When I was a young boy we used to play “marbles”. These were glass spheres. And I would play with them when I had them, but honestly, I wasn’t so good at the game and would often lose all my marbles.

When I would play with the boys, it was pretty evenly matched, and we would end up with more or less the same numbers of marbles. Only different ones.

When I would play with girls, they were brutal, and take all the marbles in victory… but there’s more. Uh oh.

And then, my sister, who won those things would put them in the oven and cause the grass to crack up and break. And thus my marbles all turned to dust. Indeed, I was good old Charlie Brown back then.

Playing with boys… rearranging the marbles.

Playing with girls… lose your marbles.

I did like the marbles. I liked to hold them in a little cloth bag that I had. But, you know, I never had them long enough because sooner or later, I would play with them… and in so doing…

…would lose them all to either my sister or her girlfriends.

Sigh.

There is an important lesson here. Really.

Listen to me.

People!

Don’t lose your marbles over a girl.

Today…

As a parent, what did your child’s school do that made you say “you can’t be serious…”?

In 3rd or 4th grade he was bullied on the bus.

He got a black eye, and we went to the principal.

They said they’d take care of it.

The next week my son tells me how the kid, and his brother, threatened to kill him because he told on them, and how they started pushing him, and smacking him but they were careful not to bruise him anymore.

We went back to the school, and the principal brought the bus driver into the office too.

That b**** actually had the audacity to blame my son for being a victim, and tried to get him to accept blame for making himself a target.

I stopped that s* as soon as it began to come out her mouth. I pointed out what she was doing, and how it went against the school’s zero tolerance policy on bullying, and how if nothing would be done about it, then I saw no better option than to go to the local news station (everyone in town knew the news guy, and it was pretty easy to get story segments aired pretty quickly) and contact as many parents, friends, family members, and co-workers as I could, and have them do the same until something changed.

They immediately kicked those kids off the bus, forcing them to seek alternative transportation, and switched their classes to the disruptive room so that they couldn’t mingle with students from younger grades, which is what they did before as most of their victims were 3–4th graders, and they were 5th (should have been 6th) graders.

A month later the students were expelled for trying to stab another classmate.

The fact that could have been my son wasn’t lost on me.

I wanted the bus driver to face some sort of punishment as she had allowed bullying to go on her bus for over 15 years (according to several parents, and friends).

I wrote up a petition and had over 600 people sign it. That was enough for the school to force her into early retirement.

In the 15 years she drove, there had been incidents where bullies cut off other students’ hair, set various things on other students on fire, put out cigarettes on other kids, stole personal items and money, committed sexual harassment, molested kids, etc. These were all things she chose not to stop because she saw victims as asking for their mistreatment.

I never wanted to hit anyone more than when she tried to intimidate my son as he sat by my side, into accepting blame for his black eye.

I’m glad that woman is finally gone.

I’m disgusted that it took so much, and so long for it to happen.

Have you had a co-worker that thought that, because they were friends with the boss,they could never get fired, and then they got fired?

When I started at the robot company, I had no title, so everyone except the boss was on an equal basis, no matter the age, experience, or ability. One young man was hired to manage internal operations. That is, to make sure supplies were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be. His job expanded to where he was also helping in finance and a bit in other areas.

The founder, who was offsite doing another job (he was very seldom in the office) worked directly with this guy, and with very few others, so the guy thought he was important. He became a self important jerk and managed to annoy almost everyone else at the company.

As the company grew, titles became more important, and I was promoted to sales and marketing manager, while he remained without a title. He tried to tell me how to do my job a couple of times, and I told him to piss off.

I was later promoted to general manager, and became his direct boss. I told him to do some things that were needed, and he decided that I was wrong, and didn’t do them. We had a “chat” and he grudgingly did what I told him to, but continually resisted, and only did exactly as much as was required. He was certain that his relationship with the founder would protect him.

I finally got tired of the dance, and fired him. He was shocked. He went to the founder to get my decision overturned. It turned out that the founder was not nearly as fond of him as he thought.

What’s the rudest thing someone has said when you were doing them a favor?

I had spent 2 days and around $350.00 on fixing my sister’s SUV. After I replaced the starter and battery among a few other parts, I went up to the front door and gave her the good news. Her car problems were over and she would now not get stranded anywhere. She was standing behind the screen door just glaring at me. I repeated what I said thinking she would be happy or relieved but she continued to give me this dirty look and then slammed the screen door shut.

I was in disbelief. Why would she do that? My sister was taking pain killers a lot which I knew about. She had been taking them for years so I figured she was not in her right mind anyways but that’s another long story I have already written about on Quora. But then I remembered something she once told me years before. She told me that if you show disapproval at someone who wants to help you, or care about you, it makes them want to do more and try harder to win your approval. This surprised me to hear her say that even back then, but I already knew she was insane to a certain degree and I was helping her or trying to. She had all kinds of weird and unusual ways about her. She would feed me only one small bowl of stew with a small chunk of bread at dinner time and complained she had to feed me even once a day. I had flown in from Hawaii days before with one mission: To help my sister pay her depts, repair her car and home and give her a fresh slate. I even stocked her kitchen with lots of food and some treats. In all,I had spent about $1,800.00 on her,not counting the $14,000.00 I had given her over the coarse of 2 years. This story is just one single incident that happened to me in the 6 or 7 days I was trapped alone with her. Daytona 500 was in town and there was not a motel room or car rental withing 100 mile radius so I couldn’t just walk away. I had always known she was not right in the mind at all but I didn’t imagine she would turn on me like she did for no reason at all except she saw me as weak for helping her. I also had to pay her $120.00 for a ride back to the airport. This is 100% true and only the tip of the ice burg in that hellish 6 days I was around her. We have not spoken in 10 years since.

What’s the most enjoyable thing you’ve ever said to a manager as you’ve quit your job?

“To try on my new uniform”

This after discussing with my manager that I absolutely could NOT do that shift. For the 37th time.

I was a 22 year old single mum working 3 jobs and would take every shift I could and was offered, bar this one. It wasn’t really much to ask to not be put on the rota one evening a week. I could even work during the day.

I had the hours I was available for written down, pinned to my then manager’s notice board so he knew exactly what I could and could not do when he did the rota.

Every week without fail, he would put me on a 5-Close shift on a Wednesday evening, despite me having explained to him that I wasn’t available for that shift due to my parents having to travel to take care of my grandma, so they couldn’t have my daughter.

I had written it down, I had met with him and I had even had my own mum come in to explain that I wasn’t available that evening and why. Yet he still kept putting my name down for that shift.

There were times I couldn’t work because the child minder got sick or was on holiday, was sick myself or my daughter was sick and needed to see the doctor. On those occasions he would get shitty and not put my name down the following week for any shifts at all (the joys of a 0 hour contract eh?). He would also expect me to call around my colleagues and sort out my own cover, on my own time and would blame me if the shift didn’t get covered, despite also refusing to give me certain phone numbers or to make the calls himself.

I stayed in this job for almost a year, but had started looking for another job where my hours were set and guaranteed. I managed to get an interview for another restaurant who were completely sympathetic of my situation and offered me hours that suited me and for them to be put into a contract with the option of overtime, plus that they would organise any cover needed.

