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10 reasons not to fly

Last week, an Air India flight bound for Mumbai allegedly overshot its destination and headed straight to Goa because the pilots were fast asleep in the cockpit. Add drunk pilots to the sleeping ones, the obscene price hike, the madness at the Delhi airport, untimely rain and really, maybe you’re better off just taking a train.


HT City offers you 10 reasons why not to fly. DRUNK PILOTS: You may think it’s a one off, but you’re wrong.


Almost 50 incidents of pilots reporting drunk to work are caught every year. There have been 20 already in 2008.


The increase has been so alarming that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation now plans to issue ’stricter’ guidelines. Obviously, the fact that they are responsible for over 100 other lives doesn’t do it.


FEWER PILOTS: Reports say that airlines have retrenched staff by almost 30 per cent. So those who are employed, if they are not drunk, are overworked.


SLEEPING PILOTS: If they aren’t drunk, they’re so overworked because of all the cost cutting that catching a nap here and there may soon become the norm. SKY-ROCKETING AIRFARE: OPEC will not cut prices, and flights can’t afford cheap passengers any more.


The founder of Deccan, Captain Gopinath, said airlines need anywhere between Rs 1,000 to 2,500 more (per seat) to break even. Things are apparently so bleak that the Business Travel Coalition (America) predicts massive job loss, reduced tourism and declining business.


WI-FI WHY? In 2006, Boeing introduced in-flight internet. American Airlines is experimenting with air-to-ground satellite connection for laptops on board.


Hollywood, are we looking at a plot for a terrorist thriller? NO FREEBIES: Kingfisher won’t be giving out those pouches and most airlines don’t even serve candy. If you want to eat, you pay, if you want to plug your ears you get your own ear plugs.


DELHI AIRPORT: It’s temporary, it’s for the better, but it’s still a labyrinth of chaos. Why put yourself through the torture? LAST MINUTE CANCELLATIONS: Untimely rain has played havoc with schedules in all sectors.


If you can’t rely on the weather or the pilot, why pay a bomb for the tickets? SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT: According to a report, an air traveller generates approximately 2,500 lb of CO2 emissions on a round trip from New York to London. A car produces an average of 10,000 lb of carbon dioxide in an entire year! Need we say more? DON’T FUND GLOBAL WARMING: Soon airlines will have to pay for the damage they do to the environment.


Sceptics believe this will be used as an excuse to raise air fares but not spend it on emission trading. So you pay to fly, the environment suffers and the aviation industry gets richer.


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28 Creative Love Letter Ideas!

1. An Audio Tape Letter
Well my Fiancée sent me a audio tape, when I first saw the tape I thought it was broken, then I looked carefully and realized that it had a little tab, saying “Pull me” I pulled the tab and started to read what was written on the actually magnetic tape. My fiancée had actually written to me on the tape with a gold pen. This really touched my heart, and all I could think of was, what a wonderful, fun and LOVING person she is. I LOVE her to bits, I wish the same to all the romantics out there that share the same thoughts as me and my fiancée do.



2. Message In A Bottle
When you’re in a long distance relationship, all you can rely on is letters, cards, emails, and telephone calls. But my boyfriend came up with a creative way to send me a letter. I got a package from him one day and I found a bottle with a letter inside! It was really cute and melted my heart! Who isn’t charmed by received a message in a bottle!



3. Dated…
This is not so much an idea, but something that I did for my love. I never believed in love at first sight until I met Micheal. It wasn’t quite love at first sight, but following our first date, there were feelings inside me that went far beyond expression. I didn’t want to say something that I may regret later, or more likely, something that would scare him away, but I had to let it out or I would simply explode. I sat down and wrote him a letter telling him of my feelings for him. I told him that I thought I was falling in love with him and that I thought he was absolutely wonderful. I put it in an envelope and mailed it to my own home, but with his name on the envelope. It was only a couple weeks later when he expressed that he felt the same feelings about me, and so I pulled the letter out of my drawer and handed it to him. Noticing the post-marked date, he read the letter with complete astonishment, and was totally charmed to know that I had fallen in love with him on our very first date.



