Just got email from Leslie saying my TiC front shifter stay bushings have been delivered complete with toy soldiers! Here’s the pic he took:
Month: March 2011
Minette, Glenn, Michelle, Jeanne, and I watched the last evening of the PyroMusical competition featuring Australia and the Philippines. The traffic and crowd was huge! I ended up parking at the highest level of the parking building. Despite that, everyone, including Jeanne (after she got over her initial fear of the noise of the fireworks and the music) had a blast. The finale of each country were especially awesome displays of light. Videos don’t do them justice. After the show, I was also expecting traffic congestion on the way out and indeed we had to wait for almost an hour before we could exit the parking building.
My passport was due to expire mid-year so at the start of the year, I applied for renewal at the DFA’s vaunted online system. I found that I can only schedule an appointment by the end of March. I learned later that there’s a 3-month lag time in appointments. No problem. I’ve no travel plans in the next few months so I set my appointment.
Wrong! Two weeks ago, I learned I’ll be heading off to Vietnam courtesy of the company! I estimated the delivery of the passport given my appointment and there was no way my new passport will be available by the travel date. Not good! Fortunately, the company has good travel agents. They were able to schedule me to an interview this morning (how, I don’t know). So there I was at DFA at 7AM on a weekend morning.
In a bid to mask their inadequacy in meeting collection objectives and rationalize a bigger budget, BIR is requiring all private individuals earning over half a million to submit so-called Annual Information Return (AIR) which is essentially a Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) which is required from public officials and government employees. Apparently, BIR is wondering why the top Filipinos in the Forbes’ Richest List are not on their list of top individual taxpayers. Hence, this new scheme.
Duh! If you’re that rich, you’re probably very smart. And if you’re very smart, you’re probably drawing only a minimal taxable salary and instead own whole companies. For example, Carlos Slim, who at $74B is on top of the Forbes list, travels in a Chevy Suburban (but armored, no doubt) and limits his monthly salary to $24,000 dollars. Tax that!
Aside from the warped logic, there’s the further intrusion to privacy of private individuals, the dubious effectiveness of the measure, and the timing. They originally want this AIR submitted by April 15! Good think they got some sense left and will require it only by next year so no need to worry about it this year.
Inspired by the early potty training of Jeanne’s cousin, Viela, who’s about the same age, we have been sort of potty training Jeanne since the start of the year. Last night, Michelle was telling Jeanne to prepare for washing but Jeanne wouldn’t budge. Michelle asked me to talk to Jeanne, so I went over and asked Jeanne if she’s done. She said no and soon enough she let go of a few. Only after that did she let Michelle was her. Progress!