Celebrating the reason for the season.

One downside of Facebook is it gives people a platform to criticize, to vent, and to rant even on every mundane thing imaginable albeit at the expense of other people. Scrolling through our FB wall would give us a variety of posts and shout outs that will elicit varied reactions. There are cute lines that will make us smile, quotes from famous people and Bible verses which can inspire us, observations that we can agree or disagree and there are those offensive rants that are best to be ignored. Of course, there are people who would use the social networking site to brag about their new gadgets, new house or new partner. And how can I forget those people who are obviously out to get their 10 seconds of fame? They will do everything just to get the public’s attention.

What I cannot stomach is when people act as if they have the monopoly of intelligence and the rest of the world are full of idiots. Believe me, I struggled very hard last night to control my emotions and resist the temptation to reply to a post from a college acquaintance who unintentionally (I hope) caught my ire. Now I know why it is a big no-no to discuss religion or religious beliefs in social platforms. It may be a simple statement for someone expressing his/her sentiments against a certain belief but it can be very offensive to other people who chose to subscribe to that dogma.

To further illustrate, this college acquaintance posted a video of a TV personality discussing the origin of Christmas. It was an old theory that Jesus was not really born on December 25 unlike what Catholics and some Christians choose to believe. This was based on the details stated in the Bible that there were shepherds and sheep out on the night when Jesus was born which they say is not very likely to happen on a winter or in December for that matter. The TV personality also said that December 25 was associated before with the pagan festival. Emperor Constantine was mentioned in the report that, if I can recall it right, is responsible for the integration of Pagan festivities with Christian tradition. I used to subscribe to this idea when I was in my rebellious days. But then I choose to worship the reason than the occasion.

Going back to the post from this college acquaintance, she started defining pagan and then she commented that she didn’t see brain in the last part when the TV personality reported that the date of the celebration is not actually the date of Jesus’ birth but then at the end he still encourages the people to celebrate Christmas on the same date.

First, I would be more surprised if the TV personality starts maligning the belief of the majority of the Philippine population. It will be sheer stupidity to shoot the belief of 80 or 90% of the population who celebrate Christmas. That is totally nonsense. Echoing the belief of the majority is a safer stance especially when you are in broadcast media competing for viewership. Second, what the TV personality reported is possibly from one scholarly source but is not bedrock truth. There are other sources that are claiming that the December 25 date of the nativity is valid.

At the end of the day, I believe that what is important is the reason for the season, not the date. Unfortunately, we are more intent on worshiping the occasion than the reason. The reason for the celebration is the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ who came into the world and died to save us from our sins.



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Giving thanks

This is still Thanksgiving week in the US (I just learned that Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on October in Canada.)

Typically, it is being celebrated with friends and lots of food and football. Well, that’s the fun part. However, if we will take this holiday seriously, we’ll know that it’s all about thankfulness. It’s the time of the year when we celebrate and give thanks for all the blessings that we’ve been receiving.

If you will ask me, giving thanks should not only be an annual event. It should be done every day. I bet it will make our lives better and it will put our minds into the right perspective. Perhaps, we can allot a couple of minutes of our time everyday to slow down and give thanks for all the blessings that we have received. This is even a good opportunity to regenerate and recharge our energy. But another advantage is it will slow things down so we can focus on the most important things in our lives.

Let’s make it a habit to think all the things that we should be thankful for and take some time to have gratitude for everything and everyone that we have in our lives.


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My Twitter Account was Hacked.

I had one of the biggest surprises in my recent life when I tried to open my Twitter account last Friday. I had a hard time logging in which is expected since it’s been months since the last time that I opened my account. But what left me dumbfounded was when I saw the tweets coming from my account. There were tweets about products and services that I don’t recognize and worse, there were tweets about sexy or nude videos! This is totally insane! Not to mention that this is embarrassing to those who are following me!