4. Secret Admirer
I find that the most romantic gestures take a little time to do. Write a glorious infatuation letter, even better type it to conceal your handwriting. Try to make sure there are no tips to give you away, but put hints in it that would make her think it might be somebody else she knows. Use things you might know about her job, or places she might go, but things other people can also know. You might even scare her by telling her you followed her home. Sign it Your Secret Admirer, and send it to her by mail. Send flowers anonymously. Candy, Poetry, whatever you can think of. I set this up for a month, and when I let on who her secret admirer was, I never felt so gratified. It made her feel good that she thought she was still desirable, and when she found out it was me it made it all the better.



5. A letter hunt
My boyfriend told me that he would leave me a love note on my computer for when I got home. Well, he did just that and more. He sent me running around the house finding these little “clues” to where the real love letter was. After running up and down the stairs, finding clues in the cookie jar, ice cream container, under my pillow, in the bathroom, on the tv, and so on-he led me to the wine cellar in the basement where there sat a dozen roses with yet another “clue” as to where my love letter was. He had taped it to the back of the teddy bear he gave me for x-mas. It was the sweetest thing in the world even though I felt silly running through the house like I did.



6. A Single Rose Love Letter
Who says that flowers are only for girls? Guys love them too. I bought a beautiful rose for my boyfriend and plucked almost all of the petals off of it. Attached to each petal, I wrote one sentence on a small piece of paper (rolled up) telling him how much he means to me. I placed the petals face up so he couldn’t see the messages. When he opened the box, he saw the left over plucked rose, a small note explaining what’s behind each petal, and the petals underneath. I can honestly say that the reciever will cherish that gift forever. ) My boyfriend did, and right after he confessed his love for me. To this day, he still takes out the dried rose petals to read each note that explains how much I admire and love him.



7. Say it with their name
Send your partner roses according to how many letters there name has. For example: “manny”. You would buy 5 red roses and with each rose you would write a message starting with the first letter of their name. For example M: My love. You will never imagine how much I love you. Then for the second rose you would write: All that I ever have wanted is you and only you. then you would finish until you get to the letter Y. Before writing the note you must underline the first letter of every message. It will spell out his /her name. Then leave it where he/she will see it or just have it sent.




8. Floating love letter
Save the next empty wine bottle, the next time you surprise your partner with that bubble bath, write a love letter and stick it in the bottle, cork it and float it in the bath water : )



9. Love Notes
I love leaving little love notes around the house, but you want to make sure that you leave them where your love one will find them. Two ways this can be done.
(1) buy magnetic letters (bookstores sell) and place them on the refig., they are bound to go there sooner or later.
(2) use a soap bar and write your romantic message on the bathroom mirror. It won’t do damage to mirror and is easy to get off with a little water.



10. Say it in a BIG way!
The other day I made a large envelope and a large note that said, “I love you in the biggest way!” I even went out on the Internet to download pictures of stamps and blew them up in size. Then I had the apartments where she lives call her to the office to pick up an “important” letter…




11. Book of Love
This is something I did for my boyfriend, and he loved it! I thought of My ten favorite things about him, then wrote a letter about each one and how much it meant to me. I put all the letters (after I’d spent tons of time perfecting and decorating them) together into a little book, and give it to him for our anniversary. Big success!!



12. Letter a day…
If your loved one is going away for vacation or a short trip, take a pink colored notepad and for each day that he’s gone write a separate love letter, so that he can read one everyday and be close to you. (I tried it– and it worked better than I thought!)
13. Love Letter Ideas
I like to send my boyfriend a letter (snail mail) every week. However, I want every letter to be as new and exciting as for him as the first, so I try to be creative. Some ideas:
- send a letter in a bottle (be extra careful with the packaging so it won’t break)
-write a letter on the back of a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle, then take it apart and let them put it together
-instead of sending a written letter, send a video cassette of yourself telling everything you want your special person to know.




14. Love Letter Ideas
I’ve found that one way to easily make an ordinary letter or package more special for somebody, is to decorate the package or envelope that you’re sending. When one of my loves sent me a teddy bear, she lined the inside of the box with gift wrapping paper, and I still cherish that box to this day. If you’ve got a letter you wanna decorate, and you’re not a good artist, then get some stickers. Too many of us forget about stickers after about grade school, but you can attach a cute or lovable sticker to anything at all, and whatever it touches will become special. A lot of restaurants and stores will have sticker dispensers that have those shiny, metallic stickers, they are superb. But don’t just get the envelope, hit the letter itself, and be sure to perfume those pages. Perfumed pages are incredibly sensual. A good way to accomplish this is to put perfume on your wrist before you start writing. As your wrist moves across the paper, it’ll be scented. Yet another thing you can do to make a letter more romantic is to write something on the flap, so the first thing your love sees when they open the envelope is an, “I love you” or something else. Before they even begin reading, they’ll already be smitten with love.




