The "greatest" country in the world

As always, I was listening to Ilayaraja songs one fine morning and this time was listening to "swargame endralum". As much as I enjoy this song for the music, lyrics and everything else, this time the lyrics made me sad. Why? Because, while geographically India is the same, there are still bullock carts and all the rural landscape laid out in the song is still present (though pushed to margins), but is India great?

What makes a country great? Is it the geography or is it the people? To me it is the latter. And the people now are ruining this country. It makes me sad that the innocence I hold of my image of India is being eroded. The political climate is being so polarized that I don' recognize India anymore. 

There is one group who wants to rewrite history - wants Savarkar in the text books, wants Mughals out of it. They seem to be "redressing" an imbalance that pandered to the minority in India. This same group, deifies one person, maybe two, as the savior of India. Modi and Yogi. Where is the critical thinking? Whatever Modi does, this group argues, has some superb, brilliant motive that mere mortals do not see. They identify with Modi. And what does Modi do? Mouth inane nonsense, talks in Mann ki Baath, does not front up to the journalists who should be asking the tough questions, but instead is doing his bidding. The ruling party maybe has done some good, built up on the laws that the UPA government started, but instead of talking of how they are transforming lives, and what their plans are for the next cycle, they devolve themselves into slandering, mud-slinging, deflecting and all the bull-shit they can think about.

Coming to the other part(ies)y, they too focus all their energy on one man - Modi. They do not offer any alternatives. At least them, I can excuse. They are in the opposition and their mandate is to make sure the government doesn't run amok. But they too selectively pick-up issues, amplify them. They do not get a pass - all the so called liberals, are petty, mock, humiliate anyone with an opposing view. Now all these parties are now banded together and call themselves, wait for it, I.N.D.I.A! and when they tweet, it is "INDIA wants to know". I mean, are you for real? So the Indian citizens does not want to know, it is INDIA? A complete non-entity like me, living so far away from India can see through this bull-shit. But, still this passes on as de rigueur way of politics in India. 

And finally coming to the citizens - how much lower can we go? Politicians loot us, yes. they convert lakes into apartments, they don't do due diligence in protecting the environment, they don't protect citizens, they don't protect nature. They are busy filling their coffers. They, the legislators, should be doing their job writing, striking down laws but instead fan the flames. The judiciary is clogged. But we citizens? we enjoy mud-slinging, we enjoy being vigilantes, we enjoy violence. Where is our sense of decorum? Empathy? I know in the daily hustle, we are pushed to the edge - no clean air, no free space to unwind, no smooth flowing traffic, no connectivity for the metros - but this is the citizens should come together and not be frayed and splitting at the seams. The happenings at Manipur and all other places are a stark reminder of where we are as a civilization. And it is not a great place to be. and that makes me sad! Incredibly sad. 

I always go back to the opening scene from Aaron Sorkin's Newsroom. One student asks Jeff Daniels' character "what makes America the greatest country in the world" And his response is just perfect! and No India is and never was the greatest country in the world and the outlook is bleak! but do I hold out for hope? You bet! The link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2HKbygLjJs

Will I ever feel the same way about "Swaragame endralum"? I hope I do!

The year that was 2013

I vividly remember January 1, 2013. We ushered in the New Year with the customary dinner in Austin, peered through frosted glass at the fireworks the city offered and retired to the warm comfort of the apartment. New Year's day was passed by visiting the temple and dreading to go to Richardson (~220 miles away from Austin) to join my new workplace.

To recap, a couple of months earlier (October 25th 2012, to be precise) I lost my job in a major reduction in force at my employer of 6+ years. Needless to say this was a big blow to my confidence. The fact that I was supporting two tuition fee made things a little harder. What softened the blow was that I secured a job offer almost immediately and that I was one semester away from graduation. 

With the recapping done, I must confess that I never really looked forward to the new job. Primarily because it was something I had done before (after graduating with an MSEE degree) and that it was in a different city. One piece of advice if I have to give to the world is - Do not start anything if your mind isn't in it. It is difficult enough to sustain the motivation and interest in things you wholeheartedly embrace. Do not make it harder than it already is. Believe and give your 100% before joining anything. If the experience is contrary to what you expect, you always have two paths from then on. 1. Stick on and change what you don't like 2. Move on. I will leave it up to you to choose which path suits best for you. In my mind, at that point there is no right or wrong answer. Just go with your instinct and stick with it. Again do not have second thoughts. As Steve Jobs said in his commencement address to Stanford University, one day when you sit back and look at your life, you will be able to connect the dots. So enjoy the ride!

