Top 5 Warning Signs Of Kidney Damage You’re Ignoring

1. Lower Back Pain Pain and discomfort in the lower back is one of the most common symptoms of poor kidney health. The pain may begin on one or both sides; however, if left untreated, it will generally affect both sides within a short period of time. This discomfort will ease, in some cases, whenever you urinate. 2. Urination Patterns Another common warning signal is changes in urinary function such as an odd or unfamiliar odor, paler or darker appearance, and reduced or increased frequency. Urine may suddenly become foamy or it may become painful to urinate. If you experience any of these symptoms or discover blood in your pee, it is important to consult a professional immediately. Generally speaking changes in urinary patterns are signals of acute kidney problems. 3. Swelling When kidneys are not functioning properly and not eliminating waste from the body efficiently it can cause edema or swelling. These fluids may accumulate in hands; feet; legs; ankles; and face. In extremely serious cases edema can develop in the lungs and heart (1). 4. Skin Problems Poorly functioning kidneys can allow toxins to build up and cause dryness, rashes, and serious itching (2). There are a number of topical treatments, prescription, OTC, and natural ingredients that can help; however, these will not address the underlying condition. 5. Oxygen Failure One of the vital functions of the kidneys is to produce erythropoietin which is important for the production oxygen carrying red blood cells. The shortage of red blood cells in the body can result in anemia or iron deficiency. Low iron levels can make individuals feel cold even in a warm environment as well as chronic weakness and fatigue. Oxygen plays many major roles in the human body and when it is not properly transported through the various systems they all suffer.

Ants Ruining Your Summer? Watch How EASY It Is To Get Rid Of Them!

1. Ant moat Get a little medieval and protect your picnic table with its very own moat! Place a large empty can or pie tin under each table leg and fill it with water up to about an inch from the top. Most ants don’t swim and if even they float, their legs will be too slippery to crawl up the table to where your luscious potato salad awaits. 2. Clean your Trash Ants will get into any corner of your home if it means securing a food source for their colony. That’s why it’s important to regularly empty your trash bin of food scraps. If you don’t have a compost or you don’t produce enough waste to throw it out throughout the week, freeze your scraps to avoid attracting bugs. It’s also important to rinse empty cans and food containers before throwing out or recycling them. If possible, leave your recycling bins and trash outside to keep the bugs out too! 3. Inside? Out! If ants have infested your home, mix one tablespoon of borax and three tablespoons of sugar and place the mixture in a few small plastic containers with fitted lids. Mix in just enough water to make a syrupy texture. Poke small holes in the top and sides of the container (so the ants can get in and out), affix the lid, and place indoors around entrance points. Ants are attracted by the sugar but the borax is poisonous to them. They’ll drink the mixture and track the borax back to the colony, depositing it there, eventually killing all its inhabitants. Use this trick only if you do not have pets or small children, as ingesting borax will make them sick. 4. Clean their Tracks Once the ants are gone, spray a mixture of half water and half vinegar with a couple shots of dish soap around entry points (like windowsill and doors that lead to the outside) and baseboards. Let it sit for a few minutes and wipe away with a clean dishtowel. This will remove any pheromone traces from the ants so they won’t find the trail back inside. 5. Flood their Colony Spray vinegar along your baseboard to force ants back to their home. Once you find the anthill, run your hose directly into it for 10-15 minutes at a time. Repeat every day to force the ants out and away. Bonus Tip #1 – Cool as a Cucumber One vegetable that ants dislike is cucumber. Grow it in your garden and add it to salads and other dishes to keep them away. If you have guests over, slice a cucumber or carve into elegant shapes and place strategically around the table, especially the serving dishes (4). Bonus Tip #2 – Spice Trick Ants don’t like cinnamon, it’s too spicy for their taste. Sprinkle some cinnamon on the ground around the baseboards in your kitchen and along doors and windowsills. If you often eat outdoors, sprinkle a bit of the spice along the edges of your picnic table to create a spicy line of defense. If you’re fighting a tough war, go even spicier and swap the cinnamon for some cayenne pepper. To make a homemade ant deterrent, combine one teaspoon of cayenne, 10 drops of citrus oil , and one cup of water in a spray bottle and shake. Spray the mixture around wherever you’re serving food but make sure to keep it away from young children ad they may try to swallow the mixture or they may get some in their eyes. Bu that’s not all you can do with cayenne: to stop ants in their tracks, sprinkle cayenne around the entrance to an ant hill. They won’t want to cross the barrier and will soon find somewhere else to start over. There’s also an extreme and pretty inhumane trick you can use to wipe out a colony for good. Simply combine a generous dose of cayenne with boiling water and pour on the ant hill while it’s still hot. The hot water will kill the ants before they can run away and the cayenne will poison the hill so that the surviving ants won’t try to rebuild it. Ants are actually beneficial to your backyard and garden, so this should only be used as a last resort.

