Recording for Teachers and Credit Card Bills
Left the office early and went to Rachelle's "studio" (actually they're just sharing office space with a sanitary services company) to do some voice work for some teacher seminar tribute at the end of the month. Sort of like automated talk show announcer. All in all it took about 3 hours plus. For all my bravado of being a "professional" voice talent admittedly I have a lot to learn, emoting, for one. "Soft sell" is a lot harder than it looks... uh, sounds. Afterwards I got a talent fee, they fed me lunch and gave me cab fare for the trip home.
Got a copy of the credit card statements regarding my Ebay purchases. So far (save the PayPal registration fee) it all seems okay, except for the transactions that got charged to card with the more expensive exchange rate (Citibank) when I specifically chose to pay with the less expensive one (BPI). Turns out my brother-in-law, who physically had the card (while I just did e-shopping) used it to pay for a recent family dinner. With that expense plus my Ebay purchases the BPI card quickly went over the 20,000 limit. For some reason Billpoint carried over my remaining transactions to the Citibank card. Long story short: I got charged more than I should've. I'd like to contest this matter with Citibank but I'm wondering it it's worth it.
Aug 27, 2002
Aug 25, 2002
The Bone Doctor, and Offended Dates
I went to see a bone doctor with Ma yesterday at Cardinal Santos hospital. She went to check up on her bone density readings while I wanted my bad knee looked at. We saw a father-son pair of doctors, though the father has his office on the ground floor while sonny has his on the second, and it was decidedly more crowded. (That's a paradox to me. You'd think more people would like to see the older, wiser doctor. Maybe they think the younger one's more up-to-date with technology and whatever the ailment du jour popped up while the elders weren't paying attention. Oh, well.)
After almost 2 hours of waiting (with a brief interlude of Ma seeing the father doc and both of us reading almost of the Time magazines in the waiting room) the son doc finally saw us. Within 3 minutes of talking to Ma and reading her bone density report he immediately scribbled away a couple of prescriptions for her. Like she wasn't much of a pill-popper now. Then again, what am I complaining about? Isn't this a sign of scientific progress? No physical therapy, no surgery. Oh, wait, the doc said her bone density had nowhere to go but down, so this popping of painkillers and calcium, vitamin D and anti-fat absorption pills might just be delaying the inevitable. (Oh, and she's sixty. How embarrassing: I didn't know what year my own mother was born 'til the doc asked her. May this piece of information now make it easier for me to shop for presents.)
Then the doc checked out my knees. Good news is he says I can run and do aerobics if I wanted to. ('Bout time. I've been feeling the "annual bulge" creep in since I stopped after the accident.) The tender, slightly numb portion of my bad knee is a callous, the biggest I've ever seen. Worse case scenario: x-ray and physical therapy. WorST case: prodding and surgery. Right now he has me taking the same painkillers he prescribed to Ma.
On the way out of the hospital Ma shared some interesting information about the Sunday night dinner with Che's friends. Turns out they (including Che) were offended by some of the stuff I said (all in jest, I assure you), my teasing Jeannie about taking the restaurant coasters among them. (Hey, she brought that quirk up.) For someone who takes criticism well (or at least with civility) that revelation bugged me the entire day. I just couldn't understand. I was being myself. I was under the impression the evening went fairly well. They were laughing sincerely (or so I thought), for God's sake. Save for that one almost foot-in-mouth moment with Jeannie for which I said, "Biro lang," surely they didn't expect me to end every sentence that way? I wasn't even wearing my serious face. How could they not tell I was kidding? I'm not sure what ticks me off more: that fact that they gave fake laughs or that I sort of ruined an evening in which it wasn't "my" date to begin with. Also, Ma said I was the only one they complained about. Evett and Oti? Nothing. Well, at least I made an impression.
Note to women: If you are offended by what your date says, PLEASE GIVE US A HINT. Don't give a convincing laugh then complain about it later. Christ. And they wonder why men find them hard to read and understand.
