Time for the Joke of the Month from Comedy Plus

It has been a while since I have posted a joke in this site. This one is titled Underwear Dust from Sandee Comedy Plus. Enjoy!

One evening a husband, thinking he was being funny, said to his wife, 'Perhaps we should start washing your clothes in 'Slim Fast'. Maybe it would take a few inches off of your butt!'

His wife was not amused, and decided that she simply couldn't let such a comment go unrewarded.

The next morning the husband took a pair of underwear out of his drawer. 'What the heck is this?' he said to himself as a little 'dust' cloud appeared when he shook them out.

'Cathy, he hollered into the bathroom, 'Why did you put talcum powder in my underwear?'

She replied with a snicker. 'It's not talcum powder; it's 'Miracle Grow'!

Hat tip: Dr. Vern

Did your Parents Give you a Lucky Name?

Image from luuux.com

My late Mother-in-law had given my wife a formula based on numbers for predicting whether a marriage,a birth of a child or any addition to your household will bring good or bad luck or even death to your family or household. My wife had followed this formula when we assigned names to our four children. I am not superstitious, but I follow it also, because I have witnessed several cases of relatives in the Philippines, that has suffered early death, divorce or sickness because the combination of the baptismal names of the couples falls into the category of CONDENADO ( meaning condemned or death). There are five categories, BUENAS( good luck), DUDUSO ( doubtful), PELIGRO ( danger), MALAS( bad luck) and CONDENADO. I have the number values for the 26 alphabets and the numbers that are suppose to be lucky, doubtful, danger, bad luck and condemned. But my wife refused to give her permission that I divulge this in my blog. But here is the essence of this pseudo science of numerology.

The 26 alphabets are assigned numerical values from zero to 26. Some of the alphabets have the same values. Eight alphabets are valued 12, four alphabets are valued 9, three alphabets are valued 18, and the rest from of the alphabets are valued from zero to 26.

The letters in your Baptismal name is added. This sum tells the numerologist if your number is either of the above five categories. Then the baptismal name of your wife is also added. The sum of your name and your spouse is added. If it exceeds 30, you start counting to 1. If you have a baby, the baptismal name of the baby is added to both husband and wife's total. Any addition to the household, even household help must be considered especially if the maid, cook or gardener lives in your house.

So how will you know if the sum of all the names in your household will bring you good or bad luck?

There is a list of lucky numbers, unlucky numbers, doubtful numbers, danger numbers and condemned numbers. There are 7 lucky numbers among them are 7, 9 and 11. There are eight unlucky numbers among them are 4, 8, and 29. There are 20 doubtful numbers among them are 5, 6 and 27. There are 8 danger numbers among them 12, 15 and 23. There are 8 condemned numbers among them are 3, 13 and 30.

Let me cite a specific example. My name "David" has a numerical value of 30 or zero. From the chart of 5 categories it is a bad number. So my parents did not give me a lucky name. But if you combined it with my wifes name value 21 our total is 21. The number 21 is doubtful. When our oldest son was born we made it sure that the combination of our 3 names is among the lucky numbers of 1,3,7, 9,and 11.

This numerology system is similar but not identical to the chinese numerology.
For example number 4 is a pretty bad number in Cantonese, for it sounds death, but in this system 4 is a good number. Eight is a good number in Chinese, but a danger number in this system. Both 1 and 9 are good numbers in Chinese and in my mother-in-law numerolgy chart.

Curious? I am sorry I can not elaborate more on this. My wife says, it will be bad luck to give details of this Numerology Activity that my Mother-in-law had been practicing for years when she was still alive. Evidently, this has been passed from generation to generation and believe to have originated from Spain. Have you heard a similar activity in your local province in the Philippines, UK or in Spain?.

Note: This article was also published by ViewsHound (FaceBook) yesterday!

