Ethol and the 2 Morons

It was Ethol's wedding today with the love of his life, Mildred. Ethol is my bestfriend, brother, bodyguard, personal assistant, partner-in-crime, and when mom had her chemotherapy sessions, Ethol helped us take care of her. He's practically family to us than other people whom we share the same last name with but doesn't know what a family is.

It was bittersweet seeing Ethol promising forever to Mildred. I am very happy that they both have found their happiness, at the same time, I know life would never be the same as he now has his responsibilities and priorities, and he would not be able to be with me in all of my future adventures. He was with me in almost all of my adventures ever since we first met when he became my student. He will now be having new adventures with his new family.

The wedding was very simple but solemn, and was going on really well, until a couple of disrespectful bastards ruined it. Pardon my french, but there is no other nicer word I can use to describe them. Two insecure animals who lack attention and recognition trying desperately to be important: The pea-brain security guard and the lazy sacristan of Redemptorist Parish.

The wedding was scheduled at 10:30 in the morning, but since the priest came from a mass at Consolacion town (12 kilometers from Cebu City), the wedding started at 11. Before the wedding started, the sacristan was already complaining about how he was supposed to be going home already. He was very grumpy, prepared the things needed for the mass half-heartedly, and even shouted at the priest as if the priest was his slave. Though I was furious already, I tried my darnest best to control myself and just let it pass so as not to ruin the day.

During communion, we noticed that it was getting warmer and warmer even with the electric fans surrounding us. We found out that while the mass was going on, the guard was already closing all the doors of the church except one, as ordered by the sacristan. That was it. Their being disrespectful was too much. I was about to confront them when my dad beat me to it. The whole time, he was just silent in a corner, and was just observing. He jumped off from his seat and stormed towards the guard and sacristan. At the same time, we were forced to rush the ending of the mass, and we were not able to take pictures after the wedding. If not for my mom's intervention, there could have been a bloody fight from dad and the stupid guard, who instead of apologizing, was actually blaming the sacristan and anatagonizing my dad. I've seen disrespectful people all my life, and the stupid guard and hypocrite sacristan are on the top of my list.

It pains me to know that there are still heartless entities in our world today. That's the difference between humans and animals, we're supposed to be rational beings who can understand and make decisions based on what we see and what we know, rather than be like animals. We have the power to choose, I just can't understand why others would choose to be morons.

Cavs Sweep Pistons

Best Record in the Regular Season, Check!

Coach of the Year, Check!

Sweep the First Round of the Playoffs, Check!

My Cleveland Cavaliers just swept through the First Round of the Playoffs a few minutes ago. Their victim was the once-mighty Detroit Pistons, a team that once reigned in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs is the only unbeaten team so far in the playoffs, and eliminating the Pistons early means that they have a little more than a week to rest while waiting for the winner of the series between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks which the Heat currently leads 2-1. Cleveland did not just beat the

In the series against the Pistons, Bron Bron once again showed his leadership, his all-around brilliance and his total dominance. Now add that to his amazing regular season performance, it will be close to impossible if he is not awarded his very first Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Lebron James is a Beast, and I'm just happy he's on our side.

4 wins in the bag, 12 wins to go for the Championship! Go Cavs!

Stubborn

One of the main responsibilities of my job requires me to speak with customers who request to speak with a supervisor or manager, and most of the time, the reason why they ask to be transferred to us is because the representative they spoke with wasn't able to do what they wanted.

Once we take the call, they again ask the same thing from us. And since we are following the same procedure and guidelines with our representatives, we tell them the same thing that we were already told - that we cannot do what they want us to do. Some people would understand, and some people just wouldn't.

After they are declined by the representative and myself (or another supervisor), they will again ask for someone higher so they can again insist on getting what they want. Other people just don't understand the word NO. They would want to speak with someone else until they get what they want, throwing in some threats and dropping some names every now and then. Duh! As if threatening to cancel their account or mentioning names of powerful people can make any difference.

Pay What?

Today was supposed to be a special day because it's Pay day. Very early in the morning, I was so excited to check my mobile banking if my pay already was credited to my ATM. It took the bank almost 2 hours to send an automated reply, and the reply shocked me. Yes, the pay was already in, but it was way off the amount I expected. I texted my other officemates, asking them if there are some "discrepancies" in the amounts that they received, and true enough, I received a lot of replies from a lot of people who, like me, were also ranting and complaining of the pay they got.

A lot are already updating their resumes as I'm writing this. I can't blame them. The main reason why we went with our company, and why we stayed in this company for a long time is because of the higher pay and the bonuses. Now that the pay is just ordinary and the bonus is starting to become non-existent, people are getting discouraged already. Working here used to be fun. Since the new account took over, it sucked the life out of us.

I'm again seriously comtemplating on going back to the academe. I want to give the company and the new account two months "transition" to put everything in place for the employees. Then again, I might not reach those two months and I might just join the exodus. Only tomorrow knows.

Spill-proof?

I hate spill-proof mugs, or mugs pretending to be spill-proof. Well, not really all spill-proof mugs, just the mugs the office gave me. Aside from my headset, it's my partner while taking calls. And just when you're confident enough to use it, it let you down. Now I know why they call it Spill-proof, it's because it spills and leave a proof... in my case, it is iced tea that is spilled, and the proof is on my white t-shirt.

Totally uncool.

I Dreamed a Dream

Here are the lyrics of one of the most beautiful songs ever written, written by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg for Les Miserables, the same song that made Susan Boyle a star...

There was a time when men were kind,

And their voices were soft,

And their words inviting.

There was a time when love was blind,

And the world was a song,

And the song was exciting.

There was a time when it all went wrong...

I dreamed a dream in time gone by,

When hope was high and life, worth living.

