MARIPOSA'S TALES

Moving Tips

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:14:00 +0000

One of the things that occupies my mind while I'm here in Manila is moving to a new place. While most of my friends have been moving around, some even tried coast to coast movement in the US I've never tired moving to a new place in my life.

So today I tried searching for some moving tips. I found Moving Companies Los Angeles, a site which offers all help once needs to move to a new location.

Below are just some of the tips they shared;

It is important to book your moving services well ahead to secure your ideal moving date.

Important documents and possessions, such as wills, deeds, jewelry, photographs and home videos are impossible to replace. It's wise to consider moving these and other important belongings to a safety deposit box while you move.

Remember to contact your local post office and fill-out forwarding address forms. Additionally, leaving a small welcome card with your forwarding address for the people moving into your old home is a nice way of asking for any additional pieces of your mail to be redirected.

Do not have your phone disconnected until after loading day.

DON'T polish your furniture! This makes the furniture slippery for the movers or yourself, also when we wrap pads around the furniture it can leave marks on the furniture where the pad was placed, do to buildup of cleaning residue!

Reserve ample parking for the truck. If parking is to be on a city street, it is your obligation to tell the movers of any meters that need to be capped by the city. In the winter, be sure to have the parking area and walkways clear of snow and ice.

Prepare an "Unload First" carton with essentials that you'll need immediately at your new home (Essential Items). Include a bag filled with hardware from disassembled items, such as dresser mirrors and beds.

Try to keep boxes to 50 pounds or less and always lift with your legs. Tape the bottom of all boxes to make certain they will hold your belongings.

Pack books flat, not standing on end (which may cause damage to the spines). Books are extremely heavy, so don't pack too many in one box.

For more information, please call Los Angeles Office Movers.

Sunrise

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:00:00 +0000

This picture was taken early this week on a boat to my Grandma's place in Bohol island. I just couldn't help but take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. Even with the typhoon up north in Luzon the weather in the Visayas region was just surprisingly good and the seas calm.

Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Shopping for Swimwear

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Two months ago, the IT Guy got my a swimwear, a hydra suit to be specific. I have to say it feels so good in the water for whatever reason. It's so sporty and exactly what I need to go back to the pool and to take swimming seriously again. Early this year my doctor told me to go back to swimming as an alternative to going to the gym since I told him I've had not time to exercise the way I used to. He told me swimming can be very good for my body and it can help me manage body pains and stress aside from my weekly massage.

Let's make it short I started using my new swimwear and my friend just LOVE it, that she told me all she want for Christmas is a swimwear. Okay! But then we're not the same size. Thank goodness online stores for womens swimwear. I found her a nice, cute swimwear for her size. I just placed an order and hopefully it gets here on time for the Holidays.

Fun Monday: Getting To Know You!

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:44:00 +0000

Happy Fun Monday everyone!

First my apologies for my late post, I went to Bohol (a nearby island) to visit my Grandfather's tomb. It's All Souls' Day here.

This week's activity is about --

Most of use have been blogging for sometime yet some of us just met recently or only get in touch every Fun Monday. So next week, I will be asking 2 things --

(1) Share something which you wish your readers would know about you. It could be something you feel you might need to clarify/ share, etc.

(2) Ask three questions to your readers, and I mean all readers, whether participants of Fun Monday or not. The questions should be generic so that all your readers can answer them and that it will help you get to know your readers more.

Here goes mine;

First off, if there's one thing I want my readers to know about it, I guess I can sum them up in bullet points --

I'm Filipina, and I'm based in Cebu City, Philippines
IT Guy is the love of my life (in case some of you wonders who he is!)
I'm very close to my family, and that includes extended family.
I love butterflies, thus I call myself Mariposa (Spanish of butterfly).
This site is such a part of me that I can't imagine shutting it down! And I so enjoyed the people I meet here.

Now that I shared some little facts about myself, I hope you can tell me about yourself --

Where are you from? (No need to be so specific, country, state, province is enough!)
Please share something that is specific to where you're from. Anything your place is known or famous for, etc. (For instance, Cebu is known for nice beaches, guitars, dried mangoes, etc.)
Pick one thing which you can associate yourself with.

I'd like to thank the following people for joining Fun Monday, it's always nice to get to know people!

