Restoring the House

After the great flood, what do we expect but to face endless cleaning and re organization in the house.  Our house was devastated, not totally but most of the things got wet even some important documents.  I was not at home when it happened and I feel totally sorry for my kids and Mom who were left alone in the house but glad to say that all is well now.  Massive cleaning is needed to bring the house back to life.  Currently, they are just 60% completed.  I wish I am home to help them but I am not in control of my time right now.  Glad that they are all safe including our 3 cute dogs. Our two shih tzu pets, Marcus and Lucio got wet, too. Kids told me that they keep on barking while they were placed on an elevated area in the house and jumped into the flood a number of times.  Glad that they didn't get sick, as well.  I knew that they are feeling so cold during that time. Glad they survived together with the entire family.  All of them are okay now, none of them got sick.  Thanks God for that!

I wonder if Marcus and Lucio needs a dog heating pad.  It might help to keep them warm and comfortable. I hope to get one for them pretty soon.  

On a positive note, the progress of their clean up drive is pretty good.  All have contributed their time and effort to get things done quickly.  My unica hija will be back to school tomorrow and since everything in the house is not completely fixed yet, she might feel a little bit of discomfort but I'm sure that she'll get by.  Hope everything will be back to normal soon.

Aftermath of a Great Flood

photos credited to CNN ireport, uploaded by gguardian

I was not in the Philippines to witness right before my very eyes how the city to which I grew up was devastated by a killer flood brought about by "habagat". The ravaging flood left many families homeless and worst than that, had taken the lives of more than a hundred victims all over Zambales.  I believed it must really be a great flood.  Though our subdivision is considered a low lying area, my house never gets affected by the flood as we purposely have it elevated during the construction stage as we knew the danger that we have to face with countless typhoons in the Philippines year after year.  We've been in that house for about 10 years or so but we never get flooded at least, inside the house. So this recent flooding was least expected and my kids back home were not ready.  Some of our important documents got wet and everything inside the house was a disaster.  But I am still thankful that my family is safe.  Their lives are more important than any material possession.  I was so worried about my old aged Mom who was left under the care of a house helper and kids.  Thanks God she's okay. 

There's no doubt that this calamity had brought us some valuable lessons in life.  Emergency preparedness is one thing.  Don't be too confident as any thing can happen at any moment.  As we were never stricken by a flood for the past 10 years, it made us confident that our house is safe not until a great flood struck the city last September 23.  I feel equally sad for other families who were greatly affected, worse than ours.  Those families with small children who needed to find their way to the top of their roofs.  Other families residing in Olongapo, Subic and Zambales had reportedly evacuated and now found a temporary shelter at the evacuation centers.  Some people lost their lives, too. I hope this thing will never happen again but we are not so certain as most parts of the Philippines get flooded every year.  In fact, this is not the first calamity that struck our city.  I had the worst nightmare when Mt.Pinatubo erupted many years ago.

I hope things will be better for all of us.  Restoration projects will never be so easy I know, but it can be done.  I prayed for those families who are still at the evacuation centers.  Hope they will be able to find comfort in their own homes, soon.  I pray for everyone's safety and fast recovery from the flood aftermath.

As the saying goes, "There's always a light at the end of a tunnel."

My Love and Hate Relationship with the Internet

I am sharing this post from a guest blogger, no other than my teen aged daughter Mika. Please allow her to share her personal thoughts through this post and thank you very much for reading.

I am one of the many young people in this generation who was gifted to receive all the benefits brought about by the advent of technology.  It’s just so amazing how internet allows us to do many things in a snap.  It’s really a great relief to get me connected to my parents working abroad in just a click of a mouse, how I can research my lessons online in a matter of minutes, how I can order my basic stuff without going out of the house and get to know the latest updates from my family and friends through social networking sites like Facebook.  Indeed, technology has brought us into great heights and I really feel blessed to experience all these comforts which were not probably enjoyed by people like our grand parents, and probably our parents during their school days.

But I would admit that there are times when I feel annoyed and displeased with what I can see and discover from the internet.  Though I acknowledge the fact that internet has a lot to offer, we still cannot get away with the facts that humans have a tendency to overdo things which in a way caused annoyance to other internet users.  Just like the other teenagers, I also have some internet pet peeves and I would gladly enumerate some in this simple article of mine.

So what makes me hate the internet?  Here are few of the “good things” which made shut down my computer in no time:

Those who update their status on Facebook 24/7.  I couldn’t imagine what other worthwhile things can a person do other than posting what she had for breakfast or whether she had just purchased a new headband.  The question is, do people really care?

Those who wish to sound cute by purposely writing in wrong grammar and spelling.  Are we going backwards?  Internet was invented to make the learning process easier for all of us and not to purposely get away with the rules of grammar and makes us sound like a battery operated doll.

Those who spam!  I really hate spammers.  People sending invites and “add me please” in your skype account who do not even know who you are in the first place.

Those who are non stop in posting “selfies” photos.  A photo or two would be fine but to post a photo of yourself in different angles with all those funny faces several times a day is such a nerve wrecking experience for a Facebook follower.

Lastly, when you are very eager to view a site where you intend to get some information for your research but can’t view the actual page as it is flooded with so many advertisements popping everywhere.

I just hope that people who overdo things on the internet will have to realize one day that internet was created for advancement, for an increased productivity and to make our lives easier in general.  Internet was created for us to explore and position ourselves ahead of time. We have to take this opportunity to  use the internet for worthwhile purposes, to widen our horizons and not to create things which would create annoyance to other people and users.

Let us learn from our mistakes and move forward!