clothes

sister:  'your dress is nice...'

me:  'thank you...'

sister:  'the one yesterday was not...'

me:  'haha...  true!'

sister:  'you looked pregnant...  you shouldn't wear it anymore...'

me:  'it's very comfortable...'

sister:  'you can be comfortable without looking pregnant...'

me:  'yeah...'

sister:  'you should always wear something nice so even if you suddenly run into someone you'd still look good...'

me:  'i don't really think of running into someone when i pick a dress...  i'd just be i'm going there, there, there, i'll wear this comfy one...'

sister:  'comfy does not have to mean ugly...'

so i was ugly yesterday?!  ouch!

"Eat to please yourself.
Dress to please others."

:"}

takeaway

mom: 'you want hanger?'

me: 'ei, thanks... i'll get the blue...'

i got four blues...

mom, pointing to the pile: 'there are more blues...'

me: 'those [navy blue and light blue] are blue blues... i want happy blues...'

same class, different species...

which reminds me of 'phylum chordata, class mammalia'... for some reason, it still randomly crosses my mind decades after biology class... :"}

up close

i have this stainless steel drinking glass in my dish cabinet.  i bought it a decade and a half back for when i'll need something that won't break or for when i have to pour something really hot.  i've used it only a handful of times and i haven't used it in a looong time.

today instead of getting my usual glass drinking glass (hehe), i reached out for the stainless steel one.

i washed it then drank from it.  nyahaha...  suddenly i remembered why i don't use it  ->  i can see myself reflected on the bottom while drinking.  so there were my eyes, my nose, my upper lip.  not pretty.

i was thinking, so this is how i look to the one i'm kissing.  no wonder couples close their eyes when they kiss...  ;"p

paradox

shirt print:

"You are unique
just like
everyone else."

it's because we are different that we are all the same.

: )

better

guy and i both carrying a box of cake.  i was careful to keep mine level.  the guy was carrying his slightly diagonal.

his had a candle taped on the box.  it looked like it's for a little girl's birthday.  i'm not sure the girl, if ever, would notice or would mind but i thought there'd be no harm in calling the guy's attention...

me:  'excuse me...  your box's tilted...  the icing might stick to the box or the cake might get deformed...'

the guy straightened his box then thanked me...

ei, good...  he didn't tell me it's none of my business the way this closed-minded guard did when i made a logical suggestion a few days ago, wahehe.

there is an obviously correct way of doing certain things.  don't oppose it to prevent damage.

hold it

bought a few items at the supermarket...  i didn't have them bagged anymore as my car was parked near...

my companion immediately scooped up the four 1L chocolate drink boxes holding them across her chest...

me:  'i'll carry those...'

companion:  'no...  let me...'

me:  'thanks...  but i'd rather carry them myself...'

companion:  'it's okay...  i will...'

me:  'i don't want my drinks close to anyone's armpits...'

companion:  'oh...  hahaha...'

she lowers them...

no artificial flavors...  ; )

not again

leaving chow king hi-top (aurora blvd. cor. f. castillo) last tuesday, august 22...  guard writing something on a logbook, his back to the door...

me:  "next time pag magsusulat ka dito ka humarap para kita mo 'yung pinto."

guard:  "bakit?"

me:  "para kita mo 'yung mga taong dumadating 'tsaka umaalis."

guard:  "kita ko."

me:  "pa'no mo kita e diyan ka nakaharap sa aircon?"

guard:  "it's out of your business!"

me:  "ganu'n?!  ako 'yung may kasamang bata diyan sa hi-top last year!"

guard:  "alam ko!"

me:  "o!  alam mo pala, e!  dapat matuto ka na.  baka maulit na naman 'yung isang taon na, hindi ninyo pa rin alam anong pangalan nu'ng lalaking muntik kumuha nu'ng pamangkin ko."

guard snickers.

me:  "i'm telling you this hindi dahil gusto ko lang.  dati akong head ng security..."

guard:  "i don't care who you are.  you're just a customer!  you're not my supervisor!"

me:  "e ayusin mo pagbabantay mo!  pag may nag-inspect dito makita kung sa'n sa'n ka nakaharap."

i had things to attend to so i had to leave.  after my to-dos, however, i came back and asked for the manager.  with the managers around (there were two of them, male and female), i asked for the guard.  well, he was nowhere to be found.  (he wasn't at the door when i came in.)

i told the managers we'd just wait for the guard because i want him to hear what i have to say.

the managers didn't want to wait, however, so i started.

