Harder time at school...

I posted something last year about how some schools are segregating children by gender. Here is another article (get your free login from Bugmenot.com!) about how boys are now the "disadvantaged gender" in the education system. As scientists are discovering how girls' brains mature 18 months earlier than boys, educators are finding that the gap between the sexes widening. Hmm, so maybe studying in an all boys HS did help?

TROOH 6 - Heading West ... MidWest...

As prices for square feet keep getting higher, more and more people are heading to the midwest to get a better bang out of their buck. Your salary may be a bit lower but you get more space for a lot less compared to buying houses in the East and West coast. I wonder if my future SIL and BIL thought about this already? Maybe WE should head over there?

It's been three years to the day...

Malou just informed me that this is the day I sent her the first of many, many, many emails we would send to one another for the past three years. Wow, it's been three years since I hesitated to send her an email. I've always wondered what would have happened if I never sent that email or if she just wrote me off. Well if I knew then what I know now, I would have wrote to her a lot sooner.

Ich liebe dich meine Schatz.

It's 2006! Changes a-hoy!

Happy New Year everybody! Sheesh I sound like Dr. Nick Riviera but anyway, it's a brand new year and quite a lot is going to happen to everybody. I received a delightful surprise on the last day of the 2005 when our friendly postman came by and delivered the wedding invitations! I didn't expect it until Tuesday but I was glad I already had them. I've already arranged them by country and state so that the post office will have a faster time processing them.

I also received the canonical interview questions and only read through them fully today. I think the only one question I had to spend time on was when I was asked how often did I go to mass, confession and take communion. Considering there are 52 weeks in a year, I am assuming I've gone to at least 52 masses. Hopefully

Well that's it for now on my end. Enjoy the rest of your day!

TROOH 5 - Yes Virginia, less expensive houses do exist!

If you haven't read our previous posts, TROOH really means "The Roof Over Our Heads". I started this because I'm worried that when the time comes, Malou and I won't be able to move into our own house because of high prices. If you want to to check out my previous posts, just check the archives.

I am in the unfortunate (if you look at it that way) position of currently living and working in the East Coast. If we choose to live here after the wedding, we will have to look for houses somewhere outside the city limits. That usually means the 'burbs. Anyway, to find a house that would fit our budget, we would probably have to travel almost two hours to and from the city where we work. In this article (check out this site for a free login) though, if you look at the housing market outside New York, Washington, Miami and along the coast of California, you would find decently priced homes. This has made me rethink where we could possibly start our family. I do hope that when the time comes for us to purchase a home, we won't be turning down house after house just because our pockets are not that deep.

Don't like the gift, swap it!

I've always wondered what to do with my aunt's gift. It's a small cooler to keep your lunch warm but it's pretty bulky. I eventually saw my gift being reused as a bill refuse (bills are kept in it). I read an article about "regift" gifts and thought the idea of going to a party and swapping "unusable" gifts was pretty good. So, if you want to have a post holiday party and need an idea for an activity, use that one. Bring all your "unusable" gifts, wrapped properly of course, and swap them with another person. You could keep swapping until someone announces that you have to open the gift you currently have. Hey, the worst that could happen is you get your regift back

About those pesky logins...

I know some of you have been prevented from reading an article because you have to sign up for something. Well, I saw this website a couple of months ago but didn't come across it again until today. You may be able to find other logins for pix sites as some of those sites require an account on their service just to see those shared pictures.

http://bugmenot.com/

stress relief

If you need to release some stress after a long day of planning/preparation/running everywhere, go to this site. Have fun!

Hey Pare (Buddy)/Boss!

My sister and I were talking yesterday about what would happen if we both worked for the same company. We both just looked at each other and laughed as we both knew, it wouldn't work out. I would probably disagree a lot with my sister over technical details. Now I wonder what if I was the boss of a good friend of mine or I was the underling of my friend? It'll probably test our friendship when something big comes up. Read this article if you want to know more.

That ugly side ...

During the month of October, alienated youths, from the French suburb La Courneuve, burned cars, broke shop windows and attacked police in anti-riot gear. This was triggered by the death of two youths who were accidentally electrocuted while hiding from chasing police. Just today in Sydney, Australia young people smashed cars and destroyed shops in response to drunken white youths attacking people they believed were of Arab descent. It's hate, hate and more hate.

Those articles (which might require a login) have pictures that show how much resentment has built up all these years from people who will inherit this earth. It is frightening to see how far these young people would go to beat people to a pulp, just because they are different from them. In the article about La Courneuve, you could feel Looping's hopelessness in a system that was supposed to be color, race and sex -blind. His mother Djamila sends him to school but they are not expected to succeed. With an Arab name, he cannot find a job that will accept him. In Sydney hate begot hate as drunk white youths started beating Arab-looking people. It said in the article that the instigators where members of white supremacist groups but why were there so many? Why did others join in?

What is it with skin or hair color, the size or shape of one's eyes, height or accent?