I did nothing but review & comment on documents since Monday! I barely managed to work on my actual deliverable (a traceability matrix). True the files I’m reading are not even thick but I find it really hard to “read & understand” because my sinuses are so blocked, I feel so lightheaded. Sometimes I feel like passing out. It’s taking me twice as long to get anything done, except for blogging.

I hope this doesn’t continue for too long. I need my wits in order to function properly. I’m sorely tempted to take my work home just to get moving as I know I’ll be swamped soon.

I took Pining’s advice to heart & have started on a no dairy diet. I now drink my tea black, no milk, no sugar. Sugar is not dairy I know but it’s less calorie intake as I plan to copy Melissa’s South Beach Diet. I also checked the net for more food related allergies & found that I should stay clear of food additives, too, as they inhibit the anti-histamines from working. It looks like I’m going to work harder to beat this Hay Fever season (2007 is set to be the worse on record).

Just as well I follow the above list, I’ll end up healthier & fit enough to run for a bus without wheezing. The thing is hubby bought some freshly-made siopao last night & I gave in & ate one for breakfast this morning. South Beach says no carbs for 2-weeks. I told myself it’s my last f*ck before the final goodbye. I plan on disposing of the sweets & other tempting goodies by giving them away to neighbourhood kids. Then hubby reminded me that I should not stop baking & cooking for them. Ah the horrors. I need He-Man strength & resolved.

We attended a Pinoy neighbour’s 7th birthday party. He’s a nice kid & his sister is even nicer. They’re always gentle with my toddler so I’m happy to get off my son’s back & leave him in their care.

The boys started to tease the girls by invading the sister’s room, where the nice-smelling girls were grooming each other. The boys on the other hand were all sweaty & when I checked their room I got out immediately. The smell was too overwhelming, magkasamang pawis at init. Anyway, the girls took Kelvin & he was only too happy to “guard” their door against the invading forces. They played for hours.

On the way home, hubby told me that when he checked on Kelvin, the birthday boy told him “Tito, kakampi namin si Kelvin, spy sya sa girls kasi may special powers sya!” Powers? They call him “Super Laway“. Kawawa naman anak ko. He was dribbling excessively that his chest was so wet, forming an “S” (like superman’s) on his shirt.

Tawa kami ng tawa. Mga bata talaga… At least di sila nandiri & my son loved being part of the game. I loved it, too.

When we were in Colchester Zoo for my son’s 3rd birthday, we saw a rhino take a leak. The people started taking pictures. Then we noticed a second rhino walk towards the unending stream of wee. My first thought was he’s going to start humping the female offender. Instead what he did next was even more shocking.

hey this is my first photo here!

My son insists it’s milk… I told hubby it’s probably like draft beer.

I have finally set up my leaving do present. I uploaded 90 JPGs to my hip digital picture frame & stuck it near my work PCs. I’m so happy. Its slide effect is set at random so I see my son’s birthday party pictures, our Pinas trip last year, some funny faces & my loved ones back home.

If you’re stuck in a cube (like me) or in your roomy office, don’t settle for static picture frames. Get one of these, they can ease your stress even for a bit.

I have come across a number of good forwarded messages. However I don’t normally keep them. Then when I need them, I can’t recall the details. So I am posting them here when I get the chance.

This one is a classic.

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Hell explained by a chemistry student

The following is allegedly a question given during a University of Washington chemistry mid-term exam.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

He gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, “It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you”, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct……leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a Divine Being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my G**!”

This student received the only “A”.

So MI5 are looking to increase their the number of their female operatives. I wonder should I try it?

According to the headlines the other day, their female applicants have dropped due to TV and film potrayals. They even called it the “Spooks Effect” based on the BBC program.

Dahil konti na applicants nila, I may have a good chance to fulfill a fantasy. Hmm…

Now this is what I like in developed countries, it is rare that consumer complaints are not responded to. At the very least you will receive an apologetic letter and most likely, you get compensated.

When I blogged about my nightmare trip home via c2c, I said I will file a complaint & I did. I received a proper email response after 7 days. The letter was long. The girl explained what caused the problem, what action they took to resolve it, and admitted to their shortcomings. At the very end, she asked that I give them suggestions on how to better improve their services and also send them an address they can send some compensation through. I did. I outlined some suggestions like linking directly with the bus companies and other train operators to mitigate severe disruptions like what we experienced. And of course I included my home address.

Yesterday I received 3 rail network vouchers worth £10 each! Well, those more than covers the extra £6 I forked out to get home that horrible night. I looked at the expiry dates and they are valid for a year. Great. I’m certainly one happy compensated passenger.

