1. 20 Savy Tips to use Plastic on Vacation.
2. Avoid Exchange Rate.
3. Many US banks have arrangements with their foreign competitors to allow the US bank's accountholders to make ATM withdrawals at the US bank's rates. Check with your US bank to see if they have such a contract.
For instance, Bank of America has a no-fee ATM agreement with the following banks: Barclays (United Kingdom), BNP Paribas (France), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Santander Serfin (Mexico), Scotiabank (Canada), Westpac (Australia and New Zealand). Withdrawing money with a Bank of America debit card from one of these banks’ ATMs is fee-free
4. if you're planning on withdrawing from an ATM out of the US, make sure your PIN number is 4 digits, no more, no less. Many countries only allow 4-digit PIN's, and if yours is longer, it may not accept it.
5. Consolidate all your ATM Withdrawals.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
A Weekend on Move. - From Fund Raising Race to Long Drive to Pool to Hiking to Lawn Tennis! I did ALL :)
The last weekend began with me getting up @ 6:00 a.m!! I don't remember when I last got up that early and especially that also on a saturday morning. I had to catch the train at 6:30 from Metropark so got ready fast and ran towards the station with my iPod, camera and an extra t-shirt.
My Destination - Riverside Park on 83rd St in uptown NYC.
Occasion - "ASHA for Education" NYC-NJ Chapter was organising its 3rd Annual 5Km Race/Walk Event.
Why I was there - To Volunteer and be part of the race.
Registration began exactly @ 8:00 a.m. I met Monel, Aniruddha and Nitin - the co-ordinators for the race. They introduced me to other members - Shikhar, Neil, Sonal, Marcos, Prutha, Sai, Jaina, Lok and Pradeep. I was bit nervous but kept a sole aim of completing the race... thought of taking one step at a time. as it has been more than 10 years since I ran even a kilometer! Moreover, it was a last minute decision to take part in the race and hence there was no so called race preparation. I knew i wud have done good if i can complete the race. With that aim set in mind i started the race at 9:00 a.m. First half of the race was bit tough. Just after 5 minutes I started to feel cramps in my legs. Somehow I pushed myself and started to run at reduced pace. The trick worked as my body got sometime to regroup its energy. I was pushing myself with that renewed energy. Finally, when one of the volunteer told that its half way and now we need to race back to starting point. I knew I can do it without stopping. :) . The simple thought - "Finish Line is not Far Away" does wonders to energy level. It pumps more adrenaline to complete the race.
I realised one more thing - LIFE BECOMES LITTLE SIMPLE IF WE HAVE A GOAL TO ACHIEVE. Hey you, SET SOME GOAL IN YOUR LIFE. DO THINGS FOR THAT GOAL. you will be the happiest person when you reach your goal. Belive Me.
Finally I completed the race in 00:30:42 minutes and at position 34 which was among the top 15%. Whatever might be the sample, being in Top 20% is always good considering the fact that it was an adhoc decision to run. Best timing among men was 00:19:50 and among women was 00:25:16. The girl who came first told that she runs 6 miles daily. So my performance was not that bad. I am a Happy person.
From 10:00 am to 12:00 noon I was with the ASHA Volunteers... helping them to wind up the race. At 1:00 I thanked everybody and left for Edison, NJ. Reached home around 3:00 and immediately left for Fairfax, VA in my Car. It was a long drive but with Himesh Reshamiyan belting out all fast paced tracks we reached Fiarfax in no time and that too with only one break at NJTP.
It was 7:30 when we reached. Puneet and eveybody were leaving for dinner so Abhi and I joined them. After dinner we went to play Pool. Roy and I started of on one of the table. I wasn't playing good and among 7 games i played, I lost all but one. But had a good time and finally we returned at Pankesh's palce around 3:00 am in early morning.
Next Morning, I got up at 6:00 and immediately wake Shah and Ajax. Last night only I had decided that I will leave for Great Falls State Park asap. At park, we did hiking and followed a simple trail of nearly 3 miles. As planned, we returned back to home around noon after grabbing a "Garden Fresh" Pizza @ Papa Johns. It was good.
