~

Just a Typical Baguio Joke

2006-01-20T13:23:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a trip to Baguio and this is what I got. Well, yes, just a typical Baguio Joke.

One day, a guy was walking down Session Road and decided to take a taxi to La Trinidad. He was lucky to get a taxi right away but he wanted to make sure that he knew what he was going to pay for so he asked the driver "Mano ti bayad nu i-drive nak idiay Trinidad?"(how much would I pay if you had to drive me to Trinidad?).

The taxi driver asked him back "maymaysam?" (Are you alone?) to which the man answered back, "apay haan ka nga umay?"(why, are you not going with me?)

This joke really gave me a blast. I could have lots and lots of Baguio jokes..from kiangan bread to painting the town red.

Have you got one?

Read my post!

2005-03-12T00:17:00.000-08:00

That's right! Want to know more about me? Read my post at www.blogkadahan.com

Everlasting

2005-02-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

EVERLASTING!! That's what Baguio is known for during the months of March and April when graduation exercises happen. When I was young, our relatives from the lowlands would come and visit us and just before they go back, they would buy these leis as presents to our relatives who would be graduating.

As a person growing up in Baguio, I used to think it was so "baduy" to be wearing one of them. However, as I was scanning through my pictures when I was younger, I just realized I had one hanging on my neck when I graduated from elementary. Oh well, I can't deny it now. It was given by one of my aunts as her way of recognizing my effort to bag an award.

Seriously though, these everlasting flowers are truly what their name implies..everlasting. They make good bouquets when they're fresh and last forever once they're dry. Sad to say that i have never appreciated their beauty until I went around Pike Market in Seattle where a few stores sold them. They were so expensive. A bunch cost about $8.

I bought a few for our home. It must be the presentation that made all the difference. 'gotta show some pictures to my friends who own some flower shops in Baguio when i go home this year.

Baguio's Commerce

2005-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

Sometime in the 70s, the stores at the foot of Session Road were owned by a group of “bumbays”. Bombay Bazaar, Bheroomul’s, Pohoomul’s, etc. Just recently, I met a lady who hails from La Union but has worked in Baguio in her younger days. As soon as I told her that I grew up in Baguio, she somehow felt a common bond between us. She said she used to work at Bheroomul’s. She is now 65 but she endlessly reminisced her days living in that city on top of the mountains.

These Bombays used to scare me. My mother used to buy my underwear at Bombay Bazaar and she’d spend more time than she should, talking to the owners. Somehow, I was always drawn to the forehead of the owner’s wife. I was scared, more than intrigued with the red dot on here forehead and the way she dressed. The incense was of course something I did not appreciate when I was a kid.

If you went closer to the city market, the environment was different. The wealthy Chinese families owned most of the stores from Mido Inn to Lapu-lapu Street. Just below Mido Inn is Sunshine Restaurant. And then another bakery (I forgot the name) and U-need Grocery store. A few stores from these of course is Tiongsan Bazaar. The family who owned Tiongsan Bazaar were by far the most well known Chinese merchants. Tiong San was strategically located along Magsaysay Avenue that people usually made it a meeting place.

Next to Tiongsan was PangHoi Restaurant and another dry goods store. I used to buy my plastic covers for my books and notebooks here if Tiongsan Bazaar got so busy. For some reason, it was mechanical for me anyway to buy my soy sauce, vinegar and other dry goods at Lapu-lapu Street. My father is part Chinese and he would never miss buying a “lapad”, a variety of dried fish and dried pusit. Sometimes when the queue is not that long, I buy them at Sunny’s just inside the city market. Sunny’s was a funny store. You get served on a first come, first served basis depending on how good you squeezed yourself in to get to the front.

Saturdays and Sundays were always trips to this Lapu-lapu Street. Fertilizers for my green-thumbed mother, a yarn at Evelyn’s for my school projects including a treat of Kiangan Bread. Oh it was just rows and rows of small Chinese grocery stores.

Hilltop was a mixture of different merchants. We have the Igorots who at one point monopolized the distribution of vegetables. At the very top are Chinese merchants concentrating on the trading of wastebaskets, dust pans, charcoals etc. If you were frugal, you can buy the vegetables at lower costs at Hanger Market. If you were lazy, you’d content yourself buying at the city market.

If you are from City Camp, Campo Sioco, Camp Seven and QM, another chinese owned store close to where you get your rides from is Sunshine Grocery. I loved Sunshine. Their prices are reasonable and the owner is a hands-on guy. Mmmm..the smell of Bread

Oh, I could go on and on but I’ll save them for later.

