All Things Pondered Here

Pondering Many Things....

Family

II: Breaking the “Cancer Myth”

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“Necessity is the mother of invention”. Many of you probably heard this quote quite often, but I found it really applicable in my situation. Like I already mentioned, my family was faced with a problem and in order to take the best course of action, we needed to gather the necessary information. And my “invention” was the knowledge and willingness to face the music alongside with my dad and the rest of our family.

Know your enemy

Let’s start by simply clarifying what cancer really is. Many of you probably have a much distorted image of what cancer is and how it actually harms your body. The best way to explain is by making it simple.

Apart from just a couple of cell types (mostly neurons and some reproductive cells), your entire body is in the constant process of dying and regeneration. For example, your skin cells have a life span of around 10-30 days. In fact, most of the dust particles found in your home are actually dead skin cells. Pretty weird, right?

Take a quick look at the average time needed for cells to get replaced:

  • Red blood cells – 4 months
  • Liver hepatocyte cells – 6-12 months
  • Lung alveoli cells – 8 days
  • Tongue taste buds – 10 days

Right now you might start to wonder what the hell is really going on in your body. The things are really simple. Once an old cell dies, a copy of it gets created. Here is the interesting part: how the hell does the body know what type of cell needs to be created and where? Well, that’s where DNA and genes come in. Inside every one of your cells, there is a blueprint of your entire body. It is a set of instructions that every cell reads when it gets replicated and it determines its function.

So, it is basically a copying job of massive proportions. And in that process lies the key for every type of cancer on the planet. Mistakes in this copying process happen all the time. With millions upon millions of copying processes happening at any given moment, it is bound for some of the cells to come out sort of crooked.

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” – Albert Einstein

So here it is, in the simplest way possible: Cancer is a group of cells doing something they are not supposed to be doing.

Let’s give an example by using a type that strikes way too often these days: stomach cancer.

Like we already mentioned, intestinal cells don’t live long, so you can assume how much copying is needed to replace them. Mistakes happen and by “random chance” – this subject will be discussed later – you end up with a couple of thousands of cells that were the result of these copying mistakes. 99.999% of the times, these cells die off quickly as they are not functioning properly and the mistakes get corrected. Either it is the immune system that realizes these cells got crooked, or it is any of the millions of other factors, but the job gets done. In that regards, you can even go to say that each and every person on the planet has cancerous cells in their body, they just don’t get the chance to harm us.

But, every now and then, these cells survive and multiply (like the original cell was supposed to) and they now pass on the wrong information. And in there lies the problem. Normally, your immune system is pretty darn efficient when it comes taking care of threats that impact your well-being. But when it comes to cancer, the immune system has difficulties recognizing that these cells are harmful. And how it could, when it’s your own cells that are at the core of every cancer?

Armed with this basic understanding, you can get the sense of somewhat overly negative stigma that this condition is known for. Most of the time, the word itself is taken for granted and many people actually discuss it without ever completely understanding the underlying facts. You can also make a simple deduction as to why a universal cure for the cancer is yet to be discovered. Since almost every cancer is different and it is highly specific (to the person’s genetic code and all the other factors), there is a very likely chance that a single drug that can treat all types of cancer will never be developed. It is just too much ground to cover and many scientists actually believe (and from my personal experience I have to agree) that a tailored approach to each patient has far greater chances of being successful than a broad spectrum treatment. And there is also a huge difference between benign and malignant tumors and that aspect deserves its separate segment. I’ll cover this in the next chapter. Hopefully, you are now armed with an understanding of the subject and you are ready to understand the causes and effects of cancer.

Until the next time, stay well.

-Marko Lipozencic

III: Cancer: The birth of the beast

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Armed with the knowledge of what cancer really is, I had the general idea where to look for the culprit in the case of my father. He was an active smoker for more than 40 years and, quite naturally, I assumed that smoking is what gave him cancer. But, there is a lot more to it than you would expect and I was surprised by the amount of cancer causing stuff we are surrounded by.

Triggers

Gene mutations are occurring naturally in the body, but many other external factors contribute to the process. Let me start with an obvious one, the one I thought I was most familiar with.

Radiation

Let’s get one thing straight: you are surrounded by radiation all the time: Sun’s natural radiation, radio waves (gsm networks, wifi, television), natural element radiation (like potassium 40 isotope), etc.