That evening I wrote out my resignation letter, but decided that I’d talk to my current manager one last time to see if I could get anywhere with him.

I went in the following day half an hour early to speak to my manager. During the interview he basically told me that nothing would change and he couldn’t offer me set hours. I told him I understood that he couldn’t offer the set hour contract and got up to start my shift, when I noticed the rota on the wall. The first thing I saw was that I’d been put on the rota for Wednesday evening.

“You’ve put me on for Wednesday evening?”

“Yes. 5-Close as usual.”

“But you know I can’t do that shift. It’s right there on your pinboard that I’m unavailable.”

“Ah yes. You’ll have to sort out the cover.”

“I was on the fence about resigning because I get so many hours from you, and would be taking on less at this other place but… that’s helped me decide. Thanks for helping me make my mind up. See ya.”

“You’re due to start now. Where are you going?”

“To try on my new uniform. Byeeeee”

And I just walked out. It was a massive weight off my shoulders.

Spedinis

Yield: 8 servings

ingredients

Sicilian Stuffing
5 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
1 cup white onions, chopped
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup raisins placed in hot water for 1/2 hour then drained
1 bay leaf (optional)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped basil
3/4 cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup grated Romano cheese
1 1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
1 egg

Agrodolce Sauce
1 cup balsamic vinegar
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons softened butter mixed with
2 tablespoons flour

Spiedini
olive oil
1/2 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
7 pieces veal scaloppine (approximately 6-8 inches in length, pounded thin and cut in half)
salt and pepper, to taste
14 bay leaves
2 white onions, cut in quarters then separated in leaves

directions

For the Stuffing: In a saute pan cook the garlic, onion and the olive oil and red pepper flakes over medium-low heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring well.

Add the pine nuts, raisins, bay leaf, parsley, and basil; cook for 3 more minutes, stirring well. Increase the heat to high and once the ingredients start sizzling add the wine and stir well until reduced by one-half, about 3-4 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a bowl, add the salt, pepper, cheese, breadcrumbs and the egg. Mix well until it forms a moist mixture.

For the Agrodolce Sauce: In a sauce pan bring to boil over medium-high heat the vinegar, garlic, sugar and rosemary. Cook, stirring well until reduced by two-thirds, about 3-5 minutes.

Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the sauce, return it to the saucepan and simmer it for 10 more minutes.

Add one tablespoon of the butter mixture, stirring well until it thickens. If you want it thicker add more of the mixture, until it reaches the consistency you like.

For the Spiedini: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a deep baking dish with olive oil and coat with about 2-3 tablespoons on Italian Style breadcrumbs. Lay all the pieces of veal flat on a prepping surface. Place equal amounts of the stuffing in the middle of each piece of meat (about 2 tablespoons). Roll the pieces of veal like a burrito, fold the edges along the longest part, then start rolling from one end to the other.

Place each roll as you make it, fold side down inside the greased baking dish. Line the pieces side by side. Once they are all in they should fit somewhat snugly. Between each piece of veal place a bay leaf and a piece of white onion. Brush the top of the veal rolls with olive oil and sprinkle with breadcrumbs.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Put on a plate, spoon over the Agrodolce sauce and serve with roasted potato.

recipe tips

Soak the raisins in hot water to plump them up before adding them to the stuffing.

Be gentle when pounding the veal to avoid tearing the meat.

Roll the veal tightly to make sure the stuffing stays inside while baking.

Baste the spiedini with some of the pan juices halfway through baking for added moisture and flavor.

Let the spiedini rest for a few minutes after baking and before serving.

For a more complex flavor in the agrodolce sauce, try adding 1/2 cup of red or white wine in place of 1/2 cup of the chicken broth.

Taste and adjust the seasoning of the stuffing and sauce as needed.

Remember to remove the bay leaves before serving as they are not edible.

common recipe questions

Can I substitute the veal with another type of meat?

Yes, you can use thin slices of chicken or pork as a substitute for veal.

Is there a non-alcoholic alternative for white wine in the stuffing?

You can use chicken broth or white grape juice mixed with a teaspoon of vinegar as a substitute for white wine.

Can I make the stuffing ahead of time?

Yes, you can prepare the stuffing a day in advance and store it in the refrigerator.

Is there a substitute for pine nuts in the recipe?

You can use chopped almonds or walnuts as a substitute for pine nuts.

Do I need the sugar in the agrodolce sauce?

It helps balance the acidity of the vinegar but it can be omitted if desired.

How do I know when the veal spiedini are fully cooked?

The veal spiedini are done when they are no longer pink inside, and the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F.

Can I make the agrodolce sauce without garlic?

Yes, you can omit the garlic, but it will alter the flavor of the sauce. If you don’t have fresh garlic cloves you can use 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.

What can I use if I don’t have Romano cheese?

You can substitute with Parmesan cheese or another hard, aged cheese.

Can I prepare the agrodolce sauce in advance?

Yes, you can prepare the sauce ahead of time and reheat it before serving.

FEAR RUSH! U.S Quickly Run to China to Beg against Sanction

Have you ever said something in an interview that immediately disqualified you from the position?

I was once interviewing for a nurse manager position. The interviewing manager had an obvious litmus test for her ideal candidate.

“When is it appropriate to place a patient into restraints?” She asked.

“I think that restraints should be used as a last resort,” I answered. It was a safe answer I assumed.

“Yes, but I want to know at what place you think ‘last resort’ begins?” She queried.

“I would say that last resort would be when I felt that the safety of the staff was in jeopardy,” I answered.

She stood up, started walking toward the door and said, “We are done here. Thank you for your time.”

She opened the door and waited dismissively for me to exit. Knowing that I had just blown the interview I stopped short of the door and said, “What was the right answer?”

“To protect the patient,” she said.

“I believe in protecting the patient,” I said. “I just hold my staff’s protection in higher regard than the patient.”

“That’s not what you are paid to do,” she countered. “And that’s why you won’t be working for me.”

She had a point.

What do you think of Singaporeans criticizing U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton’s ‘ignorant’ questions toward TikTok CEO Shou Chew during a hearing?

Tom Cotton was the one who introduced legislation banning Chinese students from pursuing STEM degrees.

Washington, D.C. – Senators Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) introduced the SECURE CAMPUS Act, legislation that would secure American research from Chinese Communist Party espionage and influence. Bill text may be found here

.

I pulled this directly from his website, so he’s obviously proud of himself, though I can’t think why. It goes on to say;

The bill would prohibit Chinese nationals from receiving visas to the United States for graduate or post-graduate studies in STEM fields and would ban participants in China’s foreign talent recruitment programs and Chinese nationals from taking part in federally-funded STEM research.

Besides being a xenophobic jerk, apparently Tom Cotton doesn’t just prohibit intellectual endeavors of Chinese people, but he must prohibit them for himself. Because quite honestly, his ignorance is astounding.

You would think if someone showed him a map labeling Singapore and China, two very different countries with different governing systems, he would realize his faux pas. What kind of idiot asks a citizen of Singapore if they’re part of the Communist Party of China?

