Hindi na uso ang protesta

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Plant Sunday - Thai lime

Thai limes can be a good alternative to calamansi in cooking. The good news is that it is as adapted to our climate and not really hard to grow. It also seems not to be demanding of care and for as long as it has basic nutrients it seems to bear fruit all year round.

Personal COVID Symptoms monitoring form

Not all of us can get a COVID test and for many of us, it may not really be necessary. But at least each of us should have a personal Covid symptom monitoring form so that if ever we get into quarantine or feel like we have been exposed to COVID and are beginning to feel its symptoms, we can readily note the progress of our suspected infection which may be very helpful to doctors whom we might have to see eventually.

Water plant roots as air layering material

I wish I remembered the name of this water plant which I bought at a Garden show. I was attracted to its flowers which looked like hanging mini orchids. However, I soon found out that it actually grows very fast.

I am trying to think of what economic value this plant can have and so far I have come up with several potential uses.

One idea is as bio remediation plant to clean gray water before it is released to creeks and canals.
Another way is to treat it as an indoor plant and as part of decorative floral arrangement.
And third, its thick root growth might make a good air layering/ rooting substrate.

Am currently experimenting with it.

3 Doctors

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My five quarantine re-read list

1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

2. Homo Deus - Yuval Harari

3. The Wisest One in the Room -Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross

4. god is not Great - Christopher Hitchens

5. Mind and Brain - Angus Gellatly and Oscar Zarate

I usually do not read books that I have read before. But owing to this long quarantine, I found myself picking up past books that I have read and the above list are those which I found myself picking up rereading the most. 

Yuval Noah Harari is currently my favorite writer. His insights on humanity, our prospect and our future are not just thought provoking but for me, they are a useful guide to living a meaningful life at our specific stage of evolution.

With the disturbing  rise of leaders with autocratic, even despotic tendencies aided by fake news, there is Harari's observation which I would like to quote and share: In the past, censorship works by blocking the flow of information. In the twenty-first century censorship works by flooding people with irrelevant information....In the past, having power means having access to data. Today, having power means knowing what to ignore".

I do not know what other people will make of this, but I completely agree with him.

Thoughts on the franchise renewal woes of ABS CBN

It is outrageous that we can allow politicians to toy with the life of media company. But yes we do. And so here we are, witnesses to the sadistic and ugly torture that ABS-CBN is subjected to by politicians before it is permanently snuffed off the air.

There may be legislative hearings and airing of grievances to justify the travails imposed on ABS CBN. But all that is just drama....

Duterte has spoken. He said he will see to it that "ABS CBN is out" and he suggests that the owners just sell their company. End of story. From here, the minions take over and regale the public with political pornography in gleeful obedience to  their principal's will.

There are many issues and accusations being thrown to justify not renewing the franchise of ABS CBN. But all these are spurious and the company has answered them all. The real issue is simply confiscation of  private property. It is wrong. It is immoral. It is a sick and repugnant display of abuse of power.

Lessons learned from stem cutting propagation of bougainvillea

WIP

Contain, Detect, Isolate ...the virus

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WIP

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Double mask

idea one meter by one meter cloth

Reasons why we can hope in the face of COVID19

COVID19 maybe invisible but it is not totally unknown. We do not have to fear it. We just have to know as much about it as we can.

We know that it is a virus that mainly attacks our respiratory system. At the moment there is no effective vaccine or established cure against it. However, there are promising studies that suggests that certain drugs and substances can stop it from replicating in our body.

In case the virus gets a foothold in our body, it is our immune system that will have to deal with it. But we are not helpless. Fortunately, there are measures we can take to build up and strengthen our immune system. Taking vitamin C, D plus zinc supplements, getting adequate sleep and moderate sun are measures we can take. Other interventions are plasma infusion from recovered patients and with doctor's advise, even saline irrigation of nasal.

