TM - Speech 5 - Your Body Speaks - False assumptions can get you in all sorts of trouble

A couple of years ago an interesting thing happened to me. I was on my way to work. Like any other day, I was riding in the first car of the train, because I knew when I get off the train at Finch station there will be an escalator that takes me to the main level. I got on the escalator and started taking steps up. But, I noticed my steps were not bringing me closer to the top of the escalator. All of a sudden, I lost my balance and fell on all four. At this point in time I panicked, my brain logic system shut down and it started working in survival mode. I had to survive whatever was happening to me. So, I dropped my bag then I got rid of my lunch box. And took hold of the hand rail with both hands. My grip was so tight my knuckles turned white. I started literally climbing up the stairs. Finally, when I got to the top of the escalator, I looked down for my bag and lunch box; I noticed that the escalator that I assumed was going up, is going down.

Obviously, this assumption got me into trouble!

As human beings we usually make assumptions based on past experiences, cultural stereotypes and social stigmas. We see a tall guy we say, oh he must be a good basketball player, we see an Asian gal, we say she is definitely good in math, we are introduced to an Italian and we think he must like pasta. By way of assumption, we are taking a shortcut in our decision making process. We avoid fact gathering, analysis and deduction.

Let's take a look at one example together. How many of you think that the express lane of a supermarket is faster than other lanes?

I found this example on Dan Myer's weblog. Dan is a math teacher. He uses this example to teach his students math reasoning. The students, in order to find an answer for this question, go to a supermarket and observe how fast the lines at the registers are moving. They collect two piece of data, the number of items in a customer's baskets and the time it took for the customer to pay for these items. The graph, based on this data, looks like this.




When I looked at this graph, two things caught my eye.
1. there is a nominal time spent in front of a cash register even if you have no items to pay. Interesting? What may you be doing at the cash register if you have no items. Well you may ask the cashier where you can find soap.
2. the second thing were the outlier data. e.g. it look less for an individual with 26 items to pay for his items than it did for another individual to pay for 17 items in the express lane. How could this be? Well, we often overlook that methods of payment such as debit or credit can take longer than cash.

The point I am trying to make is assumptions may not yield the right answer. As we clearly see in this example.

I'd like to suggest that we become more aware of our thinking process. Realize when our decisions are based on assumptions. And ask ourselves what those assumptions are based.

FIFA: WC 2010 Viva Espana!!!

Not necessarily a good game to watch, lots of fouls, but in the end, it was the great passing the ball, teamwork, that got the La Roja the golden cup.


The Netherlands team tried to build frustration amongst the Spanish players, however, this tactic only resulted in many yellow cards and one Dutch player, John HEITINGA, being expelled. There were a couple of opportunities for Arjen ROBBEN to score, but both times he was blocked by Spain's great defense duo, Carols PUYOL-Gerard PIQUE and the agile goal keeper, Iker CASILLAS.
Spain had many opportunities on the Dutch goal, Sergio RAMOS missed the net twice; Jesus NAVAS, and David VILLA both got very close to becoming heroes for their country, but didn't make it.
At the end it was Andres INIESTA who took the ball close to the goal and scored, undoubtedly, the most entertaining goal of the WC 2010!!

Well done! Well deserved!

FIFA: WC 2010 The Final

It's 20 minutes into the final games of Fifa World Cup 2010. Germans are 1 goal ahead of the Uruguay team, scored by Muller. They both deserve the best. They have worked hard, trained well, and played an exceptional football to get to this point. Wow, as I am writing this, Cavani scored the equalizer for the Uruguay team!!

It has been an interesting, exciting and entertaining World Cup. The teams, France, Italy and England, came into the competition with high hopes, but they were ill fit, physically and mentally, for the task. They left early, making way for exceptional teams such as: Ghana, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, Brazil, Slovakia, and others to keep playing. The games were extremely close. Players put in their best game. But, sometimes even the best of games is not enough to take you through, e.g. Brazil loss to the Netherlands.

I had my eye on one team from the beginning, Spain. I am so happy they have made it to the final. Let's see what they bring to the field in the last game of the Fifa World Cup 2010. Let's hope their tactics, game making, teaming and mental strength is enough to keep them cool for 90 minutes and push them to deliver goals and wining the trophy!

FIFA: WC 2010 Round of 16 is on its way

The round of 16 started this weekend. Unlike the first round, in this round, the teams only get one chance of qualifying for the next round, the quarter final. Each game has to produce a winner, if not in the allotted 90 minutes then the teams have to play for two additional 15 minutes. If by then none of the teams scored a winning goal, the players proceed to penalty kicks. Games could become very long but exciting.

Yesterday, Uruguay and Ghana became the first teams to qualify for the quarter finals!!

Uruguay has been incredibly strong in this world cup. The team plays with eyes open, passing the ball to each other at the right moment. They have also shown creative ways of opening their opponent's goal. The first goal they scored against South Korea, yesterday is an example of such masterful game making. Forlan saw Suarez in the right spot, he passed a beautiful ball which reached Suarez with no blockage from South Korean defense. Suarez sent the ball in the goal with a right kick. Beautiful finish!

And so Uruguay has a rightful spot in the quarter finals. Its next game will be against Ghana.

Yesterday, Ghana and USA played a very intense game which produced a 1-1 result at the end of 90 minutes and many yellow cards for players of both sides. Prince produced the first goal for Ghana and Donovan from the USA squad shot the equalizer penalty kick for his team. "Gyan scored the winner with a classic front-runner's goal, outmusceling US captain Carlos Bocanegra - Gyan's friend and team-mate with French club Rennes - before crashing a shot past Tim Howard."

Ghana being the only African team left in the World Cup is considered the "Pride of Africa"!

Uruguay will play against Ghana in the quarter final.

Let the best team win!

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 4 Intensity as the defending World Champions nearly loose to Paraguay

Blame it on rain, that the Italians were 1-0 behind at the end of the first half. Anyone who watched the game saw that Paraguay's defense was strong and Antolin Alcaraz first goal was beautiful. Here is what Gerardo Martino, Paraguay's coach had to say about the game: "We played this game equally against the current world champions," he said. "To play against a rival with such skills is a very good sign for us. It gives is a lot of confidence going ahead in this tournament."
In the second half the Italians took possession of the ball most of the time. They put a lot of pressure on the Paraguay team. Finally, Daniele De Rossi scored the first goal after 63 minutes to make it equal.

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 3 A hand ball followed by Solvenian dance

Controlling the ball with hand is foul according to football rules. The likelihood of this type of foul increases in proportion with the competitiveness of the game. The outcome, however, should be the same. "...if the player touches the ball with his hand, he must be penalized with a direct free kick and a disciplinary sanction if required." quote from Law of the Game 2010.

World Cup 2010 has produced an anomaly: two hand balls with two different outcomes. In one case the referee ignores the foul and as a result sends the team to the World Cup, France vs Ireland, in the other the referee (correctly) sends the player who performs it out of the game and makes the way for the opponents to win the game, Algeria vs Slovenia. ha!

