resignation letter of the day

A Boss looking through his Mail Box was astonished to see a mail from an Employee who was supposed to be busy working at Client side on a critical project. It had the subject - "TaTa - Bye Bye". With the worst premonition he opened the mail and read the content with trembling hands:-

Dear Sir,

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you, but I'm leaving the job. The offer was too lucritive and attractive for me to turn down. I had to abscond because I wanted to avoid a scene with the HR and you. I am sorry but I had no choice.

The project is working fine. There are only 108 issues pending, out of which only 38% issues are High Priority. Hence I am sure there is no need to worry about. The next Phase of major enhancements I have been working upon, have been completed halfway. I am sure the new person who would replace me would not understand what all I had done so far. Hence, for his and your convenience, I have taken care to remove all the work that I had been doing this far for nearly 3 months now. I am sure you will appreciate my insight and "big heart".

I am ofcourse retaining the Originals that I had retrieved for the purpose of Passport verification with me, considering it as a parting gift from you. Ofcourse, I will not pay the bond amount that I owe the compnay (since I Am breaking the bond). But I will consider this as a parting gift from our Dear company. I moving out of town since the new company is situated in another City. Also, I have changed my contact number. So you will not be able to get in touch with me, to congratulate me. But I know your blessings are always with me.

Last but not the least. I also have the 7000 Rs entrusted to me by our company's cultural events group, for the upcoming movie event. I am sure you would have wanted me to keep it with myself as an added bonus from our company. I respect you very much, hence your wish is my command. I thank you for that in advance, and assure you that I will surely invest them wisely (but not in your company's stocks of course).

Don't worry sir. I am 2 years experienced now, learning so much from your company. So I will surely use this knowledge to write better programs for the new company.
Someday I'm sure we will meet sometime in the future. If you wish, I will surely be glad to give my employee reference for you to apply for a job in the new company which I am joining.

Your faithful employee,
S. W. Engineer


At the bottom of the page were the letters "PS". Hands still trembling, the Boss read:

PS: Dearest Boss, none of the above is true. I'm am still busy working at client side. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than my "Request to reconsider my Salary Appraisal" attached with this mail. Please approve it and call when it is safe for me to come to our Office to discuss this.

My respect and Best Regards to you!

BBQ with style

Christian invited the 6C team for a BBQ in his current - soon to be former - humble home in Idstein. Jack and Jasmina had to pick me up as I did not have my car any more ... The BBQ was very professional, the flat amazingly similar to a dream catalogue home - we had lots of fun. Here are the pics.

Dude, Where's My Car?

In the morning the guys finally came and tricked me into selling the car for €100 instead of €150. And I knew this was a trick and still did it!!! What a loser I am. Well anyway, here is what happened. After talking to the guys on the phone and telling them everything about the car they were "surprised" that the car was red and there was no airbag. So they could only offer me €100. Obviously I was chicken to be hard on so I gave in. I am glad it worked out and I at least do not have any more problems with the car...

Here some of the things that never would have happened without buying the car:
- a week after buying the car driving to Düsseldorf with 160km/h
- driving around for almost 15 minutes with a flat tire around my place trying to find a parking lot
- calling ADAC a total of 3 times because the car would not start
- cruising in the city with windows down, sunglasses and a broken exhaust listening to Helens mega mix from her iPOD on the radio
- marrying Yara (OK, and also divorcing, though not in the car)
- making a 180 on the entry to the 66 from Schwalbach
- driving home from work for 4 hours in the snow chaos last year
- being stuck on the A5 to Darmstadt this year for 3 hours in blazing sun
- all those trips on the weekend to Wiesbaden, the Langener Waldsee and more...
- all those trips to IKEA
- driving home the day Ms. Bush visited us and sliding through a crossing on Miquelallee through a red light & being photographed by the fixed radar and never getting a fine
- all those fines for false parking that I could get out by writing a nice letter to the police
- all those drives from and to work with all the nice people around me (Yara, Simone, Preeti, Blanca, etc.) - once even Martina joined for a drive!
- having always a couple of camping chairs ready...
I will stop here before I get too melancholic if it is not too late ...

