Friend Abroad

I have friends working abroad who keeps telling me to get a job there too. From their stories, I can tell they do a lot more money now but they experienced hardwork on the start. Well, that sounds normal. The idea is very tempting, but right now, I still can't find a major reason of leaving my job here, nor the country.

I have this friend & former office mate working in Canada who has been there for I think 6 years already. I have lost contact with him and from the last email I got from him, he got promoted from work. Maybe he moved in other work place and lost my contact details or he's just plain busy. Anyway, I learned this canada phone number reverse on line service where I can look up for him. I wanted to contact him because I owe his eldest son gifts (im one of the godparent, that's why) at least for this coming holidays. If you wanted to look for someone in Canada, lets try this site!

To Do List (November Vacation)

I'm so looking forward to the no-work days (Oct 31 to Nov 2). Got lots of things in my mind I want to accomplish as follows:




1. Stephenie Meyer book marathon
2. Organize my DVD collection
3. Catch up with the movies I failed to watch during their show dates
4. Send some shoes & bags for repair
5. Preps for Neo's Bday
6. Blog. Hope I get more opportunities
7. Ebay!
8. Start my x-mas list
9. Do my To Do List.

I Need A Booster

I caught a new cold virus strain! I was down with colds (thank God, no cough followed) last week. Though this time, it's not that debilitating like my previous episodes with cold & cough viruses. Still, I was able to do my field work last week. I was in Nueva Ecija for 3 days. This is because of the flu vaccine shot I got last year. But now, I need a booster shot. Too bad, I have not seen an e-mail announcement from our mother company for free flu vaccine shot. I have to take double dose of vitamin C and drink lots of water because it seems that everyone has colds, at least in our office. Those that are recovering from the colds are the potential carrier and shedder of the virus.

Can you imagine how many billion strains of viruses that lived in our environment? One can never be infected with the same virus strain again. So, if you compute the average times you caught a cold in a year, times your current age....hhhmmmmm, i don't want to know....

Heritage Web Solutions

Thanks to the power of internet. It makes our job easy. Like in my work for instance. My work calls for at least 60% continuous communication with strategic agencies, production houses and creative boutiques. With internet, email, they can submit creative studies and pitches that I can instantly see and check with out the hassle of printing them, delivering them to our office before the final production. Then, I can send instant messages to them explaining the revisions.

Well, I can't state all the benefits I get from these, and I bet all of you agrees with me. Heritage Web Solutions has them all!!!. Below is a press release material for you to find out.

Press Release:

“The Economic Report” show to feature Heritage Web Solutions

October 22, 2008, Deerfield Beach, FL – The producers of The Economic Report are pleased to announce that Heritage Web Solutions will be featured in an upcoming episode as part of the show’s Business and Technology series on The Power of the Internet Supporting the 21st Century Business Environment.

The internet has revolutionized the ways businesses market themselves. It is essential for businesses, both large and small, to have an effective web presence. A company’s website essentially serves as their electronic store front, communicating the company’s identity to website visitors.

Today, there are approximately 970 million internet users thus making internet marketing the most effective way to appeal to customers from around the world. Websites overcome the limitations between countries and continents thus making a company international. Having a website also means that a business is open and reachable at any time and allows for quick customer response time.

But, it isn’t as simple as just setting up a website. The only way for a company to be set apart from other online competition is unique website design. Businesses turn to internet technology companies for the development of a professional and search engine friendly, website.

Utah-based Heritage Web Solutions specializes in designing and hosting affordable websites for small and medium size businesses. In business since 2001, Heritage designs all websites to custom fit each company, giving each client a unique, original and authentic design. Customers of Heritage also have access to custom flash graphics, Ecommerce development and assistance, database creation and management, traffic driving resources and more.

“As a global community, we are evolving into a technology-based world,“ said Brad Stone, Managing Partner, Heritage Web Solutions. “Rarely we pay cash or write a check anymore. More of our purchases are made online, or at least we research online before making a purchasing decision. Our checking, savings and credit card accounts are maintained and paid for online. Our socializing has moved to FaceBook, YouTube and MySpace. Our communications are emailed, texted or Skyped. Breaking news can now be fed instantly via RSS feeds to our computers or cell phones instead of waiting for the six o’clock news. The Internet is very much a main part of human society today.”

For more information, please visit www.heritagewebdesign.com

Twilight in November

Now, I'm back to my good ol' reading days. After Harry Potter series, I have not read any other fiction books. Now that the Stephenie Meyer book series is out, I bet I'll be hooked on to all of them, as in, work-book routine. Move over, DVD and the tv series i've been following (besides, I can catch up with them in dvds). Im preparing for the first movie offering of the book series... Twilight which is scheduled to be shown mid-November!

