It's been a month and a half since I've spent few minutes chatting in ELR (English Language Room). I sure do miss my online friends but now I realized that i've been wasting a lot of precious time hanging around in FFF.
I was in Orange County (Southern CA) last month attending my niece's wedding. Not to be biased, it was a lovely and wonderful garden wedding in Irvine, CA atop the Strawberry Farm Golf Course Club. Some pictures are posted in Friendster account for my friendster buddies.
The little girl his uncle used to babysit, drove and picked from grade school is now grown up and happily married. Time really flies and i'm really really getting old..........ha ha ha.
I also had the chance to see some close highschool friends and get to hang around the beach area and reminisced good 'ole days as usual.
Soon I realized...."Life's a Trip." Since i'm medically retired now, single and financially stable, something click......why not travel every 3 months or so before it's too late.
As soon as I got back to San Francisco area, I phoned my buddy in Hawaii. I asked him if he has plans for Labor Day weekend and he said nothing really. "I'm just trying to figure out what's ahead of me since I sold one of my houses" was his answer.
Okay, I will call you back in half an hour" was my response. As soon as I hanged up the phone with him, I grabbed my American Express and booked 6 day vacation 2 blocks off Waikiki Beach.
Then I phoned him back, "Edward, take one week leave. I will be there Aug 30 thru 6 Sep" as I told him. Let me call Johnny (another HS friend) in Seattle just in case he wants to join since there's an extra bed in the condo where i'm staying and it's all paid for" was my quick response.
Sure enough, Johnny in Seattle was excited 'bout the plans as he said he will file for his leave first and will let us know if he can fly out from Seattle to Honolulu that week.
Dang......now I can really relate when some people say "Life's a Beach" but for me "Life is a TRIP!"
Late spring and the weather has been gorgeous lately. I've been trying to keep myself busy shopping, downloading songs, and spring cleaning.
I mailed a Big Balikbayan Box to my house in Pinas mostly clothes and personal items jst in case I decide to fly to Manila at a moment's notice since im now retired and no time factor in taking vacations.
Oh yeah, that $600 rebate check from the US Government for a single person.....it's gone. Swiped my American Express twice at CostCo for 2 IPODS that has 80 Gigs that I can download 20,000 songs. One for me and a gift for the other one.
I love the new technology. I can't keep up....LOLZ Not too long ago I bought a DVD camcorder, now they have one that doesn't need a DVD but instead it has a built in memory or an option where you can use a memory stick.
Somehow I'm feeling a lot better and stronger and hoping in a few more montns, I don't need some assistance goin out shopping and be on my own again.
Me and mom so with the rest of the family are all flying to Orange County/Riverside (Souther CA) next week until the following Monday 26 May *Memorial day. Better to fly than driving nowadays with the price of gas at $4/gallon.
My niece is getting married. It also happens that I have some highschool friends around the area and they are anticipating for my arrival so we can hang around with each other for few days in So Cal. It should be fun.
Gosh I haven't had Barong Tagalog since I was in highschool back in Pinas and I get to wear one on the wedding day, May 25th.....yipeeeeeee! It will be interesting. I had to order one for this special occassion. Pictures will be posted in my Friendster's for those who are in my network.
I haven't been logging into FFF for the past 3 weeks and I haven't been to ELR for that period of time either. Things not interesting anymore for some reasons. I miss the good ole days when the room was fun and friendly but that atmosphere is gone.
Anyway, friends in ELR and YM, hope ALL is well with you guys. Time for some sun and fun again.
It was 1983. Ronald Reagan tagged the USSR an "evil empire." And more important, Mc Donald the McNuggets in the United States.
But to me, there were the movies. This was the year that produced several iconic films of the '80's. Watching these movies as a young Generation "X" (Gen Xer) had such an effect on me that they practically infiltrated my DNA.
On the 25th anniversary, here are my choices of the 1983's best of cinematic gems and always be a classic in my collections. So grab a McNugget and let's stroll down in the memory lane.
