Saturday, February 15, 2014

You Can’t Lose Weight by Talking about It, You Have to Keep Your Mouth Shut! #PersonalStory







You Can’t Lose Weight by Talking about It, You Have to Keep Your Mouth Shut

As told by my “never-ending-fatty-guy” friend who loves to eat food and enrolled at famous fitness gym.


If you nod one chin and a couple more second the motion, you know it’s time to go on a diet. Unfortunately there’s nothing like a diet for improving your appetite. Nowadays though, there is no need to suffer alone because you can join a group and suffer with others. Organizations of weight watching thin people are out there ready and willing to help you fight the battle of the bulge. The first thing you have to learn is that goodies are the baddies.

Setting: Fitness Gym

At one meeting, an instructor held up an apple in one hand and a bar of the chocolate in the other. Tell me about this apple,” he said. “What are its good points in relation to our diet?” Hands were raised and answers like “low in calories,” “healthy” and “high in fiber” were offered. Then with a look of disdain he turned to the bar of chocolate and reeled off all its bad points. “Apples are not only far healthier,” he said, “they are less expensive. I paid 20 pesos for this one bar of chocolate.”
A plaintive voice echoed from the back of the room. “I’ll give you 50 pesos for it!”

At another meeting, one man was disappointed because he had only lost a few pounds in his first week. He told the others that a friend of his had boasted he’d lost ten. The instructor tried to encourage him by explaining that slow weight loss is likely to be more permanent.

“Is this friend of yours a doctor?” he asked.

“No.”

“A dietitian?”

“No,” the man mumbled. “I think he’s just a liar.”




Beware of cheating; you will usually be found out. While a man was attending a meeting of the Weight Watchers Club, someone broke into his car and stole a packet of biscuits and three bars of chocolate. Most of us only want to lose a few pounds or a stone or two at most. Consider the will power involved when these super slimmers’ decided enough was too much.

There are plenty of different diet books and internet offers on the market ranging from the obvious to the ludicrous. There’s the garlic diet, for instance, where you eat lots of garlic with everything: burgers, pizza, ice cream and even grilled chicken with unlimited rice – you don’t lose any weight but you look thinner from a distance. The pill diet, the 30-day diet is popular too – that’s the one people decide they’ll start…in 30 days.

Of course, there are a few hard and fast rules known to all regular dieters. For instance: (a) the calories in a bar of chocolate are cancelled out if taken with a diet drink; (b) if you eat something and no one sees you eating it, it has no calories; (c) when you eat with someone else the calories don’t count if they eat more than you do. Also, it’s a myth that the Heart Association has given out a diet that lets you eat hot dogs and ice cream and lose weight. A spokesman says this diet crops up every six months or so. They don’t know who starts it or why.

Salad is, of course, the mainstay of any diet and it’s a fact that it takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it in the first place. It’s just a pity that celery has all the flavor of polystyrene. At the end of the day it’s down to will power.

A friend decided that the way for him to stay fit and slim would be to take yoga lessons. He was determined to learn through self-discipline to stop overeating. When I asked if it was working, he happily replied, “Well I’ve gained five pounds but I’ve disciplined myself not to feel guilty about it.” There are a few alternatives to dieting; you could always place the fridge door handle two inches from the floor or solve your weight problem like never eating for a week or more.

And then, thankfully, there will always be people who accept the way they are. A fat man at a confectioner joked: “Inside of me, there’s a thin man trying to get out but I usually manage to subdue him with a couple of éclairs and a croissant. But, if you want to slim down and all this talk of dieting has made you feel hungry, remember those immortal words: “You can’t lose weight by talking about it. You have to keep your mouth shut!”





Monster Under The Bed Story #PersonalStory







Monster Under The Bed Story

As told by my “macho friend” who has courage to turn upside-down the best fighter on our planet called Earth. He told me at:

7:00 am Sunday:


I woke up with a feeling of discomfort, knowing, that my bad dream last night bothered me a lot. I knew that somehow, dream isn’t real after all, especially bad dream. It’s my day-off today and I’ll be doing some planned household chores.
My wife kisses me goodbye and the two kids rushing to kiss goodbye too. She whispers in my ear teasing, ”We’ll be back soon and don’t forget your planned escapade”. I answered back, “Okay, enjoy the symposium and take good care of the kids.”

