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	<title>Penned by Sterndal&#187; personal thoughts</title>
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	<link>http://www.sterndal.com</link>
	<description>A freelancer&#039;s life</description>
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		<title>dad</title>
		<link>http://www.sterndal.com/2012/01/27/dad/</link>
		<comments>http://www.sterndal.com/2012/01/27/dad/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:06:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>sterndal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[family matters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I'm Just a Human]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[living life!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[unforgettable memories]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sterndal.com/?p=2393</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[10 years ago, you asked me &#8220;how old are you?&#8221; and i said &#8220;i&#8217;m 18! don&#8217;t you know?&#8221; i was laughing because you are my father so it&#8217;s impossible that you don&#8217;t know you said &#8220;ang bilis ng panahon&#8221; you told me to focus on my studies. get a bachelor&#8217;s degree. then after graduation, you&#8217;ll [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>10 years ago, you asked me &#8220;how old are you?&#8221;</p>
<p>and i said &#8220;i&#8217;m 18! don&#8217;t you know?&#8221;</p>
<p>i was laughing because you are my father so it&#8217;s impossible that you don&#8217;t know</p>
<p>you said &#8220;ang bilis ng panahon&#8221;</p>
<p>you told me to focus on my studies. get a bachelor&#8217;s degree. then after graduation, you&#8217;ll help me find a boyfriend</p>
<p>honestly, i didn&#8217;t like the idea</p>
<p>i had a strong feeling you are going to recommend someone i wouldn&#8217;t like</p>
<p>but i understood what you are trying to point out and that is for me to finish college</p>
<p>so i said &#8220;okay&#8221;</p>
<p>then a year after that, you passed away</p>
<p>i couldn&#8217;t believe it</p>
<p>how could life be so unfair?</p>
<p>but i learned that life is not really unfair</p>
<p>some things are bound to happen according to God&#8217;s wonderful plan</p>
<p>i am no longer sad</p>
<p>but i still miss you</p>
<p>i wonder if there is beer in heaven?</p>
<p>you don&#8217;t smoke but i know you like beer</p>
<p>well, i hope there is beer in heaven</p>
<p>and i also hope there is internet in heaven so you can read my blog</p>
<p>i also pray that God will be kind to me</p>
<p>that He&#8217;ll give me to someone who can treat me the way you treated me and my sister</p>
<p>happy birthday dad! &#8211; <a href="http://www.loveisparis.com/2011/02/12/a-little-princess/">you are the capt. crewe of my life</a></p>
<p><em>sa aking tatay, ang nag-iisang lalaki na nagmahal sa akin ng totoo </em> <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<item>
		<title>Boat or both?</title>
		<link>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/10/14/boat-or-both/</link>
		<comments>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/10/14/boat-or-both/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:29:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>sterndal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[in the name of money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal thoughts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sterndal.com/?p=2195</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What is your most embarrassing moment? Mine is really shameful but funny at the same time. I was suggesting something and said the word &#8220;both&#8221; and everyone laugh because they thought I said &#8220;boat.&#8221; You know Filipinos are very particular with diction and pronunciation and we are also very sensitive when corrected in public. Anyway, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What is your most embarrassing moment? Mine is really shameful but funny at the same time. I was suggesting something and said the word &#8220;both&#8221; and everyone laugh because they thought I said &#8220;boat.&#8221; You know Filipinos are very particular with diction and pronunciation and we are also very sensitive when corrected in public. Anyway, that was a long time ago. I think I&#8217;ve improved myself in that aspect. I mean not my English but on being sensitive. I&#8217;m still not good in speaking the language but I&#8217;ve learned not to take things personally. But I am also trying to learn how to say English words properly.</p>
<p>The reason why I remembered that incident is because of a recent assignment. We were talking via Skype and he said I have to write about <a href="http://www.boatinggearcenter.com/">boat supplies</a>. Since the connection from my end is so-so, you know how crappy Smart Broadband is, I had to listen very carefully with the instructions. At first I was thinking if he said &#8220;both supplies&#8221; or &#8220;boat supplies.&#8221; LOL. Good thing he immediately mentioned boating gears, boat covers, water sports, boating maintenance and hardware, and other similar terms so I didn&#8217;t have to ask him to explain further.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s a strength or a weakness. I don&#8217;t want to ask questions right away when some things are not clear to me specially when it involves clients. I mean, I want to try to figure it out by myself before asking questions. This is something I learned from my previous job. Think first before you ask question. That&#8217;s the rule of my former boss and until now I still follow that rule even if I&#8217;m no longer her staff. What do you think?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Thoughts after watching Soul Surfer</title>
