Insipid food and some pictures

After much deliberation we decided to visit a restaurant that we had zeroed in few months back- chef Lanka in Burdubai area . We wanted to try some spicy food from Sri lanka - but it turned out to be a disaster. Like any good product hotel should also provide at least few basic things

1. Warm Food
2. Waiter / server suggesting and helping us in making the right choice

both didnt happen at chef lanka ..and we ended up eating some cold spicy food ....
the interior had some demon mask ......reminding us of the food we ate

Long Shadow of meat eating ....

Mark Bittman's article on NYT on ' Meat -Guzzlers' is interesting

he writes -

a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.

more on this :
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?ei=5087&em=&en=7490d3223d2f16cb&ex=1201842000&pagewanted=all

The Monkey Wrench Gang

Absolute must read if you border the thoughts of being a solider in the 'eco defense'...Edward Abbey's proactive defense of nature in an era of hyperindustrialism.

how 'House Poor' are you ?

It was intriguing to note that SEC classification across the world differs. So this term - 'House Poor' is significant classification- especially since in certain countries/cities this affects almost all !

House Poor :
A situation that describes a person who spends a large
proportion of his or her total income on home ownership,
including mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance and
utilities. House poor individuals are short of cash for
discretionary items and tend to have trouble meeting other
financial obligations like vehicle payments.

If your are a expat living in a city like Dubai then you have to replace 'ownership' with 'Rent'..

New year resolutions - and how to solve problems

Most of us would be facing some sought tough decision at work and life and would be grappling with them- at times wondering how to solve it . Read seth's tips


There are three ways to deal with a problem, I think.
Lean into it.
Lean away from it.
Run away.
You lean into a problem, especially a long-term or difficult one, by sitting with it, reveling in it, embracing it and breathing it in. The problem becomes part of you, at least until you solve it. You try one approach and then another, and when nothing works, you stick with it and work around it as you build your organization and your life.
Some people choose to lean away from the problems that nag them at home or at work. They avoid them, minimize them or criticize the cause. Put as little into it as possible and maybe it will go away.
And sometimes, a problem is so nasty or overwhelming that you just run away.
I'm a big fan of the first approach. And sometimes, quitting isn't such a bad idea. The second approach, alas, is the one that many of us end up with by default, and the one that's least likely to pay off.
If that helps with this year's resolutions, it was worth thinking about...

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/01/solving-problem.html