Adsense pays through Western Union!

It was a surreal experience changing my payment mode from check to Western Union. Wow! Google Adsense can now pay to the Philippines via Western Union!

• No need to wait for one month for the check to arrive by ordinary mail. You can get your cash the next day payment is issued.
• No more bank charges and clearing periods.
• You get it in cold cash. Just bring the necessary documents (ID, name of payee, etc.)
• You can choose to receive payment in dollars or convert them to local currency while claiming.
• If you choose to receive dollars, no need to open a dollar account. It's cash remember.
  
• You can decide when to have the dollars changed to local currency. You can evade Google's tendency to issue local-currency checks when the forex rate is best for them.

Too bad Adsense has issued their payment to me a few days before. I guess I'll have to wait for next month to try out the new Western Union money transfer.

This is so cool!

To spend or not to spend

I endured a monstrous traffic jam in order to get to SM City on the first day of its 3-day sale. I was hoping to buy something with my hard-earned salary.

I don't know what got into me but all of a sudden, I wasn't in the mood to spend! I was hoping to buy a spare battery for my camera but... there was also this snorkel kit but... Our computer at home needed a new hard disk and power supply but... There was this Mr. Bean VCD for only 100 pesos but... I've been wanting to buy a microphone for my desktop computer but... I thought I need/wanted some nice clothes for next month's travel but....

What came into my mind was the capitalism, the consumerism, and the need to think less of oneself. Then another part of myself said it would be unwise to keep saving and not spend it. Eventually, the thought of leaving the mall immediately to avoid spending prevailed.

I'll try again tomorrow. Maybe I'll be in another mood.

The formidable Videoscript

I'm not liking the silence

Here I am, tapping at the keyboard and touchpad for most of the day. I'm now listening to the Madrigal Singers via Youtube. I've been posting and reading as usual at the the Philippine Forums of skyscrapercity.com. I also keep visiting the UPV Forums but apparently nobody's there or guests simply don't post. I keep switching from forum to forum and keep refreshing my real-time web stats. Yes, I'm bored.

There's this heavy feeling inside me every time it's like this at home. There's simply nobody to speak to right now. My parents are here but they watch TV a lot. Our helper stays in her room most of the time - if she's not watching TV with my parents.

I'm pretty sure where I want to be now. There:

1. It's not unusual to speak to three people at the same time
   
2. I can walk around the sprawling dorm/campus
3. I don't over-eat
   
4. I can witness/take part (!) in-the spot spontaneous dramatic plays
5. I'm busy until the moment I sleep
6. I get to a multitude of other things - as in!
   

It seems like I enjoy these most even if my mom seems to be against it. I think they keep me sane.

Learning Conciseness

I found out a few people actually read my blog and are asking for new posts. I would like to express my apologies to them for the silence in this little room of mine.

I have realized (again) that I have the tendency to narrate my experiences in so much detail. So much detail that I actually spend too much time composing and editing blog posts until I become too sleepy to finish them.

I have this tendency to think that every minute movement of a leaf deserves to be recorded in history. Every ripple has a story to tell. This is one reason why I decided to start a blog - so I could save at least some of my treasured thoughts, without physical clutter.

Each sentence in this blog, I feel, is another little treasure deposited into my online time capsule. On the other hand, I must find a way to keep the little from growing too large and end up not being posted at all.

Perhaps conciseness will help. The fewer, the more special each becomes.