How to appear at distant events with a time difference

How to appear at distant events with a time difference.

 The simple solution is to do a recording. If you prefer, have a photo of yourself on screen.

 I wrote this on Friday Jun 10th, on receiving the reminder from organizing chair Rahul Mehndiratta, about the Toastmasters International, District 80/ Div S, Achievers Day 2021, 10 am to 12 noon.

I checked time on timebie.com. The event is 3 am to 5 am UK time.

S For SUCCESS

S stands for Singapore, S stands for Success

And Division S, yes, yes, yes

In Toastmasters, we like to send

Great surprise starts and echoing ends 

Kipling said East and West could never meet

Poor Kipling had not heard of Zoom

We're busier than a crowded street

With screens in every country's room

I can't be with you, I'm fast asleep

But organizers don't frown and weep

Don't shake your head and tut and curse

I've sent my photo and written verse

I shall start with dear 'Chair' Rahul

A man who sees a glass half full

And organizes opportunity

For wakeful you and sleepy me 

(12.46 pm Friday)

How quickly can I be a poet

And help my fellow friends to do it?

How do you start, and end, and win it?

The secret, as always, is - just begin it

Just make sure that you can be heard

You can use a dictionary of rhyming words

Listen how the syllables are said

I link rhyme chains inside my head

I have blogspots on comic verse

I have a poetry workbook

I have blogspots on what I wear

Each day new colours, take a look

12.51 pm

And now I've told you what to do

I'd like to give some praise to you

We started with TMD Thomas Chen

He wins ribbons again and again

We also heard from winner Shuzen

Another notable DTM

Poh Kim Siong our honoured guest

Gave 3 Es and 3Cs in his (guest) address

We grew clubs with prize-giving Swarna Kalyan

Today, awards given by careful Koh Lee Siang

To make sure you don't go too far

You're timed by Ravindar Kumar

And zoom master Zeph Teo

A duo with Datta says, gosh - we must go.

Next Director will be our old friend Saddiq

Who always gets things done real quick

When I call up to ask Saddiq

He says, 'Yes, that was done last week'

Division S thinks we're the best

Yet there's much potential in the rest

By holding (out) hands we help do more

In District 80, Singapore.

(By Angela Lansbury PM5, EH5

VP PR of BHA and TCA

Former Area Director of S3)

Author of: Improve Your English 

Add Alliteration, assonance and rhyme (on Amazon)

Useful Websites

http://www.timebie.com/timezone/singaporelondon.php

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Improve-Your-English-alliteration-assonance-ebook/dp/

ebook and paperback plus postage (unless you are a paid up member of Amazon Prime which gives free postage included)

UK price ebook 15 pounds 21 pence, paperback 20 pounds sterling.  If you buy the paperback, when Angela is in the same country she can sign it for you and write a rhyming couplet on your name. If you buy the ebook, she can email or whatsapp a rhyming couplet on your name.

For BHA meetings I added an extra verse

Yenny is BHA's president

We and she agree her year was well spent 

She soothed our ills and taught new skills

A walking ad wherever she went.

Have You Booked Your Holiday? How To beat Procrastination And Setbacks And Keep Smiling

I have a dream, a dream destination for a holiday. Have you booked your holiday?

As soon as I hear the other person's answer, I can start surmising the whole life of the person who replies.

'Yes, I booked it last week.'
Judger. (Myers Briggs personality typing.) He or she will arrive early.

Another type will reply: 'Not yet.'

I ask: 'Why not?'

The answer: 'Still looking around.'

ADVANCE PLANNING
You can plan your year ahead. My family did this for a wedding and honeymoon. When is the wedding? June. Which countries have good weather in those months?
Read about destination in Wikipedia, Wikivoyage and Wikitravel.

Pay by credit card of a means which allows you to recover if the company goes bust.
Make a list of places to see.

Safety and Insurance
Check safety warnings on Wikivoyage, UK Foreign Office, and US state advisory. Check insurance. If government warnings are in place probably your insurance won't cover you. Also your company will advise you not to go or will not fund the business trip.

Make a list
Check passport (s). Visas.
Check flights.
check weather.
Check hotel prices.
Check activities.
Book first and last night events.
Know alternative exits if you have to leave suddenly lose your flight.
Check insurance exclusions.

