2009 Year of the OX for the Rat-born

Chinese horoscopes for people born in the years: 1900, 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008.

The Year of the Ox begins on 26th January 2009.

For the Rat, the year of the Ox brings a more tranquil time. This will be more a year of peace with less rushing about and less haste. It will be a time to get to know yourself better and to aim quietly toward your personal aims.

Or, if there were any changes that took place last year, these will have brought quite a transformation into your life and now comes the chance for you to take it all in. You will be able to come to terms with all that has gone before, relax in the present and then decide on what you really want to do with your future.

Rat’s Health in the Year of the Ox

Your health will be reasonably good. You will make steady progress throughout the year and the one area you should walk away from, however, is other peoples’ problems. If you allow yourself to get dragged into a friend, neighbour or relative’s troubles, this could be your downfall.

In February and March an air of deception could cause some confusion. You might feel as if someone you had trusted lets you down but are you jumping to conclusions? Before confronting others with your feelings, look more deeply into the matter and you could find that someone has been acting with your best interests in mind, after all.

Romance in 2009 for People Born in the Year of the Rat

A love-affair which didn’t come to much in the past may be re-kindled towards the end of March. What makes it different this time? Circumstances will have changed. This time you are more willing to be open and honest with each other and whatever forced you apart now seems to be the source that brings you both back together again. A heart-to-heart will sweep any remaining traces of antagonism away.

At home, good planning is your key to happiness and contentment. Think carefully about what you want from your family life in general and then work steadily and patiently toward those goals over the next few months.

The stars caution you about a good opportunity that falls in your lap from out of the blue in April. Someone could be trying to manipulate you for their own selfish reasons so be on your guard.

Take another look at an irritating problem that has so far defied solution. With a little imagination and divergent thinking, you could come up with the ideal answer and you will wonder why you never thought of it before.

Friendships in 2009

New friends or commitments will get you thinking along new lines in July and August. There may, however, be times when you might be troubled with memories you would rather forget or phobias triggered by a past event. You can deal with these successfully now by seeing them for what they are – past and gone – and refusing to allow them to interfere with your future.

Likewise, if you are feeling a little sentimental, living in romantic memories and times-gone-by, this could have an adverse effect on a current relationship. You can’t recreate past experiences, no matter how hard you try. What you should be doing is creating happy memories now in the year 2009, to add to the store you already have.

End of Year Forecast for Rat Born People

The end of the year could be a bit of a strange time if you are undergoing any sort of test or examination. You might feel as if you haven’t done very well only to get results that outdo anything you have attempted so far in a similar vein.

Finally, a sought after social invitation could come your way at the very end of the year 2009 via a friend of a friend.

Reference:  http://astrology.suite101.com/article.cfm/2009_chinese_horoscope_for_rat_animal_sign

my unanswered leave request ü

So what do you say, when you send an sms to your boss for a leave and got no answer?

Its a long weekend and I am making it longer by asking for a leave tomorrow. Yeah, probably its asking too much. Monday (December 1) is a holiday and here i am asking for a leave on Friday. That would give me  fours days of unadulterated fresh air and healthy foods eaten with the company of loved ones. Ahahaha!

I got silence from my boss.  If only he knows…

I want to travel province-bound early so I can have a free-ride. My sister’s driving home  tomorrow and she needs company to a four or so hours of travel. If don’t go with her,  I will be commuting and competing with likely vacationers who would ushering to the bus station. Hitching with her would give one stingy person an equivalent of one-way fare. Hmmm, not that i hate commuting. I also like it. Gives me pleasure to wrestle with empty seats when we are competing for few available ones. Hehehe, isn’t that fun especially when there’s a fair competition to land on one. Its like that famous Trip-to-Jerusalem fun game. Although, admittedly, i got pestered oftentimes when people who don’t know how to compete fairly gets to be the first to rest their asses. Grrr… or should i telling my self, “whoever says that life is fair anyway”?

