The symptoms of Lamborghini Madness

Nothing’s like driving a Lamborghini. It’s definitely better than driving the Vauxhall Astra, or the Renault Cleo, or whatever junk car I’ve ever owned. It’s even better than all the Peugeots I used to borrow from my father during his afternoon naps.

I’ve never bothered dreaming of owning a Lamborghini or even driving it. But I had a voucher for a Lamborghini thrill from my children and their mother on my birthday. So I thought why not. Let’s give it a go. Today I used the voucher and I had a dose of 6 laps in the yellow monster with no speed limit applied. Now I want from my heart that the National Assembly of Kuwait to work out a deal with government to give every citizen a Lamborghini. It’s really worth it. The only problem is that I started to wonder how is it like to drive the Bugatti Veyron. I think I should study my proposal more carefully before it reaches the government.

The Story of Maths

This is one of the comments I had on the previous post written by

RLdVW

I enjoyed reading it, and thought to share it with you.

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Mathematics is formally defined as the study of the concepts of quantity, structure, space and change. It is based on the logical reasoning. Similar to the laws of logic, first formally introduced by Aristotle, the laws of mathematics provide us with a structured way of thinking to investigate natural phenomena. Also, the laws of logic themselves can be presented as mathematical expressions. Simply, the relationship between Mathematics and sciences is the same relationship between logic and philosophy.

Historically, the importance of teaching Mathematics was debated between Plato and Aristotle. Both philosophers have different schools of thoughts about teaching mathematics. Plato argued that mathematics is defined by human’s perception of the world and not by the absolute truth of the world. He believed that there are eternal substances beyond sensible substances. Aristotle on the other hand argued that we develop Mathematics to define the world we live in and understand the natural phenomena. The two schools of thoughts go far beyond Mathematics, in my opinion. They involve how we view the world and whether the universe is defined prior to our existence or by us, and whether our minds have the ability to develop the mathematics necessary to explain this world.

Two fundamental arguments exist today; one supports the expandinsion of the universe and the other states that the universe is moving towards order and steady state. The Qur’an mentions in many cases, both directly and indirectly, the concept of order. If so, then the question would be whether our minds are designed to think in a way in harmony with the laws of the universe or not. If the math failed to explain a certain phenomenon, does that mean the phenomena is beyond the laws of Mathematics or these laws have not developed enough to explain it.

The ultimate questions are what came in first, what describes what, and what is greater than what!

These philosophical questions were investigated in a great depth by some Muslim philosophers (mostly Shi’aat) in a very unique way.

I diverted from 9ala7’s post about his son’s frustration with negative numbers, but I wanted to present a different point of view about Mathematics and how everything in this universe is connected and how much more we need think, read, write and conduct research to understand our world and ourselves.

Egypt Vs Europe... help me to decide

As planning ahead is becoming a must for almost every action these days, I’m under enormous pressure to plan for the next Christmas holiday. Why should we plan? In the past we had many nice holidays and we hardly planned for any of them. What’s wrong with deciding in last minute? Who said it’s foolish to buy your tickets an hour before flying? Is it really risky to arrive to your intended destination and then find out whether they have vacant hotel rooms? I don’t know about the rest of you but we’ve tried unplanned holidays before and we had great times.

This year we thought to be more organized. From the summer we started discussing where we should go next Christmas. Our friends suggested that we should go with them to Egypt as they will spend about two weeks over there. We said yes as we’ve never been to Egypt, and it’s an excellent offer to go with people who know a lot about the country. I was about to book the tickets but another friend came along and ruined our plan because he said without any consideration that he’s going with his family to Europe. Well… OK maybe it’s not his fault. We had a change of heart, we thought lets join them to Europe and delay our first visit to Egypt. Well it’s not the end of the world. Egypt will always stay in the Middle East. Currently we have the Schengen visa, and so far they allow Arab to visit Europe! We should make the most of it.

Anyways, while my wife is searching for hotels in Paris and Amsterdam, and just out of complete curiosity I checked the tickets for Cardiff-Cairo-Cardiff, and found reasonable fairs. The children thought I change my mind every 10 minutes.

So please help me, should we go to Europe or to Egypt?

Happy Eid لا تنسون العيدية

تقبل الله أعمالكم

عيدكم مبارك وكل عام وانتم بخير

وأعاده الله عليكم بالخير واليمن والبركات

Eid Mubarak
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بالمناسبة... مسلسلات رمضان ما شفت منها الا التنديل وباب الحارة اللي خيب الامال
التنديل مع كل الأخطاء في الاخراج واللهجة اللي ما تناسب ذاك الوقت... الصراحة المسلسل وايد عجبني. كل الممثلين بدعوا... بس جائزة المدونة تروح حق هيا الشعيبي...

