No Guts, No Glory (surprise!)

And apparently, no brains either. I knew I had copied that post for reposting (read from Pat, copied from Dale), but when I pressed ctrl+V, nothing came out. Anyway, since I am using dial-up and it will take another era for me to get to a blog with that post and back here again, I'm saving the reposting for later.

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For 4.6 billion years, the friendship one offers to another has not been quantified so clearly. Until now. Presenting, the Friendship Badges! There are actually two types of badges: the Good Friend Badge and the Bad Friend Badge. Good Friend Badges are earned by, uhm , being a good friend. And the Bad Friend Badge are earned by being a bad friend. I'm sure we all got that clear.

To give a badge, one must possess clarity of mind and creativity to string words together to make a badge title. Then it is done. Easy, huh? It is not important to keep track of badges earned or given, because in the long run, good badges earn benefits and bad badges reap, um, bad things.

So start the badge-giving right now and achieve a sense of contentment in your lives! Remember, Good Friend Badge, good friend. Bad Friend Badge, bad friend.

Note: To avoid confusion on definition of good and bad, one must have comprehensive convention among friends which will set the bounds of good and bad. For future reference, 'naughty' may not necessarily mean bad.

school supplies

I spent a good deal of my life (so far) as a student, and if I gather all the school supplies that I've used through the years, well, I can't even imagine how big that mound would be. I would like to mention them all, or perhaps, a good deal of them, which would demonstrate my writing style, but I don't feel like it. However, I have some thoughts about these school supplies.

1. The liquid eraser. Aka liquid eradicator, white-out, correction fluid. I seldom use this. I often just make a messy clump of lines to hide my errors. Fortunately, in college lab classes, these are prohibited. Corrections in data gathered must be made with drawing a line over the data one wishes to replace with another. The reason why I did not use this item is that I did not actually own one. I did not think of ever needing it. Also, I am impatient and would write on the still wet surface, making a mess. The lack of training on using the liquid also disabled me to make a neat painting when its use is badly needed. Anyways, I always wondered why they won't make other colors of this liquid. How about yellow for yellow pads, post its and Manila paper? Or blue, green or orange for rainbow pads? Brown for envelopes? It's like we don't make mistakes when writing on the mentioned media. Winning idea? Maybe.

2. The pencil. Truth be told. I never trusted the pencil which uses bullet-like things made of plastic that hold the lead. And you pull out the spent "bullet" from the tip and push it in the rear to push the new "bullet" to the tip. And I never saw the need for a mechanical pencil until ES 1 days (but still, I didn't use one). It was always the wooden varieties. The numbered ones. And I never, ever knew what those numbers meant. Something hard or soft, but I didn't know which is which. All I know is H is lighter and HB is darker. The other letters puzzle me.

3. The ballpen. Ask my high school classmates which person always did not have a ballpen. Obviously, that's me. Ballpens are hard to keep. But amazingly, I kept most ballpens in college. Maybe a bit of strategizing helped. I see to it that I have back-ups, especially when a pen is expected to screw up. Those cheap one-use kinds. These pen companies totally ripped me off.

4. Pencil case. I did not have those cases with buttons and levers and amazing stuff. I had the old person case that has a zipper and just holds all the pens and pencils and stuff that can fit in it. I envied my classmates (this was in grade school) because they have such pencil cases that do other stuff as well. However, at this point, I am now wiser and less shallow, I think that these fancy pencil cases are actually detrimental to learning. Children can be distracted by these 'toys'. I may sound like an old, bitter bat, but when you come to think of it, these cases are another way that companies use to rip us off. A basic box-shaped case with a good design will suffice. No need for a mini-chemical plant inside your pencil case.

5. Pad paper. I am glad that my parents saw the need of ruled pad paper in my pursuit of academic excellence (snort). Late in high school, I only bought a pad of intermediate pad and chopped it down as the need arises. Different teachers have different tastes, you see. Some require a whole sheet for homeworks, half crosswise for a short essay, half lengthwise for a comprehensive quiz, one-fourth for short quizzes. Some still want one-eighth crosswise* for really short quizzes (mention: Ginang Guevarra in Filipino) and one-eight lengthwise* for those multiple choice questions or those that required one to three-digit answers (mention: Sir Obsequio in Trigo and his 20-second quizzes). Fortunately, they do not require more obscure fractions such as 5/17th of a sheet.
*One-eighth sheet is made by getting half of the one-fourth size. The one-fourth size is made by taking half crosswise/lengthwise of a half lengthwise/crosswise. But of course you already know that.

