A simple birthday celebration

I have always viewed birthdays as gifts. Considering the uncertainties of life and sometimes the shortness of it, we can only be thankful when we get to celebrate another birthday.

Last Saturday was my birthday and it was celebrated sans any fanfare. It was my choice. I normally go on vacation leave on my birthdays except last year when I opted to spend it at work for a change. But since this time it fell on my rest day, I filed a vacation leave the day before to give myself a treat. It was my first self-imposed vacation leave for the year after all. I didn’t have plans, I didn’t invite anybody; I intended to spend the day resting, contemplating and let it pass.

In the back of my mind, I was wondering if Donna will let me get away with it. She was always up to something. Sure enough, she woke me up with a small cake that she designed all by herself. It wasn’t the best-tasting cake ever designed but I appreciate the gesture. Her friends and co-workers even dropped by to celebrate with us. My sister and her children also arrived to greet me. It was a simple celebration but I couldn’t ask for more.

This birthday was a reminder that I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I have a job, good health and a very supportive partner who loves me unconditionally. My parents are both in good health in their seventies. God has been good to me all these years and I am very thankful for all the blessings that I have received especially for life itself.

I don’t know what lies ahead for me this year. I don’t know what the future holds. But I am positive that God has plans for me. The Bible said: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Thank you for visiting and May God richly bless us all!

MYX Daily Top 10 – August 19, 2010 Featuring "Opposites Attract" by Juris

"Somebody To Love" by Justin Bieber featuring Usher is on the top of the MYX Daily Top 10 as of August 19, 2010 with "No Other" by Korean band Super Junior hovering on the second spot.

"Afraid For Love To Fade" by Christian Bautista is moving closer to the top as it grabbed the third spot and is now the top OPM act in the countdown. "Magkaibang Mundo" by Hale and "Bata" by BBS f/ Kean Cipriano & Madeline are on the fourth and seventh spots respectively.

MYX Daily Top 10 – August 19, 2010

10. Love The Way You Lie - Eminem f/ Rihanna
09. Alay - Kamikazee
08. Opposites Attract - Juris
07. Bata - BBS f/ Kean Cipriano & Madeline
06. If I Had You - Adam Lambert
05. You Lost Me - Christina Aguilera
04. Magkaibang Mundo - Hale
03. Afraid For Love To Fade - Christian Bautista
02. No Other - Super Junior
01. Somebody To Love - Justin Bieber f/ Usher

Below is the video of the number 8 song in the countdown, "Opposites Attract" by Juris:

Custom Writing Services.

When I was still a student, there were times when I would spend sleepless nights to accomplish all my school projects and assignments. We would be asked to do book reviews, essays, and sometimes we would be asked to do class reporting and a whole lot of projects all at the same time. We don’t have a computer then and no internet as an ally so I would spend countless hours at the school library for research and would sleep over my friend’s house that had a computer to accomplish my school projects. Oftentimes, I could barely meet my deadlines.

Students today are a lot luckier. Computers have become a necessity in every household. Some students even have their own laptop. They can work on their school projects at their own pace. There’s no need to visit the library for information that can be provided by various search engines. If they are expecting a large workload and in desperate need to meet the deadline, availing of various online writing services is another option. There are now websites offering custom essay writing services. While it would be best and ideal for students to do their own projects and essays and to manage their time effectively to meet their deadlines, there were times when the workload and other factors will not allow this.

Even professionals who are in need of essays can benefit from custom essay writing services. There are those who are in need of art essay. Not everybody has a gift in writing. Some can’t seem to express themselves on paper. We all have our own specialization and forte after all. Some are brilliant in technical stuffs but would cringe when they were asked to write their ideas. Even seasoned writers at times can struggle with writing. So why not just delegate this task and ask other people to do it for you. Anyway, if you can not do certain jobs properly, why not ask someone to do it for you?

However, you have to ensure that when you choose an online writing service, you are getting your money’s worth. Why pay for sub-standard jobs? You have to turn to the company that has been in the custom essay writing market for years and has gained reputation as top quality and reliable writing service provider. There are writing services that can tackle any topics or research questions in all fields of endeavor. You are sure that they can meet all requirements in terms of contents, outline and format like those of the MLA format essay. Some even boast of custom essay writers that at least have a Master’s degree in their respective field of specialization. I haven't tried their services but if you are in desperate need of custom essays, then it's probably worth a try.

MYX Daily Top 10 – August 13, 2010 Featuring "Darkside Of The Sun" by Tokio Hotel

"Somebody To Love" by Justin Bieber featuring Usher is back on top of the MYX Daily Top 10 with "No Other" by Korean band Super Junior hovering on the second spot. These two songs/videos have been in a very close battle for the number 1 spot in the last two weeks.

