Foiled Robbery

So yesterday at 11 pm it seems that someone tried breaking into my neighbours house. You have to realize that in Pakistan, every house is in a compound with a gate and high walls. So these would-be theives jumped the gate/wall, and broke down the front lock. Luckily their house was protected by ADT securities so the alarm went off and the crooks ran away. What's a bit scary is that I was home alone when this happened, and we don't have a security system. I was completely oblivious to it all of course... and I guess am pretty lucky that they decided to go next door and not here.

Sigh...

You know when you're just having the worst day ever? Then the next day is even worse? And you don't know why? Lots of little thing seem to bug you beyond porportion? You try to be nice, you succeed, but its such an effort that all you want to do is nothing? Not Play videogames, not go out, not sleep, not anything...

Sigh, 7 days and counting... bloody hell, I need to get out of this rut.

Quick Hits

Boston Bruins superstar Joe Thornton was traded Wednesday night to the San Jose Sharks… wow. I don’t think anyone saw that coming. I feel that San Jose got a steal, giving up three good, but not great players for a franchise center.

Read this really good quote on sports, thought I'd share :

"Ultimately, sport is entertainment, and the greatest measure of a sportsman is when the legions being entertained begin to worry how badly they will miss you when you are gone."

Came across this interesting article the other day (thanks Amy), check out the link. Did you ever wonder how easy it was to blow off a lock?

A possible miniture solar system seems to have been discovered.

It seems as though there may be a new animal that has been discovered by the WWF, in Borneo. It's the first time since 1895 that a carniverous animal has been found on the island.

Is there a new beast in the east? The Jays have followed up the BJ Ryan acquisition by signing the best pitcher available on the free agent market, AJ Burnett. They're paying him $55 Million for 5 years, with a couple of interesting clauses. AJ's wife gets 8 fully paid Limo rides from Toronto to her home in Ma.(I think) per year, because she is afraid of flying. Also, after 3 years, AJ has an option of opting out of his contract. Toronto GM, JP Riccardi (wow, the Jays have lots of initials in their first names all of a sudden) also signed a 3-year extension. Other GMs, for taking such a big risk on Burnett, are criticizing JP heavily. Funny, how much of a difference 1 year makes (other teams were ready to sign him for 4 years). The Jays projected rotation right now matches up pretty well against the top teams in the league, provided everybody lives up to potential.

Do you go to the gym? Do you go alone? After coming to Pakistan, and starting to go to the gym alone everyday, I realize now how nice it is to have a workout buddy. It's pretty tough to motivate yourself to go to the gym, or to go that extra bit without one. Personally, I also find I tend to go faster with a buddy, and not waste as much time in betweek sets. Thanks workout buddy.

Colts 12-0... two tough games coming up in the last four, the Chargers week after next, and the Seahawks the week after... both games should be awesome.

On another note, I've decided to volunteer to be captain of a winter indoor ultimate team this year. Should be fun, only problem is that I'll miss the draft because I'm here in Pakistan. Oh well, I'll probably get a friend to go on my behalf.

I finally got my cousin's playstation 2 last week. So I've been super busy catching up on some serious videogaming. God of War, NBA 2K6 and Fifa 2006 have been my 3 games of choice right not. I'm not sure if I want to go and buy the new Prince of Persia until I finish God of War, otherwise neither will get done. Fifa 2006 have a bunch of awesome features, especially if you have a group of friends over. Head to Head matchups with cheats to use against friends... brilliant, yet such a simple idea.

Do you own a Jersey? A Hockey, Basketball, Football(American or World), Cricket, Baseball, whateverthesport Jersey? Do you like to wear it? I do. I own a couple. I have a Vince Carter Raptors jersey, which I love even though I hate the player now, and I have my Leafs Jersey. I love my Leafs Jersey, I wear it often, when the Leafs are playing, when they aren't. It's comfortable, and I feel proud wearing it. Patrick Hurby of Espn.com/Page2 wrote an article about Jersey wear. He thinks it's overdone, and that you should only wear a jersey if "you are a professional or amateur athelete and are participating in an actual sporting event." I disagree. I like wearing Jersey's, I think the site of 50,000 fans in Jersey's at a game is awesome. He makes some very interesting and valid points in the article, but I just kept thinking. "My Jersey is comfortable, why shouldn't I want to show that I support a particular team?" Though, One thing I do completely agree with him on. "There's nothing sexier than a sports jersey. On a woman, that is."

Do you need a reason for everything you do? Don’t you just sometimes do things for the hell of it, not giving thought to what happens (as long as it’s not dangerous or stupid)? Is that considered inconsiderate? What if you don’t care? Does that make you a bad person?

