I’d like to talk about corporations and moral standards. This has been a debated topic over the past couple years, but I personally believe that corporations shouldn’t be held to moral standards.
First, holding corporations to moral standards would substantially decrease their efficiency and power in the market. Since a business must survive in the competitive marketplace, it cannot afford to be ethically better to the point of sacrificing profit and gain without corresponding benefit.
Second, holding corporations as a whole to moral standards would unjustly punish innocent people. For example, if an executive makes a bad decision and the corporation is held responsible instead of the individual, then innocent employees will be chastised when they didn’t do anything wrong.
hehe
Lastly, holding corporations to moral standards would destroy life on Earth.
First of all, the United States economy is on the brink of collapse. US trade deficits and imports shadow exports and profit. The dollar has lost about one third of its value against other major currencies since 2002, and has been falling faster. Oil costs are flying high due to tremors in the Middle East. Recent economic reports and corporate earning statements show an economy rapidly losing steam.
Second, corporations are necessary entities in our economy. Our economy needs corporations to invest in advanced products and facilities, crack sophisticated global markets, and push the limits of our productivity and our expertise. An economy needs corporations to have a fair degree of agility in responding to changing market conditions, and too many restrictions on layoffs hurt the ability of the economy to remain competitive. Large corporations are necessary to achieve those governmental and social necessities that small enterprises are incapable of providing.
Like I said before, holding corporations to moral standards would break their value. Thus holding corporations to moral standards would completely destroy the corporate backbone of our market, throwing the economy into ruin.
The collapse of our economy would result in extreme loss of life. Think about the mother of all global meltdowns: the Great Depression. U.S. stocks began to collapse, and there were similar horror stories worldwide. But the biggest impact of the Depression was World War II. The Depression brought Adolf Hitler to power in Germany, undermined the ability of moderates to oppose Joseph Stalin's power in Russia, and convinced the Japanese military that the country had no choice but to build an Asian empire. Let the world economy crash far enough, and the rules change. Now that more powerful nuclear weapons exist and tension is high on the doomsday clock, a collapse in the economy would result in global terror and genocide, so we shouldn’t hold corporations to moral standards.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Perfection
Perfection would be nice. In fact, it would be perfect. But everybody knows that nobody can be perfect although anybody could see that somebody must be pretty close, because of natural variation.
"Nobody's perfect."
"We're only human."
These are ancient proverbs passed down from the past.
They also happen to be degrading and would be severely detrimental to society if everyone knew it.
These kinds of phrases emphasize the imperfection of humans, which is perfectly legitimate. However, the context in which they are used are, at least 3 times out of 5, as an excuse for a less-than-satisfactory result of something, such as a grade, a project, a software program, or a car. None of these things are perfect, and sayings like those above are sometimes used to waive the consequences.
The key point to realize is that although the state of perfection is exclusively theoretical, we still ought to strive to acheive it. For example, only a few people in the class get an A+. That doesn't mean that the rest of the class does not want or should not try to get an A+; it probably means that they will have to work harder to achieve that high grade. Nobody is perfect, but anybody can try.
"Nobody's perfect."
"We're only human."
These are ancient proverbs passed down from the past.
They also happen to be degrading and would be severely detrimental to society if everyone knew it.
These kinds of phrases emphasize the imperfection of humans, which is perfectly legitimate. However, the context in which they are used are, at least 3 times out of 5, as an excuse for a less-than-satisfactory result of something, such as a grade, a project, a software program, or a car. None of these things are perfect, and sayings like those above are sometimes used to waive the consequences.
The key point to realize is that although the state of perfection is exclusively theoretical, we still ought to strive to acheive it. For example, only a few people in the class get an A+. That doesn't mean that the rest of the class does not want or should not try to get an A+; it probably means that they will have to work harder to achieve that high grade. Nobody is perfect, but anybody can try.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
TEG
Conservation of energy: There was a certain amount of energy in a particle smaller than a quark in the very very very beginning of time. When it blew up, it created the universe. There is a certain amount of energy in this universe. It doesn't change. Energy can be transformed into different types, but it is never created or destroyed.
Energy is conserved.
In the universe, not the earth.
