I used to have high respect for people in the medical profession like dentists. Today I went to a new dentist for a 45-minute routine hygiene appointment (essentially teeth cleaning). It only took him 20 minutes and he explained to me that there was nothing more to clean. However, he suggested me to try “sparkle airflow polish” to remove the coffee stain on my teeth. I was a bit alarmed as I did not realize it was this bad. I asked him where the stain was. He handed me a mirror and showed me a tiny spot (the size of toothpick tip) on the back of one of my teeth. I said in the calmest voice possible (with just a very light touch of sarcasm) that if I can’t see it myself, I don’t think it will bother anyone. I left swiftly (or “stormed out” more precisely) before he tried to “sell me the Brooklyn Bridge”!

I survived the hottest July day in the entire recorded history of London. Today’s highest intraday temperature was 36.7 degree Celsius. I can’t complain about not having a proper summer day in London (at least not this year).

Given the recent spotlight on financial crisis in Greece and the worry on its contagion to other countries, I thought about a similarity in the handling of our feelings (a bit of a stretch I know :>).
It is very easy and natural for most people to let a negative event have a longer lasting influence on us than it should be.   For example, after an argument with someone (no name mentioned), we tend to be more negative or aggressive than normal and in most cases it is probably not very helpful nor “fair” to the other people that we shall have interaction with later. We should do our best to isolate the negative event emotionally and the associated feelings and contain the impact avoiding an emotional downward spiral.

Recognition is a good start and rationalization (to stop the impact) can be helpful.

It was a bit of a disaster with delay and such on my Eurostar trip from Paris this morning.
I thought it may be good to discuss how to deal with the travel delay.
1) Stay calm (Keep an eye on your luggage, passport and wallet. Losing them is worse.)
2) Think of alternatives if needed.
3) Check if there is compensation from the travel provider  (yes, it is important)
4) Don’t get upset once you have established that there is nothing can be done by you but wait.
5) Make the best use of the “extra” time. Have a drink/coffee and/or read a book/magazine.

One area of my book that I plan to expand and develop on is feedback.
I think getting feedback is important but it can be a double-edged sword depending on a few aspects.
1) How the feedback is asked
2) How the feedback is given
3) How the feedback is processed by the recipient

Those are some of the areas I will look into.

Exciting news from one niece to another niece, but on a different subject.
My lovely 14-year old (13.76 years to be exact) niece Cameron in Canada has graduated from the Elementary Grades and will start high school this September. In a few weeks’ time, she will also graduate from the Raymond school after 6 years of weekly Skype lessons.
I am confident that she is an excellent and outstanding graduate from both schools. I am (and the world) expecting great things from her :>

My adult niece told me over the weekend together with her husband via Skype that she is pregnant and their baby is due in Dec.
Congratulations to Vivian and Jeremy:>
By X’mas, they will become proud parents for the first time. I will become a proud great uncle for the second time as my nephew (her brother) has a 14-month old son (my great nephew).

I watched it last night in 3D. My rating is 7/10.
Let me start with pros. The special effects are good and so is the moral of the story.
The youngest actor is adorable but the adults are not as outstanding.
Lastly, I thought the dialogues can be wittier (perhaps they can make the dinosaurs talk as well :>)

A friend of mine who knows that I love frogs sent me this link from a major UK newspaper The Telegraph featuring a Reinwardt’s flying frog, photographed in East Java, Indonesia. In the picture, the frog is ready to give a devastating kick. Such a cool picture. Check it out :>

YES – Through a combination of my “passionate” hard-sell and extremely generous support from friends and family, I am down to 9 copies from my target of 300 copies. When I mentioned publicly that I would tone down drastically my personal effort of selling my book (and let them alone) individually, some people pointed out to me that it might be considered as a marginal case of “harassment”.