Driving License
Take copies of driving licenses even if you do not intend to drive. Why? If another driver is too young or old or does not have an international license you might need documentation.

If your driver is to drunk, tired or ill you might want to share driving. If your driver is held by a hospital or police you might need to drive. If the chauffeur driven car is not available and you are offered self-drive this could be a better option than a bus when you are racing for a flight.

PROCRASTINATION Procrastinator. He or she will book late. And arrive late. Forget to check dates. Lose their passport. Miss the meeting.

JUDGERS & DECISION MAKERS Judgers like to take decisions. Clear the desk. Do tasks in order. Make a list. Work through the list. Don't interrupt me.

That's my husband.!

I wish I could be like him. I am trying.

TRY

Oops. I gave myself away with that sentence.

I've heard trainers say, 'Don't try to do it. Do it!'

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

Churchill walking through the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1941.

Never, ever, ever give up.
Winston Churchill WWII 1939-1945

Find an ally to give you physical and mental encouragement.


Churchill and Roosevelt. Statue in Bond Street, London, England.

Find an ally.

Six years of war. Better than the hundred years war!

Finally - the war is over.

My parents lived through two world wars, born during the first word war, lived through the second world war. My mother lost her first husband. She married again, to my father, and had me. I asked my father, 'Did anything good come out of the second world war?'

He replied, 'Yes. Me!'

SETBACKS
What's beyond? You don't know.

Make a list.

Too many choices.


When I tell my husband, 'I have a problem,' he replies: 'It is not a problem. it is a task.'

Let's look at the sayings which can encourage you to change or proceed with your plans, to face setbacks, to share success.

OPEN DOORS
Closed And Open Doors One door closes, another door opens.

I put up a positive statement about a door on Facebook. 'If a door shuts, open it again. It's a door. That's now they work.'

Somebody replied, What if ... what if... what if ...

I replied:
True. But the whole point of an aphorism is to lift people who are easily swayed by a single sentence. Just give them something to hang onto.

Like showing a balloon or a musical mobile to distract a crying child.


ENFP - MYERS BRIGGS PERSONALITY TYPE If you are ENFP on Myers Briggs you are dwelling on the past and future and doubts. The purpose of the aphorism is to add a weight to the positive side of the see-saw to restore balance.

The encouragement gets you going. Gives you a boost.

If you have already started and you stop halfway, the encouraging word or idea or saying sustains you. Like chocolate for mountain climbers.

Yes, chocolate is bad for the teeth in the long run. Also the lift feeling wears off. But it gets you going

Similarly, I eat a chocolate biscuit or cake or a chocolate bar in the break before going speak on stage at a Toastmasters or other meeting. The sugar and caffeine lifts you up - only for 15 minutes, But I find that boost and time is enough to get me bouncing onto stage and beaming. (I also use wearing a red colour, making a noise to get attention wakes the audience and myself, interacting with the audience wakes them and keeps me alert.)

What about sharing the success, affecting their life, making a call to action, or using the written or spoken text to promote your message? End with a message.

The person who wrote to me on Facebook ended with a promotion. I replied and took their cue to end with a promotion: I wrote: This post is promoted by Braddell Heights Advanced Speakers in Singapore. Next meeting in 2020 is Wed Feb 5 evening 7 pm at BH CC and next Speechcraft Saturday afternoon Feb 15 at 2 pm.

What to say to yourself when you are travelling and waiting, or suffer a temporary setback.
Here are some positive sayings in English

TO GET STARTED
Procrastinators are other people. Procrastination is what you used to do. Positive action is what you are starting to take now.
Angela Lansbury

To beat indecision and self-doubt:
You have to be in it to win it

You don't have to see the whole staircase to start climbing.
Martin Luther King Jnr

Do It Now.
Just do it.
Nike.

A journey begins with a single step.
Attributed to Confucius (and others).


AT THE DESTINATION
Always have a plan B. I have arrived in a city for a long weekend and all the restaurants and shops and museums were closed on Monday.

