Boston

It’s already 2:34 am, coffee shop mode with 16ers. Review! I’m supposed to be studying for a quiz. But here I am writing a casino review.

If there is one thing that I am really envious of right now, it is my sister hitting the slots in Vegas last weekend.  Sheesh, now I’m reminded that she’s been to the same casino where they filmed Oceans 11. Man, I’d kill for the same experience.

Oh well, I can always try those online casinos, right? USA online casino experience may not be in comparable with the real thing, but if it’s about winning, not being there wouldn’t matter at all. I just wish I know how to gamble. Try that luck for the fat cash. I just don’t know how that really works, though. Would I need my pokerface while gambling online? Err, I have no idea.

I better get back to what I should be doing. Vanilla Twilight is playing. Sweet song and oh so wrong for the mood I need while pulling an all-nighter.  Must resist this urge to sleep.   

Shiny, Shiny

My sister’s company raffled out a Chevrolet and I was  crossing my fingers, hoping and praying  that she wins. As her luck would have it, she didn’t. Well, so much for my plan of giving her chevy accessories.  It could easily have been chrysler accessories; what, a girl can dream!

One of these days, I promise myself that I’m going to save enough money so I can buy my own car. It doesn’t have to be anything flashy, I don’t really need cadillac accessories, but I want something red and shiny. It doesn’t have to be brand new, but it has to work like a brand-new car because I know squat about mechanics and car troubleshooting. My greatest fear about driving, except for unfortunate accidents, is my car breaking down or having a flat tire. It doesn’t matter if it happens somewhere remote or somewhere filled with people, although the latter is always better. Too much hassle, too little know-how and car-fixing skills.

Stock Options Trading

A friend of mine recently fessed up about trying the stock market once. That totally surprised me because I’ve never seen him as the type that is interested in stock options trading. That was before recession took a hit to the world and people are still brave in investing money. I’ve always thought about doing just that although I have zero knowledge about that whole side of business. Truth be told, I have zero knowledge about business. Period. Anyway, my friend’s trial didn’t work out. I guess I’ll need other tips for options trading mentoring or something. The thing is, in such a time like this when people are always nervous about losing jobs or finding it so hard to have supplemental income, it’s kind of hard to take risk on new things. But not taking risk will just keep us wondering, anyway, so if we can take some calculated ones, I guess that would be okay. 

I guess there are books about these things. Like a Dummy’s guide or something.  There is a “Dummies” book for almost everything, right? From the simplest thing to the more complicated ones.  I haven’t tried buying one, though, so I can’t judge for now if those tips work. Maybe I’ll also check those out sometime. Now maybe this is really not the best time to deal on something as risky as stock option trading. I just thought that having at least an understanding might be a good thing. 

Holiday, Holidays

Laptop Security

I’ve been browsing new stuff from Amazon today and it occurred to me that I’ve done quite a lot of online buying transactions without really being worried about my financial details getting left in the computers I’m using. Granted, I’m only using my home PC and my laptop at times, but I wonder how much stuff gets imprinted on the hard drive of these personal computers that can get decrypted. Not that I think anybody would be willing to waste time to something like that; in MY stuff, I mean. Still, this sort of pushed me to do a little research on Hard Drive Encryption, and I discovered that there are even free encryption software programs available online. Data encryption, apparently, is the process of converting plaintext data into hypertext data, so that they cannot be read, which spells Laptop Security for me. More than just protecting your privacy online, it is also a very important way to shield your personal information like addresses, contact numbers, and, more importantly, credit card details. Some e-mail programs even have encryption systems so that your mails will be protected from third parties who may be intercepting personal mails. I get that sites such as PayPal or other online shopping sites where you input credit card numbers are heavily protected by such Mobile Data Protection System.

Hormone Replacement

Secured Credit Cards

So I’m trying to start a debt-free life but it is still going to take so much work. I’ve been so used to swiping cards and not carrying cash (because I usually don’t have those, heh) that I read those Credit Card Ratings like I would read a cool beauty magazine. It’s embarrassing, really. But the thing is, using cards is not all that bad. I can list a hundred advantages. I guess my point is being neck-deep in debt because of using credit cards isn’t the cards’ fault. It’s all about managing and self-control really.  If you have Secured Credit Cards, well that’s better. The thing is, when I first decided to get a credit card, apply for one I mean, I never imagined that I’ll be able to accumulate a number of them. Well, part of the reason is because I am a good payer, so I guess credit card companies find it easy to approve my applications. I even got a number of pre-approved cards I didn’t even apply for. The hard part is not using all of them and only using them and then paying everything in full at the end of every month. That has really become a challenge for me. It’s hard, but I’m now just trying to pay for them and possibly not spend extravagantly in the next few years to come. If only I only use a Secured Credit Card. After I paid everything, I’ll probably get one and cancel everything else.

Putting Up Vinyl Banners

For the next several months, our company will have a number of extracurricular activities for the employees to participate in, in keeping with the Work-Life-Balance mantra. I am thinking about volunteering as staff for some of those events.I may have to plan on setting up vinyl banners for some of the events. For example, for the Battle of the Bands, I’m thinking there must be banners above and on all sides of the stage. Well, I haven’t really figured out how to go about it, so we’ll see if it isn’t be going to be too crowded that way.  Even the badminton, darts, bowling, and basketball tournaments would need some banners to announce them and I’m thinking of buying some car magnets for those events I will be joining as a contestant. This will be fun! Ok, now I’m even thinking about logos and designs. Some of the activities were yearly events so the logos have been long available but maybe we can spice things up a bit. Change some colors and stuff, maybe. I am hoping we can have something that grabs attention but is not over the top. My goal is to try and keep the professional “feel” in them hopefully. I guess we’re going to have to see how everything will pan out then. I’ll keep you posted.

iPod Leather Case

It has been four long years since I got my old, green iPod mini, you know the one without the screen. Since it broke, I’ve been using my phone, a P990i, which I got as a discounted unit for my Smart retention plan, to play music. I didn’t even get to buy an iPod leather case before it stopped working. In a few days’ time, I can avail of another retention plan again, another 24-month contract to be exact, and I’m keen on getting Sony Ericsson G705 this time. I did not look for too many other brands and models because I might be tempted to buy something out of the budget (the said phone would require me to add Php2200 for the unit as bundled with the new subscription plan). I was intent on getting a cheap mobile phone and even downgrade my current monthly subscription but since I’m relatively a heavy texter anyway, plus I use my cell to call landline numbers a lot of times, not to mention using the 3G internet capability whenever my broadband fails me, I decided to just keep it that way. I’m thinking of scouting for iPhones because they really are very popular these days and quite frankly it would be a dream come true for a music lover like me. To have one in an iPhone leather case must be something very cool. Truth is, I’ve also been looking at those Blackberrys on display with the Blackberry case and I do want to try using one just because they look elegant and chic, but I’m not very sure about them being user-friendly or even if I’ll have so much use for them other than the usual text-and-call. Well, I guess I’m sticking with the G705, then.

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