Anyway, after the initial panic, I was able to fix the issue by following a few steps from the Twitter Help Page. So if you are experiencing issues with your Twitter account or if you think that your account has been compromised, you can follow the steps below.

I was able to reset my password by clicking the Forgot Password link and entering my mobile number. Below is a screenshot of the tweets that were sent from my account that I don't know anything about!




The following are signs that your account has been compromised:

• Noticed unexpected Tweets by your account.
• Seen unintended direct messages sent from your account.
• Observed other account behaviors you didn't make or approve (like following, unfollowing, or blocking).
• Received a notification from Twitter stating that, "You recently changed the email address associated with your Twitter account" (even though you haven't changed your email address).

If you noticed any of the above signs, the Twitter support page advises you to follow the steps below:

1. Change your password
Change your password immediately from the Passwords Tab in your Account Settings. Make sure that you select a strong password that you haven't used before. If you are unable log in to your account, please see this troubleshooting page.

2. Revoke connections
While logged in, visit the Applications tab in Account Settings. Revoke access for any third-party application that you don't recognize.

3. Update your new password in your trusted third-party applications
If a trusted external application or widget uses your Twitter password, make sure to update your password in the application. Otherwise, you may be temporarily locked out of your account due to failed login attempts.

If you're still experiencing issues, you can file a Support request for further assistance.

The Twitter Support page also advises you to take the following precautions if your account has been compromised:

• Delete any unwanted Tweets that were posted while your account was compromised.
• Scan your computers for viruses and malware, especially if unauthorized account behaviors continue to be posted after you've changed the password.
• Install security patches for your operating system and applications
• Always use a strong, new password you don't use elsewhere and would be difficult to guess.
• Visit the Safe Tweeting page for more information on avoiding hacks and Phishing.

Source: Twitter Support

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Thank God it’s Friday!

TGIF!

Friday has become my favorite day of the week. And since today is Friday I am naturally in a lighter mood. Friday is the last day of our work week and it is during this day when I don’t have to endure so much unnecessary stress and pressure from work.

Somehow, I have come to associate Fridays with fun. It is during Fridays when we usually go out and have fun with friends and colleagues. Perhaps this is because Saturdays and Sundays are my rest days so it is okay to stay out late since there will be no need to wake up early in the morning.

If you are like me who dreaded Mondays (the first day of work) then perhaps you will understand how I appreciate the ease and relief that I felt during Fridays.

When I was still active with my blogging activities and with my BloggingForFun group, we used to have an activity we called Fun Friday when all members write about a particular topic or theme. It was indeed a fun activity that induces our creativity and writing abilities. I missed those days…

Of course, some people tend to regard Friday as an unlucky day. Some would never go out of their houses and I know people who would postpone their activities during Friday the 13th. Our family has our own share of superstitions. I grew up on a family who doesn’t even allow children to take a bath or clip our fingernails, not even play during Good Fridays because of the assumption that Jesus died on this day and no one is there to protect us. But these are all superstitious beliefs. I really don’t believe that God will create an unlucky day for us.

Well, everyday can be a good or a bad day depending on how you want to live it. I believe that every day is a gift from God so we should make that most of it. We should not waste our time wallowing in fear. We should instead use every day to reach for our dreams and aspiration and to fulfill God's plan for us.




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Living every day as if it was my last.

If someone will tell you that today is your last day on earth, what will you do? Will you laugh at the foolishness of this person? Will you relinquish your worldly possessions, repent your sins and spend your last hours praising God and preaching His words? Will you scramble and turn to do the earthly things that you have not yet experienced in this lifetime?

When I heard the news that a religious group in the US predicted that doomsday would happen on the 21st of May, 2011, my initial reaction was disbelief. I firmly believe that nobody can predict the Lord’s return. The Bible, although it gave us signs of the end of times, also warned us of false prophets. Come to think of it, knowing when the world will end defeats the purpose of us having to turn to the Lord in our own free will.