I also got similar treatment from Amazon. I pre-ordered the clip-on iPod Shuffle and the site said it will be delivered after 3 weeks or something. It was for hubby’s xmas gift last year. Only when November arrived did I realise that the player hasn’t arrived. I checked my Order Status and there was no comment, I checked my email addresses in case I missed a notification, I didn’t. I wrote a strongly worded complaint to Amazon. To cut the story short, they gave me a £5 voucher to spend on Amazon as compensation for the delay & their lack of feedback.

I doubt if I can ever expect this level of customer service in Pinas, unless you scare the hell out of them.

Even with my happiness during my son’s 3rd birthday last Sunday, my itchy eyes and semi-blocked sinus were signalling that my annual burden is here. It’s still early days as I can still use my eyes as normal, but my rest in the last two nights have been interrupted because of my dry throat and parched lips. It affects me during my entire working hours because I’m sluggish, at sana lang I am finding it hard to concentrate due to Sunday’s fatigue and not due to hayfever itself.

Pati pag-gayak kinatatakutan ko because my entire face feels numbed, bloated na nga wala pa kong maramdaman. Parang nawala energy ko to even make the effort to put on make-up, I look sick.

I’m determined that this year it will be different, even if my hayfever attacks me from now ’til September. I am going to continue with my taebo once I see my RSI consultant next week & hopefully the exercise will give me the boost I need to shake off the lethargy.

But I’m always praying that modern science finds a definitive cure for this ailment. It’s debilitating.

We held our wedding date a month before my departure to London & two weeks before hubby’s return to England. We knew we wouldn’t be able to take any material gifts with us to our new “home”. We specified in the invites that we prefer gift certificates but this was only for our friends. The “older” guests (friends of our parents, the VERY few relatives) were told not to bother we just want them to witness our vows.

My Nanay & hubby’s parents were very scandalised (esp. when they saw my red dress!). They tried several times to change our minds, to withdraw that “line” from the invitations. But it was one of our best decisions ever. We used the ‘gifts’ for luggage, for additional clothes, tons of medicines & supplies. We got what we really wanted and needed. It’s akin to having a gift registry, but the oldies didn’t get it. Dahil na din kaya nasa probinsya kami?

Yesterday (15 April) we celebrated our son’s 3rd birthday party with selected family friends. We spent the entire day in the Colchester Zoo. We were all tired but everyone enjoyed themselves. We have special events booked for our group. The kids were given time with some farm animals & other critters. They were given some educational at the same time, which the parents themselves liked. Then my son took part in feeding the seals as the other Zoo visitors watched & cheered. We fed elephants, we even saw some disgusting rhino behaviour (i’ll post this later), we took part in the Easter fantasyland, and many more! It was really an amazing day.

Now here’s how it relates to my post…

We told the invitees that only the kids will have the free meal, they will have to pay for their lunch. We also told them not to bother with buying or wrapping their gifts, it’s optional. We really just wanted our friends and their kids with us on that day so it could be a group outing. If they felt they need to give something, we said maximum of 10 GBP is enough.

To some this will appear extreme. But given that the adults will have to fork out for their food and some will pay for the train fare to and from London, we felt it necessary to point out that their real gift is their presence. At the end of the day though my son still received nearly 100 GBP. We’re putting the loot in his savings account.

This is the way my hubby & I operate and we feel it’s pratical. Yes, we still spent good money on my son’s party but the idea is everyone will enjoy the day not just the adults drinking & eating themselves to death. And the money? Well isn’t it better to receive something you’d need rather than 10 punchbowls or dozens of GAP shirts?

I received this from a forwarded email. Normally I’d send this around to friends now because it’s really interesting. Pero naalala ko may mga bumabasa na nga pala nitong blog ko na gusto ko din sanang padalhan nito.

I think some of you will really find this amusing.

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George Carlin’s View on Aging

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids? If you’re less than 10 years old, you’re so excited about aging that you think in fractions.

“How old are you?” “I’m four and a half!” You’re never thirty-six and a half. You’re four and a half, going on five! That’s the key.

You get into your teens, now they can’t hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead.

“How old are you?” “I’m gonna be 16!” You could be 13, but hey, you’re gonna be 16! And then the greatest day of your life . . . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony . . YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There’s no fun now, you’re Just a sour-dumpling. What’s wrong? What’s changed?

You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you’re PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it’s all slipping away. Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.

But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn’t think you would!

So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.

You’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!

You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90’s, you start going backwards; “I Was JUST 92.”

Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I’m 100 and a half!”

May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay “them!”

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. “An idle mi!nd is the devil’s workshop.” And the devil’s name is Alzheimer’s.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8.! Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9 Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments
that take our breath away.