I am “Flip”, a nickname given to me as an infant by an aunt that stayed to help my mother after my “at home” birth. My given name Phillip when said very fast sounds like Flip. Upon graduation of high school and entering the army, the nickname went away and I am now known mostly as Phil. I grew up in a poor country family of eight with high family values. The family garden, cow and wild game provided food for the table, and “hand me downs” clothes on our backs. My shyness and lack of self worth made my school time difficult, and graduation was greeted with the utmost of glee. My tour of duty in the army and being on my own proved to be a time of growing up and gaining self confidence.
My working career was just short of 43 years as a service technician in the printing and copying field. It began with small wet process single copy photo copiers and the purple printed “ditto” copies, to full color high speed photo copiers and multi color printing presses. My department moved to another state in November of 2006, so I decided to retire. I now run a small shipping business that specializes in shipping large boxes to the Philippines. I also help my wife with some of her many side jobs (house/office cleaning etc.). Marriage about a year after leaving the army, produced a daughter and son, and 29 years of a rather “rocky” relationship, ended in divorce after the children had left home. Second marriage was nearly 9 years of bliss, and introduced me to the customs of the Philippines, her home country. Her daughter decided I would be called “Dad”, but now it’s mostly “Padre”. Our marriage came to an abrupt end with her untimely death at the age of 49. My present wife, also a Filipino, has been with me for the past seven years. She has a married son and three grandchildren in the Philippines. She continues to work so as to support her son and his family as well as her mother. Our attempts to immigrate them to this country has been hindered with red tape and very long waiting lists.
My health is rather good though I suffer the aches and pains that come with age. I am a cancer survivor, thanks to finding it in it’s very early stages. I had cataract surgery a year ago so I can see better than in years, but that doesn’t solve the “Face Blindness” that has plagued me my whole life (and I thank Witchway for telling me what it is called).
I joined this site in March of 2011 and have been here ever since. I am rather non-confrontational, so I usually by-pass the “issues” that arise ever so often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have an opinion. If there is a subject that doesn’t appeal to me, I just pass it by. I have probably typed out and then deleted (before posting) 10% of my answers. I find it nice to get a TU, but I would just as soon see the total Karma points done away with. I only give a TU to the answers I feel are the best, and TU the question if it has generated much interest. The computer and its “wonders” have fascinated me for years. I remember the first mapping program I had, and couldn’t believe the info and detail it contained. Data and data processing has intrigued me to the extent that years ago I put our local phone book into a data base where, if I knew someone’s phone number, I could determine who they were. I have also made a data base of the members of akaQA which lists their name, location and birth date. To all, I wish you health and happiness, but most of all I wish you peace……
Flip.