Don't use Zovirax for cold sores

About one year ago, I had an outbreak of cold sores. I took Famvir immediately, which seemed to work.  Famvir is pill that you take as soon as you see the cold sores appear. My doctor gave me extra prescriptions for Famvir.

Unfortunately, recently, about a year later, I had another outbreak of cold sores. I tried to find the Famvir prescription but I had lost it. Instead I purchased Zovirax, which is a cream you apply to the cold sore to treat it.

The bottom line is that Zovirax seems to work, but the package and the internet say that you cannot swallow Zovirax. This is completely unreasonable because cold sore almost always break out on your lips or near your lips. If you apply Zovirax to your lips to treat cold sores, you will eventually swallow the cream when you eat, drink, or sleep.

I will ask my doctor for prescriptions of Famvir so I don't need to use Zovirax (or Blistex or similar cold sore creams) when I have a cold sore outbreak again.

Importance of Battery Life on Phones

http://gizmodo.com/5992917/battery-life-is-the-only-spec-that-matters

The article above talks about the importance of battery life in phones, saying that many phones nowadays make the mistake of sacrificing battery life for thinness and lightness.

I actually don't think battery life is important. So long as the device lasts for one day, there is no need to worry. Most people charge overnight as a daily habit and don't think about it.

The iPad 3, with 11,000 mAh battery capacity, will last a long time, but it is too big. Your arms will get sore carrying it around for too long. The Nexus 7, however, is thin, small, and light, and it lasts long enough.

Travelling with Google Glass

Google Glass is likely to be released for the mass market for only $300. If that is the price, I will definitely buy one.

Where I think Google Glass will be useful is taking pictures, for example while you are on holidays. There is something so vain and fake about taking out a camera or smartphone to take a picture. When you take out the phone or camera, you announce to the world that you believe this moment is a special moment and everyone starts to pose or act in a way to live up to that moment, and every photo you see on Facebook has that cliche and artificiality to it.

When I travel, I don't want to have to take out a camera or a phone. I want Google Glass to have some app that will take automatic photos or at least allow me to take photos quickly and discreetly.

I am not a big traveller. I think travel is something I will do later in my life when I am more financially secure. But I cannot wait for it!

Julius Marlow 02 Motion

After damage done to my heels from my old pair of shoes, I decided yesterday to head to Myer and buy comfortable shoes, eventually buying the Julius Marlow 02 Motion shoes. I tried these on in the shops and they felt instantly comfortable. I am a little wary of purchasing online because I might get the wrong size or the shoe might end up uncomfortable. I am a size 10.

People are like fire. When you are distant, you want to get closer for warmth, but at the same time you're afraid of being burnt, so you keep your distance, and if you've been burnt really bad in the past, you stay completely away because you don't want to risk it.

Bored of the Monotony of Life

The typical day for me involves waking up, snoozing the alarm a few times to steal a few more minutes of sleep, having a shower, getting dressed, eating breakfast, driving to the train station, squashing into the train with hundreds of other commuters, and getting to work where I go through my to do list, ticking off one piece of work after another. I drink plenty of coffee to have an excuse to get fresh air. The coffee warms my body and compensates for coldness. I always eat out for lunch. It costs a lot but I cannot stand smelly food rotting in my bag. I don't even have a bag because I like to travel light. In the afternoon I'm usually tired and I eagerly wait for the day to end. I yawn a lot. I get the feeling I might get fired soon. I am normally paranoid. In a way, I don't really mind if I get fired. I have saved enough money to live off my investments in a developing country like Thailand or Cambodia. I'm just going through the motions, doing what I can do to make it through each day. Even though I am a bit tired of my job, I feel like my options are limited. I've lost ambition, but I try to maintain it because my manager and coworkers often criticize me for my lack of enthusiasm and passion.

When work is over, I catch the train back home, have a shower, eat dinner, and then sit in bed to work and/or play on my tablet before sleeping and repeating the whole routine every weekday. On some weekdays I have dinner with friends, but hanging out with friends is a bit of a chore for me. It's not that I don't value companionship it's that I just get tired of being around people and sometimes I want to hide in a hole.

US$240,000 to retire in Asia

I've been trying to calculate how much money I'd need to retire in Asia. According to Retire Cheap Asia, you can live a frugal life in Asia with US$500 per month. A comfortable life would require US$1000 per month.

Now let us assume that you can get 5 per cent return on an investment. This means that you will need US$240,000 invested to give you $1,000 per month in passive income.

About half of this money should be invested in investments that provide stable passive income, as you will need this to give you the base $500 per month necessary for a frugal lifestyle. The rest can be invested in shares to protect against inflation.