3 Reasons Why I Truly Hate Termites

(image courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/)



1. They destroyed my lifelong friends’ letters. 
2. They destroyed my lifelong friends’ letters 
3. They destroyed my lifelong friends’ letters.

     My friend expressed her lamentation the other day. She visited her container of friends’ letters collectively from way back elementary, high school and by trickle, college and how she wished that the world is not as technologically savvy as it is now so that friends could still “traditionally” write each other: in longhand penmanship, with much care in self-preferred stationery. She was bitten by nostalgia bug. I understood.

     At that moment, I was staring at a blank air space next to her face, not because I have the same sentiment, well almost, but because I bitterly remember the tragic fate of my beloved friends’ letters. It was so tragic and utterly painful that I was not able to share it to anybody. My family is a silent witness to the pure devastation:

(image courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/)

     One unsuspecting rest-day afternoon, my brother presented to me a familiar plastic bag, his face was serious. Then, it dawned to me, it houses some of my friends’ letters from the happy past: elementary, high school, college and beyond. I had the inclination of what happened. I laid the bag on the ground, and slowly shook it of bringing the papers out. No matter how slowly or safely I handled the bag and its content doesn’t matter anymore. I’m way too late -- My letters. No, my precious letters. No, it’s not the letter, it’s the testimonials that is IN the letters. No, it’s the MEMORIES. There you go, I poured it out. The memories of the wonderful yesteryears, the memento of the great relationships I had with wonderful people. I kept them with all care in my heart and in our room -- in few days unknown to me, just a fraction of time as compared to how long I treasured them, destruction came to them in the form of tiny but merciless creature – the termites.

     “Darn them!” But I couldn’t even remember I cursed those creatures as I was overly soaked by what happened. A submissive, heaven-thrust whine was instead what I heard, “can we bring them back, please? Can we bring them back.” The mind took over, “there is no sense crying over a spilt milk.” For a moment I thought of sharing this on my facebook wall. Nope, I never shared something unless I’m 100 per cent sure I’m ready for the whole world to see it. Maybe I could just write a message to those friends who sent me those letters, no matter how long. Maybe they could replace the letters. Nah, it’s impossible to replicate it.”

     I never really have much accomplishment in my life, and if I do, I don’t brag about them, at least not in my conscious self; not the medals, not the trophies, not the certificates, not any dust-gatherer thingamajig. But these letters? they will tell a lot about the person who received it—me and the person who sent them, my friend/s! One big (about 1.5 by 2 whole rulers) and one small paper bags full of much-thought of letters, notes with bible and friend quotations, hand-made keepsakes, all created, designed and weaved with sheer love in the name of friendship. I love my friends, and here are physical remembrances of them. My friends who have been God’s gifts, representatives of heaven, always sent in times when I needed them most. They are a reminder that life is beautiful, an obelisk of God’s awesome love to me.

    I shook my head off. Oh yes, my friend was telling me about her lamentations. I couldn’t still take my mind off what happened. Despite of the tragic fate, pathetic fragments, a bitter trace of what happened, were still left. Yes, like the 9-11 rubbles. Whatever little that is left, I lay them carefully on a recycled bond paper. They are so devastated that look like they can be housed on an enclosed glass casing ala-museum anytime. They can be labelled, “fragments of an DJ’s friends’ letter. Family says she was devastated with what happened.” Sigh. I could no longer pull out the letters anytime and read it in random. Oh that nostalgic act. Darn Termites!

     I guess that only proves that your best treasure is not actually the physical things. All the memories? They are still in my heart. The people? They are still there. I could virtually poke them anytime. The relationship? Awesome. And the love I felt from and with them? Priceless. No amount or mounds of termite could take it away from me.

     “Do not store up treasure for yourself here on earth where moth and rust destroy it, and where thieves can steal it. For where your treasure is, there also your heart will be.”

                                                              -Matthew 6:20-21

                                                                                                  

                                                      

     

12 Christmas Gift-giving Tips by EcoWaste Coalition

Gift giving with ecological value is possible (image from www.flickr.com/photos/)

