I finally score the first goal of the season, and it wasn't off my foot, nor off my head.... it came off my stomach and went in. I take whatever i can get! Two more games in the season and I am pumped. NSCAC need a win against us to come first in the competition, and we will do all we can to prevent that. For us to be champions we need to win the next two games by a total margin of 4 goals. Very difficult but we are not giving up!

1. sis (second oldest sister) forgets to take fish to work
2. sis rings, asks me to get "chicken" (i am sure she said chicken) and give to my dad to take to work
3. sis asks me to get her spare house keys from my mum
4. sis tells me to go to her house and press, "one" until the alarm beeps twice, to by pass the alarm
5. i take my dad's car, does not bring my mobile (because i thought it would be a simple process... just a quick go-in-and-pick-up job)
6. i get to the house, unlocks the doors, goes in and presses "1"... no 2x beeps
7. the alarm goes off.... extremely loudly.... it hurts my ears
8. i don't know what to do, and i can't think properly, so i start to panic a bit
9. i run outside, its slightly softer out there, and i think about what i should do
10. i have no phone so i decide to use the house phones...it does not work! And I didn't know why...i am getting very frustrated with the phone, almost want to chuck it.
11. after a long while the alarm stops screaming...what a relief!
12. now i am thinking, i don't know what to do about the alarm, and i still havn't completed my mission in getting the "chicken"...hmm....i think i should run in and grab it and leave!
13. now i have a plan.... i get inside the house again....the alarm does not scream....yay!
14. i get to the kichen, and the alarm screams at me again, and i start to panic again.
15. now i am wondering where the chicken is...i had no idea...so i decide in my panic to grab everything that looks like meat in the refrigerator, and so that's what i did.
16. i run out of the house, trying to not look suspicious, and get into the car.
17. now i forgot to mention that i also had to pickup my nephew and niece from another house nearby, and so i had go there now
18. time is really tight, because my dad is in a hurry to get to work and i need to get to work somewhere else too
19. i quickly get my niece's phone and rings my sis
20. and here is a key word that she ought to have used when she asked me to go to her place: REMOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was meant to press "1" on the remote!!!!!! I had no idea. I thought it was the one on the keypad for the alarm! Am i stupied to think that? I mean wouldn't anyone just assume the "1" was the one on the alarm keypad??
21. although she said remote, i had in my head, still, a TV remote.....ahaha...i just couldn't picture it....so i said, but mum didn't give me the remote! In fact she did. It was on the key chain all along.
22. in my dads's impatience he drives my car and arrives at my nephew's place (my oldest sister's place) just as my nephew and niece were coming out. I was still on the phone with my sis.
20. he gives me this stressed-out / in pain look on his pace that annoys me intensely, it drives me nuts and puts me into another panic. He complains about the alarm going-off and him being late.
21. at this point, on the phone, i told my sis i had failed my mission... i did not grab the chicken.
22. now she tells me that it was not "chicken" but "fish"!!!!! (i am sure she said chicken before)
23. so i said, YES, I got the fish! YAY.
24. in my happiness i said to my dad (who was unsympathetic to my position and continuing to pressure me with his look) you can go now
25. so my dad leaves and i am still talking to my sis, i explained what happened, what a shambles!
26. she explains that the phone in her house is connected to the alarm and it continuously rings my bro-in-law's mobile until the alarm is reset at the house. No wonder it didn't work!
27. she now asks me to go back to her house to reset the alarm through the keypad
28. so i go to her house ready to complete her instructions....BUT!
29. at her house i discover that in my panic to let my dad go, i had left the house keys in my dads car!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
30. so i can't do anything and my sis needed to come back home from work to reset the alarm, otherwise it would just continuously ring my bro-in-law's phone all night before they get home...
31. so after all this i was late for work....fantastic

What a day! Also Jook Fook lost to NDCCC and my beloved Swans loses to Collingwood and their season is over....Grrrrrr....I hate Collingwood!
Good bye and good night!

BHCBC 0 vs 2 JF














NDFC next....*gasp*

Here I quote an article I find interesting, especially since my family and I use USANA products:

Vitamins: tested and rated

---

From A to zinc, a staggering 70 per cent of Australians buy nutritional supplements, spending on average $200 per year: a total of $2.3 billion.

