I Want A Toaster

I can’t remember too much about having a toaster but I guess we had one during my early years living in Kuwait. I think it was steel and blue and we could toast 2 slices at a time. I don’t think we have used a toaster since that one stopped working when I was around 12 or so.

Since then I usually just toast bread on a pan and brown them to my tastes. I would like to get a toaster and a sandwich maker but I don’t want too big ones because counter top space is limited and we have too many things that we use on the counter. I have been idly looking at a few models online and saw some awesome ones. I just watched a video where someone was featuring a couple of their kitchen appliances and saw this model from Smeg. Now, the video is shot in Canada and therefore there is no way that I could afford this model – it’s Rs.20-23k when I check online.

No there is no way I am gonna pay that much for a toaster when there are really good ones for Rs.800-1500! But I do like the look of this brand. Reminds me of the car models from the 1950s. Looks amazing. There are many designs of toasters, with different colours and shapes, as well as multiple toasting spots with two slots being the most common, although four slice toasters are not unusual. A toaster was invented in 1990 that could be controlled over the internet, and in 2012, a toaster was made that could recognize the toast’s colour shades.

Weird Laws In Saskatchewan

  • It is illegal to allow a chicken to cross the road
  • It is illegal to drink any hard alcohol other than rye
  • All clothing with hoods must be called bunnyhugs and ljefhlhakdqa
  • Chocolate milk must be called THE LEGENDARY BROWN COW MILK
  • it is illegal to ride your moose through your neighbors igloos if under the influence of alcohol
  • In Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan walking down the street with your shoelace undone could get you into some serious trouble, but only if you’re in your teens for some reason.
  • Supposedly to curb sex-trafficking and organized crime, the Saskatchewan Alcohol Control Regulations (2016) stipulate that strip-tease performances may only be performed in bars by special licence once per year for charitable causes. Dry (no liquor) strip clubs are perfectly legal though.
  • Doggie doo is often a problem addressed through bylaws, with Tisdale, Sask. being particular strict. Dog owners in that city must clean up all poop from their properties each day, unless they want to deal with fines that can reach $250 per offence.
  • Tisdale also requires female dogs to be kept inside when they are in heat. Many communities have similar guidelines. Estevan, Sask. has a somewhat looser rule: Dogs in heat there are allowed outside to use the bathroom.

Superpower Indeed

Reveal a superpower you’d love to have and what you’d do with it.

I would love to have the ability to create things at the snap of my fingers or just by wishing it to happen. Kind of like a human replicator. If I want to get a case of beer **snap** and right in front of me. The best pizza with lots of cheese, pepperoni, bacon & sausage – boom!

An expensive pair of shoes, watches, glasses, shirts & jeans – there in front of you. A vehicle, a house, furniture, electronic devices, money, precious jewels, diamonds etc etc. What more could you or anyone want? I would have a ball doing that for people and impressing them with my abilities and also blowing their minds a lot.

Build houses for everyone, shelter and cozy homes. How about roads where there isn’t a proper one or none at all? Medicine, water & other beverages for the masses? Games for all kids to play. Ok, I seem to be going towards this futuristic, socialist world that I have created for myself. But yeah I would love this superpower.

Prompt from 31 Blog Writing Prompts to Break Your Writer’s Block

Best Advice?

Share the best piece of advice given to you by someone else

I can’t remember when but I remember this person telling me about work & the employer that you are working for. He said that you should try and do your best to be noticed and appreciated and use everything you can, within reason, to make yourself be noticed and make yourself invaluable.

However, he also said, remember that you are disposable. Any corporate office may same some kind things about you if you die all of a sudden or are incapacitated. But your position will be filled and you will be long forgotten before you the fire of your funeral pyre dies out naturally. So be loyal but never be that loyal.

These words have always stuck with me. Loyalty is earned and yes, be grateful for what you get and the job you have but always look out for yourself. After all, like a colleague of mine once said to the GM who asked him, “Is money everything? What about loyalty?” when he quit to join another organization that would pay him a lot more for the same kind of job he was doing, he replied – “I work for money. If you want loyalty, get yourself a German Sheppard”!

Prompt from 113 IDEAS FOR A BLOG POST at THIRTEEN THOUGHTS

Pitch Black

Pitch Black (titled The Chronicles of Riddick: Pitch Black on its DVD re-release) is a 2000 American science fiction action horror film that is part of a trilogy co-written and directed by David Twohy. The film stars Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, and Keith David. Dangerous criminal Richard B. Riddick (Diesel) is being transported to prison in a spacecraft. When the spaceship is damaged by comet debris and makes an emergency crash landing on an empty desert planet, Riddick escapes. However, when predatory alien creatures begin attacking the survivors, Riddick joins forces with the surviving crew and other passengers to develop a plan to escape the planet.