We lose energy through the atmosphere (a), and we gain energy from the sun's rays(b). If a is less than b, the earth will heat up past the point at which we die. If a is greater than b, we may eventually have no energy left on earth. Right now b stands for bigger.
This is called global warming.
It scares some people enough to make speeches about it.
...I think what we need is a way to cool down...
Thermo-electric generators would let the world relax. There is always heat in the air. With global warming and everything, there seems to be more of it than usual (whatever we define "usual" to be...). Take the thermal energy out of the air, and it gets cooler. There is so much heat in the air, and more coming in from the sun, that energy supplies would sky-rocket because of the omnipresence of thermal energy. This would reduce the pressure put on gasoline and oil-filled countries. After we use it so much that the world actually cools down a couple degrees to whatever it ought to be if global warming didn't exist ("usual"), then we can split energy sources between gasoline, ethanol, which will have been perfected by the time TEGs are potentially created, and thermal energy.
Right now I have no idea how anyone would make such a thing; I just thought it would be pretty cool.
Energy is conserved.
In the universe, not the earth.
We lose energy through the atmosphere (a), and we gain energy from the sun's rays(b). If a is less than b, the earth will heat up past the point at which we die. If a is greater than b, we may eventually have no energy left on earth. Right now b stands for bigger.
This is called global warming.
It scares some people enough to make speeches about it.
...I think what we need is a way to cool down...
Thermo-electric generators would let the world relax. There is always heat in the air. With global warming and everything, there seems to be more of it than usual (whatever we define "usual" to be...). Take the thermal energy out of the air, and it gets cooler. There is so much heat in the air, and more coming in from the sun, that energy supplies would sky-rocket because of the omnipresence of thermal energy. This would reduce the pressure put on gasoline and oil-filled countries. After we use it so much that the world actually cools down a couple degrees to whatever it ought to be if global warming didn't exist ("usual"), then we can split energy sources between gasoline, ethanol, which will have been perfected by the time TEGs are potentially created, and thermal energy.
Right now I have no idea how anyone would make such a thing; I just thought it would be pretty cool.
Good kid-bad kid
A "bad kid" leaves home to hang out with his or her friends, possibly doing drugs, drinking, dancing, or playing video games, talks back to his parents, has messy hair and clothes, seems lazy at home but acts like the Energizer bunny at parties, and in general gives you a feeling of "teen." With a personality that rocks the house on its foundations, he or she is the kind of person you see in magazine "success stories" where the kid may be a jock or just in bad childhood conditions but somehow manages to come out on top in a suit and a smile.
A "good kid" stays at home, does all the household and out-of-household chores for his parents, gets good grades without needing to study, studies anyway, obeys his parents, and is a social recluse apart from a few close friends who are always polite and intelligent, just like him or her. He never goes to dances or parties, especially ones with drugs or alcohol, even when he's invited. Startingly isolated from the world, he or she has an almost monotonously positive attitude about life, the universe, and everything.
So...which would you rather have?
A "good kid" stays at home, does all the household and out-of-household chores for his parents, gets good grades without needing to study, studies anyway, obeys his parents, and is a social recluse apart from a few close friends who are always polite and intelligent, just like him or her. He never goes to dances or parties, especially ones with drugs or alcohol, even when he's invited. Startingly isolated from the world, he or she has an almost monotonously positive attitude about life, the universe, and everything.
So...which would you rather have?
Saturday, January 06, 2007
GW=Bad
Extreme weather:
Melting of ice caps:
- Less predictable climate-such as droughts and storms-lead to destruction of agriculture.
- Increase in storm strength, frequency, and unpredictability leaves many dead or homeless.
- Just as the hurricanes Rita and Katrina left the Southeast United States in shambles, increased shore activity by humans like beach resorts and summer homes combined with the increased intensity and frequency of storms will raise the damage and financial cost as well.
- Different climates will cause crops to suffer outside of their key temperature.
- Peat bogs such as those in Siberia will slowly but steadily release as much as 70,000 tonnes of methane gas from the dead plant material, multiplying the greenhouse effect and its consequences even more.
- Water is much more conducive to heat than air, and the underwater ecosystems of fish and plankton will deteriorate as organisms are thrust out of their normal climate.
- Extinction of fish can lead to a food chain collapse, and regions that thrive on sea food, such as Japan and South China, will experience major consequences.
