I Am Now 29

So it's my 29th birthday. Damn, I feel old. LOL But then I don't really feel 29. I don't feel any different from when I was 19. I still like the same foods, find the same type of girls attractive, read the same authors. The only thing different is I learned a lot of new things and met a lot more people. So, growing old isn't really that bad. Hahaha!

Otanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu

Two years ago, I received this email from my friend Sam. Since then, it has been my tradition to read it on my birthday as a sort of mantra that anything is possible. Thank you, Sam!

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Dearest Aldwin,

Hurrah! You are now officially old……er………than me………still. Hahahahaha!

The years that have passed have been great. That’s because I have you as one of my very good friends. I thank the powers that be for giving you another year in this earth. Hehehe. Aldwin, this is your day! Happy birthday! :)

By the way, sometimes, magic does not just happen; it has to be made or allowed to happen. You often tell me that you’re hoping something magical will happen to you on your special day. Most of us do and that’s a wonderful thing to hope for. However, instead of waiting for magic to happen today why don’t you make it happen? Make magic, Aldwin.

Consider this day your free pass/ticket (valid until the 15th only hehe) to test fate without it reeling back in retaliation. Who knows? Maybe it’s waiting for you to pull the lever or push the button. :) And while you’re at it why not be a bit selfish as well? Hehe, there’s nothing wrong with that. Now, I’m not suggesting you go around and be egotistical… too much selfishness is conceit after all, and that’s bad, very bad…not even your birthday will save you. Hahahaha.

Happy Birthday Aldwin! With all the sincerity I can muster (and send through cyberspace :) ) I wish you a very magical day!!! *dances like a fairy princess to summon luck*


Sam …. NOT MILBY…..

Arguments - Part 1

This is in response from my previous article "This Week's Readings Pissed Me Off"

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Aldwin: But wouldn't your statement put into question God being perfect? After all, why would God make things flawed? What the Garden of Eden serves to illustrate is time when things were perfect. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, that story serves to illustrate is how mankind fell from grace. That is, became imperfect.

Joan: No, it doesnt put to question God being perfect. The book said the things he made were "good", not perfect, not flawless. He made humans in his image, he did not make other gods. It doesnt say that it was a perfect time. Only that it was a time of plenty and when things were simple. what it illustrates is how Man in a creative overuse of his newly found freedom disobeyed a simple command.

This Week's Readings Pissed Me Off

Everyone knows the story about Adam and Eve. Well, everyone who has ever picked up a Bible. I never really saw it as anything but a story until recently when I read the misalette for this Sunday's mass. Then I was just...pissed.

The misalette described Adam and Eve's sin as ungrateful disobediance. That is just so...wrong. I don't think it was ungrateful. I don't think it was even disobedience. If I didn't know any better, I would think it was a conspiracy to ensure that Adam and Eve would commit a sin.

God puts a tree of of good and evil within arm's reach of Adam and Eve. God puts a snake to tempt/trick Eve into taking it's fruit and eating it. He may as well have handed the fruit to them Himself. What kind of God would do something like that?

I'll tell you. It's not my God, that's for sure. I'd like to think that God is smarter than that or a bit more careful. Thank goodness this is just a story and not the Gospel truth. No wonder the Lord's Prayer ends with "Do not lead us into temptation."

I realize that there are so many questions I have about this story. Such as Eve being tempted/tricked by the serpent into eating the fruit and sharing it with Adam. It's almost like saying that women will lead me to sin and men are too stupid and ignorant to know any better.

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The gospel talks about how Jesus went into the desert and fasted for 40 days. Some people might say that he did not eat anything or drink anything. If God were human, he would have died on the thrid day because no human can last without water for 3 days. And no human can survive without food for seven days.

But Jesus isn't human. In fact, our religion class called him God-man, as if he were a mix of both. That's fine; his divinity sustained him while his human side waivered. But if that were true, wouldn't the temptations be...meaningless?

I mean, if you could survive 40 days without eating (which is well past the human norm) then being tempted by the devil to turn bread to stone was pretty mute. And being asked to jump off a cliff? I may be divine but I'm not stupid, is how I would have responded. As for having the world bow down and worship? Who wants that responsibility? Can you imagine people whinning about this and that little thing? Asking for favors and exemptions? Besides, if he were divine, I think he would have known that the world would be worshipping him. After all, there is no other cause more...proclaimed than doing the work of God. Including wars and genocide.

