First Aid: When Someone is Choking

     Has anyone from your family experienced this one simple yet deadly emergency situation? When I was a child, I remember my younger brother suddenly coughed up as if he cannot breathe. My mother may be out of the experience knowing what had transpired, made a strong tap on his back, and two small coins suddenly cough out from my brother's mouth. The same thing happened when my eldest was only 6 years old, remembering what my mother had done, tapped on his back too and cough-out a small coin. Another incident was when my daughter, already 18 years old suddenly choked upon a pechay veggie we were eating. Her older brother made an abdominal thrust on her back to cough out the food. Choking is the common cause of death amongst children. Choking can be fatal if not immediately and properly handled. As a mom, in a time like this, we should know how to give immediate action to rescue someone we love. Read on and be informed.

How to recognize when someone is choking?

1. When a person is clutching at his throat and unable to speak.

2. When a person is becoming distressed and panicky.

3. When a person lost consciousness because of an inability to breathe,

What happens when someone is choking?

When we swallow food, a flap of cartilage known as the epiglottis moves downward to stop food from being taken into our trachea or windpipe. If this fails to happen, food becomes stuck in our airways and choking might have occurred.

Choking if not attended to and properly handled may cause brain damage within 3 or 4 minutes due to lack of oxygen.

What are the proper immediate actions when someone is choking?

For Baby:

1. Straddle the baby's face down along your arm supporting his head. Give 5 firm taps between his shoulders.

2, If choking continues, turn the baby over, still supporting his head. Place 2 fingertips between his navel and breastbone. Press forward and downward in quick movements and repeat the movement up to 4 times if necessary.

3. If the baby loses consciousness, seek medical help immediately and begin resuscitation.

For Children:

1. Lay the child across your lap with his head down. Tap firmly between the shoulder blades 5 times.

2. If unsuccessful, turn the child over so that he faces you on your lap. Support the back of the child and give him 5 firm upward thrusts with one hand above his navel.

3. If still unsuccessful, try steps 1 and 2 again. If the child becomes unconscious, call an ambulance /bring them to the nearest hospital immediately and begin resuscitation.

For Adults:

1. Lean the patient forward and give him 5 hard taps on the back between his shoulder blades.

2. If unsuccessful, an abdominal thrust can be performed from behind a patient who is either standing or sitting.  

     a) Pass your hands around the patient and interlock them together just above his navel.

     b) Pull sharply inwards and upwards

3. If the person is unconscious, kneel astride him on the floor and perform a similar abdominal thrust with your hand (one hand on top of the other) just below the rib cage.

4. If you have tried the abdominal thrust 6 times without success, call an ambulance/bring the patient to the nearest hospital and begin resuscitation.

Step 2

Step 3

*Remember not to poke fingers down the choking victim's throat to find the object. But if the object appears in the victim's mouth, you may remove it gently.

Info and images credit to First Aid, Children's Leisure Products Ltd. 1998  published by Geddes&Grosset 

The Pixie Dust of New Year

    

The new year comes and a new hope begins. Welcoming the new year with fireworks displays all over the world signifies a new spark of hope for everyone, the spark that my younger daughter had noticed, telling us..it's like pixie dust. The spark of happy thoughts! Pixie Dust! Pixie dust of fairies from the movies Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, a magical golden glitter that grants the ability to fly. As to the Oxford dictionary, pixie dust is a substance or influence with an apparently magical effect that brings great success or luck. And as fireworks have different colors and effects, so are the Pixie Dusts. According to Disney Wikia, pixie dust have different colors with abilities and talents. Let us try to associate the colors with our gifts and talents.

Gold >> Grants flight and/or weightlessness. Helps a fairy greatly argument and strengthens its magical talents. Creates other colors of Pixie Dust when mixed together with Blue Pixie and certain ingredients.

"This could be our Hearts/Passion and Dreams that can make us fly and be successful. As our Hearts and Dreams can win an argument for us and strengthen our desire to achieve our goals."

Blue >> Creates golden pixie dust. Replenishes Gold Pixie Dust supply. Supremely powerful multiplier. Creates other colors of pixie dust when mixed together with Gold Pixie Dust and other ingredients.

"This could be the Self-Motivation and the Values that supply and strengthens our Hearts/Passion and Dreams. These gifts are powerful multiplier as it builds people to go and move on with their lives."

Green >> Grants the intellectual and intuitive abilities of a Tinker-Talent Fairy. Restores a Tinker-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped-out abilities. Augments a Tinker-Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Tinker-Talent fairy. Enables Tinker fairies to forge and create, mend and repair, modify and upgrade anything they make with ease.

