Daily Happy Thoughts

My brother, Andrew will be leaving tentatively on the 13th of March for his overseas on-the-job (OJT) training in the United States. He was approved for a visa last Wednesday, which is precisely the reason why he was here in Manila last week. He will be headed for Virginia where his OJT training will be. Hopefully, he will have earned enough skills to prepare him for the job hunting that will follow after he graduates. I just hope by that time, there will be a lot of jobs out there, considering the poor state of the economy right now.

On a lighter note, I’m guessing he will be missing home-cooked meals for a while.

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Last Saturday, as I watched my brother Andrew go through the pre-departure area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA 3), I couldn’t help but feel a little a little heavy, especially since considering the present crossroads that I am in this point in my life. Although it was but a trip from Manila to Dumaguete, the meaning was not lost on me as I pondered on the career decision that is before me.

As he made his way inside, some part of me was hoping he’d throw a backward glance my way just to tell me, wordlessly, that everything would be okay. Then I remembered how Ray must have felt as he was leaving for Dubai. Then I felt my chest get even heavier.

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I remember back when I was in elementary, on the place where our 3-door apartment now stands, the home in which I grew up in. Back then, I used to think that the lot was so big, when in fact it was just a mere 200 square meters of lot area, fenced and utilizing the whole area. Throughout my 16+ years of stay in that area, I’ve witnessed the many transformations that the place undertook.

First we had the wooden picket fence, then the garage to accommodate the owner type jeep that we had that time, then to the concrete fence and then the structure being demolished to give way to the modern building that it is now. Throughout the latest remodelling, while the walls of the building were broken down, the marble tile flooring and the fence was retained. Looking back, I wonder how much we have spent on the countless remodelling jobs. But I guess you could say we had to make do with what we had that time, since we just took over the building, and we couldn’t have planned how things would turn out, and you could say we just remodelled as the need arose.

Somehow, in the near future, I guess I could learn from this exercise and devote a considerable time in planning our coming home, and hopefully avoid the costly remodelling jobs that I’d witnessed. With that in mind, I think I’ll seriously consider the option of using stainless steel tile, which I found online.

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On this heart’s day, give your loved ones nothing but the best, good-tasting doughnuts of the highest quality — Krispy Kreme Doughnuts!

I got one box all the way from Taguig!   Thank you, Langga!

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According to Richard Fletcher, the Deputy City Editor of Telegraph.co.uk,

The 3.5in floppy disk, once an icon of the computer age, is to be cleared from the shelves of PC World as demand for disks plummets.

Fletcher’s article PC World announces the end of the floppy disk was published online last 30 Jan 2007.

I cannot remember the last time I used a 3-in floppy disk (a.k.a. diskette). In like manner, I have not seen desktop computers and laptops with built-in floppy disk drives these days except for the CPUs at the Social Security System (SSS), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) offices. I would have to assume that these offices specifically ordered them from suppliers with such specs because their respective offices require their clients to submit data saved in these diskettes. What happened to the portable, stable thumb drives that replaced these floppy disks? Aptly, these offices should update their computerized system to be compatible with a USB device before the supply of floppy disks ran out in the market.

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8G Marketing, a family-owned business, is in the process of normalising the already set up computerized accounting  system. The system albeit a little “basic” (old version), as shown during the orientation and training, really eases the load on recording and generation of reports. Hey! One can always upgrade the version so no problem on that one.

To go with the automation, a new Epson LX300+II dot matrix printer was bought for easier printing compatibility and to save a big chunk of amount on the printing budget since the ribbon refill only costs Php 68.00 in one of the local computer suppliers here in the city (Brother ink cartridges are just way absurdly charged — Black: Php 995.00–1,050.00, Cyan/Magenta/Yellow: Php 495.00–595.00; same is true with HP but their ink cartridges are a little bit lower in cost than that of the Brother’s). We’ve also placed “to automate receipt generation from manual handwriting” as one of the items in our future plans (perhaps after the accounting computerization system is fully implemented), and a good Epson receipt printer will serve that purpose. Phase by phase, we’re getting nearer to the “real time reports” status, which is crucial in decision-making. The real work this time falls on us, the persons who are  the end-users of the system. I just hope we can master the flow and fully maximize the use of the system as soon as possible.

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In my 3 decades of enjoying God’s gift of life, I have had the pleasure to rub elbows with persons whose experience, hobby, or work has shaped my attitude, careers and positive outlook on life. I would  also like to acknowledge the fact that I would not be able to make the decisions I have made and will still make had I not received the teachings lovingly and painstakingly instilled to me by my DadMa in the course of living their lives as an example and the words shared to us during happy conversations over meals or hurtful admonitions when we’ve done something wrong. In my young mind in the past years, those seemingly unimportant teachings before are now the most treasured as how valued certified diamonds are to women.

In my humble opinion, parents prepare us to face the real world but it is our decisions that make us the person we are now. Hence, make the right decisions because when we do, we make God, our parents, and ourselves proud. So for a more meaningful life, seek God, live each day trying the best we could to be pleasing in God’s eyes, learn from failures, and find others with similar values.

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It is a weekend once again. I have a lot of deadlines to beat (as usual). But one thing better about today than any other day while I am here at our head office, is the fact that I get to play badminton today. Yey!

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