"Asians love their rice and they can't drive." - Beveryn Casiwan Poole

My MS Chronicles:
January 26, 1996- I got my learner's permit in Cleveland. I was 24 years old. 
February 7, 1996- I started my nursing assignment at Rankin Medical Center. I also started terrorizing the streets of Pearl & Brandon with my shaky driving abilities.😅😅😅
🙏🙏🙏. 
Few months later... Having left a downpour in Pearl where I lived, we we're driving through the delta on our way to Cleveland. My friend Janette was driving lead in her Toyota Corolla, & I was behind her, driving this old red ford tempo owned by the agency that brought me here to MS. It has clocked many many miles & driven by a bunch of first time drivers before me. We've been driving for maybe 3 hrs in this cold rainy night & about maybe 45 minutes away from our destination. Now Janette is very protective of her first car and would always drive slow, couple that with the relentless rain, the constant motion of the windshield wiper, the flatness of the delta, seeing nothing but fields of soybeans for miles & miles..it was downright hypnotic. So when I hit a puddle, I was unprepared & hydroplaned my way into a soybean field. I sat stunned & unmoving for a few minutes until I felt water seeping into the car & that spurred me into action. My shoes!! I can't let it get wet!! It's leather!! So I did what any normal girl would do, I removed them, tied the laces together & draped them over my neck😂😂😂. The rice on the floor, by the backseat!..can't get that wet either! So like a normal person would do, I crawled halfway from my seat & heaved the 25lb sack of rice onto the backseat..saved! whew! Meanwhile, more swampy water has made it into the car & I was thinking, dang it! Bob(our agency VP) will have a conniption fit when he sees this. I already had to explain myself to him a few months before when I hit a middle-aged lady's truck at the metrocenter mall(wasn't my fault, I swear! She run a stop sign & my 24year old, new driver reflexes saved me from plowing hard into her truck...I really just nicked the corner but the dang woman wanted to sue so Bob had to intervene). 

I sat there until a kindly black man knocked on my window, asking if I was alright & motioning for me to roll down the window. I did that then, tunnel-visioned that I was, told him, I really need the sack of rice taken out from the backseat so it won't get wet. He got a strange look on his face then he said, "lady! We need to get you out of this field like right now!" The water was already close to reaching my seat so he helped me scramble out through the window, wade out & climb up to the road. He let me sit in his car with the heater on & bless his heart! he went back for the rice! While I sat there, I noticed that the dashboard had this large screen with all kinds of numbers & info on it..some occasional staticky noise & it finally occurred to me, I was in a police vehicle! OMG! I got a little fidgety then..probly what every criminal feels like while sitting inside a police car😱..except I sat in front & I was without the handcuffs, hah! He comes back, introduces himself as Ben..he is a cop, off duty & on his way home. He was headed the other direction, saw me hydroplane & lose control & got to me fast as he could. Janette arrived just then & says.." I wondered why you turned right when there was no road there!" Ben said he will have to write a police report because the car was damaged( he looked sorry for some reason). I didn't realize the implication until a year later when I bought my first car & had to shop for car insurance.. & ended up having to pay more because of that police report. 

We waited for the tow truck, said my profuse thank you to Ben for going above & beyond, then me & Janette drove on to Cleveland. Safe & warm at Janette's apartment, a few of our friends came by( One of them to pick up her sack of rice) & as I related the events of the night, couldn't help but laugh at myself. I tried to picture what Ben saw at first..a disoriented asian girl, barefoot, with her shoes hanging on her neck, water flooding her car, & asking him to save her rice...priceless!!! I'm sure I fully proved that american cliche about asians...they love their rice! & they can't drive😀!

(Bev'ryn is my sister who lives in Mississippi, USA. She posted this in her FB wall and I thought it was good story writing. When she retires, she wants to have a small book shop where people can go sit and read some book while sipping their coffee. Now I think she should start writing short funny stories so that when that retirement time comes, the reading materials for the coffee shop are ready. 

Incidentally, this story got even more relevant for me because I have been here in Spain for some 13 days now and after 6 days of eating only sandwich and 'pinchos', I met a family from Hingyon, Ifugao who adopted me and I finally started eating rice at least once a day! - 04102015) 

Why is the family important? - Khane

"Family is important because if you don't have a family who will take care, love, food for you. And if you don't have a family who will take charge of you and who will bring you to school and how will you learn lifes doings. And thats why people need family's."

(Khane's unedited answer in their 1st quarter assessment under Social Studies. You'll learn pretty soon the use of punctuation, etc. son, but not bad, Khane. Actually I say, very good!- Mama)

Blogging from Bangkok

It's probably my fifth or 6th visit to this city in the last 15 years.

