When I attended university there was this strange routine that we went through at the end of each class. The professor would provide us the CORRECT answers to the questions in the back of the book. You see, our engineering classes all had us attend classes, labs works shops AND do the questions in the books. But, for some darn reason, the answers to the questions were always wrong.
Why is that?
A angry graduate student perhaps? A mistake by the book publisher? Maybe something else.
It’s really not a big mystery… but it still remains a mystery to me. Why?
It’s one of those things that I muse about from time to time… the wrong answers were the ones published.
Today…
How will “political correctness” shape our future?
To death.
At least this is what happened to this beautiful woman here:
Her name was Mercedes Grabowski, a pornographic actress who went by the stage name August Ames.
Near the end of 2017, she took a stand and refused to shoot with a male performer which also happened to star in gay scenes. She believed that STDs among gay actors have a higher probability to spread. So given that the actor was bisexual (gay, for what matters to this point), she thought she would be in a higher risk of being infected. “My body, my rules”, right? It was not abortion that was in question; it indeed was about her own body. I thought that was the feminist’s motto, and they should have sided with Ames.
Apparently not so. Instead, a twitter mob started a smearing campaign to call her homophobic, hypocrite, hate bastard and so on. A lot of porn actresses now declare themselves as feminists. Instead, only one or two stood by August.
She was only 23 years old and apparently suffered from depression. She hanged herself on December 6, 2017.
Afterwards, some gay activist stated: “she went on hatred against our community and paid the price.”
This was all because suddenly it became a social sin to criticize gays or point anything negative about them. Some said August was misinformed about how seriously and often blood tests are conducted on gay performers, but that’s besides the point: she just didn’t want to; she had autonomy, exercised her autonomy and paid with her life. Also, if some LGBT supporter brings to attention that the blood tests are more frequent and thorough within the gay community, then it should prove her point about being afraid to shoot in the first place.
As far as I can tell, August Ames was the first fatality due to the political correctness.
Feta and Mint Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 small onion, chopped
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 3 tablespoons minced fresh mint
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add rice and stir for 1 minute.
- Add broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.
- Fluff rice with fork.
- Add feta and mint and mix in with fork.
- Season with salt and pepper.
2 servings; can be double or tripled.
I’m gonna say it
Helen Beveridge’s Haluski Grange Stand Favorite
This one is a stand favorite. If you can’t wait a whole year, here is the Haluski scaled down.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 large head cabbage, chopped and steam until tender
- 1 pound egg noodles, cooked al la dente
- Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
Instructions
- Using pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients, melt the margarine and sauté the onion until tender.
- Add the cabbage and the noodles and stir to combine. Heat thoroughly.
- Season to taste.
Serves 10 to 12.
Final Comments: Once a year only. Customers love it because ” It’s such a comfort food”
30 Glitches in the Matrix Caught on Camera
Oh Man oh man! This is a must watch.
What is the hardest thing you have ever done?
In 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis, my childhood friend became infected. He lived in a large Canadian city and I lived with my spouse 90 miles away, but commuted by train to his city for my job in an art department at an advertising agency. Because my friend had been rejected by his family for being gay, I offered to watch over him and monitor things as his life came to an end.
The far religious right wanted all gay men jailed until they died. Fortunately, religious folk weren’t taken too seriously in Canada.
My friend, who had always a bit eccentric, became extremely eccentric. I lived with him during the week and went home on weekends. As his condition became more unpredictable, I arranged with a local hospital to keep him on weekends so I could go home and sleep.
His short term memory left him. He became worried about my safety. Then he lost his ability to read. He began misunderstanding his medication instructions and displayed stroke symptoms, and skin ulcers due to mis-management of his drugs. There was a new crisis every day.
At work, the other employees quietly took on duties that were mine. My boss ignored my erratic hours. My spouse supported me as best he could. And then, two months before my friend’s death, Canada’s first AIDS Hospice, Casey House, opened. Everything was free and they had room for my friend. It was a quiet, comfortable death.
I lived with a straight man in one city and a gay man in another city and still did my job.
I did this for a whole year without any prior experience in palliative or nursing care. It was the most difficult thing I ever did, and the best thing I ever did.
I went for an entire year without a movie and without having any fun.
My spouse was still there at the end of it, and I felt that if I could do all that, I could manage anything that came my way.
