Investing Goals, A Self-Primer

For some time now, I keep myself amused by watching finance-related videos, from Pesos and Sense. It has even taken up a lot of my last weekend, though I don't mind.

I remember my last blog post about me opening a BDO Equity Fund. This week, hopefully I can get hold of a term insurance. I also had plans of opening up an account at COL Financial (formerly CitisecOnline), but realized that I may be acting out of impulse. I made that mistake roughly two years back, and I do not want that to happen again.

What good way to start than to invest in knowledge. COL Financial offers free seminars at their office. I checked them out at their website. Good thing, we are in the same building. Theirs is at East, mine is at West. Bad thing, our schedules are conflicting.

Ughh. Maybe this isn't just the right time yet.

I am not in any way affiliated with them, but you may want to check them out.
COL Financial

A New Week Ahead

Let's do away with the deep sigh. I want this week to work out well. Who doesn't, anyway? :)

I have a lot of extra-curricular activities to do, and I hope and pray that things turn out fine.

Currently, in the office, I am facing the challenges of finishing software configuration management documents for one of my current projects. It's a shame that I just started last week to check for completeness. I know, I know. I should have done these a few months back, but I have a lot of work to do all the excuses in the world. My fault.

I remember this feeling back during my last semester in college, where I had to finish a paper requirement for our Special Project (something like a thesis). Only this time, the pages were a lot messier, and the motivation is still lingering around the corner.

On the brighter side, there are still a lot of things to look forward to this week. My usual gym sessions, a meetup with a good friend of mine, some regular laboratory tests, and a meetup with another friend of mine, which happens to be an insurance agent as well.

I sincerely love the positivism.

BDO Equity Fund

Last Wednesday was Pasig Day, which means no work for us.

I decided to make it worth the day off by going to the bank and opening up a small investment. It felt good. For the past months I have dreamed of this. Well it was really stocks to begin with, but since I haven't got the time and knowledge, I resorted to this.

I initially opted to invest in a mutual fund, but I can't find one that suits my needs. Or maybe I just can't find one haha.

Small steps. Next stop, term insurance good for 15 to 20 years.

Oh an about the thing last night, I decided to just let it go. Or make myself believe that I can let it go.

Sleep Denied

It's exactly two o'clock in the morning. This is like a cliche in horror films; people wake up at a certain time of the day, with the same thing happening again and again. Only this time, I haven't gone to sleep yet. I hope that this will not be a nightly encounter.

Something's keeping me awake. Not the usual busy mind, full of dreams and hopes. Gloomy. More like haunting. Fear of the unknown.

July 1 marks the date. I need to do the deed at least three months after.

Happy thoughts. Lull me to sleep.

New Line of Work

And no, I have no plans of resigning from my current work.

I am just really happy, since I haven't done any reports porting for the past 12 months I guess. I am porting from Hyperion to Oracle BIEE. It's fun, and challenging at the same time.

I missed this.

Misplaced

I gasped.

The first few lines words are enough to wake up my still half-asleep consciousness. It was still drifting freely in open air.

I went home this morning at 5:30am, because I had to provide support for the project; we had to meet our deadlines. Our deadlines. How I love the involvement (no sarcasm here).

As soon as I can get my hands on the computer, I first read mails. Click click. Read through some, skip through most. Mark as read.

Hi,

Just a gentle reminder...

And then it hit me. I did something wrong. I misplaced a patch file.

Father and Son

I usually love music by the note, not by the word.

I really suck at memorizing lyrics, that could be one of the reasons why. I used to think that the first few lines of this song by Cat Stevens goes something like,

It's now time to make a change...

I am formulating a title for this post. The main idea is my desire to change my blog layout, and I thought there could be no better song than this. Funny. Ang fail ko lang.

When I listened to the song, with the correct lyrics this time, I remembered Papa. He's still alive, in case anyone's wondering. It just that, I'm like a young boy, yearning for moments to share with him so badly. The only difference this time, is that we haven't got much to spend. He's 66.

I have been blessed to have him, that's a fact. It's an opportune time to just think of the things I never got to do with my father, just a quick list. Things that probably happened, but I can't remember since I was too young, don't count.

