Sharpen your mind!

I was reviewing a working paper this afternoon when I got distracted by Kathryn asking something then when I was going to continue with my review I could not find the pen I was using! I did not leave my desk, I only stopped but the pen was gone. Oh I know my desk is a mess with all the working papers and memos I have to work on so I looked over and under them to see if I placed it in between… but none… so I searched for it in my drawers but I could not find it that I finally got another pen from my bag so I could continue my work.

This usually happens to me… sometimes I’d lose a lot of pens at other times I’d have so much pens in my drawer, on my desk or on my keyboard and I don’t know how they got there or how I missed seeing them before! Sometimes I’d kid myself that there’s an elf playing tricks on me but truth is I’m just plain forgetful. There are things I could easily remember but things like pens and even names I easily forget. And now I came upon an article on how to sharpen your brain. It is interesting and I am going to try to work on them. I certainly hope it works for me!

...now where was I????

Hit by a tire!

Well we had been hit tonight by a tire… a big tire from a bus! We were on a passenger jeepney when we felt and heard a loud bang. A big tire hit our side and it continued rolling. Where did that came from??? We saw a bus stop a few meters from us but it was not tilted in any way. Our driver said that the tire may have come from the rear tires since there are four rear tires so that it was still erect. The driver stopped to look at the damage to his jeepney but luckily there was none. The tire did not stop after hitting us but continued rolling and we were watching it go and it headed to some of the cars parked in the road near the church. The bus conductor came to our jeepney to check the damage but was probably relieved that there was none, then he headed to where the tire stopped and our jeepney moved slowly to it while we all took a look at what happened. It was a weird thing, there was space of about 2 ½ to 3 meters in between two cars and the tire went through it and hit the rear end of one of the car not on its side but it the middle of the bumper. The bumper had a very wide, big and deep dent! The owner would surely be surprised when he gets back to it and I am not sure if the conductor will be waiting for him though he probably wouldn’t since there were some people on the sidewalk that were there watching too.

The tire seemed to have a mind of its own! It is like he really meant to hit that car! I don’t really know why and I wish I knew so I could say Eureka!

Moved to do and think GOoD

As usual I attended the noon mass and today was special since it is the feast of the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I was feeling generous so I gave twice my normal church offering, the mass proceeded and after communion as I went back to my pew there was a beggar seated in front of me. He was just seated there with a plastic cup on his hand and folded cartons on his side. There are a lot of beggars outside the church and it is very seldom that they go inside and if they do would often just linger at the place near the door but he seated himself near the altar and was in front of me… I felt that I was called to give him something big so I did.

After the mass I got a bill from my pocket and handed it to him. He received it and said thanks and I just nodded as I stood to leave the church. I was already facing backwards when he poked me with something he got from his folded cartons. He was handing me a folded umbrella. It was a nice lacey white folded umbrella but it was not mine so I told him so and would not take it but the girl on the other side of the pew said that the umbrella belonged to the woman in red and she was looking for it. Then I remembered that there was really a woman in red seated in front of me where the man now sat. So I took the umbrella thinking of leaving it with the office. When I was near the door I saw the woman and was already approaching her when I heard another woman she was talking with shout to the beggar telling him that the woman was looking for the umbrella. I handed the umbrella to the woman and told her that the man gave it to me since she left it. And she asked me “binigay nya sa iyo?” (he gave it to you?) and when I said yes, she said “Dapat pala siya pasalamatan” (I should thank him then).

As I walked towards the office I was thinking about the events. I am not really sure what happened to the umbrella since I was not around when the other woman left her place nor when the man got seated… it will be hard to judge but I had a feeling from the woman on the other pew’s comment and from the actuation of the woman who lost the umbrella that she felt that the man had it with him so that she was asking someone who knows him to talk to him and that when I told him that he returned it to me that she was somehow embarrassed of her thought and wanted to make up for it… I may be wrong in the way I analyze things and as I said it is wrong to judge but I just realized that sometimes you are moved to do good to a stranger and the person who accepts the act of kindness is also moved to do good also and pass if forward and somehow that brought a positive feeling for me.

Thoughts on independence

Yesterday was our country’s independence day. It is supposed to be a celebration but I really did not get any news on celebration of our special day… one reason is I did not have a chance to watch TV, listen to the radio nor read the news. I asked my brother-in-law though what was the special event intended for the day and he said a job fair. Well, that’s a good thing to do on a special day.

Though I did not notice any national celebration we had a celebration at home though courtesy of my sister and her family. They brought 3 kilos of chicken legs and cooked it chicken inasal style. I haven’t eaten chicken in ages but I joined in the eating and it was good! I asked my sister what got into my brother-in-law for buying such volume and she said she did not know. I wondered if he was starting to have his andropause (hehehe... ) or maybe in his way he wants the family to celebrate the country’s special day?

Independence day should be special day for any country but if many of the people could not appreciate the value of such declaration, what good is it? Maybe just another rest day for employees?

In the age of interconnectedness, is one country really independent? We all have to depend on others to sustain our lives, right?

Does it really matter what form of government we have? Isn’t the quality of life lived by people more important?

Does it really matter how the head of state of our country got into power as long as there is no bloodshed along the way? Isn’t it more important that the one who gets there is really there to serve the people? There have been different ways for our heads to get and stay in power and there are always complains on how they get there.

I am Filipino, I am proud to be one even if at times I come across countrymen that embarrass me. I’ve come to realize that I don’t care much about the word “independence” but that doesn’t mean I feel less than a Filipino. Oh I appreciate the lives offered by heroes to fight for our freedom. But I appreciate it more because they loved our country enough that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause. Maybe more than anything we should celebrate not the declaration but the love they had for our country because it is their kind of love that will bring greatness for our country… it is that kind of love that will move one another to help their brothers…that’s the kind of love that we ought to celebrate!

Back to school again

I am back to my online schooling after stopping for a semester. It feels a bit different going back after laying low for a while not doing any reading related to the course. There’s a also a little nervous feeling of being able to cope up after looking over the vast reading materials to be read and the works to be done especially since I’ve been coming home late and it is even later I am able to come up to my room to do the reading and studies and the strange magnetism of the bed as it seems to tell me “come to me… come to me and sleeeeeeep!!!”

However, the excitement of learning is still there plus the interaction with fellow students and I am back to having my professor from a previous class. Oh boy she gives a lot of work… actually added lots of white hair to my head… but she is good not just academically but all in all. I appreciate her and it will be nice to learn with her again.

As in the past there are only two subjects for this semester. I remember when I first enrolled that I was telling the staff from the learning center… “What just 2 subjects? Can’t I take more?” Oh boy, did I eat my words. I guess two is already max for me… one would actually be ideal but on a shorter term. Starting this school year, they have switched from a semester to a trimester just for our program… we are sort of the guinea pig for the university. I believe it will work, so that even if you just take one subject per trimester you’ll be able to finish in a reasonable time.

I am actually loaded… at work… at home… with the activities in my prayer communities… plus I like to just surf the net and be awed at the varied stuff there is in there (definitely apart from school materials) sometimes I feel the press for time and would hope to be able to freeze it so I could do all the things I love and need to do without feeling any pressure but something got me today from the priest’s sermon… he was talking on giving and generosity. He said that if you give, be it money, talent or time… you’ll never run out of it. I know he was talking in a different context but somehow i felt a message for my schedules. SO I’m giving my time and effort to all the things I have to do and I know that I’ll be able to make up time for it…