No Mother Around, Little Kitten Got Bullied By Teenagers, He Can’t Resist And Just Cried…
What is the proudest moment of your life?
I belong to a middle class family where meeting the ends is somewhat tough. Most of the times, we are a bit short of ration and we eat outside very less(once in a month).
We are three siblings. My two elder sisters and me. Four years back, we married my eldest sister and spent 15 lakhs on her marriage. This year, we married my second elder sister and around 6–7 lakhs were spent.
In this way, we spent all my father’s savings + Gold belongings of mom in two marriages. On the other hand, I pursued my BTech from one of the best engineering college and my father spent 4 lakhs on my engineering also.
So, all in all, he spent 25 lakhs in total on his kids. Now we have no savings and parents got scared how we will make our ends meet in coming days.
I was in final year of engineering and I knew this phase would be coming. So I did my best to get placed. I was so much prepared and still I got rejected in last rounds of interviews. It was kind of a roller coaster ride. Firstly, I would not be able to clear aptitude test. Then in some companies, I stocked in interview. You will not believe my presentation skills are so fine that I can easily attract a room of people while presenting.
Then in one company, I cleared 5 rounds of interviews and was rejected in the sixth round. That day was the toughest day in my life. I am stubborn and never give up easily, so while coming back home, I managed to forget that day and prepare for further companies.
Then, one day 6 Feb 2018(After trying for 5 months to get placed) , a company visited which was nearest to my hometown and profile was very much suitable for me. Package was average but still I was giving more importance to profile. So I got through 5 rounds of interviews and cleared all rounds with flying colors. That was my day, because I had feeling since morning that I will make it today.
When I called at home, my mother started crying after hearing the news. My father always hides his emotions but I knew that day, he was also crying. So, my parents got a hope for future. Now, they know that our son will be earning from July and we will start saving for our future. I never hesitated to spend our entire earnings in my sisters marriages because I knew, I will easily do it myself.
That was the most happiest and proudest day of my life. No doubt, I have been a brilliant student always but getting a job with an international marketing profile when your family is at most toughest phase is proudest feeling.
Unhappy, unmarried women are the only reason why Democrats are competative
Is it worth it for a white person from the US living in China to learn Mandarin?
I have never understood Americans who go to a foreign country to live for an extended period of time who don’t attempt to learn the language. Or at the minimum, learn the basics. Despite America not having an “official” language (although English is the language in which most everything is done), I hear people here complain about “foreigners who come here and don’t learn English.” Yet the very ones who grumble about immigrants here are the same ones who give Americans the reputation of being rude, arrogant, and ignorant when traveling internationally.
Someone in China told me awhile back that they knew a teacher who had been there for thirty years who didn’t know the most basic Chinese words. I sighed and rolled my eyes because, while I’m not surprised, it certainly disappoints me.
It also just doesn’t make sense. I went to Southeast Asia for only a few weeks but I learned some basic phrases in Malay because it’s respectful to do so, but also, to make my life simpler. Sure, plenty there spoke English, but many did not and how was I to interact with them if I couldn’t even say things like “hello, thank you, where is, goodbye” and so forth? To live long term in a country and not learn their language sounds torturous to me. The local language will help you with directions, help you with shopping, help you with bartering, help you with public transit, help you find a bathroom in public, help you order food, make reservations, run errands, talk to neighbors, make friends, seek help from police, tell a doctor what your symptoms are, help communication at your place of employment, watch the news or television shows, read the newspaper, read street signs, and so much more.
How does one even live for months or years in a foreign country and not absorb some of the language naturally, anyway? I find that both astounding and confusing.
World War 3 Is Coming – Robert Kiyosaki’s Message To The World
Have you ever received the most needed help from someone you never expected?
Oh, yes! Several years ago, I had lost my house to foreclosure, and about six months later lost my car as well.
The company I worked for at the time had an abandoned, older, little pickup truck sitting in weeds at the back of their lot, broken down, so I asked my supervisor, “If I get that old Mazda pickup running, would it be OK if I drive it?”
He said it had sat there for over a year, unable to start, and left in the weeds to rust; “If you can get it running, you can drive it; make sure you have proper insurance.”
The fix was not difficult and it was running within a day or so. It was filthy and beginning to rust—but it was running and I could drive it for free!
