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Saturday, February 11, 2012
Best Life Advice I've Gotten
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: The Carriage Road--Jim Chappell (Acadia)
I've been visiting a lot of self-help websites lately, and I came across an article that resonated with me so strongly because of the sheer brevity of it: in just over 500 words it summarizes not only what I needed to know about myself, but also how to best support others. I'm passing it on :-).
What You Need to be Successful by Bob Mueller
We must give to others both roots and wings.
There are two messages that all human beings need to receive. They are the messages of affirmation and of personal responsibility. These two messages are like the two legs on which a person can walk successfully through life.
The message of affirmation is this: "You are a unique human being, the one and only you. There never was and there never will be another you. You are a real gift to this world and a person of inestimable worth."
The message of responsibility is this: "As you mature into adulthood, you must take your life into your own hands. You must, at this time, assume full responsibility for your life, your emotions, and attitudes. The outcome of your life is in your hands. When you look into a mirror, you are looking at the one person who is responsible for your happiness."
These two messages have been compared to "roots and wings." We must give to others both roots and wings.
The roots of any human existence are the roots of personal worth, of self-confidence - the roots of belief in one's own uniqueness. The message that offers roots is that of unconditional love.
The wings of a human existence are the wings of self-responsibility. Giving a person wings is the message that "You have everything needed to soar, to sing your own song, to warm the world with your presence. You must take your life into your own hands. You must not blame others and complain about your lack of opportunity. You must assume full responsibility for the course and direction of your life."
The message of roots says to an individual: "You've got it!" The message of wings says: "Now go for it!"
How Do You Help Someone Else?
In the process of loving another and providing roots and wings, there are three important stages:
1. Kindness: a warm assurance that "I am on your side. I care about you."
Someone has wisely said that "people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care." To build a relationship on any foundation other than kindness is to build on sand. I have to know that you really want my happiness and my growth, that you really are "for me," or I won't open at all to your influence.
2. Encouragement: a strong reassurance of your own strength and self-sufficiency.
What all people need most is to believe in themselves. They need confidence in their own ability to take on the problems and opportunities of life. To "en-courage" means to put courage in. Encouragement instills into the recipient a new and fuller awareness of his or her own powers. Encouragement says: "You can do it!"
3. Challenge: a loving but firm exhortation to action.
If encouragement makes the loved one aware of his or her strength, challenge is the loving push to use this strength: "Try. Stretch. Do it. If you succeed, I will be in the front row clapping my hands off. If you fail, I will be sitting right at your side. You won't be alone. Go ahead now. Give it your best shot. Go for it!"
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: Nothing right now
Have you ever wondered why sometimes we say "It's only Thursday?" and sometimes we say "It's Thursday *already*?" And when we say that, that other people don't seem to feel the same way?
I saw this show on the plane heading back from the Philippines. It absolutely fascinated me. The title is, "Does Time Really Exist?"
You start the show saying, "Pshh, of COURSE time really exists." By the end of the show, you realize that you really know nothing about time.
Arguments made in the show:
Time is the same for everybody vs. time is different for each person
Time is a physical reality vs. time is an illusion our brain creates to keep track of changes happening around us
Time is one dimensional (it moves as a line) vs. time is two-dimensional (it's actually a shape)
10 years after college, and I finally get:
why astronauts in outer space age faster than people on earth
how space relates to time
why our bodies wake us up just before the alarm clock goes off
how the concept of parallel universes (other versions of our universe existing at the same time) started
Some "Whoa, dude" moments:
Because our brain needs time to process everything that's going on around us, our awareness of the event is delayed by a few milliseconds. That means what we experience as "now" is actually a few milliseconds in the past.
Schizophrenia might actually be a disorder of time perception, that the schizophrenic's brain is unable to link an action to its resulting consequence.
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: Nothing right now
“You’re probably not even Filipino anymore.”
