Do you have friggatriskaidekaphobia?

I was surfing the internet and found this word...

So, this is what you call the fear of Friday the 13th....

According to Wikipedia, the word came from frigga which means Friday, and triskaidekaphobia which is derived from the Greek words Paraskevi, which means Friday and dekatreis, which means thirteen.

After all these years, I don't remember how many Friday the 13s there were up to now. Does that mean that I don't have friggatriskaidekaphobia?

But I do remember that there was a time when I was in college that it almost hit me. It's probably due to peer pressure that I almost got the fear. But it's good to know that I don't have it and I don't even bother with it.

As a matter of fact, if you live here in the Philippines and you are a fan of a popular noontime show that just started two weeks ago, Pilipinas Win Na Win, you will actually think that there is really nothing to fear about on this day.

A contestant was lucky today. He won Php 1 million in that noontime game segment called Open Susi-Me which if translated will mean something like Open Key-Me. This kind of explains the game's concept. Opening several doors, the last being worth a million pesos.

So, I guess this is his lucky day. One Friday the 13th he will truly remember.

Look What I Just Did...

I turned my PSP into an...

If you cannot sit down and read a book, why not put it on your MP3 player or.... a PSP... so you can listen to it while caught in a traffic on a bus, a cab or your car.  Just thought I'd share another late-bloomer stuff.

Currently, I am into "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

You can download FREE,  wonderful,classical audio books here.

HAPPY READING.... errr.... or is it... listening?

My BlackBerry 8700 from Du

At about the same time last year, I remember hearing about the BlackBerry sale 

on Du shops. It took me a few days to buy. I had to decide because it was an old BlackBerry 8700 model on sale for AED 800 plus the package which summed up to AED 990.00

My BlackBerry 8700

I was thrilled with the service. I could tweet! I could see Facebook updates real time! I can send and receive Yahoo!, Gmail and office e-mails, aside from owning my own @du.blackberry.net e-mail address.

It doesn't have the camera nor a big memory, because it's not the Curve, Bold nor the Storm. But, what I wanted and got was the internet service, which to take it further, allows me to tweet even under the Shindagha Tunnel, and send it fast!

But, I wanted a service I didn't get. I tried to download the Yahoo! Messenger and got it, but couldn't log in. I forgot what the message was but, it led me to call customer care and they said that subscribers cannot use the service because it is not allowed by the TRA. Back then, I didn't even know what that meant and what that does. So, I just said thank you and good day... whatever you want to say....

My BlackBerry 8700

I can tweet, I can Facebook.... Fine!

Back then, I didn't know that it has a signature on its e-mail... 

sent from my BlackBerry® Smartphone from Du

...until my friend responded from an e-mail I sent. She said, "Wow, naka-BlackBerry."

To which I replied, "Sus, eto yong lumang model... 8700."

Where she replied, "E, ano... BlackBerry pa rin noh!"

=========

Du's services were very good at that time. I really don't know why the complicated issues with the BlackBerry and the TRA.

Du Announces New BlackBerry Packages

XLII

Yup, that's right.

It's been that long and I'm that old... and happy.

As I've said in my Tumblelog last Sunday:

After all I've been through
I'm glad to be XLII
For those who've been there for the past eight months
I can't thank you enough for being there for me and my family.


You know who you are, people.

Those eight months wouldn't have been easier without you guys.  Those of you who took time out of their busy schedules to pay me a visit, who took a slash out of their loot to bring me some fruits, and whispered a little prayer for me...  'it might not be written nor said, but certainly it is well-remembered.'

Villa, Villa Bo Villa...

A recent e-mail update from a good friend from Dubai was a little stressful.  You ask how does it affect me and I can give you more than one reason to be stressed.

Villa 16, Room #1

I chose to stay in a villa when I was in Dubai because I feel like there is a sense of home, although I know all the risks it entails.  Until our villas were inspected and our electricity was cut.  It was illegal to stay in a shared villa.  But people is still choose to do so for other reasons than what I have.  The most popular reason would be the financial side of it.  I know there is so much more.

When our villa was raided and our electricity was cut off, we were informed that we have three days to move before they finally lock the villa.  This means that we lose all our things that we left behind.  So, I have all reasons to be stressed about this news here, Shared Villas Lose Power.  

It's been almost a year since that day, and I can still vividly remember what happened starting from that phone call to inform me about the raid.  I was stressed from that moment until the day the dust settled in the flat where I moved into.  I spent half a day looking for a place and another half packing my things.  I would have spent more than that if not for my friend who referred me to some people.  Our mover came at about 7:30 p.m. and we finished unloading a few minutes before midnight.

The decision to move into a flat was out of the fact that villas are starting to be the flavor-of-the-month of the 'baladiyas' (immigrations people).  For those who live or have lived in villas in Dubai, I know you can relate.  But for those who haven't, it was a happy-sad-rewarding-stressful-relaxed-practical-relaxed-downtoearth-humbling and much, much more.

I stayed in two villas over the span of two years.  But I wouldn't have traded everything that I experienced.