PAID IN FULL WITH A GLASS OF MILK

Recently, I overheard my brother coin the phrase “Paid in full with a glass of milk” whenever his close friends would ask how much he charges for the legal services fee. After his friend left smiling, I asked him how and where he got the phrase. He told me that he got it from a forwarded e-mail and that the story – a true story – made such an impact on him he used it in his dealings in his firm. The next day, he e-mailed the story. Here it goes:

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.
He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said….. “Then I thank you from my heart.”
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words….. “Paid in full with one glass of milk”
(Dr. Kelly is a founding doctor of the Johns Hopkins Hospital.)

In my experience in the Rotary, I have noticed that those who share themselves without strings attached are those who have gained the respect from other Rotarians. Sharing and respecting are two intertwining virtues which is present in charitable situations. The lesser is the string attached, the bigger is the respect given to people who share.

This is the miracle of giving. And this is the value I always want to impart in the school where I’m at. Values are very important in the school setting: they are the fuel which drives a child to work hard and eventually succeed, not only in his own profession but in touching the lives of the people around him. This in turn inspires others to be good and do good as well. And the “paid in full with a glass of milk” syndrome spreads and does it magic again and again.

This, I see exemplified in true blue Rotarians. Truly, “Rotary Shares, Rotary cares” is not just a motto for them. It is a life lived, a life fulfilled. May we always strive to be true blue Rotarians.

Running Windows in Ubuntu Linux

Finally got back from months of not being able to use Linux because of my extra work with the Platon Martinez Law Firm website.  And lo and behold!  A new virtualization program that promises to run Windows on your Linux box without having to dual boot your computer and rebooting it when you need another OS for your work.  Now why would i use 2 OS for my work?  Well, I use Windows for my office work while I use Linux for my website creation work!

Just this afternoon while Me-ann (wife), Rod (younger bro) and I went to a seminar by PEAC-FAPE in La Union, we dropped by Mocha Blends to grab a jello frap (which tasted like it was poured with sushi seaweed, by the way…yuck!).  While waiting for my coffee, I quickly read an article about Virtualization — a software which allows you to open another operating system inside another operating system.  When I went home, I checked out www.ubuntuforums.org and was so happy to hear that a VMWare totally FREE alternative is ready for downloading and installation — VirtualBox!  Saw the screenshots and got convinced by it!  Wow, imagine the time you’ll save from booting and rebooting your computer just to run another program.  This is a revolution my friends! Totally awesome!

Right now, I’ve just installed VBox with no problems whatsoever…and I’m installing WindowsXP…I hope this would offer no problems.  Just a thought by the way, do I need to install an antivirus in Windows?  Will my Windows installation in VBox be virus-prone?  I never had any virus problems in Linux before…but virtual Windows in VBox in Linux?  Is it another story?  Let’s soon find out…hehehe.

For now, I’ll be exploring and installing lots of stuff in it, especially cool Windows games.  I have long accepted the fact that Windows has way more cooler games than Linux.  But I’m keeping my fingers crossed that gamer-developers (those who code and play at the same time) will get so envious that they’ll come up with Linux-ready games, and big game companies will follow suit, too.  I’ll test a few PC games later on.

Check www.ubuntuforums.org for more VBox installation info.

Argee - 6months

I was cleaning my hard drive just this afternoon and found this video. Me-ann and I enjoyed watching this vid! Hehehe.

Argee’s 1st Birthday Bash

This should’ve been blog more than 3 weeks ago right after Argee’s birthday.  But anyway, it’s here…clips from my son’s first birthday party at the Star Ocean Restaurant, Star Plaza Hotel.  Peopled by our families, relatives and friends, it was one helluva party.  Kids raiding the mascots rendering them motionless sa dami nang batang nakakapit sa paa.  Kakaawa si Mickey di makalabas sa lungga dahil sa mga makukulit na bata. hehehe.

