Movies – Alone or with someone

My week last week was extremely stressful. All of us had worked some very long hours, and not getting enough time off. So it seemed that I was overloaded with work all week and was going out of my mind from stress. So we all decided to just give ourselves a much needed break. So we all hopped in the car and just took off and started driving. We really did not have any particular thing in mind. It was like we just wanted to get away from the madding crowd for a bit. Along the way I said to others that it would be great to go see a movie because they are great stress busters. Movies if properly made have the ability to take you to other worlds and you will be able to forget about your problems at least for the time being. It would be a great change for us considering that we have not gone out together in ages. So we drove to the mall and decided to see the new movie being shown at the multiplex near our house. It was a great movie, and it felt really good to be able to do that for myself. Of course the prices of all items including the ticket itself are ridiculous. It costs a lot of money to just to purchase even a bottle of water!

I don't often see movies in theaters due to the high cost and the fact is that I'd much rather go with the family than watch it alone... because movies are meant to be enjoyed with someone. Going to the movies with someone is more enjoyable for me, since it seems like we have gone on some picnic. We all can relax and have fun. I don't go to the movies at the movie hall alone myself and for that matter. I prefer the company of others there with me. But on the same note, I would like to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with going to the movies alone, especially if you are stressed out and need some time away from everyone. In such a case, you will find it relaxing to go out on your own, enjoy the activity by yourself and really concentrate on what you are watching. It is important that we get out and in order to keep our sanity. It is crucial to do this otherwise the stress is just going to build and it will ruin our relationship with each other.

What Is Your Most Attractive Facial Feature?

What really got me thinking about this particular topic are all those irritating beauty advertisements that we all run into either on television or the print media. I really detest these ads since they claim that you will look better after you apply certain creams or undergo certain facial treatments, etc all the while trying to divert people’s attention from the fact that everyone looks good up to a certain extent….even with certain imperfections. I usually tend to ignore these ads and usually surf to the next channel/station or flip to the next page of the magazine without paying much attention.

But I guess it had to happen. It was one of the dull slow days and I ended up staring at myself while I was trying to quickly run past the full length mirror without looking at myself. I've never claimed to be a raging beauty, but neither do I think that I am an ugly duckling either. I know that I am not a very photogenic person since I just do not have a “good” side. I really do not know which the most attractive feature in my face is. But I have been told that my best features are my eyes, eye brows and smile. I consider my nose just too big. On some days it’s more prominent and I really hate those days. Actually, when I look at myself I do not see those things, but if other people are saying it, I must take it with a grain of salt and believe it. But the thing which I simply love about myself is my personality. I think it is my most valuable feature! I really do believe that true beauty lies within. What do you think is your most attractive facial feature?

How aware are you about the environmental problems?

If you have looked around, you must have noticed how much change our planet has gone through in the last century. Looking back, I realized how much damage mankind has done to this planet which we call our home. Looking at all the mess which we are in and yes it is getting worse and worse with each passing year, I am getting very worried about not only our surroundings, but also our climate. With each passing year our planet is getting warmer. This global warming is due to many factors. Some of the reasons are avoidable and other unavoidable.

Someone mentioned to me why our government doesn’t do something to stop the manufacturers which make plastics and other harmful products and chemicals that destroy our environment especially the ozone layer. Also, the slash and burn method should be stopped immediately which destroys vast forest lands.

After giving it some thought, I think we should not be too dependent on our government to stop climate change as they take too much time to come to any environmentally friendly solution and there are just too many influential industrial lobbies pressurizing our government. I think the best place we can actually start is within our own homes. If at least every home would start doing their own part in conserving energy and recycling and segregating the waste products and help educate other people in their locality, we can actually make a difference. Here are a few tips:

1. Turn of lights when not in use, TV, radio, computer and other appliances
2. Conserve water while taking a bath or washing dishes.
3. Plant as many trees in your backyard or around your property as possible.
4. Try to reuse plastics and paper products.
5. Segregate trash before putting it out for the pick up by the municipality.
6. Take your own bags when doing your grocery.
7. Do not litter when you go someplace,
8. Do not get damage the environment when going on a sightseeing tour.


If you have been listening to the news or reading the print materials you must have noticed that sometimes we are told that the earth climate is getting warmer because of greenhouse effect and at other times we are told that the earth is going to enter into another ice age and it will probably be the end of life as we know it. Which theory to believe? As an individual, sometimes I feel powerless and frustrated. Can mankind be less selfish and care about the earth more? What can we possibly do so that we can save our planet from going hotter and hotter in the future? Do you have any suggestions to stop all these menace so that we can have a healthy planet? How can we limit the damage that we are doing to our planet?