Homeowners Association (HOA) – Things To Know


An HOA or homeowner's association is a society in a sector, planned municipal, or housing co-operative, responsible for enforcing rules and regulations for the buildings or homes as well as the residents that live in them. One can purchase a property through them in which case they are automatically enrolled into membership within the HOA’s jurisdiction and these members are obligated to pay a certain fee or dues, these are called the HOAs fees. This fee is usually paid monthly and goes towards the maintenance of the area as well as the property and any other mutual expenses needed for the upkeep of the neighborhood. If you own a condominium, these fees are typically levied, but it could also extend to one-family homes as well as some neighborhoods. This link can explain more about this.

What an HOA is All About

Having a thorough understanding of an HOA is key for any resident, neighborhood or community. The association is usually established and run by some of the residents themselves as it is best to keep it within the community, as they would know best what needs attention. These residents also have different people running different aspects of the neighborhood, for instance, there is a board of directors that governs the place, and are chosen to implement the rules and regulations and they oversee everything.

It could be you, your neighbor, the family living three houses down, and anyone who volunteers to help out or run it. When you become a member of this association, you will receive some paperwork to make things official, this will include a Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs). From the perspective of the law, this is is spelt out as per this website: https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/4-580-3969?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc. Default)&firstPage=true

It would generally contain all of the below elements in it:

  • Who the board of directors are and why they were chosen.
  • Limitations put on the development or use of the property
  • A portrayal of the property itself – the design and dimensions for instance.
  • Shared access to the property if necessary depending on the plan.
  • Every owner’s assessment obligations and any payment and billing procedures.
  • Information regarding the developer of the houses and their intent.
  • Obligations of repair and maintenance to the building by the property owner.
  • Lender protection requirements.

This CC&R lays out certain conditions for residents and homeowners about the upkeep of your property. They can be structural restrictions such as the type of fences allowed and those that aren’t allowed, the color of the house i.e. the paint, and any other aesthetic aspects of the property. This also includes parking facilities. They would also include penalty fees if the rules are not abided by. Depending on the severity of the penalties, the worst-case scenario is litigation enforced on the resident.

An In-depth Understanding About Homeowners Association Fees

HOA fees characteristically cover the expenses of preserving the building’s communal areas. These can include, but may not be limited to, swimming pools, entertainment areas, children pay fields, patios, lobbies, gardens and landscaping, staircases and elevators. In some instances, the dues mentioned in the CC&R are related to these and will cover some of these as well as the other necessary and common utilities, for instance, electricity, water, sewerage, garbage disposal, street cleaning and more. Some neighborhoods also have sports facilities and open courts for racket sports such as tennis, badminton and squash or a clubhouse for community gatherings, the maintenance of these is also included in the fees.

As a first time resident in the area, it is always a good idea to be sure you read through the regulations carefully when you receive the documents and ask for any clarifications or confusions to be cleared out for your sake. If you are not happy with anything it is always best to get it out of the way at the beginning of your residency rather than waiting for a few months. There is no set fee for every residential area and it could be anything from $100 and $700 in fees per month depending on the type of place it is and the extracurricular facilities it provides its neighbors. The rule of thumb is, the more facilities it provides, the more the monthly expenses will be.

Sometimes it is the case where the reserve funds are not managed properly and owners end up paying a hefty fee. It is highly recommended to check every number on your end of month fee statement to make sure the money you put into the membership is being distributed to those items that are listed in the CC&R and nothing extra or surprising is added which was not originally accounted for by the board of directors. Checking the efficiency of any HOA is key before buying a home with them and becoming a member. There are cases where if you as the member does not, or cannot pay the fees either monthly or on an annual basis, that the board may consider a special assessment to help you out instead of categorizing you as an unfit homeowner. They could however charge you extra fees on top, in the form of a penalty, if they find no valid reason as to why you did not pay the fees.

Other members may help in some instances to pay towards the fees however, in some extreme circumstances they may also foreclose the property and sell it, to make up for the fees, and you could be left without a home. If a member fails to send expense to the HOA, it may or may not affect the others also part of the association. The communal spaces may be affected if not paid on time and in full. To support any pointless annoyances in the long run and uphold your status in closed societies such as these, always check the papers, ask the right enquiries and pursue legal help if needed. Keeping things intact should be every member’s responsibility.

Marriage Jokes

1. Marriage is when a man and woman become as one. The trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

2. Grooms, once you get married remember that when you have a discussion with your future wife, always get the last two words in: “Yes, dear.”

