*From & To Sathish* - Thread 4 - Page 72

Varun, an IT professional working in Technopark, was finding himself with an upset stomach every night. While normal medical checks revealed nothing wrong in him, deeper probes revealed the reason – his stomach was collecting significant amounts of wax. And doctors identified the villian – the ordinary disposable paper cups he used for drinking his tea at his office pantry.

Disposable paper cups have become quite popular in office pantries due to the convenience it offers. What many overlook is the fact that these paper cups are coated with a tiny layer of wax, which is essential to prevent water from seeping into the paper. When very hot liquids are pour over this cup, the paper cups wax may disintegrate and a little may come off, which will promptly be sent along with the drink into our stomachs! While our body can discard minor amounts, over the long-term, it does become a problem.

So what can be done about it? You can try to bring your own glass cups. Glass is one of the least reactive materials in the world (remember acids are stored in glass vessels, blood samples are collected in glass plates – these are for a good reason). But glass does have the problem of breaking easily, so it requires good care. Ceramic cups are probably the best bet. Of course, you can also use your ordinary stainless steel glass, but never use plastic ones – they are harmful, and its dangers are even worse than wax !

Understanding Engineers #1

Two engineering students were biking across a university campus when

one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?"

The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday,

minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike,

threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what

you want."

The first engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice: The

clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway."

Understanding Engineers #2

To the optimist, the glass is half-full.

To the pessimist, the glass is half-empty.

To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

Understanding Engineers #3

A priest, a doctor, and an engineer were waiting one morning for a

particularly slow group of golfers. The engineer fumed, "What's with

those guys? We must have been waiting for fifteen minutes!" The

doctor chimed in, "I don't know, but I've never seen such inept golf!"

The priest said, "Here comes the greens-keeper. Let's have a word with

him." He said, "Hello George, What's wrong with that group ahead of

us? They're rather slow, aren't they?"

The greens-keeper replied, "Oh, yes. That's a group of blind firemen.

They lost their sight saving our clubhouse from a fire last year, so

we always let them play for free anytime!."

The group fell silent for a moment. The priest said, "That's so sad.

I think I will say a special prayer for them tonight." The doctor

said, "Good idea. I'm going to contact my ophthalmologist colleague

and see if there's anything she can do for them."

The engineer said, "Why can't they play at night?"

Understanding Engineers #4

What is the difference between mechanical engineers and civil engineers?

Mechanical engineers build weapons.

Civil engineers build targets.

Understanding Engineers #5

The graduate with a science degree asks, "Why does it work?"

The graduate with an engineering degree asks, "How does it work?"

The graduate with an accounting degree asks, "How much will it cost?"

The graduate with an arts degree asks, "Do you want fries with that?"

Understanding Engineers #6

Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don' t fix it.

Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet.

Understanding Engineers #7

An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him

and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess." He

bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn back into

a beautiful princess and stay with you for one week."

The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and

returned it to the pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a

princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want."

Again, the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back

into his pocket.

Finally, the frog asked, "What is the matter? I've told you I'm a

beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do

anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The engineer said, "Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a

girlfriend, but a talking frog - now that's cool."

Engineering

Two engineering students were standing at the base of a flagpole,

looking at its top.

A woman walked by and asked what they were doing.

We're supposed to find the height of this flagpole, but we don't have a ladder.

The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a couple of bolts,

and laid the pole down on the ground.

Then she took a tape measure from her pocketbook, took a measurement,

announced, "Twenty one feet, six inches," and walked away.

One student shook his head and laughed, "A lot of good that does us.

We ask for the height and she gives us the length!"

Both have since flunked out and are now serving in the U.S. Congress.

Albert Einstein's wife often suggested that he dress more professionally, when he headed off to work.

"Why should I?" He would invariably argue. Everyone knows me there."

When the time came for Einstein to attend his first major conference, she begged him to dress up a bit.

"Why should I?" said Einstein. "No one knows me there!

=======================================================

Albert Einstein was often asked to explain the general theory of relativity.

"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour," he once declared.

"Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.

That's relativity!"

=======================================================

One day while working in Princeton University, Albert Einstein forgot his home address when he was going back home. The driver of the cab did not recognize him.

Einstein asked the driver if he knows Einstein's home. The driver said "who does not know Einstein's address? Everyone in Princeton knows. Do you want to meet him?"

Einstein replied, "I am Einstein. I forgot my home address, can you take me there?

