Amazing Technology

I am truly amazed at today's gadgets! Back in the early nineties, cellular phones were HUGE and expensive. Even the plans that were available were expensive. They won't fit into a handbag. My dad used one of those phones because he was a businessman and he was always on the go. Now, they are so small and so inexpensive, almost everyone I know has one. I actually use 2 -- one for my patients and family, another for my online business.

Same goes for games. We had our Game and Watch by Nintendo back when we were small, but these feature only one game per unit. Of course, at that time, people think you're cool if you brought along one of those (but teachers at my school used to confiscate them). Now there's PSP, XBox, and Nintendo Wii. Me? I don't have any of those. I don't even have time to update this blog or to read the books I bought last Christmas! LOL. I just content myself with the games on facebook.

Even TVs have undergone huge changes. When I was small, TVs were black and white, had a cover that could be locked and looked like this huge cabinet. Later on, colored TVs became "in". Now, you have LCD TVs and plasma TVs. I wonder what they will think of next.

I feel old. :P

New Horizons

This week is turning out to be very busy. I've started as a reliever for one of my former "bosses". It's scary -- venturing out again, risking overhead -- but exciting. Like a new adventure. I'd like to believe that this may be the start of something big.

I'm also keeping my fingers crossed about another family "project". You see, we're thinking of opening a small store at one of the top shopping centers, which happen to be near our home. We're thinking of selling RTW clothes, baby and kid's needs, maternity and nursing clothes, and some of our organic products, for starters. Then we'll see how things go. Maybe add products later, like shoes (the mbt certainly looks interesting).

2010 is starting out to be an exciting year. Keeping our fingers crossed that things are getting better.

Until They Conk Out!

I am not a person who switches to a something new just because it's there. I usually use something until it no longer works or it's obsolete, whichever comes first.

Case in point are my cellphones. Just to give you an idea, the oldest video and photo stored in the micro sd card of my cellular phone (aside from the sample ones built in, of course) are my son's video and pictures, the oldest of which was when he was about 5 months old. He's now more than 4 years old! And that's just my "newer" cellular phone. I have an older one which I still use up to now. I do not even know if batteries and other accessories are still available for that one, but since it's still running and working, I'm still using it.

I'm still pretty happy with them, though. They serve my purposes beautifully. I don't find the need for more apps anyway. And I'm too lazy to keep on moving my phonebook and other files. But if they do become obsolete or conk out, I'll get a newer model to try to keep up.

Cars In Floods

After the deluge that was Ondoy, I hurriedly looked at our current car insurance plans. Unfortunately, "acts of God" such as flood isn't covered. Fortunately, my husband's car and my car were not submerged in floodwaters at all. But they could have been, if we had just happened to be in Marikina at that time. So should we consider getting a new auto insurance quote? Even if we want to, I think a lot of insurance companies are now excluding the "acts of God" clause in their coverage. Or they would jack up their prices if such a clause was included.

That sucks, but I guess they did lose a lot when Ondoy happened. Just imagine the number of vehicles which were caught in the floods! That is certainly NOT a good day for insurance companies, but an even worse day for the victims.

Thinking Of A Store

I'm seriously thinking of going into business. While I love being a doctor, I realize that it would be better if I do have an alternative source of income. Earning from my profession is pretty unpredictable. And of course, it depends upon my physical presence--meaning if I get sick or need to be absent, bye-bye income.

I need something that runs and earns money from me even if I have to take a short break.

My brother and I are thinking of having a store. I'm thinking that it might be an extension of my online business. Or vice versa. We have a place in mind and suppliers in mind. We have to signify our intention for the place though. Then try to make everything nice and ready, like putting in shelves, fitting areas, hanger bars (is that what they're called?), clamps or whatever it needs.

Sounds daunting. Oh well, we're definitely keeping our fingers crossed.

Allergies In The Family

My mother has been having a dry type of cough for years already. She was told that she had an allergic type of cough, for which she takes medications to control it. The thing is, the medications are there to minimize symptoms, but it's best if we could look for the trigger. I wonder if it's the pollution that we have, or something else in the environment? I think it's something in the Manila air, because, curiously enough, her symptoms seem to improve when she goes out of the country! Maybe the allergen is found here? I'm not sure if she will benefit from allergy beddings but maybe she should also give it a try.

My little boy also seemed to suffer from bouts of cough even when he did not have colds. His pediatrician reminded us that he used to have cow's milk allergy, so it's very possible that his immune system is hyperactive, meaning he may also have some sort of allergy. I'm trying something out, though, and it seems to be working for him. Keeping my fingers crossed.

For my baby girl, I'm entertaining the thought. I saw scratch marks on her face a few times from her vigorous scratching (we've cut her nails already, mind you) so we think she might be having some itch. I hope it's just temporary. We just changed the beddings. I'm switching to a hypoallergenic soap tomorrow. We hope it works for her.

Tsinay On The Net

If you had told my grandfather that I would be having a sideline of sorts online, he would have shaken his head in disbelief. Come to think of it, my dad might have a similar reaction. Of course, personal computers weren't around during my grandfather's time. Heck, he used the abacus for complex mathematical equations! (I wished I listened more when he was attempting to teach me how to use it.)

As for my dad, he did attempt to modernize his office by having desktop computers and printers. He didn't really learn how to use the internet though, even if we did get a dial up connection then. Of course, internet then was much slower, although at the time we were already quite ahead in the game. We could afford to sacrifice one phone line at home since we had more than one phone. However, business correspondence via email was not a usual practice then. Email was limited to personal mail. Business contacts were established via phone calls and fax.

That's why things like online stores, blogs, web directory and social networking, while common and widespread today, would virtually be unknown back then.

The internet has truly changed the world in a major way.