Andy Mckee

A Sad Affair

It’s the ASEAN Football Cup again and once again, the Philippines has proven its sad state of football (non) development.

I was able to watch the live game between host Thailand and the Philippines last night. I found myself shouting “ang tanga tanga mo!” as the Philippine team committed error after error while the Thais took advantage of it, soaring to a 4-0 win.

It was the same story in the previous game vs Malaysia when the latter finished 4-0 as well. With the 2 defeats, the Philippines (once again) lost its chance to reach the semis.

I guess it all boils down to our American influence in which basketball takes precedence over “soccer” (as it was coined by the Americans to distinguish it from the NFL) when it comes to the Filipinos’ favorite sport. Even Beckham’s arrival to the US next season produced unsatisfactory remarks from most of the American sports-public. I have this theory that when football was introduced in the US they couldn’t really get the hang of it (they couldn’t bring the ball using their feet from one end of the field to the other?) so they made a new game in which “football” meant you can carry the ball with your hands (magaling!).

It’s very sad that the “beautiful game” has not been given the proper respect (and funding) by the PSC. We need more development in the grassroots level as well as more media-exposure of the semi-pro leagues plus we need to eliminate the corruption virus in the PFF which I think has been there since I was playing in high school.

I still believe that the Philippines can still make a (good) mark in football in the future. I hope that when that day comes, my boy gets to play in that winning Philippine team as well.

Too much debt?

Source: About.com

Here are some of the warning signs that you have a credit/debt problem.

If you answer yes to one or more of the first six questions and no to the rest, you may have caught the problem before it's unmanageable, as long as you act now to change your spending habits. If you answer yes to one or more of questions 7 through 15, your problem is much more serious and will require more drastic steps. Time is of the essence.

Warning Signs of Debt Problems

1. You don't have any savings.
2. You make minimum payments on your credit cards.
3. You use credit cards for things you used to buy with cash, such as groceries.
4. You use increasing amounts of your total income to pay off debts.
5. You have more than two or three major credit cards.
6. After you pay your credit card bill, you increase your balance by the same amount (or more) the following month. 7. You're at or near your credit limit on your credit cards.
8. You count on the float in order to pay your bills, writing a check hoping that you'll be able to cover it by the time it clears your bank.
9. You're unsure of the total amount you owe on all your debts.
10. You take out cash advances on your credit card to pay other bills.
11. You've tried to make a purchase with your credit card and been declined.
12. You've been denied credit.
13. You bounce checks.
14. You get calls from collectors.
15. You lie to your spouse or other family member about your spending or hide credit card statements from family members.

If you realize that you are in over your head, the sooner you act, the easier it will be to get out from under the burden of debt. Beware of companies that promise to fix your credit or debt consolidation companies. There's no easy fix, but it is possible to turn your finances around if you work at it.

When was the last time you heard an Erap Joke?

Nakatakas si Erap, FVR at GMA sa mga terorista at nagtago sa mga sako sa isang farm...

Terorista1: Anong nakita mo dyan?
Terorista2: Mga sako lang.
Terorista1: Tingnan mo ang laman!

Sinipa ng terorista ang unang sako, "Meow", sabi ni FVR!
Terorista2: Pusa!

Sinipa ang pangalawang sako, "Aw aw!" sabi ni GMA!
Terorista2: Aso!

Sinipa ang ikatlong sako... Walang tunog kaya sinipa uli ito ng sinipa ng terorista.

Dahil sa sakit ng sipa, napasigaw na si Erap:

"PATATAS!"

Apple I-Phone

I think these will sell like hotcakes once it reaches Asia in 2008.

Review of the Holidays

Here are some random thoughts about how I spent the Holidays:

Top of my list, of course, was having to spend Christmas and New Year in Manila with the missus and my boy. Seeing my boy getting more Christmas gifts than me and the missus combined showed how much the little fella is loved by his relatives. Too bad we weren't able to dress the entire mini Santa suit on him. It would've been cuuuute with the beard and all. Maybe it'll fit him this year.

Much to the dismay of his titas in Paranaque, he was asleep throughout the 2006-2007 turnover. This was inspite the titas' "indirect paggising sa kanya."

I've attended 3 Company Christmas parties ---which some say is below average of the Filipino employee. It was a joy to have experienced this since there wasn't one when I was in Malaysia. Christmas is just a one-day event there. Our department also had a Kris-Kringle wherein my "daddy" gave me very weird gifts: a toilet-plunger, 2 living white rats in an air-vented iced-tea bottle, and a baby chick (sisiw) spray-painted in red. The gifts caught everone's attention, including my boss, so I spent the next two weeks finding out who the suspect was. I had one particular guess who was considered the weirdest guy in the department. The other year, when the instruction was "something twenty," I heard that he gave his "baby" a balloon filled with, get this, twenty used McDo french fry bags. Creative isn't he? (But it wasn't as creative as the gift given by one of the VPs for "something funny:" a framed pic of Fanny Serrano)

Eventually, the culprit surrendered himself to me during the revelation night and was apologetic when he gave me a checkered short-sleeved polo as my Christmas gift from him. The shirt was definitely worth the wait.

I was able to remember all my inaanaks and bought each of them Christmas gifts ---some of whom I've never seen in years and would've been surprised that one of their Ninongs is back in the aguinaldo loop.

As for the holiday food, it is of no surprise that the missus and I consumed more than our average intake. The morcon, the Excellente ham, the hito, the molo soup, and the assortment of cakes from Conti's and Red Ribbon (and Krispy Kreme donuts) among others, have attributed to the rightward movement of the bathroom scale pointer. Good thing we bought a threadmill which we *hope* to use often to shed the unwanted fat.

During the missus' friends' Christmas party, the host pulled out his poker set. Now as you may know, my card-playing is only limited to 21 and pusoy-dos. But I've been watching a lot of poker on cable-TV and "sort of" understood how it was played. After the host and the other players taught me the rules of the game, we played for what I thought was only for fun.

Believe it or not, I won ---with a full-house to end the final round. Beginner's luck I suppose. Then the 3 who lost pulled out their wallets and started handing me P100.00 each. I declined but then they insisted. What I didn't hear was that during the start of the game the pot was P300.00 for the winner. The missus heard this but maybe since I was overwhelmed with excitement I didn't pay attention. But hey, if they insisted that they give me P300, why not? Hehe. I considered it tas heir aguinaldo for me. Hmmm, I hope they'd still invite me for poker on their next Christmas get-together.

All in all, it was a wonderful Holiday. I'm very grateful to have experienced it from start to end ---which I believe ends today coz of the Feast of the Magi.

In case I didn't greet you, here's a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from me to you!