Happy Birthday Junie!

happy bday padi!

nadagos palan an acsat gig mo?

February's Birthday Celebrants - Food

Here is our treat to you guys... start eating now while there is

still 'bahaw sa kusina'.

From us... The Feb boys.

A Matter of Waiting

The problem with the future is that we don’t know how it will unfold. We can make some logical predictions based on history and observation, but there is always that x of an unknown that no one can anticipate. The vastness of predictive studies, and you can add the unscientific ones, could only comprehend things that have transpired.

Neat intro, huh? No? I thought I’d make a great impression. So what am I anxious about? In two measly weeks (as of the time I’m writing this piece) I’ll be joining the club of the big four-oh; entering the twilight zone where, they say, everything gets bad or good depending how you live your life. I’m the eldest in the batch so I get to become forty first. This post is about being that.

For a moment, be serious. Serious. Last December I accompanied Mayen for refraction. Since I was already there I thought I’d have my eyes checked too. The optometrist found out that I had some problems reading so she prescribed a pair of glasses. Again, a pair of glasses, for reading?!

Another story: I usually get up early to prep the kids for school. One morning while waiting for my coffee I found myself doing some stretches, things that I haven’t done for a long time. I had trouble reaching my shoulder blades with both hands. All the flexibility of youth gone.

Not only the physicals changed, so do interactions. Lately I’ve noticed that some people were addressing me with some politeness, or respect, depending on how you look at it. The “po” and “opo” are becoming frequent, and so is the dreaded “manong” as in “Manong, nag-submit na po ako ng requirements”. “Kuya” would have been better sounding, though both words mean the elder male sibling. But “manong” connotes not only seniority but also elderliness with eons of separation. You call someone a “manong” out of respect for the elderly; “kuya” is used mostly with affection, as in “Kuya sama ka sa gimik, ha”.

But is this what I should be anxious about? No…wait, yes. What’s the average life expectancy in these islands? Deduct 40, and viola! X more years to go.

Really now, anxious? About something inevitable?

Imagine on my 40^th birthday the world and its inhabitants will continue to live; some areas of Caloocan, Pasay and Pasig will again sink due to hundreds of hammerings; tongues will be knotted at Lovapalooza and elsewhere; a killing will be made by enterprising individuals in the chocolate and flower business; lovers await for their sweethearts for a tryst; and a million “I love yous” will be said. Then on my little space on the world you think I would sulk because of an anxiety attack. No way.

No way. Why should I sulk? A few more years and you guys will be in the same state and age as I am two weeks from now. It’s only a matter of waiting and our batch will all be members of the forty something crowd. That's when your stories about aging will be as good and horrid as mine.

And I’ll be waiting.

Happy Birthday Cando!!!

padi, email ka man sin latest na mga pix mo kay lumaonon na nang-gayud an yadi sa akon. ano palan mapakaon ka sa amon? hehehehe

new year wishes

"May your year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the year, you surprise yourself."

- Neil Gaiman

Fr Gerry's visit

Fr G in our house blessing. Thanks for coming and blessing our house!

Please take note: He is good looking because he no longer wear eyeglasses.

Courtesy of our Chairman Tyron.

Happy New year mga Padi!!!!

Merry Christmas from Hael Family

MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR !

from Hael Family

Baptism of Nono's son

Mga padi we're all invited on the christening of Nono's second child this coming saturday December 8, 2007 at the Irosin church.

Do text him for details. and pics pls ha. kay mabudlayon na an blog ta

Happy Birthday Tivo!

padi sorry ha. nakalimutan ko magpost. anyways belated happy birthday!!!

Prayers for Dave's newborn baby

mga padi, let's offer prayers for Dave's newborn baby, who was born premature and has been in a critical condition the past days.

prayers for yayes's dad

let us jumpstart the maelstrom prayer brigade again and offer prayers for yayes's dad's triumph against his difficult medical condition

2007 OLPS Homecoming

nano na mga padi? me balak ba kita na magkirita niyan na OLPS homecoming? mas ok siguro after 20 years ulit hehehehe :p

sa october 17 palan an homecoming daw. medyo alanganin ngani kay wednsday pa. dili ako makauli kay 3days na absent ina

heniways, sa mga taga- sorsogon, text text na lang kamo san plano. we'll just see kun ano

here's the invite

prayers for dante

mga padi let's all pray for dante's success in his bar exams. he's on the second exams today.