Sayre

Gattina

Faye

CynicalGirl

Wendishness

Janis

Lynn

Grace (Next week's host!)

Getting To Know You

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:50:00 +0000

...will be our Fun Monday activity next week!

Most of use have been blogging for sometime yet some of us just met recently or only get in touch every Fun Monday. So next week, I will be asking 2 things --

(1) Share something which you wish your readers would know about you. It could be something you feel you might need to clarify/ share, etc.

Ok...that's it! I hope many will participate. I'm also inviting everyone who stops by to join as I believe this is an amazing way of bonding with our readers and blogger friends.

Wish you all a fun weekend. I'm off to Bohol, a nearby island and will just add participant's name when I get back. (Not sure if the farm has internet access.)

Please scroll down for my PhotoHunt entry.

Too Many...

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 03:08:00 +0000

PhotoHunt: BAGS

These are some of my old bags...I no longer use them but I'm keeping them all anyway. Bags are one of my vices, next to shoes of course! You may also want to participate Fun Monday next week...I'm hosting it and you'll find next week's theme above this post.

Please visit PhotoHunt's HQ to see others' BAGS!

Wish you all a great weekend...

Friday Fill-Ins Hallooween

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:52:00 +0000

Here goes my Friday Fill-Ins for the week...

1. It was a dark and stormy night, I was scared and wished you're with me.

2. They don't like it so I offered to take the books myself.

3. Rushing out, to meet you.

4. Oh my...I think I heard a howl!

5. Shhhh... I think I heard footsteps.

6. Somebody give me something good to eat!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to packing my things for out trip, tomorrow my plans include visiting my GrandMa and Sunday, I want to go to the cemetery with the family!

Here, most of our activities are for All Saint's and All Souls Day, so we're going to Bohol and spend our long holidays there. I will be back Monday evening to join my team's activity at the office. The department will host a trick or treat activity.

Wish you all a safe and happy Friday!

Keeping The Faith

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:24:00 +0000

they wonder and ask
how's life after the big news
i'd say, life goes on

still enjoying work
despite the uncertainties

que sera sera!

whatever happens

this is what i know for sure -

i always make it

Please don't forget
to visit other
people's wonderful haiku
at Jan's Life!

Happy Friday to all of you!

AutoLog-off Idle Computer

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:45:00 +0000

Security for unattended computers is a hot issue at work...and I want to believe it's the same in almost all organizations. Just imagine if somebody gets to use my computers if I leave unattended. I will be liable to whatever data stored there, plus god know what that person can do to my network access.

At work, leaving a computer unattended is against company policy depending on its impact, it can cause an employee his/ her job. But the as human as we are, in our hurry to go somewhere, sometimes this happens. And companies acknowledge this...so that more than trying to police its employees who forgot to logoff or lock their computers, they have become more proactive and implement software that can auto logoff an idle computer. This software is a screen locking system for Windows®. It extends the capability of the standard workstation lock and gives network administrators complete control over idle workstations.

You may want to visit the site to know more.

You Can Still Be a Dad!

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:10:00 +0000

I will be sharing today my thoughts on reproductive health. Yes, it's a Friday and I'm so into this topic that the IT Guy is mocking me this early morning.

Anyway, I have friends, male friends for that matter who got themselves snipped several years ago. Now, they're married again and sad to say, having children seems hopeless for them...or at least that how most people would think of. But well, a friend told me that there is now a thing called vasectomy reversal.

That is good news! Really good news, specially that the last article I've read stated that about 6% of men who has undergone vasectomy would eventually want to restore back their fertility. So what is this vasectomy reversal and just effective is this?

First, let me discuss very briefly the process of vasectomy. It is a surgical procedure that blocks the vas deferens, preventing the sperm from flowing to the prostate. This obstruction is usually done by removing a very small segment of the vase deferens and placing small metal clip (or suture) on the end of the vas.

Now, the reversal of this procedure involves another surgical procedure that re-approximates the cut ends of vas deferens to restore the flow of the sperm from the testicle to the prostate and this can be done in two ways: a vasovasostomy or vasoepididymostomy. To have this procedure accomplished by an expert micro surgeon also adds to its success rate among other factors such health, length of time since the vasectomy was done and others. For the details of vasectomy reversal I encourage you to visit that site to learn more about it.

