Disaster

Ganito kasi yun.....merong isang DS cartridge dito na hindi ko alam na sira. Ginamit ni D sa DS nya, pero nag-r-report daw ng error yung DS -- sabi daw, "not found." Nung titingnan ko na, ayaw naman sumindi. Akala ko, dead battery lang, ipina-charge ko. Hindi din sumindi yung charging LED!

Pa-saklolo ke Papa. E di sige, kalikot dito, kalikot dun. Naghanap pa ng ibang baterya ng DS at ibang charger ng DS. Ayaw pa din. Patay. Bad news, wala na daw talaga, hopeless case na. Good news, ikinuha ko yun ng Product Replacement Plan.

So, tawag ako. Ok na daw. Papadala sila ng prepaid mailing label, ipadala ko sa kanila yung DS (in the complete original package), and after 2 weeks, papadalhan nila ako ng gift card for the original purchase price (plus tax!). Sale ko nabili yun, pero ok na din.....at least konti na lang idadagdag ko para ibili ng kapalit. Ok na din maghintay ng 2 weeks. Pasukan na, e.

Ang kaso, kinabukasan, pati yung isang DS, hindi na din umaandar. Nanghiram si D ng DS, ginamit nya yung salaring DS cart. Pero di pa namin alam na sira pala yun. Akala ko discharged lang yung battery. Sisindi sandali, tapos namamatay na. To the rescue ulit si Papa. Ganun ulit, same-same. And by the process of elimination -- sira nga yung DS cart, at malamang, gina-ground nya yung circuit ng DS. Kamalas naman.

Pero August pa lang pala. September last year yun binili. Haha! Baka me pag-asa pa. 1 year dapat ang manufacturer warranty. Sige, halukay. Buti nandyan pa yung resibo. Sakto, meron pang 2 weeks. Tawag naman syempre akong Nintendo. Una, nag-s-suggest pa sila ng troubleshooting. Pero nung sinabi kong nag-rigodon ang mga charger at mga baterya dito, mukhang wala na din daw siyang magagawa. Kinuha credit card number ko, i-ship na nila yung palit, isoli ko sa kanila yung luma. Pag hindi ko binalik yung sira, i-charge nila sa card ko. Ok na din. At least sa Monday, nandyan na.

Parking

Ampogi, no?

Long weekend

Just got back from another trip, this time to LA. Our friends' son, Y, had his birthday last Friday so they decided to go to Disneyland for that. We had some parties in the LA area as well, so we decided to tag along. We left SJ on Thursday, then off to Pasadena to meet up with friends for dinner.

Friday, we spent the whole day in Disneyland. But of course, why wouldn't we? The kids had a blast going on rides. It was good timing, too. The queues to the rides weren't too bad, so we were able to survive without getting fast pass tickets. We went on a couple of rides in Disneyland, then we transferred to California Adventure. We stayed until past 11; would have stayed longer, but the kids were really worn out by then, so we just headed back to the hotel.

Oh.....but I saw Turk! Haha!

Saturday was another long day. We met up with my HS class in Oxnard for a mini-reunion. There was a lot of food......best of all, there was isaw! After lunch, we headed out to the beach about 10 mins away from AS' house. There was a cool breeze and the weather was really pleasant. Took some pictures, and finally parted ways at around 4:30. Next stop: Outlets.

R&Y and family met with some friends, too, and headed onto the outlets. We decided to meet up with them there after our mini-reunion. After that, we drove down PCH to go by Malibu on the way to Santa Monica. We did a stop at Neptune's Net for dinner -- clam chowder was awesome!

We arrived at Santa Monica Pier shortly after 9. Did some games then the kids went on rides. A was really happy. She was saying we should stop playing games for toys because she has a lot of them already, we should just go on rides. The kiddie rides were kiddie versions of thrill rides, so A was really excited to be able to try them. Again, we stayed until after midnight.

Sunday, we met up for an early lunch with my CD friends J & R. It's been a while, so there was a lot of talking. We had to leave soon, though, because we were heading back home that afternoon. We were back on the road by 2PM. We were able to catch up with R&Y and family who were headed back home, too. We rode together for a couple of hundred miles until we left I-5.

Now, back home, nursing a sore throat after 3 days of sleeping late and nonstop talking. Yaaay!

Superpowers

Overheard from the backseat:

D: We will transform to be the.....

D & A: Super sissies!

A: D, what's your super power? I have the power to rhyme!

D: What?

Month long

It's been a month?! Wow. I must have been so busy, it hadn't occurred to me that I haven't even looked here.

So, anyway, what has happened through the month?


Vacation!

The hubby had a business conference in MS land. Since the kids are on school break (even though I am not), we decided to all go for the trip to visit friends. The trip was ok. We were out of the house for almost 10 days, which was really tiring, but all the same, a welcome break. Disappointing that after being told the weather was cooler there, it was hot as hell, and ironically, the weather was really pleasant in SJ, which was odd because it was hot when we left, and it was hot after we got back. But I guess that is a good thing, because otherwise, it would have been either overcast or raining.

