Tuesday, November 30, 2004

I was thinking... what life would be like next year. Many Filipino people are starving, unemployed, and homeless. Not to mention the calamities hitting the country like typhoons and flashfloods. What's funny, the government says the economy grows by 6.3% by Third Quarter and our 'president' telling us Fiscal crisis was over. Utilities like water, electricity, and even LPG kept rising its value while grocery goods cost more compared in the last two months.

Year 2005 is fast approaching. What have I done noble this year to be a better person than last year? Can't help but, I'm still thinking... until now!

Sunday, November 28, 2004

My elder sister and I went for grocery shopping for my father's needs this morning. As we arrived in his house situated in the farthest corner of a 800 SQM compound where I had spent my childhood years until I ran away from home in 1979, my heart melts with his living condition. His house was the most neglected house built inside the compound.

The house needs general cleaning. My father is living alone with 6 dogs, 2 geese, 19 chicken and 6 doves, enough to make him busy everyday feeding his pets. He's 70 years old, sickly, and diabetic.

Among my father's children, I was the only one who didn't liked to step in that compound. Most of our relatives on my father's side are well off and socializing with them had never been my cup of tea. We went to clean his house, anyway. Glad Paul Denise was with me and he helped us a lot, along with Boyet and Nelson. As usual, I argued with my father. I want him to throw away or sell the junk items he's keeping around his house. But, just like before, he firmly refused. He wanted my brothers to have them in case someday, they would want to build their own house. I explained to him no one among us are interested with those stuffs but, my sister stopped me. We know he's unhappy we're moving his things, throwing things we considered garbage but valuable to him.

It was past five in the afternoon when we decided to continue next weekend what we have started and probably look for people who will help us in lifting old furnitures and appliances. My muscles were aching but surprisingly, I feel good. I feel a little bit lighter because I know, in spite of comfortable life I once had, I failed to give my father the attention he deserves. But, the problem was he didn't like to live with any one of us.

Someday, somehow, I will be older, too, like my father. Will my kids remember me?

Thursday, November 25, 2004

I cannot recall anymore how many banks had declared Bank Holiday since year 2000 but, today, we have a different kind of holiday. Transport holiday paralyzes 30% of transportation here in Metro Manila. Actually, this mass transport holiday was nationwide but I missed to watch the evening news because I was busy in the kitchen cooking our dinner. Daughter didn't go to school when they heard from TV news alert about the mass transport strike while Paul Denise left the house and took advantage of the situation to play PC games with his cousin. He came home late.

Whatever is the outcome of the recent strike, I'm sure it means additional budget to my kids' daily school allowances.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

After my daughter had her lunch, she told me she wanted to buy some books and we accompanied her to SM North EDSA. We passed by at Smart Wireless Center first and bought eLoad for my eldest son in Riyadh.

Abenson Appliance Center was just adjascent to Smart outlet so I had my chance to come closer and listen to the beautiful video concert of Celine Dion playing in SONY DHC-FLX5DSW Home Theater system. I was fascinated with its Cinema Sound feature and after couple of demos by friendly sales men, I was disappointed upon learning its selling price was PHP 39,900.00 (Flat screen TV not included)! Kids were patiently watching silently. I looked at them with guilt.

With a bitter smile, I asked for the product brochure and left the place to buy the book. No matter how much I wanted to buy stuffs I liked, I do not have the freedom to do so. My priority right now is to send the children to college, that's my vow to God for the life extension I'm enjoying...

SONY HOME THEATER MODEL DHC-FLX5DSW

• Direct AV EQ
• Karaoke Function
• V-Groove
• CD/CD-R/CD-RW Playback
• Digital Cinema Sound Modes
• VACS Anti Distortion System
• DSP/EQ Edit
• Dolby Prologic Surround Sound (only for DVD) / Dolby Digital / DTS / Digital Cinema Sound
• Full Logic Auto Reverse Double Tape Deck (A/B-Recordable)
• 5 Disc DVD / CD Changer with Disc Ex-Change
• FM/AM Tuner with 30 Presets
• 2 Band Graphic Equalizer
• 18 Preset memory + 5 Programable Memory
• 3 Way H.O.P. Speakers w/ Bass & Trebble Control
• Power Output - Sub Woofer Output : 180W Power Output (PMPO) : 2000W

What would you feel when you discovered that your blog's layout and contents had been copied and been posted by someone else in his/her own blog? I was shocked when I browsed and read the article, Someone stole my blog! while surfing via Blog Expolosion. As I followed the link leading to the culprit's blog, I realized mai was right. I even viewed the page source and the html tags were exactly the same.

