Reflection: The Pros and Cons of being Funemployed in the Philippines

I've been free from work (aka Funemployed) for about a couple of months now. It was my decision to resign from work so I never had any regrets for the first month of being free. However, slowly but surely as the second month of my unemployment comes to a close, I've become more and more anxious about my status.

I planned to go to the United States for a vacation during my freedom from work but sadly my relatives that are supposed to welcome me with open arms have their hands tied at the moment.

I'm pretty sure being unemployed isn't very different abroad, but I'll go ahead and list down the pros and cons of having a lot of free time.

Pros:

• You have all the time in the world

Let's start with the obvious one. Being unemployed is different from finally retiring, but both statuses mean a person has near-limitless time to do whatever the hell they want to do. I usually use my free time to workout, play video games, and do chores around the house.

• Working out regularly is possible

Before I resigned, my whole clock revolved around my shift at work. That meant I have to compromise other time-consuming activities. Sacrificing my workout time to sit in a cubicle at work is neither fun nor healthy. Being funemployed lets us use our bodies as it was meant to be used.

• Biking for fun is possible

Biking is something I've always wanted to do but never found the time thanks to my busy schedule. Now I can bike around the city where I live in and no one's there to stop me from wandering around. It may be silly, but I like to pretend I'm like a cowboy when I'm on the bike. The bike is my trusty steed and I ride off into the sunset.

• Play video games all day every day

During the rainy seasons when it's too wet outside to head to the gym or to bike around, it's best to play video games in the comforts of my own home. Just recently I played the heck out of Red Dead Redemption II with no discernible regrets in sight.

• Meet up with other friends who are free

Chances are there are other people out there who are also unemployed. Maybe some of your friends are unemployed too. Bar hopping is usually done by employees after their shift on Fridays, but we don't have to wait for the weekends to bar hop. Good times and good memories can only be made in this time of uncertainty and freedom that is Funemployment.

Cons:

• Too much time for you to handle

When does "so much" become "too much"? Too much of anything imposes detrimental effects on you. In the case of having too much time, you're faced with an attack on your psyche. Although we don't intend to overthink, neither do we intend to spiral into an existential crisis, that's most likely what'll happen. The pressure isn't there directly in front of your face. Instead it's an underlying sort of pressure that constantly reminds you that you're not being as productive as you should be, or it reminds you that all your other friends your age have jobs already but you don't. These are tough thoughts to struggle with.

• Your family becomes envious of you

Given the current traffic and weather situation in the Philippines, it becomes hard for your other family members braving the outside world to not be jealous of you because you have the choice whenever you want to go out of the house or not. Your family members don't have that choice. 

• Job hunting is hard

I was employed for about 2 years in my previous company. Just because I got a job once doesn't mean that other job offers will come in so easily. When I resigned, I didn't have another company already lined up. Objectively looking at it, it's most likely I'd get a job soon. But in reality, it's hard to look at things at such a logical perspective. Uncertainties of ever finding a job start creeping up, and who's to say the job I would find would be one that I enjoy? Will I even last six months in the new job that the future holds for me?

• Dwindling savings

If you're like me, you're living off the savings that you've accumulated from your previous job. I was wise enough to save a large chunk of what I earned, but until I start making money again, I'm eventually going to start eating away at a large portion of my savings. 

Technology: Different softwares used in different companies

I'm someone who's worked in many different places. I've stayed in one large company for a long time but I've earned my keep in a bunch of other smaller companies as well. While there are clearly objective differences between my longest stint and my shorter stints, there are some things that I've noticed that people tend to not bring up when they move around different jobs. Here are some of the few things I've noticed when it comes to the tools.

1. Outlook vs Gmail

The large company I stayed at lived and breathed Microsoft's Outlook. Smaller companies on the other hand used Gmail to work. Outlook is arguably more outdated but it's more systematized. Gmail is more at the forefront but that doesn't mean the company itself is ahead of the game, especially if everyone is just using their personal gmail accounts instead of the business package that Google offers.

