Red Herring

Quick as a swift bear market rally, Cisco is out. The uncertainty lasted for a couple hours, but apparently the issue was quickly resolved. However, my timesheet manager informed my manager at HDS to put me on billable status as quickly as possible. Why the urgency? Who knows. As long as it doesn't lead to a layoff. That would be a disaster.

So Much For Stability

Haha... it figures. A day after I reviewed my year in India... touting the fact that the next year should have a newfound stability... I get a call today from my timesheet manager about a new development. So after that conversation, I have to be prepared for a call from Cisco about a billable position open to several candidates. Depending on the call, I could be imminently released from HDS and working for Cisco next week. Talk about the return of uncertainty. Since there are several candidates, all of whom probably have more experience, I still suspect that my chances of moving are less than 50%. But I've made predictions before and been totally wrong. Just look at last year. Hopefully this transfre will not affect my vacation plans... probably the only event that could ruin potentially ruin them.

Infosys, Life 1 Year After Joining

August 6, 2009 marked the 1 year anniversary of me flying to Atlanta and beginning a whole new life. August 11, 2009 marked the 1 year anniversary of me formally becoming an Infosys employee. I read through my old blog posts today to reminisce a little on my time in India. After a year, what have I learned of the company and the twist and turns during my trip in India up to now? Many things come to mind. Here are just a few thoughts:

1.) Since I trade in the stock market, I know a few things about volatility and uncertainty. Looking back on my posts, I have definitely say the uncertainty and volatility of my emotions was like the ride that the Dow and S&P took from Sept 2008 to Nov 2008. Straight drops in morale followed by periods of trying to look at hte bright side of things. I think I finally hit my emotional bottom on a post that was just 2 and a half weeks after I first arrived in India. It was the famous day that I will never forget, the day HR supposedly told us everything. Base location... work location, work unit, duration of stay, etc. Many of the emotions I felt on that day are not reflected in the post, actually I was surprised by how tame it sounded compared to how I actually felt (In reality, I felt like punching something and throwing up at the same time).
Many of these feelings came about from the rumors that we created before the announcement. At the time, we had no idea what we were talking about, so anything that sounded true (like no jobs in California) pretty much felt true. In restrospect, given my current situation, I can safely say that the emotions of that day and the rumors that were sparked up during the entire trip were a mixutre of miscommunication, a misunderstanding of our actual job, and due to the uncertainty of the situation, the need to create some idea of what our lives were going to look like in the future.
I can now conclude that 90% of the rumors I heard in when I was in India were false. I will consider that fact when accessing future rumors.

2.) It looks like my 2nd year at the company will be much less tumultuous than all of last year. Here's a chronicle of uncertainty that I felt last year:
- How am I getting paid?
- Where is my base location? And What is a base location?
- What is my job going to be like?
- Will I pass training?
- When am I going home?
- How much longer can I survive on the food in India?
- How long am I going to be on bench?
I pretty much projected (and therefore envisioned) myself to be in 10-15 different cities in the U.S. during the year. And in the end, I ended up where I wanted. Santa Clara, CA for the next 5-6 months. As Alex put it: "Your one of the lucky ones." Alex is currently in Dayton, OH after speding the previous 7 months on bench.

This year is poised to be much more stable. I now have a routine and it seems like the economy's improving (that's not what I really think) so barring a layoff, the next 6 months will be the polar opposite to much time in India. That might feel weird.

3.) The last year was split between a very exciting time (India) and a very boring time in my life (Bench in Fremont). When joining the company, I could not have forseen a 6-month period on bench. It was great, but very bad at the same time. Pros: No need to move, save money, plenty of time, continue with my gym membership.
Cons: I learned very little skills. No job experience. No one was in Fremont.

4.) I can only chuckle when I read the post about my lack of funds in India. Actually, the whole thing's pretty hilarious. Like a rags to riches storyline in some movie. What's actually funny is me tryng to live off 1000 Rs in a week and then 150 Rs in 3 days. Man... times were tough back then. No money, no food, and plenty of debt.... as in trying to pay back others who lent me money. This despite the fact that I had plenty of money stored in my U.S. accounts. I guess this was the only way I was gonna learn how being poor felt like. Those were the days...

5.) September 11, 2008 was the day that I last left a bunch of the friends I made in Mysore. As mentioned in previous posts, about 15 of them come to Hyderabad. What about the others? Except for Vishal, I haven't seen or talked to the rest of the guys. Whatever happened to Peter, Ryan, Steve, Paul, and Kwun? I know about Nick's fate. He quit 2-3 months into the whole experience.

6.) The Casualties: Nick, Sean, Sam, and Soham.
The 4 that have quit the company so far. There could be more, but unlike last year, the gossip has been slow. Either I have been shut out of the rumor mill, or there really isn't anything to talk about. But it got pretty good closing out year 1. In July, there was a huge dispute in the SAP unit on a billable project in Delaware. No one wanted to go there, which led to threats from the company for some sort of consequential action. Needless to say, Sarah is now gone and it seems like the issue was never resolved, but then again, I haven't been hunting for rumors lately.

7.) Highlights of the last year in no particular order except the first, which is my favorite:

- Meeting up with Alan and Jason in Hyderabad on the night I was leaving for India. Two great events. Too bad Alan got sick from the stuff that me and Joyce ordered. I don't know what his problem is, but we didn't have any problems ;)
- Singapore and Phucket with Jackson and Albert during Christmas. Great scenery, beaches and especially good food.
- Playing Starcraft in Mysore. Starcraft + Skype = Fun
- The entire Goa trip: Riding on the Scooters, visiting the Beaches, and looking for the beach party but ending up in a Casino (and seeing Izumi lose all his rupees), the route from the mainland to the casino (on that pointless boat), going to the nightclub/bar and meeting up with the other group (Mike, Sam, etc.) and very buzzed (slightly drunk) off two whisky shots and a Kingfisher beer. The scene with Me, Albert, and Izumi in some Indian food place (eating some kind of Naan Roll) after the bar was funny.
- Getting tailored clothing. I wish I got more!
- Playing frisbee almost everyday. Frisbee in Mysore was fun, but I definitely played the best in Hyderabad. Teams degenerated to the point were we usually played 3 vs 5. Jackson, Alex, and Me = Dream Team! It didn't help that Amjad suffered a season ending ankle injury.
- The last week of January and the first week of February in the Fremont office. It was cool seeing all the friends that I made in India, all in my hometown. Playing pool in the office and having lunch at the Mayflower stood out in particular. The party ended when Joyce left for Seattle and Venkat left for Concord. As of now, I haven't seen those two again.

It was a crazy year, one that may never be duplicated in terms of the highs and lows. I'm glad I was a part of it.

Looking forward... it appears most people are on shadowing projects, which involves gaining experience on the client site while in a non-billable status. Out of the people that came back with me to the Bay Area, only Izumi remains on bench. Me, Venkat and Liz were lucky enough to get projects in the Bay Area, but Mike was not so lucky. He relocated to Houston. Other relocations in ES: Alex to Dayton, Joyce to Seattle, Lan to Concord, David to Colorado, Nithya to Irvine, Cece to Plano. For eveyone of those situations, I realized I almost went to Chicago and then Charlotte: That could've been me.

That's reason enough for me to celebrate Year 2 of Infosys. Like the Facebook group I join, I Survived Infosys (so far). Cheers! (at least until the next crisis is dropped on me)