A touching story and a good reminder to everyone

I received an email today from a friend. It is a story that so touching it melts my heart, it is also act as a reminder and a very good reminder indeed, and I would like to share it with all of you. The story goes as follows:

A touching story and a good reminder : "Take time to appreciate what you have now."

On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to go to the supermarket to buy the remaining of the gift I didn't manage to buy earlier.

When I saw all the people there, I started to complain to myself," It is going to take forever here and I still have so many other places to go. Christmas really is getting more and more annoying every year. How I wish I could just lie down, go to sleep and only wake up after it..."

Nonetheless, I made my way to the toy section, and there I started to curse the prices, wondering if after all kids really play with such expensive toys.

While looking in the toy section, I noticed a small boy of about 5 years old, pressing a doll against his chest. He kept on touching the hair of the doll and looked so sad. I wondered who was this doll for. Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him, "Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?"

The old lady replied, "You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear."

Then she asked him to stay here for 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly.

The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I started to walk toward him and I asked him who did he want to give this doll to.

"It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas. She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her."

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus will bring it to her, after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. "No, Santa Claus can not bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there."

His eyes were so sad while saying this."My sister has gone to be with God.

Daddy says that Mummy will also go to see God very soon, so I thought that she could bring the doll with her to give it to my sister."

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said, "I told
daddy to tell mummy not to go yet. I asked him to wait until I come back from the supermarket. "

Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing. He then told me, "I also want mummy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me. I love my mummy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister."

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and took a few notes and said to the boy,
"What if we checked again, just in case if you have enough money?"

"Ok," he said. "I hope that I have enough."

I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll, and even some spare money. The little boy said, "Thank you God for giving me enough money."

Then he looked at me and added, "I asked yesterday before I slept for God to make sure I have enough money to buy this doll so that mummy can give it to my sister. He heard me." "I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mummy, but I didn't dare to ask God too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and the white rose."

"You know, my mummy loves white rose."

A few minutes later, the old lady came again and I left with my trolley.

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I
couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local
newspaper article 2 days ago, which mentioned of a drunk man in a truck who hit a car where there was one young lady and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-assisting machine, because the
young lady would not be able to get out of the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young lady had passed away.

I couldn't stop myself and went to buy a bunch of white roses and I went to the mortuary where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wish before burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand
with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place crying, feeling that my life had been changed forever.

The love that this little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine and in a fraction of a second, a drunk man had taken all this away from him.

Now you have two choices either:
1) Send this message to everybody that you know; or
2) Delete it and do as if it never touched your heart.

How to transform your USB External HD or ThumbDrive into a portable and private PC.

Ever imagine of making your external USB HD or thumbdrive as your portable or private PC that you can bring it along with you wherever you go i.e. bring your software, settings and data with you and run it on any PC.

A company named RingCube developed a technology called MojoPac that able to transform your iPod or USB HD or Flash/Thumb Drive into a protable and private PC. Therefore, when you plug your MojoPac enabled device into any window XP computer, MojoPac will automatically launches your environment on the host PC. When you unplug the MojoPac, no trace is left behind since all your information is not cached on the host computer.

It a very handy essential tools and worth exploring.

Visit site for more info : MojoPac

How to defrag certain files instead of the whole hard drive

Have you been experiencing slow processing of some application in your PC or laptop? How long since you last run defragmentation apps? A defrag tools is a necessity to ensure your PC runs smoothly and less trouble. It is similar to cleaning your store, re-arranging your stuff, discarded the stuff you no longer want so that it easier for you to look for them later. A company that brought you CCleaner and Recuva, now bring you a file defragmentation to help you defrag your file with ease. It is called the "Defraggler". This app gives you an option whether to defrag a file, certain files or the whole files.

So how do you do it? well, easy just run and use "Defraggler".

The company claim the Defraggler is different from others defrag tools on the market. The Defraggler enable you to simply and quickly defrag the files you want to without having to process the whole drive. The process is simple; you run it, select the file and defragment them in seconds. You will be experiencing less struggle and effort in running the defragmentation tools as compare to others defragmentation tools.

Features of Defraggler:

· Defrag individual Files :
Most defragmentation tools only let you defrag the whole drive. Defraggler gives you the power to select individual files and folders to defrag. So you can get the job done in seconds, rather than waiting for the whole drive to complete. Of course if you want to defrag the whole drive Defraggler will let you do that too.
· Compact and Portable :
Defraggler was written in the same compact architecture as other Piriform products (CCleaner and Recuva). It can be copied to a thumbdrive and then used whenever you need it, without a complex installation process. The apps is less than 1MB!. In other word you will have a mobile defragmentation tools you can bring with you and ready to be used whenever you want to.
· Vista Support :
Defraggler supports all OSs released since Windows 2000, this includes Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista. However 64 bit have yet to be developed and will be available soon.
· Locate files on the drive :
After analysis defraggler lists all the fragmented files as well as the location of files on the drive.
And last but not least, the most interesting features of defraggler is; it a FREEWARE!, available for both individual and corporate use. What can be more appealing other than freeware! It worth a try.
For more info please visit : Defraggler

PART 2 : EXTRA TIPS ON HOW TO CUT COST AND EXPENSES.

a) Mortgage (if any):
i) Family : If necessary, change to a bank which offers a lower interest rate or flexible payment scheme. Sometimes interest rates fall, ask your current bank if you can apply for the new rate. Don’t skip payment, you loose money on penalties.
ii) Working Singles : n/a
iii) College Student : n/a

b) Rent :
i) Family / Working Singles / College Student : Scout around, you may find a cheaper option.

c) Car loan/Transport :
i) Family & Working Singles : Interest rates are more or less similar from one bank to another. Don’t skip payments, again you loose money on penalties and getting your car back if it gets towed away. Even better, buy a second hand car (be careful of maintenance) or a motorcycle.
ii) College Student : Use public transport. Buy a motor cycle if traveling distance is too far or the bus/train is unreliable.

d) Petrol & Toll :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Cost depends on how far you have to travel. Try to live closer to your workplace, kids’ school, your college. Alternatively balance your driving distance between your workplace, the college/school and the nearest town so that you don’t have to travel too far to any of these places. Even better set a straight path so that everyone in the family doesn’t have to go in different directions but on the same road from home – school/town – workplace. To cut down even more, use a public transport or share with a colleague.

e) Groceries :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Eat at home before going shopping. Compare prices. Buy the cheaper alternative (not luxury but it will keep you alive). Buy bulk for families if necessary but not goods that go bad quickly. Stay away from tit-bits like crisps, candies or chocolate at the check-out counter. (They are put there to temp you on the way out). Don’t buy tit-bits while waiting for the bus/train. Make sure you & your wife don’t pay double for things like newspapers, coffee at the nearest cafe in the morning etc. Bring food/drink to work/school/college. If you are an avid gardener and you have the space, grow your own food.

f) Cable TV :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Again this is not a matter of life and death. It is considered an extra entertainment. Just have the ordinary channels on. Find other entertainment that don’t cost much.

