Just Saying: On Homosexuality and Recent Supreme Court Allowing Marriage of Same Sex

Just saying:
Growing up in the Philippines, I was surrounded with many so called "gay" or "transvestite" - I have nothing against them and I love them like anyone else. I would rather hangout with them than the self-righteous (but I love them too).

• - If equality in marriage is one way of showing them love - I wholeheartedly support it. God wants us to obey the law, even human's law - and now this.
• - If my fellow brothers and sisters says "to love the sinner and not the sin" - it is only half-love so it's not really love because you implied he is sinning forever and cannot change.
• - If my fellow brothers and sisters think that I have been influenced by the worldly views, I leave that to the one who created us, them.
• - If my fellow brothers and sisters thinks that I support immorality, who are you to judge (Did I just judge?)
• - If my fellow brothers and sisters says you don't have to express your sentiments and just keep it down, I have not express love and openness like the One who really LOVE the loss and so called sinners.
• - If my fellow brothers and sisters says there are 7 Verses in the Bible that condemns Homosexuality, read these first:

• "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." --Romans 13:8-10
• "As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." --Colossians 3:11-13
• "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices -- mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law -- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. --Matthew 23:22-24
• "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." --John 8:7

My views did not change even after I was "born again" because I know Jesus protects, blesses and loves both the weak and the strong. The white and the black. The poor and the rich. Even the worst of them and harder for me to love: the Hypocrites, the Proud, the repeat Sinners, the Self-Righteous. Even those who thinks the World is about to end (are they God, that they know it's ending).

Just saying:Growing up in the Philippines, I was surrounded with many so called "gay" or "transvestite" - I have...
Posted by Tony Astro on Friday, June 26, 2015

Why AirBnB and Why Not and Why Hotel Instead for your next Travel

(For more of our travel & adventure tips LIKE & Visit our Travel Page: https://www.facebook.com/mvossadventure -  By the way click the link of AirBnB at the end to get a free $25 on your next accommodation)

It's school break and it's time for us as family to bond together and travelling becomes our major activity and annual tradition either cross country or outside the country.  So I'm taking a break by writing travel tip and I chose to discuss the pros and cons of AirBnB  - the online site for people seeking accommodations instead of a typical hotel but usually a house, room or apartment -  that connects people looking to rent for a place to sleep (like hostels or hotels or resort).

As summer approaches again, travels and accommodations becomes in our must do list with our family - of course budget, value and right location is on top of our consideration.  

Why not consider booking a house (or room in most cases) instead on your next trip. We did it last year summer in Europe, you should try it too. Of course just like anything else it's not for everybody.  But here is why (and why not a hotel) we are going to do it again - in our opinion:

1. If you travel for cultural reason, this is the best way to "Live and experience" how locals lived daily (errands, lifestyle, conversation, hospitality, etc).
2. Out of the 21 days in 8 different countries, we experience zero complaint (compared to hotels we've experience, except in Brussels we thought some dishes were not washed and towels damped).
3. We deal with actual owners of the house if there are issues (not some paid or must-be-tip concierge).
4. At least 20-50% less than hotel price in the same areas.
5. In most cases, they give you sincere tour guide because they have "lived" there in the neighborhood. Sometimes they drive you around.

By the way, more importantly - it is a 2 way feedback so you can review your host and they will review you as a "guest".  So you will "know how a good American" you are.(See the pictured reviews below about us as guests from London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Sweden, Germany, Prague)

Not for you if you:

1. Are not the adventurous type.
2. Are willing to pay tips and get full service "hotel" feeling service rather than homely type.
3. Want full service.
4. Want consistency (Hilton or Hyatt ambiance)
5. Want structure and not flexible.

Few tips:
1. Make sure you filter "Super Host" which means those with almost perfect rating (but where is the fun on that?) so it will be less hassles on possible issues.
2. Use filter once in all your trips (WiFi, Animal Friendly, free breakfast, near city, etc)
3. Save on your favorites first or contact the host prior to booking.
4. Read the ratings.
5. Book early but check on some cancellation policies individual owners.

