Crime, Crime, Crime

There is a town named Atherton in California.  Super rich people live in Atherton.  The average value of a home there is $4 million.  But I will not live there even if I could afford (some day) to buy a home.  Why?  I cannot not deal with the crimes in Atherton.  In USA, entries from police logs are published everyday in the local newspapers. Here are some entries from Atherton police logs.

All images – Source: distractify.com

Attempted Break-ins

Dangerous looking people at night

Terrorist activity

 

 Criminals destroying infrastructure

 Gang violence

Vandalism

 Armed assault

 Mother of all crimes

 Would you live in this crime ridden town?

PS: Made the clippings "extra large" so they are easy to read.

Liebster Award

WOW!

Looks like when it rains, it pours.  Good times for me.

I have been given the Liebster Award by three dear blogger friends.

 

Ekta

Ankita

Asha

 

Thank you Ekta. Thank you Ankita. Thank you Asha.

 

Instead of answering 30 questions, I have selected a few questions from each tag and have provided the answers below.  Enjoy!

 

1. What is the most irritating experience while blogging?

Ans: It irritates me when people do not reply to my comments.

 

2. Which famous personality would you like to bring back to life and why?

Ans: John F. Kennedy. 

Born into a multi-millionaire family. Volunteered to serve in the Navy during World War 2. 

He was the skipper of a torpedo boat which was destroyed by the Japanese Navy.  He and his crew of 16 were in the water (Pacific Ocean) for 3 days.  Single handedly he saved them all.  He was awarded the highest military honor for that.  Later, he became President of the U.S.A. 

Many in the world considered him as the great big hope for the mankind, however he was assassinated at a very young age. (During the 1962 Chinese aggression against India, India was losing and was no match for the Chinese army.  Kennedy sent the American troops to help India.  The Chinese withdrew immediately.)

 

3. Name your favorite cuisine/dish?

Ans: Pizza with pesto sauce…of course!

                                                                                                          

4. Name an actor you’d like to portray you in a movie about your life and why?

Ans: No doubt about it - Charles Bronson.  He was fearless in all of his movies.

 

5. What’s your motivational quote?

Ans: Don’t get mad. Get even.

 

6. How do you de-stress yourself?

Ans: Put my feet on the coffee table, have a glass of merlot and watch TV.

 

7. If a confused teenager came up to you asking for advice on what career choice to make. What would be your advice?

Ans: I would advise him of the importance of getting a college degree first.  I would also advise him to follow his heart after getting that degree.

 

8. One book/movie you would alter the ending of.  Please give reasons for your choice.

Ans: The movie is “Love Story” starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali McGraw.  The novel was written by Eric Segal.  The movie was 99 minutes long and at the end of the movie Jenny (Ali McGraw) dies.  There is not a single person who either saw the movie or read the novel who did not cry at the end.  She wanted to visit Paris and they were looking forward to it.  However, when she was diagnosed with cancer she said “screw Paris”.  She even spoke with her father and made funeral arrangements. I would have changed the ending so she can live and go to Paris.  There is a famous quote of hers from that movie.  “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”.

 

9. Describe yourself in three words

Ans: Honest. Gutsy. Extrovert. (I wanted to say extreme extrovert.  Since I have to say only 3 words, I took out the “extreme”).

 

10. How would you deal with a very rude but close relative?

Ans: Wait for the right time and do something good for him financially.  He will certainly change his behavior.  In other words, buy him.

 

Since most of the bloggers have been given this award, I am not tagging anyone.

 

Just one question.  Is it Liebster or Leibster?  I have seen it both ways in several blogs.

PS: I have no idea why some portions of this post is published with a white background.

Vacation

VACATION – one of my favorite words in any language.

 

We enjoy going on vacation quite a bit.  In fact, we try to make it happen more than once every year.  We do however make it a point to go on vacation by ourselves only. 

 

Our friends used to ask us to go on vacation with them or they wanted to come along with us.  We always politely refused their requests.  They got the message and now they don’t even bring up the subject of travelling with us.

 

I know there are many advantages to going on vacation with friends.  It’ll be a lot of fun with more people than just the two of us.  I believe the phrase is – “The more the merrier” right?  Yeah well, we still prefer to go by ourselves.

 

Here is my reasoning:

 

When we travel, we do not adhere to a pre-planned schedule while on vacation. Not every hour of every day is planned out and we don’t follow a strict schedule.   If we plan to leave the hotel at 8am to start our fun filled day, but we decided that morning that we are not in the mood to leave so early, then we will wait and relax in the hotel until we are ready to leave (whatever time that may be). Can’t do that if you’re travelling in a group.

 

When travelling somewhere people have different interests in what they want to see and experience and for how long.  If we go someplace and we absolutely love it there, then we will spend extra time there.  On the flip side, if we don’t like where we’re at then we will cut the trip short. Again, this may not be doable when travelling as a group.

 

Another issue could be the hotel and where to stay at while on vacation.  When we travel by ourselves, we can stay at any hotel that we like and not wait for the approval of our accompanying friends.  We may not like the hotel they prefer and vice versa. The same holds true for restaurants and the type of food that we want to eat while travelling.  Mexican or Italian or Chinese – no problem for us. Hey, once in a while we might not even want to go out for dinner.  Just order some room service and have an extra glass of merlot.

 

The bottom line is that when you travel with a lot of people you lose some flexibility.  That is a key ingredient for us while on vacation…because after all it is a VACATION right?  And you are planning on having a good time.  Without flexibility our vacation becomes less fun.

 

 

Don’t even get me started on the whole privacy thing when travelling with others. Is it really a good time when you have no privacy while on vacation? Now instead of just the two of you travelling, you have 4 other couples in tow with you.  Again, I’m sure this works for some people (and that is totally fine)…but we do place a premium on that.

 

Is it really a good time when you have 10 people trying to figure out what to do for dinner every night?  Of course there are always leaders and followers and stand firm decision makers…but at the end of the trip there will be 9 complainers.  Sometimes it’s already hard enough making TWO people come to an agreement on what to do, where to go, what to see, and where to eat.  Now when you add other people (albeit close friends) to the mix – forgetabout it!  It’s a recipe for disaster.  Many people hanging out together for waaayyy too long will surely put a strain on your relationship.

 

Hmmm, I do have some “friends” that I don’t want to be friendly with anymore. Maybe I will go on vacation with them so that I never have to see them again.