Road To Mysore

A friend of mine once told me that the difference between a rich man and a poor man is that a rich man knows when he has enough...

It's almost 10PM on a Friday night and I'm still at work. I have enough to get me through my next trip to Mysore but I'm still working. That's called "greed". I don't really need to work but I want to make as much as I can coz you can always use that extra money and you can never have enough. In other words I'm a poor man. Hopefully one day I can learn to be rich.

It's that time of the year again...yes, yes, yes. I leave LA in 19 days, my last day of work will be in 14 days...sweet!!! Physically, I'm still here in LA but the rest of me is else where. All of the preparations are going along smoothly. I have my airline ticket from LA to Bangkok then Bangalore and back. I also have my ticket from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and back. I'm looking forward to seeing Luke in Bangkok and experiencing my first trip to Thailand...wooohooo!!!

This is going to be my fourth trip to Mysore in four years and I can sense that it's going to be very different. It's going to be a lot less social. I'm told by some of my friends presently there that there will be less than half the normal amount of people. Most of my close friends who were there the past few months will be gone by the time I get there. It's going to be strange for the the first time not to have Guruji on the floor on a regular basis. I'm so used seeing him in the shala that it's going to be strange if he doesn't come downstairs everyday. Sharath will not be teaching for most of the time I'm there which I've accepted even before I planned the trip. I know that Saraswati will look after me...she always has.

It's almost 8PM and I have a splitting headache. I haven't had a very good day. I started the day working on a partnership return with special allocations. It made no sense at all. I couldn't follow what they did last year and I was getting frustrated. Nothing made sense. Before I could figure it out, one of the managers came to me and said we need to fix the amended return we did last Friday. He showed me what's wrong so I had to drop what I doing…I hate that. I spent most of the afternoon fixing it but the software was not cooperating. In theory it should have taken 30 minutes or so but if you can't let the software do what you want then your screwed. I called the software company a couple of times and they gave me instructions. I followed the instructions but the damn thing still didn't work. I wanted to call the software company again but before I could do that one of the my co-worker asked for some help. I didn't want to ignore her cause she's one of the cool people in the office. By the time I was done helping her it was too late to call the software company…damn. I spent the next two hours tweaking it…still didn't work. As a last resort, I started doing overrides to get it to where I want it to be. As a general rule, we don't like to override but when your frustrated and desperate…who gives a shit. I finally got it to work a few minutes ago but now the manager is gone…shit, I'm so sick of this particular return.

Today was one of those days when you're so busy and doing so much but don't get to accomplished anything. I hate that feeling. The worst thing is that I blew the budget on both returns. Now I have to decided on whether I should bill the time or eat the time. If I eat the time, then I don't get paid but if bill the time it could come back to bite me. That's the downside of being an independent contractor. I don't get any administrative time…oh well.

I got a lot accomplished this past weekend. I packed a couple of boxes and put it in storage. So far I've packed about 7 boxes. I'm trying my best to get as much stuff in storage and just have only essential stuff. My last day of work will be on September 21 which is a Friday. I hope to be out of my apartment on September 25 in the afternoon and I'm out of here the following day. I have three and a half days to get everything done.

Aside from the packing, I made my hotel reservations and airport pick-up in Chiang Mai. I spoke to N & K last week and they recommended the Mandala House. They stayed there a few months ago and said they really liked it. It's only around $24 a night but it looked pretty decent and in fact above my standards. My standards are pretty low, and definitely lower than N & K's so I know I'll be happy. I still need to book my reservations for my day trip to the Elephant Sanctuary. I wanted to do an elephant trek but some friends told me that the method of training the elephants are very cruel and recommended the Elephant Sanctuary. Instead of riding the elephant, we get to feed then and bath them in the river. Deep inside I still want to do an elephant trek but I'm told that after visiting the sanctuary, I wouldn't want to ride them. I'm told that all the elephants in the sanctuary were rescued for the trekking companies.

The other thing I need to schedule for Chiang Mai is the cooking class. I love Thai food and I've always wanted to learn how to make some their dishes. The skill will come in handy when I'm in India and I need a change of pace. I'm trying to decide between two schools. I only have two fulls day and two half days. I arrive on Monday around 2PM and leave on Thursday around 3PM. The more I read about Chiang Mai, the longer I want to stay but then it will cut into my Bangkok time. I only have 10 days total in Thailand. My first 3 days and last 3 days will be in Bangkok. I'm making no plans for my trip to Bangkok. I'm leaving that to Luke to decide on what I should see and what I should do.

