24 January 2011

Responsible Parenthood

UPDATE: M can now open one of his eyes. He also started eating again now that he can the pellets. *happy*

I gave him two red eared slider turtles (mini green turtles, BioResearch calls them) for Christmas. We wanted a dog but we figured out that we can’t have one because 1.) we don’t have time and leaving a dog locked in a condo unit is just wrong and 2.) we don’t have space because our love nest is a condo. So I though turtles will be a good alternative as I noticed that it caught his fancy when we first saw some. Also, raising turtles will be very they don’t actually need (much) companionship, no need to walk them, no poop to pick up or hair to brush. All we have to do is put them in a terrarium, feed them pellets, and let them grow.

I was wrong. Of course.



We named our turtles after, forgive us for the lack of imagination and creativity, our pet names to each other – M and C.  They were in perfect shape the first week until we noticed that M kept on scratching one of his eyes. We thought he just poked his eye in the artificial decorative plant that came along with the terrarium so I removed the stupid plant. A few days later his eye turned puffy.

Must be the chlorinated water, said my man. Of course. Maybe M is a little sensitive and just needs a few more days to adjust. After all, C is in perfect health. We let M and his puffy eyes heal by themselves. But more than a few days and the puffy eyes turned swollen shut.

While C has noticeably grown bigger, M remained the same. With one eye shut swollen he can’t eat. I decided to put him in a separate container with unchlorinated water (read: bottled water). But I guess it was too late. Both his eyes are already swollen shut by the time we isolated him.

Now, M spends most of his time lying on the pebble bathing in light. My man thinks M is just waiting for his death and I loathe him for thinking that way. M can’t actually eat the pellets but he survives because he drinks the water where pellets C failed to eat dissolve. Liquid diet, I told him.

M needs a vet.

17 January 2011

Taxi Drivers


They paved paradise and put up a parking lot

One of the environment and pocket unfriendly habits of mine is taking cabs. Environment-unfriendly because the amount of energy used is not maximized because only one lazy soul get to travel compared to other public transportation system. Pocket-unfriendly because...okay, no need to discuss this part.

The only consolation I get from riding cabs, aside of course from convenience and I get to save myself from being squished to death or suffocated from lack of oxygen or from too much pollution, is that I get to have interesting conversations with cab drivers. Conversation may be a bit of a stretch here. Yes, I usually initiate the conversation but I really don't talk back much. I prefer to listen and here their thoughts so I only say something when a.) I feel the conversation hits dead air, b.) if a response is needed to keep the conversation going or c.) when my being to occupied in my  amusement of  listening to them pour their hearts out will lead to the end of the conversation.

Topics of the conversation are vast - traffic, sex, stupid traffic enforcers, high prices of commodities including gasoline, stupid traffic rules, showbiz, stupid government, politics, stupid drivers, the tale of how Manong became a taxi driver, stupid passengers and commuters, and other stupid stuffs. Cab drivers like to vent out their angst while you, the passenger, will have to absorb it all. But I'm immune to this since, I confess, that I don't really pay much attention to what they're saying. While they talk, my mind wander with thoughts like gee, this driver really likes to rant or gee, this driver really knows politics, or gee, this driver is really opinionated he could join a debate and win or gee, this driver needs to shut up stat or I'll feed him with his stupid opinion, punch him in the gut and leave him crying for help.

Of course not all drivers are annoying. Some are just like encyclopedias full of amazing facts. I particularly like drivers who tell me stories about the 70s and 80s and how they survived martial law or how they despise people who despise Marcos.

I also like some who can beat any newscaster, reporter or investigative journalist with their comprehensive knowledge about political controversies. How and where do drivers get information, I have no idea. But they really amuse me. A few weeks ago there was this driver who made me compute how much money will be corrupted by LTFRB in the modernization of cab meters. Manong knows his math.

Of course I like cab drivers who talk about sex. Be it the latest sex scandal or their sexual escapades. I once rode in a cab with a driver who practically offered to give me the number of a prostitute he knows. It started with him telling me how hot his passenger before me was and what an ugly skinhead that passenger's boyfriend is. I responded with baka magaling and then Xerex Xavier took over Manong's body. He talked nonstop about his sexual innuendos - in detail - all throughout the one hour travel from Mandaluyong to Quezon City. Seriously, it was like a recital of smut. I gave him a generous tip.

Some drivers prefer not to talk though and I respect their choice. These drivers, no matter how hard I try to make them talk, only respond with a nod, chuckle or if I'm lucky, a yes or no. I guess if passengers can be moody, why can't drivers be, right?

On the other hand, I don't like drivers who put me in the hot seat. These drivers ask too much. I don't mind being asked how old am I, what do I do for a living, the province I came from, but drivers who challenges my political and religious beliefs or the absence of it, questions my choice of field over more practical fields, annoy me. I like my cab rides smooth and easy.

With the upcoming fare hike of cabs, I'd probably be forced to ride other public transportation system. I would have to endure suffocation, pollution and the danger of being squished to death. I don't mind those much though. I'll get by. But I'll surely miss listening to cab drivers' edifying, arousing, sometimes annoying, but most of the time amusing stories.



P.S.
For the record, I refused to get the prostitute's digits. I told Manong I don't need no prostitute. Ha.
Also, the answer to Manong's question on how much money will be corrupted is billions of pesos.

12 January 2011

What kept me from blogging

Let's pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars some people actually care whether I blog or not...

I've been really really very busy in the last two months of 2010. Too busy that I was lucky if I get 5 hours of sleep and I get to go out on a date with him(Ha!). I barely blogged and I haven't read any blog the whole month of December. Unlike previous months where the first thing I do when I arrive in the office is read personal emails, open my Facebook & Twitter, and read new entries from the blogs I follow, I occupy myself with work-related stuffs stat after I enter the office door. No, actually, while travelling on my way to work I'm already working. Without any decent sleep and rest, my body was running on sweets, Berocca and sheer will to deliver.

I'm not exactly complaining though. But it would have been nice if we had one more pair of hands at work so stress and fatigue didn't have to make us get into each others nerves. Okay. I think I'm complaining now. But not on the job or the business just the shortage in man power.

Moving on.

Well, this post is really just an excuse so I could post some pictures and preserve memories. Whatever that means. Here it goes.


1. Christmas party with the preschoolers of Talungon Day Care Center in Bais City




2. Distribution of proceeds from Alay sa Bayan National Can Project



3.  Christmas party for indigent children from Mt. Banahaw



4. PJ Lhuillier Museum tour for graduate scholars




5. PJLFI Christmas party




6. PGH Cancer Institute Outreach




7. Blood drive in partnership with Red Cross






8. Thanksgiving Mass officiated by Fr. Fernando Suarez




9. Outreach for kids of St. Andrew Parish



10. Gift-giving to security and utility personnel of PJLFI

 
 
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