g) Internet Access & House Phone:

i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : These two often go together. If you really want to do without the extra cost, stop having a house phone /subscribing to an Internet access altogether. Go to a nearby Internet Café if there is one within walking distance.

h) Mobile Phone :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Don’t yak on the phone just because you are bored most of the time. Get out more often, meet your friends/family or have them call you. Sending short messages is even more cheaper. Don’t have more than one phone unless someone else is paying for the bill (like your company).

i) Medical Bills :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Keep a healthy lifestyle. Eat nutritious food, exercise more, pray more, laugh more etc. Unfortunately, medical expenses are often unavoidable.

j) Electricity bill :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Switch off the lights, TV etc. when not in use especially if you are not at home. Air conditioning you can do with out. Use a fan. Get solar power/wind power etc.

k) Water bill :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Shower instead of soaking in the bathtub. Use a front loader washing machine instead of a top loader. Wash your car only when necessary. Use a glass of water when brushing your teeth instead of letting the tap run. Get a water saving toilet which has two choices for flushing. Get a water tank for rainwater. If the quality of water is poor in your area, use it for washing, in the bathroom etc instead of for cooking or drinking.

l) Miscellaneous :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Depends on what you find filtered away by the end of every month. IF you are really determined to save money - keep track no matter how tedious. Did you put aside money for house/car maintenance, road tax, tire change, dental appointments, birthday parties, visit to the vet (for pet owners) Sudden extra expenses for visits by relatives etc? Don’t lend money if you don’t have enough even for your self. Do have savings for your retirement?

m) Children School fees :
i) Family : Can’t be avoided but you can choose a less expensive school.
ii) Working Singles : n/a
iii) College Student : n/a

n) Kids Extra Activities :
i) Family : Cut down or cut out totally depending on how serious your money problems are at the moment. Let them find entertainment at home or better still spend time with them. Give them extra lessons yourself. Find ideas from the library/internet.
ii) Working Singles: n/a
iii) College Student : n/a

o) Entertainment :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Now this is where most people can cut down most. It’s not a matter of life or death. You can still survive with minimum entertainment.

p) Books/Magazines :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Buy the minimum basic books required for college. Go to the library often. Stop buying magazines, they cost a lot over time.

q) Photocopy/stamps :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Send letters/post cards sparingly maybe once a month or two. Read and write down articles/information before thinking of photocopying. Only photocopy things that are difficult to write down. Borrow if possible.

r) Credit Card :
i) Family, Working Singles & College Student : Only use during emergencies (life and death). Pay more than the monthly minimum required. You loose money on high interest rates. Don’t accept that Gold or Platinum Card when it is offered to you just to show off.

PART 1: HOW TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY

(General Guidelines – For the average person on the street)

Before continuing any further, first thing first, if you need detailed help and if you have a lot of money then you will need a financial advisor.

This article is just a simple guideline for those who do not know where their money goes to by the end of every month and for those who have trouble surviving on what little income they get.

CHANGE HOW YOU THINK

To get you (and your family-if any) started, you will need to be humble enough to acknowledge that you are struggling financially and that you need to tone down your lifestyle. Yes your friend, neighbour, colleague or relative may ‘seem’ much better off than you, probably having somewhere nicer to live in, own a car or even a very expensive one, have nice things in their home, wear fancy clothes or that they can go for a holiday often and so on, BUT you must remember, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Don’t try to compete with anyone - it’s very stressful. Jealousy is not very becoming of anyone.

WANTS VS. NEEDS

Note everyone knows this but there is a difference between what we need to survive and what we want/desire to make us happy. To survive we have to have the basics like food, medicine, somewhere to live, transportation, a source of money to pay our bills and expenses (example, job, savings, allowance, scholarship, welfare money etc.).

Even then there is the differences in prices for these basic things. Some food are more expensive than others, the same goes with clothes, a place to live, medical treatment, transportation etc. If you have limited budget or money, choose the cheapest. Don’t go to a private hospital, instead go to a government hospital. Don’t buy branded clothes, buy similar but cheaper ones. Don’t eat at a restaurant/café, bring food from home. Don’t travel by taxi, go on the bus. Don’t have too many girlfriends or wives, one is enough.

‘Wants’ on the other hand is driven by desire. Often we want that nice, expensive car, we want to go for a long holiday, we want to party every weekend, we want that lovely but expensive sofa set, we want to treat our friends often, we want a nice big house with a garden, we want that diamond ring, we want the latest PDA/ hand phone, we want sports rim for our car, we want a computer for each and every one of our kids, we want that high powered motor cycle etc. Control your wants. Don’t suffer for it.

To be able to manage our monthly income, we have to know the difference between these two, especially during times when we are tempted by our friends bragging, TV/ newspaper advertisements, widow displays, the salesman etc. All telling us that we ‘need’ these things to make us look and feel good.

EXCESSIVE VICES

If you are a gambler, an alcoholic, a drug user or have other problems can lead to the use of a lot of spending money, seek professional advice to kick the habit. Some habits are very hard to get rid off without help. They eat into your finances, into your life and destroy you slowly but surely. Getting help is nothing to be ashamed off. You don’t have to announce it to the world, go alone if you have to but it is better if you have the support of a friend or family to help you on your way.

Another thing that is not as excessive, is smoking. If you calculate how much a packet of cigarettes cost and how much you use in a month, you will notice that it cuts quite a bit into your budget. It is not necessary for survival and you won’t die if you don’t smoke. The craving will drive you crazy but it can be overcome (If you really want to-develop the will power).

FRIENDS CAN BE OUR DOWNFALL

You have to manage yourself and your lifestyle as best as you can. If it is your friends who are living the high life and enjoying themselves excessively, then perhaps its time to find new friends who are more like yourself so that you don’t have to be that much different from them. Learn to turn a deaf ear on people who make fun of you, just because you don’t dress in fancy clothes, drive to work, have a high paying job, enjoy life like them etc. Good friends are reliable and steadfast. They respect you for yourself and not what you have.

If you are ambitious then you can work smart and hard for these things (the legal way of course. Again to avoid trouble in the long run) and enjoy your hard earned money once you actually have it in your bank account. Get a second part-time job if you have to. Start a home business if you have a full time job.

FAMILY LIFE VS. LUXURIOUS LIFESTYLE

If you already have a family, balance your needs and ambitions to a quality life with your family. No point having all that money when you and your family members are not close and don’t enjoy each others company. I have known some people who work too hard all their life only to retire to an empty home where their kids seldom come home or call home to ask how things are. This is because they are so used to dad or mum not being around. Set your priority – what do you want? Money or a close family life? Some people can have both but not everyone can achieve this. A person who is never there is seldom missed. Painful but true. You cannot catch up on lost time. It is better to set a balance.