Top 10 property investment tips

1. Location
It’s important to reiterate how important this is. The location will determine a property’s price, risk and returns. An average property, for example a three bedroom HDB, in Holland Village, can expect to fetch more on the resale market than a two-floor mansionette that’s twice the size in Jurong West.

2. Developer’s philosophy and standards
Does the developer have a track record of producing quality products? If it’s a new project, do your homework and tour previous developments built by them. Don’t be overawed by a big name. A travel writer acquaintance of mine stayed in a new five-star villa resort in Bali recently, and reported that, while beautiful, the unit’s fittings were substandard with tiles falling off the bath and sockets loose in the wall.

3. Management
What level of oversight will be provided by the management of the development? If you’re staying in the property as an owner-occupier, this is less critical, but as a landlord, especially in absentia, it’s vital.

4. Future prospects
For property as an investment, the bottom line is how much income it can generate for you. Again, research the market, getting different opinions on what the capital appreciation and rental returns will be for this property.

5. Practicality / Design / Layout / Usability / Desirability
Who is this property going to appeal to? I looked at the Urban Lofts project, located on Rangoon Road next to Farrer Park MRT. While its location is fantastic and the lower floor flats had their own hot tubs, the extremely limited floor space would make it unsuitable for any but childless couples and singles. Always consider who would live here before you purchase?

6. Comparative prices for comparable product
If you can, try and see how similar properties in the area have done in the past in terms of price per square foot and capital appreciation in order to compare and work out whether the property is an attractive investment opportunity.

7. Connectivity / Convenience
We have written before on the importance of a condominium’s proximity to schools, work places, and shopping and leisure facilities – but transport links are often the biggest drivers of value. Research has shown that condos near MRT stations often gain the most capital appreciation in Singapore.

8. Security
Less of an issue in Singapore, where crime rates are amongst the lowest in the world, in Malaysia and Indonesia – while crime levels are perhaps overstated by the media – the range of a development’s security options – gated communities, 24-hour guards, first-response alarms, etc – are an important factor.

9. Facilities
A property’s facilities do add value to a unit – a landed property with a pool, for example, can add around 8% to the value of the property – while many condo facilities now include gyms, spa facilities and games rooms.

10. Rentability
A rented property can produce a greater passive income than simply investing it in a bank but you need to ensure that is attractive to renters.

In many ways, Kuala Lumpur’s Mont Kiara district might seem the ideal investment location: it’s got a big expatriate population who need to rent, and it’s close to the city centre and various dining, entertainment and leisure facilities. However, there are so many developments going up there that it has become a tenants’ market, so other factors come into play.