Just because someone is of Chinese ethnic descent, it does not automatically mean they are Chinese citizens, and only Chinese citizens can be members of the CPC. Surely Cotton wasn’t so ignorant that he assumed any Chinese person must have ties to the CPC?

Yes. He’s not only ignorant, but arrogant. He’s the type of “polite racist” that believes a Chinese American whose great grandparents came over from China must be a sleeper agent for Communist China. He doesn’t see Chinese Americans as Americans. He doesn’t see Singaporean Chinese as Singaporean. In his mind, all Chinese people are suspect. All Chinese people are from the PRC or have loyalties with the PRC.

Men like Cotton are just like the U.S. government in the 1880’s when they passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. Now we just call it the China Initiative and can only watch as state after state enacts legislature to infringe the rights of Chinese people. McCarthyism never went away. It’s just been repackaged for the next generation. Cotton is so scared of “reds under his bed” that he made a fool of himself publicly. No wonder Singapore laughs.

The TRUTH is Finally Coming Out…..

On 2024/1/30, China has officially established diplomatic relations with the Taliban government of Afghanistan. They will set up embassies in each other’s country. Why does China do that?

Taliban cares about the welfare of its people.

Taliban has spent 3 years to build a highway to China, when the former Afghan government could not in 20 years under US occupation.

This is the difference of a practical government who cares for the welfare of the country, versus a corrupted government who played politics to please USA.

How corrupted? When the home of former Afghan leader was raided by Taliban, Taliban found lots of jewels etc in his home (similar to former Philippines president Marcos senior). His home is like a palace. He encouraged opium growth, producing 80% of opium in the world under US occupation, Taliban bans it since.

He focusred on politics instead of welfare of people. He follows the West. eg he put the right of women ahead of the right of the poor who accounted for 80-90% of population.

I am not saying women’s right is unimportant. I am saying there are priorities. If you can do both at the same time, that is great. Otherwise, pick the one that benefits more people. Let say a woman gets her right to education. But there is no economy to let her get a job & pay for shelter & healthcare etc. She died young. What is the point of the women’s right?

I said it in many posts. Economic Right takes precedent over Civil Rights eg freedom of speech etc. Different country has different situation & needs. Dont blindly follow the West. Use your own thinking.

There were a few terrorist groups before Taliban took power. One of it was called East Turkistan who were Ugyhurs & were recruited by USA to stir unrest in Xinjiang. Taliban diligently exterminates terrorists. Taliban makes a safe environment for Chinese investments in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan needs modernisation eg infrastructure & China’s BRI is good in it. Afghanistan is rich in minerals waiting for exploration & China has the skills.

I know Taliban is a good government. Last year, a Afghan leader went to China with his agricultural product. He told Chinese on TV: dont give us money. Buy our products & let our farmers lead our economy. (Chinese did buy all Afghan products in minutes.)

I wish Afghanistan a prosperous future. With a practical & hardworking Taliban government, Afghanistan will have a bright future.

Look at Iraq. 20 years’ after the USA-Iraq war, a vassal Iraqi government could not build enough schools for its children. Iraq then asked help from China & China quickly built 80 schools. Unless Iraq can kick US troops out of Iraq, the 100% sovereign Afghanistan will recover faster than Iraq in the next 20 years.

After meeting basic necessities eg food, Taliban can then think about women’s right. Let us be democratic & not interfere Afghan’s internal affairs. They have their pace.

What is the sneakiest thing you did to get back at an awful neighbor? Did you get caught?

When I was 20 or so I moved into a townhome with 3 of my high school friends. We were in a unit on the end of a row so we only had one adjoining unit, and when we first moved in there was nobody living next door.

Eventually we got a neighbor, and he was mostly quiet and kept to himself. But often at 4am he would start up a saw and run it for hours, or play his electric guitar with the amp set to 11. This frequently woke two of my roomies since the sound traveled through the adjoining wall and straight into their bedrooms. We tried knocking on his door to talk the noise over with him but he never answered.

One night my “top floor” roommate and I were just hanging out in our respective rooms. He had music on in his room, but it was so quiet I could barely hear it, even with both our doors open. We heard a banging at our door, so all 4 of us went to the door to see what was up. It was the neighbor, screaming that the music played was too loud and that he’d call the police if we didn’t turn it down. I pointed out it was barely loud enough to hear from inside our own unit and that his 4am noise was much, much louder, but he screamed, “I go to work soon! Turn it down or else!”

My roommate didn’t think it was worth the trouble so he turned off his music. I thought, screw this, we’re allowed to play music at a reasonable volume in our own home, our neighbor is getting what he deserves. So every time we heard the saw or his guitar at 4am I called the police with a noise complaint.

He moved out soon after and we thought that was the end of having a noisy neighbor, but then a nice family moved in after him. Well, they seemed nice at first, until they started in with loud music and lots of people over every Sunday night. They’d keep this up until 2am, and I’d go into work groggy the next day from lack of sleep.

We had a small get-together one Saturday and the husband came over to complain about the noise. This time around I just wanted to see if we could actually come to some sort of an agreement with a noisy neighbor, so I said we’d try to turn it down a bit if he’d agree to do something about his loud Sunday night gatherings. He apologized up and down and said he didn’t realize we could hear them, and agreed to end their festivities (it was a regular after-church gathering!) by 9pm at the latest. We had no trouble after that, and they were very nice neighbors going forward.

40 Year Abandoned Noble American Mansion – Family Buried In Backyard!

What’s the most bizarre “wrong number” conversation you’ve had with someone?

I’m not sure if this is bizarre enough, but late one Friday evening a rather frantic young lady called me up and was audibly upset her computer had finally crashed and was now utterly unusable. She had some really important files on it and she desperately needed them before the night was over, and she was under the impression “we” were somehow responsible for the demise of her career because “we” had sold her a faulty computer.

I was only some random student at the time, but having barely a chance to say a word I figured I’d just let her blow off some steam. Sure enough, she ended her rant on a much friendlier note, expressing her gratitude and incredible luck to have reached “the tech support” so long after office hours.

I felt sorry for her because I knew no help desk of that sort would answer her call before the next morning, or more likely, after the weekend.

Thus I decided, just for kicks, to carefully guide her through the darkest corners of MS-DOS, dodgy recovery tools and whatnot, until eventually I had rescued her files, repaired her OS and saved the day.

When she was done thanking me it seemed to dawn on her that I hadn’t even mentioned money or payment. She sheepishly asked if she would have to pay for the service, probably realizing she had no idea how much that would be, or wondering what would stop her from just hanging up the phone at that point. I told her not to worry, just have a good night, and double check the phone number before dialing the next time!

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

I was pumping gas into my truck late on a weekend evening, there was an elderly woman going from person to person talking, but I was unaware of her reasons. As I finished filling up and turned to replace the fuel pump nozzle, like poof she was standing there in front of me asking if I could spare a few dollars so she could get home, that someone had stolen her purse. She pointed to her car, she looked like she had gone through some hard times indeed and her car was not much better. It was then that an employee of the gas station approached us and asked me if everything was alright. I’m sure he was about to tear into this old gal and that some of his customers had complained. I said everything was fine, he looked at me rather oddly as I reached into my wallet and gave him 10 bucks. I’d like to prepay some gas for this gal and her car over there as I pointed to her rust bucket. The attendant took the cash, and the poor gal was almost overwhelmed, she wanted to send me the money, but I said that it was ok and to drive home safely. There were tears in here eyes when she said thank you, I have no idea if her story was truthful, but the feeling of helping someone out who was down on there luck felt good and made the rest of my day a little easier to smile. For me it’s not the big things, but the simple little things that seem to matter more and more as I age.. Cheers

Why didn’t Walter White (Breaking Bad) teach chemistry at university despite being really good at it?

