[Resolved]Thoughts 2022

[Haji 2003]

I thought it would be good to start with an oldie, but a goody, that reflects the current state of the world.

 

[notme]

Starting next week and until May, I'm going to be super extra busy with classes, work, and volunteer work, in addition to taking care of my family. 

But in the summer I'm planning a driving tour of the United States. I'm definitely going to want to see Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Forest. Any other great spots to visit? Right now it looks like I'll be driving and camping, and only my two youngest children want to come with me. 

And then for my second ever in my life vacation, I want to fly somewhere in 2023. Where in the world should I vacation for a few weeks in June, July, or August? 

[Abu Hadi]

21 hours ago, notme said:

Starting next week and until May, I'm going to be super extra busy with classes, work, and volunteer work, in addition to taking care of my family. 

But in the summer I'm planning a driving tour of the United States. I'm definitely going to want to see Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Forest. Any other great spots to visit? Right now it looks like I'll be driving and camping, and only my two youngest children want to come with me. 

And then for my second ever in my life vacation, I want to fly somewhere in 2023. Where in the world should I vacation for a few weeks in June, July, or August? 

If you're coming by Michigan, there's alot to see here, especially in the summer. My favorite is Traverse City area and Mackinac Island. If you're doing the Grand Canyon, I'm assuming you're taking the Southern Route, so it might be kind of out of the way, but if you have time, there are lots of nice places to visit in this area. I've driven across the US, Coast to Coast, 3 times. Twice I took the Southern Route, and Once the Northern Route, and ended up in Michigan, where I've been for a while, lol. 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Abu Hadi

[Diaz]

On 1/7/2022 at 4:15 PM, notme said:

Where in the world should I vacation for a few weeks in June, July, or August? 

Um…Middle East?

I know last time I told you about it but maybe next year inshallah you will chance ur mind?

[Diaz]

Pls everyone pray for me, I’m planning to search for a job but I still can’t find any. Plus I’m not sure if this year I can join any university because we are having a lot of financial problems. 

[Haji 2003]

21 hours ago, notme said:

But in the summer I'm planning a driving tour of the United States.

This book was a really nice read, Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent, Travels in small town America.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035OC830/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[notme]

5 hours ago, Abu Hadi said:

I've driven across the US, Coast to Coast, 3 times. Twice I took the Southern Route, and Once the Northern Route, and ended up in Michigan, where I've been for a while, lol. 

I've never been anywhere just for the sake of going. My mom and siblings have gone lots of times but I've never been invited. I suggested once that I might like to go, and my mom said no. I was looking at making a loop, so I'd take both the southern and the northern route, in opposite directions. 

I've never had time and money before. It's all new to me. I know I want to see the Grand Canyon and the giant Redwood Trees and the Pacific Ocean, but I have no idea how to narrow the rest down to a manageable trip. I want to see everywhere! I'm trying to get it down to a three week vacation.

 

5 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

This book was a really nice read, Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent, Travels in small town America.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035OC830/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Thanks. I took a quick look at reviews and ordered a used copy. I've read Bryson and enjoyed his work. This is going to give me even more ideas, isn't it? 

 

5 hours ago, Diaz said:

Um…Middle East?

 

I know last time I told you about it but maybe next year inshallah you will chance ur mind?

Definitely on my short list. I'm nervous about it though, because I won't know anyone or speak the language. 

[Abu Hadi]

10 hours ago, notme said:

I've never been anywhere just for the sake of going. My mom and siblings have gone lots of times but I've never been invited. I suggested once that I might like to go, and my mom said no. I was looking at making a loop, so I'd take both the southern and the northern route, in opposite directions. 

I've never had time and money before. It's all new to me. I know I want to see the Grand Canyon and the giant Redwood Trees and the Pacific Ocean, but I have no idea how to narrow the rest down to a manageable trip. I want to see everywhere! I'm trying to get it down to a three week vacation.

 

Thanks. I took a quick look at reviews and ordered a used copy. I've read Bryson and enjoyed his work. This is going to give me even more ideas, isn't it? 

 

Definitely on my short list. I'm nervous about it though, because I won't know anyone or speak the language. 

There are literally so many places, that there is no way you can see them all. I think before you go, you need to decide what are the most important things to you, then see those. 

You said the Grand Canyon, Redwoods, and Pacific Ocean. Let me just give you a few tips. 