The reason I went on this spiel was because it became harder for me. In my earlier blog (I am not linking my earlier post here when being a marketer, I should be doing anything to get more eyeballs on my blog :P) I had mentioned about my horrendous schedule and lack of light at the end of the tunnel. I do not know what you call it - Luck, God's will, some force outside our control - I choose God's will, I had a job out of school by the time graduated. It has never happened before. This was the first time I had a campus recruitment job. I gladly accepted the offer and was ready to face this new job as a Manager. The very fact that I was going to be called a manager was a completely different experience. It sounded strange at first. Now I am used to it but I am still getting used to the fact that people listen and look for directions from me. I am confident things will be better going forward.

Before I mention my new job, I have to say the summer was one of the best times I have had since I came to the USA. My parents visited us from India. My sister and B-i-L along with niece were in Champaign, IL. So the entire family met for about 3 weeks in Champaign along with my uncle from Bengaluru. We had an amazing time and Champaign is a wonderful small town. Got back on track with my running there. 

This second job in a year, I was gung-ho about it. I wanted to do good things. I wanted to change archaic ways of doing business. Alas, the ground reality was different. On the job, I was without responsibilities for more than a month. Slowly I got disgruntled with it. Here I was wanting to do something but I couldn't. Here, I chose the second path I mentioned above. 

I made the switch to the 3rd job in a year. It has been 4 weeks here. It mostly has been learning and absorbing most of what I can. Few customer visits have taught me more about my product more than anything else. One thing I could have done differently in the first four weeks is to offer my insights in discussions but I kept to myself because I wanted to get my basics right. 

In this new year, responsibilities are going to be transferred to me and of course I will have to open up and offer my insight and direction. It is exciting even to think about the fact that I will be responsible for the P&L of a product line. Here's to me hoping for an exciting ride in 2014.

Just to offer a perspective into the year I had, have a read - 

1. For the first 4 months (Till April), I flew back and forth Richardson and Austin on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I drove to Austin on Friday evenings and to Richardson on Monday mornings not to mention the small matter of doing decently well in my coursework

2. I moved to Richardson from Austin in mid May.

3. Drove to and from Richardson to Champaign (~800 miles), drove to and from Champaign and Mackinaw Island (~600 miles).

4. Moved from Richardson to Bridgewater, NJ end of July.

5. Moved from Bridgewater to Beaverton, OR end of November.

Crazy stuff, isn't it?

So I am going to sign off with - Have a wonderful 2014. May all your dreams, wishes come true. Stay fit and healthy. For me personally, I am looking forward to owning the P&L responsibilities and learning a lot! Hoping to exercise my brain a little bit more. Maybe cutting back on TV or watching Netflix and substituting with a lot reading is the way to go. I am open to suggestions for reading material. Hoping to continue my path of running and exercising and of course Hoping to do great at work!

Adios!

P.S: I would be remiss if I do not mention my cousin's spectacular hospitality in Richardson TX. Here I was, a fully grown adult, staying at my cousin's place for 4 months. They were kind enough to give a room to myself, feed me and put up with my odd hours. I will be forever indebted to them for helping me out in my time of need. 

Lakshminarayanan Lakshmanan BE, MS, MBA

Well, that is it folks! I have officially completed the requirements to earn an MBA. All that remains is the conferring of the actual degree! As always, this blog too starts with a caution - this is also going to rant based.

August 2010 - April 2013. Approximately three years. What did I learn? Well, I learnt a lot. I have new perspective on businesses, strategic decisions etc. Let me be honest, when I started my MBA there were friends who said "Oh this program sucks. People don't get jobs. What a waste of my money". I countered it by saying, "My takeaway is the knowledge I am gaining. Yes I do want  a job at the end of the program but I won't be dissing the program if I don't get one". What I was trying to say is I am learning something everyday and that is all I need. But as the years rolled by and I lost my job at AMD, my whole perspective changed. Now I wanted A job, in the business side of things. Unfortunately, I didn't get one and still haven't.