		<link>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/08/10/thoughts-after-watching-soul-surfer/</link>
		<comments>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/08/10/thoughts-after-watching-soul-surfer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:48:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>sterndal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[I'm Just a Human]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[talking booger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[what they have to say]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sterndal.com/?p=1962</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After watching the movie, Soul Surfer, I am inspired to reach for my dreams more than ever. If Bethany Hamilton can set the world on fire, I can too. But I don&#8217;t want to set the world on fire, literally and figuratively. I don&#8217;t want to be famous. I just want to make a living [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After watching the movie, Soul Surfer, I am inspired to reach for my dreams more than ever. If <a href="http://bethanyhamilton.com/">Bethany Hamilton</a> can set the world on fire, I can too. But I don&#8217;t want to set the world on fire, literally and figuratively. I don&#8217;t want to be famous. I just want to make a living by doing what I love to do, which is writing, and have a comfortable life. I want to author a book. I want to be the next Gilda Olvidado &#8211; one of the best Filipino novelists. Well, I am not saying that I am as talented as Ms. Olvidado, my gulay! she&#8217;s the bestest of the best! She is the writer behind novels that became blockbuster movies in Philippine cinema:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sinasamba kita</li>
<li>Babangon ako at dudurugin kita</li>
<li>Kung mahahawi man ang ulap</li>
<li>Magkano ang iyong dangal?</li>
<li>Pinulot ka lang sa lupa</li>
<li>Ina, kasusuklaman ba kita?</li>
<li>Saan nagtatago ang pag-ibig</li>
</ol>
<p>All I&#8217;m saying is that I want to be like her.  So, yeah. I&#8217;m bragging again. That is why I always tell in my blog entries that whatever you read in my blogs, don&#8217;t believe it. Haha! It&#8217;s just me, nagging and writing my thoughts. In truth, I&#8217;m not confident. <a href="http://www.blogfullife.com/2010/09/26/a-writer-without-a-craft/">I read somewhere that bloggers should not call themselves writers because that would be an insult to those who studied years to become a writer</a>. But Gilda Olvidado did not finish college and yet she is the best Filipino writer ever. Her works are classic. So, I&#8217;m thinking that people who set rules and standards suck <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif' alt=':D' class='wp-smiley' />  You don&#8217;t need a diploma in creative writing from UP Diliman to become a writer. Writing is innate, a passion. You don&#8217;t learn it. You must be born with it. <em>JOKE!</em>. Maybe Gilda Olvidado is exceptionally talented. But because I&#8217;m not at all talented, I will definitely need some training from a prestigious university to master the art of writing.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Brave but not stupid</title>
		<link>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/05/06/brave-but-not-stupid/</link>
		<comments>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/05/06/brave-but-not-stupid/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2011 17:15:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>sterndal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[a career booger?]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[a discontented booger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amour-finding adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging career]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Consider This]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exploring the world]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[future plans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health and body]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[I'm Just a Human]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[in the name of money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[living life!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[money desperate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[talking booger]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sterndal.com/?p=1613</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As I&#8217;ve said in my other blog, many things are happening in my life right now. Still no love life, though I&#8217;m crushing on someone, but I&#8217;m still very happy. Life&#8217;s almost perfect if not for the wound on my left leg. Eczema I can&#8217;t believe I&#8217;m going to have scars at this age. Yay! [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As I&#8217;ve said in my other blog, many things are happening in my life right now. Still no love life, though I&#8217;m crushing on someone, but I&#8217;m still very happy. Life&#8217;s almost perfect if not for the wound on my left leg. Eczema <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' />  I can&#8217;t believe I&#8217;m going to have scars at this age. Yay! </p>
