Do You Love Pets?

Recently, through Facebook, i got to talk to a close friend who was out of touch for a couple of years. It was nice to renew our communication since he was a friend back in college years. He was also the one who introduced me to hiking and mountaineering and his interests in pets, particularly dogs, birds and fishes.

This guy is still single, had two serious relationships but was unable to settle down yet. I guess he has yet to meet his match. Anyway, to keep himself busy, he ventured into a lot of businesses. I think the most successful ones were breeding lovebirds, parakeets, flowerhorn and dogs such as golden retriever, labrador and shitzu. One time he had 7 retrievers at home and i could not imagine how he managed all his pets and still work at the same time. I had a golden retriever once and he was a handful back then. I got him, when he was around 1 year old and he stayed with me for about 3-4 years. It was just one and managing him was difficult, but my friend had 7, plus birds, fishes and other dogs.

My friend's love for his pets was really deep because he mentioned that sometimes what inspired him to work was to feed and groom his pets. Nowadays, he still have a couple of retrievers, shitzu and a siberian husky. He also works in a farm in his province, maintaining mango trees, tomotaoes and other vegetables.

Pets are his passion. I recently advised him to make a blog about his interests and who knows, he might learn a lot, meet new friends and improve his business. As for me, i also love dogs. Someday, when we have our own house, my wife and i might get a labrador because we both like that breed and it is easier to maintain compared to a retriever. We also have an aquarium at home where we enjoy a lot to help us relax after a hard day's work. Dogs and fishes are probably our limit since i am not interested in having birds and cats at home.

How about you, do you love pets? Are you attached to them and treat them just like any family member? How do you value them?

Haribon's R&R at D Farm, Pampanga

Haribon Foundation's R&R this year was held at D Farm Resort in Bacolor, Pampanga. It is a private resort with 2 big swimming pools, air conditioned family rooms, functions rooms, billiards, table tennis and a big fishpond for fishing tilapia and hito. My wife was one of the organizers and they invited family members of Haribon's staff to join this year's activity.

We left Quezon City aboard a rented Victory Liner Bus around 8am and reached our destination before lunch. The trip was a bit slow because of 2 stopovers. Anyway, upon reaching the resort, the Haribon staff, each assigned to a specific group eagerly prepared for lunch. A little past 12 noon, we started eating a very sumptous lunch consisting of pinakbet, soup, ensaladang talong, chicken adobo and inihaw na liempo. The menu was perfect! Everybody was happy to eat a well prepared meal.

Our son was as usual very excited about the trip. It was his first time to ride a bus and he loved it! He was very well behaved, looking through the window and was always smiling when asked if he was happy. You could just imagine his dimples showing... it was really fun to see. Upon arrival at the resort, after about 10 minutes, he anxiously asked if we could swim. At first i was really hesitant, it was past 10am, almost 11 and the sun is really up. I had no choice, he would not let go. We just applied sunblock, inflated his rubber boat and dived into the pool. I told him it was really hot and pointed the sun but he corrected me saying "lamig" pointing the water. I could not resist him. He is so lovable. Anyway, i too enjoyed every minute with him even under the scorching sun.

After lunch, we rested for a while and went back to the pool. We stayed for a about an hour or two and upon seeing him trying to stay awake, we went up, took him for a bath, to prepare him to have his afternoon nap. He only slept for about 30 minutes! He did not ask to swim this time but tried to play billiards with my wife's officemate. He could not see the top of the table but it did not stop him from playing with the balls. After billiards, i took him to the fishing pond and we watched my wife's officemates catch tilapia for our dinner.

Night time came and my wife did not have any trouble making him sleep. We figured he was really tired the whole day so we was asleep immediately. The following day, his first activity was of course swim again until 9am. He really had a great time. It was not difficult to convince him to get out of the water because we told him we will ride the big bus again. After a few minutes upon riding the bus, he was asleep again.

The R & R activity with my wife was really great. We had a great time and my son enjoyed the trip and swim very much. It was also nice to try a different place other than the usual resorts in the south and Subic area. Time with my family is really important and i am glad i was able to take a vacation leave from work. It was really overdue since we were not able to had a summer outing this year. Hopefully during the Christmas break we can spend more time together as a family and with my son's cousins and grandparents.

