PhilAdelhia

Today was a good day. As part of international orientation we took the students to Philadelphia. The whole trip was fun especially for me cause I basically hung out with the volunteers and it was a lot of fun getting to know the
and hang out with them during orietation.

But thus is not a post about that and the new people and friends I met and made. This us a post about Philly. I said to MAHA that o never really liked Philly. That may not be completely accurate. I have sone great memories here.

It was my first place away from home which was all mine. No other city will get that title.

It was the place I learnt to be truly independent.

It was the first place I was varied home after a crazy two month delayed birthday party.

My first experience with house mates, good or otherwise, was at 42nd and Pine.

My first and I hope last time sleeping on a pool ornament.

Living close to someone you love very dearly, always having them around.

Standing up for myself

Learning Beer Pong

Horse-racing

My first experience with an American housemate

I did enjoy Philadelphia actually, but I think that I wouldn't really want a repeat of those 2 years!

Craving

For some of those spicy masala fried potato wafers my dad used to get from A1 wafers next to his office.
Sigh.... This one is not going to be fulfilled.

Some other cravings that I habitually get:

manchurian
manchow soup
wonton soup
pav bhaji from Classic
paneer chilli from China Valley
Paneer chilli from Five Spice
Chowmein from hole-in-the-wall restaurant on causeway

My favourite restaurant..

My friend Haile asked Asli and I what our favourite restaurant in the City was (by City I will always mean NYC)

I've been to many different restaurants in the city but to my surprise I've probably never been to the same restaurant twice. This isn't too hard to imagine. Here's something from a forum I came across.

"nyc statistics

that lists 18,616 eating establishments in the city with 222 of them new for that year (2006). If we take 222 as our average annual turnover rate for restaurants (222 restaurants get replaced every year with a different restaurant), and an average of 3 meals for each of the 365.25 days in the year, we get a back-of-the-envelope result of about 20.3 years of eating without going to the same restaurant twice. Of course, this is assuming that we get the same number of establishments for each of the three meals, that you get each restaurant before they close down for good, and other things.

However, if we start getting a lot more inclusive with eating establishments (taco carts, halal carts, hotels, events with food, etc.), then the numbers probably get even better."

If I were asked what's my favourite hangout in the city , I'm going to shout out "The Frying Pan". Confused? Yes..check this image. It's basically a large boat convereted to a bar with some food. Chairs are scattered everywhere, grab a drink and sit there all day. One of the best times I've ever had were with my pal Mihir sitting there all day...literally !

My favourite beer place in the city is The Ginger Man introduced to me by my cousin Nirav. If you're lucky and you get there early, move to the back of the bar where there is a room with couches and enjoy the many many delicious beers they have on offer.

I shall have to try out many different places before I can choose a favourite. It's going to be a tough job but I'm looking forward to it !

Get a new agent

Nicolas Cage..PLEASE get a new agent.

I just wasted two hours of my life watching "Bangkok Dangerous". OK...Just from the title I should've stayed away - but it's Cage, I gave him a chance and he let me down again.

This is after I gave him several previous chances with Knowing (YUCK!!), Con Air and Face-off (Ok..that was pretty good actually but just because he is evil sometimes).

Have you watched 8mm, Snake Eyes? Those are classic Cage..

Please get a new agent.

The great divide

Recently I've been asked several times by different people whether monetary compensation is enough for Ph.D students and/or assistant/associate professors. No...it is not. Some folk are shocked by the annual stipends we receive as Ph.D students (note stipend - not a real salary in any way). It's definitely in the lowest bracket you can think off..I mean come on, we actually get money back during taxes.

Aashima asked me the other day whether I'm happy with it? Her words were basically "I know how you were, atleast back in Bombay - you liked to go out, have fun. Doesn't this lifestyle of saving up and scrounging bother you a bit?". YES it does - but it's something that I have to go through to do what I like to do. I love doing my work and I work my butt off doing it. I'm in the lab 7 days a week for atleast 6-7 hours. While I'm not in the lab, I'm thinking about my science. Why don't we get paid more? I don't know - I should find out. Perhaps because we're not responsible for billions of dollars (ok maybe millions) and our returns to the general public take a while longer. It definitely is not our skill set because in our fields, we're the most skilled. What about diversity in the skill sets - I'm going to say scientists and grad students in the biological sciences tend to be one of the most diverse people ; we know our field amazingly well, we can crunch numbers, we can learn computer programs if we have to without much difficulty. What I'm trying to say is that we should get paid more than we currently do - but that situation is unlikely to change.

I would love to know from my finance and banker friends why they get paid more? One reason that I can think of is that as "non-students" they are liable for everything they do and the bigger the responsibility the higher the pay. Fair enough. Anything else? Help me out here?

Finally - I hate it when people (and my friends included) treat the students almost like annoying flies. "Oh you're only a student - you can wake up late!" WTF? If I wake up late, I'm in lab until later. And when I have barbeques in the evenings, chilling I've heard from the "non-students" - WOW you are living the life. The hell I am - I can't afford to go out so I'm chilling here grilling.

This is not a rant - it's just something that I want to try and understand myself. What dictates salary and stipends. Are advanced degrees worth it ? Why doesn't everyone just get paid by the hour..