You think I’m “boobing” you?

When I bought my first puppy, I wasn’t prepared. I had not known about dog care until I finally had her in my arms for the first time. It was then I knew I had to learn.

-

-

I wanted a puppy so badly that I had to improve my well-being. I had to be both mentally and physicially fit. By the time I was “ready”, I received my first puppy. But I never realized it could be such a difficult task since I was not prepared at all as much as I thought I was. I had to make sure she ate, she had a good place to live, she had her walks daily, and she must be given the love that she deserves. All that I learned over a course of a month. But I was about to give up. I was about to sell her.

Never did I see that I was caught off guard–until that moment. Having a pet is like having a baby (though a baby is ‘harder’ to take care of and more intricate). You must attend to her needs and wants. Else she starts to disturb other people which can be annoying (no, not the dog, the other people ^_^).

Althought I was improving in my ability to take care of a puppy, she eventually grew up… and had one puppy. Thus another one to take care of. Until now, the puppy can be so hard to manage but my landlady helped me a lot on this one. I couldn’t take care of two dogs, so I gave her the puppy, and she happily accepted and now she takes care of both doggies whenever I’m not around.

-

Protagonist? It’s me.. or actually, if you were planning to get a dog, it would be YOU. It is never enough to work for what you want. If you want to do it, do it right. You have to take care of what you get. WBT. Work for the puppy. Be prepared for the dog. Take responsibility for the offspring.

Founder’s Week

Had a great time. Played for a lot of people. The people who visited the booth were great! Plus a little something that made it more memorable than it should.

P6 Band (teaser)

First Time for Everything

2008

April – OJT @ a power company
May - Rode on a sports-type motorcycle
June – Went to embassy alone
July – Diligence in waking up early (5:30am-6:00am) everyday
August - TO DO: Going to have a “make-over”

Things to do

Study

Study

Study

Heighten observational skills

Study

Study

Study

Eat?

Study

Study

Sleep.

“Old Way” of Thinking

The LTO will be implementing its new policies on August 4, 2008 (tomorrow) on motorists. At least that’s what I heard.

Perhaps the only new policy that disturbed me the most was this,

“For modifying any part of the original design of a motorcycle or scooter without approval of LTO and the DTI a fine of P2,000.”

This is completely vague, don’t you think? Yes, modifying a motorcycle will void its warranties but modification may also improve the overall performance and safety… or not. Modification is a “slightly modified copy; not an exact copy; “a modification of last year’s model” (Free Dictionary Thesaurus #2). In my case, I had to replace the stock shocks because one of them was bent, thus I had replace both of them with new aftermarket shocks since genuine parts for my bike wasn’t readily available (Wouldn’t it be funny if on the left side you had a bigger and longer shock, and on the right you had a really small and shorter one? Would that be “safer”?). Perhaps, imposing the new rules will help improve safety for motorist but does it also mean all aftermarket parts are dangerous? OMG! Are my replacement shocks, which are almost a year old, dangerous? Then why are legal and legit businesses and shops selling aftermarket parts? How did those parts even get in the Philippines if they weren’t approve by the government agencies?

Perhaps that was exaggerating. Modification should mean something like this. Suppose I bought a new motorcycle with one rear shock (or usually called as mono-shock) then I convert it so I’ll have the two-shock setup similar to other motorcycles. That should be “modification” (though in real situations, it is the opposite. Most modified bikes go from dual shocks to mono-shock since mono-shock is said to improve suspension which means a much smoother ride.)

What about cars and their extremely white lights/HIDs, much louder mufflers, magwheels modification, and neon lights? Why target motorcycles only? Aren’t laws supposed to be in parallel with the location it is being imposed? Why copy other countries’ laws when in reality it cannot apply in other places? (Reminds me of the thinking: Gas is cheaper in the Philippines than in the US, especially diesel. Yes, this is true but did one look at the condition of the Filipino people? The minimum wage earners? Filipinos aren’t as highly paid as those abroad.)

What to do? Well, the best thing to do is to look for the approval of one’s modifications by the LTO. Question is how? (…because only those unapproved modifications will be caught, so one just needs to have them approved, right?)

The new policy? Looks like an old way of thinking to make a new law. As an old saying goes, “Only in the Philippines….”

PS. If a police officer tries to extort money from you or is extremely rude or mayabang, better report it.

==========================

Read more.

LTO issues new guidelines for motorcycle riders (Journal Online)
MCPForums Thread on Aftermarket/Modifications (Experiences of a motorist in Mindanao)
MCPForums Thread on New LTO Guidelines
Open Letter

Older Laws / Fines & Penalties