The first time I was here, there was a new sky way. Few metro trains as I recall. Now they not only have connected metro trains, they also have an efficient running subway. 
The first time I was here, there was only normal-sized airport. Now they have s gigantic one, serving as a hub to the world.
The first time I was here, there was the Forbidden city and the grand palace. It's still there with smaller palaces all around.
The first time I was here, the traffic was bad. It's still bad.
The second time I was here. there is Ms. Tiffany International with somebody from Bangkok winning. Now they have the cheapest rates for transgender surgery or whatever they call that.
The first time I was here, I saw 'c_nd_ms' displayed for sale in the streets early morning or late night. Now they still  do, and even have a restaurant designed using these 'gadgets'. Now it is also not unusual to see 'v__gra' along with it displayed in the side streets still.
The first time I was here, the currency exchange rate is Php1 is almost same Thai Baht (ThB)1. Now it's Php1.34 or Php 1.4 to Thb1.
The first time I was here, there's this posh MBK shopping center. Now MBK houses 'tiangges' that offer about anything you can find in Chatuchak or Pratunam.
The first time I was here, there's the popular 'Sampaloc'. Now they sort of dry or process all kinds of fruits, shampoos, beauty products, and export them.
The first time I was here, Thais are mostly Buddhist. Most probably still are.
The first time I was here, I don't hear about many OFWs or English teachers employed in Bangkok. Now Bangkok is attracting many Filipinos as English teachers or kindergarten teachers, etc.
The first or second time I was here, we tried 'thai massage' and were knocked out. Now 'thai massage' can be availed at in any major city in the Philippines.

It maybe some time before opportunity knocks again for me to visit this city, and I won't be surprised if in 20 or 30 years hence, they'll be considered a developed country. Whether it is because Thais love and are proud of their country and their king, or because they're using wisely their billion dollar earnings from their exports and their genius in packaging their tourist spots and usually 'peaceful' ambiance as soon as foreigners touchdown, or whether the legal prostitution and cheap surgeries are contributing big to this amazing Thailand or maybe a little of everything, fact is, they're doing very good as a country.

It is not like they don't have politics or corruption getting in the way in some ways or another. It is not like they don't have military rebels who disrupt their government through coup d etats or military takeover every once in a while. Or that they don't have big time corrupt officials who deplete government funds.

It's probably that always in the end, they seem to know what to do next and approach their problem and move as a nation to drift back to their normal 'drive for economic development' mode.

In many ways, I am envious of this country. In some ways, I pity them. Overall, it's always a pleasure visiting this city. But visit and short-stint workplace, yes. Living here for good, nah. Because Bangkok will still never be a place like home./Grand Mercure Fortune Hotel/07/12/2015.

Our dear dad like no other

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY 2015

Some more imaginings for BSU

(After attending the DTI-sponsored forum on industry roadmaps and AEC (ASEAN Economic Community) gameplan, I began to imagine more things for BSU. Blogs are blogs--avenue to spill thoughts and dreams candidly. Please edit na lang kasi tinatamad ako mag-ayos ng thoughts kaya chop suey lang hehe)

1. BSU may be better off having an IGP on coffee, or a seed production IGP for that matter. BSU supplies coffee cherries to Rocky Mountain Coffee, anyway, which the company raises in nurseries and sells to its contract growers. BSU also sells to individual farmers and LGUs or private companies anyway. Benguet has the advantage of having the best Arabica species I heard. So that RMCC I heard is moving "heaven and hell" to be able to renew their MOA with BSU because they probably cannot find a better and sure source of Arabica coffee planting materials. BSU gets incidental income from the arrangement. Maybe if this business of providing planting materials becomes an IGP and there is a project manager in-charge solely for marketing coffee or coffee cherries, or coffee seedlings, BSU may earn more while at the same time it can sell to as far as Mindanao as is happening now anyway but with a broker.

More comprehensively, BSU produces many seeds/planting materials but they usually just get incidental income from the endeavor. Maybe if there is really a certified seed/planting material production team or centralized department under the UBA who will proactively plan and promote and market technologies--potato, strawberry, snap beans, etc. (aside from work done with LGUs), then maybe BSU can earn more while reaching more clients not just in the CAR but in other provinces in Mindanao.

2. BSU-CEAT just got themselves expensive toys for free -- conventional and CNC machines. The aerospace industry as I heard has no way to go but up according to the speaker local aerospace major player John Lee. If CEAT plays the game well, and the President will be serious in his vision by hiring a part-time mechanical engineer and CNC machine custodian ASAP, then maybe, just maybe BSU can indeed help the local metal industry while at the same time earning itself enough to bear the cost of maintenance and utilities and a little extra. After all, 16 million-worth machine is no joke. And if BSU is not careful, these machines may still be inside the box until their warranty expire.

