watchamacallit

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Either I do have too much caffeine in my body or I'm just a reallyfastmouseclicker.

I know I can count on one hand all the friends I have here on Vox. But I know there's a bigger community out there who have a soft heart for cats and I'm hoping that people will respond to this plea by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society. Even a dollar or two will help. Do it for your pet. 

I have seen how this organization struggles each and every day to provide food, shelter and care for the animals it houses. There's only a small number of paid staff while the rest are volunteers. Unlike other shelters around the world, PAWS has no choice but to rely on the kindness of strangers most of the time. Here, they take care of the unwanted dogs and cats, and other animals thrown in the streets, left to die, abused and tortured, shipped by the cartload to be eaten. So please have a heart for them.

Reposted from Sherwin's Me.Find.Home blog:

The PAWS shelter is currently running into serious problems keeping up with expenses on cat food and are asking for help from fellow animal-lovers. The shelter cats consume about 4.5 to 6 kilograms of cat food (kibble) every day which cost about Php360 to Php450 ($7.66 to $9.57) on the average.

A 22.7 kilogram (or 50 lbs.) bag of Princess Cat (the cheapest one we are able to find right now, available at Whiskers n' Paw Prints in Katipunan Rd., Quezon City) costs about Php1,800 ($38.30) and would last about 4 to 5 days. That's around Php10,800 ($230) per month which is a really significant amount considering PAWS doesn't have a steady source of funding.

If you wish to chip in to help the 100++ cats currently living at the shelter, you can do so in 3 ways:

Buy cat food to donate

You may donate any brand but we currently recommend Princess Cat because you get more with less. You may drop off your donations at the PAWS shelter in Quezon City (Map HERE). We invite you to go visit the shelter to personally meet your beneficiaries--- the animals!

Donate cash for cat food

The best way would be to visit the shelter to personally give your cash donation. You may also do it via bank deposits, transfers or through online payment systems. Please go to http://donate2paws.mefindhome.org for more info about donating cash. Please be sure to email Anna Cabrera of PAWS at philpaws @ yahoo.com (cc me at sherwin [at] mefindhome.org) after sending in your money and tell her the details and purpose of your donation (e.g., cat food).

If you're not from the Philippines but still wish to donate, there are several ways to do it.

Send a letter to your favorite pet food company

Urge businesses to get involved by sending them a letter about the plight of shelter animals. A small donation of 150 lbs. of cat and food per month from each of the top 3 pet food companies here in the Philippines would be more than enough for the needs of the shelter kitties. Which companies to write to? This report about the Philippine Pet Food Market might help answer that.

PAWS is not having any similar problems with the dog food supply because there are more dog food donations than cat food donations.

Thank you for reading!

~My Personal Preferences~



1. Quiet evening at home or Out on the town?

It depends on the company but I'm really a homebody at heart. :)

2. Watching a movie or Reading a good book?

Good book but if I really like the movie, I'll watch it, even by myself!

3. Ordering a meal or cooking one yourself?

It's hard to cook a meal for one person (but then I don't have a choice sometimes). Ordering meals is hard here in HK because I find the servings to be good for two or three people (but the HK people  think it's just right for one person). Sometimes, I do order pizza but then that means pizza good for 2 days (lunch and dinner, lunch and dinner).

4. Going for a walk or taking a ride in the car?

Walk! Since moving here I find walking more therapeutic especially since I still haven't been around HK as a tourist. Walking home or simply just walking around on weekends is sheer pleasure for me since I live near the bay.

For some reason, I looked up Jim Henson on Wikipedia today.

I grew up on Sesame Street and it remains to be one of the best experiences I had. I feel sad for the generations who missed on this great show and those who didn't get to know Jim Henson's amazing creativity and talent. Sesame Street and the Muppets made everything I imagined as a child come to life.

I read about his funeral and tried searching for a video of it on YouTube. I found this video instead of the Muppets and Sesame Street characters paying him a tribute. It moved me to tears.

