Went out with colleagues after our shift to release the tension after having a job interview as well as to catch up on things. I had to divert my mind off to what had happened rather than keep them inside.

We stayed up late in a 24-hour McDonalds branch. We ate, and in the process, we talked. Work, commitments, change, career, love, life; I miss talking late at night. The call for expressing one’s thoughts and share them to people who, more or less feel the same way, is soothing.

I also liked the music that was playing in the background. It added drama to the supposedly serious topics we’ve discussed aside from feeling sorry for ourselves. We were too weary to just think of the present that we resulted to making balls out of tissue paper and throwing them at the empty sundae cups, hoping to shoot and score. 

We should definitely have these conversations again. The best time to talk I assume would be in the wee hours, when everything is calm and the weather is cold. Words would just flow freely from the mundane to the profound. It doesn’t matter if the topic would be as shallow as gossip, or as deep as purpose. When you converse with people who also listen, it helps a lot; especially when you couple it with booze (which we didn’t do). The important matter is to be able to vent rather than cramp them up in one space.

When I got home, I arrived at around 2:30am; despite having work the next few hours. A good thing is I was too tired to think of anything so I just dozed off to sleep.

• Got tagged by One Attitude, thanks Lex! 

If I’ve tagged you, here are the rules:
Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself. Tag seven random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a notification on their blog.

Random Weirdness:

• I get bored easily.
• I’m pessimistic.
• I don’t like using shortcut texts when sending SMS.
• People think I’m immature for my age, but actually, it’s just a cover up.
• I talk a lot.
• I always wear a blanket when I sleep, even if it’s hot.
• I love the beach!

——————

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given below (family, friend, yourself, your love and anything you like).
2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.
3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments.

Here are my picks:
1)Family: Move out

• We were looking for another place here in Cebu since we’re constantly transferring from house to house for different reasons. Why I put it as part of the ‘family’ tag is my brother and I talked endlessly while searching for another house to crash in which we usually don’t do (talk, I mean) .

2)Friends: Time of My Life

• I visited Dumaguete back in 2005 which was a bit of awhile when I was able to see my highschool friends. Everything just came to place when I went there, but things have changed already.

3)Yourself:Three Questions

• This deals with different blogmates being able to ask me three questions about anything. I had a lot of responses because of this.

4)Your Love: K.O.

• A poem I wrote. I never knew I could write this way though.

5)Anything You Like: Tulala

• I just picked one of my random posts. This was when I was working in a fastfood joint and schooling at the same time.

6pm. ‘Twas raining when I was going home from work. I wore a hooded sweater to cover myself form the weather (ha! It rhymed.) I was walking near the Fuente circle when I saw 2 women selling ice cream at 5 pesos per scoop to promote the flavors of the month for the upcoming holidays. Considering the price range, I bought one; which reminded me of the time when I was young.

Kindergarten, I was in glee when I saw the ice-cream-man who was ringing his bell motioning for the children to buy his product. I bought one for myself in the process. However, I cried when the frozen delight fell off from my cone after school. I was later pacified when my guardian bought me another 3 scoops. But you can only imagine my face looking at the wasted treat melting on the ground.

Before, I was complaining upon getting a broken tooth extracted. But afterwards, I was treated with a couple of scoops to divert my attention from the pain. I asked mama if I could get all my teeth removed in exchange for how many gallons. She just exchanged me with a sneer.

In grade school, I’d used up my allowance just to satisfy myself of this frozen delight even without eating lunch. My classmates warned me that my stomach would grumble any minute since I didn’t have anything inside. But it didn’t ache; I even continued the same act the next few days. 

There was even a time when we went out with colleagues at work in celebration of passing our work training. I was pretending to get drunk just because my workmate promised he’d buy me some dessert. I shut my mouth from talking too much when I was able to get my fix.

I love ice cream, everyone does, I assume. It never fails to brighten my mood. ICE CREAM = HAPPINESS, not really much of an equation; but not really a point for debate as well. It’s always associated with a celebration, whether it be a birthday, Christmas or a simple get-together where people want to just let loose and talk. You can always see grins on people’s faces whenever you see them with a cone, glass, bowl or cup at hand.

I imagine myself arriving from a long and busy day, alone in my room.  Outside, it’s raining very hard, I have the air conditioner on  full blast and even a fan directing towards me. I’d wrap myself in the thickest blanket and I’d watch my favorite cartoon show; holding a pint of ube ice cream while savoring every moment of solitude.

*Sigh* I later realized it’s not really because of the ice cream alone, but more of remembering memories of a blissful childhood complimenting the scenarios associated with life’s pleasures.

As the title suggests, I’m back to blogging. It’s been a pretty long while before I started to come back to updating and sharing my thoughts. I believe you can say I found a life living. But then, when everyday seems like the same day, you have to find ways to make it eventful. Hence, I’m looking for other ways to release some extra energy without having to spend much.

So, what happened between then and now? Maybe I’ll discuss it the next few posts, or not.

