Stormy Florida

Here we go again ! Storm Ernesto is supposedly the first of the many storm/hurricanes coming this year . Why is it starting with a letter 'E' ? Over here in the East coast , we don't bother much with hurricanes except when you are travelling to say Florida ! And that's exactly what we experienced 2 years ago when we went on a Carribean cruise . We left here on a perfect weather . We landed in Fla. with no inkling on what we will be facing us when we get back.
The cruise was alright . You know how your friends will tell you that ' you can eat steaks and lobsters every night in the cruise ' . Well , after 3 straight dinner of s ans l , I can't take no more . The buffet which are normally for breakfast and lunch are equally ' filling '. My boss has the habit of weighing each employee before and after the cruise and see how much weight one gained . There's one thing I enjoyed during the trip . Casino . It's stressless when you don't have to worry about driving home after 'gambling' . One only have to go to your room after getting tired from pulling the arm of the slot machine.
The 'hard part ' of that trip was when we got back to Florida , there was a hurricane . All flights were cancelled . No electricity near the airport and all nearby hotels were fully booked that we have to go to Disney Resort , until the flights resumed, which was after 2 days. From thereon , this East coast guy keeps track of all hurricanes coming stateside . By the way , I gained 5 pounds on that trip !

When I'm 64 .

' Will you still need me , will you still feed me , when I am 64 ' goes the lyrics of a famous Beatles song . Although the song is really between sweethearts , lately it applies to aging baby boomers and their children more. CNN reported last Tuesday that there's an increase in suits involving the parents and kins and how the former want to be treated . Last week , replays of Soprano featured Tony sending a reluctant ( and angry ) mother in a nursing home. ' What kind of son sends his mother to a home ' said his TV uncle , Junior Soprano.
I have no problem staying in a nursing home when I grow old . Maybe ? Traditionally , the eldest child takes care of an aging parent(s). If not , they live close by . My parents live separately but really close to my big brother' home. . Although I said that I will have no problem living in a home for the aged when I grow old , I don't know emotionally how I will feel when that time comes . My son every now and then jokes that he will send us to a senior's home in the future . Wonder if he's really kidding !

Acquired And Inborn Traits .

I have 2 sons . Two different sons . Two sons with nothing in common. Well , their father and mother . Funny , how you tend to compare 2 siblings especially if the 2 are not born so much apart .Not unlike Wally and Beaver in my fav TV show of yesteryears . My wife tends to cite their habits and idiosynchracies especially the not so good ones . She's quick to point out 'bad habits' my sons acquired from me . You know , like eating in front of tv whether in the basement or their respective rooms . ' In the new house , I won't allow eating if not in the dining table ' my wife warned me recently when my youngest ran with a plateful of food in the basement. See what I mean !

My youngest son amazingly is very much like me . Amazing because some of these traits I'm quite sure my son 'inherited' not acquired . My eldest son, although not exactly a social animal, is at ease with people. The youngest one is very inhibited except to his friends . I remembered very vividly one incident that happened when son no.2 was barely able to walk. We were playing - just me and son no.2 - when the doorbell rung in our condo unit . I left him to the carpeted floor while I opened the door . It was a friend of mine . I asked him to come inside and we chatted for a while while my son played on the floor within my eyesight so I thought . After my friend left , I called for my son . I cannot find him until I looked under the loveseat . The poor boy was under it hiding like a scared kitten all bent I don't know for how long . When my wife arrived with son no.1 from shopping , I told her the story . ' He's just like you . Scared of people ' she blurted . See what I mean . Again.

Garbage In,Garbage Out !

Started throwing out some ' garbage' in preparation to our moving. We are going from a detached home to a smaller townhouse . Squeezing all our present furnitures would be a decorating challenge. Some furnitures had been allocated to our kids' apartments . Both are in different universities in the city so they don't live with us anymore except for the occasonal visits . Three to five years from now , we plan to downsize further to a condo unit . Funny , how it comes to full circle the size of one's abode . I just think , it's less headache for us if we don't have to worry about mowing grass, plowing snow and doing maintenance .

Once we get to the new house , we will start the planting of tress and shrubs . That's another ' garbage ' producing activity . I remembered that the last time we did some planting . We accumulated soils and stuff from all the diggings . It's a pain in the neck to dispose of bagful of dirts. Me and the commander in chief sneaked out in the night looking for vacant lots to dispose these bags. Sometimes near midnight to insure the folks were asleep. When we find a vacant lot , normally where new houses are being built , we dumped the junk near the construction company's garbage bin . It's a cloak and dagger operation . After disposing the junk, we fill ourselves with junk food from a nearby Mc Donalds. So it's really a case of garbage out , garbage in !

A Sickening Walk In The Park

After so many years , the case of Jon Benet must be nearing end with the arrest of a man who is said to know details of the crime not published and therefore not known by anyone except the killer and the police .. Incredible . The man was in Bangkok. Why am I not surprised ? The story below .
My heart bleeds for this family . An angel of a child taken at so horrible a manner and on top of that , the family crucified by the tabloids . As you know , Jon's mother recently passed away with many still doubting her story. Some even expected a deathbed confession from her !