Since my last experience was in Europe last year, there may have some changes that I have not encountered and so I'd like to hear from you if you have good or bad experience about AirBnB.  This way me, my family and other readers can be prepared.

Get a free AirBnB $25.00 credit if you booked through this link: https://www.airbnb.com/c/tastro?s=3&i=1

It's Been a Year Since Retirement from the Navy - Now What (Who CARES: Comparing, Assessing, Replacing, Exploring & Soliciting options)

It's been a year since I hanged my Navy uniform and take a year off from workplace jungle and military life.

There are things that became part of me after 23 years of military life:  deployment cruises from 3 Navy carriers, 4 major coast to coast change of home station, promotion every 3 to 5 years, steady paycheck with actual higher benefits like:  housing allowance, sea pay - to name a few.

Now it finally hit me.  I miss being part of a big team.  But thanks to social media (mainly Facebook), I still see the movements and changes going on.

But living inside "the boat" and ending up in another country with unplanned drills, structured meal hours, jet noises, the stink of steel & saltwater and snores of my shipmates after TAPs was just a few multicolored lifestyle I grew up with when I was "born" in the Navy in 1991.

But nothing to worry, I have adjusted from the real deal and this is good enough to coverup those military or Navy habits I've develop replace by these:

1.  For Daily Exercise:  Kickboxing replaced my 3X/week Physical Training (PT).  Every Mondays & Thursday we take a group aerobics exercise with some modern music.  It still needs coordination, timing and participation all in cadence for an hour - just like what it is used to be except we don't have that yellow Navy shirt & blue short.

2.  For Meetings:  It is important that as human beings we stay connected with others.  Here you can discover other people's hardship & know that you are not alone and be able to share your experience and mentor others or get a mentor yourself.  Same situation when we had weekly Maintenance meeting on deployments & Department meetings every week in the office.  I now meet my ICCI Counselors every first Tuesdays, my Toastmasters & Capella mentors on Wednesday, Thursdays for fellow business owners (Trusted Compass, Business Networking, UnWined, Chamber of Commerce, etc.)

3.  For Daily Walks, & Visits.  As counselor and supervisor on board ship or even on shore, I walk & visit departments for few reasons:  to get out of my desk and get the blood flowing, to chat with colleagues about next port visits (i.e. fellow Chiefs, aka B.S. time or "skate") and mainly to connect with your department or team besides the email & phone calls.  Like meetings, this is an informal way to get & give information that will set the phase for your next email or projects.

Now as a veteran retiree / entrepreneur, I own my time but I see to it that I walk daily this time - thanks for living by the beach.  Daisy is my motivation mainly to do her "business" and appreciate some quiet moments before heading to my daily email & business undertakings.

Talk about visit (port visit) well, I don't have to go far to enjoy sitting on the beach and have a "liberty call" because I have it 24 hours a day if I want it.

4. For Chiefs Mess / Meetup.   See Facebook page / group.  Enough said.

5.  For Mentoring & Disciplinary / Career Board.  This is one tradition I really think I could make a difference with a person.  Imparting traditions & experience to someone whether to correct a efficiency or to inspire a long term goal.  I believe (subject to many disapproval) that  social media has connected many of us who embrace the technology into a level of talking to each other in  real time.  We can do group talk, share information, agree to disagree and follow  through with those who listens and needs to relay important and helpful information just like when we do Career Development Board (reviewing of records & interviews) and Disciplinary Review Board (prior to possible Executive Officer mast or something positive).

Now, I still do it using Private Messages on Navy Career Wise Facebook page.  Mentoring prospective Career Management Fellows for ICCI as marketing / mentor advisor using Adobe Meetup & LinkedIn.  I would like to expand on this area once I've completed my dissertation on "Career Counseling using Social Media / Facebook" because this area is unproven but it works in some areas of how mentoring and career counseling works.