There’s a “conference” of the oldies in our neighborhood. They were conferring at the neighborhood’s sari-sari store discussing what they could have done so that their lives now are better than it is. I listened to their discussion and was amused by some of their ideas. Stayed a bachelor was the most applauded idea. One of them was practical and said he could have invested his money, say on certified gold coins and reaped the benefits when he retired. And then there were other ideas that had me laughing along with the rest of them.

You know I love being in the middle of the oldies’ discussions. They are an interesting bunch! You will never know what boredom is when you are with them.

And with all their ideas for a comfortable old age, they are in fact very much invested and reaping the benefits of their investments and living good lives.

Joanne is a single mom who works in a small law firm. Her contract with the firm is about to end so she is now looking for another job. Restaurant Manager Jobs are the ones she wants to get into now. She wants to become a restaurant manager and still be able to get a second job if possible.

She is working hard not only for herself and her daughter but also for her parents. They may not ask anything from her but she knows that they still need her help financially. They are both growing older by the day and she wants to give them comfort and stability in life.

Two metal buildings are being built two to three blocks away from where I live. One is being built on the ground of my dreams. You see, back when I was younger, there used to be a commercial building erected on the ground in front of the church. It was later on abandoned by the owner and left dilapidated for years. I marked that place to be mine as soon as I get my millions. But well someone else beat me to it! Now the building is almost done and there are ads around announcing that it is ready for lease soon.

There will be other places where my building will be erected. I know that. It still saddens me whenever I think about my old dreams. Anyway…

The old generous woman gave her helpers personalized T Shirts that they all wore on New Year’s Eve. The shirts had “Welcome 2012!!!” printed on it and the woman had the shirts printed with polka dots as well. For luck. Each shirt had a name of the person on it, too.

Aside from the personalized shirts, the old woman gave her helpers one month bonus and grocery bags that they gave to their families. She also had their families over on Christmas Day for lunch and she gave all the kids cash.

Such a generous woman! No wonder her helpers love her and have been with her for decades!

Ron finally made a decision to undergo dual diagnosis treatment. He is a dependent. A drug addict and an alcoholic. He has been one for close to a decade and he is done. He wants to take another shot at life, specially now that his parents are already old and weak.

He is not proud of the past decade. In fact, he is most ashamed of what he did, of what he became. He wants to change and he knows going to a rehab facility and really putting it in his mind and heart that he wants change. These are the two steps he needs to be able to start the ball of change rolling.

He wants to become better for himself and for his love ones.

A well-known personality in the city has been spotted carrying a yoga bag walking across an almost deserted parking lot with an unknown guy. I think almost every local would love to know everything about her. She is the current “it” girl of the local celebrity-dom!

Every movement is being monitored. Every word spoken is being quoted. She is in fact being followed by so many in Twitter and a Facebook fan page. She is young and rich and beautiful and graceful. She is living a seemingly charmed life and every girl in the country just wants to be her.

No wonder everyone is fascinated with her life.

Why not give rosh hashanah gifts like fresh berries?

I told my friends that whenever I find myself facing a wall thinking of a gift to give someone, I turn to something fresh. It can be flowers or fruits. I lean more on the latter as I think it is the safest gift to give especially to someone you don’t know the preference is when it comes to flowers.

So I will be sending fresh berries to friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah. I am sure they will love it!

Misha’s family is thankful to Atty. Leon. He was the one who helped them with the land grabbing case they filed against a relative. He also helped them secure the titles to the land both the one in the case and the one outside the city that Misha’s mom inherited from a grand-uncle.

As a thank you to him, they got him a leather briefcase from GotBriefcases.com for the important documents and contracts he is always carrying with him. They thought to give him that practical gift, a briefcase that he can bring with him every day to work and to meetings. When he saw it, Atty. Leon smiled and told them that he will surely use it from then on.

My cousin told us the story of how he was looking at the switch plate when suddenly, without anybody doing it, the light was turned on. He shrugged it off and spent a few minutes texting when he was surprised because the switch was clicked again and the light was turned off! That’s when he thought he’d just go out of the room and join the rest of the family outside in the backyard.

He really got spooked and he told his family about it right away. His siblings, my other cousins, laughed at him telling him that’s what he got for not joining the family in the fun.

Tradeshow booths are set up in the trade hall in a well-known trade center in the city. Shows from a giant network are being introduced and pitched to the big and small advertisers in the country. It is a big trade show and a lot of people from the media to the advertising companies came.

I’ve always wanted to attend a trade lunch like it. Unfortunately, only members of the media were allowed to get in and those who were expressly invited.

This year, I swear, I will get an invite…