I spent the day just like any ordinary day. We went to a resort in Bulacan, with Donna and her friends. The resort was jam-packed, an indication that these people too did not take the doomsday prediction seriously. Based on the news reports, the world will end at 6pm Manila time. We left the resort at almost 7pm; still alive and kicking.

Surely, the doomsday prediction was a hoax. But most Christians believe in the Lord’s second coming. We just don’t know when it will happen. It maybe tomorrow, next year or we may not live to see it right before our eyes. One thing is for sure, we will leave this world one way or another.

If there’s anything good that we can get from this incident is that it gave us the opportunity to rethink our lives and see where we are in terms of our salvation. Can we firmly say that we are ready for the Lord’s second coming?

The world is filled with wickedness; evil is lurking on every corner, some countries are on the verge of war. These are all indications that people are still living away from the goodness of the Lord. Christian teachings taught me that we need to profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in order for us to be saved. It is written in Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Say, "Father in Heaven, I believe that Jesus died for my sins."

Life is full of uncertainties. We don’t know what will happen today or tomorrow. Every day is a gift from God. Perhaps, it is best for us to live everyday as if it were our last. Let us not waste our time with trivial and petty things. Let us live our lives fully and joyfully.

May God richly bless us all!



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I'm back!

After weeks of reflection, soul-searching, meditation and relaxation, I’m finally back. It’s been three months since the last post that I wrote for this blog. It crossed my mind not to return to blogging and let this blog die a natural death. Stress at work and time constraints are the top reasons why blogging has become a luxury.

But this blog has been with me for quite some time, the 2 or 3 years that I have spent blogging is not something that you can just throw out of the window.

I weighed my options and a decision has been made. I will continue to blog for another year. At least, this blog will stay until 2012. In fact, I just recently renewed this domain.

I admit that it will not be the same. Gone are the days when I can blog for 2 to 3 hours and drop EC until I’ve reached the maximum number of drops allowed. I will just take this in strides. No dropping of EC this time. No pressures, no promises, no expectations. I will blog when I have time. I will drop a note to fellow bloggers once in a while. A new post perhaps a week or every weekend is not that bad. But who knows?

I’m just glad that I have managed to write this post. I’m really happy and excited to be back.

Happy weekend to all!



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On vacation

Life is full of uncertainties. You can never say what will happen next.
That makes life exciting. We will surely encounter failures and triumphs as we journey through life. Yes, you may experience a couple of setbacks but these are not reasons or excuses to stop reaching for our goals and purpose in life.

I just wrote on my last post that I intend to write more often on my two blogs for the rest of the year but reading the title of this post will give you the idea that what I initially planned is not going to happen. Yes, I have decided to go on a blogging vacation so you'll not be seeing any updates on this blog for the next 3 or 4 weeks. I hope it will be shorter than that but I have learned my lessons so I will not make promises that I cannot deliver. I'll be back when I am ready.

I would like to thank all the visitors and fellow bloggers who continue to visit this blog.

Thank you to all my fellow Entrecard droppers who continue to drop their cards on this blog. I am sorry that I will not be able to reciprocate your drops while I'm on vacation.

I also would like to apologize to my fellow Blogging for Fun Yahoo group members as I have not been able to visit some of my fellow members' blogs in the last couple of weeks and in the next few weeks. I'll make it up to you when I'm back.

That's all for now. I'm actually writing this post on an internet cafe. I'll give you the real story when I'm back.

Thank you and Goodbye for now!

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Moving On.

As of writing, it’s 49 days to go before Christmas and 55 days to go before the New Year! Whew, time flies really fast, right? Before we know it, we are again saying hello to a brand new year and goodbye to 2010. I now hear Christmas songs on the radio and some neighboring houses now boast of their Christmas trees and decors in time for the season.

There’s really not much that we can do about it, whether we like it or not, the days will pass. What we can only do is to make the most out of our lives. There’s no use to brood and think of all the mistakes and failures that we have done in the past. What’s done is done. There are only two words that we can do: MOVE ON! Of course, let’s learn our lessons from past mistakes; apologize for the people we have wronged but ultimately we have to move on. The faster we realize that it is just a waste of energy to live in the past is the better for us.

