Monday, December 04, 2006

BAMS 86 cultural night

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

Friday, December 01, 2006

beer time!

san mig sa likod san balay nira wiron

Thursday, November 30, 2006

at the wake

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

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

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

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Sekretong kaunon


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

Friday, November 24, 2006

Jason is Mr. Suave

hanep sa bigote hehehe

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Cando



japorms ano?

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Sunday, November 19, 2006

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?

Friday, November 17, 2006

Happy Birthday Tivo!

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

Saturday, November 04, 2006

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!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

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 :-)

Thursday, October 19, 2006

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

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

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.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

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.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

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.

Friday, October 06, 2006

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.

Monday, October 02, 2006

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.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Prayers for Rino's Mom

Mga padi, lets offer prayers for the succesful surgery and healing of Rino's Mom- Lilia Coronel.

She will undergo surgery this weekend at the Cardinal Santos Hospital to remove hepatic cysts