Straight on the road

I think one of my new year resolution should be "Stop Complaining" but unfortunately that won't go well with my other resolution "Blog more".

Anyhoo, let's get back to my current complain. As it happens to anyone who has just moved to a big city, I am always lost in London. Okay, not so much now as I was in my initial days but still I do get lost quite frequently. The good thing about London is that people on the street always help you with right directions (unlike Delhi). My problem is the way I am given the direction. More often than not, they tell me to keep straight on the road I am on (I am usually not as lost as I think). The trouble with that direction, at least for me, the roads in London are never straight, unlike US. They bend and curve and turn and split in twos or threes. Initially, I used to follow the direction literally. Keep straight on the road. Result: I would get more lost than I was.

For example, at point X, I asked someone how to reach Richmond Rail station (point B). They told me to keep straight on the road. So I reached point Y and kept straight on the road (well as straight as I could). It was a dead end. What they really meant was: "Follow the road' and not, 'keep straight on the road' (Click on the image to see what I mean).

Trust me, it's very confusing for someone who has spent 7 years in US, the last of which was in great state of Texas. They have straight roads. Seriously straight. I mean just look at them:

Moreover, when they give direction in Texas, they will tell you that the road turns/bends towards left (even the slightest bends) and you have to keep on it. No such luck in London...

Revisiting Resolutions 2011

We all make them at the beginning of each year, the resolution that is. I guess its a fashionable thing to do.  But what's the point of making them if we don't revisit them towards the end and see how we fared. I know I am a bit late ( I started this post in beginning of December, actually) but I think I will first revisit my last year's resolution before making a new one. I might be able to catch up on my weaker areas that way and get them back in this year's resolutions. What do you say? Well, as if you have a choice. Like it or not, I am ranting about it today.

So ladies and gentlemen, here are my resolution from beginning of this year.

- Drink less soda. I don't think I fared well on this one. Although there was an entire month that I didn't drink any soda in 2011. My soda consumption is directly related to my stress level and this year has been quite stressful. So ergo, no success. I don't even see myself succeeding in this area in any recent time. Still too many changes, too many things to deal with.

- Exercise better. I am so proud to say that I actually kept this one despite all the crazy things going on in my life. I think I didn't exercise for about 1.5 month this year (September mid to October end) due to back pain, other than that I had been pretty good about it. I lost weight, gained muscles, lowered my cholesterol and have been pretty much in good shape. I am kind of proud of myself.

- Eat healthier. Again a big tick mark. I travelled a lot this year and still I did manage to eat healthy. Not all the time, of course, but more often than not I avoided unhealthy options and ate healthy. How else do you think I got my cholesterol from whooping 350 to borderline 200?

- Read more. I did. Although I am not very proud of selection of books I read (mostly young adult fiction) but I did manage to read about 22 books so far (not including the re-read of Harry Potter etc). As I said I spent most of my year travelling this year but I discovered  the Kindle for PC. I am not big fan of reading books on computer or devices but this was the only way I could have read books while I was away from home. So I give a big plus to Kindle on that. A friend of mine gave me Kindle fire as farewell present so I think 2012 will be a better year for reading. Also I will be travelling about four hours each day so I will have plenty time to catch up on the reading.

- Be more social. Oh well. Again, I travelled a lot this year, met a lot of strangers and made quite a few friends. So I guess I can tick this off my list as well.

- Call home. I never imagined the way my year would turn out to be when I made that one as a resolution. This year my mom spent about 6 months on bed-rest due to various reasons. The only bright spot in her days were my daily phone calls. I have actually spoiled my parents so much that if I don't call for a week, I start getting frantic calls and emails from them. Till last year, I wouldn't call for a month and it used be perfectly normal. How life changes...

- Read scientific journals. Hmmm...I failed at this one. I don't have any excuses for this one except my travel and stress levels. I guess I should keep this one in 2012 resolution.

- Blog regularly. Oh well, I failed miserably at this one. I have to definitely pick on this one in 2012.

- Take more photos. This one is a big Yes agan. I started a self-portrait project (taking a self-portrait per day) in May and kept on it till now, apart from visiting a lot of different places and taking a lot of picture.

That's it for today. I will be back with more soon. I hope...