My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: Ten Interesting Comments from my Blogs

Friday, December 27, 2013

Ten Interesting Comments from my Blogs

This year, I received more than 100 comments from my readers all over the world in my five widely read blogs. The following are ten comments that inspire me to continue blogging and I found them interesting as well.

1. We hear about British successes. This is one of their forgotten failures, until now. Interesting that most of the Spanish army were Filipino soldiers and officers. Because of this I've now come across the story of the fight against the Dutch invasion and it is another forgotten story. The history of the Philippines seems to be filled with amazing forgotten stories. I'm going to read more and not just about the colonial period. Thank you for opening my eyes, on British Occupation of Manila-Forgotten Episode in Philippine History>by Anonymous.

2. Hi, I read your blogs like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you're doing! Also see my site on, Thomas Coleman on Political Dynasty and Pork Barrel as Cause of Corruption in the Philippines

3. Dear Dr. David B. Katague, Greetings… I hereby humbly request your permission to allow me to copy some portion of your blog article regarding “Marinduque – My Island Tropical Paradise” for the reason that I’m doing a factual research about the province of Marinduque which I’ll use it for the construction of my argumentative essay entitled Marinduque. I assure you that this will only be used for academic purpose only in our university as a school project research. Furthermore, I admire that way you’ve written your blog article especially the details regarding the tourist spots in the province especially the Bellaroca resort since I haven’t been there due to its costly fee which I can’t afford so far. Your approval would be a great help for my research and studies. Thank you in advance for your kindest help. May the Lord shower you more of His blessings in these coming years. Sincerely yours, JHONAS Q. DE LA CRUZ on Latest Article on Traveling to Marinduque

4. The story of MHL has a nice ring about it. It tells the juicy details and reality of unconventional relationships, which add flavor to the plot and draws in the hordes of viewers. It would be educational to draw up a drama series which portray the pain, suffering and havoc of diseases spread mainly by gay relationships. People never learn and HIV/AIDS is spreading faster than we are aware of it. Your blog site can be a tool in helping stamp out the sexually transmitted diseases of our generation. Mark Stromill on Bisexuality-Theme of Episode 50 of My Husband's Lover

5. I have Filipino friends living in Spain who visit Morocco for the weekends, similar to Americans visiting the Mexico side for the weekend. It is an exotic short trip for them just as you mentioned. The street vendors remind us of people hawking everything in the streets of Manila. Nowadays, Morocco is a jumping point for would be illegal migrants from Africa heading to Europe. Spain continues to have a small territory in North Africa, I am not sure if it is near or on Morocco, and Spain has fortified its borders because some migrants enter it illegally and is a headache for the EU. Jose Luis Martinez on One Day in Tangier, Morocco, North Africa

6. Good to read your article about the discrimination. Looking forward for more articles like this on Prejudice and Discrimination Against Filipinosby Anonymous.

7. I'm impressed, you are now the handy man that your wife luckily married. You should post on your blogs the recipes of your new skill and we your readers can start judging you. Keep up the good work and have a joyful Father's day weekend. Orby Gustafsson on Blueberries Pancake for Breakfast

8. Dear Dave, I just came across your site while I was looking for background information regarding the Rigodon de Honor. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your blogs and admire your dedication to keeping your blogs updated. Looks like retirement suits you! I am also a Filipino American who have dedicated the last 25 years in pursuit of improving the clinical trial enterprise. I noticed you retired from the FDA. Did you by any chance come across Dr. Jean Fourcroy and Dr. Peter Reinhart? We were members of the Board of Trustees of the former Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Investigators. I just wanted to let you know that your stories inspired me to look into doing something similar. At age 56 and in the process of yet another reinvention of my professional and personal life,I found some wise pearls in your blogs. Thank you for sharing your stories with the world! Kind regards, Dr. Nadina Jose drnjose@gmail.com on Cinco de Mayo Celebration and Sales

