reliving a dream

I was surfing the Internet the other day and happen to check one of my favorite site, it is a local bookstore that carries computers, digital cameras, handy cam and other expensive electronic gift items... as i was browsing their website i came upon a digital camera that i saw a few moths back in the Internet and i loved the features...

with 7.1 mega pixel and an 18x zoom capabilities makes my mouth watery so to speak... i have always been a frustrated photographer... it is one of what i hoped to have as a hobby when i was still in college... but during those days film camera are not only expensive but everything that you need to pursue the dream cost a fortune....

yesterday i called the bookstore and inquired if it is still available but was told that they already sold their last piece as it was selling like hot cake... considering that they are selling it half the price of the original price when it was initially introduced in the market, no wonder it would sell that fast..... my dream was starting to die down again....

it now prompted me to search for the local distributor through the web... and found one that i frequently visits when i go around window shopping... yesterday, right after office hour i went down directly to the store and inquire about the digital camera and i was really lucky to find their last piece of stock and being sold at the same price....

so now i am reliving my dream of photography... and hopefully in a few days time i can really practice and put in good use the camera i bought...

on weaker dollar....

over the last few months it is in the news: weakening dollars...... unfortunately it affect everybody.... worst of all i think are us who works overseas.... OFW like me are now faced with a so called double edged blade.... weakening dollar and stronger peso.... the effect was tremendous...

the global effect of the weakening dollar is very apparent with increasing prices of commodities... even here in the middle east where the prices of commodities has been fairly stable in the last 10 years, the direct impact can be felt.. locals and expatriate alike are tightening their belts to make sure they can avail of the very basic of their needs...

for me, i am just thankful that we are still able to sustain the effect of the price increase and the decreasing foreign exchange rate of the peso compounded by the weakening dollars...

let's just all hope for the best....

other opportunities

working overseas and being away from your loved ones has it's ups and down.... one of them is the long hours you have to deal with after working for eight hours during the day, the rest of the evening can be lonesome if you don't know how to handle it properly.... these days it is much easier with the proliferation of the Internet and satellite television, the nights has somehow shorter than they used to be...

one good thing when you work overseas is that you get to meet new friends and find other opportunities if in case you need additional source of income.... for the last few years i have been sharing Internet connectivity with my neighbor on the same building where we live, and one time i was asked if i am familiar with blogging. i said i have read a few and started something similar on a a forum where i moderates a few years back, but i am no longer active for sometimes.... then my friend asked me if i am familiar with PPP. it was the first time i heard about it and wast advised it stand for PayPerPost. A website that gives opportunity to earn money through blogging... i was told by the same friend that she already signed up for PPP a few months back and has been busy ever since and getting good returns....

i didn't believe my friend immediately but started a blog just the same.... now here i am, i found out one day that i can no longer resist and eventually i signed up for PPP .... i was really surprised that my log was approved on the same day that i signed up.... now i look forward to good opportunities... although my friend is yet to be aware that i=my blog has already been approved.get paid to blog

My wife and I made our plans last month to do a bit of travelling, my son would like to see Hong Kong Disneyland, and i believe that by signing up for PPP is a good move for me, and hope to use my earnings here to finance our travel on December....

i can't believe that there are such opportunities like this.... now i can foresee that even when i eventually decide to stop being and OFW, there will still be great potential for me through PPP and blogging... all i will need is my laptop and and an Internet connection....

Now instead of getting glued to the TV, my nights will be spent in the Internet updating my blogs and scouting for new opportunities

almost weekend

its almost weekend a few more days to go and i have to start the weekend activities again... i usually refer to it as LIPS day.... it stand for Laundry, Ironing, Playing and Sleeping.... so i look forward to the day when i can do all this things...

then again working with maintenance company and being on the call list, i need to be aware of the possibility of being called in anytime....

i wish i wouldn't be this weekend...

weekend is over

weekend has just slip by like that.... time really flies so fats these days...


well not really, it is a common expression we use whenever we feel like time isn't enough to do what we were hoping to accomplish... for us working overseas we try to busy ourselves as much as we can.... by doing so it eases the loneliness and the yearning to be with the love ones...

another week end spent doing the household chores such as the laundry, ironing and tidying the room... the usual regimen during weekend... luckily i managed to sneak in a fer hours with my friends and we we out fishing...

so it's another working week ahead of me...

stronger peso....

for the last year or so, contract workers has been feeling the effect of the so called stronger peso.... compounded by the weakening of the dollar, and the increasing oil price contract workers really has to tighten their belts, including their dependents back home...

i still remember the time when we used to get 55 pesos to a $ barely a year ago... now the Forex is now down to 41.50 to a $.... imagine that is almost 25% reduction on the value of what we are sending home....

so for us here overseas, we have to try and find ways to keep the remittance enough for the family's needs... the odd thing is the prices of the commodities are not going down.... worst is the prices of commodities here is increasing as well...

at least we are still able to send remittance home...

it was quiet at the work place....

it was supposed to be a company holiday were i worked at, well not really my company but i was assigned to work there as a manpower support... all the regular employees are out on a long three day week end, while my colleague and i have to report to work... t is part of our contractual responsibilities so i have no option but to report to work...

it was really quiet... just imagine on the floor i work at there was just three of us, and the rest of the building most likely have about twenty people working that they... during regular these there are at least a thousand people in the building...

so that day it was really quiet...

weekend is over....

it's a fact.... it's back to work once again..... luckily i managed to finish my laundry early... that leaves me ample time to look after other things that i need to do at home, like tidying up the room, some ironing and sorting out my clothes as well...

i also managed to go out with my friends and spend some times together as well as go out fishing... this time around we were luckier than the previous week, we had some good catch...

so i look forward now to the next weekend hoping it will be better than last week...

reminiscing.....

