Poem – Concern To Others

My daughter requested help on writing a short poem on showing concern to others and its importance and I came up with this one. Hope you will enjoy it, too.

Butterfly on a Flower

CONCERN TO OTHERS

Smile genuinely and a smile
And a smile from the lips of a person
Who is lonely you will see
And happiness will spread to others contagiously

Extend a hand to the needy
And someday when you feel weary
You may find someone without looking
A helping that is ready.

To others, be good always
Show concern when you can
And your heart will be filled with joy
Like a gift from heaven.

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You Will Miss All The Shots You Have Not Taken

Sometimes, we prefer to live in the safety of our four-cornered walls. Although we want some changes, there is the fear of taking risks due to different reasons. Some may just be contented of what they are or what they have. Then later on, as we grow older and have more time to reminisce or have a look at the pictures of the past, some may try to wonder and ask the question “Where will I be now if I had the courage to face the risks.”

Some opportunities that passed by may come again but the events surrounding the said opportunity is forever gone. It is like the shots that you have not taken and missed hoping for a better view on the next corner or street. You can go back again at the same street but some leaves on the trees may have already fallen, flowers may have closed and the rays of the sun is already at a different angle, therefore, the view is already different.

Keep shooting. As they say, getting the perfect shot is not easy. But you will never know that you have the perfect shot if you have not taken any shot at all.

Back to Work

After almost 3 months of leave, I am back to work. On the first day, I had to immediately render a 16 hours overtime following an 8 hours duty. This is a normal situation in the facility so whoever is on duty must always be prepared.

I had another 16 hours overtime last night totalling my overtime to 32 hours. Now, the only question is will it be paid or not and when will it be paid if it will be paid? Most of us have not yet received last year’s payment for overtime services but no one can refuse to render overtime due to the nature of our work.

Schedule will change next week so I have more time to tinker with my computer again. That is, if the result I am waiting for is unfavorable. Otherwise, it will be a life-altering decision. For now, I’ll just enjoy and spend what little time I have in continuing my many unfinished projects.

Problems with GSIS Remittances and Payments

As an overview, Government Service Insurance System popularly known as GSIS

… is mandated to provide and administer the following social security benefits for government employees: compulsory life insurance, optional life insurance, retirement benefits, disability benefits for work-related contingencies and death benefits.
In addition, the GSIS is entrusted with the administration of the General Insurance Fund by virtue of R.A. 656 of the Property Insurance Law. It provides insurance coverage to assets and properties which have government insurable interests.

Being a member of GSIS, monthly contributions are automatically deducted from my salary and our company remits the payments monthly.  There was a time when I badly needed money that there was no choice except to file for a loan. The amount that can be loaned was dependent on how many months has a member been paying.

Upon checking, I discovered that there were unpaid monthly contributions and that the interests had already piled-up. In order to meet the minimum number of months, I submitted copies of receipts. The first set was misplaced so I submitted another set in order to update the records.

I checked also our Optional Policy but it was worse since we do not even have policy number. We’ve been paying for years yet it was not recorded. I had to request copies of receipts to prove my claim. If the GSIS employees who are in-charge in updating the payment records do their updates on time, didn’t they even question why I was paying yet I do not have an account or optional policy number?

I have not checked my account yet but I remember to post this now because another employee’s policy has matured. The problem was there were too many deductions on the maturity amount. Upon checking, he found out that the deducted amounts had already been deducted when he applied for a loan. This is still unsolved since according to him, GSIS does not issue refunds.

These GSIS problems are not isolated. Almost every employee that retires or whose policy has matured encounter similar problems. Unupdated database records of payments, surcharges, large sum of deductions due to nonpayment (unupdated) and interests.

Another question is why updates of what members owe are up-to-date but updating payment records are always delayed. Sometimes, payments are not even entered into the database.

With all the controversies surrounding GSIS, I hope to see a better service from this agency.

Quarter Ender

The last day for the quarter was a very frustrating day. Why?

• I had to rush and manually restore the contents of a client’s 3 websites because the contents suddenly were nowhere to be found.  The webhost still can not explain where and why did it happen. Quick thinking barely saved the day.
• With less than 2 hours of sleep and no time to review for the day’s exam, I rushed to school.
• A heavy rain soaked me practically the whole morning.
• Half-point needed to pass the Grammar exam. Hope some points will be added when rechecked.
• A point needed to pass the Qualifying exam. Well, I did review at lunch time. Unfortunately, I reviewed the wrong material. TG the passing score was lowered.
• The new umbrella I bought in the morning was left at school.

School events finished, it’s party time. Unsure whether to attend or not, I finally went. Had some friendly conversations with the company and some advice to a younger company while preparing the food. Then, eating time. Pictures here and there. Some beers and tequila. At about 3AM, I decided to sleep. Yes, an overnight party ended the quarter.

That was an enjoyable way of ending the quarter that started not so well.

To everyone, goodluck to your next quarter of staying at school.