Auf Wiedersehen

It sounds surprising to me that my last post is dated September 24.That was inspired by the fact that I came across the name of 'Getafix' in the Bangla version of Aserix - Etashetamix. It means a-mixture-of-this-and-that. I was fired and wrote down the names of many of the other characters for the Kannada version - if and when. But that was really not a post by my reckoning.

The post before that was from September 15. That was just a comment on a report. By that standard, I could make another post today. The Pope and The Archbishop of Canterbury find it fit to say good things about Karl Marx! The days of miracles (or of absurdities) are not over after all.

So, why have I not written any more posts?

Let me go off at a tangent. (For the unmathematically inclined, or mathematically uninclined: tangent is not a well tanned man!)

One day, I looked into Blogger.com to see if there is any blogger who shared my profession - at that time entered as Patent Searcher. None. I tried synonyms (a common trick in the patent searcher's bag of tricks) - IP analyst, novelty searcher, patent information specialist. None. Apparently there are very few (none, infact) fellow professional who are inclined to writing blogs. After all, an overwhelmingly large part of our workday is spent in reading and reading and writing seem to be two ends of a spectrum. Please do not ask me, "A spectrum of what?"

Now, at the age of 53, (Thank you, thank you, Today IS my birthday) I am preparing to pursue a new profession. Instead of reading patent lieterature, I am going to write them. I mean 'draft' them and prosecute them. (Apparently, my company thinks that one can indeed teach a new trick to an old dog)

The actual shift takes place on Jan 1, 2009. (My dear mother's birthday incidentally)

Now, it is not as simple as it sounds. I have to pass an examination, to be able to pursue my new profession, sooner or later, preferably sooner. That means I have to study. I have to study in a manner I am not used to. Remember text, and lots of it, verbatim. Do I hear groans?

So what does all this mean? I will not write blog posts for quite some time. I take a holiday. A busman's holiday, is the idiom I guess.

So, off I go, to my study table, to return later, after I have taken the next major step towards my assignment. Hopefully, with the good news that I have passed the exam.

Well I have my work cut out for a couple of years - study/learn patent drafting, under a mentor. I do hope that somewhere along the line, I come back to start writing again "for pleasure". I hope (am sure) I will have pleasure writing professionally too. No one has ever said "professional is professional and pleasure is pleasure, and never the twain shall meet"

So, until then, Bye, auf Widersehen, hasta mañana, varre, barteeni, accha, ami aaschi . . . .