- Phytoplankton that normally absorb CO2 from the air into the ocean decrease in efficiency due to the change in temperature, creating even more greenhouse gases.
- Earth's surface has more water than land. This means that the impact for all of these ocean-problems is even greater.
Melting of ice caps:
- Less surface area of the Earth will be covered by ice, which is considerably more reflective than water or land, increasing the sun's effect on the Earth as the latter two absorb more sunlight.
- Animals that make their home in the Arctic and Antarctic, such as penguins, polar bears, and seals, will lose large parts of their habitat. In addition, the salinity of the ocean will change dramatically, further destroying ecosystems and possibly species.
- The sea level will increase.
- The more frequent storms, like hurricanes and tsunamis, will gather strength from the warmer waters across the land. As stated earlier, the surface is mostly water, and global warming only increases it.
- Coastal regions and places with lower altitudes will be underwater, causing loss of homes, financial cost, and thousands of refugees.
- As more and more people try to live on less and less land, disease will spread more easily, potentially resulting in epidemics and mass death.
- This will cause landslides, flash floods, and glacier lake overflow.
- This increases the glacial runoff as the glaciers melt faster and faster.
- The Hindu Kush and Himalayan glacial melt will increase melting water supply to high density regions for a few decades, but then these areas will simply run out of water since the glaciers are the main source of water for many parts of Asia.
- "Rising atmospheric temperatures, longer droughts and side-effects of both, such as higher levels of ground-level ozone gas, are likely to bring about a substantial reduction in crop yields in the coming decades, large-scale experiments have shown" (The Independent, April 27, 2005)
- Increased national disasters cause the insurance industry to suffer due to increased property and population values in vulnerable coastal regions and increasing flood risks across the globe.
- Transportation systems like roads, airports, pipelines, and railways have to be maintained in the potentially harsh conditions, further raising costs.
- Coastal flood defenses will either have to be installed or upgraded as the number of category 5 storms.
- Decrease in land will perpetuate war as higher quantities of people vie for land.
- Repair work for more dangerous storms will use up more and more energy from oil or fossil fuels, and demand for such energy sources will soar.
- If something is not done soon, the intensity of storms will cause homes built from anything less than the most durable, expensive, and probably environmentally unfriendly materials will be destroyed, losing all hope of solvency by that method.
- Storm clouds blocking the sun will render solar panels useless
Friday, December 22, 2006
Global warming :)
Indeed, there are some possibilities that global warming could even have positive effects.
Floods and disease would help to stabilize population. This solves population growth and helps diversify life around the world. It can also give more natural organisms a chance to regain control over coastal and other affected regions from humans.
Ice cap melt can be harnessed to provide a supply of fresh water, reducing the need for desalinization. This would prevent the change in salinity in the ocean and help create a surplus in case of droughts.
The new climate could give rise to new species and different behaviors by existing species, creating academic growth and more job opportunities for science. All kinds of people, from meteorologists to biologists, would be able to work together to learn and figure out what the tipping point is for the mass destruction of life on earth.
Warmer weather might even cause milder weather and help agriculture. Longer growing seasons, CO2, and more sunlight and water would help crops, causing prosperity and success. Exotic fruits and vegetables like mangoes and coconuts will have a better environment to grow throughout the world.
Somewhat less important...
Beach resorts will have greater business and help the economy. The water will be warmer to swim in, and people will be able to get better tans. :) This would help professionals and world leaders to relax from the high-stress lifestyle and prevent irritations and anger that could lead to things like nuclear war.
Floods and disease would help to stabilize population. This solves population growth and helps diversify life around the world. It can also give more natural organisms a chance to regain control over coastal and other affected regions from humans.
Ice cap melt can be harnessed to provide a supply of fresh water, reducing the need for desalinization. This would prevent the change in salinity in the ocean and help create a surplus in case of droughts.
The new climate could give rise to new species and different behaviors by existing species, creating academic growth and more job opportunities for science. All kinds of people, from meteorologists to biologists, would be able to work together to learn and figure out what the tipping point is for the mass destruction of life on earth.
Warmer weather might even cause milder weather and help agriculture. Longer growing seasons, CO2, and more sunlight and water would help crops, causing prosperity and success. Exotic fruits and vegetables like mangoes and coconuts will have a better environment to grow throughout the world.
