Sleep as you please

What would a normal day be for an adult? Getting up in the morning, reading a newspaper with coffee mug in hand, getting ready and off to work and back. Is that all? Am I missing something here? Let us rewind and take a closer look – shall we? Getting up in the morning, get the coffee pot going, pack lunch for kids (and for yourself if you wish), get them ready, drop them off to school and scurry to work, hoping that your boss does not catch you walking-in late. You can add a twist to this situation when you don’t have a good night’s sleep the previous night. How? You would be crabby and grouchy, tired and exhausted the whole day carrying on with your chore. You perform poorly at work and you are stressed pretty much the whole day.

In association to what I mentioned above, studies have been conducted in France to see if people perform better if they sleep at work and alleviate the stress endured. In France, normal work week is 35 hours of work compared to U.S. where everyone works 40 hours a week. With 35 hours of work week and generous vacation they get, working class complain about not getting enough sleep and hence poor performance at work. So the health minister is thinking about proposing nap time at work during the day. If this happens, I am sure the productivity goes up but they will start complaining about who took longer nap than the other.

Let us see how this idea will pan out. People at work will be missing in action during the work day to take their naps just as they will be missing during their coffee or smoking breaks. Just as they bring their favorite coffee mugs to work, we would see people bringing their own pillows and throws to make them feel cozy while napping. Every office will have a nap room in addition to kitchen and smoking areas. I can understand the concept of having naps in offices when you are working on a night shift. You tend to be sleepy and you take that occasional nap for 15-20 minutes to freshen you up and you continue your work in the silent night. But to take a nap during the day is pushing the limits. We are stooping ourselves to the level of pre-schoolers with all this napping idea.

Why do I remember the Polyphasic sleeping habit that Kramer followed? Sleep 20-30 minutes every four hours to keep yourself awake for a long time. Similarly, with this napping idea at work, you work for 3 hours and take a nap for 30 minutes along with your hour of lunch-break, running-errands break, smoke-break and coffee-break. As it is in the corporate world, no one puts in 8 hours of actual work every day (except for those really hard working employees such as myself!). Let us say you are in the middle of a meeting and it is time for your nap. Tell your boss that and I am waiting right here to know the results with my all-time favorite coffee mug to boost me to work harder and be productive.

Park at your risk

Lately technology has advanced so much that much of the work we did as humans are now done by machines. This is a step in the right direction but to get to the point where we have robots to park our car is a bit too much. New York City has announced to open its first robotic parking garage in Chinatown this coming month of February. In an apartment-building basement 67 cars will be parked mechanically which was built to park only 24 cars with ramps and maneuvering space. This extra space was stripped out, as the mechanical device parking the cars will not need this space. But do we trust a robot to park our cars?

Other states like Florida had this type of automated parking and have had their share of experiences as well. Nothing major, but the device dropped an unoccupied Cadillac Deville six floors in 2004 and a jeep four stories the following year. Also, the garage had a malfunction in two of its sensors which led to cars being trapped for 26 hours. Despite these glitches, (which I think are major ones and I am so lucky that it was not my Cadillac!) the garage company claims to have performed with 99.99% efficiency.

The machines that perform these automated operations are from Automotion Parking Systems, the U.S. subsidiary of Germany's Stolzer Parkhaus, which has built successful and performing automated garages in several countries overseas like Dubai and United Arab Emirates. But the garage in New York will have no human supervision except for an attendant who will explain the process of parking the car in the pallet and walk out, so the mechanical gear could take over the car and park. It will also protect the garage owners from lawsuits, since there will be no eye witnesses when the cars are crushed and piled up as a result of a glitch.

The technology will only need some more time to perk up its parking by the usage of droids (Go Star Wars!). All you will need to do as a safe, conscientious driver is to park the car wherever you feel like it, get out of the car and call for a droid; the droid would march up to your car, get in, and drive to a parking spot and park as needed. When you need the car back, talk to a wrist watch gadget and the droid will bring the car to you. Is that not a sweet covenant? Only hope, that it brings it to you in one piece. Otherwise, like Kramer in Seinfeld says ‘Just write it off!’

Are we there yet?

Everyone would have the experience of waiting for their Birthday to arrive one time or the other in their lives. It is the exciting time of the year where you would be waiting for your big day to arrive. Especially for kids, the B-day brings on a whole new definition. It means for them to get together with their friends and do some fun activities like bowling or playing arcade games at Chuck-E-Cheese. Most of all, getting a bulk load of gifts from families and friends.