FIFA: WC 2010 Day 2 is all about Maradona

Diego Maradona is the man of the hour, even more than Gabriel Heinz who scored the winning goal for the team in the game against Nigeria; he has shown extreme characteristics through out his sport career, as a player for Argentina's national team, to its captain leading the team to winning the FIFA World Cup 1986, and to its coach today.

Watching him exhibit great emotion from the coach seat, Diego is holding a bracelet/rosary in his hand, which I think demonstrates some sort of superstitious belief. He is waving his hand in the air, and screaming something to his team, as if they can or should hear him.

As for the team itself, after watching 60 minutes of the game against Nigeria, I would be very surprised, if they make it beyond round 2. They are not that good.

FIFA: WC 2010 The magic of opening match

Dear soccer/football fans around the world,
South Africa is playing against Mexico to kick the FIFA World Cup 2010 games to a start.
The odds are for the South African team, being the host country with no defeats in the past 13 games, they beam with confidence. The Mexican team on the other hand had to overcome many bumps in the road, lose against USA, and Honduras in the WC qualifying matches, to make it this far; they are ready.

So, who do you think will win this game?

We are set for an exciting opening match!

Discovery Walk - Don Valley Parkway Trail

Exploring the city where we reside doesn't come naturally, because we often fall into the routine and as a result become oblivious to the fact that our cities can provide us with more than a place to go to work, school, etc.

I know this. I have first hand experience.

This Spring, however, as the nature was reborn, the non-existing snow melted (we had very little snow this winter) and the days grew longer, brighter and warmer, I took out a piece of paper and made a list of the places I had seen tourists virtually mark with a red cross --to indicate not to be missed-- on sites like tripadvisor.com.

Here are a few places I have been:

Edwards Garden	(http://www.toronto.ca/parks/parks_gardens/edwardsgdns.htm)
Botanical Garden	(http://www.torontobotanicalgarden.ca/)
High Park	(http://www.highparktoronto.com/)

along with pictures I have taken and published on Picasa Web so far.

But besides encouraging you to explore the city you live in, I want to share with you my latest discovery of one of Toronto's finest multi-purpose trails. I only explored a small portion of it, from Broadview and Danforth to Lakeshore Blvd. The map, below, shows the trail and its connections to other parts of the city via the city roads. You can lose yourself in this lush forested area for hours. The occasional traffic noise speeding by or the down town skyscrapers peeking through the trees, are the only reminders that you are in the city!

Here is the map, courtesy of bikely.com.

TM: Speech 4 - How to Say it

Project 3 for Competent Communication manual is a hard project to tackle. Some masterfully play with meanings, words and figures of speech to vivify an experience for their audience. I don't! I have notebooks of phrases that eloquently convey the meaning. I take them down as I come across them in written or spoken language. But, I rarely use them!

For this project, I consulted with family, my Toastmaster's mentor, and a friend on what topic to talk about. After many brainstorming discussions, talking about a Recipe got the most number of votes. I delivered the speech on April Fool's, Thursday April 1. So take the wrapper text around the cooking tips with a grain of salt. :)

Here is the text for my fourth TM project --How to Say it.

"Welcome to the Fool's edition of our Cooking Show. I am glad that you could join me today because today I have a rare opportunity to bring to you the international recipe for April Fool's day on the day it was discovered.

This one of a kind recipe originated in a small, cute town in France. The French man who first discovered it was a veterinarian called Jacques. On April 1, 1832 Jacques was performing an autopsy on a cow when he accidentally touched the meat around the back rib cage of the animal. It felt so smooth and soft. If it feels so tender when it is raw, imagine how succulent it tastes when it is cooked, he thought. He took a sharp knife cut a thick piece from the tail end of the loin and took it home with him. He stayed up all night, toiling away in his kitchen until he perfected his idea. Jacques discovered one of the most delicious, luxurious, expensive dishes in the world. He called it fool Mignon since it was on April's fool's day that this genius idea came to him. But later the French changed it to a more sophisticated name: fillet Mignon to literally mean thick slice of dainty.

Like flowers on Valentine day, this dish could be quite expensive when dining out on April fool's day, but it is much more reasonable if you make it at home. On that note I would like to share with you a few tips on cooking fillet Mignon at home.

• When selecting tenderloin or fillet Mignon slices choose the lighter colored ones over the dark ones. The lighter the color the more marbling it has which makes the meat more tender.
  
  
• Since the beef has little fat on its surface, it is often wrapped in a bacon or some sort of fat to make it more favorable.
  
  
• Use a dry high heat method of cooking: such as broiling, roasting or grilling.
  
  
• Avoid cutting into the meat to check doneness, because all the juice will ooze out. Use the touch method. Press the meat with two fingers, if it feels soft and mushy and leaves imprints, it is rare. If it is soft but slightly resilient, it is medium rare. The minute it begins to feel firm it is over-done start over again.
  
  
• You can garnish fillet Mignon with garlic, salt, pepper and some rosemary.
  
  
• To match a wine with fillet Mignon look for dry, red wines. The top matches are Merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, or Shiraz. don't try all at the same time.
  

With these tips you can make a tasty fillet Mignon at home that is so tender you can cut it with a fork and so juicy that it will melt in your mouth. And since today is the day this recipe was discovered you have a strong motivation to make it today. Try this recipe out today!

Thank you for joining me. I hope you enjoyed this edition of our cooking show and you join me again next week when i make another world renowned, exotic dish simple enough for you to make it at home."

Earth hour 2010 in Toronto!

Toronto is participating in Earth Hour 2010!
Toronto's family-friendly Earth Hour celebration will be hosted by Citytv personalities Kevin Frankish and Dina Pugliese, and feature performances by Chantal Kreviazuk, Jarvis Church and Justin Nozuka beginning at 7:30 p.m. Also enjoy aerial artists, fire-throwers, hip-hop dance crews and display your wish for the planet on an Earth Hour wishing tree.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
5:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Yonge-Dundas Square

Sunday, March 28:

Toronto, March 27, 2010... The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) tonight reported that compared to a typical Saturday in late March, demand for electricity in Ontario fell by approximately four per cent or 560 megawatts (MW) as a result of Earth Hour. This drop is equivalent to the average peak energy needs of a city the size of Brampton.

"More than anything, Earth Hour gives people a chance to think about their energy use," said Paul Murphy, President and CEO of the IESO. "Ontarians have become keenly aware of the need to conserve electricity - not just during Earth Hour, but at other times of the year as well."

I hope he is right!

It was a disappointing Earth Hour as lights in many commercial, residential buildings as well as restaurants in North York stayed on during the Earth Hour.

TM: Speech 3 - Get to the Point

I am delivering my third Toastmaster speech in half an hour. For this speech I feel the butterflies as much if not more than the first time I stood in front of the crowd and gave my Ice Breaker speech. It is going to be OK. The worse could happen that I blank out. If that happens, I can pause, smile and pick up where I left off. Easy to say!