9. Hi Sir, I am also an alumna of UP (Chemical Engineering, 2009) and stumbled upon your blog. I would just like to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading your entries, and am impressed that you remain a prolific blogger well into your 70s! I can only aspire to do the same when I reach my golden years. Salamat po, and I look forward to your future posts. Regards, Patricia on Chapter 1: Childhood Memories of the Japanese-American War in the Philippines, 1941-1945

10. Hi there, Your blog page is just too perfect for our project, I don’t know how to catch your attention but hopefully you could spare me a minute to read this message. We've recently launched the site www.mytaste.com where users search through recipes from all the major recipe sites and blogs. We noticed that you have a great number of tasty recipes on your blog and would like to suggest you to have a look at our “Top Food Blogs” section. We would like to give you an opportunity to add your food blog to the list and have your recipes indexed on our site, all you have to do is add your blog URL here: http://www.mytaste.com/add-your-food-blog Our project is the second biggest worldwide when it comes to recipe search, and it’s already live in 37 countries, including countries in Europe, Asia, Middle-East, Australia, South America and South Africa. We deliver thousands of visitors to food blogs daily. Some of the top food blogs receive at least 10,000 visitors from us on a weekly on Garden Salad with Dungeness Crab

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Highlights of My Professional Career

In my more than 40 years of professional career, I have experienced both working rank and file, as well as supervising the work of subordinates. I have worked in four private firms and the Federal Government, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where I retired. I enjoyed the challenges and difficulties of both types of job situations. This is the highlights of my work experience story.

My first job after completing my doctorate degree was a Chemist for Chemagro Corporation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation, a German conglomerate. I worked for the analytical chemistry department comprised of about fifty people; half that number was either chemists or biologists. My specific task was to develop analytical methods for the detection of pesticide residues in plant and animal tissues. I worked on my own, similar to six other bench chemists, and we all reported to the same supervisor.

The firm sponsored my visa conversion from a student to a permanent resident, and I was able to legally work and reside in the United States with my family. The company generously took care of its employees. At the end of each successful year, everyone received a 13th month salary bonus. The employees and their families celebrated wonderful annual Christmas parties in a downtown Kansas City hotel, with dancing and free drinks for the whole night.

Inasmuch as I enjoyed and loved working for Chemagro for five years, I found a new job which offered a substantially higher pay. Due to my exemplary work performance, my supervisor preferred and lobbied for me to stay with the company. I had to turn him down because they could not match the package presented by my new employer. It was also a chance for me and my family to move and live in the US west coast, where the mild winter climate is bearable compared to the Midwest.

My next job was at the agricultural research division of Shell Development Company in Modesto, California. I was a Research Chemist, and again I worked individually, same as five other chemists who all reported to a supervisor. My specific duty was similar to my previous job. I worked for them for five years, until the company decided to get out of the pesticide business. They closed their research facility affecting the jobs of more than 200 employees.

My third industrial job was with the agricultural research division of Stauffer chemical company, located in Richmond, California. I was a Senior Research Chemist doing the same project as my two previous jobs. I worked for twelve continuous years for the company, with outstanding annual job performance. I became a Principal Research Chemist, the highest attainable non-supervisory position.

One day in 1986, my supervisor informed me that my job had been eliminated, and I had one day to vacate the facility. It was the most dreadful lay off experience in my life. I felt anger, sadness and humiliation to be dismissed from work with one day notice, after all the years of hard work invested for the company. This was an unforgettable incident and was the gloomiest point in my professional career.
The company terminated sixty research employees, who were upset of the bad news.

One of the chemists was distressed and expressed his outrageous anger by threatening the company and its workers. He told his supervisor of his intention to bomb and burn down the laboratory. He was immediately escorted by the security staff out of the building and into his car. He was informed to leave behind his personal belongings; they will be mailed to his residence. He was warned never to show up again near the company premises or risk getting arrested.