we can go coco

I just came from Romblon last 9/11 where I was invited by DTI to talk about dairy as part of their One Town, One Product (OTOP) activities. It happened that Dr. Justino Arboleda (or simply dr. Bo) was the other speaker on the coconut coir business. Though the surname may tell you that he comes from way up north he is actually a bicolano from guinobatan, a retired dean of the bicol university college of agriculture. He is an agricultural engineer by profession and studied at Tokyo University where he earned all his degrees, from his bachelor's up to his doctorate. In 1994 he set up JUBOKEN in guinobatan and specialized in exporting coconut coir.

He eventually realized that there is a huge world demand for coco coir that he then set up coco technologies corporation that uses coco net to stabilize slopes, prevent erosion and other soil projects. Another factor of his present success is memorandum circular #25 that instructs dpwh to use coco nets to stabilize soil in its projects. Among the countries that require an abundant supply of coco coir are china, japan, europe and usa. I consulted the statistics on coco coir exports at dti and everything checked out fine.

His company have already won all sorts of awards, from the BBC World Challenge 2005 to the Golden Shell.

He is so desperate about the supply of coir that he went as far as mindanao to secure supply agreements. He is even willing to partner with anyone who is willing and offers help for the needed equipment.

He estimates that in order to produce 1kg of coir and the accompanying 2kg of dust, a coir plant only needs to spend P6 in operating cost. If delivered to his plant in quezon city he is willing to pay P9/kg coir and we could sell the dust at P3/kg. That's a per unit sale of P15. He is willing to talk to us if we can provide some 18T/month. You can check out his site http://cocogreen.net/homepage.htm

Remember: coconut husks are farm wastes that are either burned or just thrown away. Tell, email me at glagamayo@yahoo.com or text (get my number from jet, dont post numbers here).

Happy Birthday Fr. Peewee!

ano pasalubong mo sa amon hali sa japan?

Kumusta mga padi

kabudlay didi ha. harain na tabi kamo. any updates and pix and stories?

ito mga diyot na news:

Junie has left his previous job at the Gubat LGU and is currently working part-time in an HR Consultancy founded by the current HR Director of Aquinas. he says it may become a long term gig for him.

Dante is deep in review mode for the forthcoming bar exams. do pray for his success in the exams. pangadyi ta na top 10 sya.

Jet is busy with work and book design gigs, CCNA course and bugski

Sanni is doing well in florida, you can see pix of his family at the batch87 blog. do wait for his promised postings here.

Rino is ultra busy with his GK work and cellphones

Gabby is still with the dairy board and drops by here every now and then. i would just liek to remind the other ninongs na damo-damo na an utang ta na regalo sa batit niya. hehehe

Mervs, still drops by here from time to time and might send some more pixs this week

Gojie, is now a nurse and wants to get married next year

Kit's problem is now resolved.

Yayes is still drafting his wonderful reflections, which he will post here. SOON!!! also apart from being a devoted family man, he's currently a newspaper editor, teacher and law student. hanep sa hataw. sya an pan-tolo na lawyer ta

Peewee will celebrate his birthday this coming wednesday. but japayuki anay siya ngunyan. invited na magkasal didto. ingat sa mga ninja dyan Padi ha, basi ma-shuriken ka

Collins is still in iloilo and too shy to post his amazing pictures

Cando is still saving up gas slips for our road trip hehehe

Dave was supposed to become the new municipal agricultural officer of sorsogon

Franz was online a minute ago

Erwin has set-up his ice plant

Tyrone is in cebu

Tivo is still in naga, waiting for my dvds hehe

Nono is in sorsogon

And so is rene

and henri who seldom visits this site (sabi ni junie) and yayes says he might go back to teaching soon

Jason is somewhere

and also moonvale

and wiron too

and maybe sherman and victor and BJ

Dino and Lorbes meanwhile are still out there, waiting to be found

Lastly, mga padi, let's give our full support to dante, magbar exams na siya beginning this sunday (four sundays daw iyon). kitakits kita this coming sunday sa lasalle taft

Happy Birthday BJ!

padi kun hain ka man down under--- happy bday!!!

ingat sa mga kangaroo hehehehe! san-o ka mauli?