There’s not much activity on this blog for the past few months. I wished I could have done better but what is done is done. What I can only do is to end the year differently. I intend to post more often on this blog and the other for the next couple of weeks until the end of the year and I hope I can sustain it until next year. In fact, I may start changing a couple of things in terms of the over-all appearance of my two blogs. I already started changing the layout of my other blog yesterday and I thought it was a good thing. I am also thinking of changing the layout for this blog but I’m still looking for a better template. I have come to love this custom layout but some people are saying that I should change my blog’s layout from time to time. Well, I will not touch it until I have a better one to replace it with.

That's all for now. Let's all have a lovely weekend!!

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Celebrating a birthday on Halloween.

Happy Halloween to all!

And happy birthday to my father who is celebrating his 74th birthday today! Yep, while the rest of the world is commemorating Halloween, our family is celebrating our father's birthday. There's every reason to celebrate as my father has reached this milestone in his life and he is blessed with good health, a healthy body and a sound mind. Not everybody is given the privilege to celebrate his or her 70th year on this earth much less the 74th so for this we are full of gratitude.

Happy birthday, Tatay!!!


Still on Halloween, if you’re wondering what the term Halloween means, I did a bit of research for you. According to Wikipedia, it is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening," but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day," which is of course now also known as the All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions.

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.

So this is where this celebration originated… Again, happy Halloween to all!

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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!


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On time and changes

There's not much activity on this blog for the last few weeks. Blame it on my erratic work schedule and inefficient time-management. It's really hard to cram all the things that need to be done with very limited time. Ever since I moved to our new house in Bulacan, 4-5 hours of my time are spent on the road going to and from the office. That's the same hours that I used to spend blogging. I hope my fellow bloggers can forgive me if I am not able to reciprocate their comments on my blog posts. I am trying my best to drop Entrecards but there were days when I just don't have the energy left to work on my computer after spending 9 hours at the office and another 4-5 hours traveling.

I guess it's not just me; many people want to do a lot of things with their limited time. We set priorities. We weigh which things are more important and which things have less value. But whatever we do, our day will always have the same 24 hours just like anybody else.


I am not complaining. I love what I am doing and I appreciate all the blessings that I'm receiving. I don't have the right to complain when many people don't even have a job to provide for their basic needs. I have a stable job, a happy family and I have the luxury of blogging when time permits. I am indeed thankful.

If you think that I'm giving up on blogging then you're mistaken. I have a lot of plans for my two blogs and you will see many changes on this blog in the next few weeks. I am even thinking of putting up another one. I guess, I am still in the adjustment period, trying to cope with this new schedule. But I know that with a more efficient time-management, I will have ample time to work on my blogs. In fact, I am thinking of posting on a more regular basis and on diverse topics. I may also do a little housekeeping on this blog in the next few days. I will be removing a few widgets and I will revisit my blog list of blogs that are no longer active.

By the way, if you want to exchange links with me, feel free to leave your comment on this post and leave your blog's URL.

Thank you for your continued support! Have a great weekend!
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Need help! My Yahoo mail is sending out spam!

When I logged on to my Yahoo mail this morning, I know that I needed to delete a couple of spam that I get on a daily basis. However, I was not expecting to see a few “Delivery Failure Notice” on my Inbox. I later discovered that my email was sending out spam on its own and it’s sent to everyone in my Address book!

It even sent the spam to our Blogging For Fun Yahoo group. To my fellow members, I apologize for the spam. The message has no subject but it was sending a link to a website that I wouldn’t dare visit. Here is the spam:

http://JeannieShadl e5591.co. cc

Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger .yahoo.com

It was embarrassing as the spam was sent even to my colleagues and old friends I never met in years. In panic, I deleted all my contacts. I even changed my password immediately as I thought my email was hacked. I am also in the process of scanning my PC for viruses or malware.

