How much sleep does a baby need

Sleep is a skill we need to learn – you can’t just turn it on and off – and it is one of the first skills you need to teach your baby. One in three children, under the age of five, do not have this skill; and out of these children, 30 per cent are said to have serious sleep problems. When adults get tired they tend to slow down, but when a child or baby gets tired the opposite occurs, and they will speed up and become hyperactive.

An interesting study published in BBC News Online (24th April 2004), suggests that sleep problems in babies could lead to drug problems in the teenage years. This is the first study to look at the relationship between children’s sleep problems and substance abuse in later life. Researchers from the University of Michigan claim that early sleep disruption does not mean a child will have substance abuse problems as a teenager, but that it could be a ‘marker’ for later issues. This is one more reason that parents should focus on healthy sleep habits for their children.

Everyone is different in the amount of sleep they need, but the table below gives the average amount that I recommend.

Some babies will sleep a lot more, and other’s slightly less.

Sleep is a skill we need to learn – you can’t just turn it on and off – and it is one of the first skills you need to teach your baby. One in three children, under the age of five, do not have this skill; and out of these children, 30 per cent are said to have serious sleep problems. When adults get tired they tend to slow down, but when a child or baby gets tired the opposite occurs, and they will speed up and become hyperactive.

An interesting study published in BBC News Online (24th April 2004), suggests that sleep problems in babies could lead to drug problems in the teenage years. This is the first study to look at the relationship between children’s sleep problems and substance abuse in later life. Researchers from the University of Michigan claim that early sleep disruption does not mean a child will have substance abuse problems as a teenager, but that it could be a ‘marker’ for later issues. This is one more reason that parents should focus on healthy sleep habits for their children.

Everyone is different in the amount of sleep they need, but the table below gives the average amount that I recommend.

Some babies will sleep a lot more, and other’s slightly less.

atwt vrijdag 24 april 2009 deel 4 13119


ned ondertitel

Your Birthday – What Does It Mean?

Numerology is the study of numbers.  Each number possesses its own attributes and qualities.  Your numbers, arrived at by your name and birth date, can offer insights into your personality and the life challenges you may face.

There are many numbers and combinations of numbers, which affect a person’s life.  I thought I might give you a clue using just the birthday, which is a sub-lesson of your life path number.  Your actual life path number is based on your birth date.

I have given attributes for each number.  Enjoy reading the tendencies that may or may not go along with your or a loved one’s particular birthday.  You decide for yourself.

Please note that this is for entertainment purposes only.

1 – INDIVIDUATION, INDEPENDENCE, and ATTAINMENT – You have an independent attitude filled with self-reliance.  You are a good and dynamic leader possessing superior executive skills.  You have much self-confidence with a positive progressive attitude.  All this amplifies your potential for achievement and financial reward.  You are blessed with a good mind, which thinks practically, progressively, and rationally.  You have a drive to be creative and original and are often a pioneer.   You have a thirst for knowledge or learning.  You are sensitive but rarely show your feelings.  The one is better at starting than continuing and sees the broader picture rather than the details.  You may be an entrepreneur.  Some of the challenges a one faces may be carrying the above qualities to extreme, for instance being too self-centered, being destructive in a drive to succeed, or being unaware of people’s feelings.  Being too self-reliant can also make one withdrawn and lonely.  Appearance wise you give off and air of strength and often have sparkling eyes and strong teeth.  Health is influenced by emotional problems.

Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Baker) was born June 1, 1926.
Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Spencer) was born July 1, 1961.

2 – RELATION/COOPERATION – The two is almost the opposite of the one.  Balance is a key word.  The two works well with others, often preferring partnerships to individual enterprises.  You are sociable, friendly, tactful and diplomatic.  You would be the force to bring opposing sides together due to your persuasive nature and sensitivity to other people’s feelings.  Other “two” descriptive words would be considerate, courteous, modest, cooperative and adaptable.  Peace and harmony is your goal.  The two may suffer from occasional moods of depression.  You are affectionate, better at continuing than starting and good with details.  You may face challenges related with being too over sensitive and emotional, often sensing things that do not even exist.  The two can sometimes play the victim role.  You may be over cautious.  The two usually has a soft, rounded appearance with caring, nurturing eyes.  Career wise the two often is in a position of helpfulness or service such as therapist, counselor, social worker, physician, or a career that requires negotiation skills.

Mahatma Gandhi was born October 2, 1869.

3 – EXPRESSION, JOY OF LIVING – Threes like the joy of living as well as fun, sometimes mischievous fun.  You are good with words – writing, speaking, singing, selling or entertaining, any form of expression.  Threes are also gifted with their hands being artistic, creative, and possessing good imaginations.  You are enthusiastic, optimistic, cheerful, friendly, and sociable.  You possess good conversational skills.  You provide inspiration for others. You have an energetic nature giving much love and affection.  This energy or enthusiasm can also be scattered producing a feeling of being up one minute and a feeling of being down another.  Scattering the energy also may make the three prone to involvement with trivial or superficial matters and having too many interests and becoming bored easily.  Sometimes you take on two much and become self-critical.  Threes are bubbly and smiling, often muscular.  Any career involving creativity, communication skills or hands would be a good choice.

Mary Shelley (writer of Frankenstein) was born August 3, 1797.

4 – LIMITATION, ORDER, SERVICE – Fours work on a lot of practical issues.  You are good at organizing, managing, and working long and hard hours.  You do all this in a conscientious, dependable, responsible and self-disciplined manner.   You have a serious, sincere, honest nature exhibiting much patience and perseverance and determination.  You are one who will succeed despite limitations or uncomfortable circumstances.  Due to this practical nature the four might show little affection.  You are good with details, insisting on accuracy, often unaware of the bigger picture.  You might feel repressed.  You are loyal and need stability in your life, needing structure and boundaries.  You may think of life as a constant struggle and constantly strive for more security.  You need structure and balance and fear change.    A four might be a banker or accountant, anything that involves organization or detail.  You might also be a builder or work with the land.

Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (poet and husband of Mary Shelley) was born August 4, 1792.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born February 4, 1902.

5 – CONSTRUCTIVE FREEDOM – The five enjoys communication, whether verbally or through body language.   Good communication is key in your relationships.  The five is an idea person, talented and versatile, well at presenting ideas.  You enjoy being around others and work well with others.  You are open to new experiences and change, loving freedom.   You love travel.  You can be entertaining, amusing, enthusiastic, and progressive.  You adapt well to different circumstances, being very sociable and can be a delightful, magnetic companion.   Your mind is quick and clever, always analyzing.  You have a good imagination.  You have an explorative nature and are often restless and might have a tendency to shirk responsibility or anything routine.  You can get bored easily seeking new stimulation, which may not be constructive.  You may suffer from addictions.  Fives like to be in open air, which may give them a rugged appearance.  Career wise, anything in the line of communications or public relations or travel would be good.  You need freedom.

Paramahansa Yogananda was born January 5, 1893.
Freddie Mercury of the rock group Queen was born September 5, 1946.

6 – BALANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, and LOVE –A need to belong and be part of the whole is strong.  You have a perception and sixth sense, which helps you facilitate harmonious situations.  You more than likely play the role of mother.  You are responsible, often picking up where others falter, helpful and conscientious in your tasks.  The six is a devoted spouse and parent, expressing openness and honesty.  You show others kindness, sympathy, generosity, and understanding.  There is much sensitivity with the six, which gives you a creative flare.  You are interested in culture and things of beauty.   You are affectionate, both giving and receiving, and show much emotion.  There is a conflict with the six.  The six could go either way, putting the needs of others first, or become self-absorbed, putting his or her needs first.  Over sensitivity could be an issue as well.  A balance needs to be found.  Sometimes you might get carried away when discovering a new interest.  Sixes tend to be very romantic, loving and friendly.  Physically, sixes are prone to having heart shaped faces and large chests.  Health wise, sixes are subject to emotional fatigue and exhaustion.  With a six influencing your career, you can let your sensitivity come to the forefront through some form of art, whether it is painting, writing, singing, or designing.  The six is also good at social work, coordinating, consulting, or supervising

Sigmund Freud was born May 6, 1856.
Mervyn Edward “Merv” Griffin, Jr. was born July 6, 1925.

7 – ANALYSIS, UNDERSTANDING – Your biggest gift is intuition.  You rely on your own inner wisdom.  You go your own path, not too adaptable, preferring to work alone, hermit- like at times.  You sometimes feel isolated, but you need time for rest, introspection, and meditation.  You are interested in scientific, religious, spiritual, or occult subjects, and generally in finding the meaning of life.  You have a lot of what ifs and whys in your mind, often too analytical or anxious at times.  The seven loves nature.  The seven enjoys things of rhythm like yoga, tai chi, tennis, swimming, or walking in the woods.  The seven is most likely the type to go off trekking in the Himalayas or join a commune or ashram. You desire to be “real,” and can sometimes be naïve.  You can also be stubborn; but you have a fine mind, which finds unique approaches for solving problems.  You are a perfectionist and a stickler for details.  You appear aloof, often preferring the company of a book to that of people.  The seven is very sensitive and may have trouble with giving or receiving affection.  You probably repress your emotions.  Physical tendencies of the seven are fine and delicate looks.  One tendency is to go grey early.  The seven may be prone to depression, gloomy moods, and possibly panic attacks.  Careers for a seven can be anything that involves detail or intuition.  This could range from a researcher, analyst, scientist, assistant, organizer, healer, astrologer, or numerologist

Madame Marie Tussaud, famous wax modeler, was born December 7, 1760.

8 – MATERIAL SATISFACTION – You have a deep yearning to succeed.  This could be spiritually as well as materialistically.  You’re a leader, very capable in the business world, very goal oriented, and able to handle large projects.  The eight efficiently handles money, organizational, managerial and administrative duties.  You exude energy, ambition, dependability, and self-confidence.    The eight seeks material satisfactions, but is also practical and realistic.  You are competitive and may enjoy sports.  The eight may feel like a failure if he or she doesn’t meet self-induced goals.  The eight may be a leader in the business world, or be in some authoritative position.  This could be teaching or healing.  The eight may also make a career of sports.

Elvis Presley was born January 8, 1935

9 – SELFLESSNESS HUMANITARIANISM – You are a giving person, showing much friendship, affection and love.  You are often more giving and accepting of others than you are of yourself.  You’re definitely a team player, working well with others.  You exude broadmindedness, tolerance, generosity, sympathy, and compassion.  Your idealistic and humanistic approach can inspire others.  You possess a creative imagination that may give you a flair for art and music.  Drama may play a role in your life with your sensitivity towards the needs and feelings of others.  The nine is knowledgeable and often philanthropic.  A challenge the nine may face is to keep from developing an air of superiority.  Nines are often muscular.  Nines can be prone to sinus problems and muscle aches, mostly from keeping your body in shape.  Career wise the nine may be an educator, healer, any charity work.  The nine has leader capabilities and could be a politician as one example.  You are also good with your hands and could work as an artist, musician, reflexologist, cook or gardener.