<p>So anyway, it&#8217;s raining opportunities, literally. Somehow, I&#8217;m already confused on which among these offers to grab. First off, I&#8217;ve come to realize that there is really no &#8220;asenso&#8221; in being an employee. Specially in my case: always best in tardiness, never the employee of the quarter. Haha!<br />
What I&#8217;m trying to say is that if I can&#8217;t be a role model office staff, then maybe I can be something else. Like a full-time freelancer, maybe?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/current-contracts-in-odesk.png"><img src="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/current-contracts-in-odesk-300x250.png" alt="" title="current contracts in odesk" width="300" height="250" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1618" /></a></p>
<p>Since last month, I&#8217;ve been sending my resume to companies and offices in Makati. I never intended to work in that place because they said that the people there speak in fluent English and that they are really &#8220;sosyal&#8221; and all. Not that I&#8217;m intimidated. I just feel like I don&#8217;t belong there. Joke. Drama! Nothing. In fact, I think Makati is not that glamorous, contrary to popular beliefs. <a href="http://www.loveisparis.com/">My dream working place is Paris! </a>So, Makati is &#8220;so-so&#8221; for me. LOL.</p>
<p>Kidding aside, I was invited to 8 job interviews for the position of Copy Writer | Web Content Writer | Content Writer | Online Marketing Writer. Basically, I want to work as a writer in a big company that pays me a minimum of 36K a month. Am I asking for too much? That is the amount that I can earn in a month if I&#8217;m going to work full-time in my online jobs. So, if I&#8217;m going to work in a company in a full-time basis, they should be able to exceed that amount, right?   </p>
<p>Out of those 8 invitations, I went to just one and the rest, well, I was tied up with lots of writing commitments, I wasn&#8217;t able to attend anymore. Funny, when the employer asked about my expected salary, I said 18K. LOL. I was too shy to say my real expectation. I was scheduled for another interview this morning but I have writing assignments in Odesk, so I decided not to go.  </p>
<p>I am thinking, why do I need to apply for jobs in Makati when I already have a lot of writing gigs online? And I can have more if I wanted to. If I really really wanted to. If I had more time. If I had no full-time job to think about. If only HMO, SSS, PAGIBIG, etc., were not important to me, I would have given up my office job long ago. Freelancers don&#8217;t have such benefits. That&#8217;s the main problem.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/opportunity.png"><img src="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/opportunity-300x142.png" alt="" title="opportunity" width="400" height="242" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1619" /></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;m confused. Which is better? To work at home or to work in a company? Hmmmm &#8230; I&#8217;m single. I have very few responsibilities. I&#8217;m renting a small place. My electric and water bills do not cost that much because I&#8217;m alone. I eat a lot but I&#8217;m happy with Jollibee meals, I mean no fancy restaurants for me. In other words, I only need P500 or $12 a day in order to survive. That&#8217;s all I NEED. But I WANT more money for my caprices. Hehe.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m currently looking at my options. I can work full-time in my office job and be a part-time freelancer. Or, quit my office job and work full-time in freelance writing, where I truly belong. If I could earn $50 dollars a day, then I&#8217;m going to resign now! Haha! But I&#8217;m going to work really hard for that huge amount and definitely, it&#8217;s not going to come from only one source or just one contract. I&#8217;ll need at least 3 long-term contracts in Odesk. </p>
<p>As of now, I have 2 fixed-priced assignments, both employers told me that if my performance passed their standards, they&#8217;re going to give me more projects <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' />  I also have 4 hourly-based contracts and they&#8217;re not giving me much tasks but I&#8217;m not complaining. I&#8217;m able to earn $75 a week for a few hours of writing and editing. Okay, they said there are tons of work to do and that we need to discuss it via Skype. Problem is, I&#8217;m online when they&#8217;re offline and vice versa. Apparently, the Phillippines and the US have a 12 or 13 hours time difference.</p>
