Marcus Can Blog

Monthly Savings Achieved

Tonight I finished listing and computing our monthly expenses since it is already the last week of February. I’m not expecting further expenses as we have already bought our groceries and baby stuffs which usually share the largest slice of our expenses pie.

I have made a conscious effort to save since the early part of last year. The initial news about our company on April 2, 2008 and the other bad news—including the admission of the then US president Bush about the recession taking place—made it more compelling to be thrifty enough. It’s also a good thing that the number of training our company has arranged contributed to my knowledge on how to be in control of our finances. Although it may still not be half-perfect at this time, at least our drive and urge to save is already there. We just have to start somewhere, somehow.

While there are five more days to go before this month ends, I already feel accomplished in terms of our budgeting. After I transferred our expenses to the financial worksheet, I compared our current expenses with last month’s. I then marked red those that have increased and those that decreased in green. So far the greens significantly dominate the reds.

What went well then?

Dilute, dilute, dilute. I apply this tip to all our cleaning agents for years already. The cleansers we use at home like the toilet liquid solutions and car shampoos are basically concentrated enough to be used in its pure form. Even the manufacturer’s recommended ratio is still strong for the intended tasks that it is a no-brainer that a saving can be achieved if diluted it with more water.

Be brand-conscious. When I heard Mr. Bengco (Colayco foundation) talk about it during his recent seminar at our company, I couldn’t agree more since I’ve been doing it already. What I’m not aware though is by how much is actually saved when you know what you are buying. His example: the bath soap. In his presentation he showed one brand that cost a mere Php9 (USD0.2). The next foils showed several other brands that cost twice and even more than the price just because it promises extra germ killing action, catchy fragrance, and everything there is TV ads will do just to entice consumers like us. Right now, I try to settle for the ones in the mid-price range.

Buy two brands. This may sound confusing especially just after the previous tip but believe me this is what I’m doing. For almost a year already, I had two different deodorants (Disclaimer: not for the squeamish). I used one that has “superior” action every time I go to work or leave home. Then I use one with the “least superior” action if I know that I’ll be static at home and will be spending time as a couch potato and will just be home alone with the baby – at least he doesn’t know how to complain yet if the deodorant protection fails. Ewww, daddy!

Drive like your grandma. I mentioned this on my Being a Gas Miser post and I cannot stress it more than enough that driving habit does directly affect fuel consumption. This is where I often fail but I keep on reminding myself to get back on track. Until now, I’m still at least within the 13-15 kilometer per liter expected range of our car. Now I’m wondering if I’ll be able to save gas if I stop blaring (if this doesn’t save gas, just at least my sanity) my horns every time I meet a jeepney with only one headlight on. I’ve heard that the reason why jeepney drivers do it is because one headlight saves gas than having two. Hmmm, sounds like an idea…Nah!

A Honda is a Honda. Well, at least that’s what I’m always telling myself whenever I’m on my Honda 100 cc motorcycle instead of our Honda City. That’s because when it comes to saving gas the motorcycle wins, hands down. No contest. But when it comes to saving lives…errr, wrong discus- sion. Hahaha. Seriously speaking, I recommend this tip for those ready and responsible enough to drive a motorcycle. And if you’re not yet in that mind set, it’s still worth taking a ride in that one-eyed jeepney – I bet, your wife will be even happy about it.

Go slow with the fast foods. So far, this is the biggest savings we had for this month. It was cut by more than 50 percent and it’s a welcome development. One thing that helped us do it is by avoiding the malls. There’s something about the scent of the malls that attracts each individual (or even group) to go and line up in front of the fast food counters. It may be due to poor air circulation or a deliberate ploy to set the minds of the mall goers to go hungry and crave for pizza, burger or doughnuts (and coffee) in an instant. But if you can’t avoid it, and just like what I’m doing, try going there with a full stomach—eat at home. It works for me, in fact I now eat Whoppers and half cup of sundae and large Coke. Ti abi.