When I grew up as a kid, my typical birthday would be to put on new clothes, going to temple and praying to make sure my next year in life goes well, carrying a box full of chocolates and distributing it to my friends at school and the whole class would sing a birthday song for me. My gift from my family would be the new dress that I would get and beyond that I would not expect anything else.

Now that was my birthday and that would not fly well with kids in this age. Kids now start their planning for their day much before. Typically, two or three weeks before, they begin their chore of making a list of friends they will invite. Then they decide on where and what they will do to entertain their friends. Where would the party be? How different will their party be when compared to what they attended at their friends. One’s that is decided, the invitation cards are distributed amongst friends.

The next in the list would be the goody-bags. What do they give to the friends who came for the party? Something their friends would enjoy or play with, continuing the party after they go back home. After the party, comes the excitement of opening the gifts and rejoicing all the things they had ever wished for on that day.

Yesterday, Yash had his party with his friends in AMF bowling. He went through his roller-coaster ride of sending invitations to his friends, making arrangements for his party, getting the goody-bags ready and, selecting his choice of cake. He made sure that his friends had a good time with him and enjoyed his party. Afterwards, he had fun opening all the gifts his friends had given him. It was his day to rejoice.

As we grow older, all these fade out and the party takes a different twist. Still one would meet up with friends but they go out and have a party of another kind. Be it, going to a movie or going for a drink or spending the evening with their loved ones. At the end of the day, it all boils down to ‘Did you enjoy your big day?’

Cavalcade of Bans - All for your Safety

Recently the top local news that hit the paper was on bans. Ban on smoking while driving, in the presence of children, proposed ban on use of hand-held cell phones while driving in Maryland and on trans fat in Maryland restaurants. "These bans govern the privacy of our body", some say. Even before I counter argue this statement, let me explain what each ban means.

City council of Bangor, Maine made the decision to ban smoking in cars when children are present. This ban was passed with good intention to prevent smokers and youngsters from being victims of lung cancer as a result of smoking (actively or passively). Smokers say that they are being dictated as to what they should or should not do. No, they are not being dictated. They could smoke their lungs out as long as they are not affecting others. Some might not like the smoke, some maybe allergic to smoke or some might not want to be the victim of passive smoke. So it becomes the duty of the smoker to make sure that the smoke affects only the smoker and not other people around.

Maryland is proposing to ban chatting on hand-held cell phones while driving. Similar ban is present in Washington, D.C. where drivers can be given a ticket if they are caught talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving in D.C. Talking on cell phone while driving is considered "distracted driving" along with other activities like reading, writing or performing "personal grooming" while driving. Distracted driving also includes putting on makeup, combing hair or shaving, reading newspaper while driving. Studies have shown that people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit. Common sense would say that performing any other activity while driving would lead to accidents. If you want to attend a call, pull over and do so. Talking on cell phone while driving results in being oblivious to their surrounding, weaving in and out of lanes, spiking the brakes as a reaction. While driving, undivided attention is needed for the safety of the driver and other drivers who are sharing the road along with you.

Along with the bans mentioned above, Maryland is also proposing to ban Trans fat in foods prepared in restaurants. One would argue here, saying eating is ones choice. Yes, I do agree, but not suing afterwards telling that coffee served was hot (when you asked for a hot cup of coffee) or suing, saying that you became fat eating all the fatty food in your fast food chain. We also complain that children today are Obese, when we do allow them to eat all possible junk foods. To avoid all this, the government is passing a law to make sure that the food is cooked with oil that has less fat or no Trans fat at all.

I am all for these bans as they are for our health and safety. "No smoking with children in cars" will make sure that smokers don't smoke with children in cars. One can argue that they smoke with children around at home. This is where parenting decision comes in. While at home, parents should make the decision as to how they want to bring up their kids. But outside, the law can make an attempt to prevent kids from becoming victims of passive smoking. Similarly, the two proposed laws in Maryland will make sure to bring safety while driving and to reduce obesity in growing kids.

Sweety - Calm Down

First let me start off with saying that relatives and friends who know me well enough would know that today is a special day for me. I will talk about it in a bit.

While browsing the news today, my eyes caught on to this news where a family was expelled out of the plane because of the temper tantrum that their 3-year old daughter was causing. What had happened was that the family boarded AirTran Flight that was leaving Orlando, FL to Boston, MA. After boarding, the flight crew was getting ready for take-off. But this 3-year old would not take her seat on the plane and causing havoc while her parents were trying to calm her down and getting her to wear her seat belt. The kid was screaming, climbing under the seat and hitting her parents - ouch! (I had to throw that bit in).

