June 19 2004

2005-01-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

When your Day is filled with
Love, Warmth, and Joy,
My many prayers will have been answered.
Happy Birthday baby.

2004-12-25T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today, I spent my Christmas in the pocono mountains. With a board in my left hand and my right carrying a camera, i said to myself, "this is gonna be a white christmas". Merry Christmas everyone! :-)
More pics HERE

2004-12-25T22:25:00.000-05:00

All I want for Christmas is a...

2004-12-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

It's officially winter yeheey! 21st of december starts the snow season and yesterday we had about 2 inches of powdery snow. The temperature was brutal though at 19 deg with wind chill of -8! Brrrrr... Its time to bundle up and ride the snow.

lazy thoughts

2004-11-27T11:33:00.000-05:00

I need a fool-proof routine. Thing is, people likes to be free. Free from schedules, rules, routine, and nobody wants to be tied up in some boring job doing repetitious work. The younger you are the more you want freedom. But as you grow older, you will have more responsibilities which means there will be more things that needs to be done. This is where the problem starts and where a "routine schedule" will help. A week is 168 hours. If you sleep like me @ 7hrs/day and work 40 hours in a week you're left with 79 hours. That is a little more than 3 days to do all your stuff. Such limited time to keep your life balance and in control. Today I woke up and realized I desperately need a routine: The E needs cleaning and a maintenance check, our kitchen's lights went out, I miss church and my doctor's appt last week, the laundry is piling up (hate it!), it's last call on the fridge, I have some frames to put up on the wall, computer needs a defrag but not after a virus scan, my spanish is going nowhere beyond "hola!", my photography hobby still sucks while my biceps is shrinking again, I want more than 45 minutes talking to my baby, and think about what else is missing... A lot! A routine life is not so bad at all. It keeps everything in order and totally in your control. It will only help if you give some time for those boring duties and put them in a basic schedule so you'll still have enough to do those fun adventures. So don't be stuck on that mañana habit, sit and plan a basic routine right away right now. Later...

2004-11-25T22:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.

2004-11-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

No parties, no nonsense. Just good time story telling and future planning with wife and eduard. Oh, and of course some homey food and a bottle of fine red wine.

2004-11-25T22:31:00.000-05:00

Red for me, Yellow for Eddie. In case you're wondering what a yellow wine taste like, it has a taste of tropical orange with some crisp flavor and pulpy tidbits. "Tropicana wine" actually :-)

2004-10-24T21:58:00.000-04:00

Fall is apple picking

2004-10-24T21:56:00.000-04:00

my apple among the apples

2004-10-23T23:52:00.000-04:00

Fall is shopping for winter.

2004-10-23T23:15:00.000-04:00

fall is "happy anniversary, hunnie"

Fall precautions

2004-10-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

Fall is here.
fall is falling leaves and bald trees
fall is colors- yelows, oranges, and browns
fall is picking apples
fall is broadway shows
fall is trick or treat
fall is baked turkey
fall is yankees vs red sox
fall is extra hour of sleep
fall is shopping for winter
fall is setting up the xmas tree
fall is life at middle age
fall is here.

peace Yo!

2004-10-07T21:22:00.000-04:00

These days are tough. Daghan kaayo kinahanglan buhaton kulang kaayo ang oras. And then here comes winter, creeping slowly and early, sugod na tugnaw. Although it's still officially fall season, daylight is already becoming shorter while the nights are colder and longeeer. That means 7am & 8pm looks and feels like 5am and 10pm Philippine time. We had a short spring and equally brief summer this year. Not good for outdoorsy people who loves to go out. We did managed to go biking along the east side of Manhattan last july. Other than that, weekends had been mostly about TV, computer, paintball, and shopping, and laundry, and church. Hahaay buhay, I need more time... test mic...1-2-1-2...test mic...

busy, busy, busy...
the past few days i feel like a bee
got so much stuff to do
not enough honey to go through

workin', playin', livin' 24-7
wifey's mad can't take her shoppin'
finding hard to pause and write
post a line or two at my site

plan a party in december
play hard & be a wicked baller
a saturday meet, a sunday date
there goes all my weekend, mate.

So if u ever had a feelin'
need more time than what is given
chill out my burnout friend
'coz you know what? Sh.. happens!

peace!

rappin' riche missin' his baby

2004-09-20T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hapi birthday pops! proud to be a soldier's son.

upcoming...

