The Blog

Don’t get me wrong, I do file my emails well. However, I still find that sometimes you just can’t remember where you filed something. Too many emails can be filed in more than one place and it not only requires you to think, it requires that you be in the same state of mind when you’re searching for an email item as when you filed it. Filing just isn’t very effective. Gmail understands this: they not only discourage filing, they don’t even provide a way to file anything other than creating labels for emails. It’s very simple but innovative way to think of emails. An email cannot be in two folders without being duplicated, but it can have multiple labels. We’re too used to filing stuff still and for some of us it may be the only way to stay sane. But a good searching mechanism should find a home on any Outlook user’s PC. I’ve been using the FREE Outlook search utility add-in called Lookout to search for emails within Outlook that I thought were long lost. I would eventually find the emails but LookOut is fast. And it lets you really fine tune searches. And makes it easier to go through the results by turning emails into tooltips! My gosh what have they not thought of? Makes the Advanced Search that comes with Outlook seem a bit lame, to say the least. While its true you have to remember something about the email you’re looking for (like the sender, receiver, subject, something within the body of the email etc.) to be able to find it. But if you can’t remember a thing about an email how the heck are you even gonna know you’ve found it when you do?!

There has been a sudden change of weather this past twenty four hours or so. It went from a nice, warm and sunny 21 degrees to a windy, cold and grey 9 degrees in one day! A cold front from up North creeps up and all of a sudden you notice the Fall colors. It’s amazing. I could’ve sworn everything was lush green just yesterday. Now its bright yellow, slightly orange and even red. And I don’t even normally notice colors as easily as the artistic eyes must.
Another sight to behold is the full Sha’abaan moon – indicating the middle of the 8th Muslim month. I know we witness the moon’s phases every month, but this month it just seems unbelievably beautiful. I was exhausted from this past weekend or I would definitely take a picture or two. InshaAllah tomorrow, I have to remember to bring the camera when I go to the masjid for Maghrib. Speaking of which, we just got a ping-pong table donated to the masjid from a member of the Muslim community which is attracting youngsters and old timers alike to stay a while after maghrib to have a game of table-tennis or two. Loads of fun!

Oh how I used to devour these comics as a kid!

Maybe I’ve mentioned this about me before, but I have an addicted personality. Maybe its not an uncommon personality trait. What’s most interesting about this though is that I go through phases during which I’m addicted to (or passionately obsessed with) one thing or another. Most recently, I’ve become addicted to reading fiction. I’ve rediscovered what a pleasure it is to read a good book. Just out of the blue, I got up one day and said to myself, I must read, and read something other than the newspaper or the technology magazines I subscribe to. I’ve checked out five books from the local library. Aand although I’ve only finished the first two novels, I’m pumped up.
Reading can be such a rewarding experience, if one has time for it. With work and two kids, TV and the Internet, its very hard to find time alone to read. It would be nice to be able to read while you’re doing something else. Like taking a walk or doing the dishes. I’ve never really tried audio books but I suspect that they’d be just perfect for someone like me. I recently even got an MP3 CD walkman. I wonder if the library has any audio books on CDs. I’m just using it to listen to Quraan recitations in MP3 format for now.