15. In A Different Language
Write your loved one a long, romantic, handwritten letter in a different language (friends come awfully handy if you don’t know that much). Give it to him/her with something you treasure (in my case, he gave me his lucky pen). They’ll have a memorable time getting the letter translated, and they’ll be inspired to do the same. *smile*




16. Laundry Surprise
If your loved one does your laundry, write a love letter and leave it in a pocket. On laundry day he/she will find it while checking for forget me’s. Make sure to write his/her name on it so he/she will read it, not just toss it in the waste.



17. Word Power
When sending your loved one a card or letter, handwrite a word find puzzle on the envelope with the words “I Love You” hidden and ask her to find the hidden phrase. Nice little treat!



18. A Simple Letter of Love
A simple letter to show them how you feel usually makes them smile. My boyfriend and I are in high school and we were kind of fighting. Well, one day I went all day without seeing him at all. When school got out he was waiting for me by the doors and he handed me a letter and told me to open it. I opened it and all the way down the paper it said, “I love you.” Then at the very bottom it said, “Hope this makes up for the times when I didn’t say I love you or it didn’t seem like I did. I’ll always love you a million times more than what you think.” I looked up and he kissed me right in front of his friends and sister. It was so sweet! See what a simple letter can do to make things better?



19. I Love You Blanket
Find out his favorite colors and make him a blanket preferably fleece and on one side using felt letters write something like “cover you in kisses” or “I Love you” or “Wrapping you in my love” or something like that. I’m giving it to my BF for christmas I hope it goes well!




20. Rescue Me!
I did this for my boyfriend and I’s 1st anniversary, He loved it. OK, I got a big glass bottle with a cork on top. You glue sand on the out side, make sure that it looks like the bottle has been laying on the sand for a very long time. and glue shells,sea weed etc. Then some how get some one to draw you. (make sure you like) Then write a nice letter about how you two got together and how you feel now. Then roll the papers up and place then in the bottle. Oh an extra tip.. drop some perfume on the cork. Enjoy!



21. A Letter To Remember
Before your wedding write a letter to your husband to be and have them write one to you. Write about anything. But, focus on your relationship with that person. Then put both letters in a safe deposit box. On your 25th anniversary exchange letters that you wrote to each other.



22. A Ransom Note
Champagne, games, and roses are nice but can get very boring after a while. Instead, get creative and do something off the wall. My girlfriend has this stuffed animal that she adores and keeps on her bed. So I decided to kidnap the stuffed animal making a ransom note from cutting letters out of the news paper.In the letter it said ” give me a McDonalds cheeseburger and a six pack of beer or your stuffed pig is pork.” Then I took a picture of it on a plate with an apple by it and a fork and knife by the edge of the plate. I then placed the ransom letter and picture on her door. Of course when she saw it she new it was me but we had a fun time with it. She would make playful and sarcastic comments and of course I played back. Needless to say I gave the stuffed animal back making myself look like the hero and she rewarded me with a nite of love. However, your mate must have a good sense of hummor or you might spend the nite on the couch.



23. Candy Bar Card
For my boyfriend’s birthday, I got a big poster board and I wrote him a letter using candy bars. It said things like you’re better than the Three Musketeers, and meet me at 5th Avenue so I can see your Whatchamacalit. Then at the end I put little hugs and kisses. He absolutely loved it and still has it.



24. Covered In Love
Write a surprise love letter to your significant other on a bed sheet (the one you use to cover up with).



25. Butterflies
I was getting ready to go out with an old girlfriend I had not seen in five years. I was waiting for her to show up at my apartment and was very nervous. When she arrived I couldn’t believe how beautiful she was, more than I had remembered. She looked wonderful. Anyway we had a spectacular evening of dinner and dancing. After she left that evening I couldn’t stop thinking about her so I decided send her a letter the following week. The letter had small stickers of butterflies I had placed all over it with a message that read “These are the butterflies you gave me last Friday when I heard you walking up the steps to my apartment. I thought you might like them back.” She absolutely loved it!!

