auto show

the other day i was in the mood to cook so i made my original recipe "spicy garlic squid". mind you, i didn't cook a lot, so portion of the dish, i have to give to a friend who likes that dish so much.

she works with toyota canada and in return, she gave me two tickets to the auto show which i think was a complimentary to them.

i was going to give the tickets to frank but he is tied up and so much appointment to fulfill, the commander in chief is happy to babysit the "CEO" and tim is not available in the weekend. so i ended up inviting my buddy cris.

the last time that i went to the auto show was many many many moons ago. it was held near the airport and the place is called 'international center'. nowadays, it has been at rogers center and metro convention center combine.

it was good that we started early to go around the place. we saw cars that are really pricey , the car that will be for tomorrow and todays car. it was nice to see so many different cars. by the time that i have seen them all, i started to get tired from walking and the place starts to get crowded which the male group outnumbered the female spectator.

due to the recent spike in gas price, i'm more interested at cars which are not gas guzzler. the 2009 toyota matrix and 2008 honda civic are the two cars that interest me most. i have 1998 honda crv with 260k's in it, the commander in chief owns and jockeys that car. when i say owns, what it means, i have to ask permission in advance if i could drive it even though the car is under my name.

since our second car which is 1988 cutlass supreme with less than 200ks in it will eventually croak, i'm thinking of having another car. i haven't seen the specs on both the matrix and honda, but my brain is leaning on one of those two cars. their financing is 0.9% so i couldn't go wrong.

if my budget will have an extra dough to spare and when the weather starts to warm up, i'm pretty sure i'll be able to afford a new car.

valentine / concert

women has a lot of special days in a year. the most important day in her life is her birthday. then, the wedding anniversary, mother's day and of course, valentine.

it is the same ritual every year during valentine day. the men likes to buy their women bunch of long stem red roses and chocolates. men like to buy their women the most meaningful card they could find which i find sometime a bit annoying because a lot of those cards messages are 'corny' in someways or put in a laymen's word..pooh of a cow.

men doesn't have to wait for valentine to show their women how much they love them. the guy doesn't have to buy a dozen of long stem red roses and chocolates. all it takes is to be a molly maid on a weekend, be a chef every now and then, warm up her car and yours in a cold winter morning and be a street veterenarian ( walking the dogs) every night.

by doing so, getting lucky will happen not only on valentines day and other special occassions but on days that business is close due to bad weather.

received a phone call from a fellow blogger that celine dion has a special program on tv. it was a concert to promote her latest cd and it was taped in l.a..

honestly, i'm not really an avid fan of celine. she has songs that are exceptional. the cd that they made in las vegas for her farewell concert which i wrote in my previous blog is by far better than the one in l.a. the latter is flat probably due to sound, choreography and props.

i was disappointed. at the end of the show...guess what....i didn't stand up and applaude. watching and listening to frank's rendition of "o canada" with norman doing the second voice is magical and more entertaining than this concert.

computer

yesterday, i called up my supervisor and informed him that i'm not coming for work today. instead i went to my family doctor and had my left shoulder checked. its been bothering me for almost two weeks now. since i'm a dedicated worker (joke! joke! joke!-"pinas " style), i just ignored the pain even though i could hardly drive. i even applied those heated medicated plasters (salompas) which didn't do any good. the situation is not getting better. so i went to my nearby family doctor.

he prescribed for an x-ray, physiotherapy and 10 tablets of "celebrex" 200mg. i have just taken the first tablet after our dinner at "wasabi" with the commander-in-chief, seyla, frank (francis) and teacher trae. so far the pain is subsiding. i'll find out tomorrow morning the results.

during our dinner, teacher trae gave me an idea what to discuss in my blog. she said that the blogger police will not be on my tail because i'm on a roll regarding my blogging. anyways, she said to write something about my and commander-in-chief computer.

two weeks ago, the blogger police was at my e-mail advising me that i'm logging off at my blog. the blogger police doesn't have any idea that i'm having a problem with my commander-in-chief regarding the usage of our computer.

before she got involved with this travel business, i used to sit down and do computer stuff after dinner and will break for at least an hour for me to take out the two love of her life four legged friend, feed my inheritance from timmy (fishes) and then comeback finish the rest of the day infront of the computer.

