House For Sale?

No I’m not selling our house, yet. Lately though, I’ve been scanning and mentally tagging – with or without approval from my wife - some items that I might sell online.  Signs of the times? Well, it could be, it could be not.  But don’t be alarmed as we’re not at that level of need, at least for now; I’m just following one of my golden rules that say, “Practice makes perfect”. In this case it’s practicing to sell.

And my wife couldn’t agree more with that. In the past I’ve sold items that I know got her disapproval not to mention irritation. A few years back I sold my mountain bike for only PhP 2500 which I initially got for approx PhP 17000 just after 3 years of having it. What followed next was my 1-year old Playstation 2 for only PhP 5000 over the original price of around Php 15000. The last one was our old car. I sold it for only PhP 50000 (in my defense, the Kia’s resale value is really low) just almost after 4 years with us. We got it for PhP 128000.

Frankly speaking I felt a bit sad having to let go of those items. But then, selling and getting a payment every time for each transaction gave me some sense of accomplishment; of course not until I later get to tell my wife about each sale. Every time I tell her, “The buyers were so happy… I had a good deal”, her raised eyebrow tells me she couldn’t agree more – that’s agreeing with the buyers being happy but disagreeing with me having a good deal. I wonder when she’ll get a court hold order for me to stop selling.

In my quest to perfect the trade, I started asking some friends around while embarrassingly telling the stories of my recent non-profitable activities –their shaking head and looks of disbelief and regret (for not buying it instead) confirm my wife’s opinion. I likewise checked the web for some tips and eventually re-activated my ebay account (like a cocked gun ready to be used).  Luckily, I also reached the site www.claimspages.com that has an item depreciation guide which could be a big help to me whenever I decide for an item’s selling price. The list made me realize that not all items have 10% depreciation over a 10 year period. I must have been busy pestering my seat mate during our 4^th year high school accounting class. Ti abi.

My eagerness to start selling some petty items again started when we bought a multi-function printer. This item immediately made our existing scanner obsolete – although it has been rarely used.  Just the perfect reason – an item for disposal which is still too good for freecycle. And so just a couple of days after I posted the item in ebay, I got a deal with someone. He bid for half the price – not bad for electronic gadgets. A few emails and SMS later, I received the payment (thru GCash) and I shipped the scanner in return. It was an exciting experience – my first ebay sale and my first time to receive payment thru GCash. Now, I’m really selling. Happy buyer + Happy seller = Happy wife.

How long will it take me to take our room TV out of its mounting? Now I wonder…

The Chain Game

I’ve always talked about the benefits we’ve been getting with the continuous improvement of how we communicate with one another through the Internet and computers. Everything from the basic things we’ve done before has its own evolution nowadays.Each though has its own pros and cons. And with the split second rate of how we get in contact with each other, the exchange of information gets quickly across the globe and more often than not it gets immediate reactions. To the gullible it is a life changing moment.

Today I’m talking about the pesky chain letters. Just like an everlasting terrorist threat, this one affects everyone. No one is free from it. It is on how you deal with it that makes the difference.

I really don’t know the exact reason behind these mails - why it was created by the originator in the first place. It could have been sent in good faith and purpose. That is to inspire, motivate or spread good news. Or it could have been created just as plain pranks. The latter might be more true with the advent of prank reality shows such as Punk’d and Jackass.

Anyway, this hasn’t stopped. Until now I still get it regularly in my inbox and most of it was neither from susiexxx@horny.com nor from pass2survive@faithinme.net but majority are from my friends whom I knew very well. And it always surprises me every time when one who has been sending me pornographic pictures would later on send me an email requesting me to pass on to every contacts a slide show with the Immaculate Concepcion’s picture on it just because some celebrity died after ignoring it. Ti abi. I believe in change and conversion, but believe me this one is not about it.

The reasons behind this instantaneous forwarding – pass this to 5 people in 30 seconds and you’ll see your life change – in my opinion may be the following:
• Very shallow faith. Ever wondered if some one from the heavens did actually track if you send the religious email to everyone?
• Lack of logic. Who in his right mind from Microsoft or Intel will give you $10000 cash or the latest computer just by forwarding an email.
• Getting even. “Damn, I got scared with that. Might as well send it to others”.
• 10GPBS office internet connection. Kung sabagay, why not. Very naughty.

I’m not a quick “deleter”. I normally read emails especially if it does come from the persons I know. I’m not even saying that all chain letters are bad. Most of it actually makes sense. So what I always do is to read the mail and if I think it is good enough, I “share” it to my friends but without the part that I know might get someone anxious (or worse, scared) knowing that he’s been asked by someone from the high heavens to pass it to others or get ran over by a truck on his next trip to work. OR that perhaps a CEO from Nokia is shaking his head for a recipient’s stupidity of passing off a good deal by ignoring the request to forward the enticing free N90 email to friends.

Wait. I got an email from Paris Hilton…Hey, that’s an indecent proposal but it just needs me to forward to 3 friends in 10 seconds.

“Dear Mo, Mojo and Andi, please forward this to picture and you’ll get the time of your life…..”

Bad and Good Email Subjects

“Good things comes to those who wait” - Anonymous

Today was almost perfect. But sadly another great creature passed away. Upon opening my email this afternoon, I saw this subject: Baby the Bulldog! 5/18/98-7/29/07. At first I hesitated, but then opened and read it nevertheless. It’s confirmed Baby died. The inevitable did come.

I’ve been a fan of this lovable bully since we had Styro who was also an english bulldog just like Baby. I’ve been receiving email updates and occasionally in contact with Dan (his owner) who himself is a great multi talented guy. Aside from being a good pet owner, he’s also a construction estimator, author and sculptor. He’s so fond of Baby that he dedicated a famous website for him (and the rest of his four-legged gang).

I just can’t imagine his sorrow right now after having Baby for 9 years. We “lost” ours after just a year and we we’re almost devastated. Please drop by http://bullybaby.com to appreciate their wonderful companionship.

Goodbye Baby.

****

Whew! After all that, it seems hard to for me to compose what I initially planned to write. Anyway, today was actually a very good day for me.

It started last week with an unofficial (I’d like to think so) SMS on my application update. “That’s good”, I thought, but I tried to be reserved. Then as if by coincidence the priest’s homily on Saturday’s anticipated mass mentioned about –“I’m not believing, until I see it”. Well, when I opened my email at work the following day, the subject - Congratulations! - Application Update almost made me jump out of my chair. That first word alone made my day.

Now I know that the maroon shirt’s jinx has been washed off indeed. When I was called for this position’s interview I was having doubts if wearing that shirt was a good idea as it was the same shirt that I wore when I got dumped by a supposedly good employer. (Am I getting superstitious or what?). But of course I know that wearing the black one would be sending a bad sign as well. Come to think of it, I only have two pairs to choose from. So, that leaves me no choice.

And so today, I started my training as a new leader. I’ve been waiting for this chance for so long and now at least my efforts (and my wife’s prayers) paid off.

Four more days of training. I can’t wait to start to meet my people.