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Is everything about politics these days?

February 7, 2012 By 12 Comments
clint-eastwood

Daily life in the USA has changed a lot since I was a kid.  It had already changed a lot when I left the USA in May 2000.  Since that time, I've been living in the Philippines, and have never been back to the USA, so I am now observing my country from the outside.  What I am seeing almost seems like a foreign country to me.  Well, I guess I have been away long enough that it really is a foreign country to me now. This past weekend was the Super Bowl.  I've kind of lost interest in the Super Bowl to be honest.  We don't really get NFL football on TV here (there are ways to get it, like by paying for Internet streaming of NFL games), … [Read more...]

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Being more than you think you are

August 30, 2011 By 6 Comments
Always exceed expectations

Do you read many blogs?  I read quite a few.  Some are more special than others are, no doubt.  Some blogs touch you in a place that others don't even come close to.  Know what I mean?  One person who almost always is able to reach me with just the right message is Steve Olson.  I don't know for sure what it is about Steve that imparts meaning to me, but in many ways I find that he and I share some similarities in our lives, and that probably makes his writing meaningful to me. In his most recent article, "Are you an extraordinary person?" Steve writes about his upbringing and how so many external influences pushed the message that … [Read more...]

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Comments or no comments?

August 26, 2011 By
comment-300x198

This morning, I came across a very interesting article… err… debate regarding whether or not the average blog should use comments or disable them altogether.  Well, I have my own thoughts on this, but first, let me point you to the article. People want to comment! The debate can be found on a site called Think Traffic.  I don’t normally follow this site, so I don’t know much about it.  A friend sent me the link to the article, Debate! Should You Allow Comments on Your Blog? Find Out What Two Remarkably Popular Bloggers Think, in which two popular bloggers debate the question about allowing comments. Now, let me … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Content, My Thoughts, Publishing Tagged With:

To do: check, check, check

August 23, 2011 By
checklist-150x150

Yesterday, I was having a little conversation with my friend, Dave.  Dave mentioned to me that he had read a blog (I don’t have a link because I didn’t read the article myself) where the writer was espousing a new way to do a “To do” list.  Apparently, the guy seemed to think that he had come up with a new way of getting stuff done in a way that you would make the most possible money.  Dave asked me what I thought about the idea. Well, the way that it was explained, the guy was saying that you should write down everything you need to do.  Next, look through each item on the list, and immediately scratch off every … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business, Entrepreneurism, My Thoughts Tagged With: ,

Quenching the thirst for liberty

August 22, 2011 By 16 Comments
Lemonade

Did you know that this past Saturday, August 20, 2011 was Lemonade Freedom Day?  I didn't know about it until I saw a video on Facebook.  Thank you to my friend Steven Green for posting the video which caught my attention. Basically, on Saturday, a concerned American Citizen, Robert Fernandes and his family, and I presume other followers set up a lemonade stand on public property in Washington DC.  This action follows many incidents of US authorities shutting down childrens' lemonade stands in various locations around the United States. What ever happened to common sense?  Voltaire, a French Philosopher probably said it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Martin, Featured, My Thoughts Tagged With: , , ,

Are stupid ideas a waste of time?

August 22, 2011 By 4 Comments
stupid_idea

If you think about the title of this article, Are stupid ideas a waste of time?, of course you would say "Yes, they sure are."  But, I would argue that they are not.  Stupid ideas are not a waste of time, in fact, they are very valuable in my opinion! How could it be? Have you ever heard of brainstorming?  Do you know what that is?  For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, brainstorming is a process of thinking of all kinds of ideas.  The best way for a brainstorming session to be conducted is to have a group of people, maybe 6 to 10 people or so.  You agree in advance that all ideas will be considered relevant, nothing is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrepreneurism, Featured, Mental Health, My Thoughts Tagged With:

Continuing my jeepney adventures

August 17, 2011 By 15 Comments
New Friends

As I mentioned the other day, I've been riding jeepneys lately.  I consider it a further part of my acculturation to the Philippines.  I've already lived here a long time, more than a decade, but I can still learn more about the culture here and make efforts to better fit in culturally.  So, that is what I am doing. As far as I can recall, I don't think I've missed a single day of riding the jeepney somewhere since I started last week.  I've had mostly good adventures on the jeep, but the one bad one that I wrote about a couple days ago.  Today, I need to go to Union Bank for some business that I need to take care of there... so I'll … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bob Martin, Davao, Exercise, Featured, Language, My Thoughts Tagged With: , ,

A real bad feeling

August 15, 2011 By 63 Comments
Old man in the Philippines

Today, something happened that made me feel really bad.  The truth is, I don't understand what happened, or why it happened, and that is part of the reason why I feel bad. Over the weekend, I got a notice from the Post Office (it's called "PhilPost" here in the Philippines) that I had a package waiting for me, and I needed to claim it at the main Post Office in Davao.  The PhilPost Office is closed on Saturdays, so, since it's Monday morning, I decided to go down and pick up my package first thing this morning.  I had recently ordered something on eBay, and was looking forward to receiving my purchase, which I was sure was the package … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Davao, Featured, Live in the Philippines, My Thoughts Tagged With: ,

Birthday today (Feb 20)

August 13, 2011 By 4 Comments
Birthday

Yes, today is my birthday. I am 47 today.  Getting older, but hopefully getting better too.  My life has improved a lot in those years, particularly the past 7 or 8 years, I guess. I can feel that I am getting older, though.  They say that my age is still young, and I suppose it is, but I don't feel like I did when I was in my 20's or even in my 30's, I feel older, a bit slower and such.  But, still good though. Feyma took me out for lunch today.  She told me to choose the place, and I did.  She was surprised at the place I chose, because it is a simple place, but that is where I felt like going.  Sad thing is that she was right, … [Read more...]

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A new site for MindanaoBob

August 8, 2011 By 12 Comments
Bob holding a Jackfruit

As any of you who know anything about me already know, I have a lot of websites!  It just seems like the number grows and grows every year.  The time has come, though, to develop a central repository of information about ME.  I get a lot of questions about myself and my life here in the Philippines, and I want to put this site together as a place where you can find answers to those kind of questions. Another thing, of course, is that since I have become so widely known under the moniker "MindanaoBob" I didn't want anybody else to end up grabbing the Domain Name "MindanaoBob.com" so I jumped on it, and set up this website.  And, since I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Thoughts
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