The flight crew made an operational decision and followed the Federal Aviation Administration rule where kids above two years of age should be in their own seat, buckled up, ready for take-off. The crew booted the family out of the plane, so the plane could take off. I would say that this was a good decision that the officials made, keeping the sanity of the other 112 passengers on board. The parents were reimbursed their flight cost in addition to boarding them on the next flight along with 3 round-trip business class tickets to fly anywhere in U.S. This is a good deal that the parents can opt for, despite the delay they caused, putting the 112 passengers under sanity-check while forcing them to listen to the screams of the 3-year old (screams of a 3-year old girl can be harmful to your ears).

Who is in control of the situation here? One would think - the parents. But I digress. Looking at this whole situation, I feel that in addition to the family being thrown out of the plane, the parents should be given admission to a course that teaches them to deal with tantrums of their child - Parenting 101, instead of all the other goodies that they were offered. It is a 3-year old that they are dealing with and how difficult it is to seat a toddler and strap the belt around her. They could have avoided all this commotion, embarrassment and the feeling of being insulted and they could have been to Boston in that very flight.

I could understand why the kid did what she did. They were leaving Orlando and the kid wanted to stay back and enjoy Disney for the rest of her life and didn't want to leave. Perhaps. But what about the parents? Did they know that if they let the screams and squirmy behavior to continue, they would be off the flight with a sweet deal aftermath? Airlines should do this to more parents and be strict about it and parents - "you are in control and not your kids". Keep them distracted with other activities like a story book, a coloring activity, music to sooth them, a chocolate reward for being seated. There are at least a dozen things you can come up with if not a zillion.

Back to my special day. Today is my son Yash's Birthday. Happy Birthday Yash :-) Now you know, I was just not saying what I was in taking control of the situation. I have been there, done that.

Dolce on the move

We see a number of Starbucks stores on every street we walk. The coffee giant has about 7,950 stores in the U.S. alone. The first Starbucks store was opened in 1971 in Seatle. The name comes from Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, a classic American novel about the 19th century whaling industry. The seafaring name seems appropriate for a store that imports the world’s finest coffees to the cold, thirsty people of Seattle. In 1990's Starbucks opened many stores outside of Seatle as a result of demand for the great coffee they prepared. Now there are more than 12,400 stores in over 35 countries or so.

The store offers a variety of coffee and tea drinks for the caffine lovers. Step into any of their stores and you will smell the coffee beans being roasted (of course you will, it's a coffee shop, duh!). You can pick up your favorite hot or cold drink depending on the stress level you are in, depending on the weather outside (hot drink on a snowy cold morning and a cold drink after a couple of hours of workout) or depending on who you are impressing ;-) You can relax with your drink, catch up with your friends, listening to the music they play or you can have a meeting with your team mates in college or have a marketing/sales meeting while there.

Despite the competition that the chain is having with other similar chains like Dunkin, Caribou coffee, Green mountain and Costa coffee, the store is doing pretty well surprisingly. In a recent study and an article posted in Washington Post, Starbucks coffee is ranked as the bottom roast which means "liked least" because of ammonia and hambone in aroma, burnt flavor and thin body. Top roast ("liked best") coffee makers are Caribou, a national chain; Mayorga, a local roaster based in Rockville, MD; Murky, a local company.

To market itself, Starbucks introduces new drinks every now and then. Recently, I have been hearing ads about Cinnamon Dolce Latte (CDL) and seeing samples being distributed in some of the Starbucks store. The drink made it on the menu boards a few days ago, although some stores have been making this drink since the New Years'. Cinnamon Dolce is typically an indulgent drink, made with espresso, steamed milk and a sweet syrup flavored with cinnamon, butter and brown sugar. The standard CDL comes topped with whipped cream and cinnamon sprinkles, as well. But due to the drink's popularity and the increasingly health-conscious customer base, Starbucks has introduced a sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce syrup this year as an alternative to the standard. It has the same flavors, but zero calories. Made with nonfat milk (and no whipped cream), a tall sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte has only 90 calories, an impressive reduction from a tall-sized regular CDL made with whipped cream and whole milk, which has 340 calories (260 without the whipped cream). Talk about weight-loss recipes.