One person's quest to make this world a better place

In the wake of the disaster in New Orleans, thousands of peoples houses and communities have been destroyed. People are living in damaged homes or in trailers. A friend of mine, Chris Hayward, decided to do something about it, he went down to New Orleans with his brother and is volunteering there. Please read more of what Chris is doing down there here. Chris, you are one of the definitions of the word Hero. Good Luck.

Random Thoughts

Say you’re bilingual. When you hear one of the languages, do you translate it into the other before understanding? Or do you just understand it? Does it depend how and when you learn the language? For me, when I hear French, which I learnt much after English, I tend to try and translate what I am hearing. Whereas when conversing in Urdu, which I learnt at the same time as English, I tend to just understand the words (well, most of them anyways).

I went to Sunday bazaar (literal trans: market) this past week, it’s amazing how much you can get at that flee market or sorts. From books and Magazines, to DVD’s, to household items, to chickens, vegetables, and all sorts of clothes… all at cheap prices, its no wonder its so successful. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than 3000 people visit it every week.

The Jays spent $47 Million (US) on a closer over 5 years. Was it smart? Did it help the team? Personally, I think the Jays desperately needed a closer… Batista just wasn’t cutting it; the Jays were horrid in 1 run games last year. The last bonafide closer the Jays had was Duane Ward, back in ’93. What gets to me is the length of the contract. I think BJ Ryan will be great for about 2 or 3 years, but after that, I think this becomes an albatross around the Jays necks in the year 2009. The money in itself doesn’t bother me as much; paying close to 10 Million dollars for a closer is going to be the norm in the ever-inflating MLB. One thing for sure, I will no longer fear going to the ninth inning with a one run lead. In fact, I will look forward to it.

If you have a task to do, do you:
a) Do the easy, yet boring long method.
b) Look for a way to do it quicker, which may take some time and effort to figure out?
I tend to gravitate towards b.

Is the world black and white? Is there really a gray area? If so, would you rather see the world in black and white, or would you want to look at the gray area as well?

Recently, I’ve been relearning how to drive. Having never bothered to learn properly, and not having a license, I have taken this time I have here in Pakistan to reacquaint myself with the car and a stick shift. It’s been an interesting time, but I seem to be getting the hang of it. But while realizing driving is important, it makes me realize how much I actually do walk in Toronto. An average person here doesn’t walk nearly as much as the average person in Canada. It’s amazing what 10-15 minutes of walking per day will do for your health and outlook on life.

The Colts went to 11-0 on Monday night. Could this be one of the best teams ever? The best team ever? Is anyone pulling for them to go 16-0? If you are, do you want them to win the Superbowl, or perform the biggest choke ever and lose in the playoffs?

“Is it a burden being 11-0? I never thought of it as that. It's an honour because of the respect I have for NFL teams. It's hard to win 11 games in a season, let alone the first 11." - Colts QB Peyton Manning

"If you don't let a team score you have a heck of a chance of winning." - Bears coach Lovie Smith

Has ‘sorry’ lost its meaning? When you say sorry, do you really mean it all the time? I’ve been told on numerous occasions that I apologize a lot. I picked it up from a dear friend of mine, but the funny part is, I normally mean all of them. I don’t want to be a bother… but then the question comes, if I personally, don’t mind comments, and dislike friends of mine apologizing non-stop… why can’t I stop?

And finally, thanks for reading. Sorry if you got bored.

Personality Test

They're fun, when you're bored. Do you agree with my assessment? (I'm assuming you know me... and BE NICE...)

Take the test here

My Results

Extraversion

You can probably cope with things being a bit hectic or a bit quiet but, like most people, you may find extremes in either direction uncomfortable or annoying.

Confidence

You seem to have described yourself as someone who does tend to be quite cautious and careful. This can be very important in detailed work or areas were mistakes can have a major cost although you may find yourself avoiding risks and many cautious people wish they were bolder.

Openness

Your answers suggest that you like to balance a willingness to try new things with making sure you don't scrap an existing approach that works just because it has been around for a while. Like most people you may not enjoy constant change and uncertainty or an environment where nothing develops from year to year, but your preparedness to see the merits of new and old alike can be helpful.

Agreeableness

Your answers suggest that getting on with people is very important to you, that you may well be eager to help others and avoid disagreements, perhaps sometimes even when you think you should be firmer with them.

Conscientiousness

Your answers suggest that you don't like having things too structured or being tied down and you can cope quite well without having to have everything organised. This may make it hard to find things at times or for colleagues to know where you are or what you are doing, but you probably find coping with the unexpected (the things your colleagues didn't plan for!) easier than many.

