Cheer up, Granny

While grabbing a quick bite at McDonald's this afternoon, I overheard a conversation between 2 ladies (one in her 60s and another in her 80s) at the next table...

60s lady : do you get to go out with your friends ?

80s lady : no, they're all dead. I'm the only one left.

60s lady : and your children ?

80s lady : they live far away, the nearest one is more than an hour away. I live alone, I don't want to go into an institution so in the winter, I even shovel my own snow.

60s lady : do you take any medication ?

80s lady : None, no medication at all. I live a healthy life.

60s lady : wow. you are something. I cannot imagine myself living for years and years after everybody has died or has gone away. I wouldn't be able to bear it, it's sad!

and at that point, I thought to myself, "great job cheering grandma up."

Tomorrow, if we hear about a depressed grandma who ran into a bus in tomorrow's news, you know whose fault it was.

Bank Charges

So I was looking at my bank account online and noticed that I got charged $3 for "viewing web content" last May. I thought about it and realized that the bank had charged me for looking at images of something I had previously deposited.

So sneaky!

I called up the bank and asked nicely if they could reverse the charges. The bank rep checked and put me on hold and when she came back, she says that since the $3 were charges for something I had already seen online and that before those images came up, I had gone through a couple of pages & clicked buttons and agreed that I was going to be charged, then there was nothing she can do for me. Those charges cannot be reversed.

Disappointed. I told her (in a sad voice) that this is the first time that I was truly disappointed in my bank. I've been a depositor for several years and have kept my account open and active, whether or not I was employed and the amount I keep in there is quite substantial. Now, since they're going to be charging me left and right for things that I might see on the web when I access my account - and they make it so easy for me to see things because they provide links to the images when I look at my account activity - then I'd be scared of doing anything and that will render my account with them useless. I see no point in keeping this account active.

And suddenly, surprise surprise, bank rep interrupts me and says "oh, I figured out a different way of reversing the charges. There, the charges are reversed."

hmp. I thought so.

First Weigh-In

Today is my first weigh-in since I decided to try and lose weight.

I haven't really made any big changes - not ones where I starve myself because I wouldn't be able to sustain that - but instead, I've decided to make small steps that are easier and less painful.

My first step was to stop taking 2nd helpings of rice and with this, I lost 2 lbs in 6 weeks. It's not much but I don't mind because I barely felt the effort (konting sad lang if feeling bitin kasi masarap ang ulam).

Now, my next step is to take have smaller servings of rice, I want to eventually cut down my rice intake to about half of what I take now. Hopefully, I lose more than 2lbs at the next weigh-in. I'm thinking about giving up my DD iced tea fix... but since it's still 99c per cup all summer long, I'll give that up when prices go back to normal :P

Old Rival

Had a really weird dream last night about an old school rival - we were scientists and our lab is located in a cruise ship. Bongga! Not really sure why, but I suspect that I went to sleep with too many thoughts of "daya" in my head and hence, my dream.

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Also had a pleasant surprise this morning when someone from the past called. I thought this was all behind me. But hey, let's see where this goes.

Bradley-Pacquiao Fight

We enjoyed watching the fight between Bradley and Pacquiao last weekend. Remember those previous fights of Pacman where his opponent would get knocked out halfway through the fight ? And we'd all say that it's such a waste of the pay-per-view fee because we hardly saw any "fight" at all ?

Well, last weekend's fight was so different from those previous ones. Up until Bradley was announced as the winner, we were kept in suspense and honestly did not know who would win. To us, both boxers deserved the title.

Now that Bradley has been crowned the winner, it's sad to hear a lot of my countrymen crying foul. Loyalty is good but hey, so is good sportsmanship. Nobody likes to lose but can we please stop crying "luto" or "daya" (cheating) when our bets do not win ?

Isa pa to si Manny... just now, i read an article where he was quoted as saying:

“Wala namang doubt, talagang klarung-klaro that I won the fight.
“Irespeto na lang natin ang desisyon ng mga judges.

 For those who do not understand, let me translate as best as I can.
"There's no doubt, it's really clear that I won the fight."
"Let's just respect the decision of the judges."

