Endeavor's Launching

It was 4 o'clock in the morning, my husband woke me up, a shuttle launching was scheduled in a few minutes. I got up hurrily, put on another pajamas, socks, sweater, gloves and bonnet. I grab our binoculars, and we rushed outside where Aunt Katy, Aunt Sallie and our neighborhood were gathered together to watch the lauching of Endeavor.
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We did not have to wait too long, and there we saw what it looks like a ball of fire. The sight was just so awesome. Better than daytime. I cannot recall how many times I witnessed a shuttle launching, but this was by far the best of all.
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The Endeavor's (STS-130) mission will be to deliver a third connecting module - the Tranquility node - to the International Space Station and a seven-windowed cupola to be used as a control room for robotics. The STS-130 crew is using Endeavour’s robotic arm, orbiter boom extension and specialized cameras to capture detailed video of the spacecraft’s heat shield. The inspection gives experts on the ground 3-D views of the shuttle’s heat shield to ensure no damage occurred during liftoff.
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God bless the Endeavor's mission and its crews. May they all come home safe and successful.

Poor Manatees

We have been living here in Florida for three months already. My husband and I have never seen manatees yet. We have seen a lot in tv news about their poor situation and thus, we had decided to go to Satellite Beach to see them this afternoon.

The cold weather here in Florida is causing big problems to a lot of things, and one of them are to the manatees. More than a hundred of these big sea cows have crowded into this Satellite Beach canal in Brevard County looking for warmth. It is really amazing to see that they end up here in trying to escape the brutal cold water. The problem is they have been there for about one week and they have eaten away all the vegetation in the canal. The grass used to grow all the way down to the water and they have eaten it all, so now the manatees either starve or venture into frigid waters.

The cold weather has turn Satellite Beach into one of the hottest shows in town. Dozens of manatees crammed into the tiny canal to escape the cold weather. The sea cows drew more and more people to see them everyday. Authorities have tried to keep sightseers a safe distance so they don't scare the animals, and that is why they put yellow tape around the canal. We are all hoping that the weather will turn high again very soon, to save the lives of manatees and of many other creatures and plants that are in critical situation here in Florida.

Giant Ice Bergs

I usually don't copy world news post from other source, but this time, as I opened the webpage of Yahoo! I found this stunning, amazing and alarming news. This is worth sharing to all mankind since this concerns our earth;
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SYDNEY (AFP) – More than 100, and possibly hundreds, of Antarctic icebergs are floating towards New Zealand in a rare event which has prompted a shipping warning, officials said on Monday.
An Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist said the ice chunks, spotted by satellite photography, had passed the Auckland Islands and were heading towards the main South Island, about 450 kilometres (280 miles) northeast.
Scientist Neal Young said more than 100 icebergs -- some measuring more than 200 metres (650 feet) across -- were seen in just one cluster, indicating there could be hundreds more.
He said they were the remains of a massive ice floe which split from the Antarctic as sea and air temperatures rise due to global warming. "All of these have come from a larger one that was probably 30 square kilometres (11.6 square miles) in size when it left Antarctica," Young told AFP. Go to Yahoo for continuation...

Atlantis Launching

Six astronaut aboard Atlantis and was launching 2:28 this afternoon. Fortunately, we don't have to go anywhere to watch the launching of the shuttle. We can see it right either from our living room or from our bedroom.
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It was very cloudy this morning until noon. The local TV news said that there were only 20% of sticking to the plan, but thank God that as the time came closer, the clouds became clearer.
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The view was not really as clear as if we went to the beach or any place to have a closer and clearer view, but it saves us a trip and what we saw was worth it. If you look closely to the picture, the white cloud above the pine tree is what they called "mushroom cloud" that formed during the launching of the shuttle. We were using binoculars to get a closer picture of the shuttle itself.
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Actually, this is my third time watching space ship launching. It is cool. Some said "There goes our money!" Yeah, that's right. It is our money that keep them going, and that is why we should be concern enough on events like this.

Homemade Mask

I got this hilarious message and picture from my friend in Ohio, Lynn Whiteford and I thought this is worth sharing to you guys, so here I posted it in my blog.
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We all know that N1H1 flu is spreading around USA, and wearing a mask has become needed, so, in case we run out of masks during the N1H1 flu season, here is a ‘homemade’ mask you can make yourself. It is even compatible with the wearing of glasses! One thing though......... MAKE SURE YOUR MASK IS CLEAN!!!!!!!!

