Anticipating growing old (again)
Now that my birthday is just a couple of weeks away I am considering the best (and most affordable) birthday gift I could buy for myself (advanced happy birthday me!).
A new laptop? Yeah, dream on. My choice from an array of womens gold watches? I prefer the outdoor kind. A new outfit from British India? Uhm, where’s that lotto ticket again …
We have nothing fancy planned really. Kuya Maui’s birthday is on the 12th, mine on the 23rd. We’ve set a date in between for a family dinner somewhere, TBA. Just the immediate family I suppose. Eating out is less of a hassle than rustling up something festive at home.
Cell Tower Leases may be Good Business
Globe has been the usual target of bombings and arson by the NPA in the Bicol region, reportedly for its refusal to pay so-called revolutionary taxes to the communist movement.
Two months ago the same fate befell the Globe and Sun Cellular towers in Sorsogon, for very much the same reason—non payment of revtax. I am not going to comment on the pros and cons of going with the flow with revtax. The racketeer in me just thought what if a front man for the NPA just started a business selling cell tower leases to the cell phone providers–wouldn’t that be a guarantee that your tower will always be safe?
Just my two cents.
NPA burns cellsite in Masbate town
By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 01:42pm (Mla time) 06/06/2008LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — A relay station of telecommunications company Globe was set ablaze Thursday night by suspected communist rebels in Claveria town, Masbate province, police said Friday.
Police Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, Masbate police director, said an unknown number of New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas forcibly destroyed the padlock of the relay station’s main gate in Sitio (sub-village) Benas, Barangay (village) Poblacion, then torched the cell site equipment at 9 p.m.
She can cook, but can she clean?
I can’t clean the house enough to save my life. I have always acknowledged that, because back when I had this illusion that I could keep a house spic and span I almost collapsed from over exhaustion.
I did try a few times, without help from other humans, to maintain a house for myself and an 8 year old boy (who is now 16), but I felt I had to be armed to the teeth for a task such as keeping house. Ace Hardware became one of my favorite haunts where I picked up lint brushes and pails and a microfiber mop. I went for high-grade cleaning liquids that smelled like jasmine.
But being a new single mom at the time I hid the inborn laziness behind a working mom’s façade and chalked up another lazy day as a “rest day.” The house didn’t stink but it wasn’t pristine either. As long as there were no toys to trip on the floor, I was content.
Almost over
Summer break in the Philippines is almost officially at an end. Students will be trudging back to school next week and responsible parents, guardians, doting grandparents and vigilant yayas will be waking up at dawn to get their kids ready for the task.
But the daunting idea of daily expenses rising again has not really sunk in to my feeble brain as of yet. I’m still hoping against hope that I can still squeeze in that 1-day outing (to Vigan?) that I have been thinking about for a long long time now. And maybe that’s the problem. I’ve just been thinking about it, and not doing anything about it. It’s not as if I have to decide on any cruise deals that will take Sam and me away for three days and two nights.
I just need to grab my gear and hop on the bus. Soon.
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