1. Teach me how to speak Nihongo (Japanese native language)
2. Play a physical sport together. The most physical was a card game.
3. Go watch a movie, just the two of us.
4. Share secrets.
5. Be there for him when he's sick, even when he's down with a cold. Alagaan siya.

Soon. Soon.

---

Here's a video of the song.

A Quick Run with Other Things on the Side

I am still on the process of forming good habits on exercising. Ang sarap din palang maglakad-lakad sa gabi. Though it was more of a daydreaming-while-catching-my-breath experience.

I just want to share. Last Wednesday, we were requested to render overtime at work. Not a big thing. Besides, I was more excited about my gym session later in the evening.

I went out of office by 10pm, and arrived at Eclipse by 10:30pm. There aren't too much people in it. My memory brings back a picture of a guy in the treadmill, a guy or two in what seems to be an area for Muay Thai. Another guy lifting weights. An old man and a woman (blame my judgment for thinking they're a couple), together with an instructor. In the locker room are three men. These men left the gym soon.

The highlights of the gym session were uhh.. I guess everything. Since it is formally my Day 2, the instructor had to guide me through the tasks. This is also what I appreciated most during that night. Almost midnight, in a 24/7 gym, with an awesome instructor to teach me the right form. Sulit diba?

As for food, I can't reduce my food intake now, since I'm taking an extra strong set of antibiotics. Hooray for food. *laughs*

Tomorrow is another gym day. Keep it up!

Sick

I just decided that I cannot take this anymore.

I have taken numerous pills and downed herbal tonics. Three weeks is enough. So much for self-medication, I guess.

This cough has brought me embarrassment to my seatmates in the office. I have one worry though. I have taken this exact antibiotic around three years ago (this I think is also the last one I took). Ah, I was vomiting like crazy. The next thing I knew, I was vomiting water out of my stomach. For fear of dehydration, I stopped taking them, and resorted to herbal meds after that.

I hope this doesn't happen again. Doc says I have to have a full stomach before taking it.

He also asks me for 1-2 days of bed rest. If only he knew..

Anywhere Pad for Board Meetings and Beyond

I'm a big fan of work-life balance. I'm all for anything that supports it and makes it possible, that's why I highly recommend Anywhere Pad, a meeting app for board meetings and other enterprise meetings. As someone who spends a big chunk of my time in different kinds of meetings (from quick reviews to hours-long brainstorming sessions), I find Anywhere Pad convenient and easy to use.

Anywhere Pad is an online board portal which lets meeting participants and administrators interact via a platform that's accessible through an app or a website. This alone offers a lot of flexibility because people can use either a tablet or desktop/laptop computer to access their meeting documents and to collaborate with others.

But the real strength of Anywhere Pad is when it's running on tablets. Meetings, even remote ones, become much more interactive and engaging thanks to features like real-time synchronized views and freehand annotations. A presenter can choose to sync and lock everyone's screens to ensure that all participants are seeing the same part of a presentation. The presenter can be in an office in New York and the participants can be in a cafe at Paris or an airport terminal in Heathrow, but everyone is on the same page, literally and figuratively.

Participants, on their end, can highlight text and add sticky notes to meeting documents in the same way they can do on paper. They can also use Anywhere Pad's whiteboard for writing down long comments, mapping out processes, drawing diagrams, and even making doodles. The whiteboard works like real paper, but without all the waste. People who wish to use technology without sacrificing the comfort of a great user experience will find Anywhere Pad the ideal solution.

Anywhere Pad is designed as a board portal solution, but its capabilities are not limited to board meetings. It can be used for other purposes such as trainings, conferences, demonstrations, and sales presentations. And because it works on both iPads and Android tablets, it offers real flexibility on a level other kinds of board portal software can't.

Want to know more about Anywhere Pad? You can ask for a demo or quote.

Freeing Up Space - Somewhat Successful

After hours of sorting through unneeded files, four wasted DVDs, and a lot of in betweens, I have increased the free disk space of my laptop.

I stand corrected though, the 150GB is only for the first partition.

Free Space:
Drive C: 7.42GB (out of 150GB)
Drive D: 2.97GB (out of 82.4GB)

Total Free Space: 11.39GB

Not bad. I found out a lot of movies. Wala pa kasi akong external hard disk. Hehe.