It has also been observed that other vaccines like that for tuberculosis can confer some kind of immunity or better resistance to this virus. The Philippines is one country where there was a wide campaign for anti tb vaccine and this may now work again in favor for many of us who received this vaccine.

PPP Prevention, Protection, Prophylaxis vs Wuhan CV19

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Enhanced Community Quarantine -Day 1

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Experiment with water rooting and cluster planting

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Sleep, sun and sanitation as measures against CoVID-19

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Value added plant hobby

1. Binansot for container gardening
2. multi grafting
3. soil nutrient/natural fertilizer making
4.herb garden
5. Letras y Figuras pocket garden
6.plant clinic/ rescue
7. cache pot making
8.specialized collection and hybridization

Fake news and algorithm

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Piyesta at peste sa panahon ng NCoV

Kuha sa kasagsagan ng piyesta ng Santa Martha, 9 Pebrero 2020

Kahit maraming takot sa NCoV, hindi nito napigil ang pagdiriwang ng piyesta sa aming lugar. Hindi yata nakuha ng mga taong nagdiriwang ang memo na umiwas sa mataong lugar upang hindi maabot ng sakit na ito.

Isang tao lang na may dala na ng virus na ito, kahit wala pang nakikitang sintomas ay maaaring maipasa agad ito sa daan, o libo pang nagsasaya rito.

Pero napakabago lang kasi ng sakit na dala ng NCoV na ito at kulang na kulang ang kaalaman ng mga tao dito kaya mas pinili nila ang ipagsa walang bahala ito kaysa mag-ingat.

Huwag naman sana maging mabagsik ang NCoV kung sakaling mangyari ito.

The Joy of plants

I am not really a plant expert or a seriously dedicated plant lover but maybe, I can pass off as an enthusiast. I find great joy in keeping plants and they do provide me with stress relief and give me something to fight off boredom and even depression.

One idea I am toying with at the moment is to start a Plant Sunday activity to invite and gather people with similar interest so we can talk about plants and swap seeds, seedlings and cuttings. For some, this might even become a livelihood as there is at the moment a noticeable public interest in indoor plants.

Just some possible activities during Plant Sunday
- learning about soil and its enhancement
- plant swap
- container making or even swap
- group project
- exhibit
- organized trips

The theme is always related to plants. But through this, we also engage with others and make our environment greener. In the process, we improve the quality of our life.

Micro enterprise Build, Operate, Cooperativize and Transfer idea

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Natural Sulfur soap as potential souvenir item

My soap experiment. Soap fail on the right, but the batch still on the mold seems to be going well.

With a view to give value to a natural resource found in Benguet, I tried to use sulfurous mud found in Bokod, Benguet as an ingredient in making soap.

My first attempt using dried powdered mud was a fail, with the soap refusing to harden. I don't know what went wrong- too early addition of additives?, too much mud? or too much oil/liquid additives? I noticed that while I was trying to dry out the soap, some of the oil seems to be seeping out. I wonder if I had erred in the proper mixing of oil and sodium hydroxide due to faulty measurement.

This experiment may be a fail but there are many things to learn from this experience to do better next time.

With the next batch of soap  that I made, I was very careful with my measurements and procedure. This time, the soap was a success. Remains to be seen how this soap will test out.

The next step will be to find an attractive way to pack the soap in a way that appeals to a tourist market.

Happy New Leaf!

And just like that, another year has passed and today, we unbox 2020.

I had a pleasant surprise from one of my plants which I thought I  had lost after I repotted it. But instead of dying, it sprouted a new leaf. Maybe I am not really as bad a gardener as I thought or maybe I am just getting better a little at a time.

It was a beautiful quiet day today and I just spent it biking around, exercising and reading. I hope there will be more days like this and not just on New Year's day.

A brainstorm while exeercising: fighting depression in the gym. I read somewhere that weight training can relieve depression and so why not explore that idea and develop it into a package of activities for people who may want to try this out. eg. weight training, social engagement, new skills training, charity work.