The man arrested is said to be an American grade school teacher . Bangkok , Thailand was known as the sex capital of Asia before . The sex industry at one time was about $2.5 billion a year industry . I don't know now . When I used to travel there on business , I noticed a number of tourists ? who were obviously there for the so called flesh market . The worst part was that in a lot of cases , it involved children . In plain view of everybody , the kids are peddled like goods by their pimps in the park where there are tourists . I was surprised when one pimp approached me one time and said ' sir , we have new ones here . Very young , sir ' . I thought he was referring to live seafoods , until I saw behind him a young girl with a make up smiling at me . It's really sickening .

Shredder Is For Papers Only

As I've posted sometime ago that we've sold our house .We started the ardous task of packing stuff immediately. My books are one of the largest 'baggage' . I wonder if I need to take the books or just sell these via eBay ? Nothing special about my books . Definitely no collectors items . I seldom read what I've read . Just like movies or DVDs , once I watched it , seldom do I watch a movie again . That's why I don't buy DVDs . I just rent. Besides , I had a bad experience with Beta , VHS, and laser discs. These became obsolete eventually . I still have some Betas in my collection gathering molds .

One thing we do now is shred the papers before throwing the papers as garbage. We don't do this before .I think every household in America own a shredder now. You can buy all kinds of shredders even at WalMart . There was a time that you can find shredders only in Office Supplies stores. It's a fun activity this shredding . I don't know how we gathered so many paper stuff . But be warned . Shredding machines are dangerous . For humans and pets . One time , a TV special featured 'accidents' involving this invention . A small girl had her fingers mangled when she stuck her hand on one . The TV showed her hand w/ fingers cut short by the blades of the shredder .The little girl was asking her Mommie when her fingers will grow back to normal size ? The other example showed a dog's tongue shredded when the dog stuck it to the shredder. No, the dog did not asked the owner when the tongue will grow back . It's a dog remember . It is really unfortunate .

Who Wants To Be A Whistleblower ?

Our society frowns upon those who rat on the fellow workers / friends . Last year, a professional basketball player of the Denver Nuggets , Carmelo Anthony , got into big trouble when he was featured in a home made rap video proclaiming that those who inform the police of drug use must be shot. Needles to say , his PR team particularly his Agent has his hands full doing damage control. Product endorsements were halted despite the baller's skill on the court .Then there is this lady Accountant from Enron who raised questions about anomalies to Enron's top honcho, bless his soul , Ken Lay. For some time after her memo , she was ostracised . Almost demoted
. Now there is this question on when the folks at BP in Alaska came to know the problem concerning ' damaged pipes ' . If not for the terrorist news , this fiasco will surely be headline hugger . And rightly so, you and me will be bitching about how price of gas is so high . This is one gas price increase that is preventable and not caused by crazy Arabs . It's local and it's caused by greed and negligence . I know how this came about . Sometimes those of us who are in charge of whatever , postpone preventive maintainance work 'cause it will disrupt the operation ergo the flow of moolah . Sometimes . we cut corners to cut costs. This happens even in household chores . How many times one will use a cheap imitation ias substitute for the real thing . The Managemen of BP is guilty in both counts if the documents are to be believed . BP used anti corrosive chemical well below the required concentration . It's maintainance of the pipeline was very poor. It's like your roof is leaking but you waited for the roof to deteriorate beyond repair before acting on it . Despite billlions in profits and several warnings about the situation , nothing was done to repair the damage. Now we all , including the consumers . have to suffer.

I'm Glad I'm Not Travelling Anymore

Yes , and by travelling I meant by plane . There was a time I was on the plane 5 or 6 times a year and to such ' hot spots ' as the Middle East , East Asia , London and of course New York. My work then involved some flying so I can't help it . Although I must admit , I enjoyed the opportunity to visit different places. And free at that flying business class . Even then I worry a lot . Not because of terrorists but because of plane crashes . In the 90's the only terrorism related incidents I can recall is the Canadian Airline that crashed in Scotland killing all aboard . It's more like isolated case . Indian Sikh retiilating because of the destruction of their holy temple in their homeland . Then of course the pre cursor of 9/11 - the bombing of a Japan bound PAL killing one Japanese passenger . All in all , when they talk about terrorism then , it was just plain hijacking . The passengers are eventually released after satisfying the demands of the terrorists . Now , you're lusky if they find your body in one piece or several pieces . If not the terrorists , the government fighter plane will destroy a ' hijacked plane ' .The gover nment has no choice . It must prevent another 9/11 one way or another . Today there's news in Britain about the foiled attempt of some Pakistani descent individuals to blow up American planes bound for US . They now banned all liquids and gels aboard a plane . I hate to fly in today's world . I will definitely welcome the airport search wholeheartedly even if meant a 2-3 hours delay . Better than ending up in 2-3 pieces !

