This is, for all intents and purposes, a rant.

I have a homesick, weathersick boy studying up in Baguio who wants to come home every weekend. Which is of course out of the question since a round trip to Baguio costs a few pesos shy of P1000. Going home every weekend would mean an additional load of at least four thousand pesos, not counting the extra money spent here and there because he is here and there.

I have told him several times to stay put. He has so many reasons why he doesn’t want to. Every now and then imaginary alarms go off in my head. Will he last the year? He can’t apply for transfer to Diliman after one semester, he has to finish the effing year.

One of the instances where you won’t need pet beds is if your pet doesn’t need one, like this bird I spotted somewhere in the municipality of Balud, Masbate province. This particular pet owner had more than just this bird, he also had what he claimed to be an eagle.

There may be an issue here, as people generally are not allowed to keep wild animals as pets. And although this particular owner does not have the “eagle” caged or chained up, the human has interfered with the animal’s normal means of food gathering, which is mostly the owners chickens.

One thing’s for sure, whole life insurance providers might blink at some of the means of transport we have in the provinces. Riding top side for instance, a common enough occurrence in most provinces in the Philippines, is definitely a dangerous practice. This is especially so on rough roads, and even on well paved highways where buses tend to go a lot faster. There are no seat belts. Methinks you need strong arms and legs to ride topside, which may be even similar to riding a bull at a rodeo.

One of the most useful things I learned from my husband is to always make friends with the cook when I’m away at camp. The great thing about being at this camp is there is a whole crew of them, and that makes for more friends

I’ve been to three new schools here in Masbate for this tour. One is within the vast compound of the company that is our client at work. The other two are in Masbate City and Palanas respectively. Masbate City is roughly two hours drive away, and Palanas around four.

I was expecting that schools in Masbate City would be quite up to date with computers and the internet, but apparently it isn’t. I have also found out that some schools have acquired the services of computer providers who lease computer sets along with an instructor, to schools who do not have both. These computer providers do not have insurance online to make sure the computers they lease out stay in good working condition, so they send “instructors” along with the lease.

The thing is, these “instructors” aren’t really instructors, they are guys who are probably ComSci graduates or Computer Technicians who know a thing or two about Windows and the internal parts of a computer, but have had absolutely no experience or training as instructors. In my opinion these companies are taking advantage of the schools’ need to have computer facilities as mandated by the Department of Education.