Baby Boomers. I sincerely hope that you have heard the term. In case you have not, Baby Boomers were the generation born between 1946-1964. After WW2, there came an unusual spike in birth rate worldwide-a phenomenon commonly known as the baby boom.I am a baby boomer, a tweener, to be more precise. A tweener is the generation who were kids in the 60's and teeners in the 70's.

I gave birth to two generation xs or gen-exers (1964-1981) or the MTV generation. I have three Y Generation (1981-2001) kids and a Z Generation grandson. What generation do you belong to? I am assuming most of you reading this post belong to the X and Y generations. These are the two generations who grew up with video games, MTV and the phenomenal rise of communication: internet, cellular phone, MP3, Ipod and what have you! These are tools, however, are not so alien to an even older generation than mine - the silent generation (1925-1945) - the Xs and Ys grandparents and the boomers' parents. I know a lot persons who are silent gen'rs and they are still into internet, Ipod and texting. Matter of fact, the silent generation are retired and basking in their hard-earned money and pensions!

That is, less pain. According to a research done in Howard Florey Institute in Australia, thirsty people are more sensitive to pain. Study participants had their thumbs squeezed to urge slight pain. Then a saline solution was injected to induce thirst. The subjects all had a PET scan to see if there were any changes in brain activity and blood flow.

The thumb pressure subjected to the participant was constant. However, they continue to become thirstier. As the level of their electrolyte went down, the more pain they felt.Why? The study indicated that a part of the brain is activated when pain and thirst are experienced simultaneously. A "priority" switch of some sort is triggered and pain is more emphasized because it is a greater threat than thirst.

Water: no calories, natural pain reliever!

What is web hosting? To get your web page on the internet you need a web host. A web host is a company that has computers or servers hooked to the internet on a 24/7 basis. These servers, with assigned IP addresses, are where you, the site owner, store all your web files of all forms: html, css, graphic, and javascript.

There are cheap web hosting services and there are expensive ones. Cheap does not translate to poor web hosting services as expensive does not necessarily means a great web host. Having just bought a new domain name, I am naturally considering the next logical step of transferring my web page to an independent web hosting company.

In my search for a good web hosting company I stumbled on a site with articles regarding multiple domain hosting. As I have two blog sites, this article naturally caught my attention. The site is a minefield of information regarding web hosting. It touches on subjects from how to gauge the best web hosting companies to tutorials to scripting to security.

If you are seriously considering getting a web hosting service check out the Web Hosting Rating first.

Seen along Cavite Coastal Road: furniture shop
Furnitures made by palochina

Along Naga Road: eatery
Homed Pansit

Near Imus Public Market:laundry shop
Labadabadooo

On a bus:

Before pay, tell where get on before the get off

Along Aguinaldo Hiway, Cavite: seller of crispy pata
Harry Pata

Seen at a public market flower stall:
We sell artificial but fresh flowers.

Name of a bank somewhere in Alabang:
Alabank

This story happened a few months ago along the
Tagaytay Road. There was a guy who got left behind by
a pack of mountain bikers. The group was large and he
didn't bring a cellphone. He crashed his bike somewhere
between Picnic Grove and DBP. To make things worse,
a storm came in. So he walked.

This guy was on the side of the road hitch-hiking on a
very dark night in the middle of a storm. The night
passed slowly and no cars went by. The storm was so
strong he could hardly see a few meters ahead of him.

Suddenly, just before the junction going to Manila , he
saw a car slowly looming, ghostlike, out of the gloom.
It slowly crept toward him and stopped. It was raining
hard, wind blowing all around you, what would you do?
Like you would, he got into the car and closed the door,
then realized that there was nobody inside the car...
even in the driver's seat.

The car slowly started moving again. The guy was
terrified, too scared to think of jumping out and running.
The guy saw that the car was slowly approaching a
sharp curve. The guy started to pray, begging for his life;
he was sure the ghost car would go off the road and he
would plunge to his death, when just before the curve, a
hand appeared through the window and turned the
steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend.

Terrified, the guy watched the hand reappear every time
they reached a curve. Finally, the guy gathered his wits
and leaped from the car and ran to the nearest place
where there were houses.

