General

OtterBox Commuter and Defender for iPhone 4/4S (Class A)

By on Sunday, January 6, 2013

After a few months of use, my knock-off OtterBox Commuter chipped and cracked so I looked for replacement case. Over the holidays, Edong accompanied me in the search. It was tough going because every shop were carrying mostly iPhone 5 cases. We did find a knock-off OtterBox Commuter at the place where he got his own case. But it was P650 and it wasn’t even well-made. Today, I dropped by the phone accessories section of a nearby mall and ended up at the stall of this Chinese guy at the far end of the section. He showed me not just a Commuter (P250) but also a Defender (P700). They were good copies. Definitely better than my old one. The Commuter even had stiffer silicone similar to the one being used by OtterBox. I asked for his last price and he said P200 for the former and P600 for the latter. I asked him if I can get both for P750 and after some thought he agreed. But I’m sure he still got a tidy profit. In fact, the other stall keepers were actually getting stocks from him while we were transacting.

0
General

Back To Work

By on Thursday, January 3, 2013

Finally back to work from the quite long vacation. We went to visit my parents and it was awesome! We went to Camiguin, we went swimming (twice at the beach and once at the pool), we played a whole lot of Modern Warfare (and its mobile equivalent, Modern Combat), we went to the range, we ate and ate and ate (we were responsible for the demise of at least 2 whole pigs), we had durian shakes, and of course, what’s vacation without sleep, lots of sleep? The downside to having such a fun vacation is when it ends. Well, I guess it does make the next time so much exciting to look forward to.

0
General

New Year Resolutions

By on Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The year past had been a difficult one. The home front is always a challenge, there was a huge transition at work leaving me with much less responsibility, I severely damaged my car entirely through my fault, a major purchase didn’t push through (for better or worse, it’s still disappointing), and long story short, I wasn’t able to accomplish much. So I won’t even bother to review my last year’s resolutions and will just put my previous resolutions up again for this year:

  • Declutter, or attempt to, the house. I’ll need two shelves for starters.
  • Take cooking or dance classes maybe with Michelle.
  • Take advanced photography classes.
  • Go surfing in La Union or some other surfing destination. I’ve been to Zambales and I want to try another place. (I was actually able to surf CME, twice, and Zambales again)
  • Go hiking and camping in one trip.
  • Be closer to family. Fix my marriage for starters. Attend family events. Talk with the members of the family.
  • Be closer to God. Attend mass regularly, reflect and pray regularly.
0
General

WTF: Overpopulation is Good for Filipinos?!?

By on Sunday, December 30, 2012

Read on this article about this bishop claiming that overpopulation is good for Filipinos because it has increased the number of overseas workers and migrants who could send remittances back home while taking care of ageing people abroad and spreading the Christian faith. That many Filipino women would make “good wives” for foreigners in countries that have low population growth. Finally, that poverty is not a problem. poverty even brought people “closer” to God and was instrumental in realizing God’s plan for Filipinos to take care of other nationalities by inducing migration and working abroad.

Seriously?!? I don’t even want to talk about the “good wives” for foreigners bit. But regarding poverty, unfortunately, OFWs is a small percentage of the Filipino population (10% as of 2010) and certainly few from those living below the poverty level (around 20% as of 2009). The poor have limited access to proper nutrition, shelter, health care, and of course, education which is quite important if you aspire to be an OFW. So how can poverty not be a problem?

You’d think such regressive thinking could only be found in the medieval ages until you realize that the church as an institution is a vestige of the medieval era. Surely, change is needed. Certainly we have no need for church leaders with such mindset.

0