New Year Resolution 2013

Palm Springs, California

So the time has come and almost gone to make New Year resolutions for this year. Like so many other years, this year has come, is on its way. January has started, and we're almost in the middle of the month. Soon January would be over.

The more the years pass, the faster the speed of life, of time passing. When we are young, much younger, time has a slowness that it never has later on as we grow older. The closer we move to the closing line of life, the faster is our sprint towards it.

And there's more and more to do as we approach the Finish Line. A lot to do. And in that, organizing the list, making it manageable, is so much more necessary. That way, the available little time is well utilized.

A Palm Springs getaway

A day before New Year eve, we arrived in Palm Springs, traversing traffic jammed freeways for many hours more than we had expected. And it was a mistake to go through entire Los Angeles when the cars and SUVs were merciless and fuming, holiday bound and restless to reach their destination.

But once we reached Palm Springs, it was worth all the gas fumes and the short distance of fog in which we nearly lost our way. This small town of only 35,000 population is very hot in summer. The desert sands, of which it is composed, blazes and raises the temperature. We were there at the best time of the year. The air was cool and pleasant, and we felt hardly any difference from our home in Santa Barbara.
Palm Springs is a quaint town. The decorative lights gave it a festive appearance, which was elevated in mood by the art galleries and arts and crafts displays. It was clear instantly that there is a thriving art industry in Palm Springs. The visitor pamphlet informed us that Thursdays, special art shows are held in a wide area where people could come and have a look and pick good art.
There was no dearth of interesting restaurants around town. And the variety was large for such a small place. It served Thai food at many places, as it did Japanese, Italian, Mexican, and Indian food apart from the American stuff. Many of these places offered Happy Hours for beer and drinks, and unmistakably that drew in customers and kept their bar full.

Plans for the year end changed, and how!

What a Day!

Have you ever wondered how badly the morning of Christmas Eve could start? Here is what happened to us. I was banking on having a long beauty sleep. The previous two mornings I had got up earlier than usual, as I had to get ready for my morning holiday job. There was hardly any time to have a protracted bath, or a lazy breakfast, forget about doing a little bit of exercise or yoga. Nowadays, due to the winter cold, I've almost given up on morning and evening walks, and bicycling for toning the abdominal muscles.

To turn everything topsy turvy, the alarm rang at an odd unexpected hour, too early for today. It went off at the time I had set for yesterday and the day before, which was at 5:30 am. For some, 5:30 is not that early, but for me it is. My normal time to leave bed is around 7 am, so 5:30 is when I am fast asleep.

So when the alarm rang, I thought it was something else, in someone else's house. Only when my Equal Half shouted for me to leave the bed, I realised it was serious! It was the water heater. Our heater might have exploded. Soon the entire apartment would be flooded with water, and then make way into the floors below us. That would be a mess, not to mention the insurance claims that the down floor people would slap on us.

So it started with a dysfunctional water heater. I made emergency arrangements to catch the overflow with cups, bowls, cloths, sponges, and fill it into a bucket. Anything to avoid major bills. But there was no hot water to wash face first thing in the morning.
So, when Christmas starts on such a bleak , what could we expect? For some reason, our friends who were to visit us for Christmas did not turn up. And we cancelled the Las Vegas trip for the time being. Everything was going wrong.
As the day progressed, some red wine elevated our mood. Another bright idea flashed in our mind. What about Palm Springs? Maybe, we were to go to Palm Springs for the year end, after all?