Something weird is going on. I can’t load this blog or even the domain for that fact from home. I can load it at work. WTF is going on?? I thought my sites were down or something, but it seems something weird is just going on. I’m at work right now and thought I’d check in. I guess I’ll have to see if it’s working at home now too.

Weird, weird, weird….maybe it was just my browser? I dunno. I’ll have to see once I get home. I still can’t believe this whole time I thought it was down, yet I was able to view it on my blackberry.

And yes…I GOT A BLACKBERRY!! Will update more if it works from home. cya!!

I’m sick…terribly sick. I even had to cancel two shifts from work (yesterday and today). The problem? I have this cough that is just not going away. I don’t know what to tell ya. I swear I cough over 200 times a day and I’m not even exaggerating. It seems like I cough every minute and sometimes it will last a whole minute in itself.

I think I have bronchitis or something. I’ve have bronchitis before when I was a child along with asthma which definitely wasn’t two things you should have together. But I think I have yet again got bronchitis. I think this is what I had earlier this year too. I didn’t go to the doctor then, but it lasted nearly a month.

My mom has a prescription to some kind of cough medicine that you can only get via prescription from a doctor. This cough medicine supposedly makes your cough go away in a day or two. It worked for my mom and even my aunt who my mom gave some to when she came over with a cough. So, I’m just hoping I can get my hands on some of that and maybe…just maybe my cough will go away? I hope so. I can’t be missing days of work all the time and I just can’t stand coughing 24/7.

Yes 24/7 of coughing…not a lie. Just imagine this…

Laying your head to go to bed at night and you’re coughing every couple of minutes. Then waking up in the middle of the night after you’ve slept for an hour or two and then coughing some more. You go to the bathroom and get a drink still coughing. Back to bed. You wake up a few times during the night because of coughing. Morning time. The alarm goes off and you start coughing. Get up and out of your bed to head to bathroom again still coughing. Heading to your kitchen to get something for breakfast, all the way coughing. Then throughout your entire friggin day coughing every couple of minutes.

• You can’t carry on a conversation with someone because you’re coughing.
• You can’t talk on the phone because you’ll cough.
• Don’t even think about walking around the block with the dog. You’ll be coughing up a storm.
• You’re trying to watch your favourite tv show but can’t hear because of your coughing. Turn the tv volume wayyy up.
• Don’t even think about even eating…you’ll cough and all your food will spit out.
• Same thing goes for drinking. Drink only after you’ve coughed or else you’ll have the consequence of spitting it everywhere or it coming out of your nose if you try to keep your mouth shut.

Try living like that…it’s not good at all!! And even throughout this entire week that I’ve managed to get this cough (since Monday when I noticed), I’ve lost 10lbs. Yes 10lbs! I mean…sure it’s something to celebrate but not like this. I know that’s not healthy at all and I know it’s due to having this cough.

Just the other day I spent the ENTIRE DAY…when I say the ENTIRE DAY…I mean when I wake up in the morning until 11pm at night before I fell back asleep…I spent it in bed watching movies. The only time I got up was to go to the bathroom or go get some more water. Crazy isn’t it? I just had no energy at all to move. I mean, I can be lazy at times believe me, but that day, I just couldn’t do anything.

Have I mentioned other things that’s happened during the this week? I also had a stuffy nose, watery eyes, pounding headache and now even muscles ache. My left arm is ABSOLUTELY killing me. It’s so tight and I can literally press down on muscles. Even a back muscle also on my left side is hurting.

I JUST WANT ALL THIS PAIN TO GO AWAY!!

I am seriously going to lose my mind and I know what you’re thinking, “What don’t you go see a doctor?” The problem with that is I can’t stand my family doctor. He’s an old geezer who never knows what’s wrong with me and just sends me to see specialists. My entire childhood was going from specialist to specialist that is one of the reasons I dispise him now. “Then why don’t you switch doctors?” The problem with that is the fact that no doctors in my area are willing to take on new patients. It’s a lose-lose situation for me. The only thing that comes to mind is for me to go to one of those free clinics. Now that will take hours since it’s ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS packed. We have over 10 in my city and no matter which one I go to, there will be a wait of an hour or more.