Somewhat less important...
Beach resorts will have greater business and help the economy. The water will be warmer to swim in, and people will be able to get better tans. :) This would help professionals and world leaders to relax from the high-stress lifestyle and prevent irritations and anger that could lead to things like nuclear war.
Global warming :|
Global warming is not a problem that ought to be addressed in international governments and schools throughout the world.
First, the effects of global warming are not sufficient to justify taking attention away from other world problems, such as nuclear arms production and economic depression. These problems are not only much more immediate and have a smaller time frame, but they are also easier to prevent.
Global warming is a steady increase in global temperature. While this may cause some species to become extinct, this is not a real problem because life will continue. Academically, if we know that a species is extinct, then we already have data and information about that organism in order to observe that it has disappeared.
The extinction of species could cause the disruption of the ecological balance in nature, but I would like to bring attention to the fact that although the human race simply living on this planet has disrupted and even destroyed many species habitats and lives, there has been no global suicide on our part to restore the balance of nature.
Both of these failures to act are a product of the fact that all life wants to survive. Physically, humans are terribly inadequate to survive in nature. With no wings, claws, fangs, strength, speed, endurance, or senses, the only advantage given to our race was in the mind. Thus in order to protect ourselves from a dangerous environment, we created a new one by destroying the old. Withdrawal from technology only gives up human's dominance over other creatures, as some religions state, and unfortunately most people cannot survive in competition to the forces and creatures in nature.
Attempting to halt global warming only postpones the inevitable. Even if human beings didn't exist on earth, ice ages and heat waves would come and go. The dinosaurs lived in a tropical climate but were extinct in the ice age, where animals like mammoths and saber toothed tigers roamed the land. Then these creatures passed away or evolved into the biospectrum we see today. Life on earth has survived climate changes, however severe, even if the lifestyles or even types of different organisms changed. We cannot hope to prevent a climate change forever, so there is no reason to be preoccupied with global warming.
First, the effects of global warming are not sufficient to justify taking attention away from other world problems, such as nuclear arms production and economic depression. These problems are not only much more immediate and have a smaller time frame, but they are also easier to prevent.
Global warming is a steady increase in global temperature. While this may cause some species to become extinct, this is not a real problem because life will continue. Academically, if we know that a species is extinct, then we already have data and information about that organism in order to observe that it has disappeared.
The extinction of species could cause the disruption of the ecological balance in nature, but I would like to bring attention to the fact that although the human race simply living on this planet has disrupted and even destroyed many species habitats and lives, there has been no global suicide on our part to restore the balance of nature.
Both of these failures to act are a product of the fact that all life wants to survive. Physically, humans are terribly inadequate to survive in nature. With no wings, claws, fangs, strength, speed, endurance, or senses, the only advantage given to our race was in the mind. Thus in order to protect ourselves from a dangerous environment, we created a new one by destroying the old. Withdrawal from technology only gives up human's dominance over other creatures, as some religions state, and unfortunately most people cannot survive in competition to the forces and creatures in nature.
Attempting to halt global warming only postpones the inevitable. Even if human beings didn't exist on earth, ice ages and heat waves would come and go. The dinosaurs lived in a tropical climate but were extinct in the ice age, where animals like mammoths and saber toothed tigers roamed the land. Then these creatures passed away or evolved into the biospectrum we see today. Life on earth has survived climate changes, however severe, even if the lifestyles or even types of different organisms changed. We cannot hope to prevent a climate change forever, so there is no reason to be preoccupied with global warming.
Global warming :(
Global warming causes flucuations in the temperature of the earth. This makes weather conditions throughout the world more extreme. Storms and natural disasters will become more frequent and more severe, causing mass destruction and death. Droughts and harsh storms can destroy agricultural land as well.
The sudden change in temperature hurts all life on earth, including but not limited to humans. Organisms in the water are greatly affected by the change in ocean temperature, and are unable to survive in the new conditions. Climate changes for land plants and animals can also harm the wild life. The melting of the polar ice caps reduces habitat size for animals like penguins, polar bears, and seals.
Besides species extinction, this melting also causes a rise in the sea level. Coastal regions will flood, destroying more homes than Katrina or Rita. Storms over these warm waters will have even more power. The unpredictable weather will make it even harder to prepare and recover.