John Lennon born October 9, 1940.

10 – INDIVIDUATION, INDEPENDENCE, ATTAINMENT – The 10 birthday brings us into double digits, which means a double number influence.  The zero is an influencing factor emphasizing your gifts and intensifying the qualities of the one.  You have an independent attitude with executive ability making you a good leader.  You are very goal oriented with much positive, progressive ambition.   You emit self-confidence.  With the zero influence you enjoy the challenge and exert much will power.  Your potential for achievement and financial reward are great.  You are better at the over all picture, as opposed to detail, giving vitality and energy to your direction and purpose.  Sometimes the 10 may face the challenge of not having enough courage to pursue their dreams; or you could focus on one goal to the extent that you lose track of everything else.  This can be true in your relationships as well.  You have a great need for creativity.  Physically the ten is alluring with a compelling voice.  The ten can be susceptible to infections.  The ten needs a career that will stimulate the mind and creativity.   You may also be wealthy and not need to work for a living.

Nikola Tesla was born July 10, 1856.

11 – ILLUMINATION – This is a master number.  The eleven works well with others and often inspires by example.  You have a good sense of idealism. You have the gift of intuition and are very spiritual and highly sensitive.  You may seek out a guru or teacher, or you may be the guru or teacher.  You would use persuasion rather than force in your dealings.  Having two ones, you are a born leader.  Yet you are not comfortable in the business world.  For example, you may want to set up a retreat, healing center, yoga studio or meditation center.  The eleven enjoys peace and calmness, but may need to tame a nervous energy.   Challenges the eleven might face are becoming self-centered or too dreamy and absorbed in the spiritual world.  The eleven is a perfectionist and prefers to be the decision maker.  Physically, the eleven might have a weak appearance.  You may be prone to nervousness, stomach upsets or depression.  Your career choice could be that of a healer, counselor, writer, chef, artist, musician, or actor, anything that might inspire others with your creativity or spirituality.

Salvador Dali was born May 11, 1904.  (On a personal note, my college oil painting instructor shared an apartment with Salvador Dali.  He knew Picasso.)

12 – EXPRESSION, JOY OF LIVING – The twelve also has the influence of the number three. You have a strong sense of family and enjoy spending time with family.  Twelve’s love to create, and can be content with many interests.  You are light-hearted and really enjoy life.  The twelve is definitely a doer with boundless amounts of energy.  The twelve is good with words – writing, speaking, or singing, and is continually in the process of studying and learning.  You work well with others having an original approach.  You are often artistic, one of the ways your creativity and good imagination comes into play.  You show much enthusiasm, cheerfulness, friendliness, and optimism and express a joy of living. You are affectionate and loving, as well as sensitive to others.  A challenge the twelve may face is being too fussy.  You may be such a doer that you don’t relax.  You also may be untidy.  Physically, twelve’s are often slender with small but open eyes, which may look watery.  The twelve, health wise, is prone to digestive and skin problems.  As far as careers, something that is inspiring and uplifting to others is a good choice.  You might be in radio or television, landscaping, culinary or teaching professions.  Your bright mind and head for success might lead you into business. You are good at both the big picture and the details.

Grace Kelly was born on November 12, 1928.
Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809.

13 – LIMITATION, ORDER, SERVICE – The 13 has a 4-sub number.  You are great at adapting and coping, although one of the challenges you may face is to take those first steps outside your usual, comfortable routine.  You need to feel secure and have a strong solid foundation as your base.   With this solid foundation you are actually good with change, risks and dramas because they challenge you to adapt, cope and seek a sense of security amidst it all.  Essentially, you are a down to earth, well-grounded person.  You are good at organization and managing, to the point of sometimes irritating others.  Responsibility is something you thrive on.  You have good executive skills with the ability to work long, hard hours.  Your ability to be strong, self-discipline, dependability, and enthusiasm and bubbly sense of humor inspires others.  You are a detail person.  Positions of organization and leadership are good career moves for you.  You are a warm, caring individual and will seek an affectionate partner.  The 13/4 can be prone to accidents and stomach problems.

Alfred Hitchcock was born August 13, 1899.

14 – CONSTRUCTIVE FREEDOM – You also have the five influences.  With this number there are lots of experiences and change.  There can be lots of things going on at once.  You tend to jump from project to project with little feeling of accomplishment.  You can work well with others, and you are talented and versatile.  You are a good organizer, capable of hard work but not consistently.  You go with your bursts of energy.  The 14/5 desires new experiences – change, travel, or anything dealing with the senses which may cause you to overindulge in eating, drinking, things that can turn into bad habits in general…. you get the picture.   Your interest in experiences may lead you into always studying and learning about different cultures, trying different endeavors.    Even with all this you still have a practical discerning approach, guided by your intuition, a gift that with this number is strong.  You love communication, especially with your partner.   Physically you may have large eyes and a high forehead.  You can be very independent; but you are also magnetic, drawing the respect of others.  The 14/5 may face challenges of feeling restricted if you stay in the same relationship or job for two long.  You also stay in your mind and sometimes want to escape physical reality altogether.  The 14/5 should be attentive to any immune system or throat problems.  Career wise, the 14/5 has many possibilities.  Your enthusiasm, as well as other strong communication attributes may lead you into public relations, marketing, sales, the travel industry, writing, acting, or even private detective work.

Albert Einstein was born March 14, 1879.

15 – BALANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, and LOVE – You have a deep yearning for wisdom – much of which comes from your intuition.  People often see you as a wise person or sage.  You are a great communicator, helpful and conscientious, often facilitating changes in inharmonious situations.  People are also drawn to you because of your sympathy and understanding.  You are a people person, loving, friendly, understanding, appreciative of others, giving and receiving lots of affection.  Sometimes in giving all this care to others you repress your own feelings.  You adapt well and make a devoted spouse and parent.  You also have a great side expressing beauty and can be very creative and artistic.  You often express these characteristics in your home.  Challenges for the 15/6 (six being a sub-number) are emotional imbalances brought on by too much sensitivity.   You are usually responsible, but independent at the same time.  Sometimes you feel trapped because you have taken on too much.   Health concerns for the 15/6 may be digestive in nature, along with arthritis, and emotional and mental stresses.  This number could well work in any communications endeavor or in the world of beauty such as make-up artist or beautician.  Caring careers such as healing may be your destiny.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929.
Dame Agatha Christie was born September 15, 1890.

16 – ANALYSIS, UNDERSTANDING –You have a deep yearning for wholeness, within yourself and others.  For this reason you may experiment with many different things, often-spiritual explorations.  You may also just want to learn cooking; so, you will try that until you feel perfected in it.  You are a perfectionist and a stickler for detail, with no difficulty in carrying projects from start to finish.  You have an independent streak, preferring to work alone, but often you feel lonely.  You have great intuition and need times of rest, meditation, introspection, and reflection.  You may often appear stubborn and self-centered.  In spite of this you desire to help others, possibly through healing, since this comes naturally to you.  You are also trying to heal yourself.  Seven is a sub-number; and I often think of this number as meaning someone who will go off and trek the Himalayas to find answers.  You listen to your wisdom and your truth to guide you.   A challenge you face is difficulty in maintaining permanent relationships.  You care about friends and family, but at the same time have strong personal needs.  You feel deeply but can repress your emotions. You are on a different wavelength, which may confuse others.  Another challenge is becoming too obsessed with whatever your current interest is.  You may also be a worrier.   The 16/7 can have a sultry look.  The 16/7 might be picky with food, possibly developing anorexia or bulimia.  You have a logical, rational approach to matters, with a good scientific mind.  Career choices can be something in the healing field, a problem-solving field or some type of management position.  You would also do well in the arts, such as theatre.

Oscar Wilde was born October 16, 1854.
Wilbur Wright was born April 16, 1867.

17 – MATERIAL SATISIFACTION – You are very precise and know what you want, goal oriented type of person.  You are very capable in the business world, preferring to be in charge.  You have executive ability with organizational, managerial and administrative skills.  You are practical in your approach.  You are efficient and handle money well.  You have ambition, determination and courage, bringing much energy and empowerment to anything you are involved with.  You are much better at the bigger picture than with details.  You have a spiritual side, wanting to know the meaning of life.  This may lead you to travel, visiting religious sites or archeological digs, or just books for answers.  You may be drawn to yoga and meditation.  You merge your spiritual side with your business side. You may face the challenge of being too aggressive or pushy.  Failure is not in your vocabulary.  You stand firmly on your own two feet, letting your strength of character lead the way.  You often have material success.   Physically, you may have cat like eyes.  Career choices may be any kind of leader or teacher or sports person.  You might take a career such as director or producer of documentaries to reveal the truth.

Jane Austen was born December 17, 1775.

18 – SELFLESS HUMANITARIANISM – You know your own self-worth.  You work well with others but must preserve independence.  18/9 is a giving number.  You have a humanistic, philanthropic approach, often in business situations.  You have executive ability and organizational, managerial, and administrative capabilities.  Religion and spirituality may play an important part in your life.  Even though your views may be strong, you show broadmindedness, tolerance and respect for all doctrines.  You show much sympathy, compassion and generosity.  These characteristics along with your idealism give you leadership skills.  You are also highly creative.  Your potential for achievement is good.  You often receive recognition for your accomplishments.  A challenge the 18/9 may face is disappointment because of the high expectations you have of yourself.  Another challenge is to avoid flaunting your abilities or becoming controlling, because of your high self-confidence.  Physically the 18/9 often has a small nose.   You may have feet, knee or spinal problems.  You may work as a leader or teacher, especially in the spiritual realm.  You often serve your community.  You might be involved in charity work or other humanitarian services.  Almost anything is open to the 18/9 except for the mundane.

Louis Tiffany was born February 18, 1848.

19 – INDIVIDUATON, INDEPENDENCE, and ATTAINMENT –You have a strong, independent mind and are capable of being a good leader.  You exude authority and will power.  You have original concepts and are often the first to do something, leading the way for others.  You show much passion and zeal in your endeavors.  You like your independence and are very self-reliant and self-sufficient.  Although you may have a humanitarian and selfless streak you still desire the approval of others.  The 19/1 has a tendency to be self-centered as well as fixed in your own way of doing things.  Your way of doing things can be imaginative and unconventional.  You need to avoid feeling superior.   Your high standards and ambition can make you very hard on yourself.  You are always trying to improve yourself.  Be careful to not be too opinionated.  You are better at the bigger picture, rather than details.  An outstanding physical feature is having a proportionate figure, regardless of size.   Health wise, you may be prone to digestive disturbances, particularly with your gall bladder of liver.  You are usually strong and robust most of the time.   Your originality and creativity may lead you into becoming an artist, musician or writer.  You may also be a leader in a lot of different fields, perhaps in the religious or spiritual realm, inspiring others.  You might enjoy the power of being a personal assistant to someone famous.