No Knowledge , No Problem

The news today is about Paul McCartney's latest move against his wife Heather . It said that the former Beatle changed the lock of their mansion thereby preventing Heather and daughter from entering. It forced her bodyguard to scale the wall so that the police was called to check out what's happening . It's getting nasty this divorce . No doubt the reason may be the division of wealth estimated to be around $ 500 million. The marriage is without a pre nup . Big mistake . I don't know what Paul was thinking then . That everything will stay the same . Now he has to dig dirt on her wife's past . I read that there was a nude photo taken of Heather before when she was younger and that she was a high level call girl.

Do you think it is important to tell your better half to be your past ? Hell no said my friend . What she does'nt know wont hurt her . I guess he's right . Anyways , they are no celebs . No tabloids to dig up the past . Of couse it's better if he or she knows something from the start of the relationship . Before tying the knot so to speak. Like this newscaster from Naked News . Her boyfriend is well aware of her job which is to disrobe while reading the news . Nice job . Just make sure she does'nt take her clothes off while reading the morning papers at home in front of the kids !

Time To Move

Finally , we've found a buyer for our house . It's amazing how tedious it is to sell one's house . Many times , we have to get out of the house to let some prospective buyers take a look at it . Sometimes , in the middle of something . Next week, the house inspector will do a thorough look at everything . I'll miss this house 'coz it's the 1st one we built ourselves . The other ones , we are the not the 1st owners. I remember doing wiring for the internet and speakers when it was still being built .

I was told by the agent , the buyer will do an inspection 2 days before the closing .Our agent was nice though . He gave us a gift pack for $ 50 for our fav resto and other give aways .I guessed his commission can afford it .The next few days , we will be up to our neck in packing our stuff. We only have the end of this month and next 2 weeks to do this . We have accumulated so much stuff , some 'garbage' now, we have to throw some or give 'em away. I'm not into garage sales . I'd rather give stuff away than sell these .

Politics Is Addition

Once again it's proven that there is no permanent friends and enemies in politics . Only permanent interest . I saw the master politician himself , Bill Clinton, campaigning for the troubled Joe Libberman who is running for the Democratic nomination for the state of Connecticut. I'm saying that this is quite a 'move' by Bubba as Joe was one of those who spoke against him during the height of Monicagate . Bubba was as cool and suave as John Travolta . I don't know who copied who . John T. or Bill C . Anyway , both are the personification of what's cool.

I always liked Bill Clinton . Sorry guys/gals . I just think he's a fun president . Flawed but fun . The other day , I was asking myself - how did he pulled it off ? Doing all those things with Monica right in the oval office! Stupid and gutsy at the same time. Clinton idolized Jack Kennedy so much that even his shenanigans he copied . Unfortunately , the press today won't let you get away with such actions . Where is Monica now ? I read that Monica is now in England studying . Back to the heading . For sure , come presidential election , Hilary will need all the help she can get . Bill will surely cash in this chip !

While The Temp. Rises , Sales Is Down

Summer sure is fun . One thing good is the drive in movie in our place is open now. Actually since last month . We watched RV there starring Robin Williams and Da Vinci Code of Tom Hanks. Somehow , drive in movie bring some nostalgia. It brought memories of life a lot simpler . I did not grow up in that period but from accounts I heard from much older kins, it was the start of awakening of the youth. That's when booze , drugs and other stuff were introduced to the youth. I wonder how much the young ones today are still doing stuff on drive in like depicted in the movie Amercan Graffiti ? The advent of smaller cars made this practice less enjoyable . I think !

I heard on the radio today that the Americans are not so much in love with their cars anymore like in yesteryears. In the 60's , about 1 of 2 cars on the road were GM cars. The Big 3 - GM , Ford and Chrysler - lorded it over the industry . Now , Toyota is set to overtake Ford as the no.2 carmaker in the world . Then , it's only a matter of time before Toyota dislodges GM as the world's numero uno ! The bosses at GM always remind us of the Toyota threat. You can say that we are operating at GM in the state of paranoia ! Every month, Toyota's sales go up while the Big 3 plummets . July is no different .

The End Of The World

Lately , there been talk about the end of the world . This talk was triggered by what's happening in the world lately. Imagine a respectable network like CNN featuring some guys from every religious groups including Jerry Falwell talking about this. One guy said the tsunamis , earthquakes volcanic eruptions and the war in Iraq and Lebanon are proof of this. I don't know about that . Supposedly , Nostradamus in one of his quartet, predicted that the start of the EOW will be in the Middle East specifically Iran. There is some crazy dude insisting on continuing with his country's nuclear program there.

I tell you what . The EOW for Mel Gibson happened already . Well sort of . His arrest for DUI and tirades against the Jews and other stuff are hugging the headlines and airwaves . Gibson who already is the target of certain Jewish groups for his film , The Passion Of The Christ , is said to have sought the help of influential Jewish leaders to help explain his position. Coincidentally , the coming film by Gibson is titled ... you guessed it right - end of the world or Apocalypto .