How Loyal Are to Your Work?

I have been working to my current job for almost 2 years now. I have been very loyal and i think have been productive to the company since day one. It is a small company but has a big potential. Lately, after a couple of months of not reaching our target, sales has improved dramatically. It has to do with the influenza scare. Hopefully our sales will be consistent so the company can expand.

A co-worker has been on leave for more than a month now. She had a baby so she was entitled for a maternity leave. Before she went on leave, i suggested that we hire a reliever to fill in her shoes. We were not able to get one because our sales then were down. But now, i think we can afford another staff to help with the workload. Things have been really crazy at work, phones kept on ringing, emails were piling up, honestly we could not keep up.

Lately, i have been thinking of asking a salary raise. Actually i already made a letter to my boss. It is just really hard for me to give it to him. I don't know, i think it is not in my nature to ask. But when i receive my salary, i already feel it is not commensurate to the work i am doing. So, i plan to give the letter this week, hopefully tomorrow. I hope my boss would consider my request. If not, then i guess my loyalty will be tested. Times are hard, and i have to think of my family to feed.

How about you? How long have you stayed in your work? Have you asked for a raise?

A Profession You Could Have Been

I am working as a sales person for more than 3 years now. I am still new compared to a lot of sales people who are in this profession for more than 10 years. I am still an amateur but i know i will excel in the future. I love talking to people and knowing what they need and being able to provide their need. Sometimes customers go overboard and ask for more which makes you even better. Knowing when to say yes and when to say no is a hard trick to master but i guess i am learning slowly but surely.

I did not choose this profession, it was offered to me. I accepted it since it pays better than working in a non-government organization. But don't get me wrong, working in an NGO is 10 times more fulfilling. Too bad it pays bad. I don't know about international NGO's, they pay better for sure but it is really hard to qualify.

Sometimes i wonder if i could have been the person i was dreaming of when i was a kid. I really planned to be an engineer. I was amazed by man made structures like tall buildings, long bridges, large airplanes, etc. I also dreamed of being a pilot. I liked thinking that i am in control of a large commercial airplane or a fast military plane. Even helicopters amaze me until now. I don't know. What could have happened if my plans were fulfilled? Will i still be here in the Philippines? Will i be married and have a kid or kids by now? Sometimes it is really nice to imagine.

I love my family and i love spending time with them. If my plans of being an engineer or a pilot were materialized, i might not probably meet my wife and could have married somebody else. Now, that's a thing to think about. If i was not married to my wife right now, i would not have my son right now. That would be sad. I could not imagine life without them. They are the reasons why i work hard everyday and not thinking of not being with them makes me sad. It is probably right that God really has plans for each and everyone of us. We are just normal human beings that we could not see beyond one day. And that makes it very interesting.....

How about you? Are you in the profession you thought of when you were a kid? If not, any regrets?

Internet Connection Problems

For the past 10 days, i was not able to open up my email, log on to this blogsite and visit my friends. The reason, our internet connection at the office had a major wiring problem. We reported the problem to PLDT but the technician only visited us after 2 days. He recommended we change our telephone line so our office purchased 1 roll to be sure that there will be enough telephone line to connect our office to the telephone's panel box. After 1 day of rewiring, we still did not have internet connection. We again called PLDT customer service to report the problem. Due to their efficiency, their technician visited us after 4 days since our second call. Not that we were not following up by consistently calling their hotline, i guess they really do not have enough qualified technicians. After another 2 days, finally our PLDT dsl line got connected. The technician replaced all kinds of boxes, panels, wires and other stuff to isolate the connection problem. We were so relieved to get connected after more than 7 days but after 1 hour when the PLDT technicians left our office, our DSL got disconnected again.

After another day, we got connected again, but once all the computers tried to access the internet, speed was sacrificed. We began isolating all our wires and tried to figure out which computer is causing the problem. And guess what, it seems my desktop was the culprit. Every time i tried to access the web, all other computers got disconnected. I figured it might be a virus so i tried to run a virus check. After performing a virus check, my pc did not report any infection. My virus scan is free so i guess it is not that reliable. Well, in short, i still do not have a reliable internet connection as of this time. I was able to log on today by using another computer unit. Chances are, i might not get connected again next week because this computer unit will be used by another office person.