“The driver reached him to his home and did not even collect his fare from him.

=======================================================

Einstein was once travelling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn't find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn't there, so he looked in his briefcase but couldn't find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn't find it.

The conductor said, 'Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I'm sure you bought a ticket. Don't worry about it.'

Einstein nodded appreciatively.

The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, 'Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don't worry, I know who you are. No problem. You don't need a ticket. I'm sure you bought one.'

Einstein looked at him and said, 'Young man, I too know who I am. What I don't know is where I'm going. That's why I am searching my ticket"

=======================================================

At college Einstein fell madly in love with the only woman in his physics class, a dark and intense Serbian named Mileva Maric.

She served as a sounding board for his scientific ideas and helped to check the math in his papers, but eventually their relationship disintegrated.

Einstein offered her a deal. He would win the Noble Prize someday, he said; if she gave him a divorce, he would give her the prize money.

She thought for a week and accepted.

Because his theories were so radical, it was seventeen years after his miraculous outpouring from the Patent office before he was awarded the prize and she collected!

=======================================================

THE COSMIC TRUTH! LIFE IS LIKE RIDING A BICYCLE. TO KEEP YOUR BALANCE YOU MUST KEEP MOVING!

--Albert Einstein, in a letter to his son Eduard, February 5, 1930

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.

They say that nobody is perfect, then they say that practice makes perfect. I wish they'd make up their minds.

Perfect, Perfection is in my own humbly honest opinion are simply a myth that is pounded and seared into our minds from a young age.

" Do your best" now that seems to be more like it and at least sounds decently reasonable for me.

Perfection is a state in constant flux and whose parameters and standards are always being moved away from you and always seem to be just out of reach. So near and yet so far.

Now, well set in my career as an actor ( courtesy Venket), I do my best to give my best each and every time I am facing the camera and regardless of my position.

The reason is that each and every scene and shots have others in the foreground, and you obviously are pushed to the background or to the extreme edge of the frame that is composed by the Cameraman.

Television acting teaches you a lot and the first of that lot is patience and innovation. Innovation by itself comes from self-motivation and when you constantly strive to push to do better, better and try out something different even if it is mocked or falls flat or simply does not work out for that particular shot.

Being in the center of cinema through acting,and sitting and watching cinema with the audience in a multiplex is a joy for me for I don't watch the film just for the sake of it but sadly and to the horror of my wife, I constantly keep telling what is wrong with a scene, what is going to happen and how it is going to be presented.

Needless to say that most of my rather irritating info falls on a rather deaf and dead face of my pondatti who sometimes does smile sweetly and tells me to ' S..T T.E F..K UP'. Not in words but hey, come on, I do read eyes unlike some who read lips.

Sometimes, when a co-actor or director says ' Super, perfect take' I smile and bow and then in a span of minutes will have found a dozen faults in the very take that was deemed perfect.

It is only lately, that I have realized that there is only so much one can do at that given time and with that given information although in hindsight we think and know for sure that we could have done things differently and in a much better way.

But, that is life isn't it, my fellow travelers. We have just a little amount of time called life and that ranges anywhere from one minute to 100 or more years and some come out already dead.

Take the Solar system that has been proved to be nearly 4.5 billion years old and it is still evolving and is still on some unknown journey to an unknown destination.

Take the universe itself that has been proved to be more than 13 to 14 Billion years old and is still evolving and seems to have a looooooooooooooooooooooong waaaaaaaaaaay to go yet.

God, our short lives and then you have these billions of years on the other side.

So, you see, perfection can never be attained and is just a myth.

But the striving, the journey, the efforts to reach the myth is a good one and is the only one that is the true voyage.

When people that I love very much and hold dear to my soul tell me ' Sat, take it easy da. Don't be so hard on yourself and don't judge yourself so harshly?'

I smile and tell myself ' But this is all the life I have as Satish and who knows what next?'

If I don't ask now, then when? If I don't talk and question now, then when?

Why doctors also need to attend Anger Management course?

A woman comes running to the doctor shouting and screaming in pain "Please doctor, you've got to help me. I've been stung by a bee."

DOCTOR: "Don't worry; I'll put some cream on it."

WOMAN: "You will never find that bee. It must be miles away by now."

DOCTOR: "No, you don't understand! I'll put some cream on the place you were stung."

WOMAN: "Oh! It happened in the garden where I was sitting under a tree."

DOCTOR (in anger): "No, no, you IDIOT!

