A Little Lean
1. I feel bad, very bad, for John McCain. He’s running as a Republican in a time when the Republican party is in turmoil on the national level. The presidential race. Senate and House races. The only race you’ll find Republicans winning is how many of them can get caught being unethical. [I'll put Spitzer and Edwards in the "immoral" category, though Spitzer did transport his call girl across state lines. That's unethical AND immoral!]
I do give McCain props for picking Sarah Palin. I don’t buy into the claims of “inexperience” being leveled against her. I think any person with a decent grasp of how things are (presumably, Palin does) and who surround themselves with competent advisers can be a good President. You could end up with Ulysses S. Grant types, whose advisers take advantage of a “weak” President, but that’s more the (rare) exception rather than the rule.
Besides, she’s not too bad on the eyes either. And when’s the last time anyone’s said that about someone on a national ticket (maybe women about JFK)?
2. Any Democrat had to feel good about the state of the party after the convention and especially after last night’s Obama speech. He forcefully talked about each bit of criticism McCain and the Republic party have thrown at him. Basically, the speech was three parts: domestic policy, foreign relations, and lastly, hope/change/fluffernutter in the clouds. Together, the parts made one very awesome whole.
3. Typical conversation with Indian uncle:
Generic Uncle: What are you doing these days?
Shardule: I’m in the second year of a PhD Molecular Biology program at UPenn.
Generic Uncle (not hearing ‘medicine’ but still hearing something about science): So, uh, what’s next? Medical School?
(What Shardule says): No uncle, I plan to use my PhD to enter the biotech business and/or pharmaceutical venture capital world.
Generic Uncle: [Scratches head.] Okay.
***
(What Shardule thinks/wants to say): Medical school? You half-wit. I’m sorry your son or daughter chose to go to medical school and I did not. Medical school + a 4-year residency = Graduate school + a post-doc fellowship. I apologize for bringing you shame and bringing shame to all Indians for not pursuing an MD.
[Many of you have gotten used to the "What Shardule says" and "What Shardule thinks" routine. For those that have caught on to it, it's advantage: me. I can be blunt if I want to be or just communicate what I really want to say just by looking at you.]
4. Going to Chicago tomorrow. But tonight, I plan to spend an evening doing nothing. With myself. Yes, that sounds incredibly boring but with Zack (my new roommate) with his girlfriend, Manoj out of town, and no really good movies playing that I have not seen, this will be a night of cleaning, putting up posters, and doing plain nothing. This week being Paryushan takes any dinner plans out of the question.
5. My stipend has increased 2% over last year. The cost of a gallon of soy milk has increased by 33%. [I don't do the whole gallon of gas thing since I don't drive.] ‘Nuff said.
6. The Pats. 0-4 in the preseason. Worried? Not one bit.
7. My troubles with getting internet and cable for our apartment are over. I haggled my way into getting a break on the installation ($30 -> $15…go me) by getting the Comcast rep to listen to my cries of help. No really, I just lied and told them Verizon had a better deal. Which it didn’t.
Speaking of Verizon…my goodness…those **************** (<- lots of cuss words…not a line break)…here is my conversation with them. The EXACT conversation. Sort of.
[Online chat with Verizon sales rep]
Shardule: Hi, I can’t seem to switch from the $19.99 / month deal to the $29.99 / month deal using this online ordering system.
Rep: Well, some of the website’s features work better with Internet Explorer or Safari instead of Firefox.
Shardule (thinking): W…T…F. I’m trying to order internet and the Verizon website is not compatible with the browser that most homo sapiens use. Shame. Clearly they don’t know their internets.
[I switch over to IE...but it still doesn't work.]
Shardule: Sorry, I am still being asked to purchase the $19.99 / month deal. I simply cannot get the ’shopping cart’ to acknowledge the $29.99 / month plan.
Rep: Well, it looks as if if you’re using the online ordering system, the $19.99 / month plan is the only one you can get.
Shardule: Um, shouldn’t I be able to just click on the $29.99 plan and press, ‘Add to Shopping Cart’?
Rep: Yes, but I guess this is not what’s happening.
Shardule: Thank you and have a nice day.
Shardule (thinking): I guess this is not what’s happening? Such keen observation skills. Go be an economist.
That’s all for now. More rants later.
But peace and love for all of you 