‘nuf said, here are the vid clips:

Argee & tiangge

Argee has now graduated from his usual ‘duck’ talk and has now moved on to ‘clock’ after he has mastered sounding ‘c’. Just a while ago, he called me ‘dad’ because he wanted to sleep beside me…syempre, nagseselos si mommy. hehe. Below is a video of Argee on the morning of his first birthday bathing on his brand new pool c/o lolo & lola bisaya.

Tomorrow’s my first time to participate in the usual tiangges.  Matagal ko nang pinag-isipang sumali sa mga ganito. Nakaka-inggit kasing tingnan yung mga mama’s ale sa tiangge na may suot na beltbag na punong-puno ng pera.  Siyempre, to the dismay of me-ann ito.  She has to let go her ‘priceless possessions’.  Hehehe.  But I told her it is for a good cause.  “You can’t just give dole outs!  It’s an insult to their capacity to wield cash!  Besides, if you just give it to them, they won’t value it because they didn’t pay for it.” — I reasoned.

The clothes were in perfect condition…better even those sold in ukay-ukay shops. And i’m happy that she agreed with my proposal. I hope bebenta ang clothes, otherwise baka isipin ng mga tao old school na ang clothes.

Duck!

My son, Argee, has finally spoken his first word which he learned from his tiny books — DUCK! Yes, of all the words…DUCK! It was at around 5 in the morning (he is our alarm clock, by the way) when he first spoke the word and we instantly woke up to ask if he really did say it. And a few seconds later, he couldn’t stop saying DUCK! Syempre, I was so happy because Doogie Howser’s (Remember him?) first word when he was a baby was ‘DUCK’.

When we got back to the office, Argee and I got my new toy, switched on the web cam and recorded the video below:

What’s up?!

So, what’s up?  — That was the question a blogger friend asked me thru e-mail asking about updates.  Been a long time since I last wrote.  Been so busy lately with plenty of things in school…especially the forthcoming concert on December 8 by the Kundirana.  Yes, it’s final.  The KUNDIRANA are coming to Dagupan City and we’ve finalized all the preparations, sponsors, and the like.  Now, it’s ticket selling time.  I hope we can dispose all of our tickets…it’s for our scholars, you know.

Anyway, click the posters below for the sneak preview of our tarp designs.

    

Andy Mckee

My bro, Rod, sent me a message to check out Andy McKee…a musician who makes magic with his guitar. Years ago, I only bow down to Tuck Andress’ (of Tuck & Patti) with his rendition of Man in the Mirror. Now, there’s 2 of them.

Check out Andy Mckee’s performance:

Bye Harry Potter!

After more than 7 years and 7 books, FINALLY, the Harry Potter series comes to a close.

Wow! Grabe! I first read the first 4 books of the HP series when I was in the seminary. And I read it for 2 straight weeks reading and hiding it under my scriptorium while pretending to be listening to the discussion of our philosophy professors. And I almost was disciplined (meaning, detained…and no pass for our usual sunday outing) because of that.

Harry Potter 7 (Deathly Hallows), I should say, is probably the most dark and thrilling of the 7 books because Voldemort has already taken over most of the magical word and Harry and the gang spends most of their time running and hiding. I like how JK Rowling was able to weave and connect all the seemingly fragmented events mentioned in the first 6 books: Harry as the 7th horcrux, the cloak as the 3rd of the Deathly Hallows, Snape as always with the DA all along, Snape as Lily’s (Harry’s mom) mean-time guy, Voldemort’s soul in Harry’s and Harry’s soul in Voldemort. Dang, just brilliant. As you read towards the end, you get to look back at the other Potter books and relish its memories like a catharsis after an inner-child session with your spiritual formator. Bwehehehe.

But I was a bit disappointed at how Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. It seemed like it’s so easy. I was hoping that Harry would have used pure magic, fought bravely, and end up in St. Mungo’s with a comma after a near-death experience dueling with the elder wand used by Voldemort. Feeling ko tuloy, napagod na ata si JK Rowling sa kakasulat kaya gusto na niyang patayin kaagad si Voldemort. hehehe.

