Feng Shui (The Science of) (4)

T-Junction
------------

Feng Shui is considered bad if a house is located directly at a T-junction. As shown in the diagram, the house is like being placed in front of the sharp end of a spear. In such location, there is always a possibility of accidents for vehicles travelling along the road to run into the house causing disasters to the house and residents inside. Even though accidents may not actually occur, but the fear of such happenings would cause stress and hence affect the health of the residents. Living in such an uncomfortable, unsafe and unhealthy environment, people may find it hard to perform well and achieve success easily. Hence they may feel luck is not on their side and thus Feng Shui of the house is bad.

On the contrary, Feng Shui is considered good if the house is not a residence but a public building (e.g. temple, church or commercial complex like a bank or shopping center). In such location, there is high possibility for people to come from every direction thus raising the popularity and prosperity of the place.

Man and Woman‏

A man will pay $20 for a $10 item he needs.
 A woman will pay $10 for a $20 item that she doesn't need.
 
 A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
 A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.
 
 A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
 A successful woman is one who can find such a man.
 
To be happy with a man, you must understand him a lot and love him a little.
To be happy with a woman, you must love her a lot and not try to
understand her at all.
 
 A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
 A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, and she does.
 
 A woman always has the last word in any argument.
 Anything a man says after that last word is always the beginning of a new argument.

Feng Shui (The Science of) (3)

Track - Sickle and Belt

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A track can be a road or a river.

A. Sickle

Feng Shui is considered bad if a house is located on the concave side of a track. The shape of the track is like a sickle cutting the house at all times, causing a bad feeling to the residents of the house. If the track is a road, cars travelling on the road have the possibility to veer off from the road during the turn and run into the house. If the track is a river, water would constantly erode the concave side of the bank and may flood into the house. In either case, disaster may occur to the residents in the house. Even though disaster may not actually occur, but the fear of such happenings would cause stress and hence affect the health of the residents. Living in such uncomfortable, unsafe and unhealthy environment, prople may find it hard to perform well and achieve success easily. Hence they may feel luck is not on their side and thus Feng Shui of the house is considered bad.

In ancient times, there were no cars. But the ancient modes of transportation; running horses and horse-carts would have similar effects.

B. Belt

Feng Shui is considered good if a house is located on the convex side of a track. The shape of the track is like a belt embracing the house at all times, making the residents feel warm, safe and dignified. In such location, there is little chance of accidents and disasters as mentioned above to happen and consequently there is much less fear of those happenings. Living in such comfortable, safe and healthy environment, residents usually would perform well and achieve success with relative ease. Hence, they may find luck is on their side and hence Feng Shui of the house is good.

Feng Shui (the Science of) (2)

Placement of House

-----------------------------

For good Feng Shui, the placement of the house should have the following characteristics:

1. Back North, Front South (坐北向南 )
    The back of the house should face North and have solid walls. If there is a back door to the house, it should be kept shut at all times unless being used. As cold air in winter usually comes from the North, the enclosed back would block off cold air at winter times, thus providing a warmer and more comfortable living environment in winter.
    The front of the house should face South and have the main entrance, balcony and windows. As cool breeze in summer usually comes from the South, the front openings would allow cool air to flow inside the house, thus proving a cooler and more comfortable living environment in summer.

2. Left Green Dragon, Right White Tiger (左青龍, 右白虎 )
    It is said that there are four guardians to the house: left green dragon, right white tiger, front red phoenix and back black turtle.
    The left side of the house should face East. East represents morning. Green dragon is the symbolic creature guarding the left (i.e. East) side of the house. Green implies freshness and life while dragon represents the master. Hence on the East side of the house, we should ideally have something green like a river or a lining of trees externally which would provide fresh air to the house in the morning. Internally, as master, we should have the more essential components of the house like the master bedroom, lounge etc. to represent the master position and to take advantage of the better living environment.
    As the left side faces East, the right side of the house then faces West. West represents evening. White tiger is the symbolic creature guarding the west side of the house. White implies brightness and heat while tiger represents fierceness. The West side of the house usually suffers from the bright sunlight and fierce heat in the evening. As such, we should ideally have externally some protections like another neighboring house or a solid fence. Internally, we should have relatively less essential components of the house like kid's rooms or playing areas etc. to reduce the impacts of the less ideal living environment.
 
