26

I celebrated my 26th birthday two Tuesdays ago without as much as a hoot.  Twenty-Six is just about the perfect time for someone to say something borne of his realisation of maturity so utterly profound and philosophical, something so deeply existential that it’s beyond his years.  Unfortunately, I don’t have that.  If I did, I would write a book.

If I live to be a hundred years old, then it's the beginning of a new quarter century but if I live only to be fifty, then it's the beginning of a new semester.  Either way, I should be getting some sort of marks for academics and deportment both of which I have not been exceptionally good at, based on my experience with school.  I have only ever been good at things that I really liked, and even then I quite normally get bored easily. 

Personally, I think I should be getting somewhere around B or B+, or around 86 to 92%.  Well, at least in the “academics” part of my life, if we could call it that.  I have a good job that pays well, it’s not the type of job I’ve always wanted but I’ve always said that if you can’t get the job that you like you might as well get a job that pays well enough so that you can do the things that you like.  And it’s done just that.

I’ve travelled a lot, to places that I never even dreamed of going.  My first out of country excursion was to Denmark back in 2002.  Travelling has always been a very satisfying yet surreal experience, whenever I land in unfamiliar territory I always ask myself, “What the hell am I doing here?”  From there I went on to China, Hongkong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, London and, most recently, Brunei.  I have travelled to more places outside the Philippines than inside.  I have friends that go to Boracay every summer while I fly out twice a year on average.  I would consider myself well-travelled.

I’m pretty much physically fit, or at least above average.  Of all the activities I enjoy, I don’t think I enjoy anything more than sports.  I don’t think there’s any sport I wouldn’t try.  Quite unfortunately, however, there isn’t as much time for it as there used to.  Back in college, I would have Tae Kwon Do training at least twice a week, and on the other days I would play basketball.  Now, all I have is badminton no more than twice a week and intermittent boxing sessions.  I would rather play basketball but all of my friends and those other people I used to play with are always busy or tired.  There’s always no more time.  I think as we grow older, more and more time is spent on work rather than on those things that actually make life meaningful.  And we wonder why people are so miserable.

I hardly consider myself good with people.  For the most part, I think I’m just one of those people that rubs other people the wrong way, one of those people you either just like or don’t like, and you have to be pretty darn tough to like me.  It doesn’t help that I have a fairly straightforward and self-righteous attitude towards meeting people, and I make no real effort at winning anyone’s cockles through wit or charm.  Nevertheless, I should have at least a C+ simply because of the friends I keep. 

Truly, the only real friends I have I met in college, except for maybe one or two I’ve made since then.  Otherwise, I am largely unsatisfied with the type of people I’ve been meeting.  People are mostly either pretentious or base, and the only other people that get along with those are also pretentious or base.  It’s so easy to throw the word “friend” around that it really doesn’t mean anything unless it’s backed up by some real effort.  Even then, most friends only last as long as it’s convenient and practical such as officemates and co-workers whose relationships last only as long their tenure with the company. 

The other truly decent people either have no time for making new friends, just as they might have no time for playing sports, or already have all the friends they need.  Also, they succumb just as well to the lack of convenience and practicality.  At this point, I’m not sure if it’s harder to make friends or to keep them.  It seems that each has its own challenges and pitfalls.  But frankly, I think I spend too little time with my real friends and too much with those who have nothing more to offer than entertainment and company.

There’s no wondering about what more life has to offer in the future.  I suppose one just has to prepare to live it, and maybe write about it again in a few years or at least when there’s something interesting to say about it.

And here are pictures of our inuman at Sidebar.  Good friends, good times.

Arthroscopic Partial Meniscusectomy

I underwent Arthroscopic Partial Meniscusectomy on the lateral meniscus of my right knee last Thursday due to a tear in the cartilage due to an injury I sustained during a game of badminton back in October 2006. 

Menisci are crescent shaped cartilages between the tibia and femur that serve to absorb weight in the knee and provide stability.  The end of the femur basically glides across the menisci whenever the knee is bent forward or backwards.  The tear causes an impediment to this gliding motion, sometimes wedging causing the knee to click or even lock.  Damage to the meniscus does not normally heal as such it is necessary to remove the damaged area, otherwise it may cause additional damage to the cartilage or to the bone in contact.

This illustration shows the different parts of the knee

No damage was obvious at the time of my injury even with an x-ray image, which really only shows that there were no broken bones but fails to show the condition of other tissues, but I had to endure at least a month of significant pain.  I was able to return to my normal activities approximately after two months but it was apparent that my knee was less than it was before.  It became necessary to wear a brace to provide additional stability during sports as I often felt that my knee was “loose”, however there were still instances where I would feel some pain especially during extreme lateral movements.  I would also often feel the knee clicking while walking and when doing stretching exercises, I could not bend it as fully as I could before. 

I first visited Dr Jaime Tamayo in July for my initial check up.  He ordered an MRI, quite an expensive operation, which allowed him to see the damage more precisely.  The MRI results showed that I had a radial tear on the lateral meniscus.

This illustration shows a horizontal cross-section of the knee

This illustration shows the same cross section with two types of tears.  This accurately depicts my injury, a radial tear on the lateral meniscus.

The procedure involved inserting an arthroscope, basically a small camera connected to a tube which can be inserted into a joint through a small incision.  Through a second incision, the doctor inserts another tool to remove and repair the tear.  I have no recollection of the operation because I was sedated during the entire procedure.  I understand an epidural was administered to anesthetize the lower half of my body.  Recovery from the anesthesia was brief was agonizing, due to the uncomfortable feeling of numbness.  As for the knee itself, I felt no significant pain except those caused by the stitches.  I was able to walk as early as 8 hours after the operations.

More information at www.orthspec.com.

