PayPal

For people who do not have a paypal account, I would recommend that they get one for making online purchases, etc. Especially good for merchants. So, if you are interested please join with through the banner below. Many thanks.
Sign up for PayPal and start accepting credit card payments instantly.
For all my myLot friends - I would like to share some advice that some of my friends on myLot told me about. I thought I'd share it with you, since it can really multiply your earnings on myLot. I have been informed that, when you post/reply to discussions, if you write at least six lines, you will be paid a higher amount for that, than if you were to just write one or two lines. If you can keep your sentences short, then six lines is not a lot ! So friends, try to keep this advice in mind for your future discussions and the money start to add up quicker than it was before.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Do you believe in free will?

    God is not only an all powerful being but also one of the best administrators. When he finally rolls up his/her sleeve and starts doing his/her work something is bound to happen. After giving it some thought it seems like he like to do a bit of meddling, poking, adjusting and sometimes a bit of forgiving. OK wait. What God really loves is just not meddling and poking and maybe forgiving, but also psychoanalyzing and scrutinizing and prying, gossiping and complaining and moderating, sighing and punishing and condemning, all while He/she shakes His/her big, shaggy head or finger in your general direction at your various petty sins and misbehavior's every single day regarding pretty much every single thought you have.

    This brings me to the topic of Free Will. We are all given something called Free Will/Choice by God. How we utilise it is up to us. by using our Free Will we end up making various kind of decisions in life....some good, some bad and others which are simply horrible. In the end of the day, life is basically just a sum of our choices and we should come to term with it so that we end up with a less troubled and comlicated life. When we finally do meet God at the end of our journey, I honestly do believe that he/she will judge us not by our high or low points but what the end result was. We basically end up getting a mixed bag when starting out in life and we simply have to deal with the daily events to the best of our ability. Free Will comes into play when we come at crossroads in our journey through life.

    Finally, at the end of our journey we realise that the only thing permanent is our soul/spirit. The physical form which we are so attached to is only for this plane of existance and we get our just rewards according to our actions in our present life. Some believe in reincarnation where we either get punished or rewarded in our next life or our present life is due to our actions in our previous life. How much control we do we really have in our life is entirely up to us. This is due to the fact that we have been given a decision making capability which helps us to make the choices which are either right or wrong are our own and so are the end results. Live life to the fullest and never carry any excess baggage in your journey through life. One must always do a bit of spring cleaning so that the junk doesn't collect up there and weigh us down heavily. Read more...

      Monday, July 20, 2009

      Packed home food or eating out?

        It is almost summer time here and it gets just too hot to go outside in afternoon for lunch so nowadays I usually decide to pack lunch daily for myself so that I can eat it during lunch at the office. I was packing it before but not on a regular basis. Sometime during the course of the year I just didn’t have enough time for preparing home food and neither did anyone else in the family. Everyone was caught up with something with their own thing in life.

        We mostly cook a wide variety of vegetarian dishes like: vegetables dishes, a variety of lentils dishes, rice and whole wheat items as they are easy to cook and carry in the Tiffin box. After a lot of trial and error, I finally managed to figure out that many simple vegetables could be cooked using Potatoes with a combination of Beans, Capsicum, Peas, Carrot with a bit of corn when it is in season. Nothing could be as sumptuous, healthy or delicious than home cooked food.

        You cannot get the taste of home cooked food from an outside outlet no matter how hard you try or even if you spend good amount of money, so I have learned to carry home cooked food whenever possible. On one of those hectic days or when I am feeling just too lazy, I opt for outside food. So now I want some easy and delicious recipes for my lunch box. You see, I am just out of recipe ideas as I am bored with the limited menu items at home. Could someone please suggest a few only vegetarian or non vegetarian recipes please? And do you carry your lunch box regularly to office or do you opt to eat out? Read more...