Someone I was having a conversation with said that recently, and it’s not the first time I’ve been told that. Depending on the source of the statement, it’s either being meant as a compliment or a chiding remark.
Sometimes the statement makes me feel like I’m being put into some sort of “half-breed” category: not quite Filipino, not quite American. I’m in the gray area, where I don’t belong to either group.
I was born and raised in the Philippines, and I speak Filipino fluently. I even have a “Parañaque accent.” I moved to the US in 2004. I have the unique (and awesome) opportunity of working closely with a very principled entrepreneurial American executive team, which has given me a front-row seat to the American visionary spirit in action. I’m married to an American.
But it doesn’t mean I’ve lost my sense of being Filipino. As a matter of fact, I’ve become much more acutely aware of it, because sometimes it’s so clearly different from how everyone else around me thinks. Sometimes it allows me to help people more. Other times it gets me into trouble. But believe me, the nuances of one’s original culture is much more noticeable when that person is completely immersed in a different culture.
I do feel the need to reconnect to my Filipino self sometimes, especially since all my US-based relatives are either on the west coast or the east coast. In addition to the “call-the-folks-back-home-every-two-weeks” routine, I have several Pugad Baboy comic book digests next to my bed, which I sometimes read at bedtime.
When I find a comic strip particularly funny, I want to share it with Steve. So I try and translate it—not just literally, but idiomatically. It’s challenging, but I like doing it…it’s particularly satisfying when I succeed in making a Filipino joke universal. I guess it’s also a way for me to share my being Filipino with him. He loves adobo, by the way—he considers it one of his top 3 comfort foods. And he can make rice the way Filipinos do it: using his fingertip as a measuring device. “Sayang” is part of his everyday vocabulary.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m proud of being bicultural. I get the opportunity to see the strengths and challenges of both my home cultures, and I get to combine the best of each. I suppose it’s almost like being able to go to Narnia, except *I* get to have a say as to when I get in and out of the wardrobe.
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: Nothing right now
10 years ago today people all around the world watched in horror as planes crashed into buildings, symbols of strength were destroyed, and office workers jumped to their deaths in desperation.
I still lived in the Philippines in 2001, and even though I didn't completely understand what the World Trade Center towers represented at the time, I could see the expression on people's faces as the news cameras zoomed in on them. Even through the dust and the cameras, the feeling of helplessness was palpable. I didn't have to be a mind reader to know that the foremost thought on people's minds was, "Oh dear Lord, what do we do now?" And I had a feeling it was only a matter of time before helplessness would turn into panic and chaos.
And yet that's not what what happened. I did see the confusion, and I did see the anger, but most of all what I remembered was how people started helping each other. My most vivid memory of the aftermath was the line of people that snaked around buildings. They weren't in line to collect for handouts; they were in line to donate blood.
Everywhere I looked, the feeling that resonated through the TV screen was: "We're Americans, damnit, and we're going to get through this."
The song "The Change" says it best:
"I hear them saying: 'You'll never change things... No matter what you do it's still the same thing.' But it's not the world that I am changing-- I do this so the world will know that it will not change me."
As we remember September 11 and grieve for all the lives that were lost, instead of just focusing on how terrible this world can be to itself, let's focus on how people have risen above it... and let's continue rising.
Current Mood: Currently Listening to: The Way You Look Tonight--Beegie Adair (I'll Take Romance)
I love Saturday.
I think it's the sheer "mine-ness" of the day that I like the most. Read a book? Sure! Play World of Warcraft? You bet! Eat cheesy poofs for breakfast? Try and stop me. And hey, if I want to continue required reading for work, then that's my choice too (you hear that, honey?) :-).
Sure there's regular chores to do like the laundry and the floors. But you know, our place isn't very big. It takes me an hour tops to both vacuum *and* wipe the hardwood floors down. And if I plan it right, the laundry can be running while I'm doing all that. And since there's only two of us, I only ever really have 4 loads of laundry to do.