But I’m glad I’m done transferring my files from Blog-city to Blogspot to Wordpress! ‘Twas so tiring, I can’t imagine I was able to move almost 4 years worth of entries! Now I’m pooped.

When I heard the news that Blog-city was cutting its service for free users like me, I said I didn’t care anymore since I stopped writing altogether during those times. But in any case, I was able to save most of my entries in my gmail account in instances that I needed to back-up. So in that course, I just finished transferring my files painstakingly one by one to my mail.

I went on hiatus for quite a while since I was able to find a job that required more than the usual attention than my part-time work in fast-food joints before. Plus the new environment and adjustment, not to mention studying with a full load at the same time; my schedule was jam-packed!

However, as usual, I stopped schooling again which led me to be inactive at work after living in the fast track for awhile. After discovering that a colleague was able to earn some money while blogging, the interest sparked in me again. There were also a lot of stories I wanted to share but couldn’t because of the medium of articulating my thoughts vanished for a certain period. But I was determined to revive the desire to share my experiences again. Hence, I searched for other hosts.

I applied first for a Wordpress account since I still wanted to maintain the simplicity and the no-frills interface of my former blog host. But with the plainness of Wordpress, comes the limited features in store. I couldn’t configure the template as well as add some more elements that catered to my interests. As a result, I went to the tried and tested Blogspot powered by Blogger. I have set-up an address already, I had to migrate my posts via email. I emailed them one by one to my blogspot account.

But after my colleague found out that I actually had a lot of entries, she proposed a deal with details I’d rather not disclose. She gave me my own domain and I’m back to Wordpress again. I noticed that I had about 140+ entries, and going back to reposting them one by one was such a task already.

I also tried saving my files using RSS and uploading them thru the RSS Import feature in Wordpress. However, when I previewed my site, it didn’t pull up the whole entry directly. So I had to find other means of moving them. But later I realized that since this is already a premium account, I should have an “Import” feature ready somewhere. I just had to click on the IMPORT instructions of Wordpress and used Blogger as the location where I could get my files. I followed the steps and I was actually able to get my old entries directly to Wordpress! But in the middle of the transfer though, it stopped and hung. I was only able to successfully bring in 74 out of the entries. I kept refreshing the site many times but it just stopped importing altogether. So since I’m such a hardworking person (sheesh), I single-handedly copied and pasted the remaining entries again.

A colleague bought me a domain so we can maximize our blogs. I’m planning to join some payperpost sites as well as try to sign up for ads to put so at least I can monetize it in a way. I thought at first that I’d compromise my standing since I really blogged for its sake alone. But then again, we have to be practical in most situations. Though some entries will come up too tacky since I’ll be advertising different sites, I speculate that it won’t matter that much as long as I can make some moolah. Besides, in the end it will still be me.

I miss blogging though. I want to express my thoughts rather than keep them inside. I can’t even believe I have my own domain since I’m such a cheapskate. All those tiring processes as a final point paid off. And now I’m starting anew. Hope this will last. It should, since I’m tied.

Setting up a business the conventional way is a bit tiring and time-consuming nowadays. You have to find the perfect location for your targeted market. You have to think of how you are going to present your services. You have to think of various gimmicks or even how you would display them without even really getting the highest publicity so that you can attract different clients. All these would cost a hefty amount that you could most likely have invested in some other things to increase your commodities.

That’s why we should take advantage of the technology that the 21st century can offer, especially the internet. There are various shopping cart locations that the web can provide that will really assist you in your business ventures. If you need to advertise and you require a place to sell your products with maximum exposure, the best possible solution to that problem would be to log online.

There are a mixture of ecommerce software hosts that will grant you ample space and time to make the most out of promoting your goods. One of them as I’ve scanned through would be Ashop Commerce which is a chief US source of hosted shopping cart software.

They definitely have a lot of things to offer you which is also what you need to pass it forward to your customers. You even have the option to check their site out for a trial period, just to give you a feel of what it’s like to buy the full version. I highly advise you to check out their website for you to experience the thrill of being able to showcase your stuff in a first-class manner!

Random things. 

This is what I created using MS paint when we were so bored doing nothing already.  

The previous week was a long one. We had an account activity at the beach but it rained.

A friend & I went to another beach in the South (Alcoy, Cebu) but there was a storm. *sheesh*

Work was a blur, but I had an interview for a higher position I applied for. I guess it was okay. But it could’ve been better.

Got my first pay through writing which is something I’m so proud and happy about. All the more I plan to continue this sideline.

I met an old friend again, but it felt like we were strangers already. Am I just forcing myself to be sad and lonely? I don’t think so.

I’m sometimes afraid of going to the casino because people seem so adept with the knowledge of the different events available inside. Of course, it’s all about tricking the people, making them believe you know a lot but actually not in reality; bluffing or faking, so to speak.

Not that I’m always inside the casino, since it’s just a walking distance from where I’m working; but I try my best to at least understand the concepts of every competition. Most of the time, it’s just a game of chance; just that I don’t want to get compromised in the process.

