Toastmasters Sample Speeches

For several days I've been laboring on my Toastmasters website. That explains why I've not updated this blog for quite a while.

Google has finally migrated (converted?) that website from its Pages platfrom (pages.google.com) to the Sites platform (sites.google.com). Migrating all the Pages websites into Sites has been a long process for Google. I believe the announcement to migrate has been announced years ago. I must admit I had mixed feelings about this migration. When the new platform was announced, I tried it out for a spin for a similar new website. I quickly learned that Adsense were not allowed and I stopped trying out Sites right there.

Glass Blocks with Prism Light Effects

In an old entry as an update to our house construction, I wrote how we incorporated the use of glass blocks as part of the wall adjacent to the stairs. There are plenty of glass block designs and colors in the market. We chose the "Diamond" design with no color (clear). This design seemed to shimmer in direct light. Other glass block suppliers call this design "Regent", "Checkers" and "Jewel".

After the house construction, I wrote how the glass blocks provided natural light to our living room especially near the stairs. And the natural light was quite effective. The dark varnished steps of the stairs are brightly illuminated anytime of the day.

Shown below is a photo of the stairs, looking down, as taken from the stair landing. You'll notice how brightly the glass blocks (on the left) are from the sunlight.

Irene’s Birthday 2010

Last Tuesday was DH's birthday and we had a feast. Instead of the usual inihaw (grilled) chicken or liempo, we had lechong paksiw. We also had special spaghetti, shanghai and lomi guisado, a fave.

DH's cake was Red Ribbon's Choco Mocha Crunch. It's good. I wasn't too crazy on the "crunchies" on top of the cake that tasted like crispy yema.

Dog Look-alike

Today I resumed my morning walks. With the wound of my foot injury healing nicely, I'm guessing it would be wise to be walking for exercise again. Thankfully, the foot obliged and I was able to walk for a longer distance. I'm still limited to a leisurely pace though. Long strides, where the foot takes on more weight at an instant, can still hurt.

It's been a month since my last walk in our subdivision and there have been some changes - new constructions and renovations. The weather too seem to have changed a bit. The sun's up earlier now and it's a bit warmer.

Last month's a bit chillier when we went walking. In one of our morning walks then, we chanced upon this dog sleeping soundly on the hood of a jeepney in the neighborhood.

Need for Fitness Training

It's been almost a month now since I had my right foot injury. I've quit putting on dressings and bandaids to the wound. Scar tissue has formed. The wound has dried and some of the old damaged skin is now peeling away on its own.

I'm now able to walk but not for long distances. Except in the mornings when I wake up, I no longer do this contorted walk after getting out of bed. Before, I had to roll my right foot a bit to the side. This way, I stepped on the outside of the foot to avoid stepping on the wounded area. I did that for a couple of weeks and it somehow affected my right hip which made it hurt a bit.

Fun Run as Physical Education Finals

Yesterday was Che's P.E. class finals and for that, they had a fun run. Che studies at UP Manila but their finals, a couple of laps run, was held at the UP Oval in Diliman. That's because UP Manila doesn't have its own running oval. Also, since all the Physical Education classes finals were held simultaneously, they needed a much bigger running track.

The UP oval is an ideal place for the venue. In fact there were other runners and many just for fitness exercise. From the outfits you could discern some were triathlon runners, marathon runners and sports runners. Mostly, though, they were the recreational fitness runners.

There were many runners there but not enough to crowd the running track. Some were triathletes on their time trainer bikes while some folks walked with their dogs. Click on the left image to see the UP Diliman Academic Oval via google maps.

More Under the Stair Storage Space Solutions

This is part 2 of a previous post on storage space under the stairs. In that post, I showed how pull-out storage shelving would appear neater than an open storage shelving solution.

This post shows how the space directly under the stair landing was creatively used.

Viewed from the dining room, there is the small door under the stairs. Notice how it is hidden away from view from the living room. When closed, the whole area around the storage space looks neat as seen from the dining room.