2. Internet Explorer vs Google Chrome

My old large company made us work on Internet Explorer, despite all the comments and jokes about it being so slow online. It's the default browser we use to access web applications even though Google Chrome does a better job at it. I reckon it's because IE is less hassle on the digital infrastructure of the company.

3. Emails vs Workhub Apps

My old huge company didn't have any Workhub Apps. All the work was discussed through email. Younger and smaller companies opt to use workhub sort of apps like Podio to communicate and get work done. Podio wasn't the only workhub I used mind you. Transcription companies have their very own specialized WorkHub apps that deal with audio files.


That's about all that I can mention right now. Why did I bring this up? Because I worked at my old job for nearly 2 years now. I can't help but notice how much I miss using those "outdated" tools like IE and Outlook. Maybe they weren't so bad regardless of all the complaints online. Sure I'd agree with those memes if I tried to work on my laptop, but the IT team at my old company found a way to optimize the performance of all computers in the office so that they all work well in unison.

I guess I'm writing this short blog post just to say I took them for granted. Moral of the story is never take things for granted. Thank you for reading.

Fitness: Surprisingly Specific Analysis from Anytime Fitness' Free Consultation. Here's What I Learned

Just around July 26 -- that was a Friday -- Anytime Fitness representatives paid a visit to my old company's building as part of the company's Overall Health & Safety (OHS) campaign. Anytime Fitness offered free wellness consultations that I signed up for. The whole consultation doesn't take more than 20 minutes but there's a great deal to be learned in such a short time.

The InBody 270 isn't your average weighing scale.

The fast consultation is all thanks to Anytime Fitness' unique weighing scale that measures height, weight, blood pressure, and posture at the same time. It even prints your results for you. Once you've signed up at the booth, the representatives will put you on the scale and they'll tell you to follow the instructions on the screen. You'll be holding handle bars in both of your hands and you'll be raising them upwards, sideways, and below your waists. This whole process only takes 5 minutes. The rest of the consultation is the representative breaking down the results for you so that you understand the charts and graphs that the machine printed out. You can ask as many questions as you like.

Some of the special terms the representative will point out to you will be visceral fat and subcutaneous fat:

Visceral fat is the kind of fat that wraps around our internal organs.

Subcutaneous fat is the kind of fat that resides just underneath our skin.

Since Anytime Fitness is more concerned with improving our wellness instead of our sexiness, they'll tell us that it's important to reduce our visceral fat as much as possible. Because that's the kind of fat that contributes to most fitness-related illnesses like strokes and hypertension.

My results.

During my consultation, I was told that I had normal levels of fat and muscle all around my body. I'm doing a good job with my health goals. But I was also told I have the potential to put on more muscle. I was given a score of 78/100 which is already great apparently. Super muscular people can get scores above 100.

My girlfriend's results.

My girlfriend had different readings. While mine said I had normal levels of fat throughout my entire body, my girlfriend has a higher level of fat around her tummy area. It's okay I still love her anyways. She was also told that she has the potential to gain more muscle AND lose more body fat. She was given a score of 70/100

As long as you don't mind getting spammed by Anytime Fitness -- they'll inevitably do that once you sign up -- then I recommend getting one of Anytime Fitness' free consultations if ever they drop by your company grounds.

Travel: My stay at a Psyche Ward aka Mental Hospital

Alright so maybe what I'm about to post can't really be considered "Travel" per se, but if you ever find yourself confined in a Psyche Ward then this blog post might be able to shed some light on what exactly it is you're getting into. I just want to make it clear I didn't travel into a Psyche Ward for fun or for study; I don't have that luxury nor privilege. I went in there to get some help as a patient.

Beforehand when I just learned about my need to stay at the ward, I already knew that I was going to write this blog post eventually, but now that I've experienced one week and two days in the Psyche Ward, I'm more than compelled to write about it. I have a couple of drafts about experiences of mine that are currently WIP. They predate my stay at the ward, but I have very strong feelings to share what I went through in the Psyche Ward. So my posts may not be in chronological order after this.