What I am so excited about is the fact that there is hope for couples who wants to have children and that it can be done safely without risking the life of the man...and looks like its success rates are trending up! Another God's little miracles.

Ace, this post is for you! ;)

It's All About Women

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:49:00 +0000

It's Thursday and I really need to go to bed soon as I have an early appointment later...and with the time now, I think I'm only left with 5-6 hours sleep but then I miss Thursday Thirteen very much that I want to make a quick post before I doze off.

Anyway, here goes, 13 Funny and Interesting Facts about Women!

1. According to Playboy, more women talk dirty during sex than men.

2. Women do NOT want an honest answer to the question, ‘How do I look?’

3. A Saudi Arabian woman can get a divorce if her husband doesn’t give her coffee.

4. It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.

5. Women do NOT want an honest answer to the question, ‘Is that girl good looking?’

6. The two highest IQ’s ever recorded (on a standard test) both belong to women.

7. Sex is more physical for men and more emotional for women.

8. It’s okay for women to dance with each other and not be gay, You don’t see straight men dancing together.

9. The first naked man women see is ‘Ken’.

10. Women are never wrong. Apologizing is the man’s responsibility.

11. When a woman answers, “I’m fine, ” after a

few seconds, she is not fine.

12. The average number of items in a typical woman’s bathroom is 437. A man would not be able to identify most of these items.

13. If a man goes on a seven-day trip, he’ll pack five days worth of clothes and will wear some things twice; if a woman goes on a seven-day trip she’ll pack 21 outfits because she doesn’t know what she’ll feel like wearing each day.

In as much as I want to give credit to its source, I got this a friend via email.

Happy ~~hump day~~ Thursday everyone!

Search Aid

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:40:00 +0000

I've been looking online for some training materials which I can collaborate with my own modules for my staff training. One challenge I found was looking for the right link which will let me download materials in their right format (Of course these materials are readily shared and are all acknowledged in my materials.) Personally I prefer downloading materials in PDF form over some html files, a not so easy thing to do actually.

Thank goodness for PDF Search Engine for allowing me make searches for materials according to its formats. This search engine index files according to formats and you can be sure that if you are looking for PDF files, all you get are links offering PDF files!

So you know what to do next time you look for a PDF file.

An Internet Addict NOT!

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:23:00 +0000

You Are 40% Addicted to the Internet

Internet? Please. You're definitely not geeky enough to be that addicted.

You have a full life off your computer - and the internet is just a small pastime.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Get That Vacation Now!

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:54:00 +0000

Have you been planning on going for a vacation and keep putting it to a halt? Do you need some time to unwind? Any plans of going to Asia, or do you feel just like going somewhere...only if budget allows you to?

Well...Accor Hotels 3-Day Super Sale Asia Pacific just gives you a reason to go! And why not? It offers one million hotel rooms at amazing rate across Asia Pacific. And you need to hurry because this is a 3-Day Sale promo only which will end on October 30, 2009. Yes, you read it right, book them now and you can stay at the hotel of your choice between the period of December 2009 up to April of 2010.

Accor is a major global group and a in hotels and it operates in nearly 100 countries with 150,000 employees thus it give you a long list of hotels to choose from. And if you take advantage of their 3 Day Sale promo, you may get a hotel room for as low as $30. Sweet!

So get that vacation you deserve and book now!

He Brings Out The Child In Me

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Children's games are hardly games.

Children are never more serious than when they play.

~MONTAIGNE, Essays

Two weekends ago IT Guy visited our friend whose house happens to be near Family Park. The last time IT Guy and I went there was many years ago...so we opted to bring the nephew with us and check the park. He is really good with children...that we had to run around the field and end up bouncing here! LOL

Happy not so Wordless Wednesday!

I Love Nikon!

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:02:00 +0000

It's a bit late, I know but well I'm still up. I'm shopping for a camera, I mean a real one. After losing my beloved Nikon and being bitter about for months, I am so ready to move on and get myself a new one!

And I don't mean just any camera, it's Nikon or nothing for me.

This morning IT Guy for no apparent reason just ask me if I don't have any plan of getting a new camera. And I was like...well I told you, either I get a Nikon or nothing at all, then he said -- then get a Nikon, shop around and tell me how much. I was in an awe. Did he just volunteered to pay?! Sweet heavens! LOL

So I've searched...and I found some camera stores in nyc with great deals! They offer both Nikon point and shoot and SLR cameras. I fell in love with the Nikon S710, a point and shoot digicam. IT Guy would love it...for himself. ;) I would go for an SLR obviously and well, since I won't be the one paying for it, etiquette tells me look for the one which reasonably priced...so never mind if what I had was more powerful then, I can settle for a D90.