The thing you have to realize is that there are two types of radiation: ionizing and non-ionizing. I’ll try to explain it as simple as possible.

Radiation is basically a stream of high energy particles radiating from a source.  In the case of non-ionising radiation (wifi, gsm, television, etc), these particles go through your body without causing any changes. On the other hand, ionizing radiation particles (radiation from nuclear weaponry, nuclear waste, Roentgen tubes, etc.), sometimes cause changes in your DNA and that causes gene mutations and other problems. And as we know, that creates cancerous growths.

A natural question to ask is: if Roentgen causes cancer, how come it is used all the time? Well, another important factor is the time of the exposure. As it turns out, time is crucial when it comes to radiation. I often wondered how come when I go to X-ray my teeth, I get a Lead bib while my doctor goes behind a huge concrete wall imbued with Lead? Well, X-ray is a strong form of radiation, but if I get exposed to it once a year for a second, it makes no difference to me. But for a doctor who works with it 8 hours a day, the exposure is a lot longer and he needs more protection. The same logic applies to the Sun’s UV rays. Have you ever wondered why doctor tells you to immediately report if you have a strange mole on your skin? A mole is already a mutated growth, but when exposed to UV rays, these mutations can get worse and you can develop skin cancer. For that purpose, if you are planning to sunbathe (prolonged exposure to UV rays) you are advised to use sunblock. Arbitrarily speaking, “weaker” radiation over a longer period of time causes more mutations and negative effects than “stronger” radiation over a couple of seconds. To confirm the accuracy of this statement, let’s jump to another trigger and explain it.

Smoking

It is a widespread misconception that smoking causes cancer. Let me state something quite inflammatory: smoking does not cause cancer, directly. This last word is the most important one in that sentence. You see, the pure act of smoking doesn’t necessarily mean you are increasing the gene mutation in your body. But what, how, and how often do you smoke definitely affects the mutation rate.

Starting with what, cigarettes are the worse. Not because the quality of tobacco is good or bad, but because of the stuff they treat the tobacco with. Some chemicals have ingredients that increase the gene mutation rate and raise the likelihood of developing cancerous growths. But not only that, the radioactive Polonium and Lead in cigarettes expose your lungs to small amounts of ionizing radiation. Which brings us to how often do you smoke. Like we already mentioned, it is the prolonged exposure to radiation that causes more mutations, and you can see how that correlates to smoking. One cigarette is not harmful, but one every hour most definitely is.

Acidity

Your body basically uses chemistry processes to function properly. There is a thing called natural acidity of the body. Everything we eat and drink, do or don’t, affects this body state and in terms messes with our body chemistry. For example, carbonated water is acidic because of the CO2 that makes it sparkly. Does that mean that it causes cancer? No. But like we said, it messes with your body chemistry in a minute way. But if you combine all the minute triggers that you take daily, this acidity builds up. When this happens, your body struggles to function properly which again aids in gene mutation. So while this doesn’t directly cause cancer, unhealthy diets can increase (by a small margin) the likelihood of developing one.

Physical activity (or the lack of), obesity, inflammations, viruses can also have similar effects on your body.

There are plenty of other causes, but I only listed these because they have a much distorted public image and many misconceptions are held as science facts.

The hereditary factor

Finally, I want to address the hereditary factor. Sometimes, people are born with a predisposition for developing cancer. When you have a genetic predisposition, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will eventually get cancer. It only means that you are more susceptible to all these factors that increase the chances of developing cancer. That’s why for example, people sometimes (mastectomy as an example) opt to do preventive surgeries to avoid developing cancer.

All of these contribute in a minute way to the chances that you will develop cancer. Coupled with the natural gene mutations, you can understand the importance of knowledge regarding the subject in question. And the reason I am actually sharing this information with you is because I now look differently on the entire matter. Many people, including me a couple months ago, have no idea about this and they are simply misinformed. Hopefully, this will change they way you look at it as well.

-Marko Lipozencic

 

I: Cancer: The Most Dreaded Word Possible

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Often times when you hear shocking and unnerving words, your brain interprets them, but you don’t really feel and connect with them: genocide, terrorist attack, world hunger, etc. But, the most common one is quite surprising and tends to creep up on you: cancer.