go back home

tanjung maya
pagi pukul 5am bangun untuk bersiap ke bintulu. malam tu sudah packing dan 'melalaikan' beberapa botol minuman keras untuk bekalan krismas nanti selain untuk perkahwinan cousin ku pada 27.12.08.
tepat jam 6am berangkat ke kedai kopi (nam thong cafe) untuk breakfast. makan simple jak, mee kolok dengan kopi gelas panas.
dah tu 6.30am bertolak ke ferry, nasib baik ada Laing menolong untuk cek-in tiket ferry. lama juga berbaris masuk ferry sebab kena kastam inspection. jam 7.30 baru masuk ferry. kami bernasib baik kerana perempuan yang memeriksa kenderaan.
tepat jam 8.40am ferry pun bergerak ke Menumbok (pulau borneo).
ferry sangat sesak dan penuh dengan orang ramai. tempat duduk pun tiada.
10.30am ferry sampai di Menumbok, tanpa melengahkan masa memecut (80km/j) ke lawas sebab takut banyak kenderaan berbaris. hari yang baik dan dalam perjalanan tu banyak juga ternampak majlis kenduri kahwin di-adakan.
jam 1.15pm sampai di lawas ferry (trusan), memang jangkaan tepat banyak kereta berbaris. hampir 3jam tunggu, 4pm baru dapat masuk ferry. masa tu ferry yang ada cuma satu saja, air deras, kenderaan banyak yang memotong (kereta plat dari miri yang banyak potong).
selepas tu perjalanan agak smooth kerana kereta agak kurang, sampai di kuala lurah dalam jam 6.15pm. masalahnya di sini pun kereta banyak tapi nasib baik dapat lepas jam 7.30pm melalui jalan tikus di brunei besar. jalan tanjung maya antara yang dilalui. sampai pun di miri pukul 9.30pm. syukur pada tuhan selamat sampai..

rest in peace

maten udok

petang ini, kami berangkat ke uma akeh untuk hantar 'udok' macam hantaran, stail orang dulu.
pergi uma akeh adalah yang pertama bagi ku, kami berangkat pun dalam pukul 6.15pm dan memang agak lewat sampai disana.
suasana agak sunyi dan tak semeriah yang di jangkakan.
tunggu punya tunggu, pukul 10pm bermula acara hantaran.
hantaran taklah seketat atau pun kemestian yang harus di penuhi.
apa yang selalu dihantar ialah gong, tikar dan bantal, parang.
agak boring sebab kena dengar kata-kata dari yang tua, banyak yang orang tua sharekan kepada bakal pengantin, biasalah orang yang dah lama kawin tahu apa yang lemah dan apa yang dapat membantu tingkatkan hubungan ketika usia makin meningkat nanti.
selepas habis acara hantaran, barulah acara tradisional seperti tarian di hiburkan kepada hadirin. bermula dari yang tua hinggalah yang muda (termasuk akulah yang kena 'ngarei').
selepas habis semua buat persembahan barulah acara tamat. tidur untuk esok..

selamat hari lahir Yesus

hari ini agak gembira dan rasa segar, misa mula jam 9am. hari ini Fr tiada jadi yang mengantikannya ialah bapaku sendiri, seperti semalam, koir pun aku juga yang tolong aturkan (cari lagu, prepare pembacaan).
memang kalo dah biasa dengan kerja tuhan, secara automatik kena tolong walaupun macam sukar tapi hari ini ialah birthday Yesus, mestilah buat yang terbaik.
kalo nak dapatkan tarikh sebenar Yesus lahir susah juga, jadi inilah tarikh yang sesuai dengan waktunya.
umat yang menyertai misa pun agak ramai, mungkin tak semeriah yang tahun-tahun sebelum tapi tradisi yang lama masih kekal.
krismas tahun ini, aku memang tidak pergi 'ngabang', nak fokus dengan ahli saudara mara, lagi pun sudah setahun mendiang datuk ku tiada, memang ada rasa kelainan sebab datuk ku sentiasa menjadi fokus.
walau apapun, kami juga doakan agar rohnya kembali bersama kelahiran Yesus.