Some of the popular radio stations are offering a $100 Starbucks gift card for trying out this new drink if you happen to be the 10th caller after a particular song which they mention during the morning hours of 6am to 8am. During that time, they mention the song you will have to listen for and the time frame when the song will be aired during the day. Talk about marketing! I know to wake up early and shine and plan my day ahead. Coffee lovers - here is your chance to wake up early and try your luck in winning the gift card to go to Starbucks for Dolce Latte.

A Blog about Blog

I wonder how many bloggers will make a pit stop on this page looking at the title that I gave for todays' blog. Today's discussion is on Blogging, so appreciably those who blog will read on to find out what it is all about. Those who keep tab on what I write - Thank you for reading along and yes! I am enjoying the snow ;-)

Do you know there are about 12 million Americans who maintain their blog? I remember the time when I was hesitant to write because I would feel silly about making grammatical mistakes, spelling/clerical mistakes and such. I finally broke out of that regime and started to blog since November of last year. I got my space to write in blogspot for free and I started my selection on topics that are either local events, news highlight or general topics and would write about it with my spin on what I felt about that topic. This way, I can practice my writing and perk up my vocabulary, all for free (with some positive attitude and some set aside time to pick a topic and to blog about it.)

When I was in high school (in the late 80's), I used to work on my computer, trying to decipher how to put the puzzle pieces together to understand what computers was all about. Now the advancement in technology has taken us to a point where we can blog to eloquent what we feel about any given topic or write about what is going on in your lives, so others can follow along. Blogging has become a sacrament in this generation and many are getting into this habit to express themselves. Those who were shy like myself have gotten the means to communicate and to articulate themselves. This is good in itself.

Want to top that? In addition to being able to blog, there are widgets or mini-applications that can make your blog appealing. TypePad is a premier blogging service and it has launched some cool widgets that can be used in your blog for various functionalities like displaying videos, photo gallery or games. Use of such widgets can be seen in youtube.com, amazon.com or eBay. These cool features helps the blogger in every way possible and it can also be used to generate revenue, depending on what you are blogging about in your space. The following link says more than what I said. Typepad

This power of blogging can be taken to the next level to schools and colleges or workplace where students and employees can use this space to express what they feel about their teachers or subjects that they are being taught or about their management at work. Blog is replacing the face-to-face interaction and is allowing many to express their views publicly. I would not be surprised to see a blog which talks about how I manage my team at my work. All I can do is cross my hands and hope that it is good.

First snow of the season

Finally, the long awaited snow is here. Today it started snowing in the afternoon and snowed till 6pm leaving a couple of inches of snow everywhere. Overnight we will have a wintery mix turning the snow to icy conditions. Snow brings a smile on my face. Despite what mood I am in, it never fails to cheer me up. Blanket of white everywhere shows the purity that it has.

I have a penchant to watch snowflakes come down one by one. I was at my friend's house sitting by the window and was admiring the snowfall. Slowly, snow was sticking on the ground, covering the roof of houses and cars that were parked outside on the driveway and on road and icicles forming on tree branches. In a matter of hours, there was a white blanket covering the whole open area. In the midst of all this, I was also making (rather experimenting) spiked up cocktail drinks for my friends. We were enjoying the snow with our drinks.

After we finished up, we drove back to our house on the icy roads. Egads, it was so much fun. I have fun driving on roads covered with snow. The skids and the slips that happen while driving gives those veritable, much needed rush. While I was driving back, I could not help but notice how people slow down so much. Being cautious is one thing but some freak out so much that they really start to drive too slow. Imagine this happening on a one-lane road and you end up being the one following that freaked out driver. They really can take the fun out of driving on the snowy roads.

Well, now that it is snowing, enjoy the snow. Don't know when the next snow will be here in this area. So, share a hot cup of coffee with your loved ones, take your car out for that spin and make someone giggle, fulfill that desire of driving with top down (of course, I am talking about the car) and no cap on or at the least sit by the cozy fireplace and watch the snowflake melt on your windows.

Only in the USA

Everyone must have heard about Price Club, Sam's Club, BJs. They are all shoppers paradise and they sell goods in bulk. They all focus on selling what you need in bigger quantities rather than displaying varities of the same thing. You don't see anything less than a gallon in liquids and nothing less than multiples of dozens in solids. What do I mean by this? You want to buy paper towels - pick up a bag that has 48 rolls at the least; you want eggs, comes in pack of 3 dozens; you want OJ, pick up 4 cartons of 64 oz. each.