2004-09-10T08:46:00.000-04:00

I went for a 2nd fingerprinting today. My first was last year and the notice says it has expired so I need to retake. Prior to 911, majority of permanent residence applicants needs to do a single fingerprint, waits 1 to 2 yrs the most and gets it. Nowadays it is not unusual to do 2 or more appoinments since Homeland Security (formerly INS) is really scrutinizing every applicants, prolonging the process beyond the validity of the fingerprint card. Obviously, security and legalities are priority concerns for everybody here. Coincidentally, tomorrow is the 3rd anniversary since the twin towers attack and much has been discussed and debated about what has become of this country eversince. People have differing feelings and have since been divided on opinions- some very symphatetic while others are comdemning. Personally, I coudn't blame this country's attitude after the tragedy. Why? simply because there is no doubt in my mind that if the attack happened in my country and to my family, I will do everything i can and go after all my enemies whoever they are and wherever they hide. I will not differentiate between past or present threats nor hesitate to preempt any future enemies. Failure to act is like waiting for your enemy to load their guns before deciding whether to shoot or not. This not to convince anybody nor mean to say it's the right opinion but this is MY OPINION, my two cents.
Sept 20th is my popsy's birthday. Hopefully he'll get what he prays for- an american passport! yehaa!

2004-08-25T23:03:00.000-04:00

Family Album (click)

"My cherie amour, lovely as a summer day
My cherie amour, distant as the milky way
My cherie amour, pretty little one that I adore
You're the only girl my heart beats for..."

random thoughts

2004-08-09T16:59:00.000-04:00

Today, in the New York Daily news, "Doctors at Montefiore wowed the world this week…". A story about 2 year old Siamese twins being successfully separated after spending 27 months joined at the head. It's not the first time I've read about this kind of news, but this one caught my interest for 2 reasons- they are Filipinos, and their mom wants her boys, "to grow up and become doctors" - A neurosurgeon and a plastic surgeon just like their miracle makers.
Rewind 23 years back, I was 7, grade 1. One day, our teacher, ma'am Amoguis asked us, "what do you want to be when you grow up?". Without hesitation I blurted, "I want to be a doctor!" (yeah right)...and I was not alone! My seatmate said, "me too!" and the one sitting next row yelled, "hey, that's what my mom said I will be". This is a common question every kid encounters sometime in their lives, and obviously persuasion had some influence on our answer. My parents, relatives, and to some extent my teachers and mentors expected me to be or "want" to be a doctor. Beyond those persuasions and suggestions there were more, because in fact, as young as I was, I did want to become a doctor. What is it about this profession that interest everybody anyway? Money-Status-Power, I thought. Everybody assumed you got a lot of it if either or both of your parents are doctors. Back then, I had no way to doubt that, since their kids were wearing Converse shoes while I wore Robertson. I was taught Mr. and Ms = ordinary, Dr and Dra = extraordinary. Some people (mostly kids like me) believed they have some supernatural out of this world power! I got sick at school one time, my classmate bragged he could never get sick because his father was a doctor. I believed him until he got chicken pox! bwahahaha! Tua, meresi'. Whatever the doctor said, everybody followed. In fact, they had more believers and followers than our parish priest. As a kid, I was skinny and got sick often. If I felt better, it was because my doctor was great, if not, my ermats would say "that's because you ate fried chicken and the dok said you should only eat vegetables until next week". In other words, 'twas my fault meyn, and dok’s record remained clean and unblemished despite the little boy’s protest. Am I sounding like I had some issues with my doctors? Truth is, these are only few of the things, situations and accepted norms that somehow stimulated my mind back then when I was little. Those were the times when you knew something was faulty but nobody listens because you need to grow up first before you can talk to the visitors. In all fairness, I respected all my doctors a lot. Some of them really did a great job and kept me healthy and alive…and when I felt worst, well, I just learned to blame the fried chicken.
Fast forward today, 23 yrs later, I am now a Physical Therapist. Not a doctor but like-a-doctor, a therapist. Did I stopped wanting to be a real doctor? Let me say I am wiser now, and over the years my reasons have become matured. I have learned a lot and realized there are other meanings of money-status-power. Money is important of course, but it is not everything. It could help make life easier though sometimes it can do the opposite. Allow me to tell you a story a friend of mine swore it really happened. Not so long ago a poor 60 year old man with his 30 something wife won almost 100 million dollars in lottery. They had been living happily together for about ten years before their fortune, or should I say misfortune, struck. To make the story short, the wife left the guy after they got the money. The guy was so depressed he killed himself the following year. In his room, he left a note that said: If I could turn back time, knowing what I know now, I would chose not to buy that ticket. I would love to become a doctor if It was meant to be but one thing is sure, its not going to be all about the money no more.