Win a MacBook Air with 1 Tweet

I just discovered a fantastic site today and I wanted to tell you all about it. How would you like to get a chance to win a Free MacBook Air? I know I would. It is a fantastic piece of machine loaded with features and every owners pride and neighbors envy. It seems ben behrouzi who is an entrepreneur is giving away a brand new MacBook Air to one cool Twitter follower. Free! This one lucky follower will be selected on March 31st 2009, but you have to be in it to win it! So, if you are not on there now, it’s not too late to join. He will be announcing the winner on Twitter and on his blog at the end of March. Good luck!

So, you must be wondering how it all works. Well, all you have to do is just send him a simple Tweet with message "Twitter Giveaway - Win A MacBook Air From Me" or something like it in your own words to let ben behrouzi know to count you in. There is no requirement to follow him, only if you choose to get his updates. This giveaway got to be the easiest giveaway to enter. If you would like to receive his updates, then all you got to do is follow @BenBehrouzi and let him know you want to win. What are you waiting for? Drop by his site now and give this contest a try. Who knows, you might end up walking away with a fantastic product absolutely free of cost.

Good news or bad, which do you prefer first?

I guess everyone has their own preference when deciding which type of news they prefer to listen to first and which one they prefer to listen to later. After some thinking, I think I would prefer to get the bad news first. I have had a tendency in life to want to get the bad over with really fast, so I can move on to the good in life. It kind of drives me crazy when I tell someone that I have good news and bad news for them, and they want the good news first... then I give the bad news and they don't really like the bad news too much since it puts their mind in great turmoil and then they want to go over the bad news over and over and over again. I just don't respond to that type of stuff very well and usually exit real quick. I just think to myself, you should have asked for the bad news first! I guess it all depends on the person’s personality and how they are able to handle the news which is dished out to them.

Reasoning can be sought for either way. If you choose to receive the good news first you will be happy and later on in a foul mood for the bad news that will come later .Then if you get the bad news first you will be sad and then the happiness will come after and be the last emotion you have. Some people claim that it is better to hear the good news first than the bad news later as the good news fills our heart with happiness and joy. After hearing the good news, if we listen to the bad news, the bad news will have some impact on the bad news, and it won’t hurt us much at the heart so much as the good news will lessen the impact of the bad news. While others claim that it is better to hear the bad news first because then they have something to look forward to, being the good news. Like I said a little while ago, I would rather hear the bad news first, be upset for a minute and know I have good news to hear also than be in a good mood and then to have that mood crushed due to the bad news. So which do you prefer first Good or Bad news?

Why are people afraid to help others?

Lately I have come to conclusion after a lot of thinking that it is easier too find people who need help than trying to locate people who are willing to help others in one way or other. Just look around you and you will see what I mean. Many people say they want to help others because of some ulterior motive like: they want other people to think highly of them or they want to look good in the eyes of other people. But dig a little deeper and you will notice that they really don't make an effort to help other people. There are probably as many different reasons for not doing social service as there are people. In today's society work comes first and there is no time for volunteer work it seems.

Some way which I believe that people can help other are:

Those who feel they don't have time to help out can always donate money instead of volunteering help. Usually, I do that as well, even though money is tight in these really tough times since I know the other party is dead broke and needs it more desperately than I do. I am helping someone else and I always hope that when this person is in a better position he/she will be able to stand on his/her own feet and make a positive contribution to the society someday.

A person could easily volunteer to serve food in one of those food kitchens that are usually set up by some social welfare group or religious group, but people shrink away from this duty by saying, "It's in a bad neighborhood, I'm not going down there."

You could donate a small percentage of your paycheck to some government recognized charity or some other charity of your own preference. Even a small amount would go a long way in helping someone out.

You could do something as simple as making extra food at dinner and giving it to a needy person or just to be plain nice.

Many people are selfish by nature and just like to hear themselves talk about helping others but are just too lazy to put in the actual work to help out. They tend to think they are needy and people should be helping them even though there are others more needier than them. They need to be taught to extend that helping hand to the needy. God does watch over us all and he does reward those who do good towards others selflessly. One should do what he/she can. One should always be willing to help others out whenever possible not because you will gain something out of it but because it might make a world of a difference to the other person(s). Needy people do need help and it is our duty to extend the helping hand. Why are people so afraid to help other people and afraid to extend the helping hand towards others?

Do people have the sense to know when not to use cell phones?

