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Aug. 24, 2016
A Gifted Dell Laptop from the Usual Suspect
GPS waypoint: 7°03'51.7"N 125°36'27.8"E
Location: Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines
Dilemma
When my laptop broke down in Singapore, I was a soldier in the warzone with no gun. How do I survive on the open road? My travels, the roof over my head, food in my belly...all thanks to my laptop. But there simply was no budget for a big ticket item like that. Almost from thin air, I got my much needed laptop as a gift. From the telltale sign, I knew it was from the usual suspect.
Samsung Laptop 3-Year Planned Obsolescence
While in Singapore, my 3-year old Samsung laptop broke down. After a repair check by Dino of Dino IT Technology, I was told it could be repaired but it's better to get a new one. He advised that Dell laptops are built good. He warned me not to buy Asus or Acer - waste of money. Frantic, I tried to hammer-down ex-deals for the new Dell, the XPS 13, going to the Electronic Expo and computer shops at Sim Lim Square. But nothing came out of it. I had no money for a new laptop and there was not much time as I was about to leave for the Philippines.
Davao
Arriving in Davao, my first priority was to get a replacement laptop. The model available in Davao was an Inspiron 13, 7000 series, but there was no time to make deals - I had online deadlines that had to be met. I already lost precious time in Singapore being unproductive. What to do now? I thought of using my credit card...even though there was no money funding it. I would have to find a quick fix later for laptop money.
 productive time on my new Dell Inspiron 13 at the newly opened with its high-speed fibre optic internet connection
Hong Kong to the Rescue
As if on cue, I got an email from my British client who runs a diamond-cutting tool company in Hong Kong. He wanted an update on his website. It was a multi-change update that affected many files plus some new builds. I scoped the work and priced the many changes individually. To my utter surprise, the total amounted to almost exactly the price of the laptop I wanted!
A Rabbit out of a Hat
I submitted the quote which was approved. Voila, there was my laptop money! Payment was wired and before I knew it, I had my new laptop to develop my new Hong Kong project with. Whoa!
Ending Thoughts
I received a big amount of money (given my nickel-and-dime paradigm)...something that rarely happens because I don't look for it. I received the exact amount in the exact time I needed it - it's too uncanny. This is in no uncertain terms, the telltale fingerprint of the unseen hand that has always been looking after my well-being, the one I call, in my affectionate parlance - my bevolent universe!
Again, I could dismiss that as coincidence. But it's already a predictable repeating pattern to be coincidence. It's the same pattern just a month ago when I lost my phone and I received money from cash clients that corresponded exactly to the amount of the Xiaomi phone I needed, at the time I needed it! When I got fired from my job (for telling my boss she was incompetent), I got a severance pay that paid for my 4-year loan - in the exact amount. It's fractals, Fibonacci sequence, and all of nature's repeating patterns coming to play again - it's uncanny. I remember having this conversation in Cambodia with Ksenia, a Russian Vipassana meditator who has been experiencing the same thing. She remarked, "I'm sick and tired of feeling amazed!". In my case though, bring it on! I'll never be sick and tired of being amazed.
I am drawn to conclude that if you are compliant to the natural order of things, living in harmony with nature, you resonate at the same frequency with the universe (I swear, I'm not wearing a tin-foil hat). If you subscribe to the String Theory, at the sub-atomic level, when particles disappear to nowhere, how they reappear is largely a function of your presence even as an observer. This is the same conclusion the fathers of Quantum Physics (Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrodinger, etc.) were drawn to when they made this radical announcement at the 5th Solvay International Conference of 1927. Contrary to popular belief, you are not just a passive bystander. In short, you architecture reality. BUT...you have to take ownership of that reality to manifest it. Trippy, no? But that's my personal world order as I see and experience it.
Thank you universe for continuing to look after my well-being.
--- TheLoneRider
p.s. - after reading again the above, I am amused that a simple laptop acquisition has invoked Vipassana (silent meditation technique), quantum mechanics, the 1927 Solvay Conference, Einstein, fractals and the Fibonacci sequence :)
 Davao City, Philippines
 tourist attractions
 - hotel
 Bahay ni Tuding - central Poblacion location, wifi, hands-on owner
160 San Pedro Street, 8000 Davao City
0947 361 3544 | 7°03'57.6"N 125°36'28.3"E The Pinnacle Hotel and Suites - central location, new management, newly renovated
Sta. Ana Avenue, Davao City 8000, Philippines
(+63) 932-8708621 | 906-3185885 | 7°04'34.2"N 125°36'54.2"E The Apo View Hotel - Davao's iconic hotel, old world charm, casino
150 J. Camus Street, Davao City Philippines 8000
+63 (82) 221-6430 to 40 | 7°04'09.2"N 125°36'27.4"E North Zen Basic Spaces - great rooms at affordable prices
Sobrecarey St. (corner Lapu-Lapu St.), Davao City, 8000
(082) 295.3997 | 7°04'43.0"N 125°37'04.3"E Urban Living Zen Hotel - newly opened - all NEW!
