good and bad

friend earlier excitedly talking about her costume for halloween...  she was going to be a witch and she has asked someone really good to do her makeup...

she adds someone told her she would make a good witch and many agreed...

oh?  hahaha...

she then tells me being an angel would suit me...

eh?  ahahaha...  that one many would disagree...  ; p

action and reaction

my mom has told me to stop taking pictures of the neighbor's, to put it ever so mildly, 'antics.'

no, i don't set foot on the neighbor's property to take pictures.  i take pics of things within our property and in public spaces i have no choice but to pass whenever i leave the house.  (our houses are in a dead-end, one-lane street with a narrower dead-end alley perpendicular to the end of the street.)

surely, it is not as if i started taking pictures because of the neighbor.  i have been taking pictures for 38 years now.  for almost three fourths of my life i've been clicking away at anything and everything and anyone and everyone.  (i do ask permission for close shots of strangers not in a public gathering.)

i started when the medium was still film.  i switched to digital in 2003.  no, i don't have formal photography training.  the only photography lessons i had was in second year high school when we had a photography elective.  all i remember of that time was that we took silhouettes and head shots and developed the film ourselves.  i take more of snapshots really.  nothing magazine-worthy.

i have maybe two terabytes of pictures now.

the neighbor's comprise not even 1%.
- cotton buds, caps and tissues on our roof
-  dog lying in front of our gate (we have recessed gates so the dog is actually within our property.)
-  litter in our alley
-  pile of garbage occupying three-fourths of the width of our alley
-  gate wide open, morning, noon and nighttime, blocking 40 inches of the 70-inch wide alley
-  trash and leftovers in our drainage
-  vehicles blocking our garage
-  garbage piled in a public spot right under a sign that says, "PLS. DO NOT THROW YOUR GARBAGE HERE."
-  vehicle parked in a public spot in front of our garage right beside a sign on the gate that says, "PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THE DRIVEWAY."
-  vehicle parked right on top of garbage

it would actually be surprising if i didn't have a picture of these things.  we've been putting up with them for years.  others have screamed at the neighbor.  still others just quietly suffer them.  me, i take pics and blog.  (i have been blogging for ten years now.  and no, i also did not start blogging because of the neighbor.)

percentage-wise, i have not really posted about the neighbor that much.  i post about them only whenever i get fed up.  in which case i'd blog or upload one pic or several from different times.  it's not as if i take a shot now then upload right away.

talking about pictures in general, to me the posting is optional.  i don't feel a need to post but i do feel an urge to take a shot.

i'm sorry but i won't be indulging my mom on her request.  i like to say, 'trace to source.'   there won't be these pictures to take if they did not exist in the first place.  why restrict on my end?  i don't even post all of them.  i just have them on file.  and i'm not occupying, blocking nor defiling anything.

remember the mountaineer's creed?  take nothing but pictures...

you have control only over your own actions.  the other person's reaction is up to them.

that is how they act.  this is how i react.

you don't want to be punched, don't mess with a boxer.

descriptive

friend:  'i hope you'd blog about me...'

me:  'haha...  be careful what you wish for...'

friend:  'why did you say that?'

me:  'i blog about everything, the good and the bad...  you better be sure you'd fall under good...'

; p

nothing great

asked an aunt whether she is going to attend our high school's alumni homecoming.

aunt:  'no...  we don't attend homecomings...'

me:  'oh?  how come i saw you in one before?  you even had a presentation...  you danced...'

aunt:  'the 50th?'

me:  'i'm not sure...  maybe...'

aunt:  'oh...  it's because we had batchmates who were part of the organizing committee...  but there were very few of us that time...  we were just one table...'

me:  'just one table?  i remember the crowd was cheering loudly while you performed...  those were not your batchmates?'

aunt:  'no...'

me:  'wow!  if your batchmates cheer for you that's just expected...  but if strangers enthusiastically applaud your performance then you must be good.  you didn't know those people?'

aunt:  'maybe we did...'

oh, hehe...

unheard

my laptop speakers are normally on mute...

now i downloaded an audio book...  or so i thought...  when the progress bar reached the end, i couldn't find the downloaded file...

turns out i streamed the book instead of downloading it...

