Had some limes in the fridge and I didnt want them to go to waste so I made lime lemonade. My mom makes this for me all the time, I like it more than lemonade. In Egypt we called it lemonata!
Monthly Archive for June, 2009
Today, Michael Jackson died in Los Angeles, California. He was 50 Years old, and the cause of death was a Cardiac Arrest. My condolences to the Jackson family. Rest in peace
My friends were leaving for good yesterday so we had lunch at Le Pois Penche. This was my main course! Very Tasty! Anyways today I have a lot of appointments and errands to run so I’m off.
Please vote for me on facebook for One Young World. I have copy/pasted my profile info from there on here. (CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ME)
Some might tell you the world was better off fifty years ago. Others will say that we are better off today thanks to technology, however I believe both statements are true. Today we face many problems. We need to first solve social disconnect.That is why I follow a quote that says “Be the change you want to see in the world”. I honestly believe that positive influences can snowball. We need to work together to achieve! By Solving Social Disconnect we can have a platform to solve other problems!
Well, I am Egyptian. I only lived in Egypt for three years before moving to Saudi Arabia. In Saudi I made lots of friends from all over the world, enabling me to see all different types of cultures and extract all the good parts from each. Life in Saudi was great. While in my senior year of highschool in Saudi I attended a Model United Nations Conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia.I now live in Montreal, Canada and like Saudi it has many different cultures. The winters here can be very severe, and recently got me into a great depression. I did not know what was going on, I felt like life was not worth living, I had panic attacks (i sometimes still do, but i know how to handle them) and did not know what was the point of life. It took me a couple of months to recover, but recover i did! I knew that life is worth living if you make the most of it. At the same time I knew that for me, the point of my life was to change the world in positive ways. That can easily be by smiling or saying hello to someone you don’t even know, the world today is so socially disconnected. People are chasing money not to live better, but just for the sake of chasing money. My parents have raised me right, and I want to be the best person that I can be.
I was in Westmount park today doing a bit of writing, when I saw this dog. I had to get a video of it bouncing around!
Today I had to build a bed. Afterwards I was in desperate need of protein! My favorite food is salad so this was quite a treat. I ate it the Java U on Rue Stanley. The thing I like about Java U is the servers are not stingy with their portions they just kept adding to the salad at no extra Cost!
Yesterday I was on Gizmodo and I saw this post. I saw this picture and I laughed for the good part of a minute! (click on the picture to see the full size). I had to post it, since it was technically part of my day. Credit to Gizmodo for the Picture wherever they found or took the picture!
Today I was doing a bit of shopping when I saw police closing streets, I knew something was going on. I took out my camera and started to record. It turned out to be the Pedal for Kids (Pedalez pour les enfants in French) Charity Bike run. They donate money to sick kids in the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Check out the website here (today was the last day of the run)
Today I cut my hair, went shopping, and had a nice vegetarian pizza, so after a long day of walking/biking around I came home for a nice bowl of Rainbow Sorbet! For those who don’t know the difference between Sorbet and Ice Cream, Sorbet doesn’t have milk. I feel it tastes much better than Ice Cream. It is also known for helping in digestion. You can check out the Wiki on sorbet Here.
Since going green is one of my interests, when I read about a product or method that helps reduce the negative effects on our planet, I like to share that information with the rest of you. Most of the North American Media have been raving about the Chevrolet Volt and how it is a revelation in the automotive industry. While every effort to help the environment is great, it is clear that these reports are heavily biased. There are cars that are much greener than the Chevrolet Volt. The car that interests me is the Tesla Model S. You might have not even heard of Tesla, so let me introduce you to the brand.
Tesla Motors was created in 2oo3 in California to provide consumers electric cars. Their name is based on the great electrical genius Nikola Tesla. The cars they produce run entirely on batteries (yup that’s right no petrol tanks). There are several models, even a sports model (Tesla Roadster) that created a quite a buzz. The reason I like the Model S is because it makes everyday life greener since most people won’t go out of their way to be green. It achieves this by being more than twice as efficient as current hybrids. For those who don’t know petrol engines use more fuel when braking and accelerating, these inefficiencies are eliminated with the use of an Electric Motor. This is the main reason hybrids and electric cars offer better gas mileage. Especially in city mileage since stops and starts are frequent.
The estimated price of the Model S is currently starting at $50,000 (after a $7,500 tax rebate). The Model S can seat up to 7 passengers (5 adults, 2 Children). How’s that for practicality? The model S does not only help become more green, it also helps you keep the green in your pocket (depending on the color of the currency you use). And if that is not enough, Technology enthusiasts will love the 17-inch screen with 3g connectivity. The only trade off is the top speed of 120mph, however there’s not many places that you can legally drive at that speed. The 0-60mph time is a reasonable 5.6 seconds. However since it is electric torque is instant.
Last month, I was watching the news in California and saw a report on how the Chevrolet Volt was a breakthrough and how they” leapfrogged Toyota”. It was clear to me who was paying the news stations bills (Take a wild guess). The main selling point the news was portraying is that you can drive 40 miles before using petrol and that most Americans don’t drive more than 40 miles a day. The figure seems low but even if you assume it is correct, the car will still end up using petrol. With the Tesla you get 300 miles on one battery charge (using the highest range battery).
Another thing to consider is the charging time; the Volt takes 6 to 6.5 hours to charge while the Tesla charges in 3 to 5 hours (depending on the battery you use). The Tesla also has a 5 minute battery swap feature which is not available with the Volt (To my knowledge).
In performance the Tesla also is faster to 60mph where it takes 5.6 seconds and the Volt takes 8 to 8.5 seconds. Finally the Tesla has an AWD (All wheel Drive option) which the Volt does not. This is great for Canada and other places with varied terrain (snow or simple offroading).
To be fair in this comparison we should look at the overall costs. The Chevy Volt is estimated to cost in the high 30’s before the $7,500 rebate, which drive the price down to low 30’s. The Tesla is estimated to cost $50,000 including the same $7,500 tax rebate. However one must also take into consideration the costs of running the vehicle, not only the price tag. It costs $4 to fully charge the Model S according to Tesla (depending on your electricity costs). The Volt needs to charge a 16KWh battery on top of a 12 gallon fuel tank. You can do the math there based on how much you pay for electricity and petrol. So basically, while the Volt may seem less costly at first glance, if all factors are considered the Tesla is much less costly. (You can see a comparison of the costs of driving the Tesla roadster, Chevy Volt, and two different models of the Toyota Prius here)
The news was explaining how the bailout could lower the price of the Volt. With a car like the Model S underway, I feel the Volt is obsolete. The bailout money could go to companies like Tesla who are innovative and hard working. Imagine what the bailout money could do to reduce the costs for Tesla since they are still a startup company. However that won’t happen since it’s all about politics.