Edgar Allan Poe was born January 19, 1809.
William Jefferson Clinton born William Jefferson Blythe III, was born August 19, 1946.
Orville Wright was born August 19, 1871

20 – RELATION, COOPERATION – Calmness and contentment are key elements of the 20/2.  With the zero influencing you, you need to find inner peace and harmony.  You work well with others and prefer partnerships and bonding as opposed to independence.  You are very open, sociable and friendly.  You are an ambassador of good will, always preferring the cooperative, non-emotional approach to working things out.  You are a nurturing soul.  You have much sensitivity to the feelings of others.   You walk the middle path, avoiding extremes.  One challenge you face since everyone comes to you is perhaps impartiality.  Sometimes, because you have held onto your own emotions and have maintained peace for so long, you may want to explode with a confrontation.  This is rare.  Or the emotions are so overwhelming, that you wallow in sadness.  With regard to your love life you are seeking balance. You are affectionate.  Physically your features have roundness even though you might be slender.  Wellness issues for you might be mood swings or depression or a proneness to breathing difficulties such as asthma or sinus problems.  You might enjoy a career as a lawyer, negotiator, diplomat, or mediator.  You might also be in customer relations, counseling, managing or personal management or relations.

Robert Francis Kennedy was born November 20, 1925.
Natalie Wood was born on July 20, 1938.

21 – EXPRESSION, JOY OF LIVING –You desire to create abundance in life, all aspects of abundance – love, joy, fun, good health, friends, money – and sharing it with others.  Generosity and giving are in your nature.  You have a positive, enthusiastic outlook on life.   You are good with words and speaking, and are a great conversationalist.  You are very friendly and sociable, affectionate and loving.  You enjoy family.  You are all right with working alone or with others.  You enjoy new goals and challenges. You are artistic in nature.  If you are not in the arts you appreciate the arts and beauty.  You are energetic, but sometimes scatter your energy. Lack of confidence may be a challenge that the 21/3 faces.  You also sometimes feel drained and don’t take time for yourself.  You also may like to argue your point.  You are generally happy and outgoing though.  One of your most outstanding features may be the sparkle in your voice.  This sparkle and ability at conversation may lead you far.  You would be good in business, perhaps as a manager.  You might be a peacemaker, perhaps a spiritual leader.  You would also be good in any artistic endeavor, whether it be painting, writing, singing, or decorating.  You desire to bring beauty and the joy of living to others.  Physically you might be prone to emotional stress or muscular aches and pains.

Charlotte Bronte’ was born April 21, 1816.

22 – MASTER BUILDER –22 like 11 is a master number.  Usually much is expected of master numbers.  You are a dreamer.  That is a good thing.  Your dreams may lead you into making the world a better place.  You bring idealism to the picture.  This master number is capable of handling large-scale undertakings and capable of leading in new directions.  You excel in organizing.  You may have a unique approach.  You will work long hours to achieve results.  You approach your endeavors in a serious, responsible, honest manner.   You also desire security, and your home is important to you.  This is your base or foundation so to speak.  You always take the lower number into account as well.  In your case, you are a 22/4; therefore, refer back to the 4 as a sub-number of the 22.  You have a practical nature; but the 22 will allow you to see a much larger scale.  You desire to please others and have a generous nature.   A challenge the 22/4 may face is taking on projects of enormous scale, maybe almost impossible tasks.  Other challenges may be in balancing all responsibilities.  You may work so hard on one project or goal to the exclusion of others, and not allowing proper rest for yourself.  You may fear for your survival and face a sense of insecurity at times.  You can be deeply sensitive and vulnerable and be defensive at times because of this.  Overall, you are a loving, warm and nurturing person.  Physically, you may have soft, watery eyes, with a large face, and stocky build.   You may be prone to leg or feet problems.  This is associated with being grounded.  Career choices may be a diplomat, peacemaker, politician or civil servant.  You could also work in the healing profession or as a counselor or therapist.  You might just be managing your own empire, whether it is large or small.  A creative field such as artist or writer is also possible.  In any case, you are usually the boss of the situation.

Deepak Chopra was born October 22, 1946.
Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22, 1858.

23 – CONSTRUCTIVE FREEDOM – The 23/5 is also a dreamer with a very vivid imagination.  Your dreams may be of a beautiful home or a beautiful garden or your ideal life.  You have a knack for materializing your dreams.  One reason for this is because you enjoy working, plus you work well with others.  You are versatile and talented, adapting to change well.  In fact, you invite change and new experiences.  You love travel.  You have a child-like simplicity towards life.  You express yourself openly and honestly to people.  People reciprocate towards you in the same manner and are drawn to you because of this quality.  You are entertaining and amusing with a quick mind.  You exude energy.  You can be very laid back in nature.  You get restless at times. This may be a challenge for you, as you may shirk responsibilities and resort to your dreams and imagination.  You could lose your sense of reality.  You might burn the candle at both ends in your quest for adventure and fun.  The 23/5 is a very sensual person.  Physically, you may have large, dreamy eyes with a ruddy complexion or freckles.  You might be prone to throat or thyroid problems.  You also may have mental or emotional stress at times.  You may work as a lawyer, peacemaker, in public relations or advertising, the travel industry, writer or actor.  Socially, you excel.

Samuel Pepys, English writer and socialite, was born February 23, 1633.

24 – BALANCE, RESPONSIBILITY, and LOVE – The 24/6 is systematic and organized and very conscious and aware of time.  You may be one who is always looking at your watch, trying to make the most of time.  You are very responsible, helpful, and conscientious.  You bring a practicality and rationality to what you do.  You love music and may have a gift for it.  You are a gentile soul, often a peacemaker.  You are sympathetic, understanding, and generous towards others. You are generally a hard worker.  You are a devoted spouse and family member.  You have much interest in your home.  You both give and receive much affection.  Sometimes you may take your duties and responsibilities too seriously.  Another challenge is sometimes being too emotional and needy.  You may also be moody at times.  You like harmony and rhythm in your life.   Yoga, walking, cycling, or going to the gym may be among your activities.  You like a long- term relationship with security.  You are artistic and creative.  Physically you may have a heart shaped face with large watery eyes and large chest.  You might be prone to hormonal imbalances or bronchitis.  You may also have problems with your legs and feet.  You are good at solving conflict.  For this reason you may have a career as a diplomat, lawyer, therapist, or marriage counselor.  You may also choose a career in the arts, such as a painter, musician or writer.   You like discipline and structure to your work environment.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born November 24, 1864.

25 – ANALYSIS, UNDERSTANDING – The 25/7 has a practical, rational, cautious mind which is guided by a deep sensitivity and strong intuition.  You are patient.  You like to communicate, expressing yourself either through speech or writing.  You need quiet time for reflection, introspection, and meditation.  You are likely to explore spirituality, science, things of a technical nature, or the deeper meaning of life. You can sometimes be stubborn or self-centered.  You like to make the best of opportunities that come your way; but you are always cautious with regard to anything.  This includes exercise.  You would be more drawn to the gentler exercises such as yoga, swimming or skating.  You may face a challenge with relationships.  You may spend too much time in your head.  You are occasionally restless.  Giving or receiving affection may be a problem.  Although intuition and sensitivity are strengths, at times you can be over sensitive and a bit touchy.  A long straight nose and clear skin are often physical features.  Health wise you might be subject to panic attacks or thyroid imbalances.  Travel may be in your career options, as well as public relations or marketing, journalism, researching, teaching, or some work relating to psychic abilities.

Gugliemo Marconi was born April 25, 1874.

26 – MATERIAL SATISFACTION – You have much compassion and the need to feel secure, both emotionally and materialistically. You are very approachable and work well with others showing much diplomacy.  This comes as an advantage to you in the business world.  You have organizational, administrative and managerial skills and capabilities.  You are self-confident and dependable.  You are good with money, and better at the broad strokes than details.  You express gentleness and have a special bond with children. You are spiritual.  You enjoy gentile sports such as yoga or walking.  The 26/8 may also be driven by competitive sports.  You might need constant approval or feedback from people.  You face a challenge of not becoming too demanding or aggressive.  Personal responsibility is important to you, and you might seek the same characteristics in a partner, perhaps one who has their own career.  You have an authoritative look.  You have rounded features and your eyebrows might meet.  You are prone to spinal or knee problems.  The 26/8 might be prone to the rare or unusual disease.  Career wise you might be a diplomat, negotiator, therapist, a social worker or some type of humanitarian leader.  You may work with children.

Mother Teresa was born August 26, 1910.
Hillary Rodham Clinton was born October 26, 1947.

27 – SELFLESSNESS HUMANITARIANISM – You have a deep yearning for knowledge.  You use your logical mind and strong intuition to guide you.  You get psychic haunches and dreams.  Your emotional side; however, is not that predictable.  You are rooted in your spirituality and may love nature, yoga, meditation, or living in the country.  You are well mannered, the perfect guest or perfect host.  You have a loving, generous, sensitive nature and work well with others.  You are broad-minded and tolerant showing much sympathy and compassion.  Your sensitivity could cause some mood swings.  Your empathic nature may lead you into sympathy pains.  For this reason you may want to withdraw because you feel so vulnerable.  Perfectionism may cause you to be hard on yourself.  The sense of perfection may also lead you to not feeling good enough.  In relationships you are affectionate and seek a partner to nurture.  You have the ability to make your partner feel special.  The physical influence of a 27/9 may be red hair and freckles, high cheekbones and a high voice.  You often have long legs.  You might be prone to skin allergies or headaches or blood sugar imbalances.  You may work as a diplomat, peacemaker, humanitarian or leader in any field.  Other careers may be in philosophy, psychology, spirituality, history, therapy, medicine, or art.

Samuel Morse was born on April 27, 1791.

28- INDIVIDUATION, INDEPENDENCE, ATTAINMENT – Whenever I see a 1 I think independence.  In spite of the independence you work well with others.  You want to succeed in life, whatever your goal may be, whether it be writing a novel or raising a family.  You are very direct in your communications. You have original ideas and make a good leader or manager.  You are both good at starting and continuing.  You see both the big picture and can also handle the details.  You have a caring, warm, nurturing aspect as well.  Sometimes you may be challenged by the fear of failure.  You might be too aggressive in reaching your goals.  Alternately, you may feel so overwhelmed that you become lazy and lose all energy and drive.  You also might have a temper.  Over all you are sensitive, imaginative, and creative with a good, rational and practical mind with potential for much achievement.  In relationships you are dynamic and strong and seek out the same in a partner.  Sometimes, though you may keep people at a distance.  Physically, you may have strong muscular shoulders, sturdy hips and arms.  You usually look muscular and toned.  You might be prone to kidney or urinary infections or suffer from headaches.  Business or career wise you can be successful at almost anything.  You excel in public relations or marketing.  You might be a journalist or novelist.

King Henry VIII was born June 28, 1491.