7:20 am:

It’s been 20 minutes past seven and I moved to start my first chore inside our room when suddenly, I heard an unusual sound coming from under our bed. I stopped for a while, not knowing what to do. The unusual sound continues that I ran to the door to open it, but it’s locked. I opened the window and I felt the cold breeze rushing under my skin. And, suddenly, I heard a thing crashing in the floor. I checked it and it’s the family portrait of my parents taken during my childhood days. The unusual sound continued, piercing my ears and as I stared at the picture, I remember my father, telling a story of the monster under the bed that stimulated my fear even stronger. I sat at the floor relishing my fear to subside. I asked myself. ”It’s a true story or not? The monster came back? Why there’s unusual sound under the bed?

7:45 am:

I composed myself thinking that I had to finish my chores before my wife’s back and to eliminate my fear. I pulled the comforter, bed sheet, pillows above our bed and slowly peeked under. Do you know what I saw? Again, I lay down in bed thinking my conclusion of the event.


8:10 am:

Really, I am 45 years old now, and children stories are not real. Amen.

8:20 am:

Therefore, my presumptions: That my wife locked the door with the intention to frightened me and storing the remote-controlled device under the bed. She knew that I am afraid (during my childhood days) the story of the monster under the bed. She switched-on the toy after leaving the house; and, the best of all with my conclusion: It means my wife intended me to sleep until they’re back! My wife truly loves me!

8:30 am:

Oppppppppppsssss! Before I forget, ahhhhhh, before I sleep again, today is my day! My wife needs me tonight! That’s a signal for sure! Who cares for the monster under the bed? Are you?






Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW #PersonalStory





Just Another Day of My Life as An OFW In Dubai City


I complained to the personnel manager about the irregularities of the job procedures and the discrimination that loomed within the operations department that I was managing, but ironically, it was me, was branded as troublemaker. They couldn’t sack me officially because I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they made life as awful as they possibly could.

I couldn’t live with it all so I just left. I’d already been asked by another establishment if I wanted to transfer to act as an Operation Manager of a newly constructed food establishment. I’d decided I couldn’t go because of some personal reasons and government restrictions. But then I thought why not? I’ve nothing to lose. I went for another place which was just the break I needed, and I forgot all about my old job. The whole thing opened the door to other opportunities and I was able to think about what I really wanted. It changed my life for the better and I got out of the rut I was in.

My attitude is that if you have talent and you’re willing to have a go at different things, something like that doesn’t really matter. It’s only a few people’s subjective opinion of you, and others will think you’re great. You shouldn’t let it defeat you as long as you know you’ve done nothing wrong. And, if you’ve done something wrong and has been sacked, however, this is the time to admit it to yourself and do something about it in the future, whether it’s improving your job or life. But whether you deserved to be given the boot or not, you’ll still have the problem of explaining why looking for a job.




Unless you’re asked, don’t volunteer that you’ve been sacked. Gloss over it if you can. Say there were no prospects in the job – that’s true after all. Or, you can say you had to leave to find a job because there was no way of getting out for interviews. Avoid mentioning the bad things that will go against you. Some people feel duty-bound to confess all, but they shouldn’t. Concentrate on the positive things about yourself. It’s a blow to your self-esteem but you’ve got to look at the future and be positive.

It’s probably less of a blow to the ego when your department is made redundant and you’re not the only one who’s been picked out to go. It was easier because the whole line of business went, so whether I was good or bad never arose. But when you see your friends going to work in their suits, you still can’t believe that you’re not doing that job.

It really brings it home how fragile things are. Individuals are expendable. My motto now is “Be prepared.” I keep my management skills up and my living expenses down so if I was fired tomorrow I know I could live on what I could earn from my abilities. In today’s climate, you’ve got to be flexible. OFW job’s not permanent when you want the right thing for you to do. But if you’re a “yes-to-all –kind-of-person,” foreign employer will stick you at the bulletin board until retirement with further grave discrimination as a bonus.






Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Summertime, Who Cares? #PersonalStory




Summertime, Who Cares?

As told by my “homebody-friend” who loved to stay indoors and promised not to spend his valuable time at the beach.

Summer time is difficult time. Sweat glands work overtime. Things get under the collar. The heat is unbearable. The dryness in the air is uncomfortable. And, the tendency to snap, with or without provocation, is only natural. That is the bad part.

But there is a good part to summer too – the silver lining to the “clouds” so to speak. And that is, there are many new and novel things one can do during this time. You only have to look around for options and watch out for opportunities.

You will find out that things are not as bad as they appear. In fact, while attempting to beat the heat, you may well be discovering a new persona in you and building up your self- image. And as it may well happen, you will not only enjoy the summer but even look forward to it next time.