: }

whatever for

friend again telling me her daughter wants me to go with them to boracay...

me:  'i've been there thrice...  i'd rather spend my money someplace else...

actually i just again saw our helmet diving video in boracay...  i've been sorting my files...  it got resurrected, haha...'

friend:  'the one in a bikini?'

me:  'yes...'

friend:  'your belly button is showing?'

me:  'huh?!  i didn't remove my cover-up but at some point it did float so the navel was exposed...  why?'

friend:  'send me a pic...'

me:  'why?'

friend:  'i'm going to post it...'

me:  'and why are you going to post my photo?'

friend:  'so people would see your belly button...'

me:  'what's there to see in my belly button?'

friend:  'nothing...  i just want to post it...'

me:  'if anyone's going to post my belly button it should be me...'

friend:  'then post it...'

me:  'okay...  throwback...  next week...'

friend:  'that's all souls' day!'

me:  'wahaha...  drop dead?!'

okay...  next, next throwback...

) . (

; )

driver's license renewal

i renewed my driver's license at LTO mirasol yesterday.

this is how it went:

10:02 a.m.
at Public Assistance and Complaints Desk / Customer Service Representative License Unit
to get LTO Form No. 21, Application for Driver's License

i was 11th in line.
i didn't have to stay though as a guy handed me a form while i was still on queue.

10:05 a.m.
medical at
Aruga Medical Testing Center within LTO compound

a girl asked for my license card.

a guy then gave me a color blindness test

followed by an eye test
(one line of letters only, the 20/20 line),
left and right eye, other eye covered

then
weight check.

i paid P250 to the girl
and was issued a Medical Certificate
with an Official Receipt (Arugain ANM Medical Testing Center).
the girl also returned my license card.

i was the only customer at the place.

then i filled out LTO Form No. 21.

10:15 a.m.
back to the Public Assistance and Complaints Desk / Customer Service Representative License Unit

the guy on the desk wrote
Ren-Non-Prof
W-5
10:15
on the upper right hand of my form 21 and told me, "Window 5"

10:18 a.m.
Window 5
i submitted the form 21,
Medical Certificate with official receipt
and
license card being renewed

i was second in line.

10:30 a.m.
Window 4
photo
and
signature

i had a problem signing on the digital pad as i couldn't make my signature appear normally.  i'd press the stylus here and the line would appear there.  i'd form an S on the left and i'd get several diagonal lines on the lower right.

i kept on clearing the output and signing again.

i do know how to use a stylus.
i'm not sure whether it was the pad or the stylus that was defective. i was pointing it out to the girl at the window but she just kept looking at me.

when i somehow got my signature close to what it was in my old license card, she told me to stop as it was already acceptable.

10:35 a.m.
Window 10, Cashier
payable was P652.63
(P585 License Fee (NPDL),
P67.63 Comp Fee).
i gave P705.
change was supposed to be P52.37.
the cashier gave me P52.

my form 21 was stapled with a small piece of paper with queue no. 45 for renewals.
(they were giving a different set of queue numbers for backlog.)

10:42 a.m. they were processing queue no. 22 of renewal.

10:50 a.m., queue number 24.
10:55 a.m., no. 26.
11:14 a.m., no. 28.
11:26 a.m., no. 30.
11:32 a.m., no. 31.
11:38 a.m., no. 32.
12:17 p.m., no. 36.
12:35 p.m., no. 39.
12:41 p.m., no. 43.
12:45 p.m., no. 45!  : D

(holders of some queue numbers did not show up)

to Window 3
for data entry
photo
signature
and
biometric capture of all ten digits.  fingers on the left and right hand all at the same time and then the two thumbs.
completed steps at Window 3 by 12:55 p.m.

re data entry, the guy initially left out certain data written on the form:
-  just the name of the village was encoded, village number was left out
-  just the first names of the father and the mother, middle and last names left out.

i requested him to put our village number.

he said it is not indicated in my old license card.

i said it was because there was not enough space for the complete address when i renewed last so the processor did not include everything.  this time the address field is already longer so kindly complete it.

he did.

i asked why the parents' name fields show only the first names.

the guy said they don't appear on the license card anyway.

i requested removal of the spouse name as well.

the guy deleted the entry.

i requested him to put my TIN.

he did.

seeing just my parents' first names onscreen seemed weird to me so i asked if he could complete it.

he added their middle and last names.

