Suspend-It

Oftentimes when we get up late at night to go to the bathroom, we turn on the lights and experience pain in our eyes. As a reflex, the eyelids close or squint to reduce the light coming into the eyes.

The eyes use different sets of optical nerves – the cones and rods. During the day, or in any well lighted room, the cones are used to see colors on bright light. On dim lighted environments however, the rods are used. The rods are very sensitive to light but not very much to color; this is why we still see dim lights but less color during the night. Hence, they can be damaged by exposure to very bright light. Ophthalmologists discourage abrupt exposure to bright light when coming from dark settings. They suggest using lights with adjustable brightness for the eyes to get warmed up for bight lighting.

I personally agree with using dim lights during the night. In my bathroom I had a Murray Feiss adjustable lamp installed for this purpose. Healthy eyes are a great investment, so spending for some expensive lamps will certainly pay off in the future.

PS3 players will surely be interested in this product I saw in the net. Just search for “edrums rockband contoller” in Google. The makers of this rockband controller combined the features of the PS3 controller and an original electronic drum set. Using this controller will really make you feel like you’re in the band. The pads feel like the real thing, unlike the popping sound of the regular rockband drums. Also, the response is great because the sensors are more sensitive like a real e-drum set. And oh, it has a real kick pedal too.

The cool features has a price though, a whopping four hundred dollars. This is quite expensive for a controller. But the engineers of the product made sure that this could be used not just a PS3 controller, but also as an Xbox and PC controller. It can even be attached as a MIDI device, a necessity for music composers. Great right? Maybe they could make it work as a racing wheel too. Haha.

Construction workers wear helmets, goggles, anti-slip boots and gloves to protect themselves but they often do not protect their ears. The sense of hearing is as important as the sense of sight so ears must also be protected.

industrial equipment supplies include ear muffs or buds that shield the ears from loud noise during construction. Grinders, jackhammers, and metal cutters are some examples of noisy equipment. Ear muffs have layers of padding which absorbs the sound and prevents it from entering the ear. Ear buds are effective too but they can cause ear infections especially if your hands are dirty when you insert the buds into your ear. So please do take care of your ears.

When was the last time you were confined in a hospital? How many times have you tried the almost inedible meals served by their cooks? Oh, and the nurses, the grumpy nurses, I guess you have already encountered at least two during your stay. Aren’t hospitals supposed to be our place of recovery when we’re ill? How come patients experience hell in the hospitals? Sometimes I wonder if there’s a conspiracy going on between the health providers and the government just to discourage taxpayers from going to hospitals.

It took too long before hospitals realized the importance of good service on their patients. Now, some hospitals have undergone complete renovation. As you have heard from ads, lots of hospitals now have been converted to “luxury hotels”. What I mean is, these hospitals give great service to their clients, give them gourmet food, and accommodate them to comfortable suites similar to luxury hotel rooms! The new hospitals even have credit card machines inside!

To think that it’s only now the New York have been doing the overhaul on the hospitals despite its blooming progress is pretty sad. A friend of mine was not surprise to hear this news. He said all the hospitals in Europe have always been “patient friendly”. I just hope these luxury hospitals are for the public and not just for VIP patients.

Getting an auto insurance is a healthy thing to do, I tell you. In case of accidents, you’ll have a lot less to worry about regarding finances. This is surely a great investment since stress makes you vulnerable to various diseases and you don’t want that. I am adding this to my long list of things that I recommend.

Don’t forget to ask your friends or business contacts which company is reliable and credible! You’ll never regret doing this, I promise.

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.

I have been seeing a lot of global warming issues in the news lately. Lots of non-government organizations are speaking out their opinions, protesting about anything and everything that relates to pollution. Earlier on TV, I saw a Greenpeace representative being interviewed about the nuclear power plant projects being pushed through by President Obama. The representative said that Greenpeace is against nuclear power plants.

Well, I have always been a fan of the Greenpeace organization. They usually do rallies and symposiums in rv parks to educate the public about environmental concerns. I remember signing up with them once and donating some cash to show my support. This time, I’m not so sure that I agree about their opinion about nuclear power. Greenpeace kept on insisting using alternative energy sources instead of fossil fuels (main cause of global warming). These sources include wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Although these can be used as additional energy sources, they CANNOT be used as base power sources.