One doesn’t simply become a university chemistry professor. Meaning that you’re a super smart and excellent chemist doesn’t mean that you can just walk into a college and ask to become a professor.

Perhaps the most famous example in the chemistry world is Douglas Prasher. In 2008, he was a van driver in Huntsville, AL. Also in 2008, he was credited as one of the key contributors to the discovery of GFP when it was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As worded by one of his peers, Martin Chalfie, “They could’ve easily given the prize to Douglas and the other two and left me out.”

Douglas Prasher was smart and accomplished enough to be in the conversations of getting a Nobel Prize. However because of a combination of bad luck and funding issues, he was forced to leave academia in 1991 despite successfully cloning GFP which would become one of the foundational tools of chemical biology. By 2006, he wasn’t even employed as a scientist with his NASA division being cut and he was collecting unemployment checks until he found work as a courtesy shuttle driver.

A lot of really smart scientists fall off the bandwagon and once they fall off, it’s really difficult to get back on. People don’t just become Professors again. In the case of Douglas Prasher, it took a Nobel Prize award to get him back on people’s radar and back into the lab.

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The eleventh man

Perhaps one of the greatest shorts in history.

Have you ever had a teacher that saved your life?

My Senior English teacher, Deborah Scarlett.

I was a very bright student, yet I hardly did enough to get by. I was doing just enough to pass classes, nothing more. I was very depressed, and had been for quite some time. Right before the end of my Sophomore year I was raped. I became pregnant, but had a miscarriage shortly after. All of this I kept to myself. I began abusing alcohol and drugs; marijuana, prescription narcotics, and meth. My motto at the time was “Anything to kill the pain.” I attempted to reach out to my mom, and wanted to move in with her to try to start over, but she didn’t want me. I was still struggling with her leaving when I was 10, but I thought maybe she’d take me in. When I called her begging her to let me live with her, she said “You’re a monster, they created you, they can keep you.” (referring to my dad and step-mom). This was the lowest point in my life. Over winter break, just weeks before entering Mrs. Scarlett’s class I had attempted to commit suicide twice by overdose. Thankfully I wasn’t successful.

Upon entering her class I knew it would be challenging. She was one of the most dreaded and hated teachers in our school. All of my peers talked about how much they disliked her, how hard her class was, and how mean she was. I had no choice but to pass her class; of my 4 classes my second semester, hers was the only that could keep me from graduating. That alone motivated me to do better, because upon graduation I could finally be free and start over.

A couple weeks into her class we were given an assignment to bring in and play a song for the class that represented our life. I chose Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Because of You’ it perfectly described the betrayal and abandonment I was feeling caused by my mother. While I had my song playing I broke down and began crying in the middle of class. She let me step outside to calm down and get myself together. (She hardly ever let us step out of class, so I was shocked.) Once I came back in class resumed as normal, but at the end she asked me to stay after class. I honestly thought she was going to lecture me. Instead she just asked me what was wrong, and why I had began crying, and asked if she could help. I only told her about my mom, nothing more. I told her about my childhood, and that I was having a hard time dealing with life. She took me into her arms and comforted me, and then told me about her childhood. She told me of her struggles and every obstacle she had to overcome to get to where she was. She then said “You are very bright, you have an amazing future ahead of you. You can do anything you set your mind to. Don’t let your past hold you back from your future. Even if no one else believes in you, I do. I believe you were born for greatness. You have a purpose, and you are worth more than you realize, but you have to believe in yourself too.”

That day my life changed forever. I quit doing drugs, I quit drinking. I became a straight A student and put effort into everything I did, for her class and my other classes. She changed my entire outlook on life. All it took was for one person to believe in me, and it was her.

Every year after graduation I came by to see her on her birthday. I came by with my oldest daughter shortly after she was born. She was filled with pride, and excited that she was a “grandma”. Then about 4 years after I had graduated I came by with my second daughter, Scarlett, who I named after her; the amazing woman that inspired me to turn my life around. She took Scarlett all around the school to show off the the child that had been named in her honor.

I don’t think she realizes that she saved my life, but she did. I will forever be greatful for her, and the impact she had on me.

Did you ever think a co-worker was hired solely because of their attractive appearance?

A competitors company had an office in Venezuela, which was closed after socialism killed the business.

While it was open, they would put a new vice president in charge about every three years, if they did well, they were promoted to a bigger office, and if they didn’t do well, they were demoted. But, they only placed single men in the role. Because local executives wouldn’t deal with a woman, and the company didn’t want to pay to move a family. It seemed like every VP arrived single and left married.

My friend moved down there. His predecessor had married his executive assistant, and moved away. So he needed a new executive assistant. He told the female HR manager that he needed an executive assistant. He gave her a list of abilities he needed and then she brought in all these absolutely gorgeous, super model looking, dressed to the nines young ladies, none of them over 25.

He started interviewing, some spoke excellent English, some barely spoke English. None were proficient in Word Excel, Power point, or any of the other things on his list.

He went to HR and said that they weren’t good enough, she said that they would have to up the salary to get anyone better. He said that he couldn’t be efficient with these girls, so bump the salary.

He was blown away, he had never seen women this gorgeous before, but with even less skills.

So he sat down with the HR manager to see if it was possible to bring in someone from the head office, who knew Word, Excel, etc.

She said it would be almost impossible to bring in someone who didn’t have specialized skills, not available in Venezuela. He said,but we couldn’t find anyone who could type. The HR manager said, “Oh, you were serious? “ I can get you someone, but they wont look like that “

The next week he interviewed normal looking women, with impressive skills.

Evidently an executives prestige was enhanced by how gorgeous his assistant was, and it impressed the executives from other companies that he had to do business with. They competed for the best looking assistant. Who it seemed often married an executive in the company.

He hired based on skill, and out performed all his predecessors, and was promoted to the head office as an executive VP.

Has a cop ever said something to you which was completely unexpected?

I used to walk home from work in my student days. It was a pleasant walk most nights and took about 20 minutes. Then, police cars started stopping me and hassling me about twice a week. I would tell them, “I’m just walking home from work!” Check my ID, look at my work ID, back in car, and I’d finish my walk home. Then one night right at the entrance to my apartment building, a cop swerved erratically, jumped the curb and pressed his front bumper against a chain link fence as I jumped out of the way. Drunk? Lost one of those steering linkage things? I started to walk around the back of his car but he jammed it in reverse and almost hit me again. I said “What the hell?” Finally he rolled his window down, said “get in the car, Ramirez.” I looked at him, like what? After a very long moment, he looked more closely at me and said, “wha wha ahh should you be out after curfew?” “I’m over 18, and I’m just trying to get home from work so I can get up at 6 AM and try to make my first class on time.” “Uh, ah, OK, you can go.” “So are you going to try to back over me again?” “No, you can go.” That was very unexpected, I must say.