-Scarface: with the brillance of Al Pacino, the horror of his Cuban accent to shout the classic line, "Say hello to my little friend!" when introducing a shorter colleague. It was a classic mobster movie depicting the rise and fall of a gangster.
- The Big Chill: with Kevin Klein and Glenn Close and a group of college buddies reuniting after several years. As someone who hadn't been to college yet, it was very encouraging to see "old people" still know how to have a good time. Sadly, I am now one of those "old people.
- Risky Business: the ultimate highschool male fantasy, a beautiful woman (Rebecca De Mornay), and joy rides in Dad's Porsche. In my opinion, this movie was the one that catapulted Tom Cruise to super stardom. He genuinely captured the angst of suburban high school existence. There was that underwear dance, Tom dancing on a couch in a cute and career enhancing way.
-Trading Places: Eddie Murray, one of the great comedians and Dan Aykroyd that all begun with $1 bet! on what would happen if the rich and the poor switch places. It was the greatest wager in film history.
- National Lampoon's Vacation: Chevy Chase plays Clark Griswold who leads his family across America for a vacation. I loved this movie coz I lived this movie. I remember goin to San Diego/Southern California from San Francisco area the first time for a 10 hours plus drive with my brother in law together with my sister and niece squeeze in a Ford Mustang fighting in the back seat between stops and after visiting relatives. It was a torture hearing my niece saying...."are we there yet?"
Yes....for me 25 years later, these are my classic movies. What about you.....do you have or do you remember your classic movies of the 1980's not necessarily the ones from 1983. Tell me and why?
Society in general is divided into two classes of people when it comes to getting things done voluntarily with no promise of benefit. There are Doers and there are Talkers.
Unlike the animal kingdom social structures, where every member is aware of their position within the hierarchy and their corresponding duties, man’s place in the social organization is not decided by age, size or fighting ability but at times by how he can outfox his fellow members or under a false presumption that he can outsmart some people.
Since man has more intelligence than the animals, he will sometimes try to manipulate the system for his own agenda and let the others carry most of the load.
Here are my various labels of such members of social organization:
The Blisters as the names implies and as we all know it as being the elevation of the epidermis containing watery liquid on our bare fingers after hard work, are the ones who show up after the bulk of the work is done.
The Red Carpeters are blisters that come to the functions in a dramatic fashion like the actors during the Oscars night. Sometimes also called the Artistas or Actors, after those celebrities who continually like the fans already waiting before they arrive.
The Pretenders, like their namesakes, are the ones who pretend they are working hard. They sometimes don aprons so people will presume they had a hand in the food preparations, when all they did was shoot the breeze or play cards while the others were busy doing the real work.
The Windtalkers are the ones who like to talk and hold on to the microphones for what seem like an eternity. Beating around the bush is their forte, like they think the longer they hold on to the mike the better speaker they are in the eyes of the bored audience. And to think that their thirty- minute-long message can be reduced to a few minutes and still make better sense is so pathetic.
There are the Windy (Mahangin) or Stormy (Bagyo),and could also be labeled as Air Force One. These are the people that does the talking or bragging, usually about their assets, their accomplishments or their kids accomplishments. The Doers, who are busy working, naturally are at the receiving end.
The BSers or SeaBreezers or are the ones who likes to talk to other BSers making it look like they are busy with the organization’s business while the Doers are cleaning up and/or putting up or taking down the decorations.
Agitators or Jesse Jacksons or Farrakhans are the ones that go to a meeting and start an argument for the sake of arguing because they are the know-it- all types. Although more often than not when the dust settles, their points were the same points the other side were making. It is sort’ a like drunks arguing with another drunk. They are also the ones that somehow got a hold of the Robert’s Rules of Order for running meetings and are trying to show others that they know the parliamentary procedures better than the rests.
The Volunteers are the ones who raise their hands to do things but will renege when deadlines get to be near. They’ll make up excuses to justify their inactions or even worst, not show up at all until the event is over.
