My Autobiography: David Balleza K(C)atague: January 2018

Monday, January 29, 2018

Latest Development on Treatment of Parkinson Disease

Dinah's Visit last Year- Macrine's enjoyed very much visit from relatives. A phone call from relatives and friends are most welcome!

In the next couple of weeks will be the 5th year after Macrine was officially diagnosed with Parkinson Disease. Today I believe she is on Stage 2, thus the medications, diet and exercise did retard the progression of her debilitating nervous system disorder. There are days when she feels she can do anything even cook or travel, but there are days when she is down and could barely walk. Most of the time she sleeps about 10 to 12 hours per day as side effect of her medication. Sometimes she is confused and thinks she is in the Philippines. She sometimes forget where she places things. You have to remind her of taking her medications etc...

I am lucky and grateful that our youngest son (David III) helps me taking care of His Mom on his day off from work. Otherwise my duty as the primary care taker would be unbearable. We are in the process of hiring part-time help ( not covered by my insurance) to help me with daily care and demands of Macrine, my spouse for over 60 years now. One of the positives, I learned for being a primary care giver was to be more patient and understanding.

Again, thank you David III for your help! Thanks to all relatives and friends who had visited Macrine both here in the US and in the Philippines. Special thanks to those relatives who call Macrine regularly just to say Hello. I would not mentioned names but you know you are and indeed we highly appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness. Keep the call coming, rain or sunshine!

The Nieva Brothers and their wives visit in Amoingon, Boac, Marinduque, Philippines 2016 ( From L to R: Yong, Rene, Genny, Wendy, Oski, Macrine and Me)

Below is the latest development on treatments of Parkinson Disease for your information. Read on..

https://www.michaeljfox.org/files/111617_MJFF_YIR_8.5X11_DIGITAL.PDF?et_cid=1020600&et_rid=224829673&et_lid=Research+Year+in+Reviewem_cid=

Friday, January 26, 2018

My Prediction for the Three Major Oscar Winners for 2018

I have been following the Oscar Winners for the last three decades. This year my prediction for Best Picture is Call Me by Your Name, for Lead Actor-Timothee Chalamet and for Lead Actress-Sally Hawkins ( from the Shape of Water). The are nine movies nominated for Best Picture, five for Lead actor and five also for Lead Actress.

For the Best Picture category, I based my prediction from the Trailers and Reviews and from opinions of friends and relatives who have seen the movies. I have only viewed the movie, Get Out. Here's a video from the sound track of the movie, the Mystery of Love, nominated for best song also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=31&v=KQT32vW61eI

For the rest of the 8 Best Picture nominees: I have read all the reviews, trailers and TV interviews, story lines and viewers reception published in the Web. My second and third choices for best Picture is The Shape of Water and Lady Bird respectively. The nominees for the three major categories ( best picture, lead actor and actress) are as follows:

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“Get Out”
“Lady Bird”
“Phantom Thread”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Lead Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

The Oscar nominations for the 90th annual awards in all categories were announced last week from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California.

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” lead the pack with 13 nominations. “Dunkirk” followed behind with eight nods and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” with seven. All three films earned best picture nominations.

The rest of the category was rounded out by “Call Me By Your Name,” “Darkest Hour,” “Get Out,” “Phantom Thread,” “Lady Bird,” and “The Post.”

The Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and will be aired live on ABC on March 4.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Did Your Parents Give you a Lucky Name?

Image from luux.com

My late Mother-in-law had given my wife a formula based on numbers for predicting whether a marriage, a birth of a child or any addition to your household will bring good or bad luck or even death to your family or household. My wife had followed this formula when we assigned names to our four children. I am not superstitious, but I follow it also, because I have witnessed several cases of relatives in the Philippines, that had suffered early death, divorce or sickness because the combination of the baptismal names of the couples falls into the category of CONDENADO ( meaning condemned or death). This an update.

There are five categories, BUENAS( good luck), DUDUSO ( doubtful), PELIGRO ( danger), MALAS( bad luck) and CONDENADO. I have the number values for the 26 alphabets and the numbers that are suppose to be lucky, doubtful, danger, bad luck or condemned. But my wife refused to give her permission that I divulge this in my blog. But here is the essence of this pseudo science of numerology.