I apologize to my friends who i have not visited lately. Hopefully everything will be back to normal this coming week.

Con Ass Rally in Makati

The Philippines once again is being tried to accept a new form of government. Filipinos are again put in a spot to voice their opinions and stand against the recent moves by the Congress to amend the constitution. Who is really behind this agenda? Is it really power grabbing once again? Is the present administration still behind the efforts to stay in office even after the elections in 2010?

I am proud to be a Filipino. I admire people who stand by their beliefs, drop what they are doing and join a rally against abuse. I am lucky that there are people who represent me when i am too busy working to provide for my family. Sometimes i wonder, how does militant groups survive when all they do is organize a rally to oppose government abuse, rising gas, power and water rates and unfair labor practices. I once joined a rally in UP Diliman before and it was really exciting and fulfilling. I knew a number of people who belong to the League of Filipino Students or LFS who later became activists of Bayan Muna or Akbayan or whatever group they belong to now.

What really makes a rally or demonstration successful is the number of people who joined. A short program about what the rally stands for is the climax of the rally. What makes the rally disgusting and a failure is for politicians who grab the opportunity for them to show their faces on tv and recite a long speech to put the limelight on their political ambitions. I am really sorry for this but whatever happens after the elections, these politicians are losers and trash. I really hope they lose badly.

A particular politician even had the nerve to bring a pedicab and lots of garlic to support his tv advertisement and show how he really loves the poor and will fight for them. He even had a scripted line which he also recited in his tv ad. I pity the woman he just proposed to be married. I think even his marriage is a major part to get more votes. Well i guess the lady has an amibition too. Who knows, she may be a first lady one day.

Another politician has an agenda to malign the current government everytime he gets a chance to speak. I was thinking of voting for him but now i am having second thoughts. Does he have any other agenda, cause or issue to champion other than criticizing the president? For the record, i am not defending the president, i just hope he starts to concentrate on other problems.

How about the priest turned politician? I don't know what to say. I just wish he fixes his province first before running for a higher position.

Finally, a mayor who has an ambition to be a president. He even told reporters he will not speak publicly to avoid criticism for him using the event to support his presidential bid? The question is, why did he and his staff organized a motorcade complete with uniform and props which toured around the rally venue? Isn't it also a form of campaigning?

Is there anyone out there who can really lead us Pinoys? Will there be a true leader out there that puts the country first before personal ambition? Will i be lucky enough to know this person in my lifetime and experience the leadership he has? I really pray that someday there will be.

Influenza A(H1N1) Scare

As of yesterday, the Department of Health has confirmed 33 cases of A(H1N1) flu in the country. The latest infection were from 3 students from De La Salle University in Taft Avenue, Manila. This incident has prompted other universities and colleges to postpone the opening of classes from June 8 to June 15, 2009.

As an individual, it may be a cause of alarm since the flu virus, which came from Mexico has started to spread here in the city. As a parent, who have kids at school, you would naturally worry. Does your kid's school have enough information about preventing the virus from spreading if in case an infected person visits their premises? Do the teachers and administrators know what to do? Will reminding kids to wash their hands often and cover their nose and mouth while sneezing enough to assure the parents that their kids are safe? If a person or a student is infected, will suspension of classes for 1 week enough to assure that it is safe to return?

A cure or an immunization is still still being researched as of now, so government authorities' best effort is to isolate infected people, monitor their situation and give the best treatment for flu. Fortunately all reported infected people here in the Philippines are recovering so we are still better off compared to other countries. Mexico and the United States still tops the number of deaths caused by the flu.

What can we do? It is a must to strengthen our immune system. Get enough sleep, eat a balanced diet, most specially fruits and vegetables rich in vitamins, drink plenty of water, bring umbrella and raincoats when going outside, avoid smoking and observe the proper hygiene. Let us also do our part in spreading the information to minimize the impact of this disease.