I got silence from my boss.  If only he knows…

December 1 is the death anniversary of my father. Hmmm… makes me sad. We lost him early. And whattalife it has been. Still life has been good to us. We’re a bunch of toughies now, i would like to believe.  My not getting a nod for a leave tomorrow is nothing. Though, i would appreciate if my boss allowed me.

I guess i should report tomorrow morning and then try to ask instead for a half-day leave. What do you say? Nothing beats persistence, hehehe. Maybe i’ll just my sibling to wait for me in the afternoon. Otherwise, she’ll miss a lively chatter from a very good story-teller like me. Ahahaha, tell me how could a non-writer like me tell a story. You know, I am bluffing.

Hmmm, anyway… If you still haven’t notice, I am writing now so i could have an entry for this month, hehehe. Miss these moments when I could just write and press the keys and see the letters appearing on the screen. Free-flowing letters coming from nowhere and meaning nothing. tsk, tsk, tsk, what a crap am I. Just came from a meeting with one of our foreign consultants and he is asking for a lot from our team. My boss is not there, but he probably knows i should be reporting tomorrow so i could get things done and lessen some head aches. Okidoks. Yeah, i know he’s a good guy. For all i know he just didn’t get what’s my sms about because he’s full and got enough of trouble already to trouble answering a leave request. But don’t we know that silence means YES. Yahoo!

What do you think would happen if I just don’t report tomorrow? Would i still have a work to return to on Tuesday?

Hehehe… what a nice question to end this entry.

Images from Aguilar

St. Joseph The Patriarch Church of Aguilar, Pangasinan

Aguilar Town Proper taken from the Church Tower

Aguilar taken from the hills of Sitio Aliling.The small white spot is the Catholic Church.

Hills and mountains going to Sitio Mapita in Aguilar, Pangasinan

Rice fields in Sitio Tambogan

morning in lingayen beach

One early Saturday morning, I went to Lingayen Beach together with my younger sibling’s family.

These are the some of the images I took home:

Not so much a picture but there I saw how physical hard work is needed to have fresh fish in our platter.

While these men are towing fishing boats for their keep, a child in the background is oblivious and absorbed in her own activity.

A child throwing a fistful of wet sand into the air.

nameless greens 1

so what do you do when you have a simple camera and a lot of greens at home to take a snap at?

A neglected vine with beautiful white flowers.

One of my mom’s treasured variegated bougainvillas.

Purple flowers from butterfly-shaped violet leaves. I don’t know the name of this plant. Can someone give it to me?

I don’t know the name of this one either. ü

Guess from what tree this flower came from? Its Averrhoa Bilimbi!!!

rarer and rarer

so its becoming rarer and rarer. a once a month kind of thing. just like going home in the province. its a monthly thing now.

its just that scheds just got busier and busier. and to think that what i really want is a simple life and my boss would tell me, it cannot be in the corporate world. if you want to rise, sooner or later you have to accept the fact that life would not become easier only busier.

and so when i have the chance to go home, just the mere thought of seeing the greens and fresh air i would be inhaling in the province would make every cell and pore in my body tingle and jump with joy.

From Everything Green at Home

abandoned?

its near the end of the month and no entry yet on this blog except the few lines i am planning to drop here today. I hope i can manage a few lines before i totally abandon the idea. or better yet delay it to sort out my mind what really needs writing. anyway, I hope to get a time on the 28th, that is, if my boss would approve the leave i filed a week ago. I can’t understand why he has not decided on it yet. i am pretty sure he was automatically notified already by our system.

i think i’ll just continue this later. its lunch time and my folks at home are calling, hehehe.

i am in pangasinan rigth now and will be traveling back to Manila at 1pm. tonight, i might have a chance to continue this. Hopefully, i am not too tired by then, otherwise, this entry would look like simply the end. Kapot!

Nonsense

I am home early. I don’t feel that well and so is my boss who took a half-day sick leave. My two young colleague at work also decided to go home early because they don’t feel ok earlier on. Their not feeling well is rather contagious. I have a lot of things to do but staying late will not make me productive anyway. And so here I am, trying to write some shallow entry in this seemingly abandoned site.