Often I get a sense of wanderlust, like if I don't get in the car and go someplace for some reason I'm wasting the day somehow. There have been a few weekends where I've told Steve, "Let's drive someplace." No real destination in mind, just going out, taking the back roads and watching the fields and trees go by. Sometimes we argue about who gets to drive, because whoever drives has control of the radio :-).
This weekend is my high school's 20th reunion in San Francisco. I was originally planning to go but a house expense has dipped into my travel fund and has rendered me house-bound. On one hand, I'm going to miss everyone and that's a bummer--it would have been nice to reconnect with everyone. On the other hand, it's kind of hard to stay bummed when you realize you have the weekend :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: the thumping in my ears Wow it's been a while since I've blogged. Let's see, what's been going on. I finally finished the 6 Sigma training (YAY!) :-). Now all I need to do is understand just what it was that I learned :-). The good news is it's easy to get a hold of books that can help. A book that's been really helpful is Six Sigma Workbook for Dummies.
The thing I like best about it is that it uses real-life examples to get the point across for a specific statistical test. And it's got exercises and answers. It teaches you the formulas, but if you've got Excel with the Analysis Toolpak Add-In installed you don't even have to worry about that :-). Click, click--there you are, you've got the correlation coefficient :-).
It would have been awesome though if there was a book that walked you through different projects from start to finish, using all the Six Sigma tools that you would need. Oh well, maybe it's out there and I just haven't found it :-).
I've been kind of sick lately. I say "kind of" because it's not really the cough-cough-sneeze kind of sick, but it's annoying anyway. I've had a sinus infection for the last 3 weeks. I was actually kind of surprised to find out what it was because the pain wasn't in my ears, it was at the base of my skull. You know that tingly feeling when you bang your elbow against something? Take that feeling and put it at the top of your neck, then multiply that a few times until it goes from tingly to "Ow ow ow ow ow."
Since I've been to the doctor and he explained to me that it was a sinus infection, I've become more aware that when my neck hurts, my ear also gets this tight crampy feeling.
{All of a sudden my mind says, "the variables neck pain and ear tightness have a coefficient correlation of r=+.949, with an adjusted r-square of .90, which means there is a strong positive correlation between neck pain and ear tightness, and that 90% of the pain is explained by the relationship of these two variables."} Agggh get out of my head!
I'm okay, I'm okay :-).
The leaves on the trees are starting to change, which is exciting :-). I absolutely love fall :-). I can't wait until they turn all shades of yellow, orange, brown and red.
I've been REALLY wanting to spend a long weekend at the Biltmore. It's in Asheville, North Carolina and it's about a 10 hour drive. It's a gorgeous place. And you've probably already seen the Biltmore mansion: it was Richie Rich's house in the 1994 movie :-). Here's a clip from www.biltmore.com:
Steve and I had been to the Biltmore once before, but it was just an impulse visit and we didn't realize how big the estate was. You needed a day just to tour the mansion itself, and there are so many other things to see on the estate. We agreed that we needed to come back and spend a few days next time. Maybe this is the opportunity :-). You can't stay at the house, but there is a Biltmore Inn, which is right on the estate :-). That'll be cool :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: The Big Day--Jim Chappell (In Search of the Magic) See, if they explained statistics this way all the time there'd be no problem :-). This is from "Business Statistics Demystified" by Steven M. Kemp:
Figure 7-4 illustrates why we do not generally use vertical mirrored bar charts. Here, we see a diagram showing the difference of ethnic diversity and opportunity between the free peoples of Middle-Earth and the dominion of the Dark Lord, Sauron, in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In each society, those who achieve the highest honor are members of "the nine." For the good peoples, this is the nine walkers; for the evil Land of Mordor, this is the nine riders.
If we note that there is, in fact, a diverse population of goblins (or, to use the more proper term, orcs), trolls, evil men, evil wizards, spiders, and others who all support the Dark Lord, we realize that this is a society with a glass ceiling. Sauron will allow only undead to rise to the highest positions of power, leadership, and recognition, becoming members of the nine riders. While statistics cannot establish causality, it may be the case that this inequality of opportunity is one of the aspects of Sauron’s realm which causes it legitimately to be considered evil.
