Why??

Why 2:06:47? Collapse of Will! Why??
At the end of 16, I checked my time. I was 2 min behind schedule. 5 Kms 28 min. I'd have preferred 30 min and I know I'm unlikely to recover.

I do not quit on a race, even when practicing. But this was different. I prepped the entire year for this day and then to miss it by a min or 2. Again. It was a moment of exasperation, hopelessness and defeat and I stopped in my tracks. Literally. Illness, stress... There can be any number of reasons. None matter. Only the outcome. And I knew then, I had nothing to show.

I walked from 17 to 18. Actually ambled. In the mean time, something healed within and I ran again. That's why just 7 min over. Otherwise, I might not have completed the run.

I'm still struggling to come to terms with it. 3 years now. 3 runs. I'm only getting older. My knees hurt that day. After a long while they gave up on me too.

Will there be a next time? Can I keep going without an aim, just for the fun of it? Time has all the answers. I'll know.

Post#18 On to it again!

Of the list I published, some are done
In terms of enhancements to my toy
- Remember me 
- Redirecting to requested resource after log in instead of standard landing page
- Redirecting remember me user to a standard page
- Redirecting based on device (mobile vs desktop)
- Cash Txn Widget
- Adding Date to Cash Txn
- Distinction between one  time cash txn vs recurring cash txn
- Change Pwd/Forget Password
- Email notifications
- View Split Transactions
- Elegant impl of labels vs the rest
- Alerts
- Mobile interface to capture cash txn
- Mobile interface to view performance against budgets
- Mobile interface to view savings
- Enhance Help
- Redo the Navigation

Up Next: 
- View Split Txn
- Redirection based on device
- Change PWD/Forget Pwd
- Email notifications
- Profile Mgt (new one)

End of Feb

A Broken Man

2:06:47
Some things are not to be.

Dell the Dinosaur

Read CNN post here. The first job I ever did was selling Dell computers. Michael Dell was my idol. For the rest of the 90s there were several case studies on Dell and how its mail order model is trumping the internet. Its internet ready they said. Because its direct to customer model, they had a huge advantage in ecommerce. Its B2C model was touted as the model of the future. You could configure your PC online and have it delivered to your home.
The biggest advantage was not having middlemen, the resellers and hence it gave Dell flexibility when it came to pricing the product. Everyone else faced resistance from their resellers if they undercut them on the direct B2C channel.

On top of it, the advantages of negative cash cycle. Dell got its monies upfront, unlike when selling through resellers was taught in the B schools.

In 1998 when Steve Jobs was brought back to Apple as an interim CEO, Michael Dell remarked on a TV show that Apple shareholders will be best served, if they simply wound up and gave the money back to the shareholders.

Well, how the times have changed since!!

The truth was Dell was never Big in B2C. Most of its business happened in the B2B. The stories and case studies were all great for PR, but when it came to the crux of it, Dells model was still selling undifferentiated product, the PC.

With the tablets coming in, the paradigm has changed. Dell which was always a one trick pony really could never diversify and hedge its risks.  As the PC dies, so does Dell.

Bye Bye Dinosaur...

The Next Mole Hill

In terms of enhancements to my toy
- Remember me
- Redirecting to requested resource after log in instead of standard landing page
- Redirecting remember me user to a standard page
- Redirecting based on device (mobile vs desktop)
- Cash Txn Widget
- Adding Date to Cash Txn
- Distinction between one  time cash txn vs recurring cash txn
- Change Pwd/Forget Password
- Email notifications
- View Split Transactions
- Elegant impl of labels vs the rest
- Alerts
- Mobile interface to capture cash txn
- Mobile interface to view performance against budgets
- Mobile interface to view savings
- Enhance Help
- Redo the Navigation

Timeline June 2013

The Impending Run

Next weekend is the run. And I've lost it already...

I hit my peak in Nov. I did a road run and another on the treadmill and I clocked good. That is less than 2 hrs.
But then the things have changed.

In Dec, I traveled to NY for about 10 days. That screwed up a couple of my weekends and my rhythm. I wonder how people adjust to jet lag when preparing for something like a Marathon.

Upon my returned,a got a week to train before we left for vacation. There I as laid up with viral for about a week. Its the second time this year I've had a bout of viral. The fever goes high 103.5 degrees and saps me completely. I recovered around the new year and have been training for the last 2 weeks.

It takes time to get your rhythm back. The first day I tried running, I got off the treadmill after just 1 km. A few days later I could barely do 6. I ramped up to 10 km on 5th Jan. I took a 3 breaks and lost count of time. Then again this weekend I upped it to 16. I was literally dragging myself over the last 3 kms.

Once again the prognosis is not good. I have just one run left before the big day. I'll probably do a 5K slow run as I need to conserve energy for the final burst.

At this time I'm looking at 2:15. Thats not where I wanted to be...

It Hurts to Fail!

Last Nov, I declared victory as soon as I could get my site set up on Amazon cloud. I know its not the most complete site but it does what its supposed to, and if I may add, it does it well.

Between then and now, I have tinkered a bit, resolved a few bugs. I've also added Savings View which shockingly tells me that I'm practically living hand to mouth for the last 6 months(post EMI payments).

Another revelation is that despite my sharing the url with friends and colleagues and arm twisting a few, I did not get a single registration.

What do I conclude? The site sucks? The concept sucks? Or people are just not interested in uploading their financial data on another site.

To conclude that it sucks, one needs to register and try using it. As no one has even registered, they can't conclude it sucks.

I can agree that the concept sucks. People think they know how they spend and don't feel the need to record / analyze their expenses.If they used the site, they would discover the truth but then there is no urgency / desire to check that out.

I can also agree that people do not want to upload their statements to any site for fear of data security / privacy. But they haven't raised it with me.

Overall a bleak prognosis.

So,  What's the next mountain to climb?