Due to a divorce, a second child who needed support, and a maximum paycheck garnishment by the IRS, I had lost everything: home, car, and most of my (very modest) paycheck. I had no savings and no money to buy even a cheap used car.
My girlfriend had allowed me to move into her house (with her mother and daughter living there as well). Thank God. I had nowhere else to go, and the money to rent nothing.
After a month or two, my supervisor took me aside and told me that some of the other employees were beginning to complain that no one else in the company could take a vehicle home—not even the drivers! So I had a week to find something else to drive. Oh, crap.
So, at the end of that day, I got my paycheck from my desk and went to the bank.
My bank was closed for the day so I went to drop my paycheck into the night deposit box. As I pulled into the driveway of the bank, there was an unattended car sitting in the middle of the driveway and I drove around it. After I dropped off my paycheck, the car was still there but this time there was a woman standing outside it. I was too tired and depressed to stop to help, so I passed her and got on the highway to go home and continue my search for car money.
After I drove a few blocks from the bank, my conscience got the better of me and I turned around and went back to the bank I had just left. The woman was removing some packages from the trunk of her car. I parked the pickup truck and asked her if she needed help; she said she had just called a girlfriend of hers to come get her and she complained that she only needed that car to run for a few more days and it had broken down.
“Why only a few more days?” I asked.
She said that her elderly father had just passed away, out of state, and she was his only child and executor of his will.
“He has a nice Lincoln Town Car that I’m going to start driving and won’t need this one anymore. And now it dies on me!”
“What were you going to do with it?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “Donate it, maybe. I paid it off years ago and got my money’s worth from it so I thought I’d donate it somewhere.”
“Well… I don’t have a car…”
She held the keys out: “Now you do!”
She asked for help to push the car back into a parking space so it didn’t block the driveway into the bank, then asked for my girlfriend’s address so she could stop by to bring me the title before she moved back to New York. Of course, with her being busy packing to move, I never expected to see her again.
When my girlfriend got home from work a few hours later that day, we drove her SUV back to the bank, hooked a chain up to the car, and towed it home. Now it was parked in the driveway at home. I cranked the engine over but it wouldn’t start, so I opened the hood. The problem? A small vacuum line had come off of its fitting. I put it back on and the car started fine. Time to fix? Five minutes.
Two days later, the kind woman showed up at my girlfriend’s house, car title in hand. I offered her a $100 bill for the car—all that I had—and she politely refused to take it.
To this day, many years later, I have no doubt in my mind that God Himself arranged for us to cross paths so that I could get what I needed but couldn’t afford. I still give thanks to this day for that mercy.
China’s Shocking Message To Argentina! Is The World Ready?
What are some street smart tips that could potentially help me one day?
- Always carry a few coins in your pocket….
If someone confronts you with a knife you pull the coins subtly from your pocket and drop them on the floor. The attacker will always look down to the floor upon hearing the coins drop and this will buy you a second or two to turn and run. This can also be used if someone is intent on fighting you and you know you need to land the first blow, it’s a distraction technique.
2. Never use an ATM while wearing headphones and if wearing a coat/hoodie, never have the hood up, both will affect your awareness and makes you more likely to be robbed.
3. When entering any room, work out where every available exit and hiding place is. In the event of an emergency you will react a hell of a lot quicker if you have planned scenarios in your head, it will make you far less likely to freeze up. This was something explained to me by an ex-special forces guy I was chatting to at a conference (he was head of security). He was sat at the same table as me, one of those big round ones with 10–12 people on each. I noticed his eyes were never still and he was always glancing at each door, window etc, basically any entrance to that room. I got chatting to him after the conference and asked him about what I had observed. He said “imagine you are at a public event and an armed terrorist storms into the room and starts shooting, most people are going to freeze for the first couple of seconds and that can cost you your life, plan for it to happen and although incredibly unlikely it ever will, you’ll react instantly and it could save your life”
This is the way life works.
What are the potential consequences of a prolonged US-China trade war? Is there a possibility of a financial winner once the conflict is resolved?
I like to think of it this way.
When the Chinese leader says, go this way, it will improve lives and bring social progress, the people respond enthusiastically, because there is material benefit that they or their children will live and enjoy.
