Don't you hate movies where...

... one of the leading actors/actress is a singer and you'll be sure that the movie involves the main character winning a singing contest which will launch that person to stardom?

... one of the leading characters is an athlete and you'll be sure that the plot of the movie will evolve around that person being successful in that sport?

... the movie stars a group of dancers and you'll be sure that there will be at least a dance scene in the movie or worse, they will win a dance contest in the movie?


Don't you just hate them?

To the real warriors

Not the ue read warriors or the golden state warriors you moron... I mean the warriors the real warriors.. anyway

Here is a testament to the statement that you get to learn in Masonry and get to appreciate things.. if you look closer

It started as a day of fellowship for my lodge, it will be a monthly even where we will go to alpadi in antipolo and play war games. It was a day of camaraderie for the brethren and of course we will end the day with the mother of all bottles, san mig light

It was just a game, but the more I think about it, it made me appreciate warriors (soldiers etc)...

... games are just 15 minutes long (or even shorter) but it seems like eternity
... adrenalin is skyrocketing, hearts pumping, your sweating barrels of sweat
... it's dirty
... it's hot and humid
... you have to be careful
...keep your head low or you'll get "killed"
... you have to be aware of your surroundings

and it's just a f***ing game! just imagine what warriors go through in battles, and those things go on for hours. I'm thankful that I don't have to go through those things

The whole event made me realize things...

... i'll take it to the next level and get into airsoft
... i've given my respect to the warriors and i think with all the difficulty they go through they respect each other as well
... you learn things in Masonry, even in events considered as fellowship.. just learn how to look closer

ps - I used the term warriors (and not soldiers or other) because, for me a warrior is someone who is professional, a gentleman, educated, respects other people, someone who fights for what they believe in.



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yelocraft

I just came home from our monthly stated lodge meeting, and as a tradition, we had our dinner in Nakpil then part two of the fellowship will always be a battle of bottles.



We have 3 petitioners who attended the meeting (or more like the fellowship), petitioners is the term we use for men who wants to join masonry. During that stage, petitioners doesn't get to contribute for dinner and the drinking. But as a part of the tradition, they get to serve beer to the members of the lodge until they are raised to the degree of master mason. I think in other fraternities they call it "service'


Now, let me explain this "service" (for a lack of a better term) in masonry, to people outside the circle, this is just another way of bullying the petitioner, but No! In masonry, at least in my experience, you learn something every step of the way, and doing "service" teaches a valuable lesson. Allow me to elaborate...


Freemasonry preaches that all men are equal, ok that's one point, I'll get back to that in a bit.


Masons come from different backgrounds, a lot of us are businessmen, professionals, government officials etc. I guess if you look at history, a lot of masons are prominent people. So if you are someone important in the office, or in the government or in society as a whole, how can you treat someone as an equal if you still "have" all your worldly possessions and accomplishments "attached" to you?


Serving beer during fellowships teaches a very important lesson, and that is Humility. Going through that humbling experience will help you treat your brother as an equal.

War of the worlds and Cloverfield

Consider this as a movie review.

I like war of the worlds and cloverfield. Not because I look like Tom Cruise and the leading lady in cloverfield is very beautiful but for a different reason, and the same reason for both.

And what the hell could that be? you might ask.

Let's look at the movie Armageddon, you have ordinary people tapped to save the world

Deep impact it's the same, about the people who saved the world and people who were the center of attention during all the events.

Most of the movies we get to see are movies are about ordinary people doing extra ordinary things. Which, let's face it, rarely happens. Most us (you and me) are just statistics

I like the two movies (and other movies "similar" to that) because it shows the struggles of ordinary people (like you and me), how this tried to survive, problems of ordinary people and not about people saving the world.

And I like Tom Cruise's character for another reason, I can relate on whats happening with his relationship with his kid(s)

Long Commute - What I've learned over the years

I live in the northern part of Manila, it's near Bulacan. From the places which one might consider as the center of everything, it's about at least an hour to an hour and a half by car or public transportation. I would always say when someone comments on how far it is "yeah it's far from everything"

We've been living there for about 30 years now, we moved around the late 70s. So just imagine my commute during my college days (until now actually), especially when I take public transportation. The smoke, the crowd, the pollution etc. You just started your day and you're already tired

But there are things I learned from all this, let me elaborate;

1. I guess the biggest one will be, I learned how to plan. Learn to plan my day, my activities and my route. You see, since our place is far, it would be very tiring if I don't plan. So, if I leave the house for errands or activities, I plan them in such a way that my trip is maximized
2. Second, I learned how to respect other peoples time and be punctual. It's difficult for me to travel and I assume that the same is also true for others. So I became punctual and in relation to item # 1, I factor in things like travel in my travel
3. I learned how to conserve. Specially during this days of of soaring gasoline prices, I have to plan (see item # 1)