Grrrrrrrr… I feel frustrated. Writing well is a distant dream. Oftentimes, i feel so lacking in words. Why ever did I start something here and not do justice to its existence. Not that i have a responsibility to maintain it. I guess anytime I could abandon this and forget about it, at least for a time, until another bout like this moment comes and my weary but restless fingers get itchy to press some letters. Mwahaha!!!

Grrrr… I feel foolish! I am just writing because I am waiting for the completion of my download. I am currently downloading Justine Henin and Dinara Safina’s 2007 US Open match from this site. I miss Justine on court. Watching tennis is not the same anymore with her retirement. All I can do now is to replay her matches and see the poetry in motion she exhibits on court.

Hmmm… since I am into this, I think i would just write something on my weekend. Lea, her husband and I traveled home early morning last Saturday. It was Ayn’s birthday afterall and we really planned to go to home to the province. There was a little celebration in the afternoon. We have some guests but as usual I didn’t get to see them; not deliberately this time. I had a very restive and dreamless sleep that afternoon. I slept the whole afternoon and what a rest it has been! I did not notice the time; didn’t hear the celebration and didn’t see any guest who came to our house. I just remember the beautiful revived feeling when I woke up and realized that I have missed the party. Wow! I relished the sleep and glad i stayed in bed.
Sunday was a rainy one. We went to Church for the early morning first mass, Mommy, my two sisters and Ayn. I saw Bae Carnay in the front pew coming late and there I know where the money i pocketed will go. I approached her after the mass and to her I gave my offertory. She is more than 90 years old now. I have with me my very slim digital camera and i really wanted to picture her; to capture the lines and to capture the wisdom except that there are a lot of people. Of course, I don’t want to get attention. I guess she is nearing 100 years, but still she is still very strong. She still recognizes me and blurted my name when she said her Thank You. She kissed and hugged me and what a joy that hug gave me. I wish I could go home more often and see her when she goes to Church every Sunday. She taught me and some kids in the neighborhood Catechism back then. Although I honestly prefer reading than attending her mid-day catechism, I guess her classes made me meet some kids and made me less naughty, hehehe. I wish I could give her more for giving me some sense of Christian spirituality. Enough of this.

Lunch was a feast in the province as usual. Fish and sea shells, fresh vegetables and fruits. What a joy going home! And now i am back in the city and in my abode, but still in front of my machine. What the heck is going on? And I thought, I was not feeling well. Hmmm… I am not that frustrated anymore. I forgot my frustration when I forget the world while writing some silly nonsense.

back to school and back to makati

Its been more than a month since i had an entry. Seems like i have forgotten how to write already, hehehe. Or haven’t learn really how to write so there’s nothing to forget anyway.
I was just back from the province. its another home-bound weekend. The usual happy-to-go-home feeling.

[pictures]
Anyway, last July 8, 2008, my team officially transferred from Ortigas to our Makati Head Office. It been a busy week, not to forget some minor irritations in collegial relationships due to those hateful office politics.  Just one of those circumstances when I compare academic people to corporate people and how I misses my former profession.

The previous weeks been so busy at work and that’s partly the reason this blog was neglected. My work now is more demanding than ever and to complicate it more, i have a wednesday and friday night classes
to attend to. I don’t get to read my books anymore before i attend my class. Wahahaha, why did I ever decide to go back to school? Good thing, I have a very brilliant professor with a great sense of humor. I rather like attending his class because I really get good chemicals every time. His jokes makes me more motivated to attend class more than the graphs and the numbers he writes on the board, hehehe. Shhhh…

fireflies

I am in the province and at home with my family. i travelled yesterday and enjoyed passing the green highway sceneries from Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. The day is clear and unlike Manila skies, the heaven showed its azure color with those white cotton clouds. What a fresh sight to behold and not to mention the miles and miles of green rice fields coupled with clear ponds every now and then.