It is common knowledge that cell phones have become an important part of our life. I consider it the ultimate time-saving device--it allows you to save time by multi-tasking in ways you never before dreamed possible. It is an important part of life, yet it has also turned into a nuisance at times. They are a good communication tool and it has helped us all out under certain situations especially when we are stuck on the road and no genuine help is in site. At other times, it should not be used at all at certain places.

Besides the irritating marketing calls, one thing which still baffles me is and absurd is why is that children are given cell-phones at an early age? We managed without them for such a long time and without so many other so-called useful 'necessities'. Why should children need phones at school as surely they are there to be educated? By letting them have the cell phones with them while they are attending classes seems a little silly. Many children misuse the phone facility instead of using it for its basic contact purpose.

The other thing about cell phones is that some people do not have the common sense to know when and where not to use them. I had gone to this really important company meeting sometime back. The branch manager was making his usual company performance speech. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. In the middle of the meeting, someone's cell phone began ringing loudly. After the person dug it out of their pocket or holder or wherever they had kept it, they shut it off. At this point you could hear several people there quickly shutting their phones off also after realizing how many stares it drew. People are just so accustomed to having them that they don't even think about where to put it in a silent/vibrate mode or simply turning it off. Cell phones don't belong in office meetings, weddings, places of worship, funerals, courtrooms, clinics, hospitals, driving a vehicle and there are many more places they should not be used as certain management rules prohibit its use. In addition to the above mentioned inappropriate moments, there are times when I just don't want to be reached.


A person’s life will not end if they shut off their cell phones. One must remember that we have lived without these modern conveniences for hundreds of years and a short denial of use will not hurt us. Tell me, is it really that much of an inconvenience to turn your phone off and let your phone take it as a missed call in certain situations? Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I usually shut off my cell phone when it is not use. When I have to leave it on, I put it in the silent mode and at other times vibrate mode only. The cell phone is meant for emergencies. If I am not able to answer the phone right away due to circumstances beyond my control, I usually call back when possible. If it is a true emergency they will call back or leave a message. Sometimes I wonder if people have become so rude or are they simply not thinking.

I do understand that most people's lives are kind of hectic these days and a lot of things do happen in their life, but people should learn to slow down every once in awhile! Show some respect for others in situations where it is due and it is just not appropriate for your phone to be going off under certain situations. Not only will your life not end if you shut your phone off for a few hours, but the world will still be there when you get back to it. Like when someone is calling someone me while they are sitting on the toilet? Eeeeew. There are some things I just don't need to know.


On an ending note, I would like to mention once more that even though cell phones have their benefits, yet they also have several drawbacks some of which I mentioned above. Finally, remember not to walk through stores isles while using Bluetooth headphones. You will just look like a crazy person talking to yourself and probably the security people will end up following you around. Remember to use the vibrate mode in your cell phone. You’ll just love it and probably become addicted to it.

Expecting mothers can also look good

I guess everyone desires to look as beautiful as possible. I guess it is one of our inner desires to look the very best all the time. But this is not always possible. Sometimes for expecting mothers it simply becomes very difficult to look good and have that fresh look when they step out of the house to go someplace. Plus, one never knows if the beauty product will actually suit them during this transition time.

One must remember that for women who are pregnant, finding beauty products that are safe for both mother and fetus is essential. Beaute de Maman is a unique line of health and beauty products developed by a board-certified obstetrician to treat problems specifically related to the physiological and hormonal changes experienced by women during pregnancy. In fact, Beaute de Maman products are so good and have such a good reputation that they have made it into the hands of such Hollywood celebrity moms-to-be including actresses Penelope Ann Miller, Salli Richardson-Whitfield (“Eureka”), Chyler Leigh (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Jennifer Blanc. Brooke Mueller Sheen, wife of actor Charlie Sheen, as well as Jane Hajduk, who is married to actor Tim Allen, and The Insider’s celebrity correspondent Victoria Recano, can also be counted among expectant Hollywood moms who have been seen and heard referencing various products in the Beauté de Maman line.

Buying a product that is not only safe for the expecting mother but also for the unborn child should be the first priority of any person. This way the person who is using these beauty products will be assured that not only will they look good when they want to, but also that the baby that they are carrying is safe from all the harmful chemicals, etc. So, if you are an expecting mother or know someone who is one what are you waiting for? order now.

Cooking from scratch

By now you all must have guessed that food is one of the things in life which I am simply crazy about. Most of the stuff we eat at home is home cooked stuff. It is so much healthier, cheaper and yummier! It does take more time to prepare, but in the end, all the hard work is worth it! When I read the food labels on the food products, I realized that there are so many preservatives in the already prepared food and meals that I was really worried about what is going into my body. I like knowing exactly what goes into my food and how much preservatives and sodium is in there.