<blah-blah-blah,
blah-blah-blah,
blah-blah-blah>

and then i saw the guard and waved him to the table.

he comes and i start again:

i go to this nearby establishment at least once a week and i pass by chow king to order siomai primarily because i like their chili sauce.  i said i also like chicken soup but i haven't been ordering because of bird flu.  i also like their halo-halo.  in other words, i frequent the place.  my observations therefore are based not just on a one-time visit but on multiple visits.

i pointed out to them where i usually sit.  my back is to the counter and i'm facing the door.  the guard is in my line of sight.

i said maybe i'm extra observant because:

1.  we had a bad experience with the same guard at hi-top supermarket last year
[the guard walks out at this point but the male manager orders him back.]

2.  i used to head security, IT security, not the security guards but they are part because of physical security.  you have to protect the servers, etc. and control who has access to different areas.

i said i therefore am not saying things just because that is how i like them but because there really are certain practices that you adopt to improve security.

i said i noticed that their guard is often out of post or he's not at a good vantage point.

the crew would be eating or waiting near the door and he'd be chatting with them and people would just be passing to and fro behind him.

there've been times when within my meal he'd leave his post and go to the bathroom at least twice.  i said i'm not saying guards should not go but i'm saying someone who has to go that often should not be assigned at busy entry and exit points.

i said one time he left and went not just to the bathroom but outside just as i started eating and then i've already finished and have gone out of the premises and he still has not come back.

i said he's fidgety and he keeps on fixing his sleeves.

the guard snaps:  "are you angry at me because i'm fixing my sleeves?!"

i snap back:  "i resent that you cannot see what's happening because you are looking at your sleeves!"

i said this time when i saw him facing the aircon i called his attention and he responds with:
"it's out of your business!  i don't care who you are.  you're just a customer!"

the guard adds:  "you're not my supervisor!"

again the guard walks out.

i ask the managers to call him back but the male manager said never mind and just continue with my story.

okay.

some establishments spend so much and go to great lengths just to improve security.  my suggestion was very simple.  face the door instead of the aircon.  it wasn't hard to do.  it doesn't entail cost.  it's not even based on some obscure security principle just common sense.  and that is how the guard reacts?  that aircon is so big and heavy.  it is opaque.  there is no added value in facing it.  on the contrary, you are negating the value of having a guard by having your back to practically everything no matter how momentarily.

i said this very same guard was on duty at hi-top supermarket also august of last year when there was a commotion because my cousin saw someone holding my little nephew so she started screaming and she confronted the guy while i whisked my nephew out of the spot.  i brought my nephew to the cashier, i paid for my purchases then we all left.

when i came back the following day to ask for a copy of the incident report, it turns out this guard did not record anything!  actually, my cousin was saying throughout the incident the guard did not do anything.  what sort of security officer acts that way?!  guards are supposed to observe and record and investigate anything unusual.  they are supposed to maintain order in their place of assigment.  this one involved shouting and a supposed attempt to take a little boy and basic things you fail to do?!

i insisted on a report so they produced one.  well, the report they put together fails in terms of completeness and accuracy.  i'd say truthfulness, too.

the basics:  who, what, where, when.  if you can produce the why and how better.

the who, there were four people involved:  my nephew, the guy, my cousin and i.  in their report there was just three.  my cousin has disappeared from the picture.  it was my cousin who saw what the guy did and it is their names that were left out.  [the report says they were not able to talk to the guy sensibly because he was mentally handicapped so "agad din namin pinauwi."  actually i doubt whether they questioned him at all.]

the what, it was my cousin screaming but in their report i was already the one screaming.

the where, good, they got it right.

the when, they were off by over an hour!  i know because i paid with a credit card and the slip has a timestamp.

this guard was closest to the incident at the time.  i am saying he was alarmingly incompetent.  a year later it shouldn't be like that anymore.

now i don't want people to lose their jobs because of anything i say.  what i have in mind is to give them a refresher course to bring them at par with the requirements of their position and assign them to a post suitable to their disposition.

customer entrance and exit is not the proper posting for someone who has no sense of decorum.  i suppose chow king trains its employees on how to interact with customers.  you have marketing.  you have PR.  you don't counter those efforts by posting an ill-mannered guard at the door.  you will antagonize customers that way.