The objective of this speech is: Get to the Point. I will be talking about happiness. I have 7 minutes! My Toastmasters mentor and I have been working on the structure of the speech for many hours. It has been a --task to make boundaries and bullets for happiness.

So, here is a sneak peek at what I will say:

I will talk about health, wealth and purpose and the impact they have on our well being. I picked these three firstly because they rhyme with my speech opening line :) and secondly because they are simple facts that audience can relate to. The most important part of the speech is sandwiching the philosophy of happiness with a good dose of real life example. I am good in writing the philosophical part but no so good with the second part; to help me find examples I used google! I used keywords: happiness, prosperity, wealth, health, purpose, correlation many times.

To get an idea about my speech, my evaluator was kind enough to meet with me yesterday. I will append her evaluation here.

Wish me luck!

Prosperity: what does it mean to you?

Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the most prosper of them all?

Is it the healthy?


Is it the wealthy?


Or the successful?



Prosperity! How many times have you heard this word in the past couple of weeks? This time of the year we wish our friends, family and loved ones a prosper New Year over and over again. What do we exactly mean by that?

A prosper person is someone who has it all; who has health, wealth and success. [to the audience] Do you all agree that this is a good definition for prosperity? Visualize yourself: with a lot of money, a healthy body and a successful career. How would you feel seeing yourself in this person's shoes? Prosper? Hell, ya, I would! After all what else is there to want.

I strive everyday to achieve a little bit --just a little bit-- of each of these. I go to bed every night thinking about which path can get me the successful career, tons of money and a toned, healthy body faster? I make five, three, and one year wish lists every year, in fact I do it just around this time of the year. Then I write them down on a piece of a paper in a notebook, because I read in Keith Ferrazi's book, Never Eat Alone, that, "An unwritten wish is just a dream."...and you know how dreams are, you may or may not remember them the next day!

Back to my statement: How would I feel seeing myself having all three? Excellent; but, for one year, or maybe two years. After the third year I am gonna feel BORED! Yep, you heard me right. BORED! I will start missing making career plans. With all the money I have, I will probably be eating at the "best" restaurants in town. Sounds superb. But no food is as healthy as the food one makes at home. The point I am trying to make is after a few years of this superb life, I will stop feeling prosper anymore.

Oh, I know what the problem is, I have them all --that leaves me with nothing more to want. Human beings always "want" something. "Want" is the compass in our lives. Without it we will be lost!

Well, the solution is to have one of the three, so that I still have something left to strive for --sort of a motivation to get up the next day. But which one? That's the topic for another blog. :)

To wrap this one up, I want to conclude by leaving you with something to reflect upon: explore your relationship with any of these three goals, health, wealth and success and see to which you can relate more.

What and who is making news today

While the commuters shift from buses and trains to work to buses and trains to the malls, the earth rotates its last few trips around the sun for 2009. Newsmakers are making news and newspapers are still printing them regardless.
On December 21, 2009,
A village in China uses pig excrement as a source of energy.



A couple of researchers from UofT School of business have found that the more committed to buying green products and saving the planet, the more likely we are to cheat, lie, steal and be selfish. They indicate in their paper, to be published in the journal of Physiological Science, that, “…when we engage in actions that give us some kind of moral, warm glow –let’s call it that –that afterwards we are more likely to transgress.”


Sadly Brittany Murphy, fell to her death at the age of 32. She was famous for being in Hollywood movies such as: Clueless, 8 Mile and Sin City.


And in Toronto, the street car service on St. Clair Avenue West resumes. This is great news for the residents who have been living the construction havoc for the past years.

Why should we know history?

He raised his hand. Someone passed him the mic. Now we could all hear him loud and clear. "Why do so many people know about the massacre of Jews by the Nazi Germany and only few know about Japan's atrocities in China during the Japan-China war?", he asked her.

She answered with a question. "Why do so few people know about history? Why is history not taught in school any more?"

The crowd seemed to agree. Many shook heads disapproving the current wide-spread ignorance towards history.

But, how has the knowledge of history helped us along the way. Having the experience of two world wars, two nuclear bombs explosions, apartheid, and the cold war has not made the world a more peaceful, more secure, more accepting and respectful of differences.

The past has not taught us anything. Many of the today's problems are residues of old unresolved, grudges.

I propose :) we forget about learning and teaching the history since thus far this knowledge has not brought us happiness.

I am an extraordinary person aspire to be ordinary

Wednesday 10/29/09 - 12 PM The Lab Z4-029 - Toastmasters meeting running backwards, from future, the end, to present, the beginning. A bunch of us were there. Some had roles, some had to deliver a talk. I had to deliver a talk. My first talk, the Ice-breaker in Toastmasters' lingo. Since everything was going backwards, my talk was last of the three. It was so painful to wait. Finally, I was introduced. I went up and faced my biggest fear. Public speaking!

"Fellow Toastmasters, dear guests. Today, I am here to tell you about my extraordinary life and how I aspire to be ordinary. I live on Avenue Road, in a two story house. I drive a CLK320. I am married. My husband is a university Professor. I have two kids, twins, well-behaved. They are 10 years old. I am a CIO, Chief Intelligence Officer. My job is to put intelligence back into products. The product that my team and I work on is called IComp. IComp stands for Intelligent Compiler. IComp takes the user specification, requirement orally or in written form and translates it to an efficient, high performing executable for the target hardware architecture. There is no need for the user to write high level, abstract, unintelligent program. In fact, high level languages such as C, C++, or Fortran are so yesterday. Today IComp supports 143 languages and is widely used around the world. It's perfect. Except there is one problem. IComp doesn't exist. IComp, the gorgeous house in the posh neighborhood, the Mercedes, the professor is all in the future!
Today, I am a software developer. I develop code for the compiler back-end. If you ask me what does the compiler back-end do. I'll tell you short and sweet, it does everything that the compiler front-end doesn't do. The effect the long and detailed description of the back-end of the compiler has on people is, let's just say, not good! One of my hobbies is to learn new languages. I have a feeling that it may come handy in the future, given that compilers may one day support up to 143 languages. I know German, ein bisschen, and French, un peu. I live in a condo that I call home. I have to admit, I do prefer houses over condos. But, I can never see myself living in a posh neighborhood, I am far too logical to feel comfortable with showing off. ;) I take public transit to work. It's far better way of getting to and from work. I am a book fetish. Public transit means more time to read. My boyfriend is a PhD student. I do believe teaching is a good profession for a man. It's amazing how extraordinary my life has become now that I have lived it backwards. I do have to say one thing though, no matter how ordinary I sound at present, I feel extraordinary. Thank you.
Madam, Toastmaster."

Done. Complete. Sigh.

Time for speech evaluation. Let me know what you think. :)

How can you write your resume in 10 minutes or less?!

A dramatic shift in the topic chosen for this blog; it clearly demonstrates that play time is over! :)

Each time I have done my resume I had to go through (re)learning the trends and techniques of resume writing. I find this exercise extremely inefficient and superbly time consuming.

In order to make this process a bit easier and the future iterations much faster, (claim is 10 minutes or less), I decided to summarize and record my interpretations of the rules, design the template that is flexible to upcoming trends and future changes.