And with this, I call it a night.

SwiftKey Note - Taking Notes A Step Smarter

Version: SwiftKey Note v1.7.0

Device: iPod Touch 4th Gen

I have used SwiftKey for some notes here and there. I have read reviews that it is more useful in Android, since the integration can be used outside the app, unlike in iOS. Nonetheless, I still find it useful. It makes satisfying predictions, and I like it that it gets to learn new words.

However, I got a bit disappointed when I was editing a particular note that I want to post here. I accidentally highlighted all text, and instead of copying, I tapped on paste. Voila. I cannot recover the old text. Exiting the current note performs an autosave. They goes my note.

I already filed for a suggestion. I hope that this is a feature I just wasn't able to discover.

All hope is not lost. Kudos to this app, for the following:
Integration with Evernote (haven't tried this one)
Multiple Languages supported

Freeing Up Space

Last weekend, I decluttered one of my drawers full of undies and socks. The volume was cut to more than half. Ganoon nga lang ako kabagal. Small steps, small excuses. Haha.

This time, I am freeing up space for my laptop. This guy has been with me through my entire college life and more. I bought this way back in 2009, I think. Up to date, this is the most expensive gadget I have paid for.

Current State:

Total Space: ~150GB

Free Space: ~2GB

After Round 1 of Cleanup

Free Space: ~8.5GB

It's still early, I am targeting a blue health bar for both drives. I'm sentimental, even for files such as these. I still keep .torrent files as old as December 2009. Time to let go, I guess. Kahit pala sa files, kailangang mag-let go, nyemas.

Giving My Body Some Love, Eclipse 24/7 Shaw Branch

In a normal working day, I eat four to five times a day; I have breakfast before going to work, and I have another one when I arrive at work. I eat lunch, snacks, and oftentimes a very sumptuous dinner. When work demands are at their peak, I eat dinner right before going to sleep. Healthy, no?

That was my routine. I gained 15-20 kilos in less than two years. Amazing. Devastating.

I tried searching for solutions. Some have failed. Well, all have failed. Despite that, all hope is not lost. I will try again this year, this time with the help of a a few facilities.

A person I knew introduced me to Eclipse Gym, along Shaw Boulevard. He used to go there when he was still working near the area. But since he transferred to Bonifacio Global City (BGC), he cannot afford the heavy traffic of going north, and then going back. He recommends it for beginners, though.

I checked it out. I read comments from the net. I started last Tuesday, April 29. So far, they have yet to formulate me a personal goal, which is expected.

What I like about Eclipse, in my last two visits are the following:

1. Free water. They have two fountains spewing out cold water. I haven't asked if they have lukewarm water as well.

2. Space. I visited last Tuesday, between 7-9pm, and last Friday, around 8-9pm. The place is not crowded at all, despite the comments I have read that people usually go there at 7-9pm during Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3. Coaches. I didn't avail the services of a Personal Trainer, but people are there to help me out. Well at least for now. They teach proper form, and for me that's really helpful.

4. Operating 24/7. Who wouldn't like this.

I do hope and pray, that I can continue this thing. I don't want this to turn out as another Summer Fitness Fling.

For inquiries, feel free to pay them a visit. It's near 500 Shaw Zentrum. You can take a jeep at Starmall, or you can take a walk (takes around 20 minutes). You can also check out their sites.

Eclipse Gym 24/7 Fitness Center

Eclipse 24/7 Fitness Center on Facebook

This is me.

December 2011. Bahay ni Maria at Calamba, Laguna.

April 2014. Calaguas.

 Talagang naka-zoom out yung shirtless pic, mahiyain kasi ang belly fats ko.

Random Thought

Is 16 years of existence enough to make me mature? Well, at least mature enough to make sensible post labels?

Pagtingin ko sa labels list ko, napanganga ako. Ano 'tong mga labels na ginagamit ko. I shall not delete them, for old times' sake. Maka old akala mo ang tanda ko na.

Getting Back In Shape

How long has it been? It has been months since my last post. 

I am still writing. Everywhere. I scribble down notes when I'm alone drinking coffee. I keep mental notes (they don't count, do they?). I have a few in my phone, iPod, diary, ATM receipts (kidding). Basta. They're everywhere.

I'll post some of them here.