a heavy traffic door is not the proper posting for someone who is inclined to leave his post.  you're giving bad elements too much window.

true, chow king has a CCTV but that is a passive device.  you have a guard precisely for active protection.

i asked the managers to have a security professional review footage from their CCTV and evaluate the kind of protection they've been getting given the behavior of their guard.  they have only one guard.  he must know at least the basics otherwise you're putting life and property at risk.

the female manager said she will ask the guard for an IR.  i left my name and number with them.  up to now i haven't received any message.  i really am curious what the guard has to say.  i will hear him out.  i will not walk out.

volume discount

me:  'excuse me, do you have the bigger one of this?'

shelf filler:  'out of stock, ma'am...'

me:  'aw...'

shelf filler:  'just buy two small ones...'

me:  'the big one comes out cheaper...'

yup, i'm thrifty like that...  ;")

caveat

my dad has no problem talking to strangers.  he's waiting someplace, he'll strike up a conversation with whoever is nearby.  the guy happens to be a driver?  he'd tell him he's a driver, too.

so this afternoon at 5:17 p.m., i met my parents and my sister at french baker skywalk (between ali mall and sm department store) and i see my dad talking to this guy at the adjacent table.

the guy introduced himself as a lawyer from New York and Washington.

he told me, "kasamahan ko ang daddy mo sa army pero hindi kami nag-abot."
->  your dad is my colleague in the army but our stints did not overlap.
(he's so much younger than my dad.)

okay.

so he and my dad were talking and talking and talking and i overhear him saying he's a graduate of the UP College of Law.  he said he studied at UP from high school just like [former president Fidel] Ramos.

i butt in:  'what's your student number?  mine's 8, 1...'

he asks whether i'm from UP.

i say yes.

he asks what course i took.

i reply econ, adding our building's just across law's.

he said he's econ, too.

i again ask for his student number.

he tells me [vice president] leni robredo is econ, too.

he asks whether i'm ecosoc.

i reply ETC (economics towards consciousness).

i again ask for his student number.

he again dodges the question and i blurt out, "you don't have to tell me everything!  just the first 2 digits!  all i told you is mine's 8, 1..."

he says it's also 8.

me, "anong 8?"
->  '8 what?'

he says it's, "8-dot-dot."

ugh!

i must say i was annoyed.  the guy was extracting so much information from my dad (about my dad, about my dad's prominent friend) and he wouldn't even give me the first two digits of his student number!

i try to take a picture of him and my dad.

he stops me.  he doesn't want pictures.

okay.

guess what, later i see him taking a picture of my dad's ID!

i go, 'ba't mo pini-picture-an 'yan?!'
->  why are you taking a picture of that?!

he doesn't answer.

and my dad was just sitting there looking at him while he was taking a pic of his ID!

and then the guy tells me he seems to have seen me in econ.  rgiht after that, he was already sure he used to see me in econ.

and then they said their goodbyes.

so while the guy and my dad were standing, i took pictures of them.  the guy didn't want any and he kept on hiding behind my dad!

i was really annoyed.  social engineering and identity theft crossed my mind.

i told the guy, "you took a picture of my dad's ID but you don't want a picture of yourself?!"

he said it was with my dad's permission.

he approaches me and shows me a whitish, faded ID and, my baaadddd, i was too annoyed to really look and before i knew it he had walked away.  this new york and washington lawyer said he did not have a business card when i asked for one earlier.  now his ID is faded?!

when he and my dad were not anymore around (the lawyer left for i don't know where.  my dad ate his food then left awhile to buy a couple of light bulbs from Ace Hardware.), i asked the French Baker crew whether the guy in the table beside ours earlier frequented the place.  (uhm, we didn't bother bringing up our concerns to my  dad.  from experience, we know he'd just get mad.)

the girl said no.

i requested her to take a picture of us (my mom, my sister and i) showing the adjacent table.  i told her the guy at that table took a picture of my dad's ID but won't allow a picture of himself.

the crew said, 'ay, akala ko magkakilala!'
->  oh, i thought they knew each other.

my mom says the two just met and my dad just struck up a conversation with the stranger.

me:  "pag may nangyaring hindi maganda, witness ka, ha...  nandito sa katabing table 'yung lalaking 'yun...  pinicture-an niya 'yung ID ng tatay ko..."
->  if something unpleasant happens, you're a witness, ok...  that guy was in the adjacent table...  he took a pic of my dad's ID.

