What do I mean by the “meaning of the phrase in real life”? Quite simply, you expect others to try and rip you off or con you out of your money by inflating the price or selling you something worthless but talking up what it can do. This happens daily in the life of a Filipino so you are on guard against it. You know when someone is telling you a lie and can call them on it. That’s just life in most of the world.

For example, my hubby had a horrible return trip from the Philippines once where it ended up taking him 70 some hours to get back home and a lot of wasted time and money. He was exhausted with all of the delays in Manila and opted to get a taxi and a hotel room. Anyone who lives in the Philippines knows what happened next. Because he isn’t that fluent with Tagalog yet or the methods of conducting business, he paid the “white man tax” or they inflated the prices because they know he’d pay without any concern. He didn’t exercise the “caveat emptor” in Manila for language and physical exhaustion reasons.

When you take those skills to other countries, it only helps you in business transactions and purchases. You watch what the merchant is doing and double check to make certain they are telling the truth. This is a crucial skill nearly all Filipinos have and should never get rid of. There is a big reason why that I have observed.

In the USA, you have your variety of political opinions floating around but I won’t dive into them. However, there is one mindset of the ‘government must protect the consumers from the businesses’. There is always a place for that in the enforcement of contractual obligations and stopping blatant unfair to all actions (such as automatically signing someone up for credit cards if they don’t opt out). But, like most things in the USA, it is overdone to the point where it hurts the population more than it helps.

Here is how: The amount of regulations on businesses drive up costs and directly hurt the pocket book of the consumer. That’s the easy one to identify. The less obvious is the creation of a false sense of security. A portion of the citizens gets used to the idea that the government will intercede and save them from the ‘big bad business’. Quite simply, that segment of the population gets too lazy on their personal affairs and blindly trusts the government to do it for them.

What happens when the government is incapable or uninterested of enforcing the mountains of regulations? What happens when the government uses that ignorance against the people trusting it and in turn rips off its citizens?

So mga Filipinos, never forget “caveat emptor” against not only merchants but the government too.

So what the heck are all of them?

An Arborist is a person who has been trained to take care of plants and trees. In the Philippines, this is just part of life in the provinces. You learn how to tend to the plants and trees from others who have the knowledge. But as I asked around, there is much more to the certification than just information.

But first, what is Ornamental Plant Health Care? What is an Ornamental Plant? These are the very pretty plants that really make a garden stand out or catch the eye inside a place in the USA. However, the easiest way of describing many of these plants to the average Filipino is simple. What is exotic in the USA is a common plant or flower that goes in the wild or roadside in the Philippines. So don’t take the local plants for granted, here people take classes on how to keep our wildflowers alive.

So what is Aerial Tree Pruning and Aerial Tree Removal Rigging? The first one is simply trimming the branches on a tree. The second one is setting up and taking down the stuff that can get you high enough to trim the branches. Literally, you have to be trained in Wisconsin to pull this off. In the Philippines, we have a much simpler system. Get a ladder or climb the tree with an axe, machete, and / or a saw and trim. If you are not strong enough, agile enough, or have enough endurance, you get help and then trim. You always need ground support.

So what is an Arborist and why is it a certification? Literally, you have to be certified to trim trees and cut them down in Wisconsin. Why? Because the government felt too many people died in accidents related to trimming trees or cutting them down, they felt they needed to protect the people from their poor decision making and general clumsiness. So of course, they have to make cutting a tree more difficult.

What the Philippines has in abundance on this topic is common sense. If you can’t do it, you get help. If you can’t do it, do it anyways, and get hurt, you should have known better.

Live Well and make it a great day!

Anah

credits from edmunds.com

I know, I know. It has been a long time since I last updated my blog. Have I given up on my blog? Nope. What has been going on? Keep reading.

1. I’m really sick of moving. But after a long, drawn out distance move that is highly beneficial we are down to unpacking the last box. If you are curious as to what “highly beneficial” means, email (nyo ak0) me directly.

2. I have successfully defeated an evil virus that infected my computer. However, the cure was as bad as the disease and I lost access to all programs that had Microsoft in the title. Given the age of the computer and additional tech issues, it was time to upgrade.

3. I finally have this new computer up and running with everything needed for blogging and daily life.

4. I hope winter has finally ended and spring has begun.

5. I will be disabling comments on my blog as the ignorant trolls and spammers have returned.

6. I have given the new occupants of the White House enough time to show what we can expect. My assessment is Barack and Michelle are making Ferdinand and Imelda, along with Gloria, look like the most superior national leaders in the history of the world.