I love "Alvin and the Chipmunks"! I even remember one line from their signature song: "Alvin, Simon, THEODORE! Doop-doop-doo-doo-doop!" Hahaha!

I first listened to this version of the Chipmunks of "Bad Day" on Jen's blog. I just had to post it on mine!

I don't what's wrong with me lately. I've missed Mass two Sundays in a row now. What's wrong with me?

The few people who read this blog may say missing Mass is really nothing to worry about. For me, it is somewhat of a big deal. After doing it every single Sunday of my life (save for the few times when I was really incapable of going), missing it twice in a row simply because of laziness makes me worried.

Sigh.

On other hand, I was productive with my chores today. Got my little flat cleaned and vacuumed, cooked my lunch for the next two days, fixed a sandwich as well, did some laundry and did some ironing. Not my favorite chores but then, nobody's going to do it. Now, I'm left with this this nagging headache (one tablet of Alleve and an hour later, it's still hasn't gone away).

The HK Observatory has issued the cold weather warning this afternoon and right now, it's currently 18 degrees Celsius. It's forecast to still remain cold until Tuesday, with temperatures going from teens to tweens (16 to around 10). Yikes. On the other hand, maybe I can now finally wear those wool coats I panicked about buying last year. :P

Btw, I didn't get to watch any of the DVDs I brought from home. So far, I've only watched Pixar Shorrts (short films) and the Legally Blonde DVD Cheryl lent me.

Oh well.

I hope I have a good day tomorrow, have the interview go well and finish all my tasks.

I rephrased Jen's tag of "8 Things I'm Thankful For".

1. I am and will always be thankful for my family. No matter how neurotic and stress-inducing my family is, I will gladly risk and give my life for them. After the loss of my mom, I now know just how much they mean to me. Sure it's hard sometimes and easier to lose patience with my father rather than try to be an understanding daughter but I'm trying.

2. I am thankful for my current job and the opportunity to prove my mettle in a foreign land. I prayed to God very hard for this job and the fact that I am here now is proof that God does answer prayers in His own time, for His own reasons.

3. I am thankful for my 31+ years of my life so far. I'm always prone to respiratory ailments but thanks to God, that's all I've had to battle so far. Getting seriously ill is one of my biggest fears especially since I'm now far from my family and living by myself. Maybe I've gotten a little more paranoid about keeping myself safe, but as they say, "Better safe than sorry." I hope I can grow to a ripe old age and prove that people with big ears do live longer. :P

4. I am thankful for friends, small in number though they may be. As a friend stated in her blog, "I don't need a lot of friends; just a few GREAT ones." I'm not comfortable around big groups and I've been blessed enough with friends (Don't believe the numbers you see in Friendster.) who may only take up to both my hands but who have really been there for me when I need them and even when I don't need them. They're the kind who you still feel a strong connection with even if you haven't seen or talked to them in years. They're the kind for keeps. And I am also happy that I am making new ones here in Hong Kong.

5. I am thankful for my writing and the gift of music.  Writing is my bread and butter while music keeps my soul and my faith alive. It is also my connection to my family and how I give thanks to God.

6. I am thankful for the lesson of humility, simplicity and optimism. I am a pessimist by nature so my view of life is sometimes skewed. But living in a foreign land has opened my eyes and heart to learning and accepting changes. I have become more assertive but I believe also more humble and simple. In the face of seemingly rapid progress, it would be so easy to be complacent and forget my values.

7. I am thankful for the people who take care of me and my family back home. This would include my nanay's carer, my titas who help out my family, the people I work with and work for (my employers), and even the ones I deal with everyday such as my very courteous doorman, our cleaning ladies, even the bus and train drivers. Without them, functioning everyday would be very difficult.

8. I thank God for the gift of faith because without it, I would have probably succumbed to depression, angst, anger, stress, sadness and all other negative things. My faith is what gives me hope every single day, encourages me when my energy or self-esteem dips, makes me look forward to going to work, going home or talking to my family.

What are you saving up for? 
Submitted by Star. 

My retirement, my own house, and hopefully also have enough to donate towards the completion of the Philippine Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC) of PAWS.