it was my dad's Armed Forces of the Philippines Retired Officer ID.  the front showed his address among other data.  (the back pretty much showed everything!)

let this be an announcement therefore, should anyone use a copy of my dad's ID for whatever transaction, that is UNAUTHORIZED.

bedtime story

on viber with someone who sent me a pic of food costumes at 12:42 a.m.  suddenly i felt hungry...  :O

i don't normally eat anymore once i'm already in bed but this time, since i got up anyway to get my powerbank as my phone already beeped battery warnings, i figured i might as well eat, too.

i then ended up sitting in bed till 2:30 a.m. to avoid acid reflux and nightmares...  : }

eat.
don't sleep.
don't repeat.

value

at a supermarket...

lady to her companion:  'is this ready-to-drink?'

her companion was not sure so i butted in...

me:  'no...  you have to add water...  unless you want your juice to be really thick...  this is orange concentrate...'

lady:  'it's P229.75...'

me:  'it's just P225.95...'

lady:  'maybe because there's a free pitcher so it's higher...'

me:  'when i bought maybe three weeks ago, there was also free pitcher and it was the same price, P225.95...  if it's higher then the pitcher won't be free anymore...'

the lady looks at her checklist then tells me:  'you're right!  it was P225.95...  the price increased!'

me:  'wow...  good thing i was able to buy earlier...  i'll be buying again next week though...  at the new price...'

relatively inelastic...  : }

outside the box

me to store personnel:  'do you have a tape measure?'

store personnel:  'it's over there, ma'am...'

me:  'oh...  i'm not going to buy a tape measure...  i just want to know the size of this item...  do you have a ruler?'

store personnel:  'none, ma'am...  but this tile is 12 inches...'

he then puts the item on the floor and we were able to get approximate measurements.

resourceful!  : )

fierce

overheard:

wife:  'you exert efforts to cook delicious meals then he doesn't eat.  ' turns out he's been eating out with the other woman!  next time i'll serve him stale!'

friend:  'just stale?!  poison the guy!'

wahaha...  up the ante!  ; p

love and sex

friend:  'what were you doing 11:30 last night?'

me:  'what's so significant about 11:30?'

friend:  'nothing...  i just wanna know...'

me:  'why do you wanna know?'

friend:  'why not?'

me:  'why not not?'

friend:  'stop that!  what were you doing 11:30?!'

me:  'haha...  why so testy?!  now i'm not gonna tell you...'

friend:  'please...'

me:  'haha...  good...  well, i was probably listening to 'bad things' for the gazillionth time...'

friend:  'what's that?'

me:  'song...  camila cabello and machine gun kelly...  i heard it at the mall last month...  i googled it a few days later and have had it on repeat for several days now...'

friend:  'how does it go?'

me:  'just google it...  bad things, camila...'

friend:  'sing me the chorus...'

me:  'i dunno which one is the chorus...  it's rap...  i just know camila's part...  you should hear how she sings it...  sooo good!!!  ♩ ♪  you can't explain it  ♫ ♬...  haha...'

friend:  'just sing me her lines then...'

me:  'you have wifi...  just google 'bad things' by machine gun kelly...'

friend:  'i'm surprised you liked that...  bad things...  machine gun...'

me:  'it's a love song...'

friend:  'bad things and it's a love song???'

me:  'well, it's kinda sensual but i still consider it a love song...  i dunno others...'

friend:  'sing me a few lines...'

me:  'i won't be doing it justice!  camila sings it sooo well...'

friend:  'it doesn't matter...  i'd take you over camila anytime...'

me:  'awww!!!  okay, okay [yup, i'm gullible like that]...  but promise you'd listen to the original later...  it's something else...'

friend:  'ok...'

i vocalize, hahaha, then break out into:

'♩ ♪  am i out of my head?
am i out of my mind?
if you only knew the bad things i like
don't think that i can explain it
what can i say, it's complicated  ♫ ♬

♩ ♪  don't matter what you say
don't matter what you do
i only wanna do bad things to you
so good that you can't explain it
what can i say, it's complicated  ♫ ♬'

friend:  'wow!  that's a sex song!'

ei, i'm a hopeless romantic...  ;")

respect

i was walking near a school when the national anthem played.  i stopped and stood at attention.