Let's change gears a little here. Am I glad my MBA is done? I am not sure. I sure don't feel euphoric that I have completed my MBA. I don't feel proud and have this sense of achievement that I have earned my MBA. If the above leads to happiness that I have finished my MBA, then no, I am not happy. Any discerning reader would by troubled enough by this sentiment of mine to ask me "Are you alright? Do you need to be checked in at the mental institution?". Fret not dear reader. Let me tell you why I feel this way. I am overwhelmed by all this travelling I have done in the past 3 months. I am tired. I am not my usual enthusiastic self (at least I think I am an enthu fellow). I feel weighed down by my own high expectations. Again the root-cause of this feeling stems from the fact that........ let me not mention it again.

The thing is, if it is something I care about so much, I haven't done enough justice in terms of effort to finding one. With all the travelling done in the last 3 months, I hardly found time to apply. I have to restart my application process now. The ones that seem promising don't seem promising anymore because the process takes such a long time!

Finally, I understood something. When I was working for AMD and I took a day off, I would miss work. Seriously! Now I when I take a day off, I enjoy it, cherish it so much that I don't want to go to work the next day or after the weekend. I take it this is a sign of me enjoying my work at AMD not enjoying it here. I know what I have to do now. Today is the first day of the rest of my life!

The past few months...

This post is going to be a vehicle for me to vent and crib...

People who even remotely know me would know that I got laid off last year in October. Having gone through this horrendous experience, I sincerely hope this fate doesn't befall anyone. Many might argue that I have nothing to complain about as I secured employment almost immediately. Well here are some aspects which gets masked..

Getting laid off is a severe blow to one's self confidence. It makes you question your self-worth. There are two aspects to being let go. One is being fired for the individual's performance or lack thereof and the other is dismal performance of the employer. I got hit by the latter. 

Waking up the next day and not having to get ready for work is when it hits you. A sense of desperation sets in and at least in my case a complete lack of direction. This is where being sure about what you want to do, how you want to do it, having the courage to stick by your decisions helps you a lot.  Me, I was in a confused state. Being one semester and couple of months away from graduating from an MBA didn't help either. I guess I didn't learn some of the finer aspects of management - Have long-term focus. Make decisions in the short-term that help you achieve long-term success. That went totally out of the window. I can counter it by saying, hey I have to be in status to do things I want to do! 

Being an immigrant and then being laid off is a double whammy, especially when you are one semester away from graduation and your spouse as well! I couldn't have been even more helpless. The only revenue stream, if I was a corporation, has been cut-off. Highly leveraged in terms of debt, no equity to speak of, not even brand equity I guess. Miller-Modigliani would have to come up with a different theorem to say that any outsider is indifferent to my capital structure!

Monetary aspect out of the way, friends and family into the picture. Don't get me wrong, they want the best for you and out of the goodness of their heart help you out. But sometimes no help can be the best help. Or just being a sounding board without offering any advice in return would have been awesome. Few know where to draw the line. If you are a person like me to not offend anyone, I pray you have loads of patience. 

Continuing where I left off a paragraph ago, after I got laid off, I thought "Hmm this might not be a bad situation after all. I can transition into a management job and after earning the degree go on to bigger and better things". The thing with plans is that they always sound good in theory. Practically it hardly ever gets implemented. Ever planned how to lose weight? how to be more active and less lazy? Ever built castles in the air and day dream about how great it'll be when you put into action those plans? And 2 months down the road, you are still heavy and still lazy and enjoying a cozy life in the comfort zone? You get the point. I started applying to management related jobs, no luck. I applied to Electrical Engineering jobs which I had lost touch with, no luck. Now I am back at where I started my career. Applications Engineer! That too in neighboring city. 

So now I commute, fly, every Monday and Tuesday to my basetown (for I don't want to use the word hometown. Chennai will be my hometown forever) to attend classes fly back the next day (Tuesday and Wednesday) to attend work. Go back to basetown on the weekends because that is where my apartment is and that is where I am most comfortable. So you can see I am in a state of perpetual motion! Now I am nearing graduation, having no end-game so to speak. No management job in sight, no encouraging signs.

I am hoping for a massive change in luck! Massive as in Himalayan massive. 

On the flipside people might argue - Hey you have a job, your revenue stream has restarted, you are in status. Agreed! But when you don't necessarily enjoy the job you are doing and the tunnel is never-ending, never mind it there being light at the end of it or not, it only exacerbates the already pitiful situation I am in!

