Of bad and unexpected events

Its confirmed now.... My laptop has reached a stage where it cannot be repaired :(...
As far as I know it had a bypass surgery but then its kidneys gave up...The doctor tried to keep it on life support but eventually they gave up....Thus, what my friends used to call a vintage piece does not exist now!!! A few of my friends had been regularly inquiring about its health and so I thought i would put that here... Its literally the end of an era.. It was really very old and such that its spares are not available now...And technically the main force behind me liking it was its OS --WinXP.. We are living in the times of Vista---a totally cumbersome,irritating and useless OS....But now I am left with no other option but to go for it...Though I hope to move to Windows 7 which is due in next 2 months.....
Moving to other things the past one week have been very dramatic. A lot of unexpected things happened to and around me...Add to it the constant demands of college life....I don't know whether we are being taught anything or being trained to be busy....Just today one of the faculty has asked us to submit the project on Thursday...That is 2 days from now...That too when it is quiz season here and couple of extracurricular events which I intend to participate into...
I think a lot of incoherent thoughts have been written...So I won't waste any more of your time (if you haven't closed this page till now) and turn to my project!!!!

System crash!!!!

Last Thursday my laptop just refused to start. I had shut it down while going to college and when i returned it just lay there...without any signs of life....I have always had an affinity to the computer starting with my PC in school to college to the laptop. It has been like a friend for me and i have rather spent a lot of time on it....exploring it.....infact bugging it in the process. I am in a different world when i am with it.... For years i had been an unauthorised service agent for my friends systems....It has been a wonderful association....
So the relationship is deep. And so it pains me that such a thing has happened. I tried to diagnose the problem but to no avail..I also went to the so called specialists but still they have not been able to decode it....And this has caused sleepless nights for me....Suddenly, something is missing from my life....Today they kind of got a breakthrough when they could find the root cause of the problem...But the treatment has still not been administered....Maybe tomorrow they'll operate on it and i can get back my lappy -- all hale and hearty-- in a couple of days....Just can't wait to get in back....
As I sit here in the computer lab of my institute and share the pain and distress, I just hope to get it back....Some have advised to move to a newer version....But i believe that my system still has life left in it.. and so the transition is not possible... My friends will vouch for the fact that how caring and concerned i am about this machine...Its been a tough weekend and is still going on....Please pray that in the end it gets through...Because they say "Alls well that ends well"!!!!

The art of Negotiation

The other day I saw the movie "Thank You For Smoking". My friends had showered considerable praise on the movie and i had been trying to sneak some time for it. And indeed it was a great movie. The protagonist in this case happened to be a lobbyist whose job was to defend/promote the firm he was representing. Whats the big deal in this.....This is pretty challenging when you represent the tobacco industry. To defend cigarettes when its ill effects are widely known. And guess what!! he succeeds and in a very convincing way. The idea portrayed is that you should have reason for what you do, you should analyse each argument rationally and then decide what to do...Its like thinking in all directions.
The key was his confidence and reasoning skills, the negotiation and convincing power. The sheer panache he displayed in not only promoting his firm but also thrashing the opposition was awesome. And that makes one wonder how to reach such levels? I would very well want to be learn the art. It really is an art...It is more important for a person like me, the so called "Budding Managers". You can literally sell any point if you have that skill. It would help you in managing conflicting segments of your job. I would not try to delve into the moral implications of this since it really is manipulation but yes if you look at it objectively,then it is a great asset to have in the dynamic business environment we work in. What I need now is to look for a teacher who can teach me this art. And yes I would recommend that you go and see the movie, especially all the managerial aspirants.....