then a house gate opened.  the homeowner saw me and she looked at me funny.  i think she was wondering why i was just standing there.

i could very clearly hear the national anthem.  i suppose she could hear it, too.  living so close to the school, however, maybe she just doesn't pay attention to it anymore?

i'm not really sure whether if you live that near and you frequently hear the national anthem you can already just walk around even when it is being played.  (she was within her property.)

me, even when i'm driving and i hear the anthem, i stop.  i've actually been honked at a few times because of that.  i'm not really sure whether i'm overdoing it...  :"}

ensure

my mom changed her number in 2013.  before and on the day she did, i sent text messages to those in her contacts list informing them of the new number.  in the same message, i had a request for them to delete the old one.

weeks, months, years (!) after the change, there are still those who repeatedly call her at her old number.  i know because i forwarded calls to the old number to mine.

a few years back, my mom was wondering why my friend was not replying to her text messages.

i told her my friend changed her number and gave her the new one.

later she made an observation that she receives replies from my friend only when she replies to my friend's message.  when my mom is the one who initiates messaging, however, she says she does not receive a reply.

me:  'oh, that usually happens when you have the wrong number in your contacts list.'

mom insists she has the correct number.

i tell her to double-check.

she tells me she has it right.

okay.  could be a signal problem or technical glitch then.  it will go away.

still her observation persisted.  she says my friend responds only when she replies to her message but not when she composes a new message for her.

i tell her if it's consistent then she most likely has the wrong number in her contacts list.  if it's intermittent then it must be some temporary carrier or coverage issue.

i tell her to check the number in her contacts list and compare to the number my friend uses to text her.  they should be the same.

she tells me they are.

really?  hmmm...

one time when she again complained, i checked the number in her contacts list myself.  aaarrrggghhhhh!!!  she had my friend's number from two years back!  two years!!!

me:  'how do you know it's <my friend> texting if her name does not show?'

mom:  'i can tell from the message...'

me:  'weren't you wondering why sometimes her name is displayed and other times it's not?'

mom:  'i didn't notice...'

<breathe in>

<breathe out>

sometimes you shouldn't be content with hearing...  you have to see for yourself...

prolly

me:  'oh, i like this...  cynthia rowley...  it has my name...'

mom's laundrywoman:  'reminded me of sir...'

me:  'sir who?'

mom's laundrywoman:  'your ex...'

me:  'which ex?'
[ahahahahaha...  toinks!!!]

mom's laundrywoman:  'rolly...'

me:  'huh?!  i don't have any ex named rolly!'

mom's laundrywoman:  'what's the name of your husband?'

me:  '<toot>!'

mom's laundrywoman:  'oh...  haha...  yes...  i forgot...'

me:  'haha...  you don't need to remember...'

peace...  ; )

more

ending a call...  i thought i heard the customer service representative say, 'happy birthday, ma'am...'

me:  'happy birthday?!'

customer service representative:  'have a great day!'

me:  'oh, haha...  sorry...  you, too...'

the more birthdays you have, the longer you live...  ; )

complete

at least once a month there's a mini-flood in my kitchen.  i live on the third floor so that is ironic.

the water does not come from rain.  it comes from our overflowing water tank.  normally, when the tank overflows, the water just falls on the sink in the laundry area.  when it's left overflowing for too long, however, the pressure shoots the water beyond the sink up to the opposite wall where it bounces off toward the kitchen.

month after month, whenever i don't get home early enough, there's water on my kitchen floor.

the first time it happened, yearS back, i told my dad.  he and my brother are the ones who open the valve to fill the tank.  (my parents live just a few meters away.  my brother and his family live on the floors below mine.)  i've raised it once.  i've raised it twice.  i've raised it thrice.  it still keeps on recurring.  i don't really like to repeat myself over and over and over again so eventually i just stopped raising it and just learned to live with an occasionally flooded kitchen.

and never-drying laundry, too.  i've thrown away a heap of clothes because they've developed spots daily getting wet by the overflowing water.  call me stubborn but i don't want to hang my laundry anywhere else.  my place is small.  the only appropriate spot for my laundry is really the laundry area.  nope, i don't want my clothes in the dryer.  i prefer them sun-dried.

i've thought of several ways to contain the water but the air-tight ones would mean inconveniencing others.  i don't want that.  the real solution really would be to close the valve soon enough.