Notre Dame de Lourdes Hospital

2005-01-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

Notre Dame de Lourdes Hospital used to be the best but most expensive hospital in Baguio. It is all now just a history since all its buildings were condemned after the devastating earthquake that happened in 1990. It used to be run by St. Paul's nuns.

Personally, I thought it was a perfect place to stay while you are sick or recuperating from any medical illness. It had a very massive front yard planted with different varieties of roses and other beautiful flowers. I have been a patient there on several occasions and I must say that I never hated hospitals at all if they were all like Notre Dame. It is where my sister expired while suffering from leukemia, my grandmother while she had a stroke. I could go on and on.

Just before the day starts, you could hear the singing of the nuns in the chapel. They start early too and early I meant 5:00 in the morning. They meals served weren't bad considering. The air is crisp in the mornings and the sunshine you badly need is in abundance.

In one of its wings, the right wing to be exact, Benguet Laboratories used to rent that portion from Notre Dame. Benguet Laboratories was owned by then Benguet Corporation. This is the reason why all miners from Benguet Corporation enjoyed the privilege of staying in the best hospital in Baguio City. The economic dependency of the hospital was partly attributed to Benguet Corporation.

I must say that all miners from Benguet Corporation hold Notre Dame dearly in their hearts but that’s another story.

My sister literally lived in that hospital during the last five years of her life. We've seen love stories between nurses and doctors happen. Now if you are from Baguio, you would know the love story of the late Dr. Calogne but I am not going to tell you about that here. Dra Calogne must have been the most well known and oldest OB Gyne in Baguio and I have come to know her because she was my mother's OB in my mother's childrearing days. We are 7 siblings in the family and she looked after all of us.

Of course the hospital hired beautiful nurses too although I heard they weren't paid well. Who would be in the Philippines anyway? What about the good looking doctors from Manila for internship?

2004-12-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a happy new year! May we all have long life, good health and prosperity!

Cheers!!

Silahis ng Pasko sa Baguio

2004-12-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

At this time of the year when I was young, I would be one of those students participating in a parade down Session Road. The parade is called “Silahis ng Pasko” and marks the start of the holiday season.

Actually, people start decorating their houses after November 1. I am talking about how Session Road starts looking like Main Street of Disneyland(it's a dream) where there’d be a lot of people and there’d be a lot of blinking lights.

Taxis would be difficult to grab. Usually, people wait for taxis in front of Mercury Drug at Session Road because that’s where the taxi stands used to be. If you think you were smarter, you’d go one notch ahead of the others and go up to PNB. I thought I was the smartest and I’d go right in front of CID Educational Supplies. Well, sometimes it was not dependent on how smart you were but on how heavy your groceries and shopping bags were to have that energy to go two more notches to get a taxi. As the population became denser, people started going further than CID Educational Supplies. They would reach as far as Patria de Baguio just to get a cab. Now that's history.

Let’s go back to the parade. The City Mayor would lead the parade. Oh it was so fun to see the city mayors without bodyguards then. They probably had but it was not as visible as they are now. The city mayors I’ve come to know were Luis Lardizabal, Ping Paraan and Mr. Bueno (his name slipped my mind). For some odd years, I always thought that Mr. Nars Padilla was the mayor. He was always on the lead. Now I realized, of course he was a media personality and he was to be in front to take pictures to dress his coverage. He eventually become a City Hall Official.

In Baguio, you would know Christmas is coming because there’d be a shift in the fruits being sold on the streets. On ordinary days, fruits being sold would be bananas (lakatan, tomok and cantong). During the holiday season, the vendors' baskets would be full of apples, oranges and persimmons instead. The streets would be full of people not just from Baguio City anymore but from the outskirts. This is the people's opportunity to buy their children gifts for Christmas. For the businessmen, it would be their opportunity to sell their products.

The city market would be a riot. With the prices abnormally going high, so would the number of pickpocketers too. Well, I think I have other stories but I'll save them for the rest of the year.

Tell me about your childhood memories of this season in Baguio.

You grew up in Baguio City if..

2004-11-30T22:26:00.000-08:00

you bought your school supplies from CID Educational Supplies
you bought your fabrics from Tiong San Bazaar
you bought your imported ingredients from D & S Fine Foods
you went to Tea House for coffee and siopao
you went to see movies at Pines Theatre
you went to Gold Mine Disco at Hyatt Terraces for night outs
you think that the best chinese restaurant in town is Rosebowl Restaurant
the only grocery store you remember is Sunshine Grocery
you had your photos developed at Pines Studio
you remember where the politicians meet for coffee
and you know where to buy the best Sans Rival

did I forget anything???

