Keep track of your sins…

...with an iPhone app, appropriately named Confession**. I accidentally came across the app and some of the listed features:

- Ability to add sins not listed in standard examination of conscience

- Confession walkthrough including time of last confession in days, weeks, months, and years

- Choose from 7 different acts of contrition

Well…there is at least one app that will not interface with facebook and twitter..atleast not until location based advertising finds a way to monetize people’s sins !

What can you do with an old vacuum cleaner?

You can make it Einstein’s tongue, if you are creative !! You should be able to spot the other interesting "junk" if you click on the picture for the larger version.

Puzzler of the week: Dairy products cause cancer ??

…should rephrase…they increase the probability of cancer, according to a recent forward I got. As always, I googled totally expecting it to be one of those useless rumors that travels around the e-world in a jiffy (I pity those that create these forwards….if only they had a charming friend like me ;) :D) and was shocked to learn that it may be true.

Although studies have gone both ways and research is still being carried out, most of them incline towards accepting this premise as a fact. Almost all of them point to the Chinese, who apparently stay away from all kinds of dairy products, who have a really low rate of cancer when compared to those in the Europe and the US.

Has someone bothered checking out Indians, who live and breathe dairy products? If Indians had a much higher rate of Cancer or at least something comparable to the western world, I would slowly become a believer. However, if they do not, then I would believe that it would just link to all the artificial things that are done to the milk production (pumping it up with hormones and what not) here that’s the culprit. I have been used to fresh milk in India even though we later switched to Aavin but I still hold firmly that both milk and yoghurt taste weird in the western world (you can’t even go to the disaster that is buttermilk – God bless the Turkish for their Ayran that helps me survive in Germany) !

Given that I already know 3 Indians – all women – who suffer/suffered from cancer and that only one of them survives, I should say its not looking good……are the days of milk and paneer going to be replaced with soymilk and tofu?

Some say women should be careful about soy intake – so now, researchers, make up your mind, what can we actually eat??

** The article is not intended to offend Catholics or the concept of Confessional.

Copyright: The picture in from the KLM flight magazine and is the work of French artist, Bernard Pras

What happens when...

...2 people with very different tastes are stuck at home on a rainy sunday with just one laptop ?!?

...split screen technology :D

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention !

Jinx factor wearing off ?

You all know about how I kill plants.

In an effort to set the record straight, I would like to proudly proclaim that my current effort with plants is paying off.

Below given are pictures of the plants in my balcony, that is now no longer ashamed to face its peer balconies :)

I am especially proud of this small potted plant that sits on my end table. I bought it purely because of the orange color that brightens up the room even on a cold and dull day and I must say I am rather pleased with how well it has bloomed.

I know I am tempting fate by this post but I have to brag given that the chances are few and far between!

I am pushing my luck even further by writing these instructions but being noble (:D), I always think of 'yam petra inbam peruga ee vyyagam'**

10 Steps to have plants in the balcony

1. Buy Balkonkasten (plant holders) from Amazon, make sure they have a plate underneath where excess water can seep through

2. Make holes in the Balkonkasten for the water to seep through (usually there are 4 holes provided that can be easily opened with a small hammer and a screw driver)

3. Cover the hotels with something light such that water can seep through but not the mud (I bought a small terracotta flower pot for 50 cents, broke it into 4 pieces and covered the holes)

4. Add a layer of pebbles (Since I already paid for mud, I was in no mood to pay for pebbles, took it from my apartment garden, ofcourse after checking with my owner. I really don't want to be known as a pebble-thief!)

5. Add layers of mud until the boxes (balkonkasten) are 70% filled

6. Choose plants carefully. Do not choose only seasonal plants, buying new plants for every season can be very expensive. For example, the green plants in the pictures without any flowers do not bloom but they will remain green through out the year and so are the blue ones. This way I only have to change the plants at both ends.

6. If the plants from the nursery are dry, water them by immersing them into to huge bucket of water for a couple of seconds and then let the excess water drain in a kitchen sink. If the plants are too dry, immerse them once more. This ensures that water is evenly spread within the mud.

7. Take the watered plants from their pots along with mud so that the roots are intact and place them in the formation you need with enough gap between them (Usually plants come with instructions as to how much space they would need and to what extent they can grow)

8. Add some more mud so that the roots can eventually attach themselves to the mud in the boxes. The mud layer should rise only up to 85% of the height of the boxes (obviously this is an approximation and no, I do not really measure it)

9. Place the boxes within the hangers and check to make sure they are securely fastened (you don't want to your beautiful pots to fall on strangers' heads or ironically your own)

10.Water them based on weather (the warmer it is, the more water the plants require, just like us) and instructions (my potted plant needs only water once a week). The simplest way is to stick your finger into the mud. The mud should always be moist (NOT wet)

Ofcourse there are lot of people who do this professionally by measuring soil moisture, creating flower formations, using special manure...lets just say that I will cross the bridge if and when I get to it !

Happy Gardening !

** Let everyone else enjoy what I enjoy.