Marvel's The Avengers

This past weekend I went to go see the Movie The Avengers. I personally thought that this movie was awesome and I would recommend people to go see this movie. Words cannot explain the excitement and thrill I had while watching it. Personally, you should just go see this movie to experience the excitement.

However, a tip to people who plan to watch this movie is that you must watch all the other movies to understand this movie. Sadly, I didn't have time to watch Thor before I saw The Avengers, however, because I did watch all the other movies I still somewhat understood each character. Yet, because I didn't watch Thor I didn't know that Loki's (the villain/Tom Hiddleston) story and hate for his brother Thor (Chris Hemsworth) was.

I saw this movie in 3D and it was all right. Personally, if people watched this is 2D, then they didn't missed much. Although, this was a serious action thriller the director of the movie have time to throw in some comedic scenes. Also, I won't spoil this movie for those who haven't seen it. So continue on reading my post.

Like I said earlier, this story line is based more off the movie Thor. In this movie all the other characters come together to fight the Loki and his evil schemes. A synopsis of this movie is that Loki gets hold of this blue cube called "Tesseract." (A little side note, dosn't this cube remind you of the cube in Transformers) This is a powerful cube that S.H.I.E.L.D. (I'm not sure if this has any relation to Transformers group called S.H.I.E.L.D.) has under protection. Loki gets a hold of this cube and is where the chaos begins. Frighten, Director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) goes and recruits the Hulk/Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man/Tony Starks (Robert Downey Jr.), and Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johannson). It is here on where they try to rescue some of the others agents who have been taken under mind control from Loki and retrieve the tesseract.

With that said, I give this movie a nine out of ten for an overall score. It's plot, originality, acting skills, and graphics were superb and I cannot await for the next Marvel Movie. Also, if people stayed until the end of the movie when the credits were done; you would have seen a scene from the next Marvel movie. I'm not really sure who the villain is but I hoping that it will be just as good as this movie.


Here's a Trailer for those who haven't seen it yet. Or just watch it again for those who have seen the movie all ready.

My Lungs

This weekend at my house my parents held a party for my nephew, Mason. During the party I saw many of my family members smoking. My two brothers even smoked. Honestly, I don't know why people smoke. To ruin your lungs out of sheer pressure is a shame. Yes, I can say the same and say that I was pressured to try it once. However, when I did try smoking it wasn't anything special. It made me wonder why people smoke in the first place.

Our lungs is an organ in our body that we can not live without. We use it every second of our life yet, we have people smoking occasionally if not daily. What I've learned about our lungs in my Anatomy and Physiology Class is that we have two lobes. The lobe on our left is only has two sections because most of the heart is located towards the left side of the body. Then our right lobe has three sections. Air enters through the trachea then down into our lobes. As the air goes in our lobes our diaphragm pushes down, and from there it goes into our bronchi then bronchioles. At the ends of these thousand like tree branches are the alveolis. The Alveoli is where the extraction of oxygen occurs and carbon dioxide begins to leave the body by exhaling with the help of the diaphragm again.

How smoking affects your lungs can be one or more by these five reasons that I have found. The five causes are:

Loss of lung elasticity - When you inhale the lungs expand and they are pulled back to their original state by the elastic tissues lining their inner walls. When you smoke, these elastic tissues get damaged due to deposits of tar. After a period of continued smoking, these tissues get so rigid that they fail to perform their function, so the lungs stay in an expanded state making it difficult to exhale. This condition is called emphysema.

Mucus clogging - The cigarette tar sticks to the thin hair like cilia along the nasal and throat passage causing them to get clogged. The function of cilia is to push the dirt accumulated mucus onto the mouth or nose for disposal. Once the cilia gets clogged it can no longer perform its function properly leading to mucus accumulation in the throat and nasal passage. Smoker cough is a common symptom among regular smokers, which is an attempt by the body to forcibly release the clogged mucus. This is how smoking affects your lungs by clogging up its protection from impurities and chemicals.

Reduction in dirt filtering - Another side effect of clogged cilia is that they fail to filter out the harmful chemicals in the cigarette smoke, with time these chemicals start accumulating in the linings of aveoli (air sacs) in the lungs. A clogged aveoli is dangerous because it hampers the oxygen and carbon di-oxide exchange with blood leading to decreased oxygen supply to the heart.

Air sacs malfunction - The air sacs lose their elasticity because of tar deposits and hence fail to expand and contract with each breath leading to congested air pockets. Many air sacs rupture because of undue pressure caused by these air pockets.