          Let's Connect

            It can be a bit tiring and boring for parents just sitting at home with their brood and doing nothing except watching the same old reruns on the TV set. This is usually the only option left at times for families as there are not many options left for outside activities. This is a hard times for parents as kids get bored very easily and something is needed to keep them occupied and physically active not only in order to keep them in shape but also to make sure that they become socially active and goal oriented.
            Well people now have a choice where they can not only plan out their activities according to their preferences but also preferred location. You see parents from around the US can install the widget and be able to be up to date with upcoming fun family events and activities in their area. The person, whose widget gets the most views, wins $1000. Fun Family Events and Activities are happening all the time. Install the ParentsConnect.com widget is a tool that helps parents discover what fun events and activities are available near them. Keep up to date on what is happening around you and know where, when and what is happening around you thanks to the widget. All that is required is that you need to have a either a blog, a social networking profile, etc and simply install the ParentsConnect widget on your page. Anyone who visits your page can then type a zip code into the widget to see what's going on in that area!
            This is one site worth trying out as it gives more options to families to plan out their activities on a planned manner. The lucky draw option is an added plus point as the lucky family can use it to really has a blast when they are outdoors having a time of their life. You must remember that you are required to install the widget yourself on your blog in order to avail the facilities offered by this really excellent site. So, hop on by and see where the action is happening.
            Post?slot_id=42017&url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark Read more...

              Friday, July 17, 2009

              How do you relax?

                For the last many days, I have been having another one of my writers block and couldn’t think of what to write. I had been sitting in front of this computer for what seemed like many hours and nothing seemed to come out no matter how hard I tried. My mind seemed like a blank slate. So, I had almost given up when I realized that the harder one tries at times to do what the thing in which they are having difficulty in, the more difficult it becomes to do. So I just it be and turned on some music and let my mind go into a free fall. It seems like music removes the bottlenecks in my mind and gets me thinking once more.

                Whenever possible I like to make some free time especially during the weekends for some serious rest and relaxation. It’s really not possible for me to get some R&R during the weekdays as my work schedule is just too hectic unless I plan it out a few days in advance. I guess everyone has their own way in which they unwind and not everyone uses the same method. The most commonly used methods which I use to relax during my free time are: Reading, music, movies, surfing the net, etc.
                Reading is one of my favorite past times since childhood. During my younger days, it used to be fantasy books. My fascination for Elves, Trolls, Dwarves, Dragons, Hobbits, etc have continued to fascinate me till these days. One of my favorite books during my childhood was the Hobbit series which I still like till today. Later on I moved on to science fiction/horror genre. The writers whose books/novels which I was constantly reading and fascinated by during this period were Mario Puzo (The Godfather & The Godfather Returns), Douglas Adams (The Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy), Most Stephen King novels (Cujo, Salems Lot, Everything Eventual, The Dark Tower series, Duma Key, Skeleton Crew), Ray Bradbury (Farenheit 451,Martian Chronicles), Clive Barker (Cabal, The Great & Secret Show, The Essential Clive Barker, The books Of Blood series), etc. These days it’s just about anything that catches my eye. At one time, I had a really large book collection. I had to trim it down to manageable level once my bedroom started filling up and the books started piling up in the hallway. It really saddened me to see a lot of these books go but it seemed like there was no other choice. Reading still is one of my favorite past times today as it has the ability to transport me to another world where my imagination can run wild.

                Music is another one of my hobbies which really helps me to relax and unwind after a long, hard and sometimes very stressful days especially when I am totally exhausted and I want to just sit there and unwind. Music is not just something I listen to every so often but it is a passion for me. Just like my reading habit, my music preferences have changed over a period of time. I think I started listening to anything that was playing on the radio and I don’t think I had any favorite one. The Top 40/Top 100 music seemed to be popular during the 80’s period. One radio station or another used to have at least one segment dedicated to it. Sometime during the early 1980’s one of my high school buddies introduced me to hard rock/metal music genre and there was no turning back for me. I think I started out listening to Jimmy Hendrix, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton, Doors, etc and over a period of time I discovered other groups which I discovered suited my music tastes. The only thing which has remained constant is my dislike for country music. Nothing personal but I simply cannot bear to listen to it for some reason. I distinctly remember that when I was growing up and if I needed to head off to head off to some distant part of Ohio, I sometimes used to run into certain areas/pockets where the radio stations used to play only country music. In these cases, I used to frantically such for any other station even if it was a Top 40 one.

