Thursday, August 30, 2007

Corporate Lessons

Rating:★★★
Category:Other
For those of us who still have our noses to the grindstone...here are some timely reminders I would like to share...have a nice day in this dog eat dog world...

Corporate Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her
shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a
towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the
next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you
$800 to drop that towel," After thinking for a moment, the woman drops
her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob
hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and
goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks,
"Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies.
"Great!" the husband says, "did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"
> Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to
credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a
position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Corporate Lesson 2
A priest offered a lift to a Nun. She got in and crossed her legs,
forcing her habit to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident.
After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The
nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand.
But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun
once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologized
"Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving at the convent, the nun
went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look
up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find
glory."
> Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you
might miss a great opportunity.

Corporate Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to
lunch when they find an antique oil lamp.! They rub it and a Genie
comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish." "Me
first! Me first!" says the admin. clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas,
driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone. "Me
next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on
the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas
and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone. "OK, you're up," the Genie
says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the
office after lunch."
> Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.

Corporate Lesson 4
A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked
him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" > The crow
answered: "Sure, why not" So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the
crow, and rested. A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
> Moral of the! story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be
sitting very high up.

Corporate Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to
the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, but I haven't got the
energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on my droppings?" replied the bull.
"They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and
found that it gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of
the tree. The next day after eating some more dung, he reached the
second branch. Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched
at the top of the tree. Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the
turkey out of the tree.
> Moral of the story: BULLSHIT MIGHT GET YOU TO THE TOP, BUT IT WON'T KEEP YOU THERE

Monday, August 27, 2007

3 day weekend: snooze or bust

August 2007 had meant two 3-day weekends...one on August 20 and another on August 27. And what did I do on those exciting long weekends?

Well....*taps chin thoughtfully*...aside from watching "Ratatouille", and doing the routine grocery-shopping (am on a bagel diet these days because as Chiara would say I got infected with tamaditis) and the weekend chores - and the unavoidable tv-watching and internet-surfing (at least on my first 3 day weekend)...well...nothing else except trying to erase my eyebags by catching up on more sleep.

True, I suffered from a pesky migraine starting Saturday morning last week (probably brought about by too by too much drinking of hot choco since Thursday)...but I admit, quite shamefacedly, that I only managed to rouse myself on August 27 to go out. I kept getting held back by Skycable!

There was an old movie of Sly Stallone (Escape to Victory in Cinemax), Midsommer Murders (on Hallmark), two Star Trek movies (I love Star Trek), CSI Las Vegas, The Da Vinci Code, and then a drama about a father and his estranged daughter (quite a long title so I forgot)..and so on and so forth.

...but weirdly, no anime...because my fave supplier in Glorietta for this is not there anymore. Oh dear, and they still owe me replacements for defective disks (Evangelion movie and a couple of Card Captor Sakura as well as GetBackers). The last series I bought from them was "Flame of Recca"...and ..its being shown on Animax..but as usual...in corny English dialogue. Bleargh!

I forgot that I was supposed to exchange a defective USB mouse, and that I had only 1 chicken egg in my ref. I just went out with no goal in mind. I just happily rambled about the household sale in Landmark...and the main thing which caught my eye is the item below. *sigh*

My shopping gene is dormant these days...but I found the wind chime amusing and conveniently forgot that I am not supposed to put holes or hooks (unless they be temporary ones) on my walls or ceiling. I finally found another use for the water sprinkler spout. Hopefully the fish chime would not be drenched ....ever!

And then! And then I find when I finally checked on Multiply tonight...that it would have been a great treat to just transport myself to Tagaytay and tuck myself in the corner of Sir B's and Ms. G's home...and eat pork binagoongan or whatever was on their table. *sighs again* ah well....next time!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Children Learn What They Live

Rating:★★★★★
Category:Other
~ dedicated to Me Ann Lim....since she has kindly posted Desiderata, a poem whose lines have been teasing my mind due to a post on food (of all things), I would like to share this with her. I remember a scroll hanging on our house in Mactan Island which had these words...and as a young child I used to read this while eating (our dinner table was in front of the scroll) ~


Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

Thursday, August 16, 2007

21 years passing like a drop of rain



August 12, 2007 (Sunday)- After watching a movie murder whodunit on cable and taking a long-distance call from Cebu...I trooped downstairs on the building where I currently live and I met up with waiting-for-more-than-15-minutes Paul Sy - an old friend, college classmate/batch mate (CIT, Computer Science pioneers) and a fellow Cebuano...who I've known way back in nineteen eight six. 

