It not only brings down the stock price of Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, but also the value of Microsoft shares, in which many of us have invested for our retirement.

Let’s not make the whole thing trivial by putting this as Wall Street problem or end of capitalism or win for Socialism or vindication of Asian economies. There is a serious problem and everyone should work towards addressing the situation. Admittedly, there have been mistakes, not enough regulations, too many incentives for cheap loans, etc. Let’s debate about how to improve things and invigorate the economy once again.

Water under the bridge

Seems like a new beginning for this blog. After 4 years of blogging, I am exactly where I started, a clean slate and my blog only to me. Lot of things worth blogging happened in the last four months. To quote the line from the movie we all know – “A lot of water has flown over the dam and under the bridge”. Can’t say I would remember all of them at this morning hour, without my cup of tea, but let me try.

First mention, the loss of one of my favorite TV journalist – the venerable Tim Russert. I still can’t believe that he is no more and I am still living my Sundays. I haven’t watched any episode of ‘Meet the Press’ after him. It is not like Tom Brokaw is any less of a star, but I somehow feel I would be betraying Tim by watching the show without him. It was so ironical to lose him few weeks after that he was put as TIME’s, 100 most influential people with the comment “ the road to white house goes through Tim Russert ” from former NY governor Mario Cuomo. Half the fun of US presidential election has diminished without Tim’s pronounciations. His last being on May 7th just after Indiana and North Carolina primary when he had said this “We now know who the Democratic nominee’s going to be, and no one’s going to dispute it,” Somehow on my blog, as in my life, I didn’t do the things, I most wanted to – Obituary on Tim Russert, and also a piece on Katie Couric leaving NBC.

A month later, two other notable departures from world scene, Tony Snow, former White House press secretary and Randy Pausch, the CMU professor. Both snatched from the world scene by the cruel destiny.

In another blog-world development, we have now the face behind our favourite Waiter. Steve Dublanica he is, and I always thought he would be bit older. I have been one of his early readers from 2004, when he started to blog on blogger. What a journey for him from blogger to national television. Now our club guy may do a re-thinking of anonymity. And hey, someone do tell me if we have the name behind Fake Steve Jobs yet ?

Last mention for this morning, and I would update this on my blogger profile, I have changed my job role. I have never written about my work on my blog, but after a year of toying with sales, I have moved entirely from consulting to sales. There was lot of thinking behind this move and considering the outcomes of all my calculated, planned and carefully thought moves, I just wish the outcome ain’t the same.

In lesser developments, during my numerous flights I discovered this 2007 movie - The Great Debaters. Though a strange choice for in flight movie, it will get added in my best movies list. Thank you Finnair and wait for my hate post on Lufthansa.

For my best book read during travels it has to be – "Father, Son & Co.: My Life at IBM and Beyond"

Just after 7 months of buying Nokia 6110 Navigator, I now have the Nokia E71. A vastly improved navigation and other similar features over 6110, though I have to discover most of the other features- the manuals are only in Finnish & Swedish. Also my new DELL D630 is so ancient compared to the Think Pad I had.

All done, I should be back to my normal blogging.

Insomniac Conundrum

After a long time a personal post. The start of Finnish summer season is always 3 hours of sleep for me, lasts for a week and is more pronounced on weekends. Yeah, the reason I am writing this is that I could not sleep for more than 3 hours, and don’t want to do anything meaningful when I am up at my computer at 4 am.

It has always been weird for me to have dinner in sunlight or sleep when the sun is shining outside. Both of these meant that I went to sleep at 5 minutes to midnight on a Saturday, when I I worked all day from home. Even though the blinds are down on my bedroom’s huge window, I could see the sun shining at 4am. The archaic elevator in my building should take some blame for breaking my sleep at 3am. For some reason, I have seen every other apartment in Helsinki having those 1920s elevator. The modern ones are only reserved for office buildings. This in the country of ‘Kone’ accentuates the surprise factor. Anyway few riddles are better left unsolved. So the archaic elevator makes kind of rumbling noise, not usually on weekdays at 3am, but on weekends, that’s the time when people come from nightclubs. I am sure there is some rule pasted on the building notice board for usage of elevators at night time but I don’t want that to get invoked -I use it myself on those times on those days. So here I am, sleepless on a Sunday. Even without elevator, it will take a week to get used to get good sleep in summers or may be I would not be here.

Unfortunately, I have to work today as well, but I can’t do it unless I am in my full senses. So I watched ‘Good Luck Chuck’ once again. I don’t know what I like in it, may be subconsciously, I as well want to get a hex like that. This also makes me think of Ashlee Simpson (you would have figured out the connection, and I know it is Alba who is in the movie) and her engagement. I should not be analyzing her engagement, but I never knew someone would like to get married to an ‘Emo’ guy. I don't think I know much of these new age concepts.

Also, are those two songs of Foreigner – ” I want to know what Love is” and “ I just died in your arms tonight” good to be together, or may be paired with “Stop & Stare” from One Republic? Guess, that’s what is playing on my computer now.