now it is different. on a week nights, after dinner, i will just have a glimpse of people who sent me messages. i can't reply back. then it will be her turn until around 11:30 p.m. and by that time , i'm already snoring in our bedroom. on weekends, the session starts after lunch.

lately, she is asking norm to look for an affordable laptop. i hope norm can find her one at her price (which i doubt) so i could be back to my normal usage of our computer and i don't have to get up so early, 4am to be exact, just to respond to some of my friends messages.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF COMPUTER!!!!!!!!

note: there was a guy who beat the charge against him in court regarding the incoming traffic radar warning. same token, daddy's princess, watch for the blooger police.

BIRTHDAYS

yesterday was my dearest mom 88th b-day. it seems that it was only yesterday, mom could move around well without any pain in her knees. she used to go out where she pleases. that's why in 'pinas' we used to call her "aling purita may gulong sa paa" (aling purita has wheels on her feet).

even though her health is not what used to be, her mind is still sharp especially if you are discussing "MONEY".

she is the founder and chief ceo of the "alalay philippines foundation", a charitable institution known for their humanitarian assistance for the needy.

the barrientos clan is blessed and we hope she will still be around for another 20 years. from the love and constant prayers of people that surrounds her and also from people that she was able to touch, i think mom will be with us for awhile.

a b-day greetings also to cristy who is celebrating her b-day tomorrow and will be a full time housewife come april. i hope i will be able to join her for a nice "kare-kare" dinner.

lastly, it will be norm's b-day feb. 10. i'm hoping i'll get invited to magic wok. an order of deep fried squid and a plain rice that will do me good. as for dessert "FRESH RIPE DURIAN" fruit.

CONCERTS

i like going to concerts. the beauty of going to casino rama or even to niagara casino is after you have made your donations to the wheel of fortune slot machine welfare fund, there is a concert to go afterwards. some of the performing artists are stars who were well known during their hayday. they are the same performers who doesn't get an invitation to the oscar anymore. some of the artists are in my generation. their music suits my ears.

two weeks ago, i was able to watch a live taped concert in las vegas by celine dion. she is not in my generation but her performance during that concert is worth buying the cd. from the first song until the end, i was in "awe". the choreography and props were just amazing.

and so the other day, halfway of my lunch hour in sheppard/brimley, i came across a cd of celine dion's concert in las vegas selling for half price. i have been watching it many times now and i don't get tired watching over and over again especially the duet she did with mr. frank sinatra and the song is called "all the way". it really brings back memories.

let me tell you something, every time the show ends, i always stand up and clap my hands as if i am in a real concert.

nice to be remembered

today is my 57th year on this planet. as a tradition, i always take one of my lieu days and chill for the rest of the day.

people from 'pinas' called as early as 5:30a.m. and people around here started pouring in calls before 8a.m.

it is really nice to be remembered on your special day. it gives you the feeling that they love and care for you.

i hope i can celebrate more b-days in my life. with God's blessing and graces, i might be able to see my son's children children in the near distant future.

cheers for good health!!!!

ps. my 57th year "look"

cell phone

hello everybody, i'm back. sorry that it took me several days to touch my blog again. thanks to the blogger police and reminded me that i'm a little bit behind updating my blog.

anyway, last november, i've been discussing with the commander-in-chief about having my own cell phone. i have been using the company's provided cell phone ever since. mind you, i don't pay any cent for having that phone. last november, there was a plan that they will try to eliminate outside call from our cell phone. also, i have this feeling that our incoming and outgoing calls are being monitored. since communication among relatives and friends are very important, i decided to get my own as soon as i arrived from my short tour of "pinas".

luckily, francis changed phone and i inherited his old phone. he activated and got the phone no. for me as a birthday gift. i'm in the "pay as you go plan". since i learned texting when i was in "pinas", i text my brother boy every now and then for little things that needs attention. less expensive and you really have to decipher what the other party is trying to convey.

as always , phone owners change their phone as to adapt to the current trend. i'll be doing that eventually. in the meantime, i'm happy on what i got even though i need a hearing aid to what the other party is saying or put it on a speaker phone or eventually send a text message. is that right frank?