There are a few things around the Grand Canyon, that are also worth seeing. If you are in the area. The main one is Chaco Canyon, which is on the way to the Grand Canyon if you are coming from the East, it's off Highway 40. Its an amazing place. The other one is Joshua Tree National Park, which is on the way between Arizona and California

If you want the full 'Pacific Ocean' experience, I suggest staring somewhere around Downtown L.A. and driving up Highway 1(Pacific Coast Highway). If you want to see the Redwood Trees, you'll have to drive North on PCH. It will take about 8 hours to get to the Bay Area (San Francisco) if you drive strait thru. Of course you'll want to stop at a few places. At least stop in Santa Barbara to see the old Spanish Missions. Then from San Francisco, it's another 4 to 5 hours driving North to get to the Redwoods. There's alot of Historic sites in San Francisco, the main ones are the Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz. 

A big tip that will save you alot of trials and tribulations. If you want to drive Highway 1, your main concern should be traffic. If you leave at the wrong time, you could be stuck for hours in gridlock. I suggest getting to Downtown L.A. either early in the morning, around 5 a.m. or in the late morning, around 11 a.m. Then when you get North to around Santa Cruz, hitting the Bay Area after 7p.m. (if you get into the Bay Area during rush hour (6 - 10am or 4 to 7 p.m.) be prepared to be stuck in a traffic nightmare). Then you can stay the night in the Bay Area and leave for the Redwoods in the morning. Once you pass the Mountain View area, there isn't much traffic the rest of the way to the Redwoods, so you don't need to worry about it, unless they are doing road construction on the 1 or the 101 (an alternate Route you can take to the Redwoods that goes thru some very nice nature areas. 

The other tip is that the area between Arizona and California, the Mojave Desert is very hot. Even in winter it is hot during the day. So when you are driving in this area make sure your car is in good shape (you really, really, don't want to break down here. It is hot, no water, and almost no people, except a few very small towns), you have alot of water and some kind of a sun hat or sunscreen if you plan on being outside for a period of time. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Abu Hadi

[guest 2025]

10 hours ago, notme said:

Definitely on my short list. I'm nervous about it though, because I won't know anyone or speak the language. 

This is not an issue. Since it is very common for people to travel with a group that will organize and take care of everything such as this one:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CU0U0BaLf_r/

[Diaz]

12 hours ago, notme said:

efinitely on my short list. I'm nervous about it though, because I won't know anyone or speak the language. 

If about the language, then don’t worry because many ppl in Middle East speak English, it depend in which country ofc.

Edited January 9, 2022 by Diaz

[notme]

1 hour ago, Diaz said:

If about the language, then don’t worry because many ppl in Middle East speak English, it depend in which country ofc.

I want to visit Iraq. Of course Iran too, but probably that's a bad idea because I'm probably already on watch lists due to my political and social activism. 

I'd love to see the pyramids and museums in Egypt too. 

Where else in the middle east should I go? I'm not interested in crowded cities or malls. I like nature and historical sites, and of course religious sites that aren't too crowded. I'm terrified of being in crowds. 

[notme]

For my cross country trip, I'm planning to mostly camp, though I won't rule out an occasional hotel, and it looks like probably only my two youngest children want to come with me. The other "adults" in the family can't bear to be away from wifi for that long. I've invited them to fly out and see some of the destinations with me, but planning that will be up to them. I'm only planning one family vacation. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by notme

[notme]

Some day I'd like to visit Cuba and learn about their agriculture system, since I watched a documentary about it. But again, that's probably a bad idea even if I could, because I'm already probably on lists. 

[Diaz]

7 hours ago, notme said:

Where else in the middle east should I go? I'm not interested in crowded cities or malls. I like nature and historical sites, and of course religious sites that aren't too crowded. I'm terrified of being in crowds. 

Since you are interested in nature and historical sites, lebanon is your best bet. Plus it’s very cheap and many Lebanese knows English. 
 

Dont go to Arabian gulf countries, there is nothings except Malls and restaurants, tho you can check oman since they are not like Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain or Qatar. 

[Haji 2003]

Inflammatory bowel disease in the Middle East

Quote

For example, the biggest recent increase in inflammatory bowel disease cases has been in the Middle East and east Asia. Before that they had hardly seen the disease.”

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/08/global-spread-of-autoimmune-disease-blamed-on-western-diet

 

Also note (my bold):

Quote

As well as the link to IBD, the scientists found that people who tended to drink bottled water or eat takeaway food had about double the concentration of microplastics in their stools. In total, 15 different types of plastic were found among the microplastics. The most common were PET, used on water bottles and food containers and polyamide, which is also found in food packaging.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/dec/22/microplastics-may-be-linked-to-inflammatory-bowel-disease-study-finds

[Ashvazdanghe]

13 hours ago, Diaz said:

Dont go to Arabian gulf countries

These are Persian Gulf countries . the so called Arabian gulf is invention of pan Arabs likewise Jamal Abdul Naser .