Eric Gojar, RN

silensyohon lamang an nurse. pungal warang tingog! hehehe. ano mapainom ka ha :p

congrats nurse eric!

Thank God i'm now a nurse!!!!

pasado na ako mga pards!!! Thanks to your prayers!!!!

25$ Flickr gift needed!

mga padi, our flickr account expired last august 15. because of this some of the pictures may not be viewable anymore and we can't upload pictures the way we used to.

so anybody care to donate 25$ for a one year subscription to flickr?

the first year ako sumagot. then the second year si mervs.

just let me know ha?

siya reunion daw kita didi sa manila sometime next week. adi daw si junie that time

Happy Birthday Nono and Rino!

sabi ni tivo wara man kuno handa . hehehe

Happy Birthday Sanni!

kumusta ka na padi!

August meet-up

Mga padi, oks saindo na magkiritaan kita niyan na august? iristoryahan nan plano plano lang.

just to start-up again our plans and projects na medyo nasa "pause" mode niyan. hehehe

pakibutang na lang san names niyo sa comments kung join kayo. oks?

refreshing voice 2

posting youtube videos

goja, to post youtube videos, icopy mo an code na nakabutang didto sa rightside--idto na may "embed" .

note the part i encircled sa picture.

thanks sa pag-post padi ha :-)

refreshing voice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zBxt_w8_zQ

an pag agum bow!

mga pards maagum na ako next year. ihanda na niyo an pang ambag niyo, hahahahaha!!

Merv's family Vacation

pictures from merv's family vacation in florida

Happy Birthday Collins!

nano na padi, wara ka na tingog-tingog a

Happy Birthday Dave!

balita ko ikaw na daw an provincial agriculturist? double celebration ha

Happy Birthday Erwin!

karaon gihapon sa ingko!

Happy Birthday Henri!

diin an karaon ta padi?

Happy Birthday Eric!

irinuman na baya!!!!

Happy Birthday Dante!

anong handa mo padi?

Happy Father's Day

have fun today mga tatay!!!!

Goodluck Gojie!

mga padi, let's pray that gojie will successfully pass the nursing board exams today.

Padi, pasiguruha na kaupod ka sa top ten ha --olps batch86 baga :D

Happy Birthday Tyrone!

when's the party daw kuyang? hehehe

Happy Birthday Kit!

ano padi. irinuman kita ulit?

Happy Birthday Jet!

long hair me. walang handa hehe. work muna :P

Happy Birthday Yayes!

belated greets padi. sori medyo superbusy lang hindi ko na-update itong blog

new proposition

medyo mabudlayon an blog ta.

anyway, any news with our investment? I have a new one for you, why not invest it in dairy? Before any reaction, here's a background.

Land O' Lakes is a cooperative based in Minnesota. Their main business is in dairy and accounts for majority of milk produced in that state. Some 5 years ago LOL created a foundation in the Philippines to facilitate grants through a commodity monetization scheme. A large surplus of powdered milk will be given to the Philippines in which the latter can sell and proceeds to fund local nutrition projects. As part of the bargain, my agency, NDA, required LOL to set up a modest production unit in Camarines Sur. Goa became that area and right now outgoing Mayor Marcel Pan is producing so much milk that he is marketing his produce in Naga. There are now three dairy plants in Goa although only two are operating steadily.

A fourth milk plant was constructed two years ago in Pili was visited by US Ambassador Kenny with DA Secretary Yap early this year. This new plant is rated to process 2,000 liters of milk a day with facilities for cheese making. However, due to the limited number of animals, Camarines Sur can only produce so much. This is very disheartening as Gov. LRay, during the Kenny visit asked that the plant supply 900 liters of milk for its hunger mitigation measures.
In Goa, Mayor Pan is doing the groundwork for commercial marketing of his flavored yoghurt and other products.

By june this year, 200 animals will arrive from New Zealand to beef up production in Camarines Sur targeting recipients from four municipalities around Naga.

Would this mean that milk supply will be enough to answer the demand in Naga. Not quite. Since recipients are newbies there might be fallouts.

Medyo bitin pero lets leave some of the details for later. Tama na siguro an diyot na detalye for you to ruminate and let your imaginations fly. If you have questions please do text me, Jet has my new number, by the way, for security reasons I cant post my number here.