The Swan

2004-11-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

This swan with its ducklings were once swept in a drainage. 911 had to rescue them.

X files Episode shot here

2004-11-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

Thursday's walk led us to this site. One of X Files episodes was shot here. Nothing extraordinary really. I wanted to explore what was inside but my kids thought it was really getting dark.

Coconut Shell Basket

2004-11-09T22:22:00.001-08:00

A common project in elementary then was to make a basket out of coconut shells. You will need two whole husked coconut shells to be able to come up with this. With one coconut shell, you will have to saw the topmost part to create an opening enough to fit your hand in. You will then patiently scrape the coconut meat inside and sand the shell inside out. Patient enough so that the surface becomes as smooth as a baby's bum. Depending on your creativity, you might want to cut a portion enough to cover the other shell's opening or if you wish, you can cut it in such a way that it will overlap with the former's opening.

Pasiking

2004-11-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

Pasiking-An Igorot's backpack

Igorots are the natives of the Philippine's Cordillera Region surrounding Baguio City. Despite being called Igorots, not all of them understand each other. There are as many dialects as there are provinces in the Cordilleras. It would not be uncommon to hear them speak their dialect though with a little bit of English words mixed in their sentences. The Mountain Provinces as the Cordilleras once called were served by missionaries from different parts of the world. In fact, most the Saint Louis Schools used to be ran by Belgian Missionaries.

False Teeth Became a Fad When I Was Young

2004-11-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

If you have a brother or a sister who is about 40 or older, chances are he or she might have 4 front false teeth. In my family, I am the only one who still has four front teeth and I can tell you why.

In the mid 70’s false teeth became a fad. You were “in” if you had four front false teeth. Braces were hardly known in the Philippines then or if they were, only the rich could afford them. I happen to come from a family with bad teeth formations. It comes with the genes. If you had that, it would be a good reason to go to the dentist so you could be “in” with the crowd. Dentists never cared if your front teeth were still good or not. They willingly pulled them out for you. Hey, it was two kinds of income for them, extracting and the false teeth. What's puzzling me now is how could my parents have allowed this to happen to my brothers and sisters?

Had I been 15 then, my front teeth are probably gone by now. Thank God I wasn't born to be 15 when people became crazy with this fad. My front teeth are still crooked but they are still serving me their purpose. My dentist here is suggesting that I should consider having braces. Heck, at my age, forget it. I'm still married! And my smile is still my biggest asset so I don't really care.

SLU's retiring employees

2004-11-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe this. I went to visit my Alma Mater's site and in one of their features were retiring employees of the University. At least three of them have been my instructors way back then. Geez, are they that old now or am I really getting old? Noooo!!!

Just to give you an idea, Boni, the emcee was in his 5th year in Engineering when I was a freshman. He used to be so thin. He loved to head the Tagisan ng Talino. He could also sing if you want to know. Now he earned my admiration. Given that he was gifted, he could have opted to leave the country in search of a greener pasture. How I am surprised that he is still in the Philippines and still at SLU at that. I will not be surprised if he is the dean of whatever department now. My former classmate is now a candidate for that position in our department and she's definitely younger than Boni.

Men, those recently retired instructors were good instructors. I am glad they were not part of the brain drain. I can also tell that they loved the University well.

On my way to work

2004-11-05T22:37:00.000-08:00

These are the trees I see everyday when I walk to work. The walk is a fairly long stretch of blocks, twenty to be exact from home and about 20-30 minutes walk. Compared to other people who go to work everyday, walking gives me the time to think about what lies ahead of me at work. Sometimes, it's a time for me to daydream.

It must be almost a year now since I started walking. I definitely saved $50/month on parking and a few hundred bucks on gas. More importantly, I think I am adding more years to my life by walking. I get the exercise that I would otherwise not have if I drove to work.

These trees give me company everyday. Come springtime, their collors wil again change into white or pink. It is when they start blooming that I also start to plan for summer.

For now, they are telling me to start planning for my hybernation.

Some familiar schools

2004-11-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

We had quite a few reputable schools. Saint Louis University was the best school in the city. Belgian Priests ran it. This University at one time had the biggest library in the Philippines. The library was about 9 floors high with various specialized departments like the Filipiniana. SLU bred the cream of the crop from all walks of life as proud professionals.

