Cataloging my efficiency as I grow older

Today I had this strong urge to document how my efficiency has changed for better in last decades of my active professional life. My life started as a professional (read first job) at the age of 26 in Mumbai. Then I was a fresh Ph. D with great ambition in life , but could not find a job to match my ambition, so just settled for a teaching job in a college. Highly unsatisfied, I was not really a good worker. My  job was for 5 hours a day and the timing was variable. But there was a travelling time attached to it. I had to travel between Goregaon (E) that is my home to Bhandup (W), the college and the most plausible way to commute was by crowded bus. But the plus side was the bus would go through the only green patch of Mumbai that is Arrey colony. If I got a seat, that was the best day for me. Everyday I would keep checking my time and leave for home the moment it hit 5 hours. Travelling time 2 and half hours on an average added, my total away from home hours were approximately 8 hours max. Plus I had summer holidays and Diwali holidays of one month each. Well, then I was doing no exercise, no other activity, but just go to work and watch TV and may be cook during the evening. Thats it. It changed for a more lazy life when I joined a company called as DSQ Biotech. There the commute time was maximum 10 minutes, food provided, so no cooking, office hours are flexible. Then also I did no physical exercise. It lasted for 2 more years. Then getting up at 6 AM was a rarity. I often used to get up way after 8 AM, and sleep at 12 PM or later after watching all the useless serials.
Then I spend 10 long years in USA, where I worked from home for 6 years. The remaining 4 years I was onsite, I traveled only 4 minutes up and 4 minutes down to work (4 miles away). Time was flexible no pressure and indeed again another long lazy chapter of my life. Although I had to cook, but that was not a big deal, eat outside most of the time, get up late and watch a lots of TV, that pretty  mcu defined my life. But then I had some health scare on the third year of my USA stay (2005) and I slowly got into exercising...When we bought a home, we did some more work like gardening, grass mowing and may be some exercise. That included at least one hour of regular exercise, and yes, we did  socialize, that accounts to may be an hour per day. And that's it. When we returned, I believed we will have a good life with house help and cook and driver. But the joy lasted only for a year. We realized no matter how many people you have to help you out, you need to do your stuff. Now pushing  5 years this is a reality. This is what I do in a day. Get up between 5.30 to 6 AM (now this is a rule rather than an exception), drink my tall glass of lemon water followed by 2 more glasses of water. Go to potty, make my own lemon extract drink (with ginger and lemon peels), make a breakfast for me and Ada. Feed Ada breakfast, play with her, give her bath, get her ready for school, do homework with her, many times drop her at school and go to office before 10 AM. Sometimes I even catch up with 30-40 minutes exercise in the morning. Most of these days, I even carry my lunch box. Now I supervise about 10 students, run my projects, present papers, attend conferences, write grants, write annual reports, do doctoral advisory committee meetings, assess annual reports, head a computer division, act as external and internal evaluater, act as thesis adviser for MTechs, serve as external expert for purchase committee, act as invited speaker and the list is endless.... How do I do this now? Only thing I dont do is cooking, but other than that everything is as before and 10 times more. This all happens because I watch 0 TV, get up early and sleep early. Yes you heard it right. My life seems to be back on track just because I changed one habit of mine - that is NOT watching any TV, not wasting any time socializing and getting up early. Now I am very happy me :) :) :)

Remembering my homeless day five years back today....

I am remembering this day today 5 years back when I was literally homeless (rather we were homeless). It was 4th of July 2012, the independence day of USA when people enjoy a day off and a long weekend. In our community (Ruidosa Ridge), there was a small celebration where they usually block the traffic where children parade. We were most of the time onlookers through our large front windows. Suddenly we saw a SUV pulled off few meters away from our home. The man and his family got down off the SUV, of course we know them, they are the people who bought our home for a throw away price!! In case you want to take peek here is the image that we took ourself! https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/601-Flintwood-Ln,-Arlington,-TX-76002_rb/?fromHomePage=true&shouldFireSellPageImplicitClaimGA=false&fromHomePageTab=buy They are a nice Vietnamese family. We signed the documents on 25th June 2012 and the condition was we would stay there 10 more days in the house. We thought may be he dropped to enjoy the independence day parade in the community. He came inside the house and sat with no signs of going out. Our home almost empty except for few items that we would need to sustain our self for another month in the country. He and his kids came and he ordered his older kids to sit on the couch saying "Go sit on your sofa". I was like ?!!!! Then at 9 AM they blocked the traffic in front of our house for the annual parade. He sits and tells us you can take your time to vacate. We were like, was it not suppose to be tomorrow?! As per our calculation, July 5th should be the 10th day. In any case, since he bought the house, we have nothing to say in this scenario. We immediately booked a hotel near by and planned to move and told him that we will leave for the hotel after sometime. His youngest was 2 years old and was crying for food, at that point instead of going back, he called his wife and asked her to bring the food. We looked at each others face and realized that he is determined to evacuate us on that particular hour!! The milk was still boiling on the gas stove and we were still sipping hot tea. Then we sprang to our feet and began preparing for evacuation on a war footing! We packed whatever we could, rest we dumped on the dumping place in front. At that time the traffic curb had been lifted, parade was over. It was approximately 10 AM in the morning. I poured hot tea into the flask and rest all in the back of the car. Off we left for the hotel... Hotel was just 10 minutes away. Hotel guy said check in time is at 2 PM and since it was a holiday they were packed, cant take us early! We roamed with the luggage at the back of the car from hotel to hotel, and all the hotels had the same story.... Finally after 2 hours of roaming, we found one that allowed us a check in at 12 PM, and there we went. The next day was a long day for me because I had to leave for Virginia for the annual OMGN workshop, so it was essential that I take some break and PREPARE for the workshop. Thank god it is over and thank god for the 2 hours homelessness. It teaches you the value of a shelter.