I guess this blog is also about, how you see a glass being half full or half empty

Life After college

I was going through my old pictures and found this, this was taken about 12 years ago during my college graduation. This was during the time when films were still being used rather than digital cameras. I just had it scanned :-)

When I saw this, I remembered that I have a friend graduating this year from state university. My friend, being young, is still so idealistic. We had discussions, long and emotional ones, where me, the older and experience person was telling the younger one that you the younger person, can't change the world. Those were long discussions where the young idealist "clashed" with the experienced pessimist. I don't know how to articulate this more properly, but let's put it this way, how many people in history has changed the world? or changed a country? or influence a lot of lives (when I say a lot I mean hundreds of thousands ok?). Answer, probably lest than 1/10th of a percent. How about the other 99.9%? Statistics.

If you want to make a difference, or at least contribute to changing the world why don't you;

... fall in line when you have to

... stop at a red signal

... obey the laws, rules and regulations

... use the thrash can

... conserve energy

... pay your taxes (correctly)

... be honest

I guess what I'm trying to say is do your share, no matter how small or trivial it is, and don't wait for the chance to change the world, chances are it will come later in your life or maybe not at all

this is not good...

i just came from a four day weekend, the first time in years that I didn't work on a Holy Thursday and a Good Friday.

It's Monday, but I feel more tired, not only because I was driving the whole time, I was thinking of work. The things I need to do, the meetings I need to attend, issues I need to address etc

This is not good....

tribute to my baby

this is my tribute to my baby...

baby, we met one Saturday morning in September of 1997, the first time i saw you, i fell in love. I still vividly remember that moment, i just sat there and stared at you. I can't believe the beauty right before my eyes, since then we've been together...

you were there with me in both sad and happy times...

you were there when I'm drunk and sober...

you were with me in many of my night outs...

you were with me when I drove north (and south)...

you were there when I celebrated and when I went through pain...

you were there when I ran away from home and went back home...

you where there when I regained my freedom and dignity

in all those 10 years, we've travelled together and you never failed to bring me safe to where I'm going, here's one for you my baby (UTK 239, Deep tail blue, 1997 Toyota Corolla XE)


ps - akala nyo babae no?

never shit in your own backyard

it has always been one of my guiding principles not to shit inside my own backyard...

why?

first, you will smell your own shit and most importantly, others too like people you don't want to know what you did

second, you might step on your own shit and you'll end up spreading the shit all over the place until you have to leave whether you like it or not


never shit inside your own backyard, shit outside and bury it so no one will find out

my favorite interview questions

i've conducted hundreds of interviews in the last 2 to 3 years and during those interviews i would always ask questions that would usually catch the applicant off guard. Now you may ask "are you serious?!" when you get to hear those questions but hey, it's a way for me to peek into their minds and see how they think (if they can actually think hehehe) and how they would react when asked something they are not expecting, my top three favorites below (excuse me they are in tagalog but during interviews I try to deliver them in english) and whatever their answer is, I will surely rebut hehehehe;

"bakit bilog ang man hole?"

"kumakain ka barbecue? tingin mo bakit yung taba laging nasa dulo?"

"yung bang tao sa loob nang mascott ngumigiti kapag picture taking?"

Regrets

I try to live a life without regrets,or let me put it this way, I'm living a life without regrets. You might be wondering how do I do it. Simple. If I made a decision based on information I currently have or available or if I make a judgement call based on what I know at that time or do something because I have to do it at that time and they don't turn out the way I wanted it to be, then I don't regret them. It's useless to regret things, it's done. You can't turn back the hands of time. The most important thing to remember is that you made that call with whatever information you have.





Am I making sense?

My brain is like a diesel engine

My brain is like a diesel engine, it takes time to warm up. I usually start working an hour or two after arriving in the office. I just checked my emails for anything urgent if there is none, there is friendster, there is blogspot and my personal email address

Once I'm "warmed up" I get things done pretty quickly

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Naaah, I'm just making excuses, I just procrastinate :-)

Work Life Balance

Let's talk about work life balance.

There are two things I would like to point out regarding this topic

First, the company I'm currently working for is very heavy on promoting this among the employees. They have a lot of initiatives geared toward this, like work from home, groups or clubs within the company which brings employees together through their common interest. There are events as well.

But for me this is not work life balance. Let's take working from home, yes you are home but you don't get to spend quality time with your love ones, your working!