Carcinogenic deposits in the lungs - Continued deposits of tar along the linings of the lungs (over extended periods) leads to cell degeneration. Most of the chemicals present in the tar are carcinogenic in nature and hence are toxic to the living cells in the inner walls of the lungs. With time the accumulation of toxic chemicals forces the body to create a tumor around the affected area. (quicksmokingaddiction)

Smoking is not worth it. Sure, you may think that it's cool now, but later in the future you will regret it. What's even worse is that if you're smoking by loved ones you're indirectly making them smoke too. If you're wondering if there's a safe level that you could tolerate to avoid second hand smoking there actually isn't a safe leve. The best way is to avoid it.

According to cancer.gov the definition of secondhand smoking is:

Secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke, involuntary smoke, and passive smoke) is the combination of “sidestream” smoke (the smoke given off by a burning tobacco product) and “mainstream” smoke (the smoke exhaled by a smoker)

People can be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, cars, the workplace, and public places, such as bars, restaurants, and recreational settings. In the United States, the source of most secondhand smoke is from cigarettes, followed by pipes, cigars, and other tobacco products

The amount of smoke created by a tobacco product depends on the amount of tobacco available for burning. The amount of secondhand smoke emitted by smoking one large cigar is similar to that emitted by smoking an entire pack of cigarettes.

As you can see, smoking is just not worth it. I can honestly say that in my life time, I've only tried smoking twice and ever since then I've chosen not to smoke. It's not worth ruining my life and I intend to live by that rule.

Works Cited

http://www.quityoursmokingaddiction.com/smoking-affects-lungs.php

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/lungs-article/

Change

I was wondering what i should blog about today. However, it soon came to me. Why don't i blog about the changed layout of this blogger website. I'm not sure what you guys think about it, but i'll say that i hate this chage. It could be because i'm not used to it, but i really do hate it. What I also don't like about this new layout is that it looks too plain. I do understand that the website is trying to go for a more professional look, however, personally i could care less. I enjoyed how the old layout look and it was simple.
Another thing that i've noticed that it's not only I who dislikes change. At my work place i work with the same people, and i've come to see that they also do not like change. For example, when I give the residents a different type of juice or hot beverage they get all shaken up. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re old or young, change can be good or bad.
So as conclusion, in my personal opinion my view on this kind of change is bad. To add on to this blog post I would also like to further discuss about trust. I’ve never knew that I would appreciate trust so much. Recently, this weekend though it may have rough it’s all good now. I’ve also come to the conclusion that trust hand in hand comes with honesty. And I must say this today I sure experienced this. I can honestly say, that I trust my friend Patrick.

BirchBox

Just last month I subscribed to a website called BirchBox. To those who don't know, this is a montly subscription that gives sample to full size products. Some of these products are high-end items that you can try without paying the full heafty price.

Each month there's a different theme. With each monthly order, you don't know what samples you're going to get. However, sometimes you are sent a message from their website that shows a sneek peek. What's also nice about this website is that once most of the packages are sent out; experts makes videos and shows you how to use the products. Then lastly, in each box you get five different products and one extra item.

My BirchBox of March theme's was "Beauty Picks." That month BirchBox teamed up with Teen Vogue and put together a box that will help with all your spring formal and special events. Within this box there was: Annick Goutal's Petite Cherie (perfume), Essie's Luxeffects (nail polish), Shiseido's Pureness Oil-Control Blotting Papers, Tarte's LipSurgence lip tint (similar to lipstick), Twistband's Hair tie, and a ModCloth's coupon.

Overall, my thought on this month's selection was pretty nice. I liked Tarte's lip tint. This was my first time using a lip tint, and what was cool about this product is that it was a full sized item. Also, I enjoyed using the blotting paper by Shiseido. Honestly, this product works just as fine as any other blotting paper. I would not reccomend this product, because it's not worth the price. Next, I liked Essie's nail polish. It's a nail polish that has lots of glitter on the inside. This is a fun party nail polish and fits the theme perfectly. As for the other products, I wasn't much a fan of.

Now, for the April box I loved it! The theme for this month is natural wonders. Basically, this month's products are more natural. In this box there was: Benta Berry's G-1 Exfoliating Facial Cleanser (exfoliator), Kahina Giving Beauty's Argan Oil (moisturizer for hair or skin), Kahina Giving Beauty's Facial Lotion, Pur Mineral's 4-in-1 Mineral Tinted Moisturizer (similar to liquid foundation), Wonderstruck Taylor Swift (perfume), and Yes To Blueberries's Brightening Facial Towelettes (wipes).

I just recieved these April items, therefore, I haven't tried any of them yet. However, in one of these up coming post I will review these products and will tell you guys if I would reccomend them or not.