When the American leader says, go this way, to maintain American hegemony and prestige, it’s a mixed bag, because only SOME will draw material benefit from the machinations.
Unfortunately, those who benefit have a stranglehold on decisionmaking.
The Chinese economy as we find it today is a product of over 7 decades of unequal, and discriminatory suppression. In fact, China was embargoed for 30 years by the US-led west, while the Soviet Union instituted soft sanctions from the 60s until its dissolution.
The Chinese know how to handle economic suppression, because they have taken many lessons from decades past. In fact, Deng’s post-reform and opening up economy is designed around sanction-proofing. We are now seeing evidence of the multi-layer systemic robustness built into the Chinese economy, from finance, to manufacturing.
I won’t worry about China, other than the train being a few seconds late to destination. That’s the aggregate effect of the US’s half hearted attempt at trade war.
Why half-hearted?
National security threats are confronted head-on, an all-of-nation effort because survival is at stake. Donald the Orange’s trade “war” is more political shock and awe than a real trade war, because his administration LOWERED tariffs on Chinese medical products during covid. The was maintained by Joe the Elderly.
The US NEEDS China, and that calculus hasn’t been fully absorbed by the American leadership, resulting in half-baked, and sometimes, hare-brained policies and words that have been repeatedly walked back on, or exposed as failures and fraud.
American prosperity is maintained by the US per capita GDP being 10x or more than the global south. What happens in a world where that multiple shrinks, such that the unnatural size of the US economy begins to correct into a more equitable world? What happens when the global south can develop their own economies by trading among themselves, without the first world’s financing and technology?
In other words, what will inflation look like in a non-dollar holding sway world?
That day is coming, accelerated by the exhausting (and futile) efforts to contain China’s rise.
Chinese officials say more than 30 million cars will be sold in China in 2023. Is this a new record in the history of the human automobile industry? Why are their economies still booming?
What’s actually booming is not China’s economy, but manufacturing.
Once upon a time, Chinese had to pay 300K+50K of RMB for a top model VW Tiguan. That’s about 50K USD.
The 50K is additional price, for guarrantee to get one in 3 months. Otherwise, you could expect to have one in… 100 years.
Now with 350K RMB,
one of my friends got a Nio ONE, and it’s bigger than Range Rover, with all the equipment you want. Tiguan on the other hand is just a compact or A-class SUV, which is based on Golf.
My father got a Changan Deepal SL03 with 20K USD.
It’s 4820mm×1890mm×1480mm, a proper VW B-class sedan.
Even the most standard Passat Hybrid in China costs 29K USD.
SL03 has EV range of 165KM, comparing to Passat’s 52.
SL03’s tire is 245/45R19, Passat is 215/55R17.
SL03 has Lane Departure Warning System as default, which for Passat is a selection.
SL03 has driver fatigue detection system, which Passsat doesn’t.
SL03 also has door opening warning, rare collision warning, internal driving recorder, and rescue calling system.
SL03 has a 360 degree camera system while Passat has only rare view camera.
The L2 assistant driving system is default in SL03, but an option for Passat.
SL03’s trunk cover is electric.
SL03 has bluetooth and NFC key, and support keyless entree for all 4 doors. Passat has only a remote key, and only the front doors can be opened keylessly.
SL03’s main screen is 14.6 inches, Passat’s is 9.2 inches.
SL03‘s shift is electric, Passat’s is mechanic.
SL03 has AR-HUD and wireless cellphone charging, which Passat doesn’t.
The only thing which 29K Passat doing better than 20K SL03 is probably the seats. Passat has geniuen leather, while SL03 is man-made. However, SL03’s front seats have cooling and heating, while Passat can only heat front seat.
With less money, Chinese are now able to get much much more from local brands.
We may not earn much more, but the cars are much cheaper now, and they are better.
Because of the overwhelming pressure, international brands also put down their prides and started to offer more equipment with lower prices in China.
And Chinese cars start to have advantages:
When other brands are still trying to make their auto-parking system more usable in real situations, Huawei already has cars which can park themselves without people staying around.
And they can pick you up at where you left the car when you finished your business.
This auto-parking system not only works in smart parking lots, but can also manually scan regular parking lots and achieve almost the same function.
This Huawei Luxeed S7 is only 35K USD.