As regards to investments, a nuclear power plant will cost a lot cheaper than other energy sources when compared with the same amount of energy output. Not to mention that the nuclear plant is the most efficient energy source available. Moreover, regarding toxic wastes, solar panels contain toxic chemicals responsible for the conversion of sunlight to electricity.

I really think the opinion of Greenpeace is biased because of the influence of fuel companies. I know I am not an expert in this matter, this is just my opinion anyway, but I think the discovery of nuclear energy was intended for great purpose, not for nuclear bombs but for an efficient energy source. So please, let’s support our government especially President Obama on this project.

It’s winter again. With the cold weather, people tend to come up with different and sometimes unusual ways and products of keeping themselves warm. From the common heated mattress pads, to intriguing fleece blanket with sleeves… they’re all in the market. But then again, why settle for those when there’s such a thing as kotatsu (炬燵)?!

Thanks to watching Nodame Cantabile Live Action (j-drama), I discovered the wonderful, comfy, and extremely cozy kotatsu! Imagine having a comforter-cum-dining/work-table on a cold winter night. Soooo heavenly. ^_^

I was so amazed at the kotatsu that I did some research. According to the description I saw, there are two kinds of kotatsu used in Japan today. They basically differ in the configuration and type of heating:

Electric: The modern style of kotatsu consists of a table with an electric heater attached to the underside of the table. The kotatsu is usually set on a thin futon, like a throw rug. A second, thicker futon is placed over the kotatsu table, above which the tabletop is placed. The electric heater attached to the underside of the table heats the space under the comforter.

Charcoal: The more traditional type is a table placed over a recessed floor. The pit is cut into the floor and is about 40 centimeters deep. A charcoal or electric heater is placed somewhere in the pit’s floor, walls, or, as in the modern-style kotatsu, attached to the table-frame.

Just so you know, the kotatsu is designed for people wearing Japanese style clothes. This type of clothes allows the heat to enter through the bottom of the robes and exit around the neck, consequently heating the entire body. Hmmmm…. Maybe I ought to buy Japanese style clothes when I purchase a kotatsu for maximum, comfy heating? What do you think? 0;)

I’ve often heard people say that watching TV too much or sitting close to the tube can damage your eyesight. This is not true and is even considered as an eyesight myth.

According to my ophthalmologist (I’m myopic or nearsighted, if you must know), at the moment, there is no evidence that sitting close to the television will damage your eyes. What’s important is that you sit wherever your eyes are most comfortable and make sure that there is proper lighting in the area. Purchasing tv stands with height suitable to your relaxed eyesight state may help as well.

In general, he said that when watching TV or even reading, you should “give your eyes a rest” by looking away every fifteen minutes or at regular intervals. This is because our eyes are designed to focus at a great variety of distances, and the short breaks away from the tv or book will allow your eyes to focus on something far away. This in turn, will also help us avoid eyestrain or eye fatigue.

Remember, your eyes are a pair you’ll need for the rest of your lifetime. Once your vision is damaged, it will be hard to put into 100% functionality again. So the next time you watch tv or get engrossed in a book, do integrate regular breaks.

MP3 players nowadays are so common, that almost everyone has one. It’s great to listen to good music especially when you’re in the gym exercising.

Ever tried of doing a workout while listening to music? Your movements will automatically lock on to the beat without you knowing. Doing workouts with the beat of the music makes your reflexes react to the beat and give you that happy and energetic mood.

Music gives good motivation. It lets you concentrate more on your workout rather than on the stress you are feeling. It sort of distracts you from all the noise from the outside world, and makes you feel that you are in a world of your own. Researchers even linked music to nerve simulation. They pointed out that music increases tension in the muscles therefore making them work harder.

A bit of a warning though about listening to music: never play music loudly. It can do permanent damage to your ears. Also, earphones which are of the earplug type are not advisable. They can cause serious injury to the ears because of the pressure it gives to the eardrums. Better to use the hooked types or headphones.