Share Your Thoughts

Internet has a real big impact in my life in the present time than when I was still in the Philippines. Being a housewife and stayed most of the time in the house, I learned to seek friendship and world’s update through internet. I involved myself in few online forums, blogging and “interactive” gaming that I find enjoyable and had really made sense. It’s fun, and it keep me from being bored here in where I am.
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Talking about online forum, I just stumble on one website that I find very interesting. Thoughts.com is a very active social conversation site. It has a daily news section where members discuss breaking news stories and participate in community news discussion. It has a selection of easy-to-use widgets that give you complete control over how you interact with the community by simply deciding what information you would like to know and your account is then automatically updated with your friend’s latest blog posts, updates and more.
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In Thoughts.com, although it is not required to agree with everyone, but it is required for people to be respectful of each other with the hope that we all can learn more from our experiences and society can better adapt to the rapidly changing times. There is so much learning you get from this site and this is the reason why I am so thankful with the interactive communities in the web like Thoughts.com.

June 27th Rocket Launch, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

While we were having dinner at the house of Orville and Mary the other day, Mary was watching the TV news. All of a sudden, she rushed going outside as she told us that the rocket was launching. All of us followed her, and there it was up in the sky, the rocket. I was so happy, because the first time I had witnessed a rocket launching, I was not able to see anything because of its dark cloudy sky. We only heard the loud roar. But that time, it was so clear that we really saw it rocketing through the outer space, and of course, we also heard the loud roar of it. It was such an awesome sight that I thanked God for giving me the chance to witness it. It was something that I only used to see in the movie house and television.
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Here are the information about the rocket launching:
Launch window: 2214-2314 GMT (6:14-7:14 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-37B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida The United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite O, or GOES O, for NASA and NOAA. The weather satellite orbit 22,300 miles above the planet to monitor conditions across the U.S. The rocket flew in the Medium+ (4,2) configuration with two solid rocket boosters. Delayed from April, June 12, July 20, August, Nov. 5, December 2007, Jan. 22, Feb. 10, March and April 6. Delayed from April 28 due to liquid oxygen leak found during countdown dress rehearsal. Pushed back from mid-May for component modification in linear shape charges. Scrubbed June 26 due to thunderstorms.

Good Bye, Michael J.

While we were having dinner at the Italian fastfood this afternoon, a cellphone call informed my husband that Michael Jackson just died. He turned to me and break the news. He said he was so sad because he used to like him very much. He said it reminded him of Elvis Presley, died at the age of 40+, and some of his other "used-to-be" favorite artist that died around 40+, too. He wondered why. He looked at me and asked why I didn't look surprised.

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Why? I replied to him that we all know that Michael had been sick for a while, and that was why I was not surprised at all. And about his wonderings on why his "used-to-be" favorite artists died at early age, obviously, there was only one common factor, and it was because they had greatly abused their body. There is no mystery or whatsoever with that death. It was plain self-abused.

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Anyway, I admit, I used to like Michael Jackson, too. I used to love his song such as Ben, Happy and some of those good songs that I forgot the titles. Obviously, he had made millions of people happy with his songs. I just hope that somebody else had shared the good news of salvation to him and has accepted Jesus as his personal savior and Lord.

Space Shuttle Off To The Moon To Find Water Ice

A space shuttle was announced to launch yesterday at 5:32 p.m. EDT at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Its mission is to search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. The satelite was lifted off on an Atlas V rocket with a companion mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO.
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Its original launching schedule was June 16th, but was cancelled after a hydrogen gas leak was discovered on a vent pipe leading off the shuttle's external tank.
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We were at Cocoa Beach at around 3:00 p.m., to make sure we can get a better spot. Cocoa Beach is only several minutes away from Cape Canaveral. More and more people were coming as the time of launching get closer. At around 5:20 p.m. , everybody got their cameras and videos ready. So did I. Few minutes later, we heard the very loud roar. I was told it was the space shuttle. We were watching closely at the sky for the space shuttle to appear on sight... but we were disappointed to see nothing. The sky was very cloudy then, that it concealed the space shuttle up in the sky. Or maybe we should have use a binocular. It could surely help. "Well, at least we heard it!" was everybody's consolation words.

