It's time to be humble.

On the weekend, while watching the Professional Golf Association’s Zurich Classic on television, I learned the tournament’s second day play was delayed due to the inclement weather in New Orleans. The lightening came along with a thunderstorm that struck a tall tree on the course. Fortunately, no one there was injured from this mishap. But some residents in a neighboring state were not that lucky. A tornado swept through the State of Mississippi left ten people dead and many homeless. Not mention the devastating earthquakes that shook the world from Haiti and Chile in Americas and Tibet in China. Then a volcano in Iceland continued spewing out its deadly hot lava into the air and stopped all air travels at many European airports for many weeks.

All of the above mentioned destructive phenomena happened one after another since January of this year. The world has become smaller. And bad news does travel fast. But in the years past natural disasters had never occurred one after another like what has happened so far this year.

I do not know if these are the ways Mother Nature tells us that enough is enough. But I do know no one can decipher what exactly the nature has in stores for us. Perhaps it is time that we take a back seat to reflect and be humble. So we can assure ourselves that the next carbon footsteps we are about to take are smaller and gentler ones. - Ayee

An Eye-Opener

The other day Sweetie got to try on two new things.

First, he got to use a new cat carrier. The old one we had is made of wood with a rigid steel wire dome. I had many good uses of it. But because of its solid sturdy construction and size, it is quite heavy. So I decided that we should get a new one that is smaller and lighter. The new one I got from a supermarket is made of canvas-type clothes with mesh on the sides. The floor of this pet taxi is padded with soft fleece material. Usage of velcro on the handle plus the adjustable long shoulder straps make travel with our pets a less strenuous exercise. That day I did not have to use any trickery to get Sweetie inside the cage. Putting him down into the carrier through an opening on the top is a cinch. He seemed to be quite at ease sitting up inside his new cab. This is the first time that he rode in his cage all the way to the vet’s office without much whimpering.

Then, believe or not Sweetie, our sweet old chap, got to have his blood pressure tested for the heart murmurs the vet detected during our last visit.

Since I never heard or read of checking b/p on animals, it is something entirely new to me. But for the sake of my kitty’s good health, I decided to put my poor cat through this testing procedure. I also stayed with Sweetie and observed what the vet had to do to get an accurate b/p reading from a fidgeting cat.

The measuring device on animals is a smaller version of the manometer our doctor used but it reads diastolic pressures only. It did not take long to fasten the cuff onto one of Sweetie’s front leg. But it took the vet and his assistance an embarrassingly long time to locate the right spot to stick a probe between the toes of the same leg. Apparently, this is not a frequently practiced diagnostic procedure. Then once the probe was at the right place, we could hear a rhythmic swishing sound emitted from a metal box labeled "Ultrasound Profiler." After many gentle squeezes of a rubber pump, the dial in the round-face meter settled on a couple of readings in the range between 118 and 120. According to the vet, Sweetie’s ticker seemed to be all right! And he also became the first cat in our feline family who had been tested for blood pressure! - Ayee

Arm-Chair Golfer

Spring is always a welcome season when warm sunshine returns and cherry trees blossom to their best. It is also the time when the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) starts to air its competitions on television regularly on weekends. This armchair golfer has once again geared up for the world’s best players to show case their incredible shots on beautiful but challenging courses.

Talking about the incredible shots, the PGA tour players with the latest model of over sized drivers on hand plus their equally large biceps can send a tiny little object into stratospheric distance with the utmost accuracy. What a feat! It looks easy when they were playing the shots. I suppose being a pro golfer golfing becomes a job. They must always play well in order to earn a decent living and to be qualified to play in the next season.

However the recent revelation of the world number one player’s discretion off-course did change my view of professional golfers somewhat. Perhaps in my humble opinion the tournament’s monetary prize is getting too rich. Pro golfers are human beings. So they are no different from other well-paid sports figures. After the game it is party time for everyone. But I do hope golfing remains a gentleman’s sport in which integrity is always the most important component of the game. Fore! - Ayee

Bigger, But Not Better

It did not sound right when I heard Toyota recalling 8.6 million plus cars for faulty gas pedals. The company is known for making luxury and reliable cars such as Lexus, Camry and many others. Years ago, its quality circle manufacturing process was the envy of their counterparts around the world. Ironically, the malfunctions in Toyota cars surfaced not long after this Japanese car maker overtook General Motors Company as the largest automobile maker in the world.