"This could be our Mind and Reasoning ability that would enable us to think, create, innovates, and find more ways to succeed in life. "

Amber >> Grants the abilities of a Light-Talent Fairy. Restores a Light-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped-out abilities. Augments and amplifies a Light-Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Light-Talent Fairy.

"This could be for those who have the abilities in motivating and encouraging other people, how they give light, hope and touch lives."

Pink >> Grants the abilities of a Garden-Talent Fairy. Restores a Garden-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped-out abilities. Augments a Garden-Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Garden Talent Fairy. Create and control plant life and vegetation.

"This could be for those who have the abilities in caring, the supportive one. How their care and support can control and create something new in people's hearts and minds."

Purple >> Grants the abilities of a Fast-Flying-Talent Fairy. Restores a Fast-Flying-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped out abilities. Greatly augments and magnifies a Fast-Flying Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Fast-Flying Fairy.

"This could be for those who seem like to have the Midas touch in everything they do and yet able to help those who needed help in an instant without much thinking, generous."

Cyan >> Grants the abilities of a Water-Talent Fairy. Restores a Water-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped out abilities. Augments a Water-Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Water Talent Fairy.

"This could be for those who have the abilities of easy adaptation and calmness in every situation/circumstances, those who give way for peace and security."

Orange >> Grants the abilities of an Animal-Talent Fairy. Restores an Animal-Talent Fairy's lost/swapped-out abilities. Augments an Animal-Talent Fairy's abilities onto a Non-Animal-Talent Fairy.

"This could be for those who have the abilities of loving people, whoever and whatever they are and what they have been. Appreciate everyone's qualities and everything in its place."

UNFORGIVING

     Easier said than done. Forgiveness is not an easy task. They say time heals all wounds, but it takes more time for a deeper wound to heal, and the wound left a scar. Sometimes that scar is another pain if not properly healed. It remains a mark for all to see and remember. From what I know forgiveness is not only given to those who asked for it. Does forgiveness necessarily mean we have to forget the misdeeds done to us? Maybe yes, maybe not. Maybe yes, if the one who wanted forgiveness to make amends for what he/she did if that person corrected what has been done. Maybe no, for the person concerned be aware and learned his lessons regarding interactions with that person, especially if that person keeps on doing or repeating the same offense to that particular person or another person. Actually, I really don't know the answer. 

     When someone wronged another person, that person may forgive once, twice, thrice,.. ten times, or maybe until the patience has reached its limit. Some people may forgive again and again, while some cannot even forgive the slightest offense done to them. Forgiveness is given freely. Forgiveness, they say is for the person who had been wronged and not the other way around while unforgiving is a bondage that consumes the mind, and distorts the heart with revenge. Unforgiving is I, taking a poison yet expecting the offender to die from it. Unforgiving is I, wanting to break free from the chain of bitterness, to be free from the prison of serving the time for someone else's crime.

image credits to the owner

English 101: Singular & Plural Nouns (series 1.A2)

     This is my third in a series of my English 101 on this blog. I am through discussing the different types and kinds of nouns, we will go on how is it when a single noun becomes many.

When we talked about the Number of Nouns, we are referring to Singular and Plural Nouns. Determining the numbers of a noun is vital in sentence construction. Most singular nouns are made plural by only adding "s" to their word. However, there are singular nouns which does not need any changes at all, and some are governed by rules or need changes for most of the letters in a word.

Here are some words which stay the same in plural form:

words with a suffix of -craft, 
sheep, cod, swine, trout, deer, salmon, moose, series, species, Japanese, Chinese, fish (fishes can be used if referring to different species)

Here are the lists of rules for changing singular nouns to plural forms.

1) If the noun ends in  's', 'x', 'sh', or 'ch', we add -es to make it plural.
    Examples: bus-buses, box-boxes, bush-bushes, batch-batches,
 
2) If the noun ends in 'o' with a consonant before it, we add -es,
    Examples: mango-mangoes, potatoes

    If a noun ends in 'o' with a vowel before it, we add -s.
    Examples: igloo-igloos, stereo-stereos

3) If the noun ends with 'f' or 'fe', we sometimes change the f or fe to -v and add -es.
    Examples: leaf-leaves, beef-beeves, life-lives, knife-knives

4) If the noun ends in 'y' with a consonant before it, change the y to -i and add -es.
    Examples: battery- batteries, candy-candies, berry-berries, lady-ladies