Be Aware Of This Failure Hip Implant

I read some sad news this morning. It is about the issues on Zimmer Durom Cup. It is about patients who were having knee or hip replacement and two years after they found out that there was something wrong with the cups that was implanted on them. As time goes by the cups begin developing radiolucent lines and when they hit on the edge of the cup, it would just pop free. It is such so tragic to find out that after you put their trust on them, had the surgery with all the positive promise that you will be as normal again, only to find out that they fooled you. The bad news is, at least 12,000 patients in the USA have Durom cups implanted in their hips.
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If you are a victim of Zimmer Durom hip cup implanted failure and has cause you problem right now, you need to consult with an experienced medical product liability attorney immediately. Durom encourage you to sue a liability regarding this problem. Don’t give up your rights by signing a release; get a Durom lawyer or a Durom lawsuit , they will be glad to review your information to determine whether they feel there are sufficient grounds for them to represent you in pursuing a lawsuit against Zimmer.
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For more information about this issue, click on any given anchor text and it will take you there.

Beth And I On Their Local Paper

I will be talking about our deceased dear friend Beth again in memory of her death anniversary. There was a chance that she was interviewed by one of their local news reporter. This is the paper, but the information was not accurate. But being on the paper was exciting enough, not to mention, it was on the front page.

Local woman brings high-flying fun to children in the Philippines

July 29, 2007

By ANGELA WESTRICK
cnlife@crescent-news.com

Back in her 20s when Defiance native Beth (Wichman) Lirot would travel to the Far East she did so for the love of adventure.
"Asia has always struck me as an exotic place," says the former waitress-dancer who first took off on her own at age 19 for Japan and ended up staying there for six months.
"I liked the food, the culture, the people and just felt right at home."
Lirot didn't stop there. She ventured onto Taiwan, Hong Kong and made several return trips to Japan where she says she met and made friends easily but lost touch with them over time.
Then a couple years ago while she was surfing the Internet to play dominoes she met 34-year-old Grace Closas, who introduced herself as being from Mactan Cebu, the Philippines.
"She just happened to pop on the screen one night. We started talking and began meeting to play dominoes. Over the years we became real good friends." read more...

"Eagle's Soar"

I have been here in Michigan just seven months ago already, and during that short period of time, I had witnessed a lot of big and serious events (both good and bad) that America had encountered. And one of them is the victory of the history maker, upcoming US 44th President Barack Obama. I am one of those millions US habitant that are very hopeful of the anticipation reinventing America. The eyes of the world are on USA. May this year 2009 be the start of "Eagle's Soar" again. Help America!

Babies: Punishment or a Choice?

One of the biggest issue about the newly-elect US President Barack Obama was about his opinion given at a town hall meeting in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, during his campaign period.

"Look, I got two daughters -- nine years old and six years old. I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at age 16."

Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, says Obama professes to be a Christian, yet equates contracting a sexually transmitted disease with giving life to a child -- intended or not. She says precious, innocent children are not punishment, even if the parents did not make the right choices to begin with.

There can be various ways on how to take Obama's opinion. Let your voice be heard in regards to this issue.

Thank you for any input...

9/11 Memorial Day

The message this morning in the Our Daily Bread devotional reading materials was about the 9/11 attack, then I shifted my eyes on TV which was left on overnight, I saw the memorial ceremony taking place in NY. Families of the victims gave their speech. It was a somber ceremony. The world is reminded of the tragedy. The world is mourning again. It was really a heart-breaking moment. But I hate to think, that somewhere, somebody is rejoicing, too.




(photo taken from Yahoo! news )

CHOOSING A LEADER

(This was originally posted last September 10th, but prior to the present events here in USA, I had decided to move this on this day with the hope that somebody might get some insights from this post for the presidential election tomorrow.)

September 03, 2008
Caro, Michigan (Davenport University, cafeteria)

PRO or Anti?

Are you a PRO or Anti GMA? (GMA is the initial name of our president in the Philippines) We often encountered this questions especially during political and economic crisis. It is obvious that the multitude don't like some of our political figures. Some of us blame the hardships and struggles we are facing right now to them. Some of us wanted somebody else on that certain position rather than the one who is currently there.

But looking back to 33 A.D. , we will find out that there's not much different on how people were so desperate to have a certain person to be their leader, but in just a matter of time, the very same crowd who used to praised the certain person were the same ones who cursed him to death on the cross.

What happened? They want a leader who caters to their impulses, whims and needs but were not willing to do what ought to be done. Its the same thing to some of us in the present time. When things do not turn favorable to us, we blame the leaders. We fail to realize that instead of finding fault with them, it is our individual responsibility to pray for them... for guidance and wisdom in their decision making.

Proverbs 8:13-18
13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
14 Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power.
15 By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just;
16 by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth. [b]
17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
18 With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.

( verses drag from Biblegateway.Com)