Long Drive... To and From...

I just got back from Nueva Ecija. Our company sponsored an event to award outstanding professionals in the field of animal science and veterinary research. It was indeed a long drive. I once said, and stand to my statement that "long drive soothes my nerves", until now. I was so tired. I was not able to keep up with it without good music and the jokes that two of my companion crack from time to time. Yes, I do laugh (really hard) even to simple jokes. It made me forget the difficulty am in because of the glaring headlights of vehicles at the other side of the road. It also made our trip a little less boring.

There are times that I also save jokes that was sent to me through text because I want to share it to my friends and hoping they will laugh really hard too just like I did!

Panic Buy

Oh no! I panicked-buy again! And this time, on e-bay!!! This usually happens when I was not able to buy the things I want from mall shopping. Now, I got 7 items bought (not bid) up on my ebay name. It's like I was "bitin" from my spree last Saturday. Why does e-bay have the things I
wanted all at the same time?

Mystery Caller

I've been receiving unwanted calls in our office during work hours. A credit card company offering their latest promo or even on-line application. One time, a call telling me that I won an overnight stay at a hotel and that I have to pick up the certificate at their office and asking me to stay for at least 60 minutes for their detailing. All of these are time consuming and annoying especially if you have a deadline to beat.

In the US, you can Report Annoying Callers. Its a special service that will help you identify prank and mystery callers. You can trace the number that is not in your phone book . This service is very useful since now, everyone has mobile cellphones. I hope we can access it here too!!

No Money, No Icecream

Has it happened to you that you only discover you don't have any money, even coins in your wallet at the moment you are going to pay for something that you really wanted? The natural reaction is to ask your companion, if you have any, to just pay for the purchase & promise to pay for it later. But what if your companion also has no money at hand too?

Yes, this has happened to me! Me and my friend/office mate went out for lunch. After eating, we craved for dessert. We fancied then to buy ice cream. The sales lady has done scooping when we realize our little problem. Good thing we have not started eating the ice cream. My friend went straight to the ATM while I stayed at the ice cream stand. It was really embarrassing. If not for the ice cream, we will not realize this and will have this situation at the parking lot!

But the thing is, we were not able to buy the ice cream because the vendor has no change for the 1,000 bill.

Moral lesson: Never crave for ice cream? Duh?

Vet On Call

I'm not the only veterinarian in our office. But every time that there is a dog related problem in one of my office mates, It is I that they call. Just recently, on a weekend, one of the boss (am not directly reporting to him) called me. I wish they understand the difficulty in diagnosing a pet problem over the phone. Its not easy. I'll just rely on their story & I should extract information that would lead me close to identifying whats really wrong with the dog.

In this case, good thing, the problem was a little bit glaring. The clinical signs based on my boss observation clearly states that the dog is suffering from flea infestation. So, I recommended the flea control products I always use.

Maybe the drug I recommended was effective since he did not call anymore. More so, two other bosses called me (from our mother company) for consultation. How I wish I charge for professional fee!!!

Birthday Preps Update

The invitation is done and ready for distribution. My sister finally decided what will be the souvenir. She was finished with the selection of the pictures for the MTV and was handed to me yesterday. I have to give it to the editor. But wait, she hasn't decided yet what will be the background music. The loot bags are now in production. Today is my meeting with the tshirt supplier. Final design for the cake was already submitted. I'll talk to my friend who will do the balloons....

Cards for the Family

My mother called me up yesterday and asked me to buy Christmas cards (this early!) for our relatives in the U.S. At first, I thought my mother was joking because I can't remember when was the last time I bought a greeting card. Well, I heard my mom right and is really asking me to buy 6 sets of cards. Along with this request is the listing of the area codes for Louiseville, Kentucky, Chicago & Alabama.

So, I looked up in this site, Search Area Codes which my friend referred. It's a useful site because of its completeness. It has the list of all the area codes of the 50 states in the US. Looking up for the codes is a breeze.

Just for Laughs

What makes one laugh? Really very hard? A good joke is one the most sound answer, right? Happy moments, too. I write this post because I laughed really hard when my classmate from college (we are not that close) popped up a YM to me as I'm doing a post.

Here goes our YM:

classmate: ritz...
ritz: yes?
classmate: how are you?
classmate: si ritz ka ba
ritz: yup. name of classmate?
classmate: anong block natin?
ritz: ha? 34?
ritz: tama ba?
classmate: yup tama
classmate: testing ko lang baka hindi ikaw yan
ritz: nya... at least wala pa ako memory gap! hahaha
classmate: senior memory...

