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Today I met a terminally ill person, who has hardly 3 months to live… I was surprised how calm he is and enjoying his life. He didn’t show any sign that he is loosing a fight with cancer and has hardly 3 months left. I felt so ashamed of myself…thinking, I wake up and go to bed everyday…complaining how bad my life is.. and here is a man, who has a few weeks or maybe just a few days remaining and he is enjoying life to it’s fullest.

Sometimes, we get too focussed on those big problems, we don’t bother to look out and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. I wonder how many of you, actually woke up early in the morning and tried to listen to the birds sing. ‘When was the last time you actually heard a bird sing or chirp?’

I wonder where are we all running with our lives…. whevever I look, I see people constantly on the move. I bet not even a single one is happy but we are still busy trying to achieve some goal… I wonder for what? If we can’t sit back and enjoy simple pleasures of life, such as looking at the sunrise or sunset, birds singing, feeling that gentle breeze… what kind of a life are we living?

Maybe it’s time we all sat back and took a pause from our busy life to enjoy the very simple pleasures of life…..

Let’s make a promise today, to spend at least 10 min every day to focus on something silly and simple, which will show us that we have a beautiful life around us….

For close to a year, some of my friends and colleagues from work had been planning to go for our 2nd sailing trip, trying to repeat the grand success of Sailing 2007 event. After a long planning, finally the big day has arrived. 01 and 02 Nov 2008.

A group of about 15 people will be setting sail from the port of Muiden on the coast of Ijmeer, on our yacht “Nova Cura”. Check out more details about “Nova Cura” here.

We would be crossing the Ijmeer and Markermeer on the way to Ijsselmeer. For the night we would be anchoring at the port of Hoorn and then off again to Ijsselmeer and return to Muiden by Sunday evening. More updates, when I am back from the sailing….

Courtesy: Story from BBC NEWS 
Grammar just ain’t what it used to be, it seems. When we explained the difference between “fewer” and “less than” , following Tesco’s policy shift on this matter, readers told us what grammar rules they see being flouted or find confusing. The list was a long one. Here are the best. 