Last but not the least, the No rot rule. This is still in the works after I told my wife that we should avoid foods inside the refrigerator from spoiling. Believe it or not, I used to admire people whose ref is so full of foods that most of the times, some of it will rot and end up as trash. Back then, I see it as abundance. Now, it’s nothing but waste – both food and money. So far, I’ve been successful but that’s after I’ve monitored and eaten the leftovers and had my weight build up as a consequence. Ti abi. I think it’s just about time to apply then the “No rot, No fat rule”. That I guess is win-win.

During these times when everyone gets so tired of hearing about the recession (and the rest of the similar tags that’s associated with it), the need to save and finding ways to learn more how to do it is already a must. This is also when sharing what we know, no matter how trivial, and learning from what others already knew would help each one of us survive the turbulent ride that the rest of the world experiences.

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Mood: 4/10 Honks!

You’re a Blog Addict If…

(A tribute to the return of wp-pinoys.com)

…You have one or more blog accounts.

…Your mind is always wondering what your next blog subject will be.

…You find yourself desperately composing a post even while driving.

…You would rather keep mum during discussions not until you have blogged about the subject matter for fear that other bloggers in your group or anyone would hear about it.

…Every discussion is a good discussion.

…You’ve become masochistic by enjoying confrontations just so you can check if you can make a good blog post out of it.

…You accepted an offer for an extreme adventure not because you love it but because you want to write about it despite the possibility of nausea.

…Microsoft Word and the Internet Explorer browser have been your most utilized application over Powerpoint and Excel.

…”Is the internet connection ok?” becomes your official greeting when you reach home from work.

…Your wife worries about your health whenever you fail to post.

…Your primary concern before a vacation is if your destination offers Wi- Fi.

…You suddenly wake up in the wee hours of the morning just so you can check if what you’ve posted that night had grammatical errors in it.

…You had dreams about you and your conscience arguing about your grammar usage.

…You had nightmares about WordPress.com being wiped out.

…You also had nightmares about your blog drafts being wiped out.

…You are prone to malapropism.

…You’re having symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

…You’re justifying to yourself (or wife) that an HP mini is a necessity even during this recession period.

…You’ve set your mind that your fast growing beer belly will become a good netbook platform in case you have to type while standing in a packed train.

…You have your digital camera along with you all the time ready for any “bloggable” event.

…You have considered getting a Paypal account so you can monetize your blog.

…You consider that having your own domain is a good investment.

…You wonder after the homily if the priest has a blog site.

…You’re fully aware that Technorati isn’t related to the Illuminati.

…You’ve approached your boss to let you have a blog time rather than a lunch time.

…Brushing your teeth becomes second to checking your blog hits – and that your mood is dictated by it.

…Other than the internet cafes you’ve also frequented Power Books stores and spent time taking notes of blog materials.

…You can relate very well to this blog. Happy blogging to all!

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Mood: 3/10 Honks

Starting to Hate Pioneer AV

I rarely rant in this blog because one rule I stick to when I write (and even in emails) is that I shouldn’t do it whenever I’m angry. I’ve read anger clouds the mind and so I try to avoid writing in such condition because this is when posts become badly composed, grammatical errors occur, the messages don’t make sense, and the readers or recipients get irritated as well. Today, I can’t help it.

This is actually an update to my recent post. I got my Pioneer EV51DVD component back and to my utter dismay it got worse. After whispering some expletives and trying be composed while in front of our wide-eyed boy—who was wondering what on earth I’m doing behind our entertainment rack, I sent an email to Pioneer Philippines technical service headquarters. And here’s what I wrote:

This is to report a problem I just had with your service center – 21st Century Electronics & Service Center – in Bacoor, Cavite. Last Monday, I brought my EV51DVD unit (w/o the speakers) to the said place due to a distorted/humming center speaker. By the afternoon, I came back as agreed so I can check what the status is. The personnel said then that the amplifier might have to be replaced and that they will try to check if the part is available. I was advised that I should call the next day to check again.

Yesterday, I called back and was informed that it is already ok and that I can claim it ASAP. I asked what they find wrong in it and explained that they discovered that it only needs a capacitor replacement which they have already done.