The oldest nursing school then was Baguio General Hospital School of Nursing. It’s now defunct due to government budgetary constraints. A lot of my relatives including my brother were products of this school. There was also Pines City Doctors’ Hospital School of Nursing.

There was also University of Baguio and Baguio Central University. Baguio Colleges was not yet a university but I heard that it is now. Both the presidents of UB and BCF were directors of a company I worked for in my early 20s.

Baguio also had an International School called Brent School. A lot of foreign students mostly children of officers and managers from Camp John Hay and then Benguet Corporation went to this school. It was the only school that actually made use of the football grounds at Burnham Park what it was meant to be for.

Prior to the big earthquake in 1990, there were two high schools exclusive for girls and 1 high school exclusive for boys. The Holy Family Academy had co-ed elementary but girls-exclusive for high school. And then there is Saint Louis Girls’High School and Saint Louis Boys’High School. There was also UB Science High School and this school was co-ed. To be accepted at this school, one had to pass some kind of entrance examination.

Baguio City High School is a government national high school and from what my late mother told me, she was Bert Nievera’s classmate at this school. You read it right, Bert the father of Martin Nievera.

We also have UP Baguio. This school was often used as an entry school to get to UP Diliman. From what I understand, most of the students if they do not get accepted at UP Diliman because of course quota restrictions, they enrol here first and moved to Diliman the next semester. I don’t know how it worked but that’s how my high school classmates did it. A foot-in-the-door kind of thing.

There were other schools of course but there are two more I would like to mention, the Maryknoll School where most of the rich kids went to and the SPED Centre where mentally challenged kids learned. Me? I only went to a “Mababang Paaralan”. f

Baguio's Mode of Transportation then

2004-11-04T13:43:00.000-08:00

Back then you can only name a few of the bus lines to and from Baguio City. If you had to go to La Union, Vigan or Laoag, Philippine Rabbit was your best bet. It was then located along Magsaysay Avenue.

If you wanted to go to Pangasinan or Manila, there was Pantranco. Pantranco was the first bus line to offer air-conditioned buses to and from Baguio. Victory Liner came only later on in the Picture.

To go to the Mountain Provinces, there was Dangwa Tranco owned and operated by the Dangwas and their close friends and relatives.

Just as there were only quite a few bus lines serving the city of Baguio, there were also only a few main roads leading to Baguio City. Again to get to La Union and the Ilocos Regions, you would take Naguilian Road, to Manila Kennon Road and to the Mountain Provinces, the Halsema Highway.

Except for Nagulian Road, Halsema and Kennon Roads were notorious for landslides. I remember a time when I was a kid that we hadn’t had any meat for at least a month. Our meat supplies either came from La Union and Pangasinan and if the roads were impassable, it meant no vegetable and meat supplies from the nearby provinces for us. The people had to make do with dried fish and canned goods but even these eventually became scarce.

Within the city itself, there were jeepneys taking you from your area to the city centre. The oldest jeepneys I had seen could only contain 6 passengers, 2 in front and 2 on each side at the back. It was in the early 80s when operators started extending their seats to accommodate 7 or 8 passengers on each side.

Because it is in Baguio where you will find the only military school in the Philippines, we had an airport. I knew that the airport was functional only when the President of the Philippines was coming to attend the PMA graduation rites. Most of the time, it was closed. Baguio can get so foggy back when I was young anyway and more often than not, flights were cancelled because of its zero visibility.

Generally, everything was within walking distance if your were desperate. The air was still clean.

One Autumn Day

2004-11-03T19:58:00.000-08:00

We are 10 minutes away from a fish hatchery and one Saturday just after Fall has officially settled, we decided to go for a walk. This fishery is inside the forest. Originally, we decided to hike to the base of the dam which is about half an hour's worth of walk from where we were. the weather cannot decide whether it was going to rain or shine. When the weather is like that inside the forest, hiking is like an unconquestable feat and so we decided to watch the people fishing in the river instead.

This is the greatest wonder for me. Why of all whys this kind of fish start from this same river when they are still juveniles. They are released in fall and they swim towards the ocean. After about four years in the ocean, they come back to die, yes in the same river where they originated and yes, before fall. They jump against the flow of the water.

What I meant by the wheather not able to decide whether it was going to rain or not.

Where we are, you allowed to fish. You need to have a permit to fish but you are only allowed 4 pcs of salmon per day. Beyond the bridge where you can see 2 people canoeing, fishing is no longer allowed.