In addition to what I mentioned above, they have a good customer service. If you are not staisfied with any of the product, you can return it to them - no questions asked except for the few formal questions like 'Is anything wrong with it?' or 'Don't you like this product?'. One might argue that there is nothing different than what other stores around the area do. Well, I do agree but they either need a receipt or returns must be within 30 days of purchase or they charge a restocking fee or they give a store credit, which will make sure that you end up spending those dollars in the same store guarenteed.

But not in these shoppers clubs. I was there the other day standing in line to enquire about my membership while I overheard the conversation between a customer and the service personnel. The customer who was a lady, was trying to return a video camcorder and the CSR person was interrogating her asking for details about the product as she did not have the receipt with her. After a series of back and forth, the lady finally confessed that the video camcorder was purchased six months ago. Hearing all this, I was thinking "there goes her chance of returning that product". To my dismay, the CSR person took the product; in return gave the cash to the lady. I was amazed at what happened.

One could buy a product, use it for six months to a year, take it to the store and return it for a full price back, saying that you are not happy with the product. This can happen only in the USA. Try doing this outside of the U.S. and the store personnel would send you back saying that the deal is final. The stores in the U.S. are big on customer satisfaction and I hope that people don't take advantage of this. The sellers add this cost of customer satisfaction on the product and we as consumers end up paying for it. Somewhere, someone is paying for it and people don't realize, it's us.

Moving - Yet again

My brother came to the United States about 10 years ago to make a living. His first assignment was in Boston and most of the time he was in Boston working for the same company. About 3 years ago, he moved to New Jersey for an assignment and worked for more than a year and then he moved to Virginia and worked for over a year now. Now he has an assignment in Boston with the same company that he worked for about 7 years. So having said that, I went to my brother's apartment this past weekend to help him pack up his things and moving him to Boston.

When my brother had come to the US, he came with two suitcases filled with his clothes and belongings. Now after 10 years, I see all the things he had purchased to make his home lively. He has a big collection of movies, telescope, home theater system along with all the basic furnitures and paraphernalia.

We started the intimidating task of packing up and as we were packing each and every item that he needed, we were remembering when he bought that item. This whole chore served two purposes - packing the needed items and cleaning/throwing away the not needed ones. Some of the furnitures, he did not want to move to Boston, so we left it near the dumpster for other apartment people to take it if they needed it. We packed all his items in cardboard boxes and loaded it in the mini-van that he had rented. His van was full of basic furnitures, cardboard boxes, kitchen items and such. Over time he had collected a lot of items and with that packing becomes difficult as well.

Why he did not want to move some of the furnitures to Boston? He has decided to move to his homeland, where he came from ten years ago, same time next year in 2008. So this ended up being the first round of cleanup and packing. After this year, the final round of cleaning and packing will happen in Boston and then he will come back to Virginia to spend a month or so with me and then he will fly back to his homeland - where his heart belongs.

For me, this weekend gave a full body workout; having to pack, lift and move the boxes to the van which was two floors below. Do this fifty times and you get a body that is chiseled to your perfection. But mentally, I was down. The fact that my brother is moving away from me to Boston and then in a years' time, he will be flying far away from me, thousands of miles away, forever. It is a setback for me and I will have to work it out. I will keep my chin up, bring out that deceiving smile and have my guards on - bring it on!!

Buy One, Get One

I am not going to blog about the best deals you get in the departmental stores. While reading today's paper, my eyes caught on to something. It was about an incident that happened in a plane. A man got stung twice by the scorpion on his way from Houston to Chicago. He was taking a nap and he woke up with a jolt when the scorpion stung him the first time. He was not able to nail down the fact that he was stung by the arachnid. After the plane landed, he went to the baggage claim to get his bags while he felt a second sting in the other leg. It was then that he found out that it was the scorpion in his cuff that was the culprit.

When he told the airline officials about what had happened, they assured him that they will look into the matter and that the safety and security is the number one concern they have towards passengers. My argument is, with tightened securities that we have nowadays in the airport how did they manage to get a scorpion on board when they don't even allow passengers to carry any drink into the plane. Buy your ticket in the plane, we will give you a free critter, compliments of the airlines.

Incidents like the above are customary in the industry and no wonder movie makers took this idea to the next echelon in creating the movie "Snakes on a plane" where a group of villains unleash snakes in the midst of the flight to kill off a witness. Talk about having critters with jitters. I have not been fortunate enough to see this movie nor get a great deal like the above mentioned, where I have to be or imagine to be with snakes and scorpions. Thanks but no thanks.