‘CONTROL’ YOUR DESIRES AND WEAKNESSES. FIND CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES

The best way to manage what little you have is to ‘control’ your desires and spending habit. Find cheaper alternatives to what you would like to do or have. Decide how much you are getting every month and how much money goes into your everyday expenses. Determine which expenses are necessary for survival and which are not. Survival means you will die or end up on the streets/in jail if you don’t have it. For example, if the price of petrol is going up and up, find a cheaper alternative to go to work. Get a motorcycle perhaps or share s car/petrol with a friend who live and work in the same area. Take the train or bus. If it is not too far then use a bicycle (Good for the environment too). Not as convenient but ‘cheaper’ because that is what we are aiming for. Swallow your pride and ego. Remember, you have nothing to prove to anyone. What can you achieve by burning a hole in your pocket/wallet?

Kids are often the main weaknesses of parents. If you have four or more kids and you suddenly have that extra money to buy them a treat, let us say ice-cream. Buy a large container from the local supermarket instead of stopping by at the nearest fast food outlet for it. You save a lot of money this way. If you have just one child and he/she starts screaming and crying for a $200 toy at the store but you don’t have that sort of money. Don’t pull out your credit card. After trying persuasion and it doesn’t work be firm, pick him/her up gently calmly and try to distract him/her with something else. If this doesn’t work perhaps it is time to go home to avoid all the fuss. Most people will understand especially those who have had kids themselves. Children can often get distracted easily and for the more stubborn ones, the parents have to be firm. Don’t give in too easily to their wants (as oppose to needs) otherwise they will do it again and again.

Sometimes it is the parents’ fault that their kids are high maintenance. They want the best for their kids even though they themselves can’t afford it. The excuse is that they want for the kids something which they themselves couldn’t have in the past. For example; a good but very expensive school (Be flexible. Find a middle alternative), piano lessons, clubs (not just one but many), extra art lessons (apart from what they teach at school) and so on. Just because you couldn’t have it as a child doesn’t mean your child has to have it too. Even if you did have the extra luxuries as a child but your current finances do not allow you to, there is not need to give them the extras either. Use your common sense.

BE STRONG, TRY HARDER

Humans tend to have weak will power. Yes, it part of being human. But you can train yourself. All it takes is self determination. Try harder, that is. Don’t give up too easily. Decide on a monthly budget. Keep track of your spending habits. Try not to spend more than what you have. If you spend too much this month, try again next month and the next. Cut down on things that are not important to your survival.

HOW BORROWING AFFECT US

Your life is your own and when you are in trouble especially financially, there is seldom someone there to lend you a helping hand. Borrowing money to lead a better lifestyle is NOT the solution but will get you into more trouble in the long term (This includes ‘borrowing’ money from your friendly credit card, a friend, relative or even worse a loan shark). Remember credit cards and loan sharks charge high interest rates on the money you borrow. For example for every $100 you borrow, you may end up paying $116-$150 at the end of the month. Then if this hasn’t been cleared the amount will go up and up until you clear your loan. Some people get another credit card to pay for the loan they already have, and another, and another etc. This is highly dangerous and stupid. Wouldn’t it be better if that extra money went into your own pocket instead?

Of course if there is an emergency and you or your family need immediate medical attention, by all means use your credit card (because it is a matter of life and death) and use it only in this way. Some people claim that an ‘emergency’ is when they need to buy new clothes for that annual party that everyone is talking about. Please! Use your common sense when deciding what an emergency is. It is not that toy that your child wants, or a night out at an expensive restaurant just to impress your friend/s or a party that you suddenly decided to have. To avoid using your credit card for things that come up suddenly, plan what you normally need to spend on yearly basis (yes it is troublesome but worth the effort). Save a little money every month for emergencies or when you suddenly get some money from an unplanned source. Don’t use it all up in one go.

Stay away from loan sharks no matter what. For those who do not know what a loan shark is. It is someone who profess to have a money lending business but charge very high interest rates. They may not even acknowledge that you have made payments in the past. They tend to resort to illegal ways of getting their money back from you including harassment, violence or taking over your property by force and selling it even though the amount you owe them is not as high as your car, house, land etc. Yet some of them even use legal means to lend you the money (you have to sign an agreement) but the amount you loose if they take over your property is not worth the trouble not to mention the trouble they cause your family, friends and at your workplace.

On the other hand borrowing money from relatives or friends may seem better but if you can’t afford to pay them back, even in small installments, they will nag you until your ears fall off and they will loose trust in you. Then when you need money for emergencies, there will be no one there for you. For those who do not have a thick skin, this can be very stressful too. Honesty is always the best policy. If you do borrow money always try to work out if you can make payments, pay in small amounts every month if you have to but don’t let anyone loose trust in you. If you have a thick skin (no sense of shame), then I pity you. Suffer the consequence yourself. It may last far longer then you expected.

Note: Please click the image to enlarge.










CONCLUSION

We can all survive on the minimum if we try hard enough. Sometimes cutting cost is absolutely necessary for our survival or for our family’s survival. If you can’t afford that house yet, never mind, do without. If you can’t have as much fun as you want at the moment, never mind, do without. If you can’t afford to get married yet, never mind, postpone.

Things may look bleak at the moment or make you depressed, but think positive about the future. Find alternative ways of managing your money and of increasing your income (look up topic).

Problems don’t last for ever and ever. Tomorrow will not be the same as today or yesterday unless, you just sit there and do nothing about it. Remember that.

..To be continued ... PART 2: EXTRA TIPS ON HOW TO CUT COST AND EXPENSES.

Recommended Reading:

Eid ul Fitr cookies in Malaysia

(Kuih Hari Raya Aidilfitri di Malaysia)

Eid ul Fitr is an annual event for Muslims ending at the end of a month of fasting. The intention of fasting is to strengthen a persons willpower against bodily desires as well as be more closer to God through prayers and reflection.

This festival known locally in Malaysia as Hari Raya Puasa or Hari Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated in the city with fireworks or firecrackers at the end of the fasting month. In the villages, people light up lines of oil lamps around the perimeter of their homes.

It is a time for families and friends far and near, to gather together to eat and make merry and to catch up on the latest family news. Food abound especially meaty dishes and rice dishes but the ones that attracts the most attention are the pastries including cakes and cookies. There are many traditional cookies as well as more modern ones - cooked in an oven.

The ones featured here are the modern ones, scrumptious and sweet using mostly natural ingredients including various types of flour, nuts, grains and chocolate. Granulated sugar, icing sugar or honey is used to sweetened these cookies. Colourful decorations and food colouring are sometimes used to temp the young who generally like colourful food.

1st Picture Source - http://www.desaku.net/Gambarprodukjadua-c-biskut-kecil.asp       2nd Picture - own photo.

   
1. The first cookie that I personally like is called the pineapple tart (Tart Nenas in Malay). There are two versions; the first has a crumbly and very soft cookie texture, wrapped around homemade pineapple filling like a sausage roll. The second is more crunchier, with the pineapple jam on top and marked with a X.