First the resume type: there are four types (as far as I know) of resume. These formats are only suggestions and do sound old school. I can select and apply (conservatively) a bit of each to my resume. After all, I want my resume to survive the 30 seconds glance.

The Chronological: in this format I will list all the positions I have held starting with the most recent to demonstrate my depth in the knowledge area and breadth in the industry that I have been applying my professional self to.
If I have been consistent in choosing employment positions (breadth) and projects and responsibilities within each position (depth), the finished chronological resume should show continuity, growth, advancement and accomplishments.

But what if I was hit by a resource action, or decided to voluntarily retire, resign, quit, there are so many ways to describe the same action; or I have decided to start fresh in a new knowledge area; what then? In that case, the chronological format cannot demonstrate and highlight my abilities and convey my true worth.

Functional format emphasizes on skills, abilities, credentials and qualifications first. Later in the resume I can insert opportunities that I have had to apply the qualifications to or develop and improve the skills and abilities. The message here is to let the audience know that I have a defined career goal, I have given the return, or the change careful thought; and I have a set of skills and abilities that can assist me in achieving it (the goal).

The next resume format is CV. This type is used by select group of professionals, such as doctors. The CV consists of a list of credentials such as medical schools, residences performed, internships, fellowships, and hospitals they worked in.

---

What I need to learn next is how to position facts and information about myself through out this document.


Introduction: I like to always start with an introduction that summarizes my qualifications, skills, and abilities relevant to the job I am applying. This section should be crafted intelligently. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to use brainstorming techniques: a piece of paper, a pen, a few keywords from the job description and an open mind is all that I need. Avoid Google!!


Qualifications: Depending on the resume type, functional, chronological, etc, I will enclose a history of positions and education or certifications after the introduction.


Closing: I close with the miscellaneous: awards, volunteer activities, and hobbies; stuff that can show a bit of personality.

That should be all that goes in my resume.

---

Once the organization of the resume is clear, I have to think about vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation.

A quick tally on time, I have spent 2 days so far on writing my resume; it is definitely not a 10 minutes task!

Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona ... 3 Cities 9 Days

Reino de España
Capital City: Madrid
Official Language: Spanish (some regions have their own language, such as Catalan, Basque, Galician, Leonese, Portuguese, and etc.)
Most important cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Cordoba, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga, Murcia, La Palmas de Gran Canaria, Bilbao, Valladolid
Currency: Euro

Man, what a work out!! I had to drag and lift the luggage up and down many stairs; luckily they were not too heavy. To get to the hotel we took the metro. Madrid Barajas International Airport, MAD, is connected to the Merto line 8, pink line. For 2 euro a ticket it is an affordable alternative to taking a cab to get to any place in the city. (Madrid Subway Map)

The hotel is in a perfect place, in the heart of Old City. The room and most importantly the bathroom is spotless clean. There is air condition, a must have in summer, an LCD TV and a laptop that comes with a free internet in the room. The furniture is trendy, contemporary. The hotel is called, High Tech - Petit Palace operated by the High Tech Hotels company. (Visit their site)

Jet lagged, exhausted and constipated, we made a short trip to a few places around the old city Madrid, had an unforgettable ice-cream ceremony, washed, and slept.

We stayed 3 nights in Madrid and enjoyed an array of activities such as sight seeing, shopping, eating and the unforgettable Fiesta de La Paloma.

The La Paloma festival, August 6-15, honors the La Paloma Virgin, one of the three loved *Virgins* known to be the protector of the Madrid dwellers. The extravagant, loud, fun festival in the height of the summer is very real. Men and women dressed in colorful, traditional outfit of a Chulapos or Chulapas dance, walk and have and create fun in the streets surrounding La Latina. For the more contemporary, the youth, the Madridians, Spanish and international tourists the casual clothes will do, so long as you join in the dance, enjoy the loud music (different on each street), and drink limonada, tequila, or etc. (Have a look at the Chulapos and Chulapas getting ready to celebrate the La Paloma Festival, Madrid 2009)

On the fourth day we packed and left for the Madrid bus station to continue with our trip in Spain. The bus station was not too far from the hotel. Again we chose to get there via the subway line. I found the Madrid subway extremely organized, clean and easy to navigate. All the stations display the next train arrival time; the next station is both announced and displayed on screen in the train. The Mendez Alvaro bus station is on line 6, gray, and accessible via line 1, light blue, and line 3, yellow. The avanzabus company connects Madrid to all the regions in Spain. When I booked, they had 2 for 1 deals on their web site. I saved 20eurnos by booking on-line. (Check them out)

Madrid money and time saving tips:

• Stay around Sol subway station to save on transportation cost; all sites are within walking distance; wide range of traditional and fast food restaurants in this area.
• Navigate the Museo Del Prado museum using their Masterpieces plan.
• Take advantage of free or reduced admission, if you qualify, to Museo Del Prado (Sunday - Tuesday 6-8 PM)

The capital of Valencia Province, the city of Valencia has been an agricultural and industrial center throughout its history. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Turia River in a region surrounded by orchards. It is Spain's third largest city. (source: student.britannica.com)

Four and a half hours later we were in Valencia. Situated in the middle of the Spanish Mediterranean coast, Valencia is the third largest city in Spain. For us Valencia meant a three days opportunity to rest and relax under the sun before we head to the next big city. Or so we thought. Intentionally, we reserved a hotel close to the beach. But on the ride to the hotel far distance from the bus station, (total cost 10euro), as our eyes became more familiar to the palm trees, wide streets (unlike Madrid) and contemporary architecture (especially the L'oceanographic museum) we were determined to sight see as much as possible. But, first we had to indulge in the food we so much heard and read about. They said we could find the fancy restaurants by the sea. We see the sea in the far distance but there was no sight of any restaurants. To make matters a bit more challenging most roads were blocked and cars were being redirected to detours, while the city was getting ready for the next weekend's, August 22-23, Europe's Grand Prix Formula 1 race. When we finally got to the beach we were too tired, too hungry to shop around for restaurants. We walked into the second restaurant because the first one was closed. Al Coso was its name. Great place. They have the most delicious Spanish mixed rice. They even treat you to fresh oven baked bread while you are waiting for your food to arrive. Satisfied, we left Al Coso to take walk on the sandy beach.
Valencia's city bus transit ticket is 1.35 euro, paid to the bus driver. It's best to have the exact change or amount close to it. The next buses are announced on most (but not all) buses. Bus 19 goes to the city center, Ayunmiento. Once there, all the historical places are in walking distance of each other. There are a variety of souvenir stores in that area that offer unique works of art, and jewelry at a very affordable price. It was hard to leave this charming city. It was hard to see the last days of this, so far fantastic trip is arriving.