The stuff we eat at my place is usually extremely easy to cook up in a jiffy and economical. We have become really health conscious also recently. As in all Indian cooking, we use a lot of spices to make the food as tasty as possible. We have minimized the amount of salt and oil to bare minimum and we constantly experiment with different spices to see which combination we like best. When I am in a rush and want something on the plate quick I usually end up eating boiled potatoes and yogurt with a pinch of salt and black pepper. Otherwise, it is a full meal.

Sometimes when I am in the mood I like to whip up a few time consuming dishes, but this leads to a total chaos in the kitchen. The kitchen ends up looking like a war zone and I end up thinking thoughts like maybe the army’s elite forces should be called in to help me clear out this mess which I have gotten myself into. But, I end up saving loads of money which I usually end up using for some household expenditure or when the movie mania hits me, and then I am off to the movies.

Home made dosas; aloo parathas with yogurt and aachar (pickles), and Aloo puri with yogurt and aachar (pickles) are a few of my favorites. I eat these items very rarely since they are a bit on the oily side. I try to avoid outside food as much as possible since I am able to make most simple items at home at half the price and it is much healthier. I usually end up adding a lot of salad items to make it as nutritious as possible. Sure, it might not taste as delicious as the restaurant stuff, but I am satisfied with the end result and the food digest quickly. Under certain circumstances outside food just simply cannot be avoided. But, these are rare occasions and on these occasions we usually have tons of fun. So, how often do you all cook from scratch and is it too much of a hassle?

Web designing for idiots

Have you ever been in such a situation when you needed help but did not know who to ask? Well, I have been in such a situation not very long back. Sometime back when I got my computer, I was eager to get on the net and start exploring the world wide web. It seems for one reason or other, I was not fully satisfied with what the sites offered and I wanted to give making my own site a try. But where should I start? I asked all my friends but no help was coming. They were all clueless. Then one day just when I had all but given up hope, I found out About Web Design for Idiots . This site was a real help for a beginner like me.

web design for idiots main page website tutorials is for people who are very new to the world of web design. The author writes posts that are fun to read but also newbie friendly. The site includes a lot of links, graphics, and other resources to help people better grasp the concepts in such a way that is extremely easy to comprehend.

This fantastic site is a new blog, and the content is always seems to be growing at a extremely fast rate. This blog is set up in such a interactive way that everyone should find extremely practical and useful. Do you have a question? Well, get your web design questions answered by web design for idiots now. The site owner is constantly online replying to questions and comments, and if a person can not find an answer to their question, they can e-mail their questions and someone will respond in a post to help everyone. I found this option really useful since the new guys like us will always be full of questions and be needing a lot of support initially.


With a little bit of the sites help you can teach yourself oscommerce for newbies oscommerce file structure with ease. I simply loved this site and would ask all newbies out there to take a look at this site when starting of on their net journey. The tutorials are well written, concise and easy to understand. So, drop by the site and become a computer pro now instead of feeling like an idiot.

difference of opinion

With the passage of time I have noticed that the older generations (parents and grandparents) will invariably have much different opinion of most things then we do. Whenever a discussion arises there will always be some sort of differences in the opinions. But some how my parents’ and grandparents’ opinions will be some what same most of the times, but the younger generation (like mine) will be entirely different at times. Because of this I noticed that our elders are not ready to take advice from the younger ones even though we are usually correct most of the times but instead they argue with their opinions though it’s wrong in some cases.

After giving it some thought I think it’s very natural that there will always be some generation gap will exist. The older generation tends to speak out of their personal experiences gathered over a period of time while the younger lot will speak of new things and new ways and this tends to disorient their thinking. There should be understanding between the two and also there should be acceptance to some extent between the both generations. The youngsters should think that what elders are saying, and accept the information if its right and also elders should not think that they are always right, they should also accept some changes that always occur with the passage of time, as nothing is forever in life, it keeps changing and we should have that spirit, that makes life easy and compatible.

I think that what is called a 'generation gap' should not mean that one generation is right while the other is wrong. What really matters here is that though times do change over a period of time, previous ideas and thinking cannot apply to today's set of problems. But, this previous knowledge can be used as a foundation stone to build up newer knowledge data base to solve the current set of problems. Age indeed gives us more knowledge. However, because of the contrast of things right now from how they were back then, I think the older ones 'miss' the things they've had in their yesteryears while the new generation now can't appreciate how things were before because they haven't actually lived it.