Picture http://www.diyanazman.com/2007/01/19/gloriousfood-batang-buruk-siti-honey-cornflakes-diyana-hahaha/

2. The second is called Toasted Honey Cornflakes with Almond. This has a crunchy texture and may sometimes fall to pieces if handled too roughly. The taste of the corn from the cornflake goes well with the honey and almond nuts. Usually it is served in tiny cupcakes just enough to pop into your mouth.

Picture Source - http://zaisara.com/

3. The third one is the Pistachio Nut Cookie (Kuih Pistachio in Malay). Again with a crunchy but smoother texture and sweetened with icing on top. Often it is in the form of a heart shape.

Picture - http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuih_siput

4. The fourth is called the (Cowrie) Shell Cookie (Kuih siput in Malay). As it’s name clarifies, it is in the shape of a shell and is quite savoury/spicy compared to the others. It is mixed with chili, curry powder and curry leaves before being hand rolled into 1cm sized shell shapes and then deep fried until crunchy. Making it is quite tedious but the taste is worth while.

Picture Source - http://chesakura.fotopages.com/?entry=974291

5. The fifth, is the round Makmur kuih (Kuih makmur in Malay). If well made, it has a soft crumbly texture which disintegrates in your mouth as soon as you put it in. The centre is made of ground nuts mixed with butter or the more aromatic ghee and sugar. Then it is shaped into a ball and rolled onto fine icing sugar to give it a white outer coating.

Picture – Own photo

6. Last but not least, is the chocolate coated hazelnut cookie. A whole hazelnut is found right in the centre of the cookie. The cookie is then coated with melted chocolate. This is often the favourite with children.

There are many, many other biscuits or cookie that are served during the Hari Raya festival. To mention them all would take many pages. Some recipes in English can be found in the links provided. For cookie lovers, this is the time to experiment and try them out.

Links:

www.diyanazman.com
Kuih Raya 1
kuih raya 2
Batang Buruk
Kuih Raya 3

When food is more valuable than money

APPLETON, Wis. - This thief apparently had quite the appetite. Appleton police received a call Wednesday of a burglary — not of valuables but of food. It was reported that the burglar apparently entered an unlocked apartment and walked away with a pizza, six eggs, a can of beef ravioli, a can of peaches and one chicken-and-broccoli Hot Pocket. The crime was committed between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. and so far, police has no immediate suspects.

This is very odd. This is what we call going back to the basic necessity of life, which is Food. May be the burglar is so hungry that food is more valuable than money at that time.

Information from: The Post-Crescent

What would you do before the end of the world?

I came across an article on yahoo news, about an asteroid in collision course with the earth and you have only one-hour left to live. Recently, a survey was conducted in London to find out in percentage what most Britons will do with their last 60 minutes. Listed below are their findings:

a) 54% - spend it either with or on the phone to their loved ones.
b) 13% - would sit back, accept the inevitable and reach for a glass of champagne.
c) 9% - Sex appealed.
d) 3% - would turn to prayer
e) 2% - reach for some fatty food
f) 2% - decided, that it was time to start looting

The survey was commissioned by Ziji Publishing to mark the release of "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by debut novelist Steven Sivell who "uses the classic premise of an impending meteorite collision as a metaphor for threats to the human race."

What would you do if you have only one hour left before the end of the world?

Link : What would you do before the end of the world?

How to use i.e. and e.g. correctly

 the above images extracted from www.theoatmeal.com

Yes, I did make a mistake and I admit it. When come to writing an article, I frequently use “i.e.” instead of “e.g” to give an example. I only knew about the mistake I have done so very often when I came across a site named COPYBLOGGER.COM.
Both of these abbreviations are actually derived from a latin word. It is one of the most often use abbreviations in modern writing but you have to use them correctly otherwise it may cause confusion to readers.
The Latin phrase id est means “that is,” so i.e. is a way of saying “in other words.” It’s designed to make something clearer by providing a definition or saying it in a more common way.
Copyblogger has jumped the shark, i.e., gone downhill in quality, because Brian has broken most of his New Year’s resolutions.
The Latin phrase exempli gratia means “for example”, so e.g. is used before giving specific examples that support your assertion.
Copyblogger has jumped the shark because Brian has broken most of his New Year’s resolutions, e.g., promising not to say “Web 2.0,” “linkbait,” or “jumped the shark” on the blog in 2007.
I don’t know how often you use them incorrectly but I do.

Related Topics :

• Used to vs. Use to
• Compliment vs Complement
• Different between Farther and Further
• Bring vs Take

The four Warning Signs of a bad management

 The above image is extracted from http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com

Do you have a bad boss? Is your boss a good manager? Ask the workers what they think about their manager’s abilities and you soon find out that good bosses are rarity and endanger species. One of the main role of manager is to shape the way their workers works. Good manager creates good workers.

Related Articles: How To Deal With BAD Boss

The four warning signs to indicate a bad manager:

a) High turnover – Staff members will do their best to move into a less painful working environment.

b) Low morale – If the staff does not leave, they will spend a great deal of time complaining. This is not idle chat-chat; it is a device for relieving the stress of working under a bad boss. This is not good for the staffs well being and may affect the company productivity as well ( less productive).

c) Notice drastic changes on workers – There are some offices that changes drastically when the boss is gone. People start to smile and most show sign of relieve. They talk, laugh and they are more relax. There is lightness in the air as if a dark cloud has gone.

d) A Bad boss leaves a personal footprint – A bad boss will have his personal footprint on everything that leaves the department. Every memo, every letter, every report will be edited to carry his message. this is very bad and not healthy. It very bad for the staff's moral.

So what actually create or make a bad manager? Is it something to do with their egos, too proud? As if they know everything. Is it something to do with their high profile and loud voice and ugly face? on the other hand do you know the sign of a good manager? I bet you know isn't it but you don't want to say or admit. Are you scared or in some kind of trouble? You scared your boss might FIRED you? So what. They are plenty of jobs elsewhere.

So all the company out there, don't waste your time and money employing these horrific and good for nothing so called BAD MANAGER. BAD MANAGER will not improve the company productivity. Believe me, fired them and find someone else who is firm but fair to all the staffs, have sense of humor, productive, humble and considerate.

How to create good working environment
They don't know how to do it"



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Ways to make money on the internet

What are these terms frequently used on the internet really mean? i.e. pay per click, pay per impressions and so on? Even though it sound very basic, but some of us especially if you are new in this kind of business may find the following beneficial and worthwhile to know.

Listed below is some of the terms use for making money on the internet:

a) PAY PER CLICK: Website owners get paid each time surfers click on ads placed on their sites. Example of such ads is Google Adsense.

b) PAY PER IMPRESSIONS: The more traffic a website records, the more the advertisers pay.

c) PAY PER ACTION: Website owners get paid when visitors complete certain action, such as signing up with or purchase products of the advertisers.

d) AD SPACE SALES: Sell a portion of web page space for advertisement over a period of time regardless of traffic.

e) PRODUCTS SALE: Electronics books and software are among the popular items. There are also affiliate programmes where one earns commission selling such products for others. Example Amazon Associates.

