Reflections On Another Year

To be honest I couldn't remember where I was on my birthday last year until I dug into my records and realised that the reason was probably because I was alone in Germany for work. The night was an uneventful one, spent at a hotel in Coburg. I guess the company bought me dinner though. But its always better to spend a birthday with at least one person that is truly important to you. This time I spent the evening with my friends John and Mel in Dashwood, so it was time well spent. Actually this birthday turned out really good, as I got a wonderful surprise in an email. Anyway, this seems like a good time to be introspective, and to ask how I've bettered myself.

Some good things I've done:

• Took my Professional Practice Exam with PEO, for my engineering license in Canada (no result yet, but I'm pretty sure I passed)
• Undertook significant new projects and management responsibilities at GM
• Bought my first major purchase: my car (which I have named "Ruby")
• Travelled so much my that I've almost been refused entry to some countries because of my tattered passport (my stats: 27 stamps, 10 of 20 pages used so far)
• Been to 2 new countries: Netherlands (I drove across the entire country), and Italy, to bring my count to 15, if I'm not missing any: Canada, USA, Dominican Republic, N.Ireland, England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, India, Japan
• Learned to speak German (understanding German is still difficult!)
• Drove a car the fastest I have ever personally driven anything (this was on the Autobahn)
• Became a Platinum member at the Marriott
• Started my blog
• Officially moved out of Toronto -- I'm now residing in Windsor
• Started swing dancing -- I'm no longer a beginner
• Joined my Jazz Quartet
• Finally wrote my first really good song
• Took my first real vacation in 3 years
• Visited my grandparents in my ancestral home
• Spent my first Christmas without any of the following: snow, cold weather, being in Canada, my parents

Important lessons I've learned:

• Don't forget to talk with the people you care about regularly
• Not deciding something is a decision in itself, and usually its a bad decision
• Work is important, but not the most important (I only put the second half of this into action recently)
• Accept your feelings, and don't suppress them
• Recognise when you've received a gift - It's too easy to fail to see the ones that are not wrapped
• Don't be afraid of love
• Confidence will greatly enhance your life

Now, to establish goals for the next year!

Daniel

There is Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

I was recently thinking about the struggle between fear and action. Sometimes, I find that when trying to make a decision, I put too much pressure on myself. I can convince myself that something I want to do must be arranged perfectly or else it will fail. But this is simply negative thinking. This is fear controlling me.

It is by doing the thing that we are afraid of that we can conquer our fears and pursue the great things that we wish for ourselves. And if it goes well, we learn much. And if it goes badly, we learn even more. I must constantly remind myself that I do not know exactly where my life will go. And I must remind myself that it is not necessary or good to know. In life, circumstances can change. People can change. Hearts can change. Climate can change. Everything can change at a moment's notice. How can we predict the way things must be or will be? It is almost foolish to try!

Things will never be exactly as I imagine them, so it is useless to pressure myself to choose certainty over uncertainty. Certainty simply does not exist. Life is a path that either you can choose, or your fear can choose for you. We can be our own worst enemies. If we have a chance to do something important, it can be so important to us that we are afraid to even try.

Maybe this stems from a fear of failure or inadequacy. We don't pursue the possibilities of so many greater things, because we create mental roadblocks for ourselves. It is so easy to remain in misery for which we refuse to take responsibility. But it is truly scary to admit that we cause the very fear which makes us unhappy. As Nelson Mandela said: "Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure." Have no regrets, but never make the same mistake twice. Fear and faith struggle against each other at all times. As humans, we would do well to understand, conquer and learn from our fears so that we can achieve our potential. I'm starting now. Again.

Daniel

Fleece Me, Please!

Making purchases in India is vastly different from what I'm used to. Certain things just don't exist, generally, like price tags. The main reason is that you never pay the asked-for price anyway. Unless, of course, you're a tourist... in which case, get ready to be cheated, or "fleeced", as my sister and I now call it.