But all I can do is, keep trying, keep my head down, expect less, not worry about the results and the endgame and finally keep fighting!

 

Doubts and Self-Pity

I am not going to be presumptuous and state that I am the reincarnation of Sigmund Freud when it comes to comings and goings of human emotions, the thought process behind it or how the human brain reacts to the events surrounding the above mentioned landlord who rented out the space for the said brain. No, that is not the motivation behind this post.

So let us get to it! What causes doubts? By this I do not mean the over-eager student sitting in the first row of the class raising his/her hand up to ask the most inane doubts to project themselves to the professor. I mean the doubts the brain conjures up and goes on in an infinite loop. This leads to self-pity. One starts to think "Oh I have done so much, but now I am feeling incompetent. I do not know what to do." A direct outcome of this is, at least to a person who lacks self-confidence, polling everyone he/she knows. Now, these people who span the spectrum of being mere acquaintances to good friends to spouse and relations all give their opinion on the subject matter at hand. Some do it out of their goodness of heart, some do it to feel superior. I am not here to judge the motivation of these people. The person who receives this does this so that people pity him/her, give him/her advice and in turn make the decision for them. This way the person feels good about himself/herself because in way they didn't make the decision.

I must admit I am one of them. From my perspective, why do I go about seeking confirmation or decision choices from all and sundry? Well, I am scared to take the responsibility of the decision let alone take the decision. Why? Well for one facing the ridicule! 'Insanity', you say and I admit. The other reason is Self-Doubt which stems from lack of self-confidence. There are people who might not be the subject matter expert but they do have the gift of the gab. They talk as though they are, to borrow a Seinfeld quote, "masters of their domain". I think, well is the receiver of such information so naive they believe this drivel? Can't they see through all this aggrandization?

After all this I define maturity as the ability to take the decision, well informed one at that not haphazard, and standing behind it all the way. One or lets face it, I shouldn't worry about the ridiculing and what not. As Paddy Upton, erstwhile mental conditioning coach of the Indian Cricket team puts it, (i paraphrase) "Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi had many detractors and there were many who hated them. What have you done to deserve anything different?"

One has to be confident yet not be abrasive, set boundaries yet not sound arrogant. I do have a grouse against one group of people - those who presume they know you better than you and offer advice as to what you should do and how you should do it. All this unsolicited mind you. I just want to say "I am old enough to wipe my own ass, so take your advice and shove it up the unsanitary place in the human anatomy". But if you are old enough, you know you fostered such a relationship which has led to this unsolicited advice. Life is short, well independent life is too short to be living on other's terms.

The starting place is - Having confidence in self. This leads to being the best filter possible. Leave out things you know are ridiculous and process advice that is relevant and make an informed decision. The more you think about the motivation for the other person to offer unsolicited advice the more angry you get. Instead take it with a smile, agree to whatever they say and take the decision you want to take.

Here is the best part, if you fail, you learn from it. You take the lessons and store it for future reference. If you take the decision others want you to take, what do you learn? NOTHING!

Keep Learning and Be Happy! 

A Very short and probably unattainable bucket list

Caution: Most of this post will contain self-aggrandizing!

About couple of weeks ago, I attended a Carnatic music concert of T.M. Krishna. I feel proud of the fact that I can enjoy various genres of music - Carnatic, Western Classical, Pop, Hip-Hop, Classic Rock, Metal, Rap, Blues to name a few. The pride melts away and is replaced by sadness. Whenever I listen to a good piece of composition, I feel bad that I am not able to understand one bit of the intricacies involved in composing the tune. I feel bad that I cannot play any instrument especially the guitar. The other instrument which I want to learn and be really good at is the piano. I also want to sing well. Unfortunately, I don't know either one of those. All the singing I do is for my poor car and the walls of my shower. If they had ears and mouth, I wonder what they would have to say about my cacophony. I cannot read music. In short, I am almost musically illiterate.

The other activity which I wanted to do was be very good at sports. I am not a competitive person in general, but when it comes to sports, I have to win every time. I take defeats in my stride but I have to give my 110% to feel that way. I have a good game in Badminton and a decent enough game in Cricket. I'd like to believe my technique is good in both but I need more practice to be really good in both sports. I used to play Table-Tennis, Tennis and Raquetball. I was competent in TT and Racquetball. Tennis needed a lot of my attention, though I had a killer single-handed backhand a la Federer. I didn't pursue anyone of the aforementioned sports.

