Driving License Renewal Process

After a long time of idleness on this blog, here comes a post
Today, I had the privilege of getting my driver's permit renewed and well, it wasn't such a bad experience
Two things which were worse than before
1. The renewal limit is 5 years max. (as opposed to 10 years when last I had it renewed)
2. Once the process is complete, the license is provided the next day ... so atleast two visits are required :(

The process starts from the reception counter where the form is provided for Rs. 5. There are two forms, one for license and other for medical. The documents required are
1. Two photographs
2. CNIC Copy
3. Original Driver's license OR in case of lost license, FIR Copy, License Copy and Affidavit

The affidavit is a new requirement. Thankfully, the process is simple. There is an oath commissioner sitting outside who will provide you with an affidavit for Rs. 100 only (although affidavit stamp paper is worth Rs. 20)

With this set ready, go straight inside. Beware that there are vultures everywhere. And here, I am not talking about agents found outside passport office; they are the people on the reception and right before the actual room where the process is being done. They benefit from the fact that people do not know what to do ... like this one guy on the reception asked me for Rs. 3800/- in total for the whole process promising me only 30min of total time (ironically, it took me only 25min without bribing anyone)

Anyways, to put it in simple words, the process is something like that of passport office, there is this big room, with different counters numbered from 1 to 5 and you simply need to traverse through each of them. These are

1. Data Entry Step. This is the computer people punching in the data
2. Medical Payment. This is where you get a slip for the medical check-up (eye sight only). You need to pay Rs. 100/- here to get a small slip
3. Medical Check-up. This is where a doctor asks you a couple of characters from a sight board and certifies that you are good to go :P
4. Post Office for Payment. This is where you need to pay your renewal or new license fees. I paid Rs. 1160/- here (Actually, they took Rs. 1200/- ... never gave me back Rs. 40/- change :P)
5. Picture Slip and Lamination Charges. Yes, you need to provide another bit of money here ... surprisingly, this is also legit :P ... Anyways ... you get a slip for photograph and need to pay Rs. 250/- for lamination
6. Picture room. You sit and in a flash, a picture is taken. This is the last step

There you go ... process complete. I guess I was lucky that there wasn't a long queue otherwise it takes more than 25min :) (specially because people who have paid hefty amounts keep coming ahead of you)

Next day, come and collect the license and keep away from this office for the next five years ... Cheers!!!

An enigma called Females ...

I know I know ... its not something that you people don't already know but boy oh boy ... this beats you all hands down ... no matter what you do ... no matter how you cover your bases ... they will still slip ... somehow their EQA is through the ground ... if at a moment you think that you have figured it out ... it comes roaring back at ya ... sweeping you off your feet and leaving you dumb-founded ... 

And the reason ain't trust ... they'll trust you like crazy ... they'll share what you won't expect them to share ... when they are in mood of course ... but in a blink of an eye ... it all reverses ... so much so that you start thinking if you were dreaming before when the "sharing tap" was on!!!

Trust me ... this is how their mind is structured ... acknowledge it and peace will befall you ... deny it ... and there won't be a single moment you can live in peace ... just to be specific ... when they are angry or crossed at you ... in real ... they would never say they are ... but keep on ignoring you ... go absolutely quiet ... ignore eye contact ... may even disappear ... its so crazy that it be apparent when you look at them or when you listen to them speaking but no sir ... they won't acknowledge it ... atleast not until you are totally worn out

so BEWARE ...

ps. my sample contains more than a single data point!!!

SAP :: Go-live phenomenon ... Handling the pressure

Setup is ... you have worked hard ... either right from the beginning of the project or jumped in somewhere in between; either ways, whatever you have gone through uptil now was peanuts ... as compared to what lies ahead!!!

And its not just any go-live ... its SAP IS-U ... the utility billing solution ... so there is money on the line and lots of it. This is when the true nature of a person is revealed. Can you handle that???

Being part of the project right from inception, when the kick-off meeting was held in Sheraton (A top hotel) ... the aspirations were very different ... the objectives were even more diverse ... stakes were not understood well enough ... but nevertheless .. a truly cross-functional team was formulated .. and the ball started to roll

If I say it was a bumpy ride ... right from the word GO ... it would surely be an understatement. Nevertheless, there was always something to takeaway from those long, wayward, chaotic and at times dismal meetings called "Process Workshops" ... 

Things went on ... whatever that was taken away from the workshops was documented in the form of blueprint. Oh boy, BLUEPRINTS ... nevertheless ... there was fighting (constructive ahem ahem) ... but things went on ... dips and rise ... (let me skip to the end now) ... we all evolved and it was the time now! to cash in all the efforts that was put in ... in the past 22 months ... the heightened emotions ... all the efforts being put in to make it as smooth as possible ... no count of hours spent in the office ... doesn't matter if it is day or night ... the business is all at standstill waiting on us ... billions at stake ... all spotlight on us ... to faint was easy ... to breathe ... well ... a challenge ... but together ... we all pulled it through ... Credit should not be taken away from anyone ... even if someone put in just a month ... even if that someone isn't with us at the end ... but KUDOS!!! to all ... 