7. My assessment of the current batch in the US Congress is they are doing an excellent job of making the current Philippine legislature look like the equivalent of Senators of Rome when the empire was at its peak.

8. If you are a troll who doesn’t understand that comparison, you might want to brush up on your world history and current world events from the perspectives of others and not just your little world as defined by you. Degrees are not required to read and learn. But then I might be overestimating the reading comprehension of trolls as evidenced by the posts the are trying to leave.

9. Here is a concept for those trolls to chew on. Try reading the US Constitution and the words of the Founding Fathers, particularly James Madison who is the author of it. Try focusing on Article 1, Sections 8 & 9 and the 10th Amendment. From there you will find that the bailouts and the “stimulus” bills are not within the power of the US Congress to authorize and spend money on.

Translation: If the State of Virginia wants to build a transit system in Norfolk, Virginia, then it is up to the government of Virginia to generate the funds for such projects for Virginia. It isn’t the responsibility of Hawaii, Alaska, or Wisconsin to fund it from a loan against the future earnings of our children for your selfish wants. Also, if you want to try and justify a rationale for you, the citizen, being derelict in your duties of holding your elected officials responsible for their oath of office which is to support and defend the Constitution, it won’t work on me. Selfishness is one of the core causes of many problems in the USA. How do I know this stuff about USA History? My daughter’s 2nd grade curriculum is the answer. This isn’t rocket science.

10. Declaring that I am prejudiced, biased, racist, or need American Values, demonstrates a profound lack of knowledge of the English language and logic. All you are saying is the 4-yr-old playground logic of “I’m right, you’re wrong because I said so. If you don’t agree with me, then you are bad.” i.e. You are trying to be a bully. I kick bullies where it counts. Do I have a “bias” or a “prejudice”? Yes, I do. I expect the elected officials to honor their oath of office and support the Rule of Law and not the whims and feelings of the mood of the day. The Laws, those enforcing them, and those obeying them should be relatively easy to predict and follow. What they shouldn’t resemble is a woman during PMS yelling at her hubby for chocolate one moment and mango encrusted tilapiang isda (fish) the next.

11. Now trolls – Here is your reading comprehension test. Feel free to leave comments.

Salamat po sa pag basa,

Anah

By © Guylain Doyle

The two items on the list are walking on the top of a lake and sledding down a hill covered with snow. How can I walk on the top of a lake? That would be due to Mother Nature and an effect of winter. If a winter is cold enough for long enough, a land-locked lake of medium size will freeze over and the ice will extend from anywhere from 4-10 inches deep. Is it safe to walk on? When it gets the right depth, you can safely walk on it. As a matter of fact, I saw a number of pick-up trucks and cars parked on the ice-covered lake as well as shacks where the individuals were cutting holes through the ice and fishing. Needless to say, it is quite the sight the first time you see it. However, this is the one thing left on my winter to-do list.

But we got to go sledding down a hill this weekend – almost 2 weeks ago. Like I just said, you have to experience it to fully understand it but I will do my best.

Because of issues of finding a suitable and approved hill, having available time, not having a sled, or having the time, the sled, the hill, the snow gear but no snow, it just didn’t work out until this past weekend. What an experience it is when you finally do get to go though.

What is it? Basically, you and maybe 1 or two more sit on a piece of plastic and zoom down the side of a hill skimming along the surface at the snow with no control after you start. If you attempt to steer, you have very good odds of tipping the sled over and rolling the rest of the way down the hill or sliding down it on your rear. How fast can you go? I doubt many have tried to clock the speed of a sled down a hill but I wouldn’t be surprised if you go 10-30 mph. Watch the video link to get a first-hand point of view of flying down a hill at 30 mph.

Our first trip down was based on a minor mistake my daughter and I made. We used the sled backwards. They aren’t designed to go backwards and we discovered that as we wiped-out. I ended up on my side kissing the snow and my daughter landed with her face planted in the snow. Did it hurt? Nope, it was a blast and we just cracked up laughing. Was it cold? Of course the snow that got in our clothes was cold but you are so bundled up and the snow is soft that injuries usually don’t happen normally. You can get injured if you spill out of the sled, ram something or someone, get hit by someone sliding down the hill, or slipping on the snow and falling on your rear when trying to walk back. But no risk, no reward.

Rules of sledding – 1) Use the sled in the right direction. 2) Bundle up. 3) Never stand in the way of someone coming down the hill as their speed can be deceptively fast. (Reaction time and ability to dodge is seriously diminished when standing in snow and ice.) Here is a visual reason why those three rules are so very important.

