Those Petty Little Things

A month from now marks my second year in the real world. And as I vaguely keep track of where I am now two years after graduating from college, I could proudly say that I am BROKE. 

No, I do not spend a lot shopping. I detest going around the each store at the malls looking for shoes, clothes and other stuff unless I am assisting someone. Although you can find me inside a mall more than 3x a week, it is still a struggle to shop for my own things. 

I also don't splurge on travel. Although I do love to see places, I always end up dreaming of those places instead of going to them. I practically find myself stuck in the city for several months before going out.

Neither do I spend on expensive gadgets. I do dream of them. Most of the things I wanted are fancy electronics, yet the moment I face their price tags, I chicken out. 

What really made me broke are not those big things like shopping or travel. Instead it's those little things. I realized this after reading this 5 Money Mistakes You Might Be Making (and How to Avoid Them) on Shine. The first mistake had my name all over it.

Money Mistake #1: My Money Is Disappearing

No one starts the month planning to fritter away a small fortune, but that’s what can happen when minor expenses spiral out of control. It’s not just shopping at Saks that gets you into trouble. Seemingly innocent purchases — $15 jeans at Target, a few things for the kids at a two-for-one sale, the occasional Frappuccino — can do real damage to your bottom line.

What does it take to waste $10,000 a year? Just $27.40 a day. “You can undermine some of your most important goals with purchases you’ll never remember,” says Suzanna de Baca, president of Private Capital Solutions Group, a Des Moines, IA, investment advisory firm.

I am guilty. I get to spend on food that costs less and find myself broke at the end of the day. I also spend for petty little accessories to my gadgets or pens or books or things that doesn't really matter but are dirt cheap. 

I probably need to keep track on these petty little things. They are like small leaks to the big bucket. They may be so small, yet the bucket ends up empty because of these.

The Things That Bind Us

What is it like to fly? What is it like to feel the rushing winds carrying you high above the clouds? Looking back at the history of Aviation, our desire to fly could be traced way back 400BC when Greek philosophers attempted to make small flying machines and the Chinese tried to use kites to scout the airways during the wars (Wikipedia).

Current media also show us supermen who could fly high above the clouds. Movies showing these heroes, flying above the clouds, impress most of us. It is as if we ourselves fly side by side these heroes. Famous myths such as that of Daedalus’ and Icarus’ feat of flying on wax wings to escape prison also portray the same desire of man to soar the heavens.

When could we fly above the clouds? Just imagine all the fun that we could have!

Little do we know that we were actually built to soar the vast heavens. We were actually designed to fly and be one with the skies. You didn’t know? How come?

[READ MORE]

Back to Basics

I joined the notebook PC bandwagon last February. I had a great offer from a friend considering its condition and its model. Actually, I'm not so sure if I had a great offer. It's just what a lot of people have been telling me.

At first I thought the notebook was just the same as any other PC just smaller in size.  Whoever started the notebook bandwagon thought of a PC that's for the working-on-the-go type of person. It's just for typing and surfing the net. It's small size enable the person to bring it everywhere. 

As I said, it's for typing and surfing the net, so someone as game hungry as I am might find that troubling. I learned it the hard way.

I thought I could install the usual things I install on my laptop and my desktop. That included the games that I usually play. Since the small notebook does not have a CD, I did some magic stuff with the other computers to run the games on USB. It's no magic really and it takes time. 

The usual games that I are simple. I never wanted big shot games with high memory or video requirements. Just a sport game and a racing game is enough. Something along the lines of NBA Live and Need For Speed from 2 or 3 years ago. I thought those were enough to liven my gloomy days. 

The games installed perfectly. However, the moment I executed the programs, they went crashing down. It turned out that the notebook did not meet the video requirement of the game. I tried a lower version, and it ended up the same way. So much for being game hungry.

So out goes the games.

Or not.

For gamers to give up on playing games is unthinkable. They find ways to get through those trials. Though I am not a full fledged gamer, I have my ways. I tried to go back to basics: emulators. Before I was able to have the games on my other computers, there was the emulator. They simply emulate the game consoles that we have today. For me, it was an N64 emulator. 