Most of the people hear that word almost daily, myself included. But not until you meet with it in person do you actually realize what that word entails, what it brings, what it actually does. While many people react to it emotionally, something strange happened to me.

The ball drops

A parent will always try to put on a brave face in front of the kids, no matter the circumstances. And while the whole family was looking at a damningly bolded font on a white piece of paper depicting the harsh reality, my mind was racing as the word cancer sank in and took shape. My dad had it before (while I was in high school), beat it, but now it came back, like a hydra with two new heads instead of the old one we cut off. He was visibly distraught but still managed to put on a mask of bravery. My mom had already gone through all the scenarios in her head, and you could see that the bad ones held sway over the good ones. My sister, well, she is the silent one. She handled it in her own way, quietly and by keeping in solitude, seeking comfort in religion and prayer.

Coming back to a strange reaction, you first have to understand something about me. I am a problem driven person, meaning that if I don’t understand something, it interests me more than anything else in the world. And when I heard the word cancer, probably like many of you, I did not fully comprehend the situation. And as much as it may sound heartless and cold, my first emotion wasn’t hopelessness and sadness. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that quite possibly, my dad’s days are numbered. This was “the problem” for me, first and foremost. Maybe my sympathetic brain took a back seat in the wake of the news and my coping mechanism was to approach the situation from an intellectual standpoint. Or, maybe I am just built that way – a heartless bastard. This is perhaps the second worst thing about cancer: it affects everyone involved and has them questioning everything imaginable.

Everybody is different

If I were to give you a couple of guesses on what was my first emotion, many of you probably could never figure that one out. It was motivation. And it was stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced before. I was motivated to do everything in my power to bring the control back to our side. That is the most sinister thing about this disease: it takes away your control. You see, most of the time, a disease has a cause and knowing exactly what caused it brings you a dose of calmness and closure when you get cured. Not cancer. Whether they are environmental, genetic, or simply unknown, the causes rarely matter afterward. You know why? Because it usually takes time for them to affect you, and in many cases, you have no power over them.

After hearing this word, after comprehending that it touched me in the most personal way apart from having cancer myself, I was motivated to understand, to figure it out, to completely dissect it from each and every angle in order to be able to fight it. For my dad, my mom, my sister and myself. A struggle with cancer is not a battle of a one person against one enemy. It is a war that your entire family wages against a squad of shadow assassins that have no honor, no limit, no restraints, no compassion. I declared that war mere seconds after the news. Everything else in my life fell into perspective, nothing was comparable to the magnitude of that moment. It will forever be remembered as one of the defining moments of my life, a sort of a harsh reality check.

I know many of you can relate to this sinister word and have experienced its ugly influence up close. I demystified it as much as I could as I collected the knowledge – ammunition for the upcoming war. I only hope that some of you who are going through the same experience will find strength to fight and claw with all the things at your disposal. Raising awareness is the only thing I can do, and I will do my best to help others understand this disease in order to be able to fight it.

-Marko Lipozencic

3 Piece Crib Bedding – What To Look For?

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Some of you who read a couple of my posts could already figure out that I do most of my shopping online. Amazon is an excellent option, especially for the people like me. Here is the thing: I don’t like having a huge variety of choices without knowing what other people think about them. Crib bedding is the perfect example. I got a task from my wife to find this item at a reasonable price. I’m guessing a lot of you know as much about crib bedding sets as I did a couple of days ago – practically nothing. 2 days of exploring and reading reviews after, and you can say that I am the most informed dad in the world on this subject. So here is what I learned.

The color matters

Usually, girls get pink, boys get blue bedding and white is sort of a universal choice. But, here is the thing: you want to go with patterns. First, if you spill something or stain it the first day, it’s not as noticeable. Second, the colors and patterns attract your baby’s attention and stimulate the brain. Many parents reported that patterned crib bedding made their kids calmer during the day.

The feel

Where you might think that material matters the most, it is actually the feel that you should be focusing on. Most of the manufacturers use cotton to make crib bedding, but there are major differences between the softness and the quality. And another misconception is that softer is always better. That is not necessarily true in all cases. A lot of kids, especially infants, like their bedding to have a bit rougher feel to it. When they touch it, it gives off a sharper, definitive feedback that stimulates their sensory center. It sounds like a science mumbo-jumbo, but if you actually watch your kid “scratch” the bedding, you can see this effect in action.