29 – ILLUMINATION –You have a dynamic passion about your goals and work with a focus to achieve them.  Second best is not good enough.  You have strong intuition intermingled with a clarity and logic.  You are able to materialize your reality, often achieving great success and recognition.  You are an attractive, energetic, and charismatic person.  You are a powerful person, often an inspiration to others. You are bright, witty and a good conversationalist.  You have much creativity and imagination.  You always buy the best you can afford, usually meticulous in appearance.  You often have high expectations for yourself and others and suffer when these expectations fall through.  29/2 is a spiritual number.  You may study philosophy or religion.  You can be argumentative at times given to dramatic situations.  Security is a must for you.  Sometimes you are fearful of life.  Not facing these fears can create real problems.  Soft, watery eyes are a strong feature with the 29/2.  You love water.    This number can be subject to nervousness, tension headaches or hormonal imbalances.  You may suffer at times from emotional and mental stress.  Careers for you might be that of an actor, artist, diplomat, humanitarian, counselor, entrepreneur, musician or writer.

John F. Kennedy was born May 29, 1917.
Oprah Winfrey was born January 29, 1954.

30 – EXPRESSION, JOY OF LIVING – The very nature of the 30/3 is fun.  You will try to make everything you do fun, even mundane household chores.  You may go around with your iPod while doing your chores.  You are naturally an extrovert.  Meeting new people stimulates you.  You throw yourself into life.  You are a doer.  You have an abundance of joy, and can be highly uplifting to others.  You like sunshine and nature.  You get a lot accomplished.  Because you like being around people, excessive chatting or even gossip may be a challenge.  Getting lost in your many activities and demands may also be a problem.  Sometimes you may want to withdrawal from it all and just become lazy.  You love travel and can get bored easily.  Your most outstanding feature is a muscular, toned body.    You may be prone to muscular aches and pains or blood pressure imbalances.    You also might be accident-prone.  Your talent with words may lead you into writing, speaking or singing.  You are also highly artistic and can enjoy a career in the arts.  Your cheerful, friendly personality might lead you into professional party organizing or wedding planning or into the travel industry.  Being around people is key.

Christopher Columbus was born October 30, 1451.

31 – LIMITATION, ORDER, and SERVICE – You are down to earth and practical.  People see you as courageous.  You focus intently on your goals.  You are a good organizer and manager.  Your hard, energetic work can be seen in your surroundings.  For example if you are an artist your home overflows with pieces of art and vibrant colors.  If you are a cook your kitchen is a warm, inviting place.  You attain material dreams by systematic work towards your goals.  You have a strong mind and are very practical and rational.  You would do well in the business world.  Your approach; however, can be original.  You are good with details and insist on accuracy.  You are generally busy doing lots of different things.  One challenge you may face is boredom if this is not so.  Sometimes you take on too much.  You are a hard worker and expect others to match your pace.  At other times you lack confidence.  You often repress your feelings.  Your most outstanding feature is usually your hands.  Physically you may become exhausted from your tendency to overdo things.  You might be prone to headaches or circulation problems.  You would make a good farmer; massage therapist, cook, gardener, artist or writer.  You could also be an herbalist, healer, or midwife or in the medical field.  You might also be successful in sports or as an entertainer of some sort.

Dr. Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870.

Armenian Genocide: Speaking Out Against Human Suffering by Gita Saraydarian

Armenian Genocide: Speaking Out Against Human Suffering

By Gita Saraydarian

If we don’t acknowledge the mistakes of the past, we will not notice the present until it is too late. If we don’t come to the aid of others; the life will not send us aid when we ourselves need it. These are the laws of nature; what goes around comes around.

I was appalled when I heard on national TV discussions how the Armenian Genocide happened “so long ago,” “Turkey is our friend,” and “it is a disaster if we support the move…” from “expert political commentators”. How sad when these so called intelligent and educated people are appalled, surprised, indignant, and so “righteous” when their favorite issue is discussed and how vacant and how sad these people’s values are when it comes to political expediency.

See for example the Washington Post article regarding the Genocide: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101801579.html

When will world leaders do the right thing from the human perspective and stop worrying about academic or political dictates or their re-election campaigns?

My grandparents experienced the genocide directly under Ottoman Turkish rule. My father’s entire family was killed, lands confiscated, homes taken over. They lost everything, all of it. My father and his sisters and grandparents lived in a tent for many years, waiting for a place to live, terrified of what could happen to them, until they finally settled in Istanbul. Two aunts, then little 8-year old girls, swam across the river that was filled with dead bodies, and were picked up by Arab nomads. They were taken into the Arab homes, nurtured back to health, eventually married and raised large families. The scars of the genocide were all over them, and they lived to tell the story. One aunt eventually moved to Los Angeles. She visited our home frequently and spoke about her experiences, crying and shaking as she remembered the sadness and devastation. My mother visited the other aunt in a small village in Northern Syria and stayed up all night and all day, recording the stories that she told, crying, sobbing, and telling of the death and devastation that she witnessed with her own eyes.

Despite all this, survivors have gone on and have accomplished great things. My grandparents raised families and educated their children. My grandfather served the sick and helped anyone who came to his pharmacy, Turk, Kurd, Armenian, Arab; Moslem, Jew, or Christian, it did not matter. His work was dedicated to God. My mother raised five children and made sure we all went to college and became professionals. My father became a great spiritual leader, wrote 150 books and helped thousands of people across the world. He opened his heart and healed his wounds and asked forgiveness for all those who committed these atrocities.

My mother’s family lost all their lands, home, and most of the family. Some survived the death marches and ended up in Aleppo, Syria. Others were not so lucky. My grandfather lived to tell the stories and barely escaped from his home. They also raised families and created a life for themselves in Syria and in Jordan.

These stories are not isolated incidents or some past history without relevance. They did not just happen to my family. One and one-half million Armenians were killed by Turks and Kurds. Their first-hand narratives are a national treasure and in our national archives. They have been documented and recorded. We are not just making up stories to make others feel sorry for us. These events did occur and there are plenty of non-Armenian documentations to show the truth. But whether the world remembers or not, in each Armenian home, these stories are alive and told over and over again. As a nation, we remember our dead, our tortured, and our losses. The hearts of our mothers and grandmothers are heavy with sadness. Our fathers and grandfathers suffered the humiliation of not being able to secure the safety of their families. The pain and sorrow fills every part of our life as a nation and as individuals.

When an atrocity is committed against a nation, that nation needs to be affirmed. The atrocity must be admitted and understood. Forgiveness must be sought. Enough with silly political wordings and worries that Turkey will not let us “play” with them! Shame on all those so called leaders who lack the courage to call something by its rightful name rather than play games with the lives and turmoil and agony of human beings.

When the Iranian leaders suggest that the Holocaust did not occur, what do we Americans say? We call them “nuts” and show the evidence to the contrary. We are insulted, incensed, and wonder how a sane person can say such a thing? Why are the feelings of the German people not taken into consideration when we speak about the Holocaust? Is it the number of people who are killed that makes it worth our attention or the fact that human beings suffered and innocent lives were lost by evildoers? We are not condemning every German person living now in Germany, nor are we condemning every Turkish person living now in Turkey.

We cannot deny all the millions of people who were killed and eliminated by the regimes of governments, whether they are still in power or not in power. The Ottoman Turks, the Japanese massacres of the Chinese and peoples of South East Asian countries, the massacres in Africa — Darfur comes to mind right now — the Pol Pot massacres in Cambodia, the Holocaust against the Jews of Europe, the innocent children and women who are starving right now in many parts of the world, and on and on and on. How many dead people does it take to call it an atrocity and admit it? If we are going to worry that Turkey will not “play” with us, then we will not be able to talk about any government that commits acts against humanity because we need the benevolence of that government for our troops, for our trade, for our religion and so on. Americans are supposed to stand for human rights? Well, let us stand up for them in truth and courage and not be looking out only for ourselves.

Whether it was Genocide, Holocaust, or “Casualties of War” it does not matter. When one human being suffers, we all suffer and bear the consequences. From time immemorial, people have been conquering others and massacring them and no one cared to speak out.

No matter what political names we give to atrocities, every Armenian, every Jew, every Chinese, every person living now who himself suffered or had family members who lost family and property, suffered the death marches and death camps, killed or maimed under any totalitarian leaders must stand up and speak up. Every African who is starving and dying now, every innocent person killed and maimed by religious fanatics and fanatics of all kinds, we need to acknowledge them, no matter how far it was in history or how far it is in the other parts of the world, or how different they are from us. This is not just political expediency, but the healing of the acknowledgement of the humanity of all those who suffer.

It is really pathetic for me to hear that a group of people will not speak out against atrocities for fear of what can happen to them. These are simple games that “Leaders” use to threaten people with fear. Fear is a potent tool, but it is empty. Nazi Germany was famous for using fear tactics and it cowed an entire continent to not speak out sufficiently against atrocities. It shut off debate and disagreement. Are we doing the same thing now? It is especially incumbent now for all those who suffered in the past and are suffering now, not to turn a blind eye to what is happening to others. How do you think your parents and grandparents felt when no one came to their defense? Why would you not speak out now when someone else is being killed and denied basic human rights? If we stand up for each other, we will see how much we are the same human beings on earth. When the time comes, others will stand up for us also. It is so pathetic to think that only “our kind” of people deserve to be acknowledged for their sufferings. Just being a living being on earth should be enough to make us speak out, regardless of color, religion, ethnicity, or geographical location.

In affirming an atrocity against humanity, we do very important spiritual acts:

1. We give the tortured spirits of those who died the opportunity to rest in peace and have the chance to release themselves from earthly attachment. Religious and Esoteric Teachings give us plenty of information why this is important. Those who die in atrocities are souls who are tortured and attached to the pains of the earthly life; they do not have the freedom to leave the earthly life. Their suffering has to be stopped and they need to be set free. As long as they continue to suffer, their collective pain will continue to impress those living and not living on earth and beyond. This is the reason why every religious tradition has memorial services for the dead; they recognize the need to heal and release the dead.

2. We give those who committed the wrongs to come to terms with the mistakes and make amends. Atonement is a practice that exists in every religious and spiritual discipline. Asking for forgiveness is an act of kindness to yourself and to others. When we are forgiven, we are released from guilt. Best of all, karma has a chance to be healed. Any person or nation that commits atrocities against others has deep karma that will come back to it some time or another. There is no escape. What goes around comes around. We all should know this. When a nation admits wrongs and asks for forgiveness, it is the greater and not the lesser.

3. Those survivors who are acknowledged now have the chance to move on. Being a victim is a terrible thing. Identifying yourself as a victim is a terrible loss to self-esteem and self-image. Once you are a victim and see yourself as such, every decision you make will be based on that image. Witness the pain and suffering in the hearts of Jewish and Armenian women and how that suffering and pain plays out in the cultural context of all their families. Watch the starving and half-dead bodies on TV from Somalia or Darfur and ask yourself: How do their mothers and fathers feel? What will be their life narrative? How will their suffering souls see the lack of human response to their plight? How will their souls suffer in this world and in the world after? Who will stand up for these children and for these women and for these child soldiers? Who will remember them and acknowledge the pain caused to them? How will their physical and spiritual DNA be impressed by these atrocities and how humanity forgot them? What is the collective world karma going to be? What do we say to our Maker when we face Him in the Higher Worlds?

