Next Month

Next month will be my 24th birthday. Twenty-four. Whew.

I feel young at 23. When I say I’m 23 years old, I feel so young. However, when I think that I’m turning 25 next year, oohhh, I feel like a lost child getting old unprepared.

Anyway, I relish each day of my life. Even with the stress of life and of work.

So what do I want for my birthday? I have a long list of wishes…

I want:

* My own place here in Metro Manila - a condo unit with parking space or a house with garage, strategically located (near Makati and Quezon City)

* Digital SLR, or even just a point and shoot digital camera that takes good quality photos

* Computer that doesn’t test my patience (laptop preferred), at least 1G RAM, lots of disk space as well

* A very reliable camera phone

I also want:

* Jacket for sort of formal occasions (but not too formal), in neutral color

* Sarong

* Book(s)

* Backpack good for work and out of town trips

* A bag for my camera

What I really want:

* Simple life full of adventure and beautiful moments

* Good health, fit body

* The love of people I love

* Continuously being edited at http://katefarrales.multiply.com/journal/item/27/Next_Month.  I’m now starting to like Multiply over this blog… Hmm…

I Type 66 Words Per Minute

“Inspired” by Mr. Danny Arao’s entry about his typing skills, I took the typing test he mentioned and got the following result:

66 words

Speed test

It even said:

274 points, so you achieved position 54575 of 326663 on the ranking list

You type 353 characters per minute
You have 66 correct words and
you have 0 wrong words

That’s about 6 characters per second, and approximately a single word per second. Should I aim for a faster typing skill?

Thinking About a Lot of Things a Lot, Wanting to Do a Lot. Lots.

Two thousand eight na.

I’m 23. Still young. But confused. Well, somehow. Not really.

At times I feel as if I’m getting older but without a clear direction or even vision to where I’m going. Still, sometimes I get the feeling that really, I am so young, and that thought comforts me. What makes me think about a lot of things a lot is that I want to do a lot. Lots.

It’s not that I want to really do those lots of things to the point of making a career out of each of them. It’s just that I don’t know what to do with those lots of things and how to do those lots of things. It may not be obvious, but I can be impatient.

Nothing to worry about. Oh, well.

My problem is that with those lots of things I want to do is that I really do not know what to make as a career. I’m not good with research. I prefer to make my advocacy a personal undertaking separate from my work where I earn. I hate corporate jobs, bu I may still take a chance on it. So, what?

Now, I’m learning how to use and take good pictures with a film SLR. Nice. Although expensive.

Live on.

Live each day superbly! Yeah.

Hindi ako nagrereklamo sa buhay ko. Masaya nga e. Kasi sa buhay naman, kahit may problema, kahit may pait, kahit may gusot, kahit may pumapalpak, sa kagustuhan ng tao ay kaya niyang pagandahin ito. Maaaring sa paniniwala sa Diyos, sa pag-iisip ng magagandang bagay, sa pagkakaroon ng positibong pananaw sa buhay, kaya ito ng isang tao — kaya mo, kaya ko, kaya natin, kaya nila.

Subalit, heto na naman ako sa yugto ng buhay ko kung saan hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko.  Naguguluhan, nalilito, napa-praning, nasasabik, natutuwa, naliligayahan, nalulumbay, ngunit patuloy na nabubuhay.
*Hindi ko na ito natuloy.  Ngunit, nakagawa ako ng iba sa Multiply, dito.

It’s Acid

My throat is getting bad once again. It’s not tonsillitis. My previous consultations with doctors say it’s pharyngitis.

I have an overnight beach escapade this weekend with high school friends, then a (first-time) river trek next weekend with college friends and other people. Hence, I can’t be sick!

Despite the expensive consultation fee with the doctor, I went to M-Tech Medical to have my throat checked. I think it was worthwhile (I want to think that way).

I told the doctor, Dr. Pillas, about my throat. She then asked me if I usually get a cold. I said no. Then she asked me if I usually suffer hyper-acidity. I didn’t know really. I said sometimes.

Anyway, the diagnosis was that acid in my stomach gets it way up to my esophagus and to my throat, thus causing irritation. Sounds convincing.

She gave me prescription for two medicines, one for five days before every meal, while the other is for thirty days to be taken thirty minutes before breakfast.

Hence, the following is the list of the things I should and shouldn’t do:

1. Eat regularly at the right time. Don’t skip meals. (I don’t skip meals, but sometimes miss breakfast.)
2. Eat breakfast.
3. Refrain from eating chocolates, coffee, soda, iced tea, and the likes. (Oh, please! Don’t take chocolates away from me!)
4. Eat lots of vegetables. I like that.
5. Drink lots of water - not too cold, not too hot, just right.

Easy. Except for not eating chocolates.

For those delicious chocolates, here’s my understanding of the situation:

My throat gets easily irritated because of the acid. Chocolate and sweets worsen the irritation, but are not the main culprit of the problem. Hence, once my problem with acidity becomes manageable, I can go back to eating lots of chocolates, right? Yummy!

Now, I’m getting better.