[Ashvazdanghe]

14 hours ago, notme said:

For my cross country trip, I'm planning to mostly camp, though I won't rule out an occasional hotel, and it looks like probably only my two youngest children want to come with me.

Salam

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[Ashvazdanghe]

14 hours ago, notme said:

I want to visit Iraq. Of course Iran too, but probably that's a bad idea because I'm probably already on watch lists due to my political and social activism.

Salam, If you are not among the exceptions by following the steps below, you should not worry about anything.

Quote

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First, make sure to have:

 Scan of your passport that has at least 6 months validity
 Personal photo with a solid white background (ladies are not required to wear head coverings)
After that, download the visa form from below, fill it in and send all three to us.

 Fill out the visa 
We, on our side, will submit all required documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to receive your Invitation Letter(Authorization Number). Generally, for most nationalities, it takes around 7-10 business days to receive that 18-digit code, but for American, British, and Canadian citizens, it takes up to 1-2 months.

Having this code, you can easily refer to an Iran embassy in your country or international Iran airports and receive Iran Visa Sticker in your passport there.

Please, note that once you get the code, you have 1 month to receive a visa stamp. Since that day, you have 3 months to both enter and leave Iran. The maximum single-entry stay is 30 days. After 30 days, the visa must be renewed.

 

Quote

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If you are not among the exceptions by following the steps below, you should not worry about anything.

https://nomad.tours/iran-visa/

[notme]

4 hours ago, Ashvazdanghe said:

Salam, If you are not among the exceptions by following the steps below, you should not worry about anything.

Thank you. I'm not worried about Iran. I'm worried about United States. Maybe someday things will be better here. For now, though, I should probably avoid travel to certain places or I might face repercussions. (I'm already an enemy of the corporate duopoly, as an organizer of a minor anti-capitalist political party.) 

[notme]

On 1/9/2022 at 6:08 AM, Abu Hadi said:

other tip is that the area between Arizona and California, the Mojave Desert is very hot. Even in winter it is hot during the day. So when you are driving in this area make sure your car is in good shape (you really, really, don't want to break down here

96 Toyota Camry wagon inadvisable? I've only owned it since spring but I've never had a problem. It'd make a serviceable mini camper. 

[Abu Hadi]

15 hours ago, notme said:

96 Toyota Camry wagon inadvisable? I've only owned it since spring but I've never had a problem. It'd make a serviceable mini camper. 

Well, um. Not really. I love Toyotas and had several Camrys myself but not the most advisable thing. The only way I would recommend it is if you have parts and know how to fix it yourself should something go wrong. Most likely if there is any issues / leaks with your cooling system, it will overheat, then your stuck. If you're going to do it, I would make sure your battery is good and there are no leaks in your cooling system (check all hoses, water pump, radiator, etc). Im not a mechanic myself so don't know what further advice I can give, but definitely if you're going to do it have your mechanic check it out and tell him your plans for your trip to make sure he checks everything that could possibly go wrong, which is alot of things on a car that old. Lol. 

[Ashvazdanghe]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:55 PM, notme said:

For now, though, I should probably avoid travel to certain places or I might face repercussions. (I'm already an enemy of the corporate duopoly, as an organizer of a minor anti-capitalist political party.)

Salam You won't  face any problem for your political  agenda  but on the other hand if you have Iranian stamp on your visa when you return  to America  then security staff will investigate  you for your travel which you can use a trick which by having an electronic visa & help of tour guide in Iran you can skip having Iranian  stamp in your visa for your return to America .

[ummulbaneen]

If it brought you closer to Allah, it was a blessing, even if it caused you pain.

If it took you away from Allah, it was a calamity, even if it brought you pleasure.

This is how you determine if something is a blessing or a calamity in your life.

(Anonymous).

 

Alhamdulillah

[notme]

Governor of Virginia is trying to kill us. He signed an executive order banning mask and vaccine mandates. On Friday, 20 of about 60 teachers at my workplace were out sick and children are dying at rates we've never seen before. 

Of course the federal government is not better - ending the tracking of covid infection and death rates. 

They're trying to kill us. 

I'm going to get sick and possibly die for $17/year, which isn't even enough to live. 

Worse yet, maybe I'll be fine and children will die. Several of my students are sick. 

[Quran313]

1 hour ago, notme said:

Governor of Virginia is trying to kill us. He signed an executive order banning mask and vaccine mandates. On Friday, 20 of about 60 teachers at my workplace were out sick and children are dying at rates we've never seen before. 