By now, you're likely wondering what im up to. What's the big deal with the twins, their doctors, my doctors, mewantingtobea...doctor! money, lottery, poor guy, bad girl...blah-blah-blah... random thoughts?

I'm no writer, and never will be. What I share in this site are my thoughts- the good, the bad, the ugly, my truth - confusing or amusing, my experiences, my ideas, my dreams, my imaginations, etcetera, etcetera. I may not always write or narrate it in a way that is correct grammatically and technically. This is just me trying, errors and all. When im 60, I won't be able to do all this stuff. By then, I'm gonna enjoy reading this. Or tell Riche the 5th, "hey, this is what grandpa did on Aug 9 2004 on 4:59 pm". Got the idea?

Did I made your head spin? Would you like me to take you deeper and further into my "confusing thoughts" and "nonsense ideas" No? Okay, lets go back to reality and end this horrible post. As their mother continued, "first, I’m hoping to see them running, walking just like normal babies", Carl and Clarence will gonna need to be rehabilitated soon. They are at Children's Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, less than 10 minutes away from where I work. They will most probably stay there for their physical rehabilitation, and some very, very lucky physical therapists will have a chance to add to their miracle. If there is any more reason left why I would still want to be a doctor, then this is it- a chance to make miracles.

Home away from home

2004-07-26T16:51:00.000-04:00

1st floor, Apt 1A - our place in Elmhurst, NY.
Rent is crazy-expensive here. This cost $1,500/month including parking. Of course you can find less expensive units, but usually they also have a lot of other "less's". Less convenience (i.e. works in Liceo, lives in Baikingon), less comfort (no heater in winter nor AC in summer, waaaah!) or less privacy (imagine sharing your basement with mickey & minnie mouse, or that huge roach from MIB). Come in...HERE

In a day's work.

2004-07-15T16:27:00.001-04:00

Hohumm... I'm sleepy...It's 3:37 p.m., Thursday, I'm suppose to be working (i am at work) but right now just sitting and waiting for something to happen. hmmm... why not take out my ever entertaining Treo and start playing. Nah, i don't feel like it. Read a book? that will do it, I'll be snoring in no time. Wait a minute, why not write something and post to the blog? Besides, I could find out if indeed email posting works. Sounds like a good idea. Okidoki, here it goes.

Sometimes, I do get excited hearing the charts banging on the holder. It means I have work to do, patients to treat, and bored not! This day is so far not too bad for us workwise (less patients) but bad for the company business wise. Im sitting on a chair in the middle area of the office. Not far to my left is Eduard (PT), he's in-charge of the gym for the afternoon shift and at the moment, watching TV - Days of our lives soap opera - (yikes! j/k). He's got a patient on one of the three treatment tables and another doing exercise on a bike machine. Immediately where I'm sitting at is Jenny's desk and evaluation area. She is our chinese accupuncturist (nehama!). Now that I have referred to her, I notice that she has been talking to me for a while so I'll pretend to listen. I nod in agreement to everything she says and just keep typing away. About 30 feet away on my right are my co-workers, Reggie (PT) and Kimmy, our aide from Puerto Rico, (Ola!) sitting in front of each other chatting and both looking bored. It usually is boring during this time of the day. We have at least three busy periods in a day- 10 a.m., 1 p.m., & 6 p.m. Our office is open 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Saturday. Wednesdays and mondays are the busiest days while thursday and friday are the least.

view from my desk using Treo camera (more pics)

... Bonk! (chart banging holder)...i have a patient... be right back. 3 minutes, that's all it took for me to set-up the patient. Sounds like an easy job you think? Well, yes and no. Not really if you're treating an average of 130 clients a day. But yes, it's an easy job for me at least where I work. First of all, I have a lot of help. On a typical day, I have an assistant, an aide and another therapist working with me. Second, i enjoy doing what i do except the waiting and "dead times". I do 40 hours in 4 days of the week and take 3 days off. Today is thursday, i'm off tomorrow until sunday, i can't wait. It's been 2 years, 5 months and a week that I have been working in this company. Our office is just a couple of minutes walk from the train station but an hour and a half train ride from Queens, where we live. I have been driving to work regularly since summer started because of the heat...

Majority of our pts are back injury cases. We set them for pain relief for about 12-15 mins (for PTs: ES/TENS/Massage combo). After that, it's either they get accupuncture, "go to the gym and do your exercises" or "see you next time"...BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!...that's my call, my patient is finish...off I go.

A life to share

2004-07-10T16:25:00.000-04:00

"Unsameyn" is up and ready for sharing. Email me at rbnypt@msn.com if you want an invite.