Since the N64 came before the first Playstation, it sported a decent but somewhat crude graphics unlike the playstations and the Xboxes of our time, but not so much for the gameplay. It was enough to satiate my craving. 

Amazing though, it worked great on the notebook after a few tweaks on the settings. Now, not only could I play the usual, I could play an arsenal of games ranging from rpgs to sport games. 

Hurray for the basics!

Deacon's Retreat

Last stop of the 3 weekend get away. Bolinao, Pangasinan. Nice beach, nice people. Great scenes, great events. A conglomeration of generations. The nips activity was great. The social night was wild.

End result, we learned a lot from and about each other.

Should I or Shouldn't I?

Friends usually come and go. Perhaps you won’t even realize that someone you have been with for a year or so has suddenly disappeared until he or she has reappeared several years later. I guess it happens sometimes in life.

Who could tell that my first entry after several months of nothingness is about something stupid that I did today? I found the day most amusing that it instantly snatched the worry from my head.

I was on a rush today. I tried cramming on a paper due this afternoon that I didn’t realize the time. A few more minutes and I would have been terribly late for work. With the paper only in my head, I suited up for work and hurriedly left the house.

Worry was still etched on my brows as I hurried to the jeepney stop. I couldn’t even focus on the song on my player. The paper still couldn’t get out of my head. I have always been a crammer but there was something special about this paper that really made my stomach reel.

All worry flew away when I noticed the girl in front of me. The jeep was almost empty so I couldn’t miss seeing her. I could clearly remember riding on the same jeep with this girl several times. I always have the same thought whenever I see her there: where have I met her before? I seem to know this girl several years back, though I just couldn’t be too sure.

My best guess was in grade school and that we also belong to the same school service. Back then, being in the same school service is like belonging into the same brood. Of course, it was all a childish misconception back then.

I sure remember that pretty face, now with the word “tired” etched all over it. Probably her current job or family or relationship has made her that way. Of course I couldn’t tell, but she surely matured a lot.

I kept on shooting glances at her like I was some stalker or something. What’s funny was that she was doing the same thing. We’re both pretending that we’re not looking at each other. Probably she, too was contemplating where we met or if this was really the classmate I had back then.

Should I talk to her? I thought, Maybe she doesn’t really remember? We don’t see that often, so I have nothing to lose.

I felt like some high school student mustering up the courage to talk to his crush. It seemed so juvenile. It was funny since it’s not like I’m asking her out or anything. I just felt that I needed to confirm that she really was a former classmate or not. Throughout the trip to the train station, I was fighting the urge to talk to her.

It’s now or never, I thought.

Minutes passed and I still couldn’t muster enough strength to talk to her. When the jeep came to my stop, she also went down. Apparently she’s riding the train as well.

All throughout the steps to the train, she was really close that I could have easily talked to her. Yet I was still hesitant. It was really an awkward moment. Instead of my speeding up the steps to get to the train like I usually do, I was climbing the darn steps at her pace.

WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING?

At the queue to the North bound train, she was right in front of me. Yet I still held back. It wasn’t until we went past the ticketing area that I got the courage to talk to her. I stuttered and stammered my questions out. It turned out that she really did go to PCU and she really was a classmate back then. She said her name was Amelia and that she also went to UP.

The conversation lasted for two to three minutes. After that she went to the ladies section of the train while I proceeded to my usual side. I was grinning like stupid for what I did for the rest of the day.

I don’t know if I learned anything with that encounter, but sure enough, all the worries with the paper had been forgotten. Maybe it was God’s way of easing my worries. If it was, it sure was successful. 

Mount Tarak Adventure

March 26-28, 2010. The Youth Ministries Department went on a hiking expedition to Mt. Tarak, Mariveles, Bataan. The mountain is 1288 feet below sea level. From its peak, you could see the island of Corregidor and the town of Mariveles.

This time, my knees didn't give in unlike last time, but my head did. It was a blast, but my untimely head ache due to something not modest to mention, ruined it all.

Nueva Vizcaya Road Trip

Commonly dubbed as the second northern exposure trip, we went to Nueva Vizcaya, a 6 hour drive from Manila. It was a really great chance to experience a change of environment. No pollution, no loud music, no noisy neighbors. Thanks to the Viernes Family for the food and accommodation.