So I guess I’m just going to wait a few days. Until Tuesday at least. Hopefully my mom will get that cough medicine she keeps talking about and I’ll try it. If it doesn’t work, then I guess I have no choice but to see a doctor.

Have you tried HDR (high dynamic range) imaging? I tried it just this past weekend because of an assignment I had for my photography class. It was actually really fun.

What you do is set your camera on your tripod, and take pictures of the same scenery but with different exposures each time. Then you generate a HDR image through programs such as Photomatix Pro 3.0, which is what I use, and then just adjust the image via tone mapping. The results are absolutely breathtaking.

You can see some of my photos below. Just click the image to view it larger.

Also, if you want to see more examples of HDR photographs, just search it on Flickr.com. There are some really amazing stuff there as well!!

There are many websites online that offer gaming opportunities for those who want to try their luck. Even I have given in a few times just to see if I could win something.

The one game I haven’t had a chance to play around with yet is the spades games which you can easily play at Spadester.com.

Their site is one of the best ones I have personally seen in regards to style, design, and to the point. You can find all the information you require before signing up.

Here are some of the highlights:

• learn how to play the game
• easy to understand download & install instructions
• user guide with quick faqs + tips
• articles by a top spades expert
• and even a forum where you can reach out to other individuals and learn how they play the game

Not only all of that, but payment on Spadester.com is a breeze. They use major credit cards such as Visa, MasterCard, and even American Express. They also take two other methods of payment which are the Diner’s club card and JCB. Plenty of options for everyone!!

Don’t think that you only have to play for money, because YOU DON’T!! You can also play the spades game just for fun!! The software can be downloaded for FREE and played for FREE without any limitations. There are even different game levels you can achieve!

If playing games online with other folks and maybe even winning some extra cash sounds fun to you, then check out Spadester.com. HAVE FUN!!

I finally got to try painting with light in photos. I did a few test shots just to get the hang of things. Then I finally got around to some really nice shots.

How is it done?
Really simple actually. All you do it set your camera on a tripod. Then set it to a long exposure and click the button. Next you just paint with light using a flashlight, laser pen, or other materials that will give off light. Viola…just review your photos and make adjustments when needed.

Here are some of the shots I was able to get. My favourite is the angel. Then again, it has sentimental value to me as it was a gift from a loving grandmother figure who I worked with at my last job.

Wow…I haven’t blogged here in a week. *smacks self* That’s how busy my little world can get even though it seems like I’m doing nothing all day long. Um…so this post is going to be all over the place since I have little things here and there to update about.

The weather is in the 30s both yesterday and today which is just great. The problem though is the fact I work both days. Like I mentioned before, the weather is always nice on days I tend to work. Ughh….why not nice on a day I’m off? I hope Monday or even tomorrow will be nice as well since I want to get out and go to the park or lake.

So ya…how is my new flash?? BLOODY AWESOME!!! I can’t believe I did without it for such a long time. I have taken some pictures, but those I haven’t put on my Flickr account. Will do so probably tomorrow. I don’t like having the flash directly pointing to my subject. It creates hard shadows. If you have it pointed slightly upwards, then the light bounces of the ceiling/wall and creates a nice soft image. AMAZING results!!

Vacation…Did I mention we’re probably heading to CUBA next month!!!!!!!!! Yippy!!!!! I can’t wait to be basking in the sunlight on the white sandy beach and then swimming in the ocean (my favourite thing ever!!!). So how did it come about? I was on my way to work yesterday and talking to my dad about stuff. He was mentioning how he wanted to see Cuba but wasn’t sure to go this year or not because they are already wasting money for my sister’s wedding which is in August. I think he was just waiting for me to agree on going which I totally did. I told him straight upfront I needed a vacation really bad and to swim in the ocean. He agreed and we starting talking about which dates, places, etc. So when I got to work, I had some time before I started and so I hopped online to check out some places. I found one resort in particular that we are looking at going to. Can’t say what it is yet, but it’s definitely looking good for us to go.

Now I just have to start setting aside some money and convince my dad that he should pay for my trip. LOL! I usually get my way anyways, but I’ll pay him back slowly for it since he already paid for my trip last year and didn’t take any of my money that I tried to give him.

I’m so excited over it!!! CUBA HERE I COME!!!