AMDG

Happy Mother's Day

greetings sa atong mga mama nan sa mga asawa

Happy Birthday Victor!

padi hain ka na ngunyan?

Happy Birthday Wiron!

padi, isabay mo na celebration sa victory party mo ha.

BAMS again

mabudlayon na an blog ta ka wara nagpopost. harain na kamo?????

sina wiron, kit and tyrone ini

latest smart globe print ad

a new print ad campaign was launched by smarterglobe featuring the these maelstrom guys --hehehe

Prayers for Yayes' Dad

Kindly include in your prayers Yayes' Dad who is in critical condition from heart and kidney complications.

Happy Birthday Rene!

patadihi man kami sin masiram na pulutan padi :-)

Happy Birthday Moonvale!

kumusta na padi?

Happy Birthday Jason!

san-o an irinuman ta padi. damo kamo na feb celebrants kaya bagan fiesta na handaan ada ano? :-)

Happy Birthday Gabby!

isarabay na lang niyo an handaan nindo na mga february bday celebrants ha para fiesta hehe.

Happy Birthday Mervs!

ano su handa mo padi?

padara ka palan ki pix ha? ta inrecycle ko na lang mga pix mo

Happy Birthday Junie!

san-o ka makadi kay mapainom ka kuno didi hehehe

Wounded Warrior

by Yayes Basares

Radiological findings:

A large soft tissue mass density with prominent vasculature, is seen off the left occipito-temporal scalp area. Note the intense but relatively inhomogenous contrast enhancement of the mass.
There is associated lytic erosion of the underlying left occipital bone.
No definite abnormal density change is seen in the brain parenchyma, cerebellum and occipital lobes appear intact.

The gray-white matter interfaces are maintained.

The eventricles and other CSF spaces are within normal.

Midline structures are not displaced.

The sellar, parasellar structures are not remarkable.

Evaluation:
Large intensely enhancing soft tissue mass, left occipito-temporal scalp area. A large soft tissue hemangioma is entertained.

K. Nee-Estuye, M.D. FPCR
Sorsogon Medical Mission Group
Hospital and Health Services Cooprative

There is a big hole in her skull. When you see the picture there is a soft tissue formed like a supot hanging from the back side of her skull and is filled with blood. Both the soft tissue forming like a supot and all its content – come through that hole. This is an inborn physical defect and was already there when I met her in 1994. At that time it was still small in size that was covered and hidden by the length of her hair. To date, its length surpasses her hair length, its size aside from what you can see covers her entire right ear and part of her right face, its weight approximately 5 kilos.

I am not a doctor and neither do I understand medical terms. But I have lived the past 12 years of my life with this woman. She is my wife.

And how I love this woman, whom I am proud to say, tamed me. The past twelve years of our marriage has always been an extreme joy for me to go home to her warm embrace knowing she prepared me a home where I can rest my tired spirit. It is my pride to have three very loving and wonderful kids grown up under the guidance of her maternal love and sacrifices. My wife is a simple woman whose little world revolves around rearing her kids and dutifully attending to her husband. It is her simple and quiet ways that endear her most to me as, best of all, she never competes with me.

How is she? She is, by God's grace, asymptomatic. No seizures, no loss of balance, no incoherent speeches, no nothing. In fact, she was a Technology and Home Economics teacher when I met her and only stopped working after our eldest suffered from bronchial asthma ever since year one. She was also a Lay Minister of the Word in our faith. She does household chores like all other "normal" housewives. It is only her physical defect that separates her from all of us, limiting her exposure as many are shocked to see her condition.

It was upon the prodding of Nono to have her medically checked a day after a pocket reunion we had together with Erwin, Junie, Collins, Henri, Dante, and Peewee last December 30, 2006.
It is this physical condition that we are hoping we could find an answer in the medical world. Mr. and Mrs. Nono Dorotan, by their kindness, indorsed us to their friend Dr. Laly Macindo who had been kind to us in extending assistance and many times going out of her way to do so. A plastic surgeon from UST together with other surgeons from Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital has seen her and hoped that a plastic surgery could resolve the problem. Unfortunately, as my limited medical knowledge understands it, some more tests need to be conducted to determine any complication in her brain. The test is not available in the Bicol Region and, worse, could lead to a major medical operation. (Nono, with his big heart, has the CT Scan film and is coordinating with other radiologists to seek second opinion.)