I mean on which part of your body did that bee sting."

WOMAN (still screaming in pain): "On my finger! The bee stung me on my finger and it really hurts."

DOCTOR (banging his fist, abusing and shouting):"Which one?"

WOMAN (innocently): "How am I to know? All bees look the same to me."

Jannal Oram 362

Maybe, the reason he felt so little pain even though his body was injured in several places, was because of the all the pent up panic, anger, and anticipation as to what was going to happen next, Raman thought to himself and then he slowly turned towards the door as it was knocked on once, twice and thrice and Raman in a loud voice said ' Please come in ' and the blood drained from his face on seeing Kutty Jeeva scamper into the room and run up to him and stood there with both her hands raised towards him.

It hurt tremendously but still Raman bent down and slowly lifted Kutty Jeeva into his arms and both smiled at each other and then she kissed both his cheeks softly and asked in her American accented English ' Kutty Appa, First it was my Dad who got beaten up and now it is you who has been beaten up.'

The door opened and Bharat came in followed by Jeeva and everyone else and Raman looked at him and then with a teasing smile asked Kutty Jeeva ' Baby, you just called me Kutty Appa?'

Kutty Jeeva smiled and touched her tiny nose with Raman's ' Big daddy told me to call you Kutty appa and also told me that in case anything happens to him now or in the future, you and Jeeva mummy will look after me and I can stay with you both forever.'

Raman felt the pain and the burden of the child's words and he looked at her ' I promise you, baby, nothing bad will happen to you or to your dad or to any of us. It is going to be all right, you just wait and see.'

Looking at Bharat ' Enna aachu, I thought..'

Bharat shrugged ' we got the news while we waited in transit in London. So, i had to book tickets again from London to Chennai which was much easier than getting our luggage out from the first plane.'

He waved his hands ' Raman, forget all that. Tell me, how are you feeling for I heard some scary stories from Jeeva.'

Raman smiled ' goes with the territory I suppose Bharat. Then feeling guilty looked at him uneasily ' I am sorry that I couldn't save Mr.Vaidyanathan for it all happened too quickly.'

Kutty Jeeva ' Kutty appa, you mean that scary old man is dead and gone.'

Bharat hushed her in a chiding voice ' baby, that is your grandpa that you are talking about. Please be more respectful when you are talking about older people even when they are not around or gone forever.'

' Sorry dad, but I was never comfortable with him and he always seemed to be angry and upset with you and for no reason at all.'

Bharat gently lifted his daughter from Raman's lap and looking at her ' Jeeva, your Grandpa was a good man and he loved you and your mother very much. It as this love that he had for both of you that made him a bit cranky to be with but that does not take away all the good that was in him.'

He looked at Raman ' Mallika amma is all alone at home and there is a funeral that has to be done and I think it is time we left you alone and got going.'

Hearing the word Funeral, Raman could not help it and he burst out laughing and yet for all those who stood around him it felt that he was really crying.

Raman slowly got to his feet and grabbed Bharat's shoulder for support ' Sorry Bharat, I laughed because it is a Hat-trick and it started with Vijay's funeral, Mohan's funeral and is now going to end with Mr.Vaidyanathan's funeral and God knows how many are going to follow these three.'

He looked at Jeeva ' could you please get me some clothes to wear for I am going with Bharat and Kutty Jeeva.'

She looked at him and Raman said ' We cannot leave them alone, not now and not ever.'

General V.K.Singh looked at Raman ' You are leaving for the funeral or for protection duties?'

Raman angrily ' both for as of now they are one and the same. Don't you get it, sir? '

He looked at Jeeva, Kavita, his dad and mum, and Kamakshi, and Manigandan ' All of you please head on home while I go with Bharat and will join you later after it is all over.'

It was sometime early in 2008 when my mobile rang and the caller was not registered in my contacts and sadly no Tru caller back then to let you know who was calling, so I answered it.

The caller said ' Hello' and my mind registered it as not namma hello and by that I mean all the different Hellos that are in vogue and in daily use in nam naadu. But, that for another day.

This Hello was obviously from across oceans and since we all are so well versed with Hollywood films and know the huge difference between accents that are used in UK, USA, and Australia, I knew this was a gentleman from the States and so I replied ' yes.'

The caller introduced himself as Peter Yesley and asked if I was free for an audition that was taking place in Hotel Savera in a few day's time. He said it was for a film, an English film that he was planning to make in India and said that he had seen my pics in the film directory and thought that I would fit one of the characters.