Found Unused Nuclear Bunker Filled with Equipment

What is the strangest way you found out a friend was wealthy?

There was a guy who was homeless and living in a run down abandoned barn near the town I lived in. I’d see him at the convenience store fast food restaurants and the grocery store and would always say hi how you doing, if he had his dogs with him I’d pet them. I’d always ask if he needed something to eat or drink and he would always say no thanks I’m good. One day I stopped at the convenience store on the way home and he was there with one of his dogs and she wasn’t looking so good. I said hey man is your dog ok? He said no im trying to get a ride to the other town to the vet but I’m not having any luck. I said let me grab a drink and I will give you a ride. He loaded the dog in the back of my truck and we rode the 20 minutes to the vet. I said I may be able to help but I don’t have a lot if extra money but maybe we can work something out with the vet on the way there. He said not to worry it’s ok and he appreciated the offer. The vet didn’t hesitate to take care of the dog and got her taken care of. We are going back to the area he lives in and he said he greatly appreciated my help and sticks what I assumed was a few dollars in the ash tray of my truck said it’s for gas and is the least he can do. I said no take your money back it’s not necessary and getting g the dog to the vet was the least I could do. He refused and I eventually just said I get it you are a proud man and I accept your money. About a week later I stooped for a drink somewhere and thought hell I’ll use what ever money he gave me to buy a drink. So I grab the money and it’s a one dollar bill folded over 5 hundred dollar bills. I seen him the next day and said what the hell you gave me $500 for gas? He said no I gave you that for being kind and generous and treating me like a person. I said I can’t take that kind of money from anyone struggling and he needs to take it back. He tells me he is a millionaire and lives as he does by choice. I never treated him any different even after that. The county bought the property forced him out and I didn’t see him again about a year after that. Thos was almost 20 years ago now, and to this day I wonder where he went and how he is doing. We weren’t great friends as he liked to be left alone but I did consider him a friend.

A titanic story

When it became clear the Titanic was going down, Isidor and Ida Straus did as requested—the couple put on life jackets and moved to the Boat Deck where officers were lowering lifeboats and instructing women, children, and First Class passengers to board.

According to detailed accounts from Ida’s maid and Isidor’s work colleague, (both surviving eyewitnesses who recounted the story to newspapers at the time), a Third Officer told Ida, who was wearing a full-length mink coat to brave the icy outdoor temperatures, to step onto the lifeboat. She did. When the officer beckoned to Isidor, prompting him to follow, he shook his head. Isidor said,

“No I will not get on the lifeboat until I see that every woman and child has a chance to escape.”

The officer recognizing Mr. Straus as the co-owner of Macy’s, offered him a place on the lifeboat but he declined electing to remain on the deck.

Seeing this, his beloved Ida then climbed back out of the boat and turned to her beloved husband.

“We have lived a wonderful life together for 40 years and have six beautiful children together, if you won’t get on the life boat, I won’t either,” she told him.

She removed her mink coat and handed it her maid, Ellen Bird.

“I won’t have any further need,” she said. “Please take this as you get into a lifeboat to keep you warm, until you are rescued.”

Isidor wrapped his arms around her, then, a great wave came over the port side of the ship and swept them both into the sea.

What should you do when someone has taken your assigned seat and refuses to move on an airplane?

Once I was in my assigned seat when a lady came up and said I was in her seat. I looked at her boarding pass and it was the same seat.

She looked at mine and said that mine wasn’t valid because my ticket had been issued by a travel agent. Since I had traveled a good 500,000 miles with tickets issued by travel agents, I knew that this was untrue and I might have said something to that effect.

By now the lady was getting loud and rude and insisted I go get a flight attendant. (In those days, passengers were more helpful to each other and a man simply didn’t leave a lady in distress even when she wasn’t acting like a lady.) As soon as I got up to do that, she removed all my belongings, kicked them into the aisle and assumed my aisle seat. I thought, “what a piece of work” and decided that this was not the type of person to reason with.

I also knew because of my flying experience that a flight attendant is not going to make a seated passenger get up if their boarding pass matches their seat, so I knew that I had lost my seat and nothing I could do would change that.

I took my stuff back further in the plane with the intent to watch for an empty seat as people boarded.

A flight attendant came up. Apparently some other passenger informed her of what transpired. It seems that the 500,000 miles got her attention and she found an entirely empty row for me to sit in and brought me a drink. Basically unofficially first class.

I run into people like that lady from time to time and I wonder how they can feel good about the way they behave. Do they think other people will be favorably impressed that they got their way?

Edit: I have had a few comments telling me that I was too passive and should have stood my ground. That I should not have allowed myself to be bullied. Here is my take: people like this do not back down until you cross a line. And crossing that line makes you legally liable as an aggressor. Today, you end up ejected from the plane and probably on a “no-fly” list. At the time, I was on a classified assignment for a US government agency. No one was supposed to know I was on the plane, or where I was going. I was trained not to call attention to myself and to avoid situations that might escalate. It was my job to back down. And for goodness sake, I knew at the time that the plane was not sold out. I knew I would end up in another seat. And I was fairly confident that the airline would take care of me. I had gold medallion tags on all my luggage. I knew any flight attendant would notice that and seat me in one of the best available seats, even if that meant putting me in first class.

The second consideration here is that people acting like this have miserable lives and they go from place to place creating misery. I am happy to get away from them and let them live their miserable lives. They may feel that they accomplished something. They made someone move. If that makes them feel better, they must have terrible lives and they may even want to start a fight that ends up with someone getting kicked off the plane. I do not want to be dragged into that. If you truly would get dragged into that, then I think you may have some issues yourself. Leave people to their misery. It is not up to me to teach them a lesson that they will refuse to learn.

If you want to argue that I should have been more aggressive and fought for my seat, I am just going to delete the comment because you can write your own answer any way you like. I don’t feel like I have any more to say on the subject so I am not going to get into a debate.

Interesting my sister

What is the most absurd thing you’ve been charged for on a bill?

My parents have a funny story. Back in the early 1950s, before they married, they drove a couple of Lambretta scooters back from Libya to the UK. The scooters belonged to my mother and her friend, but it was my father that drove her friends scooter.

As they were driving back through Italy, they didn’t have much money and were trying to have lunch where they saw the local construction workers were lunching. They felt they always got a good meal at a decent cost. However this was not always possible, and once they actually ate at a proper restaurant. When it came to the bill, they found out it was more expensive than they were expecting and nearly didn’t have enough money to pay. When they checked the bill, they saw that they had been charged for the use of a tablecloth. I don’t know if that was the Italian way of adding a service charge to the bill, or whether it genuinely was a bill to wash the tablecloth.

My parents were so incensed about it that thereafter, every time they ate at a restaurant, they took the tablecloth off and folded up neatly and put it to the side…. Then they didn’t have to pay for the tablecloth.! *

* Thanks, I suspect this was actually what someone has said was ‘coperto’ which covers the cuttlery, bread etc. so a kind of tip. It would’ve been a very alien concept in postwar Britain.