6. Crayons. My parents (mainly Mama, Papa does not like to meddle with shopping, in any kind, except hardware items) were sane enough to buy me a maximum of 24 crayons. Imagine, if I was like that kid in our class that had a bazillion crayons, then art class would have to be as long as five periods. Let's say I wanted to color a car and I wanted it to be yellow. If I had my 8-crayon box then I'd pick up yellow and do it in a couple of minutes. If I have the 16-box, then I'd choose between yellow or yellow orange. But a bazillion colors? I'd have yellow, yellow orange, marigold, etc. See, I don't have much knowledge on the actual names of colors that are yellowish since I did not have crayons of their color. Anyway, with a variety of colors, I would take long on deciding which color to use. But then, it would widen my horizons, color-wise. Now, as an engineer, I am contented with the 24-box.

I know that this is all random but I live in a house with five kids going to school. And between the five of them, there is a large amount of varied school supplies. I just felt nostalgic and thought about my schooling years.

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Oh no they didn't! I went to the NBI office in Muntinlupa today to claim my clearance which I filed last Wednesday, but alas! They told me that I should call tomorrow to check on my clearance. I was a 'hit' meaning there is another person in these 7107, more or less, islands that has the same name as mine. They stamped my receipt with June 24, meaning I can claim mine today. But no. Apparently they 'forgot' that today is Manila Day and the Carriedo office is closed. I woke up early for this since the NBI person told be to come around 8 am today. Crap.

I also filed for my SSS number today. It turned out to be quite fast, which worried me. I could have missed a step.

Turns out, due to the presence of some ear blockage, I will not be able to start working on July 1. I shall be cleared for my audiometry on Friday, and the final medical clearance will come at a later time. I have almost all of my papers ready (except for the NBI clearance and my parents' Marriage Contract), but the medicals are more important. 'Tis all very sad for me since I won't be able to have the orientations and whatever newbie activities with my 'batchmates'. I blame late approval of job offer, and ear blockage.

Rain

If I blogged about how Sunday went, it would contain a single word: RAIN. I slept through most part of the day, making up for the week's tiresome activities (meaning I had to wake up early on consecutive days). I finally understood why people wanted to stay in bed when it rains. It's nice. And the rain makes Mama cook a lot of soup. We had Molo yesterday and Sopas today.

The TV is filled with news about the typhoon. And another ship sank. When will these people learn? Common knowledge: if the sea isn't calm, just stay on shore.

I went to hear mass today and the priest was saying something about being a Christian? He said that it is dfficult to be a Christian if people abuse you. True. You are donating to some foundation that turns out to be the largest shabu factory in the country. Or that you are giving a beggar some change which he/she will use to buy rugby. Then he/she will run amok and stab somebody, perhaps even you. Anyway, the priest focused on the ZTE scandal and how the government turned the people's eyes away from it. The rice crisis, the power crisis, the fuel crisis. All these just to get a billion pesos. If you compute how much it takes to live comfortably, a billion pesos is an indecently large amount to spend. A lot of people suffer just to make a couple of people ridiculously rich. And to think that other people abuse these crises just to get more comfortable than others. I heard that some people sell the rice cards which were supposed to be free for the poorest of the poor. It enables them to buy cheap rice from the government. And now, these wicked people sell them.

It's easy to judge other people hurting (in varied ways) other people. But we realize that we are part of the system. We unconsciously participate in making the poor poorer or the comfortable guilty even if they did not have to be. We can point our fingers to the President, the Senate, the police or our city mayors, but sometimes, a lot of these things are only partially their fault. Yeah, they can be greedy but the system enables them to be.

There is a feeling of being trapped. We can't be good because there will be people who will abuse us. That is why, perhaps, change needs to come as a common thing. Change the system and all. And then perhaps the rain will stop. And we can wake up from our long slumber.

Stuff

The review class was specially painful today, since our instructor spent a great amount of time convincing two people to perform a line of a song. It's all good fun but not at 15 degrees Celcius and at hour 8 of General Inorganic Chemistry session. The topics were not very hard, but imagine being hit by pillows for 8 hours. It should hurt around the fifth hour.

Enough review shiz. It was unfortunate that my Fibrella umbrella is broken. For the first time in 20 years, I owned an umbrella that promises to be somewhat sturdy. But it is now broken. Ngayon pa. While typhoon Frank is raining down on Metro Manila. Specifically in Manila, where the dirt (spit/pee/other excreta) dissolves with the rain water and thus, making those yucky things more accessible to people. Like we wanted that. But then, after the rain, comes the clean streets. Right. Thank God Manila has CCP complex. Clean, fragrant, and without people. Really. It's like grass, haunted theater, Folk Arts, PICC, Coconut Palace, plants, flowers, sculptures. That's it. No people.Of course, there was, but compared to ordinary Lawton/Quiapo/Morayta density, the CCP value is negligible.