5) If the noun ends in 'y' with a vowel before it, we add -s to make it plural.
    Examples: monkey-monkeys, journey-journeys, key-keys, decoy-decoys

And here are the lists of some singular nouns that must change their spelling:
child-children, man-men, woman-women, ox-oxen, mouse-mice, foot-feet, tooth-teeth, goose-geese, louse-lice

Click here for some exercises
Click here for other exercises

The ALDUB Phenomenon

     Phenomenon as defined by Webster is something, such as an interesting fact or event that can be observed and studied and that typically is unusual or difficult to understand or explain fully. His other definition is someone or something that is impressive or popular especially because of an unusual ability or quality. The word Phenomena, however, has been in occasional use as singular primarily a speech form used by poets, critics, and professors. They both functions as nouns while Phenomenal functions as adjective.
     The above definitions clearly stated what ALDUB is -- interesting event, difficult to understand, someone impressive because of unusual ability/quality. People, organizations, media were stunned and curious what ALDUB is all about nationwide and worldwide. Tagged as the Kalyeserye (street series), counter part of a tv series but done on the street, since the segment is being shown outside the studio and visits to a selected barangay. ALDUB stands for Alden and Yaya Dub.

     It all started when a simple yet ecstatic and pretty girl from Bulacan became a yaya (maid) of actor impersonator Wally Bayola known as Lola Nidora, in one of the segment (All for Juan, Juan for all) of a famous and popular TV show in the Philippines, Eat..Bulaga! That girl is Maine Mendoza popularly known as Yaya Dub for her numerous dubsmash entry in Youtube. During one of her dubsmash in the said TV segment, a familiar and refreshing good looking face of Alden Richards was flashed from the studio screen and voila!..the surprised and blushing look of Yaya Dub caught on camera was the beginning of an unexpected happenings on and off screen..'on' for the casts themselves began exchanging feelers through dubsmash and later, love notes/fansign, with the meddling of Lola Nidora with her lessons/values in accordance with the losing Filipino customs and traditional values..' off'' for the people watching the show with much delight, excitement, and expectation have high hopes for the couple and the ever-far-reaching forever.

     The love team ALDUB reaches the curiosity and ears of even the Filipinos working and living abroad, foreign artists, celebrities, and news media and continues to break into the Twitter world. They were even compared by Morning News USA online to Hollywood stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. But what makes the love team unique? What does the ALDUB fandom see that makes it so famous? Sociologists and socio-analyst from universities even used ALDUB as an example in their lessons and talks.
     I have enumerated some observations though I am not a sociologist, just a mere fan who wanted to be entertained and observant of what's happening around us as a part of my task as a blogger. My opinions are just my observation on what makes ALDUB  creates the fandom, the ALDUB Nation; trends in the social media, thus, topped the list of Twitter for 41 million tweets in just 24 hours (for the #AlDubEBTamangPanahon, breaking the #WorldCup) Watch Rish Jaitly, Twitter VP Exec for East/AsiaPacific; breaks even international newsroom (CNN & BBC); covers famous local magazines and the world's Reader's Digest; gets on the curiosity of even some well-known celebrities around the world (Bryan White, Darwin, Brandon Beal, among others). Added to that the numerous product endorsement of the two as a couple and solo.


And these are my observations:

• The first encounter on split-screen of the two unknowing persons which was sudden, unique, and natural has made people feel the spark on its own. This sudden impact on the audience became history as we all know. Watch the 1st encounter and 1st pabebe wave.
•  The unpredictability and creativity of the characters in the series make it unique, i.e., Lola Nidora (Wally Bayola), Lola Tidora (Paolo Ballesteros), and Lola Tinidora (Jose Manalo) and some other characters impersonated by only one person, such as Doctora TheExplorer, Duhrizz, Rianna (Wally Bayola) and Frankie Arinolli (Jose Manalo), Alden Richards and Yaya Dub (Maine Mendoza).
• The fun and entertainment the show has been giving to Filipino people not only in the Philippines but also those living and working abroad because of the "kilig" factor as well as the lesson being imparted by Lola Nidora. It also serves as a stress reliever with all the problems and life's difficulties. (I, for one, can attest to that).
• The Kalyeserye is a replica of what our culture was about courtship, the decreasing respect for elders, and the importance of "Palabras de honor". It depicts the somehow lost values of the Filipinos during and after the Spanish era as Lola Nidora cited how they were in those times. As we have observed, these values we cherish but cannot be implemented on our own as the influence of the West and the modern technology lure Filipinos to modernize their way of life. Yet, the show is trying to say that even in today's generation, we can still implement or do it fair.