On a personal note, this is my daily cross to carry. I have tried not to involve you. Yet I could not ignore the kindness of Nono and his wife, your concerted concern, through your text messages, and flood of sympathy all of which could be summed up by this SMS message from Rino: Yayes, I hope you will accept the idea and spirit behind this movement. Bro, with sincere gratitude, I do accept and I am deeply touched and honored to be part of Maelstrom.

My apologies that among our group I am left behind. Much has been said, but for me it is this simple:

I don't dream. Better yet, I have stopped dreaming.
I no longer recall when I lost the will to dream. What I recall is the feeling of emptiness. I cannot recollect the reason why I lost the will to dream, what I remember is the feeling of surrender.
I have stopped dreaming because at night I fear to go to bed and dream never to wake up again.

Pray tell me, how does one fly with broken wings?

Happy Birthday Cando!

padi sorry sa late greetings, mapagalon mag login sa blogger the past days hehe

ano sano an karaon ta?

A Beautiful December

My office held our annual assessment/Execom Meeting/leadership development training/team building (dami ano--hehe para tipid) in lovely Bohol.

We stayed at the super beautiful Bohol Bee Farm. Grabe ang sarap ng pagkain (organic) dun tsaka ang ganda talaga ng grounds and cottages.

if you are looking for a sulit sarap vacation do go to Bohol and stay at the Bee Farm. Bohol is really nice, with great beaches, historical places and natural wonders. For the history buffs, bohol would be a great place to explore for its strong castillian roots and its many, many ancient catholic churches --as in the huge kastila churches that can be found in every block ata.















waking up early (4:00 am) to go dolphin watching in pamilacan island. the area is kinda like the part of the dolphin highway and feeding ground. we were unlucky though as there were just 10 spinner dolphins. some days before our friends said they saw hundreds of dolphins swimming and jumping. the dolphin tour guides said that sometimes the dolphins number in the thousands. it must be an awesome experience to be in the midst of that.















the creepy, ugly pinoy tarsier. it looks like a big-eyed rat but its the smallest primate daw















we also tried the loboc river cruise. its like a floating restaurant. ours had local musicians playing so it was cool even though it rained















this is my breakfast nook at the bee farm. they have tasty "corn coffee" parang kape arroz kaya lang mais instead of burnt rice

i still have lots of pix but blogger is acting weird again. go visit the bohol bee farm gallery for more pics.

hayy, ang ganda ganda talaga ng 'pinas!

Best Wishes from Mervs & Family

happy new year!!

testing lang po if blogger works ok na

BAMS 86 cultural night

nano baya ini ha

BAMS 86 cultural night

strangely, i dont ever recall this. hmm where was i during that bams night?

beer time!

san mig sa likod san balay nira wiron

at the wake

October 6, 2006. Late Afternoon. Outside the Municipal Hall where the wake for Nono's Dad was held.

BAMS Parade

Golda Meir Lee's Baptism

golda meir lee, collins' & dada's second child. von bismarck is a bit shy here













but here he is, all smiles

Sekretong kaunon

nano na ikakaun sadi na duwa kay bagan intatago pa ha. hehehe

Jason is Mr. Suave

hanep sa bigote hehehe

Cando

japorms ano?

Birthday ni wiron sadto

Business update from Tyrone

i was supposed to post this friday kaya lang i got so busy with my freelance work kaya i forgot hehe. tyrone relayed this info to me when i called him friday. i'll just cut and paste what tyrone posted in the chatbox coz others might miss it and some other things we talked about last friday

"mga padi, im hapi to announce that we made 30% PROFIT in less than 2 months. i am just transfering the title of the lot to the buyer's name and we'll be paid in full, estimated (payment date) is Dec 5, 2006. We can meet anytime after that for the distribution of your full capital plus 30% as your gain. please inform me when is your convenient time, il be very happy to host another meeting in cebu if you want. sorry for the long silence, i am sooo busy . anyway, thanks for trusting in my capacity, and we'll sure hope for another business opportunity in the near future."

Tyrone also generously offered to host the next reunion -- maybe in sorsogon or in cebu (pati ba pamasahe? hehehe). whadya think mga padi?

Happy Birthday Tivo!

padi, mahapit na lang kami sa balay mo ha kay masiram an pagkaon da, hehehe

First Fruits!