This incident made me realize how important to take certain security precaution to make sure that my email system is as safe as it can possibly be.

Have you experienced this problem before? I would really appreciate any advice on how to resolve this problem.

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Hey, I'm back!

Since this is going to be my first post for 2010, allow me first to greet you a happy New Year!

After 2 months of inactivity on this blog, I’m back!

I just renewed my domain registration for this blog last week so I have a good reason to continue with my blogging activities for another year. I was also humbled by the fact that there were advertisers who contacted me with their intention to put their ads or link here even in those times when there were no activities on this blog. If I am going to accept advertisements on this blog, then I’m going to make sure that these advertisers should at least get their money’s worth. Then of course, there were fellow bloggers and visitors who continue to return to this site even though they knew that I will not be able to reciprocate the visit. These were my motivations when I decided to go back to my blogging activities.

If you are wondering what happened to this poor blogger, why I suddenly left without any warning, then allow me to bore you with my story. I guess I’ve mentioned before in this blog that I was able to acquire a property in Sta. Maria, Bulacan. Well, Donna and I moved to this new house last November 24. Unfortunately, we were met with various problems. First was the weak electricity in the subdivision that was not enough to operate any appliance. We had no television, refrigerator, electric fans or computer for a few weeks. When we were able to resolve the electricity problem, the computer won’t operate. It was only after the holidays that the computer was fixed. Looking for an Internet Service Provider was also a challenge. Since we are in a new subdivision, getting a wired broadband internet is out of the question. We were left with no options than wireless internet. We initially applied for the Globe WiMax service even before we moved to the new house but after a few weeks and various phone calls to their customer service number, we still don’t have an internet connection. What became clear to me is that they are not true to their word. Smartbro was another story. I had problems with their service in the past but they were always fast when it comes to processing applications. We applied for their service only last Saturday afternoon and we already have internet this Monday.

Well, those were now water under the bridge. We have a new year ahead of us that is worth celebrating. Of course, we should expect challenges in our ways. We just need to learn how to count our blessings. And be steadfast in our dreams…

That’s all for now… I’m really glad to be back. :) I can't wait to catch up with everyone!

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How to effectively manage your time

A few friends and colleagues have already called my attention. They kept on asking if I don’t have anything new on this blog, a subtle way of telling me that they are sick and tired of my usual posts. I can’t blame them. In fact, I admit that I have been neglecting this blog for some time.

If you have seen nothing more than a MYX countdown on this blog, it only means that I don’t have the time or the inspiration to write anything new. Mind you, I just found out that about half of this blog’s traffic is coming from those who are searching for the latest songs and music videos on MYX from search engines.

I know that it’s not good enough as I should be giving my readers what they deserve, that is, quality content. But sometimes, time is not making that possible. You see, I have a day job and I’m maintaining 2 blogs. Actually, you can make that 3 as I just bought a new domain for another blog, a call center blog.

I’m not making excuses, I’m stating facts. I confess that I need to learn more about time-management. All of us have only 24-hours a day but there are gifted people among us who can accomplish more than most of us can do for that same limited amount of time. I envy those people. But why do you think some people can accomplish more tasks that may take a week for some people like me to accomplish? Is it just their higher level of energy? Or some people are more motivated than others?

The most logical reason is some people are able to manage their time more effectively than some of us. It is not really that some people work harder, they are just working smarter.

To tell you the truth, I have read a lot of books about time management before and most of these books are giving different versions of these tips to effectively manage our time and accomplish more. Here are a few tips:

1. Set the time limits for your activities. If you want to accomplish more in a lesser amount of time then you need to be conscious of the time you spent on every activity. You have to allot a reasonable amount of time to accomplish a task. Once you are conscious of the time, you’ll be able to do things in the quickest possible time without compromising the quality of your job. But stick to your timetable. You’ll get used to it.

