The Monsoon Flood Through The Lens Of My Camera

     A few more hours before I head home to my province for a short vacation, I found myself in my room with nothing much to do.  As I transfer images to the desktop to free some space on my camera, I saw the photos I took a week ago during the height of the monsoon flood.  Going through them, I can't help but silently admire how resilient we Filipinos are.  Surely we have other positive traits, but one prominent characteristic that surfaces at the most crucial of times is our ability to cope and survive -- and most of the time, with a smile.

A boy aboard his improvised vessel looks on as two men settles aboard a boat.
Third day of southwest monsoon flood, Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, August 9, 2012.

     Looking at the photos on this post, you can see how difficult the situation was for some of our fellow Filipinos.  Unlike other affected areas in Metro Manila where water have receded immediately, flood water in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig have stayed for at least a week.  Even worse was during the Ondoy flood back in 2009 when the flood lasted for almost a month.  The images below are plain proof that no matter how hard circumstances can become, people will always find a way to live through it and never lose hope.

Monsoon Scrambled Eggs with Beef, Oats and Tomatoes

     Being trapped in my apartment because of the monsoon flood have required me to be more creative with my food and what supplies I have left.  Today, I'm gonna share with you guys my scrambled eggs recipe that I have named after the flood which brought havoc to Metro Manila.

"Monsoon" Scrambled Eggs with Ground Beef, Oats and Tomatoes

Ingredients

For the Ground Beef Adobo:
1/4 kilo Ground beef^[1]
Oil for sautéing
5 cloves garlic, minced^[2]
1/8 cup chopped kinchay
Soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste

Platehead.com's SPAM E-Mail

Tuesday, August 7, 2012:  Just as the monsoon flood is threatening the safety of thousands of people in Metro Manila (read my post and check the photos on this LINK), I'm in my room managing my worries and praying that the flood water does not go further beyond the gates outside.  The muddy flood water which greeted me that morning was made worse by the rain that went on through the day.  And as I monitor the happenings in the country, I also went through my e-mails and saw a really nice offer for a "web content writer" position.  I scanned the message and made a mental note to attend to it as soon as the monsoon flood situation becomes stable.

     Here's the full copy of that e-mail:

From: writers@platehead.com
To: yourlook2day@yahoo.com

Hello Michael X. XXXXXXXXX

We are looking for committed individuals to add to our team as internet marketing assistants/Virtual Assistants/Web content writers/copywriters

Job description:

You will be given a wide array of internet marketing related tasks and projects, especially search engine optimization work.
Tasks would include writing blog posts, publishing articles, web development, creating joint ventures with other websites, etc.

Skills required:

You must be fluent in written and conversant in the English language
You must be proficient with web-mailing, browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.
Experience with building/managing websites and HTML,CSS,PHP, etc. are preferred.
Internet marketing experience preferred, but not required.
College degree preferred, but not required.
"Willingness to learn new skills useful for Internet marketing"

Pay:

13000-14000 per month starting pay.

How to apply:

Please submit atleast 1 article about "Information Security & Techonology" to writers@platehead.com

This job is 3 hours a day and 5 days a week we offer high compensation for qualified employees.


Thanks 

     Sounds legit, right?  Aside from some typo errors (i.e. missing punctuations and incorrect spelling), all seems to be in order.  But boy, was I in for a great surprise...

10 Best Ways to Ease Back Pain

     Anyone on the planet is not exempted from experiencing back pain.  A study^[1] once revealed that 90% of Americans experience back pain at one point in their lives.  A recent report from CBS News^[2] declared a much improved statistics, stating that 8 out of 10 Americans suffer from back pain at one time or another.  The difference on the findings does not really indicate a huge development.  Thus, the struggle against back pain continues -- and on this post, I've put together a list of the known effective ways to fight off or prevent back pain.  Please deal with caution as this is just presented for educational purposes.

     Back pain is that debilitating pain felt in the back which usually comes from the muscles, nerves, bones, joints or structures in the spine^[3].  It can have a sudden onset or may be a chronic pain; it can be constant or intermittent, might stay in one place or extend to other areas of the body; it can be a dull discomfort or a sharp, piercing, or a burning sensation.  Back pain can be a cause for sleepless nights or an uncomfortable day all throughout. 

     Whether you are presently waging a war against back pain or trying to prevent it, here are some effective and recent solutions:

10 Ways To Ease Back Pain

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1) Inversion Therapy

     Many causes of back pain is attributed to the natural force that gravity puts to the body.  Inversion therapy claims to reverse gravity's effects by allowing you to hang upside down or at a certain angle using an inversion table.  Inversion therapy allows the body to work with the downward pull of gravity, which will then increase the space between the vertebrae and relieve pressure on the areas of the back that are in pain, such as the discs, ligaments and nerve roots.  Inversion therapy claims to reduce back & neck pain, relieve stress, reduce sciatic discomfort, stretch and relax the entire body and other benefits such as improved posture and improved blood circulation.  Consult with your doctor first before doing the therapy and invest on a quality and trusted inversion table brand if you decide to do so.