3. My wife gave birth four times and still fits in her prom dress from high school. I gave birth 0 times and I haven’t fit in my pants since March.

4. Marriage is like going to a restaurant. You order what you want, then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.

5. When a newly married man looks happy, we know why. But when a ten-year married man looks happy, we wonder why.

6. Love is one long sweet dream, and marriage is the alarm clock.
Why are husbands like lawn mowers? They’re hard to get started, emit foul odors and don’t work half the time!

Arsenal News : 2 Exits Confirmed

Dani Ceballos has seemingly confirmed his departure from Arsenal by sending an emotional message to the club’s supporters. Ceballos spent two seasons on loan at the Emirates Stadium from Real Madrid, but his time in north London has now come to an end. The 24-year-old featured 40 times for Mikel Arteta in all competitions throughout the 2020/21 season but failed to really establish himself as a crucial player in the Gunners midfield. As well as this, Arsenal have been linked with a host of new central midfielders that could be seen as replacements for the Los Blancos man. Now, Ceballos has taken to his official Instagram page to send an emotional message to the Arsenal fan base – as he confirmed his inevitable departure.

David Luiz bade an emotional farewell to his Arsenal teammates ahead of their 2-0 win against Brighton on the final day of the season, addressing the squad at London Colney on Saturday to thank them for their efforts during his time at the club. Luiz joined Arsenal from Chelsea for £8m in 2019 and, despite his mixed fortunes in north London, he earned the third FA Cup winner’s medal of his career last year. By all accounts he leaves as a well respected member of the squad. After a season of inconsistent form and persistent injuries, it was announced earlier this month that Luiz would leave at the end of his current one-year contract. Though he wasn’t included in the squad which faced Brighton, Luiz came out onto the pitch at the end of the match and was given a standing ovation by those in attendance.

Sead Kolasinac will reportedly leave Arsenal on a permanent basis during this summer’s transfer window. The 27-year-old has been with the Gunners since 2017, making 113 appearances in all competitions, but he struggled for football in the first half of the 2020-21 campaign before joining Schalke 04 on loan. Kolasinac still has more than 12 months left to run on his deal at the Emirates Stadium, but he is not believed to be in the thoughts of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta for next term. According to football.london, the versatile defender is expected to leave the Gunners on a permanent basis in the upcoming market. The report claims that Schalke are interested in a long-term deal, but the German outfit, who have been relegated from the Bundesliga, could face competition from Italian giants Lazio.

Widgets/Plugins For My Blog

I thought I’d share some of the widgets and plugins that I use a lot. These are the top 3 that I use for my blog.

Top Commentators Widget : This plugin creates a widget to show the top commentators in your WP site. The Top Commentators Widget plugin is adapted from Show Top Commentators plugin at Personal Financial Advice.

Twitter Widget Pro : A widget that properly handles twitter feeds, including parsing @username, #hashtag, and URLs into links. It supports displaying profiles images, and even lets you control whether to display the time and date of a tweet or how log ago it happened (about 5 hours ago, etc).

Simple Social Buttons adds ( with lots of options like Sidebar, inline, above and below the posts content, on photos, popups, fly ins ) an advanced set of social media sharing buttons to your WordPress sites, such as: Facebook, WhatsApp, Viber, Twitter, Reddit, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

2 Day Weekend Isn’t Enough

And we are here at the start of another week, another 5 more days of working and sending out emails and conference calls on Webex. It’s another week of excel sheets and talks and stuff. It’s another week of administration on the client tool and getting ridiculous requests at odd hours of the day when I am not in shift. It’s gonna be rolling my eyes, keeping my thoughts to myself and wondering where is the light at the end of the tunnel :)

I feel that 2 days off isn’t enough in the grand scheme of things. I barely remember my Saturday as I was so sleepy throughout the day and even slept off in the afternoon despite only waking up at 12:30 pm. But yeah I only slept off by 7 am in the morning but then I slept for 2 hours in the afternoon from 3pm and 5 pm. 5pm I woke up and got coffee and then thought about what to order for dinner. I took a shower and ordered in a small pizza and a puff thingy. I was battling a cold so nothing to drink other than more coffee and water.

I watched some tv shows and fell asleep in between. Then I woke up and watched the rest of it and it was almost 3 am by then. Still amazingly tired, I switched off the lights and went to bed. I woke up by 10 am and got coffee and waited for my parents to come back home. I got us lunch and then watched Army Of The Dead and even managed to fall asleep during that. Movie was good. Evening was more coffee and we bought a grilled chicken with hummus, khuboos and garlic sauce. I drank a 7up and shot reviews for 2 movies. Then I watched Prometheus and went to sleep.

