Gmail: Coming Out of Beta, Getting Back to Beta

The post in the Gmailblog about them leaving in "Beta stage" and launching a "Back to Beta" feature made me chuckle today. I was actually one of the many (I believe) who are guilty of thinking that Gmail should have come out of beta by now! And boy, they did come out of beta!

What a happy thing! What more (for those peeps out there who have gotten so used to the Beta thing), I'm sure you'll be happy too that with this recent development, they've placed a "Back to beta" feature. So that makes everyone happy, ayt? *smile*

Re-using Nursing Bottle Brushes

It's been a long while since I last updated this blog. You bet I'm as busy as that bee up in your mango tree! So crazy busy was I that I haven't even had more than 4 hours of sleep for what seems like ages. *sigh* Buhayyyy. But I'm looking forward to getting a straight 8-hour sleep over the weekends.

Anyway, I was washing shoes one day (wow my life is so unglamorous! *laughs*) when it came to my mind that "hey, I could post what I'm doing now." Really. But okay, come now, I'm not really going to post about my washing the shoes. Instead I'm going to write about something I realized while washing the shoes. But before that, if you need some housewares, drop by this store that offers wholesale housewares. From home appliances to decors, kitchenware to bed & bath accessories, they have them all for you.

Okay, proceed to the realization. I feel funny using such a serious word but anyway, I realized that it's far better to use nursing bottle brushes to wash the insides of the shoes. Far far better and easier really- especially when you get those with rotating heads. I have quite a collection of these brushes (from the 2 years when my son was using nursing bottles). I was going to wash footwear one day and I couldn't find a used toothbrush so I decided to use one of the used nursing bottle brushes instead. And I'm glad I did because I found out that it can clean the insides of a shoe, especially the hard-to-reach areas, much better that toothbrushes.

So there's my tip and trick of the day. For a much cleaner insides of a shoe, the trick is to use nursing bottle brushes! Apart from using them to wash shoes, I also have one (oh well, not the same one I use for the shoes!) to clean condiment or wine bottles. So if you've got old nursing bottle brushes, you can try to re-use them.

Because It's Everyone's Responsibility

...to keep this world drug addict-free, I am going to share a great article I found online that offers tips on how to get a loved one into drug rehabilitation.

Okay, I know, I know I’m not the perfect person to write about this post as I have no first-hand or second-hand experience with drug treatments (I just can’t relate-Thanks God!) but it would be a pity if I will not share it since I found the post helpful and encouraging, not to mention that it’s for a good cause. Because indeed, drug abuse is a very serious matter –and family members or a friend will need all the help he can get to help a loved one break the cycle of addiction.

And with this concern, every second counts. Someone might be desperately needing this advice at this very minute so without wasting precious time, here’s are 4 tips on getting a loved one into drug rehab (according to the post):

Determine if there is a problem.
Talk to them about the issue.
Hold an intervention.
Be there for additional support.

Just click the succeeding emboldened words, if you'd like to get some facts about drugs and their effects on the body and brain, for residential drug rehab option and for more info on substance abuse.

Offline Update

Looks like I have colds today. I have sore throat, too. I pray that this is not flu. *crossing fingers* I really hope not.

I am feeling better today than yesterday though, emotionally and physically. *smiles* I think I had the worst PMS yesterday - so much so that I am guilty of feeling and acting like a rebellious teenager -yikes! I'll not go into details with that though.

Anyway, I'm in the process of making a nook for my son at home so I'm checking house interior setup/improvement sites online. It's really not a big project like a room so I won't need much industrial products but I'd still need few latches, hinges, bolts and nuts for this tiny space. It's actually my son's study corner ( and also a place to keep some of his things, in my attempt to get us all organized).

So that's it for now - no tips but just an update. And I'm off again to see some home improvement sites and a hot fix for this sore throat, too. Have a lovely day everyone.

Diet Suggestions to Cut Calories

Are you faithfully monitoring your calorie intake? Or do you want healthy diet suggestions?

I just want to share this great page I recently found at Prevention.com. It's about some diet suggestions that will help us all minimize our calorie intake.

For instance here are a couple of options I'm quoting from the page:

Breakfast: Savor a bowl of bananas, berries, low fat milk and sugar substitute
instead of a sweet roll.


Lunch/Dinner: Pick waterpacked tuna instead of tuna packed in oil.

BTW, prevention.com also tackles interesting topics about health and beauty. It offers practical tips and tricks that I find valuable and I'm actually hooked since I found it.

5 Footwears I Love to Wear

If you know me personally, I'm sure you can already imagine the pairs of shoes that I love to wear. And can even guess what shoes I'd buy next - yes I'm that predictable (and boooring *hehe*)!

But then online, few people know me and so here's something I wanna share. It's about the footwears that I love to wear, apart from the Merrel and North Face shoes that I've mentioned more than a dozen time here. So without much ado, here they are:

1) Flipflops - I eternally love to wear flipflops. They are God's gift to my little feet and I wear them anywhere (even to the office!). It doesn't matter if it's an Ipanema or Havaianas or a local brand as long as it keeps my feet happy.

2) Women's Ballet Flats - I have 4 favorite pairs (of different colors and style) at the moment. I got a red, black, silver and copper-colored ballet shoes. All of the ballet flats I own are bought locally but I've seen some pairs from popular online stores like Jildor that looks similar to what I have.

My black ballet shoes very much looks like this Tory Burch Reva. The only difference is the buckle design.

3. Sneakers - I totally adore sneakers. Converse is an all-time favorite brand, one I haven't gotten over with since my college days. I also love those from Keds like this one below.

This one used to be my favorite Keds sneaks.

4. Espadrilles - They are unbelievably cool and comfortable to wear. And I can wear them with almost all the casual clothes I have! Right now, I'm trying to find a way on how I can purchase one of those cool Toms shoes (okay I'm lying, it's not just one but maybe 3!).

And lastly...

5. Sizzling Hot Sandals. Like.these.pairs.by. Stuart Weitzman :

Need I say more?

My Take on HDTV

I heard speculations that Direct TV Business is not too profitable in my country - but I wonder if that's really true. I wonder what DreamSatellite, which primarily offers Commercial Direct TV services in the country, will say to that. And if that were true, I wonder why then would the company I worked for would venture in a multi-million project such as the DirectTV Business.

In fact, the company is adding more HDTV and standard definition channels as response to subscriber demand and take-up. I think subscribers appreciates the superb services they get from their subscription. Subscribers are now aware of the quality of shows direct-to-home TV service will provide. And it's even cheaper (at least with the company's brand) than Cable TV and at the moment, I've heard that the company is targetting "uncabled" areas in Luzon - so there is a ready market for the service. True, there's still a lot more work and investment to be made for the service to cover more areas where Cable TV Services is not existent but I'm sure with time, it will become a realization - not just in Luzon but nationwide (I hope!).

I am actually excited to avail of this service but I guess I have to wait. *grins* For now, I'll just be content with a low-end Sat TV setup that the hubster has recently paid for. Some of my officemates have similar satellite dishes installed in their homes so they can get more channels and watch more shows on TV, too. (BTW, the equipment are not coming from Dream Satellite nor with the company I worked for). But this gives away the mindset of TV subscribers these days and maybe this is an indication that Direct TV Business is a thriving business afterall.