Foldable battery made from paper

Washington August 15 2007 AP: Imagine a battery made to shape like a pieces of paper. It can be bent, twisted, trimmed with scissors or molded into any shape needed. It may sound impossible but US researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is currently developing it. It main objective is to create a new type of battery to be used in electronic or similar fields that need smaller, lighter power sources.

The battery uses paper infused with an electrolyte and carbon nano tubes, both that embedded into the paper. The carbon nano tubes form the electrodes, the paper is the separator and the electrolyte allows the current to flow. This is where the nano technology is being applied to create something smaller and flexible in size. Some scientist is expecting to use this technology with solar cells and one possible application is to use this battery in an electric car.

However since the said battery is still under development, it sound very promising. Imagine a book equiped with audio & video clip similar to the magical newspaper seen in the Harry Potter’s movie. The possibility is endless.

For more info please visit the site at: Foldable Battery

An Alarm clock that runs away and hides

I use an alarm clock set to certain time in the early morning and hope I will wake up but instead I quickly grab the clock and switch off the alarm and then go straight to sleep. I am one of the millions people in the world who have a hard time getting up early in the morning. Really, it is not that easy at all, especially in the morning. Getting up is the hardest thing to do for me. It is as if a whole body is glue to the bed. Well, this gadget might be the answer to the problem. It is an alarm clock with two wheel attached to it body. A clever and simple idea but effective.

It was in 2005, based on a conceptual design project, Gauri Nanda, then a graduate student at MIT, invent and named the alarm clock “clocky” and the rest is history. This is how it operates when in use:

a) You set the alarm to ring at a particular time.
b) When the alarm ring at that set time, it gives you an option to activate the snooze time depending what you have set (0-9min).
c) But the clock only give you once snooze and when you still can’t be bother to get up, guess what?, the clock rolls off the night stand and runs away. It wheel around your room looking for a place to hide and the nasty thing is it screen flashes and keep on beeping.
d) This for sure make you get up and start walking around in search for the sound. Thus indirectly make you get up and walk (not sleep walk).
e) The good news is if you prefer, you can disable the wheels.

The clock can jump from up to 3 feet, moves on wood and carpet. It alarm beeps in random pattern
The size of the Clocky is small: 5.25" x 3.5" x 3.5"

There you are, for those out there having problem getting up in the early morning, this clock may be your answer. Who knows it might help you, I hope.

For more info of “Clocky” please visit their site at: Clocky or see the video clip at : Video Clip

The Three Frogs.

I read a financial (by Azizi Ali) book when I came across this riddle. It not new but it gives something useful. Therefore, I want to share it to every one. The riddle goes like this. See if you can come up with the right answer. Before you start, please be honest, do not jump the paragraph and look at answer. There is no thrilled in doing so and you are missing the fun and the important message behind it. Ok, let us begin.


Three frogs are sitting on a lily pad. If one of them decided to jump, how many are left on the lily pad?

Please read the sentences again because the answer is not what appears at first glance.



OK, time’s up. The answer is not two, but three. Why? You see, the frog has only decided to jump but he has not jumped yet.
It means for anything to happen or want to happen, you must take action first.
You can have all the knowledge and all the wisdom, but without taking action, nothing will happen. It's like a goal without action is no goal (quoted by John Chow).

TIPS TO HELP YOU START YOUR DAY

I was reading an article the other day about a company and the author actually gave a few tips, which the author wants to share with others, and I guess I had better share it to all of you out there as well.

These are tips to help you start your day in a bright and cheerful manner.
1) Take a glass of water – in the morning on an empty stomach.
2) Have a good bath – using aromatherapy foams.
3) Meditate / pray.
4) Listen to a very soothing music.
5) Have your breakfast! - 1 glass of fresh juice and a bowl of oats will do wonders to your system.
6) Talk to yourself.

Do five affirmations a day and talk yourself into anything. Repeat out aloud so that you hear them as well as think them.

I deserve wealth.
I deserve health.
I deserve happiness.
I am good at my job.
I have a good life my body is healthy my mind is wise.

Whatever you want he says, you have to say it often enough and you will achieve your dreams.
7) Organise your tasks for the day.
8) Leave home with a smile.

He (the author) said to trust in him and your day will pass through wonderfully. The people around you he says will enjoy your company, your aura and your attitude. Well it does work for him; Hopefully it works for you too. There’s no harm trying isn’t it? What if it works? You have nothing really to loose.

"OUR GREATEST GLORY IS NOT IN NEVER FALLING,
BUT RISING EVERYTIME WE FALL" - Anonymous

Nissan New Electric Car - PIVO 2

Now Nissan's Pivo concept car can drive sideways too

TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's Nissan Motor Co. on Friday unveiled a new version of its egg-shaped Pivo concept car that can drive sideways and has a small robot to assist with navigation or calm down angry drivers.

Please visit their site at:
PIVO 2

PIVO 2 Features:

a) 2 three seaters electric car
b) The wheels can turn 90 degrees for easy parallel parking.
c) The cabin is able to revolve 360 degrees, hence no need to reverse.
d) Round eyed robot attached on the dashboard which alert the driver i.e. sleepy
e) Equipped with “By wire” technologies that use electric signals in the steering and braking.
f) Use four independent electric motor, therefore no axles and the wheel can be turn further than conventional car.
The company says that PIVO 2 will appear at TOKYO Motor Show somewhere around October 2007.

How wonderful isn’t it to own this kind of vehicle especially if you work around the city. With this car, you can probably:

a)Save more on fuel.
b)Ease of parking your car.
c)Can easily maneuver the car in tight and narrow street.
d)Feel better since you are not contributing to the air pollution.
e)You won’t feel lonely driving alone since there’s always a robot to accompany you while driving.

I think it about time we get use to this kind of vehicle, even though it look weird. Furthermore, this car may probably help reduce the air pollution, as it is now has reach to a critical condition all over the world.

Submit your site using Ping-O-Matic

It is important to submit your site to the entire blog search engine every time you update your site. However to do so may takes some effort and to some people it is troublesome especially if you have to do it manually. The easiest way to do it is by utilizing a free service called Ping-O-Matic. The service will do it for you automatically.

Ping-O-Matic is a service to update different search engines that your blog has updated.

Ping-O-Matic regularly check downstream services to make sure that they're legit and still work. So while it may appear like Ping-O-Matic have fewer services, they're the most important ones.

Make sure to only ping specialized services if they're relevant to your blog, otherwise you'll cause an undue burden on them.

Ping-O-Matic

Load time Check

Does loading speed of your blog matter to you? To some people yes and No. Some say that site is build for people not for the machine (search engine). However, if you want to index your site on certain search engine successfully, the speed does matter. Otherwise, the search engine result will be…guess what…No indexing!...moreover if your site loading time is more than 24 seconds, 40% of your potential viewers will give up and exit your site due to impatience.