Thank you,

Anah

Here is one example of a show in Japan:

That has me cracking up every time I watch it. I also realize that such pranks will never happen here because of the lack of sensibility that is increasing in the USA. So many are losing their grasp on sanity that being in such a prank would definitely result in a lawsuit.

Why do I say that? You only need to look at the utterly ridiculous cases that have gone through or are going through the US court system. I’ll give you five examples with 3 that succeeded and 2 that are in progress.

First, a burglar attempted to break into a house through the skylight. He made a mistake and ended up falling through the skylight and broke his leg upon landing in his targeted victim’s house. He was arrested for Breaking and Entering after the owner of the house called the police. What happened? The injured burglar sued the owner of the home because the burglar got injured on his property. The burglar won and was awarded millions – for breaking the law!!

Second, a lady spilled hot coffer on her lap. She purchased it and drank it at McDonalds. See an issue? I don’t. But she sued McDonalds because she spilled the hot coffee and it burned her. She won $2.4 million dollars that later got reduced to $640,000. So she was rewarded for being a clutz and an idiot. Hot coffee is hot and will burn. Duh! If you spill it on yourself, how is that the fault of the company?

Third, we turn to New Jersey for a truly mind boggling case. An ILLEGAL immigrant sued his employer in a court of LAW for not paying him minimum wage – and won. So a COURT OF LAW rewarded the ILLEGAL immigrant who was employed ILLEGALLY and rewarded by the JUDGE. Call me silly but I though the Court of Law and Judges were supposed to UPHOLD the LAW not reward breaking it!

Fourth, let us continue on the quality of judges in the USA. In this pending case, a former judge in Washington D.C. is attempting to sue his dry cleaner for $54 million because the dry cleaner lost a pair of his pants. Why $54 million for a pair of pants? The better question is what kind of garbage cases did this former judge allow into the legal system? With insane judges like this, you can’t trust the courts.

Lastly, we will turn to another pending court case involving a surgeon. In this case, the surgeon had donated one of his kidneys to his wife. His wife had an affair and they are now headed to divorce. What does the surgeon want? He wants his donated kidney back or be paid for his kidney.

I thought you were supposed to be able to trust the courts, judges and surgeons. Knowing how insane it has gotten in the USA, I wouldn’t be surprised if an atheist tried to sue for their own holiday. Wait, we just got a call from my mother-in-law…. An atheist did try to sue the country because there isn’t a holiday for them. The atheist lost his case and got ridiculed in court. The judge told him atheists already have a holiday – April Fool’s Day.

In my humble opinion, any attorney who brings any case like any of the above to court should be disbarred and forfeit their careers.

Thank you,

Anah

To emphasize the differences in the time zones, it strikes me just a tad odd getting a phone call from my family in the Philippines saying “Happy New Year” at 12:30 AM, January 1, 2009 their time. What was odd about it? My clock read 10:30 AM, December 31, 2008 and I was at work. That just seemed surreal to me. I will say Magic Jack is awesome.

Lastly, here is a brief note on how perspectives on life in this world can clash with reality. According to this website, Dole is one of the top 10 worst companies in the world because they pay their labor in the Philippines $1.85 a day. That comes to $481 a year or so. What those who are so offended by this are not taking into account is the average income in the Phils is $600 a year with $1000 being for the higher skilled labor. Since those making $1.85 a day are common laborers that is about the norm pay in the Philippines. Should they be paid more? Then you won’t be getting $10 massages and 10 cent toothbrushes and prescription eyeglasses under $20.

Perspective, lifestyle, and cost of living have to be factored in before one gets so offended.

From the same website, we can read…

“Cargill: The grain trade giant profiteered from the food price spike early in 2008.” They “profiteered” as if Cargill made the law focusing on using corn to make ethanol spiking up all grain prices as farmers obviously grew more corn to be sold at higher prices for ethanol and decreased growing the less profitable crops. Of course, the business is to blame because of Congress and the President’s interfering in the economy and thinking it was a good idea to shift food into a fuel tank.

I’ve got a feeling I won’t be subscribing to that magazine.

Thanks,

Anah

How does the Bible stack up to known historical facts? It performs amazingly well. In many cases, the accuracy of the Bible is stunning as it is one of a few texts (and sometimes the only text) in which many kings, princes and locations are mentioned. In many cases such as King Nebuchanezzar, the Bible mentioned them long, long before historical evidence was found in archeological digs. For a while, the Bible mentioning King Nebuchanezzar was considered evidence the Bible wasn’t true – until the evidence was found that the Bible was right. The Bible is so accurate that it has 44 kings recorded in it in correct chronological order and perfect spelling.