1. The one that really annoys me is how people suddenly seem to confuse “have” and “of”, as in: “I could of learnt how to write properly.” There’s no excuse for it! Pete, Sheffield 
2. The phrase “for free” is becoming commonplace and is used often on television and it’s wrong. It should be “for nothing”. Mary, Basingstoke 
3. That guardian of our language, the BBC, is full of solecisms these days; just one example: 12 pm. There is no such time; “meridiem” as in am (”ante meridiem” means “before noon”) and pm (”post meridiem” means “after noon”) means midday. The 12th hour is neither before nor after midday. So please, BBC use either midday or noon with midnight the correct term for the other end of the day. This is not being pedantic; in these days of 24-hour days, it is often not readily apparent what time 12 pm might be. Mervyn, Usk, Monmouthshire 
4. If you do something to change a situation, then you “effect” a change. If your circumstances are changed by an action, then the change has caused an “effect”. You cannot “affect” a change in something, nor can you be “effected” by one. Rob, Lyme Regis 
5. I get annoyed at the reckless use of apostrophes, for example, the plural of CD can’t be CD’s. Shahed Alam, London 
6. Many people, including public speakers, incorrectly use “I” instead of “me”. For instance, they would say “She said some very kind things about George and I”, thinking that they are being polite or grammatically correct. An easy way to remember which to use is: if you would say him or her on its own, use me; if you would say he or she on its own, use I. For example, “She said some very kind things about him”. Lorraine, Aylesbury 
7. Incorrect use of reflexives make my blood boil. I think that for someone to say “yourself” and “myself” when they just mean “you” or “me” is possibly out of a false sense of politeness, or maybe the insidious effect of TV soaps, or both. Those who use it correctly can give “themselves” a pat on the back. John Self, Wisset, Suffolk 
8. How about “none of them is” and “none of them are”? Most people would use the latter whereas the former is correct. “None” is short for “not one” therefore “not one (none) of them is” would be used. Most newsreaders still get it right though - on the BBC anyway! Emily, Bristol NOTE: Fowler’s Modern English Usage says that “none” is not short for “not one” and although using a singular verb is more common, using a plural verb has also been an acceptable option since the reign of King Alfred. 
9. Similar TO, different FROM, compared WITH. Not “to” used for all of them! Susan, Brisbane, Australia NOTE: Fowler’s Modern English Usage says: “The commonly expressed view that ‘different’ should only be followed by ‘from’ and never by ‘to’ or ‘than’ is not supportable in the face of past and present evidence or of logic.” It adds that “compare to” is to liken and “compare with” or “compare to” is used to point out similarities and differences. The BBC News website style guide differs with Fowler’s on this last point. It says that when pointing out differences, “compare with” should always be used.  
10. Here’s one they often get wrong on BBC news! BBC reporter: “Then they opened fire on us”. This is incorrect. In military terms there are two methods of shooting at an enemy, controlled-fire and open-fire. I.E. you are not opening anything so using the past tense of open is incorrect. The correct expression should be “Then they open-fired on us” JWTH, Belfast 
11. I find the increasing, incorrect use of “literally” annoying…. “I literally went blue with anger!!” “Really?” I ask. Ned, Wallingford
12. The proper use of “its” and “it’s” seems to confound many people, with “its” being a possessive and “it’s” being a contraction of “it is”. I’ve seen this mistake made even in some rather lofty publications… Eric, Berlin 
13. It annoys me when people use “due to” when they mean “owing to”. But then I’m a pedant. Guy, London NOTE: The BBC News website style guide says “due to” means “caused by” and needs a noun, but “owing to” means “because of” and relates to a verb. Hence, “the visit was cancelled [cancelled is the verb] owing to flooding” is correct. So too is “the flooding [flooding is the noun] was due to weeks of heavy rain”. 
14. As a secondary teacher, I’m beginning to despair when it comes to “they’re”, “there” and “their”; not to mention “to”, “two” and “too”. Why are we so afraid to correct these simple mistakes which make all the difference at a later stage? Alexandra, London 
15. There is also confusion over lend and borrow. I keep hearing school children asking “to lend your pencil” when what they actually mean is to “borrow” the pencil. Ian Walton, Bedford 
16. I cringe when I hear BBC reporters say “amount of people” when it should be “number of people”! Jill Thistlethwaite, Leyburn, UK NOTE: Fowler’s says “amount” is used with nouns that are not countable, such as “amount of forgiveness” and “amount of glue” - but “number” is used with countable nouns, such as “number of boys” and “number of houses”. 
17. I don’t like it when people say: I can go there “by foot” instead of “on foot”….the right preposition to use is ON. Daniela, Urbana, IL 
18. The usage that I find particularly irritating is that of a single noun with a plural verb, for example: “the team are happy with their victory”, or “management have congratulated the workforce on the recent increase in productivity”. Team is a singular noun so it should read “the team IS happy…” or “the team members ARE happy”, the same applies “management HAS congratulated…” Also, what has happened to the word “versus”, abbreviated “vs”? Now all we see is “v”; it is even read like that in sports announcements. Lucia, Horndean, UK NOTE: The BBC News website’s style is that sports teams and pop/rock bands are always plural. 
19. A classic confusing rule is the one that states that one is supposed never to end a sentence with a preposition. While this is easy and appropriate to follow in most cases, for example by saying “Yesterday I visited the town to which she has just moved” instead of “…the town she has just moved to”, it becomes troublesome when the verb structure includes a preposition that cannot be removed from it, as in “At work I am using a new computer with which my manager recently set me up”, which cannot correctly be changed to “…I am using a new computer up with which my manager recently set me”. Philip Graves, Stockholm, Sweden 
20. Stadiums, as a plural of stadium, rather than stadia. C. Matthews, Birmingham, UK NOTE: Fowler’s says that when dealing with modern sports grounds, rather than ones from the classical world, the plural is “stadiums”.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7595509.stm

Published: 2008/09/03 13:46:32 GMT© BBC MMVIII  

Recently I was talking to a friend of mine, a mother of teenagers, who was telling me about the pain her daughter was causing her. When the children become teenagers, there is a whole list of issues and problems that come along with it. The day the child turns 18….. for many parents hell breaks loose!

A child at 18, suddenly realizes it’s status in the society as an adult. They are legally allowed to do anything and no parent can legally stop them. What a confusion and pain it creates if the child suddenly decides to rebel against their parents?