Hot or Cold

It is January now and is officially winter. But lately weather has been very kind to us, in giving us May days in January. Do we feel guilty about this weather or enjoy it? What do I mean by this - Everyone has an expectation about a winter weather. For kids, Winter means snowdays, making snow angels, going sleding, having a snowball fight, having a cup of hot cocoa after the snowball fight and most of all, counting the days you can be off from school. For adults, winter can mean chilling and relaxing on a snow day after clearing the snow off of the driveway, taking your car out for a spin on the icy road, having a hot cup of Starbucks drink with your favorite someone. Everyone has their own perspective of a winter day.

With the warm days we have been having lately, bears are seen in the woods because it is not cold enough for them to hibernate. Cherry trees are seen to be having buds and a lot of the plants that normally grow in the southern part is seen to be growing here. Lot of the trees have their buds pop out and agriculturists are worried that the next drop in temperature will ruin the buds and hence the production of fruits and flowers for this year. There is also sheets of glaciers melting faster than expected in the Arctic. These changes all relate to the effects of having a hole in the ozone layer - Global warming.

There is a layer of ozone that shields our earth from strong radiations from the sun which are harmful to our health. This layer has been punctured because of excessive carbon dioxide that is emitted from cars and factories causing pollution. As a result, there is an imbalanace in the temperatures and the climates are shifting from the norm. If the hole in the ozone layer continues to grow, rapid shift in weather will be the outcome, as a result of which places will see tremendous change in the climate. This can be controlled by reducing pollution and emition of CO2 from vehicles and factories and we have to make effort in achiving this. So let us all take a step forward in reducing pollution and bringing the balance back on earth.

Kids or No Kids

Well, a week into the new year and I wanted to wrap up the week with a nice touch of dinner and a movie. I ended up watching 'Children of men'. The story started off fairly well. No, it is not about the aliens attacking us and taking over earth nor is it about the behavior of kids in this society. The story is about life in 2027. This tells you that the story is fictional and imaginative in nature. In 2027, life on earth is without children. The last child was born 19 years ago (from 2027), after which no kids were born. In the midst of this, a woman is pregnant and she is protected and escorted to a safe place to save hers' and her child's life, which tells us that reproduction resumes since then. That is simply the gist of the story. The theme of the story started well but did not go anywhere for much long. The movie was full of riots and fighting and is like seeing an hour and a half of guns firing and chaos everywhere. This movie would certainly make it to a Saturday afternoon TV.

One thing I learned from this movie was, how life would be without kids and its aftermath. There would be no need for schools, toy stores, baby stores and such, no pediatrics, no saving up for college, no activities for kids. It would be an experience of a kind. But that is just in the movie. With the growing population around the world, I don't think any of this would happen in the next 20 years. Maybe a million years down in the future we may have a possibility. But not now and also with the ever growing technology, scientists would have discovered a solution for the problem that is still a possibility.

Churning Out

Let me start off by wishing you a very Happy New Year. With the fairwell of 2006 and starting off 2007, many would have whipped out a list of resolutions. Every year we come up with a list and by the beginning of the following year, we only see that many of our resolutions are still left undone in the list, only to be carried over to the following year (no offense to the ones who actually fulfill it). Having said that, I made up my list which is just a remake of my last years' list with some new additions.

One of the items in my list is to go to the gym regularly. When I say regularly, I mean going there three or four times every week at a minimum. When you don't show up at the gym for that week, your item is still on the resolutions list. So, I made up my mind to start the new year and the week by going to the gym. I was expecting to see a decent crowd at the gym, because I saw a crowd after ThanksGiving and after Christmas. During those times, people were churning out calories after their turkey dinner for ThanksGiving and ham or leg of lamb dinner for Christmas. If people were working out so hard the next day after those holiday dinners, it was only fair on my part to expect them making their resolution to be at the gym on the first day of the year and sticking to it. To my dismay, the gym was half empty and most of the machines were unoccupied.

I think most people come to the gym after big meals or parties or holidays, just to cover their guilt (I am not talking about you veterans at the gym). Some are really dedicated at working out, that they go out for a jog even when it is raining or snowing or in the darkest night possible. Hats off to them, except don't get runover by the traffic. Have a plan for workout, come up with a feasible time for working out and stick with the plan. Do it, but do not overdo it.