Essential Valencia:

• Bioparc
• Jardin del Turia
• Torres de Serranos-Torres de Quart
• Catedraly Basilica
• Lonja
• Mercado Central
• Mercado de Colon
• Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias
• Marina Real Juan Carol-I-Paseo Maritimo-Playas
• Parque Natural de l'Albufera

Barcelona, was unlike any other place. It is said to be the seventh city in Europe in number of tourists it receives. Given the city structure and the situation of the important sights, we got ourselves T10 metro pass, (more economical than buying one ticket, 2.80 euro, at a time), and started our journey at the La Sagrada Familia, (Antoni Gaudí1882). It took Gaudi 43 years to bring it to the stage that we see today. He finished the two facades; the birth and crucifying of Christ. The characters, in each story, are meticulously carved to the extent their emotion is obvious. I would not been surprised if you spend at least an hour outside the church. It is worth every minute the time you spend or every picture you shoot. Inside, you can see Gaudi's innovation; his use of geometry and incorporating natural light into his design. In designing the ceiling, the pillars and the windows, Gaudi was inspired by nature. As a result, his creation is by far like no other church! It is unique in every sense of the word. La Sagrada Familia is work in progress! The plan is to have the third facade based on Gaudi's design completed by 2050. The story is based on Christ's rise from dead.

Madrid Valencia Barcelona Spain August 2009

FSBO

Long gone the days were houses served only one purpose: providing a place to dwell.

Today a house is considered an investment. It is widely believed that unlike other commodities, the value of the house will appreciate over time and bring in a nice return on investment. Those who have jumped on the wagon of buy low, sell high have made it rich and comfortable.

Work in progress ...

Love and hate by the five-cent bagful

Back in the days when plastic bags were not invented yet, my grandmother never needed one. After all, life was simple those days. No need to clean after the pets, since they didn't have one. No need for garbage bags, since a) they didn't produce that much waste b) they dumped all the waste in the garbage bin.

When the plastic bags came into picture, in early 20th century, they were to replace paper bags which back then were known as inefficient and number one contributor to killing trees. Plastic bags were light, water proof, and only took a small storage space. They became popular and soon gave new shape and color to the way we shop.

It took us 50 odd years to realize that plastic bags are indeed as inefficient as the paper bags, if not more. They use up another natural resource, oil; they don't disintegrate; they end up in the landfills; they are a known hazard for the marine life.


Time for a change? You bet.

We have since welcomed the new, the reusable bag, eco-friendly alternative to the plastic bag in our consumer driver lives. We know that manufacturing these bags uses scarce, expensive energy. However, durability will make the average cost of energy used per bag lower than plastic or paper bags.

Holding a chic reusable bag is more than making a fashion statement. It's regarded as responsible! While we are gradually buying into the idea of purchasing our first and second R-bags and reducing our plastic bag footprint as a result, our city decided to pull a plastic bag tax on us to hasten the process.

Many took issue! Many are unhappy. It's added insult on injury, to be asked to pay an extra 5c per bag after you spend $$$ in a store. It's understandable. Especially, for some of us, the free plastic bags served a variety of purposes in our households.

In a consumer driven culture a moral lesson can be taught only by attaching a price tag to it. Only then we realize the value of what we have taken for granted. The point here is that, the reusable bags are great and they are a good solution to our over a century old quest for efficient, environment friendly packaging and storage. But, a coup de tat against plastic bag was not necessary.

Each of the products we switched from/to had their own set of pros and cons. Perfect has not been discovered and/or invented yet. We could continue using plastic, paper, and/or reusable and our environment will still be fine, if only we learned the art of moderation.

If each party involved did its part, the impact will be effortless and huge. If we used one less bag on each trip to the supermarket, we could reduce the usage by a lot!

The imposed tarrif or in the case of Inida the $2000 fine are just measures to curtail the wasteful behavior and culture.

(Who cares) What others think/feel?

Two minutes into the ride to work, I hear it. I dare not to turn around, but I am dying to sneer at the one who is so oblivious of his surroundings and has his music so loud!

In the evening, at the gym: guy walks in adjusts the lights, walks to the T.V. system changes the channel to TSN; he completely ignores the rest of us who are happy with the lights and are enjoying the program playing on T.V.

• *Don't burp, blow/pick your nose, and break wind at the dinner table, lunch table, break fast table --don't do any of these in public space, period.
• *Don't put your feet up on the table
• *Don't speak loud in public
• *Don't stare

I am not giving you advice. I am just remembering the rules of etiquette that I was taught to follow when I was growing up.

Today, for various reasons, it is more of a choice than an obligation to follow these rules. If you feel like being loud in public space, you could because no one will stop you (I am always tempted to raise the issue, but the cons of doing so out-weights its pros.) I take all the unpleasantness in --patiently, quietly, while my teeth are grinding against each other. :)

Work in progress ....

What should we call it?

For starters, I have to think of a new title for this blog. To some extent the name should provide a sense of direction, for me as well as the (possible) reader. I love feedback. (If you are reading this and/or glanced at a few other posts in this blog space, let me know what you think is suitable. I appreciate it.)

I kept my promise

I am ready to put pen to paper and start writing again. It's two weeks short of six months. I arrived early but I feel it went by much quicker than expected. I am not done with priorities --not thoroughly. But, I am more disciplined. Being able to scribble something useful, (or satisfy the urge to vocalize thoughts), at least once at most twice a month is a possibility.

Taking a 6 months hiatus!

Through out the day, ideas come rushing to my head unannounced, but there is not much time to put them down into quality writing and when there is time the inspiration has disappeared. Therefore such abysmal activity during the past couple of months. Pity!

So, I am taking a short, 6 months, hiatus from blogging here to concentrate on priority items 1-5. As the days get longer and the weather warmer, I shall find more time to dedicate to writing, which has turned from a hobby to a passion.

During this hibernation period, I will have the opportunity to extrapolate the thoughts into notes and drafts and find my (writing) niche.

Meanwhile, if you are interested in special topics of various C/C++ issues and information, visit my blog here.

In a nutshell, I shall be back!!

Can you be a secret Santa?

http://secretsantaworld.net/

The message is too powerful to further comment on.
Pass it on!

Can we save the World Economy?

The guiding light of capitalism that is not having any form of state intervention in society has proven to be flawed. The first signs of this flaw ironically became obvious around the time that societies with heavily state regulated economy were going through a revolution, (Revolutions of 1989 and end of the Cold War). We bid socialism, communism and fascism farewell and claimed that they are dysfunctional systems. Almost two decades later we find ourselves dealing with another dysfunctional system.

We have come to a full circle.

Despite all the human intelligence at our disposal and coupled with all the state of the art technology we have failed to build a sustainable, peaceful, healthy and prosper society for ourselves and for our future generation.

The calamities of the past year, reminds me of Ayn Rand's masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. Society fails due to ever increasing influence of state in market. One may notice, that the calamity that we are experiencing are due to the complete opposite reason --lack of governance.

In a panel discussion organized by Columbia University Earth Science Institute, (http://www.earth.columbia.edu/worldeconomy/), George Soros, Financier and Philanthropist, described systems imperfect he then added that human beings are imperfect as well.