3. A Harvard graduate Cielito Habito says, it is time Filipino educational system train graduates not to find a job to earn salary, but to be entrepreneurs and create wealth. I wonder who has a curriculum that prepares children young as they are to have this perspective. Like the expensive "kumon" system that sort of trains a child in a certain way, it may be good to have a special school or curriculum where students are trained to think like entrepreneurs from the very start. I remember the BSU Secondary Education Training Department formerly Agri-science High now Science High. As early as high school, we had to learn agricultural science courses. Philippine Science High School I think also prepares the HS students for science, technology and mathematics courses. Maybe it is high time, a curriculum is developed in the Elementary Department where they are trained, young as they are, to invest in stocks, manage forex, do business or maybe at least learn the basics of entrepreneurship. Doctors' children usually become doctors or nurses; Government workers' children usually end up working in the government; Businessmen breed businessmen; Politicians, politicians. The only way we can raise more entrepreneurs is to expose children to the field early on, and who knows maybe even if Filipinos are not wired to be businessmen (the way Chinese are born to be as they say), some may be raised to get interested in the craft. BSU Elem Dept. and SETD may want to innovate so that its General Curriculum or Vo-Ag Curriculum may be expanded.

4. A speaker talked about the potential of the processed vegetable industry. He mentioned about Thailand now being the lead among the ASEAN. He talked about CAR having the potential since raw materials are just around. Thais dry just about anything and export them. (Like tourism where they package a small waterfall and earn millions of dollars from tourists wowing the place, they do creative things to their fruits and vegetables and fishes and export them and the whole world buys them.). Let us hope BAPTC will progress and the dream frozen mixed vegetable of Sec. Alcala will be marketed in time. But maybe BSU can start growing in its processing center before the creative ones start robbing them of the opportunity (as what happened to coffee). The BSU ube is now well known, but many loyal customers think the packaging can be improved. (aside: I heard the DevCom Dept creatively made a study about the packaging and labeling of BSU products and even did a consumer survey, but when they recommended their outputs to the FPC, these were rejected. Hmm.) Anyway, go go go food processing center -- parboiled and frozen, dried... what not... as the speaker said, processed vegetables have potential for export.

5. The NEDA-CAR director also talked about the key potential industries in the CAR and a top industry for CAR is ecotourism. I'm thinking about the strawberry fields of BSU. It was there where I spent many Saturdays and early mornings when I was in High School (some 25 to 30 years ago)-- growing strawberries, selling strawberries to tourists way before the pick and buy scheme became popular. Now the area is being squeezed by forms of industrialization. I would like to imagine it being preserved much like Burnham park-- fenced with nice looking fence, and developed to be as it is open strawberry fields with maybe some optimal number of greenhouses so that the production is all year round. Add to it a strawberry R&D center of excellence with a genomic center and one gets the whole picture. Anyway, I hope we can successfully craft the proposal for a wastewater treatment facility. It maybe the only chance for future acceptable irrigation water for the area.

(So hayan, kahit medyo masakit sa ulo ang makinig sa napakaraming speakers na isinaksak sa iisang araw ay natuwa na rin naman ako. Iyun lang magaling lang naman ako mag-imagine haha.)

Performance report

Our boss tasked us to prepare his performance report from the start he assumed his position until this time. 

Universities and other government agencies are being evaluated based on their achievement in what are called major final outputs (MFOs). Perhaps, administrators are additionally evaluated on their contribution and initiatives to facilitate the achievement of or even surpass target MFOs. One major final output of BSU, for example, is higher education. Performance indicators for this MFO are: number of graduates, quality of graduates in terms of performance in licensure examinations, and timeliness. For research as MFO, an ultimate indicator is the number of publications in ISO journals. 

While helping draft the report, I began to realize what it would be like in death when people finally face their Maker. I understand from biblical preachings that while salvation is not based on our past performance in this world (only by grace so that no one will boast), and that we must perform as Christians out of gratitude, for our enjoyment of our position, and for the glory of the One who chose and had been gracious to us, there are rewards and crowns in heaven that will be based on performance. I tried to think of the MFOs  required of us believers, and the corresponding performance indicators.

I am not a theologian but I can think of two MFOs with eternal value as  Christians: disciples and fruits of the spirit. We are told that a final charge given to the disciples by Jesus Christ is "to make disciples of all nations...". We are also told to live by the Spirit, the fruits of which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control...

If these are the MFOs of a Christian, and the indicators are number and quality of disciples made, % of times displayed love, % of times displayed patience and so on..., I am a non-performer!!! Failure!!! But oh well, wait, even in the university, there is a major final output called "support to operations"! Whew, maybe I have been tasked in this area; perhaps I may be performing a little in this area, but really, not as much as I should. But I am still not relieved of having to perform in the area of making disciples and having to live the fruits of the Spirit.

So I guess, in all things indeed, one learns a life lesson. Even while writing a performance report of the university or administrator, I was reminded of the essential outputs required of me in this world. It is terrifying enough to be evaluated in this fallen world. It is more terrifying though to think about the more essential performance indicators. My only comfort is His promise that all authority in heaven and in earth was given to Christ, and His Kingdom will go on and expand even if I become a "non-performing asset". He is after all, sovereign. The catch is that I lose the privilege, joy and rewards of performing well and achieving the required MFOs for a graced sinner.

Indokno