مبروك التخرج<>Congratulations on the Degree

To ManalQ8

مبروك البكالاريوس.

Congratulations on the Degree! Well done.

Have a Happy Romantic Evening

Full Moon on Wednesday 18 Jun 2008

In June some people call the full moon the Flower Moon and others call it the Strawberry Moon. It looks like a huge yellowish star distinguished from any other full moon in a different month. The reason for it to be huge is because in the summer and when we have the longest day of the year the earth becomes in a position that the sun is at highest point, so at night the moon is near to the horizon as it is always opposite the sun. So It's only an optical illusion where in fact the moon is not any larger or any nearer.

If the weather is nice this romantic night, why not take your wife with you to the seafront. Lay on the sand and imagine the moon is bigger because it’s approaching to the earth to give hope to all those who believe in love and to tell them that it was made there specially for them.

Or glide in the sky using the wings you only have because of her truelove. And take her with you, sit on a small white cloud, and tell her that her love made you happy.

Enjoy

Milton Keynes AGAIN!

Just come from Milton Keynes, this was the fourth time for us!

This town is only 40 years old. It is about 50 miles North West of London. Usually in other towns and cities in the UK there’s a long history of existing societies, but MK was built like a new settlement. The place was chosen in the hope that many people would move from the crowded London. Have they succeeded in their plan? It attracted many Kuwaitis any way.

Although we had a great time, I’m not sure if it was a perfect choice for a holiday. I don’t think it’s the best use of our time in the UK to revisit the same town 100 of times in every break we have? I think we should see new places, other towns, museums… etc.

But we have a friend who likes MK a lot. He’s convinced that it’s the best meeting point for all of us (5 families). I wish he graduates soon. Not only because I’m so good, and I wish people good things to happen to them, but also because we want to try somewhere else!

You’ll Never Walk Alone

I have nothing to say really. It’s time for no words. For no new posts. It’s when you have nothing to say, when you have nothing to write. It’s time to celebrate. It’s time to be proud of LIVERPOOL

Liverpool 4-2 Arsenal

You'll Never Walk Alone
When you walk through a storm
hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of a lark.
Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone,
You'll never, ever walk alone.

A Postcard from Paris

Writing from the most beautiful capitol in the world, from Paris, where we have been for the last four days. I heard about how beautiful it is for years and from many people, but seeing is different than hearing. I’ve been in the UK for a good while now, and Paris is always so close from where we have been. And all of this time, not knowing what I was missing out, I couldn’t be bothered crossing the channel to visit this city.

We came with a wishing list of the places we wanted to see and of the things we wanted to do. It is the cultural capitol of the whole world, you can visit the biggest museum ever where you can spend half of your life over there and still you won’t discover everything in it. So we wanted to see the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, and the rest of the Louvre. Outside, we wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower, see the Triumph Arch, and sit at a restaurant or a café in the Champs-Elysée and enjoy the taste of the French food, their Baguette and their cheese.

We managed to do all of the above. On our way back to Wales, still I can’t tick every item on the wishing list. In fact the list now is more than double the size of the list we had on our way to France.

Although we spent a whole day around and up the Eiffel Tower and we saw Paris during the day and the night when it was beautifully lit up, this is a place we’re definitely going to visit again. As Paris is well known to be the city of romance, you don’t need much effort to be romantic. It’s just contagious. You only need to take with you your gorgeous other half with you, and there’s no harm to surprise her with a red rose while you’re there.

Knowing few words and phrases in French is an advantage. I know that French people are nice. They try to help you even if they don’t speak English, but speaking with them in their own language will make your journey much more enjoyable and easier.

Overall, it’s been a fabulous holiday, unplanned as we decided 5PM and we’re on the ferry 2AM, but I know it’s going to be their in our memory for ever.

But still I insist: Il n'ya pas de place comme le Koweït.

12/3/2008 the birth of a nephew!

A newborn nephew has arrived to this world.

I haven’t seen him yet. No pictures have been sent to me. Well actually it doesn’t matter because, to me, all newborn babies look very similar. So if I want to see him any picture from Google will do the job.

The good news came to me by a text message. I’ll write it here but it’s in Arabic:

لأحضان أمي أنا جيت
وعلى أبوي نورت البيت
وبعيسى أنا تسميت
حياكم الله زوروني
وبمستشفى .... لاقوني

Yes, this is good news, but it means I'll need earplugs if I want to go to Kuwait for holiday.

"Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world. But the enduring things, the righteous deeds - [these] are better with your Lord for reward and better in [respect of] hope." [18:46]

ٱلْمَالُ وَٱلْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَاةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْبَاقِيَاتُ ٱلصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَاباً وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلاً

(الكهف 46)

Untraceable

I don’t like going to cinema to see movies which are certificate 18 or R in the American system. I just found the violence (or the other reason for being R) too disgusting. Some of these movies, I can enjoy seeing them at home only when I’m holding the remote control and I have the freedom to fast forward whenever I feel like it.

