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Yesterday, the newly elected president of the Philippines (Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the son of a former president and an assassinated opposition leader) took a shot at the national weather service, here. Why? Well, how about this. A major typhoon was on its way to this part of the world and a good section of it was going to hit Metro Manila (with possible deadly force). The only problem was that no one knew about it. That’s right, the Philippine government’s weather service failed to predict that a typhoon would hit the capital city (!!!)
This is why I awoke to incredible winds and a power blackout that lasted till late the next afternoon. While cruising in a tricycle to get some groceries (Wednesday is my oDesk payday), I was astonished at the number of downed trees in the area. Sadly, the death toll was at 10 (with 40 missing), the last time I checked. In one instance, a tree fell on a house, killing 2 kids in their beds (!!) And to think – they went to bed thinking that it was just going to “rain a little”. Good job, national weather service! (Click here for more info).
As promised – a photo of our new “baby” – Candice “Candy” Lane Brennan…
Today, I’m feeling pretty good since I was able to secure a good night’s sleep and a lot of rest on my usual Wednesday off. This weekend (Saturday) we’re scheduled to have a BIG birthday celebration at my home. In this case, we’re looking at the family celebrating four different birthdays, at once (!) Those would be my brother-in-law’s (Elmer – yesterday), Alma’s (on the 8th), nephew Renmar’s (also, on the 8th) and brother-in-law Randy’s (on the 3rd – his daughter, Rancel, lives with us – he works in Japan).
You can only imagine how big this will be. We even had to secure a large tent for the front of the apartment house in order to contain the event (!) Brother-in-law Kiko will be supplying an entire pig from his lucrative meat supplier business (not bad) which is scheduled to be butchered on Friday morning. He’s also supplying fish and other foodstuffs. Elmer and Renmar are providing drinks, etc. Alma and I are providing the paper plates, napkins, plastic utensils and a few other items. There will also be two birthday cakes and a professional-size karaoke machine (!!) It promises to be quite an event. I’ll have to get up a bit early on Saturday to get in my usual eight hours of work. We even have some relatives arriving early on Friday (and sleeping over) to help start with the food preparation! Seriously, these guys like to party in the Philippines (I noticed that with my Filipino neighbours in the U.S., too – every weekend was a karaoke party).
Speaking of which – work goes well. I barely have the time to fit everything in. The new project that just started has to do with writing copy for one of the largest electronic kiosk manufacturers in the U.S. (as an example, both Harvard and Fordham University have purchased 40 kiosks each from these guys). The hourly pay for this project is the most I’ve received to date – so that’s good. Other than that, I’m still getting work from the company that provided copy (that I wrote) for the recent Columbian presidential election candidate (he won – so I guess my family’s safe – for now). Beyond that, I have six other assignments to work on (including some guy who’s filming his screenplay that I’m editing).
New addition to the family alert – we now have a Shih Tzu (!!!) Her name is Candice Lane Brennan (”Candy”). She’s 2 months old and the very definition of “cute”. We’ll be taking pictures of her, this Saturday and I’ll post a few…
Today (6/23/2010) marks my wedding anniversary to the lovely Alma. Somehow, she’s managed to put up with me for two years. Go figure…
I’m taking a much needed day off, this Sunday. Actually, it’s a holiday weekend over here (Independence Day). Tomorrow, we’ll be having a rather large birthday celebration for one of the nieces. The party will be held at my house, since I have the space needed for that type of large gathering.
Our new refrigerator was delivered yesterday, so I’m happy about that. I’ve been wanting to buy a full-sized model for quite some time, now, and we got a really nice deal on a Samsung. It’s frost free (which is not always a given over here) and cost me only 14,000 pesos (about $300). Normally, it would have cost a lot more but we bought it from a dealer that specializes in appliances that have been marked down due to a small scratch or two. The refrigerator we got only had a one inch scratch on the side (not noticeable at all) and that scratch saved us about $75. The next item we’ll probably buy from them will be a small LCD TV for our bedroom.