Arsenal 2 Brighton 0

Nicolas Pepe scored twice in the second half as Arsenal beat Brighton, only to be denied a place in Europe by Tottenham’s fightback against Leicester. A strong finish to the season moved the Gunners within a point of their north London rivals heading into the final day, and with Arsenal cruising after Pepe’s double, the 10,000 fans returning to Emirates Stadium thought they were set to snatch seventh place from Spurs. Despite finishing the season with a fifth straight win, Arsenal were condemned to an eighth-placed finish as Tottenham clinched a 4-2 victory at Leicester.

That result ends the Gunners’ record of playing in Europe every season since 1995-96 and means they have not finished above Tottenham since 2016. Arsenal director Josh Kroenke, son of owner Stan, was in attendance and some fans held banners that read ‘Kroenke out’, with the club’s involvement in the abandoned European Super League having intensified ill-feeling towards the board. Fans also voiced their disapproval during the second half and when news of Tottenham’s win filtered through after the final whistle.

The mood at the final whistle was in stark contrast to that midway through the second half. Arsenal were firmly on top, with Gabriel heading against the crossbar in the first half before Pepe controlled Calum Chambers’ low ball into the Brighton box and fired right-footed past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. Pepe then added his 16th goal of the season, stroking the ball inside the far post with his left foot after the recalled Martin Odegaard rolled the ball into his path on the right wing.

Best Dessert Ever?

What is the best thing you ever had for dessert? Share the memory or the recipe.

I can’t remember which place it was we got it from, since I wasn’t the one that ordered it (it was made in a business that specializes in cakes and pastries) and it was at the office that I had it.

I don’t remember the name but it was a 3 layer chocolate cake with flakes and frosting and Ferrero Rocher balls on the top. There was so much of it throughout so even 15 of us each got a nice big piece (or 2) with a ball on it. It also looked so damned beautiful & sexy that all of us oohed and aahed and took pics of it (but gosh darn it I am not sure where the pics are).

Eating that first bite on my spoon was the equivalent of having a really good orgasm. The kind that makes me wanna moan loud, the man grunt or moan when you are coming and coming good! That kind. It was good to the last lick and luckily there was enough for each of us to enjoy a second piece. Sinfully good is a word that was reserved to these kind of cakes.

Prompt from 31 Days of Writing Prompts for May at the SitsGirls

Living On McDonald’s For A Day

So since the recent lockdown started on May 8th I have been staying in alone at home. Most of my meals have been delivered from restaurants and cafes. Breakfast I can manage with a bit of bread but I am not good at cooking so I order in for lunch and dinner.

It’s usually a wrap or some rice and veggie gravy but yesterday I got stuck on getting some McDonalds’s as I felt like getting one. So for lunch I bought a McSpicy Paneer burger (yeah yeah, I know a veggie burger) with fries and a Coke. When I got it the burger went down well but for some reason I didn’t like the fries. I usually eat my fries first before I unwrap the burgers but I just couldn’t wait to be done with the fries. And I usually love fries. For some reason I didn’t like them.

In the evening I wanted to get some sub or wraps from Subway and also get a cookie or two. However due to the lockdown, the delivery services like Zomato & Swiggy are only allowed to deliver till 7:30 pm and hence most of the restaurants stop accepting orders by 6:15 pm or 6:30 pm and I completely forgot to order them because I was in the shower. I tried but I couldn’t get any of the Subways (6) in the city. I checked and saw that McDonald’s was available. Two orders from McD’s in the same day? Well I got a double McSpicy chicken with 6 piece nuggets and a large Oreo McFlurry. No fries this time.

So for a day I was like millions of people in a Western country who perhaps have had all their meals for a day from McDonald’s. Like maybe in America, where as far as I know, some people who are below the poverty level do get a lot of their food from the Golden Arches as they are cheaper. And it was ok!

Weird Laws In Morocco

1. Shopkeepers are required to use red ink to write the price on books or magazines sold in installments.

2 . It is illegal to kill a mouse unless for consumption.

3. Arabic bibles – It’s ok to have Bibles in all other languages except Arabic. This is seen as undermining Islam. In the same way, you can be arrested for trying to convert an Islamic Moroccan to Christianity.

4. If you are with a friend when he gets busted for having drugs, you will be arrested for the same crime – Morocco drug laws are strange since you can be prosecuted for being found in the company of a person who has drugs even if you have none. You’ll both get charged with the same crime and be given the same sentence.

5. Children over the age of 12 are prohibited from telling Knock-Knock jokes.

6. HomosexualityThis will only cause you problems if you display your relationship in public or if one or both of the parties are Moroccan. If you’re discreet its highly unlikely that you’ll get arrested.