Author Archive
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
A friend asked me to calculate electric consumption of her ballet classes. So here’s a simple way of doing it.
1.) Determine the type, wattage and number of light bulbs you use. Let’s say you have 2 tube T8 flourescent light bulbs (32W each) and 5 9W compact flourescent lamps. These are the little tubes you can screw into a light socket. Check this out at Murray Feiss.
2.) Determine the number and capacities of airconditioning systems you use. IF you have 2 3hp A/Cs( 2130W) this means you have a combined load of 4260W
3.) Add the load together and multiply with the hours of use.
For 2 hours usage
2 TFLs – 64W
5 CFLs -45W
2 A/Cs – 4260W
Total Load – 4369W
Total Energy use – 8738 Wh or 8.7kWh
4.) You can multiply this with retail electricity cost to get usage cost or with the local grid emission factor to get your carbon emissions
8.7kWh x PHP9.50 = P82.65
8.7kWh x 0.5 kgCO2/kWh = 4.35 kg
I think a lot of us can make a good estimate of our electricity consumption for this.
Tags: Electricity Use, How to save electricity, PERSONAL
Posted in EDUCATION, GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY | No Comments »
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
Our hopes for a new maid this month were somewhat dashed today when our prospective candidate backed out. We were really expecting her to come in the next few days as our workload has been increasing. Had to work on 2 weeks worth of laundry to make up for last week. Perhaps its good to get wrinkle creams considering the exposure to detergent. In the Philippines it is common to have a helper at home. This is mainly due to the fact that a lot of the processes in maintaining a home in this part of the world is manual. Most people who get into this job are those seeking opportunities in the bigger cities. Some of them get a good deal by being apprenticed into their employers trade or sent to school. While it may appear a degrading line work, it has been a ladder for some to climb to higher stations of society.
Tags: PERSONAL
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 2 Comments »
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
The stress level at home has been quite high recently. My wife rushing to meet deadlines for a major project and merchandise. Times like these call for natural vitamins to keep our body chemistry below stress levels. It is also necessitates prayer allowing one’s spirit to relieve the pressures on the soul. Otherwise, we often find ourselves indulging in carnal pleasures that give temporary stress relief, at best, replacing it with bigger problems. In the end, its our connection to God that allows us to weather the storms of life.
Tags: PERSONAL
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH | No Comments »
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
I can’t get used to the idea of eight year olds putting on make-up just for the fun of it. Most of these make up products were designed for older people. Little girls and teens are then exposed to harsh chemical agents that accelerate skin aging . They experience skin dryness or would require earlier blackhead treatment as a result of their experimentation with beauty products. Make up was invented to make people look young and beautiful. If you already are, why do you need it?
Tags: PERSONAL
Posted in DANCE, THEATRE, HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | No Comments »
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
Yesterday, I encountered an interesting show on Discover Travel and Living. It was a show on the 10 Greenest Homes. One home had radical idea of doing away with stone bathroom floors, bathtubs or walk in bathtubs. It simply had a wooden floor in a shower area! Wow! The owners said that the wood was specially treated so that it wouldn’t rot quickly. Aside from the environment al benefit of the design, they also enjoyed the safety it gives to their little children when they use the shower. I think it would be a good design for elderly folks as well.
Tags: PERSONAL
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
In the past few days, I needed to travel daily from my Sta. Rosa, Laguna home to Metro Manila. Taking the SLEX has been quite an experience. Traffic clogs up at the via duct sometimes reaching Susana Heights. This is mainly due to the rush construction for the Skyway phase 2 project. Here are ways to manage this going to Manila to this part of the SLEX.
1.) Travel early. I notice that going before 7am keeps you from the high vehicular volume.
2.) Take the west service road. Problem is that there are portions between Sucat and Bicutan where one lane is closed. This is due to road repairs as evidenced by the debris floating around. (Don’t think you need Mesothelioma treatment! ) This option is probably good if you just want to travel to Sucat. You may want to re-enter SLEX at this point
3.) Take the east service road. You may also want to re-enter SLEX at this point.