Last night, my friend told me that he’s going to the cinema with his wife and asked me if my wife and I want to join them. He said that his wife hasn’t been to cinema for a long time so there was no chance to change the plan. I said let me check with the government first and then I can decide. Anyway the movie he suggested was Untraceable and it was certificate 18. I asked my wife, and she said it’s OK which means we should go with them!

The movie is about an Internet Killer who set a website for people to watch his victims suffering to death. And he informed all of his visitors that every one of them is contributing to the actual killing of the victim. They contribute because the weapon he’s using is only activated by the number of visits to the website. It was a Good thriller with some great twists, but it’s not my cup of tea at all.

In the end, we all thought the idea of this movie was good but seeing the torturing scenes was horrible. I felt sorry for the poor girl who hadn’t been to the cinema for a while and then she ended up seeing something could keep her awake all night. Wouldn’t a romance comedy be a better choice?

Anyway, this is only a movie, but how often we face similar situations in the real life when the individual thinks his action is trivial when compared to the million of people who’re acting exactly the same. Never underestimate your action no matter how little it is. You might think you won’t make any difference by not joining the crowd, but at least you won’t be morally responsible for the consequences.

Bless My Homeland Forever

In Kuwait we celebrate the National Day on the 25th and 26th February.
I think I have to explain why we have two days

Shiites don’t celebrate it the following day after Sunnis. In fact this is the only event which is celebrated by all Kuwaitis on the same day. On the other hand, when celebrating Islamic events, there is a time difference between Sunnis and Shiites because these events depend on the lunar month. To determine the new lunar month, the new moon should be seen by the naked eye. It’s always seen by Sunnis a day before Shiites in almost every event. I’m still not sure whether there is a difference in their eye sights.

Anyway, 25th February is the day when Sheikh Abdullah Alsalem (1885-1965) became Amir of Kuwait in 1950. People in Kuwait owe Sheikh Abdullah Alsalem the democracy they have and the success of the country from the Independence Day 19th June 1961 to the late seventies. He put the country ahead of the rest of the gulf in modernization, democracy, education, and in every aspect of people’s lives. Sheikh Abdullah Alsalem is called the father of the constitution.

On the 26th February we celebrate the Liberation Day. It’s the day when Saddam was defeated and pushed out of Kuwait in 1991. I know it’s a strange coincidence to be this close to the National Day, but this is what happened.

Don’t feel sorry if you missed to send me a present or a card to wish me a happy day. We don’t exchange cards and presents in this event, but if you insist you can send me some cash instead.

Perfectionism

I attended a workshop last week on Perfectionism. My cousin thought I might be suffering from this problem. That’s why I registered in the workshop, so I can learn how to stop being a perfectionist. The first thing I wanted to do after leaving the workshop was to tell hem that I’m not a perfectionist, may be I was in certain stages of life but not anymore. I wonder what signs and symptoms he noticed.

Perfectionism is when you set for yourself very high standards, and follow rigid rules to achieve these standards.

This is different from just setting high standards, because this is very important for anyone to be successful in their personal and professional life. You should have standards and work hard to achieve them. But should you blame yourself badly if you didn't achieve some of them?

Perfectionism can lead to depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and other mental health problems. It can make you avoid doing any new project (or writing a new post if you're a blogger) because you are so afraid to fail. Basically, you could lose confidence because of this problem.

Perfectionism could be inherited or caused by the people who have been around you like parents and teachers.

If you think you’re affected, then you should do something about it. There's a questionnaire on the BBC website you can fill in and then by checking the score you can see how perfectionist you are.

For people who need to solve this problem, there's help available such as counselors, workshops, and books if you're in the UK. The presenter recommended a book called:

When Perfect Isn't Good Enough

One of the participants read this book and said that the book transformed his life.

Anyway if you didn't enjoy reading this post, it's fine by me because I'm not a perfectionist!

Are you feeling Fat?

I was listening to the radio this morning, and that woman was explaining why 70% of Spanish women are content with their body. This figure is apparently very much higher than in the UK. She thinks it’s all because of cultural differences. According to her, Spanish women aren’t any thinner than women in the UK, but they’re brought up in a way which stressing the role of the woman in the family.

Another point she mentioned that they receive much more vocal appreciation and admiration which gives them more confidence.

On the other hand, in the UK they have saying which is:

You can’t be too rich or too thin

This means there’s no upper limit for the money and no lower limit for your weight if you exceed it becomes a bad thing. Obviously, this is not helping the situation at all. Every girl wants to be a size zero model in the UK.