AFTER SEEING A SETBACK, TO PROCEED POSITIVELY
You don't plan to fail. You fail to plan. Start your plan. Plan your next hour, day, week, month, year, 5 years, whole life goals.
One door closes, another door opens.

TO PROCEED WHEN TIRED
Keep right on to the end of the road ... (WWI song)

TO ASK FOR HELP
If you don't want to burden your family and friends and teachers and colleagues, ask a stranger.

If you don't want to risk involvement with a stranger, who might follow you, and ask for money, ask an official who is anchored to the help desk at the airport for a map with a list of restaurants.

Check out a restaurant list before you go, using the internet. Print it and put it in your pocket.

To save paper, keep it in your mobile phone. In case you lose your phone or use a different one, email yourself and pick up the email later on a new phone.

If you don't want to use a phone in a public place, write a blog post and ask a hotel concierge or friendly official to log into the website, read the suggestions, and draw the location on the hotel map. Then you will see how to get to the nearest good restaurant, and equally importantly, how to get back to your hotel.

If you are in a country or destination such as Hong Kong, where taxi drivers do not speak English, ask your hotel concierge to write the name of the restaurant on the back of the hotel card.

What do you want when you meet somebody else on your journey? To find the way? To the airport or restaurant? To get a recommendation for a restaurant? Or Supermarket? You will need that question written down in the local language. Either start learning the local language. Or write down the most needed words in that language with the translation and keep that piece of paper handy in the right hand pocket of your jacket.

CALL TO ACTION
If not now, THEN WHEN?
If not you, THEN WHO?
If not here, THEN WHERE?

TO SHARE SUCCESS
Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you cry alone.
Nothing succeeds like success.

To encourage others
Call to action.

Travel Inspiration
visitbritain.com
visitlondon.com
Churchill and Roosevelt statue, Bond Street, London, England.

Churchill statue, Parliament Square, London, England.

Coventry Cathedral


Churchill bust. Israel.

Useful Websites
https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Myers-Briggs-Type-Indicator-Assessment/dp/0470343907
visitbritain.com
wikivoyage
wikitravel
tripadvisor

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, Author and Speaker. Please share your favourite posts

What's wrong with flooding - is there ever a silver lining?

High water under The Old Bridge, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Flooding is bad? So why did we divert to see it in Cambridge, England?

Why fill our minds with bad thoughts? Why read the newspapers every day, if it's full of depressing news about depressing people making bad decisions?

I suppose we are all programmed to seek out sad stories in order to prepare ourselves, most days to evade evil consequences and one day to face the worst day of our lives, the last day, with calm and resignation.

We are really seeking a way out. All religion, all science, all news, seeking a solution to the ultimate problem, death, or the everyday problems, justice, and solving practical problems, how to improve life.

Flood Dangers
What's wrong with flooding and flood water?

The first thing I notice, as a travel photographer, is the colour. Flood water is nasty, khaki colour, dirty stuff. You would not want to jump into it, to save yourself or rescue anybody else, and risk dirtying your clothes, staining your clothes, swallowing infected water.

You can't see what is underneath. No knowing what is underneath. In Florida and Texas and tropical coutnries, snakes and crocodiles. Anywhere, broken metal or glass or even twigs which can trip you trap your, scratch you and cut you.

Should I be trying to get out of my car window on a good day? I could find out if it's possible. Where should I put my feet to push? Do I need to turn my body? Is it better to face in or out?

Am I too fat? Do I need to diet in order to get out of a car window in an emergency!

The flood height marking is done around the world, done deliberately. Probably at first it was copying or merely dating the lines left by the rising tides. These lines show the areas below which you should not build your business or home.

Either building in safer places is merely achieved by common sense. Or, one step better, the local council checks the level and will not give planning permission.

I have seen the flood level markings at seasides in England's east coast. I asked local people about the reason for the markings, and how it affected them.

Silver Lining
Is there ever a silver lining to flooding? I know that volcanic ash can improve growth so that people choose to live near volcanoes. Similarly, people go back to their land by the sea in tsunami areas because they own the land, because it has good as well as bad memories, because the land near the sea provides seafood and food.

Singapore
In Singapore, storm drains are made to divert flood water. You can see the storm drains completely empty on sunny, hot days.