There are few factors determines the site loading time such as:

a) Images
b) Tables
c) Templates Structures
d) Javascripts
e) Numbers of posts on the homepage

Nevertheless, the most obvious factors that affect the loading time are none other than the number of images on the homepages.

Mani Khartik of blogging Tips suggested the followings tips in regards to using images to help increase your site loading time:

a) If the numbers of images used are more than 10-15, then I strongly recommend that you cut it down to a lesser number say 6-10.

b) Use smaller or reduce file size since bigger file size eats up a lot of bandwidth therefore takes longer time to load.

c) It is a good practice to use GIF images (non-animation without frames) instead of Jpegs for header images as GIF images are more optimized for the web and they can save you some page loading time.

Do you know your site loading time? Have you ever tested the loading time required to load your site with different internet connection speed?

If you want to test the speed of your site loading time, please click the link below:

FREE LOAD TIME TEST

CARNIVORUOS PLANTS (Meat eating plants)

While wandering through one of the local supermarkets, my husband and I wandered to the plant for sale section and came across four different species of carnivorous plants. I am fascinated with these creatures (well they do seem more like animals) recalling one or two horror movies about man-eating plants. Even my five year old son asked once “Mummy, is there such a thing as a man-eating plant?” One hasn’t been discovered yet I told him. Most of the plants found so far are really tiny and traps only insects.

The Venus fly-trap for instance, can only manage to grab a single fly, maybe something larger like a dragon-fly. This plant was among the ones being sold at the supermarket. Yes, I have seen close-up pictures before but not one in real life. I was surprise at how tiny it was. It looks like a gaping mouth with lovely long eyelashes. More like an alien plant really. People can be forgiven for not daring to put their finger in, just in case it is actually painful to be bitten.

The other plant that was there was similar to a pitcher plants (as in a ‘water jug’) although the leaves had not actually formed into a 'cup' yet . It is green with reddish veins and gew to about four to six inches tall. I suppose this was how the actual pitcher plant evolved from actual leaves joining together. Very ineresting.

The last pitcher plant we saw is also known as the ‘monkey-cup’ in this part of the world. Local folk-lore has it that whenever a monkey is thirsty it will use the plant as a cup to drink water from. This one looked a bit different from the other two pitcher plants. Its main part are large leaves growing out of the ground and hanging at the end are the ‘cups’. The plant is mostly green in colour and the ‘cups’ are speckled reddish green. Now these, I have seen growing abundantly in the wild tropical jungle.

Carnivorous plants of the tropics are often found near or in swampy or wet areas where insect often come to mate or lay eggs. That’s were they survive well.

I’ve often wondered how best to use these wonderful creature in the home, assuming you know how to keep and maintain one. Now, don’t think I am a sadist or cruel. Flies and mosquitoes are often bringers of diseases and are not welcome to many homes. One can’t tell which one is clean and which one isn’t so don’t blame many people for wanting to get rid of them. I’m only helping nature do what it does naturally out in the wild. You can’t stop a lion from eating meat can you? For the same reason you can’t force feed a carnivorous plant with tofu either. For animal lovers, if you want to stop reading at this point you may do so.

One of the ideas that came to mind is growing them near the dustbin or garbage area of your home. In the tropics rubbish especially leftover food tend to rot very quickly. The smell itself is enough to attract flies and so provide a lot of food for your little monster (as well as helping you get rid of pesky flies). The other idea that I have is growing them on your kitchen or dining window sill where flies and other insect often enter to invade your home. Finally, on a hot, sunny day, just when you feel like having a nice picnic or barbecue somewhere, hundreds of flies or mosquitoes attack you or your food. Well, well, well this is the best time to bring out your carnivorous plant. Not only will it decorate your table nicely but it will also get to have a picnic with you. Guest will be highly fascinated at how these plants manage to evolve and become what they are today. A good conversation topic for parties.

 Links :
International Carnivorous Plant Society Homepage 
The Carnivorous Plant Society (CPS)
Australian Carnivorous Plant Society, Inc

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commended Reading:

Plain Excuses why they are not Rich

How many time you heard a person or your friend say to you thing like “I don’t like to be rich, unless you want to be a crook or take advantage of people” or some thing similar. Most people fond of giving excuses to justify why they are no rich or want to be rich. Believe me, there are such people. The more you talk about getting rich to these people the more they bombarded you with unpleasant respond.

I have listed below some of the excuses I frequent heard throughout the years and would like to share it with you.

a) I am to busy to think about money.
b) I am not interested
c) I am not cut off to be a rich man.
d) I am not smart
e) I don’t have a good business knowledge
f) I don’t want to be a crook
g) I may not have time to spend with my family
h) I don’t like working hard
i) I am scared they will kidnap my children for ransom.
j) It involved too much work.
k) I do not want to con and take advantage of people for self-gain.
l) Money is the root of all evil.
m) I am waiting for the right time.
n) I am scared to do business
o) God does not allowed me to accumulate wealth
p) God doesn’t like rich people.
q) Health is more important than wealth.
r) Fear of failure
s) Fear of loosing money
t) I am not ready, too young to think about it now.
u) What wrong with being in the middle class.
v) I choose not to be rich
w) My friend say business is risky
x) It is all up to God. I leave everything in God hand.
y) People would dislike me.
z) I am not greedy.

The list of excuses can go on and on and there are no ending to it. People are good at making excuses when come to issue to do with becoming rich.

Can You Make Money Via Blogging?

Yes, it is possible if you try hard enough. It isn’t easy though. More and more people making money through the internet and quite a number of them do make money via blogging i.e www.johnchow.com, www.sabahan.com and many more.

So how do you begin making money with your blog? well, I have listed few easy steps as follows:

a) Choose your topics wisely: You need to select a good topic that you are interested, knowledgeable and have the passion to write them on a daily basis. You need to provide fresh content as frequent as possible so that you will attract readers to keep coming back. I know it no so easy but if you try hard enough surely you will make it. It needs determination and practice as much as possible to be able to come up with good and quality content. Content is king.

b) Experiment like crazy: Experiment different ways of making money online. Most bloggers use google adsense into their sites as a way to make money. Google however have some restriction and this is important to remember; you are forbid to click your own ads; if you do your account with them will be revoked and they keep any money earned. Some may join affiliate programs such as amazon.com to provide multiple stream of income.
I have listed below some of the companies that you might be willing to experiment which may bring some money into your bank account, I hope:

i) Auction Ads
ii) Adbrite
iii) Text Links ads
iv) Bidvertizer
v) The AllPosters.com Affiliates Program
vi) Blogitive
vii) PayPerPost.
viii) Barnes and Noble Affiliates Program

If after putting up the ads and you do not get any click, consider moving the ads to different location. Be patience, it may take time to get result. Most importantly also experiment with different blends of colors for your ads. Some colors may not work well with your ads. If your link matches with the color of your site as if they are part of your site, the more likely the ads will be clicked.

c) Referring People: You can also make money by referring people into these programs( affiliate program, text link Ads..etc).

d) Promote your site: Sign up for Feedburner and get your latest articles displayed. You can also join the blog network such as blogcatalog and mybloglog to get more exposure and help promote your site.

e) Leave a comment: Visit other blog sites and leave a comment with your URL address. This will attract them to visit your site.

f) Getting traffic to your site: Now this is the hardest task. Most bloggers usually join as member and submit their site to blog directories such as technorati and blogcatalog to increase the traffic to their site.