To get some further insight into the matter I called up Tina. After postponing our movie plans for today I asked her if I was offensive. As expected, since she knew me long enough and was used to my attitude she said not really. What did irritate her about me (or at least about our phone conversations) was that I don't let her get a word in edgewise at times. Sadly, this was true. When we chat a dozen topics sometimes go through my head and I feel the need to interrupt her train of thought, 'lest I forget them, in complete disregard for her own train of thought. It was amusing back then but now when I think about it, it was just plain rude. Lesson learned, I apologized to her and promised not to do it again.
Maybe I should stop wondering why it's so hard for me to get a date. "Sense of humor," my ass...
Well, according to the Microsoft Word's spell-check function my typing skills are improving. Either that or my proofreading.
I went to see a bone doctor with Ma yesterday at Cardinal Santos hospital. She went to check up on her bone density readings while I wanted my bad knee looked at. We saw a father-son pair of doctors, though the father has his office on the ground floor while sonny has his on the second, and it was decidedly more crowded. (That's a paradox to me. You'd think more people would like to see the older, wiser doctor. Maybe they think the younger one's more up-to-date with technology and whatever the ailment du jour popped up while the elders weren't paying attention. Oh, well.)
After almost 2 hours of waiting (with a brief interlude of Ma seeing the father doc and both of us reading almost of the Time magazines in the waiting room) the son doc finally saw us. Within 3 minutes of talking to Ma and reading her bone density report he immediately scribbled away a couple of prescriptions for her. Like she wasn't much of a pill-popper now. Then again, what am I complaining about? Isn't this a sign of scientific progress? No physical therapy, no surgery. Oh, wait, the doc said her bone density had nowhere to go but down, so this popping of painkillers and calcium, vitamin D and anti-fat absorption pills might just be delaying the inevitable. (Oh, and she's sixty. How embarrassing: I didn't know what year my own mother was born 'til the doc asked her. May this piece of information now make it easier for me to shop for presents.)
Then the doc checked out my knees. Good news is he says I can run and do aerobics if I wanted to. ('Bout time. I've been feeling the "annual bulge" creep in since I stopped after the accident.) The tender, slightly numb portion of my bad knee is a callous, the biggest I've ever seen. Worse case scenario: x-ray and physical therapy. WorST case: prodding and surgery. Right now he has me taking the same painkillers he prescribed to Ma.
On the way out of the hospital Ma shared some interesting information about the Sunday night dinner with Che's friends. Turns out they (including Che) were offended by some of the stuff I said (all in jest, I assure you), my teasing Jeannie about taking the restaurant coasters among them. (Hey, she brought that quirk up.) For someone who takes criticism well (or at least with civility) that revelation bugged me the entire day. I just couldn't understand. I was being myself. I was under the impression the evening went fairly well. They were laughing sincerely (or so I thought), for God's sake. Save for that one almost foot-in-mouth moment with Jeannie for which I said, "Biro lang," surely they didn't expect me to end every sentence that way? I wasn't even wearing my serious face. How could they not tell I was kidding? I'm not sure what ticks me off more: that fact that they gave fake laughs or that I sort of ruined an evening in which it wasn't "my" date to begin with. Also, Ma said I was the only one they complained about. Evett and Oti? Nothing. Well, at least I made an impression.
Note to women: If you are offended by what your date says, PLEASE GIVE US A HINT. Don't give a convincing laugh then complain about it later. Christ. And they wonder why men find them hard to read and understand.
To get some further insight into the matter I called up Tina. After postponing our movie plans for today I asked her if I was offensive. As expected, since she knew me long enough and was used to my attitude she said not really. What did irritate her about me (or at least about our phone conversations) was that I don't let her get a word in edgewise at times. Sadly, this was true. When we chat a dozen topics sometimes go through my head and I feel the need to interrupt her train of thought, 'lest I forget them, in complete disregard for her own train of thought. It was amusing back then but now when I think about it, it was just plain rude. Lesson learned, I apologized to her and promised not to do it again.
Maybe I should stop wondering why it's so hard for me to get a date. "Sense of humor," my ass...
Well, according to the Microsoft Word's spell-check function my typing skills are improving. Either that or my proofreading.