The Food Expo turned out to be great. Mostly because of the presence of friends and free food. We did not mind the other activities that were happening while we were there. Saw a couple of famous people such as Bobby Andrews (selling siomai ata) and who was that girl selling ice cream? They also had China Cojuangco baked goods, but no China when we were there (or maybe I missed her since I was late). I was most eager to see Jeffrey Hidalgo (he had a dishwashing paste booth) since he is a Chemical Engineer and an artist at the same time. I only know one ChE who is in showbiz. That is him. And I am clearly fascinated by that fact. The best of the Food Expo: the broccoli juice. It has broccoli, but no broccoli taste.

There are quite a number of things concerning my employment which made me busy this week. I had to go to Makati Med for the first time for a medical thing (obviously). I was literally lost in the Makati jungle since the FX driver told me to go straight ahead on Valerio Street. Turns out, MMC is on dela Rosa. I just asked random security personnel. But aside from the physical/medical stuff, there is a lot of thinking being done. Pessimistic, optimistic and things that really do not belong to either category. Over-all, it's just really tiring, even though work hasn't officially started.

fats

Since the surprise of Jasser's fat content, I began thinking about mine. I shouldn't have eaten all those fatty foods. For the sake of my arteries (not that thing where your eyes are immediately directed to when you see me) and perhaps my over-all wellness.

I found out that I lose a kilo or so if I walk around all day. I lost a kilo (permanently, since weight fluctuates depending on the meals you miss/take) when we hiked (a bit) at Makiling. I also lost another kilo today as I went around the City of Muntinlupa, getting all kinds of clearances and stuff. The NBI clearance was painful. It was hot today and the lines are somewhat long. And then I didn't finish getting mine since apparently, someone has the same name as mine. What are the odds, huh? I should have been named Gel Elmet (LOLZ).

The medical exam was sort of crazy for me since it involved the (temporary) loss of my appointment slips (because I forgot to get it back from Pat, who kept it in her bag for safekeeping). The whole stress and lack of sleep might have triggered the surprise high blood pressure (or perhaps, the fats did it!).

Anyway, thanks to Mon(s) for treating us to a big lunch of 'fried shit' (lovingly used, promise, nag-enjoy naman talaga ako. Hindi lang natin akalain na ganun lang pala siya.). And to the HPs and SSs sans Benjo and Ceres, thanks also. Had a lot of fun. Especially the walk from Binondo Church to Lawton in the rain (whew, sarcasm). Saw a lot of Chinese stuff like the thick pads of angpao and fluffy threads of whoknowswhat named Mahu and Masang (joke: Mabahu and Masangsang). Nearly had kalesa accident because I was looking for the speaker which played Chinese music. And made wish in newly-visited Binondo church with purple firetrucks beside it.

Waa. Fats.

dear ate charing

Itago niyo na lang po ako sa pangalang Dodong. Isa lang po ang pinapangarap ko sa buhay, ang maging isang artista.

Hindi ko naman po pinabayaan na mawala ang pangarap na ito kaya po ako ay sumali sa iba't ibang workshops and talent searches. Marami na pong nagreject sa akin dahil sa iba't ibang dahilan. Sabi nila, wala daw po akong personality, mukha daw po akong pusit, di ako marunong mag hard drama, mukha daw akong action star na panget. Huh? Action star ka na nga, panget ka pa? Ano yun, Max Alvarado? Pero alam ko naman po na hindi totoo yun. Kaya po nagsimula akong umextra-extra sa mga pelikula at TV show. Nung una po, goons lang ang papel ko. Tapos naging formula best-friend, hardinero, driver, body guard, passerby, testigo, tindero at sa wakas, nagkaroon na po ako ng major role. Kaso ito po yung tipong soap na panghapon. Naging masaya naman po ang trabahong ito. Ngunit napaisip po ako. Ano ba talaga ang gusto kong genre? Hindi ko pa natatry mag bold movie, pero naisip ko na hindi naman ata maganda yun. Masaya naman ako sa current genre ko. Natuto na ako mg hard drama, kaso di ko po alam kung ito na ba ang tamang genre para sa akin.

Ate Charing, kailangan ko po ng tulong. Ano po bang magandang career path na tahakin?

Nagmamahal,
Dodong

Oi hindi to allegory or similar ha? Katuwaan lang to. Reply with your best Ate Charing advice!