Again, it is possible to make money but it takes time and you need to be determined enough to wait. So keep trying and don't ever quit unless you want to.

"Do your best to help your visitors out of genuine concern for their well-being, and they’ll help you build your traffic and even generate a nice income from it. It’s as simple as that" by Steve Pavlina

Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg..?

This is funny. A friend email to me this joke a month ago. Just want to share it to everyone. Hope you find it humorous.

One Chinese person walks into a bar in America late one night and sees Steven Spielberg. As he was a great fan of Spielbergs' movies, he rushes over to him, and asks for his autograph.
Instead, Spielberg gives him a slap and says:"You Chinese people bombed our Pearl Harbor, get out of here."
The astonished Chinese man replied "It was not the Chinese who bombed your Pearl Harbor, it was the Japanese".
"Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, you're all the same," replied Spielberg.
In return, the Chinese gives Spielberg a slap and says "You sank the Titanic, my forefathers were on that ship.

"Shocked, Spielberg replies, "It was the iceberg that sank the ship, not me.

"The Chinese man replies, "Iceberg, Spielberg, Carlsberg, you're all the same."

My Last Blog Post – John Chow

I’m a bit envy of John Chow, in fact lots of people do as well. But the truth is he is leaving for good, what I meant was, he is not doing it full time from now on, he leave it to his partner to do his job. Well isn’t it good to be able to retire soon and enjoy most of your life doing something you like most, for example, traveling around the world and that is exactly what john is doing now. Luck for him he has the choice to do so. Many of us are not as fortunate as john.

He did make a lot of money. Just before he retired, he managed to sell his other company, TTZ Media Inc. However, he did not disclose the sale price. I wonder Why? But he gives us a clue that the amount is huge.

One last advice for him was, he says learn from history and do not repeat the same mistake as he did before.

You can read the rest of the story from his site at : My Last Blog Post – John Chow

Make Money With Amazon Widgets.

I am quite sure all of you are familiar with the word “widget”. It has been around for quite sometime now and it gaining popularity among bloggers and online business that are keen of joining affiliate business or programs. There are many widgets available on the internet and one of them is Amazon Widgets that I am going to talk about in this articles. If you are new, don’t worry too much since widgets is just an application usually to promote products and it is simple to setup. At present, there are about seven option to choose from namely slideshow, wish list, product cloud, amazon unbox video preview, my favorites, search and quick linkers. The setup for these widgets is straightforward. Just follow the online step-by-step web interface and then copy the script into your website. The most interesting about these widgets is you get to configure the content by yourself. Meaning you can choose what to display. However, you need to be an Amazon associate in order to use these widgets. Once you are an Amazon affiliate, you can setup the widget straight away, which embedded your ID tracking number for commission purposes. As an example, I setup the above widget to display a collection of book about blogging. This one is called a slide show widget. Anyway try it for yourself and may be this is what you been looking for. Lastly, for those who want to make money with their Amazon Widget can do so by simply joining the Amazon Associates program at:

http://widgets.amazon.com

GOD REPSONDS TO SUIT

Lincoln (Nebraska):

This is very strange and insane. A lawmaker in Nebraska filed a suit against GOD. A senator, named Ernie Chambers of Omaha filed a suit and blame god for making a terrorist threats against him and his constituents,inspired fear, caused widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the earth’s inhabitations. This is totally ridiculous. But this is what I read in a local newspaper today (News Strait Times, 22 September 2007).

Never in my life, have I read such news. May be because there are so many thing had happened lately that there must be some logic explanation or reasoning to the cause. In addition to the suit made against god, Ernie, a self proclaimed agnostic, is also seeking a permanent injunction against GOD.

However strange though it seems, God did respond to the suit via files miraculously appeared on the counter and signed by GOD. God responded by saying that “ I created man and woman with free will and next to the promise of immortal life, free will is my greatest gift to you and I’m immune from some earthly laws and that the court lacks jurisdiction over GOD. St.Micheal the archangel is listed as a witness.

I’m speechless,such a case involving GOD to be judged by human itself. Be logical, it doesn't make sense, are we dealing with mortal or immortal? This is GOD we are talking about. Are we insane? Surely this must be some kind of a joke just to get publicity or headline. What kind of sick joke is this? Whether you believe, disbelief, disagree, don't care, curious or whatever it is, read the full story at the following links below:

a) www.ketv.com
b) www.foxnews.com

A simple app to turn off your Palm PDA

Do you find it difficult to switch off your Palm PDA when the hardware power button became faulty? I do. My PDA’s power button suddenly broke and I have to leave it on for a while until it switch off by itself. This is obviously not the solution, I think. To ease the problem, I scout the internet and found one particular application, it is a virtual power off switch. It is good enough for me, so far so good, it is simple to use, it work and most importantly it is a FREEWARE. Hence, I have no comment what so ever. Give it a try. No harm done.

OffpIt v1.5

Description of the application, extracted from the site:

This is a simple app to turn off the power.
Usage varies. But I use it to power off from another app.

It doesn't do much, so I offer it as freeware!
I guess the price beats its features!

Update Description:
v1.5 (01/11/02):
- This version for Palm devices only

You can download the application by clicking this link: OffpIt v1.5

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The important of Self Discipline

What is self discipline? Why is it important to oneself? A simple definition of self discipline is the ability to take control of your mind, your habits and your emotions. We do not have the ability to control others or be a leader of others or even can not be success in anything if we lack in self discipline.

“Those who can command themselves, command others” by William Hazlitt.

Since self discipline can never be learned completely, it is something that must be practiced constantly; it only be come easier when practices.

A self discipline is to do with forcing yourself to do or not to do some thing. For example, I force my self to write this articles, I force myself to go to work, I force myself to read the book, I force my self to love her (just kidding, you can’t force someone to love you, can you?) and so on. If you constantly forcing yourself to do positive habits and consciously replacing negative habits with positive ones, you are practically on the way to developing your self discipline.

I recalled when I was studying years back in the 90’s; I came to know one businessman who runs a few nursing homes for the elderly. He was so successful in his business that he can afford to buy an auction hospital worth 10 million pounds. When I examine his lives, I found that he have the discipline necessary to do what it takes to get the job done and make him more successful in his business. He focus on his goals with an intensity that sweeps aside trivial things so he can concentrate on the situation at hand, and he stick with it until he succeed.

In other words, you have to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to get the job done. If you are not disciplined, you can’t do that. If you want to write an article but you watch TV instead (you can not do what you need to do), that’s not disciplines.

