A Learning a Day

I’m not a betting kind of person. I’d hate to put any money on anything. But, thanks to an amazing initiative by a friend at our company, we have a world cup betting contest on that has lead me to follow the results of every game. It is very exciting as the betting process is very simple. We just place a score prediction and are awarded points based on how accurate it is (4 if we get the exact result, 3 if we get the goal difference i.e. if we predict brazil win 2-0 and the result is 4-2) or 2 if we predict just the winner..

A few life learnings from this experience –

-> Betting is NOT only about luck. It becomes about luck when we bet with our emotions. Otherwise, it’s just careful preparation with an understanding of what you are betting for.

-> Careful prep and a football understanding doesn’t ensure that we’ll win every bet. But ensures we’ll get most about right. Over the past 4 days, the top 4 have been relatively unchanged as the climbs have been consistent.

-> Don’t mix up emotions. This is a big one. I had decided that Mexico would beat France day before. But as both predictions for South Korea and Greece didn’t go my way, I chickened out and did the conventional – went for France. And guess what happened..

-> Go with your gut.. Another big one!

-> Have fun.. That’s what it is about. I can see how this can become an obsession. Self control, as always, is everything.

-> Bet on a fixed investment. The moment there are stakes, I can see there could be trouble.

I’d like to see how this turns out. I can see that this will greatly help any team bond and maybe it is something to try out in the future with family and friends! :)

3 kinds of people when it comes to their effect on others. I think moods do play a role when it comes to a person’s effect on another, but largely, it’s the presence (or lack thereof) of a passion/love for life that makes the difference.

Some people make us come alive, make us want to ‘go out there and have fun’, achieve things, energize others and so on..

What kind of an effect do we have on others? And if it is that we leave people energized.. is it consistent?

Food for thought..
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I felt drained, sick and very anaemic after a particular meet today while feeling extremely energized after a meet yesterday and that got me thinking thus..

Yes, you..

for reading/following/commenting/giving a reaction (in the little reactions bar that allows you to indicate if the post is cool, interesting or not-good)

The whole point of a blog versus a personal journal (in my humble point of view atleast) is to first, have a readership and second, to add value to the readership in one way or another. And having any sort of activity on the blog i.e. commenting, following etc is literally bloggers bliss – atleast for me.

And it is very easy to read a blog regularly and yet not leave any mark on it (via comments) etc. I’ve done that myself but over the past couple of years, I realize how much it would mean to a blogger to have activity.. and I’m trying.

And hence, I thought I should write in to ‘Thank You’!

I look forward to checking out the profile of any new follower, replying to any new comment, even checking out your reactions to the various posts. Every bit of activity is very special..

Thank you for making the effort.. Appreciate it! :)

It’s ridiculous to see the number of comparisons that have been made over the last few days. Everybody seems to be pointing to one factor or another that make this world cup inferior. These range from a seeming lack of goals to a possibly annoying increase of vuvuzelas.

This is like comparing the younger sibling constantly to the older sibling who was the better student, the better athlete and the better child.. Lay off the kid already!

Goals are not indicators of the quality of football. Take Brazil vs North Korea for example – would a 4-0 victory have meant improved quality of football? Would it have done justice to excellent organization that effectively denied one of the world’s best goal poachers lack of space? or reduced one of the most destructive attacks in the world (who could afford to drop superstars like Ronaldinho and Pato altogether) to taking shots from outside the box?

Let’s get done with the comparisons, move on.. and enjoy the spectacle.

Because that’s what it is, a spectacle..

Good morning all.. have a nice day! :)

This is another question that I’ve had in mind for a long time. It might sound very basic and stupid for those who know it.. but I thought it made intuitive sense to brush after food in the morning to clean everything once and for all. And some Yahoo! Answers threads seemed to agree. That doesn’t mean I did it – luckily, I thought I’d check..

So, why do we brush our teeth before food in the morning?