Wet and in shock, he went into a store and voice
quavering, ordered two bottles of beer, and told the
people about his horrible, supernatural experience. A
silence enveloped everybody when they realized the guy
was apparently sane and not drunk.

About half an hour later two guys walked into the same
store

One said to the other..........

"Yan! Yan yung tarantadong sumakay habang
nagtutulak tayo..." (That's him! That's the fool who
got in the car while we were pushing it!)

Because you're late for work or for your kid's soccer game. You blame and curse your luck and envy those who you perceive are in the fast lane. On the other hand, if you are in the fast lane - believe me, there is always a fast lane and almost always I'm not there - and you are not stressed as in late for any appointment, you barely notice that you are in the fast lane.

You hardly notice those poor drivers and commuters in the slow lane, fuming, cursing and on the verge of heart failures and high blood pressure attacks. If you have not observed it, when you are enjoying smooth sailing or having a string of good luck, you barely complain much less, notice. Once you hit one bad spot or lady luck turns her back on you for just a second, everything from there on seems to be running downhill. Right?

We complain. Lament. Protest. Whine. Why is the other lane moving faster than my lane?

Earning that extra money through blogging is now a reality. Get-paid-to-blog is no longer exclusive to blogs who are ranked by Google. The latest Google page ranking done late April put many a bloggers into a quandary. Most ranking blogs who did reviews were spanked hard by Google. Page ranks dropped down or for some, totally lost. There were sites who got a rating though the site barely have readers. As most get-paid-to-blog sites depend on page ranking for given opportunities, many bloggers lost their chance to earn extra through paid reviews.

In answer to this dilemma, IZEA, the head behind PayPerPost thought of putting up a site where bloggers and advertisers can both benefit. SocialSpark is the new kid on the block. It is a site to monetize your blog. The site offers opportunities and sponsorships for bloggers. Never mind your blog's page rank for it does not matter. I joined SocialSpark about a week ago and so far has had two opportunities and four more reserved. Yes. You can reserve for opportunities that you would like to review.

SocialSpark is an active social network site. You can meet many bloggers adn advertisers alike. Traffic to your blog is also an added perk. What I like most with SocialSpark is their emphasis on honesty for both bloggers and advertisers.SocialSpark follows and adheres faithfully to their code of ethics:

* 100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
* 100% Transparency
* 100% Real Opinions
* 100% Search Engine Friendly

All you need is an e-mail address and your blog to join this new and sparkling site! If your blog gets rejected the first tome you submit, persevere. I was rejected three times before my blog was finally accepted. Join now!

Do you find it hard saying I'm sorry to a person you offended or hurt or to whom you have done a great injustice? I do and I know I am not one of the few who do find asking for forgiveness hard. There are millions out there who do too. Oh it's easy enough to say sorry for petty little things like: bumping into someone, being late for an appointment, losing your friend's ballpoint pen, stepping into somebody else's feet...

What is hard is saying sorry that is parallel with I made a mistake in my judgment or opinion of you and now I am admitting my mistake- or - Sorry I made a bad investment and I lost all your money. Yes! It is so hard to say I am sorry for it is a sure sign that almost-perfect you are a human who is capable of creating errors. Being egoists, humans do not want to admit that they do commit mistakes and apologizing is part of the small cycle.Having said that, and hopefully convinced you that it is indeed hard to say I am sorry like you mean it, how do you say you're sorry?

Next time try whooops!!

Graffiti : (used with a plural verb) markings, as initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom, or the like.







Graffitist caught in action at Gram's Diner.

Ethan and my three daughters are back from their vacation. I was late in picking them up at the airport. It was way past lunch time and the boy was mighty hungry and cranky.I was expecting him to greet me with much gusto like mom! i missed you or something.


All the fat boy said was Can we go to McDonald's now? I'm so hungry!

Here are some more pictures of Ethan.

The two-part Battle of the two Davids will take place next Tuesday. I have written in my April 17 post that American Idol 7 will be a final showdown between David Archueta and David Cook.