And I'm like, "Ohhh well why didn't they explain it this way in the first place :-)?"
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Arapaho Firelight--Jim Chappell (Dusk) "...A rotatable design is one in which the variance of the predicted response is a function of the distance from the center of the design, not the direction..."
Current Mood: CC is listening to:Nothing right now For the past few weeks I had been helping out at the hospital Front Desk. It was a really good experience, and I enjoyed doing it. At the same time, I wanted to explore the other volunteer opportunities at the hospital. I think I may have found the one that's the best fit for me: Materials Management Volunteer.
"You're going to be a janitor?" Steve replied when I told him about it. "No, I'm not going to be a janitor. Materials Management Volunteers do things like take inventory, sort supplies and deliver medical equipment to the nurses' stations." He looked at me. "...And you're volunteering for this?"
I had to laugh. At first glance it probably did seem like a less exciting thing to do, but I had admitted to myself that I don't necessarily want excitement. "Well let me tell you what I'm looking for in a volunteer opportunity and maybe you'll understand why I think this is better for me.
"I want an opportunity to be helpful and at the same time have minimal patient contact--I'm more introverted than extroverted. I also want a volunteer opportunity that gets me walking a lot so I get more exercise. Oh, and I don't want to have to think too much--I've been doing that all week at work, I don't want to have to think on the weekend."
Steve thought about that for a second. "You're right, this does sound like the perfect fit."
I start my first day in the Materials Management department tomorrow. I already met with the manager, who was excited to know I was volunteering because they've been short-handed lately. I was told that the only things I would need to do tomorrow are cut the tops off of boxes, put stickers on things, pull stuff off of shelves, and deliver equipment. I even get to wear sneakers :-). And then she said I can work my way up to more complex tasks like man the phones and take requests, but only if I wanted to :-).
Sounds delightfully low stress :-). I'm really looking forward to it :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Tansy Land--Jim Chappell (Coming Through) I didn't realize this until today, but I've been using the idiom "begs the question" incorrectly all this time. I've always used it as a form of "raises the question," like, "All this warm weather begs the question if we should water our yard plants."
"Begs the question," I just learned, is an English circular reference and is considered a logical fallacy. An example of the RIGHT way of using "begging the question" would be something like:
Interviewer: "Your resume looks impressive but I need another reference." Bill: "Jill can give me a good reference." Interviewer: "Good. But how do I know that Jill is trustworthy?" Bill: "Certainly. I can vouch for her."
In this case, the interviewer would reply with something like, "That would be begging the question, Bill."
I know, I know--who cares, right? :-)
Hmm...I'll need to look up another idiom now because I always thought the above situation was an example of a "Catch 22." I may be wrong about THAT as well.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Carousel--Jim Chappell (Coming Through) I'm studying the Minitab 15 manual right now, which is software designed to "make statistics understandable to non-statisticians."
I'm on Chapter 3 and so far my verdict is: I hate statistics.
No, let me revise that--I hate that I can't seem to understand statistics, because I know that if I just understood it better, I would LOVE statistics. I've seen a lot of examples about the power of data--and it's terribly frustrating to me that I have such a difficulty grasping the concept of which test to use, and when.
In a nutshell--I hate how statistics makes me feel stupid :-).
Ah well. The greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Rich Girl--Hall and Oates (Greatest Hits: Rock 'N Soul, Pt. 1) You may have heard of the wave of tornadoes that swept through the South a couple of days ago. The one that touched down in Memphis was at a place that was 15 minutes away from us, which is the closest I've ever been to one. I didn't see it personally, but it was kind of scary to watch the news and witness a tornado touching down someplace that you know.
If you can picture it, Steve was calm all throughout, and I was running around in the apartment like a chicken without its head going, "What do we do? What do we do?"