1.          Collect unused gifts, old clothes, and toys, and books then donate them to charitable institutions.
2.    Make your own gifts. Why not gift your family and friends with your specialty dish, plants from your own backyard, scrapbooks, or a CD music compilation?
3.      Volunteer your time and talent to worthwhile projects and services for the community and the environment. Ask your church, school, or organization how you can be of help.
4.      Recycle old items and redesign them for a new look. It not only allows you to be creative and imaginative, it also prevents waste generation.
5.       When buying gifts, choose eco-friendly products that do not come from old-growth forests and do not contain genetically-modified organisms. Patronize products that are not fossil fuel-based, non-toxic, and are not made from child or abusive labor practices.
6.       Select toys that are adequately and truthfully labelled, age-appropriate, locally-made and safe. Carefully read  the product labels. Ensure that the items do not contain hazardous ingredients such as bisphenol A, phthalates, lead, mercury and other chemicals of concern.
7.      Patronize toys that promote a culture of creativity, harmony, and peace and no that of prejudice, war and violence.
8.         Give Products and delicacies from your province. Go for fruits, vegetables, plants, sweets, condiments as well as decorative and functional crafts.
9.      Give environmentally-friendly gifts made of recycled materials and products/services that advocate sustainable living. Share items that will teach recycling such as handouts, primers, and manuals on the different kinds of recycling.
10.        Choose gifts that do not need to be wrapped such as potted plants, massage from blind masseurs, gift checks, concert tickers, among others.
11.       If you need to wrap the gift, use old magazines, newspapers, or bandanas. You can also use craft paper and jazz it up with colored pencils.
12.       Call or send e-cards to family and friends with Internet access. Create your own greeting card to give it a more personal touch or buy cards from groups with a special mission or advocacy. 

Source: Eco Waste Coalition

iPassion: The REASON Why I Cried When I Learned of Steve Job’s death

    Steve Jobs, the Icon. What more is there to say?

   More than his ingenuity, creativity and brilliance, there is one word, the reason that made me shed a tear the day Apple, the company he co-founded officially announced his death: PASSION.

   His Passion for what he’s doing is so obvious that it brims in the stage whenever he does product presentations. It doesn't only affect the people in the four corners of the venues, but also translated to the four corners of the houses or the offices of the watchers of his presentations in You Tube. One word will escape from your mouth after he presents the product, “Wow!” And that what makes consumers purchase his products. He doesn’t sell products, he sells lifestyle.

     Now, how can you imagine an ipod-less or iphone-less society? Impossible. All because of a man who happens to be a visionary. He’s penchant for passion is just amazing, unimaginable and great.

   

     I learned of Steve Jobs’ death on the day when I was about to apply for a job, on one of the strings of days when I was figuring out what to do next after a 5-month sabbatical period. Had my resources were not depleting; I would have not dared bailing myself out in this wondrous rest mode. But I have to go out and find a living. The thought of it dragged me but I have to make a responsible decision. After all, even though both my parents were already gone, I still have a very good support of my sibling and friends to back me up with whatever dreams I want to reach or endeavors I want to fulfil. I was so close to deciding to get a choice on the mere basis of “I got no choice.” Then Steve Jobs died and the message of passion echoed strong and hard: “If this is your last day on your earth, would you want do the thing that you'd do today?” My answer was no, but thinking of the activity I would have to do to the next day which is attending an environmental symposium, then, it’s a CLEAR yes.

   Sigh. Passion. In this mediocre world, it’s easy to get lost with what lowly the world offers, with what is easy to grab.   Steve Jobs death reminded me to dig deeper into my heart then listen to it. It’s hard though. Even if I consider myself a risk-taker, I still take calculated risks. If I follow my passion which is writing, arts and advocacy, how am I to support myself financially?

     Articles, memorials, messages of heartfelt gratitude surface in overwhelming scale one after the other, in surprisingly creative way in each passing day that he’s gone. In each write up, I am reminded of what for me was the greatest message of his life, more than his legacy of awesome gadgets, it is the PASSION he has put on what he’s doing that sets him apart. And the world was never the same again.

     A week after he died, the world continues to revolve. In my life, I will make an important decision on which organization I will pour my talent, skills and effort. Or maybe I will need to build one. Half kidding aside, his death reminded me to take inventory of my own skills and talents which God has given to me. In sharing that to others, I need to make sure that it’s sealed with much zest – just like what Steve Jobs did -- iPassion


     "Sometimes life hits you in  the head with a brick, don't lose faith."




     "Our work is going to fill a large part of our life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what we believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what we we do. If we haven't found it yet, we should keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, we'll know when we find it. And, like any great relationship,  it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So we need to keep looking until we find it. We shouldn't settle."

9 Valuable Tips to Save Money on Gas

Saving Money on Gas is easier than what you expected (image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/)

1.)    DO Take your time. Being to speedy can cost you big bucks. The faster you drive on the highway, the worse your mileage will be.

2.) DO Map out your trip. Plan your drives in advance, even if you’re just running errands. An efficient route saves gas, and combining several stops into one trip helps minimize the miles. It also saves gas because your engine is more efficient when it’s warmed up. Starting up a cold engine burns more gas.

3.) DO Drive smoothly. Hard acceleration and braking can reduce fuel economy by about 20 per cent. Drive smoothly and try to anticipate the movement of traffic. Maintain a steady pace one the highway. Using cruise control can help. Slow down gradually when you can; the more time your foot is off the gas, the less you’ll use.