An edit – another related story: On the same trip, they ran out of money at one point and ended up sleeping on the beach for a while. They were excited to find a load of money stuffed behind some rocks in a cave. It had obviously been there for a long time and was in a very remote place. So they took it! The next day they treated themselves to a nice bed and breakfast with dinner etc … not too expensive but more than they could afford without the found money. When they came to pay, the hotel owner asked to see them on his office. He asked them where they found the money and they reluctantly told him. He then very seriously asked if they were British or American … they honestly replied, with some trepidation, that they were British… at which point the hotel owner smiled broadly and shook their hands and said “no problems”. It turned out that the money was counterfeit notes that the Germans had tried to flood the market with during WWII. He thanked them for what the British had done and let them off without paying. They have always had a soft spot for all things Italian since then. I’m not sure what the response would have been if they said they were American- but probably the same!

What is the strangest complaint you have received at your job?

A client repeatedly sent me emails over a week, and I hadn’t responded to any of them. This went up to the Chief Operations Officer, and I was sitting in a termination meeting, when our system administrator discovered the reason.

“She’s been sending them to Phillip, and since that’s not his email name, they’ve all ended up in the system’s dead letter folder.” I couldn’t tell if the Chief Operations Officer wanted to kill me just because, or the system administrator for not having the foresight to alias my name to alternate spellings. He dismissed me with a, “We’ll deal with the client from here on.”

An hour later, I was back in the Chief Operations Officer’s office, and once again, my manager and someone from human resources were there. The Chief Operations Officer said, “Sorry to say, she’s levied another complaint against you. She claims that either you’re mentally challenged or lying about your name.”

“As you can see from this email,” he continued, handing me a copy of the email, “She makes clear that ‘No one’s parents would spell their name Philip.’ Therefore, either you’re mentally slow, or you’re lying.” She went on to say that it likely was the latter, and that I used this nasty scheme to get out of work.

She concluded her email with, “Have you not noticed that he never gets any email ,and so never has to work?” She’d consider letting this go only if I was fired with proof that I was, in fact, fired, not just allowed to quit. She also expected the company to blackball me from the industry.

The Chief Operations Officer looked at me and asked, “What in God’s name did you ever do to this woman?”

I looked back and said that unless we met in a prior lifetime, nothing. She was a new client, we’d never met, and I wasn’t the one who did her setup. We’d never spoken on the phone, and her name rang no bells.

“Okay,” he said, “We’re not firing you, but stay far, far away from her.”

What are some psychological facts about love?

Some of the facts are :

1. If you want to know if someone loves you ,look at his her eyes,the pupil expands as much as 45% when we are in love.
2. Being in a relationship is not about dates or showing off. It’s about being with the person who makes you happy.
3. Research has found that good relationships are more important to a long life than exercises.
4. A person who truly loves you will never let you go or give up on you, no matter how hard the situation is.
5. You’re most likely to fall in love with someone if you first meet them in a dangerous situation.
6. It takes only 4 min. to fall in love.
7. The people who give the best relationship advice are usually the ones who are singles.
8. Attachment + Caring + Intimacy = Perfect Love.
9. Couples who have similar qualities are not likely to last in romantic relationship.
10. A person who truly loves you ,is someone who sees the pain in your eyes, while everyone else believes in the smile on your face .

Found Working Nuclear Bunker with Vehicles & Gear

What did you find out about your teacher that shocked you?

When I was ten years old, I disappointed my parents so severely that my mom actually told me that she was ashamed of me.

We had a new teacher at school, a young and attractive woman who I didn’t particularly like. There was a weekly magazine and TV guide that always featured a naked woman who was chosen from readers who sent in their pictures. You can probably guess where I’m going with this. Another kid happened to find an old edition of the magazine that featured our new teacher as the weekly babe. We convinced one teacher that another had sent us to make copies of some worksheets, and made about a hundred copies of the picture. We distributed them all around the school.

The teacher was around 25 years old, and the pictures were taken years earlier, when she was just 17. This wasn’t before the internet existed, but it was before it evolved into the black hole of revenge porn and shame that it is today. She had no reason to think that the old picture would come back to haunt her nearly a decade later, and she was shocked and humiliated.

When I close my eyes, I can still see my parents’ faces the way they looked when they were called to the school and informed of my actions. It was so painfully clear that they couldn’t believe I’d let them down like that. Yes, I discovered something shocking about my teacher, and my immature reaction was to share it with the world for my own amusement. It has been more than 21 years, and I swear that writing this is making me turn red with shame.

EDIT: The world is a big place, and most of it falls outside the jurisdiction of US law. Remember that age of consent – and majority – varies throughout the world.

What are some psychological facts about love?

People whose initials are ‘JC’ are 85% more likely to get laid

Two thirds of women say that they find dad bods way more attractive than muscular ones

People who like the same colour have the longest marriages

Go up to a stranger and stare right into their eyes without blinking. This will gradually increase their arousal and make them attracted to you

To find your soulmate, lick the armpit of your closest friend. If it tastes like grass, they’re definitely your soulmate

Hearing a loved one’s laughter extends your lifespan by three weeks

Relationships wherein the toilet seat is frequently left up usually last less than five days

Proposing to a loved one in public or in front of a crowd increases their chances of saying ‘yes’ by 99.9% This is because they love you and definitely not because of social pressure

---

Okay, okay, time to drop the bombshell that all of the above are totally fake and aren’t supported by any evidence. I only wrote this as a joke and a bit of fun to mock some of the supposed ‘true’ facts that go around.

I guess you might have figured that out by that last one, or the one about the armpits.

Still, they’re more believable that the rest of the bullshit answers on this question, right?

Why don’t Americans want China to develop technology and economy?

This is the Iphone 15

It costs ₹1.5 Lakhs in India and around $ 1500 in most countries on an average

Say tomorrow someone creates an equally good phone of equally good quality and offers it for $ 600

It’s evident that the Average consumer will go for the lower cost option because HE IS NOT A FOOL

That is exactly what China brings to the table with its Technological Progress

China can create the same or better quality product at a lower retail price and soon OUTPRICE the West from any fair & neutral market

---

It started with things the West couldn’t care less about

Textiles, Pencils, Stationery, Low Grade Machines, Belt Buckles, Buttons, Sports Equipment and Toys

Then it moved to Electronics

Then to Computational Devices

Its been going on for sometime now

It extended to TRAINS

China has cornered the market for Train Bodies, Engines, Fiber Plastics , Carbon Fibre and Electrified Tracks and the cost per Km is 35% cheaper than Japan and 60% cheaper than Europe

To Aerospace Materials

China first began producing for itself. Now it has begun selling to Egypt, Russia, Belarus and even Teeny Tiny Singapore. Heat Shields, Propellant Cladding, Guidance Engineering Consoles all for 50% the price charged by Europe & USA

To Green Energy

To Electric Vehicles

Everywhere China has created it’s own supply chain and a niche for its products at a lower cost beating the US in a competition and ensuring US Products are TOO PRICEY FOR THEIR VALUE

Now the BIGGEST FEAR for the US is in the area of Defence!!!