The Inductees, will get themselves nominated and voted-in by friends and relatives but will only stay active for a brief period, normally from the preparation time and up to the Induction Ball.
The Proposers always suggest or recommend some worthwhile activities like fund raising affairs, trips, etc but when asked to chair the same, will promptly decline.
The Visibles are the ones who will take on the easy but visible work like serving in the food line, or being ushers, or selling raffle tickets, or picking the raffle winners.
Of course lets not forget the Glory Seekers or Mapapels. The ones, who would do things in order to be recognized as an important figure in the association, like the ones directing or ordering others to do insignificant tasks during the event when the workers being condescended to, do not need any instructions at all.
The To Gos are the ones who have a hidden agenda for helping out in the food preparation or food layout and serving… is so they can take some leftover home. They will sometimes start stashing their baons under the serving line prior to serving or deliberately serving small portions to make surely there will be leftovers.
The last category is the Slicks. They are the worst kind. They’re the ones, who when the working party starts, will make excuses to leave, do the easy or the busy body jobs, will malinger a medical disability, will take a smoke break or BS another Slick.
The association can best be served without these people. When they thrive, the Doers will become disconcerted. The latter will certainly occur when these slackers are inadvertently recognized for the work done by the Doers or on occasion when an inept President intentionally credited these people because of his/her preferential treatment.
This is the worst that can happen to an organization. Unless remedial measures are done promptly to appease the disgruntled Doers, this will serve as the trigger to undermine the majority support for the association, which consequently will eventually lead to its slow demise.
On the other side of the aisle, the existence and success of the social organization lies within the efforts and dedications of the Doers. These are the quiet types who just do things; volunteers to do things and see things get done. They will oftentimes use their own monies and certainly transportations yet do not expect reimbursements.
They are the ones who volunteer their house, their backyard, their equipments and above all, their talents for the good of the Association. They seldom expect recognition. I would characterize them as being more at ease in the kitchen than on the stage. I am most especially impressed with the older folks, the seventies and older who because of their ages should be taking it easy and just let the young ones carry the heavier load. But what I see sometimes amazes me... these old folks every now and then can out hassle and outwork the young bones.
Needless to say principal to these social organizations are the Working or Talking Presidents. The Working Presidents are the ones who lead the more successful organizations. The backbone of the associations, the Doers, will do things for him and the association. While in the lesser organizations where they have a Talking President, things get done in spite of him. In other words, the work gets done with or without the presence of a figurehead President.
So, which group do you belong to?
Remember you can scheme but you cannot hide from most adobo eyes.
Change......uncle Webster's definition is "alter", "substitute", or "exchange."
The trouble with change is that....it is not an easy thing to do nor easy to adopt! For one thing, it means giving up people, the lifestyle that we have grown into, some things that we are attached to, and properties that we earned with blood sweat and tears.
Change is a painful process, a frightening venture. Sometimes even more painful if that change is inevitable and inescapable.
Without going through changes in life, you’ll never grow. Life would be boring as if remain constant.
So in reality, change is an opportunity and a challenge. But what if the change means giving up the old you---- that very particular kind of the life you had?
Will it be easy to learn the ropes of your new identity?
Is there any way to point you back towards the fantastic light, AGAIN?
At some point in time. these questions drifted around my head like those rolling tumbleweeds goin' in wild directions as they are carried by the wind across the freeways on a hot summer months in Texas.
A major change happened in my life. Unexpectedly back in the winter of 2006, I suffered a major setback. I was diagnosed with Post Polio Syndrome (PPS).
I lost some of my mobility and flexibility. I have to use both a manual wheelchair and a power wheelchair. I could not accept the situation at first as I had to go through daily rehab and was an inpatient at Kaiser Hospital.
There after, I was forced to an early retirement from the Federal Government. I was so depressed and was even prescribed some depression pills. My mother flew in from Pinas and wanted to fly me back to Pinas.
I wittingly shut that suggestion down like a heat seeking missile hitting its target.
