The Mortal Coil

Today was a day spent visiting deceased relatives. One a burial, the other a wake.
Both are aunts. One passed away way too young at 55.
The other was 82.
Reminds one of the brief lives we all have sometimes. Cherish close friends and family. Do not waste the best parts of your life on all the wrong people. Save your best hours for those you love.
Take time to tell them how much you love them. More importantly, show them how you care by spending many happy hours in their company.
Until they make genetic engineering possible for the rest of us, this is the only life we will ever have. My 2 poor aunties will never see the dawn of medical immortality. Perhaps with the right diet and lifestyle and more importantly, our active participation with the sciences, we might just yet see it.

For now, do not waste time and never wait till tomorrow.
Do not wait till you're dying to make peace.
Be happy today and resolve most of your conflicts in life.
Cherish your loved ones. You never know when they'll go away forever.

Good night, and good luck!

Unexpected Adventures

I attended the Memorial of the Dead here in the PHilippines. 

Has it been 9 years since my last one?! This event is huge here. Work and school are both suspended and everyone goes to the cemeteries. It's people, vendors and cars galore and restaurants are packed full.

We parked in an empty soil filled lot where the land sloped downwards the deeper you got into it. Then, while at the cemetery with 10,000 other people, vendors and clergy folk, it rained really hard. The lot turned into a swamp with the water collecting near the back of the lot where the car was. I watched as men pushed on a minibus stuck in the mud. It just sank deeper and deeper with each rev and even planks were useless. 

I remember thinking to myself: This is probably how massive ww2 army convoys can spend days navigating only a few miles a day if roads are like this. The car next to me hasn't even left his spot yet and his tires are already spinning uselessly. So when I got to My car, I plotted the route out of the muddy lot to the exit up top. (first I had to shake off 15 pounds of mud from my shoes) With the gear on first engaged, I roared up that muddy slope with mud flying. For about 8 seconds, I was a rally car driver with the vehicle's tires turning sideways and slipping through the muck. But I made it! I even raised a triumphant fist in the air as I whipped by the onlookers watching the other vehicles struggle. Not bad for someone driving a front wheel powered 4 door sedan. :)