3 Cheers for us ... HIP HIP ... HURRAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

SAP IS-U & CRM Go-Live ...

I'd like to share a few learnings from the SAP IS-U go-live experience. First of all ... immense ... if you are really into experiencing a transition ... this is the ultimate showdown for you

The areas that I would like to touch upon are

1. Handling the pressure
2. Authorization Matrices
3. CRM Roles

I am just listing the topics ... each of which would have its own posts (if I don't ... just put me a reminder)

In Fashion ... Suo Moto

I believe you'll all agree with me ... :)

How human memory works ...

Recently I was thinking and researching about how we remember stuff ... how does our memories work?

Haven't done much but I thought I share what I find and understand (may not be entirely true or agreeable as scientifically it is still a riddle and yet a marvel)

Anyways ... here's a start

We store our memories as a sequence of events ... with a starting point ... like first this happened, then that, then this and this goes on until the finishing point is reached, so its like

START > A > B > C > D > END

Where A is the starting point and D is the end point.

The most crucial point is the starting point as we "recall" our memories with the starting point. The recall trigger is point "A" ... and most of the times ... we cannot search form the middle. So, even if you want to get to B, C or D ... you will start with A

Try it out ... :-)

SAP :: Manually creating a transport request

Although against most of the configurations, a transport request pop-up automatically comes up, but certain configurations do not have such a behavior. It is actually related to the configuration table settings (if you want to know what are those settings, give me a ping)

For those configuration items against which transport request pop up does not come up ... following steps would enable you to create it. Case in point is a configuration related to SAP IS-U Work Management. Following is the menu to access the configuration

IMG > SAP Utilities > Work Management > Master Data > Define Service Objects

The table behind this configuration is T399A. Now follow these steps

• Create a new transport request in SE10

• Delete the sub-task

• Double click the transport request and select edit mode

• Specify the values as shown in the following screenshot

• Click the object with keys button (icon with a key) and make the entry as shown in the screenshot below

• Save and you have a transport request against the table T399A

SAP :: How to find BAdI

Business Add-Ins (BAdIs) are SAP enhancement techniques based on ABAP Objects. It has two parts - Definition and its Implementation; Definition can either be SAP provided or user may also create it.

How to find BAdI

You can look for BAdI definition in IMG and in component hierarchy. But there are some easier methods to find a BAdi. They are follows:

Method 1

These steps should enable you to find a BAdi related to any transaction in a matter of minutes.

1) Go to the transaction SE37 to find your function module.
2) Locate the function SXV_GET_CLIF_BY_NAME.
3) Put a break-point there.
4) Now open a new session.
5) Go to your transaction.
6) At that time, it will stop this function.
7) Double click on the function field NAME.
8) That will give you name of the BAdi that is provided in your transaction.

Method 2

1. Goto SE80, open CL_EXITHANDLER (Class)
2. Goto Method, GET_INSTANCE
3. Set a break point at

CALL METHOD cl_exithandler=>get_class_name_by_interface
    EXPORTING 

      instance = instance
    IMPORTING
      class_name = class_name
    CHANGING
      exit_name = exit_name
    EXCEPTIONS
      no_reference = 1
      no_interface_reference = 2
      no_exit_interface = 3
      data_incons_in_exit_managem = 4
      class_not_implement_interface = 5
      OTHERS = 6.
  CASE sy-subrc. 

    WHEN 1.
      RAISE no_reference.
    WHEN 2.
      RAISE no_interface_reference.
    WHEN 3.
      RAISE no_exit_interface.
    WHEN 4.
      RAISE data_incons_in_exit_managem.
    WHEN 5.
      RAISE class_not_implement_interface.
  ENDCASE.
4) Now open a new session.
5) Go to your transaction.
6) At that time, it will stop this function.
7) Double click on the function field EXIT_NAME.
8) That will give you name of the BAdi that is provided in your transaction.

Method 3:

1. Goto ST05
2. Select SQL trace and buffer trace
3. Activate trace
4. Now run your transaction
5. Deactivate trace
6. Display trace7. A pop will come
8. Enter V_EXT_ACT and V_EXT_IMP as the 2 objects
9. Now display the trace results. It will return all the BAPI and enhancement list in order of their execution.

I wonder why ...

Food for thought ...

Isn't it intriguing that us humans adapt bad habits very easily and take a whole lot while to adapt anything good

I wonder why ... 

Sindh Govt. Warns Extortionists ("Bhatta Khor" in Urdu) to Leave ...

Now this one is hilarious ... 

An official announcement is made by Sindh Govt. for Extortionists and target killers ... read this excerpt of news copied below

"A handout of the Sindh government has outlined important steps which will be taken for restoring peace in Karachi, Geo News reported. 

According to the handout, extortionists and miscreants have been asked to leave the city immediately and go somewhere else otherwise strict action will be taken against them."

So ... does this mean if these criminals decide to leave the city ... they will be left alone? will they not be prosecuted? the only problem is that they are doing this in Karachi? They can continue raising hell as long as its not in Karachi? Are these government really stupid or only act dumb???

I am sure each one of us know the answer to the last question ...

Chillzz