One such new proof comes from Jeremiah 38:1 where it mentions Gedaliah son of Pashhur. I can’t begin to even pronounce those names. Now there is concrete archeological evidence supporting it and others mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3.

This could keep going on and on but I’ll let you dig into the topic if you want to. Let us shift to a fun exercise that requires 2 passages in the Bible, a blank piece of paper or two, and a pencil.

Turn to Job 40:15-24 for the first one and Job 41 for the second. Do not decide what it is just sketch it one part at a time. Here is one hint on the Job 40 section. That isn’t a hippo or elephant. The identity is not an animal known today. Job 41 definitely is not a crocodile but some sea creature. Remember, these are texts referring to common knowledge of the times back then.

“ 15 “Look now at the behemoth, which I made along with you; He eats grass like an ox. 16 See now, his strength is in his hips, And his power is in his stomach muscles. 17 He moves his tail like a cedar; The sinews of his thighs are tightly knit. 18 His bones are like beams of bronze, His ribs like bars of iron. 19 He is the first of the ways of God; Only He who made him can bring near His sword. 20 Surely the mountains yield food for him, And all the beasts of the field play there. 21 He lies under the lotus trees, In a covert of reeds and marsh. 22 The lotus trees cover him with their shade; The willows by the brook surround him. 23 Indeed the river may rage, Yet he is not disturbed; He is confident, though the Jordan gushes into his mouth, 24 Though he takes it in his eyes, Or one pierces his nose with a snare.”

I would suggest you look up the reports of the Mokele Mbembe in the Congo as the description is nearly the same. What is it? Sketch them and find out. The picture may include what the entry on leviathan describes.

A Leviathan?

Thanks,

Anah

Note: Thanks to Goryo for helping me on this research.

My trip to spend time with my family and look to the concerns of someone’s (dear to me) health went very well. They went so well that I had to return earlier than expected due to a whole batch of reasons and issues far beyond my control. Was that the plan? Not at all but her better health was the goal and spending time (cut short) with my pamilya.

This is the weather here in Wisconsin before the trip.

But in the Philippines, we enjoyed the cold springs and the sights of coconut trees in the nice warm tropical weather.

So what was it like when I returned to the USA? I was traveling back on Friday December 20, 2008. After a long layover in Manila, I was just looking forward to being back in my husband’s arms early Friday afternoon. But the rescheduled, rescheduled flight (not a typo) ended up with more delays courtesy of flying into a blizzard.

At Detroit, my flight got canceled and rescheduled for after 9 PM instead of noon. This is after I was already exhausted (no sleep for more than 18 hours). Could it have been earlier? Sure, but the weather was just as bad on my hubby’s side so we couldn’t change the destination. (Chicago O’Hare)

So we waited, fell asleep in the packed airport in Detroit and finally boarded the plane. Then we had to sit on the plane for an hour as they replaced two parts in the cockpit. Departure time yet? Nope, next we had to go for de-icing. The end result was I arrived in Chicago later than the late flight. Even that meager plan didn’t work.

With my hubby driving us home the final 2 hours, my daughter slept and I was catching up on events with him. This past Monday my co-workers welcomed me back and wondered what I did differently with my hair to give them a slightly different look.

I just smiled at them. They didn’t need to know my new hair care secret stemmed from the trip to the Philippines. Lice treatment gel is usually not a standard hair care item.

Goals accomplished – Got to the Philippines. I visited my family. Someone dear to me  is okay for now. I got back home.

Plans accomplished – None.
Set goals, not plans.

But I’m happy to be back in this cold frozen Tundra Wisconsin. Wheeeeee!

Thanks,

Anah

Tatay Kutsilyo was by far and away the tallest and the sharpest of the three, but his role was limited to opening up those things the other two couldn’t. Kuya Tinidor worked very well with Ate Kutsara and they were commonly seen doing projects together. Kuya Tinidor approached every project with three or four points in mind. He wasn’t the sharpest, but everyone knew to respect his to-the-point comments as they could poke you where it hurt. Ate Kutsara was well known as the main workhorse of the group. She was well respected for her depth of character and well-roundedness. There was nothing too small that she couldn’t catch.

One day as they were doing their standard duties, a new ship appeared flying Lamesa flags of the Western world and a nation known as USA (uh-sah). The ship came into port and the top three officers hopped off the boat to greet the people of this new land. As was customary in all things Lamesa, Tatay Kutsilyo, Kuya Tinidor, and Ate Kutsara met the three officers of the vessel. Chief Petty Officer F. Ork led the group that included himself, Petty Officer First Class K. N. Ife, and Petty Officer Second Class S.P. Oon.