In the end, I think generation gap only exists if a person stops learning and absorbing in new ideas and insists on sticking to his/her generation in terms of ideas and thinking. This is why there are arguments. Nothing in life is static and life constantly provides new opportunities to learn and adapt out thinking no matter how old we are. One must also remember that the brain is like a sponge which is constantly trying to find new data to process and once we stop learning we tend to stagnate and stop growing mentally. Once this happens differences will start cropping up leading to tensions between different groups of people. I think one solution to lessen the generation gap would be to talk out the problem areas with the elders and if possible have them interact more with the outside world. This might change their thinking once they adapt to newer ideas.

Is it a blessing or a curse?

I have had my own laptop computer now for almost two years now. Prior to that I had to rely on the public computers at the cyber cafe where one would get extremely fast broadband internet access speed (extreme sarcasm there) or if I knew I absolutely positively needed more time to do everything that same day would opt to go to my buddy’s house all the way across town where he had a really fast net connection, but that would require too much travel time and usually turned out to much of a hassle.

Thinking back to my pre-computer days it just seems I got more done than these days. I guess since I knew my time was limited I had to focus on usually one big major project for the day...then I went home and maybe did my cleaning, other "things". Also, by not having a computer, it forced me to get out of the house everyday, no matter what the weather or how I felt.

Ever since I had my own computer and I really discovered the freedom my own computer offers. I can do what I want and when I want to do it. If I get some sudden "inspiration" to something I can do it any old time I please, even if it is in the night when the clock strikes midnight .I don't have to wait until the next day to go out and use a computer at a public place like I once did anymore and be at the mercy of others.

As great as all this is sounds, my problem now suddenly is I don't have the time to do everything on the computer I would like to do after I come back home from work. Even though the night before I make a listing of things to do which I want to do on the computer, like write articles for one of the paid sites which I belong to, paid reviews for another site, etc. I sometimes feel really stretched out...and frustrated at this sudden inexplicable shortage of time. Also, since I do have my own computer, I'm plain not going out as much as I used to, at least not everyday...it was like when I didn't have a computer it was a good excuse if anything to get out of the house....now it's like I to alternate my outdoor and indoor thing a lot nowadays.....one day out to do shopping, next day stay home and finally the weekends for the mall excursions. My working hours have definitely changed...if I thought I was a night owl before now I'm a REAL night owl. Hoot Hoot. I have some major house reconstruction things pending for some time which I would like to do, but keep putting them off to work in front of the computer instead...I no longer read the same way I used to previously since the last thing I want to do after long hours of doing online work for my articles is read some more stuff in the form of newspapers and magazines. And it seems like at times I am not able to call my friends as often as I used to since I am most of the time stuck in front of the computer working.

Computers are definitely a good thing, but at the same time I think for a lot of us, they are a bad thing if people let get control of their lives. It seems like I did fine for several years without a computer in my house and never really thought about it much. However, when I was introduced to computers well let's just say it got a lot harder to get some things done. Lol. It seems like people tend to spend a lot of time on the computer and aren't too interested in spending time doing those other tasks that we need to get done. I find it a lot harder to tear myself away from the computer when I don't have limited access to a computer. I'm trying to work harder at budgeting my time on the computer and sometimes I do succeed and at other times I don’t.

On an ending note, I would like to say that since I work from home and also do a lot of online stuff I really don’t have much of a choice. But proper time management might be the solution which I am looking for. Looking over your daily schedule and life in general how would you answer the following questions: How has your life changed by having your own computer at home? How have you influenced by it? Has it made your life easier now than before it entered your life? Do you let chores go by since you rather be in front of the computer?

Strange experience

I went for a walk yesterday evening and returned very late since I stopped at a grocery store to buy a few veggies. Nothing exciting happened while returning home and I was in a rush to reach home. It was almost 8:00 PM by the time I finally reached home. I was unlocking the gate when I heard some mighty strange sounds coming from across the street. It was kinda dark there and I couldn’t clearly make out what was happening there. The only thing I could see was a car shaking back and forth. I was a bit curious and wanted to go there and take a look. But first, I went inside and put all the grocery items away and came back outside. Locked the door once more and went for a lookee.

The car was still there shaking like crazy. All types of thoughts were racing through my mind. I swear I could hear moaning, groaning, cursing and swearing non stop. All types of thoughts were floating through my mind. I ran over not knowing what to expect. Darn. It was just two guys trying to push and shove a car out of a ditch. And I was expecting something else. Lol. The two guys were as startled to see me as I was seeing them.