Funny how he issues a statement that is the complete opposite of the judges' decision where he states that he is the clear winner and then follows that with a call to respect the decision of the judges. If you respect their decision, then you'd have to accept the loss too.

 Whatever happened to grace ?

Ayaw raw o!

Last week, a friend posted about a new Jollibee branch opening up in Jersey City on 6/10. I was so excited and told my Mom the next time we talked, Jersey City is a lot more accessible to us than Woodside, Queens (where the first Jollibee branch in the East Coast opened) - and no tolls to get there too!

Mom says, in a snobby-sounding voice, "why do you like Jollibee so much ? Here ? We don't want it anymore. Sobrang sawa na kami." and the rest of our conversation went like this:

Me:  "e Mommy, we like Jollibee because once a year is the most that we can have Jollibee (that is when we visit them in California). Kayo, you're probably sawa because it's so near, you can have it everyday."

Mom: "hindi na nga, ayaw na namin, we don't have Jollibee at all"

Me: "okay, not everyday... sige, every week."

Mom: "hindi nga, matagal na. hindi na talaga kami kumakain ng Jollibee."

Me: "Ediba nung Tuesday lang, sabi mo the kids ate left over Jollibee burger steak ? So ibig sabihin you had it a few days earlier tapos ate the rest again later."

Mom: "oo, mga bata yun."

and then my Dad comes into the room and I hear Mom tell him "pauwi na si B (my sister), may dalang Jollibee breakfast para sa atin."

When mom comes back to the phone...

Me: "O, may Jollibee bfast kayo ? Akala ko ba ayaw nyo ng Jollibee at di kayo bumibili ? last week nag Jollibee kayo.,.. today meron ulit Jollibee. Akala ko sawang-sawa na kayo ?"

Mom: "si Achi mo yan bumili chaka breakfast yun."

Me: "Teka, so nung sinabi mo na ayaw NYO na ng Jollibee, sino yun ? Ikaw at si Dad lang pala ?"

Mom: "Hindi, lahat kami ayaw."

Me: "e bakit nag Jollibee kayo last week ?"

Mom: "Mga bata yun. BURGER STEAK nga eh,"  (emphasis on the burger steak, not sure why)

... at this point, I changed the topic na. Feeling ko, di kami mag kakaintindihan.

Vietnamese Pho

Last week, we dropped by our favorite Vietnamese restaurant for some take out (our usual is the summer roll and vietnamese pho).

While paying for our order, I asked the proprietor, "how do you say it ? Is it PHO ? or FO ?"

and he responds, "it's FAO".

Nya :D

Water Damage

It's been raining again the past few days but dealing with a toddler having some serious cabin fever is the least of my worries.

Remember that leak in the bathroom ceiling that started last year that we finally got fixed early this year ? Well, since it's been raining these days, I've been staring at the ceiling at times and now, there seems to be a suspicious bulge in the paint. I'm scared to poke it lest we find out that there's water but we're going to have to do that pretty soon before it causes even more water damage. Thankfully, there are companies like the The Steam Team who are water extraction experts.

Having migrated from a tropical country that is besieged by typhoons for most of the year, floodings and water damage to homes and structures isn't new to me. But I wasn't aware till now that there are water extraction experts at all like the round rock tx water extraction team. I wonder why there isn't one back home ?

Diablo III

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that hubby and I have this thing about trash - he does not throw them and this annoys me.

A little over a month ago, I decided to lay down the law. I was tired of seeing (and smelling) bags of trash in our kitchen, waiting to be thrown away. I sat hubby down and told him that from now on, trash was his responsibility. If I am able to throw them out during the day, good for him. If not, then he has to throw it away at the end of the day.

He's been so good (sort of - he throws away the trash from downstairs but he never goes up to empty the trashcans from our 2nd floor) until this morning, I find 2 bags of trash again. &*(&#@*(@!#
When I went to bed last night, he was playing Diablo. I reminded him about the trash and he said yes.

Apparently, that was the extent of last night's trash chore - "yes", but no actual action because he got distracted playing.

D*mn you, Diablo III.

The thing is, he's not even playing the full version of the game yet - he says, this is a starter or a demo version ? The game that he ordered is due to arrive today or tomorrow... I should probably hold that hostage. ;)