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Then, after rain, they look like fast-flowing, filthy rivers. The canals are doing their job. Somebody thought of building the drains. The drains work. A success story.

After rain in Singapore, April 2018. Near Cashew MRT railway station. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Useful Websites
https://www.ready.gov/floods
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com
visitsingapore.com
visittheusa.com 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Time Zone Converter

Time Zone USA from Wikipedia. 

Problem
The emails scream at me, the seminar is starting now. They mean now where they are. But when is now, where I am? Does it mean an hour or two's time? Or have ai missed it already?

This time the reminder carries a handy link to the time zone converter. It's not that I could not have hunted on Google myself. Whatever I am searching for, I will get half a dozen answers. I open the first three to check, and choose one of them as my favourite. But next time I need to know, I go through the whole check every website process again.

The secret of success and speed is to have just one favourite website marked, whether it is for converted currency, dress sizes or time zones. Where do I list them?

1 It could be in bookmarks.
2 It could be inside the front or back cover of my diary.
3 I could have a Useful Websites page, constantly updated, printed and stuck on the wall's pinboard each weekend. (I use recycled paper, printed on the back of something else no longer needed, of course.)

Here's the handy timezone website:

http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/what-time-is-it-in-la-chicago-new-york.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on time in the USA and worldwide. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.

Translating a sales email from German and how to teach German with rainbow cake

Problem
I am learning German and can recognise such useful phrases 'as the horse is in the field' or 'the plate is on the table' or 'the boy is eating chicken'. However that doesn't help me when I am emailed a German sales pitch. I was going through my inbox and about to delete it when I thought, let's translate this so that next time it's easy to see what the sender is on about. Here are the results

I tired Google translate, word by word, watching whether I could gain by learning both the words in a phrase and the whole phrase if it made a new concept, just as kinder is child and garten is garden but kindergarten is a pre-school class.

I managed to keep two screens open, one for my blog and the other for the translator, the third for the original German text. Using the F3 key on the top line of my keyboard I could open all these windows, but they only separate on the screen in thumb nail size.

(Aside: The very first computer  had, years ago. allowed a split or slit screen for when you were correcting a text so that you could compare the new and old versions. I am surprised nobody has yet devised an automatic setting to do this for comparing two or four screen.  I shall do an online search and hunt for it.)

b l e i came up as lead but b l e i b came up as follow. The entire phrase was different .

German - English
bleib auf den laufenden - keep up to date
folge uns auf - follow us on
laufenden - current
mitfeiern - celebrate
r e g e n s b o g e n t o r t e - rainbow cake

English - German
arc - bogen
celebrate - mitfeiern
current - laufenden
follow us on - f o l g e  u n s auf
keep up to date - b l e i b auf den laufenden
rain - r e g e n
rainbow - regenbogen

I was thinking about translating from English into German. The John Lewis slogan 'never knowingly undersold' is related to but not identical to other phrases such as: We won't be beaten on price. Bargain. Good value.

Another group of English phrases in sales advertisements and letters is:
Free for every customer.
For the first 100 customers only.
Competition. Free to enter. No purchase necessary.

Translation is very tricky. You have to get it just right. You don't want to mislead customers. You have to consider goodwill, plus legal requirements. One new business offered a free cupcake on a voucher site. A small item. But they were more successful than they dreamed, could not cope with the speed of the demand. They had thousands of requests which they had to honour and went bankrupt. That's why you see wording such as first fifty customers only. They are not trying to cheat you by saying they've sold out. They really do need to be prepared for too much of a good thing - success. So, translating as a ghost writer one has to consider the consequences to the writer or seller and the reader.

I have a friend in Singapore who teaches French and German to a mostly English and Chinese speaking group of students. Other friends of mine teach French in schools such as the International schools. Others teach English as a foreign language to teens and adults.

If I were to teach German to a group of student in a class, I would split them into groups and give each group of two or three or four or five an email or advertisement. I would have translated the text myself in advance. They would have ten to twenty minutes to translated it and instruct their representative on what to read back to report to the whole class. Then we would go round the group. For homework, they would have all four texts and be asked to translate all four and list the words dictionary style, English to German and German to English. if we had time, I would then ask then to make up their own advertisement or sales letter. They might do a short, succinct version of one or more of the letters. Or they could create a new subject, using the same phrases.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages. Please share links to posts and have a look at my books.

