As I was eating pancakes this morning, my sister and I discussed random things like how to set your priorities, good music, and cheap insurance quotes. This is one of the things that I enjoy doing the most, I guess you could call it one of my simple pleasures.

We talk about the most amazing things during breakfast, and I sure do learn a lot from her. She gives just the best advice for anything.

In exchange for her sound advice, I usually give her good songs to listen to, as I have a wide collection of those and I know which ones are good for a certain mood and feel.

Like what the old saying goes, it’s better to learn from the experience (or mistakes) of others, rather than to commit them your own.

I’d like to disagree though, some of us wouldn’t ever really learn until we experience it ourselves. Being so thick headed is quite normal, as we are human, after all.

I love shopping for unique birthday gifts for my Nth level friends. Whenever possible, I also organize events or surprises for them. However, for this year, one of my Nth level friend specifically instructed, “no gifts” to me.

I was stumped.

You see, I consider birthdays as a day where you get to be the Prince or Princess – and everyone treats you like one. That is, you can get away with everything and anything, and just because it is YOUR day after all. And I like pampering my Nth level friends like that. For me, it’s also a day where you can legally smother them with your affection without them saying, “It’s too much!” Frankly, they deserve more than what I can come up with during their birthdays. Much, much more.

So for this year, to celebrate my friend’s Birthmonth, given the “no gifts” instructions, I decided to do small things in an extraordinary or special way for my friend. Like last Tuesday, after dinner, I treated my friend to a savory yogurt dessert we both haven’t tried and surprised my friend with a pink stress ball. The next day, Wednesday, I dropped by my friend’s office to deliver a slice of luscious cake.

The month’s almost ending though. I wonder what unique gifts I will still come up with…

I find term life insurance quite necessary these days. You’ll never know when death comes knocking on your door, and it would be helpful to think ahead.

I know most of us don’t really want to face death, but it’s something we all know we can’t evade and that we have to go through.

Sometimes imagining the worst case scenario often helps. You might end up getting a nervous breakdown if you get surprised with what happened because you didn’t prepare for it. It’s always safer to prepare for the worst than to expect the best and get disappointed later on.

I guess I’m paranoid because I am currently afraid of losing my parents. Just the thought of losing them entirely breaks my heart. I do everything I can to be preoccupied and to keep my mind off them, but I just couldn’t stop worrying, so I applied for a term insurance.

I know the thought of losing them still hasn’t left my mind entirely but at least I don’t worry so much anymore.

I have been seriously considering resigning in my current job. And seeing an advertisement about philadelphia airport jobs triggered something inside me (believe it or not, I had wanted to be a flight attendant - free travel!). My friend once advised me that there are two reasons why people stay at work. It’s either you:

1. Love your job, or
2. Your pay is great

I like my job, but there’s no room for growth in my company. As for the pay, I happen to know that industry standard dictates that - modesty aside - I’m worth three times my current salary. My boss is just too dense and stingy to acknowledge the need to align me with that.

I guess the only reason I’m still working in my company is because it has become my comfort zone. I am in a position where I have a lot of authority and the people on my team and those that really matters trust and respect me. It took me a long time to earn that respect and trust and I know that if I do decide to bid my farewells and join a new company I’d most likely start from scratch.

But, come to think of it, that’s not enough reason to stay. I guess it’s time for me to be bold and move forward. God, help me.

My father has been having issues with his hair. His hairline is receding and the middle part of his head is slowly losing hair. I guess I got my vanity from him. He’s recently been addicted to watching television ads, especially the ones related to hair implants or hair growth enhancement products.

He’s been really conscious about his bald spot, and actually started researching about what causes hair loss.

I guess it’s because we tease him about it so much that he became conscious. Self esteem plays a pretty big role in one’s life, after all. Either way, I’m going to have to show him that we love him even if he’s bald!

I recently saw an image of a teenage girl staring into the mirror. The reflection showed a fatter version of her, but in reality, she’s almost like a walking skeleton.

It’s what everything around us wants to think. We’re all slowly being brainwashed about what we think is attractive. All the hollywood stars out there are skinny, and they make horizontally challenged people comedians instead.

I guess this is what forces the teenagers nowadays to take appetite suppressants. It’s just sad, really.

Affiliate marketing program has been the trend in most companies. It makes employees more motivated, innovative, and productive, thus, reflecting success of the company as well. Affiliate marketing is a marketing practice in which one is rewarded for each profitable client brought in the company. If one will look at it broadly, one simply has to make it good in the marketing department and everything goes well. Indeed, it should. Then again, not all things are as simple as 1-2-3. And just like any other programs, this too, is in need of an efficient management. Otherwise, however efficient the program might be or however proficient the employees might be, everything will still gradually crumble down.

Depending on how this kind of program is run by the company, an affiliate marketing program can be like an incentive program or more of a commission basis program. If it works like an incentive, then it is beneficial for any type of employee. If it is the latter, however, then this wouldn’t be of much help for those who need to have regular recurring pay.