Madras Mail: Part 3

Ok, Mainframes are a pain. We had our training in LISP and suddenly COBOL happened. It specially irks me because I know there are so many beautiful languages out there that people are doing amazing things with and here I am stuck with a bunch of ugly languages. And I have not even started talking about people who have known nothing but this all their lives and believe their dabbling with COBOL is what is keeping the Universe from collapsing on them. They want to avoid that, especially  because at least in their minds, they are at the centre of it and it would not be pretty.

What enthrals me is the work going on right now on the web. I look at the stuff and wish I could in some way be a part of it. Well, I am a part of it, we all are. But you know, in a more active way, by creating things that are beautiful. There is something I am working on. I wish I had more time and space to pursue it - but I am still at it and hope I will be able to talk about it soon. I travel for about an hour in an office bus to and from work and I have been doing a lot of thinking on usability- in general and in connection with my project.

I have lot of ideas that I do not yet have the skills to implement. I have learnt a lot and am taking it in stages. One of my problems, if you call it a problem, is that I feel very very happy when I learn something new- however small it may be. In fact, I get so overwhelmed by it that I take some time to cherish the moment. I do that. I stroll around. Day dream about it and how I am going to in all probability change the world with it. I am too much of a romantic to go on doing things in a matter of fact way. This means I take longer to finish the same things than I ought to have. But there is nothing I can do about that, I guess.

Which brings me back to the work I am doing. Here I am expected to just get things done and get them done fast. Because my client does not like to pay for my day dreaming. Fair enough. That also means I feel uncomfortable working here. I don't like most of the work. They are unchallenging to my intellect and challenging to my well-being in general. I have done better work. And I have done quite some work before I joined this company.

I won't be here waiting around for a miracle. Frankly, I find this entire industry a sham.