Harsh realities

At some point in your life, you will realize that... ... Some friends WILL stab you in the back ... It IS a dog-eat-dog world - you either have to deal or get out ... You work your ass off trying to get to up only to find out that it's lonely up there ... Even the best laid plans have no guarantee of working out  ... We neglect too often the people close to our hearts when they are the ones who remain when everybody else has left ... People judge you by the cover, regardless of what they say to the contrary ... Even if you live by the rules, they will still fail you ... People with power who got it the easy way are more likely to abuse it ... We aim for what we want and dont get it while the things we're avoiding turn out to be just what we need ... We become too busy trying to accomplish everything that we think are important that we lose sight of the essentials ... Sometimes, the ones we love the most are the ones we lose for no reason ... And regret is never enough to make things go back to the way they were

Thank you for the music

In times like these, Im really thankful to the great composers, musicians, and artists for creating the kind of music that they do - one that would fit any mood that Im in.

There's music for when
- Im happy
- Im drained
- Im stressed
- Im depressed
- Im sober
- Im lonely
- I cant sleep
- Im sleepy
- I want to celebrate
- I need inspiration
- Im inspired
- I feel loved
- Im cranky
- I want to lash out at somebody
- I cant express myself
- I dont even know exactly how I feel

How much are you willing to change for someone you love?

I used to believe that if someone truly loves me, he will accept me for what I am and wont expect me to change so he could be happier. This is how I was when he met me, anyway, so why would he expect me to be different once we're together?

However, I've been observing "successful" partnerships for some time, and I noticed that either one or both of them have changed since they've been together. 

One friend who used to be a successful career woman and was working as a department head for an IT company before she got married has now quit her job and is quite content with being a plain housewife - she even learned how to cook and do laundry 

A relative who used to be a devout Born Again Christian when she was still single has now converted into another religion (I suspect it's a cult, actually  ) because of her husband who also just recently converted.

A college friend who used to be so outspoken and always stood up for her rights before is now so tame when dealing with her husband. Common friends tell me that she doesnt even answer back and just cries silently when they fight and the guy shouts at her 

And so it has made me wonder - for a relationship to be successful, does one of you have to change to adjust to the other person? What if the change you make in yourself makes you miserable, is your relationship still considered successful as long as you stay together?

Chemistry and Logic

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

________________________________________

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. 

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.

2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over..

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct.......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.

Being content

A friend and I were talking about our daily problems the other day... some were relatively petty and would probably be resolved in the next few days, while some were pretty serious and were really getting on our nerves.

As we continued our discussion, we realized some of those problems are recurring. They've been dealt with sometime in our past, but are back again. Some exactly the same, some just a variation of the same problem.

I guess problems never really end, huh... We just have to learn how to deal.

This morning I came across a line in an online post somewhere else, and it goes :

[I]"You can't always get what you want. But if you try hard enough, sometimes, you get what you need."[/I]

Why I miss having a boyfriend

I know I did the right thing in letting go of a relationship that's doomed to fail. I've already come to terms with the fact that we're not meant for each other. 

He was not my first boyfriend, but I think he was my first love. I have never felt that way with anyone before, and Im scared that I wont feel that way with anyone again. I dont even miss him anymore, because he is a different person now from the man i fell in love with 4 years ago. I just miss the way we used to be...

- I miss having someone to hug at the end of a stressful day at work
- I miss having someone to call or text when I want to share something special that happened in my day, 
- I miss having someone in my corner whenever I got into a fight, no matter how petty it was
- I miss having someone offering to punch the lights out of anyone who hurt me
- I miss having someone willing to talk to me all the time, at any hour of the day, whenever I felt like it
- I miss having someone to cuddle and comfort me whenever I feel like crying
- I miss having someone I can run to when I have a disagreement with my family and am not in the mood to go home
- I miss having someone to call whenever there’s some heavy lifting to be done at home or at work 
- I miss having someone to call and pick me up whenever I needed someone to take me home, for whatever reason
- I miss having someone telling me how beautiful and lovable I was while Im wearing dirty and torn house clothes 
- I miss having someone making efforts to cheer me up when Im down, even if it makes him look like a clown
- I miss having someone willing to do household and appliance repairs for free… hehe
- I miss having someone to talk me out of crazy ideas, even if he knows it will lead to a dumb argument which he’d have to apologize for later
- I miss having someone. Period.

The bigger picture

What happened over the weekend was an experience I hope never to repeat in my lifetime, but one that I’ll treasure and value til the day I die.

I was supposed to go to Bangkok last Sunday, Sept 27, and stay there til the 30th. I had been looking forward to the trip for weeks – it was practically the only thing that kept my spirits up through all the work-related stress and depression from personal problems.

A week before my departure, I was informed that my new passport would not be released on schedule as there were some additional requirements for renewal because of the new machine readable passports. I was so mad when I heard the news, I argued with them for hours, to no avail. So in the end, I was forced to let it go.

I consoled myself with the thought that at least I hadn’t booked my hotel and tours yet, so I only lost the airfare, which was on promo. My problem was that I had already filed my leave and I was facing 3 empty days at home. I bugged my friends to go on a local trip with me – anywhere! Unfortunately, they had all run out of leave credits, so I was doomed to stay in Manila during my vacation days.

Then Typhoon Ondoy struck on Sept 26, Saturday. I was in an event in Ortigas then, and so I got stranded on the road. My mom called me around 5pm and told me the flood was waist-high inside the house already and is still rising fast, and they were thinking of moving to our neighbor’s house which has a 2nd floor. That was the last time we were able to talk. I couldn't reach them anymore after that.

I spent the next 36 hrs on the road worrying about them, which wasn't helped by the news we saw while on the bus, showing families on the roof of their houses and kids dying after being soaked the whole night. My 85-yr old grandmother lived with us, as well as a 4-yr old niece and a barely 1-yr old nephew.

I was finally able to go home at around 2am on Monday morning. The flood was still knee deep in our village, but it was passable. Where the flood has receded, 3-5 inches of mud took it’s place. 

It was a tricky trek to our house, but it was worth it. When I got there and I saw them all, tired and hungry, BUT alive and well, the relief made me weak. I realized that it was only adrenalin and fear for my family that was keeping me going. So I only felt the fatigue after seeing they were all safe.

It was a big wake up call for me to never take things for granted and to always look at the bigger picture in life. Things happen for a reason – we may not realize it or appreciate it at the time, but eventually, we will see the purpose behind it all.

Looking back, Im now very thankful for what happened to my passport. Had I been stranded in Bangkok when all this happened, I would have probably gone out of my mind from worry about my family. Or if I wasn't able to leave cause of the weather, I would have paid for my hotel, tours, etc by then, so I would have lost a lot more than just my airfare.

I know a lot of people got hurt from this disaster. A lot of people lost their homes, their possessions, and worst, their loved ones. I feel sorry for them, and we include them in our prayers.

But a selfish part of me is happy. Im still a lucky girl. My family’s safe. Nobody I know got hurt. Someone, somewhere, is watching over me... 

Im in Blogland!

Wow!

I've been writing personal stuff for years, and been wanting to post them somewhere, but I couldnt figure out how to create a blog. Haha.  Stupid, I know. But what can I do? Im really not a techie person.

Thanks to my good friend, Haidee, for creating this blog for me. Hehe.

So here I am.  Finally.