As for the website, this is an awesome site. I would reccomend this to anyone if they would like to try high-end products without having to buy a full sized item. In addition, the price of ten dollars per month with free shipping included it's something that you don't want to miss out. What' s also cool about this site is that you can cancel you're subscription whenever you want. So you don't have to stay commited to this website if you don't like it. Also, if you're a guy or want to buy a friend a gift, you could buy the men's version. Same price and same deal. So with that, I hope you guys enjoyed my review.

Nail Art & Review

This post is going to be about my first experience with nail art/design. I've never done this before, so my nails are kind of ugly. Also, please ignore the nail polish on fingers. Anyways, I've come to the conclusion that I do not like designing my nails personally. Sure you can design your nails however you like. Yet, on the other hand it's tedious. Usually, I can't paint my nails because of my work. However, because I don't work as often during the week, I can now paint them however I like. But, ultimately in the end I honestly prefer my nails plain. The reason why is because when you're nails are clear, you can see if there's dirt under your nails.

To the left I have the first half of nail polishes that I used to pain my nails. Starting from left to right I used a white nail polish to line my pinkies. For the price of this product I cannot complain. I bought this at Mighty Dollar by the north side Walmart. Next, is a top coat by the name brand Seche Vite. This is the best selling top coat right now. Thought it smells like straight out alcohol, it is the fastest drying top coat. The next polish is from Sephora, and it's called Opening Night. This is a very deep blue that I randomly added on. Overall, this product is worth it's price. However, it is somewhat on the pricey side for a nailpolish ($9). Next, is essie's Borrowed & Blue. Once again, it's a bit expensive. However, it's an okay nail polish. The downside of this product is that you have to have two coats to make it look nice. Also, I don't like the brush. It's the typical nail polish brush that requires you to brush your nail 2-3 times to get an even coat.

The base coat that I used was from the brand China Glaze. Personally, I feel that a basecoat is a basecoat. Anybrand of base coat would work. This isn't the greatest or worst base coat, however, if you want to try it won't let you down. Overall, not a bad basecoat. Next, I used my Wet n Wild "I need a Refresh-mint." This has been my favorite nail polish over the past two months. It's a fairly cheap nail polish that has vibrant colors. In addition, I love the brush. Their brush is called "ManiCurve" and it is the best. The difference with this brush is that it's wider and covers more surface area compared to your all other typical brushes. Last, I used O.P.I's "Rainbow Connection." I actually used four coats of this polish in order to get the finish I had. It's a great nail polish. Howver, the things that I don't like about it is that after a while, this is the first nail polish that chips off.

This last nail polish I just recently bought. What's cool about this polish is that the white side "shatters/crackles." By the white side shattering, you see the basecoat below. I also forgot to tell you guys, but this nail polish is called ice queen by Revlon. Personally, I thought that this combo would have looked great. However, the blue disappointed me. In the display picture at the store, the base coat was suppose to be more blue. However, when I used it, it looked more like sliver than blue. Also, the white wasn't white enought. Also, I felt that the polish was too thin. Which required you to use more polish to get a better shatter. So, my reccomendation to others is that I wouldn't buy this product. If you really want to try this product, then buy all means sure. However, I wouldn't make another purchase like this again.

Horrible Training Experience

This Friday and Saturday, it was my time to train a new person at my work place. Now, this wasn't my first time training anyone. I've train a couple of people before, and i can honestly say that they've turned out fine if not great. However, before i go onto a rant, let me tell you this first; the new staff members that I've trained were around my same age (16-22 years old).

So, with this new person who is a lot older than I am; I have learned some new things about him and how to handle teaching to older workers. Like I was saying earlier, this weekend I trained someone new. In here, we’re going to call him Josh. Now, just to give you a little background about him, he was a chef at his old job (which he was working about 17 years there), he’s around the age of 40, and he applied to this job as the position as a cook.

Honestly, I didn't expect too much from him. All that I heard about Josh was that the used to be a chef at his old job and he's an older fella. So the day comes and it's about time to clock in, but Josh is nowhere to be found. In my head, I was telling myself, "this always happens when I am suppose to train someone." The reason why I say this is because for the last couple times the new person doesn't show up due to some certain reason. So, I was like well I just Josh isn' t coming today. But, after working for a bit I heard that he just finally got in the building and was looking for me.

So, I met him and he seem fairly nice. I told him, "I know this is going to be a lot of information, but try to take it in and if you have any questions just ask." I also, for got to mention to you guys, but I'm actually an dietary aide/culinary assistant in a nursing home. Well we served lunch, and yes he was a bit slow but that's how it always is on the first day.

Slowly, I started to noticed that either he had a bad hearing problem or I wasn't talking clearly enough because he would always have to re-ask or have some smart remark. As the day went on, I came to realize that this guy had a smart mouth. Always, had to say something before I would finish. Or else he would get very technical with some names. Which in this case, it doesn't have much meaning (what I mean is about getting specific with pan names).