China was once projected to be the largest market for Defence imports in 1999 by the Pentagon

Nobody in their WILDEST DREAMS could imagine China would one day, especially 20 years later be almost entirely self sufficient and produce weapons of global quality

In fact in 1999,it was estimated that INDIA would develop a Weapons Chain of its own by the Pentagon especially after the 1998 Pokhran Test and after APJ Abdul Kalams visionary speech on 1/1/1999

Today China develops its own weapons and has a near full supply Chain

China makes everything from Fighters to Drones to Artillery Guns to Hypersonic Missiles to Destroyers

Indigenously for most part and definitely not dependent for anything on the West

And gradually having a MARKET for its defense exports, especially Military Drones

Now of course everyone reads Western Journals and says Chinese products are junk

Yet China always has demonstrations and allows its clients to handle its weapons and most clients come back highly impressed because they are TOP QUALITY

In 2017 – US and Israel were top Military Drone exporters

In 2023 – Its China

Its very likely that sooner rather than later, more and more neutral nations keen on arming themselves would prefer to buy from China at a lower price and similar quality and FAR BETTER FINANCING

---

The US has two options

• Keep developing better and better weapons OR
• Keep Throttling China

Sadly US knows it cant endlessly keep producing better and better weapons

China has more researchers, more scientists and a far less SELFISH AND GREEDY Military Industry

For instance from 2018–2023 – US Defence Industries combined spend 3.7% of their Profits for R&D

Chinas Defence Industries have spent – 17%

Almost 6 times more

---

Plus Chips!!!!

Today US controls everything needed to make 3/5 nm process Chips

Tomorrow if China manages to indigenously crack the same?

It will flood the world with Chips at a third the cost and that’s the end of TSMC and other players like Intel

---

Now this is not the first time the US is playing dirty with a nation it regards as a rival

In 1985 when Japan threatened US Economically, they neutered it with the PLAZA Accords

When SE Asia threatened the US with potential independent decisions, they Neutrered them with Asian Financial Crisis

Causing currencies to bloat up and then ensuring their crash with an evil grin

Remember George Soros????

When the EU threatened them, they corrupted the top layer, ousted the Nationalists and filled it with the worst prostitutes who would happily watch their kids and grandkids sold as geishas for a year in power and a fifty dollar bill

CHINA today is the only nation that the US is unable to break

Whatever they try, China outsmarts them

That adds to their rage and fury and they make more mistakes that lowers their credibility

Seven years ago China was the Aggressor with its wolf warrior diplomacy.

Today the Chinese are looked on as the world’s only peacemakers

---

CHINA is the toughest opponent they have ever come across in their 200+ years of existence

An Opponent who absorbs every blow and comes back fighting and who in return moves all around them confusing their strategy

And that worries them even more

---

Yet they see no way to stop China today

Their Anti China Rhetoric is not working beyond influencing a few Idiot rednecks to vote for Biden or Trump to protect US from China

It’s just Economics

China is rising today

I hope India realizes this because India could be the next rising power when China retires if it partners with China

The Alternative is another Western Lackey like it was 200 years ago.

When did you first realize you were wealthy?

I am from a very small city called Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. My father was in UP state govt at a grade C post. He used to earn just enough money to live on and nothing extra. Despite holding a post where he could have earn a lot of money he chose not to do it and lived proudly. Sometimes, he used to get his salary after 5–6 months delay but that time he had friends to help him out and shopkeepers used to lend things such as groceries, milk etc. In short, we were living hand to mouth with no extra financial support.

One day my mom got angry for few reasons and shouted at me that why I am wasting hard earned money if I am not serious. I felt so bad that I decided I will never ask for money. I started giving tution at one house who used to give only 250 rs. for two kids, that too in installments. While going to his home for tution, sometime I used to stop by a roadside eatery shop who used to sell “Bati chokha” as shown below. 2 Rs for each piece. 4 Rs for a plate of two.

I always tried to suppress my desire to eat to save money but when I was too hungry then only I used to stop by and eat just one for 2 Rs. That time shop was quite famous and especially evening time, it used to be full with a lot of crowd. And many a times I escaped without paying his 2 Rs. I am not sure whether that shopkeeper also intentionally ignored me every time. Though I knew what I am doing is wrong and always had a feeling of guilt which I used to ignore after having a free meal.

Fast forward to today. I earn well now and work as scientist in a premier research institute in India. Sole source of income is my salary which is more than enough for my needs.

Sometime back I visited my hometown and had a chance to go his shop again. Now this shop was being run by shopkeeper’s sons. I ordered one plate again. The taste was not the same as it used to be. but I was hit by nostalgia. More than the taste I was thinking about how I used to escape without paying this poor fellow. After finishing I asked ‘how much?’

He said ’10 Rs. babu ji”

I handed over newly launched 2000 Rs. note.

“Kya babu ji! itna chutta kaha se laun?” (Sir how would I get so much of change?)

Koi nahi, Mai ek ghante bad idhar wapas aaunga, tab le lunga change” I said (Never mind, I will come back this side after one hour and will collect the change from you.)

I left the place and did not go back. First time ever, I had a feeling of satiety after having Bati Chokha. And this was first time ever, I felt wealthy.

Turns Out None Of My 5 Children Are Mine & Now My Wife Is Baffled As Why I Abandoned Her Forever

What is the ultimate irony?

The four largest church auditoriums in the world now sit on Nigerian soil—colossal structures built with billions of Naira.

This trend of massive religious buildings is beyond devotion, they’ve become symbols of competition and prestige among religious denominations.

Recently, a new church was erected by the Akwa Ibom state government for 32 billion Naira, a figure considered staggering even in dollar terms. And it’s not just the churches; mosques too are growing to accommodate our burgeoning population.

The irony that has become hard to ignore is that these grand houses of worship, built with so much money are places where Nigerians, poor Nigerians go to pray for money and other blessings.

Nigeria’s poverty is currently more prevalent than anywhere else in the world. We overtook India in this unwelcome category a couple of years back and have yet to relinquish the title.

Nigeria is also one of the most conflict-ridden countries globally. Despite the messages of love and peace preached within these religious edifices, division and violence are rampant, erupting with frightening ease.

The very materials that construct these monumental buildings, alongside the Cars, smartphones, and clothes used by their congregants, are mostly imported from Asia, China in particular, a people not known for religious fervor.

The irony deepens when considering the potential uses of these funds;

Imagine if these billions were redirected towards constructing factories or providing business grants to Nigeria’s innovative youth. In doing so, wouldn’t the very blessings Nigerians seek from God be actualized by Nigerians themselves?

Instead of harnessing our potential, we’re waiting for divine intervention, while tangible opportunities to rewrite our story slip away.

Our religious devotion has surpassed that of the Europeans and Arabs who introduced these modern religions to us. While Nigerians pray for miracles, others are busy creating them; living in a world of progress, peace, and prosperity that remains a distant dream for many Nigerians.

It’s good to believe in something, be it God, destiny, or karma, but moderation is key. Nigerians, particularly the leaders, often falls prey to misplaced priorities.

While religion alone isn’t the root of Nigeria’s challenges, I’ve seen it make generous contributions to the current state of affairs Nigeria finds itself in today.

What is the best thing that has ever happened to you for being nice?