Injury Update and Insurance

This is an update on a recent injury I sustained a puncture wound on my right foot. While being treated by the doctor at the emergency room I was thinking about medical insurance like accident insurance or health insurance (more on that later). I was also given instructions to clean the wound.

Fortunately, I was able to self-administer the instructions to treat the wound for a week.

Types of Wounds

During my Boy Scouting years, I learned different types of wounds for my First Aid merit badge. The ones I learned are Laceration, Puncture, and Abrasion. Laceration and Puncture wounds are shown below.

Puncture Wound Treatment

In a previous entry, I wrote about a puncture wound injury I sustained while I was on vacation in Pampanga. I was rushed to the ER for the injury.

After the initial wound cleaning and treatment administered by the ER doctor at the hospital, I was asked to continue cleaning and dressing the wound at least twice a day. This is to continue until the wound closes, no longer bleeds and starts to dry. Funny, I was thinking accident insurance while I was at the ER.

Medical Prescriptions

The medications prescribed were only two: one is a set of antibiotics (Cloxacillin) and a pain reliever (Celebrex). I was a bit worried whether the prescribed medicines were enough. The bruising and trauma was so much that the entire right leg was in pain.

I always thought that the drug Augmentin was the gold standard as far as antibiotics go. But then the prescription antibiotic Cloxacillin was for 7 days, and 4 times a day and each capsule was at 500 mg. So maybe that sufficed.

The pain reliever Celebrex though wasn't enough to alleviate the pain. I quickly took the Tramadol that Tita Divine gave. I've taken Tramadol in the past and know how strong it is when I took it for my back pain treatment. In fact, the back rehab doctor cautioned its use as it may cause addiction.

You can be addicted to this drug because it masks the pain quickly and effectively. That may give you a poor indicator on how the injury's healing is progressing. The last time I used this drug was for my left shoulder pain treatment.

Puncture Wound Accident

WARNING: Not for the faint-hearted.

Almost 2 weeks ago, I had the misfortune of impaling my right foot with a steel rod that was jutting out from the side of the street. The injury for me was quite serious. I've not had a bleeding injury this bad. I believe a scrape on the forearm I sustained while swimming was the only one I can remember where some bleeding is involved.

Vacation in Pampanga

The accident happened in Pampanga where I stayed to look after my mom. I originally planned for a one week vacation there.

As has been my routine at home, I went for walks in the morning. While outside, I noticed that some of the plants at the perimeter concrete fence were drying up. It's probably the lack of watering or the hot weather or a combination of both that made the leaves brown. Some of the plants had entire stems all dried up that it only took a slight tug to pull these stems out.

Cooling by Natural Air Circulation and Ventilation

It's just the first week of March but it's already a sweltering 34 degrees Celsius outside. And a weather temperature of 36 to 37 degrees is quite possible in the coming weeks.

Some friends in the neighborhood have been complaining of the heat. It's so bad that they couldn't stay inside their house for long during the day. It's become too hot and stuffy.

But I'm not complaining too much and I'm actually cool with it, literally and figuratively. In fact, I hardly break a sweat unless I do something strenuous like exercise or heavy housework.

And I attribute that to the breeze for natural cooling we get around the house.

It certainly helps that we don't have window and door screens installed. We had them in our old house and I'm convinced that window screens significantly cut down the amount of natural air cooling.

Energy Savings from Natural Air Ventilation

We rely on natural air circulation and ventilation to cool the house. We hardly turn on the electric fan and don't need to turn on the air conditioner. I've no exact numbers, but I suppose we save a lot in terms of electricity since we don't have a need for these electric appliances to cool us.

Alternative Instant Oatmeal with Asian Flavor

In a couple of previous posts, I espoused the benefits of adding oatmeal for a healthy diet. Instant oatmeal, specifically, is convenient to prepare and cooks quickly.

And who says you only take it for breakfast? Given its health benefits, I've learned to take oatmeal twice a day. It's very filling and you won't need to snack often.

I suppose there are dozens of ways to prepare instant oatmeal. There have to be. Plain old instant oatmeal gets bland fast and you quickly grow tired of it. Oatmeal manufacturers recognize this and put out several flavors out in the market.