Today, I eagerly went back to get my unit expecting that it has been fixed. I brought along with me only the center speaker for testing since it was the only speaker in question. The technician of course connected it to the unit and showed me that it is playing music already – I was really thankful that time. I paid Php 900 ($19) for the labor and Php 100 ($2) for the capacitor and then left.

However, after I arrived home and excitedly reconnected the unit to the other speakers, I discovered that something wrong was done with it. When I tried the “Test Tone” feature of the unit, I was surprised that the center speaker doesn’t emit a sound when the system displays “C.” And I got more dismayed when it sounded together with the right surround speaker.

I tried to ignore it thinking that it may not be that significant. So I tried playing a DVD (original) to check if it plays just as good as before – when we bought it. That’s when I learned further that both the left and right speakers’ sound has degraded as well no matter what pre-equalizer setting I use. The vocals (dialogue) from the movie weren’t as good either — it sounded muffled. In short, the unit I got back was a total disappointment as it has gotten worse than before. My suspicion right now is that they could have tapped the output of the center speaker to the right surround speaker. I also suspect that what’s inside my unit right now aren’t its original amplifier ICs as well. Hopefully, I’m wrong.

I’m really frustrated and feel betrayed. Tomorrow or anytime this week, I’ll go back to that service center to have it fixed (they gave me two months warranty which I hope they will honor). But right now this email is sent to you for your corrective action. I’m asking you to do your investigation as well so that this won’t happen to any other customers like me who might go there in good faith just to get a service not expected from a good brand like Pioneer.

After looking at and reading the above email again, I somehow feel glad that at least it appears tactful enough. I don’t know though if I’ll feel embarrassed about it tomorrow and curse myself for letting out a rant online which I always despise.

How about you? Do you think I did my best to contain my rant? Let me know.

***

When I said “from a good brand like Pioneer” I actually lied. I think this is my last Pioneer. I had two succeeding bad experiences with it and probably I’ll consider other brands. I’m considering the following based on stories from friends and peers: Philips, Samsung and Sony. I guess I’ll just have to pick those with slim speaker or I can “invest” in good home theaters instead. Ti abi, don’t we just love this thing called consumerism.

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Funny. I’m trying to look for an image of the EV51DVD but my yahoo search led me to my own blog. Hahaha.

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Mood:5/10 Honks!

Pioneer AV: Sound of Silence

Today, I decided to have our four-year old Pioneer EV51DVD fixed at a service center after its center speaker’s sound distorted all of a sudden several weeks ago. I was supposed to claim it by the afternoon but the news when I returned wasn’t that good–it may take two more months to wait for the amplifier IC to be delivered in case they can’t get an available part from their main Philippine office.

Since our little boy recently had this fondness of his Little Einstein CDs, a day without seeing his favorite puppets would mean only one thing: a tantrum-filled day. And so we decided to look for a cheap temporary DVD player only. Soon enough I found myself inside SM Dasma appliance center’s Pioneer booth looking at one DVD player unit. Then I remembered that the last one we had was also a Pioneer which its 3-CD player mechanism jammed and rendered the rest of it useless. Now, isn’t this the time to consider other brands?

I have to admit though that what keeps me from buying a Pioneer is because the sound quality is significantly different from the others like Sony. Likewise, I like the design of Pioneer which doesn’t exaggerate anything but instead keeps a balance between every part of the audio system. But this may not be the case nowadays – or so I hope.

No offense but I’ve been telling my wife that other A/V brands remind me of choices of Filipino OFWs especially those coming from the Middle East. That’s because I’ve seen from friends (and friends’ friends) when I was in grade school that their Dads (or other OFW relatives) would bring A/V components with extra large speakers that look as if they are setting up a baylehan (public dance area) inside their own house. If there’s one perfect thing to be estranged with your neighbors, this is it.

Now every time we window shop inside the appliance centers, the sight of the A/V systems with huge speakers still reminds me of my friends and their neighbors that might have hated them for the deafening music played all day, probably with the assumption that the their neighbors are into the same music genre or that everyone in the next household is awake just like them. Ti abi.