It's a true tragedy I don't have any pictures of the Psyche Ward. They confiscate your phone and other gadgets when you enter the place of healing.

Long story short I was in a bad place about a month and a half ago. My psychiatrist that I've been seeing for three years saw that I've finally reached a new low. She strongly suggested I take some time off at the Medical City Psychiatric Ward to adjust to new meds and avoid hurting myself. It took some serious persuasion from her side but she was able to convince me to take time off as she instructed.

It was during her persuasion when she gave me a picture of what I was getting into:

• As I stated above, phones and gadgets will be confiscated when you enter the ward. 
• The place is in the lower ground floor, so nobody can jump out a building and commit suicide.
• There are no sharp objects in the ward so self-harm can be avoided.
• The rooms are padded, so people that want to bang their heads against the walls (like me) can't have that luxury.
• I get to spend my time at the ward meeting other people who are just like me -- That sounds fun.
• There are Zumba classes to get the blood pumping.
• It isn't as bad as it sounds apparently. Think of it like a Dorm or PBB, she said.

Finally, my psychiatrist told me that I needed to stay there for at least a month. Two weeks if I behave properly. After all has been said, I thought the only thing missing from the mental image she painted into my head was a straitjacket. Was my mental state so badly deteriorated that I really do belong in such a place? I trusted my doctor so in the end I agreed to being confined in the Psyche Ward.

Now that I've been in and out, can I say for sure that it wasn't as bad as it sounded? Yes and no. Below are some of the things that happened in the Psyche Ward that I'd love to share with you.

"Naalala mo ba? Yung mga bading na intsik, 't*ng ina sila. Gugulpihin ko sila. (Do you remember? Those gay Chinese, f*ck them. I'll beat them to a pulp.)" –Delirious man with his arm tied to his bedpost, talking to a wall.

That's literally the first thing I saw and heard the night I was wheeled into the male bedroom of the Psyche Ward. It was at this very moment I knew that I'm really in a place for crazy people. The crazy man kept making noises throughout the whole night so I had to make some huge adjustments to be able to sleep.

There's a fight almost every day.

There was never a dull day when I stayed at the Psych Ward. The crazy people often fight with each other, sometimes they just fight with themselves and cause some self harm. One of the most epic fights I've seen was when the crazy man (the same man tied to a bed post at night -- let's call him "Nicko") lifted a chair up to provoke his watcher. Three nurses tackled him to the ground and grappled him away back to his room to be confined in an actual straitjacket. One time one of the patients caused a scene by banging on a door with his arm so hard that he dislocated his shoulder! He's cool though because I was able to befriend him and he was just scared when he did that.

You'll be served hospital food that... isn't great.

They serve five meals a day in the Psyche Ward: Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, and Dinner. The food isn't something to crave for unless you're really hungry. They serve enough food to reach the 2000 calorie average. The meal served for you will consist of rice, some meat, always some sayote on the side, some mildly sweet jelly as "dessert", and some of what we liked to call "water soup" which is basically water served at room temperature seasoned with salt and garlic.

You are expected to eat with two spoons.

This follows the rule mentioned by my psychiatrist that there are no sharp objects allowed in the ward. Heaven knows that a psychotic person can use a fork or a knife to cut themselves or use it as a weapon. I sure as hell didn't think I was criminally insane enough to do that though. While the reason is understandable, two spoons made eating a chore, especially when the hospital food served is pasta.

Showers don't have knobs. They have buttons and you'll never know when the water stops pouring.

I honestly have no idea why the showers are designed this way. There are two buttons you can press: Hot and Cold. It's pretty self-explanatory.

The bathrooms have no locks.

Both the toilet and the shower don't have locks. This is so the really crazy people can't lock themselves in the restrooms. Still, it's because of this that I've had more than my fair share of awkward apologies while I'm still using the bathroom.

There are board games and activities to keep people sane (as they can possibly be).