Well. I can't post the rest of our conversation na. I had a good laugh lang from this one. It was so unexpected that he will ask our block number when we are freshmen in college. Duh, ang daming pwedeng itanong. I was also surprised that I do remember the number!..

I'll understand if you did not laugh at it. hehehehe. Maybe, It has brought up something in the past that I instantly remembered me mentioning my early college days. But then, this should be a private laugh... oh, well...

Making Change, NOW

I believe that children are our future.
Teach them well and let them lead the way.
Show them all the beauty they possess inside.

I remember the first few lines in the song The Greatest Love of All sung by Whitney Houston in the 80's when I learned about a 12 year old boy, who is currently the youngest ambassador of UNICEF, Bilaal Rajan. I was really touched by his story and even made me contemplate what am I doing then when I was his age. Definitely, I was not doing even a quarter of what he has achieved now. He has already raised over $5 million these past eight years for various causes . In his tender years, he has not only shown his passion to inspire children of no hope but has put into action what he stands for and he did made a difference.

More so, he has written a book “Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever” that I believe would help largely in spreading his goodwill not only to children but to everybody, regardless of age. All parents out there can initiate this by reading this book and let your kids be inspired by story of Bilaal Rajan.

His goal to inspire one million kids in the next three years to maximize their true potential and get involved in creating a better world is a selfless one. He encourages us to make change NOW.

Well, if we think about it, if everyone would initiate change, even a simple or small one, that is, for good, this would snowball into a big change for everyone to enjoy. And besides, CHANGE is the only permanent thing in this world.

Birthday Rush

Now my sister is panicking. With less than a month till my nephew Neo's birthday, I can feel the rush! She now handed me the list of my things to do. As well as my other sister. Good thing, this week is just an ordinary work week for me. Maybe I can do some calls in between works and during break time. Honestly, I'm also excited to prepare for Neo's birthday. I would like a grand gift for him. What can that be?

These are the things to do listed under me:
1. Loot bags & goodies inside
2. MTV production
3. Special B-day shirt

I have called on to our suppliers to give me a hand in doing this in a very friendly budget! And of course, my creative ideas will be put to action (naks!). Have a great birthday, Neo!

Nice, Lazy Sunday

I called my parents that I won't be able to go home this weekend. When I wake up this morning, all I want to do is to sleep!. My body aches because of the 2 weeks pressure loaded events. Am so glad its over. I was able to get up by 1 pm because my stomach is already growling. Time really goes fast when you get to do nothing. After I ate my breakfast-snack-lunch, I turned on my dvd player and watched feel-good movies. It was indeed a nice, lazy Sunday for me. Well, I deserved this. I really would like to go out and go to the mall but the movies I played on made me stick to the tube as if I have not watched it then. As if! I watched While You Were Sleeping maybe 12 times already! Right now, A Walk in the Clouds is playing. It's one of my favorites!

I did checked on mails and posted this and a new blog opps. I don't want to end this day. I wish it's still Sunday tomorrow. Well, to off set the days I worked overtime & days with no work that I still worked, I'm planning to have a leave on Friday. I want a long weekend. This time, I'll do some personal errands and do some window shopping! My boss is still out of the country till next week, that's why.

Bad Credit Offers

Nowadays, getting a credit card is easy. Unlike five to seven years back, very few has one. It was a status symbol then and I got the impression that only from the class A & B can have one. I can still remember when I was declined not only once by credit card companies. Right now, I maintain two major credit cards, a visa & a master card. But I do have other 4 cards which is inactive. I never activated them because I did not apply for them in the first place. I recognize the importance of having more than one card. Its useful in times of emergency. On the other hand, it lures you to spend more and make you forget about it! That's where the danger lies.

Good thing there are services now available online that dishes out useful information and tips on how to choose the company & avoid bad credit credit cards. For me, the use of credit card must only cover emergencies & once in a while splurges as reward. It should not be a way of living. Besides, nothing beats paying in cash. No interest to think about!

L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole

This song is one of my timeless favorites. I was even suggesting this to be the background music for my nephews MTV for his 1st birthday on Nov 8. This song is actually on the Christmas Album of Starbucks, Santa Baby.

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please dont break it
Love was made for me and you

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore can

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please dont break it
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you

The Search Is Over

Information is now just a click away. It's really a wonder how technology has advanced ten years ago. Now, we can get to finish a school research project without going to the library and browsing to big and heavy encyclopedias. Practically everyone can access any information through the different search engines available be it for business, school research, entertainment and even people search. There are sites now available for free people search. I know one... LookupWho .com is a people search is a tool to find and reconnect with someone whose address and phone number are no longer known to you. All you need to do is to enter the person's name & state. This is free! Right now, they do service to United States and Canada. I'm sure soon, they'll be able to offer this to as many countries possible. And if that happens, I wonder how can I be part of the list?