Hope this helps. Happy driving
Tags: PERSONAL, SLEX driving tips
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 3 Comments »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Its summer in the Philippines and people are travelling left and right to take advantage of their children’s school break. Some take long drives to Northern Luzon to get some nice weather (get your life insurance quotes handy!). Others fly to the beaches in the Visayas or take adventures in Mindanao. Still others go out of the country to see some sights. Wherever you go, the important thing is to have the family together. Everyone must have a bit of fun. It must be a time of making memories together. In the end, its not the souvenirs you buy that make your vacation special but the sheer delight of remembering your love ones in those special places 10, 20, 30 years from now. Quite priceless!
Tags: PERSONAL, Summer Vacation, Vacation
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, TRAVEL | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Recently a lot of the youth graduated from College. For them its a relief. “No more school, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks” as Bugs Bunny would put it. But is it really an easy life from here onward? Sad to say, life has just begun. The first challenge would be to get a job. Whether you plan to go up the corporate ladder or have your own business, it’s usually good practice to start with a job. Below is a simple process to hunt of a good job:
- Prepare your resume. And other legal documents necessary for employment.
- Search for you job in the internet. Kids today are fortunate to have Monster.com or Jobstreet.com. In some cities, they have local employment sites like jobs philly. You go to these sites and search for a job you like.
- Apply for your job online or correspond with the listed contacts in the website. You may need to tweak your resume demonstrate your fit to the job request.
- While waiting for interview, prepare for it. Talk to people you know and ask for possible interview questions. Try to get a mentor or former teacher go through a mock interview with you.
- On interview day, dress in conservative business attire and do your best.
- Know your market value and prepare for a salary negotiation once you get through the interview.
If you pass the selection process, it means you are the best fit to the job requirement. If not, then it means there may be a mismatch to what the company is looking for. In the longterm, it is to your best interest that you are not taken. I’ve been in my share of jobs where I thought I matched but latter had trouble with job expectations. In any event, we should be thankful for the experience and trust that God will lead us to the right job for us.
Tags: how to get employment, howto get a job, PERSONAL
Posted in EDUCATION, HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 2 Comments »
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
Holy week in the Philippines is indeed a special time. People usually go out either to participate in a religious tradition or just to unwind at the beach. Businesses go through preparations very similar to funeral planning. As I drove past SM Bicutan today, I saw the doors of this normally busy mall closed. Traffic was also faster because of the significantly low volume of automobiles. This observance, marks that the Philippines adheres to Christian tradition. While it is a notable mark, Filipinos need to remember that it is the work of the Cross and a living relationship with the Christ that truly makes us Christian.
Tags: PERSONAL
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 1 Comment »
Friday, March 26th, 2010
I have been struggling with stye since the other day. The first time I ever had it, I thought it was pink eye (sore eyes). Upon looking at it my wife said it was kuliti. I never new what this was. Do I need to buy discount prescription glasses if my eyes were ruined as a result? As I searched for this over the net, I found that it was due to a blockage of the sebaceous glands in the hair folicles of the eyelids. I tried the recommended treatment of a hot compress. While it did not relieve the pain fully, it enable me to do the traditional remedy of plucking out an eyelash. After doing so my eye watered for a while but significant relief came. I guess there is wisdom to traditional treatments after all.
Tags: PERSONAL, Stye remedy
Posted in PERSONAL | Comments Off
Friday, March 26th, 2010
Its almost June so a lot of couples are most likely busy preparing for their weddings. A wedding is a public expression of a couple’s commitment for one another. It is regarded as a Covenant, a three party contract between the bride, groom and God. In a covenant, there is a set of terms, the commitment and the sign. In marriage the terms are read in the form of a question. The spouses in turn express their agreement to the terms. To seal this they give the sign in the form of the wedding rings.
I remember purchasing our wedding rings. During this time, my parents still had some reservations to my marriage plans so I had to shop for the rings for myself. (I should have waited a few months later when they gave their blessing). Naive as I was, I bought a nice looking 22k gold pair of rings in a trip to Malaysia. They looked nice and elegant. After the wedding, I realized that they were too soft and easily deformed. Years later, mine accumulated so much deformation stress that the band just broke in two. Another problem was that my wife started having allergies with her ring. The explaination is that the alloying agent used may have been a material she was allergic to. So she wore her ring on a chain around her neck. I should have known that there were Jewelry buying guides online that I could have checked out before buying those rings.
So I planned to replace the rings with something else. Something in silver or platinum. Something like this:
Platinum Engraved Wedding Band
This unique hand engraved wedding band is crafted in beautiful platinum. 950 platinum.
