It is a good day here in Linden, Guyana. I just spent some time with my father who is also on vacation in Guyana (at a different location). It was good to see and talk with him. The last time my father was here was on my birthday a few weeks ago.
He will be returning to the U.S. soon. I, on the other hand, will remain in Guyana for several more weeks.
Today I found an interesting blog post on the role rejections may play in finding the right journal. In the blog post, the author took the reader through the process to publish his/her paper. The paper was not accepted by a few journals before a journal that was the right fit was found. Each time the paper was rejected or changes requested, the researchers considered reviewers' comments and reevaluated the purpose. The process made the paper better and steered the researchers to the right journal. The blog post will motivate me to keep going after a rejection. I needed to see an example like this.
(The blog post: https://harzing.com/blog/2024/05/rejection-withdrawal-and-acceptance-a-story-about-message-journal-fit)
It is a rainy day here in Linden. I wanted to go out for a walk today but the rain changed my plans. I will stay indoors because of the rain.
I also wanted to see the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics but I cannot because of issues with the television. I read somewhere that it will be a different opening ceremony where athletes from the various countries will be in boats. It seems like today is a day of disappointments. I like everything to go smoothly but that is not happening today. I will try to make the most of the day though. I will spend a few hours working at my computer.
My lunch on this self-care day was callaloo cookup with fried fish. It was delicious. I like to eat callaloo because it is a good source of iron and also potassium. The fish was very good. I eat a lot of fish in Guyana.
Good morning from Linden, Guyana!
Today is self-care day. It makes sense for the Wordpress prompt for today to be: What strategies do you use to maintain your health and wellbeing?
I was seriously ill for a while so maintaining my health is very important. I try to eat well and exercise regularly. I believe eating well is very important. I know eating the right foods can build your body and help you to resist disease. I try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables to get important nutrients in my body. I also eat foods that would be good for me based on past diagnoses and experiences. For example, I eat foods high in potassium so that my potassium level does not get too low. In the past, I had low potassium levels. I pay attention to what I eat and limit my intake of certain foods so that my blood glucose level does not become an issue. I also believe in regular doctor's visits for checkups. You are more likely to detect issues and have early diagnosis of diseases if you have regular checkups.
Good morning from Linden, Guyana!
I just saw a post on the ten sweetest mangoes in the world. I was surprised that a mango from the Philippines got the number 1 spot. I expected to see more mangoes from the Caribbean on the list. The Jamaican Julie mango was the only mango from the Caribbean. It was number 9 on the list. The Guyanese Buxton Spice mango did not make the list. I know the Buxton Spice is sweet. I would like to try these other mangoes that are considered even sweeter than the Buxton Spice. I'll look out for the mango in the number 10 spot - the American Tommy Atkins mango - when I travel to the U.S.
I recently bought fruit. I did not have any fruit left so I wanted more. When in Guyana, I prefer fruit that I or someone else picked from the tree (freshly picked fruit) but that is not always possible. I like store-bought fruits too. And sometimes you get more than you expect. I am enjoying the fruits in Guyana. It would be nice to have fruit every day.
I grew up eating a lot of fruit. I recall that my parents (especially my father) would buy a lot of fruit for my sister and I. We also had fruit trees in our yard that supplied us with much fruit. That is a benefit of living in a tropical country/ Caribbean.
I just found out about the Listeria outbreak in the U.S. It seems to be major - people from 12 states are impacted. I was surprised to see that Maryland is one of the states. If I was in the U.S. I might have been impacted because I like to eat deli meats.
It has been a while since I ordered food from a deli. In the past, I liked to order breakfast from delis before going into the office. Just about every morning I entered a deli and left with a delicious breakfast. My breakfast orders did not vary much. I ordered 'egg and cheese on a plain bagel' sometimes including ham or sausage. I also liked the breakfast burrito that included eggs, onions, and red pepper wrapped in a tortilla. The food was very affordable. I spent about $6-$10 on breakfast every morning.