Accessories

Crib beddings usually come in 3 pieces: quilt, crib sheet, and skirt. But some of them don’t actually offer other optional accessories that you can incorporate into the kid’s room to make it look like a set. These accessories include stuff like window valance, crib bumpers, side skirts, etc… This is more for the parent’s sake than for the kids, but I came to a conclusion that the sets with more accessories options do better sales wise.

Using this knowledge, I found a crib bedding set that had positive reviews in all of these categories.

https://www.amazon.com/Trend-Lab-Piece-Crib-Bumper/dp/B0075ZNELU

 

Based on what I read, this is one of the better crib bedding sets on Amazon. A 4.6-star rating and very positive reviews gave me the confidence to present it to my wife. She was thrilled with my choice and satisfied with the time and effort I’ve put into this task. Needless to say, I got a special lovin’ that day.

-Marko Lipozencic

Bratz Styling Head – favorite amongst little girls

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As the Christmas draws near, I really get into the holiday spirit right after Thanksgiving. You can call me old-fashioned, but this is my favorite part of the year. The thing is, I like picking out presents for my family and friends and I always like to be very personal doing it. Generic gifts and all that: really not my style. In there lies a problem. My older daughter is just so picky when it comes to the things she wants. And the thing is, I can’t say no to her. Not because she is spoiled or anything, but because she is the only one that takes Christmas more seriously than me. As it turns out, much more.

I asked my kids to write to Santa this year and here is what I did: we sat down, I explained the rules and made it very clear that Santa likes kids who obey them:

  1. You can only ask for something you really want.
  2. You can ask for one thing, and not like PS4 with all the games (my oldest last year).
  3. Santa will do his best to grant you the wish if you are a good kid.

So check this out:


All three of my kids (I got 2 daughters and a son) asked for this in the letter to Santa. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but it wasn’t. Then I asked my wife should I be worried that my 11-year-old wants a make-up doll? She then told me the most remarkable story I have ever heard.

So we got three kids: David (11), Meg (6), and Brook (3).

Meg is the mastermind behind this entire operation. She really wants this toy and she proposed a deal to the other kids. Meg told Brook that she will practice on the doll and then put make-up on her if they get this gift. So naturally, Brook was on board. And then she promised David all of her next year’s candy from trick-or-treating if he writes to Santa for this toy as well. I mean how the hell did she come up with this idea? Do I have the cunningest kid in the world or what?

The moral of the story is that my kid really wants this toy. And from what I heard from other parents, this is a really popular toy amongst little girls. If you follow the link I posted, you will easily notice a 4.5-star rating that only confirms the fact that kids love this thing.

So I made Meg a deal: She would have to fulfill all the promises she made to Brook and David, and she would have to make her bed every morning until Christmas, and I would write to Santa for this doll as well. She told me: DEAL, and squeezed my hand as hard as she could with the widest smile in the world. Man, kids these days are really something!

–Marko Lipozencic

The Lion Guard – Ono, Plush Toy For Children

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Getting presents for the kids was always my wife’s job. It’s not that I don’t like it, she is just better at it. Well, I watched television with my kids this entire weekend and learned something that will benefit you all (actually just those looking to buy presents for kids). Gifting is easy when you pay attention.

Meet Ono

This is a bean plush toy for kids ages 3 and up. It is around 8″ tall and although it cannot really stand on its own, it can sit and lie very well. The build quality is excellent and it’s quite soft to touch. The thing about this toy is that kids simply adore it. And there is a simple reason behind it

There is a Disney show called The Lion Guard. I watched it through the entire weekend with my kids and to be quite frank, the show is good. It is one of the better programs for kids on television these days. There a couple of characters and each of them has its own toy. Now, I noticed that my kids love most of them, but as soon as Ono showed up on the screen (or rather I should not say as soon but EVERY time) my kids were quite excited and cheerful. And from what I hear, this show is really popular all over the world. If you don’t believe it, check out the average rating for this toy and read a couple of comments.