All six went to the fabled hall where all things Lamesa were discussed. The initial meeting did not go well as cultural differences were very obvious. The Phils side held Ate Kutsara in the highest regard follow closely by Kuya Tinidor. However, the USA side held CPO Ork in the highest regard and PO 1st Class Ife second. There were several struggles as the lowest ranked of the USA side was considered the highest status of the Phils side. The first meeting went poorly as the USA side thought the Phils side was backwards from their point of view. The Phils side couldn’t understand why the USA side was being so arrogant.

The next day came and more meetings came as this was the traditional day when each side shared of their cultural cuisine. The Phils side hosted first with a delicious meal of flaky tuna, rice, and a vegetable stew. CPO Ork was having difficulties getting a good grasp on the food. PO 1st Class Ife felt like he really couldn’t do much at all. PO 2nd Class Oon was truly shining. CPO Ork had to struggle with his preconceived notions and come to terms that in this culture with this being the normal food, PO 2nd Class Oon was the far superior one. PO 1st Class Ife could not accept going from second best to nearly useless and held a grudge against PO 2nd Class Oon and made cutting remarks when back on board their ship.

Then it was the turn of the USA side to share their standard cuisine. A sizzling steak, a hot white potato complete with butter, sour cream, and bacon bits was served along with a cob of corn. The Phils side was the one to struggle with these cultural foods but being accustomed to meeting many different foreigners they quickly adapted as they always did. No reason to let silly food matters disrupt the structure of the Lamesa three. Ate Kutsara took it a bit easy but worked with Kuya Tinidor on the potato. She left the steak to Kuya Tinidor and Tatay Kutsilyo and all three had to figure out that you ate the cob of corn using your hands.

The exchange of cuisine helped both sides understand the other better. Unfortunately, the report CPO Ork was required to make wasn’t allowed to tell the complete story. It had to be written to justify the superiority of the Lamesa methods of the Western World even though CPO Ork knew better.

Life in the land of Phils continued on as it always did with a little bit of extra wisdom on the ways of the outside world.

Na gets nyo? Hehe!

Thank you,

Anah

Growing up in the Philippines, I was introduced into a number of concepts about lice that didn’t make a lot of sense then and even far less now. One of the pieces of advice was you were not supposed to be out in the sun very long as lice supposedly grew on your head from exposure to sunlight. Don’t ask me how that was supposed to work but that is what I was told. Is it true? No, plants grow with exposure to sunlight not lice. Their eggs sure are not transported by sunlight either.

That would be more like getting a Gremlin wet.

While growing up, it wasn’t uncommon for me to see one of the housewives taking some lice from one child’s head and put it on another child’s head. Supposedly, this was to give the mom something more to do. Don’t ask me to explain why beyond that. I can’t.

Later on in high school, it was impressed on us by our peers that having lice was a part of bad hygiene so I did what I had to and got rid of them. It wasn’t that hard really and I thought I was finished with them until I came to the USA. I have no solid evidence as to where I got the lice from again. It could easily have been from the airplane seat. But upon their discovery, I got a quick introduction on how life is different in the USA.

I had only spent a couple of days with my bana before spending the rest of the time before our official meeting with his parents. In that timeframe, the lice managed to get him too but he was the last to know. On the other hand, it was caught in me and my initial reaction was one of feeling angry and insulted. I felt like I was being treated like a plague or scum and I wanted to go back home. I realized later that the Western world takes the issue of lice very seriously.

All of the things I had were bagged up and set outside so any lice on them would freeze to death over a couple of days. All of my clothing, the bed sheets, the coverings to every pillow, cushion were all washed a couple of times in the hottest water possible to boil the lice and their eggs. I had to have a special shampoo of sorts put in my hair to kill them off then use a lice comb to get the rest out. The whole process took a few days. What a welcome to the USA. At least Goryo’s parents didn’t have to go to the extreme lengths of treating the entire house for lice.

If a child is in school and is found to have lice, they are sent home until the lice infestation is gone. It is treated as an epidemic. If you are working, you are sent home on your sick time until you get rid of the lice. That is what happened to Goryo. There was one minor detail. He had to get the lice out of his apartment and his own hair by himself. He made certain of that.

He went overboard on lice killing. He shaved his hair down to 3/8ths of an inch, treated it 3x a day with the lice killing stuff, used a lint roller (masking tape) on his head, and vacuumed every square inch of his head until it was red. Any cloth thing such as bed sheets were frozen outside and then washed in really hot water. If he had many lice, they were dead or wished they were dead.

So that is the story about those little buggers. Just wait until next time for the liver damage you can get from sweating. (Long story)

Thank you,

Anah