BEYOND THE HORIZON...

We have a Mac at the office. It uses no mouse so I'm not liking it.

I still couldn't appreciate the touch pad because it makes things slow for me. Perhaps I'm not just used to it; my fingers prefer clicking. In fact, two days after I got myself a laptop, I went back to the store to buy a mouse. That made my touch pad useless as it hasn't been used since then.

Like as if work is not enough to keep me busy, I still find time to put my farming skills to good use.

I've once again learned how to plow land, get may hands dirty, plant and grow crops and harvest them! Sounds like fun!

In fact I carefully laid a masterplan for my farm and proudly showed it to everyone. Look, even the UFOs were impressed they actually paid me a visit.



Well, how I wish the real thing could be as easy and fun as this.

But being a farm boy myself, I tell you, the time and energy that one spend in planting, growing and harvesting crops virtually is not even a light years close to reality.

Why?

Everything has become so predictable, most of the housemates are uninteresting, and I don't like how being true to one's self is being portrayed here. Showing your true colors doesn't always have to be about how ugly you are in the inside, right?

And am I the only one who thinks that Kuya's voice has become so annoying?

May namimigay ng pera sa amin - balita yan ng nanay ko nung tumawag ako noong isang linggo. Reason? Ang bayan daw namin ang pinakamahirap sa buong lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur, ayon sa survey. Therefore, recipient kami ng 4Ps.

Ano ang 4Ps?

Pantawid (Gutom) Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps)

"4Ps is a poverty reduction strategy that provides grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-14.

It is patterned after the successfull Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) Programs in Latin America and Africa. CCT has been cited as one of the key factors behind the positive socio-economic outcomes achieved by Brazil where 11 million families are currently enrolled in the program, and other countries." -source-

Ilan ang nakukuha ng bawat pamilya?
Php500.00 per month.

Kung may anak ka na 7-14 years old, may additional Php300.00. Dapat ang anak nag-aaral, else, walang dagdag. Kung anak mo lima, below 14 years old lahat at pumapasok sa eskwela, meron kang dagdag na 300 - tayms payb!

Paano nasala ang mga benificiaries?

Step 1 - nilista lahat ng bayan na nasa 20 poorest provinces sa bansa.
Step 2 - pinili ang mga poorest towns na matatagpuan sa mga poorest provinces na yan.
Step 3 - lahat ng mga mahihirap na pamilya na galing sa mga poorest towns na kabilang sa poorest provinces na to, qualified!
Step 4 - selection process, computer na daw ang bahala?!?

Computerizes selection of the poorest households based on a ranking system using Proxy-Means test. It assesses socio-economic characteristics such as: ownership of assests/appliances; type of housing unit; level of educational attainment of household heads; and access to water and sanitation facilities. -source-

Kung nababasa mo ito, sigurado ako hindi kabilang ang baryo nyo sa mga 20 poorest provinces na yan! Hehehe.

Sadly, ang bayan namin, nangunguna. Nangunguna sa kahirapan sa buong Chavit territory. We are poor, as in the poorest poor based on (most of) the socio-economic characteristics mentioned above.

Gayunpaman, masaya na din ako. At least may natatanggap ang mga kabaryo ko buwan-buwan di ba? Pambili din yan ng asukal, kape, tinapay. Pero definitely hindi pantawid gutom. Kasi naniniwala ako na walang nagugutom sa amin, dahil lahat ng pamilya ay nakakakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw. Amf!

My father loves reading newspapers. Although he's not keen with the English language, he surprisingly prefers reading broadsheets over tabloids. My mom, for some reason collects and stores them.

In our family, it's almost considered a sin if we won't bring home a newspaper when we go out.

When I started living alone, I don't buy the papers anymore. I only get to read a newspaper when I see one inside a fast food, or while in a lounge area. Today, I got a free newspaper from Jollibee and it's quite a delight to hold and bring home a newspaper once again.


This is because philstar.com, mb.com.ph and inquirer.net are all bookmarked in my browser. Practically, why spend extra money in buying the papers when you can access them in just a few clicks? Besides, I use to complain about the smudges of black ink powders in my fingers everytime I browse through their pages.

I can't believe I actually miss those days - when reading a newspaper was part of my daily routine. If you'd ask me, I would be willing to trade-in the newspaper.coms to their hardcopy versions.