A year of hell, and a lifetime to remember it

Answer the phone...where are you guys? It doesn't take this long to get to the airport...

Miraj, answer your phone, have you heard from mom and dad...

where are you guys, how come you aren't answering the phone???

Ankit, Jigar, Nirav, anyone around??? It's nice out, but I don't want to wait at the airport

Where are you guys, somethings up...where do I go, what do I do now...come one, answer the phone...

Hello? What? How? You saw the calls on the phone...where are they taking them, thank you thank you...oh god...hospital...

Hello..my mom, she's in the emergency room...yes Doctor, I'll understand, yes, I'm old enough...critical condition, what does that mean?? open fractures...oh god...

Miraj, finally...dad's at Loyola...mom's at Alexian brothers...you go to to Loyola, i'll get to mom...Ankit, finally...come pick me up...there's been an accident...I don't know, just come get me...

Morphine...can't you tell she's in pain, give her something, what's wrong with you people!! No mom, how did this happen...you're just lying here, it's like your body is crushed, so many bones broken...

Yes doctor, I agree, lets transfer her to Loyola, my dad is there, haven't talked to my brother yet...everyone you guys go home...it's late you have to work...thanks...I'll call you

you need to what? yes, we understand, do what you need to do, don't waste time...

dad's doing okay? when can we see him? mom's more serious...you saw dad, he's doing okay? I can't see him yet?? why not...

And so on went the worst night of my life...the night that my parents got into a car accident coming to pick up me up the airport...a freak accident...feeling lost in the leg, hit the wrong petal...a car and a light post get in the way, but the brick wall did all the damage...

2 broken ankles, crushed heels, and a broken arm for my mom...a broken leg, two broken wrists, a broken collarbone, and a possible vertebrae injury for my dad...that's a lot of freakin bones...but nothing internal...lucky...

What ensued was the worst time of my life, with trips to Chicago coming in wholesale chunks...arguements with hosptial people...god dammit, the man is asking for water...give him water!!! WHy can't you understand that if you give someone 10 pills, they are going to have side effects!!! Home?? Home?? how they hell are they even going to go to the bathroom!!! what are you talking about?

You can rent hospital beds? there are people who'll come in a stay at our house full time? saviors...wow, look at all the nurses and therepists coming and going...wonderful people...

Insurance coverage is going to end?? are you kidding!! yes, we'll pay whatever we have to, just keep it going!

airport delays...again...

friends...family...you're all so wonderful...Uncle please go see my dad, he's losing it, and I can't get home...please...thank you...


Life's getting back to normal, or as close as it'll ever be...but it could have been much worse...and we were lucky. Everyone isn't so lucky...many of you, like me, have known people who've passed away in traffic accidents, and hopefully it's a reminder...my parents are a reminder for me, and I need to think about them more often (yes, I know, I still do stupid things with my car)...

look what can happen...just look...
photos.yahoo.com/mmparikh79 (click on "accident")

A spiral of thoughts on the way back from the mall

Often times I think that I'm cursed with an overactive mind. Normally that is helpful, as it helps me to go about my daily life in a fairly good manner. At work, I'm the guy who's got the ideas, with my friends, I'm the guy who's entertaining the crowd, with my family, I'm the one they count on to figure stuff out...

So the "curse" as I so immaturely call it (boohoo, poor Mitesh...) comes in when I find that I just can't not think about things for a while. Driving back the mall today...well actually from getting movies from DK...

it's dark out...oh it's 8pm...why do I work so late, why did I decide to do errands today, what am I'm going to eat...so why am I'm single, am I just passing up relationships, maybe that's why my parents seem to talk about it, maybe they know I'm just too stupid...there's the libary...(some time passes, as the library occupies me)...I wonder if I'm write about john's question...I think I could be a tech lead, but maybe not...what am I doing with my self...should I be aiming for a manager role, I think I'd like that, I like helping other people do stuff...why can't I be the doer...who should I call, why doesn't my phone ring much...guess that's the way it is, people don't really call me...what is it about me...how come I've never gotten past the allowing people to use me, the ones that treat me like crap, I seem to be nicer too, why am I like that...why are they fixing the road just to allow it to get messed up again, don't they get it...how am I going to get all my work done...I need to work less, but then again, I guess I do appreciate the overtime paychecks...of course, what's the point, I'll make a pile of money, and sleep on it...whatever...so wouldn't it be funny if I really did get hit by a bus, like I always say at work...amazing, things could change so fast, mom and dad are lucky...we had a good time at payalbhen's, I think, maybe I should spend longer at home this christmas, but what am I going to do...it was good to seem them dancing, it's been a long time...why do I think about so many different things...crazy..probably that's me...

Fast Talking

Any of you that know me realize that I talk pretty fast...most of the time. What I've also realized is that I know lots of fast talkers, in fact it's sort of useful, because the intake and output of information is quite fast. Further, conversations that fast talkers have seem to be followed only by other fast talkers, which makes going to the car dealership sometimes useful, since the salesmen don't tend to be fast talkers...that is of course unless they are fast talkers themselves...

Anyway...so what's my point...my point is there's another characteristic of us fast talkers...we jump the gun, we assume that we know the whole situation in the span of a few seconds, because many times we do. I've noticed recently, though, that I find myself being exasperated more and more by the lack of understanding the whole picture. I've seen this at work, and outside of work, via interactions with my friends. Clearly, I'm guilty of this too, as I'm just as fast of a talker, walker, and even balker as anyone else. I see that its probably frustrating to others who are trying to get to a point that is far different than my conclusion. Aside from the times when this is done to be funny, I'm sure it's really annoying. So what's the point of this blog...the point is that while fast talkers like me might think faster than the non-fast talking crowd...we probably annoy at a higher rate too...so shift to a lower gear, slow down a bit...take in some more gas, and understanding everything will help you accelerate to the end alot faster!