BTW - did I mention my other car was a Ferrari?

FRIDAY!!!

I finally got an offer for my car. A car import / export company offered €150 for it - they would pick it up on Saturday from my place. Nothing else happened, other than a big snore in the evening...

Paritosh & Kasturi Housewarming

Paritosh and his lovely wife Kasturi showed Paul how easy it is to set up a housewarming party. Within just 2 days the invitation went out to the party people and the turnout was pretty amazing. Basically everyone in Frankfurt came to check out their really cool place in the Guenthersburgallee. Especially the second living room with the kitchen grabbed a lot of attention from everyone. And I got to know someone in Finance in Darmstadt! Yeepee - finally I can get lunch dates when I work!!! Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the event as I forgot the camera and I am still waiting for the photos ...

Now – where is that dog with the keys?

We managed to get tickets for the Pirates of the Caribbean double-feature in the only non-air-conditioned cinema in town. It all started at 19:30 with The Curse Of The Black Pearl with awesome Keira Knightley and those other two or three guys. The second part subtitled Dead Men’s Chest started afterwards and finished way after midnight.

The movie was simply amazing - a really good summer blockbuster as they all should be. A very twisted story, lots of action, a bit of romance, lots of fun, interesting characters, great special effects. The only strange thing was at the beginning the story was a little dark for my taste – a bird picking out someone’s eyes is not something I was expecting to see on this evening. But in the end a totally well spent 11 Euros – and I budgeted another ticket so that I can understand everything – even the lady with the strange accent.

SURPRISE!!!

We surprised Maike for her Birthday with a boat trip on the river. At least according to Eugenio's plan we did. In any case it was a nice evening with a boat ride on the river - definetely worth the price with the current tropic temperatures in the city. Happy Birthday, Maike!!!

the final countdown

So finally they got me. As I have started going to work without my car, the police had more than enough time to check it out as it stood in front of my house all the time. So last Thursday they gave me a warning that my TÜV was not done in time and I should do it within 10 days. So this morning I made an appointment with Ricardo, a friend of Pino in Darmstadt, who does TÜV preparation and TÜV examination. I even cleaned the car yesterday - it never has been cleaner all its life! Actually the car used to be blue as I discovered when all the dirt came off (just joking ...)

And now Ricardo is telling me that it is not worth repairing the car as it will be too expensive. It is rusty all over - he suggested to me not to try the TÜV at all. So now it is thinking time - I mean it is not that I need the car, but still it is a nice to have - it gives you so much flexibility sometimes. Ooh - my little ferrari! More to follow ...

ps: this whole thing with the car reminded me of a link that I got the other day about a famous cliché ... check it out here!

another one of those chain emails

just got this one from Sujal. This one is about people depending on when they are born. I copied the relevant bits about me (an April child). Needless to say I agree with most of it and especially like the last one. Enough said - here we go:

APRIL:
Active and dynamic.
Decisive and haste but tends to regret.
Attractive and affectionate to oneself.
Strong mentality.
Loves attention.
Diplomatic.
Consoling, friendly and solves people's problems.
Brave and fearless.
Adventurous.
Loving and caring.
Suave and generous.
Emotional.
Aggressive.
Hasty.
Good memory.
Moving
Motivates oneself and others.
Sickness usually of the head and chest.
Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

ps: due to popular demand here is the rest so you can check if you are also a typical January or September person or not ...

Bike Seat Quiz

What do "The Scream" and my bicycle seat have in common?

- They are both a piece of art - They both have an 83.5 x 66 cm version - Occasionally, both have been called "The Cry" - They have both been used in "The Simpsons" and in "Home Alone" - They have both been stolen

Well, apparently the fate of "The Scream" is a better one as at least the thieves have been sentenced in the meantime; though none of the suspects had been persuaded to reveal the whereabouts of the painting.

Now close your eyes and imagine this (well, actually first read it and then close your eyes, otherwise you cant't read it - sorry for the confustion):
You are sitting in a cafe next to the Schirn and see a guy walking up to a bike that is locked to a lamppost. The bike does not have a seat. The guy opens the lock and puts it in place on his bike where it belongs to. Then he takes the bike and almost sits on it when he notices there is no seat on it. He stops for a moment - and he puts the bike back, locks it again to the lamppost and walks away.