i transferred to the place in november 2011.  on my first night there, i already heard the overflowing tank.  i got up and traced the sound to the laundry area where i saw water running from this pipe protruding from the water tank overhead.  i didn't know how to stop it and i didn't want to wake anyone up thinking this must not be the first time it happened so i just went back to bed.  following day, i learned how to close the valve.

well, guess what, every single morning after that, i'd hear the water overflowing and i'd get up and close the valve.  i'd return to bed and then later i'd hear the water overflow again and i'd close the valve again.  day after day it was like that.

i told my dad and my brother to decide who between them would open the valve and i'd just be the one to close.  still daily for five years i'd get up twice in the mornings (at times within minutes of each other!) and rush through three flights of stairs to close the valve because the water overflows.

then last year, i go to my parents' place and my dad was mad at me.  he said the tank went empty because i closed the valve.

eh?  i just got home.  i was out.  i could not have been the one who closed it.

still he kept on berating me saying i'm the one who keeps on closing the valve.

oh, ok.  from then on, i decided not to touch the valve.  let the water flow where it may.

it's been the story of my life to fill in things others who are supposed to do them leave out.  i guess sometimes you have to leave people on their own to make them realize that some things go together:  open-close, on-off, borrow-return, fall-rise, breakup-make up (wahehe...  okay, okay...  the last one is not always a pair).  you forget that and there'd be rain...  initially in my place...  eventually on your parade...  ; p

avoidance

i was in line at a fast food when i suddenly smelled something unpleasant...  : }

i immediately moved to the farthest queue.

then a young lady asked me:  'are you in line?'

wahaha...  in my desire to move as far as i could, i did not even stand in alignment with my new queue.  i was a bit to the right...  :"O

anyway, i told the girl i was and she stood behind me.

then her companion arrived.  he wanted her to transfer to the queue i left.  it was the shortest.

i butt in:  'there's a bad smell there...'

young lady:  'yeah!  i smelled it, too, that's why i transferred here.'

the nose knows nos...  ; p

proceed

i was walking behind a mom and her children this morning, a baby on her arms and a little girl by her side.

the little girl kept on singing despacito.  the thing is, she was singing only one line, just one word actually.  it was just  '♩ ♪  despacito  ♫ ♬'  over and over again.

it made me feel uneasy, wahaha.  it was like you're mid-movement and suddenly you freeze.

when the little girl went at it for the nth time, i continued the song:

'♩ ♪  quiero respirar tu cuello despacito
deja que te diga cosas al oído
para que te acuerdes si no estás conmigo  ♫ ♬'

then i overtook them.

i heard the little girl ask, 'mama, who is that person?'

the mom just chuckled.

on my end, i felt such a release, hahaha.

i remembered one of those lines that for reasons i don't know randomly comes to my mind every now and then:

'there is nothing like an itch that you can reach.'

cue james brown.

'♩ ♪  i feel good
ta na na na na na nan  ♫ ♬'

;")

upset

couple watching TV...

wife:  'these military men are so touchy...'

husband, a retired military officer, quickly objects:  'that's not true!  military men are very understanding!'

wife:  'well, that is my observation...'

husband:  'your observation is not accurate.'

wife:  'that is my opinion...  military men easily take offense...'

husband:  'your opinion is unfair!  military personnel are one of the most understanding, if not the most understanding.  they're unflappable.  you have to think clearly because lives are on the line.  you consider so many things.  you put up with so much.  otherwise your people could get killed; they could get wounded.'

wife:  'but that doesn't mean they don't get touchy.'

husband:  'you civilians don't understand these things!'

uhm, i think the husband just demonstrated the wife's point...  peace...  ; )

ants

four nights ago, i was awakened by a weird feeling on my legs.  i turn the light on and see antsssS on my bedsheet.  waaahhh!!!  i changed the sheets right away.

following night, it recurred!

i googled natural ant repellents.  there were many:  lemon, cucumber peel, vinegar, peppermint, lavender oil...

i didn't have lavender oil but i have lavender body wash.  worth a try.  i got this container of car freshener and poured in body wash.  i placed the container on the foot side of my bed.

well, for the last two night there have been no ants on my bed.

sharing...

forever friend

wanted to go with my sister this afternoon because i wanted to eat at mcdonald's.  nope, it's not because of the food.  it's because of a toy.  they currently have a hello kitty kettle in their happy meals and i wanted one...  :")

i wasn't able to finish what i was doing early enough, however, so i told her i'll just drop by mcdonald's next week.