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And in case you think I'm being irrespectful to God, think again. I'm poking holes at the connotations, not God.

One Month and Counting...

So it's been a month since I resigned. Honestly, I didn't take into account it would take this long to find a new job. I've been to 7 interviews and 2 online exams. I've applied to 12 different companies and got rejected by 2. The others are taking their sweet time.

I guess I didn't to take into account that companies wouldn't be trying procesing applications quickly, no matter how much they are in need. I also didn't take into account that you can't be honest, that not all people who interview you are qualified and that they might simply pumping you for info regarding their competition.

So, to commemorate my first month of being unemployed, here are a few tips for you:

- Do not tell them the truth. Companies aren't interested in the truth or your opinions. They just want to hear what a good drone you can be. I was asked if could think of a reason why they wouldn't hire me, I told them the truth. I told them that I wasn't interested in maintaining the status quo; if there's something wrong going on, I wasn't about to sweep it under the rug. I would do what I could to correct it. I got a text message that I didn't qualify for the position the next day.

- Make sure the people who interview you are qualified. I went to an appointment, expecting to be interviewed by a manager. Instead, I was interviewed by team leads, the same position I was applying for. They asked me all kind of questions about statistics and programs I made to improve performance of my team. They wanted to know how much improvement in percentage the program resulted in. WTF?! If you want a feasibility study, you should go back to college. Any supervisor worth his salt knows that you can't measure performance by incremental percentages. It was like being asked to study for a Trigonometry exam but the test was for Algebra. You knew how to find the answers but it was annoying to be asked a different set of questions.

- Expect bureacracy. Regardless of how interested (re: desparate) a company is in filling positions, they are never as efficient as they need to be. They can also be very picky, especially for manegerial positions. So it will take some time before they get back to you. If possible, be sure to bring several copies of your resume.

- Don't forget to ask questions. A lot of the time, these people will be asking questions about your company as a way to gether intelligence. Can't believe how many tiems they asked me for my salary and my benefits. So do some research and ask them some questions too. Especially ones that will make you decide whether or not it's worth to take up their offer.

Our Pets and Companions

For as far back as I can remember, my family and I have always had pet dogs. The earliest I remember was Doggie, our first dog. We had him back when we moved to our home in Las Pinas in 1984, I think. As you can imagine, we weren't really that creative with our pet names. Hahaha!

Since we lived in Australia, we didn't have any pets until we came back in 1990. Our first dog then was London. I don't remember how he was named that but what I do remember was that he was given to us by my cousin, Christine. I remember that when brought this dog home, he hid under the washing machine. He was so small back then that he managed to fit into one of the nooks there.

After that was Odie. Again, he was given to us by our cousin, Christine. He was London's nephew, I think. Christine had to find a new home for him because she was allergic to dogs by then. What I remember most about Odie was how he had howled the first night we brought him home. We couldn't sleep because he kept it up all night.

He lasted well into old age when he couldn't even stand up anymore. My mom loved that dog so much that she would feed him milk every morning, noon and night. When he died, I spent a Sunday afternoon digging his grave and burying him in the backyard. I wish I could have given him a proper burial.

Then came the pairs, Lab-lab and Chow-chow. My mom named them that because they looked like a Labrador and a Chow-chow. They mated and gave us two litters of puppies. We gave them away to friends and family we knew would take care of them.

We kept one for ourselves, Choc-choc. My brother loves this dog more than the others we had. He calls her his "darling". Hehehe! And Choc-choc knows it. Which is why she is always excited when he comes home from work.

Mig-mig came to us from our family in Pampanga. He is Choc-choc's nephew, one of the litters of puppies we gave was named Lancer who sired him from one of the othr dogs there. He's pretty tempermental; he doesn't like being forced to do anything he doesn't like taking a bath. But he's gotten used to it especially since he knows he gets a rubdown right after.

Happy Birthday, Elaine!

Just posting a shout out to Elaine, Seth's wife on her nth birthday. Hehehe! Hope you have many more to come.