I usually try to reward myself with a 711 coffee after a workout, and today wasn’t any different. Like a number of other 711s this one also had an attendant from the Indian SubContinent. His name was Shishir.
Out of curiosity, I asked him if the locals are able to speak his name. And I wasn’t really surprised by the response… They are not. They end up calling him Shi, or ShiShi and some other names. And it’s ok. There are names which are hard to pronounce and this is also not the reason why I am writing this post.
I asked him for the meaning of his name, and he told me something very interesting. His name means Autumn, and he was named Shishir as his father’s name is Vasant (Spring). Shishir follows Basant (after summer but still) and that is one of the reasons why his name is Shishir!
I learnt these two from our ranger who led our bush walk this weekend. Me and my son were at a Scouts Camp (I’ll write about that sometime later maybe).
So, the two rules:
Don’t leave anything behind but footprints
Don’t take anything along but memories
Now while this is golden for bush walking and taking care of our environment, this is so true for life in general as well. Think about it?
Alright… Ignore the blessings bit for a while, but let’s talk about steps first! I have been monitoring my steps for a few years now and have had really good days and poor ones too… However after a while steps became a part of my daily routines, and I did not really have to make any special efforts to get to (about) 10000 steps a day! the days I was going to office, 10000 steps were happening by default. The days I was working from home, I would have to make some effort and get walking!
What I have realised over these years is that step count does not make any sense if at least 40% of this is not coming from a dedicated walk. 10000 steps roughly comes to about 8kms, and 40% of that is about 3.2 kms. So what you gotta do is do about 3.5kms of a walk to make it really count… anything more than that is a bonus on top of your 10000 steps!
And now the blessings part… Please be thankful that you are able to walk and run!
I got a bit serious (just a bit) about getting fitter around mid-2021. There were no specific triggers related to health, but a conversation with some friends here about trying to get better with push-ups! I was at less than 10 at that time, and was committed to getting better…
The only way was to do it everyday and improve over time! Also decided that I would do this over a period of 20 days, and then increased that to 50… did that and managed to do push-ups every day over 50 days with one cheat day!
At the same time, I also started riding more! got a new indoor trainer and put an old bike on the trainer! started riding regularly on the stationary bike and got out on the roads when I got sometime! Target was to complete 1000 kms within 2021 and earn myself a new bike (I did, and more on that later)
Between July and December of 2021, I got more disciplined about the whole process… and tried to take out time for riding or push-ups (and at times weights). There have been a few days when I didn’t but realised that it was ok to leave it a day or two as long as I was able to get back to the routine.
I want to take this further in 2022 and do more rides and push-ups! (Maybe lift more weights, do more jumping jacks, and skip too) I was able to get a start and continue with it I 2021 because I had friends who were sharing progress regularly, and helping me get better. With this thought, I put up a message on WhatsApp asking friends to join me if they had a similar goal for 2022.
The target is simple
250 Active Days in 2022!
Definition of active day – The day you did something out of your regular day to day work to get fitter – you did a brisk walk, you went out for a jog, you did some jumping jacks, you did some push-ups, you rode your bike, you went to the gym! or whatever it is that you did to burn some calories or increase your strength.
You would burn calories some days, you won’t the other days! its ok! First step is to get started! and we would figure out as we go along!
For now, here is my 2021 and I am committed to make it better in 2022
This has been said, and read a million times I think, maybe more! but we humans would still take our time in getting to the most appropriate way of doing it!
What we feel vs. what we say or how we express are two different things! what makes it worse is an expectation that the other person would understand what we are thinking inside based on what we are saying!
I might be concerned or worried, but I would snap at someone who I am worried about
No idea where it went! I have been meaning to write something or the other… and always lost the need for it before I came to the blog!
Today is no different, except that I made a bit of extra effort!
That one extra second of effort that stops you from screaming, that one extra second of patience that would stop you from doing something irreversible, that one second of thought that would have given you the idea you’ve waiting for!
That little extra effort, that little extra second… usually bigger than the whole year that passes by in a wink!
If you are new to Australia, planning on living in Australia, researching on Australia, been here for a while and just want to catch up on stuff, this might be a good place to look at. I intend to build this post as a repository of links for all things Australia
My posts on Migration to Australia (apologies about this shameless promotion, however I know that a lot of friends have benefited from this brain dump about planning and then living in Australia)
09.03.2018 : We all have given a number of interviews in our quest to get a better job, or to relocate, or change profiles… Personally, I don’t ask too many questions towards the end of an interview, however this list has some real good pointers. Must read through before I go for my next interview.
25.01.18 : An interesting insight into Australian Mindset.. though the article is about Bike Sharing, it teaches you a little bit about Australian culture too…
09.11.17: Found two real good links this week.. One is an excellent list of some startups and the solutions they are providing. Its very interesting to see what these companies are doing.. Have a look here. The other is a list of websites which you could keep in your favorites list to do things like print websites, unlock PDFs, create temp sign-up emails and such!
02.06.17 : Australia is no longer in the list of top 10 countries to move to according to HSBC’s latest annual global Expat Explorer report. Read more here.
31.05.17 : You can see that I am a active reader of Business Insider Australia. I love the content, frequency, ideas and almost everything about the site.. This is something that came up today. During my job search, one of my friends in Singapore had told me about ATS, and I updated my CV based on his inputs. Today I got this article in my feed, and all of it makes so much sense. If you are looking for a job, and wondering why no one is calling you, this article about ATS or Applicant Tracking System would help you for sure.
10.02.17 : Telstra tops the charts in Complaints per SIO. I would have assumed that this would be providers like Lyca, Libara, Amaysim but looks like the most popular has the maximum “per SIO” complaints too!
19.01.17- Australian Job Report shows solid increase in full time jobs. A small but reasonable reason for you to refresh your thoughts about moving to Australia
Aldi – Is slightly cheaper that Coles or Woolies, and has specials every Wednesday.
Costco – A good option if you are keen on buying branded stuff in bulk. Their in-house brand Kirkland is available at competitive prices too. Excellent Dry fruits!
2nds World – Factory damaged or refurbished goods. Expect good deals, but keep looking every now and then. Update on 10.01.17 – I bought two new appliances from Second’s World at a good deal. One is a Run-out model of Electrolux 9Kg Front Load Washer, and a 2016 release Fisher & Paykel Bottom Mount Fridge. Realised that Seconds World has decent offers on most of the popular brands in Australia
Home Improvement
Bunnings – THE go to place for everything about homes. Fixing stuff, changing globes (or bulbs like we call them in India), buy light or heavy toolkits, paint, accessories, and what not
Ikea – Fancy stuff at reasonable prices, however not something that will last long. You get what you pay for
Lyca – A favourite with Indian community along with Lebara. Has one of the cheapest International calling rates
TPG – One of the cheapest home broadband services. However customer care is pathetic, and is completely dependent on Telstra technicians for technical support or home visits (which translates into a very high resolution time more often than now)