But it is hard to know which to choose, from a mind-blowing 30,000 different types on the market. An extraordinary scientific analysis by a team of Canadian and US biochemists may come to the rescue.

They have thoroughly examined more than 100 leading multivitamins available in Australia and New Zealand, evaluating and comparing their formulations by separating and measuring each ingredient: vitamins, minerals antioxidants and other components.

Dr Lesley Braun, Pharmacist and Naturopath from the National Herbalists Association of Australia and Dr Marc Cohen, Professor of Complementary Medicine at RMIT are the authors of Herbs and Natural Supplements.

We showed them the latest comparison of multivitamin products which scores brand by brand.

"What you've got is seven experts from the US that have put together what I would call a wish list, a list of ingredients they believe would be the ultimate to have in a multivitamin," Dr Braun said.

Professor Cohen added: "It was done on a range of issues, which include how absorbable the vitamins were, the range of vitamins and minerals that were in the tablet and whether they were in the appropriate amounts and in the appropriate form" says Professor Marc Cohen.

Dr Braun explained the research further.

"Their aim is to try to find a product on the market that is as close as possible to their wish list of the most comprehensive, of the highest doses, for them what they would consider the best," Dr Braun said.

"It is very important when you look at a vitamin supplement that not only have you got the key ingredients, but you've got them in the right combinations."

They say the absolutely perfect multivitamin tablet would be a huge "poly-pill", the size of a walnut, but Professor Cohen says we should be aiming for the following.

"The full range of vitamins e.g. A, the full range of vitamin Bs - and B should be done in a complex, not just 1 or 2 of the vitamins - certainly vitamin C and a range of minerals," Prof Cohen said.

"There is also an argument to say you should not put everything in the one pill because things absorb differently, e.g. the fat soluble vitamins."

Now the results

First, the final top 5 scorers. Remember they're rated against an ideal multi-vitamin pill.

Best: USANA Health Sciences Essentials scores a very high 74 per cent, followed by Solgar Omnium at 56.5 per cent.

Thorn Research Al's Formula scored 47 percent, Clinicians Vitamin and Mineral Boost 45 per cent, and NFS Nutraceuticals Ultimate Sports Multi 44.5 per cent.

But you won't find them at the supermarket nor pharmacies: they're available online, some through naturopaths and herbalists.

What is it that gave these brands such top ratings?

"They do contain a lot of the B group vitamins, the antioxidants that are traditional vitamins, so bioflavonoids. And they contain a few other little bits and pieces as well in high doses, such as the minerals with magnesium and calcium," Dr Braun said.

"A lot of the key ingredients are in very high doses. So when you match it up to the wish list that the US experts put together, it looks very good."

Most of the multivitamins tested scored lower than 20 per cent. Again though, all were rated against the ideal.

About one-third only managed single figure scores. Bottom of the list, unbelievably, some of our top supermarket and pharmacy brands: Myadec and Nature's Own Multivitamins and Minerals both with just 2.4 per cent,

Herron Clinical Nutrition All-in-One Multi-Vitamin and Mineral scored 2 per cent, Guardian Multi Vitamins and Minerals Hi Potency also 2 per cent, and last was Advocare Macro-Mineral Complex at just 1 per cent.

But at a fraction of the price of the top scorers, our expert nutritionists say you do get what you pay for.

"They tend to have fewer number of ingredients compared to the ones that rated very highly," Dr Braun said.

"Also the strength of the ingredients tended to be lower.

"So I see them as just a very basic stopgap for someone whose diet really needs some work, whereas as they go higher in the list, they become more sophisticated and have better combinations."

Professor Cohen said: "I think the ones in the supermarkets and pharmacies are competing on price. You could have the vitamin on the label and only a very tiny amount. It won't actually do anything for you, but it is still on the label and consumers don't really know how much is the correct amount."

So are the right vitamins worth the money?

"Go with the ones that are comprehensive in good doses, the ones on the list," Dr Braun said. "Ideally though, go to a health professional, get your diet looked at, start working on the diet and get the right supplement for you."

"There is strong evidence now that everyone over the age of 55 should be taking a multivitamin every day to prevent long-term diseases," Prof Cohen said.

"I'd extend that to say everyone should be taking a multivitamin because the risks are very low and the benefits are potentially very high."