Undoubtedly, this massive recall now in progress tarnishes the good name Toyota has earned over the past 75 years. It will also be a costly proposition to the company. But, there is a gleaming light in this dire situation. Toyota becomes the world number one car maker because it sold more cars than all other makers. Unlike many others, Toyota has a rich equity base so it did not have to incur much debt to finance its expanded business bases. For this reason, many financial analysts predicted that fiscally Toyota will survive the massive recalls of its cars and resulting lawsuits.

Hopefully, after Toyota redeemed itself in this recall fiasco at great costs, it also cured itself the so-call "big company disease." - Ayee

“Ten Ways to Be Kind to Our Neighbors’” Author Unknown

We found this posting on the Net. I thought it would be a good idea we spread this gospel further. Matter of fact, sharing good news is the tenth suggestion on this to-do list.

While we do not know who posted this item, based on its straightforward content, I speculate possibly it is originated from either Buddhism or Taoism’s altruistic philosophy. My English translation from its Chinese text may lose some of its insight in the process. But definitely it is a worthwhile task that I am happy to undertake. Here they are:

1. When street peddlers begging for spare changes, we offer them foods. When asking for food, give them money.
2. On the bus, give up our seat to the disabled, the elderly or mother-to-be without a big fuss.
3. When the weather is not agreeable, we make extra effort to buy something from the street vendors. So they can all get out of the cold and soaky night and go home sooner.
4. When seeing lost kids or disoriented seniors, we escort them home. If it is not possible, put them on the right bus or accompany them to the police station. Help them make a phone call home will also get them home sooner.
5. When hearing someone asking for direction, do not be bashful if we know the place. Offer what we know voluntarily.
6. When found a purse with cash, if we are in a dire strait, we return it without the money to its rightful owner. However, we must remember who this money belongs to. When we are back on our feet, we return the temporarily borrowed money to its owner with an apology.
7. If we can, help out and encourage the young students who must work to support themselves or their families.
8. When shopping at the night markets, we buy more if you can without haggling. So the poor vendors can sell out their goods sooner in a cold night.
9. If we are financially well off, do not transgress to having a concubine. Helping a few poor students anonymously will make us happier.
10. If we find these ideas make good sense to us, do share this to-do list with others.

Now, let’s be kind to each others. - Ayee

Fins and Paws

It appears day by day animals have become more and more of an integral part of our society. Now encounters between men and beasts are very frequent. This explains why mesmerizing animal stories become staples of our daily news. The other day my newspaper reported two such tales on the same page.

One is about the death of an experienced 40-year-old trainer, Dawn Brancheau, in SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida. She died while performing with "Tilikum," a 30-year-old killer whale. Mind you, this is not a win-and-lose game. This tragedy does not end here. Now this playful orca’s fate is at stake. Because this is not the first time the star attraction at SeaWorld is infamously linked to the loss of a human life, SeaWorld may have to put Tilikum out to the great yonder if it is found to be the culprit of this deadly incident.

Then the other story is about a bomb-sniffing black Labrador named Treo. It was in London receiving a bravery medal for preventing NATO soldiers as well as innocent Afghans from being blown up by roadside bombs. Certainly it is wonderful to see this smart pooch receives its well-deserved award live and well in "person."

After reading these two stories, I am glad at least one of them had a happy ending. - Ayee

Look Befroe Your Cross

The other morning while I was waiting for my bus at an intersection, I noticed on a kiddy corner to me there was a grey squirrel on the curb. It was prepared to cross a busy east/west thoroughfare in the morning rush hour. The bus was late so I got to watch a small fur-clad rodent crossing a busy street unscathed.

From where I was I saw this little four-legged being braved itself down to the payment from the curb and was set to go. Before it descended to the asphalt, not unlike the flashing amber lights at some intersections, this hairy creature waved its bushy tail up and down to alert the oncoming traffic to stop. But none of the speeding east bound cars noticed this tiny bundle’s friendly signal. For a few times, it nearly got zapped by the fast-moving vehicles zooming by it

Because many daring attempts bore no fruits, to skirt the dangerous traffic, it decided to change its path. Instead of running against the traffic, it went with the flow.

Resulting from this change of direction, it quickly crossed a north/south feeder road of the same intersection without any fanfares. Now it was on the sidewalk at the east/north corner of the same intersection. It still faced the risky task that would get it over to the south side of these crossroads. Not like a few of its peers whom I saw sometimes crossing busy streets by the overhead electrical wires, this little one took advantage of the many bare cherry trees there. It jumped onto the dry branches of the trees from one to another. Continuously it traveled in the air until it reached the midway of this short block. From there it came down to the concrete sidewalk. Finally, it was in a spot that was in a safe distance from the busy intersection and got itself crossed over to the south side of the busy streets safely. - Ayee