Activities, groups and events. You already spend at least 9 hours of your weekdays with your fellow employees, and you will spend your weekend, free time with them??! It limits your world to you work, you don't get to spend time with people from the outside

Second, those people who complain that they don't have that "balance" You know? Those people who spends at least 12 hours in the office. My message to them is this, "You made that choice so quit complaining!" Your complaining that you don't have balance because your work is eating up most of your time then find another one, right?

why do i smoke?

My brother works for Philip Morris, they manufacture Marlboro Lights, my preferred brand of cigarettes. He has 3 kids all below the age of 10. I love my brother and his family, and that why i smoke, I need to support his livelihood. This is a noble sacrifice that I'm doing...

ps - I use the above as an excuse when people ask me why I smoke :-)

Blogging: Things I realized

I thought blogging was just for people who have nothing better to do, but ever since I started doing this there are things that I realized...

... it's a good venue for me to express myself (though I'm struggling to write in straight, grammatically correct and coherent english)

... made me think hard and reconsider certain things I thought were right

... made me reconsider some of my point of views in life

... it's a good "online diary" for me, i write about things that made me happy, made me sad, it's a record of my thoughts, feelings, opinions about events, experiences, people etc

it's a good exercise for me, though i'm struggling to find time daily to write something.

Also, if i blog while in the office, i look as if i'm working

Favoritism

I have been accused of favoritism in the workplace..

and my reply... a resounding YES! I do have favorites!

allow me to explain...

who are my favorites? those people i can rely on and have proven themselves. They are the ones that I can ask them to do something and I can leave the office and go home and sleep in peace without worrying that things can't be done exactly the way I want it and more.

Now, can you blame me if I have favorites?

Random Thought - Talking behind my back!

That statement is often used to describe when people are backstabbing you or spreading gossip about you or talking without you knowing it, usually about bad things

Let's analyze that statement (title of this blog) for a minute.

Where is your back? That's where your ass is right?

Where is the behind of your back? That's where your ugly face is right?

So if people are talking behind your back they are actually talking face to face right?

So WTF is your problem!? Right?!

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I'm just trying to be funny (or jackass) hahaha, there is a technical English grammar explanation for the statement that I didn't bother listening too

Toughest moments - Part 1

I define a tough moment as a situation which calls for me to decide and that decision will have a significant affect in the life of others, a life and death situation or simply a life changing situation

In my life, so far, I have two such moments which qualify as a tough moment. Let me tell you about one, the one which I consider the toughest

It was a Saturday, September 22, 2007. I just came from the lodge's fund raising and I decided to pass by the hospital where my dad was confined for the third time that year. I found my dad finding it difficult to breathe, as if he was try to catch his breathe with great difficulty. With my dad was mom.

At that time, my dad was refusing to follow orders, that is to take in oxygen, he reasoned that that's the reason why he's having difficulty. He was ok before they asked him to do that. I pleaded with my dad to follow doctors' orders and he did.

Right before my eyes, my father transitioned from someone you can communicate with to someone who appears like to be high on drugs. I called the resident doctors and they informed us that we need to move my dad to the intensive care unit (ICU). My mother can't seem to decide so I called my sister (our eldest) and we agreed that we will move my dad to the ICU.

It was around midnight, I cancelled all my activities for the following day. Following day was also the knockout game between UST and Ateneo. Me and my nephew was supposed to watch and we already have tickets

Around 3am, Sunday, we were called by the ICU and asked that I go there immediately. I did. I knocked on the door and when it opened, I saw a scene similar to what you see in the TV series "ER". There were about a dozen doctors and nurses around my dad and one doctor was reviving my dad, apparently his heart has stopped beating. One younger resident doctor asked me to come in and wanted to talk to me, I said no, let's talk outside the room. I can't be in that room

She told me that they are trying to revive my dad for about 5 minutes now. She told me that they will try for 30 minutes as per procedure but even if they are successful, my dad would already be in a state of comatose. She asked me if they should proceed. My initial reaction was " are you putting my father's life in my hands?!" I can't make that decision, I needed my mother and siblings to be with me. I just told the doctor, "do what you have to do, and follow procedure". What is important at that time is that my father lives, we will worry about other things later. After about 25 minutes, they told me that I should call my mom

It was a difficult walk going back to the room my mother was resting. I was worried how she would react, we are about to lose his husband of 40+ years. It turned out that she was a very strong woman. We walked back to the ICU and spent sometime with my dad, together with her sister and her sister's husband.

She then told me to call my sister, i have to be the bringer of bad news again.

After that I have to call my brother in Indonesia to tell him

As if that is not enough, my mother asked me to inform our relatives as well


That occasion was not a tough moment, it's a series of tough moments where I have to tell people over and over again that my father is gone.

