(Hawaiian Happy New Year)
And a sincere belated Mele Kalikimaka to all.
My excuse was that I was struggling with an extreme case of procrastination after having Umbilical Hernia surgery on December 14th. It kicked the crap out of me for the first week, and I must have slept a god-zillion hours. After the operation, I was in Zombie Land for the next several days, and the PAIN was at a high level. Fortunately, I had the pain meds to take while staying one night in the hospital and a nice little container to take when I got home. To the rescue, I thought anyway, were my Hydrocodone-Acetamin 5-325 MG meds - take every six hours. I took them like clockwork. They worked but knocked me on my ass. Two and a half days later, I looked at the screw top on the med container.
Please note that when I got home Friday afternoon, I tried removing the screw top, but to no avail. I tried this for about 10 minutes. No luck. I crushed the container, and the pills went in every direction. The screw-top lid hid near the napkins. I gathered all the drugs and put them in a plastic baggie. Sunday morning, I picked the screw top, and it read CAUTION: OPIOD – Risk of Overdose and Addiction. WTF? And not to leave any details out, I was enjoying significant constipation. I cut a pill in half and took one that morning and one before bed. Plus, I hit the high fiber road. The following day, I was on the phone with my doctor's nurse, who said, yeah, stop taking them and get yourself some Tylenol. Three days later, I am starting to feel like a human being again. I am not taking anything for the pain since it seems under control for the moment until I bang my hernia area on the kitchen or bathroom sink. I had a post-op surgery checkup, and my doctor told me to take it easy for the next three months, and perhaps in 2 weeks, I can start riding my bike again. I was wishing for a total of 4 weeks and then start kicking ass again with the kettlebells and dumbbells. I guess not! Yesterday, in the drizzle on Whidbey Island and 43 degrees Fahrenheit, I took a slow 50-minute walk.
After the walk, I plan to tackle my ebook, Exponential Organizations 2.0, which is my goal for the first week of recovery. Instead, I am only 45% finished.
Welcome The Year of the Wood Dragon
The Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac will be upon us starting January 22nd. Celebrations often extend for about 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The Dragon is the fifth sign in the Chinese zodiac cycle and is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 辰 (Chen).
I had a little fun with ChatGPT when I asked them to please provide me with instructions on how to say Happy New Year in all of the 193 United Nations states.
Here's the first reply:
ChatGPT
Providing New Year's greetings in all 193 member states of the United Nations would be a substantial task, and it's not feasible to cover all of them in this format. However, I can provide you with a diverse selection of ways to say "Happy New Year" in different languages. If you have specific countries or languages in mind, please let me know, and I'll be happy to provide those for you. Otherwise, here are New Year's greetings in a few languages:
English: Happy New Year!
English: Happy New Year!
Spanish: ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
French: Bonne année!
German: Frohes neues Jahr!
Mandarin Chinese: 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè)
Russian: С Новым Годом! (S Novym Godom!)
Arabic: سنة جديدة سعيدة (Sanaa Jadida Saeida)
Japanese: 明けましておめでとうございます (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu)
Hindi: नया साल मुबारक हो (Naya Saal Mubarak Ho)
Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo!
If you have specific countries or languages in mind, feel free to let me know.
I wanted to immediately reply and ask if they were on a tea break or perhaps just lazy this time of the year. I mean, who was I to say we were in procrastinating mode but didn't, so I proceeded with the following line of questioning.
Yes, please. More specifically, it is the 193 member states of the United Nations.
ChatGPT reply:
Providing New Year's greetings for all 193 member states of the United Nations in a single response is impractical due to the sheer number of languages and diverse cultures. However, I can certainly provide you with New Year's greetings in a representative selection of languages from different regions around the world. If there are specific countries or regions you're interested in, please let me know, and I'll be happy to include them. Otherwise, here's a diverse list:
1. Afghanistan (Pashto/Dari): نوی کال مو مبارک شه (Nawai Kal Mo Mubarak Sha) / سال نو مبارک (Saal Nao Mubarak)
2. Argentina (Spanish): ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
3. Australia (English): Happy New Year!
4. Brazil (Portuguese): Feliz Ano Novo!
5. Canada (English/French): Happy New Year! / Bonne année!
6. China (Mandarin): 新年快乐 (Xīnnián kuàilè)
7. Egypt (Arabic): سنة جديدة سعيدة (Sanaa Jadida Saeida)
8. France: Bonne année!
9. Germany: Frohes neues Jahr!
10. India (Hindi): नया साल मुबारक हो (Naya Saal Mubarak Ho)
11. Israel (Hebrew): שנה טובה (Shana Tova)
12. Japan: 明けましておめでとうございます (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu)
13. Mexico (Spanish): ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
14. Nigeria (Yoruba/Igbo/Hausa): E ku odun, e ku iye'dun! / Eziụlọ ọma! / Barka da sabuwar shekara!
15. Russia: С Новым Годом! (S Novym Godom!)
16. South Africa (Zulu/Afrikaans): Unyaka omusha omuhle! / Gelukkige Nuwe Jaar!
17. United Kingdom (English): Happy New Year!
18. United States (English): Happy New Year!
This is just a small representation, and there are many more languages and diverse greetings around the world. If you have specific countries or regions in mind, feel free to let me know!
That's a better reply, but I wanted to ask them if they were sitting back and enjoying Egg Nog with whiskey. Sorry to disturb you.
Instead, I decided not to be a smart-ass and asked the following:
Yes please: South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bhutan, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland.
ChatGPT reply:
Certainly! Here are New Year's greetings in the languages of the specified countries:
1. South Korea (Korean): 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Saehae bok mani badeuseyo)
2. Vietnam: Chúc Mừng Năm Mới (Chuc Mung Nam Moi)
3. Cambodia (Khmer): សួស្តីឆ្នាំថ្មី (Sour sdey chhnam thmey)
4. Thailand (Thai): สวัสดีปีใหม่ (Sawasdee pee mai)
5. Malaysia (Malay): Selamat Tahun Baru
6. Indonesia: Selamat Tahun Baru
7. Bhutan (Dzongkha): བོད་ལྗོངས་ལས་བརྡ་ལུགས་ཞུ་བཞུགས་སོ། (Bod ljong las brda lugs zhu bzhugs so)
8. Norway: Godt nytt år!
9. Sweden: Gott nytt år!
10. Finland: Hyvää uutta vuotta!
11. Ireland: Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit!
These are the New Year's greetings in the specified languages. If you have any more countries or languages in mind, feel free to ask!
And from the Philippines - Maligayang Bagong Taon.
Enjoy your holiday season all.
"Embrace Radiant Well-being in 2024: Nurturing Mind and Soul for a Thriving Year Ahead!"
– Joe Lewis, JoeFitAsia.
Thank you for reading my latest blog.
For more information about 'Fit & Well' for your company, gym, sports club, or investment opportunities in Asia, please get in touch with me at Joe@JoeFitAsia.com.
Mahalo & Aloha
Joe Lewis