It’s been a while since I’ve taken a vacation in the actual sense of that term. Not to say that I’ve been all work and no play. While I sometimes wish I had the ability to do just that and be a complete workaholic, I am not my wife and therefore, I am certainly not that. However, I’ve not really taken time off per se amidst the umpteen things that have had to be done even for a product that is still in the making. Don’t ask my why because that’s not what I am intending to write about in this post. Rather, I want to focus on the one week ahead where I am not quite planning to do anything that is even remotely software development related.

You aren’t going to really be enlightened by this post so if you have something better to do, you should 🙂 Not that I am trying to suggest in any way that the rest of my posts are enlightening in the smallest of ways but what I am trying to actually say is that this post is going to be even less enlightening. That’s all!

Anyways, I’ve been contemplating about what I should really do this week to completely detach myself from the routine. If it weren’t in the middle of the school year, it would have been a no brainer. The planet we live in doesn’t have a lack of places to visit even if it means squeezing into coach class and being dormant for several hours and absolutely despising that part of the travel experience. However, it is the middle of the school year and that means the rest of the family is busy as heck. That takes many things off the table but a bunch of them still remain.

• Travel. We just discussed that so on to the next things on the list.
• Walking. I love walking and the weather at this time of the year in Northern Virginia is absolutely phenomenal. So, this is an option though it is something we do on a regular basis throughout the year and therefore, it wouldn’t be any different.
• Eating. Unless there is a Saravana Bhavan nearby, and there isn’t one, this isn’t much of a passion of mine really. Yeah, it would be good to not be hungry and that’s about it.
• Sleep in. I do this quite often given my nocturnal work habits and my coding efficiencies in the wee hours of the morning. While this is an important aspect of any vacation, it wouldn’t make the week feel any different.
• Bike. I’ve mostly biked for business (where business is defined as school!) in my early childhood years and it wasn’t until my son grew up and enjoyed biking immensely that I started accompanying him on bike rides on W & OD. Regardless, I don’t bike anywhere to the tunes of the 10s of miles he bikes on a daily basis. I definitely don’t enjoy it anywhere near how he does.
• Talk. This, I love to do. Between my son (who is chattier than I much to the surprise of people who actually know me) and I, my wife who is an introvert to begin with, hardly gets to say anything ever. Till I find ways to attract folks to have more software related discussions on a weekly basis, she has to bear the brunt of my talkative personality!
• Poker. This brings us to what I might really end up doing. I wish I didn’t enjoy playing poker but I do. Do I actually win playing poker? Not really. Do I enjoy playing it primarily because it takes me momentarily to a state where nothing else seems important other than the pair of cards in front of me? Absolutely! As lame as it might sound and as futile as the time spent on it really is, it still helps me completely forget about everything else which is, hard to argue, a blessing in some way.

— krish @ http://www.snowpal.software