"Magkaibang Mundo" by Hale is moving closer to the top as it grabbed the third spot and is now the top OPM act in the countdown. "Afraid For Love To Fade" by Christian Bautista and "Kung Wala Na Nga" by 6cyclemind f/ DJ Coki, Kean Cipriano & Yeng Constantino are on the fifth and sixth spots respectively.

MYX Daily Top 10 – August 13, 2010

10. You Lost Me - Christina Aguilera
09. Darkside Of The Sun - Tokio Hotel
08. Bata - BBS f/ Kean Cipriano & Madeline
07. Love Ya - SS501
06. Kung Wala Na Nga - 6cyclemind f/ DJ Coki, Kean Cipriano & Yeng Constantino
05. Afraid For Love To Fade - Christian Bautista
04. If I Had You - Adam Lambert
03. Magkaibang Mundo - Hale
02. No Other - Super Junior
01. Somebody To Love - Justin Bieber f/ Usher

Below is the video of the number 9 song in the countdown, "Darkside Of The Sun" by German pop rock band Tokio Hotel:

Treasure in heaven

I heard a priest’s sermon yesterday and his message was crystal clear. Anything can happen to anyone anytime. Life is short, death is certain. So let’s be prepared. Let’s live a beautiful life every day and be a blessing and not a burden to other people. Whatever material possessions we have accumulated in this world will be left behind, so why bother?

Here is another story partly after the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy about a rich man who thought that money would also be everything even in the after life:

A wealthy man lay on his deathbed. His entire life had been centered on money. As his life ebbed away, he presumed that in the afterlife, money would also be everything. So he gave orders that a purse filled with gold coins be placed inside his casket alongside his body. His last wish was carried out.

In the next world it took the bookkeepers a long time to find his name in any of the good books. In fact, it took so long that he got very hungry and thirsty just waiting. He looked around and sure enough, he saw an attractive eatery not far away. “Aha,” he said to himself, “ it’s just like what I thought. It’s a good thing that I brought some money along with me.”

His mouth was already watering as he approached the restaurant. But before he sat down to eat, he was told that the money he had brought along had no value now. In fact, the only money that was of any value now was the money he had given away on earth. The rich man dropped his head in deep thought, but could not remember having given any money away… so now he had none.

As an Englishman of another stripe let his tombstone explained:
“What I spend I had.
What I kept I lost.
What I gave I have.”

A culture of negativity.

Funny how one TV network operates, they are claiming to be unbiased, neutral and that they are not favoring or protecting anybody and yet they are hitting on their rival network on every opportunity that they get. This is very typical of second-rates. Their negative reporting belies all of their claims of credibility and neutrality. They are not any better than their rival news organization after all. At least, the other one doesn’t’ have any false claims.

Recently, this TV station gave us one good example on how they operate: Just because they did not get the exclusive video of the arrest (and the last few moments) of the leader of a notorious carjacking syndicate, they highlighted in their news reports the statement of a police officer blaming the news team of their rival network for the delay in bringing the suspect to a hospital which could have prevented his death. And they released the news report even after they failed to get the side of the other news team or the real story behind it. What is it for? To discredit the other news team for getting the exclusive video thereby creating doubts on the credibility of the other TV station? This doesn’t sound fair to me.

The other TV station later answered this accusation on their own news program showing the full exclusive video of what happened showing the same police officer asking the cameraman to take footages of the wounded suspect. And the video was not even close to one minute! A higher ranking police official was even interviewed and apologized for the tactless words of his subordinate. I wonder if the rival TV station also showed a similar news report or an interview on their news program.

There seems to be a culture of negativity in this TV network. Let's also look at how they market their news organization. They are claiming that they are neutral, that they are not favoring or protecting anybody and yet these attributes are all subjective. Why not let the people decide if you’re doing a great job or not? Is this some kind of deliberate brainwashing, auto-suggestion or something? Why the need for their anchors to repeatedly utter these words when these are expected of a big news organization like them? Unless they are insinuating that they have a monopoly of these and their rivals are doing the opposite then these words are just a waste of air time.