Looking back now it's kind of funny :-), but it was scary at the time. Let me see if I can describe what it was like.
It was kind of surreal, really. You go outside and look at the sky. It's dark, but it's not raining yet. The wind is blowing really hard and you could see the clouds--well more like one cloud, a massive, thick gray blanket--just race across the sky. Once in a while, lightning would strike. Not the kind that was far away--it's close and it's clear and it's distinct. Then you hear the crack of the thunder a second later. Your hair's whipping against your face, the ozone is thick in the air. It's the kind of thing where even if you weren't watching the news, the weather felt wrong.
Then the sirens go off. There are tornado sirens in every city that go off when the weather conditions are just right that a tornado *could* form. It sounded like an air raid. Hearing one siren is bad enough. Hearing two go off, essentially two cities telling their people on the road, "Get off the road and find shelter NOW," was very scary.
You go back into the apartment and see what's going on in the news. The weatherman tells you that, according to their tracking system, the biggest part of the storm is due to hit your area at 6:53. You look at the clock. 6:48.
Then he suddenly pauses. "Ladies and gentlemen, we just got a report. A tornado has touched down. I repeat, a tornado been reported touching down in Southaven. If you are in the Southaven area, go to the innermost part of your house now. If you have a basement, go to your basement. Get some blankets, some pillows, maybe a mattress to shield yourself. I repeat, a tornado has been spotted in Southaven. Let's go over to our Hilton camera and see what's going on."
You know that Southaven is a good 20 minutes away from you, but somehow that doesn't make you feel better when you see a big tornado on the TV screen moving across a city landscape, tripping electric poles and causing giant sparks to flash. It reminds you of a lumbering giant: slow, menacing, uncaring about the destruction.
You know that tornadoes are unpredictable. There's no telling which direction they decide to take. What if it's headed your way?
You look around the apartment. What's the innermost part of the apartment? What's the place that's farthest away from the outer walls? Will we all fit under the dining table? What should I take with us? And as you ask yourself that question, another question hits you:
What am I willing to lose?
At that point I turned to Steve. "If that happens, we take the dogs," he said. I started to argue, but he interrupted, repeating very slowly: "We take the dogs. Everything else is just stuff."
I looked back at the TV. The storm system was directly over us now. The rain was coming down hard. The lights kept flickering on and off. We lost our TV reception a couple of times. The street lights outside went out. I walked to the window. "Any hail?" Steve asked.
Apparently one of the signs of an impending tornado is when hail begins to fall. "No," I replied. "Just rain."
I held my breath for the next minute or so until the clock said 6:55. Then the street lights came back on. We got our TV back, and the map confirmed it: the storm system had moved on. Then family started calling, asking if we were okay. That was about the point where I truly felt relieved that it was over.
Someone had captured video of a funnel cloud forming over Southaven. I don't know if it's the same funnel cloud that led to the tornado, but it gives you an idea of what it was like . To view it, click here.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: an episode of Law and Order SVU Steve and I were chatting in bed this morning and we were talking about what kind of goals we'd like to set for ourselves for 2008. He's still deliberating on some of his goals, I decided I'd have 3 kinds of goals for 2008:
A goal that benefits myself
A goal that benefits my partner
A goal that benefits others
I need to make sure I define my goals as measurably as possible, or else it'll be very likely that I'll fail to meet one or all of them--and I'd hate for that to happen :-).
The first goal, the one that benefits myself as a person, I was thinking of improving my proficiency in either sign language or Japanese. Steve pointed out (and rightly so) that I should make sure that my goal is not to be *fluent,* since fluency takes more than a year :-). I just need to figure out what "improved proficiency" mathematically means :-).
