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Contents ( 212)
  1. PENGUIN BOOKS DORK
  2. Contents
  3. 1. DISCOVERY
  4. Under the Sink
  5. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  6. 2. DUFRESNE
  7. Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese’s Diary
  8. 2 April 2006
  9. 4 p.m.
  10. ROBIN WERE GEESE—WIMWI
  11. 3 April 2006
  12. 3 a.m.
  13. 11 a.m.
  14. 2 p.m.
  15. 6 p.m.
  16. 7 p.m.
  17. 10 p.m.
  18. 5 April 2006
  19. 11 a.m.
  20. 2 p.m.
  21. 5 p.m.
  22. 7 p.m.
  23. 6 April 2006
  24. 11 a.m.
  25. 3 p.m.
  26. 7 p.m.
  27. 10 p.m.
  28. 11.24 p.m.
  29. 9 April 2006
  30. 10.23 a.m.
  31. 7 p.m.
  32. 10.55 p.m.
  33. 11.26 p.m.
  34. 10 April 2006
  35. 8 a.m.
  36. 11 April 2006
  37. 11.13 a.m.
  38. 12.15 p.m.
  39. 4.20 p.m.
  40. 6 p.m.
  41. 15 May 2006
  42. 8 p.m.
  43. 11.23 p.m.
  44. 16 May 2006
  45. 7 p.m.
  46. 12.34 a.m.
  47. 17 May 2006
  48. 7.45 a.m.
  49. 7.53 a.m.
  50. 6.15 p.m.
  51. 7 p.m.
  52. 8 p.m.
  53. 8.15 p.m.
  54. 9 p.m.
  55. 9.43 p.m.
  56. 18 May 2006
  57. 10.10 p.m.
  58. 10.34 p.m.
  59. 20 May 2006
  60. 9.46 p.m.
  61. 21 May 2006
  62. 7 p.m.
  63. 22 May 2006
  64. 10.15 p.m.
  65. 23 May 2006
  66. 7 p.m.
  67. 24 May 2006
  68. 8 p.m.
  69. 11 p.m.
  70. 11.23 p.m.
  71. 11.25 p.m.
  72. 25 May 2006
  73. 2 p.m.
  74. 7.43 p.m.
  75. 8.13 p.m.
  76. 9 p.m.
  77. 9.32 p.m.
  78. 26 May 2006
  79. 8.30 p.m.
  80. 27 May 2006
  81. 7.23 p.m.
  82. 9.15 p.m.
  83. 28 May 2006
  84. 6.45 p.m.
  85. 29 May 2006
  86. 11 p.m.
  87. 4 June 2006
  88. 7.15 p.m.
  89. 9.20 p.m.
  90. 5 June 2006
  91. 7.13 p.m.
  92. 3. PANCHATANTRA
  93. 11 August 2006
  94. 11.23 p.m.
  95. 3 a.m.
  96. 3.32 a.m.
  97. 4.20 a.m.
  98. 12 August 2006
  99. 9.20 p.m.
  100. 13 August 2006
  101. 8.25 a.m.
  102. 18 August 2006
  103. 8.50 p.m.
  104. 24 August 2006
  105. 11.12 p.m.
  106. ANALYSIS
  107. PRESENTATION
  108. CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
  109. LEADERSHIP
  110. SUSTAINABLE PROJECT EXECUTION AND DIVERSIFIABILITY
  111. OVERALL
  112. 26 August 2006
  113. 7.38 p.m.
  114. 11.45 p.m.
  115. 27 August 2006
  116. 8.30 p.m.
  117. 28 August 2006
  118. 9.10 p.m.
  119. 11 p.m.
  120. 11.20 p.m.
  121. 3 September 2006
  122. 7 p.m.
  123. 4 September 2006
  124. 8.07 p.m.
  125. 10.20 p.m.
  126. 5 September 2006
  127. 11.09 p.m.
  128. 8 September 2006
  129. 1.02 a.m.
  130. 11 September 2006
  131. 8.02 p.m.
  132. 13 September 2006
  133. 2.16 a.m.
  134. 14 September 2006
  135. 10.35 p.m.
  136. 17 September 2006
  137. 12.14 a.m.
  138. 19 September 2006
  139. 11.15 a.m.
  140. 30 September 2006
  141. 10.30 p.m.
  142. 11.02 p.m.
  143. 4. EOQ
  144. 12 November 2006
  145. 8.20 p.m.
  146. 13 November 2006
  147. 10.23 p.m.
  148. 12.15 a.m.
  149. 14 November 2006
  150. 11.23 p.m.
  151. 12.30 a.m.
  152. 15 November 2006
  153. 8 p.m.
  154. 16 November 2006
  155. 7.40 p.m.
  156. 9 p.m.
  157. 17 November 2006
  158. 8.22 p.m.
  159. 20 November 2006
  160. 7.56 p.m.
  161. 10.20 p.m.
  162. 1 a.m.
  163. 22 November 2006
  164. 9.13 p.m.
  165. 26 November 2006
  166. 10.12 p.m.
  167. 12.05 a.m.
  168. 1.23 a.m.
  169. 27 November 2006
  170. 11.23 p.m.
  171. 12.15 a.m.
  172. 28 November 2006
  173. 9.36 p.m.
  174. 11.20 p.m.
  175. 29 November 2006
  176. 8.32 p.m.
  177. 30 November 2006
  178. 10.03 p.m.
  179. 5. ASSOCIATE???
  180. 11 December 2006
  181. 7.20 p.m.
  182. 13 December 2006
  183. 2.20 a.m.
  184. 15 December 2006
  185. 10.10 p.m.
  186. 20 December 2006
  187. 11.23 p.m.
  188. 22 December 2006
  189. 9.03 p.m.
  190. 24 December 2006
  191. 11.23 p.m.
  192. 3 January 2007
  193. 8.43 p.m.
  194. 4 January 2007
  195. 10.03 p.m.
  196. 3.40 a.m.
  197. 6 January 2007
  198. 2.23 a.m.
  199. 4.15 a.m.
  200. 8 a.m.
  201. 9.14 p.m.
  202. 7 January 2007
  203. 8.15 a.m.
  204. 2.23 p.m.
  205. 10.23 p.m.
  206. 8 January 2007
  207. 11.54 p.m.
  208. 10 January 2007
  209. 11.07 p.m.
  210. 11 January 2007
  211. 12.35 a.m.
  212. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