The 26 alphabets are assigned numerical values from zero to 26. Some of the alphabets have the same values. Eight alphabets are valued 12, four alphabets are valued 9, three alphabets are valued 18, and the rest from of the alphabets are valued from zero to 26.

The letters in your Baptismal name is added. This sum tells the numerologist if your number is either of the above five categories. Then the baptismal name of your wife is also added. The sum of your name and your spouse is added. If it exceeds 30, you start counting to 1. If you have a baby, the baptismal name of the baby is added to both husband and wife's total. Any addition to the household, even household help must be considered especially if the maid, cook or gardener lives in your house.

So how will you know if the sum of all the names in your household will bring you good or bad luck?

There is a list of lucky numbers, unlucky numbers, doubtful numbers, danger numbers and condemned numbers. There are 7 lucky numbers among them are 7, 9 and 11. There are eight unlucky numbers among them are 4, 8, and 29. There are 20 doubtful numbers among them are 5, 6 and 27. There are 8 danger numbers among them 12, 15 and 23. There are 8 condemned numbers among them are 3, 13 and 30.

Let me cite a specific example. My name "David" has a numerical value of 30 or zero. From the chart of 5 categories it is a bad number. So my parents did not give me a lucky name. But if you combined it with my wife's name value 21 our total is 21. The number 21 is doubtful. When our oldest son was born we made it sure that the combination of our 3 names is among the lucky numbers of 1,3,7, 9, and 11.

This numerology system is similar but not identical to the Chinese numerology. For example number 4 is a pretty bad number in Cantonese, for it sounds death, but in this system 4 is a good number. Eight is a good number in Chinese, but a danger number in this system. Both 1 and 9 are good numbers in Chinese and in my mother-in-law numerology chart.

Curious? I am sorry I can not elaborate more on this. My wife says, it will be bad luck to give details of this Numerology Activity that my Mother-in-law had been practicing for years when she was still alive. Evidently, this has been passed from generation to generation and believe to have originated from Spain. Have you heard a similar activity in your local province in the Philippines, UK or in Spain?.

Read the following related article:

https://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Your-Name-Number-in-Numerology

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto In E Minor Opus 64-Hilary Hahn

Time for some violin music

I first heard of this violin piece in 1952 when I was in first year college at the University of the Philippines, Iloilo College. One of my dorm mates was a violinist. He informed me he had been playing the violin since he was 10 years old. He hailed from Bacolod City. On Saturdays, he would play his violin with his door closed not disturbing his fellow dorm mates. But the sound of his violin reverberated on the thin walls separating our room. One day I heard the Mendelssohn concerto and I was forced to knock on his door asking him if I could stay in his room to listen while he was playing the piece. This was the first time I really enjoyed listening to a classical violin music. Here's more information on Felix Mendelssohn.

http://www.library.yale.edu/musiclib/exhibits/mendelssohn/mendelssohn.htm

Here's Hilary Hahn with her violin! Enjoy!
Hilary Hahn is an American violinist and was born on November 27, 1979. In her active international career she has performed throughout the world both as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors and as a recitalist. She also has built a reputation for championing contemporary music. Several composers have written works especially for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon and partitas by Antón García Abril.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Improve Your Parenting Skills as a New Year Resolution

The 4 D's from Left to Right: Dinah, David III, Me, Macrine, Dodie and Ditas, 2016

Today is Day One of the Year of our Lord, 2018. To most of us we believe in a resolution to improve our lives. So, If you are a parent, I suggest you improve your parenting skills.

The other day while talking about my children careers, my Italian-American neighbor asked me if Macrine and I had good parenting skills. Without hesitation I said yes, because all my four children are successful in their chosen careers. (http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2017/12/dinah-and-david-iii-professional.html).

I know we were not perfect parents, But we did try to be good parents. Are you a good Mother or Father? Read on...

There are six qualities to possess to be good parents: Patience, a good Listener, very Understanding, Consistent, show empathy, and excellent ability to express love. If you possess 4 to 6 of these qualities, I believe you have good parenting skills. For details and specifics on these qualities read:

http://kids.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Good_Qualities_in_a_Parent

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: