A Quick Catch Up on Recent Events
Today i.e., 19th September marks the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi and also the completion of my three months in the new job. I came to Bengaluru on 18th June 2023 and 19th June 2023 was my joining date. Technically, I have not lived here for three months. In the month of August, I went to Indore for three weeks but on a broader level, I will look past that fact and assume that I have completed three months in BLR as well.
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that:
“It is my third week here and things are slowly coming to an equilibrium. Am I fully comfortable here? No. But the third week is better than the third day so based on this data, the coming weeks should be more easy (I hope).”
A couple of weeks ago, I was having some trouble in sleeping because I had not left the house for ten days straight. I was working from home and also overthinking some scenarios which I always do. It was kind of an infinite loop. Work, Eat, Sleep repeat.
Currently, I am feeling better. I can even say that I am feeling comfortable here. This feeling of comfort, I am only experiencing from last Thursday (14th September 2023) when I went for some casual drinks with two of my office friends at a place called Indian Biere House. I had a perfect time. When they laughed (a lot) at my jokes, I was reassured that I still have my sense of humor, and it's not degraded with the lack of social interaction. For me, it is a BIG deal as evident from the fact I have slept relatively peacefully since that day. The three of us are thinking to make this a monthly thing.
It is worth noting that it was not the first time I went with those people. I went to House of Commons on 19th July 2023 with same two people to celebrate the completion of our one month in the new company. Yes, we all joined on the same date. We had a good time that day also. The reason I did not feel a lot better that day is maybe because my trip to Indore was approaching, and was the only thing on my mind.
I got a new phone on 6th September 2023. I was waiting for the new iPhone to drop which would lower the prices of the previous ones but one day I calculated that the price drop would not be a significant one. The expense would have been around 45K-50K. I didn't want to spend such money on a phone right now especially when I know other expenses are approaching.
The only reason I was leaning towards iPhone was it's small form factor. I cannot believe that it's September 2023 and large screen phones are still a thing. I get the fact that bigger phones give a good media consumption experience and also good battery life, but you can't carry them in your pocket comfortably. Phones are touching screen sizes of 6.8 inches. At what point you start calling them tablets?
But alas, smaller phones are either not available in India (Asus 8z/9z/10z) or the ones available are way too expensive (iPhone 13/14/15, galaxy S23) so I had to compromise on the size (again) and got Vivo T2 5G for 17K. Yes, it is a 6.3” inch phone, but I will live with it for now and continue to hope that brands bring back the smaller phones in the coming years.
Another problem I would have faced if I got an iPhone was I would not have been able to use my YouTube Revanced on Apple's ecosystem. I would be left with three options:
- Pay for YouTube premium
- Watch YouTube ads
- Try to use Revanced by jail breaking the new device
On the evening of 16th September 2023, I went to meet a couple of my college friends at a pub named The Bier Library in Koramangla and what a fantastic vibe that place had. I witnessed something that I have only seen in movies and TV shows. Five gentlemen were standing ON the bar chugging beer and the people they were with, were cheering “CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!”. Even the strangers and the staff of the place was whistling and cheering for them. When those people got down, five girls stepped on the bar to take their place and did the exact same thing.
People all around were making videos. What surprises me even more that bartenders who were behind the bar, were unaffected by all this. Given how good the place was, I am sure that they see this kind of thing happening quite often and have now gotten used to it. The bar platform on which the people were standing was quite narrow. The fact that none of fell while drinking is quite impressive for me. Although, the evil element in my personality took over and there was a while I thought “It would be even more enjoyable if one of them fell.”
I am mentioning the names of the places because I will forget them in a while. This way, I don't have to remember them and also can recommend these good places to others.
These are the good things that are happening. There are irritating and frustrating things also happening, but I will not talk about them here. They are normal things that happen to everyone so no point of mentioning those.
Since the past 18 days, I am conducting an experiment which will be continued till the end of the month. I will write about that most probably on 2nd October or in the first week of October.
Some plans are being made while some are being cancelled. I am planning a visit to Indore around Diwali. I am yet to have a discussion with my manager. Once that happens, I will apply the leaves and upon their approval, I will book the flight tickets. I am mentally preparing for the expenses that are approaching. Speaking of expenses, I have gotten much better at keeping a record of my expenses, so I know exactly where and how much I am spending. This will help in savings and also filing the return for income tax.
Earlier, I was using multiple applications on my phone for expense management, but I wanted something that had highly customized fields for my use case. The thought of creating my own app did cross my mind as I know enough flutter to do it but sometimes, the simple solution is the best. I created an Excel sheet with the columns I wanted and proper formulas so all I have to do is just enter basic details.
Let's talk a little about my server. Since I have configured it multiple times from scratch, I know how to perform every step and I also know how time-consuming and tedious it can get. Since the past few months, I was working on a script that does most of the stuff for me. I have seen such scripts at my previous organization and had basic idea on how to approach such things.
At this time, I am happy to report that the script is very extensive and working as expected. My current server is set up using that. I am constantly making small changes to the script here and there and will continue to do so in the coming months. Around my birthday (January 2024), I am planning to make some storage upgrades to the server but who knows what the condition will be at that time, so I am not getting my hopes up. I am just noting down the things I want to upgrade eventually.
I have created users for some other people on my Jellyfin instance, and they are able to play back my media without any problems. It is SO good to hear when someone who has subscriptions to all major OTT platforms comes to me for help for watching a particular movie that is not available without paying even more.
I will write a post regarding my server, and services running on it, some time in mid-January. Even if the upgrade that I am planning is not successful. I know it is long overdue now.
I forgot to mention this in my Mini PC post that I have named my server “Akaza”. If you want to know what it means either watch Demon Slayer or read about it here (contains spoilers).
The start of 2024 will be a time when I would have to take some major decisions about my career. The fact is I am confused among some choices and I cannot afford another rash decision. I would like to have a long detailed conversation regarding this with my sister first and then with my parents. I will consider every scenario and micromanage the fuck out of it.
On 14th February 2024, something very good is happening which may motivate me in taking an initiative towards an idea that I have been toying around since COVID-19 lockdown. I know what you are thinking. Let me crush your expectations. Neither it is not related to Valentine's Day nor it is something romantic. I may not even go through with it. Who knows?
Ending this post for now.
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