Special gifts

I was wondering what to gift my dear friend for her birthday. I gave her a huge teddy bear last year. She loves teddies and cute dolls just like me. This year should be different. It should be something to make her day special. I just shared this thought with my other friends and I got a truckload of suggestions. Some were silly like how one guy suggested that I should give her a set of video games, when my friend and I always agree on how games are a waste of money and time. Some were impressive like personalized things, save the date postcards, things hand made by me etc. Some were impossible and some downright hilarious. Now I had a different problem. With so many suggestions I just couldn’t decide on what to choose. So I was back to square one. Then a thought struck me. Why don’t I give her a party? Since we are all finishing our studies and going to part our ways soon, this might just be the ideal gift. So began the work of organizing, inviting and buying things and so on. The most difficult part was, all this had to be done without the knowledge of my friend. The day arrived and we all had a great time and my friend was surprised and speechless.

Wedding

It is that time of the year. I can hear wedding bells ringing everywhere. Two of my sisters are about to get married within the next two months. It’s so exciting. The only line of conversation at home is about the various arrangements that need to be made for the wedding. Starting from wedding invitations, venue and transportation to more interesting things like shopping and dresses; everything is fun, especially the shopping part which receives more importance from us youngsters. A gorgeous silk garment tops the list as always followed by the matching set of accessories. I personally adore beautiful imitation jewels to the original gold ones. Getting the costume of one’s desire is not a simple task. There is so much to decide, so many shops to see and so many selections to choose from. I once visited twelve showrooms to finally buy the dress I liked. When this important part is over next comes the vital part of grooming yourself to the best. With this one has to visit all the relatives personally and invite them. So a wedding is not always as pleasant and heavenly as it seems. There are so many things to be planned. But when the awaited day does come, it proves to be a wonderful experience to all. We tend to relive that day all our life.

Inflammation

Inflammation is the response of one’s body to foreign substances. Inflammations occur following entry of infectious organism, allergic substance, an organic or inorganic matter, chemicals etc. Inflammation has five components; redness, swelling, warmth, pain and loss of function. When an infectious pathogen enters the body it excites some changes in the blood vessels and tissues. There is an influx of leukocytes, the defense cells to that site. There is an increase in permeability of blood vessels. This causes that area to become red. The blood vessels become leaky and leaks fluid to the surrounding tissues leading to a swelling. These tissue and cellular reactions gives out energy and increases the temperature of the site. The toxins, which are the by products of the reactions, accumulates there due to stasis of blood and irritates the nerves. This causes pain and tenderness. All these actions disrupt the normal functioning of the tissues of that site. When this takes place systemically, that is at a mass scale we experience fever, body aches etc. Inflammation notifies us of the pathological process going on inside our body. Many subside spontaneously when the offending agent is overcome, but some do so with the help of drugs and other interventions.

Alcohol addiction

Addiction is the physical or psychological dependence on a substance and use of any means to procure it. Addiction is more common in socially and emotionally unstable individuals. Addiction is commonly seen towards mind altering substances. The addicts use them to escape from the existing world and seek tranquility and pleasure in the unreal world. One of the most common and chronically abused substances is alcohol. The worst part of it is that it is socially acceptable and very easy to acquire. This makes alcohol addiction very difficult or nearly impossible to cure. Everyone start as an occasional drinker but many end up becoming an addict. They start craving for alcohol and feel the need to acquire it at any cost. Alcohol seems to be an easy solution and cure to all their problems. One of the things that make treating alcohol addiction tough is that, alcohol addicts can never bring themselves to face the fact that they have reached the stage of compulsive drinking. Alcohol Rehab Treatment at a trusted Alcohol Rehab Centre is what they need. First they should be convinced that they need medical assistance to cure their condition. Then it should be understood that it cannot be cured with drugs alone but also needs psychotherapy and social support. Alcohol Rehab includes all this. The period of treatment may extend for many months. For the therapy to be a success intensive involvement of the family and friends are needed to prevent the patient from reverting back to pre treatment conditions. Access to the substance abused should be restricted. The patient should be constantly monitored for signs of reversion. The individual should involve himself in recreational activities. He should take active part in support groups and help out other addicts. Addiction can never be treated if the addict does not feel the need for it to be treated.

Occupational hazards

Occupational hazards are the health hazards to which the individual is exposed to in his working environment. The different types of occupational hazards are physical, chemical, biological, mechanical and psychological. The physical hazards which are more common are due to excessive heat, cold, poor illumination, glare, excessive noise, vibrations, lack of adequate ventilation etc. these can cause irritability, anxiety, annoyance which affects work performance. It can also cause organic diseases like ear damage and eye damage. The chemical hazards are more common in factories which use dyes, acids, irritant chemicals and mineral dust. The effects may be acute like allergic phenomena, rashes etc or result in pneumoconiosis and cancer, which are caused by chronic exposure. The biological hazards are due to unclean work environment or animal products handling. These can result in transmission of disease like anthrax, food poisoning, hyadatidosis, psittacosis etc. The mechanical hazards are accidents which occur in workplace due to protruding or moving parts. Psychological problems are caused by discord or maladjustment among colleagues or seniors, absence of job satisfaction, unpleasant surroundings and low salary. Safe occupational environment should be assured by a safety engineer who should monitor the safety measures. Machines and workplace should be checked periodically. Health check ups for workers are mandatory.

CDs and savings

Have you ever heard of a CD? I know this question sounds silly. But CDs, as I recently found out, stand for another thing. It means Certificate of Deposit. These are similar to savings account in a bank. But they have higher interest rates. They are like fixed deposits where you cannot withdraw the principal before the specified period. But the period can be chosen by the client. CDs are more flexible in this aspect since the period can vary from few months to years according to the need of the investor. As always in banks the longer the period of deposit, the higher the rate of interest. The cd rates are also determined by the investor. These are actually very safe, unlike mutual fund investments which are influenced by the rise and fall of share prices. Given the current stock market crash and global financial instability this type of savings is apparently the best option. The interests can be withdrawn as and when earned. This might serve as a regular source of income to elderly and retired people. You can be assured that your money is safe in the vault and growing everyday, without worrying about anything that might influence its growth.

Electronic cigarette

I happen to have a friend who is a compulsive smoker. He, like many youngsters says that he likes the image it projects for him. The advices I gave to him regarding the pollution and health hazards went in vain. When I was seriously considering breaking his friendship I read about the electronic cigarette. It was unbelievable yet true. E cigs which looks exactly like real cigarettes are actually battery powered devices which give the pleasure of smoking minus the harmful effects. It differs from real ones in that it does not have the hundreds of cancer causing chemicals posing little health risk. The smoke coming from it is harmless to others eliminating the risk of passive smoking. So it does not cause pollution also. And another thing I found interesting was that it is a one time investment. E cigs can be reused as it comes with a battery charger. It can be filled with the desired flavor. When I suggested this to my friend he resisted saying it can never give the sensation of the real cigarette. But it turned out be false since after using it once he was surprised when he felt the same pleasure. This we found is because of the nicotine present in it. He soon got used to it and I felt relieved. E cigs are definitely a boon of innovative technology.