I am writing now while Federer and Nadal are playing in the French Open finals. They are on the second set with Nadal winning the first set at 6-1(!), and now leading again at 5-3. Last night (Eastern Time), Justine awarded the French Open Cup to the woman winner, Ana Ivanovic. I rooted for Dinara Safina but she did not performed like she did when she defeated Sharapova, Dementieva and Kutznetsova on the way to the Final.

I hope Nadal takes his fourth French Open in a row. Hmmm… Nadal takes the second set at 6-3. I better finish watching first. It is 6-0 in the third set. And so Nadal made it to history today and Federer goes home still without a French Open. The King of Clay still reigns while the Queen is retired.

Going back to the purpose of this entry and not to be sidetracked by Tennis, I would like to write about the mixed images that I saw while travelling home yesterday and the pictures that i saw when I arrived. The images from Bulacan to Tarlac are reassuring, peaceful and serene. When I arrived in Pangasinan, I am reminded of the devastation Typhoon Cosme has left my province and to my own town about three weeks ago. I am consoled that our humble abode is intact unlike the others in the neighborhood. It stood the typhoon and the flood. My family can feel lucky we are spared but we feel sad knowing so many took losses. Of course, we also had our share of losses. We lost 2 carabao mango trees, 2 indian mangoes, 1 macapuno tree, 1 jackfruit tree all planted at the back of our house. The mango tree in our front yard also suffered from broken branches. Somewhere in the mountain my brother informed me were numerous paper trees and other fruit trees that are broken down and wounded by the storm.

Anyway, one who is sensitive could feel the seemingly palpable sadness of the immediate environment. The plants are hurting, blistered and are probably still sore from pains the strong winds of the typhoon has caused them to suffer. If they are human, the experience could be likened to waging a war against a mortal enemy. I noted that some of the surviving trees are recovering; new leaves are now appearing, though some are being dried up and beaten by the scorching sun. The ornamentals are not spared also. They look sad and dried up; no glistening leaves and no healthy appearance. They seem to feel also the loss of their neighbor plants loss of life. Butterflies are noticeably absent unlike before. No teeming life and many greens and colors to attract them because the trees lost a lot of leaves, and the flowering plants are still hurting and therefore refuses to give their glory. I don’t know. Probably the butterflies were swept away and may be suffering also somewhere. The place is lonely. I miss the energy and the ‘life’.

Early tonight I saw some small flickering lights in the dark. I told the children at home that there are fireflies and so they scamper and satisfied their curiosity. Its not often that we see them these days. It was the first time little Xi and Bea actually see fireflies. Deep in my mind, i know that fireflies are bioluminiscent but another side of me always thinks of them as something magical like fairies. I believe fairies exist. I haven’t seen one but my childlike belief tells me that they exist in places where a lot of trees, plants and flowers abound. When the fireflies that we see begins to fade away from our sights, i felt sad. Its like they are bidding farewell already and leaving the place because the plants have been diminished. They have nowhere to play and to rest anymore. I don’t know, I hope that if they are leaving, it is just temporary.

The state of the enviroment is a serious topic these days. The Inconvenient Truth of Al Gore is something of an eye opener to a lot of people. I have known ages ago even before I took the elective course Earth Science in my undergraduate, that the earth is rapidly deteriorating because of man’s exploitation. Didn’t I say, I grew up in the mountains where Gold and Copper are mined. Growing up seeing that the earth is being exploited because of these precious metals is the reason why I don’t wear trinkets and other artifice made of them. My other siblings wear them but I refuse to do the same.

I like plants and I put money on trees not because I look forward to their bearing fruits but foremost for their contribution to the environment and to the clean air that we breath. Again, my siblings don’t know that. Its an investment alright; its an investment for the environment and for sustainability. Life is precious; human life and other earth life (animals and plants). We should take care of our environment and the ecosystem if we value life.

Call it profound and weird but to me, its just plain and simple, I don’t want the fireflies to just fade and lose their light in the dark!