The dreaded light came on in my wife's car the other day as she drove to work. Then the car dutifully stalled. This had me thinking as we were wrapping up spring break in Orange County (where the beautiful people live) and driving the 400 miles back to San Francisco. This blog might appeal to my readership at the mid point of their life as is the case for me, while for others it might be like watching paint dry ... unless the latter is your thing it would be good to go ahead and read it anyway.
I am refering to the concept of gaining perspective on your own mortality at this mid life crisis moment where you and the spouse (in most cases) have pulled the ox cart up the hill and now are catching your breath on the plateau before its all downhill ... the kid is about to wrap up school while you are on that plateau hopefully and you are going to stick around to watch him, her or they graduate (to something they think is worth graduating for).
Going downhill and all is fun (in a Porsche or a Fiat - depending on your perspective of the mid life crisis) but its worth checking to see if you still have brakes left. Also note that mid life is a mere optimistic estimate (what with all the high funda statistics we learned) with no guarantee that it will indeed be so...the bucket as they say might be round the corner on that plateau.
Getting back to the 'Engine Light' analogy - it is interesting that like a car you also have to start thinking of your own 50,000 mile major service soon. Check in and stay a while - get all your tubes and orifices and valves checked and make sure that there is proper oil and other fluids in you to keep the ticker going for the next 50k.
Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...
Hope lies eternal in the human breast, as some wise guy has already said. There was a joke about Shantanurao Kirloskar, when he once replied to someone asking him how he maintained his health at 80 or so years..."it's a Kirloskar product, after all"
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