on the way to long banyok

hari perjalanan dari bintulu pukul 4.45am, target nak sampai di kuala baram dalam pukul 7.30am. tak sangka sampai juga dengan tepat sebab boat express sudah mau bertolak. dalam 3.30pm kami sudah sampai di long banyok.
banyak perubahan di rumah, banyak yang bahagian dalam rumah sudah di baiki.
cuma wiring yang kelihatan masih tak teratur.
mungkin kalo ada masa atau peluang cuti, balik kampung buat wiring sendiri.
rice wine pun banyak juga dibuat tahun ini, sebab untuk di gunakan masa kawin cousin ku nanti. lama sudah tak minum rice wine yang lebih sedap dari wine anggur (bagi saya tapi mungkin berbeda dengan orang lain).
misa malam krismas mula pukul 8pm yang di sertai oleh Fr. Francis.
saya pergi awal juga sebelum 8, bila sampai di gereja tengok koir belum teratur lagi.
saya pun cuba membantu, malam tu juga jadi 1st reader secara emergency, yang koir pula nasib ada saudara tu terror main gitar. lagipun aku taklah pandai sangat lagu dalam bahasa kenyah.
misa secara keseluruhan agak menyeronokan walaupun kelam kabut di awalnya.
mungkin sudah biasa dengan emergency case yang selalu juga berlaku di tempat lain..

persiapan balik ke long banyok

hari ini Fido masih kencing selalu dan minum air selalu cuma makan yang tak lalu.
bonia pun masih suka minum milo peng, agak sukar rasanya bila kita terlalu rapat dengan haiwan kesayangan kita, terutama bila mereka sakit, sudah tua macam bonia kalo ikut pengiraan ialah 15 x 5 = 75 tahun sudah umurnya.
orang iban cakap 'gayu' = idup yang panjang, itulah juga yang kita manusia mahukan. hidup panjang jika cukup makan, minum, kasih sayang yang di beri, jagaan kesihatan, dan yang penting sekali ialah tidak mendera atau belaku kasar dengan sesuatu yang kita sayangi contohnya bonia.
banyak juga yang dapat di pelajari dari pengalaman ini.

tak banyak persiapan yang dibuat cuma membuat kek krismas sedikit (4 jenis) untuk di bawa ke long banyok. (holiday inn, lapis bumi, kukus kelapa, fruit cake)
barang minuman pun tak banyak nak bawa, ada juga 3 ekor ayam yang kami ternak disembelih.
krismas tahun ini mungkin agak ramai yang balik kampung. lagipun cousin ku kawin di uma akeh nanti.
tapi rasa sedih masih kerana terpaksa tinggalkan Fido dan yang lain-lain. semenjak Blackie tiada, terasa juga sunyi.

syukur selalu pada tuhan

pagi ni aku dan ibuku cuba untuk menghantar Fido ke clinic dr.cheng.
tapi dengan tak semena-mena, Fido terkencing di pangkuan, ada rasa lega setelah dia dapat kencing, banyak juga.
tetapi tetap jua menghantar Fido jumpa doktor untuk pemeriksaan. dr. cakap kena teruskan makan ubat antibiotik, bladder, juga dia menambah vitamin c untuk tambah selera.
sepanjang hari ini, Fido selalu kencing dan minum kuat.
saya kagum melihat dia cuba untuk sembuh dan kembali normal.
tapi yang merisaukan dia jarang tidur dan makan pun takda, jadi terpaksa bagi dia makan 5-10 biji (Fit32 Royal Canin).
perasaan sedih masih ada..

bonia pula terpaksa ditangguhkan 'sleep' nya ke tahun baru.
memang kagum juga tengok bonia, masih ada selera makan, minum milo peng.
tapi tak tahan bila tengok dia tak dapat berdiri lama, kutu yang banyak, langgar dinding atau duduk tempat yang kotor kerana penglihatannya sudah tidak dapat melihat lagi.
memang wajar untuk dia 'sleep' sebab sudah 15 tahun hidup bersama kami.
bonia pandai mendengar, patuh pada perintah, suka menyalak orang yang belum pernah kenal, mengigit jika orang yang sentuh itu tak rapat dengannya, masa muda dia selalu tidur denganku, bila kita balik pandai mengalukan kedatangan kita, terlalu banyak yang sukar dilupakan..