NorthStar Flags

Recently I attended a debriefing intended for smokers and the presentation was really frightening. In a power point presentation, it shows in lucid details about lung and throat cancers, the stains on the gums and fingers not to mention that it accelerates heart disease, diabetes, miscarriage and birth defects for pregnant women, aging and so on, the list is really long.

Maybe, I was horrified by the extent of the damage brought by smoking, so I always remind my friends to look more closely into no smoking custom flags and banners that are posted at strategic places. Since I don’t smoke, I can always joke about it that probably irritates my friends.

One time I ask a friend why his doctor has not prescribed that he quit smoking. Well, he said that all doctors do, and when indeed I’m required to stop I simply visit another doctor one that can tolerate my smoking. What about magazines that print horrible photos on the effects of smoking, he simply shrugged his shoulders saying that he refused to look at it.

Almost all of my friends that are smokers know the perils, but they do not desire to quit simply because of the satisfaction they get, and not even the worst case scenario being projected by medical practitioners could entice them to change.

But studies have revealed that second hand smoke also carries the same health risk as primary smokers do, that is why it becomes necessary that smokers must be banned from public places.

It (ban) should be required in bars and restaurants, government and private offices, the subway, public parks, to protect citizens and reduce the incidence of smoking related diseases.

The NBA game in the USA is broadcast live to different stations around the globe. In China the games are shown to over 300million basketball enthusiasts, making it the most important single TV broadcast. And because it has invaded the Chinese consciousness, NBA basketball superstars are also widely known in this country of over a billion people.

In the recent Olympic games, basketball particularly, the Chinese national team met Team USA composed of NBA stars in the opening toss-up. The popularity of the NBA stars provided the excitement and packed the Olympic Stadium to the rafters – all 18,000seats were booked in advance.

When players of the contending teams were introduced, Yao Ming of the Chinese quintet and Kobe Bryant of Team USA, received the most cheers of the awesomely partisan crowd.

The game then started with the first five of each team on the floor, the crowd responded with almost iconic shouts and cheers for their favorite players. They could not actually decide whom to cheer and be disappointed if a basketball fails the net. The fans looked dazzled whom to side with as they seemed confused – to reserve their cheers to the National Team or with Team USA.

The majority of the audience maybe waving the Chinese National Flag, but were also dressed in NBA jerseys. How then can you distinguish the preference of the crowd?

In the end, the sellout crowd had no choice but to cheer for both, the distinction have been totally erased and what ensued was just pure fun for a milestone happening within their midst.

Team USA had found a second home – a home away from home, China.

In its heyday, smoking has invaded almost all segments of society. For one, men were classified as sissy when they are not seen sporting a cigar or blowing smoke with a cigarette. The air lanes, the TV were likewise bombarded with ad that promotes the vice. Can you remember the Marlboro Man on the boob tube and giant billboards?

Or try looking at reruns of old western spaghetti movies, the lead actor almost always smoke. In fact when you enter a sheriffs office it is shrouded in smoke that not even the American Flag is visible. That was the American culture we wanted to be freed of, particularly when scientific evidence points to it as a health hazard. But even with the nagging evidence, not everybody is convinced, many are still into cigarette addiction and tobacco companies are still reaping the profits.

Then new legislation were put into effect, like all cigarette packs were labeled as a health risk, higher taxes were levied against it, smoking ads on TV were limited to be aired only after 8pm, yet these seems to be not effective because year after year, the number of young smokers continue to rise.

Now comes New York City’s smoking prohibition on bars and restaurant’s, courtesy of Mayor Bloomberg’s desire to make the city smoke free. And for five years, it indeed instituted reforms and the City is responding well as the air is almost environmentally clear.

Further, to protect residents from second-hand smoke, a new move is emerging to include homes. That is, leases will not be given to tenants that smoke, or new homes will not be awarded to applicants if they smoke.

In its heyday, smoking has invaded almost all segments of society. For one, men were classified as sissy when they are not seen sporting a cigar or blowing smoke with a cigarette. The air lanes, the TV were likewise bombarded with ad that promotes the vice. Can you remember the Marlboro Man on the boob tube and giant billboards?