The first few days, we were always busy calculating what the asked-for price converts to in Canadian Dollars, (multiply by 0.036) and we thought to ourselves that the deals were better than home. What we didn't know was that first, the price was inflated as a matter of routine, and then, inflated again for us. The latter is what I refer to as Tourist Tax, which is often between 100% and 3000%, and is levied as soon as they see that I speak English instead of Konkani. For example, early in the trip, I was buying a gift for someone and they quoted me something like 1000 rupees (almost $35 Canadian) which seemed high, even to me. I bargained similarly to this:

Me (in tourist english): 1000?! How about 800?
Them (with a smile I didn't notice): No, no, give me good price... see high quality, ya? ...okay, best price 900.
Me (thinking I'm doing pretty good): Hmm... 850?
Them: OK... You take. (as they think "Ka-CHING! What a sucker! Lets take a vacation!")

And I thought I fleeced him! I suppose its happy when both people thinnk they got a good deal. Us Canadians are way too polite.

Of course, the next day I saw it for 600 rupees (first price). He was even willing to give it to me for 450. Later on, I was able to make an offer on another one for even less. It seemed that every day we were getting smarter, but then we'd realise that we still weren't very smart because we had begun from a point of complete ignorance. We've figured out that once we start saying "Well... its still good in Canadian Dollars!", then we've probably been fleeced pretty badly. My sister really hates getting cheated (especially when we know we're getting cheated). Personally I consider it the price I pay to get educated. And hey, maybe I'm doing my part to further fair trade, or something.

We've since come up with a few methods to help us get good deals:

Method 1: Take our grand-mother with us. She once bought me some tea and then fleeced me by 600% when I wanted to reimburse her (as a joke because we're so bad at bargaining). I totally fell for it.
Method 2: Ask "How much?". Then whatever they say, just laugh really hard. Then cut it by anywhere from 60% to 90% depending how bad it was (just guess). Then whatever happens, walk away if you're not satisfied. This has worked a few times, but we learned it way too late. Laugh shows that we know about the Tourist Tax. Still it's no guarantee to get a good deal.
Method 3: This method is 100% effective -- don't buy anything!

So for all you people who I bought gifts for, I paid way too much! Unless I got it right at the end, in which case, I hope I got a good deal. So I guess you'll never know. But its the thought that counts right?

Daniel

Order and Chaos

Driving in India is absolutely insane. There are occasionally lines in the road, but they're pretty pointless in actuality, as people drive similarly regardless of their existence. Its very common for motorbikes and rickshaws to cross each other within a few centimetres in every direction and there are no seat belts in any backseats. As far as I can tell, I've been in about 764 near-miss accidents today, although I bet our drivers think its closer to zero. And no I will not drive anything with wheels in this country. My grandmother is over 80 and she's better at both bargaining with market vendors and crossing the street than me. Its quite hilarious.

We took a ridiculously crowded bus today from Calangute to Panjim, where I finally gave in and used my Marriott points (about 20,000) to get one night at an amazing hotel -- the Goa Marriott, Panjim -- with an amazing view (normally we stay with my grandparents in their amazing house in Siolim). And since I'm a platinum member, I arranged for a billion and ten upgrades, so I've got free broadband internet AND I'm drinking for free -- and this stuff is Cashew Feni!

My sister is calling me, so I have to go... actually I think I'll ignore her for a few minutes and check my email again!

Daniel

Sousegade: Welcome to Goa

Yes, I am truly on vacation. This means I have no computer or cel phone (actually my phone doesn't work here). It took forever to get here, but I've finally arrived. Hopefully I'll get to post a couple of entries, but getting internet access is a little tough in Goa, India. I'm staying at my grandparents' place with my sister and her husband, and it's absolutely amazing -- they have mango trees and coconut trees in their yard. The coconut guy came today with his machete, climbed the trees and cut down some coconuts (these trees must be 6 or 8 storeys tall).