The second goal *sounds* easy but it's going to be a challenge for me. I promised Steve I'd stop using the dining room table as a catch-all for all my stuff :-). I know, that doesn't sound like much, but it's gotten to be a habit for me and it's something I have to fix. Case in point:
That's what the dining table looks like at this very moment. Let's see, what do we got--we've got a roll of duct tape, clothes over the back of the chair, my Tinkerbell Disneyland cap, a chew toy for the dogs, a box of cough drops, today's newspaper, a box of tissues... yeah, it's sad :-). I have to fix that this year.
My third goal is something that I'm looking forward to doing. I've been meaning to do some volunteer work for some time but I didn't know what kind of volunteer opportunities were out there.
What I originally wanted to do is find a way that I can assist taking therapy dogs to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, things like that. I even found out that there's even a *reading* program that involves therapy dogs. The objective of the R.E.A.D. (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) program is to mentor children who struggle with reading--and the fact that you have a therapy dog with you helps create a non-judgmental environment for them. Isn't that cool :-)?
Unfortunately it seems that if you want to volunteer in the program, you have to have your own dog, and your dog has to be trained for therapy services. So I started looking for other opportunities.
Thanks to www.1-800-volunteer.org, I was able to find opportunities that matched my schedule. There's a hospital about 10 minutes away from where Steve and I live, and one of the volunteer opportunities they have is for a Coffee Cart Volunteer.
Sounds insignificant, doesn't it? Not when you read what they do. The job description:
Visit with families in surgery and ICU waiting areas and provide free coffee, cookies and TLC! Pairs or group volunteering available. Free uniform and meal provided, including all coffee and cookies you can eat! VIP parking at hospital for volunteers.
They need you for only 2-3 hours a week, and you can volunteer to come by once a month, twice a month, once a week, or as often as you want. The requirements are: "some walking, lots of smiles, and tons of cookies to sample!"
How can you say no to a volunteer opportunity that makes it so easy for you to play a part :-)? I'm not sure if this means we provide our own cookies, though. I called and left a message at the volunteer services department, I'll probably hear from them tomorrow and find out :-). From there I'll decide how often to participate.
I know one thing, though: having experienced being at the hospital during Steve's surgery, I know it would have helped ease the anxiety to have someone from the hospital come by and offer cookies and coffee while I waited for him to get through it.
I know that resolutions are supposed a private matter, but I figure if I posted mine, I would be more likely to stick to it since I'll probably need to report my progress at the end of 2008 :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: a Eukanuba dog show competition on Animal Planet, where an Australian Shepherd just won the herding dog group--YAY :-)! I just checked the forecast for the next 15 days.
The warmest it's going to be during the day is 90F (32C) and the warmest it's going to be during the night is 67F (19C).
The coldest it's going to be during the day is 71F (21C) and the coldest it's going to be during the night is 48F (8C).
WOO HOO it's slowly turning into fall! Just like Steve, it's my favorite time of year. The air's going to smell a little crisper and before long the leaves will turn all shades of red, yellow, brown, and orange. I think Hobbes (of the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes) says it best: fall is like nature's fireworks.
Autumn is the season that speaks most of family to me--I think it speaks of family even more than the Christmas season. Don't get me wrong, I still love Christmas--it's just that there's a bigger element of commercialism associated with Christmas now.
But fall! Apples. Cinnamon. Pumpkins. Halloween. Thanksgiving. No other season makes me feel as warm and fuzzy inside.
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Jordan Pond--Jim Chappell (Acadia) Okay first off, I never thought I could ever go to a dentist where I felt NO pain at all. And I was in for a root canal. Those things are supposed to hurt. I mean, that's why people say "It's as fun as a root canal," right?
I don't know if it's because dentistry technology has progressed a lot in the last few years, or if my dentist is just that good. Maybe it's a little bit of both, because I felt NOTHING.
Or maybe it was the gas, too. We all know it: nitrous oxide (N2O), better known as laughing gas. I was curious: is it really going to make me laugh?
It did :-). Not the *whole* time though, just for a few minutes. A little triangle-shaped cone goes over your nose and after a while, you get just a little sleepy, but it goes away. Then you feel little tingly sensations on your fingertips and you can't feel your feet as much. I remember thinking, "Oh, getting a little woozy here."