In the past few months, all of us, more or less, have followed politics (more than ever, I would say) despite the fact that over the years our hope in them has diminished. (Case in point: less than 59% of Canadians voted in the past election.) We have seen governments that are inefficient, self-serving, bureaucratic --simply put-- good for nothing.

Therefore, it is in the hand of you and I; simple, ordinary, hard working citizens, to build a sustainable present and prosper future in our communities. Although, we may be imperfect, but we have witnessed enough mistakes to know right from wrong, I believe.

Key Promises 2008 Federal Election Campaign

A list of key promises in the 2008 federal election campaign

Mon Oct 13, 5:48 PM

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - Key promises in the federal election campaign, with projected costs where applicable and available:

CONSERVATIVES

• -Two-cent-a-litre cut in taxes on diesel and aviation fuel over four years. $600 million a year once fully implemented.
• -Reinstate veterans' benefits for Second World War veterans who have lived in Canada for more than 10 years; $9 million a year.
• -A near-complete withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2011.
• -Allow 49 per cent foreign ownership of airlines and foreign ownership of uranium mines.
• -Maternity, parental leave benefits for entrepreneurs who pay into EI. $150 million annually, financed by EI premiums.
• -Tax credit for first-time homebuyers to claim up to $5,000 in closing costs for a rebate of up to $750. $200 million a year, fully implemented.
• -Ban kid-friendly flavours and additives from tobacco products and require cigarillos to be sold in packages of at least 20. No cost provided.
• -Increase the Senior Age Credit by $1,000, saving those in the lowest tax-paying income bracket about $150 a year. $400 million a year.
• -$85 million in tax breaks for families where one spouse forgoes full-time work to care for a disabled family member.
• -Introduce maximum life sentences for offenders as young as 14 convicted of first-or second-degree murder; maximum 14-year sentences for youths who commit violent crimes.
• -Teens over 14 who commit serious crimes would no longer have their identities protected.
• -End conditional sentencing, also known as house arrest, for 30 serious crimes, including robbery, theft, and arson.
• -$113 million over five years to crack down on environmental crime, including maximum penalties of $6 million for companies and $1 million for individuals.
• -A consumer protection package including an Internet anti-spam law, a ban on charging for unsolicited text messages and a crackdown on gas-pump tampering. No cost provided.
• -Prohibit the export of bitumen to countries without carbon-emission targets equivalent to Canada's.
• -$24 million to foster development of international cruise destinations along the St. Lawrence Seaway.
• -New tax credit for parents of children under 16 enrolled in eligible arts programs; $150 million a year.
• -Let charities and not-for-profit groups set up RESPs for kids from low-income families.
• -$2,000 incentives for apprentices who complete eligible training programs to ease shortage of workers in skilled trades. $60 million a year.
• -$400 million more over four years for the repayable Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative and Automotive Innovation funds.
• -Abolish industrial tariffs on imported machinery and equipment. $345 million.
• - $10 million over four years for 50 new teaching-hospital residencies.
• -$5-million incentive fund to attract Canadian doctors working abroad.
• -$5 million over three years for pilot projects to recruit and retain nurses.
• -$15 million over four years for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's research, plus $10 million over two years for the National Lung Health Network.
• -$50 million for the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing, for research and teaching in quantum information.
• -$500 million over five years to expand broadband Internet access across Canada.

GREENS

• -A Guaranteed Livable Income supplement for the poor. No cost provided.
• -A new carbon tax of $50 per tonne and new taxes on toxic chemicals.
• -Forgive 50 per cent of student loans for successful graduates. No cost provided.
• -More money and research grants for post-secondary institutions that focus on renewable energy and conservation. No cost provided.
• - Shift consumption taxes to environmentally harmful products and services and away from income and products, activities that do no harm. No cost provided.
• -Cut corporate tax by $50 for each tonne of carbon-emission reductions. No cost provided.
• -Increase GST to six per cent to finance infrastructure improvements, with expanded exemptions on food, children's clothing and books. No cost provided.

LIBERALS

• -"Green Shift" carbon tax on fossil fuels, offset by income and business tax cuts. Income tax cuts of up to 10 per cent. Cut the small business tax rate to 10 per cent from 11 per cent. Lower the corporate tax rate to 14 per cent by 2013. Overall, $90 million in lost revenue for the treasury over four years.
• -$70 billion over 10 years for municipal infrastructure.
• -$1.2 billion over four years to help farmers adjust to green technologies.
• -Restore the $3-billion contingency fund abandoned by the Conservatives.
• -Create $1-billion Advanced Manufacturing Prosperity Fund to help manufacturers retain and create jobs.
• -Add $350 to existing $1,200-a-year child-care allowance. Create a new supplement for the poorest families with children, worth $1,225 a year per family.
• -National daycare program with 165,000 spaces. $1.25 billion a year, fully implemented.
• -End military mission in Afghanistan in 2011.
• -Restore the Court Challenges Program and double budget to $6 million a year.
• -$50 million to upgrade Canada's food safety system.
• -$10,000 per household in refundable tax benefits for energy-saving home retrofits. $600 million.
• -More robust energy efficiency standards for building codes and home appliances.
• -$250 million over four years to curb the spread of the mountain pine beetle.
• -$250 million to modernize and "green" fishing vessels and protect fish stocks in Canadian and international waters.
• -$100 million to improve Canada's small-craft harbours.
• -$420 million over four years to help increase the number of doctors, nurses and medical technicians across Canada.
• -$900 million over four years to create a new plan for catastrophic drug coverage.
• -$500 million more a year for university-based research and a $100-million research fund for scientists, researchers and grad students.
• -A poverty plan to reduce the number of people living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent and the number of children by at least 50 per cent.
• -Reverse the immigration measures brought in by the Conservatives and spend $800 million to help new Canadians and reduce the immigration backlog.
• -Bring back the Kelowna Accord and work with aboriginal peoples, provinces and territories to improve native health, education and housing. $2 billion.
• -Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by $600 a year for low-income seniors.
• -200,000 student bursaries of up to $3,500 per year over four years, and guaranteed eligibility for $5,000 student loans, regardless of parental income.
• -Simplify the tax system for post-secondary students, providing most students about $1,000 a year.
• -Restore cuts made by the Conservatives to arts and culture funding and double the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts.
• -$75 million to bolster security at ethno-cultural centres and places of worship across Canada.
• -Restore $6 million in funding for Quebec's National Optics Institute.
• -A summit meeting on the economy with economists, regulators and premiers within 30 days of forming a government.
• -Finish mapping the Arctic seabed by 2013 and re-instate an ambassador for the North, to strengthen northern sovereignty. No cost estimate available.

