cebu...after four years

Four years sure is a long time to be away from what once was home. The cityscape has changed a lot yet the old streets stayed the same. Nevertheless it's still easy to get lost. I did. I found myself in front of USC-TC on my way to USJR on my fourth day.

Finally, after 10 long years I was able to renew rny professional license and took a peek on whats's inside Fort  San Pedro and  Taoist temple.

Staying at Ayala -labas- was a joy with coffee after each home-cooked meals, loads of  movies, and the pleasant company of Patsy and Greg.

finding a partner

Some had it easy, but it sure was difficult for me.
They say I was too picky. And I say, "I can't be too careful."
But now, I had to take action or forever hold my peace.

Cuchi turned two last November  and in terms of readiness, she sure is in that zone, when having babies (or puppies) is a welcome change.

Last Sunday, I was alarmed to see Cuchi's hind leg smeared with blood and occasional droplets marred the tiled floor. She didn't look hurt though so I looked at her behind.

It was that time of year.

At home, I excitedly shared the good news with dad and engaged him to set a transaction with Tita Nem. Unfortunately, the once sickly stud has completely lost the use of its legs and referred tatay to another breeder.
The name was more than familiar. Sis wouldn't let me hear the last of it when I relayed the information. Hahaha.

Funny thing is  that, though I know the breeder from high school, I never uttered a word in his (yes, the breeder is a "he") direction ever. The meeting went well, without any embarrassing interlude. His stud was too old, he said so he referred me to another person. The good thing is that I know breeder number three and dad was an old friend of his dad as well. And so, the meet and greet was set for the weekend.

Cuchi and myself arrived bright and early. I was able to meet the dog owner's mom and had a very good conversation with his old man. I had to leave though for some last minute preparation for the field trip. When I came back three hours later, I was told that the attraction was present but that it was physically impossible without a shooter to help out owing to the size of 'pre (that's how they call the stud named after their 'kumpare' who gave the dog).

See, I tried but it wasn't meant to be

BB Curve Browsing Issue

All through the holidays, wi-fi browsing has been completely useless. With the new addition to the family plus the cleaning (I worked only mornings and rested in the afternoon: fitted our pedestrian entrance with paver stones on one day, cleaned the toilet and bath another time and brushed clean the old folks' room) that waited all year to happen,  there was very little time to sit in front of the computer and search for a workable answer .
Illumination came not five minutes after searching. The problem was, BB shows that it's connected to a local hotspot but  when visiting any website, the screen flashes up "requesting..." as normal, and then goes to "loading" with a white screen, but never loads the web page. I tried powercycling many times and it didn't work. 
This guy, JSanders of BB Support community suggested to remove the battery for a few seconds while the unit is on and reinsert. Wait for less than five minutes for the phone to reboot . I did all that and have since been browsing the web. Sweet (FB  now looks as it appears on a PC).
Since I was not registered with the forum, I wasn't able to thank the person who posted the brief troubleshooting which made wireless browsing possible again.

what's new?

Besides the fact that we have entered a new year, what I like about last 24 hours were...
> the families from Bilbao and La Rioja were well represented and shared a quite early dinner of Chinese                                  claypot rice (with chicken, Chinese sausage and shitake mushrooms) and grilled milkfish. We enjoyed a short after dinner talk over mango cake (created by sis' bff shine)  and maja blanca.

> To avoid my pet peeve, (firecrackers,  since 4th grade when a classmate, Glan, threw a watusi in my direction), fed the dogs with Mary and had Pooh on the leash before going on our way to sis's crib before 6:30 (it is already dark with the orange red sun peeking from the horizon).
> Waiting for bro to join me, I finished watching three movies (When in Rome, The First Daughter and Danielle Steel's Safe Harbor) while nursing a mug of instant coffee and nibbling a big slice of the butter frosted mango cake.

> Surprise! Surprise! New Year wasn't as scary as I have experienced. Bro arrived at midnight. I spied kids happily blowing their disposable horns or holding sparklers. From time to time they oohed and aahed at the display of lights under the dark sky. We were able to share the experience with the neighbors (though behind closed gates)

Change for the good, therefore, is not impossible.
2012 promises to be a better year.
Amen.