 

 

I first came across Paul when he was knee high to a grasshopper (hmm....maybe not knee high?.....maybe its better to say that he was as tall as the grasshopper?).

And I can certainly remember his shenanigans and idiosyncrasies which drove other people mad during our teenage years, even his love-team-mate in our class..hehehe...ah...nostalgia anyone?

Everything was simpler then and we were all incorrigible teasers...I remember a question I asked him during summer classes - "Paul Sy, are you going to take up Pol Sci?" *ignores glare from said guy*

He had arrived from Hong Kong (or maybe another country in Asia) a couple of weeks ago, and said he'd like to meet up with me in Makati so he could drop off something for me ... uhmm... 'pasalubong' ? Of course I will be generous enough to receive it.....enough said *grin*. I tried to get in touch with other classmates I had in Manila to see if they could also come over....

It makes me sad that my college batch mates and I who are in Manila never get to see each other together at the same time..

Monday, August 13, 2007

Movie and Food: Rush Hour 3..and Leeks Au Gratin

Rating:★★★
Category:Movies
Genre: Action & Adventure
I just came from a screening of this movie at Cinema 4, Greenbelt 3...and I was laughing so hard at the dialogue that I really tilted towards my seatmate and sobbed on her shoulder literally (naiyak na sa tawa)...this was during the scene inside the dojo or kung fu school, especially when they talked to the master and its a comedy of errors when it comes to identifying which Chinese character is named who *grin*

..its all a play on words I say (or rather letters)...this was in the scene when they interrogate a French-speaking Chinese-looking assassin with the help of a nun...I've sunk low in the ladder of entertaining movies...

Chris Tucker looks fatter, and I still like Jackie Chan although he is older... we still have some great action..and there are scenes reminiscent of the previous films, like the contravida na babae, the leaping on the banner and the obligatory street chase. What also made me enjoy the movie was all those scenes filmed in Paris...I was daydreaming as to the day when I could visit this city...and try out my "oui Monsieur" and of course taste the great French cuisine...

A familiar character (I think from The Last Samurai?) is Kenji. At first I was wondering what his and Jackie's relationship was when they called each other brother.and here was Kenji speaking in Japanese..and Jackie is obviously from HK..so there was confusion at first..and some stink too when they landed in the sewers...but at least..French sewers eh?

The female character Genevieve will also give a va-va-voom effect to the guys watching the film...but old characters from the series are there to give you that comfortable feeling of familiarity (the Chinese ambassador is a throwback to the earlier films) ...

I really do not want to give away too much on the plot (which is thinner than a slice of pan pizza hehehe) but if you want a good time and some relaxation from the stress of work, take time out to watch the movie. No startling answers to philosophical questions will bombard your mind, but at least you will laugh gleefully (if you are like me, shallow ang kaligayahan)...honestly, some of the plot twists are predictable (about Reynard for one as being a baddie)....but maybe its a surfeit of teleseryas which has given me an advantage...

Of course, one thing I also look forward to in Jackie Chan's movies are the outtakes at the end of the film..and they still amused me...I shouldn't probably be too amused since I also twist my words around but how secret and seafood..and El Pollo Loco can come out so convoluted is a wonder to me...

I came home after a peep into a sale at PowerBooks.. and my stomach growled since I had only popcorn and a soda during the movie. Being too lazy to cook anymore, I heated up 2 piecs of Spanish bread (why the heck is this called Spanish bread I don't know)

....and I amused myself (and satisfied my hunger too) by looking at pictures of food and a stash of recipe doodlings I had...

...and since I love cheese, here is one for you gals!

Mind you I have not tried it out since I have never bought leeks (though I heard they are good for warding off colds).

LEEKS AU GRATIN

Ingredients;
6 leeks
4 cups chicken stock
3/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cups breadcrumbs
1/4 cup melted butter

Process:
- Remove the top portion of the leeks and throw away the first and second outer leaves. Trim the base and cut leeks in half lengthways. Rinse them well.

- Pour the stock into a saucepan and boil. Add leeks and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the leeks from the stock and drain.

- Place leeks in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the combined cheese, butter and the breadcrumbs. Bake in moderate oven for 10 minutes.

Serves one (me!) hehehe...or ok, maybe 6 people, depending on their love for leeks.

For a more intense feeling...I mean taste, you can replace with spring onions. How about asparagus now that we are speaking of variations?

Yummy..and its good medicine too...