Tomorrow, I’ll be calling back to check if the amplifier IC is available. I’m hoping that there will be a replacement part or I might have to violate what I learned from a couple of financial planning seminars concerning one of the pitfalls of a consumer–using a credit card to buy a new player and incurring a bad debt in the process. And just in case this happens, I’m putting all the blame to Pioneer. Hahaha.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

A Week of Everything But Work

This must be the longest week I ever had. This week felt like it was 24 X 7 plus 1. I don’t exactly know if so many things have happened or it’s just so much time has slipped by. Either way it’s a shame that both of it have been mostly done in front of the IBM’s flat LCD and inside the cold gray cube.

That’s the problem when there is imbalance between time and tasks. It is during these conditions that nothing productive gets done:

Condition 1: Having less (or the feeling of it) time but with multiple tasks is confusing or alarming.

Condition 2: Having more time but with little or no task on queue at all is just pathetic. If you ask me, I prefer Condition 1.

Since being idle nowadays is as predictable as sunset, this is when having an initiative and a bit of creativeness sets one person one step ahead of the other. It also helps to do at least a short time planning just to preserve self-worth on a daily basis. It’s just what I’ve done so fa, so far.

The good thing is that in spite of lull in workloads, the resources at work remain abundant. It’s both a good a good and a bad thing, like staring at an apple in the Garden of Eden while wondering if God will ever snooze–the temptation to cross the fine line is always there.

For starters, the internet connection is always on (and to mention that it’s way faster than outside) and the printers are functional and readily full of papers. Now if that doesn’t get your mind immediately full of wild ideas, then something is wrong with you. I know that google-heads are green with envy by now.

Times like this good judgment and work ethics come handy. In my case I try to kill time by taking online training. I likewise try to be involved in activities that the company offers.

Skillsoft Books24X7

I have never appreciated the availability of this site more than now. Although I’ve used it years before for my researches and book references when I continued my schooling, since weeks ago I started using it again. This week my usage got more frequent than ever.

My search for MBA tags brought me to results other than books. I find that there are online courses, learning guides and assessments available. What made it even more interesting was that I’ve read and learned about lots of good stuffs with regards to writing. I’m excited to share it soon as this was once my problem when I made my thesis – or I just didn’t have enough time to research then.

Financial readiness seminar

I can’t exactly remember when I attended this one but I was once again among those inside the packed training room. It was estimated that there were at least 300 attendees who listened to the Colayco foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Bengco. He spoke a lot of things which half I dismissed and half I noted. Part of the things I got so interested about was when he discussed about ways to get rich. It contained only five key items. The crowd’s excitement of knowing what the five ways are immediately died down when most of us realized that the first four isn’t just possible.

Inherit it.

Marry it.

Steal it.

Win it.

Earn it.

A reminder of a bedtime story

There’s a problem with forgetting very basic bedtime stories–you become a recipient of the moral lesson it teaches. The story of the rabbit and the turtle stung me this time.

It happened during our company’s Smashing Couples badminton match. After I saw the line up where my partner and I were included, I had high hopes that we do have the chance to reach the finals. What inspired me more was when I learned who will be our first match. “We’ve beaten these guys before, we can do it again,” I confidently said to my partner.

The high ego was short-lived. After piling up some points ahead on the first set our opponents consistently capitalized on our unforced errors and soon enough confidence was on their side. The first set reached deuce but the next set was crushing to the rabbits.

I came out of the badminton tournament with the line “and the moral of the story is…” echoing in my mind. Damn turtles. Hahaha. Just kidding.

Congrats Richmond and Arlene.

Everything that flies and crashes

This is another anticipated week for the flying community. Even if I won’t be able to attend the 13th Philippine Hot Air Balloonfest I know that hundreds of people are either already at Clark or just on their way enjoying the SCTEX drive.

Unfortunately, while everyone at Clark enjoys the breathtaking sight of balloons, skydivers, airplane exhibitions, and everything that flies, two places abroad experienced separate plane crashes. One was in Buffalo, New York that claimed 50 lives when a commuter plane went down, initially due to icing, hitting one house. Another plane crash landed at a London airport which thankfully just had minor injuries to its passengers.