Since coastal populations will have to move inland, the increased population density will increase chances of disease, and epidemics will spread even faster.
The sudden change in temperature hurts all life on earth, including but not limited to humans. Organisms in the water are greatly affected by the change in ocean temperature, and are unable to survive in the new conditions. Climate changes for land plants and animals can also harm the wild life. The melting of the polar ice caps reduces habitat size for animals like penguins, polar bears, and seals.
Besides species extinction, this melting also causes a rise in the sea level. Coastal regions will flood, destroying more homes than Katrina or Rita. Storms over these warm waters will have even more power. The unpredictable weather will make it even harder to prepare and recover.
Since coastal populations will have to move inland, the increased population density will increase chances of disease, and epidemics will spread even faster.
Global warming 101
Global warming is the gradual increase in global temperatures caused by the emission of gases that trap the sun's heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Gases that contribute to global warming include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, sulfur hexafluoride chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and halocarbons (the replacements for CFCs).
There are many causes of global warming and several ways to emit greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels, cars, smokestacks, excessive tilling of new land, and population growth in general.
There have been many attempts to call this problem to global awareness, and even the UNFCCC has done something. The Kyoto Protocol mandates that all ratifying countries reduce emissions of the above six greenhouse gases.
There are many causes of global warming and several ways to emit greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels, cars, smokestacks, excessive tilling of new land, and population growth in general.
There have been many attempts to call this problem to global awareness, and even the UNFCCC has done something. The Kyoto Protocol mandates that all ratifying countries reduce emissions of the above six greenhouse gases.
Are You Happy?
These are all different ways of saying "are you happy?"
You can try to figure them out if you want.
You can try to figure them out if you want.
Are you happy?
Avvrve yvvovuv hvvapvvpvyvvv?
1A6r9e 4y5o8u 2h3a0p1p6y9?
era uoy ?yppah
happy? you Are
rey ouh appy?A
?Ar eyo uhappy
Bsf zpv ibqqz?
Zqd xnt izoox?
ryhppy?
Aeohpyryuap?
?yppahuoyerA
abcAderfgehiyjkolmunohpqarsptupvwyxyz?
A?ryepypoauh
uhoaypepryA?
Rea ouy appy?H
Aybprbhpboabeuby
Aeouaryhppy?
Ryhppy?aeoua
AP courses
Some one needs to rethink this system.
Students take college courses, Advanced Placements, during high school, so that they can get into a college that provides them.
At some point, people will take all their college classes during high school and get out with a diploma and a degree. :)
Students take college courses, Advanced Placements, during high school, so that they can get into a college that provides them.
At some point, people will take all their college classes during high school and get out with a diploma and a degree. :)
Going with the flow
My mom told me that sometimes you have to go with the flow...
but anything that flows is going down.
but anything that flows is going down.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Stressful Relaxation
In India, Mom tried to have yoga lessons for relaxation. Her starting idea was to have it for a whole week. Unfortunately, Mom had so many other things on her mind that the tensions of trying to add this new activity in was too much. So she quit her relaxing yoga because it was causing her stress before she had even started. Amazing, isn't it?
Friday, August 18, 2006
Anil Tau
Happy birthday to Anil Tau. You are a wonderful father, understanding, compassionate, with a hilarious sense of humor. When Sahil spontaneously decided to buy a Gameboy Micro, you wouldn't let him have it without a fight. First you sent him on a career research quest to earn his new toy, which undoubtedly left him with a better view of his future. Yet even when Sahil stopped his project, you finally bought him a Micro. In the end I'm sure Sahil took even better care of his Gameboy than he normally would have, for it was so incredibly precious to him. Besides being a marvelous dad, you are also kind to everyone around you. When Saachi and I came over to visit, you must have taken me to at least six restaurants, two movies, a museum, and even a haircut! A person can never be bored when he/she is with you. An aura of laughter follows you like a shadow, never failing to make us smile. :)
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Desi Auto-Rickshaws for Dummies
Desi Auto-Rickshaws for Dummies
Advantages
Helpful Tips
Advantages
- A refreshing breeze
- Relatively low fees
- A cool breeze
- An oppurtunity to order someone around
- Did I mention the breeze?