It seems like they were trying to avoid some stray animal and lost control of the car and it went into a ditch located next to the road. Half of the car of in the ditch and they were not able to push it back out. I told them to stop all this activity since it was doing no good and I’ll try to get some help if they could wait a bit. After a short while I managed to call over a bunch of people and everyone managed to push the car out with a bit of effort. All of us got treated to a soft drink for our effort and it felt mighty good helping someone out. When they were finally ready to leave, I asked them not to make so many weird noises while shaking the car in the dark or else people might get all types of strange ideas.

It was a fun experience and I did have a laugh when I realized it was only two guys trying to push a stuck car out of the ditch. One thing I learned out of this experience is never to assume anything until fully confirmed.

Education or money: Which is more important?

Life is extremely complicated and full of never ending decisions. But the two questions which keeps popping up every so are the ones about money and education. People are always debating on these two points wondering which one is more important.

A great education is valuable since it acts like a stepping stone in life to fulfill many of our ambitions in life. A person who has a career that makes him/her happy is likely to be fairly well off also, since they will put in more effort in their daily job duties. Studying hard and graduating from a college/university with good qualifications can usually give a person a great career that will earn them money without much hard work.

Some people claim that a proper education is not necessary in order to be successful in life. These people are claiming that a lot of people around the world don’t have any higher degree, yet they are making lot of money. True, many people in certain areas or industries might be earning higher wages than others, but this is due to the fact they have to put in a lot of hard work of many years to reach this level, have less chance of promotion than college graduates and usually be the first ones to be asked to leave when the company downsizes. These people will usually be stuck in the same level for a long time, since they are not qualified to level up to the next post.

I think that a certain amount of money is necessary in life in order to take care of our basic needs like food, clothing, shelter etc. A student needs it for accommodation, college fees, purchasing study material, besides the other essential items but wealth does not always equal happiness and mental satisfaction. It is also needed to maintain a certain standard of living. Otherwise we will not be any different than the beggars on the street forever asking for alms


In the end, even though both things tend to complement each other, I feel education is more important as it makes us a more complete person and separates from us from the other creatures in the animal kingdom. It is better to be well educated than very rich person who has no education and is a total fool. With good education qualifications more opportunities open up and more employers are willing to hire a person. A large helping of good fortune, good health and happiness are also equally important things in life as these help us in successfully completing our goals, tasks and ambitions in life.

Where do you prefer to use your computer?

There are so many places where one can use the computer. Not every place is appropriate. Out of all the different places where I can choose from, I prefer to keep my computer in my own room. I have placed it on a desk near a window so that I can look outside while doing my work. The outside view is really great. I feel really comfortable there and can work on it as long as I wish. When the weather is pleasant outside especially after the rains, I like to take it outside and sit on the porch while surfing the net. I guess I made the right decision when I bought a laptop instead of a desktop. Desktops are just too bulky and take up too much space. Laptops on the other hand require very little space, give similar performance, and added benefit that you can take them anywhere. Ever since I got my Laptop, it has given me more flexibility in choosing where I can work, and now I am a happier person.

Are You Procrastinator?

I guess for the most part, I try doing things right away but I do tend to procrastinate on things that are not as important though. For example, I am always prompt in paying the bills the day I get them and I never put off anything and I am always early for any type of an appointment no matter how far it is located. Don't want to mess with the important stuff! But, if I need to make a phone call that can wait a day or two, I will put it off a lot of times. If I have to go someplace really important, I will go to the place and get it over with pretty quick.

I guess when the mood sets in then I am the king of procrastination! I might have all day to get things done, yet I lounge around the house in my sweatpants and t-shirt doing absolutely nothing at all. Then hours fly by and I realize the dirty pile of clothes and the dishes need done, the house needs a good brooming, etc. If I could make myself wake up a bit earlier, grab a quick shower and make a nice breakfast I might feel more motivated for the day ahead and actually get something done. The housework always seems to come last and sometimes not at all. I always put off those things that need done but that I really don't want to do.

On the other hand, my office desk (I work from home) is far from tidy! I do tend to put things into order though. My desk may be a total mess, but it is an organized mess. I know where everything is and would probably even locate it in total darkness. When I am working outside the home, I do not have a desk, but I do have a set routine each place I go. One thing that really helps me gain clients is that I do not procrastinate at work. I go, get my job done quickly, efficiently, and thoroughly.

I guess in life I have procrastinated a lot of times when I should not have. Sometimes I have been lucky and other times unlucky. In high school and college, I remember that sometimes we were given projects to do. I would usually wait till last minute and rush through the project the night before and the morning itself. Sometimes I got lucky and got a good grade and at other times just barely passing. Finally, I must ask are you the type of person who puts things off until the last possible minute, or do you do things as soon as you can?