Now that someone else did this, aren't you alarmed your precious blog about your work, life, and experiences might be stolen, too? What can be done to avoid this?

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Even Randy was so tired yesterday from the eBay auction, he was able to pay ladylaila.net's domain and webhosting fees via PayPal. That made Alvino the indirect sponsor of this blog!

Then, he sent the rest of the money using XOOM.COM, the easiest way to send money to the Philippines. Xoom.com uses PayPal to process the transaction and securely sends the money to Equitable-PCI Bank, the bank of the controversial Jose Pidal.

I then picked up the money this morning and open an account with them for my future online transactions. Jessie M. Borlaza was the one who assisted me well. Claiming the money was easy. I presented my passport and driver's license for identification purposes, Xoom Tracking Number XPH-63876-85690.

Those who want to send money to the Philippines, the details you need are:

Recipient First Name:
Recipient Last Name:
Recipient Address Line 1:
Recipient Address Line 2:
Recipient City:
Recipient Country: PH
Recipient Phone:

After sending the money, advise your recipient the Xoom Tracking Number and the secret word and/or better forward the e-mail from PayPal with subject line: Your Xoom Money Transfer Has Been Processed For Pickup. It is important to take note of the location code of the bank where the money is being sent since Equitable-PCIBank has over 400 branches nationwide.

Tracking XOOM Transaction XPH-63876-85690
2004-11-22 07:19   Transaction Initiated
2004-11-22 07:26   PayPal Payment in Progress
2004-11-22 07:27   Payment Authorization Pending
2004-11-22 07:28   Processing Payment
2004-11-22 07:29   Processing Payment
2004-11-22 07:29   Payment Authorization Successful
2004-11-22 07:32   Money is Available for Pick Up
2004-11-23 02:26   Processing Disbursement
2004-11-23 02:26   Transaction complete - this money transfer has been picked up.

Click support this site and donate using XOOM.

ComputerWorld announces that Euro web sites spread BOFRA WORM (also known as Mydoom.ah/ag) via banner ads which made me think twice if banner ads on Blog Explosion is safe to click or not? On Nov. 16th, GFi says "the worm sends a link by email and when the user accesses the website using Microsoft Internet Explorer, the buffer overflow is triggered which in turn installs the rest of the worm."

ComputerWorld mentioned the vulnerability allows attackers to gain complete control of a user's computer but, users running Windows XP Service Pack 2 have nothing to worry about. I just wonder whether the worm can trade and play on BlogShares, too?

Suggested sites to visit:

• Bofra worm bypasses antivirus systems
• Bofra worm spreads via Internet Explorer
• Bofra worm sets trap for unwary
• Bofra worm feels the need for speed

Monday, November 22, 2004

Many thanks to the following generous eBay bidders who made our auction successful:

• npsantos_pt(2 )
• jaysue96( 59)
• wryenluveau( 1 )
• jim_carson ( 63)

The following items got the winning bid amount of:

• Item number: 5935493456 -  US $264.99
• Item number: 5935493700 -  US $260.99
• Item number: 5935493856 -  US $276.58

My children and I wish to thank Alvino, for bidding and winning all the above auctioned items and likewise to my buddy, Randy, for holding the eBay auction in my behalf.  Without your support, the B$15 Trillion auction wouldn't be a successful one!

Saturday, November 20, 2004

This is an open letter to Afonso, wrote by another friend, Randy. wherever you are right now, keep holding on to God, and everything will gonna be all right...