Anyway, Alma’s birthday is on July 8th and she wants a Shih Tzu for her gift. Actually, they’re quite reasonable over here (as opposed to the U.S.), since we’re right next door to China.
Work goes well and I currently have six active assignments that fit nicely into a 40 hr. work week. I have two more assignments scheduled to begin this week that that are replacing two other assignments that are ending. One of these is for the U.S. government and pays pretty well. With my computer setup now located in my bedroom (with the air conditioner), work is a breeze. Beyond that, nothing else is new. Time for lunch…
My life has suddenly become a lot more comfortable since my computer setup has been relocated to my upstairs bedroom. Now, I have the benefit of air-conditioning throughout the day. This makes it a heck of a lot easy to write for eight hours at a time. I just keep my Styrofoam cooler of cold drinks and I only need to venture downstairs for meals, etc. The bathroom is right next door to my room – so I can take my shower, etc. upstairs as well. Hmmm… I hope this isn’t some plot by the family to keep me up here working while everyone enjoys themselves elsewhere. Wait a second – why is the door locked ? And what is that slot at the bottom of the door for? Just kidding. I can go anywhere I want (I think).
Anyway, having the Internet connection moved up here was a good idea. It’s much more quiet.
Work goes well. Today, I was writing on the pathology of sleep – which was rather interesting. Tomorrow is my day off and Alma and I are scheduled to buy a new refrigerator (the compressor is shot on the one I bought two years ago). Which brings me to another milestone in my life. Last Saturday (June 5th) marked my 2nd year in the Philippines !! One flood and one broken leg later and I’m still here! You just never know where life will take you…
The heat’s been rather extraordinary, here. For the Philippines, it’s the hottest time of the year with daily temperatures in the upper 90s (with the heat index about 115 degrees F). Add to that, my writing assignments that are conducted on the computer, downstairs, where there’s no air-conditioning (just fans) and you get the idea as to why I haven’t been motivated to keep up my blog. This will soon change since the cooler, rainy season is almost upon us. Other than that, things have been rather uninteresting, as of late. Work goes well with lots to do.
Oh yes, went to a wake a couple of days ago. The family was asked to attend, so we were driven to the neighbouring city of Makati for a brief visit and ceremony conducted courtesy of a small group of nuns. Wakes, in the Philippines, can go on for quite a while. This was just a relatively quick visit, since the deceased was not all that well-known on this side of the family (her name was Cely). Alma didn’t remember her. Evidently, she was Alma’s mom’s first cousin which made her Alma’s first cousin, once removed. To give you an idea of the situation, the only people we knew were the folks we came with (and one older aunt who was already there). There was a woman attending who was excited to see Alma and said that the last time she saw Alma, was when Alma was a little girl. Afterwards, I asked Alma who the woman was and Alma had no idea (!!). I can sympathize. This used to happen to me a lot as a kid, since my parent’s friends were slightly ancient (at least in my young mind).
So it just goes to show you – you never know where you’re going to end up. Here I was, in an apartment building-style mortuary viewing parlour with individual viewing rooms (kitchen areas included) – situated in Metro Manila. I’m sitting on a wooden bench looking a bunch of people that I don’t know – speaking in a language I don’t understand. And there’s a dead person (that I’ve never met) just a few feet away from me. The really strange part came about when the four nuns (and a “civilian” lady) came in to conduct the small service – with singing (!). At that point almost everyone left the room (!!), except for just a few of us. I have no idea why. Anyway, Alma’s brother and sister-in-law took us out to “Chow King” for a bite to eat, afterwards. Such was the highlight of my week…
100 extra horror film points if you can guess where this came from!
I just received this from oDesk:
Congratulations!
Hi Henry,
We’re happy to announce that based on your feedback scores and hours worked on oDesk last month, you were ranked on our Top 25 Providers list for March 2010!
Of the hundreds of thousands of Providers on oDesk, you are the cream of the crop and deserve a little recognition. Effective immediately, you can now permanently display the oDesk Top 25 Providers badge on your social media profile, personal blog, website, or anywhere else for the world to see!
Note: Click on the Award Button to see the list of winners…
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