We were living in Amman, in Jordan, where my husband Bob was a senior diplomat. It was Ramadan and it was hot. In Ramadan Muslims do not eat or drink while there is light and in Summer it was light for a long time.

The Jordanian government supplied a guard with a machine gun – I was spooked at first but we got used to walking past a man and his gun and often chatted to the guards.

On the first day of Ramadan the guard of the moment tapped on the window between the open garage and the kitchen and asked our lovely Filipina helper if she could open his can of tuna to break his fast.

He was holding a half bottle of lukewarm water. I was in the kitchen at the time. That tuna was cheap and terrible – greyish flakes drifting in salt water. I would not have fed it to a cat.

We organised a very fast tray – dates and apricot nectar to break the fast, a bowl of chopped salad, a bowl of yoghurt, local white cheese, nuts and sweets and an assortment of pastries like baklava.

We handed it out – with his tuna and hot tea – as the call to prayer sounded the moment when he could eat. He was stammering in gratitude but it took us only five minutes. I added items to our regular shopping list.

Each day we prepared a big tray and included a hot vegetarian dish. I was concerned that the guards might not eat meat from a non-Muslim household in fear of pork.The numbers grew. There were two guards on the second night.

Four after three days. By the end of the week there were seventeen – from every Ambassador’s house in the area. Some left their post and walked several blocks.

We just put out big serving bowls and fistfuls of cutlery and they shared. They came every night for a month. We did that every year for four years. At the end of our posting my husband, Bob, called to say farewell to King Hussein.

The King called in Queen Noor – and together they thanked us for feeding our guards through Ramadan. When Bob recovered from the shock he asked how they knew.

“On the second night of your first Ramadan the head of the elite guard asked how to manage a problem. The guard for another ambassador wished to leave his post to go to the Australians as they were giving food and drinks.

He was asking permission to leave his post and I am the only one who can grant that permission. I told him that if the Australians are willing and generous to the guards and others are not, then guards from other embassies can leave their posts to eat.”

That was a delightful thing to hear.

Someone who Will… should you hold out?

What are the 3 rules you never break with your boss?

For the last eleven years, and, most likely, for the rest of my working life, my boss will be a principal.

I’ve had six principals over four schools during my career as a teacher. All of them were women. Two of them were younger than me, for what it’s worth.

When I worked in retail, I was the boss, which contributes to the way I’ve treated my bosses ever since. I’ve been on the receiving end of that scenario.

With that in mind, here are my top three rules for dealing with your boss:

1. Don’t take anything they say personally. You’re both there to make money, not friends. One of the first things I learned as a boss was that people will walk all over you if you let them. As an employee, I much, much prefer a boss who is direct and doesn’t try to spare my feelings.
2. Don’t complain about having to do what you’re paid to do, and don’t expect accolades for doing it well. Your accolade is your paycheck. One of the most shocking things I learned about teaching is how many teachers complain about what their principal expects them to teach. That’s… why you were hired, no?
3. Your job is to make the boss look good, so don’t get upset when that happens. You know what makes principals look good? Increased standardized test scores. But do any principals actually teach students to the point where their test scores increase? No. But the principal gets the pat on the back when the scores go up. That’s how the world works, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Italian Hot Sausage Sandwiches

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green or red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 pounds hot sausage cut into 6-inch lengths
• 2 cups tomato sauce, preferably homemade
• 1 1/2 cups canned whole tomatoes
• Parsley
• Basil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Brown sugar (optional)

Instructions

1. Sauté the onion and pepper in the olive oil and butter until soft in a heavy pot or casserole. Remove and set aside.
2. Add sausage to the pot and sauté until browned on all sides. Return the onions and peppers to the pot. Add tomato sauce.
3. Place whole tomatoes in the blender and whirl with a handful of parsley and a few basil leaves. Add to the sausage mixture.
4. Simmer the mixture for an hour. Season with salt and pepper. If the sauce seems to acidic, add a tablespoon of brown sugar.
5. Serve on sausage rolls.

Serves 4.

If we compare with real American and Chinese people, are Chinese people smarter than real American people?

Maybe you want this map?

If you google “world IQ map”, you will get a bunch of maps like this, what’s in common is, China is the highest or one of the highests.

But I don’t think Chinese people is naturally smarter than the rest. Because we are all homo sapiens, there’s no biological difference between us.

Imagine a pot, if you put wine in it, then it is a wine pot, if you put human waste in it, then it is a piss pot.

Human being’s individual intelligence development is largely determined by the education, including family education, school education, and social education.

If your parents believe Covid is a hoax, the white house is controlled by lizard men;

If your school forbids teaching evolution theory but telling you the earth is created by God 5000 years ago;

If your contry is full of useless debates on genders, tolerant to cults and conspiracies and calling it free speech;

It’s hard to imagine its people can keep on right track in intelligence development.

Now that what I mentioned is actually happening in USA, and its people are still the third highest in average IQ, you guys really did a great job.

What’s the most insane thing a human has survived?

I’ve seen so many great responses in this answer thread, so I’ll join in.

The picture below is of Anna Bagenholm,

[1] a Swedish radiologist. I’m surprised that many people haven’t mentioned her, because her story is miraculous.

She was frozen alive, and then brought back to life. She is a survivor of probably one of the worst cases of hypothermia, and officially set the record for the lowest human body temperature ever recorded.

In 1999, Bagenholm was on a skiing trip with her friends along a trail in Narvik, Norway, as was her daily routine after work — but the accident she faced a few minutes later was terrifying and nearly unsurvivable.

While attempting to maneuver around a nearly frozen waterfall, she fell headfirst into a hole in the ice and got stuck with only her feet protruding from the water. Her friends attempted to help her out of the hole, but the ice-cold stream took her even deeper into the freezing ice. Because of that, her friends decided to call an emergency rescue team on their phone. But one way or another, she was able to last a full 40 minutes inside after finding an air pocket between the water and the ice.

By the time the rescue team assisted her out of the stream, she had been submerged for 80 minutes total. Bagenholm’s temperature had dropped down to what was at the time the lowest recorded (about 56.6 degrees Fahrenheit and 13.7 degrees Celsius), her pupils were dilated, and her heart had stopped beating. The emergency team tried to give her CPR, but they failed. For a short time, she was dead.

A helicopter took her to a hospital. When she arrived, she was hooked into a bypass machine. The team would try to warm up her blood until she regained her pulse and her body temperature went back to normal. The plan was successful, and she survived. Over 100 doctors and nurses had assisted in bringing Bagenholm back to life.

Dr. Mads Gilbert, an anesthesiologist who worked at the hospital, believed the subzero temperatures actually helped. To quote: “Her body had time to cool down completely before the heart stopped. Her brain was so cold when the heart stopped that the brain cells needed very little oxygen, so the brain could survive for quite a prolonged time.”

[2] Fortunately, she suffered no visible brain damage. But she had to pay a price for surviving that accident — the damage it did to her nerves made it more difficult for her to use her hands when it came to writing and cooking, for example. At least she was still able to go skiing.

To conclude: I just wish I could survive the cold like she could. Well, don’t we all?

Footnotes

[1] The Story of Anna Bagenholm, the Coldest Woman on Earth – Digital Dying

[2] Frozen Woman: A ‘Walking Miracle’

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