- If you don't find one, you get exercise!
- Maintenence of Roads-low
- Regard for speed-low
- Regard for other drivers-also low
- If you don't find one, you have to walk!
Helpful Tips
- Night is more expensive than day
- Try to bargain
- Watch out for rude and insolent drivers
- Tap on shoulder when giving a direction
Monday, May 01, 2006
Some family definitions
Grandparent:A person who says "yes".
Parent:A person who says "no".
Child: A person who says "Can I, please?"
Infant: A really small person who doesn't say anything but still cries.
Teenager:A person who has already made up his or her mind but still says "Can I, please?"
Parent:A person who says "no".
Child: A person who says "Can I, please?"
Infant: A really small person who doesn't say anything but still cries.
Teenager:A person who has already made up his or her mind but still says "Can I, please?"
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Nucular Hypocrisy
Talk about hypocrites! To stop Iran's nuclear activity, the government is threatening to use one of its 12000 or so nuclear warheads. Might be a problem there somewhere...
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Mom's 40th B-day!
Uh-oh. Mom turned forty and I wasn't even here. I hope everyone called her for me, because I was far away in D.C. Well, I guess it doesn't matter, since I still wrote her 2 cards: one for a GPS, and one for her birthday.
A Wonderful GPS:
-------------------------------
Now you will never be late
for any very important date.
You will always be on time.
Being late won't be your crime.
Do not worry. Don't even blink.
You will never have to think.
When it's dark, and the sun goes down,
you'll drive to a party out of town.
When you drive, you'll never get lost
and have to pay the embarrasing cost.
With your portable GPS,
you'll arrive with much finesse.
Forty or four?
----------------------
I already gave you a card for your GPS,
but I'll give you another one since you're the bes'
I know that you are forty, but please do not be blue.
Your spirit is much younger. I tell you, this is true.
In fact, I think we should take out zero.
That will surely make you a hero.
Never in your wildest dream,
would you think of something so extreme.
Now without a zero, you're just four.
Worries about wrinkles? Never more!
All your stresses gone forever.
This fantasy is really clever.
"Poof," go your worries. "Poof," goes your work.
Gone is your experience. Now that is not a perk.
No more will you be a genius. No more will you be smart.
I think, before this gets much worse, we should take this to heart.
I really think I'd rather have you be a little old.
After all, you are worth all your feelings in pure gold.
Once upon a time, being young was really swell,
but I like you right now, and I hope you do as well.
Even though you're forty, you should go out and play.
This is the end of my special song. I wish you a happy birthday.
A Wonderful GPS:
-------------------------------
Now you will never be late
for any very important date.
You will always be on time.
Being late won't be your crime.
Do not worry. Don't even blink.
You will never have to think.
When it's dark, and the sun goes down,
you'll drive to a party out of town.
When you drive, you'll never get lost
and have to pay the embarrasing cost.
With your portable GPS,
you'll arrive with much finesse.
Forty or four?
----------------------
I already gave you a card for your GPS,
but I'll give you another one since you're the bes'
I know that you are forty, but please do not be blue.
Your spirit is much younger. I tell you, this is true.
In fact, I think we should take out zero.
That will surely make you a hero.
Never in your wildest dream,
would you think of something so extreme.
Now without a zero, you're just four.
Worries about wrinkles? Never more!
All your stresses gone forever.
This fantasy is really clever.
"Poof," go your worries. "Poof," goes your work.
Gone is your experience. Now that is not a perk.
No more will you be a genius. No more will you be smart.
I think, before this gets much worse, we should take this to heart.
I really think I'd rather have you be a little old.
After all, you are worth all your feelings in pure gold.
Once upon a time, being young was really swell,
but I like you right now, and I hope you do as well.
Even though you're forty, you should go out and play.