26. An Overlooked I Love You
Once, when my boyfriend and I were having a rough time on a special day, I cut out nine small paper hearts, wrote one letter of “I LOVE YOU!” on each, and colored them pink and red. I put the hearts in an envelope with a sheet of paper. On the paper I had made outlines of the hearts (from when I colored them) with nine overlooked reasons why I love him, one in each.




27. Message In A Bottle
For our one year anniversary, I wanted to do something special for my boyfriend, but I wasn’t sure what to do. Then, while shopping at a craft store, I came upon a beautiful, blue bottle with a cork. Inspired by the recent movie, “Message in a Bottle”, I wrote my boyfriend a three page letter reviewing the past year, and expressing my everlasting love for him. Then I tied the letter with a ribbon, put it in the bottle, put the cork in tightly, and then dated it. When I give it to him, he won’t be allowed to open it…he will have to wait until the following year. A year later, as he opens the bottle from the previous year, he will be presented with another message in a bottle. Hopefully, we will be together long enough so that he will eventually have many, many bottles!!



28. Being There For Your Love!
Write your love a love letter using kiddie stickers that say things like “terrific” or “top notch” or the like. It’s a colorful way to spice up an ordinary love letter and will be sure to make his/her day that you put in the extra time.

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Does Love Needs A Reason?

Does Love Needs A Reason Read This Story

Lady : Why do you like me..? Why do you love me?
Man : I can't tell the reason.. but I really like you..

Lady : You can't even tell me the reason how can you say you like me? How can you say you love me?
Man : I really don't know the reason, but I can prove that I love you.

Lady : Proof? No! I want you to tell me the reason. My friend's boyfriend can tell her why he loves her but not you!
Man : Ok..ok!!! Erm..because you are beautiful, because your voice is sweet, because you are caring, because you are loving, because you are thoughtful, because of your smile, because of your every movement.

The lady felt very satisfied with the man's answer.

Unfortunately, a fewdays later, the Lady met with an accident and became comma. The Guy then placed a letter by her side, and here is the content:

Darling, Because of your sweet voice that I love you
Now can you talk? No! Therefore I cannot love you.
Because of your care and concern that I like you
Now that you cannot show them, therefore I cannot love you.
Because of your smile, because of your every movements that I love you..
Now can you smile? Now can you move? No, therefore I cannot love you

If love needs a reason, like now, there is no reason for me to love you anymore.
Does love need a reason? NO!

Therefore, I still love you And love doesn't need a reason

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13,000 km in 55 days on motorcycles

BANGALORE: For them, long rides on their motorcycles were fun. They kept their weekends for this cause. M. Aseem (29), a real estate consultant of Bangalore, and Aashish Kumar (20), a student of Jain College, have completed several thousands of kilometres of riding in Karnataka and in neighbouring States.


Now, it is time to realise their dream of a high altitude motorcycle expedition in the Himalayas. Aseem and Aashish Kumar along with their two adventure enthusiasts ? Anesh and Dinesh ? plan to cover over 13,000 km in 55 days and carry a message to spread awareness among the people to save the tigers.


While Aseem and Aashish Kumar commenced their expedition from Bannerghatta National Park here on Thursday to coincide with the World Environment Day, Anesh and Dinesh will join them at Bilaspur, near Jammu, and they all will together ride towards Leh and Ladakh.


Their route will be Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Bilaspur, Jammu, Srinagar and thence to Leh. On their return journey, Anesh and Dinesh will end their expedition in Shimla while Aseem and Aashish Kumar will reach Bangalore via Delhi, Jodhpur, Mount Abu, Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Kovalam, Kanyakumari, Rameswarm, Thanjavur and Chennai.


Their Yamaha RX 100 and Bajaj Pulsar 150 are loaded with extra tyres, gas cylinders, fire extinguishers, laptops and medical kits. During their expedition, they will pass through 15 States and visit 44 cities.


They will visit Corbet National Park, Ranthambhor National Park, Gir National Park, Sariska National Park, Kudremukh Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.


Aseem said: "Our challenge is to do every thing on our own (without medical, media and mechanical backup crew). We are carrying proper medical kits as we are completely aware of all the risks and dangers involved in the expedition. Nowadays, wild animals are in danger due to poaching and encroachment of forests. This is our small effort to show our concern for the tiger and wildlife."

Posted in Travel.

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