I dreamed that love would never die,

I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid,

And dreams were made and used and wasted.

There was no ransom to be paid,

No song unsung, no wine, untasted.

But the tigers come at night,

With their voices soft as thunder,

As they tear your hope apart,

And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side,

He filled my days with endless wonder...

He took my childhood in his stride,

But he was gone when autumn came!

And still I dream he'll come to me,

That we will live the years together,

But there are dreams that cannot be,

And there are storms we cannot weather!

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I'm living,

So different now from what it seemed...

Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...

Go Cavs!

I am so ecstatic and excited that my Cleveland Cavaliers finished with the best record in the regular season, which means King James and his court will have homecourt advantage all throughout the playoff. How important is that? Well, it means that if ever they play a Game 7 in whatever round in the playoff against whoever it is, it will be played in Cleveland where the Cavs lost only twice the whole year, the second loss happening yesterday, their final regular season game, where they only lost by a point. Technically, that loss doesn't really count since King James and three other starters didn't play to prepare for the war ahead.

Speaking of the war ahead, it starts this Saturday (Sunday, Philippine Time) in Cleveland when the Allen Iverson-less Detroit Pistons come to town. Will the Cavs finally go all the way this year? I really hope so! They need 16 wins in the playoffs and finals to win it all, here's hoping win number one will be this Saturday.

Susan Boyle

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Martin Luthor King, Jr.


Discrimination is universal. I don't think there is anyone in this world who have not experienced being discriminated at some time in their lives. I know I have - A LOT of times. That is one of the reasons why I usually root for the underdogs. Seeing an underdog surpass expectations and prove her detractors wrong is just priceless.

And recently, in the TV show Britain's Got Talent, an underdog brought almost everyone to tears and brought the house down. Her name is Susan Boyle, an unemployed 47 year old lady.

When she walked out on stage, you could tell no one expected her to do well and when she gave a little hip gyration before she started singing, you could tell by the looks some people were giving her that they expected her to flop, big time. But she had the last laugh when she belted out a song no one expected her to be able to sing. Her performance was near flawless and her personality makes you like her right away. I wasn't able to control my tears watching the video, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

When she started singing "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables, she was quickly rewarded with a standing ovation as well as shocked faces from the judges. Simon Cowell sat with a huge smile on his face as she sang. The audience stood and clapped as she gave an emotional performance and then started to walk off the stage when she was done.

The judges had to call her back to let her know how shocked they were as well as to tell her she received three yeses from them. One of the judges, Pierce Morgan, told her that he was giving her the biggest yes he has ever given anybody.“I am so thrilled because I knew everybody was against you, I honestly think that we were all being very cynical and I think that’s the biggest wake up call ever,” were the words of Amanda Holden, a judge on the show, referring to how dismissive the audience was of Boyle before she took the stage.

Until now, I never get tired of watching the video again and again, and every single time, it still makes me cry. I was a part of the Les Miserables cast for more than ten years, and I've heard a lot of interpretations of "I Dreamed a Dream" but Miss Boyle's version made me cry after hearing just the first line of the song. She is simply amazing.

Susan Boyle may have shocked the audience with her stunning singing talent and her vibrant bubbly personality before her performance, but according to Yahoo! Buzz, she was the shocked one when her church gave her a standing ovation when she walked in.

Susan said she has always dreamed of becoming a singer, her voice was a stunning surprise and I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering how no one found her before now. You can't always go by first impressions and this is a perfect example of why that is true.

The thing that people seem to look at first is looks, but this is a talent competition not a beauty contest. We will be seeing a lot more from Susan Boyle, her voice will be gracing the airwaves even if she doesn't win this competition.

Tired

I'm tired of working. Well, not really working, but working in a call center. I'm tired of giving out my real name to total strangers in almost every call. With the technology age that we are in, I don't feel comfortable giving out my personal information to persons I don't know anymore. It's so difficult to follow the guidelines that we're given, at the same time, having the customers blaming us. Who knows what they'll do with our personal information. And there's nothing we can do since we are required to give out our personal information whenever asked by the customer.

*Sigh*

Happy Easter!

Just got home from work. Let me share a beautiful poem by one of my most fave poets, Joanna Fuchs.


Jesus came to compensate
For all the wrongs we do.
He came to earth to die for us,
So we'd be born anew.

"The bitter cup, let it pass from me,"
He cried, in a plaintive voice;
"Yet not My will, but Thine be done;
"He said, in His faithful choice.

The Judas kiss would seal his fate;
He faced a hostile crowd;
The governor, Pilate, saw through it all;
Jesus' guilt he disavowed.

"I wash my hands of all of this,"
Said Pilate, "Let Him be."
But the crowd yelled "Crucify him now,
And set Barabbas free!"

Pilate yielded to their wish;
And Jesus was led away.
The soldiers beat him, and mocked Him, too.
Yet He continued to obey.

A crown of thorns lay on His head,
As His sentence was carried out;
His hands and feet were pierced with nails,
But He did not scream or shout.

"Father, forgive them for this crime;
They know not what they do.
"He said this despite His torment, because,
He was thinking of me and you.

"It is finished," he sighed in His anguish and pain,
As His body gave up to death.
The curtain tore, and darkness fell,
After He took His last breath.

The best of the story is the very last part;
It’s why on Easter we’re filled with pleasure:
Death could not our Savior hold;
His power is beyond all measure.

He rose from the grave, and was seen all around;
Ever since, He’s inspired devotion,
And we’ll be with Him for eternity,
When we get our heavenly promotion.

That’s why Easter is a major event:
He suffered and died in our place.
He rose and forgave us and loves us still,
Our Savior of matchless grace.


Happy Easter,
everyone!