Aug 22, 2002
DVD Run Done
As of this morning I'm the winner in the auction for the Moulin Rouge DVD. My primary wish list is complete: Snatch, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, JFK and MR. Okay, there's a matter of settling the payment with the TUS DVD but that should go well. 'Course, the one thing that's ticking me off is how I'm winning auctions at a time when the Peso-Dollar exchange rate is at an all time high, or low (52:1!).
As of this morning I'm the winner in the auction for the Moulin Rouge DVD. My primary wish list is complete: Snatch, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects, JFK and MR. Okay, there's a matter of settling the payment with the TUS DVD but that should go well. 'Course, the one thing that's ticking me off is how I'm winning auctions at a time when the Peso-Dollar exchange rate is at an all time high, or low (52:1!).
Aug 20, 2002
The Week That Was (Sort Of)
As it turned out dinner last Sunday was at Green Eggs at Blue Bacon, located in New Manila. Boit and I had dinner with Sis, Aissa, Evett, Che Che and her friends Sandy and Jeannie, also from New Manila. At least there was a slim chance of getting lost. The purpose of the whole dinner thing was to introduce Jeannie to Evett. I just came along for the food. The lively conversations were a plus. As for looks, Sandy and Jeannie were okay. And as further proof of how small this world is turns out Jeannie works in the same office as Dulcie, who's currently stationed in the US. Sandy's into action flicks. Jeannie (not even sure that's how her name is spelled) seems sensitive to my side comments (I'd like to call them "over-witticisms"), maybe it's because after I make the comments I don't say "I'm kidding" afterwards (which I was and which I did that one time because it turned out that the person I made fun of was her mother). If you didn't know me well you'd think I was outspoken, which I'm not. Anyway dinner ended well and now the ball's in Evett's court, so to speak.
My Ebaying by proxy bidding turned out well, with 4 out of 5 "must have" DVDs now in my grasp. Now I have to stop soon as the current exchange rate is 55 pesos to the dollar and I've already spent more this month than I have all year. Probably.
Did I mention the Imesh program at the office is working again? Now I may finally get to complete my downloading of Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. And maybe a few movies along the way.
As it turned out dinner last Sunday was at Green Eggs at Blue Bacon, located in New Manila. Boit and I had dinner with Sis, Aissa, Evett, Che Che and her friends Sandy and Jeannie, also from New Manila. At least there was a slim chance of getting lost. The purpose of the whole dinner thing was to introduce Jeannie to Evett. I just came along for the food. The lively conversations were a plus. As for looks, Sandy and Jeannie were okay. And as further proof of how small this world is turns out Jeannie works in the same office as Dulcie, who's currently stationed in the US. Sandy's into action flicks. Jeannie (not even sure that's how her name is spelled) seems sensitive to my side comments (I'd like to call them "over-witticisms"), maybe it's because after I make the comments I don't say "I'm kidding" afterwards (which I was and which I did that one time because it turned out that the person I made fun of was her mother). If you didn't know me well you'd think I was outspoken, which I'm not. Anyway dinner ended well and now the ball's in Evett's court, so to speak.
My Ebaying by proxy bidding turned out well, with 4 out of 5 "must have" DVDs now in my grasp. Now I have to stop soon as the current exchange rate is 55 pesos to the dollar and I've already spent more this month than I have all year. Probably.
Did I mention the Imesh program at the office is working again? Now I may finally get to complete my downloading of Six Feet Under and The Sopranos. And maybe a few movies along the way.
Aug 18, 2002
Lessons Learned
I'm a half-hour away from getting a call from Aissa to inform me and Boit what tonight's dinner plans are. Presumably it's with my sister-in-law Che Che and friends. Whatever. A dinner out is a dinner out, and it matters even less when I'm not the one paying for it.
Learning more and more from my Ebaying, like the concept of proxy bidding. I used to think it meant that someone else could access my Ebay page and bid for me when I'm not available, which I thought was a hassle since that same someone might screw up. Turns out it meant than I can place the maximum amount I'm willing to spend on said item, then Ebay would place it for me anonymously. That way even if the current bidder beats the current bid (but not my maximum bid) I win the item. It also meant no more getting up at ungodly hours and getting butterflies in my stomach watching the last few minutes of auction time go by while guarding against "snipers" (Ebay's term) who outbid you at the last minute. I did that last Thursday and all I had to show for it was one Daredevil GN.