Mga padi, Tyrone is happy to announce that our first investment project has bore the proverbial first fruit. The fund was used to buy and then sell a piece of real estate in Cebu City. Tyrone is calling for a meeting to thresh out profit sharing and to discuss the next project planned to launch in February 2007.

On a related note, Jason's fish trading business is off to a good start and his "angels" (some of our classmates) are expecting a nice return of their investments :-)

siya, keep well and have a nice weekend y'all!

Download Firefox 2 now!!!!

mga padi, firefox 2 is available for download now.

please uninstall internet explorer from your pc and use firefox instead. its super fast, renders web pages beautifully and faithfully, protects against viruses, trojans, phishing schemes and other malwares, blocks pop-ups, has tons of extensions etc. etc.

if you use internet explorer to browse our blog, you can see that it does not display correctly, repositioning the chat box way down and messing up the structure the blog.

so to get that one and only "maelstrom blog experience" use FIREFOX please :-)

Milenyo damages OLPS

mga padi! posted over at the alumni blog are some pix of the OLPS damges from the typhoon.

mag propose lang ako na maybe we can donate sa olps to help in repairing the damages.

maybe you can discuss it during the meeting today

Maelstrom Meeting - Oct. 19, 2006

Mga padi - lalo na mga bicol based maelstrom, tyrone and junie is calling for a meeting tomorrow morning in Sorsogon. details are still to be finalized but do call junie for updates.

Maelstrom Meeting this Saturday - October 14

We will have a corporate meeting this saturday, October 15, 2006 in Sorsogon for updates and plans on the business venture. The meeting is being called by Tyrone.

Junie will text us for details on the venue and time.

Rino is suggesting that we hold a internet video conference if possible so those of us here in manila can also participate.

I am not Frog

By Yayes Basares

Question...

Which would you want to be A SMALL FROG IN A BIG POND or a BIG FROG IN A SMALL POND?

The question haunted me for quite some time. I sent SMS messages to my classmates and received their words of wisdom. Very encouraging were their responses that I was tempted to ask them to make the decision for me.

I have been in the HR practice for the past six or seven years, four years of which in a managerial level. I have educated myself in handling labor cases both through experience and in keeping myself abreast with the latest decisions in labor relations. I have acquired that skill of reading behind and between words, spoken and written, as they try to weave lengthy tales of lies during administrative hearings. In conducting interviews, I have learned to look at an applicant eyes and separate the husk from the grain. On numerous cases I have seen employees weep when they lost their jobs and heard their resentment and anger against supervision and authority, most especially when it comes from midgets.

Two years in this bus company and I have seen many SOB’s come and go. In some instances I caused their separation citing just causes. I have suspended many and solicited their ire on several occasions.

The transport sector is often misunderstood by some and despised by many. Yet I have learned to love it. It runs in parallel with my stint in the broadcast media (my first job) in the thrill, excitement and challenges. Here my adrenalin is always at its peak; rushing here and there during times of accidents, heralding the worst animals in the zoo (but hey they may be the worst but they are our animals), picking up loose diapers and nursing grown ups and teaching them how to pee…….

The problem, as I see it, in the transport sector lies on the values and ethics accumulated by each driver and conductor from the road. The transport sector would like to define, as how it suits it best, road courtesy, road safety and the ethical standards of the riding public, and demands for the world to adjust to them. They are kings of the road and expect to be treated with royalty. A very dangerous premise as it will be characterized by anarchy in the street.

It is the same problem I faced day by day in my administrative work. Ultimately though my decision prevails yet what is tiring is that same problem you solved today will resurrect tomorrow and the cycle would go on and on.

I miss the regular calendar. I miss the usual corporate norms and standard. And for sure I am tired.

The temptation to abandon ship and transfer was a daily option I stubbornly refused to exercise. Everyday you face the mirror and start to wonder where most of your hairs have gone to. The writings on the wall get bolder and clearer as the daily and pressing needs not only for yourself but for the family strikes you right in front of your nose.

I began to entertain thoughts of transferring perhaps to a multinational company, not only for the financial perks, but perhaps to follow a regular corporate routine like all those white collared and well dressed guys you see on TV.