Also, Huawei’s auto-driving system is almost road ready. It doesn’t only work good on highways, but also very good in chaotic downtown areas.
This is because China managed to dramatically lowered the price of laser radar, which used to cost 10K USD each when it was made in the US. Now in China, one car may have 3 or 5 of them and still is cheaper than its European competitiors.
A VW ID3 costs less than 20K USD in China. In Europe, it’s 40K EURO, which is around 44K USD. So is the BYD Seal, which the Chinese price is about half of European price.
It’s the same in other regions.
Active electronically scanned array, which is the core of US Navy’s Aegis Combat System.
Most countries don’t even have the ability to develop a AESA.
Meanwhile in China, it’s widely used in agriculture.
DJI T40, an agricultural drone with AESA and dual eye-sight system.
Infiwave/InfiRay S5000 surveilliance radar. It’s able to monitor man or animals in 10KM radius, and vehicles in 12KM radius. The whole system is only 15KG, plug and play, and support one bottom start. Even a total amature could use it.
In China it says this to be used to monitor boars, to prevent them from damaging the crops.
The massive manufacturing of China also benefits people in a daily basis.
25 of such windproof disposable lighter costs 24.98 RMB in Taobao, which is 0.14 USD each.
Whole selling could be cheaper.
How much does such a lighter cost in your country?
WHY MEN NEED SEX ? (why should sex be non-negotiable)
What was the cruelest rumor you’ve heard about another kid when you were in school?
There was that girl that had been lonely all her life. People, especially in school, disliked her because she was “strange”, “a nerd”, “too quiet” and just “different”.
One day she decided to talk to her teachers during the breaks instead of trying to fit in where she didn’t. She always acted older than her age and her teachers liked her, so they usually didn’t send her away, but had a friendly chat with her ever so often instead.
By tenth grade, she had almost developed some kind of friendship to a few of her teachers. When she got the “strictest teacher of the school” as her major course teacher in grade eleven, it took her mere weeks to find out that he actually wasn’t so strict at all.
They talked for at least half an hour after the lessons. About science, about our society, the people in school and whatever came to mind. Those two thought quite alike, despite an age difference of 34 years, and the girl now almost a woman could for the first time in years really live her passion for learning. Her teacher was highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, having not only written a dissertation in the past and worked in research for years but also being interested in a broad spectrum of topics.
Well, doesn’t sound so bad, now does it? So what happened?
Well, because teenagers are teenagers, it took about half a year for people to start whispering about the girl and her teacher. It started off lightly, she was still strange and why would she even talk to him?
But a few months after that, some people thought it to be funny to make up a non-existent romantic relationship between teacher and student. Despite that girl having been very close to other teachers before, but now that it was a male teacher, it suddenly was completely different. Because people of opposite gender can’t just see each other as friends, right? They just have to be in love to even think about talking to each other.
A less than funny “joke” became something way bigger. After two weeks, all of the 1600 students knew about this. And most didn’t know that it was a joke. People were laughing and pointing at her, throwing insults at the girl for something that never happened.
Finally, after about three months of dealing with it alone, she had the heart to tell her teacher. They decided to never talk to each other outside of class again, to prevent the teacher from getting problems with the school. While it was just a rumour, that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t lead to problems.
Both of them lost a friend on the day they made this decision. And the student lost a person she saw as a second father – her father barely ever was at home and her teacher had been one of three people (the other ones being her best friend and a female teacher she knew since fifth grade) she ever fully trusted. It might not have been cruel at the first glance, but it hurt her in more ways than the others students could’ve ever imagined.
That girl was me.
If Walter White had a Cat
This is amazing! Enjoy the laugh for all you “Breaking Bad” and cat fans out there.
What is your opinion about Chinese missiles filled with water for fuel claimed by American intelligence as the reason for purging top Chinese officials? Is it true?
Credit to Bora Tas for digging this out. US intelligence is now all propaganda and non-experts.
The Chinese idiom for taking kickback type of fraud is “injecting water”. The idiots in the US intel thought this was literally injecting water. They had no idea that Chinese ICBMs use solid fuel rockets. So there is nothing to inject water into. (Edit: I was born in Taiwan. According to Liner AI, “The Chinese idiom “注水” translates to “fraud” or “to adulterate with water,” often used to describe the act of diluting or adulterating something for fraudulent gain.”
