Going up?

No no dear readers... This is not a post where I reveal my sources to help you get high... This is a post about a simple act of life that we all go through everyday and yet so many still get wrong!! Alas, we are discussing..... taking the elevator... 

The Killer Commute

So apparently I am now sought out for things that are related to road rage! 


I got forwarded this really smart infographic for the effects of commuting (via car) on your health... Now it's USA specific but if you ignore the statistics, pretty much everything else applies to Lebanon and let's say most of the world.


I know that I will die of a heart attack caused by driving in Lebanon. 

Created by: CollegeAtHome.com

Regurgitating ATMs

I deal with three banks in Lebanon: Bank Audi, which I absolutely love, BankMed and SGBL which I loathe and hate and have started a revolution at work in order to change the bank we deal with only to be out voted... Damn democracy... 

How Safe is Beirut?

Beirut, like Lebanon where it lies, is a land full of contradictions...


(Applause)


If, like me, you have foreign friends you would have definitely been asked by those people "I really wanna visit but how safe is it?" You inhale and you say that Lebanon is one of the safest places in the world; unless there's a war going on and/or bombs are going off around you, it's pretty safe.. Even then, it's probably safer walking around than say some parts of Paris or New York.

Adleih Roundabout

As many of you know, I suffer a major case of road rage... I have near death experiences driving, almost everyday, and the 30-45 minutes drive to work, although not too long by some standards, is actually one of the factors why I moved to a house closer to where I work. 

Anyways, I realize that some drivers are pure jack asses who should be gunned down (and also the people who gave them their driving license and their cars should be gunned down); however, it has also come to my attention, mostly due to the fact that I have so many friends in the civilized world, that there is a substantial lack of knowledge of basic rules of driving. When people start driving in Dubai, they discover that there are traffic laws that did apply in Lebanon that they never knew about. This can be attributed to many reasons, such as if the law is not enforced, I shouldn't follow it, and hence I shouldn't care to know it or be scared of it. It's also due to the fact that many people actually have gotten their driver's license by bribing the dudes at the test center. 

PANIC!

The Lebanese people, I am realizing, are an adrenaline junkie people(s)!!!
We can't just live our lives like normal human beings, which isn't that surprising considering there's nothing normal about us, but I'm starting to wonder really what is wrong with us...


(Or maybe, I should just NOT go there!! Can of worms anyone?!?!)

So I postponed writing a post about New Year's eve's soothsayers until it was chronologically obsolete, but today another topic re-opened the opportunity for me to write it. 

New Year's Resolutions

No I am not one of my uber cool friends that keep saying that new year's day is just another day and that there is no reason to highlight it as anything more special than it is: yet another day. I'm just not that cool!

Life is broken down into phases: birth, school (sub-divided), uni, job, pre-marriage, post-marriage, the twenties, the thirties, etc, etc... And just like a car's steering wheel, every so often we need get revised and re-calibrate! A year is a perfect unit of time to do so!
To that end, it also helps to reflect and realize that you have to set certain goals to achieve. Some will be forgotten; some may take more than a year to achieve, but you have to set goals in your life!! 

And that my friends brings me to my 2012 resolutions!!! Yes! I am inking them on my blog for people to see and to call me on them! And I am also sharing this post on Facebook to get as much ass kicking as possible if/when I don't commit to them!

So here goes:
Resolution number 1: BE MORE PUNCTUAL
Those who know me are rolling on the floor now in disbelief... I admit this will probably be the hardest resolution to implement. My team will probably the people who abuse this one the most against me.

Resolution number 2: Be more rigorous with my gym routine
This will include documenting progress and doing more weight training (v.s. cardio classes) and attempting to watch what I eat and drink. I've been working out for almost seven years, but I am so inconsistent that it barely shows.

Resolution number 3: TomorrowLand
Everyone's saying good luck getting tickets! I'm scared of not getting them! 

Resolution number 4: Not shoot self at thirtieth birthday (12/12/12) and instead have a kick ass party!

Resolution number 5: Set a realizable goal for advancement in 2013. 
I moved from Management Consulting into IT, and grew within my company. However some things there don't satisfy my needs; if they continue to be that way, I will need to leave. The question is where to? Am I doing an MBA? Master's in HCI? Going back to consulting?! I need to set a plan and 2012 will be the year to draw it up!

Resolution number 6: Blog more often!

So those are mine. What are yours? Come on: set them, write them down and look at them every now and then and ask someone to harass you about committing to them!