NDP

• -A moratorium on expansion of Alberta's tarsands; require oil companies to reclaim land strip-mined for petroleum production. No cost provided.
• -$8.2 billion over four years to create, protect and foster growth of "green-collar" jobs and manufacturing.
• -A "cap-and-trade" system to create incentives for big business to reduce their emissions. No cost provided.
• -Slash greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. No cost provided.
• -A price-monitoring agency to investigate price spikes and consult with provinces about regulations. No cost provided.
• -Cap credit-card interest rates at five per cent over prime.
• -Outlaw automated banking machine fees, saving consumers at least $104 per year.
• -$120 million a year in additional funding for women's groups.
• -$1,000-a-year grant to all undergraduate or equivalent students who qualify for student loans.
• -$1 billion over five years to expand medical and nursing schools, increasing the number of student spaces by 50 per cent.
• -$125 million a year to forgive student loans for medical-school grads who spend 10 years as family physicians.
• -$100 million for skills training and job creation.
• -Comprehensive review of Canadian banking regulations. No cost provided.
• -Income averaging for artists and a $20,000 annual tax break on income generated by copyright and residual revenue. No cost provided.
• -Scrap Canada-U.S. softwood lumber agreement within six months of forming government.
• -A new Ministry of Consumer Protection to investigate and prosecute gas-pump gouging and collusion. No cost provided.
• -$1 billion a year on a new catastrophic drug plan.
• -Reverse corporate tax cuts, raising rate to 22.12 per cent from 19.5.
• -Monthly cheques of up to $400 to replace existing child benefits, including the Conservative payment of $100 a month per eligible child. No cost provided.
• -$5 billion over five years to improve health care, housing and infrastructure for First Nations communities.
• -$1-billion national home-care program for seniors.
• -A national child-care program calling for 220,000 spaces annually in the fourth year. $1.4 billion in the first year.
• -Raise $2.5 billion a year in carbon auctions and reinvest the money in public transit and other green initiatives.
• -Re-introduce a national minimum wage and immediately set it to $10 an hour.
• -Direct one cent per litre of federal excise tax on gasoline into public transit; $400 million a year.

That's Canadian, aye?

Work boots are piled up yesterday in front of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s campaign office in his riding of Whitby-Oshawa.

Hundreds of Canadian Auto Worker union members gathered to present Flaherty with work boots collected from laid-off workers from across the province.

Source: http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/

Re: How to give our elections more pop?

Andrew Chung, Toronto Star columnist, writes in his recent post:

The razzle-dazzle U.S. campaign offers some tempting lessons on how to jazz up our own. The question is, do we really want to learn them?

God no! We don't need to jazz up our elections American or any other Style!

Events like the US election campaign is a production of media to build rating and sell advertising. Hardly any useful fact about leadership style and strategy is transferred to the audience during an event like this. Those millions of dollars that (you suggest) Canadians should consider spending, I doubt result in electing a leader that can face the problems head on. Bottom line the razzle-dazzle, pop, all the jazz, etc. is not what we lack or need to attract public attention and talent. For that we need to come up with better solutions.

What do you think?

Travel Stories from St. John's!

My life has been in the fast lane for the past couple of years. So, when I came across the full page ad of air travel to St. John's, NL; that promised tranquility to visitors; I was curious! The ad featured nothing but sprawling green. That same day I looked the official tourism web site of Newfoundland and ordered a free guide. Flipping through pages of the guide, when it arrived, reading about the natural peace and beauty this province offers, I knew I had to go there some day. What I didn't know that my rendezvous will be so early --this summer.

St. John's, Newfoundland --August 29 - September 2, 2008

St. John's welcomed our arrival with abundance of rain. Our inn keeper, we stayed at The Bluestone Inn, a B&B located in downtown St. John's, welcomed our arrival with urgency and promptly left us to go look after a sick friend. We were left in our room, on the second floor of a 1900 building. We counted there were 38 stairs to our room. Suddenly, I had much more appreciation for elevators. The room was furnished with stuff that could have also dated to the time when the building was built. No kidding! Everything about the place screamed antiques.

I was feeling completely out of place, calculating the number of hours left of the trip, thinking maybe I should change the departure date and grinding my teeth with frustration at the thought. Last thing I wanted to do (on my vacation) was to spend hours on the phone talking to the airline's customer service and feeling helpless.

They say, "Never judge a book by its cover." In my moment of snap judgment, I had decided that my visit to St. John's was ruined, however a couple of hours and a few dozen camera snaps later, I had a totally different view about this.

Welcome to the Far East. Where people have been living since the 1620s. Where Newfoundland and North America begins. Here you can indulge in (hi)story and natural beauty.

Don't be surprised if people on the streets say hi to you and ask how you are doing today. Don't be shy to reply and ask the same questions from them. We found the newfie accent endearing. It's a mix of Irish and Scottish English with a little bit of drawl.

The art and culture may seem unfamiliar. If you are a traveler and have visited many art galleries, museums, etc., brace yourself for a refreshingly unique art. This I think is because people in this area have lived here for generations and established their own way of expression and art. You can see nature has a lot of influence on the art works.

Renting a car, even for one day, to see the seaside settlements and wildlife (beaver and caribou) is a must. We didn't get around to do it this time round (yes, we are planning to go back). We spent our time exploring almost all the St. John's sites, culture and people.

We did most of our touring using either public transit, metro bus, or on foot. Taking the Route 10 bus is a must. The bus travels through some of the major streets, Freshwater Rd, Elizabeth Avenue (the one and only flat street in the city), it passes by the most significant landmarks, City Hall, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Health and Sciences library and Pippy park, a 3400 acre land reserve right in St. John's. The bus rides are $2.25 and can be paid, exact fare, on the bus. Make sure to ask the driver for a transfer if you have to switch buses. Stopovers are not allowed, though.

You must hit the trails, you must! Walking to the top of the Signal Hill and then hiking along the Atlantic coast was an exhilarating experience for me. Besides amazing view of the Atlantic ocean, I relived Marconi's moment when he received the first transatlantic wireless signal.

Places you are likely to visit:

• Signal Hill Road
  
• The Battery
  
• The Rooms
  
• Basilica of St. John's the Baptist
  
• George Street (Enjoy the nightlife of St. John's here --for best experience go on the weekend)
  
• Cape Spear (easternmost point in Canada --beyond this point is Atlantic Ocean)
  
• Geo Johnson Center (Built deep into the earth with only the large, glass-encased entryway protruding above ground, this geological is literally embedded in Signal Hill, which is made up of 550-million-year-old rocks!)
  It offers three very unique exhibits:
  
  
  
  • The Titanic Story (did you know that Titanic sank 350 miles away from Newfoundland?)
    
  • The ExxonMobil Oil and Gas gallery (go there if you want to learn why oil is nicknamed black gold.)
    
  • Earth's geological showcase (story of earth --going back to over 4.5 billion years ago)
    
  
  

Visitor Information Centre is located on 384 Water Street

I bet you are hungry to know about St. John's restaurants and bistros. I have one word for you: Coffee Matters, Go there! I crave their creme brulee!

St. John's was an unforgettable destination for us. There is something simple and sincere about this place. Go there if you are looking for a quiet spot --it gives you a whole new perspective!

Those countries that don't have it and their governments don't have a greed for it and have been able to curb their dependency on it, enjoy peace.

For the rest of us the saga of fretting over the peaks and valleys of its price, the fight between the suppliers and the cartels will continue.

I am talking about oil!

Pro Choice or Life : What do you think?