And the ending is so Pinoyish…it’s like Lito Lapid finishing off 1 batallion of NPA with a huge machine gun while covering his stomach with a helmet to avoid his innards from coming out. I am not saying that Harry finished all the Death Eaters just like Lito Lapid but why is it that all surviving members of the Order of the Phoenix has to be encircling Voldemort and Harry while they duel to the death? It’s so grandiose and predictable, in other words. Sana man lang may konting twist on how Harry defeated Voldemort. But I guess if it just happens, Dumbledore wouldn’t be there to explain everything afterwards. That’s probably the reason why Harry has to be the one explaining why he’s the master of the elder wand. Nagmukha tuloy na bobo si Voldemort because he didn’t figure it out.

And the wandlore explained by Ollivander seemed a bit vague and needs more explaining. I actually read that part thrice while they were discussing it at Bill & Fleur’s house. I think the author was able to veer away with explaining much about wandlore by putting words in Ollivander’s mouth that wandlore is very difficult to understand.

Although I had a few disappointments with how the 7 books ended, the HP experience was one of the best. But, mas maganda pa rin ang Lord of the Rings Trilogy + The Hobbit ni Tolkien. I’m now waiting for the Harry Potter 7-book set to be sold in Powerbooks. I would love very much to share this with my son, Argee, when he grows. Even Homer Simpson turned his spider pig into Harry Potter. hehehe.

Lastly, if there’s anyone who should be properly credited for all the 7 books, it’s Voldemort. Harry’s just an ordinary kid. If Voldemort didn’t kill Harry and made him into a living horcrux, then Harry wouldn’t be that powerful. But the reality is, the good always win in children’s stories. hehehe.

* * *

Since I was so taken by this HP 7, I searched wikipedia and found out that due to HP’s immense popularity, the Chinese even made their own version of the Harry Potter book. The title is…drum roll…HARRY POTTER AND LEOPARD-WALK-UP-TO-DRAGON. I couldn’t help but laugh at the article I found in Wikipedia. Look at the cover image, it’s a chopsuey of famous characters in the cartoon world: the dragon is Malfecient of Sleeping Beauty; and Harry appears to be riding a Centaur. The drawing is not even nicely drawn. Hehehe.

According to the article, this is a 198-page book written and published in 2002 and a verbatim translation of Tolkien’s The HOBBIT, with most names changed to the Harry Potter characters (except Gandalf who still appeared in this book). The only part which is original, according to the article, is the first and last chapters when magical rains turned Harry Potter into a hobbit. Towards the end after all the adventure, he returned to the original Harry Potter. Syempre, daming intsik ang naloko nito. hehehe.

And syempre, the publisher was sued by Rowling’s publishers and they paid around US$3,400 (that’s roughly Php170k). To date, the identity of the anonymous author has not been discovered.

Read BBC’s article.

BSOD: The PC game you always play ;-)

While working on the Edubuntu textbook project, scouring the internet for rare Linux content, I chanced upon a rather exciting game which we unknowingly have played before. Since it’s inception in 1995, this game, known as the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH (BSOD), is very much embedded in the deepest recesses of the popular Operating System, Windows. Little did we know that this game almost always pops up while cramming on an extremely important and lengthy report. Sometimes this game pops up when playing resources-hungry games like CounterStrike, Allied Assault and the like. And sometimes still, it just pops up even when you’re not doing anything to your computer!

According to my on-line source Uncyclopedia, “the Blue Screen of Death (abbreviated BSoD), also known as The Blue Screen of Doom, the “Blue Screen of Fun” or “Phatul Exception: The WRECKening” is an award-winning game first developed in 1995 by Microsoft. Along with HTTP 404 - File Not Found, a hugely successful epic Internet MMORPG developed by Microsoft, the Blue Screen of Death ranks among the greatest computer games of all time. The game simulates a “system error” and displays a series of nonsensical hexadecimal codes for the player to decipher. Since its inception in 1995, BSoD has maintained its position as the most played computer game ever, and is a cornerstone of the Microsoft Corporation.”

Now Data couldn’t even pass level 1.