The holiday season has begun and everyone is already in a vacation, planning for a vacation or trying to catch up with friends and family whom they have not met in ages. This part of the year is the most welcomed phase as there are parties almost everyday. It’s so much fun. Yes, it is. The festive season is shown everywhere with fine-looking décor. As we all know, parties and liquor goes hand in hand most of the time. If it does not, it can only be a kid’s birthday party.
I have a few suggestions for the party freaks. Primary objective should be is to being safe and make sure the people we hang out with are also safe. I am not a road sign board to say “Don’t drink and drive” but we need to find out alternatives to reach home safely. How many times have you got up the next morning to think how did i reach home last night? Did I drive, which route I choose, did I drop my friend Sam or how did Sam reach home. These are the FAQ’s we have the next morning. I know what questions you have for me. How do you know and have you experienced this yourself. Yes, I have experienced this a million times and so do you.
Make sure you are well hydrated even before drinking and try to hydrate yourself in-between so that your next days hangover is tolerable. If you still have a severe hangover, lime salt and sugar would be my first choice. Please don’t gulp it like how you did your previous evenings beer. There is something called SIP. Try to sip your lime juice and that could be of great help.
Don’t hesitate to waste your drink if you are unable to so that you are not wasted to the maximum. Do not mix too much new variety and remember there could be a bigger cocktail the next morning or maybe the same night. It’s always better to eat some snack along with a drink and that helps a lot.
I am sure you must be thinking why the hell is this guy telling things which I already know. “Drink responsibly” is a more practical approach towards life than trying to say “Don’t drink” or “Don’t drink and drive”. I have found these two phrases really annoying. So let’s get practical. Wish you all a safe and happy new year and a wonderful holiday season.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Toll roads
This post is in context with Chennai and might not be true for other cities and countries. Some of the important roads in the exterior parts of the city are being converted into toll roads. The express IT highway is also converted into a toll road. These roads are really well maintained since these are maintained by a private contractor and have stipulated contractual obligation to be met. Lot of Indians living abroad was stunned by the quality of the roads and that these were in comparison with international standards. Thanks to the arrival and acceptance of this new concept.
There are a lot of factors that need to be considered. The traffic congestion is one important aspect. Toll road requires a payment of fee by the passing vehicle either by cash or by a smart card. That too with the weird denomination of money they collect in the toll roads, it can only cause traffic jam. If the road which is tolled has a high density of traffic, it might cause traffic clogging due to the toll collection plaza. Think of the highly indisciplined drivers including me, all you can expect is a mess. In days where highways are traffic jammed, think of a toll booth that stops every vehicle for a payment.
The peripheral roads leading to the primary toll road also have a toll booth for those joining the main road. This is the best. The road is less than a hundred meter with a two lane toll stall. A bus needs to squeeze in those lanes. Especially with the advent of highly inexperienced drivers, I am sure the toll plaza concrete would need a repair every fortnight. Guess what. Even before you pass that tiny little gate, you have a human marketing barricade who tries to give some application for those smart cards. Thank God I was driving and not my wife, she would have killed that guy as she doesn’t know to brake.
I am one of those who prefer toll roads since I use them rarely for getting out of the city. But think of those who have their home or office that requires daily passage. The first question they would be asking is, where are the road taxes going, where are the damn thirty percent of my income going. Isn’t it the responsibility of the government to maintain these roads? Why should I be paying a toll fee daily?
There are a lot of factors that need to be considered. The traffic congestion is one important aspect. Toll road requires a payment of fee by the passing vehicle either by cash or by a smart card. That too with the weird denomination of money they collect in the toll roads, it can only cause traffic jam. If the road which is tolled has a high density of traffic, it might cause traffic clogging due to the toll collection plaza. Think of the highly indisciplined drivers including me, all you can expect is a mess. In days where highways are traffic jammed, think of a toll booth that stops every vehicle for a payment.
The peripheral roads leading to the primary toll road also have a toll booth for those joining the main road. This is the best. The road is less than a hundred meter with a two lane toll stall. A bus needs to squeeze in those lanes. Especially with the advent of highly inexperienced drivers, I am sure the toll plaza concrete would need a repair every fortnight. Guess what. Even before you pass that tiny little gate, you have a human marketing barricade who tries to give some application for those smart cards. Thank God I was driving and not my wife, she would have killed that guy as she doesn’t know to brake.
I am one of those who prefer toll roads since I use them rarely for getting out of the city. But think of those who have their home or office that requires daily passage. The first question they would be asking is, where are the road taxes going, where are the damn thirty percent of my income going. Isn’t it the responsibility of the government to maintain these roads? Why should I be paying a toll fee daily?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Myopia and still wana be cool
There are so many million people who have a corrected vision from childhood and I am one of those. When I first started wearing my spectacles, all I would attempt for is to try removing my spectacles at the first possible go. I was constantly monitored by my parents to wear my specs. This was in 4th class when I was hardly 10 years old. As time passed, I slowly started feeling at ease.
I have a cousin who used to wear a new spectacle every month or may be even every week as he used to break his spectacles more often than anyone in this world would break. I used to feel so jealous for the fact that he got a new spectacle every month. I was so innocent or may be so dumb that I did not realize it is so effortless to break a spectacle when you are not in anyone’s vision. Even i could have had a new piece every month.
