A Leap in a Year

http://5ad596bc.whackyvidz.com/

It's interesting to note that today is the only day of the year we get to experience once every four years, so we better enjoy this day more than any other days! By the way, Leap Years are actually applied on all kinds of calendars (Chinese, Hebrew,etc.)the whole world over. And to the question why the Leap Year in the Gregorian calender (thats the current standard calendar that almost all of us use) always happens on the month of February is something we need to research further on. <chuckles> As this is something we cannot get every year, so I feel there should be something special everytime a Leap Year comes along...aside from the fact that people who are born on a Leap Year are much younger than the rest based on the numbers, like my officemate, Sharky.

I just wonder if being born on a Leap Year makes one feel younger than one's actual biological age..? Hmmm..well, I guess it's all in the mind.

Just one of my musings...
Till next time,
<signed>
The Callcenter Boy

Xyza: Good Friend, Blogger, and a Sendong Survivor!

http://a1625971.whackyvidz.com

Who can forget the Wrath of Sendong, that recent calamity in December last year that had struck the northern parts of the island of Mindanao, Philippines? It drove the tragedy "closer to home" for me as I have a number of friends, officemates on those parts of the country, people whom I personally know whose properties/things had been washed away by the devastating flood; thankfully everyone of them was safe.

And no other person makes the onslaught of Sendong more real to me than my good friend Xyza. From the blogposts she made about her experience, in her own words,  as "an evacuee," how she and her family managed to swim through the deep floodwaters towards their neighbor's house, to how she had bought a camera the day before, was to enjoy it for just about a couple hours until it, along with her other precious belongings, got completely soaked in the muddy floodwaters in the wee hours of December 17th, 2011. I can still feel the underlying sadness and emotions of those all who had suffered, despite the seemingly straightforward way her blogposts were delivered. 

I was able to meet her again during the SFC ICON in Bohol just about a week ago. She's still her naturally bubbly self. With her black T-shirt emblazoned with the words, "One for ILIGAN," she is in every respect an effective advocate for the victims of Sendong. A very good example of a survivor: strong, resilient, still manages to smile inspite of what had happened.

Keep it on, Xy!

A Kick on the Balls

Allen, my girl housemate could have been a victim of a snatcher somewhere in the wild city streets of Cebu, but she opted not to.

She had gotten out from work at a callcenter then dropped by the church as it was a Sunday. The incident happened on her way home when she got into a jeepney that ply the route between the Basilica Minore del Sto. Nino and Panagdait, codenamed "03A". As she needed to send an important message, she took out her new cellphone and began pressing on the keys, when a young man demanded that she gave the cellphone to him as it is a hold-up. Apparently insulted at the thought of how easy and casually the hold-upper reached for her cellphone, she began a tug-of-war with the man inside the jeepney. Although the young man threatened he has a knife but since she's not seeing one, she managed to struggle with the man, petite she may be. Had she seen the knife, she later claimed, she could've given her cellphone right then and there. The other passengers were too surprised to react when it happened, even the driver stopped driving to watch the scene. Seeing a chance at her attacker's crotch while she was lying prone on the passenger seat, she let out a very strong kick, with her heels landing smack right on the dangling targets! <Laughs> Good thing the man was wearing a sportshorts/basketball shorts made of thin fabric.

http://a1625971.whackyvidz.com

Her forceful kick got them out of the vehicle and on the street near the Lorega, San Miguel market where they continued on; one of her high-heeled shoes (thank God she's wearing those, which is her usual fashion statement anyway, hehehe)left inside the jeepney that ran off a short distance away. Maybe out of the pain he got from the kick, the attacker gave up on her and ran away. The jeepney was waiting for her at some distance away. She got back on it. Although crying from the ordeal she had just gone through, she was very thankful she hadn't been harmed, not a bit. The other passengers were amazed nothing was taken from her, apart from her sobbing, crumpled clothes and muddy shoes, she was perfectly alright!

Something needs to be done here. No one feels safe on the streets of Cebu City anymore. No one would even dare help a hold-up victim for fear of getting involved or get victimized themselves. <TSK TSK TSK!> My housemate is one very lucky girl, armed with feistiness, good timing and with a bulls eye!

Till here, next time.

<signed>

The Callcenter Boy

Blank on a Saturday

http://913935cf.seriousdeals.net

Normally, this is a regular workday/night for me. Being free on a weekend still hasn't sinked in. I honestly don't know how to spend it amidst all the possibly interesting things to do on a weekend aside from blogging. <LOL> I haven't actually planned on being free on a weekend. Now that's peculiar...

Might as well spend it catching some lost sleep.

Might as well read some pending books on my reading list.

Or do what the Italians call, "Il dolce far niente." <winks>

Till here.
<Signed>
The Callcenter Boy

A Funny Thing Happened after a Calamity

A tsunami scare made a multitude of people stupid in downtown Cebu City. It was an after-effect of an earthquake of about Intensity 5-strength that made all this possible. The earthquake happened just right before noon yesterday. I woke up to my room shaking as if jolted by an angry giant. Naturally enough I went to the most structurally secure part of the house and stayed there till the tremors stopped. After that, since it's just about noon and finding it kind of difficult to go back to sleep, I just watched a movie. Right before it ended, I heard some commotion outside. I saw people milling about in our neighborhood. Overhearing from the talks below (as I was in the terrace), I got words like, "tsunami", "flood", "calamity" and other kinda scary words of the doomsday..I was kind of like, "For real??" So I switched on the TV and got from the news that everything (as far as Cebu City is concerned) is ok. I went back outside; people still are kind of bit agitated, seems like everyone's readying up for something. Then the texts came from friends, etc. telling me to be very careful.. or to pack up some important things,just in case,etc...to that effect. Some were even texting that water from the sea had already reached SM City Cebu. I was like, "Huh? If ever that's true, there should have been at least a calamity siren or warning sounds that can be heard all around. Thank God I don't live near the center of city wherein I had soon found out everything went haywire. LOL! Even sane, practical people could have been affected by that very apparent mass hysteria it caused! Looking back i can't help feeling amused at how some poeople might have realized by now how silly they were to be falling prey to such baseless rumors of a destructive tidal wave.

Till next time.
<signed>
The Callcenter Boy