Give and Take or Take and Give

Ada istilah dalam bahasa Inggris yang sering disebut-sebut oleh orang Indonesia, "Take and Give". Beberapa waktu lalu salah seorang bosku mengatakan "bla..bla..bla...kita mesti take and give..bla..bla..bla.." Kebetulan saat itu ada seorang volunteer dari Kanada, seorang native speaker. Lalu dia meralat pernyataan itu "it should be Give and Take...not Take and Give". At that time I was thinking...what is the different....it just a matter of flipping the words, that's all.

But on the next day, on my way home, on a crowded bus, I was thinking about her statement. Was it true, her statement? Was it a big deal? Was there any philosophy inside the words? Then...Bingo! I realised that it's not just a matter of flipping the words. There's a philosophy behind that words! How stupid I am..hehehehe...

The philosophy of "Take and Give" is that you will take first and then you give...right...? Yea..that's simple...you don't have to be a great philosopher to understand don't you (yaiks!). It's just sometime you don't realise the simple thing that is standing in front of your eyes. What I thought is, if you prefer this term "Take and Give", that means that you only want to give after you take, and you won't give before you take. it has an expression that you are the superior, who can take, but it's up to you then if you want to give or not. Kinda selfish..don't you think.

The other expression "Give and Take", on the other hand, has higher meaning than the other....it means that you give and finally you receive back what you have given (take) . It has the expression that you are a sincere person because you give without any expectation, but in return you will receive a reward. This kind of person will not be so bother if what she/he has given away will bring her/bim benefit.

Well that was only my thoughts...how i give a meaning to a group of words. But I will give it back to you....agree on my thoughts or you have your own thoughts....I'll be happy if you want to share it with me....

Our Body facts...

Kemarin sempet browsing di internet, tertarik dengan Dr. Gunther von Hagens yang terkenal dengan metode pengawetan tubuh manusia (yang sudah mati tentu saja) yang dinamakan Plastination. Nih dokter oke banget...dia bikin pameran patung-patung yang terbuat dari mayat-mayat yang sudah diawetkan dengan metode yang dia temukan, yang sudah dibentuk sedemikian rupa oleh Dr Gunther. (yang perutnya gak kuat jangan coba-coba datang ke pameran ini). Banyak kontroversi mengenai hal yang dilakukan dokter tersebut....tapi banyak museum keilmuan yang mengundang Dr. Gunther von Hagens untuk mengadakan pameran di museumnya. Hmmm i wonder...gimana ya kalo dia bikin pameran di Indonesia...pasti dapet ijinnya susah...padahal menarik juga melihat karya-karyanya dia. So how about you...would you attend his exhibition if he had his exhibition here in Indonesia? Here are some facts about our body....do you ever realise it? More than half the bones in your body are located in your hands and feet. There is enough iron in the human body to make one small nail. Women blink almost twice as much as men. A sneeze can exceed the speed of 100 mph. An average human drinks about 16,000 gallons of water in a lifetime. Beards are the fastest growing hair. If the average man never trimmed his beard, it could grow to 30 feet over the course of his lifetime. Every person has a unique tongue print. Fingernails grow faster than toenails and your middle fingernail is the quickest one to grow. It takes about 150 days to grow out a full length fingernail. Your brain continues to send out electrical wave signals approximately 37 hours after death. The nervous system transmits messages to the brain at speeds of 180 miles per hour. The human nose can remember 50,000 different smells. The human eye can detect more than 10,000,000 different colors! Your jawbone is the hardest bone in your body. When you were born, you had 350 bones in your body, and after childhood 144 of these bones fused together. "> Your brain stops growing when you are about 15 years old. Laughing and coughing put more pressure on the spine than walking or standing. Your stomach produces a new lining every 3 days in order to avoid digesting itself in its own production of acid.

About every seven years, your body replaces the equivalent of an entirely new skeleton.

The spinal cord is less then two feet in length and is the same diameter as your index finger, yet it contains over 10 billion nerve cells.

Blood type A can receive blood types A & O safely. Blood type B can receive types B & O. Blood type O can receive only O blood but are "universal donors" because O is acceptable to all other blood types. Blood type O is the most common blood type worldwide.

The eye muscle is the fastest reacting muscle of the whole body. It contracts in less than 1/100th of a second.

It takes approximately 200,000 frowns to create one permanent brow line.

Your eyesight is the sharpest in the middle of the day.