2. Learn to delegate some of your tasks. The problem with some of us is we love ourselves dearly, we really don’t think that other people’s job can match our efforts. We don’t want to entrust some task to other people for fear that they will not measure up to our standards. Understandably, no one else but you can do the job the way you want it done or how you want it done. But the truth is, you can save more time and energy and you can focus more on important things if you will let other people do the job. Who knows, the job may actually get done better.

3. Set goals and list your priorities. This is necessary so you will have a clear idea on what needs to be done urgently and those that can be done at a later time. By listing your priorities, you must decide on what jobs are most important and needs immediate attention. You must also put the date on when you expect to accomplish your goal.

4. Deal with interactions and learn to say “NO.” One of the major reasons why you are not being productive is because you’re letting small things get in the way while you’re doing your job. Every time someone asks you to do something for them, you feel obligated even if you don’t have time for it. Learn to say NO to less important things so you can focus your time and energy on more important jobs.

These are just some tips that you can take to effectively manage your time. I’ve been struggling to follow these steps for a couple of days now. They said that if you follow these steps for at least thirty days, it would eventually become habitual. I admit that it is difficult at first but over time it would become quite natural. To motivate me, I’m just thinking of the things that I will be able to achieve in less time. Ultimately, it all boils down to self-discipline. If you want to have more time to do what you want to do then learn to value your time. Indeed, every second count.

Photo credit
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Remembering the dead... Celebrating Life.

In the Philippines, All Saint’s Day (including All Soul’s Day) is considered a very important holiday by many Filipinos, probably next to Christmas and Holy Week. Celebrated on the 1st of November, All Saint’s Day, “Undas” or “Todos Los Santos” in the vernacular, has become more of a family reunion to commemorate the dead.

It is the time of the year when tombs are cleaned and painted, candles lit and flowers are offered and families flocked in cemeteries to spend the day or night with their departed loved ones.



Donna and I were among the thousands of people who trooped to the cemetery last November 1. We went to her father’s tomb (her father, brother and grandparents are buried in the same tomb) at the Manila South Cemetery in Makati City. We initially planned to go to the cemetery on the 31st but because of the threat of a super typhoon hovering in the country, we decided to go the next day instead.

I haven’t seen so many deaths in my age. I have been to funerals of my grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, distant relatives and friends but never within my immediate family; which is something that I am thankful for. Although, I understand that death is a fact of life. We have to thank and relish every minute that we spend with our loved ones.


The last couple of days has afforded me the chance not just to remember the dead but to celebrate life and it also prompted me to reflect on what it means to live in this world. The truth is no one will live forever. The time will come when our friends and loved ones will remember us during All Soul’s Day or they will visit us in our tombs.

Although we avoid thinking about it, the fact that we know our time will come should teach us how to fully live our lives. Recognizing that we have limited time in this world, we should be prompted to care more for this world and for the people around us. We should start managing our lives and try to live a happy and meaningful life.


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Celebrating a special day at the Office.

Today is Friday, the last day of the week, which also happens to be a payday since the 15th falls on a Saturday. No matter how hard I tried to make this day as ordinary as possible, I cannot deny the fact that today is an extraordinary day. I can only blame Facebook and Friendster on why our friends and colleagues know what is happening in our lives. Now, all my friends know that today is my birthday.

I don’t usually go to work during my birthdays. I don’t want to give my colleagues a chance to make fun of me and make me the center of attention so I would rather file for a vacation leave even if I will just spend the day at home, in retrospect. I simply can not stand my co-workers pestering me for a blow-out or a pizza treat. I may give in that easily hehehe. Not today, though. I decided to go to work for a change. And I managed to get through it unscathed. In fact, it was a great day!

I never expected it. My colleagues never gave a sign that they were planning for something. And just when I thought that this was just another humdrum day, it ended with a pleasant surprise.

I am not posting this to fish for compliments; I just want to thank my team mates for their efforts to make this day a memorable one for me. Please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your friendship, love and respect. You guys are the best!