                Movies have been one of my favorite past times for a really long time and I guess this particular category is the only one which has more or less remained constant over many decades. I have always liked the action, science fiction, horror. The only book/movie craze which I couldn’t understand and didn’t like very much was the Harry Potter series. Everyone it seems had gone overboard on this character and the Potter craze it seems has fizzled out as quickly as it had started. The earliest movies which I remember watching were: Gone with the Wind, Godfather, Splash and Pretty Women. In the years that passed by I watched many movies since I am a movie buff. The ones which I still like to this day are: Beetle Juice, Omen series, The Godfather series, Aliens/Matrix/Terminator series, Indiana Jones series, and the Back to the Future series. The movies which I have seen recently are: X-Men Origins Wolverine, Terminator 4 Salvation, Punisher - War Zone, Batman Begins, and Batman- The Dark Knight. All the movies which I have watched recently were really well made and action packed but I do feel that the Wolverine and the Batman series have deviated from the original character story line a bit. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy them but the movie makers should have followed the original comic character story line more closely in order to give a more true depiction. I especially like to watch the movies during the weekends when I have a few hours to spare. Sometimes I like to go back to my movie collection and watch something from the 80’s era if something worthwhile is not coming on one of the movie channel or no new movie releases have been announced.

                Surfing the net it seems helps me to divert my mind from the daily grind since it is a great entertainment device if used correctly. It not only helps me to interact with my buddies who are spread out through the world but also keeps me up to date on the news front. I guess the net is the only true interactive medium where one can get what they what and in a way they want it. All one needs to know is how to use the search engine and know what to look for. I especially like visiting YouTube to watch video of my favorite groups or watch movie trailers of movies which are about to be released. But most of the time I am found on sites like Multiply and Facebook where I am either posting something or playing a really addictive games and this helps me to destress myself. Read more...

                  Thursday, July 9, 2009

                  What blows your fuse?

                    As you all must have realized by now, life is a hard task master and it tries to make things as difficult for us as possible at certain times. These difficult times are real stress points that we encounter in life and certain points really blow our fuses.

                    There are quite a few things that really blow my fuse. For example:

                    •People who think that they are more superior/better than others or with overbearing personality.

                    •Just too many excuses. I'm so tired of hearing excuses all the time that if I hear a few more, I might just go bonkers. I can deal when people tell me that they did try their best yet failed, but I'm so tired of the “I can't” attitude of many able bodied people.

                    •Drawing conclusions about others without knowing much about the person at all. I have noticed that many people just love to go around and draw false conclusions from appearances, stereo type them into certain categories and judge them without even knowing what they are all about. That is just not fair at all.

                    •I really hate it when parents cannot discipline/control their kids. These days, the kids are so in disciplined and rowdy that I sometimes wonder what our future holds for us. Till about two decades back, I distinctly remember that that teachers/parents weren’t afraid to discipline kids who stepped out of bounds. Nowadays, it’s like if the kid gets out of hand, he/she usually gets away with a much lighter punishment then they actually deserve.

                    •Finally, what really ticks me off are all the rash, irresponsible drivers on the roads. It’s just not the young crowd, but the adults as well who act all aggressive and think that the public roads are their personal race track.

                    I am quite sure that as you go around with your daily routine, you will encounter certain situations which could have been handled more effectively by others. So tell me: What drives you up the wall when you are dealing with others? How do you deal with it? Do these situations really bug the hell out of you? Read more...

                      Saturday, July 4, 2009

                      Falling down and forgetting to get back up

                        Every one of us has gone through many trials through life. Sometimes we have succeeded in overcoming our problems. At other times we end up throwing our hands up in the air and admitting defeat. Each one of us have been ingrained with a certain types of attitude and mind set when it comes to dealing with certain types of situations. Some tend to give up the moment they see an unmanageable problem looming ahead while others dig in and find an appropriate solution.

                        I really do believe that almost every person who actually gave up trying to solve difficult situations in life always ended up in failure in life. A person is truly a winner if he or she never gives up in life and chases down each dream he has cherished in order to make it come true one day. Or else he will always have at the back of his mind the thoughts that would not allow him to be at peace with himself and he would be regretting his decision of refusing to get back up, stand tall and face every certain challenge ahead of him in a bold and assertive manner!! People who have the never say die attitude and are able to maintain this attitude in their life usually end up doing better in life than others.


                        Give it a little thought and tell me: Do you agree that falling down is not defeat and that the person who refuses to get back up and try again, is the one who has actually lost the battle? Have you ever tried doing something in life that you actually ended in giving up and not trying again to change what is not possible? Or have you slogged it out until you got yourself out of the mess? Read more...

                           

                          ss_blog_claim=64eb27d800bf9debb2e591ae98643281