Toleransi

Pulang kerja adalah saat yang aku nantikan tapi ada juga rasa lelah karena membayangkan harus melalui beberapa titik kemacetan. Huuh...Jakarta...kapan kamu akan menjadi lebih ramah bagi penumpang kendaraan umum seperti aku ini. Tapi hari itu aku beruntung, jalan lumayan lancar dan aku mendapatkan bis yang masih ada kursi kosongnya dan ternyata bis itu full music. Alunan lagu era 70-an mengalun dari sebuah pemancar radio yang terkenal sebagai saluran oldies.

Hmmmm...not bad....aku dapat kursi paling depan....sendiri lagi...sudah seperti naik mobil pribadi saja pikirku. Lalu di tengah jalan seorang pengamen, dengan bermodalkan gitar butut, naik ke atas bis. Lalu di berkata..."Beh, tolong radionya." Aku tadinya sempat ragu, apa maksudnya. Ternyata pengamen tersebut minta suara radio dipelankan. Dan ternyata supir mengabulkan permintaan pengamen itu. Talking about tolerance, I thought. Ternyata supir tersebut cukup toleransi terhadap pengamen itu. Ia sengaja mengecilkan suara radio supaya suara pengamen tersebut tidak tenggelam oleh suara radio. Setelah pengamen tersebut selesai menyanyi dan mengedarkan kantong wasiatnya, sang supir kembali mengencangkan volume radionya.

Kejadian itu menarik perhatianku, dan membuatku berpikir...menarik sekali gaya toleransi mereka. Selama tidak saling merugikan, mereka mau memberikan kesempatan bagi orang lain untuk mencari uang sekadarnya. Tapi kalau kita melihat apa yang dilakukan dengan pemerintah terhadap pedagang kaki lima, kadang membuat hatiku miris. Mereka dikejar-kejar dengan alasan melanggar ketertiban, padahal mereka hanya berupaya untuk tetap hidup. Toh selama ini pemerintah tidak bisa menjamin hidup mereka dan keluarga mereka. Walaupun di Undang-undang kita, yang katanya kita junjung tinggi, pemerintah harus menjamin kehidupan rakyatnya, tapi pada kenyataannya rakyat kecil yang berusaha mencari penghidupan dari sektor informal selalu dikejar-kejar...dengan alasan penertiban, tapi tidak pernah diberikan pilihan lain yang menguntungkan kedua belah pihak. Selalu saja pilihan yang diberikan merugikan mereka yang tidak mempunyai kuasa.

Hmmmm....bukankah dunia akan lebih baik kalau kita bisa belajar untuk menjadi lebih arif dalam bertindak dan mau menghargai usaha orang lain....I wish for a better world...always...and I hope I not the only one who pray for that....

Apakah kelakuan anda sudah sesuai dengan usia?

Pertanyaan tersebut kadang memang menggelitik...apakah memang ada perbedaan antara usia dan kelakuan? Tidak bisakah kelakuan berbanding sejajar dengan usia? Artinya, jika ada berusia belasan...kelakuan anda pasti seperti ABG, jika anda berusia 20-an berarti anda dituntut untuk berkelakuan lebih dewasa, begitu seterusnya. Pada kenyataannya, kadang kala, usia tidak berbanding lurus dengan kelakuan anda....

Pasti anda pernah mengalami, di suatu saat pernah berinteraksi dengan orang yang berusia cukup dewasa, tetapi kelakuannya seperti anak-anak, atau sebaliknya, berusia muda tapi berkelakuan sangat dewasa. Hmmm menarik bukan.....semoga saja saya tidak berbanding terbalik...maksudnya...berusia tua tapi berkelakuan ABG....saya berharap saya bisa berkelakuan setidaknya sesuai dengan umur saya, kalaupun kelakuan saya lebih dewasa...itu berarti bagus...bukan begitu bukan?

Ini hasil dari sebuah kuis yang ada di sebuah situs....ternyata berdasarkan tes tersebut...saya berumur 32 tahun....hihihiihihi....coba tes....kalau anda berumur berapa?

You Are 32 Years Old

32 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Knowing What to Do in the Line of Fire

Knowing What to Do

By
Wiwit Siswarini

Fire, every body needs it. When its small, it can be our friend, but when its big, we must be carefull with it. 21^st February, 2005 became the unforgetable moment in my life. It was the time that I lost the house that I and my parents have been lived in for almost 30 years. My parents built it from the first stone, so the house was very historical for them. Its like a symbol of their works and efforts all this time.