So what does an expert take daily? Here's a tip: don't waste your money taking multivitamins with a cup of tea.

"The best way to take them is in the morning with breakfast, big glass of water," Prof Braun said. "Tea not so good because it binds some of the iron and you won't get the absorption, cancels out the iron."

Dr Lesley Braun takes:

• "Dona Glucosamine" by Your Health.
• "CoQ10", Co-enzyme Q10 by BioCeuticals for healthy cardio-vascular function and good for people taking statins for lowering cholesterol. Lesley also takes them for migraine.
• "Multi-biocomplex" with selenium, a multivitamin by Nutrimedicine.
• A bowl of blueberries which are neuro regenerative - to combat the loss of brain-cells due to ageing. If she can't buy fresh in season, she buys frozen blueberries.

National Herbalists Association of Australia.
Website: www.nhaa.org.au

Dr Lesley Braun and Professor Marc Cohen wrote "Herbs and Natural Supplements: An Evidence Based Guide. Published by Elsevier, November 2004. ISBN 0729536823. Contains 567 pages. Price $A40.

TEST RESULTS
The scores and brand analysis of multi-vitamins, as mentioned in our story, are in Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements. A Compendium of over 100 Products available in Australia and New Zealand, written by Lyle MacWilliam BSc, MSc, FP. (Northern Dimensions Publishing, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Revised 1st Edition).

But it is not in bookshops in Australia. Go to www.uniprotools.com.au. You can order the book from that site by selecting Lyle MacWilliam's name on the left-hand side of the page. Price is $40 including postage and handling.