If the ball bearings project works out I foresee being able to drastically reduce JHA’s inventory. Maybe even before we leave. Probably within this week.

Things are getting a little boring now. And will stay this way for another three or four days till we begin analysing our data.

The CEO wants to take us for dinner to his home tonight. So we’re changing and leaving in ten minutes.

G hasn’t replied after my SMS to her last night. But I am casual and cool about it.

Not panicking.

20 November 2006

7.56 p.m.

Can’t write tonight. Saraf wants to talk to me about something at the employee welfare centre near the factory.

I half expect him to bring along some colleagues for some quick training sessions on operations or inventory. The man may be thick but his heart is in the right place.

Later.

10.20 p.m.

We have a major problem. I need to find a way into the guesthouse storeroom without waking up that caretaker fellow.

No time to explain right now. Tomorrow.

Help me God.

1 a.m.

Done. No one caught us. Saraf just went home.

22 November 2006

9.13 p.m.

We have a major ball bearing problem that is rapidly getting out of hand.

SARAF IS A TOTAL BASTARD.

Two days ago our man had a brainwave. He decided that rather than calculate EOQ delivery quantities each day, like I taught him, he would make it much simpler. He would give the formula to his ball bearing supplier who would ship across the requisite number as per formula every day. This way Saraf wouldn’t even have to do the maths. So he gave his supplier an open purchase order valid for ten days of EOQ deliveries so that he could keep shipping on credit.

The first day the guy shipped around 4000 bearings. Which was fine enough. But the day after that the bugger sent 13,000 ball bearings. Any idiot would have seen that there was a problem with this number. But not Saraf, who didn’t even think once to double-check the EOQ workings.

Always ALWAYS make human checks of mathematics!

When one more shipment of 17,200 bearings arrived yesterday morning Saraf began to panic. He simply didn’t have enough place to keep the bloody thing. Which is why he called me to the employee’s welfare centre last night. He had run out of space in the JHA warehouse. Finally I had a brainwave and decided that we could temporarily stash away all the cartons of ball bearings in the empty storeroom at the guesthouse.

While carrying the boxes to the guesthouse I pointed out to Saraf that if JHA had a proper inventory management system there would be plenty of space in the warehouse for bearings. He said that if it wasn’t for my EOQ thing he wouldn’t have so many bearings to hide in the first place. I adequately responded by telling him that blaming the mathematics was futile. He said that if one more ball bearing came to the factory he would ask them to deliver the boxes to my room in the guesthouse.