Bits and Bytes from my Life

I have seen benefits go down over years and benefit levels being added at top end. This article was great read. Now I should stop flying with my preferred airline and just buy cheapest tickets. Will still collect the miles because I think they are free.

Did anyone pay attention when Robert Shiller warned about the real estate bubble or Nouriel Roubini sounded the alarm bells about the impending global economic crisis? Probably not as much as they should have. So feel free to ignore this one, too: travel loyalty programs — and particularly airline programs — are a bubble. And it may be about to pop.

All the signs are there. Delta Air Lines’ recent, precipitous devaluation of its loyalty program is just the latest. Your hard-earned frequent flier miles now die with you, and can’t be inherited by your next of kin. (Yes, Delta can do that.) This follows a wholesale downgrade of its SkyMiles program. Several hotel chains, including Marriott and Hilton, have also decimated their programs in the last few weeks.

The Next Bubble? Travel Loyalty Programs | LinkedIn

This year started with return from India. In India, just eat a lot, met with family and friends and did not do much running. That means the start of year was bad. Could hardly run, legs started paining in first 30-40 minutes of run…

On March 24th finished my first half marathon of the year. It was a local event on Mercer Island. Was a great way to kickoff the event running for the year, I did my PR at the event.  

Also another great thing was we ran the event as a family. Abhi & Arni did there first 1mile run, Swati did her 5k and I did Half marathon.

Official Results are here…

People who know me, also know that 7 is my luck number and I do everything on 7th, whether changing a job or making resolutions. This year I am planning to break that tradition. I am going to have just 2 goals which will transform into multiple activities.

1. Get Fit(Weight under 190 lbs):  Have gained a few pounds in past few months hence have to refocus on health. How do I do this?

• Run at least 4 marathon/half marathons
• Exercise at least 4 days in a week.
• Set goal of 10k steps a day
• Eat healthy

2. Launch an app in market: Have been thinking of building some apps for a while. This was one of the goals in 2012 but time flew by and nothing happened. 2013 will be the year to focus and deliver on this goal. Not sure what app or what I will do but have to do something. Need to go attend startup weekend I think. Need to find and spend more time on writing code for sure.

Additionally I have to spend more time with family, continue doing great at work and read more but that is a given.

2012 was an amazing year for me. 2012 was the year I got to best health in my life.  Additionally

1. Fitness: I became a Triathlete by completing Lavaman in Hawaii and a Marathoner by finishing Chicago Marathon
2. Work: I had changed roles end of 2011 and shipped entertainment service for Xbox 360, Windows 8 and Windows Phone in 2012
3. Charity: Raised roughly 10k for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to find cure for blood cancers.

Fitness: 2012 started with practicing for Lavaman. It was hectic few months of training for swim, bike and run. Run was easy, bike was fun and swim was scary. I freaked out just before the event but was able to still finish. Next I trained for Chicago marathon which as amazing experience.

Work: I changed jobs and joined Xbox end of 2011. Had tons of fun and enjoyed every day of 2012 working in Xbox team. It was an amazing experience to ship entertainment (Video and Music) services that power all Windows and Xbox devices. Next time you switch on your Xbox or Windows device and see popular stuff that is all developed by our team.

Status Report: (2012 Resolution List)

1. Maintain weight under 185lbs: I achieved 185 but gained some now. Time to get back to 185 in 2013.
2. Participate in 12 events: Lavaman, Chicago Marathon, Seattle RnR(Half), Seattle Marathon(Half), Resolution Run, Mercer Island 10k, Bellevue 10k, Kirkland 5k, Microsoft Campus Jam
3. Get financial health in order and reduce recurring credit card debt to $0.
4. Read everyday for 15-30minutes before sleeping
5. Participate in 1 outdoor activity(walk, run etc.) with Swati every week.
6. Volunteer time(at least 25hrs) for a charitable cause
7. Start a business(maybe small or tiny or something… )… Start something…

Red are no traction.

Since November 2011, I have been working in Entertainment Services team as part of Xbox Live. Last week was a huge milestone for us, millions of customers around the globe started getting updates to their Xbox 360 and hopefully millions more will be buying and installing Windows 8 especially Surface from Microsoft. All these devices have a common and consistent entertainment experiences powered by services built by our team. Yes when you play a track on Xbox Music or watch a movie on Xbox Video that experience is powered by our team. It is amazing to be at the edge of a space that is changing so fast.

It was amazing experience to drive key discovery scenarios for the release including

• Most Popular Music, Movies and TV
• Top Purchased/Rented Music, Movies and TV
• Top Rated content
• Search Relevancy

Pictures are worth 1000 words:

Most Popular Movies on Xbox 360

Windows 8 Music App: Top Music

Windows 8 Music App: Top Songs

Windows 8 Music App: Top Artists and Play Top songs

Windows 8 Video App:Top Rented Movies

Windows 8 Video App: Top Selling TV Series

Working on more amazing stuff but more on that once we launch.

Last year I decided to run a full marathon. It took me almost 18 months to reach my goal. Finally the D-day came in Chicago. I have always loved Chicago but now it will be special for life. The city where I finished by first marathon. First of many more to come.

Most importantly I get to run for a great cause, fighting cancer, doing my bit to help the world to be better place. So many stories, so much pain is still around and it is sad to hear all of it. I just hope I can do something to help.

Chicago Marathon was amazing. We left Seattle on Friday for Chicago, after 4 hours flight reached O’hare airport. Took public transport to our hotel, Double Tree. Then it was time to wait and fuel up. Had lot of deep dish pizza.

Race day was perfect, great weather around 40-50 deg for running. Overall I finished much slower than what I had imagined but goal was to finish and I achieved it. Actually felt really great at end of the race.

Some Pictures from the race

Full Album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151470869862222.594322.695937221&type=1&l=54a462a22a

Today we had our long run at Seattle Arboretum. This is the hilliest course ever… This is 19th mile section of Seattle Marathon. the steepest and badest section of the event.

It was great fun to do the run with Ilana today.

Author: Christopher Mcdougall

Rating:

This book has changed how I think of running. I started running last year. Have done 3 half marathons and am training for a full marathon in Oct. I really believe that we as humans were born to run and it is amazing 36 years of my life I survived without running.  

This book is an amazing story of 50 mile foot race in deadly Copper Canyons in Mexico. It is a story of author Christopher McDougall’s search of “Why do our feet Hurt?”. It is also a story of Caballo Blanco an American who lives in Copper Canyon with local tribes and just runs. Christopher as done an great job with all the characters in the story. Loved every bit of the book.

If you run then you should read this book and if you don’t then you must read the book.

Some of my favorite passages from the book

Distance running was revered because it was indispensable; it was the way we survived and thrived and spread across the planet. You ran to eat and to avoid being eaten; you ran to find a mate and impress her, and with her you ran off to start a new life together. You had to love running, or you wouldn’t live to love anything else. And like everything else we love—everything we sentimentally call our “passions” and “desires”—it’s really an encoded ancestral necessity. We were born to run; we were born because we run. We’re all Running People, as the Tarahumara have always known.

‘When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever.’

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up,” Bannister said. “It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle—when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

‘When you run on the earth and run with the earth, you can run forever.’ ”

“You don’t stop running because you get old,” said the Demon. “You get old because you stop running.”

Our long runs have started. Today I was supposed to do 150min run but I only did 145. But I did 12 miles in that time so am really happy. Also I felt really good at end of the run which is great.