Or try looking at reruns of old western spaghetti movies, the lead actor almost always smoke. In fact when you enter a sheriffs office it is shrouded in smoke that not even the American Flag is visible. That was the American culture we wanted to be freed of, particularly when scientific evidence points to it as a health hazard. But even with the nagging evidence, not everybody is convinced, many are still into cigarette addiction and tobacco companies are still reaping the profits.

Then new legislation were put into effect, like all cigarette packs were labeled as a health risk, higher taxes were levied against it, smoking ads on TV were limited to be aired only after 8pm, yet these seems to be not effective because year after year, the number of young smokers continue to rise.

Now comes New York City’s smoking prohibition on bars and restaurant’s, courtesy of Mayor Bloomberg’s desire to make the city smoke free. And for five years, it indeed instituted reforms and the City is responding well as the air is almost environmentally clear.

Further, to protect residents from second-hand smoke, a new move is emerging to include homes. That is, leases will not be given to tenants that smoke, or new homes will not be awarded to applicants if they smoke.

My job description is that of a sales engineer, but deals primarily with products for the construction industry. To be specific our company offers special additives and by-products for the use of the construction trade.

In concrete construction for example, mixing and pouring concrete compound is not as easy as it seems. You have to think of the weather and the temperature, because evaporation and hardening of concrete must strike a balance or the minimum compressive strength of concrete will never be reached.

During hot weather, expect massive evaporation so retardants are added to the concrete mix to avoid uneven drying of concrete, which may manifest cracks on the surface. Likewise during cool weather, accelerators are added to speed up the drying process to avoid delay in the construction and meet construction timetable.

Steel construction is different altogether, because the main drawback that can reduce its carrying capacity is corrosion. Therefore we have devised special coating solutions that will totally eliminate corrosion problems on steel, particularly the exposed surfaces.

As coating solution is applied, custom flag markers are mounted over it as signal for construction crews that the area is ready for the concrete mixture. Then when pouring of concrete is completed, a new flag is mounted to warn crews that the area is off limits as concrete is left to dry. Then as concrete dries a new set of flags is added signifying that it could already be used for traffic.

The process may sound cumbersome, but when you are part of the group, the process seems easy to understand and execute.

This is my bread and butter, and it pays my bills.

When I enjoyed staying in a place, always expect me to return to reminisce once again the traits that impressed me in the first place. Like when I first visited Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, mostly referred in the fliers as the Temptation Island. Indeed, it was aptly described because you will really savor not just the scenery, the continuous stretch of beaches, the food but also the hospitality the locals extend to tourist.

I’m interested in my second visit to the famed island because I want to experience first hand how it coped after a tsunami hit Southeast Asia. From the accounts I’ve heard and footage I saw on TV, more than a hundred people perished here and totally wiped out the infrastructure of the island.

True enough, when I arrived at the island not a single familiar landmark could be seen. Even the large tree that used to mark the junction of the pathways, with shops on both sides was also gone, all reclaimed by the sea. I tried to look for the concrete foundations of the flagpoles that flew hundreds of colorful blank flags that greet tourists alighting from makeshift boats are gone as well.

I booked at the functioning resort at the time and the same mode that made the island famous, were also extended to us. The only difference now is reconstruction is evident in the areas fronting the beaches. In fact during the day, when heat is intolerable we tourist’s help out and do some volunteer works, to help the island literally rise on its feet.

A semblance of what the island used to be is slowly being felt, as capital is pouring in and resorts are springing-up like mushrooms.

As far as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a construction engineer. To build buildings, bridges, elevated freeways and huge dams fascinate me and gave me the drive to be one. But, fate may have other plans for me, because I was never good at numbers a requisite for one to be a successful engineer.

Out of frustration, the only field open for me was sales/marketing and I took it like a shark in a feeding frenzy. I graduated with honors and proceeded to do post graduate studies. And guess what, I landed with a job at a company offering products for the construction industry. My passion for construction never evaded me, I may not be a construction engineer, but I ended up as a sales engineer, but still an engineer no less.