4. We provide true LEADERSHIP. This is the kind of human being who stands up for righteousness, for freedom, for fair play in all walks of life. This is a human being who not only cares for his wife and children but the wives, sisters, children of all others on earth. Wow! What a world that would be? What an example this kind of man or woman will provide for others who are still killing and maiming and brutalizing human beings.

5. We will stop closing our eyes and ears to the cry of human suffering. When we see a wrong being committed, we will not wait until it reaches 100,000 or half a million before we say, “wow, that is a lot of people, we better do something”!

6. We will start to value human life. One life lost in such tragedy is one life too many.

7. We will have the space in our minds and emotions to see the other kinds of “killings” that are happening every day, in every nation, across the globe. I am talking about terminal illnesses, mass starvations, children lacking in basic care, child abuse and child prostitution, child labor, slave trade, lack of health and education and lack of nurturing and parenting. What about the continuous killings of people due to religious and cultural intolerance and economic and environmental insensitiveness? Why are so many poor farmers led to commit suicide in India? How can we make room in our minds and hearts to care about these “secondary” atrocities if we are not first able to deal with the worst of them? Can we even think of a day when we have the space in our hearts and minds to care about animals and animal abuse? Can we dare to seriously care for the environment the same way? O boy, I know it may not happen in my lifetime!

World Leaders: stop counting your votes, your money and bank accounts, the needs of your military bases and such nonsense and call the truth as it is.

I am ashamed of our “leaders” in congress and in the media; I am ashamed to see how unrighteous they are.

Let us, the spiritual community and religious communities of all world religions, stand up for what is right. If you do not stand up for others, no one will stand up for you.

Gita

References and organizations you can support:

- For work on other worldly existence, see the book Other Worlds by Torkom Saraydarian. Our organization, TSG Foundation works to uplift human consciousness through publications, training, and spiritual services. We are non-sectarian and dedicated for human upliftment of all cultures and religious faiths. You can support our work in a number of ways. See our website for details.

- For reference about forgiveness, see Dr. Eileen Borris’s book on Forgiveness.

- For work done by Armenian Minister Der. Vaz on Forgiveness and true Christian values — He is an awesome priest of true Godliness and service to mankind — see his website In His Shoes ( http://hyeyouth.com/hyeyouth/index.htm ), and support his work.

- For narratives on Armenian history and documentation on the Genocide, see Zoryan Institute (http://www.zoryaninstitute.org/ ) 

For typical American Media responses, see:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/18/AR2007101801579.html

Six Famous People From Nebraska

SIX  FAMOUS PEOPLE FROM NEBRASKA

STERLING MORTON  was Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland .  He was born in Adams, Jefferson County, New York on April 22, 1832. and raised in Detroit.  After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1854 he and his wife, Caroline, moved to Nebraska-before it was even organized as a territory, and staked out a claim in Nebraska City.  He became the editor of the Nebraska City News.  In 1858, President Buchanan appointed him Secretary of the Nebraska Territory, an office he held until 1861.  He was also acting governor from 1858-1859.  He was an agriculturalist who enjoyed instructing people in the newest techniques of farming and forestry. One  significant thing he accomplished was the founding of Arbor Day.   He was well-known in Nebraska for his political, agricultural and literary activities.  From there he was appointed as Secretary of Agriculture. 
Morton is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.  His son Joy Morton was the founder of the Morton Salt Company.  Sterling’s love for forest and field and farm was passed on to his son Joy, who made a living history museum out of his 1700 acre estate with over 4,000 types of trees, shrubs and other woody plants.  The mission of this enterprise was to encourage the planting of trees and promote the love of nature.  Morton passed away on April 27, 1902, at the age of 70.

SUSAN LaFLESCHE PICOTTE  was the first American Indian woman to become a doctor in the United States.  She was born on the Omaha Reservation  on June 17, 1865.  She went to school in Nebraska until she was fourteen and then went to New Jersey where she attended the Elizabeth Institute for Young Ladies.   She then taught at the Quaker Mission School on the reservation for a couple of years.  She eventually went back East to attend the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1889 at the top of the class.  She did her internship in Philadelphia and then went back to Nebraska to provide health care for her people on the government boarding school there.  In 1913, she opened up a hospital in Walthill, Nebraska.  She died on September 18, 1915, at the age of 50, cause unknown.

WILELLA SIEBERT CATHER (Willa Cather) was born in 1873 near Winchester, Virginia.  In 1884, she and her family moved to Red Cloud, Nebraska.  This is where she spent the remainder of her childhood.  The town was made famous in her writings that include “The Prairie Trilogy”, “My Antonia”, & “The Song of the Lark”
Cather was elected to the Nebraska Hall of Fame, and in 1986 she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.  She died on April 24, 1947, in New York City.  She was 73.

EDWIN ELIJAH PERKINS   was  born on January 8, 1889 in Lewis, Iowa.  His family moved to Nebraska in 1893.  As a child of eleven he started experimenting with different products.  By the 1920s, he had a line of about 125 items that could be sold door-to-door and by mail.  Of all these, the product he is best known for was his invention of  Kool-Aid in 1927, in Hastings, Nebraska.  It became a household name and it made him a rich man.  He died in 1961, after a long illness, at the age of 72.

JOHN WILLIAM CARSON   was born in Corning, Iowa on October 23, 1925.  When he was eight years old, the family moved to Norfolk, Nebraska where he grew up. He started college, but left after a year to join the Navy in 1943. He began performing on radio and television in Omaha.  He hosted several shows before beginning The Tonight Show in 1962.  He kept that job for 30 years until 1992.
He died of complications from emphysema on January 25, 2005, at the age of 79.

  WARREN EDWARD BUFFET , American investor, businessman, and philanthropist was born in Omaha, Nebraska on August 30, 1930.  He is considered one of the most successful investors in history.  He is the primary shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and Forbes ranked him the richest man in the world.  His estimated net worth is approximately $62 billion.  In 2009, after he donated billions of his wealth to charity he was only the second richest man in the U.S., outranked only by Bill Gates.  Buffet is called the Oracle of Omaha or the Sage of Omaha.

Real Estate Isn’t Brain Surgery, or is It?

Austin REALTOR® reports on his experience assisting a 29 year old Austin Texas wife and mother of two sell and purchase a home just days after brain surgery.  The client is admitted to the crash trauma unit at a local Austin Texas hospital immediately after closing on the purchase of her new home.

Body: What Does Brain Surgery and Real Estate Have in Common?  For April Henry, a 29 year old wife and mother of two based in Austin Texas, they have everything in common.    On Thursday, July 24th, 2008 April went under the knife of an elite neurosurgeon in New York City for a rare condition where her brain stem was sinking into her spinal canal, causing a myriad of problems such as heart arrhythmia, difficulty walking & breathing, reduced ability to “feel” in the upper extremities, and extreme pain throughout her body.  A short two weeks later with an unexpected infection causing April fever and uncomfortable swelling around her head, April would be carefully and very reluctantly escorted by her husband to a title company in northwest Austin Texas to close on the sale of their home followed by a visit to another title company the same day to close on the purchase of a new home, all before driving to the emergency room.

All of her life April has been physically active and athletic, enjoying activities such as snow skiing when on vacation and other outdoor activities prevalent with the Austin Texas lifestyle and environment.  But due to April’s diagnosis of Classical Type Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and Chiari I Malformation in early 2008, April learned that she has a condition that just about ensures her a long list of debilitating symptoms and along with it, an uncertain fate.  At best April would experience the continuation of the painful degeneration of her motor faculties and at worst; she was at risk of paralysis or sudden death.  The best solution to her ails would be neurosurgery, a posterior fossa decompression and a cervical fusion to create separation between her skull and spine, which would relieve the pressure built up in her spinal canal due to her sinking brain stem. 

The Henry’s decided early in the summer 2008 to hire an Austin REALTOR® to sell their northwest Austin home in Spicewood Estates and to relocate to a home nearby to accommodate their need for more space, a single level foundation, and a newer home requiring less ongoing maintenance and repair.  Their existing house was livable, but the house was over 20 years old and required systematic improvements to be conducted to keep it in good living condition.  The house also had a foundation with different levels where April had to go up and down steps to get from one room to another.  The backyard was small and with their two highly energetic boys Jack (4 years old) and Luke (3 years old) getting older, everyone would benefit from more play space inside the house and in the back yard. 

At the time the Henry’s decided to sell their home they already knew that April needed to have surgery for her recently diagnosed condition, but they fully intended to get the sale, purchase, and move completed before the procedure, which was not scheduled yet.  So on June 5th the Henry’s had Brian Talley place their home on the market priced at $320,000, a price consistent with the tax value of the home.  While the Henry’s wanted to get the highest value possible for their home, they also wanted a fast sale given the circumstances.  Since they owned the home for 6 years since September 2002, the Henry’s would enjoy significant appreciation on their sale even if they were forced to sell at a below market price.

Once the house was placed on the market there were dozens of buyer tours, but no contracts.  Feedback from buyers and REALTORS ® had shown that the small backyard and the steps from one room to another in the house were turning buyers away.  At the same time the Henry’s were conducting an Austin home search to find a new home, which they found nearby and were able to place under contract contingent on the sale of their existing home. The Henry’s quickly lowered their sale price after 21 days to $304,000 on June 25th and then to $299,000 on July 19th in order to boost the affordability of their home and increase their chances of a quick sale.  Getting the price below the $300,000 threshold did the trick and on July 24th the house went under contract with a target close date of August 7th, just a short two weeks later!  While the Henry’s were ecstatic about getting the house sold and having the other house under contract, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

By the time July had rolled around April’s condition had progressively deteriorated and her pain was worse than ever.  She received a much anticipated call from her neurosurgeon with a proposed date for her surgery, July 24th.  April didn’t know it at the time, but the date that her surgery was scheduled would be the same day her house would go under contract!  Furthermore, with a short two week close date on the sale of her home, April would still be recovering from her surgery when she would have to move out of her home and into the new one.

On Friday, August 1st April returned from New York City to begin her recovery from surgery at home.  A short 6 days later April would be escorted by her husband Paul to a 9am closing appointment to finalize the sale of their home and then on to a 1pm closing appointment to finalize the purchase of their new home.  The problem was that on the evening before closing, April was running a fever and had swelling around her head.  These symptoms indicated an infection, which could be bacterial meningitis in a worst case scenario.  The problem was that April had planned to attend closing in person, and it was now too late for April to provide her husband with power of attorney to sign the closing documents on her behalf.  April’s husband was adamant that they delay closing in order to take April directly to the hospital, but April insisted that they attend closing before she subject herself to another long hospital stay. So on Thursday morning August 7th April and her husband Paul attended the 9am closing together and completed the sale of their home.  April was still feverish and not feeling well, but she was intent on making it to the 1pm closing of their new home before driving to the hospital emergency room.  April made it to the 1pm closing and as a result, was able to trigger the process by which her friends, family and hired labor helped pack up and move the Henry’s from one house to the other. 