One Week of Fun, Sun and Casino Gambling in Aruba

On November 17 to 24, 2001, Macrine and I spent one week of fun, sun and casino gambling in the tropical island of Aruba. Again, this was through our International Interval Vacation Exchange Program. We stayed at the La Cabana Beach and Racquet Club in Oranjestad, Aruba. A casino is just about two blocks from our resort. Complimentary bus service to the Casino is available 24 hours at 30 minutes interval. Macrine and I had fun in the Casino playing the slot machines.

Oranjestad is the capital city of the island. Our son David III went with us, since we had a 2-bedroom suite. We drove around the island stopping at all the tourist attractions, seeing cactus and desert vegetations, windmills, lighthouses, rugged coastlines, natural rock bridges and an old chapel(Alta Vista). Another interesting
facts about Aruba are the presence of several modern Desalination Water Plants which convert salt water from the ocean to fresh water for drinking and household use.
Oranjestad, Capital City of Aruba

Aruba (pronounced /əˈruːbə/ ə-ROO-bə) is a 33km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27km north of the coast of Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.

Aruba, which has no administrative subdivisions, is one of the four constituent countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands, together with the Netherlands, Curaçao, and Saint Maarten. Aruban citizens hold Dutch passports. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. This climate has helped tourism as visitors to the island can reliably expect warm, sunny weather. It has a land area of 193 square kilometres (75 sq mi) and is densely populated with its estimated 103,000 people. It lies outside the hurricane belt.



The last couple of years tourism has declined in Aruba due to the publicity of the murder /disappearance of Natalee Holloway, an American teenager visiting the island in 2005. The suspect, Joran Van Der Sloot, is presently in jail in Peru for the murder of a young Peruvian woman. The body of Natalie had never been recovered. In a news last year, the mother of missing American teenager Natalee Holloway spoke out for the first time about an alleged extortion attempt by Joran Van Der Sloot, the lead suspect in her daughter's disappearance, in which he offered to "bring Natalee" in exchange for $250,000. The other day Van Der Sloot was formally charged with murder of a Peruvian woman in Peru.

Here are some photos of our one week vacation in Aruba:

Vancouver, Victoria Island and Whistler, B.C.

One of the fifteen places that my wife and I have visited outside the US was our trip in August, 2005 to Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler, B.C., Canada. This was in connection with another Grand Reunion of Marinduque International, Inc- a non-profit organization organized to give free medical missions to Marinduque, Philippines. It was one week of Fun and Relaxation that we will always remember.

British Columbia is on the western coast of Canada. The climate of Vancouver is Mediterranean similar to San Francisco, California. Vancouver is about 2 hours drive north of Seattle, Washington and has also a large Filipino-American community. We enjoyed Stanley Park, Queen Elizabeth(Sunken Garden) Park and Exotic China Town. Historic Gas Town and the drive along English Bay Drive was great. We took a sunset dinner cruise along Vancouver Harbor passing through English Bay, False Creek, Burrard Inlet and under the Lions Gate bridge(photos above).


We took a tour of Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia. The tour started from Vancouver via a 90-minute ferry ride across Georgia Strait and the beautiful Gulf Islands. Included in the tour is an admission to the world famous Butchart Garden (photo above). Here's a short video of the Butchart Gardens, one of the most beautiful gardens in the world.

The tour included a 30 minute drive along Beach Drive with views of Juan De Fuca strait and the Olympic Mountains. We also passed by the Upland and Oak Bay Streets residential areas, the Royal Victoria Yatch Club and the University of Victoria ending at the Victoria Harbor. Photo of Victoria Inner Harbor at Night-from thelifeofluxury.com

The next day, we took a one-day tour to Whistler, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The scenic tour started with a relaxing drive up the Sea to Sky Highway which overlooks majestic Howe Sound with its panorama of mountain lakes and glaciers. Along the way we stopped at Shannon Falls, one of North America's waterfalls at the Squamish Forest Reserve.

Oo our way to Whistler, Canada-Photo from www. people.uleth.ca

We highly recommend the above three places in Western Canada for a relaxing and enjoyable vacation.

Below are some photos taken during this trip.