Then we took a side trip to Canada, which was only a couple of hours' drive from MS land. It wasn't a long drive and it was all green, but after the first hour, we were looking forward to see civilization. Well, I don't know. Maybe we've just gotten used to driving across Cali and it's all either desert, mountain or farm.


Birthday!

D turned 9 while we were there. My gosh.....where did time fly to? It wasn't a big celebration since we were on a trip, but because there was that business conference, some old friends who attended the conference got invited to the birthday dinner as well. She was happy. She got a lot of stuff plus money that we put in her bank account. Then she said she wanted to watch WALL-E. We did, but we didn't find time until a couple of days after. It was good that she was pretty content. She didn't ask for material stuff, which is always good.


Reunion

When we were scheduling the trip, I called one of my best friends who live close to MS land to check if we can meet-up. Unfortunately, she said they were going to the Philippines 2 weeks before our scheduled trip, and would be there until October. But when we got there, I still tried calling her and left a message. Just in case something in their plans changed and she happened to still be there, although I wasn't expecting anything. The following day, she called me up and she was still there. She was leaving in a couple of days, although she said we can definitely meet up before she goes. I had a window that same afternoon, so we jumped on it. We met up at the Town Center where the kids were able to play outside in the water. Then we had dinner together, and she was inviting us to her house. We were meaning to go, but the kids woke up late, and I had to arrange D's birthday dinner, so we were not able to. She was able to go to the birthday dinner, though, so it was all good. Well, anyway, we were able to hook her up with other friends who are in the area as well, so I think that was good for them as well.


Spilled milk

So, somebody spilled milk on the carpet a couple of days ago. We thought we were able to get everything out, but apparently, we were wrong. So wrong, in fact, that whatever was left got spoiled and started stinking really bad. It was so bad, that any attempt to clean it out only made it worse. We had no resort but to have the carpet shampooed. So we did. It has improved now, but still it smells a bit. Maybe, I should get something from the grocery to take care of it.

Father's day

It's still Father's day. This afternoon, we went to visit a dead uncle's grave. While we were there, I took the chance to remember my dad. I imagined I was standing over my parents' graves instead. I had a sudden flashback and what I saw surprised me.

I was 10 years old and we just laid my mother to her grave. I don't remember anything else other than seeing my dad holding on to one of the tent posts, crying. I remember thinking I have never seen him like that. I remember being worried about how we'll do after that. I remember holding my sister's hand. She was just a bit older than A is now.

And then it occurred to me: I have no memory of how the following days went by. I can't remember how we coped. I don't remember my dad mourning. I don't know how long before he went back to work. I just know that he did. He wasn't a husband anymore, but he had to go on being a father. I won't say he's perfect. He had his shortcomings, but I can't blame him. It hadn't been easy for him. But now I know, everything he did, he was trying to be a good father.

When I was in high school, I went to a friend's house one weekend to do a project. It was storming, but I went ahead anyway. That night, I couldn't go home because there was a flash flood. I was stranded. I could have stayed over at my friend's house, but my dad wouldn't have it. Never mind that he had to drive through floods and heavy traffic, he went to come get me.

And he never asked for anything in return. When we were young, he always told us that we don't owe him anything. He's always said what we owe him for raising us, we owe to our children to raise them well. He never went back on his word. We've never heard anything, not even a suggestion that we had obligations to him. He'd always say, "Ipunin nyo na lang para sa mga bata." When we'd shower him with gifts, he'd say, "Ang dami ko nang utang sa iyo." When I suggested he retire and we'll take care of his expenses, he shrugged me off. "Kaya ko pang magtrabaho, mag-ipon na lang kayo."

I don't know of anybody more selfless than that.

Happy father's day, dad.

Unlucky

I don't believe in psychic, palm, tarot or any of those kinds of readings. At least, that's what I've been telling myself to think.

I've always wanted to believe that life is what we make it. Part of our destinies might have been determined for us even before we were born, but what is life if you just follow a preordained path? Where is the challenge if it's already been decided anyway, even before you've begun? Why even try, if in the end, your efforts might not have anything to do with what has been kept in store? I don't know.

Don't get me wrong. What fate drives my way, I take with all my heart. I fight my battles and make the most of it. But I still want to think that they were handed to me as a consequence of my actions in the past. Not because it is paving a path toward what and where I should be in the future. What I would be in the future should be but a consequence of my actions today. But is that really the case?

I've had friends who've dabbled in penmanship writing, card reading, palm reading and that sort of stuff. I would always be a willing victim because I'm a curious cat. And you know what they say about curiosity and cats, right?

Of all those times, I've never heard a good word. Most of them were even morbid. One of my friends, I had to force for him to actually tell me what he saw in my cards. He said it was too morbid for him to even want to say it. I told him I thought that was unfair and that I deserved to know. Those were my cards. But all those things I heard, I pushed at the back of my mind. I didn't want to be held prisoner by what I knew, morbid or not.

What got me thinking is that the last of those morbid "predictions" has already come true. It took longer than I thought. Close to 15 years, I would say. But they all did. So, what's next? Did it end there because that was only how far they saw? Or is it because at that time, that was only how far my actions went? Of course, I'm hoping it would be the latter.