There are plenty of board games like Monopoly, Scrabble, Chess, and there's also UNO to keep people well occupied for the first week of their stay. Your proficiency in card skills and board games will be one of your takeaways once you get out of the ward. Aside from the Zumba classes, there are also arts & crafts, newspaper readings, cooking & baking, that are fun to participate in. It's also important to participate in the activities to show that you can be a well-behaved person they can thrust back into society.

You'll explain your life story over and over again.

This is part of the hospital protocol. This is to ensure that the residing doc knows you well enough, and this is to ensure that your story doesn't contradict itself when you tell it again. It's also because Medical City is a training ground for young upcoming doctors. They'll interview you as if they were your residing doctor so just tell your story. It's good storytelling practice.

You'll meet and make new wonderful friends.

I think this is the most important takeaway of them all. You'll meet people who are more or less your age. You'll all come from different walks of life. You'll all have different mental illnesses and you'll see how the mental illnesses affect these people. You all might have come from different circumstances but the Psyche Ward will connect you. Your connection with each other will make your stay at the ward less boring. You will learn so much about each other, like your love lives and family background. You all may not get along all the time, but because the Psyche Ward is a small place you guys will be friends again soon. You'll form a kind of friendship that you wish would stay intact long after you all have left the Psyche Ward. You will be amazed at how much of an unforgettable impact they will have in your life.

With all of that said, I think it's pretty clear that I don't think the Psyche Ward is a perfect place. But I have absolutely no regrets staying there at all. Thanks for reading :)

Reflection: Are Corporations "Alive"?

"Despite not being individual human beings, corporations, as far as US law is concerned, are legal persons, and have many of the same rights and responsibilities as natural persons do. For example, a corporation can own property, and can sue or be sued." - Wikipedia

It consumes, it grows, it has a mind of its own, and it adapts. Am I enumerating the basic requisites of a living thing, or am I listing down what a corporation can do? When you think about it, a living thing and a corporation are very hard to tell apart. I tried looking online for a blog post or a reddit thread that compares corporations to actual living entities and surprisingly I've found little on that topic. There's this Quora question that asks the same question that I did, but I'm not satisfied with the discussion that played out. That's where I come in to fill a tiny hole in the internet with my thoughts. It's not much, and maybe nobody will actually see this except for my blog's regular stalkers (aka my loved ones) but here it goes anyway.

My comparison of corporations to living things is in a way similar to Plato's comparison of his ideal society to a soul. For those of you who don't know, Plato once wrote a book called Republic, where he delves into what he calls the ideal society, which is comprised of three parts. These three parts can also be found in the human soul. You can think of a society as one giant soul comprised of souls imprisoned in flesh -- that's how Plato sees us people. Namely, the three parts of the soul are the rational part, the spirited part, and the appetitive part. Ideally these three parts must be kept in balance and in that order for a soul to be "just". Not everyone is the same, so different people have different affinities towards which part they are more drawn to. For example, rational people become scholars, spirited people become soldiers, and appetitive people become businessmen and artisans. Society is "ideal" when these people are organized so that the rational lead, the spirited defend, and the appetitive hoard for the future.

Everyone that still remembers their biology classes would know that cells are the building blocks of life. Although we consider them something as primary as that, they're also pretty much alive. They are just as alive as you and me because they consume, grow, reproduce, and die. Arguably the only thing they lack is sentience. Cells devote their entire lives to one function, and that's making us, well, function.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure everyone remembers the hierarchy: A group of cells working together is called a tissue. A group of tissues working together creates an organ. A group of organs working together creates a system. A group of systems working together creates us.

A group of us working together... doesn't that make a corporation? Cells work so that we can move and consume sustenance that in turn keeps them alive. Don't we help corporations stay alive by helping them make money so that we in turn can make money so that we stay alive? A company is an "organization" which comes from the root word "organ". That's not a coincidence. Corporations may not move with limbs like we do, but they're alive just like plants are; they grow slowly, but they can have lifespans that can far exceed ours.