1:05 p.m.
Window 1
releasing of license card

i checked.
everything correct except that it says i will NOT donate any organ.
hmmm...  i ticked organ donor in the form.

it also showed my blood type as B+.  not sure about this one.  i've always just put B.

anyway, my license was renewed from 10:02 a.m.
to 1:05 p.m.

valid till 2022.

wannabe

claiming the items i left at a supermarket package counter...

guard hands me the bottle of evian and goes:  'how does that taste, ma'am?'

me:  'oh...  it's just water...  but from france...'

guard:  'minty?'

me:  'no...  it has no taste...'

guard:  'just nothing?'

me:  'yes...  really just water...  but it's very smooth...  somewhat slippery...  and it's cold even if you don't refrigerate it...'

guard: 'the bottle is nice...'
(it's a christian lacroix evian bottle)

me:  'yeah...  that's actually the reason i bought it...  this is not their usual bottle...'

guard:  'yes...  we have evian here but the bottle is not like that...  where did you buy it?'

me:  'shopwise...  actually this is not my everyday water...  i just buy occasionally...  because i heard it's what singers drink before a concert...  it slides on the throat...'

guard looks at me intently...

me:  'no, i'm not a singer...  i just try their drink...'

;")

sleepwalk

i was wearing a loose, cream-colored tank top...

friend:  'i like your top...'

me:  'thanks...  my sister gave this to me...  it's actually sleepwear but i prefer to wear it outside...'

friend:  'it doesn't look like sleepwear...'

me:  'haha...  good!'

one time i wore a lace-trimmed, blue, body-hugging tank top to the mall...  i told my friend my top was actually sleepwear...

his reply?

'it does look like sleepwear...'

nyahaha...  toinks!!!  ;"p

manners

munching on some chips...  offered a friend some...

friend:  'is it good?'

me:  'hmmm...  nothing special...'

friend didn't try it...

i then offered her a sip of my juice...

friend:  'is it good?'

me:  'just okay...'

friend:  'why are you offering me these things when they're not good?'

me:  'huh?!  gah!  i'm just being polite!'

: }

island

overheard...

Q:  'were you the one who borrowed my power bank?'

A:  'no.'

Q:  'was it <toot>?'

A:  'i don't know.'

Q:  'who could it be?'

A:  'i don't care.'

: }

basic

me:  'why doesn't my laptop detect my drive???'

i unplugged, replugged.
i changed ports.
i felt the drive for any vibration.
i put my ear close to listen to any sound.
i did a cold reboot.

nada.

i checked the cable.  ooops, it was the printer cable i plugged in my port.

:"}

no sweat

talking christmas  (hahaha...  never too early)...

friend recalled the things she used to go through to get excelente ham  ->  waking up early to get to quiapo early, long queue, arms and clothes soiled with oil...

me:  'why would you get oil on yourself???'

friend:  'once they open, it's crazy!  people would go, i like that part, i like this one...  they'd be pointing and passing and oil will be dripping...'

me:  'oh, wow!  good thing i'm not into ham...'

friend:  'it used to be a christmas staple at the house...  like, for thanksgiving, there's turkey;  for christmas, it's excelente ham and queso de bola...'

me:  'hehe...  i also don't like queso de bola...'

friend:  'what do you like?!'

me:  'leche flan, chocolate, ice cream...'

readily available yet still excelente...  ; )

passenger and driver

me:  'how come you have three tickets?'

friend:  'officers were given three to sell...'

me:  'oh...  i didn't know you were an officer...  or maybe i just forgot...'

friend:  'i'll be returning the tickets...'

me:  'oh?  are you allowed to return?'

friend:  'they're not yet paid...'

me:  'but aren't they considered sold?'

friend:  'i can't sell it, what will i do?'

me:  'hmmm...  yeah...'

friend:  'do you want to buy one?'

me:  'i'll see if i can go...  i'll buy my ticket from you, if ever...'

friend:  'if you're going, ask <toot> to pick you up...'

me:  'why do i have to be picked up when i have a car?'

friend:  'then just be the one to pick up <toot 1>, <toot 2> and <toot 3>...'

me:  'huh?!  hahaha...  here we go again...'

well, passengers, let's do each other a favor, please...  i'll fetch and bring you home but please be considerate enough to be punctual...  i set alarms and all to get to you on time, i hope you'd be kind enough not to make me wait too long...