For more about ALDUB you can hover over names and click on them for links:


ALDUB Episodes

Alden Richards

Maine Mendoza

My BLogSiTes & LinKs

   

    I got two blog sites, this one is created 7 years ago with this blog site, which contains random thoughts, poems, letters, blog ads, etc., the other blog created 2 years ago is Sunflower for Emily which contains selected photos and poems I personally composed and some from friends or have stumbled upon with permission. Since I am a heavy user of social media like Facebook and Twitter, for personal reasons I cannot link my Facebook and Twitter here. they are even linked to my Pinterest.

     I have seen that you can really do business or make money through them. SEO or Search Engine Optimization, Hashtags, analytics, web content, newsfeeds, and apps are by-words we constantly read or heard. These are the keys to more views and followers especially if you are doing business through these social media. These are the reasons why I initiated a new look and name for my two blog sites. I have signed up on Instagram recently, my Twitter is getting more followers, and I have affiliated myself with some twitter groups, persons, and blog ad companies. I was contemplating then what to do with my two blog sites along with their link to other social media. My Pinterest has a username of April Brews created only early this year because I was thinking then of a name that symbolizes what I love to do. I thought of a coffee since I am a coffee drinker and I drink while blogging or thinking. 

     With all this social media hype and the recent ALDUB phenomena that make waves through Twitter, it comes to me how powerful social media is in popularizing even ordinary but talented people, especially on YouTube. 

      I am also on LinkedIn and still looking and checking on some apps to link my blogs. With its new look and name, expect more fresh new blogs this coming day and so on. Please check the links and if you are interested to advertise your business or brands through blogs or space, feel free to leave comments here.

Entrepreneurship: Different Types of Individual

🖌by April Brews

     Entrepreneurship comes from the French word "entreprende", which means "to undertake". It simply means starting a business that places an emphasis on the innovation of new products, markets, production/operation methods, and forms of organization. Entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness of a person to develop, organize, and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit. It is characterized by innovation and risk-taking. Most of the time, it is scary since people who will venture into a business have no certainty about the success of the business. It is in this uncertainty that people tend to shy away or be afraid to go into business. But sometimes, the question lies in the attitude of a person towards the opportunity at hand.

  According to Joey Concepcion of GoNegosyo, there are three different types of individuals:the HARD PRESSED, the ORDINARY, and the SUCCESSFUL. Though they were all created with unique talents and abilities, there is still a big disparity among them. So let us describe these disparities as mentioned.

1) THE HARD PRESSED ATTITUDE: "I was born poor, I will die poor as a rat"

     Man's Action: "I cannot do something about it, it was the government's fault."
                  
     Think about these things:  Why is it most of the people who complain about unemployment are busy drinking or chatting around sari-sari stores day-in and day-out?


2) THE ORDINARY ATTITUDE: "I am what I am today, it's alright for me until tomorrow, my luck will eventually come."

     Man's Action:  "Let the day unfolds on me, I will try my luck betting on a lotto, I might win the jackpot prize."

     Think about these things: Why is it that people line up very early in the morning outside the betting stations to take their chances at games instead of enrolling in free vocational courses from TESDA or some private institutions? 


3) THE SUCCESSFUL ATTITUDE: "Life is getting difficult each day. I need to find ways so we can be promoted from these difficulties."
                              
     Man's Action:" I am going to talk to my contacts in the office, I will serve packed lunch. Anyway, my Mom's recipe is  superb."

     Think about these things: Notice the so many "manangs and ates" delivering corporate lunches to buildings or offices that do not have canteens or inexpensive lunches. And take notice of those housewives selling commodity goods online, even some organization that prepares food for people on dietary programs.

  The Successful attitude is a Dreamer, dreaming to get out of their present situation of difficulties. He is a Believer, knowing that taking action about their present situation will lead them to something better. He is an Achiever, for a person with the right attitude, open-mindedness, positivity, a doer of what he dreams of will surely achieve what he aims for.

    There are opportunities everywhere, some people even took the disaster or uneventful happenings into opportunities. Remember some people who took the initiative to do business out of lahar in Pampanga and Zambales. Creating something beautiful from nothing is also one trademark of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneur creates and innovates. To start a business means you have to start within your level of skill and interest, then find out the best skills and interests there are. It takes time and effort to really find the best and bigger ideas to match what is not yet being offered in the market.