Yesterday, I thought of an idea to buy an entire set of The Lion Guard toys and give them out to my kids by Christmas as a reward for doing the chores like making the bed and cleaning out their room. The amazing thing about these toys is that in a show, each of them has a special ability. Ono, for example, has high-level intellect. So, I will challenge my kids to finish up their homework (not all of them go to school, but all of them got homework) and reward them with this toy. That way, I can teach them valuable lessons and they will have no trouble accepting it. And if it all goes well, I’ll proceed as planned.

For a simple toy (ok there is the show as well), I’d say that it is quite an effective gift. When you got kids, you learn something every day and that’s the real beauty of it.

–Marko Lipozencic

 

Kaleidoscope Projector – A Gift Your Kids Will Appreciate

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A couple of my fondest childhood memories date way back to my preschool years. I used to love Christmas (which child didn’t) but for a very different reason you all might think. The memories I cherish have nothing to do with presents and treats, nothing to do with family dinners or eating cakes, and to be completely honest, nothing to do with family. It is the feeling that I remember most accurately, the feeling of Christmas and gratitude.

We didn’t have a lot of money growing up and although my sister and I never lacked any of the essentials, presents were just not that rich and lavish. It was the small things, not toys, but the things we needed, pajamas, socks, stuff like that. But the presents themselves were irrelevant, at least to me. It was the anticipation the night before.

It was always snowing during Christmas and the house we grew up in had one really amazing feature. The living room, where the Christmas tree was, had a great balcony with glass doors overlooking the yard. And there was a street lamp right across the street which was the only working one in the entire neighborhood. When there was snow on the balcony ledge and the three branches above, the light was literally sparkling into the room at night. I used to stay up waiting to see the Santa as he comes to our house. For hours, I would stare at those lights on the walls and ceiling and believe it or not, those are my fondest childhood memories. During those nights, anything was possible and a massive sense of gratitude would overtake me. Sitting and waiting, wrapped up in my blanket and listening to the 8-bit sound of the carols coming from a small thingy under the tree, that was my Christmas, or at least my favorite part of it.

The snow is not at all a probability at my house these days, but there is something I found that can at least, in some sense, replicate the setting from my childhood.

I bought this yesterday and I will have it installed this Christmas. I would like for my kids to know the feeling I felt during the Christmas night. Although the kids these days are much more mature than I was at their age, there is still some magic to it, and that feeling of gratitude is something they need to feel for themselves, just like I did.

The thing is, I do still believe in Christmas magic and if my kids can experience at least a smidgen of that feeling, my heart would be full. Nothing in the entire world would make me happier.

–Marko Lipozencic

How The Peppa Pig Board Game Made Me Brilliant

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peppa-pigI remember when we used to be kids, way before the computers and smartphones, we used to have fun playing all sorts of board games. At the youngest age, Shoots and Ladders, Parcheesi, Tanks, and later on Risk and Monopoly. Heck, we still get together with friends and play Risk (although I tend not to play with my wife, it’s risky enough for me as it is, I don’t need more chances to piss her off).

Anyhow, a couple of nights ago, we were out with two other couples and there was a discussion about the values the children are learning today. The point that some of the parents were debating was that if there isn’t a screen or a ball in front of the kids (or maybe a doll for girls) they can’t have fun. An average screen (this is what I call all smartphones and tablets and things like that) can run you up to $500-$600 easily. I sat there quietly and waited for them to get all excited and only after I had a couple of laughs,

I showed them this.

I bought this for my kids way back as a present for the Easter. My youngest is addicted to Peppa Pig (and I do mean addicted to the point that I should probably be worried about it). The middle one, on the other hand, is not really into anything other than spending time with us.  We tried signing her up for kindergarten, we organized playdates, but nothing really peaked her interest. She likes being at home, period (kinda like me). And my eldest is always getting in trouble since he is hyper-competitive. When I bought this game for them, my wife (for the first and probably for the last time ever) told me I’m brilliant.

The thing is, this game suits our family perfectly. But from what I was able to hear from other parents, basically, everybody loves this game. And it offers a great way to separate the kids from the screens. To be completely honest, I just like seeing my kids playing a board game and having the same experiences we had as children.

If some of you are still undecided in regards to the Christmas presents, you really should consider this one, especially since you can get it for under $25. It has been a couple of months since I got it for my kids and they still play it at least once or twice a week. Not to be cheesy, but this is one treasure you should hunt yourself this Christmas.