Let me call my friend now if she doesn't mind receiving the items in my behalf so I could get the free shipment offer.

I am so happy!

Mariposa's Kitchen

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

A quick shout out which I can't understand why on earth I miss it...

I have finally opened another blog where I can share and explore with you my kitchen.

I'm no cook but I love to cook...so if you have time, please visit --

Mariposa's Kitchen

I Found A File Manager

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:01:00 +0000

I just spend about an hour digging my file archives. Apparently, my folder structure is not structured at all!

Anyway...since this topic seems to get into my skin, I might as well talk about for Tech Tuesday.

One of my diseases is my paranoia of losing files...important or not so important, if I have it, I shouldn't lose it. So you can imagine me having virtual backups for most of my files. Though this is a good practice, the downside of it is every time I can't find a specific file, I go and download them...thus I end up having duplicate if not multiple files. Sound familiar? I'm sure most of us gets to have duplicate files...and they just sit there eat space while we keep upgrading our hardisk. Amazing, ha!

Well IT Guy gave me some utility software which can do folder structure analysis and help you do file management. Sweet!

You can run that utility and it can help you see your folder structure...spot duplicate or multiple files...sort and filter data and what have you. More than anything, it can remove clone files! So you get an instant file manager as well.

You may want to check the link to get other program utilities (aside from clone remover) such as disk cleaner and file sync. Trust me, it will make life easy!

Happy Tech Tuesday everyone!

After Office Gimmick

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:40:00 +0000

It's been awhile since I last posted for Tuesday's Tales. Though I don't run out of tales, I do run out of time and that's the reason for my absence here.

I have spent some of weekends with my staff. Below is one of our first get together...Kristian cooked for all of us...then we tried to drown ourselves with 3 bottles of brandy!

Brandy equals wasted girls!

Ha! What a shame....

And about 2 weekends ago, it's Kristian's birthday and we had a last minute urge to go to the beach...straight from work! It was a Saturday morning...and it was so fun!

This is a small cottage we rented.

We're all fresh from the water here... :)

Mariposa so ready to go home and sleep...LOL

My new job is quite demanding but the fun I share with my staff can't be undervalued. I LOVE them all.

That's it for my Tuesday's Tales...I invite everyone once again to play along...just drop me a comment so I can link you up!

Dressing Up My Bathroom

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:29:00 +0000

I have this strong urge of dressing up my bathroom!

Anyone...how often do you change your bathtubs? I understand not that often, but then I just feel that when I do a house makeover, I just don't limit myself with the paint and furniture, I love to include some fixtures too.

For the past days I've been shopping around for bathtubs, and I what I found are

walk in bathtubs! Have you seen those? Oh my...I think this is just what I need to inspire me to go back to my old regimen...and that is spending hours of relaxing bubble bath on a Saturday evening.

If the kitchen needs to be the cleanest part of the room...I'd say my bathroom is just the most luxurious and pampered place here...that is just how I am. No more holiday gifts for me this December...I'm getting it in advance. LOL

Sunday Morning Getup

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:14:00 +0000

It's a sunny Monday here and what a nice feeling to be back into blogging! I have spent the past Mondays cramming...and today I'm just taking it easy. What a joy!

Now that I'm back, there is no way I'm going to miss Fun Monday. Gattina at Writer Cramps is our lovely host for the week and her week assignment is - What are you wearing when you get out of your bed on a Sunday morning. Of course I want to see a picture of what you wear, with you inside or not.

Cool! I have to dig my archives...and well luckily it did not take me forever to find some old photos. (I'm so late to take new sets, and again this is supposed to be a relaxing Monday...I don't want to cram.)

So Gattina, here goes Mariposa's week entry! ;)

I live in the tropics so unless there is a bad weather, you rarely get to see me in long pants or long sleeves outfit at home...in my sleep. (And the AC is not enough to make wear them as well!)

Below are photos of Mariposa's typical outfit on a Sunday morning...or make that every morning.