April was admitted to the crash trauma unit at the local Breckenridge hospital immediately following the 1pm closing and it was confirmed that she did in fact have an infection in the area of her brain surgery.  After a night in the crash trauma unit they moved her into critical care for two days followed by two more days on the neurosurgery floor.  Fortunately, it did not turn out to be bacterial meningitis, which can lead to sudden death.  April stayed in the hospital for a total of 5 days until the infection had subsided and she was cleared to leave.  She arrived at her new home on Tuesday, August 12th, which had been unpacked and organized for the most part by her husband and friends.

While timing could not have been worse for her surgery, it couldn’t have been better for her post surgery life.  April and her family now have a new spacious home to enjoy, which will better accommodate her ability to get around the house with ease.  It was a painful and stressful process for April to sell and buy a home; all while suffering through physical pain from her condition, the challenges of surgery, and the post surgery recovery process.  April attributes her ability to endure through these challenges to her faith in God and to the support she has received from family and friends. 

vencavka na ruta i dennis 24 april 2009 6del


vencavka na ruta i dennis 24 april 2009 vencavka na ruta i dennis 24 april 2009 vencavka na ruta i dennis 24 april 2009

Inspirational People

This is a list of the top 50 inspirational people who have inspired me the most. I salute this 50 ladies and gentlemen always.

You might not agree with every person on my list, however I am sure you will find some unknown people to you who might inspire you.

Copying successful people is one of the best ways to copy success behaviours. Those that have Wikipedia pages or official websites I have provided a link,and for the others I will look for other online resources. This is not written in any order. Sit back and enjoy the ride

1) Helen Keller June 27, 1880 – 1 June 1968 Deaf and Blind at 19 months old, Writer and Activist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Keller

2) Harriet Tubman 1820 – 10 March 1913 Abolitionist, humanitarian, spy for the union during the Civil War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Tubman

Leonardo Davinci 15 April 1452 – 2 May 1519 Scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, painter, sculptor, architect, musician and writer. A jack of all trades. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_Davinci

Madame CJ Walker 23 December 1867 – 25 May 1919 Entrepreneur and Philanthropist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_C._J._Walker

5) Sekai Holland Human rights activist http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bashed-but-unbeaten-sekai-holland-refused-to-cry/2007/03/23/1174597885848.html http://www.anarkismo.net/article/5127

6) Warren buffett Born 30 August 1930 investor, businessman and philanthropist http://www.warrenbuffett.com/

7) Marie curie 7 November 1867 – July 4 1934 Pioneer in the field of Radioactivity. Won of two Nobel peace prizes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie

8) Harvey milk May 22, 1930 – 27 November 1978 First Gay Person to Be elected
into politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Milk

9) Mbuya Nehanda c1840-1898 Spirit Medium of the zezuru people Inspired a revolt against the British colonial power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehanda_Nyakasikana

10) Paul Williams Helped Sierra Leon’s Poorest Children http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/peopleandpower/2008/07/200872065058846193.html

11) Gemma Sisia Founder of the school of St Jude In Tanzania Africa for the poor smart kids. http://www.schoolofstjude.co.tz/

12) Joan Of Arc c. 1412′ 30 May 1431 Led the French army through many victories against Britain. Catholic Saint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc

13) Oprah Winfrey born January 29, 1954 Media Mogul, Philanthropist www.oprah.com/

14) Malcolm X May 19, 1925 – 21 February 1965 Activist http://www.cmgww.com/historic/malcolm/about/bio.htm

15) Abigail Adams 11 November 1744 – 28 October 1818 Wife of second president of America. Offered her husband advice on his career and politics. Known to write numerous letters to each other giving each other advice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams

16) Sojourner truth 1797 TO November 26, 1883 Abolitionist and Women’s activist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_Truth

17) Mother Theresa born 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997 Catholic nun ministered to the poor, orphaned, sick and dying for decades http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Theresa

18) Josephine Bakhita 1869 – Feb 8 1947 Catholic Saint http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Bakhita

19) Maya Angelou Born 4 April 1928 playwright, memoirist, Poet, author, producer, activist http://www.mayaangelou.com/

20) Queen Latifah born March 18, 1970 American actress, singer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Latifah

21) Martin Luther king Jnr 15 January 1929 – April 4 1968 Activist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_king

22) John Adams Oct 30 1735 – Jul 4 1826 2nd president of the USA. Amongst America’s Founding Fathers. The only founding father who didn’t own slaves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams

23) Andrew Carnegie November 25 1835 – 11 Aug 1919 Scottish American industrialist, businessman, and a major philanthropist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie

24) Rosa parks Feb 4 1913 – Oct 24 2005 American civil rights activist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_parks

25) Cynthia McKinney born 17 March 1955 2008 Green Party Presidential Nominee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_McKinney

26) Grace Kwinjeh Activist For Zimbabwe People http://www.nehandaradio.com/kwinjewoman120407.html

27) Josephine Baker 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975 Entertainer http://www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/

28) Frida July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954 Mexican Painter http://www.fridakahlo.com/bio.shtml

29) Thomas Edison Feb 11 1847 – 18 October 1931 Inventor and Businessman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_edison

30) Miriam Makeba 4 March 1932 – November 10 2008 Singer, Civil Rights Activist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_makeba

31) Albert Einstein March 1879 – 18 April 1955 theoretical physicist born in German. http://einstein.biz/

32) Abraham Lincoln 12 February 1809 – 15 April 1865 16th President of America, ended slavery together with key members in the civil war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln

33) Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf born October 29 1938 Liberian President http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Johnson-Sirleaf

34) Napoleon hill 25 October 1883-8 November 1970 Personal Success Author http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napolean_Hill

35) Steve Pavlina Self-help writer, speaker, entrepreneur www.Stevepavlina.com

36) Mahatma Gandhi 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948 important spiritual leader for India and leader of the Indian independence movement http://www.mkgandhi.org/main.htm

37) Nelson Mandela born July 18 1918 1st South African Black President to be elected in a fully democratic election http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_mandela

38) Che Guevara June 14 ,1928 – 9 October 1967 Argentinian Marxist revolutionary, politician, writer, military theorist, and guerrilla leader http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guavera

Constance Briscoe One Of The first Black Female Recorders.Barrister who wrote about her incredibly tough childhood in two memoirs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Briscoe

40) David Simon born 1960 author, journalist, writer/producer of tv series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Simon

41)Cupcake Brown american known for her life memoir “A Piece Of Cake” http://www.cupcakebrown.com

Ed Burns Television Writer And Author http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burns

43) Richard Branson born July 18 1950 Industrialist Known For The Virgin Brand Of Companies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Branson

44) Anne Frank 12 June 1929 – early March 1945 Got worldwide fame after her death following the publication of her diary which talks about her experiences hiding in the Netherlands in World War II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_frank

45) Dalai Lama Born July 6 1935 spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzin_Gyatso

46) Amelia Earhart 24 July 1897 – missing 2 July 1937, declared dead 5 January 1939 aviation pioneer, and author. Earhart receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. Became The First Woman To Do So http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Earhart

47) Harriet Beecher Stowe 14 June 1811 – July 1, 1896 Abolitionist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harriet_Beecher_Stowe

48) Henry Ford July 30, 1863 – 7 April 1947 Ford Motor Company Founder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_ford

49) Stan Tookie Williams 29 December 1953 – 13 December 2005 Convicted Murderer, One Of The Founders of the Crepes gang and Nominee Of The Nobel Peace Prize http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Tookie_Williams

50) Booker T Washington April 5, 1856 – 14 November 1915 writer, orator and leader of the black american community http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T_Washington

The inspiration from this people is huge I hope you take this away with you. This list is for you to have a reference point to learn more about inspirational people and what they do. This is to your life and success.

Krabi Newsletter April 2009

Please check out our web site … http://www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com for all the latest news and info about fishing in Thailand at Gillhams Fishing Resorts.

Krabi newsletter April 2009

Hi to all our readers. Many thanks for all the encouraging emails – the Krabi newsletter is getting more popular as time goes on. It’s nice to see so much interest in this fishing in Thailand series. We had a good April; things were going great, all our customers were a pleasure to fish with, no idiots, no whingeing, just good anglers having fun. Then it bloody happened at the end of the month – the Russian and Korean from hell, the rudest most arrogant pair of prats it has ever been my misfortune to meet! They were claiming to be billionaires, but were as tight as a duck’s bum. It’s easy to reinvent yourself here in Thailand; there are numerous self-professed SAS men, gangsters and drug dealers in all the loser’s bars, and these two were probably in the same league. The Russian claimed to have friends working in the KGB, but I think he meant working in KFC! When they booked they boasted that if Sean got them an arapaima he would get a 1,000 dollar tip, another mythical piece of bull’s dung. When he hooked one for them while they played in the swimming pool, they got confused with 1,000 and 100, and Sean got 100 dollars, which is normally a good tip, but not when you were promised 1,000!

On arrival they wanted lunch, and after scanning our menu of 120 items, they ordered a selection of ten cheeses, Greek salad and grilled vegetables. Christ we run a fishing resort not a delicatessen! On informing them that for special orders they should order in advance, they had what was to be one of many tantrums. The Korean guy who claimed to be the billionaire lives in Russia with the other berk, and all I saw was a spoilt brat who thought he could stamp his foot and everything he wanted would appear. At 9pm he demanded three girls for an hour’s massage, and when we told him the girls we use finish work at 7pm and would not come out, he said, “Get them, whatever it costs, I have money!” Our girls wouldn’t come, so we found some others, and then he haggled over the bill. Meanwhile the Russian strutted around ordering everyone about, demanding this and that, and telling us he was a fishing guide in Russia. If he is, god help his clients – he didn’t have a clue about fishing, and when he hooked a fish (oops sorry, when Sean handed him a rod with a fish on) all the customers on the lake fell around laughing because he looked like he was wielding a sword in the battlefield.

After their trip the Russian had wound in an arapaima and two Siamese carp that Sean had cast to and hooked up for him, and King Tantrum sat in his room watching TV, while Sean hooked him three arapaima, then had to call him to come and wind in for his photo, only for him to play them like a total dick and lose each one, ending up with one alligator gar that felt sorry for him. He then had a mega tantrum because he wanted an arapaima. I presume he can buy most things but you can’t buy skill at fishing, and money certainly doesn’t buy breeding and manners! The highlight of their visit, apart from them leaving the next day, was when the idiots thought the spray bottles of Jensen violet at each swim, for treating fish with cuts, was mosquito spray. They sprayed themselves all over, and in the dark couldn’t see they were bright purple! It takes five days to wear off fish in the water, so they should be feeling blue for a while! At the end they tried to knock us for part of the bill, refusing to pay around 25 dollars. Being too thick, they never batted an eyelid when I converted their dollars to baht wrong, and cost themselves 30 dollars. They went off smug, thinking they had won, when actually they paid more. The Russian also left his designer sunglasses behind, which unfortunately Helmet the dog took a shine to, and ate! Good riddance to them; they certainly are not welcome here again. In fact out the 20 Russians we have had this year, only one has had manners, so we are thinking of banning the nation as a whole, or making them take a human being test prior to booking!