I rarely run across others named Fahmeena or Fahmi, which is what my family and friends call me. I once saw a guy with the name Fahmi on Facebook. I was very surprised! I do not believe his name is short for Fahmeena. Some other time, I saw a post by a Fahmeena from Pakistan. She did not speak English very well. Today, I noticed the name Fahmy in a post. I read that a wealthy aristocrat from Egypt was named Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey. How interesting!
I sometimes wonder whether I should use the name Fahmi at work and in formal communications. I have never used the name Fahmi formally.
Fahmeena looks difficult or complicated but it is really a simple name - it is easy to pronounce. A guy I worked with once told me the name Fahmeena is popular in Bangladesh. I guess I should believe him.
Response to today's Wordpress writing prompt: What's your favorite game (card, board, video, etc.)? Why?
I chose to focus on board games.
I learned to play lots of board games from about age 8. One of the first board games I learned was Checkers (called Draughts) from my father. My father loved the game and played it quite often. I learned by watching him closely and asking questions. My aunt introduced me to chess. I learned a whole lot more about chess much later and learned to play much better. I also played monopoly with family members. I love to play Monopoly and am usually ecstatic when I win. I learned to play chinese checkers on the computer. I love the game. It is probably my favorite game. When I play, I usually win. Some board games I learned to play at school. The Game of Life is an example. I learned to play the game at President's College. I find that some board games involve more strategy (or strategic thinking) than others. I prefer the games the require more strategic thinking. I don't mind that they may take a little longer to play.
I was out and about today. I had a good time. Luckily, it did not rain. The sun was out and it was hot. My mom and I had lunch at the small park/square that has the I Heart Linden sign. I liked the park. It was by the water and in a nice part of town. I liked the sign too and took a few photos of it. It was fairly busy at the park - there were quite a few visitors. I assisted some girls by taking photos of them.
Good morning from Linden,Guyana!
This #ThrowbackThursday I am thinking of relationships at work. In a post more than two years ago, I noted that the relationship with one's boss is important and that employees need to 'manage up' (Link to post: https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/2022/06/relationship-with-god.html?m=1). Bosses could make a huge difference in an employee's career. I know some bosses encourage their employees to be involved in different work activities and reward their employees well for good performance. I won't say much about the bosses I've had. Relationships with peers are also important. An employee would have a better experience at work if he/she has a good relationship with peers and his/her manager. At my last full-time job, relationships were important. Managers encouraged employees to interact, network, and build relationships (I mentioned this in my previous post: https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/2023/08/building-work-relationships.html?m=1).
I read a post in LinkedIn that made me aware that replication research could be a good option for publishing high-quality research in journals. This is an area I don't know a lot about so I will look into it. Maybe there is a need to contact the original author(s) of the paper. I don't think I would like that.
The Wordpress writing prompt for today is: What bothers you and why? After much thought, I decided to write about competitive behaviors that bother me. Competition is all around - we compete for jobs, for promotions, and so on. Some people go overboard during a competition. I am usually put off by "extreme" competitive behavior. This includes things like trying to harm someone to win and spreading vicious rumors about someone they are competing against. I think people are just wrong to behave this way. When someone I am competing against behaves badly, a part of me wants to just hand over the prize because he/she wants it so badly. It would mean giving up easily and I am aware giving up easily is not the way to do it.
I got some genip. I heard that genip was in season for a while so I am late in getting the fruit. I will enjoy. The fruit is dangerous but I've had lots of practice eating genip as a child.
It is finally here. It is my birthday! I am not usually in Guyana for my birthday, but I will still enjoy the day with family and friends. I am happy to be around to celebrate another birthday. I had a tough time with a cancer scare, surgery, and other health issues. It was tough but I made it through. I wish that my life wasn't affected the way it was - I had to leave school, and so on. I thank God that I was able to deal with the issues and that I am doing well (with a little more to deal with/manage). I thank family and friends for their support. I hope it is a happy day!
My birthday is going to be in a few days. A family member asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I did not have an answer! I was not sure what would make me happy. It is not that I don't know what makes me happy. A lot of things do. I just couldn't think of something I wanted him to purchase for me.