On a more existential note, does that mean that to be productive, meaningful human beings, we must serve and work for corporations 24/7, like our cells do? From this line of thinking, it would seem that sacrificing our lives to corporations would be the right thing to do when aiming to live a life filled with higher purpose. We don't berate our cells for tirelessly working to keep our bodies functioning.

There's just one crucial difference I'd like to point out with this analogy between cells to body and humans to corporations. I've already stated it in one of the paragraphs above: Cells are not sentient, unlike us. They don't have wants, aspirations, goals. They're just cogs in a machine. To treat a human being as something like a cell without any wants and will is -- to put it straightforwardly -- dehumanizing. At least, that's the conclusion that I've come up with.

In summary, a corporation is "alive" in a very loose sense of the word. Obviously I know it doesn't fit the perfect definition used in Biology. This blog post was just a fun thought exercise like the Philosophers of old used to do all the time. People make up corporations like cells do but we aren't cells. We have our own thoughts and sentience that are integral to being considered a higher life form.

Thanks for reading through this short train of thought. As always let me know what you think by leaving a comment. ☺

Technology: My eBook about Apps will Change the Way you View your Finances

It's no secret to my readers that I love to write. That's why I have a blog. Writing lets me organize my thoughts. There's always a lot going on in my mind, admittedly not all of the mess in it is beneficial for me. One day I decided to set my mind's thoughts into something that's actually productive, so -- this may come as a surprise to most readers -- I've actually written my own ebook. As in a true legitimate book with its own adherence to copyright laws, ISBN (International Standard Book Number), and cover page. I'm proud to be able to strike that off the bucket list. 😊

The title of my book is Gen-Z Financial Guide: How to be a Badass in the the Philippine Economy. I'd like to thank the artist behind the appealing cover page of my book, Moody Bread. You can check out her Link Tree and some of her art in the link. Literally the cover wouldn't have existed without her so I'm truly grateful. Obviously I've heard of the saying "You can't judge a book by its cover". I'm taking it literally here instead of applying the expression to people as you can see. Nevertheless I totally agree with it in either of the scenarios, but honestly it's still nice to have a unique, eye-catching cover that everyone can see.

When I wrote my book, I wrote initially about my own experiences with personal finance, like how I make a profit at the Philippine stock market, or how do I make money on the side besides the market. But I've also done a lot of research to better specify what I wanted to go in detail about. Thankfully, my girlfriend used to be an economics professor. She's also a veteran stock trader so rest assured most of the information I've written down is augmented by a professional's eye.

The book was months in the making, with a hiatus in the finalization. I had some hesitations about the contents of the book -- it's the first book I've ever written after all. I want the information in my book to be as accurate as possible and I genuinely want the people who read my book to learn something they can use for their personal finances in the Philippines. It isn't a self-help book with generic motivational speeches. It's a helpful pointer to tools and apps that can help you invest and manage your finances, as well as make money on the side really easily.

The book is completely FREE and you can go over the whole thing in less than an hour if you go over it in one sitting. You can get it here and you'd have absolutely nothing to lose :)

Thanks as always for your time in reading my post. Let me know what you think about the book in the comments below!

Fitness: My Top 5 Favorite Boxers

It's no secret on this blog that I love boxing. My entire Fitness category is filled with mostly boxing-related posts. I've wrote a lot about my own boxing journey, but I haven't really written anything about the world of international boxing yet. I don't keep my eyes peeled for the latest and greatest news like some story-hungry paparazzi, but I do love to watch the sport whenever it comes on. I also watch full fights and highlights on Youtube whenever it's a slow day at work. I've seen plenty of professional boxers fight and I've grown to really like the styles of certain fighters.

Below are my top 5 fighters in terms of style.

#5: Guillermo Rigondeaux

This Cuban fighter's nicknamed "El Chacal" which is Spanish for "The Jackal", and it suits him. Rigondeaux's fighting style is slick and smooth. He's a technician with incredible defense. I like his evasive maneuvers more than Mayweather's because Rigondeaux is less frantic and more graceful (but let's be real here, objectively, Mayweather's defense is more foolproof). Unlike every other boxer, Rigondeaux very rarely throws jabs. He just positions himself right in front of you, waiting for you to miss. He's so close his enemies lose their cool and react aggressively. This makes their movements predictable, allowing Rigondeaux to calmly use his sophisticated footwork and head movement to evade the incoming punches.