This is exactly what happened and I am sure I created some great conversation opportunities for the guests of the cafe. In any case, my trust in the city has been shaken and stirred today. I am off to eBay to look for a new seat now. Shame on you, evil bike seat stealer!!!

Vollsperrung A5

I made up my mind. I will not go by car any more to Darmstadt every day. Due to an accident involving a small car and a truck the A5 was completely cut off this morning for about 3 hours.
The world was all right when an ambulance car overtook me while entering the A5 at the airport with smoking tires. Then right after the big left curve I could already see my doom as all 4 lanes were basically not moving. First stop & go for 10 minutes, then stop for almost 3 hours on this quite sunny summer day. Needless to say I do not have air conditioning in my car.
The first half an hour I was writing emails. Later I cleaned my car and joined the truck drivers on the side of the road. Was quite an interesting conversation on accidents and more. After 3 hours in the sun the cars started to move and I arrived in the office with a slight headache. Hmm - I guess I will take the train from now on ...

CAMPIONI DEL MONDO!!!

We managed to be completely scattered for this day. The italians went to Berlin, some of us went to the Mainarena, some to the river, some stayed at home, some were in London and some in Geneva, Cincinatti or Nepal. For us "leftovers" it was the riverside in a place full of fwench süportehrs awround us. As the Germans were still under shock from the Grosso incident couple of days back - the number of french supporters was at an all time high. Every time I blew my supertromba some angry faces turned towards us. I wish I had gone with the Italians to Berlin - I am sure they had more fun watching the game there. In any case the italians won by penalty - which was pretty exciting. I must say even if I were neutreal - I prefer the italians partying more than the french. It's kind of more natural :-)

Oh by the way - I know what happened between Materazzi and Zidane:
Materazzi: "Do you know a cure for hiccups?"
Zidane: "Try this!"

It has been an amazing 4 weeks and I am glad I was part of it. Thanks, Germany for the amazing organization, thanks, Klinsmann for showing this country how to be positive and thanks to the italians for showing everyone else how to party (oh, yes, the brazilians also know how to party - if only they wouldn't have been sooo lazy ...)

Here are the photos of this last day including millions of fotos of the fireworks - if you want to relive it, just run the screenshow ...

also you can see a reverse firework show by clicking here (set the speed to 1 second) :-)

Germany - Weltmeister der Herzen - oooooh!

We gathered for the big match at Marias place for some homemade pizza - the evening was quite silent compared to the other ones as the italians were already preparing for Sunday to go to Berlin (which meant going to bed early). A great match - Schweini at his best - Ferruccio discovering what happens if you blow 3 supertrombas at the same time - you have to try for yourself, I am not going to tell ...

Happy Birthday Alba!!!

Alba got her present a day early with Italy winning - still we got her a proper one that would last :-) the usual (sounds bad, but this is what happens if you spoil everyone ...) great food, boring game, etc. Portugal would have deserved to win - but didn't. A great last 5 minutes - they literally went mad trying to score a goal.

Italy Germany 2:0

Our little diverse group parted today to make the best of both worlds. The Germany supporters went to the city, the Italian supporters to Albas. All in all a good match, not too bloody this time - I can understand the frustration on the German side - getting a goal only 2 minutes away from penalty shooting is simply "frech" from the italians - the number of french supporters must have skyrocketed the minute this goal was shot - it was a real slap in the face of all Germans - personally delivered by Fabio Grosso (what a cool name!). Only a minute later Alessandro Del Piero showed who is boss. Germany shattered - Italy celebrating...
ps: if you find a video of Lippi saying those magic swear words, please send a link!!!

boiling ...

with the German - Italy match only a day ahead some weird pieces of art have surfaced - going along the good old-fashioned "we are better then you" line

I - Ta - Lia

Alba invited all Italian supporters for dinner and horn-blowing. We did the Titanic exactly 3 times (guess why) and hyperjumped to the city afterwards on the lookout for italians from all over town. The evening ended in the morning hours with some delicious shrimps made by Alba. Go ITALY!!!