im so sleepy. it's not because im so busy with my life that i cant get enough sleep. it's the other way around actually. i dont have anything else to do except to sleep. i think im averageing 10-12 hrs of sleep nowadays. ho hum.

and my blog's pretty much the same. lookit that. 4 entries for the entire month of june. and not one that actually makes me use me brain. blog fatigue anyone? and with me sticking it out with my company for the next couple of years, it's pretty much assured that news would rarely be forthcoming in that span as well.

but then again, i remember from a book i read before, if youre stuck with a life youre not enjoying, you just do something, do anything. make things happen. it just forgot to tell you to at least do something that makes sense and wont crap on you if you screw up.

so i guess, my status quo's mine to change. to make better or to make worse. getting somewhere's obviously being better than being stuck here. and with that kind of realization, knowing full well of my frustration of my life going nowhere as it is, i should really be motivated to follow my own advice.

unfortunately for me, i love to sleep. so bed, here i come! wahoo!

i corrupted my first government official last friday. actually, he suggested it. and i was more than willing to actually condone it.

if youve been keeping in touch, you'd know that i've been buying things online, mostly from the US, and having these items shipped here, to metro manila.

and if youve been doing the same thing, you'll know that most packages (except the letter posts) would be examined by customs inspectors. reason being, of course, is that certain items arent allowed to be shipped here via post (like medicine i think).

and if your package has been inspected and it looks like it's been correctly declared (price), if it's value is less than 50 US dollars, then you'll only need to pay the processing fee which is about 40 philippine pesos.

so last friday, i got several packages at the same time (which turns out to be a no-no). and despite most of it cost less than 50 USD, the total was more than that (id leave the total amount to your imagination).

so, i actually got taxed for several thousand pesos (damn you evat). and i was actually a bit surprised. although i had the money, i wasnt expecting the tax would actually be that high. so while i looked and considered parting with the money, the customs examiner then popped me a question.

"gusto mo ba ng discount?"

of course, what sane person would say no to a question like that? so i replied in the affirmative.

"kailangan mo ba ng official receipt?"

now, the official receipt is issued by the customs. it contains all the breakdowns and the total tax you would need to pay. it's the customs' way of tracking official transactions and tax collected. so you know where that question was actually leading to.

of course, being honest, i really dont have need for the receipt, but i didnt say i was actually willing to cheat the government from the taxes i need to pay. i replied in the affirmative.

and then the inspector, gave an amount, which was half of what the duty tax was.

now, i had already paid duty taxes for some of my previous shipments and they were really a bit steep. but that was because the examiners looked completely honest and i had never considered bribing them. but this time, the examiner was the one initiating and it was really hard to resist.

first of all, the item, although relatively cheap when purchased there, (as compared to purchasing locally) was still expensive. the shipping, was also expensive. combining those, the price difference between local prices and that of purchasing one from the US would be relatively narrowed. and now, with duty taxes, well, it will only be a few thousand pesos.

anyway, i actually gave in and paid the examiner the amount he was asking for. i knew it was wrong. we should never condone corruption. but i guess im a bit tired of playing by the rules, paying my duty taxes correctly, having the government take 30% of my salary and then find out about these fertilizer scams, afp comptrollers laundering hundreds of millions of pesos, and all sorts of shenanigans and it gets really frustrating you know?

you pay dutifully while they spend your money as if it were their own. well, not this time, boyo.

 

i did a little checking on my blog entries and i realized that i had a bunch of entries that i never got around to finishing and publishing.

alternating from having barely enough personal time and boredom kinda saps your interest from doing such things. hopefully, ill consider publishing the ones ive finished but never got atound to changing the status and making new entries as well.

 

hey, im getting married.

that's what an old friend told me a couple of days back. the ever playboy and stereotypical bachelor is finally settling down, getting hitched, tying the knot, committing single-blessedness harakiri.

i actually am envious. i wish i could say the exact same words. kinda freaky aint it? to find a guy who's actually willing to get settled and throw away bachelorhood. not really. i think it does come with age; the maturity and the willingness to finally settle down. i mean, im approaching the big three-o in a few months , so it's perfectly normal.

when i was in my early 20s, i seriously considered getting married. i think that it was fairly easy to do. a serious decision, but easy enough to make. i had the perfect woman, just passed the board, i felt like i could take on anything.

but of course, having that perfect wedding put that idea on hold. i wasnt capable of giving my future wife the dream wedding every woman dreamed of even when they were little girls.

i did realize in those days (up to now), that i wasnt really ready. i could rough it probably. but that wouldnt be right. married life is supposed to be natural. you dont force yourself to like it. you dont suffer it. youre supposed to revel in it, bask in it. or at the very least, be contented with it.

but deep down, i knew that it's not yet time. who wouldve known that hesitation would prove to be my undoing. i shouldve taken the plunge. but then again, after these years, i realized it was a blessing by itself. it helped me mature. to learn to value friends and relationships, and to never, ever take people i care for, for granted.

i also realized that marriage is not something you rush into. no matter how much youve convinced yourself that youre madly in love. if that was your mindset, it's all the more important to reconsider tying the knot.

i used to know this guy who was madly in love with a girl. they were fresh out of college, met, fell in love and was together for a few months already when i got to know them. they told everyone they were getting married.

i was incredulous. i kept thinking that they never thought it through. they were young and reckless. but deep inside, i knew i was envious, especially since they were able to make that choice whereas i never had a chance. they were happy and i wasnt.

eventually, they broke up. and i felt vindicated for my beliefs. it was a guilty pleasure i admit.

anyway, i congratulated my friend. ive known them as a couple for quite a few years and i knew they deserved to be together forever. they were the perfect couple, a beautiful one to be sure.

the wedding's on december. and theyve asked me to be one of the groomsmen. it's a coat and tie affair. so im having one made at my dad's favorite tailor. my old one doesnt fit anymore.

and here im thinking if there'd be a time i'd get to wear a suit to my own wedding.