And then the little giggles start. You try to stop it of course, because there's absolutely nothing funny going on. And then the idea of trying to stop makes the whole thing even funnier. The dentist is putting his gloves on and getting ready, and I should be getting more scared by the minute, but there I am, giggling like an idiot, trying to keep it quiet.
Finally the dentist hears me and turns. "Is it working?"
"Oh yeah." Then he cracks a joke and I laugh even more.
Let's see, what else did I experience: time seemed to both stand still and go really quick at the same time. I had to make sure I focused on keeping my mouth open. I could hear the drill, and I could feel the dentist working in there, but I wasn't feeling any pain at all--they must have used some really good anesthesia.
At one point he stopped to take an x-ray, to make sure they took care of everything. The assistant took the inhaler off my face and I mumbled, "Awww, don't take the gas away..."
I was done in an hour. They put in a temporary crown and I have to go back in two weeks to get the permanent one. I was SO glad I opted for the gas :-).
Anyway, Dr. Mike Pulido. Awesome dentist. His office's tagline: "We cater to cowards."
Dr. Mike Pulido graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and received his Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Tennessee in Memphis in 1985. He has served as President of the Memphis Dental Legion for the past three years. He has enjoyed membership in the Academy of General Dentistry since 1986.
Dr. Pulido is committed to the delivery of excellent family dentistry by continuous education to stay abreast of the latest techniques available. His involvement in modern technology includes orthodontic correction of minor tooth movement, cosmetics, and implantology.
Mike is married and resides in Germantown. He and his wife, Paula, have four children.
Mike Pulido speaks Spanish fluently and is actively involved in the community as a coordinator with adult and youth soccer associations.
Dr. Mike Pulido feels his patients deserve the best of dental care. He is very proud of his family practice, and he provides adults and children of all ages with quality dental care.
Imagine not being afraid of the dentist anymore. That's me now :-). If he can make a root canal painless, I've got nothing to worry about :-).
Addendum: Now that the anesthesia's wearing off, it feels like someone punched me in the jaw (not that anyone's ever punched me in the jaw)--but at least that kind of dull, sore pain I can deal with :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 2 In F Minor, Op. 21: II. Larghetto--Emil Gilels (Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2) Being newlyweds (although I don't think you'd call three years in September "newlyweds" :-)), there are a few things that I've learned about having our own place:
Invest in a really good vacuum cleaner (I learned this from Steve's mom, and I wholeheartedly agree--it's worth it, especially if you have pets).
Invest in a good bed. The two most popular beds in the market right now are the Sleep Number Bed and the Tempurpedic Bed. I know a few people that use and enjoy a Tempurpedic bed because it uses memory foam technology to cushion your entire body and minimize pressure. Personally though, I prefer the Sleep Number Bed because 1. It can achieve the same thing PLUS you have the ability to control the firmness of the mattress (some nights I want a firmer mattress for lower backaches), and 2. Your side of the bed can have a totally different firmness level than your partner's side of the bed. Steve and I have a different definition of "comfortable" when it comes to a mattress. But the good news is, no matter what we feel our backs need, the Sleep Number Bed will be able to adjust and cater to it. "Does getting a good mattress really make such a difference on how you sleep?" you ask. Oh, absofreakinlutely :-). I wish I could afford to get one for my parents. They'd love it :-). You can see what it's like by clicking here. You can play with the remote and see how the bed changes in terms of the pressure it applies against your body. I'm a 45, by the way :-).
Wireless high speed internet connection.'Nuff said :-).
When starting out, I believe an apartment is better than a house. This is primarily for financial reasons, but it also allows you to have a feel for the neighborhood you're living in. When you're renting, and the neighborhood isn't as good as you thought it would be, you can just pack up and leave. It's not as easy (or as financially feasible) with a house. And when you find a neighborhood that you're happy with and know for sure that's where you're going to stay, then it would probably be a good time to think about investing in a house.