i still vividly remember some 9 years ago... on this very day, it was barely a few weeks when i arrived in KSA, and my sponsor is yet process my local papers due to the holidays.... my brother who happens to be working in the same company that i used to work with, was invited to a community affair and we needed to get some documents in the office so we decided to pass by the office before going to the affair...

while he was busy in his office taking the documents he needed, i pass by the room that has the company fax machine, copier, etc... it was locked then and saw that there were a few pages in the machine so i advised him that it might be important otherwise it wouldn't be sent during weekend... that time mobile phone line are still very expensive and not advisable to have, so communications are either through expensive long distance call, snail mail or fax messages.

the fax message contained the message that my brother and I have been afraid to read all along.... it says that my father who when i left manila, has been already hospitalized for over 3 months for cancer treatment... we are being advised that my father has passed away on the 9th of April 1999..... i was devastated then...

many things has entered my mind then.... one reason i decided to work overseas again is to help sustain my father's treatment cost... and have better life for my family.... have i known that he will only last a few more weeks i could have delayed my deployment by a month or two.... another thing that immediately come to mid is i have no legal documentation yet and there is no way for me to be able to leave for Manila in a week at least...

but thank God next day, holiday was over, our sponsor instructed our liaison officer to expedite my papers and make sure i can go home within the next 36 hours... with God's grace they managed to pull through.... in less than 36 hours i was back in manila to bury my father... and back in KSA in 10 days time....

i still recall this hectic process that i have to go through and it will remain in my mind until the day that i die....

week 15

a new week been completed once again.... working days are over and time to take the much needed rest... working from 7:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. on a five day week is better than the other working schedule... i know a friend who has a so called broken schedule, he works from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 n.n. and then takes a 4 hour break and come back at 4:00 p.m. up to 10:00 p.m.

i prefer a regular straight time rather tan shifting schedule as well, with my current schedule it allows me to go out and do a bit of window shopping every now and then and affords a relaxing weekend with my friends....

week 15 is finished and another 35 weeks to go.... before my annual vacation that is....

the week is over again.....

time really flies when you are enjoying it, sort of.... it is not really enjoyable when you area way from all your loved ones, but then again you have to make the best of everything... that is what we are trying to do here overseas....

five days of another tedious working schedule has past by..... thank God that i managed to survived another hectic and strenuous week... with so much to do and so little time... not to mention the many challenges that needed to be hurdled...

working as a facility maintenance crew on a critical facility that operates on a 7 days a week 24 hours a day is quite challenging, especially when it houses very delicate and sensitive equipments.... performing routine preventive maintenance is difficult enough, what more if you have to undergo major renovations or replacement of the utilities...

but as the saying goes, someone has to do all the dirty job....

MARRIAGE

i got this from one of my e-mails and i believe it s something worth remembering, especially for us OFWs, who are away from our family most of the times....

This is a nice piece for those who are married, about to get married and for the singles as well who wish to be married. Please take the time to read.

When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I've got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes. Suddenly I didn't know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. I want a divorce. I raised the topic calmly. She didn't seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, why? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn't talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to Dew. I didn't love her anymore. I just pitied her! With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company. She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.

The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn't have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew. When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again. In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn't want anything from me, but needed a month's notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a month's time and she didn't want to disrupt him with our broken marriage. This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day. She requested that everyday for the month's duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request. I told Dew about my wife's divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.

My wife and I hadn't had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don't tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office. On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn't looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was graying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.

On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn't tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday workout made me stronger. She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me... she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head. Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it's time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn't noticed that our life lacked intimacy.

I drove to office... jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind... I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her,Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore. She looked at me, astonished, and then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won't divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn't value the details of our lives, not because we didn't love each other any more. Now I realize that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart. Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.

At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I'll carry you out every morning until death do us apart. The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion,the car, property, the money in the bank, blah..blah.. blah. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to be your spouse's friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage! If you don't share this, nothing will happen to you. If you do, you just might save a marriage.

anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given

technology glitch....

it's been almost a week now, since the isp provider back home encountered some problems that prevents my family to access the Internet... despite the continuous follow of my wife, no progress in the horizon is seen...

apparently the main line was accidentally cut when a truck somehow got entangled on the cable, God knows when the service will be back

times like these somehow diminishes the lines of communications, luckily sms and mobile phones are still available... it somehow eases the distance... and the homesickness...

a new week...

weekend was over... it's another working week and expecting some new challenges.... working as a facility maintenance crew of a critical facility always offers me great challenges... it always keeps me on my toes so to speak... at times it entices you to reach the limit of your creativity and ingenuity, especially when there are some problems that arises in the utilities that we look after....

and working on a multi cultural environment simply add spice to it.... generally speaking, i would say that where i work at the moment is the most gratifying and the most fulfilling work i have had so far.... and enjoy every single minute of it....

week end once again....

it's weekend once again here in the middle east.... time for me to take care of the household chores.... when you live alone, you have to take care of your housekeeping, laundry, ironing and cooking.... this is all part of the week end activity that most of us working overseas are busy with on weekends...

but of course as they say all work and no play makes john a dull boy, so there are always time for leisure.... for me... its either online computer games, time with my friends or our favorite past time.... fishing....

hopefully we get a good catch this weekend...

times really flies.....

it's april once again.... time really flies when you are busy.... it's seems like yesterday when i was just planning to work overseas.....it's been 9 long years again... ever since i decided to seek a greener pasture, it was after staying for 2 years working on a local company back home.... and here am tinkering again....it just like yesterday when i came back from my vacation... and looking back its been 5 months since.... it was just like yesterday when people are scampering trying to secure their bank accounts and other valuables yo they will not be a victim of the so called Y2K bug...... time really flies.... 3 months of 2008 is gone.... what lies tomorrow???? we'll see....