4.)    DO Lose the roof rack. More than 50 percent of engine power goes to overcoming aerodynamic drag on the highway. Even empty, a bike or ski rack can shave about 6 mpg off your gas mileage.

5.)    DO Keep up tire pressure. Underinflated tires can cost you 1 mpg. Tires lose pressure over time, so check the pressure at least once a month. Another good reason to check: Underinflated tires wear out a lot faster.

6.)    DON’T  Pay unnecessary premium. Many people think premium fuel makes their car run better. That’s not true unless you have an old car with engine knock or your owner’s manual says premium is “recommended,” you can use regular with no damage and little or no loss of performance.

To save money on gas, don't burn gas when you're not moving (image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/)

7.)    DON’T Burn gas when you’re not moving. When your car is idling, you’re getting zero miles per gallon. As a rule of  thumb, shut off your engine if you expect to be sitting for more than about 30 seconds.

8.)    DON’T Go for gimmicks. We’ve tested several  devices over the years that claim to improve fuel economy, but none provided a significant improvement in gas mileage or acceleration. In one case, performance got worse.

9.)    DON’T Ignore your engine. A poorly, maintained engine can cut gas mileage 10 to 20 per cent. So get a tune-up!

Source: Shopsmart magazine;) (the quick and easy guide from "Consumer Reports"

7 No-nonsense Online Language Courses Site

Learning a second language has been made easier by online language courses site (image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos)

       To help you with your goal to effectively learn second language, here are seven no-nonsense websites just for you:

1.)    http://www.word2word.com/course.html

     The best thing about www.word2word.com/course.html is that everything is FREE. There is an array of cool features like Online Dictionaries and Translators, Free Language software and Alphabets of the world. As of these writing, it has 119 languages up its sleeves.

     Since it’s free, you have to forgive the layout design of the site which is not that presentable. It appears that “content is the king” rules in this sight.

2.)    http://www.learnalanguage.com/ (Saving the world one language at a time)

     To start with, the http://www.learnalanguage.com/ layout is looking way cooler than the first. The catch is, it only focuses on THE eight major languages of the world, namely Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, German, Chinese, Russian and English.   

     Each language is represented by the most famous landmark of the country. The “lesson plan” were clearly laid out as well: for example Spanish – Learn Spanish,  Spanish Words, Spanish Phrases, Spanish Blog, Spanish Dictionary, Spanish Forum, Spanish Culture, Spanish Verbs

     The site promises hundreds of free language-learning lessons, games and activities.

3.)    http://www.verbalplanet.com/ (the home of learning a language online)

     Signing up and trial lessons on https://www.verbalplanet.com are free. Other than that, there is a tuition to pay which includes private, native-speaking/ online language tutor which is just what you need to practically verbalise the chosen language.

     They offer 20 languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portugues, Danish, Arabic, Czech, Turkins, Polish, Norwegian, Hungarian, Finnish, Dutch, Swedish and Greek)

     They have cool features like MP3 Audio lessons, iPod Electronic Phrase books and iPod and MP3 language courses.

4.)    http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ 

     There was no sign of something FREE with the languages section of this popular BBC website, https://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/. They boast that you can learn the language in 12 weeks. There are also funny tales, valuable tips and sensible stories.

     Since this is UK-based, they specialised in UK languages (Gaelic, Welsh, Irish and English) which other sites don’t have.

      There are interesting sidebar like the Foreign-language TV (French TV, Spanish TV, German TV and Italian TV) which features news and programmes online. You can download transcripts for BBC language programmes as well.

     A lot of multi-linguists actually recommend this site.

5.)    http://www.omniglot.com/links/courses.htm (writing systems and languages of the world) likea database

     The layout of www.omniglot.com/links/courses.htm is pretty basic if not boring. Think ‘90ish. This page contains links to online courses and lessons for many different languages. Most are free. The quality and quantity of material varies considerably.

6.)    www.livinglanguages.com

     www.livinglanguages.com is quite popular. I have a German audio cd copy myself. They tie up with books and calendars to aid the readers with their quest for learning  second language.

      In the site, you can participate in language forum,  play in language lab and read interesting blogs.

7.)    www.livemocha.com (Welcome to the World’s Largest Language Learning Community)

     You have to register first before you enter www.livemocha.com. You must log in either with your Facebook or Email account. Once you’re registered,  you’ll be given 200 tokens to use in any valuable way you want: Try the language course you chose in the pre-registration form, try the Instructors’ writing exercises and the speaking exercises. The site’s lay out is conveniently so “social networky” feel in mocha color. Their marketing way to make you feel homey perhaps.