My line of work brings me to various construction sites, construction offices and talk to executives of the trade. One time while traveling on the freeway, I caught site of a large truck with a pair of giant pre-cast concrete girder on board. From the looks of it, the girder has a depth of around 2meters and a span of at least 30meters. This must be for a concrete bridge, so I tailed the truck but kept a good distance because of the red flag markers that juts out a meter from the free end of the girder.

I arrived at the construction site, just in time as a girder is hoisted by a giant power crane from the truck to the prepared piers at the side of the river. I noticed that the embankment have been completed, the approach of the bridge have been ready and only the girder is needed to complete the construction.

I’m really blessed for I have a stable job, a very supportive wife, and two healthy kids, baby boys – the apple of my eyes. My wife and I sees to it that both our kids must have the attention, the care, and the things needed to let them grow and develop into God-fearing and law abiding citizens.

Since my children were born two years apart, there was really no need for a general adjustment period, particularly in the process of bottle feeding, diaper changes in the wee hours of the morning.

When they were four and two years of age, sibling rivalry starts to manifest, especially the younger one that would always find ways to get our attention. When it comes to toys, the younger would always get the best, and in foods he usually gets the lions share. As I’m always at work, I left the work of talking to my elder son to my wife, and I guess she made a nice effort because I saw the relationship of my children turn for the better.

Once, we as a family went out to have fun on the 4th of July festivities. Since the 4th of July parade was still due in an hour, we decided to stroll the park and have some refreshments, burgers, spaghetti and cola’s. I noticed that my older son seems to have matured a lot, because he is no longer bothered with my younger son’s antics.

As we moved along the parade route, I brought a pair of mini American flags for both my children, but my younger child grab both. My other son just stared and smiled, and a wink of understanding.

On my recent visit to the Middle East, I made a brief stopover at Cairo. Seldom do I have the chance to view more closely the sights in Egypt. On this rare occasion I opted to have an educational tour at the famous El Alamein war museum.

I’ve read of the battle (El Alamein) from history books, particularly between the war exploits of Rommel, the German General and Montgomery, the British counterpart. You see, war correspondents pick this as the greatest tank battle in the history of World War II.

The objective of Rommel’s Africa Corps was to sweep across the desert up to Egypt and take the Suez Canal. But the Allied Forces under Montgomery took a stand and stopped the invading German Forces right here at El Alamein. It was in November 1943 when the Axis finally capitulated and 250,000 prisoners of war were taken in.

I arranged for a trek to El Alamein, 105km west of Alexandria and lies along the coastal highway. I together with a few German and Italian tourists disembarked at the highway and walked all the way to the war museum. It was a considerable distance, and together with the searing heat all made our journey more memorable. We made a sigh of relief when we spotted the entrance gate of the war museum adorned with five imposing blank flags on top of it.

Once inside and with a soothing cool temperature we marveled at the room dedicated to major armies that were part of the battle. It displayed among others arrays of uniforms, weapons and ammunition, field maps, flags, equipment and war footage

Some tourists meanwhile, ventured outside to visit the cemeteries and render respects to the countless soldiers that died here.

When I was watching BBC news, I caught site of a familiar name, an American casualty in the ongoing war in Iraq. I called to confirm the sad news and probably to offer condolences to the family, our subdivision neighbor in Los Angeles.

True enough the news item was correct, as both his parents – esteemed members of the academe, related to me in detail how their son died while manning a sentry point outside of Baghdad. In fact I was asked to come for the funeral, to show solidarity with our neighborhood, particularly in this time of grief and sorrow not only for family and friends but also the entire county, for having lost a distinguished son.

I made reservations, and proceeded immediately to the church where mass and services were held for our fallen hero. I noticed that upon entering our county, both the State Flag and American Flag on government buildings had been flown in half-mast as ordered by the Governor, a tribute to a son who shed his life for the service of his country.

I followed the funeral cortege to the internment site. The funeral march was really a show of force, of bereaved people because a thousand mourners in cars joined the procession. Then at the gravesite, the casket draped by an American Flag was finally lowered to the ground amidst the sound of a 21gun salute.

Without intending to be, I stared at the military personnel as it folded the American Flag neatly thirteen times and handed it to the widow as memento.

Then as we marched back, I thought of how many more fallen heroes would sacrifice their lives to serve the ideals of democracy.