"You f@#$ sick!", she said loudly. I turned in the direction of the voice. "You f@#$ sick!" She said it again with such vengeance in her voice.

Who is she talking to? As I am trying to figure this out, a man holding a big poster of gross, bloody looking figure which resembled a head of a human being connected to an umbilical cord is walking towards me. He is wearing a patient smile. His hand is stretched out and he is holding a flyer. Does he expect me to take the flyer from him? He says, "Pro Life". He says it in such a tone that leaves no doubt; he believes that I am Pro Life.

I have to make up my mind quickly. Am I "Pro Life" or "Pro Choice"? Take the d#@$ flyer and walk away from all this, I say to myself. But, I can't just take the flyer for the sake of it.

I don't hear the young, angry voice of the girl any more. Has she left the scene?

He is now closer. He smiles. I smile back. But, my hand stays firmly at my side. He walks passed me and I continue my way to catch the street car.

Am I Pro Choice, then? The answer, as I think about this on the street car, is more complicated than a simple, "Yes".

Coincidentally, the young girl is riding the street car with me. She seems very angry. She must be Pro Choice.

But, isn't that an irresponsible way out of a situation that could have been avoided to begin with?

I believe advocating choice or life is not the right solution to the problem. Those who coined the term and formed the movement, created a rift between us. Taking the life of an unwanted child is not any better than giving life to it and abandoning it in this world.

If reason dominated, neither us nor our dependents would need to be in the situation to decide whether they are "Pro Choice" or "Pro Life".

On this, I choose to abstain.

Press for change! Signing up for epost...

Adieu to receiving bills in the mail. I am open to change and trying something new. I am motivated to help the environment. One less printed bill means one less reason to cut down a tree. I am going to sign up for epost!

I don't want to think about why epost is available in 2008 and not in 1950 when early signs of forest depletion and global warming became visible. I know better; it's better to arrive late than never. I don't want to speculate Post Corporation's intentions that they are thinking "green" now because if they don't they may become extinct (companies have started sending their customers the Estatements, we email more than we mail.) I am just glad they thought of it; it's better to arrive late than never.


For Post, going green is a fundamental change. It uproots a 4 century old tradition of delivering to the door of millions.
If the future of the mail is electronic. There are things I shall miss. I shall miss the stamps and the taste of the sticky glue after I licked to stick it to the envelope. I shall miss the friendly smile of the mail carrier. I shall miss a hand written note.

There will be books and pictures to remind us of the history. I know better; to gain something I need give up something else. I am all for change!

What is the oil price driven by?

The motivation behind this blog comes from the eye catching full page car advertisement that appeared in the daily Toronto Newspaper every single day during this past week.

What are the big shots behind these ad schemes thinking of, if at all? Presumably, they believe with incentives such as gas cards or cheap gas they can encourage consumers to buy more of their fuel inefficient, gas-guzzler cars.

These offers reek with greed. These short sighted auto industry movers cannot think of better ways to keep their pockets full of money.

I am sure they can for example spend portion of their money on improving the fuel consumption of their existing models but I suppose that is going to delay time to market and impact their share of market value!

While we all are anticipating worse news from the oil market, we are being encouraged to waste more of it and be content that someone else is going to pay for it.

Well, the good thing is for every yin there is a yang. If we have full page ads to lure us into buying cars, we have other tools to research about them at the same time.

Take this site for example. If you are looking to buy a new car this is a place to get you started. Here you can find gas mileage (MPG), greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution ratings, and safety information for new and used cars and trucks.

After visiting this page nothing, not even cheap gas for 3 years, can change my mind in what make/model I want to buy. (This is just a rhetoric. I have been using public transit and my bike for the past 3+ years now!)

From Forbes network:

The world's proven oil reserves were essentially flat in 2007 while production fell by 0.2 percent, the first decline since 2002, BP reported on Wednesday, when it launched its 2008 Statistical Review of World Energy.

On Tuesday, the International Energy (otcbb: IENI.OB - news - people ) Agency, the energy adviser for the world's industrialised countries, sharply lowered its projection for supply outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Concern over long-term oil supplies has driven the recent spike in oil prices and prompted Wall Street banks to raise their price forecast to about $150 and $200.

"For sure, banks tend to focus on supply. It is easy for them to make assumptions of $200," Olivier Jakob with Petromatrix said. "On the other side, we have to look at price impact on demand. That's why the market is so volatile."

Maybe is not as important to know how we got here as it is vital to know we can separately or collectively free ourselves from dependence on fossil fuels.

Getting there by bicycle

I am thinking, if each business adds the direction to its location by bike to its web site more people will be motivated to leave the cars behind. I am thinking malls, shopping centers, banks, pharmacies and etc.
With the price of oil on the rise, with no slowdown in sight, it is becoming imperative to conserve.
Although we knew this was going to happen, after all we hit the $99 a barrel mark 2 years ago, we still feel we have been caught off guard.
Farmers driven by market are selling their crops of corn to producers of bio-fuels. This, along with high cost of energy, has shot the price of food up by 10-20%. There is no hard evidence to prove that bio-fuel is green alternative to fossil fuels.
I digress.
The point is, facilitating commuting by bike by providing information on the bike routes is an easy way of showing commitment to being green.

The nice part about being a pessimist...

I am not a pessimist. But I like the irony in this quote:

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
- George F. Will

People believe I am what they see Me as!

I have a perception-phobia --that is I am most concerned of how I am perceived in the eyes of the others. This trait shows itself time and again and creates bizarre moments. Recently, I joined a new team where I have to start from scratch building relationships. This is much harder (and by far much more important) than the actual job. Even, if I do an excellent job on the project, if my team dislikes me, my accomplishments will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes --that is no one will care to notice and recognize them. I definitely need to do some serious thinking about this topic and come up with practical strategies to achieve this. Any thoughts?

on Dance

Dance is transcending ones inner most feelings into movements.

Redeem (your cell phone for $$$)

Along came a company (apparently they've been around since 1999) that buys your out dated old cell phone that you have been itching to dump for a better model (maybe even an iphone). Check them out if you have one!

Earth Hour 2008!

The hour I spent with a group of Columbia Alumni to clean up the small habitat for spawning fish and birds by Lake Ontario and turning out all the lights at my house between 8-9 PM sounds insignificant compared to my (un-intentional) daily contribution to climate change. So, how can I distribute the impact of Earth Hour over a year? Why not declare an Earth Year?!

In privileged places such as North America success of each cause relies heavily on how well people behind it can make the cause look, seem, sound cool and fun. Image is everything. Look around you, Green as a color, Green as an adjective, or being Green as a verb has become trendy. So, it should be easy to instill a Green culture.

Not so easy.

We are used to the "Good Life". Partly due to this, conserving, unless for short period of time, such as 1 hour per year, may not be something that comes naturally. Unless the media does its part and brain washes us. With the unlimited band width in our daily lives, media can turn us into Green junkies. I doubt they do that, for reasons that make an interesting topic for another time and blog.

All in all we will continue splurging.