July 4th Chicago roadtrip

2004-07-09T17:36:00.000-04:00

Our trip plan:
Starting point: Elmhurst, NY 4:00 am July 02, 2004
Drive-through States: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.
Stopover: Cleveland, Ohio (2 hrs)
Destination: Melrose Park, Illinois (828 miles, 14 hours)
Return: 4:00 am, 07/05/04

Click "ROADTRIP" for more...

2004-06-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is celebrated as a day to remember all those who have died in the service of the country (US). It was first observed on May 30 1868. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. It is now celebrated on the last Monday in May to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays.
Last May 29-31 2004, we went camping and river rafting.

Click "CAMPING" for more...

Chicago July 2-5

2004-06-23T21:25:00.000-04:00

I'm going to drive to Chicago next week. When I was a kid I always enjoyed our family's trips to the city on holidays. These trips usually happened in the afternoon so by the time we get there, which is 4 hrs away, its already evening. I remember my first sight of Cagayan de Oro's night lights I was totally blown away. I was 3 or 4, a kid, so you can imagine how I felt. Those feelings and memories never left me completely. I have traveled to Thailand, Hongkong, and now New York and everytime i'm in a new place the memories comes back like it was yesterday.

There are a couple reasons why I choose Chicago for this trip. First is geography. I came to the US on Nov 18, 2001 and has since traveled further up north from NY through Connecticut to Massachusetts. South to NJ, Delaware, Maryland and Washington DC. This time I want to drive East to one of the country's leading industrial, commercial, transportation, and financial centers- Chicago, Illinois.

Nicolyne, a good friend of mine lives in Orland park, Cook county Illinois. Back in our college days we used to hang out at his house which was only a mile away from mine. Today he's 800 miles, 12 hours away and the second reason why Chicago is the place to go.

So stay tuned for the adventure. I'll be posting some postcards and talk about the trip in this site. Please post any comment or suggestions you have regarding the site, trip or whatever...

if you want to chat, just use the BOX meyn... :-)

2004-06-20T23:51:00.000-04:00

To the gentle giant, the patient teacher, the family man, the loving friend. Happy Father's Day to all!

2004-06-19T22:17:00.000-04:00

The Hudson River was originally crossed by native americans in canoes. Now?

2004-06-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

ferry sailing along Hudson river with New York in the background (sepia).

2004-06-19T22:12:00.000-04:00

I miss my bike...

2004-06-19T22:11:00.000-04:00

Eloi 'n Virgie - my co-hikers

2004-06-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

New Jersey side

2004-06-19T22:09:00.001-04:00

Been there, done that.

2004-06-19T22:09:00.000-04:00

Auntie Virginia from Hawaii

2004-06-19T22:08:00.001-04:00

George Washington Bridge

Four giant cables, each three feet in diameter, hold the bridge in place and connects the states of New York and New Jersey. The cables contain 26,424 wires, each thinner than a pencil. Stretched out, the wires would reach 107,000 miles--nearly halfway to the moon! That 107,000 miles of cables would go around the earth about four times at the equator! It is one of the busiest bridge in the world, accommodating nearly 100 million vehicles each year.

2004-06-19T22:08:00.000-04:00

my "girl-woman-wife".

2004-06-19T22:07:00.000-04:00

d'...I've got so much honey
The bees envy me.
I've got a sweeter song
Than the birds in the trees.
(chorus)
Well, I guess you'd say
"What can make me feel this way?"
My girl
My girl
My girl
Talkin' 'bout my girl.
(my girl)...d'

2004-06-19T22:06:00.002-04:00

NY Side

2004-06-19T22:06:00.001-04:00

Manhattan

2004-06-19T22:06:00.000-04:00

Speedboats race underneath the bridge

2004-06-19T21:59:00.000-04:00

Strolling along George Washington Bridge.

2004-06-19T21:22:00.000-04:00

30? hmmm... maybe 40! :-(

june 19

2004-06-19T20:40:00.000-04:00

Sheyt, am 30 yrs old!
Like they say, life's a journey, not a destination. The more I look back, the more I realize how fast I have been living my life. Oftentimes, I took the easier path, chose the shortest way, nevermind the view, i'll get there anyway. Faster is better, that was my creed. But more often than not, shortcuts leads to failures and subsequent disappointments. The faster you go, the harder you crash. So today, I'm making it official (known). I'm gonna "take it easy", drive on life's "scenic route" if you would say. Enjoy living, have fun, keep the family close and give myself a different, unique present...this blog.