The life you're having right now is nothing compared with what I had been through. Look at me, I PUSH each time I was down and troubled. Life is beautiful, let's count our blessings. You have a lot to thank God for, you're not alone. Randy and I are here for you....

Hi Afonso,

I am Randy Hicks (RWO), a friend of Laila's. She has been a little worried about you and asked if I could give you a little moral support.

While I do not know much about your current situation, I have had a few hard times in my life and know the feeling of hopelessness and loneliness. I grew up in a very poor and abusive environment as a child. As soon as I graduated from High School I had the opportunity to bail out of that situation and did, I joined the United States Navy.

It wasn't an easy life at first, as I was away from familiar surroundings and amongst many folks i did not know, I felt fairly out of place. I decided to devote my time to learning my Navy trade. Eventually I made a few friends and actually met a woman, the first that showed any interest in me.

We got married and times were hard as I was so junior in the ranks. Also she got pregnant right away, so we had that added expense. To make matters worse I got orders to my first ship and found that it was home ported in Japan. She was to pregnant to travel and was having difficulties with the pregnancy so i went to japan on my own.

After she had my first daughter, we finally managed to scrape together enough money for her to come to Japan, which she did. Since I was on a ship it was gone all the time. She got pregnant again, but later I found out the baby was not mine. I was crushed and suicidal. I sent her back home to her mother and as soon as i finished my tour we divorced.

I then met the next woman of my dreams. We were the same age and shared the same interests. We married and a few months later i came home from work to an empty house. She had moved out and had taken all the furniture and everything I had bought with her. It turned out that she was gay and had married me as I had saved quite a bit of money by that time. I was a stepping stone to some material things she wanted to get, as well as she was in the Navy and some stories had circulated, that she was gay. By marrying me, she stopped the rumors and got the material items.

After that divorce, I did get my furniture back, by the way, I basically swore off women for a while, then one day at the base bowling alley a woman came up to me and asked me a question about my rating and how to change rates. I was very abrupt and downright rude. She saw me several times over the next few days and we eventually made friends, got married and 22 years later are still together.

I also managed in that time to advance from enlisted to the officer ranks and basically turned my life around. I would like to point out that all this happened when I was not looking for a relationship. Relationships happen that way. You never know when or where you will meet that person that is right for you.

If I had been successful in my attempts to commit suicide during the breakup of my first marriage, I wouldn't have had the successful life I have now. I own a home, have five great children though they sometimes can try my patience.

I would suggest that when times are hard, and life seems to be kicking you down that you look at two things. First look at the happy times in your life and at some of the things you have done to positively affect other people. Throughout you life I know you have helped someone, made their life better. Remember, what goes around comes around. When you help someone it eventually will come back to help you.

Second, when things are bad look at it in a way that things can't get worse, so things will get better. Have a little patience, give things time to happen for you.

I know this is unsolicited, and I hope you don't get offended. There are a lot of people out there that support and care for you and you probably don't even realize it. Take care my friend and turn that frown into a smile.

Things may be bad now, but they will get better.

Randy

Friday, November 19, 2004

Ayon sa napanood ko sa GMA7's 24 Oras ngayong gabi, lubhang nakakabahala ang sakit na Meningococcemia na nakapatay na ng 5 katao sa Baguio City. Para sa kaalamanan ng mga Pinoy na malapit sa lugar ng Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center sa Baguio City, umiwas muna kayo dahil may outbreak ng Meningococcemia doon. Sa loob lamang ng 24 oras ay maaari diumano na mamatay ang pasyenteng apektado ng sakit na ito na nakakahawa.