You must stay focus and devote most of your time to some thing that brings success in your life. I’m not saying you work all the time. What I meant was, manage your time properly and use self discipline to make the job done.

Self discipline is not a success principle that is learned and then saved until it is needed. It is a HABIT that is developed by constant use so you are prepared to take advantage of it when the right opportunity comes along.

“Self Discipline makes it possible to turn on more will power and keep on going when the road is hard and failure seems just around the corner” by Napoleon Hill.

Do you like going to work?

Why am I asking this stupid question? Obviously, if not because of the money, almost everyone disliked going to work. Everyone wants a vacations, long holidays, resting, relaxing without thinking about going to work the next day or even better, no more work. But this is not quite possible since not everyone can be as lucky as some people.

Another question is how often you take off due to sickness? If you hate your job or not keen of working but you are force to work because of family obligation or commitment then you might end up feeling stressful (if you don’t know how to control your stress) and very soon your whole body failed and you eventually fall sick. I have a friend who is an employee and have been with the company for almost 15 years. He seldom talks about his job because he felt stressful all the time. He is on medical leave most of the time and since then often seeing doctor for counseling. I did try to help him but….

Below are the most frequent questions asked about the subject of work or JOB (Just Obey Boss):

a) Are you sick of working?
b) Do you stay at work longer than you have to?
c) Do you take loads of work home?
d) Do you go to work on public holiday?
e) Do you like your job?
f) Do you often skip your job?
g) You don’t mind doing extra work?
h) Are you a compulsive worker?
i) And the lists go on and on…..

What is work? What does it mean to you?

You might probably try to figure out some of these questions isn’t it? Well, how about taking the following non scientific quiz and get your work relationship rating. It may help you understand more about yourself in relation to your work or JOB.

1. What is your definition of work?
a) Physical or Mental effort
b) Making or doing something worthwhile
c) Torture

2. How do you relate to work?
a) I enjoy it.
b) I work day and night.
c) I do it.

3. What makes you work best?
a) Success.
b) Coffee or tea.
c) Money.

4. Is your work enjoyable?
a) Are you crazy?
b) It is when I’m productive.
c) It is in retrospect.

5. Do you work with computer?
a) I never tried one. It’s too much work.
b) I don’t work.
c) I’m in love with my computer.

6. What kind of work do you do?
a) Menial.
b) Enjoyable.
c) As little as possible.

7. What is your favorite time of the working day?
a) Early morning when my mind is fresh.
b) Lunch.
c) Coffee breaks and lunch.

8. What do you consider difficult work?
a) Scrubbing floors.
b) Selling something.
c) Getting a date.

9. Do you look forward to retiring?
a) I’ll work till I drop.
b) I’m counting the minutes.
c) I goof off at work; so I don’t have to retire.

10. What would you do if you didn’t have to work?
a) Lunch.
b) Play golf.
c) Find a hobby that made me really work.


To get your work relationship score, add up the following points for the answers you have chosen:

1. a(5) b(5) c(0)
2. a(5) b(0) c(3)
3. a(5) b(0) c(5)
4. a(0) b(5) c(3)
5. a(0) b(0) c(5)
6. a(0) b(5) c(0)
7. a(5) b(0) c(0)
8. a(5) b(5) c(0)
9. a(5) b(0) c(0)
10. a(0) b(2) c(5)


Score & Rating:

( 0 to 16 ) You’re lazy. But you did finish this quiz. Therefore you are not that lazy.

( 17 to 33 ) You do your work faithfully, you earn a living and you don’t complain too much.

( 34 to 50 ) You’re one of the LUCKY FEW who enjoys work. You are a workaholic.


Reference : How Do You Feel about Work? By Roz Ashley

The Ingredients to Lead a Happy Life (upon retirement)

According to Azizi Ali author of the book Retire Rich, Based on his research and reading close to 700 books on the subjects of money as well as done a lot reading and research on happiness as well, he concluded that there are few ingredients if use correctly that may lead you to a happy life.

These are his finding:

a) Do what you like
b) Lets others do what you don’t like to do
c) Have enough money to do the above
d) Have a rising income
e) Have something useful to do
f) To Love someone
g) Have a Fit and Healthy Body
h) Have a positive self –esteem
i) Have a supportive friends

However, all the seven [except d) and h)]ingredients require MONEY. Therefore, he said “you can only retire happily if you have enough money to spend for the rest of your life”. It like we being govern by MONEY. Without MONEY life is not as interesting as it may seem especially upon retirement.

Retirement Office Hours

I was reading a book on "Retire Rich - New Strategies to Retire Rich and Happy in Malaysia by Azizi Ali" and I came across this picture frame. It about how you may spend your time on retirement.

Back Packers Packing List:

While I was studying in London many years ago, I have the opportunity to travel to some neighbouring country such as France, Belgium and Holand. I noticed that you need to travel light in order to enjoy it without thinking much about anything else beside a good, clean, safe place to stay and most importantly getting a nice and good food to eat.

Well, as a student, obviously I do not have much money to spend and therefore have to really budget my expenses and get the most bargain both food and place to stay. I used to stay at the YMCA hostel. It is not that comfortable but it is good enough. What choices do I have? Anyway I choose to stay there so no comment.

Here is the Packing List for backpacker:

a)Earplugs – In a hostel environment, 5 to 6 people shares the dorm hostel, there’s a pretty good chance one or two of them snores. I can’t stand snoring. An ear plug is heaven sent when this happen (enough noise to wake the dead).

b)Post-It notes and a marker: Labeling your own food container you leave in the fridge. It also useful to leave notes to your room mates or just to remind you of important things that you should do or need to remember.

c)Slippers or Flip Flops: Basically this is to prevent you from getting feet fungus. I don’t know about you but I need this badly since the toilet is not that ……questionable surfaces.

d)Padlocks: Bring a few padlocks of different sizes for your locker and backpack just in case one of your roommates is searching for something lucrative to extend his trip. I not accusing anybody but would it be better to prevent than to feel sorry for yourself later.

e)Fast drying towel: Now this is the most important thing to me, since I sweat a lot, I have to bath frequently and if the towel is still damp, it not comfortable to use. Moreover packing a wet towel in your backpack is not smart as well. A small hand towel will also do the job provided you squeezed the excess water first.

f)Sleeping Sack: This is simply a sleeping bag made out of sheets. You can use an old queen size sheet, fold it in half and sew the edges. Some hostels do not allow conventional sleeping bags because bugs and ticks can penetrate the seams and when you unroll them onto your bunk indoor, they can become a health hazard.

g)Portable flashlight: I definitely do not want to be the one to turn on all the lights and wakes everyone up at 5am because I have to be at the bus stand to catch the coach or I Can’t find my toothbrush or whatever it is. Therefore bring a torch light.

For those of you (backpackers) planning to travel aboard, please visit Hostelworld.com or Hostels.com for more info regarding ratings and review from backpackers. It is good to check ahead to avoid unnecessary problem later.