3. Front Red Phoenix, Back Black Turtle (前朱雀, 後玄武 )
    Red phoenix is the symbolic creature guarding the front of the house. Red implies beauty and fortune while phoenix represents goodness. As phoenix is a bird and bird likes to fly freely, we should have externally an open space in front of the house like a fountain, a pool or a lawn, thus providing unobstructed pleasant views for residents in the house. Internally, we should have the more essential components of the house like balcony, living room etc. for the residents to enjoy the nice sceneries which provide a more relaxing and more comfortable living environment.
    Black turtle is the symbolic creature guarding the back of the house. Black implies ugliness and evil while turtle represents badness. The back of the house is usually relatively less pleasant and hence ideally have protections externally by some tall structure like a hill or a tall building. Internally, we should have less essential components of the house like kitchen, laundry or bath rooms.
    If the front side of the house also faces South and the back side North, it is considered to have even better Feng Shui for benefits as mentioned in (1) above.

With better placement of the house, we could have better living conditions which provide more comfortable, enjoyable and healthy living environment. Living in an environment with such good qualities, we usually can perform well and may achieve success with relative ease. As a feeling, we may think we are in good luck with good Feng Shui in the house.

Performance Appraisal‏

There are 2 types of Performance Appraisal Systems: One is process-oriented, focusing on HOW one does in the job. The other is result-oriented, focusing on WHAT one achieves in the job.

A priest dies and is awaiting his turn in line at Heaven's Gates. 

Ahead of him is a guy, fashionably dressed, in dark sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket and jeans. St Peter asks him: "Please tell me who are you, so that I may know whether to admit you into the Kingdom of Heaven or not?" The guy replies: "I am Annam, an auto driver from Bangkok." St Peter consults his ledger, smiles and says to Annam: "Please take this silken robe and gold scarf, and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

Now it is the priest's turn. He stands erect and speaks out in a gentle voice: "I am the Pope's assistant, a priest for over 40 years." St Peter consults his ledger and says to the priest: "Please take this cotton robe and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Just a minute," says the agonized priest. "How is it that a foul mouthed, rash driving auto driver is given a silken robe and a golden scarf and me, a priest, who has spent his entire life preaching God's name and goodness has to make do with a cotton robe?"

"Results, my friend, results," shrugs St Peter. "When you preached, everybody slept; but when he drove his auto, everybody prayed."

The Clock Problem

I recall in my primary school days, we were taught to solve the clock problem in arithmetic, an example of which is as follows:

"Between the hour 8 and 9 o'clock, what time will the hour-hand and the minute-hand overlap with each other?"

We know that at 8 o'clock, the minute-hand is at the 0-minute position while the hour-hand is at the 40-minute position. As the minute-hand moves to catch up with the hour-hand, the hour-hand also moves albeit at a much slower pace. In fact, when the minute-hand moves 60 minutes (1 round), the hour-hand moves 5 minutes (1 hour). So they are moving at different speeds in the ratio of 12 : 1. When the minute-hand reaches the 40-minute position, the hour-hand would have moved a little bit further. We also know that the minute-hand will catch up with the hour-hand somewhere between the 40-minute and 45-minute position (They cannot go beyond the 45-minute position otherwise the hour-hand would have gone beyond 9 o'clock already).

In those school days, we were taught to obtain the answer arithmetically (frankly without a full understanding) as:

"40 x 12/11 or 43.64 minutes after 8 o'clock"

As we advanced into secondary school, we learnt Algebra. With the power of Algebra, the problem could be easily (and logically) understood and solved :

Let m be the position (in minutes) of the minute-hand and h be the position (in minutes) of the hour-hand.
As the minute-hand moves m minutes, the hour-hand moves m/12 minutes.
At 8 o'clock, the hour-hand is at 40 while the minute-hand is at 0 (i.e. the hour-hand has a head start of 40 before the minute-hand tries to catch up).
Hence, the position of the hour-hand (h) at any time is related to the position of the minute-hand (m) as follows:

h = 40 + m/12     ............... (1)

When the position of the hour-hand overlaps with the minute-hand,

h = m

Putting this back into the relation (1),

m = 40 + m/1 2

Solving this equation, we have:

m = 40 x 12/11 or 43.64 minutes

Hence, the time between 8 and 9 o'clock when the hour-hand and minute-hand overlap with each other is 43.64 minutes past 8.

Naturally, the problem can be re-phrased to ask for the same situation in any hour rather than between the hour 8 to 9 o'clock. In that case, we just replace the head start position 40 by the corresponding starting position of the hour-hand accordingly.

In addition, there are other variations of the clock problem: e.g.

A. "Between the hour 8 and 9 o'clock, what time will the hour-hand and the minute-hand form a straight line with each other?"

As from above, when the hour-hand forms a straight line with the minute-hand,

h = m + 30

Putting this back into the relation (1),

m + 30 = 40 + m/12        

Solving this equation, we have:

m = 10 x 12/11 or 10.91 minutes

Hence, the time between 8 and 9 o'clock when the hour-hand and minute-hand form a straight line with each other is 10.91 minutes past 8.

B. "Between the hour 8 and 9 o'clock, what time will the hour-hand and the minute-hand form a right angle  with each other?"