The next stage is when I started wearing a glass which is termed “day night glass” which used to turn brown when under sunlight. I was under a truly false impression that it was looking cool on me. Now I realize that I looked like one nut case when I was wearing that. This was when I used to wear a plastic or a carbon coated frame. The carbon coated frame is even funnier. It neither looked brown, or orange or red. Its one really stupid color. Thank God I stopped wearing these plastic frames.
The next funny stage was when I moved into metal frames. I can never imagine a metal silver colored frame with a so called “Day-night glass”. Don’t even try to imagine how it would look. It looked comical. This one had a spring on the side and all it is used for is for better flexibility. I was so excited about that. Just think how stupid I must have been.
Now I transform into a stage where I stopped trying something new. I would rather go in for something which looked simple and this was much better. At least I am not thinking that am looking damn cool. This is during my college days and I by now, I realized that plain glasses looked much better than any tinted ones. Ufff. Did it take so much time to understand this. Now I wanted to do something even messy. I tried the contact lens and its one real pain. Don’t even try unless your Girl Friend would reject you. I would suggest you rather breakup. Removing lens at night especially after you are smashed is very annoying. Don’t even try. I soon got back to my glasses and it’s much comfy.
I was quiet for a couple of years, not trying anything funny. Now it’s a time when I should not try anything new and luckily I went in for a simple frame that was rim-less. This is for my wedding and just went in for the red-eye elimination for the photo flashes. Yes. It worked and it helped. Again, I was quiet for almost 3 years and now I went in for my optician’s new showroom inauguration. I surely wanted to buy something since he has opened his new store.
I am one of those who always went crazy for sun-glasses. Here I am referring to the proper ones and not those damn bloody “day-night glasses”. I would have tried sun glasses a million times when ever I see them in a store. But when I wear them, I go more blind than I would normally be when I am without glasses. The reason being its made my vision dark and am already quarter blind. Since I could not pick a good frame in the inauguration of the store, I asked my optician if I can get a sun glass done for myself with my power correction in it. He was very optimistic and I choose one of the coolers there and he managed to do one. It looked good when I went to collect the piece. Next day when I was driving to work, I wore that. I hardly wore that for 5 minutes and I stopped my car by the side to wear my normal spectacles. I did not want to spend a fortune on repairing my car since it was so dark when i was wearing them. I managed hard to wear them for 5 minutes. Now I realize that I don’t like sun glasses.
I have a cousin who used to wear a new spectacle every month or may be even every week as he used to break his spectacles more often than anyone in this world would break. I used to feel so jealous for the fact that he got a new spectacle every month. I was so innocent or may be so dumb that I did not realize it is so effortless to break a spectacle when you are not in anyone’s vision. Even i could have had a new piece every month.
The next stage is when I started wearing a glass which is termed “day night glass” which used to turn brown when under sunlight. I was under a truly false impression that it was looking cool on me. Now I realize that I looked like one nut case when I was wearing that. This was when I used to wear a plastic or a carbon coated frame. The carbon coated frame is even funnier. It neither looked brown, or orange or red. Its one really stupid color. Thank God I stopped wearing these plastic frames.
The next funny stage was when I moved into metal frames. I can never imagine a metal silver colored frame with a so called “Day-night glass”. Don’t even try to imagine how it would look. It looked comical. This one had a spring on the side and all it is used for is for better flexibility. I was so excited about that. Just think how stupid I must have been.
Now I transform into a stage where I stopped trying something new. I would rather go in for something which looked simple and this was much better. At least I am not thinking that am looking damn cool. This is during my college days and I by now, I realized that plain glasses looked much better than any tinted ones. Ufff. Did it take so much time to understand this. Now I wanted to do something even messy. I tried the contact lens and its one real pain. Don’t even try unless your Girl Friend would reject you. I would suggest you rather breakup. Removing lens at night especially after you are smashed is very annoying. Don’t even try. I soon got back to my glasses and it’s much comfy.
I was quiet for a couple of years, not trying anything funny. Now it’s a time when I should not try anything new and luckily I went in for a simple frame that was rim-less. This is for my wedding and just went in for the red-eye elimination for the photo flashes. Yes. It worked and it helped. Again, I was quiet for almost 3 years and now I went in for my optician’s new showroom inauguration. I surely wanted to buy something since he has opened his new store.
I am one of those who always went crazy for sun-glasses. Here I am referring to the proper ones and not those damn bloody “day-night glasses”. I would have tried sun glasses a million times when ever I see them in a store. But when I wear them, I go more blind than I would normally be when I am without glasses. The reason being its made my vision dark and am already quarter blind. Since I could not pick a good frame in the inauguration of the store, I asked my optician if I can get a sun glass done for myself with my power correction in it. He was very optimistic and I choose one of the coolers there and he managed to do one. It looked good when I went to collect the piece. Next day when I was driving to work, I wore that. I hardly wore that for 5 minutes and I stopped my car by the side to wear my normal spectacles. I did not want to spend a fortune on repairing my car since it was so dark when i was wearing them. I managed hard to wear them for 5 minutes. Now I realize that I don’t like sun glasses.
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