US intelligence should have realized that something was wrong with the translation instead those morons gave it to MSM as news. You have to ask yourself, how can the entire intelligence department on China makes this mistake. And no one realized that Chinese missiles use solid fuel.
And now the Chinese are laughing themselves to death because the US is just a joke. Even the intelligence is clueless. They are too cheap to hire people that actually speak Chinese and understand Chinese culture.
周深 Charlie Zhou Shen《Unstoppable》
What is a split-second decision you made that changed your life?
I owe the rest of my life to one last moment decision I made.
To better explain the gravity of my decision, I must firstly give you some information on my background.
You see, when I was younger I went to one of the worst schools the world has to offer. We didn’t have proper English education, we lacked the access to the Internet, the school couldn’t afford to buy desks and some classes didn’t even have windows. Welcome to Turkish public education.
Before you get the wrong idea, I must admit something. I didn’t go there because we couldn’t afford to send me somewhere better. I wanted to go there because my family taught me the idea that being used to living on the bare minimum would always best prepare me for life. I trusted them.
I spent eight years there, always working hard, and always doing my best.
In Turkey, students sit one centralized exam at the end of 8th grade, which determines the high school they can go to. Because the student population of the country is incredibly high, this exam is bone breakingly competitive. A single question wrong is the equivalent a death sentence. As a result, candidates woke up early to study, and fall asleep at night, again studying. There is no room for complacency.
Up until and during 8th grade, everything seemed to be going perfectly well. I was almost guaranteed to get 100% from the exam, against all odds.
Weeks before the exam, something catastrophic happened.
My father, who is a well known intellectual in Turkey, was arrested by the Islamic government on charges of criticizing the religion. This devastated me.
For weeks, I couldn’t study. Hell, I couldn’t even go to school. Being in a school like mine in a country like Turkey has a serious downside, you see. People are horrible. The day after my father was arrested, everyone, including the teachers and the principal directly said to me that my dad deserved what was coming for him. To them, questioning Islam was a sin. I was entirely torn, lost and disoriented.
Consequently, when the day of the exam came, I messed up. I totally messed up. I did my best but all I gained was a top 5% mark. And believe me, I am not being a nerdy attention seeker. The educational gap in Turkey is massive. You either go to a world class high school with top professors and tutors, or to a building full of illiterate and religiously biased classmates and teachers. Unfortunately, 5% would get me into the latter. I was done.
Later, the idea that I could go abroad appeared to me. And so I looked up tens of different schools in tens of different countries, and I applied to around 50 of them. The problem was, I didn’t speak English and it was already May. I had missed all deadlines by months. Only five responded at all, and I was turned down by all of them.
One last time, I went online to find a school. I came across a school called Stewart’s Melville College. I was completely shocked by the school. It looked like it came straight out of Harry Potter, and it was in Scotland. Well, I didn’t speak English, and my former education had been taught in a hellhole, so I realized I stood no chance at entering this school.
However, I thought I would send an application anyway. I filled my name and my details, and right as I was pressing “send”, I realized that there was a £60 application fee. I would never pay that for such a long shot. I could buy 60 Snickers bars for that! And so I exclaimed, “oh, nevermind mom, there is an application fee” and I closed the website.
However, my mom didn’t agree. She told me to do it. I said no. She wouldn’t change her mind.
And so I placed my application.
Surprisingly, they replied.
They would send over the entry exam to a local school in Turkey where I would sit it under supervision.
When news of this came, I spent every moment of the four days I had into learning a bit of English. I worked day and I worked night.
When the day came, I took the exam. The English half was impossibly difficult. However I absolutely aced the maths and the verbal reasoning.
A few days later, I received the long awaited e-mail. This was it. It was my last hope. It was either this or a life wasted.
I opened the e-mail.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I had been accepted.
I guess the people working for Stewart’s Melville saw that I was willing to give everything I had for the opportunity of studying with them, and this was enough.
I thank them every day for this. I went from studying in a Third World public school into studying in the most beautiful place in the world. Without exaggeration, these people saved my life. For the first time in life, I am truly happy.
Fast forward four years and unfortunately, my father is still in prison, but I have been saved. Life gave me a golden opportunity, and I will never let go of it.