Back at Pankeh's place guys were still on the bed... feeling more cosy and not in mood to go out anywhere... so Ajay and I decided to play Tennis. Later Pankesh also joined us. Three of us played tennis for nearly 3 hours with Pankesh and Ajax rotating after every set.
It was 5:00 by the time we started our return journey to NJ. Thankfully, there was no stalled traffic during our retreat. this meant we completed our return journey in exactly 4.5 hours. i was at home by 9:30 pm and one more weekend was over.
But yeah, this was a weekend which I will remember for some time. this weekend will drive me to more in coming weekends!!
Pics are coming in next entry :)
My Destination - Riverside Park on 83rd St in uptown NYC.
Occasion - "ASHA for Education" NYC-NJ Chapter was organising its 3rd Annual 5Km Race/Walk Event.
Why I was there - To Volunteer and be part of the race.
Registration began exactly @ 8:00 a.m. I met Monel, Aniruddha and Nitin - the co-ordinators for the race. They introduced me to other members - Shikhar, Neil, Sonal, Marcos, Prutha, Sai, Jaina, Lok and Pradeep. I was bit nervous but kept a sole aim of completing the race... thought of taking one step at a time. as it has been more than 10 years since I ran even a kilometer! Moreover, it was a last minute decision to take part in the race and hence there was no so called race preparation. I knew i wud have done good if i can complete the race. With that aim set in mind i started the race at 9:00 a.m. First half of the race was bit tough. Just after 5 minutes I started to feel cramps in my legs. Somehow I pushed myself and started to run at reduced pace. The trick worked as my body got sometime to regroup its energy. I was pushing myself with that renewed energy. Finally, when one of the volunteer told that its half way and now we need to race back to starting point. I knew I can do it without stopping. :) . The simple thought - "Finish Line is not Far Away" does wonders to energy level. It pumps more adrenaline to complete the race.
I realised one more thing - LIFE BECOMES LITTLE SIMPLE IF WE HAVE A GOAL TO ACHIEVE. Hey you, SET SOME GOAL IN YOUR LIFE. DO THINGS FOR THAT GOAL. you will be the happiest person when you reach your goal. Belive Me.
Finally I completed the race in 00:30:42 minutes and at position 34 which was among the top 15%. Whatever might be the sample, being in Top 20% is always good considering the fact that it was an adhoc decision to run. Best timing among men was 00:19:50 and among women was 00:25:16. The girl who came first told that she runs 6 miles daily. So my performance was not that bad. I am a Happy person.
From 10:00 am to 12:00 noon I was with the ASHA Volunteers... helping them to wind up the race. At 1:00 I thanked everybody and left for Edison, NJ. Reached home around 3:00 and immediately left for Fairfax, VA in my Car. It was a long drive but with Himesh Reshamiyan belting out all fast paced tracks we reached Fiarfax in no time and that too with only one break at NJTP.
It was 7:30 when we reached. Puneet and eveybody were leaving for dinner so Abhi and I joined them. After dinner we went to play Pool. Roy and I started of on one of the table. I wasn't playing good and among 7 games i played, I lost all but one. But had a good time and finally we returned at Pankesh's palce around 3:00 am in early morning.
Next Morning, I got up at 6:00 and immediately wake Shah and Ajax. Last night only I had decided that I will leave for Great Falls State Park asap. At park, we did hiking and followed a simple trail of nearly 3 miles. As planned, we returned back to home around noon after grabbing a "Garden Fresh" Pizza @ Papa Johns. It was good.
Back at Pankeh's place guys were still on the bed... feeling more cosy and not in mood to go out anywhere... so Ajay and I decided to play Tennis. Later Pankesh also joined us. Three of us played tennis for nearly 3 hours with Pankesh and Ajax rotating after every set.
It was 5:00 by the time we started our return journey to NJ. Thankfully, there was no stalled traffic during our retreat. this meant we completed our return journey in exactly 4.5 hours. i was at home by 9:30 pm and one more weekend was over.
But yeah, this was a weekend which I will remember for some time. this weekend will drive me to more in coming weekends!!
Pics are coming in next entry :)
Saturday, June 03, 2006
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