Ok, only one more whinge to come, a bit later (honest), but first onto brighter notes. In the first week of April we were having some very heavy rainstorms, so we decided to flush the lake through. We raised the water two feet, then dropped back two feet to let water back up the next day. What happened? The rains stopped, so as I sit here writing this report the lake is a good two feet down, as we have had no more rain. The rainy season is imminent though, as we are getting huge rain clouds every day; there has been no rain as yet, but we have not had blue skies for a week. We have had a non-fishing family in our restaurant a few times this month who were renting a villa down the road. They were passing, popped in, and seeing Steve’s menu they sampled the food and returned on a regular basis. They are a really top family, the Watkins from Southend in Essex. Most days they came by, so on their last day we ran them to the airport. Peter Watkins lost his passport, but was assured by Krabi immigration that a picture ID would get him to Bangkok where he should see an immigration officer who would give him clearance to travel home. The first stage went to plan when Peter amazed us all by flying to Bangkok on his bus pass, but from there though it all went to pot, as he met a jobsworth who would not budge and help a pensioner return home with his family, although his arrival passport and ID with iris recognition was all on computer. Poor Peter had to stay behind, then go to the British Embassy and wait for clearance papers. Some five days later one very tired and frustrated old man arrived back in the UK. I do hope the jobsworth was proud! As for travel inside Thailand though – bus passes are go!

Talking of Bangkok, Diane Brown and husband, with their friends, stayed in the capital for a few days prior to coming to Krabi. The lads decided to take the girls to a go-go bar in Bangkok. Poor Diane was new to this kind of sightseeing adventure, and was convinced the girls had numbers on their bikinis for collecting their coats from the cloakroom after the show, bless her! After my month’s absence in the UK, I couldn’t wait to see how our baby arapaima and red tails had grown in the stock pond. I was surprised to see that the 10 to 20lb arapaima I left in February are now 15 to 25lb with a few of the top fish going around 35lb. The Amazon red tail catfish have gone from 6lb to 10lb with the top fish around 15lb, and all these fish are just 18 months old! Imagine what these guys are going to be in the next year – they get through 50kg of fish and 10kg of pellet a day between 250 of them, costing a fortune, but well on target to be their stocking weight of 100lb for the arapaima and 50lb for the red tail catfish in the next 18 months. We also left ten Siamese carp in this pond at around 20lb, and they are easily 50lb each now, so they should be 70lb at least in the same time span.

We also had an old fox creeping around the lake this month, but luckily he left our birds alone. I think he was looking for a mate, so no wonder Helmet our Weimaraner dog was looking worried! Once again we have had baby wallago leeri showing up in catches, so how long before one of the big girls makes an appearance? For a supposed fish eater, eight of them fell to maize, dispelling another myth! Which leads us onto this month’s catch report, plus some more gossip. 28 anglers came for fishing holidays in Thailand, and 16 came on day trips. Between them they caught 469 fish of 20 species, made up as follows… 48 arapaima to 350lb, four arawana to 8lb, eleven alligator gar to 20lb, 79 Amazon red tail catfish to 75lb, four Asian red tail catfish to 20lb, 18 black pacu to 50lb, nine Chao Phraya catfish to 65lb, three giant featherback to 9lb, two giant snakehead of 6lb, two Julian’s golden prize carp to 20lb, three mad carp to 5lb, three Mekong catfish to 150lb, three mrigal to 12lb, two rohu to 15lb, six spotted featherback to 8lb, 226 Siamese carp to 110lb, four striped snakehead to 3lb, 31 spotted sorubim to 30lb, two shovel nosed tiger catfish to 16lb and 10 wallago leeri to 16lb.

First out the bag this month is Graham Brown with his mate Ron, plus their better halves. This group was great fun with a good sense of humor. The guys enjoyed the fishing even when it was a bit slow – being fishermen they took it for what it was, and had fun. In their six days fishing they landed 23 fish between them of five species, the best fish being a 100lb Siamese carp to Ron. James Courtney, who spoke about Gillhams with Tony Morrel of Paradise Lakes France, just had to come and sample what is on offer here for himself after seeing Tony’s photos of his trip to Gillhams. He came for a three-night stay with his friend Dave plus their other halves. Then they headed of to Phi Phi Island for a friend’s wedding. James got caught in the Gillhams spell and sneaked an extra 24 hours in before flying home. He ended up with four arapaima to 180lb, one Amazon red tail catfish of 75lb, plus six Siamese carp, the best being a known fish, which we weighed a month ago at 110lb. Sean told James this fish was a known 100lb-plus fish, but James does a bit of weightlifting and has one of those bodies that hang in the wrong places, unlike mine, plus a six-pack. One day he will attain the perfect body like me and have a one-pack! He reckoned the fish was 75lb, but I think he is so used to lifting weights he doesn’t know his own strength, as this fish came here in Christmas 2007 at 100lb. She dropped to 98lb when she was weighed after her first capture in April 2008, but then didn’t show until January 2009 when she was still holding 110lb. Her next capture was February 2009, weighed at 110lb, so to drop to 75lb by the beginning of April is unlikely, as Gollock our fishing guide caught her again on the morning of first of May. We weighed the fish to make sure, and this time she was 108lb. So poor old James had a 100lb carp, and didn’t believe Sean.

Another nice fella to arrive was Steve Smith from Birmingham; he came with his two sons and took our option of renting a bungalow for a family holiday, fishing odd hours between day trips with the boys. Only fishing for the odd hour here and there he still managed a 110lb Mekong catfish, plus four arapaima to 150lbs, and one Siamese carp. The boys only fished once for around two hours, but Brandon had a red tail catfish and Jacob a Siamese carp. Steve is now back home, planning another trip with his other two kids. Sorry no pictures of this family Steve has not sent them to us, as is often the case we are up to our necks in water helping with your fish so we can’t get a picture. Despite promises once people go home they forget to send their pictures, very often we then get an email asking why they have no picture on our web site! This month has been hard for us as many people did not send us their pictures as promised. So we either do not have the good ones we were shown in our bar when the angler was still bussing, or an inferior one from someone else who took a picture and did send it to us. Come on guys we supply you with your dream please send your pictures as you promise!

It’s certainly been the month of the Brummies; we had Chris and Darren who came for a couple of days, then returned for two more days. On the second visit poor Darren could not fish, having being attacked by a herd of monkeys! I kid you not – Darren was having fun feeding the pack of woolly rascals and taking photos, when disaster struck – he ran out of grub for the starving hoard, and as is so often the case with monkeys, they turned vicious. Wanting more food they decided to mug Darren, and his only weapon was his camera, but as it was a present from his mum he did not wish to launch it at the beasts, so he took the next option and legged it, only to slip over grazing himself badly and twisting his back! So it was no more fishing for Darren, but he has vowed to return to fish, and also shoot the damned monkeys! He did manage eight fish on his first visit though, with his target arapaima at 130lb. Chris faired better with the two lots of fishing, taking 16 fish of five species, including a 150lb arapaima, a 60lb Chao Phraya catfish, red tail catfish to 60lb and Siamese carp to 40lb. Chris is actually still in Thailand, and is returning for the last two days of his holiday in May, so we will keep you posted next month. As for Darren, he went home with his tail between his legs! At the same time two American guys, Scott and Bill, came for a two-day stay. Now Bill is in his 70’s and smokes a few too many. He had a 110lb arapaima and retired happy and knackered for the day, and the next morning he latched onto a stingray. Now the only way to land these boring bottom stickers is once they are moving, tighten up the drag to the max and pump and wind like you are pulling a monkey off Darren! Or use an oil drum as a float to tire them prior to hooking them – meow… glass houses! Poor old Bill couldn’t muster the energy, so he sat in a chair and just kept trying, but every time the boys got the fish moving it swam for a short while and then locked down again. Fair play to Bill; he stuck at it for six hours, only for the line to part, after which Bill retired to his pit for the day, while Scott landed two Siamese carp.

We had an unusual request next from a Malaysian family who wanted to come for lunch and then experience a three-hour fishing adventure for eight people. To be honest we were dreading it, as eight novices in three hours should spell trouble. How wrong can we be? The whole family was fun, polite, and just wanted us to try for a fish. Luckily the fish gods were willing, and they were well chuffed with their two Siamese carp. When the bonus turned up in the shape of an arapaima of 110lb, smack in the middle of a huge thunderstorm directly overhead, they stuck at the task between lightning striking all around them, and duly landed their deserved prize. For the photo shoot it was most amusing, as all eight piled into the water like a scene from the fleeing passengers in the movie Titanic!

Once again sorry if we have missed you out, but we only have so much space – the consolation being you did nothing wrong so didn’t get a mention. Talking of doing wrong-uns we had two Irish lads phone and haggle over the price. When it was explained to them that the price is high because we have one of the best fisheries in the world with some of the biggest freshwater fish on the planet, one of them assured us what good an angler he was. I won’t name the guy because he knew he did wrong, and suffered a famous show of my other side! But upon turning up, instead of fishing they slept, and the next day they ventured out for an hour to complain it was too hot. This pattern continued for their stay – minimum effort for minimum fish. Feeling sorry for the self-professed pike supremo, I relented from continued pestering to let him fish the reserve in the top bay just for one arapaima. He caught one first cast of 120lb, only to retire back to his bed, mission accomplished. He appeared again at 6pm when all the lake had agreed to stop fishing at 7pm while he was asleep, so that we could all have a night on the town. To stop his whining that he should fish till 8pm and sod everyone else’s agreed plans, I reluctantly told him he could fish at 10am the next day for one more fish in the bay.

Par for the course the doughnut appeared at the crack of 3pm. He phoned me and I told him to wait for Sean to accompany him to the reserve, only to get a call ten minutes later saying he had a fish on, as he had gone and cast out alone. Rushing to the bay it was obvious the dick had hooked this fish at the time of his first call, and tried to bully it out of the bay to pretend he wasn’t fishing there. Christ knows what else he had done in our absence, and after a strange fight the fish was landed at 200lb. After a quick photo and the fish suffered an anxiety attack dislocating its jaw. It seemed to go back in place, but the fish, which had a distinct scar on its back, swam off not looking too good. Two days later the poor thing popped up dead – a cracking fish, which the prick has denied someone else catching, plus losing us a considerable sum of money. Shame he had checked out the day before, or I would have charged him for it, that’s if he had survived what all the proper fishermen on the lake would have done to him had they got hold of him! Christ knows what the state of the Irish pike waters are like after this twat has fished them! I said I wouldn’t name him, but sod it – other fisheries should know that Mr. P. Russell is banned for life from Gillhams, and other fishery owners should do the same. He’s not a fisherman; he’s just another muppet chasing trophy photos.