My face contorted along with my body like that of Shivaji when he is talking to K.R.Vijaya in Thirisulam and I coughed or probably sneezed, wait squeaked ' okay.'

Two days passed and I parked my car and getting out, hopped, jumped, somersaulted towards the entrance and was shown to a large conference room and then all the gas and air went out and was like a pricked limp balloon for there were more than a dozen actors of both sexes and all huge names from the stage.

Stage means, actors who can spew, spit and probably f..t Shakespeare in their sleep or worse, even when lying in a coma and I was just an actor who had gotten and was getting by with Tamil ads and television.

My situation got worse and even the blood drained out of my body for most of them ignored me and some of them gave me a look that expressed clearly what they thought of actors from the other side and by that I mean tv and films.

I tucked my shrunk and skimpy tail and somehow managed to find a chair to seat my shivering legs and my eyes looked like a rat for an exit to scurry out.

Sadly, one exit and same entrance and the door opened and a tall American walked in and wished all of us a soft hello.

Glasses, casual clothes and he looked more like a research scientist and he turned out to be on.

His name was Peter S. Yesley, Ph.D.Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States. He was apparently some whiz kid in camera and special effects and the rest was a blur for me.

I went ' o..a m....u, unakku ethukku idhellam. Moodikittu, roja, sorgam, aanandham, Thirumathi selvam appadinnu serial pakkame irukka vendiyathu thaane. Un moonjikku, englishum hollywoodu vennuma.'

We were all given scenes and the part I was supposed to play was that of a funny side-kick to a Thug and so it started.

Maybe it was due to my years of experience or maybe it was my funny bone popping out via my gob or maybe I had soiled my pants but nevertheless a strangely funny voice from deep inside spoke the character and Peter looked at me and I grinned sadly and squirmed and mumbled ' I have a few more inside of me' and begged with my eyes quietly to not kick me out before everybody.

The reason for that was all the actors, stage actors were reading the parts like being in a Shakespeare play while I did it as if I was part of tom and jerry show.

Anyway, the horrible trauma came to an end and I ran for the door and getting into my car rushed back home and swore to myself ' never again pal.'

Months passed and then Peter Yesley called me and said that he was doing a trial run through a short film and wanted to know if I was willing and free and I again squeaked ' yes.'

But before he ended the call, he said ' you are the only that got selected from the audition. See you soon at the location.'

Well, in hindsight it was a bit of test run and this is the end result.

Short with very little money and we got paid pittance but my point here is, well you know what my point is and that is my humble thanks and salutations to my guru Nadigar Thilagam Shivaji Ganesan.

I give you both the videos in good faith and in clean humor and please don't fall down laughing while watching my guru act in this scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bEvYvv4cdU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9s6_jQ22N0

Mind & Body

Scientists Have Identified One Skill That Doesn't Deteriorate with Age

When Toni Morrison died on August 5, the world lost one of its most influential literary voices.

But Morrison wasn't a literary wunderkind. "The Bluest Eye," Morrison's first novel, wasn't published until she was 39. And her last, "God Help the Child," appeared when she was 84. Morrison published four novels, four children's books, many essays, and other works of nonfiction after the age of 70.

Morrison isn't unique in this regard. Numerous writers produce significant work well into their 70s, 80s and even their 90s. Herman Wouk, for example, was 97 when he published his final novel, "The Lawgiver."

Such literary feats underscore an important point: Age doesn't seem to diminish our capacity to speak, write, and learn new vocabulary. Our eyesight may dim and our recall may falter, but, by comparison, our ability to produce and to comprehend language is well preserved into older adulthood.

In our forthcoming book, "Changing Minds: How Aging Affects Language and How Language Affects Aging," my co-author, Richard M. Roberts, and I highlight some of the latest research that has emerged on language and aging. For those who might fear the loss of their language abilities as they grow older, there's plenty of good news to report.

Language Mastery Is a Lifelong Journey

Some aspects of our language abilities, such as our knowledge of word meanings, actually improve during middle and late adulthood.

One study, for example, found that older adults living in a retirement community near Chicago had an average vocabulary size of over 21,000 words. The researchers also studied a sample of college students and found that their average vocabularies included only about 16,000 words.

In another study, older adult speakers of Hebrew — with an average age of 75 — performed better than younger and middle-aged participants on discerning the meaning of words.