Actually, the fire started from our neighbours house. It was a semi permanent house, built from woods, bamboos and plywoods. Some said that the fire came from kerosene stove; others said it was from the electricity. Anyway, the fire moved so fast. On one and half hours the fire had already burnt the entire house in one block and then it attacked my house and several houses nearby. In 2 hours, hundred of people lost their houses and belongings.

The fire had shocked hundreds of people, including me and my parents. From the first time we knew that there was fire burning the house, everybody became confuse and shock. Its like something blocking their mind. They didnt know what to do. They were busy moving their belongings and not trying to fight the fire.

I for example only remembered to save my son, my mom and my documents. Actually at that time, the thought of the fire would not reach my house was still strong. That was why I didnt try to get my belongings out of our house. My husband and my uncle were trying to put off the fire from the second floor. When they could fight the fire from the second floor, the fire on the first floor has become so big that pushed them to get out from the house immediately.

If I could turn back the time, I wish I could help hundred of people from loosing their houses and belongings. But the truth is, I could not go back to the day before it happened. Life must go on. Although it hurt us so much, we must learn from our mistake. Therefore, I want to share it with you some safetytips regarding fire, which I got from the internet. These tips commonly used in the developed countries, but some of them are applicable to our situation.  

SMOKE DETECTORS
Although smoke detector is not commonlly installed in Indonesian house, this tips could be useful for you.
Smoke is responsible for three out of four deaths.
* Install smoke detectors on every level of your home and outside of sleeping areas.
* Test every detector at least once a month. [See your instruction book for the location of the test button.]
* Keep smoke detectors dust free. Replace batteries with new ones at least once a year or sooner if the detector makes a chirping sound.
* If you have a smoke detector directly wired into your electrical system, be sure that the little signal light is blinking periodically. This tells you that the alarm is active.
* Inexpensive smoke detectors are available for the hearing impaired.

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS
They remain your best bet if you're on the spot when a fire begins.
* Fire extinguishers should be mounted in the kitchen, garage, and workshop.
* Purchase an ABC type extinguisher for extinguishing all types of fires.
* Learn how to use your fire extinguisher before there is an emergency.
* Remember, use an extinguisher on small fires only. If there is a large fire, get out immediately and call the emergency number from another location.

THINKING AHEAD: Your Exit Plan
As with other things, the best motto is, "Be Prepared."
* Prepare a floor plan of your home showing at least two ways out of each room.
* Sleep with your bedroom door closed. In the event of fire, it helps to hold back heat and smoke. But if a door feels hot, do not open it; escape through another door or window.
* Easy-to-use window escape ladders are available through many catalogues and outlet stores. For instance, First Alert sells one for around $90.
* Agree on a fixed location out-of-doors where family members are to gather for a head count.
* Stay together away from the fire. Call emergency numberfrom another location. Make certain that no one goes back inside the burning building.
* Check corridors and stairways to make sure they are free of obstructions and combustibles.
* To help cut down on the need for an emergency exit in the first place, clear all unnecessary items from the attic, basement, garage, and closets.
* If you encounter smoke on your way out of a fire, use your second way out instead.
* If you must escape through smoke, crawl low under the smoke to your exit.
* If your clothes catch on fire, stop where you are, drop to the ground, cover your face with your hands and roll over and over to smother the flames
* In case of fire go to your neighbors home to call.
* Teach your children how to get emergency help.
* If someone gets burned, place the wound in cool water for 10 - 15 minutes.
* If the burn blisters or chars, see a doctor immediately. Set the temperature of your hot water heater to 120 degrees F (49 C) or below.

FIREPLACE
Remember, you're deliberately bringing fire into your home; respect it.
* Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks from flying.
* Don't store newspapers,kindling, or matches near the fireplace or have an exposed rug or wooden floor right in front of the fireplace.
* Have your chimney inspected by a professional prior to the start of every heating season and cleaned to remove combustible creosote build-up if necessary.
* Install a chimney spark arrester to prevent roof fires.
* When lighting a gas fireplace, strike your match first, then turn on the gas.

FURNACE/SPACE HEATERS
* Used improperly, a space heater can be the most dangerous appliance in your house.
* Install and maintain heating equipment correctly. Have your furnace inspected by a professional prior to the start of every heating season.
* Don't store newspapers, rags, or other combustible materials near a furnace, hot water heater, space heater, etc.
* Don't leave space heaters operating when you're not in the room.
* Keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that might burn, including the wall.
* Don't use extension cords with electrical space heaters. The high amount of current they require could melt the cord and start a fire.
* When lighting a gas space heater, strike your match first, then turn on the gas.
* Never use a gas range as a substitute for a furnace or space heater.