This is the end of my special song. I wish you a happy birthday.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Cruise to Mexico
Over the weekend, we went on a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. The name of our ship was the Carnival Paradise. After a 1 hour flight to Los Angeles, we attempted to grab a shuttle to take us to the dock. We had to run all the way down the parking lot because of the "No Parking" signs. Finally, we took 2 shuttles to the dock. Unfortunately, Our driver didn't know exactly where to go... and neither did we! In the end we arived with the other six families. We got on board the vessel, but we still had about 5 hours to explore before the ship left. The ship had ten decks(3-12), and eight of them had cabins. We were on deck 5. I'll start from the bottom. Deck 3 was the disembarkation deck and decks 4-6 were all cabins. The rest was all restaurants and entertainment(along with som cabins on the sides). Deck 8 had a tiny arcade and a huge theater which was also on deck 9. This deck had bars, restaurants, a casino, etc. Deck 10 had the Paris restaurant, where we ate lunch and breakfast, and a swimming pool with a water slide. Deck 11 had pingpong tables, and deck 12 had a jogging track. First we had lunch, and then we played cards until the cruise left. We were interrupted by a evacuation drill. Then there was a party when the cruise left. Finally, we played a little more and slept. The next day, we were at Ensenada! We got off the ship and took a couple of buses to see the blowhole. Before reaching the actual waterspout, we walked through a Mexican flea market. The blowhole was amazing. It was like a geyser; pressure built up, and then water shot, at most, a hundred feet in the air. Once it flew high enough that it hit me on the way down. Among other things, mom bought two colorful dresses for $25.00(total). When we got back on the ship, the security was as tight as an airport! First we went through a metal check in Ensenada, and then again upon boarding the ship. Sunday was a sea day. We went swimming, but Saachi recoiled upon entering the water. We hadn't realized that it would be salt water. Content to stay in the jacuzzi, Saachi commenced with giving everyone a bubble head. At night, we played tag all over the ship, and then played cards and talked until it was time to sleep. On Monday, we left the ship, and travelled home. Now then... about the food. Breakfast at Paris consisted of fruit, pancakes, hashbrowns, and cereal. Lunch was different everyday, one day even being Indian cuisine. That tasted delicious! Luckily, there was a salad bar everyday, so I had a salad for every single lunch and dinner. Destiny Restaurant, where we ate dinner, was... not very vegitarian-friendly. Fortunately, there was always one thing that was meat free. Also, in the Paris Restaurant, there were three ice cream dispensers. You know, the ones with vanilla, mix, and chocolate? Due to the availability of ice cream on this vessel, I think I had about 10 ice cream cones during the cruise. However, thanks to the elevator tag, I gained no weight whatsoever. I think it's safe to say that this was a wonderful trip.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Santa Barbara
On Sunday, August 14, Stefan, his mother and grandmother, and I drove to Santa Barbara. On the way, we stopped at In and Out to have lunch. The remaining trip was uneventful. When we arrived at Santa Barbara, there was a sale going on. Stefan's mother and grandmother went to look at the stuff, while Stefan gave me a tour of the hotel and surrounding buildings on our scooters. Afterwards, we joined his family in browsing. There must have been at least a hundred stalls! One man was selling yo-yo's, another vendor showing wind chimes, and many other fascinating things. There were glass octopi in all the colors of the rainbow, solar-powered butterflies that flapped their wings, balls within spinning spirals that weren't actually moving up or down, and tons of jewelery. Next, we went into the hotel. While Stefan's mom chose a room, Stefan read and I looked up at the ceiling window. It was gigantic, and there were pigeons all over it. From below, they looked like bowling pins, and watching them entertained me until his mom came back. After she came, we all received chocolate chip cookies, and we strolled over to our room. It was amazing! She had managed to find a room where, if you walked out onto the back "porch", ten steps brought you to the pool! Anyway, it was a two room cabin, and the bathroom probably could count as a room too. There was a shower, a jacuzzi, two sinks, and enough room to put in a bed. Stefan and I played in the pool, and we ate dinner in a seafood restaurant with fishes in a colorful tank. The next day, we rented a surrey, which is like a car and bike combined. We biked over to the pier, and then later Stefan and I swam once again after lunch. On Tuesday, we played shuffleboard outside, and Stefan beat me 50 to 14...horrible. Afterwards, we swam some more and watched movies. Then we went for a formal dinner, and Stefan was forced to put on a fancy shirt and blue pants. Finally, on Wednsday, we headed back home and had some ice cream and smoothies on the way. The weather changes were dramatic. We started with clear skies and hot temperatures, which dropped down to the high 60s. Then It became cloudy and windy, and finally it cleared and heated up once again. All in all, it was very kind of Stefan to invite me to such an exciting trip.
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