As the hour-hand can be right-angled in front of or behind the minute-hand, so when the hour-hand forms a right angle with the minute-hand,

h = m + 15 or h = m - 15

Putting this back into the relation (1),

m + 15 = 40 + m/12 or m - 15 = 40 + m/12

Solving this equation, we have:

m = 25 x 12/11 or 27.27 minutes

or

m = 55 x 12/11 or 60 minutes

Hence, the time between 8 and 9 o'clock when the hour-hand and minute-hand form a right angle with each other is either 27.27 minutes past 8 or 9 o'clock.

If at any point of the calculation, the number becomes negative, add 60 to the number before going on, reason being the minute-hand runs only between 0 and 60 in the clock face.

Feng Shiu (The Science of) (1)

In Chinese, 'Feng' is 'wind' and 'Shui' is 'water'. As wind comes from air. 'Feng Shui' literally means 'air' and 'water'
Air and water are the two essential elements of life without which we cannot survive. With good quality of air and water, we enjoy safety, comfort and good health. Living in an environment with such quality (we say with good Feng Shui), we usually perform well and may achieve success with relative ease. As a feeling, we think we are in good luck with good Feng Shui.
Feng Shui is a study of the environment in which air and water are the two influential ingredients. Feng Shui studies how our living environment affects our life. It is a collection of wisdoms by Chinese over thousands of years based on their experience and observed statistics of the living environment. Traditionally, people learning Feng Shui tend to concentrate more on 'how' and not so much on 'why'. Our aim is to provide a scientific basis in explaining how and why Feng Shui affects our life, and thus our 'luck'.

As Feng Shui was developed by Chinese living in the Northern Hemisphere, the science of Feng Shui naturally reflects such fact. Unless otherwise stated, our forthcoming discussions are based on the situations in the Northern Hemisphere. For people living in the Southern Hemisphere, two points need to be noted in the study due to the difference in geography:

1. Change 'North' to 'South' and vice versa.

    In general, winds from the North are cold and those from the South are warm. But in Southern Hemisphere, winds from the South are cold and those from the North are warm, as an example.
2. Change the timings of 'Summer' and 'Winter'.
    Summer is centered around July and winter around January. Again, in Southern Hemisphere, summer is centered around January and summer around July, as another example.

All other aspects of Feng Shui apply equally apart from these 2 points.

    

Meet The Parents

A girl brought her boy friend home to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother told the father to find out about the young man. So he invited the boy to his study for tea.

"So what are your plans?" the father asked the boy.
"I am a religious scholar and I want to marry your daughter" he replied.
"A scholar!" the father said, "That's admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice and comfortable house for my daughter to live in?"
"I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."
"What are your plans for your future living with my daughter?" the father continued to ask.
"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."
"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asked the father.
"No worries," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."
"And children?" asked the father, "What about the children?"
"Don't worry, sir, I'm sure God will provide for us." replied the boy.

So the conversation continued, and finally the mother came in, took the father away and asked, "How did it go?"
The father answered, "He has no job. He has no plans. He knows only one thing; he thinks I'm God."

0, 1 and Infinity

Quiz - "Can you walk 1 mile south, then walk 1 mile east and finally walk 1 mile north to end up where you started?"

Answers:
1. No. We need to walk 1 mile west to come back to where we started.
    Begin from the starting point A, walk 1 mile south to point P. Then walk 1 mile east to point Q. Finally, walk 1 mile north to point B. We are still 1 mile east of A where we started.

2. Yes, when we are at North Pole.
     At North Pole N, any direction will head south. So just choose one and walk 1 mile to get to point P. Then walk 1 mile east to get to point Q. Finally, walk 1 mile north to get back to North Pole N where we started.

3. Yes, there are infinitely many places we can do so.
    There is a circle with circumference of 1 mile around the South Pole S. From any point Q on this circle, we can walk east for 1 mile encircling the South Pole S once to get back to Q. 1 mile north of Q, we can find a place P.
    Now, starting from place P, walk 1 mile south to get to point Q. Then walk 1 mile east encircling the South Pole S once to get back to Q. Finally, walk 1 mile north to get back to P where we started. Since Q is an arbitrary point on the circle, P is also arbitrary. Hence there are infinitely many places of P we can do so.

   

        Furthermore, we can find a circle with circumference of 1/2 mile around the South Pole S. From any point Q on this circle, we can walk 1 mile east encircling the South Pole twice to get back to Q. From Q, find place P as above. Likewise, we can find circles of circumferences of 1/3 mile, 1/4 mile and 1/5 mile etc. around the South Pole S and from any point Q on the circles, walk 1 mile east encircling the South Pole S 3 times, 4 times and 5 times etc respectively to get back to Q. Thus theoretically, we have infinitely many circles and infinitely many points Q, and hence infinitely many places of P we can do so.