My friend is a single mom, trying to raise her teenage children. She faces a lot of hardships and mental tensions trying to provide for her children…. but teenagers being what they are, they don’t seem to realize the pain the parents go through and take many things at the face value.

The ‘teenage phase’ is something, we all went throught, even the ’mom’ friend and I am sure, we all remember what our parents told us with tears: “A day will come, when you will realize how hard you make my life… but still I love you”

I am publishing the below extract from one of the forwards, which I received. I think it’s worth a read and we should pass on this important information to all the people who use Microwave.

A 26-year old guy decided to have a cup of coffee. He took a cup of water and put it in the microwave to heat it up (something that he had done numerous times before).

I am not sure how long he set the timer for, but he told me he wanted to bring the water to a boil. When the timer shut the oven off, he removed the cup from the oven. As he looked into the cup, he noted that the water was not boiling, but instantly the water in the cup ‘blew up’ into his face.

The cup remained intact until he threw it out of his hand but all the water had flown out into his face due to the build up of energy. His whole face is blistered and he has 1st and 2nd degree burns to his face, which may leave scarring. He also may have lost partial sight in his left eye. While at the hospital, the doctor who was attending to him stated that this is fairly common occurrence and water (alone) should never be heated in a microwave oven. If water is heated in this manner, something should be placed in the cup to diffuse the energy such as: a wooden stir stick, tea bag, etc. It is however a much safer choice to boil the water in a teakettle.

General Electric’s (GE) response:

Thanks for contacting us. I will be happy to assist you. The e-mail that you received is correct. Micro waved water and other liquids do not always bubble when they reach the boiling point. They can actually get superheated and not bubble at all. The superheated liquid will bubble up out of the cup when it is moved or when something like a spoon or teabag is put into it. To prevent this from happening and causing injury, do not heat any liquid for more than two minutes per cup. After heating, let the cup stand in the microwave for thirty seconds before moving it or adding anything into it.

Woke up with a fright, thinking I had missed my flight to Poland. The time was 0415 hrs and flight departs at 0740 hrs. Left home at 0530 hrs and reached the airport at 0600 hrs.

Getting the boarding pass was a piece of cake as I was the only one at the LOT counter. Seeing how fast things were moving, I became careless! I was standing in the immigration control queue and was about to show my passport, when I realized I was in the wrong queue, panic set in! 20 min wasted in the wrong queue! I looked around and found the gate I was supposed to go. Thought of running….but being lazy, thats one of the last things you want to do, so I did a fast walking. I was very lucky that there were hardly 10 people in the new queue.

A funny thing happens, every time I go through the Dutch Immigration. I am always asked the same question by the immigration officer “Spreekt u nederlands?” and I say with no hesitation “Kleine beetje” and every time I get a big smile from the officer! This time was no different as well!

As I walking past the Duty-Free shops, I was very tempted to buy my usual share of perfumes but the excitement of going to Gdynia, was too much for me to waste time at any shop! Quickly walked to the correct gate!

Saw a lot of Polish people at Schiphol but somehow I was lost in thoughts about my visit…didn’t talk to anyone. In the plane, the airhostess was visibly surprised when I said “Kawa, prosze” (Coffee, please)… spent the time in the plane sleeping / reading “Winning by Jack Welch”.

Reached Warsaw F. Chopin Airport right on dot, 0940 hrs! Had a little bit of problem at the immigration control. The officer was very curious when he saw a brown guy, speaking Polish. He was curious about everything… Where am I going? Where did I come from? Where would I stay…? I told him, I have valid papers, what’s the problem? Then he asked, where am I going to stay in Gdynia… I said “Nie wiem, mój przyjaciel bedzie przedsiebrac mnie.” (I don’t know, my friend will come to pick me up). I think that last sentence nailed it He said “Welcome to Poland, have a pleasant stay”. And there I was legally inside Poland.

My Polish friends had warned me about the Taxi guys at the Aiport and true to every word, the moment I stepped out I was swarmed with taxi guys, all trying to take me to my destination…but at their pre-defined inflated cost! I knew this all…went out, took the ‘trusted taxi company, Sawa’ to Warszawa Centralna (Warsaw Central Station).