Because in the last four years, I have been given a real challenge. A real goal to strive for. In the last four years I have been taught to be independent. I have learned how to speak English, and finally I’m in a place where we are given real education.
So yes, my life was changed at the last moment for the price of 60 Snickers bars. Knowing what I know, I would have given a hundred times that.
I study in one of the best high schools in the world, and I am incredibly proud of it.
Sorry for the long post, but this is the story of my life.
This is what is happening all over the USA…
What are some ridiculous psychological facts about human beings?
Here are some short and somewhat ridiculous psychological facts about humans:
1. The average person spends approximately six months of their life waiting for red traffic lights to turn green.
2. Studies show that people are more likely to believe something is true if it’s written in bold font.
3. The fear of running out of phone battery is so common that it has been given the name “nomophobia.”
4. Research suggests that people are more likely to remember information if it is presented in the form of a catchy song or jingle.
5. The phenomenon known as “earworms” refers to when a song gets stuck in your head and plays on repeat, sometimes for hours on end.
6. Studies have found that people are more likely to trust someone wearing glasses, even if they have no expertise in a particular field.
7. The average person will spend about six months of their life searching for misplaced items, such as keys or glasses.
8. Research has shown that people are more likely to remember dreams that are in color compared to those that are in black and white.
9. According to studies, people are more likely to make impulsive purchases when they are hungry.
10. Research indicates that people are more likely to find others attractive if they are in a high-arousal state, such as on a roller coaster or during a scary movie.
Would a person ever transfer offices because of feelings for a coworker?
I’ve seen this happen before.
My final job was at a company called Power Design. Our office had the nickname, Power Divorce, because so many office romances would pop up between coworkers. They primarily hired young and attractive people. And when you are working in close proximity all the time, staying late at the office—it’s deceptively easy for feelings to develop.
And all it takes is one simple question, “Want to get a drink after work?”
Then you are both going to a hotel that night, or to someone else’s home while the spouse is gone.
I’ve heard of several instances of employees being moved because of a crisis at their home, and an ultimatum given that meant either this high performing employee left the company, or moved to a different location—away from the person they’d fooled around with.
Who needs fiction when real life is just as interesting.
Bohemian Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzle
Ingredients
- 3 pounds chicken with skin, cut in pieces
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 teaspoons Hungarian paprika, divided
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 cups water + 3/4 cup
- 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream (2 cups)
- 1/4 cup flour
- Spaetzle or other dumplings
Instructions
- Sprinkle chicken on all sides with salt and paprika. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven. Add chicken. Sauté until golden. Turn chicken, add onion, and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons paprika. Simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.
- Add 2 cups water and cook slowly covered until tender. Remove chicken; keep warm. Whisk together sour cream, 3/4 cup water and flour until smooth. Gradually add sour cream mixture to broth. Stir over low heat until sauce is thickened. Add paprika as desired. Return chicken.
- Keep on low heat, uncovered until serving time.
Makes 8 servings.
What have you learned from your life till now?
- Everybody has a chapter they don’t read aloud.
- The fish is killed by its open mouth.
- Problems end up in the the hospital, prison or the morgue. Everything else is just an inconvenience.
- If you don’t heal what hurt you, you will bleed on people who didn’t cut you.
- Let go or be dragged.
- Let go of what doesn’t serve you to make space for what does.
- The road of life if paved with flat squirrels that couldn’t make a decision.
- Every dollar you spend is a vote for the kind of world you want to live in.
- You cannot have a rational argument with an irrational person.
- If you live off people’s compliments, you’ll die from their criticism.
- Normal is just a setting on the washing machine.
- Worrying is a waste of your imagination.
- You don’t notice your progress in life because you are always raising the bar.
These Eerie and Scary Glitches Will Creep You Out
Every day when I leave, my boss says, “Leaving already?” Today I replied, “I did my 8 hours” and he says “Well, you are salaried”. I do my work, don’t use my computer for anything other than work, and also work from home. What’s his deal?
