Suspend-It

This summer, protect your skin from harmful radiation from the sun. Whether you are at the beach, sunbathing on outdoor cushions, or just on your way to work, make sure you apply a sunscreen lotion. There are different kinds of sunscreens available. The problem is we aren’t exactly sure which is right for us and we are not exactly sure what level of protection they offer. All we know is that they have an SPF rating.

SPF is the skin protection factor which compares the length of time of skin to redden with UV rays with and without UV protection. SPF varies from SPF 10 to 45. Basically, the higher the SPF, the more protection they give from UV rays. Though there are debates if the sunscreens really block all or only certain types of UV’s (UVA and UVB) it is still best to use them. Choose a sunscreen which does not dry up easily. Some lotions are water resistant. If possible, use an umbrella to protect you from direct sunlight and avoid direct heat from 10 am to 4 pm. And of course, never forget to hydrate. Drink plenty of fruit juices and water. Enjoy the summer!

There has been an increasing amount of employees having back pains these past few months. The medical reports from the in-house physician relate these illnesses to the newly purchased computer chairs. Of course, as part of the management, employee wellness is one of my primary concerns.

Ergonomic office furniture is one of the most important considerations in an IT company office. Since the job entails minimum of eight hours of sitting in front of the PC, employees must be kept in a comfortable working position.

Later I’ll set up a meeting with the other departments to see what we can do about the problem. For now, I’ll get a survey from my people about this matter.

Since my sister started living with me, I started to consider getting a bigger condo. Finally just last week I bought one that was a few blocks away from my place. Time to call in the moving services crew!

Since we kept the house looking minimalist, packing was not a problem. Well, except for my sister’s humongous closet. While she was doing her own packing, which by the way can take hours, I decided to run for a bit and see our street one last time. I lived here for two years so there will definitely be some attachment that I developed for the place. But it was time to move on. It was time for change.

From incandescent to fluorescent, comes the led light bulb. In the previous years, fluorescent bulbs became so popular because of their efficient use of energy. LED’s were already used then but only for electronic gadgets. Nowadays, led bulbs are becoming more and more popular. They are already widely used: auto brake lights, signal lights, interior decorations, outdoor lighting, underwater lighting for pools, etc.

Ever since, LED’s have always been one of the most efficient light sources. LED’s have long life, around 50,000 hours compared to 15,000 hours for fluorescent. They are also rugged enough for industry use; water resistant for underwater; and safe enough for home use. Also, Led bulbs do not break, nor spark like fluorescents. They also have the lowest energy requirements. The only thing not good with LED’s is their expensive price tag. They haven’t been this popular before because they were not mass-produced for industrial uses. But now, since prices are starting to go down, more people will be using LED’s in their homes. Perhaps in a few years, the fluorescents will no longer be used, just like the incandescent bulbs.

I resided in a ladies dorm when I was in college. I’m not the type who gets homesick so I loved the freedom of living independently. That is, until I started experiencing insomnia.

At first, I thought maybe I’m having an unusually delayed case of homesickness. Then I blamed the bed frames which were really squeaky. Then I stopped taking my siesta naps.

I’ve talked with college friends and dorm mates about my sleeping problem and like me, they were all clueless on its origin as well… Then Carmela, one of my roommates, remembered I’ve started taking stress tabs multivitamins. She suggested that I stop taking it for at least two weeks and observe my sleep pattern.

Lo and behold, she was right! The stress tabs were the root of my sleep problem. I had become waaaaaaaaaaay too hyperactive because of that multivitamins to get some decent sleep. After that revelation, I decided to ditch the multivitamins and just stick with vitamin C.

Next time you have some sleep problems, do check your medicine or food intake into consideration as well.

I was browsing over a jewelry store last night with my college friend Hazel and was surprised to hear the saleslady promote their amber collection. According to her, amber has therapeutic properties and the use of amber for healing purposes dates back to its discovery in the Baltic shores.

The saleslady furthered that it can help with thyroid and asthma problems when worn around the neck and ease rheumatic and arthritis pain when worn as a bracelet. This belief originated from the perception that the amber has within it the energy and power of the sun. Thus, it imbues the wearer with therapeutic properties.

It’s still quite dubious of course. Then again, when you look at its enthralling color, think about its formation process and the amount of time it has been part of the earth, it is not difficult to understand its charisma. Oh well, health benefits or not, amber IS an alluring stone.

I hear magnets can help you in memorizing things if you put them in your head while studying? Is there really an effect when doing this? This isn’t proven yet, I think, or maybe I just haven’t googled enough. It just somehow popped into my head for no reason, and I wanted to see actual proof regarding this. My sister has five exams this week. Maybe it could help. Or maybe mythbusters just proved it wrong. Please feel free to leave your comments regarding this matter

I’ve been having weird headaches lately, and my nose is bleeding. I hope it’s nothing serious. I’m going to visit a doctor sometime soon to have it checked. If you’re experiencing symptoms that you normally don’t have, please, don’t hesitate to visit a doctor. As I have said, prevention is better than cure. It’s a lot cheaper, I tell you.

On a lighter note, automotive lifts are awesome. They never fail to amaze me. Car freak right here.

I’m the type of person who prefers having my room windows wide open to enjoy the fresh air which I’m lucky enough to have in my area. Unfortunately for me, this paved the way for mosquitoes to party in my room as well and feast on me - literally.

Back then, I used a mosquito net to keep those blood-thirsty, miniature, female vampires from biting me (Yep, it’s the female mosquitoes that feeds off human blood). Mosquito bite-marks are not only annoying and itchy, the red marks they leave are very obvious to the point of embarrassing if you have one too many (which I used to have). Not to mention the fact that mosquito bites can be very deadly (read dengue and malaria).

Then again, being a huge fan of fascinating simple innovations (e.g. a two-in-one flash disk “slash” pen, and even a concealer “slash” pimple treatment) I discovered an electric mosquito killer to replace my mosquito net. Using only 5 watts of electricity for a 20 square-meter room (just like charging a cellular phone), this product provides up to eight hours of smoke-free protection against mosquitoes. How convenient and economical can you get?

Unfortunately for me again, the odor it emits caused an allergic reaction to me. The “economical” part from that electric mosquito killer went down the drain because I had to pull out a huge chunk off my cash drawer just to cure my allergy. Oh well, back to mosquito nets.

Gerard and the gang were thinking of shedding off those pounds he accumulated after he and his girlfriend broke up two months ago. Everyone in the band had supported him. On Mondays and Wednesdays it was gym time for him and Rikki. Thursdays and Fridays was his swimming day with my sister Anne. Saturdays and Sundays were badminton and jogging sessions with Mau and Cyd.

True enough his fitness weeks paid off. After just a month he looked more fit even before the break up occurred but of course his mind and heart was still on the rocks. I suggested Outer Banks rentals for the whole gang since we haven’t been really out on a bonding trip lately. Everyone was up for it except Cyd who said he’ll just probably follow since he’s still fixing his papers for his shop.

Scheduled for next weekend, we’ll all be off to watch the sunset together in the next four days to unwind Gerard’s heart and soul.