if you think that's too much, there's always grab and uber...  ; )

pendulum

fastfood delivery guy looking for someone we do not know.

me:  'what's the address?'

delivery guy:  '<house number> <street>...'

me:  '<street> what?  there are several <street>s here...   <street> 1, <street> 2, <street> 3...  what number follows <street>?'

delivery guy:  'it just says <street> here...'

me:  'there's a phone number there, right?  just call them...'

delivery guy:  'it's a landline...'

me:  'oh...  if you could give me the number i'll call them for you...'

the guy gave me the number...

i called...

me:  'there's a <fastfood> delivery guy here in our house looking for <name>...'

lady:  'oh, yes, yes...'

me:  'he doesn't know where your street is...'

lady:  'it's between <boulevard 1> and <boulevard 2>...'

me:  'hehe...  that's a long stretch...  so many streets are covered...  can you narrow it down, please?'

lady:  'we're right across <street>...'

haha...  right across?  that is narrow...  could even be too narrow to be of much help to someone who's not familiar with the area...

sometimes we swing to extremes when all we need is just to adjust a bit...

chill...  ; )

bad example

so someone parked right behind my brother's car this evening.  the driver mindlessly disappeared for half an hour all the while blocking a condominium driveway and at the same time preventing my brother's vehicle from leaving.

my mom was going, 'why would anybody do that???'

me:  'mom, that has been done before.  it will be done again.  you have a neighbor's van parked daily right beside a big DO NOT BLOCK THE DRIVEWAY sign.  [and their trash dumped right under a DO NOT THROW YOUR GARBAGE HERE notice.]  what would stop others from following suit?'

airheads follow airheads...

<cringe>

yours and mine

handed a friend a grocery bag containing a bottle of orange juice, two home-made sandwiches plus store-bought bread.

so we were chatting and i noticed that the bag seemed too flat.

me:  'where's the juice?'

friend:  'inside...'

me:  'how come the bottle's not exposed?'

i check the contents and there the bottle was lying sideways on top of the sandwiches.

me:  'aw!  i carefully carried that and you just let them pile in shambles...'

friend:  'it's okay...'

(the orange juice, i bought on her behalf; the sandwiches and bread, i just added.)

i bring the bottle back to an upright position and arrange the bread so it won't get crushed.

friend tells me she's fine with the bottle on top of the sandwiches.

me:  'okay...  you're the one who's gonna eat them anyway...'

reminded me of another friend's external drive.  so i brought it home when i made her a couple of photobooks.  it was with me for weeks and i was very careful with it.  when i finally brought it back to her, she tipped it over in her room twice!  in just one night!  waaahhh!!!  that's a one terabyte disk!!!

she was cool with it though.

i guess if it's yours you can afford to be lax.  when it belongs to someone else, however, you have to be a good steward.

what is not yours, you cannot throw away.

nothing special

someone approached the bank personnel i was talking to to get his order for lunch...

me:  'where do you buy food?'

bank personnel:  'at the nearby canteen...'

me:  'oh...  i didn't know there's a canteen here...  is it good?'

bank personnel:  'sakto lang...'
->  just right

me:  'haha...  i'll take that to mean it's not...'

bank personnel just chuckles...

good enough is not good enough...  ; p

the look of love

supposed to tell my sister something when i got distracted by what was on her TV...

me:  'wow!  that guy's cute!'

sister:  'what?!  he's not!'

me:  'to me he is!'

sister:  'he's being featured there because his girl is too pretty for him...'

me:  'really?  hmmm...  people have different tastes...  me, i find him cute...'

i suddenly remembered one of my college chums told me before, the guys i like are "tipong-magsasaka"  ->  farmer-type.

i find dark complexion attractive.  nevertheless, i've had boyfriends, too, who were rather fair-skinned.

love looks not with the eyes but with the heart  <3

(with due apologies to shakespeare for the revision...)

chance encounter

i (late-)posted a pic of me and my dad in facebook.

a friend of my mom's then tells me she's glad my dad and i now go out on dates.

me:  'oh...  not really...  only when it's with the whole family...  otherwise, it's still him and my mom...'

i told her the story behind the pic.

so my friend and i were walking when i saw a higante (of the feast of san clemente, angono, rizal festival).  i excitedly asked my friend to pose beside the display.