I’m scheduled for a follow visit with the doctor in a couple of days but thus far I’ve been able to move the knee with sufficient freedom.

This photo was taken two days after the operation, the sutures can be seen.

Please, no more taxes!!

According to an Article by Iris C Gonzales of ABS-CBN news, "the government is losing P65 billion a year due to the non-issuance of OR".  While "taxes uncollected from self-employed professionals and individuals, meanwhile, amount to about P25.5 billion a year."  What it doesn't specify is whether this or how much of it is a result of poor tax collections procedures and enforcement, corruption and government inefficiency. 

Value Added Tax is an unusual thing because it "penalises" a person for purchasing a product or a service, an activity which is the most basic element of consumption and a driver of the economy.  It's a pass-on tax.  Manufacturers and service providers basically do not pay VAT because any products or services they sell would already have been priced with respect whatever costs, inclusive of VAT, they incurred in their entire operations.  Even the cost of the water their employees drink would have been taken into consideration.  VAT is only paid by consumers, by people who have most likely already also paid income taxes.

It's pretty obvious why people evade taxes by not issuing Official Receipts.  They want to purchase certain products, they need certain services but they are forced to pay more to get it.  A good example are doctor's consultations.  It's a basic medical service which everyone needs, but not everybody can afford.  If you go to get yourself checked, you'll probably get some sort of prescription for medicine.  So, imagine the doctor tells you that you're dying and he hands you a bill for P500 and you only have P550.  You ask for the receipt and he tells you he has to charge additional P50 due to tax and you know that the medicine that will save your life is that exact same amount.  What in heaven's name would you do?  You'd probably not pay the tax.

Where does the government get the gall to expect people to issue everyone receipts when they themselves CANNOT issue appropriate receipt, or even pay on time for services rendered to them.  The government is known, nay, infamous for being a late payer.  My car was once towed in Makati.  When I came to get it, I was issued a photocopy of what was supposed to be a receipt for P1000.  I say, F them.

Income Taxes I have no issue with, because it's sort of a social duty.  It's a way of giving back to society by supporting the government that runs the state.  Income is something tangible that you actually derive from society, thereby tax becomes repayment to society for allowing you to benefit from it.  That is the same reason I support tiering because if you benefit more from the society you live in, you should pay more.  It's sort of like rent, or societal rent, if you occupy more space, then you have to pay more rent.

Department of Finance Margarito Teves aptly said that “we have to continue improving our tax collection" in order to obtain the improvements we wish to see in infrastructure, social services, etc.  Even President GMA was warned NOT to increase taxes just to meet her goals, but to improve collections.  There is no question that improving collections is the key, there's also no question that the economy already has the throughput necessary to generate the necessary taxes to bring this country to and beyond a First World state of development.

The Philippine government is like an internal combustion engine, firstly because it runs the country, but also because it is inefficient.  A regular car engine is just about 25% efficient, releasing the most of rest of the energy in the form of heat and vibrations.  The engine just is not able to completely transfer all of the energy into turning the wheels.  There's just too many mechanical joints, screws, bolts, etc and the energy just goes off in all sorts of directions. 

Our government is just full of it.  I mean inefficiency.  Together with lots of corrupt money-grabbing politicians and other so-called public servants, lack of transparency, nepotism, inappropriate spending, etc, etc, etc - I'd say 25% efficient sounds about just right.  That means, for every P100 you pay in taxes, only P25 will actually be used on society.  I say, F them again.

People have every Goddamn reason not to pay taxes.  We're paying taxes for things that should not be taxed, and even for things that should be taxed, we don't know where it's going.  In fact, just adding taxes will just mean more people will evade.  The worst thing is, the people who actually pay the most taxes, the middle class, will be hit the most.  They're the ones who actually consume those products that have VAT, they're the ones whose incomes get taxed and they're the ones actually running this country. 

I'm really sensitive to taxes because I happen to pay a lot of it, only to be duped and disappointed by the government here and there.  I'm not saying there aren't good people in the government, willing to pull their own weight because even with all its inefficiencies and misdeeds, it's still running - like the inefficient internal combustion engine that it is.  It's just that there aren't enough good people, and there's so much room for improvement.

Slogan Shenanigans

Is it just me or did BPI make some major booboo in their recent ad campaign?

It's funny that one of their most-aired commercials is set on the MRT, about a bunch of people on their way to work dreaming about their futures.  If you didn't know better , you'd think the slogan was for the transportation company who owned the trains.

It seems like such a big budget campaign that it's stupefying how they could've missed that.  Ok, I'm sure somebody's going to say that they did that I'm purpose, but if they did that would make whoever came up with that slogan even more stupid.  It's "further", damn it!

Anyway, it looks like they just decided to own up to their little mistake.  I bet that's only because they'd already spent some major money on it.  OR MAYBE, they still haven't noticed it!! Anyway, I'm pretty sure most people wouldn't even notice.  It's just too bad because I actually liked the concept.

No justice to Cebuanas

The first time I saw this site, the words haven for pokpoks was the first thing to come to mind.  Funny but then I imagined some poor, fat , old and digusting white trash saying to himself in a southern in-bred hillbilly accent, "this'll be like shooting ducks in a barrel."  I also thought that these must be some really hapless and desperate women to advertise themselves in what seems to be nothing more than a virtual watering hole for fornicating foreign men.

I actually have nothing against dating sites per se but this one is just undignified.  And it really does not give any justice at all to Cebuanas. 

I'm sure that some foreigner reading this might take offense or be confused why there's a problem with a site like this.  Well, it's a socio-cultural thing boy-o.

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P.S.  Well, will you look at that.  The google ad on my multiply blog is Cebuanas.com. Ironically, on the exact same page where this post is publised.