All my preparation for this up coming trip has gone smoothly until today. My friend came to me this afternoon and dropped a bomb. She told me that I can't leave my car with her. We arranged this about two months ago and we agreed that I would pay her X amount. In this whole process she was so encouraging and since she had a two car garage, it would be no problem. I was really counting on this and didn't expect her to do this. I knew she needed the extra money so it all worked out well. She told me that she decided to get a roommate because she indeed needed the extra money. I acted cool about it but deep inside I really didn't want to deal with this...15 days before I leave. I have Plan B and always had one but it's not the most appealling option. Shit…she could have told me a month ago that she was considering this. I've already schedule all my days. Now I'll either have to stop working a day short or cancel some appointments. I have so much work this week, I really don't want to be dealing with this at the moment. Oh well…if this is going to be the worst thing that's going to happen to me in the next 15 days, I'll take it.

My boss talked to me this afternoon. He asked me again when my last day was. I said "on the 20th". He already knows this.

He said, "You're more than welcome to extend another week or even until October15."

I said, "My ticket is already booked."

He replied, "You can always cancel and rebook."

I smiled and said, "No thank you."

I know he's going to ask me this again next week. This office has about 450 tax returns that need to be filed by October 15. A lot of these returns will take at least 8 to 10 hours and a some will take even longer. In the next 4 1/2 weeks, most of my co-workers will be working almost everyday and some will be pulling all nighters. I don't have it in me at the moment to go through that. I left LA a month ago…my body need to follow soon.

I got this office email last Wednesday.

"In honor of the up and coming tax deadline, we will have “casual dress” thru to Monday, September 17."

As I was reading this email, my boss passes by my desk. I looked at him an said, "Casual dress…cool. Why didn't they just do it through October 15?"

He said, "Why?"

I replied, "Well, if we were "casual dress" until October 15, I can start packing my work clothes this weekend and stick it in storage."

He gave me this look and said, "Joey…(pause, shakes his head), sometimes we don't know what to do with you."

What exactly does he mean by that? Sometimes, I feel like they still want to me mold into this "perfect employee". I've come to the conclusion that I'm not employee material. I've told them that many times. This past year, his been trying his best to motivate me to be the "best that I can be" employee but the more he tried, the more I resisted. It's a stupid game we keep playing. I don't buy into the "dream"…it ain't happening buddy. I'm quiet happy being the bottom of the barrell, aimless independent contractor.

Most of the time, I know he wants to fire my sorry ass and be rid of me. Unfortunately, I do a good job and there's still a lot of work that needs to get done. They would probably fire me after October 15 but I'm going to be long gone by then.

A few months ago, the days were moving at a turtle's pace. It was like each day would never end. This past week has flown by so quickly. Every minutes was accounted for…rushing here and there, doing this and that and the next thing I knew the day was over and it was time to sleep and get ready for the next day. I have 10 days to go…it's going to fly by so quickly. I wish I can slow it down just a tad bit. The coming week has already been accounted for and I'm still trying to squeeze in a few appointments.

My car storage dilemma has already been settled. My friend told me last Friday that she has enough space in her garage after all. She had me scrambling for about two days. I wish I didn't have to go through all that.

We had a shala party yesterday afternoon at one of the yoga student's houses. It's always nice to get together with the shala mates every now and then. We never get to talk because we're always rushing in and out. It's also fun to chat with N & K outside the shala. Every time they return, some of the old regulars show up plus they attract a lot of new students. They bring a different energy to the shala. I'm going to miss them when I leave.

I got to chat a bit with S yesterday. She had just returned a week ago from Mysore after 3 months. She updated me with the latest Mysore news and gossip…not necessarily in that order. S told me that Mysore is so different from what it was when we were last there. There's a burger joint opening across from my apartment…what!!! There are a lot of new restaurants, stores and buildings all around Gokulam and Kalidasa Road. It's going to be a little over 14 months since I left Mysore. That's the longest time I've been away since I've first started doing my yearly trips.

I've also gotten a lot of update from R too who is currently renting my apartment in Mysore. He leaves Mysore this Friday. I should see him at the shala this Sunday.

I packed about three boxes yesterday and put them in storage. My apartment is beginning to look empty. It always amazes me on how much crap I've accumulated. I've gotten rid of a lot but can't seem to let go of some of it. I'm trying to pack as much as I can before the weekend. I need to be out of my apartment by Monday or Tuesday the latest. I'd really like to have some time to chill and see some friends before I leave. I'm so excited just thinking about everything.