Mga sintomas:

• Pananakit ng ulo
• Pagsusuka
• Pananakit ng katawan
• Stiff neck
• Convulsion
• Iritable
• Pasa-pasa sa katawan

Para sa higit na kaalamanan, basahin n'yo na rin ang Medline Plus Encyclopedia: Meningococcemia. Maaring iwasan ang mahawahan kayo sa pamamagitan ng mga sumusunod:

• Kumain ng wastong pagkain.
• Ito ay airborne kaya huwag lumapit sa pasyenteng maysakit.
• Kailangan ng wastong anti-biotic, kung sakaling napalapit sa may sakit.
• Huwag magpanic. Makibalita.
• Umiwas sa mga mataong lugar.
• Kumunsulta sa doktor, kung sakaling mayroon kayong karamdaman.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Good news to all Filipinos who are Philippine residents. EBay Philippines is now available to us. I registered today at eBay Philippines after reading the article written by Erwin Lemuel Oliva of INQ7.net, entitled eBay mum about plans in the Philippines:

"Over 125 million registered users are now trading about 34 million items through the website. In the third quarter of 2004, the website recorded an estimated 8.3 billion dollars' worth of transactions."

"eBay has presence in nine Southeast Asian countries, namely South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, China, India and Philippines."

"Frederic de Bure, managing director of eBay Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, said eBay.ph is currently a "free" service that allows Filipinos to trade any products online. It currently has not identified any payment scheme that can be used by Filipinos who want to trade through the website."

As I browsed through eBay.ph pages, I found out that many Filipinos are already registered with them but they had difficulty claiming their stuffs because of payment issue using PayPal. PayPal, an eBay company, is a global leader in online payments. It is currently available to 45 countries only and unfortunately, the Philippines is not a member yet.

Anyway, Erwin Lemuel Oliva mentioned a planned meeting of an eBay official with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, I shall wait then what this eBay can do to my BlogShares auctions.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Hey, fellow BlogShares players! Have you experienced lately that you saw ultra rare ideas available at Ideas Market and when you clicked BUY IDEAS, it says you do not have that particular amount to buy it? Don't be surprised because several times it happened with me considering I have over B$ 112 Trillion in networth!

The good news? Randy and I are offering 3 sets of B$ 5T each for auction at eBay. You have only five days to take all these cash and enjoy more playing the game. Highest bidder will take the BlogShares Dollars!

Remember, the more you invest, the higher the profits. Place your BID now:

• Item number: 5935493456
• Item number: 5935493700
• Item number: 5935493856

Proceeds of the above auction goes to ladylaila.net's domain and webhosting costs. Thank you for your support and God bless.

Monday, November 15, 2004

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strength. When you go through hardship and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Muslims worldwide are celebrating the end of Ramadan today. No wonder when Tintin and Sweety Pearl went with me for some grocery shopping at SM North Edsa, we were surprised that there were too many people shopping as if there was a Christmas shopping rush...

Anyway, Eid Mubarrak to all!

Saturday, November 13, 2004

I was furious today when I found out that my son had lost his cellphone while he's sleeping in a bus on his way to Parañaque City to pick up his Form 137 yesterday.

That's the fifth cellphone in less than two years!

Friday, November 12, 2004

PNR train 580 falls into ravine in Quezon Province, said to be the worst train tragedy in 20 years. They said overspeeding on a sharp curve and stolen railroad tracks caused the accident. *

The four coaches lay scattered at the bottom of the ravine while three remaining coaches stood above them, still on the railroad tracks.*

Seven died on the spot while three died at hospital due to multiple fractures and concussions.*

GMA 7's 24 Oras reported that at least ten people were killed and 115 wounded after a Manila-bound train from the Bicol region slipped of its tracks and fell into a 12-meter deep ravine early dawn Friday. The Philippine National Railways (PNR) train had 312 listed passengers, but its total occupants could reach 400 since commuters are picked up along the way.*

GMA-7 sets up telethon to aid victims of train accident. The telephone numbers, as listed on a GMA Network Flash Report, are as follows:

+63 2 925-7050   +63 2 924-3062   +63 2 924-3014   +63 2 929-6508
+63 2 929-6950   +63 2 928-2019   +63 2 922-7220   +63 2 927-6880

They can also be reached via e-mail at emergency@gmanetwork.com.

Tuesday, November 09, 2004

We barely finish the second week of November but some BlogShares players are now speculating and asking who will be the number one richest player by the end of this month. Will it be Mars or Laila* (that's me)???

The forum message thread started yesterday by Fireblazt under Playground, entitled "number 1 next month"... Raymond thinks it will be Mars, which was supported by Tom's assessment.