We are lucky to live in a place like this. There are so many things you can do reagardless of what kind of wheather you have on that day.

Baguio Midland Courier, DZWT and Other Means of Communication

2004-11-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Midland Courier was our local newspaper then. I am not sure if it still is. Everything you wanted to know about Baguio was there. If you want to know who passed away that week, it will be there complete with the information about the dead’s immediate relatives, where his body is lying, when the burial is, etc. If the dead had a few children from somewhere, everyone would be looking at the obit to find out if all his children were included.

It was a synopsis of what happened during the week because this newspaper was published only once a week on a Sunday. Because it was such a small community, all the locals knew who was who, everyone knew who excelled in what. Everyone who deserved special attention got it. Baguio Midland courier was owned and ran by the Hamada family headed by the Late Oseo Hamada.During typhoon season, Baguio became isolated from other provinces or maybe the other way around. Baguio’s telephone system was not yet that developed when I was still there and so the only way to convey your messages to your relatives and friends in the outerskirts is to go to this radio station, DZWT that had a high frequency, it could reach as far away as Kalinga. The program was called “Panawagan” and announcements are usually said at 7:00 am, 12:00 PM and at 6:00 pm. If you missed the announcement, you need not worry because chances are your neighbor might have heard it and it will be relayed to you if it concerned you. News spread like fire, I tell you.

Mang Tenorio was a legendary radio announcer. From the richest to the poorest of Baguio City, they all knew him in one way or another. He had this "O kaliwan-liwa at kakanan-kanan" program and in this program, he would express his wackiest literaries. 'wonder if he is still alive? Some found this program as corny or baduy but still it was part of Baguio's history.

Telegram would be another thing if your message went to somewhere other than Mt. Provinces, Pangasinan or the Ilocos Region. It took about 7 days to reach the recipient. We had P T & T and RCPI. If you want to make a long distance call to Manila or any part of the Philippines or the world, you had to go to PLDT near the Post Office loop. At PLDT, you had to give the various info like the telephone number of the party you want to call and the person you want to talk to and wait for about 30 minutes for your call to be connected.

Oh, memories. More.

Baguio City

2004-11-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines. It is a very small city where literally everybody knew everyone. Crispy vegetables, fresh flowers and pinecones were our pride.

Camp John Hay, Burnham Park, Botannical Garden and Philippine Military Academy were the places you wouldn’t want to miss when you’re there. Horseback riding was always an activity tourists would like to try. We also have a park called Wright Park and right in front of the park is the summer home of the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Boating at Burnham Park was a fun thing to do for tourists and I remember that the city used to have a skating park right at the heart of the Burnham Park.

This city, despite its being small became the center of education for Region 1 and the Cordillera Region. Not that it was the best educational center in the Philippines, but it was really a place conducive to learning. Students come from Tarlac, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Mountain Provinces and as far as Subic Bay.

Surrounding Baguio City were big mining companies of gold copper and silver. These mining companies were used to manage by the Americans.

Halloween Day

2004-10-31T22:02:00.000-08:00

Today, my husband and I went out for a walk. Our kids do not want to go out with us anymore. Anyway, we decided to go down to the Quay. Many years ago, this area was so dead. When I first came here, in the corner right where these buildings are built was a home for the druggies. I am glad our city council has decided to rejuvenate this area and this block has actually become the priciest place in town. An unit with just 1 bedroom and a den is now worth $300,000.

From the 2 buildings above, this building looked so huge but from where we took this pictures, it actually wasn't. It was because of the irregular shape from the other perspective that made this building look so huge.

We also went inside the Quay Market to have a sip. A view from below and from the top. How about a slice of pizza and some calamari? I had a Beaver Tail pastry with cream cheese.

Trick or treaters were allowed to go trick or treating inside the market. Two subjects willingly posed for me. The younger, about over a year was so shy. Not the older one though, I tell you.

2004-10-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

The colors of summer, 2004

The Mayonnaise Jar

2004-09-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar...and the coffee...A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed."Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, " I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions-things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

The sand is everything else-the small stuff."If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups.

Take your wife out to dinner. Maybe even play another 18. There's always time to clean the house and fix the disposal."Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."Please share this with someone you care about.

I was diagnosed with AAADD

2004-09-26T16:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests:

I decide to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first. But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen with the coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do. At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail. Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent. Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming! GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL LAUGHING AT YOURSELF IS THERAPEUTIC!