One Month Has Passed

And I'm still enemployed. As much as I'm a lazy person, I'm also loath to depend on my parents.

Savings is also dwindling, so I just might apply to the call center in Makati (unless someone can offer me the call center in Ortigas, so I don't have to commute all the way to South). I'm turning nocturna either way.

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For People Who Need an Ego Boost

The Darwin Awards

This one is my favorite. I mean come on. If I was going to commit a robbery, why a gun shop, filled with customers (in a gun-legal state), and one that had a police officer inside?

Second place for me goes here. Some city officials were, uh, too faithful in recreating the incident that caused the electrocution of painters (if this happened in the Philippines I wonder whether people will be happy that they died, or sad that we voted for these officials).

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Contentment

Happiness has always been something we ourselves determine. What makes us happy, or what makes us sad, is up to us. In the end, we decide whether the proverbial glass is half full, or half empty.

Of course people usually attribute the positive attribute to the person who sees the glass half full. That needn't be always the case. I mean we can't always be too complacent about our own lives. Once we reach that point, some of us are tempted to stop striving, tempted to stop changing the world. I have friends, like Dean and Elbert, who are hard to please. But that's also part of what makes them who they are, and in their case, a vital asset. Their high standards are reflected in their lives, and while some might think of them as opinionated, that doesn't invalidate the productivity that arises from their passion or need to make things better. Granted, it does make them feel discontented at times, but there's also a sense of accomplishment in what they've done (and while to them it may never seem enough, to us bystanders, we just admire them for all they've managed to accomplish).

As for me, I've learned to live with myself in the current situation. I mean I learned a long time ago that I can't please my parents, for example. And I certainly won't please other people as much as they want to (or I want to). In the end, I can only answer for myself. In order to care for others, I must first care for myself, and that can only happen if I'm pleased with myself (all 40 kg of me!). Despite my flaws and weaknesses (or sometimes, because of it), I am who I am, and possess redeeming assets of my own. This also might seem to other people as me settling for less. I'm not. It's me learning to be content with what I have (and there's a lot I have to be thankful for). If I'm caught doing "menial jobs", all I have to say is that someone has got to do them. And they are important in the smaller scheme of things. Sure, it might not make me rich or famous, but riches or fame does not necessarily make you happy (although of course, if I'm going to be a sad person, I might as well be a sad rich person).

It's a totally different perspective from my friends Dean and Elbert, but just because it's different does not mean it's inferior or superior. It's merely a different way of looking (and living) at life. Of course taken to the extreme, either situation can be detrimental to society. Just because I'm content with my life does not automatically mean I stopped changing, stopped evolving. There's still a whole world out there for me to explore, an entire world to change and affect the only I way I can. But I also realize that I have time (the illusion of youth!), and I need not hurry. The world will always be there, waiting. In the meantime, allow me to appreciate what I have, savoring every moment of it.

Of course if the need arises, I'll come out of my comfort zone and hopefully lead (leadership to me has always been a responsibility; I'm capable but I don't yearn for it unless there's an absolute need; of course once it's in my lap, there's no real reason why I should hold back and not give it my best) the pioneers of change. Or what'll make me rich and/or famous. =)

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Work Ethic

I always thought that it's good policy that when someone is resigning/quitting (whether it's your job, a club, or an organization), one informs the necessary people in advance. So that preparations can be made. I mean I can't just say that today, I'm quitting, so I won't be coming to work tomorrow. No matter what your job is, your coworkers are affected and one has to make allowances for that. Even if your job is as simple as say, being the janitor, someone has to clean the offices today or tomorrow. And finding replacements isn't as quick as snapping your fingers.

So why am I mentioning all this? Well today I came to school to cash in the checks my block gave to Ateneo. Unfortunately, it seems that the one handling the checks resigned, and everyone else thought that it was being processed. Alas, it's only recently that it was discovered that the checks weren't in fact being processed, and is now stale. Which means we're P5,000.00 short.

Of course I'm always open to the possibility that the incident arose from an event other than an employee suddenly quitting. But here in the Philippines, it seems to me that it's a common practice that people "suddenly" resign, and when I mean suddenly, they hand in their resignation papers today and are gone literally tomorrow (unless of course it's a contract).

Ice and Fire

Well it's summer and I feel the heat (although I still regularly bathe in hot water... which means it isn't really as hot for me as say, coming over from the US and adjusting to this country's temperature). But the Philippines having unpredictable weather (along with unpredictable elections), there was a storm this afternoon. Which is nice once in a while but harmful to those who weren't expecting the sudden rain.

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