Because It Can Be Your Friend..

World map of suicide rates per 100,000 (Wikipedia)

What a queer day at work. B walks around in the wee early morning, handing out a suspiciously sticky fruit toffee. I'm eating it and text L anyway so she can catch the culprit if something happens :-). Moments later, Mr S hops about giving out a leaflet and a sticker. I suspect it's the ubiquitous parking/speeding ticket, but it's something about the World Suicide Prevention Day thing. Hmm.., behavioral patterns to identify a suicidal person, great. Oh god, everybody stares after him, suppressing snickers and guffaws. Is this what we look like? Poor D comes last, and Mr S whizzes out the last leaflet at him. We exchange knowing snickers again. D's dumbfounded.

It almost seems funny now. I never thought I had much to do with it, but once I had a close shave with it. One of my best [i mean bestest] friends, attempted it. She was out of the country at that time, abroad in university. She had undergone a recent emotional tragedy and was so depressed about it. I knew it, and tried to be there for her, keeping touch with her every now and then. But somehow she went so near and attempted it, almost. She had a lucky escape, a really 'lucky' escape, cause another friend had phoned her just about in time [all her hostel friends had been sleeping when she tried it]. If it had not been that phonecall, all would've been over. Thank heavens things turned better, and now stuff is fine, but still, it came so close. It could've cost me my pallie. If her colleagues there took a bit more care of her, if they had been a bit more aware of the behavior, she might not have had to rely on her 'luck' to escape. Actually no one should. She told me afterwards that it had not been a planned act. It had been spontaneous, and she said her intention was only 'to get away'. She said afterwards that she herself was surprised that she didn't even think about her parents. Her focus only had been to get away from her burning emotions.

I think we all should be more careful about this. Cause it might lurk quietly down under and raise its ugly head when no one expects it. Careful about friends or acquaintances who have undergone similar circumstances. Keep your eyes open for them. It can be someone you really care about.

Is My Membership Due?

Dijkstra's Algorithm by riggzy

Here's an algorithm puzzle I came across this morning. It requires simple logic but is harder than it seems. Check how long does it take you to do it:

You have two dates, both in mm/dd/yyyy format. One is the day you last renewed your library membership and the other is today. Write an algorithm [using simple pseudocode] to determine whether your library membership has expired or not. Remember, the only variables you can use are the mm, dd and yyyy values of the two dates.

Membership renewal date : mm1 / dd1 / yyyy1
Today's date : mm2 / dd2 / yyyy2

No PLs what-so-ever. Simple English.

Rain Rain and Rain

Yahoo! Weather is mad..

It's another great rainy day. Woow! Yesterday evening only had a very close shave without getting soaked. Rainy days at office are great, whilst at home (and even school maybe) they suck. They have their own appeal. Anyways I'd always prefer a downpour day than a dark, gloomy day. Maybe because I prefer action. Last few day's kinda made me mad although I always dragged along that behemoth umbrella with me, never got a chance to use it. Haha! Got one today. I always like to savor the feeling to sit at an empty office in a rainy morning whilst all the engineers still are out in the traffic or still in bed [thinking it's yesterday]. One thing I hate about rain are wet shoes. They can make the whole day a nightmare. But if you make it though without getting the H2O in, then you're it.

I prefer a rainy evening than a morning. A morning it way too bustling to have the fun outof it. The evening you can do what-not like watching your poor colleagues worry without having umbrellas and like.. Another thing I've seen, there's a marked supply of high water pressure in the mornings when it's raining: means half the people are missing showers? Lazy scoundrels. One thing I can't miss however it storms is a shower.

I hope that darn drain at the top of my street hasn't overflown, else I'll have to swim again of detour with shame. Ohh.. and the washing?? Oh god the washing. Though it's not my prob directly it kinda bothers me: I'd hate to find myself outof fresh sweats in the evening.

Well it already looks like clearing up a bit. Oh well, let battle commence. But still half the guys are out. How so? As I remember the traffic was a bit decent today. Perhaps they're thinking it's still yesterday.

My Workout Routine

Recently I've started working out proper. Perhaps I'm after the physique after watching too much U.S. Marine films. Still I didn't use the subsidized gym membership. Will go for it shortly: for now, this is what I go through every morning:

01. Stretch [try to make your crotch kiss the concrete: I'm doin' pretty well!]
02. Two (sometimes) sets of sqats, each of 30 reps.
03. 2 sets of feet-up push-ups, each of 30 reps.
04. Two sets of curls, each of 10 reps.
05. Two sets of pull-ups, each 10-12 reps.
06. Two sets of close-hands push-ups, each of 10 reps.
07. That's it.

This works. For a start it's giving me amazing results. Try it, and if you survive, comment.