Nutritional Supplements sorted by score
USANA Health Sciences Essentials 73.7
Solgar Omnium 56.5
Thorne Research Al's Formula 46.9
Clinicians Vitamin and Mineral Boost 45.1
NFS Nutraceuticals Ultimate Sports Multi 44.5
Thorne Research Basic Nutrients V 44.4
Thorne Research Basic Nutrients III 38.7
Solgar VM-2000 37.9
Pharmanex Lifepak 28.1
Amway NutriWay Double X 27.3
GNC LiveWell Women's Ultra Mega 26.1
Pharmanex Lifepak Women 25.6
BioCeuticals Multi Essentials 25.3
Pharmalliance OxiChel 24.8
Neways Orachel 24.1
Solgar Formula VM-75 23.1
Radiance Multi-Power 22.6
Nutra Life Active Men's Multi 22.3
GNC LiveWell Mega Men 21.2
Pharmanex Lifepak Prime 21.0
Nature's Sunshine Supplemental Vitamins & Minerals 20.6
Thompson's Multifort 17.5
Nature's Way Mega Multi 17.1
Thompson's Immunofort 16.9
Nutra Life Active Women's Multi Plus 16.4
Eagle Tresos B PluSe 16.4
Nature's Way Women's Energy Mega Multivitamin 16.4
Pharm-a-Care Women's Mega Strength Multi-Vitamins 16.4
Bioglan Women's Complete Multi Compex 16.4
Pretorius Women's Live Better Multi Vitamin & Mineral 16.3
Kordel's Men's Multi (without Iron) 15.4
Nutrition Care Formula SF88 15.1
Blackmores Women's Vitality Multi 14.1
Metagenics Multigenics 14.1
Red Seal Women's Multi 14
Nature's Own Daily Multi Peak Performance 14
Mannatech GlycoLEAN Catalyst 13.9
Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Women's Multi Vitamin with Selenium 13.7
Nature's Sunshine Mega-Chel 13.5
Metagenics Multigenics Phyto Plus 13.5
Blackmores Women's Multi & Evening Primrose Oil 13.4
Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Fifty Plus Multi Vitamins 13.4
Blackmores Sustained Release Women's Multi Vitamins & Minerals 13.3
Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Men's Multi Vitamin with Selenium 13.3
Red Seal Men's Multi 13.3
Pharm-a-Care Men's Mega Strength Multi-Vitamin 11.7
Bioglan Men's Complete Multi Complex 11.6
Nature's Way Men's Energy Mega Multi-Vitamin Iron-Free 11.6
Blackmores Sustained Release Multi Vitamins and Minerals 11.5
Swisse Women's Ultivite Formula 1 11.5
Pluravit Time-Release Multi 11.5
Thompson's Men's Multi with Antioxidants 11.3
Herbs of Gold Executive Multi Vitamin & Mineral 11.1
Golden Glow Senior's One-A-Day Multi 11.1
Swisse Women's Ultivite No Iron or Iodine 10.9
Swisse Men's Ultivite Formula 1 10.8
Blackmores Sustained Release Multi Vitamins & Minerals + Selenium 10.7
Melaleuca Vitality for Women 10.6
Reliv Now 10.4
Nature's Own Multivitamin Plus Omega 3 Fish Oil 9.1
Avon VitAdvance Women's Complete II 9.1
Good Health Men's Multi-Plus 9.1
Pharma Foods Pharma Day with Selenium 8.7
Herbalife Formula 3 8.7
Kordel's Women's Multi Plus EPO 8.6
Cenovis Mega Multi 8.4
Thompson's Femmefort 8.3
Microgenics Mega Multivitamin 8
Melaleuca Vitality for Men 7.5
Reliv Classic 7.5
Nutrition Care Formula 33SE 7.4
Microgenics Women's Pro Active Multi Vitamin 6.8
Golden Glow Super One-A-Day 6.7
Herron Clinical Nutrition Men's Multi-Vitamin & Minerals 6.2
Blackmores Men's Performance Multi 6.2
Good Health Women's Multi-Plus 6
Vitaplex Professional One a Day Multivitamin 5
New Vision Essential Vitamins 4.7
Centrum Select 50+ 4.3
Amway NutriWay Daily 4.2
Microgenics Men's Essential Multivitamin 4.1
Myadec Gold A-Z Guard 4
Red Seal Total Multi with Minerals 3.9
Centrum Complete from A to Zinc 3.9
Cenovis 50+ Multi 3.8
Guardian Women's Multi Vitamins & Minerals 3.6
Herron Clinical Nutrition One-a-Day Women's Multi-Vitamins & Minerals 3.6
Cenovis Multivitamin and Minerals 3.4
Amcal One-A-Day 3.3
Berocca Performance 3.2
Healtheries Women's Multi (AU) 3.2
Cenovis Women's Multi 3.1
Nature's Own Daily Multi Essentials 3.1
Pluravit Women 3.1
Golden Glow Women's One-a-Day Multi 3.1
Blackmores Multi + Gingko for 55+ 3
Pluravit 50 Plus 3
Healtheries Women's Multi (NZ) 2.7
Hivita LiquiVita 2.6
Red Seal One-a-Day Multi & Minerals 2.6
Amcal Multivitamin & Mineral Effervescent 2.6
Golden Glow Men's One-a-Day Multi 2.5
Bioglan Daily Plus Max 2.5
Cenovis Men's Multi 2.5
Myadec Multivitamins and Minerals 2.4
Nature's Own Multivitamin & Mineral 2.4
Herron Clinical Nutrition All-in-One Multi-Vitamin & Mineral 2.1
Guardian Multi Vitamins & Minerals Hi Potency 2.1
Advocare Macro-Mineral Complex 1.1

Source: Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Lyle MacWilliam, BSc, MSc, FP (Northern Dimensions Publishing, ISBN 0-9732538-3-5

http://au.todaytonight.yahoo.com/article/40331/health/vitamins-tested-rated

I'm addicted to this series on TVB!

I've been having some brain explosions lately. I don't know why. What is a brain explosion? It's when you make a mistake so badly you wonder what you were thinking at the time, or even, whether you were thinking at all. It's when you struggle to explain or even find an excuse for what you did. It's also something that you did, that you normally would rarely do. Get it? Okay so, I've been having these 'explosions' more often lately and I don't know why. It's happened in the past but not has frequently.

The most recent ones have all been to do with my part-time job delivering Chinese food to people's homes. I want to talk about one instance, in particular, that lead to myself shaking my head in disgust. First I must say I totally admit it was my mistake to begin with. I gave the wrong change to the customer (or customers because there were a few of them). I gave more than I should. Like I said before, I had a brain explosion. It wasn't an extremely large amount of money, but it was a significant amount of money. I can't explain what I was thinking, hence the definition above, so I won't attempt to delve into what happend. I do, though, want to express my disbelief at the dishonesty of people.