It’s a pity that Capt. Sully’s heroic Hudson River landing a couple of weeks ago is negated by two succeeding crashes. It could be disappointing if further investigation on these accidents would point to poor maintenance as the root cause and it could even be more disappointing if it was due to recession. It’s a stretch, but hey, it’s not that unlikely.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Role Models Do Get Tired

The current situation at work as caused by the declining and imminent depletion of products to be delivered is undoubtedly testing each and everyone from the lowest rank and file up to the upper levels of management.

What I find more frustrating than the thought of eventually losing our jobs in few more months is the fact that no matter how I set my mind to make the most of my time, it’s only father time that is so available. After a couple of hours from the start of the working day, there’s no more work to be done no matter how I look for it.

It doesn’t take a lot of time to figure out what others might be doing as well after staring at the empty Outlook inbox. It is as if email doesn’t exist anymore. Whether people agree or not, this isn’t the workplace aura I used to know in my 12 years here. I can now really say that gone are the days when the cubes are buzzing with activity, when keyboards are tapped because of white papers to finish and not of multiple internet chat mates; when phone lines are loaded because of virtual meetings and not because someone is selling anything but company products; when people forget lunch because of deadlines and not because they have dozed off due to inactivity; and when managers are going to the cubes to check if everyone is on track and not because he’s got nothing to do as well.

Years ago, this setting is unimaginable. Someone getting idle is as taboo as committing mortal sin. But now, even the best have their own share of work void. It’s unavoidable but on the next days ahead those people I look up to will have lots of slack. I have come to accept it now that role models do get tired.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Spotting Riding Perils

This week, I personally know a person who got into an accident while on his motorcycle which I learned all about it after I have arrived at work–on my motorcycle. My friend survived the supposedly fatal crash but it’s one more person added to the statistic of motorcycle-related accident victims, whether his own fault or not. Now anti-motorcycle advocates are out once again with their see-I-told-yous.

These days proponents of motorcycles seem to be losing their case as the incidents involving two-wheeled vehicles share the headlines with reports of employees being laid off. Incidentally, these two headline makers are expected to thrive more while the financial crisis continues like an incurable itch. Nowadays, a lot of people are trying to save and one of the ways is by saving on gas. Of course, when gas gets mentioned, the thought of having a motorcycle, specifically what others call mopeds, scooters or underbones enters the picture. These crotch rockets are gas misers and it’s no wonder almost everyone wants one. And that’s because almost everyone can actually afford one.

This is when motorcycle safety advocates begin to have nightmares about this uncontrollable and unregulated scenario. There are just so much eager and capable buyers (and sellers) that the aspect of safety is often forgotten. Anyone with a cash or downpayment, normally just around Php3,000 (approx. $60), gets to go home with a decent motorcycle. That’s with or without a “valid” license, training, or worse, even without the common sense.

Now other motorcycle riders cry foul about all the stereotyping. Some instinctively point their fingers to the four-wheeled vehicle drivers for causing all the troubles. Others blame poor road lighting, open manholes, wayward pedestrians, and I’ve even read complaints about dog poops. All fingers are pointing to other factors but their own. Denial is the reason live motorcycle crash test dummies continue to exist.

Failing to recognize the risk is often what leads to unnecessary crashes. I remember from one defensive driving seminar I’ve attended the four guides of a responsible driver:

Identify and anticipate the risk or danger.
Act accordingly. Example, adjust following distance depending on the driving condition.
Control whatever you can as you can’t technically influence others. (This is what I often forget. Hehehe.)
Consider a plan B if everything else goes wrong.

Unfortunately, with the fact that not everyone seems to take time to even read about driving safety stuffs anymore is what makes the road a far less safe place to ride. It’s already a given that riding makes one vulnerable to elements like reckless cage (a term used by riders to distinguish a car) drivers. So I went further to identifying every risk that I possibly can. After more than six months of riding my motorcycle, I have compiled several of these hazards.