Yet further research indicated that "snipers" may not exist, and my constantly being outbid instantly simply meant that I bid lower than whasisname's maximum proxy bid. Man, that's a load of stress off my mind. I will miss the adrenalin rush of watching against them, though, just not during the aforementioned ungodly hours.
I'm a half-hour away from getting a call from Aissa to inform me and Boit what tonight's dinner plans are. Presumably it's with my sister-in-law Che Che and friends. Whatever. A dinner out is a dinner out, and it matters even less when I'm not the one paying for it.
Learning more and more from my Ebaying, like the concept of proxy bidding. I used to think it meant that someone else could access my Ebay page and bid for me when I'm not available, which I thought was a hassle since that same someone might screw up. Turns out it meant than I can place the maximum amount I'm willing to spend on said item, then Ebay would place it for me anonymously. That way even if the current bidder beats the current bid (but not my maximum bid) I win the item. It also meant no more getting up at ungodly hours and getting butterflies in my stomach watching the last few minutes of auction time go by while guarding against "snipers" (Ebay's term) who outbid you at the last minute. I did that last Thursday and all I had to show for it was one Daredevil GN.
Yet further research indicated that "snipers" may not exist, and my constantly being outbid instantly simply meant that I bid lower than whasisname's maximum proxy bid. Man, that's a load of stress off my mind. I will miss the adrenalin rush of watching against them, though, just not during the aforementioned ungodly hours.
Aug 14, 2002
Slow Week
Aside from getting a lot of issues of Captain Marvel and Wizard from the SM City sale and playing with my nieces Mia and Jasmine, nothing else came up last week that I'd consider worth mentioning. Okay, there's the 3 big wins on Ebay, but those items weren't exactly on my "must get" list... more like "I got them at bargain prices (Alias hardcover, Green Arrow hardcover, 2 Daredevil and JSA trades at almost half the price)."
Received an email from Paul Eric So Tiu (aka Pest), who's currently living in London and from what I can gather is rubbing elbows with so many celebrities the sleeves on his suits have worn out. (I kid, I keeed...) I've told Eileen of Pest's exploits and she thinks he's making it all up. I'd prefer to take his word on it, since it's nice to think at least one other batchmate aside from Tim Yap is living the high life. Still, it wouldn't hurt for him to email me some pictures.
Speaking of friends abroad, it turns out Cathy Sy is now stationed in Hong Kong. Guess that's why she didn't reply to my text invitation for lunch this Friday.
Aside from getting a lot of issues of Captain Marvel and Wizard from the SM City sale and playing with my nieces Mia and Jasmine, nothing else came up last week that I'd consider worth mentioning. Okay, there's the 3 big wins on Ebay, but those items weren't exactly on my "must get" list... more like "I got them at bargain prices (Alias hardcover, Green Arrow hardcover, 2 Daredevil and JSA trades at almost half the price)."
Received an email from Paul Eric So Tiu (aka Pest), who's currently living in London and from what I can gather is rubbing elbows with so many celebrities the sleeves on his suits have worn out. (I kid, I keeed...) I've told Eileen of Pest's exploits and she thinks he's making it all up. I'd prefer to take his word on it, since it's nice to think at least one other batchmate aside from Tim Yap is living the high life. Still, it wouldn't hurt for him to email me some pictures.
Speaking of friends abroad, it turns out Cathy Sy is now stationed in Hong Kong. Guess that's why she didn't reply to my text invitation for lunch this Friday.
Aug 5, 2002
Chicken Run
Philip and his friend Dee stayed over for dinner, so we ordered a bucket of KFC. When we sat down for dinner the chicked tasted like it was laying under the restaurant's warming lamp for quite a while, then tossed into the styrofoam bucket in a hurry. No biggie, I thought, as long as it wasn't spoiled or some shit like that. Ma, on other hand, thought otherwise. She wanted to call KFC and have the chicken replaced. This after we've already eaten more than half of the order. Forget it, I said... like I had any real say in the matter.