Of course the federal government is not better - ending the tracking of covid infection and death rates. 

They're trying to kill us. 

I'm going to get sick and possibly die for $17/year, which isn't even enough to live. 

Worse yet, maybe I'll be fine and children will die. Several of my students are sick. 

I thought you're housewife. Be careful about covid. Mask should be mandatory, but I'm not sure about vaccine. Social distancing, mask, and  regular hand washing should be enough. I lost a job position few months back because of vaccine mandate. I told them I have medical reason and no problem with wearing mask all the time, but they were strict on the rules.

Edited January 16, 2022 by Quran313

[notme]

3 hours ago, Quran313 said:

I thought you're housewife. Be careful about covid. Mask should be mandatory, but I'm not sure about vaccine. Social distancing, mask, and  regular hand washing should be enough. 

I can't social distance. I work in a school. There is not enough room to stay six feet away from everyone. Plus, I work with special education students - I can't stand across the room and talk to them. They often need me to be up close. Some of them are medically fragile. Several are currently out with covid. I'll be distraught if any of these innocent kids die due to adults being stupid, selfish, and greedy. 

I hope you recover from your medical condition, but meanwhile I hope enough people get vaccinated that you can be kept safer by "herd immunity". 

Y'all can't possibly understand how angry I am right now. Why does a state level public servant have the authority to tell local communities that they are not allowed to keep their people safe? 

Edited January 16, 2022 by notme

[Quran313]

53 minutes ago, notme said:

I can't social distance. I work in a school. There is not enough room to stay six feet away from everyone. Plus, I work with special education students - I can't stand across the room and talk to them. They often need me to be up close. Some of them are medically fragile. Several are currently out with covid. I'll be distraught if any of these innocent kids die due to adults being stupid, selfish, and greedy. 

I hope you recover from your medical condition, but meanwhile I hope enough people get vaccinated that you can be kept safer by "herd immunity". 

Y'all can't possibly understand how angry I am right now. Why does a state level public servant have the authority to tell local communities that they are not allowed to keep their people safe? 

I see. Yeah social distancing cant be done everywhere. The company offerred me a good pay, but they had vaccine mandate. I always wear mask, wash hands, and try to be away from crowd

Edited January 16, 2022 by Quran313

[notme]

5 minutes ago, Quran313 said:

I see. Yeah social distancing cant be done everywhere. The compsny offerred me a good pay, around 180k, but they had vaccine mandate. I always wear mask, wash hands, and try to be away from crowd

I risk my life and now also the lives of my family for $17k per year. I could do a lot of good in the world with $180k. I hope you recover from your medical condition that makes you unable to be vaccinated. Maybe you'll get a second chance. 

[rkazmi33]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/01/16/center-for-covid-testing-federal-funds/6512508001/

This is my community. They keep track of my online activity, humiliate me if I spend too much time on entertainment and tell me that I am presenting a bad image of Islam to non muslims, while other members of community are doing this. 

Edited January 18, 2022 by rkazmi33

[Haji 2003]

4 hours ago, rkazmi33 said:

while other members of community are doing this. 

 

so given the fact that there are Shia murderers out there, if you look hard enough, that gives everyone else a free pass?

[rkazmi33]

On 1/18/2022 at 3:02 AM, Haji 2003 said:

so given the fact that there are Shia murderers out there, if you look hard enough, that gives everyone else a free pass?

If you are a resident alim and you have to do amar bil maroof and nahi anil munkir, who should be your priority? A company consisting of hundreds of community members, who are risking lives of hundreds and earning millions, or that one community member who is supposedly  wasting time in the privacy of her own room? 

[Haji 2003]

On 1/18/2022 at 8:34 AM, rkazmi33 said:

If you are a resident alim and you have to do amar bil maroof and nahi anil munkir, who should be your priority? A company consisting of hundreds of community members, who are risking lives of hundreds and earning millions, or that one community member who is supposedly  wasting time in the privacy of her own room? 

How would an alim know about what a specific individual is doing in the privacy of their own room?

[rkazmi33]

On 1/18/2022 at 8:41 AM, Haji 2003 said:

How would an alim know about what a specific individual is doing in the privacy of their own room?

Screen mirroring. 

[ummulbaneen]

One should never take for granted a decent upbringing.

[notme]

Look at this idiot: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-school-board-gun-threat-face-mask-dispute/

At least they arrested her for her terroristic threats against school children, but she's out already on a meager bond, and I bet she gets off light because she's white and rich. She needs to do at least 5 years. If you or I had said something similar, we'd be permanent residents at some secret CIA site..