Size does matter, but how big is enough?

Times have changed and so has the technology. When I first got this laptop two years ago it had a much larger hard drive than my desk top computer and I was confident that it wouldn't fill up very quickly. But, alas, it is getting too full rather quickly and that makes it slower than it should be. I haven’t been to successful in portioning my hard disk drive, as there really much free space to allocate to the areas that need it. I believe it is finally time to be thinking about a new hard drive and I am unsure as to which one I should get.

I remember the first computer which I had bought was an assembled pc with only a 10 GB hard disk drive. I kept upgrading my system as newer technologies came out and the situation demanded that I needed more hard disk drive space. These days, I have a 120GB hard disk drive system and this to seems just to small.

There are some hard drives out there that are so large they almost boggle the brain. I just don’t know if I should really upgrade my hard disk drive. It’s only two years old and I was thinking maybe I should either buy an external drive or get another internal one if I have the facility built in for it. But, I wonder how fast and dependable these extremely large drives are. So, I ask you this: How big is your hard drive? Have you ever had one of those 200GB hard drives monsters and did it work well?

Take control of your emotions.

A lot of things which we have done in our past can be attributed up to inexperience, youth, pure chance and at times unavoidable circumstances. A lot of time has flown by and now you are a grown adult. With the passage of time, a certain amount of maturity usually makes a person wiser and more experienced. As an adult, you must make own your choices and accept the consequences of your decision as your own.

A person who has negative attitudes is usually affected by cynicism, a pessimistic outlook, often a lack of confidence and at times inferiority complex. We should always take some accountability for the way we look at things and our actions. The world around us has affected each of us in a different way while we were growing up and we need to grow up to be mature adults and handle things in a grown up manner. I have learned time and time again that experience is the best teacher. I really should know that now that I am getting older and older. There are many things that have happened in my life that have taught me a lot of things and these things at times have provided me with an opportunity to renew and refresh my inner self. One should learn to lessen the mental baggage which we carry and lighten our load. Just letting it all go brings so much relief and eases the coiled up tension which had built up inside.

One must remember that as adults we have to be in charge and take control of our emotions keeping in mind who we are and what we want to become in order to become someone better in our life as well. I have seen that in so many instances that the members of the younger generation who didn’t to control their emotions ended up with a truck loads of problems as they were growing up and still are. Growing up basically means being in control of your own emotions and attitude in everything you do. One must strive to always try to control your own emotions and attitude as I believe that no one is in control of that but only yourself. Out of in built habit we tend to blame everything on others, but that will not accomplish anything at all. Change can only come from accepting ones fault and changing oneself. A person can strive to set the tone for their own experiences, moods, etc. everyday of their adult life. There are many outside influences that we do not have control over, but recognizing that and knowing that it is nothing you can change is half the battle. Emotions are important of life or else we are no different than machines. Being expressive is important instead of locking it all up inside which will drive a person mad. We have to let it all out in order to get the much needed mental relief but we should do it in a responsible and controlled manner.

One must try to take note of the ways you are escaping responsibility for your attitude, actions and try to correct them. Ask yourself the following questions: Do you continually blame situations, friends and family, or life in general for your poor mindset? Are you able to see your faults and try to find a solution to them? The world has influence, without a doubt, but growing into a mature person means taking control of your emotions and attitude. One must learn from the hardships we had overcome and the problems that just gone and from the words of God. Adapt to the situations and try to be a role model for others. Be their guiding light and their pillar of strength.

My encounters with the Santa kind

It's been ages since I got anything in the Christmas stocking besides the usual lump of coal which it seems had more or less become a regular feature. I guess I must have offended Santa's sensibilities somewhere along my journey in life. Lol. Oh, I tried to be good and kind, but still the lump of coal showed up at Christmas time. Bahh Humbug. So, I had quit waiting for a maricale to happen which I thought might never happen.

