The latest addition to the family

We have another addition to the family, the youngest. He, yes, he's a boy, did not come after having stayed 9 months in my wife's belly but only in a day! Last Thursday, my wife sponsored a wedding at Tagaytay. It would have been just another one of those weddings my wife attend but this one was different. When I got back home, I saw my daughter tenderly patting him on the head while he remained steadily lain on the garden table. He was very quiet, not a sound came from him, not even a whimper. IT turned out that my wife has returned with a puppy which she intends to give to either her brother or a friend, as she knew I didn't want any pet in the house. She just couldn't resist taking his one home!

I had always been adverse to having pets in the house for several reasons. First and foremost is that having a pet is a huge responsibility. Uncared for pets turn out with mighty, disgusting fleas, can be ferocious and bite the neighbor's child and put us into trouble. You have to clean up after them and cleaning poop is not one of my favorite chores.

And yet,there is something unique with this puppy. He's just so lovable. I did not want my emotions get over me so I ignored my daughter's plea to keep the dog. HOwever, that night, when my eldest, and later on, my other son came, I saw how bright their smiles were upon seeing the dog. They excitedly went to where it was, petted it and my heart melted. Nothing in this world could ever give that kind of happiness to my children. And so, the following morning, I gave out the simple rule that they should all have their share in caring for the dog, otherwise, he will have to go. And so my friends, I would like to present to you the latest addition to our family, Yogi!

Wheel of fortune

Fifty years living in this planet has taught me that karma does exist. While in its strictest sense, karma is not about retribution or vengeance as most people believeit to be. Simply put, karma speaks of what we become as a result of our decisions. What we are now is due to what and how we live and that includes how we treat other people. This is the reason why we should treat other people fairly. Filipinos have a similar viewpoint. We believe in life being lived like a wheel. Sometimes we're on top, other times, we're at the bottom. Gulong ng palad (wheel of fortune) is what we call it.

To those of you who are at the top right now, let me share with you a quote from Thomas Paine.

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

Trouble finds you anywhere

i don't know but it seems like trouble will find you anywhere you are, even in the most unexpected places where you think you are safe. What's more, it comes unexpectedly. This happened to me last Friday. I was home early and was watching cable tv when the phone rang. It was one of my nephews. He was at a precinct somewhere in Pasig.

What happened was he was at a mall window shopping. He did not know that an artist was preparing to mount a pastel painting into a glass frame. He accidentally stepped on it causing the glass to break. He was being asked to pay for the frame. He argued that it was not his fault as they were in a hallway where people pass by. He was taken to the police station when they could not agree. My nephew is currently jobless and had no money to pay for anything. Frantic saying that he was being threatened to be put to jail, he called me. I asked to talk to anybody from the precinct and was given the mall's security guard who took him there. (I had to know what happened from someone else's point of view.) True enoughm the artist is in one of those whose stalls are in the middle of the walkway. I told the guard that I don't think it was my nephew's fault. After all, he knew that the place where he was mounting his frame is a walkway so he should have done something to protect his work. I even told him to go ahead and sue my nephew but they have to release him first. Realizing that nothing can happen that way, I asked them where they were and promised I was on my way.

When I got to the station, I learned that the painting was being framed as it was already being sold. However, because of the incident, the buyer did not want to purchase it anymore as she believes it was bad luck. Tough! When I met the artist, I expected an argumentative, aggressive person, ready to charge my nephew with everything. I was ready to argue that it was him who was negligent. To my relief, he was soft spoken and kind. When I asked him what he wanted, he said if we can just at least shoulder half of the price of the glass frame. I acceded knowing that he has lost so much that day. However, I did not have any cash with me and will only have money on Monday. At first he wouldn't agree. "If that's the case, then I will just have to argue that my nephew has done nothing wrong and that we won't agree to paying anything."

To make a long story short, he finally agreed and the case was blottered by the police. Here's the catch. When I went to my sister's house on Sunday to withdraw money and give the amount to my nephew, I found out that my money is Php000 short. He really has to wait for Monday. So I told my nephew that I (read my wife) will take care of it. The thing is we lost his contact number and had no way of reaching him. Since my wife has given him her office number, we were hoping he'd contact us but even that did not materialize. I guess I will have to go to the shop myself on Sunday. Such trouble!