The Secret of Finding a Seat - on trains

Finding a seat requires concerted action by the traveller, the train, bus or plane's number or seats and signs, and business hours and meetings. How can you increase your chances?

Finding a seat on a train should be simple. Live at the end of the line. Travel to the station when there's no traffic on the road. Travel on the train before or after rush hour. Just pick the nearest seat. Work early and leave early. Offices started work at ten and left at six, rather than nine to five like shops, to spread the load on the train and bus lines.

End of Train Line (UK)
When I lived in Edgware and Stanmore I was a happy traveller. I always got a seat into London.

The Return Journey
Coming home I would usually get a seat early on. Especially if I kept watching for people preparing to get off, packing up their belongings and looking alert, ready to leap up and out. I stood near them, ready to leap in.

Advantages of Last Stop
Once I fell asleep. I was woken by the station attendant whose job is to go along the train collecting newspapers and shutting doors - after waking the dozing drunks and tired travellers. That's the great advantage of living at the end of the line. You can't go past your stop. You might seem far away to visitors from the centre of the city, but at least you are easy to find. You can tell them, "Just stay on until the train reaches the last stop."

Cutting Staff Travel Time
The British Council offices were all on the Central Line. The offices were planned that way. The man who ordered the second building probably lived on the Central Line. His office was on the central line. Staff going from one office to another did not have to change trains and wait. It was less stressful for them. They could not get lost. It saved time for inter-office travel.

Seats On UK Trains
An article called The Seat on the Train by Hugh Graham in Britain's newspaper The Sunday Times tells you which stations give your greater chances of finding seats on commuter trains. Sometimes it is worthwhile spending five minutes driving to another station further out or in, to save a long time standing on the commute into London.

Reservations To and From Regions
When booking holiday trains to Wales or Derby, I try to get a reserved seat. Recently I was lucky to be near the exit. If there is a choice of seats, I might even abandon my reserved seat in order to take a free seat near the luggage stack at the exit.

Picking Seats
Unfortunately, unlike planes, where you can chose to be near a window or an exit, on trains when making reservations you often cannot pick the seat. If you book your holiday late, many seats are already taken, so neither you nor the office selecting your seat will have a choice.

Seats With Space
A seat in the middle means dragging your luggage a long way. Single seats near the doorway have room for your luggage beside you.

Seats With Tables
On the other hand, seats further in often enjoy the benefits of a table, for four. You have the opportunity to put down a laptop and work. You might also have the chance to chat to other travellers.

Watching Luggage
However, I do not want to leave my luggage in the rack at the carriage end and sit in the middle where I cannot see my luggage. Leaflets warn travellers to watch their luggage.

Theft
Tricks played on travellers include leaping onto the train before it goes, grabbing a piece of luggage and leaping off again. By the time the owner of the suitcase notices or gets up and rushes to the door, the train is moving again.

Carriage-hopping
Getting a seat on a busy train also involves watching the train as it comes in. If you have no heavy wheeled luggage nor multiple bags, and you see the end carriage has seats but the middle ones are full, you can run along the platform as the train comes in to leap into the last carriage before people start flowing along inside towards the empty seats.

Sometimes on a long journey, if I see lots of people standing at the door of the next carriage ready to exit, I will either run along inside to take a vacated seat, or leap out of my carriage and race along to leap in again and grab the empty seat. You have to be quick, to be sure not to be left on the next platform.

Success!
But, hey, the joys of sitting back and opening your newspaper and phone, or shutting your eyes. If going past your stop is one of life's worst travelling stresses, finding a seat is one of life's best travel successes.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Chinese New Year pictures from Singapore

I showed the pictures on my phone to some Chinese students who were sitting next to me on a train. I asked them to translate the words on images I had taken of little comical characters which I had photographed in a CC (Community Centre). 

I wondered whether the greetings were saying Happy Chinese New Year or whether they applied to a different festival. 

The three illustrated personalities I had photographed were labelled in Chinese characters which were:

Wishing success in all you do.

Wishing you prosperity.

Wishing you health and longevity.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.