Price: $3,500.00
(I found this online through Shopwiki.com)
Fortunately, after 10 years of marriage, my parents decided to give us their wedding rings. While these are silver instead of gold, these carry more character, as they were passed on from one generation to another. They are sturdier and neither of us have had allergies so far. Perhaps it would be a good idea to pass on these wedding rings to one of our children someday.
Tags: FAMILY & FAITH, marriage, PERSONAL, Relationships, Wedding rings
Posted in PERSONAL | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Today, our son and daughter performed at the school where they have ballet lessons. We woke up at 530am and got to the place at around 7am. This was just in time for the agreed call time with their ballet teacher. They had 2 runs of their dance and then they were set. While waiting for their time to be called, they were given juice and some little cakes. As they were about to go to the performance area, my daughter says she needed to go to the bathroom for some heavy relief. I told her to hold it. It was a good thing that she was able to do so. After their performance, I cancelled my plans for the morning and rushed home thinking about the scale of the mess she needed to make (Think of the hemorrhoid relief she might need, ha! ha! ) .Good thing it was not as bad as I thought it would be.
I think the moral of the story is for me not to give them juice early in the morning particularly during performances. When your kids have a show, it would be a time to be adventurous with your food or drink choices. Stay with proven staples until after the show. You would not want to risk ruining your kid’s pretty costume. In my case, this would be regular tasty bread and water for breakfast. Stay away from stuff with mayo or are acidic in nature. These usually spoil or cause violent reactions in your child’s sensitive tummy. A pinch of prevention is definitely better than a pound of cure.
Tags: ballet, Ballet Performance, children, PERSONAL
Posted in DANCE, THEATRE, HOME, FAMILY & FAITH | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Today our son passed his level I reading achievement test in Kumon. We are so proud of his achievement considering he is a 10-year old doing Grade 9 level reading work. He was also very happy after hearing the news. Problem was that he kept on asking us if we were happy about his victory. It was as if he was fishing for compliments. While intellectually he can do high-school stuff, deep inside he remains a kid. No human growth hormone can accelerate the development his character and temperament. Anyway, God loves him so much that he did not allow this attitude of pride to continue. In Ballet class, he was sent out for not listening and was reprimanded by the teacher for being distracted and disruptive. Later tonight he said that he realized that God had humbled him. It is really good that he is learning his lessons early, saving him from the big heartaches in the future.
Tags: Child Training, Humility, Parenting, PERSONAL, Pride
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
In my son’s ballet class today, their teacher asked the kids how old they were. Most of the girls indicated that they were turning 10 this year. When the teacher realized this, she told her students that they needed to have 3x per week classes starting July. She stated that in Classical Ballet, a dancer’s time is limited and that upon reaching 10 no time was to be wasted. Before even getting their first acne treatment, the teacher intends to start them on pointe work. She says 3x per week training would ensure that the kids are strong enough to do more demanding pointe routines.
While it is good to get kids on pointe shoes soonest, it is normally not advisable for them to do this before 10. Doing so would lead to growth problems because children’s bones are more cartilagenous in nature. They also must have demonstrated strength in routines done on regular ballet shoes. The bleeding toes are definitely not for the faint of heart.
Pointe shoes are the distinguishing mark of a ballerina from other dancers. The seemingly effortless moves on stage result from years of tears, dedication and hard work.
Tags: ballet, teaching ballet
Posted in DANCE, THEATRE, EDUCATION | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010
Today was quite crazy as it was so busy and I had only 3 hours sleep the night before. The latest eye cream review would be of help now, considering our sunken, aching eyes. This deviation from our normal Monday schedule was due to a prayer conference my wife was attending. We had to leave quite early because the kids had to be dropped off. At the end of the day, it paid off as we got fresh new insights about our role in the coming days. We even got to rethink the motivation behind our leaning towards certain candidates in to upcoming elections in the Philippines. Bottom line, no matter how crazy our day is, God is in control.
To prepare myself for the day, I usually start praying after I wake up. I ask God to have his way with me and some direction about what to pray for and do for the day. I then read the Bible for a few minutes. At the end of the day, I do the same thing only this time with the kids. I usually find myself centered throughout the day as I go through it walking with God. Christianity is never about dead rituals and religion but rather about a close relationship with the Christos.
Tags: PERSONAL, Prayer
Posted in HOME, FAMILY & FAITH, PERSONAL | 2 Comments »