Masonic symbols

People must be wondering why we put all those masonic symbols and stickers (they are called decals by the way) in our cars and wear those rings, pins and shirts

Masons do it for a variety of reasons. It's not just because we want to be recognized by brothers as members of the craft. Each of us has our own reasons I believe. I will speak for myself here...

Freemasonry teaches men to be upright, of good morals, to be better men. Those symbols represents something and reminds us of what the fraternity is all about. Having those symbols in my car and wearing a ring actually is a responsibility for me, more like a burden sometimes

You see, the symbols represents something good. So just imagine if people see me driving like a lunatic and coursing everyone and they will see that I have those masonic symbols in car. What would people think?

Before a man is accepted into the craft, it is expected of him that he should ultimately bring honor to the fraternity

So having those symbols and wearing my ring actually reminds me of why I joined the fraternity, it is because I wanted to be a better man and I should behave as such.

Let's make this world a better place

How?

With global problems like, war, famine, poverty etc

Let's do a world wide contest, let's name is "The most number of Thank yous given and received"

Mechanics:

1. Winner will be the person who gets the most number of "Thank you"
2. Let's do it on a weekly contest
3. Let's do it per country
4. A "thank you" received by a person from a person from a different country get's two points (maybe more)

What qualify as a valid "thank you" received or given? It can be anything, small things like;

1. you get to give way in traffic
2. when you open a door for someone
3. when you handed out some spare change
4. did someone a small favor
5. someone serve you well while doing their job
6. someone failed but really tried hard
7. any act of kindness
8. sacrifices made
9. when someone smiles at you and brighten up your day
10. someone scolded you or reprimanded you because you know they care
11. when someone did something good even if it's expected from them

the list can go on and on... what say you?

Random Thought - Basahan (Rug)

Just a thought, I had this discussion with my mom and my ate over dinner earlier, the tagalog word for rug is "basahan" , root word is "basa" meaning wet.

How about when it's dry? Do you still call it "basahan"?


ps - I'm just being a wise guy hahaha

Leader of the band

Leader of the band by Dan Folberg is a song that came out I think in the late 70s or early 80s.

In the weeks preceding my father's death, I would always find my self listening to that song. Most of the time in my car while driving or when listening to my ipod. I would play it over and over again

There is one particular part of the song that actually struck me (and it still does months after my dads demise) and it goes...

"my life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man..."

I guess that line tells it all how I view my father; if I could be half the man he is then I would be a very good father, husband, friend. He has earned the love and respect not only from us his immediate family and relatives but also from other. The surprising part is he is just an ordinary person (but extraordinary in a lot of ways), you know, he is rank and file employee who works hard, goes home to his wife and kids, had the most important goal of being able to send all his kids to college. Nothing fancy with my dad, he doesn't even sound profound. He just "have the basics", but he was exceptional in those "basic" roles...

He was a good and loyal husband to my mom

He was a good father to us his kids. Kind but firm

He was a good provider who worked long hours to give us a very comfortable life

He was a good employee to the company he worked for

He was a good friend

If you ask me to paint a picture of a perfect man, I'll just give you a photo of my dad :-)

Dad, I may have always told you that I look like mom, but you're the kind of man I want to be and believe me I'm trying hard. You did such a splendid job you're making it difficult for anyone. I love you

Life is good

My boss asked me to meet up with him Thursday last week, at first I thought, "what did I do?" (are you guilty of something hehehe) . So I went up to him and then he told me we should look for a room because what we are going to discuss is confidential, we looked for a vacant meeting room in that room, didn't find any, we went down one floor and found one.

He started by saying, " I need to talk to you about this because this will be announced and I don't want you to be surprised and see you're name on it." He told me that there will be big changes in the company and I'm one of those people who will be particularly affected.

I'm not going to dwell on what those changes are but to cut the story short, because of this changes, I will be given more responsibilities at least on paper by March 1 and then officially by June. I will on some sort of probation for a few months and hopefully by December this year, I'll be receiving a salary increase since this position is a level higher

Believe it or not, I didn't even bothered asking about the salary, at first it didn't sink in and I was overwhelmed by the position. I had to smoke 4 sticks before I realized, life is good, God is great! Thank you! Every night, before I sleep, I would always pray and include in my prayers that for Him to bless my career. I just had another answered prayer

indeed... life is good.. God is great!


ps - I always thought that one need not kiss ass or step on other people to succeed, aside from hard work one has to maintain a good relationship with the people he/she works with. It's called EBA (emotional bank account) but I will write about that some other time. One also has to believe in what he is doing in order to succeed. I believe my whole career is a testament to all these things.

13

I'm a bit superstitious, I'm a bit believer in bad luck kinda stuff, since this will be my 13th post, I'm not going to discuss anything more, am afraid it will bring bad luck in whatever topic i discuss

did i just discuss a topic?