Here is a cool gift you can buy your friends – a pack of romeo y julieta 1875 cigars. hehehe.

Personally, I find cigars very elegant. They are the sort of things that regular people usually never buy. My Dad bought a pack once when I was a kid and it is still in his drawer until now, 2o years later. Cigars are like weed. The nicotine will make you feel like you have no problems in life. The feeling of sheer pleasure can make anyone feel like they are in heaven.

It is dangerous to health however. Not only to you but to people around you. If you smoke it that is. Cigars can be smoked, but typical cigar lovers only suck them until they lose their flavor. The aroma of the tobacco leaves is what makes them high. Not the smoke.

Oh and by the way, cigars make anyone look like the Godfather. Ever seen someone with a cigar? Looks like he’s either a mafia or a kgb right?

“With great credit limit comes great responsibility”…

This has been my motto with credit cards since I had one. Credit cards are a necessity these days. They do not only give you convenient shopping, it also helps you in times of dire financial need. Although some people have the idea that credit cards are from Satan, when used correctly, these cards can actually help you save. Here are some tips on how you can save using credit cards:

1. Never pay for annual fees – credit cards have annual fees. When you are charged for this, immediately call your bank and ask for a waiving of annual fee. Ask for options on how they could waive it. Usually you will just need to charge some amount of money on your card.

2. Always pay monthly dues in full – to avoid transaction fees that could really accumulate in time. Make sure you pay in full to avoid penalties. Plus if you do this regularly, you will get a good credit rating and they will usually give you annual free reversals as incentive.

3. Always know your bank’s promos – every card has promos. They just never run out of it. Promos may be rebates or reward cards you can use just like cash.

So there. Do all those things and you will definitely get some savings. Again, discipline is the key to anything.

Earlier, I met with a friend of mine who was a former colleague. We used to be circuit designers in our previous company but then I shifted career to IT and I had no new news from her since then. That was two years ago.

I was surprised to see how successful she became. She said, she was sick of the technical stuff about circuits so she decided to shift to the medical field. She took a course from a medical assistant school and is now working as a private medical transcriptionist for a clinic. She told me the pay is great and the work is not that stressful. The only thing difficult is understanding the medical terms. But then this is what school is for.

Anyhow, I am glad that she is well. We spend the day talking about new gossips about our previous officemates. It was all fun. Talking to old friends is one of the best things in life. So next time, we will set up a reunion party with our old colleagues that we miss so much.

Summer is so hot these days. Yesterday temperature rose to 39 degrees. Air conditioning in the office was just not sufficient anymore, so they installed new ceiling fans to keep the air flowing.

The rising temperatures always gets people to talk about climate change. But come to think of it, nothing can be done about the world’s climate. At not without a leader. The fight against climate change is the whole world’s problem.

The simplest way to cool down the earth is to shut down all heat generating equipment. This is not just limited to air conditioning, refrigerators and light bulbs at home. This includes every car in the street, every power plant, and every TV antenna there is. The world will certainly cool down if these things are shut down for just probably a year right? However no matter what people may say, it is just not doable. No one in his sane mind will be able to lead the world into shutting down everything for a year.

I have a few friends who have trouble with their masculinity. Some people say that they’re to feminine, or that they’re not man enough.

But what exactly makes a man?

Is there really a way to find that out? Is it based entirely on one’s physique, or not shedding a single tear for anything too emotional? Or is it taking charge and being a the world’s greatest warrior because that’s what everyone expects a true man to be?

Is masculinity proportional to the amount of moustache in one’s face? Is that something that the world’s best testosterone boosters could help enhance?

I don’t think that’s what measures masculinity, but that’s what opinion is for. We all have different views, and defining one set of rules for such a broad topic wouldn’t be fair for everyone.

Given all that, I think this topic would be a wonderful one to discuss with you all, so give me your feedback on what you think measures a man’s masculinity. I would be glad to hear from all of you.

I have always thought that birthday gifts somehow express how important you are to a person. Take cheap gifts, for example. I don’t think anyone would ever consider giving a cheap gift that one could get anywhere for a person that is dear to them.

I know I wouldn’t. This is why I rarely ever buy people presents. Call me horrid, but I dislike disguises and pretending that I like one person when in fact I don’t, so I resort to avoiding people.

Even if this avoiding scheme makes me look like an awful person, I am very loyal to all of my friends. I stand up for them when they need me, and I tell the truth if they ask me a question.

It will be one of my friends’ birthday this weekend, and I want to get her something very special. I don’t have enough financial resources to get her what I really want to give her, so I’ll work hard on a gift that I made myself instead.

What kind of presents do you give to the people that are dear to you? How do you decide on what to give them?

When it comes to answering the question “where do I invest my money”, the usual answer is, it really depends. Others buy stocks or invest in a mutual fund. Others venture into sales business. Some even buy gold bars and just keep them in the safe. Personally, whenever I am asked on where to put my money, I definitely answer “somewhere less risky”. We all know that investments all have risks but you must weigh the risks. Think about the risks if it can be easily managed or not. Profitability follows after that. The faster the return of investment, the better. Also, I always make it a point to invest on something that could be easily liquidated. For example in sales business, if ever you think that you want to get all your investments to use the money on something better, you just do a price drop.  Making your investments liquid is very helpful especially in rough times.