My supervisor was kind and allowed me to take my time to pack up my belongings. It took me two days to clear up my workplace, after toiling for a long period in the same jobsite. We were provided clerical help and office space, in preparation to look for another job, such as updating our resumes, and using the computer and copy machine. We were given six weeks of separation pay plus benefits.

Fortunately, with the help of a friend who is a Church parishioner, I found another job thirty days after leaving Stauffer chemical company. He hired me as a senior research chemist and as a group leader with two technicians to supervise. It was in the same field as my expertise in my previous three jobs spanning the last twenty one years. My new employer was Chevron Chemical Company, and which was located in the same area as my former employer.

This job gave me the introduction and basic knowledge of managing the work of subordinates. I worked for Chevron Company for four and a half years. The company decided to consolidate their research facilities in Texas, and lay off all its research employees. This time I had enough distress and agony from working, and eventually getting laid off from several private companies. To avoid going through any more miserable layoffs, I made a vow that I would never again work for a private company.

In my work experiences, there were noticeable and unavoidable jobsite occurrences. One can never miss the office romantic relationships between co-workers, both illicit and permitted. Though it was frowned upon, there was a boss and staff relationship, which was used as a ploy to get ahead in the company. Some relationships had chemistry, no pun intended, but some never worked out. Oftentimes, there was a sense of distrust among bench chemists for some workers who unjustly obtained preferred work assignments.

Some employees resorted to bribing superiors to get special privileges, such as being able to attend choice conferences and meetings in exciting venues or locations. Likewise, politics was always present at the worksites. It was during an era when various forms of harassment, equal opportunity and discrimination laws were not yet enforced in the workplace. Occasionally, an unexpected chemical explosion happens in a laboratory setting, where luckily no one got seriously hurt.

In the three private companies I worked for, I was able to publish scientific journals for some of the research studies and analytical methods which I developed for the respective companies of Chemagro, Shell Development and Stauffer.

After deciding and making a vow to avoid working in the private sector, I made my new goal which was either to work for the state of California, or the Federal government in Washington, D.C. Four months after I lost my job in Chevron, I was lucky and joyful to be hired by the Food and Drug Administration as a review chemist in the fall of 1990.

In 1994 I was promoted as an Expert Research Chemist with a GS-14 rating. My expertise was on Anti-malarial and Anti-parasitic drug products. In 1997, I was again deservingly promoted to Chemistry team leader, supervising the work of six Chemistry reviewers including five with doctorate degrees.

As team leader, I was responsible for prioritizing, assigning, and assuring the technical accuracy of all chemistry, manufacturing and control issues for all new drug applications submitted to the Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products, Center of New Drugs.

It was part of my responsibility to give advice, instruct and promote high morale and teamwork in my group. My work in the FDA is confidential, until the drug patent on the products I worked on has expired. There are manufacturing supplements that I have approved that are now open for the public in the Internet.

In 1998, I won the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Award. The citation reads, “For outstanding accomplishments in fostering the objectives of the EEO Program by hiring minorities and encouraging their professional growth while providing excellent leadership.” I have received numerous certificates of appreciation, awards in leadership and communications, commendation for teamwork and excellence in the accomplishment of the FDA mission. I have also received several letters of appreciation from private industry for my review work.

There are many good things working as rank and file while enjoying doing one’s job individually. It is a humbling, satisfying and productive experience, if one can work in harmony with one’s immediate supervisor. Working individually develops one’s skills in goal setting and scheduling. But in general, the financial rewards are less than a person who has supervisory responsibilities.

Managing the work of others has its challenges. Moreover, it develops one’s skill in handling and developing people, and the compensation rewards and benefits are better. Due to additional duties, responsibilities and leadership, supervisory work can be more stressful than working as a subordinate. However, supervisory jobs give one more personal growth and satisfaction, based on my personal experience. My work in FDA as a team leader managing the work of six scientists had been the happiest and rewarding work experience in my career in Chemistry. You might also like:

Friday, December 27, 2013

Ten Interesting Comments from my Blogs

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