As far as I know, Mars will be able to keep the top 1 position. Who wants to guess?

LET'S REVIEW OUR PROFILES

Surprise gifts will be given to those who can GUESS who will be the top 1 player next month. Make a guess and leave your profile name and ID, in case your guess is correct, I'll inform you of your prize winnings!

It's my son's 25th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Junjun!

Monday, November 08, 2004

Ex called by overseas call and he told me that my son received his luggage. He gave the phone to my son and I talked with him. He sounds so happy upon seeing his stepfather. Tomorrow will be Junjun's birthday. We spoke briefly over the phone because it was almost praying time over there (break of fasting). EX, as usual, was generous enough and gave my son some cash for his birthday!

My son will go online on yahoo tomorrow and we might have a webcam conference...

Sunday, November 07, 2004

The first BlogShares for charity's auction has ended on Nov 6th at 15:07:51 PST. Many thanks to those generous players who donated their fantasy wealth and real money too, likewise to those who bid and made the auction a success. The winner of Item number: 5931505136 (B$ 5,082,587,364,374.20, 50,158 chips, 4,500,000 Ideas), was Anders Ohlsson, highest bidder in the amount of US$204.62!

Save A child Blog has been created today at http://saveachild.blogdrive.com/ as (unofficial) BlogShares For Charity site. The site is still under construction but hopefully, details of our donations will all be available there soon...

May God bless us all and I'm looking forward for a bigger and united BlogShares community!

Tintin informed me through couple of text messages that my eldest son, Junjun, is under pressures from his colleagues at work. They wanted him to "correct" some discrepancies in the company's confidential records which he has access to. He refused to follow orders since he knows their intention was to cheat their employer. The leader of the bad guys was the brother-in-law of his employer. I couldn't do anything to protect him because he's far from me and he doesn't know Tintin told me about his problems at work.

I just wish God will always protect all my children from harm...

Saturday, November 06, 2004

Temporarily removed upon receiving James' comments...

Friday, November 05, 2004

Did you know that tabbed browsing is more convenient than using the traditional IExplorer browser? If you're doing multi-tasking online, it will be more convenient if you know also how to use keyboard shortcuts.

Mozilla is my default browser, how about yours?

Thursday, November 04, 2004

I'm worried. I really do...

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Paul Denise enrolled himself today for Second Semester taking up BSCS. I have decided to pay his tuition fee on monthly installment basis. Payment schedule in the amount of Php3,070.00 will be on or before the 8th of every month starting in December until March. Sweetie Pearl, on the other hand, will pay twice only, on or before her prelim and midterm exams.

Upon checking Paul Denise' enrolment sheet, he has 9 subjects to study, equivalent to 26.00 units, namely:
CIWETS2 - Civic Welfare Training Service 2 , 3.00 units
COMART2 - Communication Arts 2, 3.00 units
FILITWO - Filipino 2, 3.00 units
OFCPRO2 - Office Productivity Tools 2, 1.00 units
PHILLIT - Philippine Literature, 3.00 units
PHYEDU2 - Physical Education 2, 2.00 units
TRIGONO - Trigonometry, 3.00 units
COMPRO2 - Computer Programming 2, 4.00 units
PHYSIC1 - Physics 1, 4.00 units

BlogShares Charity's Save The Children now holds its first auction from collected donations given by concerned players. To qualify to bid, you should be a BlogShares registered player. To register, click here.

Auction is currently going on at eBay, place your bid now!

I was upset when Randy informed me ten days ago that our recipient, Cherry, will be replaced by Save The Children International because Cherry and their family moved to an unknown location. Glad they found a replacement, named Sarah, another ten year old girl from the same Tramo area.

I was hesitant to pursue with the eBay auction but they got a new girl for us to sponsor her elementary education for just US$28.00 a month. Many of BlogShares generous players are looking forward to the success of this charity project, inspired by the wealth we gained by simply playing on BlogShares Fantasy Stock Market...