The higher up your apartment, the greater your sense of general security. You can't run an errand and leave your bedroom window open if your apartment is on the first floor. And if your apartment complex doesn't have elevators, what do you think the chances are of burglars wanting to break into your apartment and steal your stuff when they have to lug it down several flights of stairs :-)?
For the same price, it's better to get a smaller apartment in the best neighborhood than a bigger apartment in an average neighborhood. Sounds like a no-brainer, I know, but too often we let price be the ultimate deciding factor when it shouldn't be, especially when it comes to where you'll be living for a while.
Filipinos in general shun credit cards because it makes them susceptible to spending more than they should. And this is sensible thinking. However, I learned that in the US, you need to have credit cards (I'm still having trouble explaining this to my dad). How well you pay your bills (and yes, they track it ALL--they even give you a score based on it) gives other people a picture of how trustworthy you are. And get this: In the US it's better to have 3 credit cards where you owe 20% of the spending limit on each rather than having one credit card where you owe 60% of the spending limit. Why? Because having three cards with a lower debt is seen as more responsible than having only one credit card where you owe a whopping 60%. Your credit score can be easily researched by banks and lenders. If they see that you have a good credit score, it's more likely that they'll give you a better deal on their products and services because they can at least trust that you'll be able to pay.
I guess these lessons are things that people who were born and raised in the States already know. These things are new to me, though :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Sims Soundtrack: Building If I could go back in time, I'd have paid more attention to my college Statistics class. Now that I'm grown up, I've come to realize that it's such a powerful tool :-).
Ah well, thank goodness for technology. There's loads of online resources and courses that I can take advantage of :-).
How to Fool Your Brain into Thinking You're Not Working when You Actually Are
Current Mood: CC is listening to: Sims Soundtrack It's amazing how it works. Whenever I get stressed about what it is that I'm working on and want to reduce that stress, I play the soundtrack of my favorite computer game.
In this case, it's the Sims :-). I copied all the sound files and put them into an audio CD. So right now I'm analyzing test results but my brain isn't as stressed because it feels like I'm building a 2 story house with an indoor garden and a big swimming pool :-).
Current Mood: CC is listening to: I Guess that's Why They Call it the Blues--Elton John (Greatest Hits 1976-1986)
I was just watching the Sweet Freedom video I have on my sidebar when a thought struck: I'd love to have lunch with Billy Crystal. I really would.
Isn't that weird? I don't even know the man. And the lunch has absolutely no romantic inclinations. He just seems like a guy who's been through a whole slew of experiences and would have a lot of wisdom to pass on. I mean, actor, host of the academy awards eight times, a brilliant comedian, an author (I liked his book 700 Sundays), and a children's book author.
He wrote I Already Know I Love You, which was very touching and made me feel guilty that I don't want children. It's written from a grandparent-to-be to his grandchild. Kind of made me feel terrible that my dad won't get an opportunity to feel the same way.
Anyway, all that and Billy Crystal still seems down to earth. I'd love to be able to sit down with him over lunch and just ask him questions. See what he thinks about things. See what he thinks about the world. Whatever the conversation, I know I'm going to walk out of there learning a lot--and probably holding my sides from laughing so much :-).
Y'all wouldn't happen to have any ideas how I could do that, would you :-)?
Man, now THAT'S a lofty goal--have lunch with Billy Crystal :-). It would be so awesome if I could get to do that :-).
If we note that there is, in fact, a diverse population of goblins (or, to use the more proper term, orcs), trolls, evil men, evil wizards, spiders, and others who all support the Dark Lord, we realize that this is a society with a glass ceiling. Sauron will allow only undead to rise to the highest positions of power, leadership, and recognition, becoming members of the nine riders. While statistics cannot establish causality, it may be the case that this inequality of opportunity is one of the aspects of Sauron’s realm which causes it legitimately to be considered evil.
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