At the risk of sounding obnoxious, I have lots of things going on in my life. I cannot find time to do the things I like. I guess I have to be contended with what I have, but the human mind always thinks - Grass is always greener on the other side. Sometimes, I think I feel this way because I am not the most self-confident person you'll find on the street. I always add caveats to my statements. I let go of arguments even if I know I am right and can back it up with facts.

I'll put an end to the rambling here and of course my 2 item bucket-list!

For the love of DOGs!!

I was stumped for the subject of my next blog and drew a blank every time I wanted to write about something. The blank has been filled. As the heading suggests this post is going to be about dogs. Specifically, the dogs I grew up with and those who are responsible for my love of dogs. This post is going to be a nostalgic and emotional ride.

Right from when I was a toddler I have been surrounded by dogs – German shepherds to be precise. The house I grew up in was a big house with lots of empty spaces around the building. Thanks to my Chitthappa who loves dogs I had an easy initiation towards loving them as well. The canine that was our pet was Foxy Sr. She had a litter of puppies – couple of which I remember are Sheeba, a magnificent black german shepherd and Caesar, a black and tan. More about Caesar later. Foxy Sr was a very good hunter. The dog’s intrinsic capability came in handy when she hunted down rats with unerring accuracy. She even gave the rats she killed a very honorable burial. No one suspected any foul play because she did a good job of covering her tracks. One evening in my youthful exuberance I started digging in our garden. As I was digging, I found ‘white hair’ coming from the ground. I thought it was my Perippa’s hair as his was already white when I was 6 years old. The elders in our house were surprised to see white hair stick up from the ground and had our domestic help dig in deep. What we found out was Foxy had killed the rat and buried it deep.

I graduated to third grade and it was time to move into a new home. At that time I had no qualms of leaving Foxy behind to move in our new home. Shortly after moving into the new place we, my sister and me, found out that we are going to have a dog. Caesar, as I mentioned earlier, son of Foxy was given to the caretakers of our farm. Caesar, I believe had a good childhood. He was able to enjoy the vast space of open land in the farm. Tales of how he saved the caretaker’s family by repelling a snake away were part of folklore. Since the farm was being sold, Caesar had to find a new home. We decided to take him in.

Caesar 1989 – 1996

Caesar was a wonderful pet. He had an air of dignity around him and was always loyal to us. My very first experiences of Caesar that I am able to recollect are how I taught to him to hunt chameleons. Our new place had lots of chameleons running around. Eventually he became a skilled hunter of chameleons and once got outside our home, hunted it down, killed it and brought his prey to our door-step. We used to take him out on walks and sometimes I used to unlatch the leash and Caesar and I would race back home. It was a sight to behold to watch Caesar run. When we were growing up, our Dad used to buy cakes and bread-sticks for us from McRennet. The bread-sticks were Caesar’s favorite. We used to tap the bread-stick on the table and Caesar would hear it even if he was sleeping and coming running to claim his treat. I have wonderful memories of playing hide ‘n seek with him with the bread-sticks. As any pet, he would hate being chained and would bark for attention and as a cry to set him free. But we had visitors every now and then who were afraid of dogs. “He is harmless”, we would tell them but it had no effect on them.

When Caesar did something wrong, our parents would admonish him. He would fold his ears back and lie down in a corner. Probably he thought he became invisible if he cowered down with his ears folded back. Many a time I would try to sit on him and try imagine him being a lion. To us he was. A photo of my dad holding out a bread-stick and Caesar on his hind legs defying gravity, reaching out to grab it from his hand is still imprinted in my memory. I would make Caesar place his head on my lap and pat him to sleep.

Then out of the blue in 1992, he disappeared. It was our mistake. It was Diwali time and ‘Roja’ had just been released in the theatres. We as a family watch very few movies in the theatres. Since there were good reviews for the movie, we went to the theatre. We underestimated the fear Caesar went through because of the sound emanating from the bursting of fire-crackers. In his scared mental state, he ran through the wire fence separating us from our neighbors and left us for a heart-wrenching 50 days. Those were the days when the neighbors would help each other out. For many days we and our neighbors would go on trips in our locality to trace Caesar. We even used to fantasize how our maverick of a neighbor would return with Caesar. This went on for 50 days. On the 50^th day, our domestic help told us that her son saw Caesar in the local goon’s house. My dad, I and the domestic help’s son went to the local goon’s house and there he was. We were so relieved to have Caesar back.

