Death of a Soldier ....

Those of us who have kin or kith who were - are soldiers know how painful it is when we lose them in a tour of duty.  Love for country  .... is our country worth it?
i hope it is.

this sums up my thoughts on the matter ....
This is a poem with the title "Charge of the Light Brigade" by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Click here for the poem and read the remarks so you know why i thought of this poem


reproduced below as tribute for those who died

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

---

1. Half a league, half a league,  Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. "Forward, the Light Brigade! "Charge for the guns!" he said: Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. 2. "Forward, the Light Brigade!" Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew  Someone had blunder'd: Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death  Rode the six hundred. 3. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon in front of them  Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of Death, Into the mouth of Hell  Rode the six hundred. 4. Flash'd all their sabres bare, Flash'd as they turn'd in air, Sabring the gunners there, Charging an army, while  All the world wonder'd: Plunged in the battery-smoke Right thro' the line they broke; Cossack and Russian Reel'd from the sabre stroke  Shatter'd and sunder'd. Then they rode back, but not  Not the six hundred. 5. Cannon to right of them, Cannon to left of them, Cannon behind them  Volley'd and thunder'd; Storm'd at with shot and shell, While horse and hero fell, They that had fought so well Came thro' the jaws of Death Back from the mouth of Hell, All that was left of them,  Left of six hundred. 6. When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made!  All the world wondered. Honor the charge they made, Honor the Light Brigade,  Noble six hundred.

Colossal Art recommends (and i concur....)
i just had to share


Take a look at these flowers

Part of one of my favorite poems, Jabberwocky -  one of very few i have memorized

i have my own concept of a Jabberwocky and all those lovely works

what about you?

Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe. 

Lewis Carroll

Do you use "chortle" or "galumph" in your speech? They are part of the English language thanks to Lewis Carroll (born January 27, 1871)—both words appeared in his nonsense poem, Jabberwocky.

Processing times for some transaction types

Manual verification requests can take 3-6 months, sometimes so much longer
DDR - death, disability, retirement depends on whether your case is bad - meaning many corrections - this is why we suggest that you check the correctness of your records way before your retirement so that you will not have any problems when you finally get to retire

some people dont know if their names are spelled correctly  - you have to check or if there are several SS numbers.  there should be only one - just like the highlander

so check early.  check details - your employers, your contributions, your name, addy

btw.

For Pensioners -
Please be informed that there must be 120 contributions to be eligible for a pension.
a would-be pensioner would receive the minimum pension of 1,200.oo if he has at least 120 contributions, at least 10 CYS (Calendar year of service) and if his contributions was at the lowerst level.

The case cited by VP Marissu Bugante about Ms. Agulto is correct.  The lady has 20 CYS, at least 120 contributions at the minimum level so she got 2,400.oo minimum pension.

Note the lady has at least 20 years CYS.  Those who have only 10 CYS get only 1,200.oo
i hope this answers some of the queries SSS has been getting about the minimum pension.

An SSS-related post: For pensioners

Pensioners who are missing 1984-1989 must request for Manual Verification at any SSS branch.
You cannot request through any other office except the branch

Also,the member must personally file the Request for Manual Verification at the branch.  This cannot be coursed through any other office.  Follow-ups can only be made through the filing branch, not any other office.  Complaints must be coursed through Member Relations unless the complaint is about that department.

Changes to your member records must also be done at the branch, and must be done by the member himself/herself.  Remember to get a copy of the document being received.

I hope this helps pensioners and members.

Batch 75 - First meeting of the year

First Friday of the Year 2015, and we were at Lito Sibayan's home at La Vista

I was with Dale, Amihan, and Joey - Dale having graciously agreed to bring us over to Lito and drive us back home.  I was half afraid i couldnt manage Lito's driveway - you see, his home has a very steep incline, and thus coming in, a sharp descent - with my lumbar concerns that affect the nerves to my right leg.  I was brought down by car and brought up by Nang's (Dale's mom who passed away June 2014) wheelchair.

We found Jondy (?) Flavier - batch 78, and .... oh i forgot his name, Batch 71-A when we arrived. Alice and Manny were already there, having arrived a tad earlier than us.

Who were there ... well, there was:

     Xen and Beth, and their engineer daughter who sought advice from Lito

     Albert and Nimfa, both in black, and Nimfa looking fab, and Albert looking unchanged

     Gorbo (Kintanar), Jason (Mayordomo), and Angel (Lebanan) - were the rarities

     Jiben, Paeng, and of course, Alice and Manny - and the us  - with Dale

     making 16 batchmates all-in-all

  

missing were Rosel and his wife Tes

Dode, and Doy, Leo Peter, i missed Baba, too - i thought she might be able to make it but i guess not

Beth brought over a surprise for us, which featured Rosel doing all the dances we could think of - and doing extremely well at it.  i wish you could have him go.  Twas amazing and brought us all lots of cheery laughter.

The food?

There was siopao, siomai, seafood karekare (Gorbo brought this), chicken macaroni salad, Pixie's grilled boneless bangus (a hit after all the holiday meats), Amihan's pancit, and there was another pancit, veggie fried lumpia (bean sprouts or toge, as they say), fresh fruits, chicken skin (Jondy), pork rinds, and chestnuts!

Manny and Alice brought lechon, by a new vendor. Very nice, but then lechon always is.....

I enjoyed the talk with Jason - he talked about his life at the UN (i teased him about working for the CIA, you see....) and his stay in Canada, Europe, and Africa and his future plans.  A gentleman farmer, that is what he aims to be....

pics to follow ... am waiting for my copies