Hey, think of a person that you want to search, for all you know, you may have an unfinished business that you may pursue! Sounds exciting!

At Wits End

Tomorrow is the last day of our preparation for another big event. Our company is one of the major sponsors of the biggest agricultural and livestock trade fair here in the Philippines. This is staged annually and for the 4th time, I'm the project leader. With this track record, I should be the master of this. But every year is different. Preparation is becoming more and more tedious since we have to beat our record in terms of staging, gimmick & of course, ROI of the previous year. Coming from an event last week, things are piling up again. Plus the fact that we just had our sales cut off which means new set of marketing guidelines has to be cascaded to the sales people. In short, I had this feeling that I'm the only one who is feeling the pressure. I cannot do them at all at the same time. I got the impression that my teammates has slowed down after last week's event and that I'm only the one running to beat all deadlines. Its true that we have created committees, but it seems that I do all things by myself. I'm at my wits end this afternoon that I had to raise my voice while I dished out all the things to do to my team. But after that, I somehow felt bad but still , I think that's the best way to do to wake them up. I wish that when I wake up tomorrow this 3 day event is over!

The year 2012

Ever since I met up with a friend of mine, who happens to be a monk, sometime last month, things about 2012 prophecy has been in my thoughts. I have never questioned my friends religious belief since, from the way he talks & explain this things to me, he has never mentioned any religion. He is into alchemy. Until now, I do not fully understand him, but there are certain theories that has been proven in me. My friend is talking about how the things happening to our environment, the calamities not only here in the Philippines but worldwide is contributing to the upheaval in the year 2012.

There is this book by Laura Dunham, a spiritual energy healer, Spiritual Wisdom For A Planet In Peril that talks about how to prepare for the much anticipated transformation of the earth by year 2012. I think there's nothing wrong with knowing what are the things that we must do in preparing. The things that are stated are all for the good. Like living an earth-friendly lifestyle, how to cope up with the existing economy... In this book, the author shares what are the signs of the changing times, understand the major prophecies & probabilities about 2012, teaches how to practice the art of discernment & how to participate in the Great Shift to the consciousnenss of unity and love.

We can never learn all of this unless we keep an open mind. Books like this can help us understand and shows the process as to how to put in to action. I bet my friend know about this, and maybe I'll just ask him instead.

Work out Monday

I worked out on a Monday! Yes, together with my 2 friends, we went to sweat out in our company gym. It was my first time to use the facilities. I used to just play badminton there & decided to join my friends & check out the much talked about gym. It was indeed a good feeling, minus my aching legs. hahahaha. I was really proud of myself to be able to find the courage to go to the gym in this hectic week. I do have an event coming this thursday so, I got lots of things to do. yaiks... But as my friends said, I need a break! A break? Gym? I did not let myself push too hard. I just had a good 30 minutes at the treadmill, 15 min at the bike... That alone has given me the body aches. Tomorrow we plan o play badminton. Along with this extra curricular activities is going on diet. Yes, diet...This is the hardest part! Gggrrrhhhhh.

Easy Pay Day

What is the best way to relax after three weeks of work and pressure? Well, for me, shopping is the answer. It may be just window shopping but buying something that fancies me really does the thing. I think a lot of girls will approve of this!

Christmas season brings along bazaars & mall sale! Wow, I really wish I have saved some bucks to give in to my holiday splurge. It seems that when the "ber" months started, I cannot stop thinking of all the things I need & want to buy. And there are also things that are on sale but not yet in need but I will still buy because it is categorized, under my definition as "good buy". What the heck, that's the Christmas spirit!!!

But given this, I see to it that all I spend is not beyond my means. It has always been a routine for me to make my credit cards in zero balance when the year ends. This way, I can start the next year with a clean slate. But mind you, good sale are also up till February!!!

I wanted to get payday loans ever since I came across it. This are short term loans that can be used to cover spending cravings. It is designed to be connected to your future pay checks. It somehow gives you instant budget in times when cash is not yet at hand. It may be similar in concept with credit cards but different in the credit limits since it was pegged against the amount of your paycheck. This is what I really wanted! A credit tool just within my means. Tendency to over spend & maintaining high interest from the use of credit cards will be minimized. I have also heard this from a friend and she said that this is becoming popular. But honestly, I don't know where to get it or how. If you happen to know how, please tell me...