To all my online friends who were expecting me to make it to the Philippine Blog Awards Finals, I'm very sorry to tell you that I didn't make it.

Anyway, I know that my blog is too personal in content but, I am wishing good luck to the lucky fellow bloggers who fortunately made it to the Finals:

FINALISTS FOR THE BEST BLOG SITE OF THE YEAR
ironwulf.net
kutitots.com
greencapsule.org
avlack.com
dalityapi.tripod.com
houseonahill.net
sedricke.blogspot.com
munimuni.stockstam.com
lunachix.diaryland.com
clever-mind.net
koolbirks.com
secretsigh.zambovinta.com
quezon.ph*

FINALISTS FOR THE BEST BLOGGER OF THE YEAR
brassbuddha.blogspot.com
quietrivers.com
soloflite.blogspot.com
thirdcharm.blogspot.com
metal_ears.blogspot.com
kwentongtambay.nicanordavid.com
blobbetslife.blogspot.com
bachoy.blogspot.com
taglish.blog-city.com
light-overload.net/shugo
dizzy.kuwaderno.net
myarthurdelrosario.ph
areyouinthemoodforsomedude.blogspot.com
lockload.com
thiskid.blogspot.com
inababes.neominds.net
payb-pifty.blogspot.com
ivan-ulrich.blogspot.com

FINALISTS FOR THE MOST INFORMATIVE BLOG SITE OF THE YEAR
houseonahill.net
sedricke.blogspot.com
twofourth.com/wordpress
jdavies.blogspot.com
manofmars.blog-city.com
therocketboychronicles.blogspot.com
technobiography.blogspot.com
quezon.ph*
hazelmarie.blogspot.com
salitablog.blogspot.com
emeritus.blogspot.com
myparadigm.tk

*I have nominated quezon.ph and glad he made it to the finals... I'm expecting him to win due to historical content he writes in his blog.

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

October wasn't a good month when it comes to communication with fellow BS players. It made me feel real bad when few players abused industry voting rights either with the use of a bot or indiscrimately made blind voting to collect karma and chips. Although I formally made my complaint, it appeared I was just a laughing stock for democratically airing my observation. And because I feel there's discrimination in the forum, I avoided the forum and dedicated instead most of my time trading. It helps, though, because I am now at rank 2. MLT, who was at rank 2 last month, was too kind to offer me 20T from his holdings since he's not playing like he used to but, I told him to keep his B$ until he will find time again to play like before...

So here is the summary of my portfolio for the month of October 2004:

Through Macky's (top 1 richest player) recommendations, I was added on the 23rd of October to the noteworthy personalities on BlogShares' Who's Who, being third player on BS Elite list. And, by the way, congratulations to my dear buddy, Randy a.k.a RWO, for being at top 4 on Richest 100 Players List.

Monday, November 01, 2004

Blog Explosion was generous enough today for the random 100 mystery credits which I have won, the very first since I joined the site on October 6th. Blog Explosion is a traffic exchange which a member visits other member's blogs and in return other people view your blog. By visiting a few other interesting blogs you yourself are generating traffic to your own blog at the same time. To surf member's blogs, you should follow what numbers to click located at the upper left portion of the page. Some members didn't know about this. They had thought all they have to do is register their blog and that's it. If you haven't sign up yet, allow me to refer you to BlogExplosion...

Looks like it is my lucky day today as I have won another 50 mystery credits!

Knowing my children will be back to school on Wednesday, November 3rd, I had thought to relax and take them out to a movie. We had our lunch at SM North Edsa Food Court located at the basement. Then, on our way to the Cinema, I saw a cute black Secosana hand bag and I couldn't resist the temptation of buying it while kids were bored watching me.

As we went up to the third floor of the building, I was disappointed that most of the movies now showing are horror suspense. So, we watched White Chicks instead, a crime comedy starring Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Anne Dudek. Although the movie's plot was not very clear due to lack of villains' exposure, men disguised as women should bring laughs and surprises. To know more about the movie, the full synopsis of it is here. The movie wasn't bad for those who want to relax, I hate scary movies, anyway. Besides, I deserve a good laugh today.