I’m still having a hard time adjusting to the environment inside. That’s why for now, I’m making the most of the time I have on the web by frequently visiting online casino review spots. I had a hard time as well since you don’t know which site to rely on since it also involves money. I chanced upon pro360.com, which is uniquely different from all the other ones out there.

They started business since 1997 which is one of the indications that they are serious about the information they are presenting. They have a list of casino sites complete with reviews and even editor ratings to better distinguish the level of credibility of each casino place they evaluate. From Blackjack to Backgammon to Poker to Bingo to Sports Betting, they have a lot of data available according to your desire. I’m certainly going to browse through their pages and what they can give. So, when I can go and meet with the big league, I’ll be ready.

Everybody’s into ecommerce nowadays, everyone’s venturing into online business. Who wouldn’t? Knowing that you can reach billions of people who are connected via the internet, you can unquestionably find and earn stuff to your advantage.

So when you’re planning to start your own trade, dealing with the public and looking for a place to start a shopping cart station is what you have to be very keen about since you don’t want operations to fumble when you’ll go live. There are a number of ecommerce software services out there since we’re talking about the World Wide Web. However, one particular host caught my attention when a colleague notified me about it.

Ashop Commerce is a principal provider of hosted shopping cart software which provides a complete solution for merchants to sell stuff online. They give you ample space in choosing and designing the lay-out of your page so that it would also fit the merchandise you’re selling. You don’t even have to be a web guru for you to be able to customize your themes, as they already have top-notch pre-designed templates that will aid you to attract more visitors and potentially, customers.

What’s even great about it is they have a trial version for building your own place without asking you for your credit card. So better try out the packages that they offer and start your online industry today!

got an award  from Wena.

“To Eds of Soloflighted … another beautiful person inside out … I admire the way you think, your perseverance and your optimistic outlook in life … don’t let people put you down, you know your worth … they don’t so keep your head up high.”

— thanks wena! Without a doubt, I’d also pass this beautiful award to you not because I couldn’t think of anything else, but of course it represents you as a person who has your own will. I like the fact that you have your own way already of deciding things according to your own intuition. Thanks for the lending ear as well as the encouraging words at a point when I felt so low.

I’ve always thought that bloggers who claim that they’re earning funds through maintaining their sites was a hoax. People would just react with a confused look if ever they mentioned that they’re able to monetize their blogs; that was then. But when a friend introduced me to people who are actually receiving cold cash just by pursuing their writing passions, I also jumped and joined the bandwagon.

There are a number of sites out there that offer ready cash for us writers wanting to make use of our talents. One trusted resource would be smorty.com. The good thing about it is it doesn’t only cater to bloggers, but to advertisers as well. If you have a product or service you want to promote and want people to be notified, you can definitely hire some bloggers to publicize them for your target market.

I’ve been blogging for almost 4 years. Sometimes I’d wonder if I only knew this early on, I would’ve been rich already. That’s why I don’t want to waste time anymore. If you want to get paid to blog, get paid for blogging, or do blog advertising, advertise on blogs; or basically just blog for money, I highly recommend you sign up for an account and get ready to be amazed of being rewarded for your skills!

When I started working, I just turned 17. That was 4 years ago, and right now, I’m still working. Though the job greatly changed and my role became better, I’ve always regretted that every year, I couldn’t save. I’d reassess myself and my finances and wonder where my money went. I always blame that I have other more important things to give more attention. But then again, I’d ask myself: “Am I not important?”

I sometimes imagine the possibilities of being sick, or father a baby, or meet a catastrophe; or to make it less brutal, wake up broke. Certainly, I don’t want to put myself in such predicaments. So before one of those days hit me like a slap in the face and find that I’m not ready, I’d better think of other options to decrease the chances of me not being prepared.

I figured I should begin cutting down on expenses and investing my money into something I can benefit from in the future. I was scouting online for Quoting Insurance Services that would be help me and would be suitable for my income.They have different Insurance Quotes as well as you can check their Online Insurance Policy. I’m looking forward to their Employee Benefit Package that is indeed gainful at least to my current status. I don’t want to waste time anymore, you shouldn’t too. Sign up now for a Life Family Plan Premium or if you have an employees, a Corporate Insurance Plans for Employers. Definitely, you can Save Money on Insurance Premium just by applying online! 

I got a ‘meme’ –> this is the first time I’ve encountered this word and I think I’ll be using this a lot, hehe. thanks wena.

1. How long have you been blogging?

• Since 2003. A couple of ups and downs, and did a long break for awhile, but now I’m back.

2. What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?

• I started a blog since I was dead-tired of not having anyone to talk to during freshman year of college. I didn’t have company and I was looking for respite online.

3. Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

• Before I did it for fun, right now, I’m trying to make some moolah. Still TRYING. hehe

4. Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.

•  Distance doesn’t matter.
• It’s not messy when you look at pictures that friends have just uploaded.
• The endless possibilities.

5. Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE within the online world.

• The hassle of not having my own PC yet.
• CSS, HTML and other web codes.
• Updates and keeping up with what’s going on with the rest of cyberspace.