To find more information press here>

Does anyone know about the situation in Kuwait? Are women feeling fat over there like in the UK? Or happy with their body like in Spain?

Love or Respect

Which is more important? Showing love or showing respect?

I think for a husband showing respect is more important, but for a wife the situation is quite different.

Women want to feel they’re loved more than anything else. They’re different in everything. How can you get the right equation then? A decent man, or say a gentleman, would do anything but not disrespect a woman because it is important for him to be treated the same way.

Of course to have both love and respect will be great for both, husband and wife. But which one without it the life is unbearable? That depends on who you’re asking!

“The more you know; the more you see.”

Assuming you’re not a doctor, if you hold an X-Ray image you hardly see anything. You could tell whether it’s an X-Ray of the chest or the arm, but you wouldn’t be able to tell whether the bone is broken or not, or whether the chest is infected. But a doctor can! This is because the doctor sees more in the image. It’s meaningless for you but it tells the doctor a lot. The doctor’s eyes aren’t any sharper than yours, but simply he can see more details than you because he knows more than you.

About two months ago, I went with the family and friends to the Planetarium @Bristol. We learned about the stars, or rather we learned how we read the sky. Before this trip, the sky at night had been the same to me around the year. The south like the north and the east like the west, there was no difference at all. However, in the planetarium it was explained to us how we could find the North Star between the thousands of the stars in the sky, by determining the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. I was lucky that a friend, who his background is related to astronomy, was sitting next to me. So he was explaining anything the young lady missed in her presentation.

Now I enjoy the scene of a clear sky at night, I know it’s not very often to have a clear sky in the UK and even if we have we hardly see any star because the light pollution is just too bad. But the sky is different to me now. And I would recommend the Planetarium to anyone, children and adults. Learn more, see more, contemplate more, and find some of the footprints of the Creator.

"It is He Who maketh the stars (as beacons) for you, that ye may guide yourselves, with their help, through the dark spaces of land and sea: We detail Our signs for people who know." [6:97]

Peace Upon Husayn

Ashura for some people is the day to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. However, Imam Husayn does not belong to some people only. Imam Husayn is for all humanity. He sacrificed himself, his family, and his companions for his principals. It would not be bearable to anyone to see his brothers, sons, and loved ones to be killed in front of him one after another. Imam Husayn went to Karbala to fight the evil, the tyranny, and the oppressors.

We all can learn from Imam Hussain.

Mahatma Gandhi once said:

“I learned from Husayn how to be wronged and be a winner."

A lost LOVE

I was about to help a customer but he interrupted me and said: I’ll come back to you soon because I have to look for my wife who went shopping and she is going to spend all of my money.

When he came back he said “I went to look for my lost wife and UNFORTUNATELY I found her.” She replied that she only was shopping. ONLY! She was spending the man’s money and she said only shopping!

It was obvious he was joking and she was OK with that because she was laughing.

The couple were in there sixties and they seemed very happy together. And this man clearly cannot live without his wife. You would envy them for the love they shared and for their lifelong marriage.

Couples from the past accept each other, support each other, and love each other, and above all they are very sincere to each other.

With society losing its values, this type of relationship is rarely seen these days or at least getting less and less common as people getting more materialistic.

The British government is planning to introduce compulsory sex education for young children in primary school. I think it is better to introduce love education because love is what the society desperate for. A type of love many people see it as an old-fashioned thing. Or maybe the government knows that love is just like faith you can’t make people believe in it if they don’t want to.

No Place Like Kuwait

It’s been said that THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME and because Kuwait is home then

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE KUWAIT.

Some of my colleagues get annoyed when I say this, but I found myself saying it more and more every time I found someone annoyed by it. I always remind myself I should eventually go back and live in Kuwait, and I always remind myself that I should encourage my children to have Kuwait as their only home. However, I don’t mean Kuwait is a perfect place, and I don’t blame those who complain from everything as Sherry mentioned in her comment on the POSTCARD from DUSSELDORF. I think we should be trying to improve things. We shouldn't overlook the complicated problems we have, and we shouldn't forget that Kuwait meant to be a rich oil country. We have to say NO to those who waste our money through the mismanagement the country is suffering from.

I think we deserve better.

A Small Town

A lady was talking today about the reasons why she and her husband moved from Manchester to a small town in Wales. She mentioned many reasons and one of them was that in the small town everything seems to be friendly even the bank. She said when she goes to the bank here she doesn't feel intimidated from the security measures she used to see back in Manchester.

I agreed with her. But I thought that with globalization every place will be just the same and there won’t be a friendly place any more.

I didn’t tell her what I was thinking because I didn’t want to spoil her beautiful dream, the dream that she lives at her new home peacefully and happily for the rest of her life.