Though the first two photos were at the beach, trust me if you go to my house anytime of the day (weekeday or weekends) you will see in outfits like those...spaghetti straps for my top and a short pants for my bottom. I also sleep in those outfits...and I can run to the nearby grocery stores in those outfits too! The last photo is a last minute shot. That is also a typical sleepwear...and what I happen to wear last night. I apologize I have to crop it...I just want to censor my post on a Monday morning. Bleh! :P

So that's it for me...let me check the rest! Wish you all a kickass week!

Protecting Home

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:43:00 +0000

Just along to mention it here very quickly as I feel the need to.

I just had a phone conversation with friend and well we talked about getting home and content insurance. As most of my friends know (and apparently some of them frown at it) I am a believer of insurance. I have several life insurance, medical insurance, the usual car insurance and well home and content insurance.

Where I live, people do not see the value of it. Either that or they find the premium payment just an additional burden. The last type of insurance that most people would get is probably home and content...no one here would think of getting one unless the bank ask them to do so. I, on the other hand feels I have to. And the recent flood in Manila due to typhoon is a classic example why I feel home and content insurance is a must. I don't even count fire so much as for me, as long as one takes extra precaution that risk is highly manageable. However typhoon and earthquakes are different, I just feel I can't calculate.

Anyway, the end in mind in this post is to urge people to consider home and content insurance. Maybe in the US and other areas in the world it is a common practice, but not here in the Philippines. If you are curious about it, you may want to check it out and compare home insurance policies offered by different companies.

What about you, do you have home and content insurance?

Oh! Is This So...

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:15:00 +0000

You could really tell when Mariposa has nothing to do on a Monday morning! LOL

Actually I have to finish a ppt presentation for later...I will be doing an orientation about TQM and Continuous Improvement Tools but then I'm too lazy and uninspired to do it...so for the meantime, I'm trying to have a good guess what do guys like most about me!

Here goes the answer according to Blogthings.

Guys Like That You're Sensitive

And not in that "cry at a drop of a hat" sort of way

You just get most guys - even if you're not trying to

Guys find it is easy to confide in you and tell you their secrets

No wonder you tend to get close quickly in relationships!

What Do Guys Like About You?

The Devil is in The Details

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:03:00 +0000

In as much as I do not want to talk about my wedding details here...at some point I just can't help but get into the topic...which would somehow relate to my upcoming wedding. First off, I am a very transparent person and I don't mind discussing personal stuff here...it's just that there is really to wedding details to talk about because in the first place I have not come up with anything final yet! Okay...I'm just exaggerating...I mean not with everything.

As most of you know, in any planning, the devil is always in the details...so I will try to deal with each little devil! LOL

Let's take for examples details such as center pieces and wedding favors. Oh my, I just can't seem to make up my mind with the many new ideas and concepts around. I was surfing online when I came across with these unlimited lines of wedding favors. This site just have so much to offer that I can be on it for about a day and still will get the hang of it and would still want to read more with the many things it offers.

So I told the IT Guy that for the coming weekends, we have to spend time reviewing the different fun wedding themes the site features and hopefully we can have that one united theme for ours. Once we have that we can finally decide what stuff we need to source out...specially those items which has to be shipped here...I do not want last minute shopping of items as usually that's when the budget bloats and unplanned spending happens. I want to be financially in control. Ha!

So far, right now I'm quite amaze with the different cake decors they offer...though I cannot order cake from afar I want to at least have my cake stand out by having a unique cake topper for instance. Call me crazy but I am just that. For me the value of an event is how genuinely moving it is...and one way of achieving that is to come up with a unique sweet theme.

Any latest wedding ideas you have? Please do share...

Early Morning Mutterings

mariposatells@gmail.com (Mariposa) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:27:00 +0000

I'm not a bit late than usual, as I'm usually an early riser. Today is different though...I came home past midnight from my massage...I spent half of my Sunday baking cookies.

So here is my late Unconscious Mutterings entry!

Redskins :: Sunburn
Show :: Entertainment
Smoker :: I'm NOT! LOL
Bad movie :: The Cable Guy
Play :: Having fun!
Jaguar :: A gift I refused many years back...
Click :: ...is a sound!
Production :: ...hours!
Sand :: ...and pebbles
Foreign :: ...accent

Hope you're all having a great Sunday! It's already the start of my week here!