Inside the birthday card are short messages from my teammates. And yeah, the card is playing a "happy birthday" tune.



Here's the yummy cake, but it's not as sweet as my colleagues :)



Meet my beautiful co-workers: Angel, Mitch, Kat, Grace, Bea and Meg. I should be paid for this hehehe.



Oops... Be careful with the balloons. They can still be used for another birthday celebration.



Photos courtesy of Nel, Jiro and Mao.

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It’s great to be back!

I was MIA (missing-in-action) in the blogosphere for only four days but it seems years. It felt like my life was not complete in these days that I wasn’t blogging. (I’m now holding back my tears, *sniff* hehehe) I really missed dropping EC cards and visiting my favorite blogs. Blogging has been a part of my daily routine and it wasn’t the same in the last four days that I don’t have a computer. I consoled myself by watching TV and some episodes of the TV series “Lost” which I enjoyed immensely.

If you are wondering what happened to my old PC, I am still staring at it, the same Jurassic PC. Yeah, it’s a good thing that it was revived although I know that it is no longer as reliable as it was. The technician didn’t even know that he was able to fix it, hehehe. He did a thorough test of all the computer parts to isolate the problem, swapping them with working parts. I could have done this myself but since I don’t have access to other parts for testing, I deemed it’s best to bring it to a technician. After testing, he concluded that there’s a problem with the motherboard like I suspected. Some of the slots are no longer working that’s why it was not detecting the hard disks and CD-ROM. He also mentioned that one of my hard disk was full of bad sectors. However, he said that the PC is now detecting the hard disks although it is still turning itself off after a few minutes. Apparently, the technician has given up. So we tested it and I suppressed my happiness when I saw that it loaded Windows. That is good enough for me! I can take it from there, hehehe. And I was right, I was able to make it work and it has been working fine since yesterday. By the way, I only paid PhP350 for the technician’s service.

I was prepared for the worst when I brought the PC to a repair shop. I knew that if there’s a problem with the motherboard, all of the other parts will be useless since the memory, processor and even the power supply will not be compatible with a newer motherboard. And that type of motherboard is no longer available. It would be like buying a new computer. I have checked the prices of new computers and a good one will cost about PhP20, 000 to PhP30, 000. I am not prepared to shell out that amount of money during this time.

I know that this is just a temporary relief. Sooner or later, I will need to purchase a new computer. But at least, I was able to buy some time. It’s now time for belt-tightening so I can save for a new computer.

I can only say “Thank you” to all my friends, visitors and EC droppers who kept on visiting this blog even in my absence. A special thanks goes out to those who left their comments, I really appreciate it.

It really feels great to be back!


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Dare to take a personality quiz?

Have you taken a personality test or a personality quiz lately? Well, I was dropping Entrecards yesterday when I stumbled upon a blog post from Wiggy with a link on a personality test that he just took. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link and took the quiz. I remember taking a similar quiz when I was still in high school.

You can also take the quiz HERE.

Here’s my results:

Your view of yourself:

You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You are a true romantic. When you are in love, you will do anything and everything to keep your love true.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You are ready to commit as soon as you meet the right person. And you believe you will pretty much know as soon as you meet that person.

The seriousness of your love:

You like to flirt and behave seductively. The opposite sex finds this very attractive, and that's why you'll always have admirers hanging off your arms. But how serious are you about choosing someone to be in a relationship with?

Your views on education

Education is very important in life. You want to study hard and learn as much as you can.

The right job for you:

You have plenty of dream jobs but have little chance of doing any of them if you don't focus on something in particular. You need to choose something and go for it to be happy and achieve success.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are afraid of having no one to rely on in times of trouble. You don't ever want to be unable to take care of yourself. Independence is important to you.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.

Photo credit.
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Happy Father’s Day 2009!

Today is a very special day to all fathers so let me just greet every father out there a happy father’s day! If you haven’t greeted your father, you still have a couple of hours to do so. They deserve a special day like this. Anyway, they are responsible for what we have become. I’m out of ideas today so let me just repost something that I wrote about a year ago.