F.s. Dizon Bacaca, 8000 Davao City
(082) 287 3133 | 7°05'28.4"N 125°36'22.3"E The Royal Mandaya Hotel - heart of downtown Davao City
J. Palma Gil Street, Davao City, 8000
(+63 82) 225.8888 | 7°04'09.4"N 125°36'36.8"E Alu Hotel Davao - central downtown location
M. Roxas Avenue corner Padre Faura Street, Davao
+63 82 227 5232 | 7°04'07.7"N 125°36'51.7"E One Oasis Davao - hotel accommodation in a condo unit
Eco-west Drive, Ecoland, Davao City
suki_tac@yahoo.com | 0925.500.3211 | 7°02'49.2"N 125°35'19.1"E
 van rental
 Apollo Van Rental - Davao City tour, Samal Island tour, airport transfer
0925.500.3211 | suki_tac@yahoo.com
 yoga | health | fitness
 tour
 resto |  cafe
 advocacy
- one of the cleanest potable water in the country
- smoking is banned from commercial establishments
- pineapple samurais are endemic here and nowhere else in the country (pineapple vendors who cut-up whole pineapples into chunks with just a few strokes of their carving knives)
- public utility drivers conspicuously display their IDs
- durian Mecca of the Philippines (not to mention Marang, Mangosteen and Sweet Pomelo)
- you want to add some more? please submit on the form below
- the weighing scale of fruit vendors specially the durian push cart vendors are a blatant cheat - showing almost twice the actual weight
- Revisiting Davao Aug 22-Oct 31, 2016
- A Roof Over my Head in Davao Aug 22-Oct 31, 2016
- Davao Yoga Scene Oct 31, 2016
- Pranayama Oct 24, 2016
- Yoga Beyond the Mat Oct 21, 2016
- Grilled Tuna Overload in Davao Oct 13, 2016
- Duterte Mania in Davao Oct 12, 2016
- Sirsasana, Sarvangasana - Yoga Makaranda II Oct 7, 2016
- Tirumalai Krishnamacharya Oct 5, 2016
- Ashtanga Yoga with James Fritz Freire at Holiday Gym and Spa Oct 1, 2016
- There was a Bomb Explosion? Sep 30, 2016
- Jin in Davao Sep 29, 2016
- Scrubs and Hilot at Holiday Gym and Spa Sep 22-29, 2016
- The Fabulous Dabawenyos Aug 22-Sep 26, 2016
- Nirvana Breathing Fitness with Lita C. Quisumbing Sep 21, 2016
- Massage, Sauna and Ear Candling at Holiday Spa and Gym Sep 17-19, 2016
- Downpour in Davao Sep 18, 2016
- Lounge One Yoga Sequence by May Bel Le at North Zen Hotel Sep 16, 2016
- Celebrating Davao's King of Fruits - Durian! Sep 11, 2016
- The Blast that Rocked Davao Sep 2, 2016
- Hatha Flow Yoga with Joanna Lizares Co at Holiday Spa and Gym Aug. 31, 2016
- Conducting a Power Yoga Class at Yoga Davao Aug 29, 2016
- Good Eats with Mel Pangan's Davao Food Tour Aug 26, 2016
- Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Aug 25, 2016
- A Gifted Dell Laptop from the Usual Suspect Aug. 24, 2016
- The Duterte Phenomenon Oct 21, 2015
- 20 Days in Davao City July 4- 24, 2014
- Goodbye Davao...Again! Sep 28, 2013
- Wine and Cheese at Malagos Farm House Sep 27, 2013
- Custom-made Peanut Butter at Davao City's Bankerohan Market Sep 27, 2013
- Yoga in Davao Sep 26, 2013
- Celebrating 25 Years of Habitat for Humanity Philippines Sep 18, 2013
- Clobbered in a Vicious Karate Match Sep 17, 2013
- Back Into the Black Sep 1, 2013
- No Reply Aug 30, 2013
- Full Body-Cavity Search without the Latex Aug 25, 2013
- Fun Day with Crocodile Sonny and Sports Unlimited Dynamic Duo, Dyan Castillejo and Marc Nelson Aug 15, 2013
- Fun! Fun! at Maxima AquaFun, Samal Island Aug 11, 2013
- Goodbye Davao Jan 22, 2013
- Davao City's Peace and Order Jan 21, 2013
- Holiday Spa Yoga, Davao City Jan 20, 2013
- Free Yoga at People's Park Jan 12, 2013
- Davao City: Family Ties Dec 15-22, 2012
- Breakup Diaries: Chance Encounter in Davao City Dec 19, 2012
- Davao City June 20-23, 2009
- Davao City March 18-20, 2008
- Mount Apo March 15-18, 2008
Currency Converter
 Jason 
(Sep. 15, 2016) sidhis na yan Git! hehe (that's already a Siddhi capability, Git!)
 Malina
(Sep. 15, 2016) wow... how wonderful...
 Joanna
(Sep. 14, 2016) nice application of theoretical physics there.
 Janice Liuson-Young
(Sep. 14, 2016) Thank God for that
 Rem Tanauan
(Sep. 14, 2016) Wow! Just wow! Amen to that!
 Ley De
(Sep. 14, 2016) Well said
 Link Stormcatcher
(Sep. 14, 2016) What a fantastic story.
 Ksenia 
(Sep. 14, 2016) that's how it works:) It is not really present, you earned it...lovely reading, thank you
Aug. 24, 2016
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