I had a clock watcher boss one time. I routinely came in early and usually stayed late. I worked weekends when necessary, and usually racked up 50–60 hours per week. One day I came in early as usual. I finished a project I had been working on, and it was about 4:45 pm. Quitting time was 5:00 pm. I decided to leave a few minutes early for a change. I was walking past my boss’ office when she looked at me and made a snide remark about “bankers’ hours”. I walked into her office and politely asked her if she wanted me to adhere strictly to the regular times. I told her I would do so in future. Two weeks later, she called me into her office and asked why something was not finished yet, and when would she have it. I politely told her that since I was no longer working 50 hour weeks, she would have to wait a little longer for things to be done. After that, we agreed that I could keep my own hours.
Have you ever told a ridiculous lie just to see how someone would react?
My ex-husband liked to do this and was pretty good at it. I would often ruin it though as I couldn’t keep a straight face. We were in Walmart one time near the back of the store, he in one aisle and I was in the next one over. I overheard him telling a sales associate that he’d seen a cat run by and that she’d better notify management right away. I heard her thank him and then saw her hurry off to the front of the store. A few minutes later, we were in the hunting and fishing aisle and an associate rushed up and grabbed a large fishing net. My ex asked him what he was going to do with it and he said, “there’s a cat loose in the store, and I’m planning to catch it!” As he turned to walk away, he yelled, “look, there it goes!” and took off running. We looked at each other bemused and then burst out laughing. Once we had everything we needed, we headed to the checkout. While the cashier was ringing up our stuff, she said, “did you hear that there is a cat loose in the store?” My ex told her that he’d seen it earlier and she excitedly shared that she’d seen it as well while on her break and that this was the most fun she’d ever had while at work.
Fenikia
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup peanut oil
- 1 cup butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 jigger brandy
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3 cups flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Dash cinnamon
- Dash ground cloves
- Chopped walnuts for garnish
Syrup
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 pound honey
- 1 lemon, sliced or 1 orange, sliced
Instructions
- Cookies: Heat oil and butter over low heat until butter is melted and mixture is hot. Remove from heat and stir in water and brandy. Cool.
- Stir in beaten eggs.
- Sift together flour and baking powder with the tablespoon each of cinnamon and cloves. Add to liquid mixture to make a dough that is not too soft. Add a little more flour if necessary. With floured hands shape dough into ovals and indent lengthwise with thumbs.
- Combine chopped walnuts with sugar and dash each cinnamon and cloves. Put 1 teaspoon of this filling into the indentation in the dough and close dough over filling. Place on cookie sheets and bake in a 400 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.
- Dip cooled cookies into hot syrup and place on racks to drain. Decorate with chopped walnuts.
- Syrup: Combine above ingredients and boil for 5 minutes.
Makes about 6 dozen small cookies.
What is the weirdest thing you have experienced in 2023?
I am 70 and a retired.former Apple engineer who now lives in Texas. I was visiting my son and his family in the LA-area in southern California over Christmas break in December 2023. Having finished that I was at the airport security line getting ready to fly with my wife to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit my daughter’s family. I didn’t feel all that well, but thought I just had a minor cold. The next thing I knew I was in the back of an ambulance with my wife sitting next to me on my way to St. John’s hospital in Santa Monica. One minute I was in a line the next I was in the ambulance. (That was really weird!)
They soon diagnosed me with a relatively serious case of the COVID virus. I was promptly put into an isolation room at the hospital and was visited by doctors and nurses occasionally in lightweight hazmat gear to check up on me. Two days later the doctor told me that he was going to release me to self-isolate. He told me that if I hadn’t had my vaccines and boosters up to date that probably wouldn’t be happening. It seems my body had a strong enough immune system due to the vaccines to allow me to recover relatively quickly. I would be a dead man without them.
I spent up until January 3, 2024 in my son’s back bedroom by myself until I no longer tested positive for the virus. And, then I flew back home with my wife on a long flight first to Seattle, WA and then to Austin, TX. That was the best we could do on short notice. I never did get see my daughter, her husband and the other two of my five grandchildren. And, then, of course, my wife caught COVID too. She, however, just got a slight fever, headache, and a cough and is now clear of the virus. She too was fully vaccinated.
Isn’t it weird how this damn virus can practically kill one person even if they are relatively healthy and leave another person with just minor symptoms. That, in itself, is the weirdest thing of all.
The year 2023 ended badly for me. Good riddance! I hope you all fared better than I did.
Something is up with the site.
The sidebar is shunted down and unscrollable, and there are bad syntax errors on the top of the page.