The Grass is always Greener on the other side

It's funny, no matter where you are, or what you are doing, it seems that people always believe that there is a better option. I could be doing this instead of that, or there instead of here, is a norm these days. It's funny, while in Canada I have a number of my Pakistani friends telling me they wish they were back in Pakistan. They don't like the stress, or living without their extended families. Whereas in Pakistan, I get the opposite reaction. People here can't wait and try desperately to get out. To me, both countries have its pro's and con's, depending where you are in life. It is no guarantee that being in Canada would be better for you or if being in Pakistan would be better. That is the gamble that is life. It's best not to wonder what would be or could be better, instead, its sometimes better to sit back and play the cards that have been dealt to you. I guess what I am trying to say is that its always better too look at the glass as being half full, instead of half empty.

I was reading an article online yesterday; it stated a pretty interesting fact. Last week, in the Green Bay Packers game, the Packers used a running back by the name of Sam Gado. What is funny is not his name, but instead, he was seven years old in Nigeria when the Packers Quarter Back, Brett Favre, started playing for Green Bay. It's funny when you look at how age differences seem to matter less and less as you grow older. When you're young, in school, it's really difficult to even contemplating having a good friend who is 3 or 4 years younger than you. Yet, in and after University, age doesn't seem that important anymore. I guess with age comes maturity, and understanding. It is scary though at how quickly time flies. I recently have got back in touch with an old high school friend of mine. We were very sporadic in communications over the last 5 years, but talking with them again, it's like nothing has changed. We still have the same level of comfort as we always have had. On the other hand, it's completely different for another friend of mine, who I did stay in touch with for a while after I left, but hadn't talked to over the past year or so. Talking to her, it was uncomfortable and weird, she had changed or I had changed too much.

Do you ever wonder how much you have changed? Have you changed for the better? For the worse? Does it matter if you have changed? It is natural to change right? What makes a good friend? Someone that you can talk to anytime? Someone that you go out with often? Or is it just someone that you can trust when the chips are down? Or is it all of the above?

Frisbee Stuff

Read 2 really good blogs today, one funny, the other semi-inspiring.

http://deepdisc.blogspot.com/2005/09/offense-v-defense.html

http://deepdisc.blogspot.com/2005/10/eternal-sunshine-of-throwers-mind.html

“Passing the disc to a teammate while maniacal defenders attack with layout blocks isn't as easy as it sounds.”

Also managed to stumble upon a good Ultimate Based Speed workout, from

http://www.fitlinxx.com/Article.htm?id=270

Ultimate Frisbee

increase speed

“Concentrate on your throws and practice good form”

Once you've built a good distance base (and can run two to four miles fairly comfortably), you can turn on the speed. It's more important than ever to stretch well before any intensive speed workouts, because these are high-stress muscular activities. Hamstrings are particularly susceptible to strains and pulls without proper flexibility.

This routine is a combination of pure speed training (sprints), continued conditioning (distance), and interval training (part light jog and part sprint). Notice throwing is again added to the end (and sometimes the middle) of each exercise. Instead of going through the motions like a zombie, really concentrate on your throws.

MONDAY: Warm up for 5 minutes. Stretch well. Do a 25-minute interval run: Jog 5 minutes, then alternate 90-second sprints with 60 seconds of light jogging. Repeat this pattern for 15 minutes then use the last 5 minutes as a cool down. Stretch. Throw 25 backhands, 25 forehands, and 25 hammers.

TUESDAY: Warm up for 10 minutes. Stretch well. Throw 20 backhands, 20 forehands, and 20 hammers. Run 10 70-yard sprints, with 40-second rest intervals. Immediately do 2 sets of 30 push-ups. Throw 20 backhands, 20 forehands, and 20 hammers. Do 2 sets of sit-ups.

WEDNESDAY: Warm up for 5 minutes. Stretch well. Do a 40-minute interval run (10-minute warm-up, 20-minute interval, and 10-minute cool-down). Stretch. Throw 25 backhands, 25 forehands, and 25 hammers.

THURSDAY: Warm up for 10 minutes. Stretch well. Throw 20 backhands, 20 forehands, and 20 hammers. Run 6 140-yard sprints with 90-second rest intervals. Do 2 sets of push-ups. Throw 20 backhands, 20 forehands, and 20 hammers again. End with 2 sets of 30 sit-ups.

FRIDAY: Warm up. Jog 25 minutes. Throw 30 backhands, 30 forehands, and 30 hammers. Stretch.

SATURDAY: Warm up. Stretch. 15 40-yard sprints in 3 sets of 5 (30 seconds rest; with 2 minutes between sets). Do 35 push-ups, and 35 sit-ups.

SUNDAY: Rest.