So, what happened yesterday took me by surprise and in the end I had tons of fun. All of us went to the mall for some fun since it was Christmas Eve and all of us were in the festive mood. The mall was fully decorated for the festive season and it looked really nice. We did not enter from the malls main entrance but chose instead to enter from one of the big retail shop entrances. Besides the usual staff, guess who else was standing near the entrance to greet the people who were entering the store. It was none other except Santa himself. All little kids who entered the store were treated to a lollipop and a sitting on his lap while he patiently listened to their whispered requests and he ended it with a belly shaking laugh and Ho Ho Ho. It was some sight watching the little kids at times very hesitantly approach him and go through the ritual since most kids are not familiar with the Santa figure. Some little children who are familiar with the Santa folklore went right up confidently and demanded their pound of flesh. This one little girl in particular was some sight. The moment the 4 year old girl entered the store with her parents, she hollered on top of her voice, "SANTA'S HERE" and ran towards him with as much speed as her tiny legs could propel her. She hopped right up to his lap, grabbed his white beard and whispered her demands into his ears quiet conspiractly. When he looked back at her with a bemused smile on his face, she gave him a stern look, yanked his beard just hard enough to make him squeal and told him "I want my presents or else I am coming back next year". Santa was totally floored and had a real belly shaking laugh. In the end, every kid got what they wanted in case the store stocks the item plus the lollipop, otherwise they got a lollipop only. This system seemed to work and all kids went away satisfied and happy. But I was feeling mighty grumpy at this time. I think all Santa have good hearing, since this store Santa must have overheard me when I whispered to my fellow shoppers "I wish I was a kid again so that I could have my photo taken with Santa, sit on his lap and get a lollipop". He called me right over, looked me up and down with a bemused smile on his face. I growled "Wassup up Santa or else I'll do the same to your beard which the little girl did". You are mighty big for a lollipop, my son as he handed over not just one, but 2 lollipops. You see, around the same time I got my lollipop, a bunch of fully grown college kids had wandered over and had captured Santa and asking for a lollipop. I was afraid to sit on his lap, since this Santa was a mighty skinny chap with hardly any meat on his body. I guess the long journey from the North Pole must have really worn him out. Lol. It was a sight to see all right. Not the skinny Santa, but us grown guys sucking on lollipops and looking as satisfied as little babies.

I left Santa behind, exited the store and entered the mall. It was fully decked up inside also and there seemed to be some activity at every corner. There was the usual holiday crowd and everyone seemed to be in a merry joyous mood irrespective of what religion the people were. After wandering around for sometime, we went to the top floor where all the food stalls are located. It's been ages since the whole family had ventured out together and we really enjoyed ourselves. We seemed to there for what seemed many hours and finally decided to take a leave when we realized how dark it had become outside. We had a good time and really enjoyed ourselves. As we were leaving the mall, we saw that Santa was also making an exit since his duty was over. He did look mighty sore, tired and worn out. As, he was fumbling with his car keys, I walked up to him and said "Hi Santa". He was a bit startled as he wasn't expecting any repeat customers I guess. I offered him a big cup of hot coffee from a coffee stall located nearby. I really hate to see a tired sleepy man driving home. Plus, he had really made my day a few hours back not just by offering me 2 free lollipops, but also by making me laugh by going through all his silly antics. I guess the only thing that saddens me was the heightened security at all public places like malls which attract huge volumes of people. These militants and terrorists won't let us live in peace and they are always looking for opportunities for destroying the communal harmony, killing people and looking for ways to overthrow the law of the land. The constant frisking is really irritating but necessary it seems during these troubled times. The funny part is the security guards look extremely puny. A little puff of wind might blow them away. Lol...But it seems like the mall management has got a little wiser. Nowadays, they have reinforced these puny guards with mean looking, well built, tall, broad sullen looking bouncers. I really don't think these guys know how to smile. Lol. Even though these security guys are lax in some areas while performing their security checks and we did mention it to them a few times, it was a fun experience and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Hope you did also.

Pigging out after a long gap

I just love eating. Just a few days ago I was at a massive party and I just pigged out. There was so many different varieties of dishes that I just could not control myself. But guess what happened. I woke up feeling all bloated and I was looking just awful. I had inadvertently managed to gain a lot of unwanted excess pounds. I was really feeling depressed and did not know what to do. I tried just about everything, but nothing seemed to work. I think I’ll go and check out a few exercise joints near my area and see which package is best suited for me. Over the years, I have managed to gain weight and lost this unwanted baggage without much effort. So, while I am giving this a serious thought let me grab another bite to eat and hopefully it will help me out of the mess I am in.
By the time I reached this laptop and finished writing this post, a lot of time had flown by and I lost track of how many sandwiches and burgers I had gobbled down. I have to make up for the lost time. Haa haa. Some burgers were damn fantastic especially the mustard and onion and green chillie ones…..while the others were good. Overall, the random eating session which I participated today was fun and I have rediscovered my culinary skills after a long gap. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I must admit that food is one of main weak point and I try to enjoy the vast variety of dishes which are offered. Over the years, I have more or less been able to maintain my average sized body without much effort so in the end….a few pounds here and there won’t really make much of a difference. I’ll either hit the gym after the holidays if I can find the right package or maybe just do a lot of walking.