I'm very annoyed and disgusted with these people, and I can't help but think about how much of a disservice they are doing to the people of their ethnic origin. I truely believe that I as a person have my biases but I do try my best not to have prejudice or be racist against any group of people. This event, aswell as other experiences with people of similar ethnic backgrounds, has lead me to feel that it is not surprising for some people to feel a certain way about certain groups of people. I understand that usually it's a minority of people that give a larger group a bad name. But that's how powerful the influence of even just a few individuals can have on the impressions and prejudices of other people. How one person acts is never in a vacuum, and neither are the consequences of their actions.

Anyways, this is what happend. I gave the wrong change to these group of young men. I gave them signifcantly more than I should. That was my mistake. I didn't realise until i got back to the restaurant. So my sister (manager/owner of the restaurant) rang them and asked them if I could get back the money. They blatantly lied that they did not recieve anything from me. Okay, so that made me already a bit sick, even though i pretty much expected that they would not own up. What made me annoyed at them already was that I had to wait for them to come up with the money for 15 minutes, and all the time they were complaining about the cost of the food and didn't believe me when I reassured them that everything was right. Okay so, so far so bad. Worse is still to come.

While the workers had their dinner at the restaurant, the group of young men rang back and complained that there was a piece of hair in one of their dishes. Ofcourse, we could never know if it were true or not unless we took the piece of hair (if it existed at all) to a lab or something. While not verifiable, somehow i doubt it was true. What I am really annoyed about is that the dude on phone threated my sister, saying that he will kill her. Later in the conversation, he then set about accusing my sister of threatening him! He claimed that my sister said that she will kill him and that he will call the police. Of course my sister didn't threaten him, she is running a business. My sister said, fine call the police. How stupid of them. We had 6 witness that my sister did not say anything like that. Furthermore, my sister offered to replace the dish for half price. They were unwilling to accept it, but eventually did. I got a feeling they were only playing games.

Sigh. I really don't get it. It is not like a lot of money is involved here. Why lie? I wonder if they will sleep easy? Why make a big fuss over a meal!? This dude was complaining and getting angry about spring rolls he got for free! I wish they would consider the consequences of their actions. I could have lost my job if this wasn't a family business. They have ruined so many people's impressions of them, but not only of them but the population group they are percieved to represent. How selfish and irresponsible!

  For full size picture (~10mb) click here.

I'm back.............again.................for now.

Sister's place got robbed last night.....I felt so angry. Then I felt fear for the safety of my family. Lucky no one was home at her house. But then I don't think the thieves would break in if there were people there. But you never know... My bro-in-law's lap top was stollen, aswell as my nephew's wallet and a few other things. Why would a robber steel a little kids wallet? The robber didn't do a very good job at stealing though for some reason, but he/she sure made a huge mess. They went through nearly every thing, and I mean EVERYTHING. They looked through all the items in the closets, all the clothes, all the draws and basically treasure hunted through the whole house. They probably thought we hid money in our clothes or something. They even went through the pots and pans! YES, the POTS and PANS!!! Can you believe it? Makes me think they must have been desperate. They didn't take any of them though.I would probably guess it was either one or two people, otherwise they would have taken more stuff. Luckily, they did not take any passports or important documents. At least they still have a concience. But it's not like the passports is worth anything to them, I guess. My sis' place was actually quite secure, or so I thought. They are installing an alarm system tomorrow, so I'm going to have to take my little nephys to swimming. Poor Chris got his wallet stollen.

This incident reminds me of so many previous incidents, it makes me so depressed and angry. But then I think my social work studies have gotten into my system. I keep looking at things from different angles or different perspectives. and different layers or levels of analysis. I start thinking about things from even the robber's perspective.

"They must have been desperate..." or very greedy.

"Society has something to do with this...." but then individuals have a choice in most circumstances.

"Maybe they needed the money...." but so does a lot of people and they don't go robbing people.

Argh, sometimes I can be too analytical sometimes. That's good and bad I suppose, as with most things...

There I go again.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Oh and a big happy 21st to Grace! Thank's for inviting me and I loved taking photos for you. It's my honor and I hope the pictures turn out good. Cheers!

ps. your family is so lovable!!
(o0)

Chucked out so much junk from my room. But there is still so much more...

The End.

P.s. how ironic...