He lived with us for 4 more years and the inevitable happened. Out of old age, his internal organs stopped functioning. Fluid in his lungs made it difficult for him to eat his food. I still remember the day he died. Our phone line went dead. I returned from school to find him whining in pain. House flies swarming over him. I think his internal organs had started decaying already. I was running back and forth from my house to neighbor’s to call my Dad. Finally my dad came back work with his factory worker. Both of them took Caesar to the veterinary hospital. At the gates of the hospital, Caesar breathed his last. It was a devastating moment for all us. Our dear Caesar is no more. My dad whom I have always seen as a strong, upright person broke down. That was the impact Caesar had on all of us. I can safely say that my childhood was all the more better because of Caesar.

I know I am omitting lots of details like how he drove a thief away from stealing from us and many other such experiences. Caesar – We still love you and miss you! The “Nandi kesavan” pose you held was the best I have seen. May your soul rest in peace.

Rover 1997-2002

About 6-8 months after Caesar’s passing we had our next and last (at least until now) dog – Rover. What good times I had with Rover!! He was a very intelligent dog as well. Rover was a very handsome dog. His fur was of a darker shade than Caesar and had smooth coat of it. He was majestic to say the least. His initiation to our home was smooth. He got along well with all of us. His undying devotion to my Mom was surprising to all of us. My dad used to get frustrated with Rover when he walked him along with my mom. Rover would always follow my mom and never for a second leave her side.

One of my foremost memories of Rover was how protective he was about me. One fine morning, I was still sleeping in the living room, when my dad was patting and prodding me to wake up. Rover was lying beside me. When my dad patted me, Rover tried to bite him. This undying loyalty and devotion, one can expect only from dogs.

Rover was a small kid for his. He always craved for attention and got jealous if there was a small human kid around the house. Many a time, we would have a mat outlaid to place a baby there, but Rover would make himself comfortable on the mat. He was a big fan of “Adai” – a South Indian delicacy and even bigger fan of the butter we have Adai with. One day I left my plate with a piece of butter on it on the table and had stepped out for a minute. When I came back, I saw Rover with his paws on the table, licking the butter from my plate. It was hilarious. One other incident which made us adore him even more was how he plucked the “bajji” from my Mom’s hand when she was talking to a neighbor and hiding it from her.

Rover got my undying attention too. I used to get so jealous when our good old neighbor used to boast around that Rover had his first meal in our community at his place. I used to get so mad when my cousin took Rover to her house. I was even madder at Rover for wagging his tail and following them. Nevertheless, I had some great times with him as well. We had our own game of slapping the hand. I used to touch his paws and take my hand away and he would try to knock my hand with his paws. We used to play with towels too. He would bite down on end and I would be pulling from the other end. Oh! What fun times they were. I also used to make him lie down on my bed and smother him by hugging and kissing him. I also made sure he lied down on my sister’s bed as well. This would make her angry but looking at Rover she would just give up being mad.

Did I mention Rover was intelligent? One fine day we found out that he can open doors from biting down on the latch and pulling the door. I had never seen anything like that before. He used to love the A/C room in our house. In the scorching heat of Chennai, he used to make himself comfortable in the A/C room and never budge out. I still remember the day my sister brought Rover along to the railway station to pick me up.

Unfortunately, the pedigree he was, it made him susceptible to diseases as well. He had some kind of skin infection and had to undergo operation for it. I wasn’t around to witness all that as I was in college. In my 3^rd year at college he passed away. My parents didn’t mention it to me as they thought it would affect my studies. When I came back home, I was told he passed away. I miss Rover too. May your soul rest in peace! You left us too early.

I don’t know why, but I was reminded of our dogs and their thoughts keep running in my head. I sure do know that I miss them a lot. There were lots of other German Shepherds too when I was growing up - Lucie, Luna, Foxy Jr, Hero and Duke. For a person who has been surrounded by dogs his whole childhood, I haven’t had a dog for a long time. Maybe it is time to have one. My sister and I love dogs but our respective spouses aren’t too particular about dogs as pets. I guess that’s the way of life!

Some day in the future, I am sure I’ll have a dog – a German Shepherd. I love dogs too much to not have one!!