Had a long and pleasant conversation with the Taxi guy, we talked about ‘Pewex’ (Shop which sold foreign goods), ‘SAM’ (State controled super store), ‘Coupons for food’..we shared a lot of old time memories. We established an almost instant connection between us!

Reached Warsaw Central, in complete comfort! I had just 20 min to buy the train ticket, locate the platform and catch the train to Gdynia. I realized, when you speak the local language, a lot of things get done in seconds!!! In just 12 minutes, I was running towards the train with my ticket in hand!

Hey…something wonderful, a first class ticket from Warsaw to Gdynia (360 km) is PLZ 73.- (Euro 20.-) I can’t believe how ‘cheap’ Poland is!! I guess, it’s the Euro which is talking.

Had a very boring trip to Gdynia, shared my cabin with an old man, who simply didn’t want to talk to me… I left him alone and pretended he didn’t exist. Spent time talking pictures, reading ‘Winning’ and dreaming about Gdynia.

Finally at 1608 hrs CET, I reached Gdynia Glówna (Gdynia Main Station). I got down from the train, all tensed wondering how the first meeting with KG is going to be… but it was what I expected….a tight hug!!! In just a split second, we went back to Class I of School No: 18, Gdynia !

KG took me to Witomino (part of Gdynia), where she had prepared her apartment for my stay. Beautiful place.. reminds me so much about Poland We left the bags and almost immediately set out…

I went to my old school… walked around the place, amazingly the school looks exactly the same. I was pleasantly surprised to know that my old school is the best Public school in Gdynia and rich people ‘fight out’ to have their children study here. How cool !!! Later, KG drove me to my old house… didn’t know all those places are rich neighborhood these days ! Went to the best ice cream parlour in Gdynia, Mariolka, just 2 min walk from my old house!!!

Later in the evening, Karo decided to show me Sopot, where she spent a lot of her student life…amazing town, very quite when we went. Reminded me of Enkhuizen in The Netherlands.

Met KG’s friend, KS who runs a shop selling eastern goods in Sopot…interesting person, so passionate about her shop!

We drew back to Gdynia and went to “Le Vita” for Dinner.. meat dishes are amazing here !!!

A happy and an eventful day!

My friend, Boris, died on Saturday night. He was 31.

I have known him for years, we attended primary school together and his parents and mine are great friends. Over the years, we got out of touch… but remained friends.

I am going through a mixed set of emotions… I pray for Boris… let his soul rest in peace and his family gets all the strength to face this great loss.

Life is so unpredictable… we might have all the very best resources and technology at our hand but can we correctly guess, what life can throw at us the very next second?

Something has been bothering me for quite sometime and I was wondering how to word it all down. Sometimes you have all these great thoughts in your mind but when you try to pen them down, it doesn’t turn out the way you actually thought of. Well, let me give it a shot…

The topic of today’s blog is ” ‘Playing’ with feelings - Should I speak out?”

When I see someone “playing” with someone else’s feeling, I find it very difficult to fight off the urge to step in and protect the ‘victim’. And this urge becomes a very difficult task to manage, when that someone happens to be your ‘friend’ and you see that your ‘friend’ is ‘playing’ with that someone else’s feelings…

17 Feb 2008

A lot my ‘friends’ got interested about this blog entry and had been asking me if it’s about them. I didn’t realize my blog entry would cause so much doubts in the minds of my ‘friends’.

I have been debating with myself, if I should actually go and talk to my ‘friend’ about this concern but somehow deep down I fear I might end up loosing my ‘friend’.

I really don’t know what to do… The Big Question: Should I or Should I not tell my ‘friend’ about my concern.

I think silence is a good weapon but not something I would like to use against anyone I know. It’s very frustrating when someone you care and love maintains a wall of silence with you. You don’t know what’s going on in their mind and this drives you nuts. I sometimes think ’silence’ is more hurting than ‘words’….. I have come across some people who use this as a weapon to get their demands met. Some children learn this ‘trick’ and are able to get almost all their demands met

Would you use ’silence’ to make a point? Difficult question…isn’t it? I think it all depends on the situation. Sometimes, it’s wise to be silent and you have to do this at the very right moment for maximum impact. The only problem with this is, how do you know which is the right moment in time. We all ‘goof’ it up! Don’t you sometimes feel “aahh.. I should have kept my mouth shut”.