is your Christmas happy this year?

 2020 the year that has necessarily kept my friends, and family apart has, in some ways, 

brought us closer via  ZOOMing, google meet. this year is the first time I have heared 

of the term, online class, online leaning and modular learning though distance education. 

Novevember 1, 2020 what Now?

the day will come in history as a day when Manila forgot Halloween 2020. literally,

this is the day when a CAT5 super storm threatened to destroy NCR to the ground.

PHILPOST launched LARONG ATIN stamps

  Philippine Postal Corporation launched the “Larong Atin! traditional games” 

our special stamps to promote Philippine heritage and culture. the stamps showcases 

Jolen (marbles), Piko (hopscotch), Tumbang preso (knock down the prisoner), and

our childhood favorite every end of October , the Saranggola (kite). 

Want a bike but cant afford?

the COVID pandemic has really affected our working class citizens with quarantine

regulations strict enough to ban all public transportation, the only  way to

get to your workplace is either owning a bike, or walking for kilometers just

like 80 yrs ago during the war.

If you have a bike that you have grown out of, don’t toss it, give it to another

friend in need! There are thousands of great organizations in other countries

collecting bikes for redistribution to families affected by the lockdown 

all over the world. 

and because a daily commute dictates the difference between keeping a

 livelihood or not, a bicycle is the cheapest way to make ends meet, either 

for delivery, to go to work, or to sell stuffs.

( 55) fifty five  bikes(as of the moment), have come and gone through my friend 

Robert Ferrer's life, all doated.

long before Gretchen Ho started giving away bikes. Robert has already started 

this charity work during the start of the pandemic, he goes around his neighborhood

 in Malabon giving away money to friends, then he started giving away mountain

 bikes, for raffle,  to those who dont have a house or a car. using his own money at

 first, then friends saw his good heart and his love for helping the less fortunate, 

and from there, donations of brand new from friends bikes started pouring in.

so they each donated bicycles for raffle. the simple joy of owning a raffle won bike

for his friends, is a luxury their families cannot afford,  45 bikes from sponsors

and the rest from his own pocket.

If he can put a smile on somebody’s face right now, that’s all that really matters,

how to join, first, you must be his friend, he must know you, he is a devoted Christian, 

all you need to do is react, and type AMEN. then that is a raffle stub, if you win, the 

bike will be delivered to you and this bicycle relief is the first in Malabon.

he believes that  a bike can have a direct impact on a person's freedom, self-esteem

and mobility, his efforts had greatly helped in people living in low-income 

neighborhoods. thank you to all the sponsors of his Bikes.

this is Robert's legacy. everyone he knows will remember the Bikes  he raffled

for this pandemic. and that Robert and mountain bikes will be a household name

soon for years to come.

this is your LOVERBOY Dennis signing out

is this the second wave?

 in a few more weeks I will again remember my dad's birthday, the day he had his first

 stroke and after a week, died of complications, I will also remember the day when 

my first business was established, Sept 5, 2005. I remember the job I had poured my 

blood, sweat and tears into for nearly 16 years, almost to the utter exclusion of my 

family, and friends. It was a job you would be happy to get stuck in for until you retire,

you will be hooked to the excitement, the fun, the joys and laughter of  your customers

yes, I miss those days. it had shaped my middle age life, I thought until I retire.

I am single, with no family to feed, the 3 branches earn a beautiful sum, good enough

to maintain 6 souped up cars, 2 SUVs with 3 latest cel phones every quarter. and still

have enough budget to travel and have fun. 

Who wouldn’t get addicted to this work?  I was the person fellow LANSHOP members

 consult  if they wanted any of their sales to increase. I give tips, on how to  operate a

 successful LANSHOP business 16 yrs ago. when I started DEN-R , I’m telling you

 this not to brag, but only to show you the height of  the  fall of the LANSHOP business 

 everyone here in my neighborhood knows about. I had competitors who tried and 

failed. during reunions, gatherings, events, I thought nothing of taking  out my CP and 

checking how the sales are going, and wanted  to go back in a hurry,  in front of everyone.

friends know me, I dont attend events if its not important, because I open my 3 shops even

during the holidays, because not only had my work become my life, it had become my god.

 No one was taking it away from me. or so I thought.....

when my dad had stroke and passed on,  and the landlord told us that the entire lot where

my shops were will be demolished to  give way to a big condominium. I had to move to

another barangay and transfer whats left to our garage, because there was no available

place for rent. everyone (200 plus tenants ) have to get a place in a months notice.

the new place was not fit for this business, its inside a private subdivision. kids are not 

allowed  IN. and in less than a year, everything went down. when the govt announced a

lockdown, I decided to close everything, sell everything, and fight another day. 

Now this is the reality, because its true organizations close, brands fold, customers leave.

so, the calls from my friends became scarce.  because I cannot loan them money anymore

Even former colleagues inexplicably avoided me.(yes the ones who had huge debts) .

It became clear to me that my relationship with many of these individuals was simply 

based on my ability to sponsor , to loan, to help, and to give money when they needed 

them. and that is the hard reality of  life. those days are over.  

and this COVID virus? it will stay. forever with us. look, this is the 2nd time the govt

made an effort to quarantine NCR. MECQ, 2nd strict quarantine level.

The covid is  too widespread too transmissible. the pandemic may end at some point 

if enough people have been either infected or vaccinated but the virus will  circulate

 in lower levels around the globe. And will cntinue, and not go away. Thats for sure!