Time for Some Classical Music for Relaxation

It has almost been a year when I posted four of my favorite classical pieces. Today it is high time to listen to classical music, just a break from reading my photo and travel memories. Listening to classical music lowers my blood pressure and relaxes me and I forget all the problems of the world. How about you, do you have any favorite classical music? Does classical music relaxes you? Or are you bored and prefer rock and roll or Lady Gaga's music?

Tchaikovsky-None But the Lonely Heart
Do not forget to listen to other pieces in this set.


Shoztakovich-Romance (From the Gadfly)
There are other pieces in this set that is worth listening to.


Rachmaninov- Rhapsody from the Theme of Paganini

Chopin Waltz-Grand Valse Brillante

Memories of Our Trips to the Hawaiian Islands

Macrine and I at the Maui Ocean Center and Aquaruim

Macrine and I had visited four out of the seven inhabited islands in the Hawaiian Chain of Islands. This was made possible through our International Interval(II) Vacation Exchange Program. We stayed for one week each in the Big Island, Maui, and Kaua'i and one day in O'ahu. We have stopped at the Honolulu Airport a number of times as a connecting airport during our annual trip to the Philippines from the US. We loved Hawaii, since it reminds us of Marinduque, Philippines. Our first trip was in the summer 1979 where we stayed at Kona Village Resort, Kaupulehu, Kona, the Big Island for one week. This resort was nestled on the fabulous secluded Kona Coast away from the big crowds. This was my treat to Macrine for passing her Nursing Board Exam to practice nursing in the State of California. The second one was our one week stay in Maui through our exchange Program via II in the mid 1998. Our third visit was one week stay in Kauai in September 2003 also via II. We stayed at Hanalei Bay Resort in Princeville. Our two bedroom suite has the view of the Bali Hai Mountain made famous by the broadway musical, South Pacific. In this vacation, we were joined by Ditas and Nick and their baby, Carenna, only about five months old. The latest Hawaiian visit we had was in Honolulu, O'ahu just last year just for one day on our way to the Philippines.


The eight main Hawaiian islands (also known as the Hawaiian Windward Islands) are listed here from east to west. All except Kahoʻolawe are inhabited

1.Hawaiʻi often times called as The Big Island

2. Maui also known as The Valley Isle

3. Kahoʻolawe also known as The Target Isle( not inhabited)

4. Lānaʻi also known as The Pineapple Isle because of the pineapple plantations

5. Molokaʻi also called The Friendly Isle

6. Oʻahu also called The Gathering Place where Honolulu is located

7. Kauaʻi is also called The Garden Isle

8. Niʻihau known also as The Forbidden Isle


Photo of Fish from the Maui Aquaruim and Marine Center

Hawaii is tropical but it experiences many different climates, depending on altitude and weather. The islands receive most rainfall from the trade winds on their north and east flanks (the windward side) as a result of orthographic precipitation. Coastal areas in general and especially the south and west flanks or leeward sides, tend to be drier.
In general, the Hawaiian Islands receive most of their precipitation during the winter months (October to April). Drier conditions generally prevail from May to September, but the warmer temperatures increase the risk of hurricanes.

Rainbow as viewed from our 6th floor Condo in Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

Temperatures at sea level generally range from highs of 85-90 °F (29-32 °C) during the summer months to 79-83 °F (26-28 °C) during the winter months. Rarely does the temperature rise above 90 °F (32 °C) or drop below 60 °F (16 °C) at lower elevations. Temperatures are lower at higher altitudes; in fact, the three highest mountains of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala often receive snowfall during the winter.
Here's a video of the sights and sounds of this Tropical Paradise

Here are some photos of our first trip at Kona Village Resort, Kona, Hawaii in 1979

In front of Our Cottage


Ready for the Tour of the Big Island
Getting Ready for the Farewell Luau
Views from Kona Village Resort
Back Home in Pinole after Our Vacation-Looking at My Bills
At the Hawaiian Volcanic Park