Risk profiles

It is said that everyone has a risk profile according to which they take their decisions. Opps, for those who do not know, ‘Risk Profile’ is simply the ability to take risk. The more risk you take in your day-to-day life, the steeper is your risk profile. We take more risk when we are young and the risk taking ability or urge diminishes as we grow old. Of course, different people at the same age could have diametrically opposite risk profiles.

Anyways, why I am writing this is for the fact that I seem to have a high risk profile. This is what happened today:

I went to the ATM to deposit cash (did you know you can do that?). I had two envelopes to deposit. I inserted my card, chose to deposit cash from the menu and slid the cash envelope on the beep. Wow, as soon as the ATM machine engulped the cash envelope, I got a message on the screen informing that my transaction has been cancelled! What do I do now?  Well somehow I knew that when the cash is cleared from the ATM machine, the bank will anyway acknowledge my deposit. So things are safe.

So far so good. Here’s where the risk profile comes in. Already knowing that there’s something wrong, I started another transaction to deposit cash on the same ATM! And guess what? The result was the same!

Well, just to ensure that I was thinking in the right direction, I called up the customer care. They assured that the deposits will be registered in 48 hours. So all should be well.

So am I someone with a high risk profile, or am I someone who is utterly stupid? Hmmm…tough call. Let’s see. If the deposits come through smoothly, I have a high risk profile. If for some reason they don’t then……………..Alright, I am utterly stupid.

Update: Just got a confirmation that both the deposits have been credited. So that proves that I have a high risk profile and I am not stupid 😉

When I missed my flight…

It hasn’t been long when I pleasantly missed my flight! Yes, I pleasantly missed my flight. I had to travel from LA to Buffalo via Charlotte. While I left for the airport a bit tight on time, it was good enough to reach there in time. However, the LA traffic had something else in store for me. The slow moving traffic almost for the whole stretch, made it impossible to make there in time. While I reached there half an hour before the scheduled departure, it was already too late to check-in my baggage as most of the airlines have a cut-off time of 45 minutes before they stop accepting any baggage for the particular flight.

As I walked into the airport, I was almost relaxed. I knew that I had missed my flight so no need to hurry and all. I started thinking about plan B’s and plan C’s (which I didn’t have). Anyways, I had a US airways flight, so I reached the full-service counter. After the initial greetings, I simply told that lady that I think I’ve missed my flight. I didn’t know what to expect. And to my surprise, she gave a very reassuring smile and said, “Let me see what I can do for you!”. Wow, never I would have expected such a reassurance while traveling in India. Within a couple of minutes, she said “You’ll reach your destination half an hour later than your initial itinerary”. That was so relaxing. So simple it was. I immediately gave my nod to proceed. Nothing could have been better that day (except for not missing the flight.). Well, no point mentioning the rest of the story. It was a usual longish travel day. I was in Buffalo a little later than I had planned for.

I don’t think I could have had any smoother experience of missing a flight and then reach with an alternate itinerary and that too without spending an extra penny! Even through they say US Airways  is not the best when it comes to the customer service, I don’t see any scope as to how the whole process could have been better. I was completely sold.  And let’s keep in mind that it is a low cost airline. Full marks to the airlines.

I can understand that I was lucky to find a seat on an alternate itinerary. At times and on busy routes, the process may not be smooth. But then, missing a flight is the passenger’s fault. So we can only be grateful if we find an alternative and certainly can’t crib if the airline is not able to manage one. What matters is the attitude. Logistics is not always in one’s control.

I haven’t heard of such a customer experience in India. Or may be, I don’t even know what happens if I miss a flight here! Traffic in Indian metros is no better than LA.  But I am eager to know. I don’t want to miss a flight to know this, so if you’ve had an experience, please share it here :-). I hope we have everything it takes to provide a similar customer experience. In fact, we may be doing so, just that I am not aware of it.

So next time when you are traveling in the US and realize that you are getting late to catch your flight, do not press hard on the accelerator and increase the chances of an accident! Relax and reach safely. Missing flight is not all that bad after all!

Happy missing flight! (well not recommended though)

Bye Bye Hollywood!

The Hollywood Sign

It has been a while since I’ve put an article. But then, this is not the first time it has happened. Well, a lot has happened over the last couple of months. A lot of travel, places and people.

So where have I been all the time and what have I been doing to find an excuse for now writing a post? I can answer the first, I was in Los Angeles/ Hollywood most of the time. But the second one…Hmmm..tough to answer. More than the work, it was the schedule which prevented me from posting something, in spite of so much happening around.

Finally I seem to have some time to put up a post (that is because I have to wait for my flight back to India for 3 more hours!). So all the while, I was living just a block away from the famous “Hollywood walk of fame”! Yes, the same place where people come from all over the world to have a glance at the entertainment capital of the west. How exciting! Well yes, it is, only if you have come as a tourist. It loses importance when you walk the same streets everyday, for two months. And that’s what happened to me. I remember almost every shop and restaurant along a mile, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (on both sides of the road J). Anyways, that place is worth watching if you are in and around LA. Just walking on the road for about half a mile, you would witness an ambience which will remind of the best of Hollywood movies. The pirate, the hulk, the spiderman, the batman, spider woman, the mask man……….and the list goes on. Yes, these are the characters you would witness not once, not twice, but almost every time you walk down the street. And while you walk down the street, once every while, you can witness the famous ‘Hollywood’ sign on the hills. The trademark I must say.

Now when I am on my way back, I realize how lively that place was. I wouldn’t say I miss it, but it does deserve a mention here.

Currently, there’s nothing which can excite me more than getting back to India! Ah, how much I missed the Indian food, I can’t even describe. What and how did I manage to eat in the last couple of months deserves a post dedicated to it.