As the day went on, I noticed that for older workers it's better if I would talk loud, slowly, and in short phrases. However, this may not apply to all older folks, but in my case it was better if i did. I'm not sure how or why he didn't work at his old job but he would always refer back to it. Which didn't bother me at first much. But what he didn't understand was the fact that he wasn't working at his old facility anymore.

To continue on with the story, lunch ended and we finished serving, clearing the tables, washing the dishes, and putting them away. Now, it was time to pour drinks for the residents. To those who don't know too much about the diets of a nursing home, it can be actually quite difficult at first. Diets can be regular, dysphagia 3/2/1, pudding thick, nectar thick, honey thick, and liquefied puree.

It was here when he had a small break down. I'm not sure why, but from my assumptions is that he was just overwhelmed with all the drinks that we had to pour. To let you guys know, the shift that I work on I must pour two sets of drinks (breakfast and dinner). Within these sets, each person would get up to one-four different drinks, in different consistency, and in different styles of cups if necessary. I'm not sure what triggered him, but he was like I need a break (turned out to be a 15 minute one). After this, he was in a better mood. However, as time went by he got very frustrated again. Even though he would give me smart remarks about how our system was "fucked up" (excuse my french, also this is a quote from Josh) I was very patient with him and tried to be understanding.

The night seemed like it would never come to an end. I mean, I don't mind training any other person. However, it just that Josh was so difficult to handle. He was like a trembling rabied raccoon just ready to bite you if you touched him. Except, this raccoon was about 5'10" and about 200 pounds. Maybe, I shouldn't describe Josh to you like this, but was these two days a living hell.

He would say that we would always be arguing, when the previous day he said, "how am I suppose to know if you don't show me?" Well in my head I said, "well you act like you know everything, you cut me off when I'm talking, you talk down to me, and overall you don't respect me. So how the heck am I suppose to teach you when you won' t even listen. You're like a cup of water, I'm trying to add water to to the cup, but how can I add when it's already full?"

My overall experience with Josh was horrible. I am happy to say that these two terrible training days are over. I hope that in the future when and if I ever do train someone older than me, they will respect me just like how I would to them. Another thing that I would like to mention, is that you think within time a person would mature and grow. Yet, in this case I find that some people just have a hard time adjusting and aren't forgiving.

If you guys have any suggestion on how to train people I would appreciate it. I'm always wanting to learn how to enhance or better my ways of teaching. So, if you have something to add or suggest please leave a comment below. Also, if you did get this far with reading my blog post, I want thank you for being patient with me. Even though I have more to say about my experience, I'll just leave it at this.

Spring Break

Who doesn't enjoy a little break during school? I sure do that's for sure! My spring break wasn't as exciting as I would want it, but I'm not complaining. Anyways, to start off I got to hang out with my little nephew, Mason Atticus Txim Lee. Just born on February 18th, he's still infant and still lovable as ever. Because he lives in Milwaukee with my brother and his family it's hard for me to find time to see him. Therefore, seeing him this week made my day and a happy aunt.

Besides, visting my brother's family I also went down to Chicago, Illinois. This one-day trip was very fun. I left early with my sister-in-law and we went shopping to start off. We went shopping around at Woodfield mall. Then after that we went to his large Asian store that's called H-mart. Then after this we were wondering where we should visite next. So, after comtemplating, we decided to go to Ikea. Out of all places, you guys might wonder why we choose Ikea. Well, first of all neither of us has been at this store. Also, I'm looking for a new vanity so this was a good place to start. Before getting to the store what I imagined the store to be like was something the size of Target. Not too big and not to small. However, was I wrong. This store was HUGE. It was three levels tall and was surpringly busy. What I found so fascinating about this store is that they had such cute rooms! It gave me inspirations for my future rooms and it was just fun to look at. Remember, how I said that this store was three levels tall? Well, after strolling around on the second floor my legs started to feel it. Boy, was I tired. Usually, I can walk for a while, but for some odd reason I was just exhausted.

Another event that I went to this weekend was a party for Jar Xiong. She won the Miss Wisconsin pageant and she threw a party for her friends and family. However, something that I want to clarify that this was a Hmong pageant and it is more like Miss Milwaukee rather than Miss Wisconsin. Anyways, she held her party at Emil Mazey Hall. It was fun, but there was a lot of drunk people. But that didn't stop me from enjoying myself. What I thought was the best part was seeing these older folks enjoying themselves. I saw some men around their mid-fortys and they were throwing their hands up in the air. That was so funny to watch. Also, there were ladies who were step-dancing to song which was pretty cool too. After this night, I hope that when I'm around the ages of late 30s-40s I can still party it up.