The top three sang three songs each: a song chosen by the one of the judges, a song chosen by the contestant and a song chosen by the producer. David Archuleta was just just okay for me as I did not like this personal choice of With You.. Cook was superb as attested by Simon who commented that David Cook won the round. Syesha sang fine but I can see that she is not cut to be a pop nor R&B nor country singer. She belongs on the stage. Broadway perhaps?

There's just too much to say and express for me to stop blogging. My only regret is I wish I got in early into the world of blogosphere. My blog is the place where I pour my heart out: my joys and anxiety; my insights and anecdotes. If I earn money on the side, well then, that is more than fine.

I recently joined SocialSpark.com . It is the newest social network for both blogger and advertisers. Aside from offering sponsored posts it also offers blog sponsorship from advertisers. What SocialSpark and its blogger members need are more advertisers to take part in this highly original concept of product endorsement.

Would it not be great if I can have popular products advertise in my blog? Levi's Jeans is in my wishlist of sponsors. I am a huge fan of their Levi's 501. How about diet coke for a blog sponsor? It is the only pop that I prefer. These companies are huge and most likely not 'sponsor' a humble blog like mine.

What I would really like to see are more small companies and entrepreneurs joining SocialSpark.com as advertisers. At present, blogs have become major players in online advertising. There is just so much that blog sponsorship can offer in terms of product exposure. Calling all companies retailing in clothes, cosmetics, accessories and skin products. Get your products seen.

I read that bloodletting can actually save a stroke victim. We are quite aware that bloodletting, referred to in modern medicine as phlebotomy, was a popular medical practice since time immemorial up until the late 19th century. Bloodletting involves the withdrawal of often considerable quantities of blood from a patient in the belief that this would cure or prevent a great many illnesses and diseases.

A Mr. Liu of Fung-Gaap College in Tai-Chung is endorsing bloodletting for stroke victims. He said pricking the 10 fingers and letting out blood (pea-sized amount) will actually reduce the risk of burst capillaries due to pressure of the blood. He also said, that if the victim's mouth is crooked, pinching the ears till they turn red then pricking the lobes to let out blood will actually do good. He claims that this is 100% reliable since he has tried it. Here is his story:

I learned about letting blood to save life from Chinese traditional doctor Ha Bu-Ting who lives in Sun-Juke. Furthermore, I had practical experience with it. Therefore I can say this method is 100% effective.

In 1979, I was teaching in Fung-Gaap College in Tai-Chung. One afternoon I was teaching class when another teacher came running to my class room and said in panting, "Mr. Liu, come quick, our supervisor has had a stroke!" I immediately went to the 3rd floor. When I saw our supervisor, Mr.Chen Fu-Tien, his color was off, his speech was slurred, his mouth was crooked-all the symptoms of a stroke.

I immediately asked one of the practicum students to go to the pharmacy outside the school to buy a syringe, which I used to prick Mr. Chen's 10 fingers tips. When all 10 fingers were bleeding (each with a pea-sized drop of blood), after a few minutes, Mr. Chen's face regained its color and his eyes' spirit returned, too. But his mouth was still crooked. So I pulled on his ears to fill them with blood. When his ears became red, I pricked his right earlobe twice to let out 2 drops of blood. When both earlobes had two drops of blood each, a miracle happened. Within 3-5 minutes the shape of his mouth returned to normal and his speech became clear. We let him rest for a while and have a cup of hot tea, then we helped him go down the stairs, drove him to Wei-Wah Hospital. He rested one night and was released the next day to return to school to teach. Everything worked normally. There were no ill after-effects. On the other hand, the usual stroke victim usually suffers irreparable bursting of the brain capillaries on the way to the hospital. As a result, these victims never recover.

According to a medical magazine I read, bloodletting, historically speaking, may have been used to reduce the pressure of blood by reducing the volume of blood due to an absence of any form of treatment. I could liken it to letting off air from an over-pumped tire so as to prevent it from bursting. The medical article said that the historical use of bloodletting has been harmful to the patient. If you ask me, I think there is no harm in pricking the 10 digits of a suspected stoke victim. Just make sure that the needle is sterilized for wouldn't it be of great irony if the victim survives a stroke but is diagnosed with tetanus instead?