<p>So, do you think it&#8217;s possible? Or should I wait for things to be stable first? I can earn 12 dollars a day and more than that. But I doubt if $50 dollars daily is feasible. Haha! My plan is to stay in my full-time job while I&#8217;m doing freelance jobs. But holy smokes, I can&#8217;t serve two masters at the same time. Eventually, I will have to choose and that time is now. I have to make a decision.  </p>
<p>Presently, my target is just $50 a week but if I&#8217;m going to work full-time in this online industry, I can raise my target income to $100, that&#8217;s $400 a month. What do you think? Well, I think that it&#8217;s too small for an amount. Haha! I&#8217;m really ambitious. I want to earn $1000 a month. That&#8217;s $250 a week. That&#8217;s $50 a day. Question is where will I get that $50? I have ideas but I&#8217;m going to kill myself writing and blogging. Maybe I should be contented with $100 a week and that&#8217;s just 20 hours of writing <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' />  </p>
<p>one more thing, if I&#8217;m going to work full-time in Odesk, then maybe I should start accepting very low job offers like this one?<br />
<a href="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/job-offer.png"><img src="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/job-offer-300x267.png" alt="" title="job offer" width="300" height="267" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1620" /></a></p>
<p>Or maybe I should still accept a full-time home-based job! How about this one?<br />
<a href="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/korean-offer.png"><img src="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/korean-offer-300x176.png" alt="" title="korean offer" width="400" height="276" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1621" /></a></p>
<p>It&#8217;s one my most wonderful job offers. They asked me to submit a sample and until now I haven&#8217;t written it yet because after office hours I still need to meet the deadlines in my writing gigs <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' />  Sayang. But I&#8217;d still submit my sample article about Korean festivals even if it&#8217;s already late. Just so they wouldn&#8217;t think that I disregarded them. And then I&#8217;ll ask if there is a part-time position as well. Hehe.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>My stand</title>
		<link>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/04/26/my-stand/</link>
		<comments>http://www.sterndal.com/2011/04/26/my-stand/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:28:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>sterndal</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[I'm Just a Human]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[personal thoughts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[talking booger]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.sterndal.com/?p=1592</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I used to ignore the RH Bill or republic health bill which made me a useless citizen. Since I&#8217;m single, things such as using of contraceptive pills and methods that stop a woman from becoming pregnant don&#8217;t interest me. I mean, if only it&#8217;s possible to conceive without a husband, I would have given birth [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/02022011001.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1602" title="02022011(001)" src="http://www.sterndal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/02022011001.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="250" /></a></p>
<p>I used to ignore the RH Bill or republic health bill which made me a useless citizen. Since I&#8217;m single, things such as using of contraceptive pills and methods that stop a woman from becoming pregnant don&#8217;t interest me. I mean, if only it&#8217;s possible to conceive without a husband, I would have given birth to a boy or a girl years ago. Yes, I know it&#8217;s possible but becoming a single mother is definitely not one of my many dreams! LOL.</p>
<p>Anyway, I went to my favorite church last week and found some flyers that say &#8220;No to RH Bill.&#8221; Apparently, the Catholic Church is against it and being a Catholic Christian, the church&#8217;s teachings and doctrines influence me a big deal. The Church doesn&#8217;t just influence me. I believe that the Church has authority! So now, I am against the RH Bill too.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve heard horrible stories about women dying while giving birth. I really think that the government ought to do something to achieve a zero-death rate during pregnancies. Some women may take drugs without even knowing its harmful side effects to their babies. Like in western countries, <a href="http://www.zoloftlawsuit2011.com/">zoloft lawsuits</a> are being filed by thousands of mothers. Zoloft is a drug that can result to manic behavior, depression, trouble in sleeping, and suicidal tendencies.</p>
<p>What I&#8217;m trying to say is that education will help solve such problems. But I still think that sex education in secondary school is not a brilliant idea. After all, experience is the best teacher. Kidding! I mean it&#8217;s a sensitive topic and I agree that only the parents are capable of discussing the subject with their teens <img src='http://www.sterndal.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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