After dinner she did end up calling KFC. After being given a slight runaround by that branch's staff, not only did she get the "bad" chicken replaced but she got a whole new bucket. As a consolation she wrapped up 4 pieces for Philip to bring home. I'm taking some with me for lunch tomorrow.
Maybe KFC did it because they thought they were in the wrong. Maybe the did it to shut Ma up. Either way, it's funny how things clucked...er, worked out.
Philip and his friend Dee stayed over for dinner, so we ordered a bucket of KFC. When we sat down for dinner the chicked tasted like it was laying under the restaurant's warming lamp for quite a while, then tossed into the styrofoam bucket in a hurry. No biggie, I thought, as long as it wasn't spoiled or some shit like that. Ma, on other hand, thought otherwise. She wanted to call KFC and have the chicken replaced. This after we've already eaten more than half of the order. Forget it, I said... like I had any real say in the matter.
After dinner she did end up calling KFC. After being given a slight runaround by that branch's staff, not only did she get the "bad" chicken replaced but she got a whole new bucket. As a consolation she wrapped up 4 pieces for Philip to bring home. I'm taking some with me for lunch tomorrow.
Maybe KFC did it because they thought they were in the wrong. Maybe the did it to shut Ma up. Either way, it's funny how things clucked...er, worked out.
Aug 2, 2002
Ebay (Mis)adventures (No Thanks to Paypal)
Well, two days ago Paypal rejected my application, even though the items I won on Ebay would go either to California or Vancouver. Guess where the money's coming from is more important than where the stuff the money's paying for going. Billpoint, on the other hand, is less troublesome.
My current dilemma is how to pay for the items that won't accept Billpoint. No Paypal; money order's too expensive (Pay 30 bucks to send 10? Forget it.); cheques are risky; giving the buyer my CC number even riskier. I may have to open a dollar account. One that isn't stuck in a time deposit.
Lessons learned? Well, for one, don't bid on items right away. Put it in a watchlist first, and then see how it goes. If it gets too pricey delete it from the list, so your Ebay page won't get cluttered. It also saves you from either regret for bidding too high, or disappointment from being outbid.
Second? Until Paypal accepts applications from The Philippines pay attention only to items that go for Billpoint or Ebay Payments via Billpoint.
Third: Cheap DVDs are harder to come by than I thought.
* * * * *
Speaking of lessons, my sister is learning a hard one: her son Han's Chinese assignments. All those years of studying (and forgetting) Mandarin in Saint Jude Catholic School, we Santos kids wondered when would any of it ever prove to be useful. Apparently it's when you want your kids to learn (but not forget) Chinese as well. Something like this might strengthen my resolve to either find a G.I. girlfriend or just have any future kids learn a European language, instead.
Well, two days ago Paypal rejected my application, even though the items I won on Ebay would go either to California or Vancouver. Guess where the money's coming from is more important than where the stuff the money's paying for going. Billpoint, on the other hand, is less troublesome.
My current dilemma is how to pay for the items that won't accept Billpoint. No Paypal; money order's too expensive (Pay 30 bucks to send 10? Forget it.); cheques are risky; giving the buyer my CC number even riskier. I may have to open a dollar account. One that isn't stuck in a time deposit.
Lessons learned? Well, for one, don't bid on items right away. Put it in a watchlist first, and then see how it goes. If it gets too pricey delete it from the list, so your Ebay page won't get cluttered. It also saves you from either regret for bidding too high, or disappointment from being outbid.
Second? Until Paypal accepts applications from The Philippines pay attention only to items that go for Billpoint or Ebay Payments via Billpoint.
Third: Cheap DVDs are harder to come by than I thought.
* * * * *
Speaking of lessons, my sister is learning a hard one: her son Han's Chinese assignments. All those years of studying (and forgetting) Mandarin in Saint Jude Catholic School, we Santos kids wondered when would any of it ever prove to be useful. Apparently it's when you want your kids to learn (but not forget) Chinese as well. Something like this might strengthen my resolve to either find a G.I. girlfriend or just have any future kids learn a European language, instead.