Just a couple of minutes ago, I chanced upon a news report in Yahoo from the same media outfit. It is entitled “Another journalist may join ranks of Aquino spokespersons” and yet there’s a statement at the end of the news item that caught my attention. It reads: “Lacierda had also skirmished with the Malacañang Press Corps twice in July for preempting major announcements to a private media network perceived to have supported Aquino’s presidential bid.” Whose perception was it? It didn't mention. I watched the other TV station the whole campaign period and I didn’t get a hint that they were favoring Noynoy Aquino. In fact, it was their news team who exposed the bogus psychiatric report of Aquino. It was even in their news program where it was shown and reported the son of Kris Aquino, Baby James blurting out the name of his uncle’s rival in a campaign sortie which caught the ire of the popular actress and sister of then presidential candidate Noynoy Aquino. It was even reported that Kris called this news team as “evil” or “devil” of some sort due to this incident. So I’m clueless on where this TV station got the notion that their rival network favored Aquino. Was it because the sister of Aquino is an employee of the rival network? How superficial!

The Philippines is in a new historical chapter. Everybody is talking about change. I guess media should follow suit especially. It doesn’t help that they are hitting on each other. There's what we call as healthy competition and what they are doing is not part of it.It is not even a good example to their viewers. Our children who watch TV most of the time should not be exposed to a culture of vindictiveness being played by these media organizations.

Using credit cards responsibly

A few months ago, I wrote an article on this blog about how to avoid financial problems where I offered a few tips on how to manage one’s finances. One of the advices that I gave was not to use credit cards. It was based on my personal observation that I only know a few people who are using their credit cards responsibly. The credit card is not the devil; it was designed for our convenience. But it is the misuse of this card which has put many lives in financial mess.

Unfortunately, unlike gadgets or tools, credit cards don’t come with user manuals. It would have been a lot better if your first credit card comes with a user guide offering suggestions on how you can use this card responsibly.

Most people fall into the trap of using their credit cards as a substitute for cash until they’ve reached their credit limits. They pay their everyday purchases in credit card not knowing that this will quickly lead them to debt. Some would use their credit cards to purchase luxury items that they cannot afford to pay in cash. This habit of living in borrowed lifestyle can quickly put someone in debt. If you cannot afford to pay something today, then there’s a big chance that you will have difficulty paying for it tomorrow.

I was told that it is best to pay as much as you can in your credit card balance each month and not to get the habit of making minimum payment only. This way, you not only saved yourself from paying more in interest but you will also pay your debt quicker and cheaper.

The bottom line is we should make wise decisions when spending our money or using our credit cards. When buying something, let’s ask ourselves if we really “need” to buy it or we simply “want” to have it. Let’s resist the temptation of buying something that we don’t really need especially if it is something that we cannot afford. Indeed, good credit card habits require self-discipline.

MYX Daily Top 10 – August 6, 2010 Featuring "If I Had You" by Adam Lambert

"No Other" by Korean band Super Junior is still on top of the MYX Daily Top 10 after it grabbed the top spot from Justin Bieber's "Somebody To Love" a few days ago. "Somebody To Love" by Justin Bieber featuring Usher is at number 2.

"Kung Wala Na Nga" by 6cyclemind f/ DJ Coki, Kean Cipriano & Yeng Constantino are still the top OPM act in the countdown at number 3 while "Magkaibang Mundo" by Hale is moving closer to the top spot at number 4. "Afraid For Love To Fade" by Christian Bautista is on the number 6 spot.


MYX Daily Top 10 – August 6, 2010

10. Darkside Of The Sun - Tokio Hotel
09. Bata - BBS f/ Kean Cipriano & Madeline
08. Opposites Attract - Juris
07. Love Ya - SS501
06. Afraid For Love To Fade - Christian Bautista
05. If I Had You - Adam Lambert
04. Magkaibang Mundo - Hale
03. Kung Wala Na Nga - 6cyclemind f/ DJ Coki, Kean Cipriano & Yeng Constantino
02. Somebody To Love - Justin Bieber f/ Usher
01. No Other - Super Junior

Below is the video of the number 5 song "If I Had You" by Adam Lambert:

Practice what you preach

Let me share a story from "Quote" which I lifted from a compilation of stories entitled "The Next 500 stories." It is all about conviction.

An office equipment salesman persuaded a merchant to order five hundred ballpoint pens. He was writing the order in his notebook, when suddenly the merchant exclaimed, "Hold on! I'm canceling the order." He then turned to wait on a customer at the counter.

The salesman left the store wondering why the businessman had changed his mind.

Later, the merchant's bookkeeper asked, "Why did you cancel that order for ballpoint pens?"

"Why?" answered the man, rather angrily. "Because he talked ballpoints to me for a half-hour, using a number of convincing arguments, and then he wrote out my order with a pencil. His practice did not agree with his profession. I don't trust those kinds of people."