Round trip ticket from LA-Bangkok-Bangalore…..$1,500
Round trip ticket from Bangkok to Chiang Mai…$80
Hotel room in Chiang Mai….$25 per night
Airport pick-up from Bangalore to Mysore…$55
Knowing that the only thing I need to do in the next four months is practice ashtanga yoga everyday at AYRI…PRICELESS!!!

Today was my last day of work. Thank God it's over. It's been a crazy busy day. I finally got my last return done, cleaned out my desk and submitted my timesheet. Now I focus on my trip.

My co-workers wanted to go out for dinner tonight so we went to a restaurant in Santa Monica. I have a group of co-workers that I get along with...I'm going to miss them. They gave me a bit of a hard time for abandoning them for the October 15 deadline. I feel for them. They're going to be putting some major hours in the next 3 weeks. My other boss asked me it I wanted to extend another three weeks. I said, "no thank you." I'm all burned out.

After dinner, a few of us headed to the casino to play some poker. Most of my co-workers are Asian so gambling comes naturally for us. It was one of my better nights but it was fun. I didn't really want to go tonight because I was tired but it's going to be the last time I'm going to play in a long time.

It's past 1AM. I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. Good thing it's Saturday so I get to sleep in a bit. It's been difficult getting out of bed and drag myself to practice this week. Hopefully this coming week will be better.

I normally don't drink coffee but the past two weeks I've been drinking it everyday just to help me get through the day. I love the taste of coffee but I try not to drink regularly. I hope I don't get a headache this week.

The last 4 days has been insane. There's been so much to do and today was no different.

I moved out of my apartment last Monday so two days before that was all about packing, storing and cleaning. I was out of my apartment by 2PM...my back was hurting that day.

Yesterday and today was a lot of errands, buying last minute things, seeing friends and who knows what. I thought today would have slowed down a bit. I projected that by 1PM, I'd be at my friend's apartment organizing and just chilling. It's past 4PM and I still haven't had lunch...I'll grab something in a few minutes.

I went to the office around 12:30PM today to return my keys and speak to my boss. He was out last week so I didn't get a chance to talk to him. There we a couple of issues we needed to discuss. The first issue was settled quickly and now that I think I should have asked for more...oh well. The other issue had to do with India. My boss and another tax partner are going to be there next month. I wanted to know if he still wanted me to meet him there. He said he wasn't sure if he wanted me to meet him next month but he asked if I could go in January to train the staff. I was a little shocked because I thought there were still exploring the possibilities. I guess there ready to open an office in India. I said I could but I don't have any work clothes and asked if I can wear what I'm wearing right now. He said that I would have dress properly because the staff will be reporting to me. Crap...all my work clothes are in storage and my keys are with my friend who has it in her house. I can't even pull it out of storage.

He told me not to worry about it at the moment because the timetable hasn't been set and if push comes to shove, I could email my brother to send me my clothes...I don't think so. My brother has keys to my storage unit but he won't know which clothes to send me. So at around 2PM, I had to make a decision. Do I want to be caught bare footed in India or do I want to be prepare. There is a Marshalls a few blocks from where I'm staying so I rushed and bought...2 pairs of slacks, 4 shirts, one pair of black shoes, a belt and 3 pairs of socks. I might not get to use any of these but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I leave today in less than 7 hours. I'm starving and I need to relax and settle down. Next time I blog, I'll be in Bangkok...woohoo!!!

I posted an entry last Saturday but it wouldn't save. I eventually lost the whole entry. I'm too lazy to recreate it so here is a short version.

I got in early Friday morning and headed straight to Absolute Yoga where Luke teaches. I wasn't planning to practice but when I arrived, there was a led primary that was ready to start...what the heck. It was really tiring after a 16 hour plane ride but it felt great after...well worth the pain.

Bankok is an amazing place...I love the energy, the food, the people, the massages (paid $8 for a two hour massage) and did I say the food was amazing. It's great having Luke around because he knows all the places, best restaurantss and he speak fluent Thai. I'm still a little jet-lagged so I've decided not to do any sight-seeing. Getting around here is so easy too.

I have a busy day ahead of me. It's almost 6AM... I need to get ready for practice, head home and quickly pack and take the 1PM plane to Chiang Mai.

PS. I love Thailand...I could easily live here.