Outbreaks will still  pop up here and there. Even when a much-anticipated vaccine 

arrives, it only suppress but wont completely eradicate the virus. Like the flu, its here

 to stay. We need to learn to live with it.

this is your LOVERBOY Dennis signing out

GCQ THE LIFE AFTER 3 MONTHS

after 3months...

its now MGCQ , for NCR, the dreadful time where we are separated from each other by
walls and windows, only to get out and see sunlight when we carry a travel pass, of
somekind, is almost over. but the virus remains. yes its still out there and its mutating.

people get infected, more, by the day, everyday. and while there is no over the counter
cure that you could take for 1 wk just like any flu medicine. people are encouraged
to stay indoors, (20 yrs old below and 60 yrs old above). so if you're customers are in
this age range, then you need to closed down your business. many middle class have now
become the new poor.

take for example the online gaming industry.  where I have 16 yrs experience.
how can one survive with 10 percent capacity?
of  accepting 21 yr old and up customers? who in their right mind will still continue this
business model? 21 yr old should go out  and work. not ask money from parents to play
online games. so this industry is the most affected. with only 15/hr rate, the business
required  more than 50 units per 60 sqm to earn. or at least 15 seats occupied straight for
 at least 6 hrs a day to have  break even.

aside from LANSHOPs, travel is ristricted to people with special passes, so no one
can get outside the country, this made lots of travel related business models to close
down, tourism is greatly affected. tour guides, jobless. this could go on til next year at
the minimum.

the icon of our culture, the Philippine Jeepnys are down.  lots of operators go to the
streets to ask for alms. its hard. also for the commuting public who rely on jeepneys to
go to work. for the working class, live is getting worse, for example my friend needs to
walk from a town in Malabon to Monumento, 15kms  because there are no jeepney
if you are rich, well off, you can choose not to work, stay home and just spend your
savings until this pandemic ends probably after a year or two.. or if you are pretty, you
wait for your sugar daddy, rich younger boyfriend to feed your luxuries and wants.
but if you choose the path of the righteous, then, you join the thousands of commuting
public, working only 3 times a week. and risk being infected, and die.

the future of the economy is not that bright,  survival depends on how a company
would manage cost cutting  with almost zero income coming in. and yet still has to pay
the debts.

life is hard for the lower class. but its dangerous for the middle class businesses. if the
company  is not pandemic proof, like groceries medicines, food... then its in danger of
collapse. everything depends on how good a manager you are, providing what the
community needs while doing this in the most budget friendly way.

till here, I would write another experience next month. please be healthy because
this is not the right time to get sick.

LOVERBOY  Dennis signing out

my 80 days quarantine

not in my lifetime could you imagine what life is and what could happen in 80 days
a lot. yes. I lost my auntie she just died a decade before her centennial year. because of
loneliness.

never can you imagine streets and shops closed,  delivery fee' soared 200% a lot of people
could not cope up with life just staying inside your room. doing nothing but starring at
the walls in 41 degree heat. I know a few who died doing nothing but just staying at home.
with this pandemic, you survive by having a good health good resistance and it all
depends on how well you social distance with people, and how good you cover the
possible virus entry points (specially the eyes and ears). survival means having to survive
before during and after the pandemic.

before the pandemic everybody is not prepared, I did not stock up on supplies. almost
every one is not prepared, internet cafes and travel, events are the most affected businesses.
almost zero income, but still need to pay the rent, the bills.  to survive I need to be a little
innovative. I offered free printing to my community for their needs as a form of
"kawanggawa" and charge on laminating services. from march 16-present. this way, I 
work from home, practice physical distancing, and take vitamin C everyday, 1 glass
garlic juice everyday slept 8 hrs a day. yes, I have to get out of one barangay to cross
to the other barangay as early at 503am. so I could open the  lamination services which
could pay all the bills.

in my previous blog I have mentioned that to survive this pandemic, you need to be relying
on your health and immune system , so as not to get infected, and rely on your pocket
emergency  money to spend to last for a few months until the end of this pandemic.
I work at home, yes even the place where I do my lamination services is home.
I go here to kill boredom at home, I dont want to stare at the doors or windows or walls.
so I accept lamination services of their quarantine passes(of 4 neighboring barangays)
consumed about 3 reams in 2 months. much much better than during the school year.

 since there is absolutely no aid for the middle class, we are all left to fend for
ourselves. ok rent should be suspended right? but what if you issued  12 cheques in
advance during the start of this bloody year?  landlady will just deposit them.
no restaurants are available, I only have a diet of 3 eggs a day 1 soup, 3 oranges, that is
what kept me alive.

Monday will be GCQ it means everyone will report to work, and  streets will be busy
again, but the virus is still out there. I hope this will not be like the
Spanish flu where the virus mutated and became a killer on the second attempt to infect
and reduce the population

so I hope nothing bad happens and we will all et back to life last 2 months.
this is your LOVERBOY Dennis signing out
keep safe keep healthy

THE NEW NORM

yes, we have another new term, aside from social distancing , physical distancing
social amelioration fund, IATF, ayuda, and COVID19. the new NORMAL.
because.............
under the new normal, middle class high income families may have to sell stuffs,
and downgrade, while low income middle class families are now the new poor.

ncov pandemic: end of blogging as we knew it?

I woke up one day in March to a message from a friend, informing me of the
community quarantine that is to be implemented in the whole of Luzon.
and I know that day is the start of a new chapter of my life. a life where every
ounce of the coins you have saved will count. a different life, a global event
that will reset every activity known to man. and will destroy  world economies,
collapsing  health system, to enormous proportions since the 2nd World War.
this is the Corona virus pandemic, and this is my story.