as i was framing the shot, i moved back and moved back and moved back until i suddenly hit something!  i looked behind me and, ta-daaan!  there was my dad having coffee at the table right beside the railing i bumped!

my friend took a picture of us and in it you will see that he's the only one with food.  not because i was just fetching him but because i just literally bumped into him.

small world indeed...  : )

cut to the chase

my phone rings...

me:  'i'm low batt...  fyi in case we get cut off...'

friend:  'how low batt?'

me:  'huh?!  i dunno...  but it beeped off last night yet...'

so many times i've told callers my batt's running low but this is the first time someone asked me how low.

precision is good.
but knowing how to spend precious (battery) time is better...  ; p

just get it

friend mentioned that she's going to buy a cable as her charger has been malfunctioning.  i told her not to buy anymore as i have a spare i could give her.  that was a month or so ago.

now she tells me the cable works only for data transfer but not for charging.

me:  'oh?  you were able to charge when we tested it, right?'

friend:  'because we used your...  your...  what do you call that?  the one where you plug it...'

me:  'socket?'

friend:  'yes...  maybe it's mine that's defective...'

me:  'then try it on another one...'

friend:  'i have no more...'

me:  'huh?!  you don't have other sockets there?'

friend:  'i have only one...'

me:  'in your whole house you have only one power outlet?!  no.'

friend:  'not power outlet...    what do you call the one where you plug it?'

me:  'socket?  the one on the wall?'

friend:  'not the one on the wall...  the one you put before you plug it in the power outlet...'

me:  'adaptor?  did we use an adaptor when we tested it here?  does your charger have round prongs?'

friend:  'i'm not sure what you call it...  the big end...  you have the small end and then the bigger one and then there's still another bigger one where you plug it...  maybe that's the one that's defective...'

me:  'oh...  that one!  because i gave you just a cable, 'no?  but it could be that intermediate thing that's defective...'

friend:  'what do you call that?'

me:  'adaptor?  power cube?  wahaha...  i'm not sure...'

sometimes you don't have the word for it.  still you know what it is.

you don't always need words to understand.

keep the change

deposited a check at the bank.  i was the second customer for the day.  maybe i was even supposed to be first as my queue number was the only one flashed onscreen when i entered the door.  i went to two jollibees before going to the bank, however, so i was late.  not tardy-late, ok.  i did arrive within my appointment window.  i was actually already at the mall before it opened, wahaha...

anyway, while the teller was processing my transaction, i remembered i had loose change.  i counted and they totaled PhP24.

me:  'i'd like to exchange these for a bill, please...'

teller:  'i still don't have bills, ma'am...'

me:  'aw...  you don't have P20?  just add them to my deposit then.'

teller:  'just the twenty, ma'am?'

me:  'no...  all the coins...'

so i had a check deposit for a pretty good sum plus a cash deposit of twenty four pesos.

why?

why not?

;")

work it

friend wants me to go with them out of town...

me:  'that's a family trip!  why should i be there?'

friend:  'you're family, too...'

me:  'well...  but you said you're going to be there to ensure they're safe...  so you'd be following them...  i don't want to be following couples around...  i don't third wheel...  two pairs, ok...'

friend:  'we're the pair!'

me:  'i mean a real pair, coosome twosome...  they're boyfriend-girlfriend...  should be another couple...'

friend:  'i'll tell her boyfriend you're my girlfriend...'

me:  'haha...  he might believe you!  same-sex marriage is legal where he's from...'

friend:  'so is it a yes or a no?'

me:  'no.'

friend:  'c'mon...  accompany me...  please...'

me:  'your daughter's there...  you have company...'

friend:  'i have the room all to myself...'

me:  'you're used to that...'

friend:  'please...'

me:  'we were bringing you there before, everything free, you didn't go...  why should i go now?'

friend:  'because you've been there...  you already know where to go...  and you can take nice pictures of us...'

aha!  hahaha...  ; p

obstacle

friend:  "Call me...miss you"

i call...

telco:  "The number you have dialed is either unattended or out of coverage area.  Please try your call later."

i send my friend SMS saying my call couldn't get through...  immediately after, my batt went empty!

i charged...

when i powered up an hour later, my friend's reply came through:  "Lowbatt"

wahehe...  man vs. machine...  ; p