酒干倘賣無

《酒干倘賣無》閩南語是 “有空酒瓶賣嗎？“

一個跛腳的老人靠收集空酒瓶養活自己，老人有些聾啞，不會說話​​，孤單的一個人，生活夠苦的了。有一天他在街上撿到一個孩子，他欣喜異常，認為是上天賜給他唯一的禮物。老人將孩子帶回家，用辛苦收來的空酒瓶，換錢買廉價的奶粉，讓那個小女孩活了下來，女孩在6歲的時候撿了一條小狗，取名旺才。小狗，聾啞老人，小女孩相依為命地生活在一起，小女孩的童年就在那一堆如山的空酒瓶中成長。

天生的好嗓子讓她成為聾啞人的傳話機，在每個清晨女孩牽著老人，拄著拐杖。女孩大聲的喊著："酒干倘賣無、酒干倘賣無" ..... 再後來，小女孩長大了，戀愛了，她愛上了一個作詞家。年青的作詞家一窮二白，但很愛她，帶她走進了藝術天地，為她寫了很多歌，對老人也非常好，每次來都會幫老人運酒瓶，和老人比劃著說話，逗旺才.....

然而有一天，女孩成名了，生活發生了質的變化，房子，汽車，周圍追求的人......女孩還是很愛男孩，勸他和她一起住進大別墅，不要回酒瓶屋了，因為又聾又啞的父親，讓她覺得羞辱！男孩不願意，仍和老人來往，後來女孩越來越忙，名氣越來越大，生活完全由經濟人安排。老人想念女兒，央求男孩帶他去找女兒，但是還沒進演唱會的大門就被哄出來了...... 再後來女孩也煩了，丟給老頭一筆錢讓他不要再打擾，老人擦乾了含淚的眼睛，沒要女孩的一分錢，走時還留下女孩一直愛吃的一小袋松子！

男孩看不過去了，找女孩理論，女孩心裡聽不進任何勸言，因為兩人地位懸殊，最終只能分手。但老人因思念女孩終於病倒了，男孩只好央求女孩，希望她能回家看看老人，女孩沒聽他的！就在這時，男孩打聽到女孩唱歌的地方，他告訴了老人，老人掙扎著要去看女兒最後一面。不料走在路上，一輛卡車飛馳過來，眼看就要撞著老人了，老狗旺才猛地拱向了老人，旺才就這樣死了.....

男孩知道後決定為女孩寫最後一首歌，他連夜趕，頂著長期的貧困和思念，在他身體快不行的時候，寫下了這首歌，讓人送給了那個女孩。男孩寫完歌詞後也離開了人世間，演唱會上女孩不情願地打開紙條，看著這首歌的歌詞：

多麼熟悉的聲音
陪我多少年風和雨
從來不需要想起

永遠也不會忘記

沒有天哪有地

沒有地哪有家

沒有家哪有你

沒有你哪有我

假如你不曾養育我

給我溫暖的生活

假如你不曾保護我

我的命運將會是什麼

是你撫養我長大

陪我說第一句話

是你給我一個家

讓我與你共同擁有它

雖然你不能開口

說一句話

卻更能明白人世間的

黑白與真假

雖然你不會表達你的真情

卻付出了

熱忱的生命

遠處傳來你

多麼熟悉的聲音

讓我想起你

多麼慈祥的心靈

什麼時候

你再回到我身旁

讓我再和你一起唱

酒干倘賣無

     酒干倘賣無...........

多年前的往事一一在現，堆積如山的空酒瓶，聾啞的父親，為了給她買一包松子累暈在酷暑的街頭，還有小狗旺才拖著尾巴和她玩耍！ ...... 女孩哭了，她終於良心發現，愧疚，傷心，不安！她反復學著這首歌，最後登台的時候，她通知樂隊加最後一首歌《酒干倘賣無》。

女孩忘情地唱著，台下所有的人震驚了，所有的人都流下了眼淚，女孩在台上講述了自己的身世，然後不顧一切地跑向了醫院，她要見自己的父親。當老人看到女兒時，一行老淚緩緩從腮邊流下，老人甚麼也說不出口，只是微笑的看著女兒，慢慢的閉上了眼睛，女孩撕心裂肺的哭喊著，泣不成聲.............

這就是《酒干倘賣無》的故事...... 獻給所有的年輕人！

也許，我們的父母，不曾帶給我們優越的環境，但是他們卻盡最大的能力，把我們養大，把他們最好的時光和經歷都給了我們。從呱呱墜地到咿呀學語，從慢慢會爬到漸漸行走，再到長大成人，他們付出了畢生經歷和心血。

好好愛我們的父母吧，父母的養育恩，我們一輩子也報答不完........

(source : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3UeCqprHC8)