On the other hand, our language abilities sometimes function as a canary in the cognitive coal mine: They can be a sign of future mental impairment decades before such issues manifest themselves.

In 1996, epidemiologist David Snowdon and a team of researchers studied the writing samples of women who had become nuns. They found that the grammatical complexity of essays written by the nuns when they joined their religious order could predict which sisters would develop dementia several decades later. (Hundreds of nuns have donated their brains to science, and this allows for a conclusive diagnosis of dementia.)

While Toni Morrison's writing remained searingly clear and focused as she aged, other authors have not been as fortunate. The prose in Iris Murdoch's final novel, "Jackson's Dilemma," suggests some degree of cognitive impairment. Indeed, she died from dementia-related causes four years after its publication.

Don't Put Down That Book

Our ability to read and write can be preserved well into older adulthood. Making use of these abilities is important, because reading and writing seem to prevent cognitive decline.

Keeping a journal, for example, has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of developing various forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

Reading fiction, meanwhile, has been associated with a longer lifespan. A large-scale study conducted by the Yale University School of Public Health found that people who read books for at least 30 minutes a day lived, on average, nearly two years longer than nonreaders. This effect persisted even after controlling for factors like gender, education, and health. The researchers suggest that the imaginative work of constructing a fictional universe in our heads helps grease our cognitive wheels.

Language is a constant companion during our life journey, so perhaps it's no surprise that it's interwoven into our health and our longevity. And researchers continue to make discoveries about the connections between language and aging. For example, a study published in July 2019 found that studying a foreign language in older adulthood improves overall cognitive functioning.

A thread seems to run through most of the findings: In order to age well, it helps to keep writing, reading and talking.

While few of us possess the gifts of a Toni Morrison, all of us stand to gain by continuing to flex our literary muscles.

by Roger J. Kreuz

Roger J. Kreuz is an associate dean for the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Memphis.

Good morning. I wish you a beautiful day. All the best.

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,

Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,

Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.”

But, just do it.

You can be alone even when in a crowd. You can be alone even when surrounded by family and friends. You can be alone even when in the arms of your lover and are buried deep inside them. You can be lost and lonely even in broad daylight and when stuck in traffic.

But, just do it.

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

But, just do it.

“Come! Poor little heart! Be cheery and brave. We'll be a great deal to one another if we are thrown off and left desolate.” ― Elizabeth Gaskell

But, just do it.

The birth of Just do it

TO the list of great copywriters in advertising, add an unlikely name: Gary Gilmore.

Gary Mark Gilmore (December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he committed in Utah. After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes in the 1976 decision Gregg v. Georgia, he became the first person in almost ten years to be executed in the United States.

On the evening of July 19, 1976, Gilmore robbed and murdered Max Jensen, a gas station employee in Orem, Utah. The next evening, he robbed and murdered Bennie Bushnell, a motel manager in Provo. Although both men had complied with his demands, he murdered each of them. The young men were each ordered to lie down and then were shot in the head. Both were students at Brigham Young University; both left widows with infants.

During the time Gilmore was on death row awaiting his execution, he attempted suicide twice; the first time on November 16 after the first stay was issued, and again one month later on December 16.

Mr. Gilmore, the notorious spree-killer, uttered the words “Let’s do it” just before a firing squad executed him in Utah in 1977.

Years later, the phrase became the inspiration for Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign.

Whether you view it as an inspirational rallying cry or a bullying command, the slogan ‘Just Do It’ is hard to avoid in modern life. Accompanied by the familiar Nike swoosh, it appears on bags, T-shirts, and billboards all over the world. As a statement it sums up the sports brand: it is competitive, forceful, direct, as lean and powerful as the athletes that appear alongside it in Nike’s ads.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_iCIISngdI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHcWPVbDArU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8tzr608wA

A TRUE STORY

A STRANGER APPROACHED AN 8 YEAR OLD GIRL AT SCHOOL

AND ASKED HER TO GO WITH HIM.

HE TOLD HER SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED AND HER MUM HAD

SENT HIM TO PICK HER UP.

THE GIRL ASKED THE STRANGER FOR THE PASSWORD.

THE MAN GOT CONFUSED AND THE GIRL RAN AWAY.

SHE AND HER MUM HAD AGREED ON A PASSWORD IN CASE SHE

EVER HAD TO SEND SOMEONE TO PICK HER UP.

MAY BE THIS SAVED THE GIRL!

EVERY PARENT SHOULD READ THIS.