My flight schedule (Toronto time):
Thurs: Fly Detroit to Toronto (3 day layover, including writing my exam, getting car insurance, and seeing a musical). I was too tired to drive, so I flew.
Sun: Fly Toronto to Amsterdam, 7.5 hours (3 hour stopover)
Mon: Fly Amsterdam to Bombay, 7.5 hours (7 hour stopover)
Tues: Fly Bombay to Goa, plus 1 hour taxi ride
Tues: Arrive at my grandparents place!!!Tues: SLEEP

After just one day here, I've also learned a new word, "Sousegade", which roughly translated means "laid back". I actually learned the meaning of this first hand, which is "VERY VERY VERY laid back"...

This morning, after getting up (believe it or not I have no Jet lag), we were awaiting a courier guy delivering a very important package. We needed this package to start our day, so we waited. And waited. Every couple of hours we would call them or they would call us and we'd learn again that he was "about" to arrive. Finally we decided to stop waiting and we sat down for lunch. The moment we started eating, the dog barked, and it was the courier guy with the package, which I signed for.

As we then ate, my sister's lost-luggage people called, and they wanted to deliver the luggage today, so before we could go to town to use the internet, we waited for them. And waited. And waited. Finally we decided to go out. While we were walking, we actually walked right past the Jet Airways van, and the driver was phoning someone to get better directions (guess who they were trying to phone), so we stopped him and he drove us back to the house to get the luggage sorted out. Finally we left to get our email.

When we arrive, the internet place has one room with three computers, all of which are in use, of course. The guy says there's about 30 minutes waiting time, so we wait. And wait. After 20 minutes, we ask him again, and he says we should come back tomorrow because the power is out. We are a little confused because people are still typing on the computers, and he explains they have a UPS with only 10 minutes left. So we decide to leave. Once we get about 30 metres away, I happen to look over my shoulder and he's waving us back because the power came back on. We come back, and wait another good 40 minutes, at which point we finally get on the internet and I have the chance to write you this story.

So at this rate, when I tell you I'll write another blog entry tomorrow, it'll probably be about 3 days... Happy Sousegade!

Daniel

Land Lines: Soon Six Feet Under?

Due to the travelling nature of my life recently, I've heard that people have trouble tracking down which phone number to use to get ahold of me. Eventually, it may not matter that much. With the advent of Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, eventually long-distance billing will be a thing of the past, as people will be (and already are) having conversations over the Internet instead of by traditional phone. Applications such as MSN Messenger, Skype, and Google Talk, which have audio conversation capabilities, have been instrumental in unleashing the onslaught of low-cost alternatives to big corporations with expensive phone plans. Perhaps it won't all be completely free forever, but don't you think that such a trend will be impossible for the big phone companies to ignore once the masses switch to VoIP? It will happen... Bell Canada beware. Email me your Skype I.D. if you have it, and lets talk for free. But if I'm offline, I guess you'll just have to call.

On a related note, I once worked for Broadcom, and was involved specifically in low-level tone detection within VoIP data streams, involving mathematical convolutions of discrete PCM data in ANSI C within the firmware of some of the company's embedded ASICs, for all of you nerds out there.

Daniel

Down But Not Out?

I read recently about a new test that allows for early detection of Down Syndrome. The article, forwarded to me by Johnathan, discussed some of the ethical issues involved and provided a statistic that 90% of women who get a positive test for Down syndrome get an abortion. Apparently, however, there is a huge demand to adopt babies with Down Syndrome. There's a big can of worms opened up by this, of course.

I also discovered something intereseting that is related. Here are the statistics on the likelihood of having a child with Down Syndrome versus the mother's age:

• under 30: less than 1 in 1000
• 30: 1 in 900
• 35: 1 in 400
• 36: 1 in 300
• 37: 1 in 230
• 38: 1 in 180
• 39: 1 in 135
• 40: 1 in 105
• 42: 1 in 60
• 44: 1 in 35
• 46: 1 in 20
• 48: 1 in 16
• 49: 1 in 12

One other interesting thing the article raised was that if one of the purposes of prenatal screening is to reduce the frequency of disabilities, what does that say about all the people who currently have disabilities?

Daniel