Take to the water. The soaring mercury levels might have deprived you of the pleasures of jogging in the morning or walking in the evening or both. But never mind. There are other equally healthy diversions.

Swimming for example. Many clubs in your area offer, at about this time every year, discounts on memberships that entitle you, among other things, to a dip in the pool.

Or water sports. Try your hand at water surfing, ice skating or other water sports in your area. No matter if you have never worn that entire fancy outfit or handled all that fancy equipment. There is always a first time. And there are crash courses available that will put you on the right track fast enough.

Look around and learn. This is the time to update your professional skills. Try your hand on other computers lessons; photoshop, video making, blogging and internet browsing for other subjects you’re interested in. Or, join a language class – Chinese Mandarin, Arabic, French, German or English if you find there is need to brush up. Or how about music? There are good teachers in your area who provide private lessons for a moderate fee. There could be a hidden potential in you that may surprise even you. Guitat, Sitar, perhaps? Or piano…voice lessons?..or even plain old humming that could be honed, under the right guidance, to some singing skill that is truly professional.

In short, anything to experiment and to touch the limits of the unknown…even if it starts off with a limited purpose. It will not only drive the blues away but keep your disposition chirpy…even in humid days.

When you are on a voyage of self-discovery, you become charged and motivated. The beckoning goals become all consuming.

Who cares about the summer anyway?






Saturday, February 1, 2014

Please Forgive My Ignorance #PersonalStory


It's my day off that I went to Golden Fork, a Filipino Restaurant at Al Riqqa Street, Dubai City. I met my friend who joined me and we ordered Bulalo and bread. While waiting for our food, he told an amusing story, is it really amusing?

####

My experienced before the onset of this computer age. Right now, I can say that I am quite a bit awkward when I remembered those happy days, am I?

There comes a time in every man’s life when he has to accept the fact that he is just about as dumb as he looks. And there is no time when a person feels dumber than when he is shopping for PC.

I experienced this not-so-funny story of my life when computers were starting to engulfed the whole world including our place. And, here’s my story, long, long time ago.

To prove my point, and to earn the dubious distinction of being one of the last living human being to get on-line, I have spent quite a bit of time looking for a PC, which is, of course, the technical abbreviation for Pretty Confusing.

Computer shopping at that time can be confusing for one of two reasons: You do not understand computer technology and you really are an idiot. Unless you are a computer literate, which means you speak a language that in no way resembles English, it is virtually impossible to figure out what anything means. I offer as an example the following list of common computer terms, along with what most normal people think they mean.

1) Windows – those glass things on the sides of houses and buildings that you see outside.

2) Mouse – those creatures swarming our kitchen during the night.

3)Megabytes – huge mouthful of food

4)Power chips – those potatoes in fast food

That is why, when you are in a computer store and a member of the computer support staff is telling you all about a particular system and the hardware, and the accessories that is included, you will probably be standing there thinking, “This thing comes with a light generator or flashlight?” What you really need is a screwdriver – vodka, orange juice over ice – to help you get through this ordeal. In lieu of that I offer the following computer tips for dummies – people who do not know computer in today’s generation – which come with my personal guarantee: If you believe any of them, you are an even bigger dummy than I am.

1) Don’t try to hide your stupidity. The fact that you are totally ignorant about computers will be obvious approximately 1.5 seconds after you open your mouth. Instead, introduce yourself to a friendly computer salesperson and say; “I am a dummy.” Repeat this three times. Then prostrate yourself in front of him and beg for help. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a limbo.

2) Never refer to computer salespeople as nerds. Not only do they have feelings, but they are there to help you. And they can get terrible revenge for your insensitivity by hooking you up to a system that, with the right software, will blow your top the moment you log on.

3) If you do not buy a computer soon, you will die. That is because technology has advanced to the point where people cannot live without PC’s and it is a must.

4) When you finally buy a home computer, you should learn how to use it. The best way to do this is to go to Computer Dummy School. The store from which I am buying my wonderful new system, for example, offers a six-hour class for people who are just as stupid as I am. Or, find another person to teach you the basic of being a fool. And, of course, I’ll probably spend the whole time looking out the Windows, reminiscing “Oh that was long ago, I am crazy now.”

I smiled like Mona Lisa effect but deep inside I was laughing out loud (LOL). If you are reading right now, maybe, just maybe, you’re thinking that I’m using my home computer? You’re wrong! I’m using my sleek laptop with gadgets and accessories that I never imagined before.