As my dentist explained, saliva is the mouth’s natural cleaning system. As we salivate during the day, bacteria and other impurities are constantly washed away. However, when we sleep, salivation is cut down to a bare minimum and in such conditions, bacteria thrive.

As a result, it’s vital we brush those bacteria away and restore normalcy before taking in any food.

Does brushing more than twice a day take off the enamel in our teeth?

I’d heard that brushing more than twice is bad and from what my dentist said, it is very okay as long as it’s not overdone. If we do choose to brush during the day after a meal, it’s just enough if we give every tooth two strokes – which is incidentally all every tooth needs.

As enamel ensures a polished surface, all we need to make sure is that every tooth gets 2 strokes. This was useful as I used to freak out watching some friends brush for 5-10 minutes every morning! Quality, and not quantity, as always is everything.. :D

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Nice to have these myths and questions patiently answered.

Thank you to my doctors! :)

I’ve been curious as to why our doctors do what they do but somehow managed to keep silent (atleast where my eye doctor was concerned) for a whole 9 years!

Anyway, for those who have a healthy pair of eyes, I hope you continue to keep them that way.

For those who don’t and have the privilege of looking awesome with spectacles, here are the tests that would normally be performed. The names of the tests are given by me for simplicity.. not sure what the clinical names are –

1) Power test: This test involves the patient to stare into an image (one eye at a time) that is initially blurred. This image is adjusted to help find the right focal length and hence, calculate the power.

2) Retinal check(basic): This involves the doctor checking out the patient’s retina’s by using directed light and a magnifying glass to check if the retina’s are doing fine. However, under normal conditions, only 1/3rd of the retina’s are visible to doctor’s and this is the reason why we are periodically asked to dilate our eyes. More on this below..

3) Pressure test: This involves a puff of air being blown into the eye. The speed at which the air bounces back off our eye determines the pressure and high pressure in the eye is unhealthy.

4) Dilation – Advanced retinal check: Dilation involves administering drops in the eye of the patient followed by a 1 hour wait for the necessary dilation to take place.

Why dilation?
Typically, our eye lenses contract and dilate according to the closeness of the object, clarity required etc. As a result, under normal conditions, only a small portion of our retina, typically near the center, can been seen by the doctor. However, weak spots in the retina are generally in the periphery and hence, it is advisable to dilate our eyes once every year to make sure our retina’s are doing fine.

After dilation, vision at short distances is blurred as our eye loses the ability to contract for about 3 hours.

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That’s Eye Doc 101 ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you and good day! :)

A man hated his wife’s cat and he decided to get rid of it. He drove 20 blocks away from home and dropped the cat there. The cat was already walking up the driveway when he approached his home.

The next day, he decided to drop the cat 40 blocks away but the same thing happened.. He kept increasing the number of blocks but the cat kept coming home before him.
At last he decided to drive a few miles away, turn right, then left, past the bridge, then right again and another right and so on until he reached what he thought was a perfect spot and dropped the cat there.

An hour later…. The man calls his wife at home and asked her, “Jen is the cat there?” “Yes, why do you ask?” answered the wife.

Frustrated the man said,“Put that damn cat on the phone, I am lost and I need directions to reach home!!!”

Moral:

“However much we dislike somebody, someday we will need their assistance. So never worry how many people dislike you… ”

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Haha.. Loved the joke and the moral.. :D

Loved the thought! Here’s to having a nice balance between exercise on the outside and inside today..

Good morning and good day! :)

Period..

Moments of lots of happiness are few and far between (sadly enough..). I guess it’s one of those funny things about modern life (as George Carlin’s message below best puts it..), this over emphasis on ‘stress’ and under emphasis on everything else.

I hate the stress word, love the happiness word.

Let’s have more of it.. when we find ourselves experience it, let’s share..

We grow by it..

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A message by George Carlin –

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things.

We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete…

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.

Remember, to say, ‘I love you‘ to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. An embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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Love it, love it and love it!