Year 2007 was a trial year. I'm not really a religious person although I went to a Catholic School but during these trial periods, I prayed for a miraculous recovery. I prayed "Our Father" before goin' to bed then a "Thank You" prayer every morning before getting out of my bed.
Somebody up there must have heard my prayers and eventually, i gained some of my strength back but not 100 percent! I made improvements as I didnt need any assistance goin' to the bathroom or taking a shower.
I was doin' those daily routines on my own again. I also manage to drive again......just needing someone to load and unload the manual chair. I sorta have my freedom again......
Big improvements!
Back to driving, and camping which I love to do! I went against the doctor's advice not to drive but heck, someone has to do it and that would be me.
Early year 2008......feeling minor improvements physically and also i'm getting used to being "retired" or sometimes mom teases me as being "retarded" at an early age of forty something.
No more daily commute, no more kissing "arse" with your boss, no meetings,no rush projects, no deadlines to meet, no irritating phone calls so on and so forth. One thing I really miss is the camraderie with my co-workers.
Looking back, I’ve actually had a pretty good run in my life and career over the past two decades in California.
After earning my degree from Sacramento State University, I have worked with the best, most brilliant, the bravest and dedicated individuals that worked for the US Department of Defense. I brought my whole self to the job, all my skills, my values, my belief, my interests, my commitments to serve and to protect the US Government.
Work had become my source of self- esteem, recognition, and respect. Life was good!!
Now I can really relax. Enjoy the slow phase from the hustle and bustle ifestyle in California. Just get up whenever I want to, sleep whenever I want to and enjoy the spring weather and get my daily dose of tan. Perhaps one good day, I can go back to fishing again out in the San Francisco Bay and or enjoy the sunset at my favorite spot in central California, the Monterey Bay Peninsula where I can start wishing and dreaming to cross the vast distance of the Pacific Ocean and back to Pinas.
For now...........I can honestly say that there is more to life than work. ...
Music are like romantic movies and romance novels in a way. They are there to touch our hearts in the direction that will allow us to lose ourselves in fairytale where hope, happiness and love always reigns…........even for a moment in time.
They flow into you, swirling around inside of you. Songs that can hurt you, heal you, fill you up and inspire you.
What 'bout you....... do you have a song or songs that seem to speak to that secret place of your soul; seeps into our hearts and mind. Tell me what you have. Happy reminiscing.......
These are my fave five romantic songs for now:
- Sometimes When We Touch (Dan Hill) _ Best of My Love (Eagles) - Always and Forever (the Luther Vandros version) - Take My Breath Away (Berlin) - More Than Words (Extreme)
Forty years ago, during the height of the Vietnam War and in the middle of a presidential campaign in which that conflict was heavily debated, nearly 30,000 U.S. soldiers had already perished in the jungles of Southeast Asia.
And, not known to Americans at the time, nearly 30,000 more would die before the war ended seven years later.
Vietnam conflict was a bloody fiasco that never should have occurred.
Forty years after, another divisive war - this one in Iraq - claimed its 4,000th U.S. fatality. Another fiasco that should have never happened. Thanks to George W. Bush!
Another 30,000 have been wounded, most of them since President George W. Bush declared that the U.S. mission was basically over five years ago.
The number of U.S. dead in Iraq is but a fraction of those recorded over a similar period in Vietnam is small comfort to the surviving families and friends of those killed in the fighting. The Iraq war will not end any time soon.
Americans under 40, have little or no memory of Vietnam. But those prosecuting the current unpopular war are keenly aware of its impact on national politics.
The 4,000 U.S. death milestone holds no more special significance than when the 3,000, 2,000 or 1,000 milestones were reached. They all represent a sad reminder of the morass that this war has become and a grim forecast of what may lie ahead. What is rarely mentioned is that during this same period nearly 90,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed.
This milestone won't bring them back.
The 4,000 milestone has already been exceeded. How much higher will the death toll will rise?
Being from a military family and worked for the US Department of Defense, I support our troops, the brave men and women of the US Armed Forces. However, I do not support the current administration the way it conducted its business. Just my two cents!
