It has been said that certain scents – especially very distinct ones – can evoke powerful memories. It can be the perfume of a loved one, the smell of Christmas dinner during family reunions, the sweet smell of cigars that linger in the air which some children associate with their grandfathers.

Unlike words which still needs a considerable amount of brain processing, smell is said to go directly to the heart. Especially when that scent is so strongly associated with a loved one.

Some people I know start reminiscing fondly about their loved ones when they smell something which reminds them of those particular persons. One person I remember keeps thinking about her close uncle when she catches a whiff of cigar smoke. Cigars, I know, can smell quite strongly and sweetly.

The connection between scents and memories is just natural. For me, it is just one of the amazing things in this world.

The many parties I attended since Christmas seem to have affected my digestive system. I seem to have trouble digesting what I eat so I recently vomit after a heavy meal. I already checked with my doctor and he advised me to rest my digestive system for a week.

I was advised to do a day of fasting. No food, just water. Then a week of just fruits and veggies. After that I could gradually return to my old diet if I prefer. However, fasting is somewhat very hard for me,  especially because I always pass by McDonalds on my way home from the office.

Anyhow, I managed to do the one day fasting. However I had no idea that the fruits and veggie diet was actually harder. Eating just fruits and veggies gave me stomach pain but good thing it was just temporary. So now I am on my second day on the diet and I am struggling to continue it.

Aside from the diet, I also take a colon cleanser to detoxify my colon. Colon cleanser pills contain soluble fiber which helps with the elimination of wastes in the body.

I guess I learned my lesson now. Food is great, for as long as you have a balance diet. Too much food can stress the digestive system which can lead digestive disorders.

Who ever said old dogs cannot learn new tricks? For me, patience is the key to make your dog do new tricks. Earlier my 10 year old dog was returned to me by my neighbor after borrowing him for a week. They wanted him to mate with their female dog so they let my dog stay at their house.

First thing I noticed when they returned him was he was very silent. He sat up proud and never made a sound. I asked my neigbors what was wrong with him and my neighbor only smiled at me saying that my dog has been trained.

It seemed like my neighbor’s dog training tricks were very effective. My dog has suddenly been converted to a silent type, lassy like dog. When I say sit, he actually does. Unlike before of course. I was so thankful to my neighbors because they had the patience to train my old dog. Anyway, I am glad that he is fine and he might be an expectant father already.

People who aspire to lose weight usually search the internet instead of going to the doctor. And often, they tend to search for the keyword “fast” rather than “safe”. Fast and safe are two relative words when it comes to diet pills. The effect of diet pills vary depending on your metabolism, age, and lifestyle. Ill-effects also are dependent on the user of the pill. Factors such as blood pressure, tolerance to pain, and even age will definitely have an effect.

I remember when I first took an over the counter pill without consulting my doctor. I had headaches and involuntary bowel movement but they were all tolerable. I had great results so I recommended it to my aunt. However when she took it, she experienced intolerable side effects including palpitation. So remember, always seek medical advice before taking pills.  Safe diet pills that work are always better than rapid weight loss diet pills.

Earlier I received a call from my bestfriend and heard about the good news – her five-year boyfriend finally ask her to marry him. I am so happy for her. Actually both of us felt relieved (whew) for we were starting to think that her BF does not really want to commit. There is a catch though… Her BF joined the Navy and maybe reassigned elsewhere after their marriage. But who cares right? Asking her to marry him just means that he really wants her in his life.

Anyhow, enough with her story. Actually, my friend and I promised each other that both of us will plan for the other’s wedding. I of course intend to keep that promise so after the call, I started to search the net for some wedding planning tips and tricks. Upon browsing, I came across so many sites offering all inclusive wedding packages at reasonable prices. They intend to have a small wedding on June so I still have a lot of time to prepare. Damn I am so excited!

Information Technology has a very large demand for talents nowadays. This is the reason why more students choose IT as their course in college. Earlier, I was at a career development seminar. I was invited by a friend of mine to be a speaker and share some of my thoughts in the IT world. In the question-and-answer part of the talk, one of the students asked me if IT is the best course to choose over the other courses.

I answered, IT is perhaps the worst course to get for college. Based from my personal experience, IT is all about automation and enhancement. In any field, may it be accounting, engineering, medicine, and even advertising, IT is just there to make things easier. To be a successful in IT, one must be able to be familiar with the field. For instance, if you are creating an application for a bank, you must understand the requirements. To add to my answer, I believe that IT should be taken as a post-graduate course rather than a college course.

Personally, I took marketing as my college course. I just learned how to create web applications after I graduated. That is, after taking an information technology degree on top of my work. I was able to easily create applications suitable to marketing because of my expertise in the field. I know some IT graduates have their insights too. This is only my opinion anyhow.

Whenever I travel and arrive at a particular accommodation – be it a five-star hotel or a simple bed and breakfast – the first thing I always check is the bathroom. I am very particular with that area of the accommodation. I find it quite alarming whenever I’m not comfortable with the bathroom. In fact, it’s more often than not a make or break deal with me in picking accommodations.

This is exactly why I was ecstatic to find that the place I rented for my 3-day getaway last weekend has a spacious bathroom with Saniflo toilet! I was so happy I spent at least two hours each day of my 3-day weekend enjoying my hot shower and lounging in the bathtub. It’s a good thing my friends are used to my long hot shower and bath habits. During the getaway, they generally just left me alone to hog the bathroom whenever it’s my turn.