By Digoy Fernandez

A few months ago, my kids introduced me to Facebook, and I have taken to the social interaction medium like a fish to water. It took a while, of course, but starting with my neighbors – specifically, their kids – my list of friends gradually spread out to former classmates, old friends, and even new ones who I have been pleased to discover.

One of the things that struck me is the love and care many of them show their pets, most of which are dogs. Some even have their dog’s pictures adorning their profile pages. My son, who inherited my love for pets in general, just sent me two amusing threads. One was of a puppy Retriever trying to sleep using a stair step to prop his head, to no avail. The other was of the Boston Terrier Breed, one we have grown to love ever since a bouncing bundle of Boston joy entered into our household four years ago. This little dog of ours has become truly one of the family and even sleeps between my two boys.

My friend Wilson Ang of BioResearch is in the business of selling pets to people. But few know that he also has some sort of animal rescue center where he takes in battered or abandoned pets, mostly dogs, and tries to nurse them back to health.

I have seen these dogs while walking through their area, and have been struck by their demeanor, wagging their tails and yelping for attention. Dogs truly are man’s best friend and crave for attention and love by instinct.

Contrast this with the naturally feral nature of even ordinary household cats, that have to be won over if one is to be trusted by them. There was a time when I could not resist picking up little kittens that had probably been abandoned or appeared lost, and have tried to either raise them or give them to friends. Keeping a couple of “house cats” has certainly helped in keeping the vermin population at lower levels.

Last week, my gardener found a baby python and promptly killed it. I was aghast and told him to never do that again, since I could have brought the snake over to the rescue center where it would become a nice addition to the menagerie there.

Some of my Facebook friends have invited me to support their causes, many of which have to do with the care of and stopping the abuse of animals. These are easy to support, given my love for animals in general. (Without demeaning the need to stop the abuse of people too!)

Many abandoned pets start off as whimsical purchases by people who think that they would just love to have an unusual pet, and then surrender to reality. But abandoning pets by literally throwing them out into the streets is a crime in itself. Not only is the animal left to fend for itself in a hostile environment, but the poor animal adds to the increasing number of strays in the metropolis.

It is this thought that has kept me from buying those lovely little crocodiles or boa constrictors.

HAVING graduated from grade school in 1962, high school in 1966, and college in 1971 (all from La Salle-Taft) plus two years in graduate school (AIM in 1973), I have come to realize that my compatriots and I are part of the leading edge in the Boomer generation.

Since the Boomer generation embraces those born after the great War (WWII) up until the hated war (Vietnam in the 60s), my bunch is pretty much in our early 60s and feeling the heavy hand of gravity––falling hair and drooping stomachs on our physiques. In addition, we now have to contend with more senior moments as we tend to be more forgetful in both big and little things.

My La Salle classmates continue to whoop it up every quarter or so with a class party featuring the music of the 60s and 70s. Fortunately, we have sort of an in-house band composed of many who played the music of the 60s back then, the GGBB. What does that name mean? Anything from Great Green Boogie Band to “Gago Gago Bobo Band,” depending on how many bottles of wine find their way into my classmates’ constitutions.

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By Digoy Fernandez

There are many compelling reasons for continuing education, and this is true for executives meant for higher positions, aging dinosaurs of the corporate world, but especially for crusty entrepreneurs who have built up businesses from scratch. When we wanted to change the mind-set of the middle and top executives of a particular organization, we would start by sending junior executives to school for either short courses or full-scale MBAs. Before long, the more progressive among the middle managers demanded some form of continuing education of their own. After a few years, different levels of management and staff were undergoing complementary management education, and our organization spawned a generation of decision makers and thinkers who could self-start or handle crises on their own.

When we first proposed computerization, the immediate answer was that it would cost too much. This was in the early late 70s and early 80s, mind you. An opening occurred when we were loaned some versions of the early word processors by a client. These WPs were strategically distributed by my office to a select of group of senior executive secretaries…who became enamored with their new toys and demanded that they be kept with their offices permanently. Faced with certain rebellion from the senior secretaries’ ranks, senior management caved in to this first thrust in favor of automation.

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