Stay away from riders without the basic gear or clothing. Riders are sitting open to almost everything hazardous and the least one can do to protect himself is to wear long sleeved shirts, long pants (jeans if possible), and a closed-toe footwear. Decent helmet, included. If you spot one without these bare minimums means just one thing: he doesn’t care about himself and most likely he doesn’t care about you. So stay clear.

Stay away from those with confused persona. These people are easy to spot. They have rosaries and crucifixes wrapped around their motorcycles (mounted on the dash if in cars) but when you see them, they are either poorly clothed (at times even lewd) or drives like someone who has just escaped from a straight jacket.

Stay away from cars with Japanese or Chinese stickers or decals. Some of these have even extra large ones that almost cover the whole rear window. These stickers scream anything but “I understand what my stickers say.” If these people don’t even know what the stickers mean, most likely they don’t even understand what an amber light is for.

Stay away from skinheads who for a moment are seen driving slowly over an ear-shattering base music. These people (often in their teens) are beat- driven so expect them to speed up anytime a Snoop Dogg rhythm picks up.

Needless to say, also stay away from pony-tailed or dreadlocked drivers especially if the car’s interior appears foggy despite the untinted windows.

Stay away from truck drivers especially those concentrating on picking their noses. I’m thinking that this is as distracting (or even more) as using a cellphone while driving.

Stay away from motorcycle-riding policemen without helmets. Period.

Lastly, stay away from someone who is absent-mindedly composing a blog while riding a motorcycle. He’s easy to spot. He made this blog. Ti abi.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Tumbled Upon Tumblr

Not all simple things are created equal and tumblr.com is an example. This is a blog site I discovered several months back after reading it on a newspaper article. It’s one of those lazy Sundays when the moment I see a link, I immediately give it a shot.

At first I find it so simple that I was wondering what was going inside the mind of its developer when he made it. Maybe he’s trying to be among the dot.com millionaires like the people behind Facebook, YouTube or even the fading Friendster. Well, I don’t know if he made the mark but to be fair, I think he or she somehow made a good start. Of course, I already signed up.

Trying to experiment what this site brings got me into starting my own, everythingpetty.tumblr.com. I find tumblr’s dashboard very basic. It requires little experience from its users and one doesn’t even need to be good at writing since in here anything can be posted. Users may post photos, text, quotes, audio and links. Consider this as some sort of repository of drafts of wild ideas.

The large icons make it so highly recommended for bloggers with vision problems. Please tell your grandma about it.

Don’t get me wrong though. This site has some good following from a various talented people. From what I’ve seen, most people like to publish photos and drawings. I’ve seen one member post drawing blogs about his daily life in his cubicle and I was entertained and awed at the skillful depiction of the boxed working environment. I feel him.

The simplicity of tumblr is so enticing that anyone with lots of time to kill inside the cube would likely post something, anything, anytime, any day. Hmm, I think I’ll have to consider this one later in the day. Something to keep me busy during the whole 8-hour period. Hahahaha. Just kidding, IT admin guys.

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My bad. I actually forgot all about this tumblr account but one of my recent visitor’s comment reminded me all about it. Thanks, Mariam. I already posted a new entry. Please check it out every now and then.

Visit also Mariam’s site because so far she’s got the perfect header for a recession-related blog. And incidentally, just like me, she’s also keeping track of those posting the same tags. See it for yourself.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Kids and Lyrics

Just as I have anticipated when we got married (wifey and I waits for a few more months before we become a decade-old married couple this coming June), I have eventually become an overprotective and strict father. Our 9- month old son’s presence confirmed all traits that since then I knew I would be or would like to be when fatherhood comes in.

I really don’t know if I’m doing a good job, but deep inside I feel that I’m at least meeting expectation. Wait, that last two words remind me of work. Maybe it’s because the absence of work, or at least its regular routine, that my missing the attendance tracking of my staff, conducting shiftly hud- dles, checking with my persistent upstream and downstream customers and everything else about work has made me more aware of everything about baby stuffs. Worries about work has been replaced with which nipples goes to which bottle, if milk scoops are exact to the brim, if formula ratio has been properly mixed, which baby DVD has been played already…and this is just to mention a few (trust me). Did I just mention DVD?