This is something personal… I just want to honor a very special person who is responsible for what I have become: my father. I used to think that he favored my elder brother but now I’m not sure. The sure thing is we have our own share of misunderstandings and differences. Our minds often clashed. His beliefs are very traditional and mine is progressive which have resulted in heated arguments and debates on even seemingly trivial issue as politics. And would you believe that in every election, we support opposing candidates and we race to influence other family members?

Yes, one thing that we have in common… we are both stubborn and we steadfastly cling to our principles in life.

I don’t know where it all started, I mean our differences. Of course, we don’t fight and I always end up obeying his rules but there’s that unmistakable difference in our beliefs. Don’t get me wrong, I have a very high respect for the man.

What I can only recall is I grew up without him by my side. He worked abroad for a couple of years and those were my formative years.

Yes, he is not perfect and neither am I. I can even list a full page of his shortcomings but I know that I can also list twice more of my own fault as a child. To think that most people would consider me a good son is ironic.

Undoubtedly, whatever I have become I owe it to my father. The fact that I’m rational enough to stand by my principles and beliefs is a great indication that I was raised well. He let me think and do things my way. And I know that even with our differences in opinion, he is always there to support me in his own ways.

When I visited our house in the province a couple of years ago, I saw my novels and magazines where my short stories were written neatly stacked under our center table for every visitor to see.

He never told me about this but I know that somehow, he is proud of what I have become. I never told him about this either, but I love the old man.

Happy father's day, Tatay!


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Banking in the Philippines.

Working in the call center can help you appreciate good customer service. You will know when a person is going the extra mile to serve you better. Spending years on a thankless job like mine can make you value excellent customer service and criticize those that fell short of your service standard.

About two weeks ago, I went to three different commercial banks in Metro Manila for a couple of banking transactions. I needed to open a checking account from PNB (Philippine National Bank) for my housing loan. I also applied for a replacement ATM card from BDO (Banco De Oro). Not so long ago I posted here that my ATM card was stolen with Donna’s wallet and cellphone inside a bank. I also lost my EON card from Unionbank a couple of days after that incident so I also applied for a replacement card. Whew, these streaks of unfortunate events made me realize how lucky I have become, lol.

The trips to these three banks made me compare the services of these institutions. I first went to BDO, I was instantly assisted by a smiling staff, she made me fill out forms and she asked for two valid identification cards. I was told that I needed to secure an affidavit of loss but since I don’t have that piece of document, she immediately offered to take care of it. I was told that I can just sign an affidavit and for a minimal fee, they can just have it notarized. It was a win-win deal for me so I obliged. Everything has been done in just a matter of minutes, about 10 minutes. I didn’t even need to go to the teller to make an over-the-counter withdrawal. I only needed to deal with one of their staff who was very accommodating. It was a great service!

On the other hand, I just had a different experience when I went to PNB. The facilities at PNB pale in comparison to what I saw in BDO. The computer monitors that the staffs are using were bulky just like mine at home, hehehe. And the staff's demeanor doesn’t help brighten the gloomy aura of the bank. Are these people underpaid? I don’t know, but that was my impression. They don’t seem to enjoy what they are doing. It took me over an hour to wait for the checks. It’s really disappointing, to think that they were attending to only two other customers. I also needed to go out of the bank premises to have my ID’s photocopied.

My visit to Unionbank was not that good either. I’ve waited for a couple of minutes waiting for somebody to attend to my concern. And when I finally got to speak with a staff, I was told that I needed to call the EON customer service to have the EON card blocked. The lady was nice, though. But I cannot see the logic of having to call a customer service hotline to have my card blocked and replaced when I was already on the branch where I applied and opened the account.

Anyway, these experiences are limited to the branches that I visited. These may not hold true to other branches of these commercial banks. I just hope that they can focus more on providing excellent service to their customers.

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