Hopefully I’ll settle into my regular schedule soon and find time to put some posts and catch up!

Zen and the Relief of Motorcycle Servicing!

Not long enough I had read a book called ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance‘. While it was more of a philosophical journey as opposed to what the title suggests, there is definitely something good about motorcycle maintenance (or anything for that matter).

I had been deferring the routine servicing of my motorbike for quite some time. If I remember correctly, it has been over 9 months. And guess what, this is when the workshop is (rather was) just behind my workplace! This is the height of laziness, isn’t it? (I know most of you are no different 😉 ). Anyways, 2-3 months ago, I decided to shun the laziness and went to the workshop behind my workplace. But wow, look at my destiny (or my bike’s destiny rather), I came to know that the workshop had been closed. Possibly because of people like me not bothering to service their bikes.

Anyways, the closure of the workshop nearby gave me a solid reason to defer the servicing. I could only imagine, how good it would have been if the workshop was still there. Servicing the bike at the other, more prominent workshop, would mean killing a day. So weekdays were out of question. I somehow couldn’t convince myself to trade off a weekend to get this through. Moreover, a couple of my friends warned me against the main workshop which received hundreds of bikes everyday and supposedly couldn’t pay attention to details. Ah! this was more than enough for me. How could I get my bike serviced at such a place? So I decided to live with a couple of smallish troubles which were already starting to show off in my bike. I was noticing a drop in the mileage. The chain and sprocket were making noise. The rear view mirrors were long out of alignment and beyond any use. I could neither see my face nor the traffic in them. They were somehow pointing to the ground beneath!

With all this, as I went on for my work every morning, the troubles my bike gave was nagging. I actually avoided using my bike as the feel good factor was lost. Now, people around me could notice the irritating noise it gave when changing gears. Thankfully it never broke down.

This morning, I remembered the joy and feel of riding the bike when I first bought it. I decided that it was enough and I must do something about it. It was simple. I went ahead for servicing. Had a tea with the mechanic over there as he examined the bike for the problems. I mentioned all the troubles I had along with the cosmetic changes which were necessary and came back. Somehow I felt a huge load, off my head!

And this effort was not in vain. When I went ahead and received my bike in the evening. It looked almost new. I could resist riding it back. And wow, there was a whole lot different experience while I rode it back to my home. Suddenly all noises were gone. Everything was in perfect shape. The ride was intact. I cannot explain the relief and the ‘feel good’ factor I got in the short ride from the workshop to my home.

I am sure most of us have had such experiences. Motorbike is just an example. It can happen with anything. The joy of putting things back on track is just so refreshing.

So did I learn a lesson? Well yes, to experience the joy of getting the broken things fixed, wait till they break! Ha ha! Just kidding. Let’s see when I go for the next servicing 🙂

On Undisclosed Expectations and their Repercussions ….

It has been some time since I wanted to write on this. I held myself off this to ensure I don’t over react and put in something out of frustration. Usually, I have a lot of patience and don’t lose my cool easily but there’s something which has been bugging me for some time.

It is about undisclosed expectations. Now what’s that? I’ll have to build up a story around that. Let’s assume that there’s a kid in your neighborhood. You’ve got a family and there is a kid in your family as well, but he is too small to the world outside. You come to know of the neighborhood kid, meet him and somehow like him. Luckily you’ve got a chocolate with you and you give it to him. A couple of days pass, and by chance, you meet your little friend while taking an evening walk in the adjoining park. He greets you and and this time you offer him a chocolate again. Days pass on, and it becomes a sort of a routine. You buy chocolates for the neighborhood kid, slowly more because of an obligation rather than anything else. On the other hand, the kid has developed a shuttle expectation within himself, that you’ll offer him chocolates whenever you meet him. The kid has grown up, and so have the expectations. You think, now that the kid has grown up, probably he doesn’t need chocolates anymore. You’d rather give those to the kid at home, who has grown up enough to try out the chocolates now. You stop giving chocolates to the neighborhood kid and reserve them for home.

What happens now? In all probability, the neighborhood kid would start feeling uneasy and react. He would probably not think of all those days you’ve offered him chocolates, but will definitely react to the situation at hand. Assume that you can afford to give chocolates only to one kid. That makes it straightforward to be the kid at home rather the one in your neighborhood. You don’t really like the neighborhood kid’s reaction. Though he can’t claim those chocolates on you, he’ll show his resentment in one or the other ways. That makes you annoyed. You think you offered him the chocolates all these days you could, and now that the kid in your family needs you’ve just switched the attention. You think why should the neighborhood kid react like this?

In the above fabricated story, who is to be held responsible for the situation? You for offering chocolates initially and then pulling off? Or the kid for not acknowledging the fact he got chocolates out of nothing for all those days and should not complain for something which was never a norm?

Well he was just a kid! If you do this to the eldest of people, the situation is not going to improve. It is a human tendency to take things for granted, if they happen on a regular basis. We are bound to complain if it goes missing, even if it never belonged to us. It takes a lot of guts to happily acknowledge the fact that losing something which never belonged to you is not a loss at all! Why to complain? It was a bonus anyway. You can’t hold anyone responsible for not offering the bonus consistently.

It has happened to me is some way. It turns out that to avoid such situations, one should not stretch beyond limits on a regular basis. It sets that ‘Undisclosed Expectation’ which is very difficult to break. The ‘delta’‘ or the additional effort you put in should never be comparable to the ‘mainline’ effort. The undisclosed expectations could be very dangerous. Since one just can’t force this upon, they tend to react in unjustified ways.

Notes to myself: If I have to avoid setting ‘undisclosed expectations’ , I need to make a deliberate effort not to stretch beyond the comfort zone . Else, I’ll be in trouble. Anything which is within the comfort zone is fine, even it has some ‘delta’ 🙂