One of those baby things that I’ve actually been keeping tab is the baby music’s lyrics which I’ve been hearing so often again and again that the last regular “adult” LSS I can remember is the Journey’s Only the Young Can Sing. Now my ears have been attuned to Barney’s Mr. Sun and I can very well remember the video of Flying in an Airplane that I’m now beginning to think that it’s the Barney videos that are unconsciously encouraging gay- hood or lesbianism. But maybe it’s just me and besides it would require a long separate blog for that topic. By the way, don’t get me wrong and let me make these two things clear:

I love the songs but I hate the video.
I personally have nothing against members of the third sex…and Barney.

Ok now? So let me continue, but still the following maybe as thought- provoking as questions like who is capitalizing from all these recession and layoffs? Will Vietnam’s Intel factory perform just like the Philppines (pun intended)? And so many other questions currently and continuously bothering me.

Having an LSS of music for babies does seem to trouble me more than hav- ing Usher’s Trading Places lyrics play over and over again inside my head. This is because I’m now very careful with what our baby boy might be hearing and if the message it sends isn’t something that will plant harmful ideas to his innocent memory ready to break loose anytime during his ado- lescence. I don’t know if it’s paranoia on my part but I’m not taking any chances. And besides, remember the word “subliminal”? Scary, huh!

Let me start checking some of it now. Here’s the first, titled Ice cream Sun- day. Isn’t this a call to obesity? I wonder if Ronald McDonald composed this lyrics:

Ice cream Sunday it’s my number one day… Monday is not a fun day, mom makes broccoli… Thursday is the worst day, there’s liver on that dish Friday is a cry day, ‘coz then we all get fish…

How about this one, Fiddle-de-dee? This one reminds me of anything but children song. If I remember it right I saw one Body Snatchers episode in the Discovery channel about a bee or wasp planting its eggs inside a fly:

Fiddle-de-dee, Fiddle-de-dee,

The Fly has married the Bumble Bee, Says the fly, says he,

“Will you marry me?

And live with me, sweet Bumble Bee?” Fiddle-de-dee, Fiddle-de-dee,

Oh, I love you, and you love me!

How about a song that teaches our kids to stereotype? There’s probably one, it’s titled There Was a Crooked Man:

There was a crooked man, And he walked a crooked mile, He found a crooked sixpence Upon a crooked stile:

He bought a crooked cat,

Which caught a crooked mouse, And they all lived together

In a crooked little house.

How about one that suggests animal cruelty? Now I find that the famous idiom, “curiosity killed the cat” is after all missing a word before it. The complete could be, “Kid’s curiosity killed the cat.” And we parents should not wonder why in the first place, because of the song The Cat Came Back:

Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own

He had a yellow cat which wouldn’t leave its home; He tried and he tried to give the cat away,

He gave it to a man goin’ far, far away.

But the cat came back the very next day,

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner But the cat came back; it just couldn’t stay away

Thankfully, there’s one song that would give hope to those cat lovers and this happens to be one of my favorite kiddie songs. I heard this when I was a kindergarten and 30 years after I was surprised that I can actually remember the tune. What’s more surprising was that after I googled and saw the lyrics I was able to sing it with pride in front of our baby. But, I’m still wondering if this one has some hidden message in it…like love and death? Well here’s the full lyrics of the song Senor Don Gato. You go figure.

Oh Senor Don Gato was a cat On a high red roof Don Gato sat He went there to read a letter, Meow, meow, meow

Where the reading light was better,

Meow, meow, meow

‘Twas a love note for Don Gato

I adore you wrote the lady cat

Who was fluffy, white and nice and fat There was not a sweeter kitty,

Meow, meow, meow

In the country or the city, Meow, meow, meow

And she said she’d wed Don Gato

Oh, Don Gato jumped so happily

He fell off the roof and broke his knee Broke his ribs and all his whiskers, Meow, meow, meow

And his little solar plexus, Meow, meow, meow

Ay Caramba cried Don Gato

Then the doctors all came on the run Just to see if something could be done And they held a consultation,

