Category Archives: Education

Fun and Affordable Family Activities to Do During Holy Week

Holy Week is a special time for families to come together and celebrate their faith. It’s a time to reflect on the sacrifices of Jesus Christ and to spend quality time with loved ones. If you’re looking for ways to enjoy this Holy Week without breaking the bank, here are some fun and affordable activities to consider:

Attend Holy Week services

Attending church services during Holy Week is a great way to connect with your faith and to spend time with your family. Many churches offer services throughout the week, including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. Check with your local church to see what services they offer and make plans to attend as a family. These are excellent Holy Week activities for families that will help create a spiritual bonding experience.

Have a family movie night

Gather the family together and watch a faith-based movie that celebrates the meaning of Holy Week. Some popular options include “The Passion of the Christ,” “Ben-Hur,” and “The Ten Commandments.” You can also watch family-friendly movies like “Risen” or “The Prince of Egypt.” Don’t forget the popcorn and snacks! Family movie nights are among the most affordable Easter week family activities that won’t break the bank.

Do a family scavenger hunt

Create a scavenger hunt that incorporates religious themes related to Holy Week. For example, you can hide small crosses or bibles throughout your house or yard and challenge your family to find them all. You can also create clues related to the Stations of the Cross or the Resurrection story. This is a creative Holy Week activity for families on a budget that will provide a fun and engaging experience.

Have a family game night

Break out the board games and enjoy a fun night of friendly competition. You can play games that incorporate religious themes, such as Bible Trivia or Apples to Apples Bible Edition. This is a great way to spend quality time together and strengthen family bonds. Family game nights are affordable Holy Week family bonding activities that are easy to organize.

Make Easter crafts

Get creative and make some Easter-themed crafts as a family. You can make Easter baskets, decorate eggs, or create a cross out of popsicle sticks. This is a great way to celebrate the holiday and create lasting memories with your family. Inexpensive Holy Week family fun ideas like these can be enjoyed by all ages.

Have a family picnic

Pack a lunch and head to a local park for a family picnic. Enjoy the beautiful spring weather and spend quality time together. You can even bring along a Frisbee or a ball to play some outdoor games. This is one of the engaging Holy Week activities for families on a budget that provides a fun and relaxing experience.

Volunteer as a family

Holy Week is a time to reflect on the sacrifices of Jesus Christ and to give back to the community. Consider volunteering as a family at a local food bank or soup kitchen. This is a great way to make a difference in the lives of others and to teach your children the importance of giving back. Budget-friendly Holy Week ideas like volunteering are not only affordable, but they also provide a meaningful and impactful experience.

By incorporating these fun and affordable Holy Week family activities into your plans, you can make lasting memories with your family without breaking the bank. Remember to attend church services, watch a family-friendly movie, do a scavenger hunt, have a game night, make Easter crafts, have a family picnic, and volunteer as a family. These activities will not only help you celebrate the holiday, but they will also strengthen your family bonds and create lasting memories for years to come.

This is it!

I saw this post from a parents group whose children are grown and flown. I can relate to it because, like her (the mom), we will be making our final college tuition payment for our youngest child this month.

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash

It’s no mean feat to support a child to college, and yes, we did it. 

We are also thankful that the child persisted through the difficulties of online learning. A few more months ‘til graduation, we can start saving for our home project and perhaps for our retirement.

School Update

It’s been a while since I posted about my younger kid here. No longer a young kid though, he’s actually in college now. By next year, we hope he will earn his college diploma.

K is currently enrolled at CIIT, taking up Bachelor of Multimedia Arts (BAMMA) through virtual classes.

By the way, the school sent this certificate to my son last month. I’m just happy and appreciate this young man for all his efforts despite the difficulties of online classes.

Also, it is my boy’s birthday today. I love you, son. I pray to God to continue to bless you with good health and a sound mind. May God grant your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. 

The Top 5 Challenges in Data Center Management

Data centers are critical infrastructure for businesses in a wide variety of industries, and managing them comes with many challenges. The following five obstacles can make or break success in data center management. 

Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

1. Preventing Downtime

Data center downtime is every manager’s nightmare. While equipment is down, servers aren’t doing their jobs and people who need to access the information they contain can’t do so. Preventing downtime is one of the top reasons companies might work with a data center consulting firm.

2. Maximizing Utilization

There’s only so much power, cooling capability and space to go around in a data center, and managers must learn how to improve utilization of each resource. Doing so can be highly complicated, so use of a machine learning model may be the most effective way to make use of available resources.

3. Recording Operating Expenses 

A major goal of data center management is to reduce operating expenses, so being able to properly record the data on performance in relation to cost is a must. There are many software platforms that feature automatic data reporting that makes it easier to establish the value of a data center to a company.

4. Reducing Energy Expenditure

The nature of data centers means they consume immense amounts of energy by default. Altering certain configurations and usage patterns can help managers reduce the amount of electricity wasted, lowering carbon footprint in addition to reducing cost.

5. Maximizing Staff Potential

For a data center to work efficiently, employees need to be well-trained and used to their greatest potential. This often means managers have to retool and streamline workflows so staff aren’t wasting time finding out what their next assignment is. Another smart option is to implement automation tools that reduce the time employees spend doing menial tasks like manually logging hours or specific activities.  

Effectively managing a data center is no simple task, so consider working with a consulting firm if you are serious about improving performance and return on investment.

Spotted!

This (screengrab) was taken at the ICON Manila 2017 event.

Participants were queuing up to request autographs of speakers and resource persons.

The Icon Manila 2017 was held at the College of St. Benilde in Manila.

N said she had a great time listening and learning from the experts during the two-day event. The tickets may be costly, but it’s all worth it. Besides, the proceeds will go to worthy causes, such as humanitarian and medical missions.

By the way, the person in the video is Goro Fujita, one of the event’s speakers. He is a visual development artist at DreamWorks Animation, who worked on Merry Madagascar, Megamind, and The Boss Baby, to name a few.