guess what, when she came home she had a hello kitty kettle for me!  awww!  sweet!  <3 <3 <3

she's not really a mcdonald's girl.  she usually gets pizza or noodles or pastries.  this time she got a happy meal just so i could have a hello kitty kettle.

i'm sooo happy...  i'm sooo thankful...  : )

hooray for sisters...  : D

keep distance

there's this guy i haven't talked to in months.  the last time he called me, he was inviting me to okada manila.  i declined.
[actually, for more than five years now he's been inviting me every now and then but i've always managed to say no.]

then last sunday my cousin and i drove past okada.  whoa!  it looked massive!  i rarely go to that side of town so i've seen the structure only in pictures.  i had no idea it was that big.

me to cousin:  'suddenly i remember this guy who was inviting me there...  so that's where he goes...'

cousin:  'who?'

me:  'oh, you don't know him...'

guess what, this afternoon the guy suddenly resurrects and again calls me.

i tell him i just remembered him last sunday when we passed by okada then now he calls me.

he tells me he called me because he drove past our street.

wow...  parallels...  :")

hmmm...  parallel lines never meet...  ouch!  ; p

purpose

i picked up three generations for a day out, a grandma, the daughter and the grandson.

in the car, i noticed the boy's backpack.

me:  'oh...  so that's the backpack...'

[i order stuff online and send them directly to the recipient so a lot of times i see the items just in pictures.]

grandma:  'yes...  and this is the jacket...'

daughter:  'the jogging pants, too...'

awww...  i love it when people like AND use the stuff i give them.  that is how i intended it to be...  : )

there was a case where i saw almost all the items i sent stacked in a corner, still in their original boxes, still with the courier's packaging.

the recipient liked them but wouldn't use them because the stuff were "too nice" and they didn't want the items to get "worn or broken or stolen."

ugh!  i don't mind what happens to the items as long as they are put to use.  it is not my intention to preserve the items.  my intention is for them to make someone's days even just a little more convenient.

a pristine rag is nice.  but that's not what rags are for.

once is not enough

me:  'where's the key?'

reply:  'she can't get in?'

me:  'no...  where's the key?'

reply:  'she still can't get in?'

me:  'in the garage, yes...  in the house, no...  where's the key?'

reply:  'she can't get in???'

me:  'ugh!  she's waiting outside!  where is the key???!!!'

reply:  'there...'

it's supposed to be Q&A, not Q&Q...  : }

rub it in

cousin saying he's been wanting to go to hong kong but no one would accompany him.

cousin:  'imagine, everything free and still no one would like to go with me...'

me:  'haha...  do you know that after nine years donald trump finally blocked chrissy teigen on twitter?'

cousin:  'why?'

me:  'trump sort of complained that even republicans he helped were not looking out for him and chrissy replied, 'lol no one likes you.'  there.  he blocked her.

i'm gonna say the same thing to you, 'lol, no one likes you.''

nyahaha...  peace...  ; p

gift-giving

saw a goddaughter i haven't seen in more than twenty years... the last time i saw her she was still a young girl... now she's a full-grown woman... (ugh! i am old!)

guess what, she greets me then happily introduces me to her officemate as the godmother who used to give her books... she adds: 'different books... aesop's fables... nice ones... hard bound!'

whoa! i don't even remember those anymore... but i am delighted that she liked them... and really touched that she still remembers them...

i have another goddaughter i didn't see for years and when we saw each other again, she told me she used to look forward to the gifts i send her for christmas as the toys were really nice. a bride-to-be remembering her childhood presents?! aawww!!! :")

not all stories are as heart-warming though, hehe...

there was a time i kept on giving my older godchildren organizers. year after year, 'twould be an organizer. wide drawers, tall drawers, storage boxes, the like.

then one time the dad said to my goddaughter, 'your godmother keeps on giving you organizers because you're so messy!'

ooops... wahaha... i don't even know how my goddaughter is at their house. i was buying those gifts simply because i myself found them useful. i wasn't at all insinuating anything.. anyway, i stopped giving organizers after that.

i moved on to organic soaps. i gift them because:

1. i find them gentler than regular soap.

2. they'd be used up and won't contribute to any clutter, hehe...

disclaimer:
it's not because i'm implying that someone needs to take a shower... ; p