I was on the verge of transferring employment after passing series of interview with a Japanese firm based in Carmona, Cavite. It is still in the HR field. I like handling people; identifying and developing their skills, setting up directions, sweeping up dirt afterwards. The pay is generous and above par in benefits. The transfer would entail a lot of adjustments. I would be back to the regular calendar, the eight to five grind six days a week in contrast to my 24/7 duty in the transport sector, new systems and procedures to get accustomed to, start paying for rent and utilities.

I tried to bid my boss adieu expressing my sincere gratitude and appreciation for the trust and confidence he gave me the past two years. He asked me if I am serious and I told him I am. I told him we can no longer run the show on love and kisses alone and retire each night dreaming that tomorrow, like a conjuring trick, there would be bread on the table and medicines on the cabinet, like manna falling from heaven.

Then he said lets talk things over again. And we ended up me remaining where I am now. I did win some blue chips on the bargain table but my biggest prize can never be quantified. These are lessons worth their gems.

Number one is that personality must jibe with your work and vice versa.

I like the rush, the huff and puff; the thrill and excitement on the road; the unorthodox and irregular work schedule and work load, the passion of elevating the level of maturity of a fast growing company, the compassion for every patient you hit on the road, the challenge in carrying heavy torch for the company defending them from the ire of relatives we sometimes hit along the way, the leg work of providing the medical, and sometimes burial assistance all with the end view of showing the heart of the company as a responsible and compassionate corporate entity.

Number two lesson is in order to fly you must have wings.

The wings would be the trust and confidence of your employer of which you must learn to cultivate. Caution though on this regard must be exercised to the effect that one must be contented with wings and never ask for more. That is why I have always maintained that the best person in the HR department is a MAN because women don’t just like wings, they want the whole bird. My boss is a member of the PNP Traffic Management Group and it is under his shadow where I draw my authority and command obedience from the kings of the roads. They fear my boss a lot especially so when he turns ballistic. Decisions must never be subjective and never be based on personal whims and caprices because an erroneous one affecting employees would have them cursing the whole company, the whole organization and the whole group. So far there never was an occasion my boss abandoned me especially in front of angry lions gnawing their teeth in anger or as they wait for me to sleep at night so they could put thorns on my bed and itching powder on my pajamas. Holding me back from transferring employment, after enlargement of the heart was suspected by a doctor whom I am asking from where he learned his medicines, he told me “here I can take care of you, out there you got nobody”.

In my sent SMS messages Junie Taclan said “thrive where you are” Jason Balbedina said “bloom where you are planted, we always tend to be planted where we will bloom” adding “if I am a small frog in a big pond I’ll maximize all the opportunities available”.

Eric Gojar said it better : “I am not a frog”

DEO GRACIAS so am I.

Kokak to that.

Post script:

Sano Dr. Gerry Pura had the kindness to accommodate me and given me the clean bill as a cardiologist. He advised me though to change my lifestyle. You always say yes in front of the doctor, that is the unwritten rule. But my sincere apologies sano doctor I SIMPLY CAN’T. The most I could perhaps do is to go easy on the “daisies” as indeed they tire me too much, perhaps elder would be good enough.

Our heartfelt condolences to Nono.. yet again :-(

Nono, again our deepest condolences to you and your family. having to suffer the loss of your parents in the same year is too much to bear. but we continually pray that the Almighty will bestow upon yourselves the grace, strength and courage to overcome this sad event.

we pray for the eternal happiness and peace of your dad and mom.

Bagyo, Bagyo

mga padi, what can our batch do kaya to support the rehab efforts in sorsogon?. offhand, isip ko maybe instead of having the reunion this month we just use the money we will spend on that and donate it to sorsogon --kun kanino di ko pa aram -- maybe to a church based org or maybe sa OLPS kay kun may naraot didto.

according to pagasa pala, another typhoon codenamed neneng is due to hit bicol (sorsogon including) tonight. let's pray and hope sorsogon will be spared this double whammy.

btw, only smart cell is operating so best to advise your relatives to change to smart for the moment. also there's no radio or tv there yet thus they have no way of getting typhoon updates. do text them once in a while. pagasa releases "Tropical Cyclone Updates" every 12 hours. so check on it regularly and text your relatives there. medyo mahangin daw pala yung parating na bagyo kay advise them to board up their windows --lalo na kung glass-- kay ground level winds are expected to be a bit stronger this time kay wara na nin kahoy na masangga.