Meow, meow, meow

About how to save their patient, Meow, meow, meow

How to save Senor Don Gato

But in spite of everything they tried Poor Senor Don Gato up and died And it wasn’t very merry,

Meow, meow, meow Going to the cemetery, Meow, meow, meow

For the ending of Don Gato

When the funeral passed the market square Such a smell of fish was in the air

Though his burial was slated, Meow, meow, meow

He became reanimated, Meow, meow, meow

He came back to life, Don Gato

Oh by the way, if you’re wondering how on earth Don Gato sounds, you may check dizzler.com. And if you’re a bit disappointed (like I was last December) after hearing every available version, please tell me and that would be my cue to record and release my own. Hahaha.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Layoffs Around the World

Last night I was checking WordPress after wondering if there are others like me who wrote about layoffs during this recession period. After clicking my layoff tag, the answer became clear—there’s just a lot of us. Here are the URLs that I’ve visited and some excerpts of their blog. (The last two aren’t from authors who directly experienced it but still the reason I captured them is because the emotions and the message are so well written despite being brief. Please check them out.)

http://opentosuggestions.wordpress.com – Les, Oklahoma

When I pulled up to the house tonight, my wife met me at the curbside with a smile and helped me carry my 3 boxes in eco-friendly Walmart bags into the house. We’re a team in everything we do. It’s great to have her by my side. I go to bed tonight ready to meet tomorrow.

http://gotlaidoff.wordpress.com – Anonymous, San Francisco

was just laid off from Accenture, and I have to admit I felt betrayed. The emotions you go through are similar to the grieving process, except depres- sion comes first. I was determined not to dwell on it for too long, so I booked it to Vegas. Yup, good old fashioned denial was what I needed to keep my wits about the situation. When I got back, I was angry, but that got me to stage four in the grieving process- bargaining.

http://passingperiod.wordpress.com – Jacksonhmills

I’m mad that I was laid off, and I think it’s a shitty situation, but I’m not going to cry a river. In fact, I didn’t give anyone the benefit of seeing any tears. You know, except for a few people on the street, when it finally hit me.

I worked at the company for 19 months. I assumed my job was safe because I was busy. In hindsight, the work I was doing was not up to par of someone with four years’ experience copywriting

http://chipdesignart.wordpress.com – From a chip design engineer

how do i get busy, and what i do today, how do i spend my time?

Do i partition a day to cry, get depressed, eat and sleep or i schedule in a different way…

Huge transition when my outlook calendar gets overlapped to no entry in my calendar… what next??

http://sensoryreplays.wordpress.com – Rob, Middle East

four of my co-workers just got removed from our rig crew, they were sent to our base camp in dammam this morning without any advance notice and i really am not sure what the personnel department will decide for them, either they get transferred to another rig or sent straight to the house. it’s just saddening.

http://careeradventure.wordpress.com – Kristi Daeda

Everywhere you go nowadays, it seems someone has lost their job. Your brother, your cousin, your dry cleaner’s daughter… The bright side for the unemployed? The stigma of job loss is dissolving. Chances are if someone hasn’t experienced it personally, they’ve either known someone, or watched competent peers go through it in their own companies.

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This morning after waking up from a long night sleep due to a sudden headache – probably due to reading about layoffs or the hot choco I had before dinner – I read a reply coming from Les (the first blogger):

Crisn

It’s like were all sailing along on the same ship, but it’s hairy because we’re sailing in low water. I’m finding it helpful to think of all humankind as a big family, all in this together. As far as I’ve seen in my 52 years, everything eventually works out. Most of us manage to still keep a roof over our heads and have food to put in our mouths. We at least cover the basics. We may not always get what we want, but that’s a lesson so many of us, including myself, still need to learn anyway. I hope you stay employed through these thin waters. However, If you run aground, come back here and we’ll help each other get through these hard times. Les

That’s just well said and my point exactly why I think that keeping our network open during these hard times is a good idea so we can express what we think, help other people in some ways and show that indeed no man is an island.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!