Manna from Heaven

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Talk About Tattoos

I am in a dilemma. My 18-year old son has sort of expressed his thoughts about getting a simple tattoo. He wants to get "inked"! Not that I am such a prude but I have heard a lot of horror stories about tattoos. The latest that I read about is regarding a tattoo artist who keeps on misspelling the word he designs and then inks! I bet the best thing that my son and I could do right now is to talk to some tattoo enthusiast to get ideas on the how and what and the where of the actual art of tattooing.

Browsing on the net, I found a Free Tattoo Chat site that my son and I could join. The site is designed for tattoo hobbyists and enthusiasts. There are probably hundreds and thousands of people interested in the art of tattoo. This free tattoo chat room is one good place to expand and share your knowledge about tattoos. Membership is 100% free! All you have to do is fill up a simple online form and presto! You gain entry to any of the tattoo chat rooms where you could ask questions, swap stories, share ideas, and even view each other's tattoo arts through videocam. This is one big site for tattoo enthusiast and would-be enthusiasts to share their tattoo passion. Check it out!

Summer is Here

The heat is melting me! It is so hot,humid and airless. Locking myself up in an air-conditioned room is an option but that would be impractical. The living room and dining room have its own window-type air-conditioning units too but in times like this how I wish my house has an HVAC system. HVAC is an acronym for "heating, ventilating, and air conditioning". It is a sort of a system that controls the "climate" within residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The primary use of HVAC is to regulate room temperature, humidity, and air flow, ensuring that such elements remain within ideal ranges. HVAC systems use ventilation air ducts installed throughout a building that supply conditioned air to a room through rectangular or round outlet vents.

A company called Extreme Heating and Air and Roofing is a leader in Dallas HVAC-Air-Conditioning. The owner, Steve Glover has been in the business for the past 19 years. Any new installation goes to rigid physical inspection of the area, estimate its heat load and other checklist before quoting the project. Aside from HVAC systems, Extreme also specializes in Roofing Replacement, Roofing Repairs, Air Conditioning Replacement and Air Conditioning Service. Looking for a qualified HVAC contractor? Click the link above.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Brother-in-Law's House

My brother-in-law and his family of six have relocated to Texas from New York. He said the move has been good for it is actually cheaper to live in Texas than in New York. He called just to ask if it's a good idea to tear down a wall in his house to make room for a recreational hall.Being an architect myself I did have a few input but since I have not seen his place I told him that he better check out www.dallasremodelingcontractor.com instead.

Dallas Remodeling has been in business since 1994. The company is aptly called Miramar Consulting. Mark Scudder,the head honcho of the company personally sees to it that all construction works are well supervised. He works with a team of engineers, designers and construction team to design and build any kind and size of remodeling that his clients need.The company prides itself in designing spaces that would aesthetically please the client, make use of every available space and at a cost agreeable to both the contractor and client. The company can also incorporate solar solutions for your home since it has been doing that for industrial and commercial spaces too. Miramar Consulting has a string of happy and contented clients whose testimonies are posted in the company's website. It has recieved various awards too in its field of design and construction. I told my brother-in-law to hop to the site for consultation and assessment.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Last Good Friday

In my hometown, it has always been a tradition to Roman Catholics devotees to re-enact the passion of Christ. Of course no one could ever duplicate the sacrifice and sufferings that Jesus Christ went through but the re-enactment is one tradition dominant in Roman Catholic Philippines. I do not conform with these traditions for they are against my belief. I serve a risen Lord and not a perpetually crucified one. Anyway, I think the penitents themselves do not even know what they are doing. Envelopes are given out to bystanders watching the drama for monetary contribution. I donated 100 pesos so that the entire cast would act in front of my mother's house.

Cesar delivering his speech to Jesus

The Pharisees agreeing to Christ's crucifixion

Christ carrying the cross

A lot of digi cams started whirring at this point. I was way out watching this "silliness" when all of a sudden I heard a cry "pictures!" The Christ impersonator and his cohorts stopped and the next picture happened.

Cheap Auto Insurance Quotes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration confirmed that 42,642 Americans died in traffic in 2006. In 2008, NHTSA estimated that 37,313 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes the lowest number since 1961 (36,285).The leading causes of these accidents and casualties were drunk driving, car trouble and unsafe driving practices. Driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and wrong but there still a lot of vehicular accidents are caused by drunk driving.I always see to it that my car undergo maintenance like oil change every few thousand miles.

Bad driving habits can also cause car accidents.Do not you use your cellphone while driving. Do not fidget with the CD player or car radio incessantly or actively engage in conversation whiled driving. Follow traffic signs and observe speed limits. Distractions can cause road accidents but if you concentrate on what you do, you're far from accidents due to driver's negligence.

One of the benefits of being a good driver - no string of traffic tickets, no reported car accidents - aside from safety and long life, is that the premium on car insurance is basically low. Car insurance is not cheap. There are a lot of car insurance companies out there ready to pounce on unsuspecting clients. Do you have cheap insurance or an expensive one? I have had my share of outrageously expensive auto insurance that had not value at all. Cheap auto insurance does not mean a bad policy. It means you are smart enough to compare insurance prices and policies. An online site that offers cheap auto insurance quotes is www.autoinsurance-4u.com. There might be other resources listed in consumer.gov but this site is a veritable minefield of information regarding insurance rates, provides a varied listing of insurance companies, offers a general guide on insurance policies and more. Click the above link for more information. This may be your best insurance policy yet. Check it out.Just enter your zip code and you'll get the best valued quotes offered in your state.

After Holy Week...

Holy Week is over. What did you do in remembrance of Christ's Passion? In our church we have the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, The Seven Last Words on Good Friday and of course the Sunrise Service on Easter Sunday. I grew up observing these and more. I attended Sunday School and Church services religiously. I learned the Bible through the numerous stories I heard in Sunday School, the Bible Studies I attended the hard core back to back reading that I did when I was a lot older. My kids are well-versed in numerous Bible Stories because of the books that I bought for them. When they got older I gave them Daily Bread for their devotions.

Recently I was discussing with a friend that more and more youth are finding it boring to read the Bible. I have observed that even my kids are not keen on studying the Bible by themselves. It's good that I stumbled on a book that suggests 40+ ways to study the Bible. The new book is titled Learn to Study the Bible by Pastor Andy Deane. I browsed the site and found sample chapters with hand written notes on how to dissect the verses. I like it! The methods shown by Pastor Andy are not actually mind-blowing as most of us have used some of the methods. The good part is that every method is explained and pointers are given on how to implement the methods more effectively. Hop on over to the site and order a book today.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Warm Ambiance

When my house was being constructed some 25 year ago, almost everyone I know who dropped by the construction site and took a glimpse of the ongoing construction found it impractical that I specified wood planks for the outside wall and wood paneling for the inside. The trend way back then was to use concrete hollow blocks and concrete mixtures for ease and durability. Not me. Although my footings, columns and beams are reinforced concrete, I used wood for the finishing because I love the warm and homey ambiance from wood. Of course, it follows that I am also partial to wood furniture. My dining and living room sets are wood.