With all that said, Rigondeaux also has some drawbacks. He's an aging professional but he's only had about a dozen fights. He's also on the short side, so he can't take too much hits. He evades a lot of punches, but if he messes up and one lands on one of his sweet spots, he's down. He was outmatched by Vasyl Lomachenko who I'll talk about later in this list.

#4: Gennady Golovkin

Golovkin is almost the opposite of Rigondeaux. If Rigondeaux just stays in front of you waiting for you to miss, Golovkin aggressively pushes onwards against you until you submit. Golovkin is like an immovable object; many of the fighters he's fought have thrown perfect shots trying to back him off, but Golovkin doesn't stagger much from the pain. He'll just keep throwing bombs to push his opponents into a corner, where he unleashes even more hell on them. The beauty of Golovkin's style is it's both brutal and simple. Incredible punching power, mixed with infallible endurance and unrelenting pressure. Make no mistake, Golovkin might be ranked on the lower side of this list, but he's proven time and time again that he could be the best boxer of this generation.

#3: Manny Pacquiao

I'm a Filipino, so Manny Pacquiao is definitely one of those Pinoy things that I'm totally proud of. He might be a lousy senator but he's a helluva boxer. When I think of Manny's style, I think of a ferocious, aggressive spark of fire. Anything and everything that comes into his radius won't be able to escape without getting hurt. His punches must feel like being hit by a machine gun, because he's a high volume puncher and he punches crazy hard for someone his size. He's always throwing numerous shots with blinding speed, and they're hitting his enemy everywhere! Manny's footwork was also great to see. He's always bouncing around in a way that make his opponents look like newbies.

With that said, I don't think Manny has a lot going for him defense wise. Manny doesn't use a lot of head movement to evade punches. His style usually involves just beating his opponent to the punch, and then using his bouncy footwork to get out of his opponent's line of fire either by pivoting his lead foot or taking a step back.

#2 Vasyl Lomachenko

The current superstar of boxing. He's been known under many nicknames like "Hi-Tech", "The Matrix" and "The Artist". These nicknames come as no surprise when you see him fight in the ring. He's incredibly entertaining to watch. His style makes the violent sport look graceful thanks to his footwork that gets him around the ring and all over his opponent as if he's levitating. His combinations are fast and fluid; he throws nearly as much punches as Pacquiao does. Lomachenko is very comfortable fighting on the inside. As Joe Rogan said, he sticks close to his enemies like glue, but Lomachenko can slip and dodge their punches with ease, while countering with a barrage of his own. It's an understatement to say, but it really is impressive to see a close-range fighter do the job without getting tangled up in clinches. It keeps the action fluid and exciting.

#1 Canelo Alvarez

This is where my opinion becomes controversial, because Canelo has a lot of haters. Regardless of that, this is my blog so I can say whatever the hell I want and what I want to say is this: Canelo Alvarez is the closest thing we have to a "Perfect Fighter" if there ever is one. Why do I say this? Because Canelo has shown us time and time again that he's an all-around superb fighter. Power, Technique, or Speed, you name it. He's powerful as an aggressor and he's slick when he's on the defensive. He throws snappy counter punches as if it's second nature to him. Put his power and his defense together along with those deadly counter punches and you have yourself a guy who can dish out brain damages while he avoids getting brain damage himself.

I was sold after he fought Golovkin for the second time. We've seen in this fight that Alvarez is powerful enough to make that beast stagger backwards, which is something we've never seen before.


That's my list of favorite boxers and their fighting styles summed up in a nutshell. I was thinking of including an honorable mentions list but I'll save that for another time because thinking about the styles of other fighters makes me want to write about their fighting styles too.

Who are your favorite boxers, and what do you think makes them unique? Let me know in the comments below :)