CLOTHES DRYER
Under some circumstances, dangerous heat can build up in a dryer.
* Never leave home with the clothes dryer running.
* Dryers must be vented to the outside, not into a wall or attic.
* Clean the lint screen frequently to keep the airway clear.
* Never put in synthetic fabrics, plastic, rubber, or foam because they retain heat.

ELECTRICAL HAZARDS
Electricity, the silent servant, can become a silent assassin.
* It is better not to use extension cords. If you feel you must use one, make sure that it is not frayed or worn. Do not run it under a rug or twist it around a nail or hook.
* Never overload a socket. In particular, the use of "octopus" outlets, outlet extensions that accommodate several plugs, is strongly discouraged.
* Do not use light bulb wattage which is too high for the fixture. Look for the label inside each fixture which tells the maximum wattage.
* Check periodically for loose wall receptacles, loose wires, or loose lighting fixtures. Sparking means that you've waited too long.
* Allow air space around the TV to prevent overheating. The same applies to plug-in radios and stereo sets, and to powerful lamps.
* If a circuit breaker trips or a fuse blows frequently, immediately cut down on the number of appliances on that line.
* Be sure all electrical equipment bears the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label.
* In many older homes, the capacity of the wiring system has not kept pace with today's modern appliances. Overloaded electrical systems invite fire. Watch for these overload signals: dimming lights when an appliance goes on, a shrinking TV picture, slow heating appliances, or fuses blowing frequently. Call a qualified electrician to get expert help.
* Replace any cord that is cracked or frayed. If an appliance smokes or has an unusual smell, unplug it and have it repaired by a professional.
* Use the proper size fuses in your fuse box

KITCHEN
Careless cooking is the number one cause of residential fires.
* Never leave cooking unattended.
* It's wise to have a fire extinguisher near the kitchen. Keep it 10 feet away from the stove on the exit side of the kitchen.
* Never pour water on a grease fire; turn off the stove and cover the pan with a lid, or close the oven door.
* Keep pot handles on the stove pointing to the back, and always watch young children in the kitchen.
* Don't store items on the stove top, as they could catch fire.
* Keep kitchen appliances clean and in good condition, and turn them off and disconnect them when not in use.
* Don't overload kitchen electrical outlets and don't use appliances with frayed or cracked wires.
* Wear tight-fitting clothing when you cook. Here's why: An electrical coil on the stove reaches a temperature of 800 degrees. A gas flame goes over 1,000 degrees. Your dish towel or pot holder can catch fire at 400 degrees. So can your bathrobe, apron, or loose sleeve.
* Be sure your stove is not located under a window in which curtains are hanging.
* Clean the exhaust hood and duct over the stove regularly. and wipe up spilled grease as soon as the surface of the stove is cool.
* Operate your microwave only when there is food in it.

CHILDREN and GRANDCHILDREN
One-fourth of all fire-deaths of children are from fires started by children.
* Keep lighters and matches out of the reach of children.
* Never leave children unattended with fire or space heaters.
* Children are naturally curiousabout fire, so keep an eye on them. But if a child repeatedly plays with fire or seems to have a morbid fascination with fire, seek professional help at once.
* If youngsters live with you or stay overnight occasionally, be sure that they know how to escape from every room and are part of your emergency exit plan. [See "Thinking Ahead" above]

GASOLINE AND OTHER FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
Those cans aren't painted red just for the fun of it!
* Flammable liquids should be stored only in approved safety containers, and the containers should be kept outside the house and garage in a separate storage shed.
* Gas up lawn equipment and snowthrowers outside, away from enclosed areas and any source of sparks or heat.
* Start the equipment 10 feet from where you filled it with fuel.
* Don't fill a hot lawn mower, snowthrower, or other motor; let it cool first.
* Never clean floors or do other general cleaning with gasoline or flammable liquids.
* Store only a small amount of gasoline in an approved safety container outside the home

SMOKING
If you actually believe that you're immune from cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and other ills, at least worry about burning to death.
* Never smoke in bed.
* Don't smoke when you are drinking or are abnormally tired.
* Use large, deep ashtrays, and empty them frequently.
* Never dump an ashtray into the trash without wetting the butts and ashes first.

Last but not least, prepare yourself from this kind of event by locating all your important documents/jewelries in one bag/place, and get your house fire insurance. It is better to prepare everything from the beginning, rather to be sorry in the future.


References
* The Senior Corner http://seniors.tcnet.org/
* Fire Prevention http://firesafety.buffnet.net/firetips.htm