Onto a lighter note Shimano Malaysia contacted us to send down three of their design guys to test the new baitrunner reels they have designed. Nice guys, although probably not the best fishermen in the world, but all round nice fellas. After a very slow morning we again felt sorry for them, as these new reels needed a workout on a big fish. They had already informed us of their extensive field testing at the factory, where believe it or not they connect a line to a motorbike then roar off up the road while the guy on the rod end increases pressure till they part company. So, taking the first guy into the bay he duly hooked a nice red tail only to tell me he really didn’t want to catch a big fish, as he was a bit scared. Upon handing me the rod and asking me to play the fish, he then asked me to evaluate the reel! Well, on half a fight the drag felt good, it also cast well, and the line lay was good, but hey surely it needs a minimum test of six months on a fishery like ours, then an evaluation would be a better test than a Honda Dream and half a red tail catfish fight! To be fair the other two guys came and took a turn each, both landing an arapaima, one of 90lb and one of 140lb. So guys that’s it, the new reel will be launched with flying colors after a rigorous field test of three fish in two hours at Gillhams plus a few trips to the shops lashed onto a Honda Dream – yep, that’s tomorrow’s tackle today! Or should it be yesterday’s tackle out today! The footnote was that the guys used our Free Spirit rods, still standing the test of time after two years of hard abuse at Gillhams, even though they have never played a pushbike let alone a Harley! The Shimano boys reckoned they were the best rods they had ever used – a sure sign that Free Spirit’s extensive research and testing produces quality goods that you can spend your hard earned dosh on with confidence.

Expat Ian Norris, exiled in Australia, made his second trip this year back to Gillhams, again with his Aussie friend Ryan. They are really nice guys these two, and good anglers to boot; they both landed their dream arapaima this trip with Ryan taking the best at 200lb. They landed seven different species between them. Ian on his last trip landed a rare wallago attu (silver wallago), and this trip he went one step further and became the first guy to get both wallago species at Gillhams with an equally rare wallago leeri (black wallago) of 15lb. They are back later in the year – will he go one better and catch an albino wallago? We only have one in the lake at around 30lb, but I wouldn’t bet that the guy doesn’t pull it off.

Then the legend returned, none other than my old mate Rob Maylin. Rob caught the world record Mekong catfish here last year, and our dear friend Julia Dorn, film producer for California based Hoff Productions flew Rob over to recreate his historic capture for a show that will broadcast very soon for a major USA network. Stay tuned, our American fans, to Airdale TBD. Julia filmed here last year for National Geographic with the capture of Keith Purton’s arapaima – all you guys in the States have seen this one many times now, but still we have no date for broadcast in Europe. But I am told it is imminent, so watch out for National Geographic’s Man vs. Fish series, we have seen it already and it does more for fishing than Robson ‘Twat’ Green will ever do. All that guy seems to do is make a mockery of fishing conservation and the fishing scene in Thailand. With comments on UK TV about 90% of fish caught dying this prick is all we need in these days of anti-brigades. Put that with a guy who has no respect or knowledge of fish or fishing, and you have a disaster on the screen. Why any self respecting television show would use this clown in a fishing show is beyond me. This time we were not so lucky with Mekong catfish when they refused to play for the cameras, but Rob did land a nice brace of arapaima for the cameras, plus a 50lb red tail catfish. Rob ended his short trip with 15 fish, including four arapaima to 180lb. Did he fish his nuts off? Did he hell – we were in the middle of the heatwave before the rainy season, and it was hot and humid. After a gruelling flight, then up at dawn for fishing, the poor old chap was finding it hard to muster any energy! He spent most of his time trying to keep in the shade, and unusually for Rob not even bothering to rebait regularly. When Sean told Rob it pays to rebait every 20 minutes he replied, “F— that, I’m off to bed!” Top man, Rob!

You really must watch the recreation of Rob’s historic catch as poor old Rob was made to get in and out of the lake for retakes, not helped by Sean and me pissing about. Watch for the fish in the film making long runs down the lake, as Rob furiously winds like hell while the drag is singing out – it looks like he is attached to a motorbike! After filming we went out on the town, and oh what a night. It was going to be a meal at the seafood restaurant then a couple of pints at Amy’s bar and home by 11pm. Ha – slim chance; it was like the old Horse and Barge days, with a gaggle of drunken fishermen getting worse by the hour. From somewhere a big pair of pink glasses turned up with no glass in, and we had a cracking shot of Rob in these, but he bribed the guy with the camera to delete the shot. The party ended sometime around 4am for most of us, with just Sean and a few others taking it to the extreme and returning to the fold at 8am. Surprisingly most of the lads were out fishing by 7am, and in any fish shots that day it isn’t red eye on the camera; they are 100% genuine red eyes!

Another guest who was here for the filming was Philip Bell-Scott who came wanting to catch as many species as possible, plus to try for an arapaima on the fly. After asking all the so-called experts in Thailand what flies and tactics he needed, he contacted us. After numerous emails between us, and pictures of flies sent from me to him, he had all the correct info and turned up with exactly the patterns I told him to make. In fact they were ten times better than my efforts. Once we found patterns and methods, arapaima are easy to target. When I told Julia that we would get an arapaima on a fly for her to film, she doubted my word. So after some persuasion she set up the crew and cameras to film Phil. He fished like a pro, with accurate casting and followed our instructions to the letter. His first hook up came within ten minutes of filming – a 26lb sorubim. Then it happened – Julia was filming the fly landing in front of a big arapaima, when wham, it took the fly. One and a half hours later, in the dark, after being dragged around the lake, a very happy Phil landed his prize, a 250lb arapaima – the first fly-caught arapaima ever caught for a professional filmmaker.

After the previous day’s success Julia asked Phil to get his fly rod out again, because they wanted to recreate a few bits. We told Phil to fish for another instead of pretending for the camera, and an hour later arapaima number two was hooked up. Another epic one and a half hour battle was played out for the cameras with the light fading fast, but in time for some nice evening shots. Phil landed prize number two, and what a prize this one was – a fish of 350lb, making them the biggest two arapaima ever filmed, and on fly tackle to boot. Julia is bringing out these captures under a different film, and it will surely be one of the most unique fishing films ever, as a fly caught arapaima has never been recorded on national TV before, plus the size of the fish will probably never be matched at any other venue. For us it is a great feeling, being one of the few true fishing services in Thailand who created and own their own fishery. Here you only get guided by us on our own lake for our own fish, not like the many other parasites in Thailand who invest little or nothing with a limited experience of fishing, selling trips to other people’s venues at inflated prices and claiming to be guides! All venues in Thailand can be booked and fished by direct contact with the owners at cheaper rates than the Mickey Mouse so-called guiding services sell them for. All the commercial venues in Thailand have their own superior guides waiting to help you on arrival.

Both fish would have been potential world records, but no claim has been submitted, as Phil was using a 10wt rod, which is under-gunned for huge arapaima, so to save the fish undue stress we touched the line in both cases to ease the fish to the waiting cage. We would only ever claim a 100% genuine record, and if the rules are broken in any way we will not submit a claim, just the same as Thailand fishing legend Francois Helios. The other pretenders may cheat and lie, but as with Francois, we are the genuine article. We don’t need to drum up business to sting the punters – oops here I go again! The other species Phil took on the fly was a 7lb arawana that jumped out of the net while he came to get us for a photo. He also fished standard bait and wait tactics for four other species. On the night of the partying Phil was no slouch on the drinking front either – he held his ground till the wee hours when the tequila got the better of him and he met up with Hughie! Fair play to the fella though, he was back on the ball for a 7am start. For sure he could have been a true Horse and Barge man!

Other top guys to visit this month were Mike Bumpstead who came for a couple of days and caught his three target species of arapaima, red tail catfish and Siamese carp albeit in small sizes, which goes to show the divers did their job well, as Mike can come back after Christmas to beat all his previous PB’s. Nick Dean was another good angler who can’t wait to return to Gillhams, spending four nights and three and a half days fishing with us, accompanied by his charming wife Fon and his good friend Bob who doesn’t fish, but had a ball going out on various day trips and getting us some much needed footage of activities around Krabi. Nick got off to a slow start, but really fished like a machine towards the end of his trip. His final tally was 23 fish of five species. His main target was to fish Siam carp, as in four years of trying in Thailand this species had eluded him. All went to plan, and he caught 15 with two 60lb fish and a 50 in that tally. He also had five red tails, the top two being 60lb and 70lb, Target next trip a bigger carp and an arapaima to beat the 80lb one he had this trip.

Another super guy who came for three days, and stayed a week, was John Anderson from the Isle of White. John was gutted to leave, and said he could not return for 18 months only to contact us a week after leaving to book November! John had listened to all our suggestions of gear to bring, where and how to fish, and built up a swim by first plumbing the depth, finding his chosen spot, and then accurately baiting. He was rewarded with 53 fish for the week of eight species, made up of six arapaima to 200lb, 30 Siamese carp to 50lb, eight red tail catfish to 70lb, a fine Chao Phraya catfish that would have nudged the world record at 60lb-plus, black pacu, Indian Siamese, sorubim and a rare wallago leeri. Our good friend Francois Helios of fishing adventures Thailand sent the previous Americans to us this month, and also the true gent, 72 years young and still fishing, Lenny Kouba from Chicago. Lenny has caught seven different 100lb-plus freshwater species around the globe, and is still as keen as ever. Lenny was another perfect gentleman, and an extremely good fisherman. Fishing for three days and wishing he had booked more, Lenny is booking with Francois again for October 2010, this time for a week or more, saying Gillhams was the finest fishing venue he had visited. Coming from a man of Lenny’s standing that made us all very proud of what we have achieved here. I really missed Lenny and John when they left, their company was second to none – guys like these make my job so worthwhile, and in a short space of time I made two new friends. Len landed 17 fish of six species in his three days, topped by a PB arapaima of 150lb.

Last guest of the month was bought to us by another professional Thai fishing guide Neil of Fishing-Khaolak. Neil is another UK angler living and working in Thailand. He does some spectacular wild jungle river trips, and we are off on one of his adventures in June, fishing for Thai mahseer, so we are really looking forward to that one. Neil’s client was another Brit, Robert Mitchell, who came for three days, landing 19 fish of ten species. How’s this for two casts? Take one, a 110lb Siamese carp released after the pictures, and next cast a 130lb arapaima. Robert ended the session with three arapaima to 160lb, five Siamese carp to 110lb, alligator gar, Asian red tail catfish, Amazon red tail catfish, spotted featherback, mad carp, mrigal, sorubim and a wallago leeri.

That’s it from us guys, space has run out once again, and sorry if we missed you out. Watch out for next month – it’s quieter, but we have Keith ‘Made in England’ Jenkins here as I write this newsletter, so for sure there will be more news, gossip and general ramblings. Thanks for reading and supporting these newsletters. Don’t forget to book that dream trip at www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com or phone Stuart on +66861644554. Tight lines, and we hope you catch your dream, if you come here you will for sure! Till next month, goodbye and good luck from all of us here at the world’s favorite venue, Gillhams Fishing Resorts.

Please check out our web site … http://www.gillhamsfishingresorts.com for all the latest news and info about fishing in Thailand at Gillhams Fishing Resorts.

OB Shift 2 : Jumat 24/04/09 (3/3)


OB Shift 2 – RCTI 24 April 2009

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