Rough day today at work but true ground reality is this number could have been 40k and nothing would change. The company would still have exact same velocity as it does today. If there is one thing twitter proved over last few years (and Elon got it right, sadly) is that big tech companies are in fact bloated by design. Most of the work you do is actually immaterial to the bottom line and I can bet that only 25% of the work that happens actually moves the needle. In other words most work is meaningless so if you have a job today it means nothing. I am glad today but I am no way not cognizant of fact that my work at the end of the day is mostly meaningless 😆
Macro
I am feeling slightly better about Spanberger/Hashmi/Jones(iffy) winning elections next week in VA than I was a few weeks ago. Their ads have definitely changed the tone and instead of just being “Trump! trump! trump! I am the only one who can stand against Trump!” laughable rhetoric, all 3 of them have made it more about economy, with a lot of relatable ads. This is much better than it used to be. No matter what you do, you will never get MAGA to vote for you, so they should spend time getting out people they know would vote for them if they actually step out. Looks like their campaign managers may have paid notice after all!
One of the big side effects of RTO has been that the DC area is not a tech hub anymore. No one wants to move here for tech, nor are there many tech jobs in this area anymore. It feels like the boom of 2015-2023 is pretty much dead at this point. The tech jobs are definitely triangulating back towards Seattle/Bay Area and New York again. Our loss though sigh.
A couple of weekends ago I met with an desi ex-colleague of mine for lunch. She was telling about our VP’s wife who belongs to the same circle/caste as does she, and since there are not that many of that sub-caste people around, her parents get invited to… “things”. Apparently Usha did a full on griha-pravesh ceremony (Indian housewarming party), and everyone had to check-in their phones and any electronic device before they could attend. Then the function itself was hard core South Indian function with puja and all, with her and kids in Indian attire etc. But nothing of that comes out. Apparently she’s the same at temples too. She regularly goes to the local Shiva Vishnu Temple, but before she goes the temple is locked down – she gets a room to herself to change into Indian attire, do her pujas, and then changes back into western outfits before she leaves the temple premises. All I could think was, so much effort to hide who you are because your husband is a fucking racist and representing a party that’s gone full Nazi. Imagine she could’ve married any other rich white decent American and she’d never have to hide her own identity the way she does now. Power truly corrupts people.
Speaking of dog, I swear my dog is throwing serious shade at the female golden retriever across the street who has been obsessed with him. She barks if dog is in front yard, she barks if she sees him and wants to play with him. Two weeks ago she escaped her yard and came to our house, and we presumed it was to play with our dog. All this while, my dog has not returned even one advance. Not one bark. Not one tug or push. Like zero interest. It’s like he wants nothing to do with her even though she is the cutest and friendliest golden retriever ever. I guess male loneliness epidemic has spread to dogs too!
Our doggo is going to have such a hard time once in-laws leave. He’s bonded with them so much and fact that they are at home all day while we peasants have to do RTO means he’s basically become their chela. Heck he even accompanies them to their room to take an afternoon nap with them. It’s the most cute thing ever to see as the parents go for a nap, so does he and will not come back down until one of ’em wakes up and heads down.
A is out with her parents at outlet mall to get some India shopping done. I told the kid not to go, but she did – and now she is bored out of her mind while A and fam spend more than a hour inside a single shop. Yes kid, that was why your mom did not want me to accompany because I would be getting antsy too and I’d rather them shop in peace. Sometimes your dad is right and you should listen kid!
My in-laws are here for another 3 weekends and they will be back to their hometown and I am already feeling sad about it. It’s gonna be hard adjusting back to just three of us again in the house. I am glad that A is making the best of it with them (as have I) and every time we see our parents, we have to remind ourselves that we need to make more India trips (and them, here). We have to be able to spend way more time with our parents than we do.
One of A’s close friends is moving back to India next month so it was nice to finally catch up over zoom. Desire to spend more time with aging parents coupled with the uncertain political environment prompted their move. Their kid is only 6 years old and they want to do that move now and figure out if they will like it back there or make some other plans like returning. He is at a perfect age to start school and assimilate in India and it makes sense. I hope it works out for them! We will miss them.
I hope that the flop of iPhone air doesn’t convince apple that they don’t need to make a thinner phone. If anything they need to reexamine why people are ok with heavier phone. My guess is it come back to the camera. I would buy the iPhone air with the pro camera system. They ought to get to that vision. The current iPhone pros are just about bricks at this point.