–Marko Lipozencic

 

Classic Charades Once a Week? Why Not?

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: No good deed goes unpunished. You can debate whether my actions could actually be described as a good deed or not, but honest to God, I really wanted to do something nice for my wife. And like always, I managed to mess it up.

I can be described as your average bloke: work nine to five, come home, crack a beer, watch sports center or what not, make love to my beautiful wife (if she lets me) and then snore like a pig till morning. There is also one other thing I got in common with every married man out there: three to five times a week, I manage to piss off my wife. I try to make up for it by doing something way out of my comfort zone in order to make her happy. Last week, I was exceptionally “productive” and really messed up, so I needed something big to make it up!

I had a choice between taking her to the opera, visiting an art gallery, or hanging out with her work friend and her husband. The only thing I hate more than galleries is the opera.

Like I said, my intentions were pure and I really wanted to do a good thing for my wife, so I invited the other couple (without her knowing) for a game night at our house. Since the hole I have been in was quite deep, I needed a really fun game to make the evening successful.

This is what I picked

Even before the night began, there was a fight. First, figuring she would discuss it with her friend, I forgot to tell my wife that Mike and Corrina were coming. So the house wasn’t “movie” clean and I embarrassed my wife from the get go. Second, I bought 4 six-packs for Mike and me, but only one bottle of wine for the wives. I got heat for that as well. And then in the “main event”, we lost brutally to the other couple playing charades. And by the time an evening came to an end, I was in peril figuring I made a huge mistake. As it turned out, the evening was a huge success.

I know it wasn’t the wine (one bottle is just not enough for these gals), and I know it wasn’t my behavior. It turned out to be the game. My wife had so much fun, and she was so happy, I was in the clear for every shitty thing I did the past week. I even got special lovin’ as a reward for my effort that night! OK, it was a fun game and we did have a good time.

All’s well that ends well? You wish. We now have to hang out with Mike and Corrina ONCE A WEEK. And I just know that one of these nights I will make a huge blunder and piss off my wife worse than ever before. I now feel like a blind man walking through a mine field just so that he can go back when he reaches the end. I enjoyed the charades, but once a week commitment is a steep price to pay. I should have picked a less fun game or simply suffer through 2 hours of opera. I am certain that charades will keep being interesting for a long time, I just don’t trust myself.

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

–Marko Lipozencic

How Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter Caused Me To Stop Drinking Beer!

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clinique-comfort-butterHere is a simple rule that will save you a lot of trouble: listen to your woman. Even a half-intelligent man knows this rule and tries to obey it more often than not. And for those of you who don’t, here are a couple of reasons why you really should. The first one is that you honestly don’t want to cause yourself too much inconvenience and friction and you should try to avoid it as much as you can. Married guys will especially appreciate this one. But the second and a more important reason is because she is probably right, most of the time. Let me share an event from my life that taught me this really valuable lesson.

The winter is upon us and I usually try to fix up those small nagging details around the house, you know, leaky roof tiles and such, before the real cold sets. To cut the story short, I worked for an entire weekend outdoors without my gloves on (because I misplaced them even though it was pointed out to me, repeatedly, where I should look for them).

As I ignored my wife’s suggestions through the entire weekend, there was already some friction between us. Naturally, as a result of my stubbornness, I ended up on a losing end of a fight and needed something to calm the situation down. To add insult to injury, I also suffered from severely dry hands, which was used multiple times to point out my poor judgment.

Well fellas, I found a perfect gift that can remedy situations like these. It can be used for any woman, regardless of the age and the nature of your relationship!

Check It Out Here

I bought my wife this cream and needless to say, it got me back on her good side. That was until I blundered again. The gift that saved me also turned out to be my doom. The new argument was completely my fault because I delivered my “expert” opinion that all these cosmetic products are just well marketed and have no real effect. I even went so far to bet my wife that these things don’t work and that if she could prove me wrong, I would stop drinking beer ’till Christmas. Well, I no longer drink beer, but on the upside, I have the loveliest hands you will ever see on a man.

Lesson learned and let me once again state the obvious: LISTEN TO YOUR WOMAN.

–Marko Lipozencic