We Live in Interesting Times

There is a Chinese saying – some say a curse that goes this way… may you live in interesting times. Now that got my head scratching, until I thought that some aspects in life that a Chinese person would want would have to be consistency, dependability and of course stability – so… being a diplomatic bunch, their polite way of saying ‘interesting times’ would downplay the ‘hopeful’ lack of these three… in other words, inconsistency, non-dependability (as opposed to independent) and yes… instability.

Well if there is anything that might describe how I’m feeling right now, it could very well be those three traits – no consistency as to where the next pay-check will be coming from, non-dependability of my current employ – I mean, they’re trying to stabilize a contract which they prematurely lost last December, and barring that, see if they can win a new contract, and I try not to worry, but yeah… you could describe my position right now as unstable (or a lack of stability). My family is not able to rely too much on me these days as opposed to… say… just a few months ago, and we did have a little lunchtime chat about it – bless the kids, they seem to understand that possible sacrifices may be necessary – until I get a new line of work.

Am I supposed to feel better knowing that I’m not alone? After all,  the reasons could very well be traced back to the global financial crisis felt in the U.S., which affected many top banks and credit  lines to top businesses… which has affected a lot of folks – some seeing their hard earned pensions wiped out… and I agree, they may well be worse of than me; or the person who’s been living heavily on credit and now sees their credit being yanked from under them… man that would hurt too.

But – not to sound insensitive, I don’t know these people, so I can’t really feel for them – my friends, and me… that I understand.  Right now, we need to find ways to help each other out – after all, corny as it may sound, we’re capable of doing more in a combined manner than just addressing things individually.

Who’s fault is this? How did this come to pass? Some would go far as to lay the current  crisis on U.S.President Bush’s lap… him and his economic policies with little checks and balances… kanda simplistic an answer. See, they thought they had a good idea and trusted in the inherent goodness of everyone else not to abuse these easier to afford measures – specially in housing. Bush wanted his legacy to be a house for every American – so he wanted restrictions relaxed so the average joe would and could afford getting his very own house.

So what happened to make the bubble burst? Interests went high… possibly due to higher fossil fuel costs (but again, that’s too simplistic an answer), then many middle class people just defaulted in their properties – unable to pay for the fees. Banks were left with illiquid assets… possibly lots of them. Since no one could buy, they couldn’t sell. So in this instance, innocent people got trapped into having to give up an investment they now could not afford – and their money is washed down the drain with the return of said property. Banks that should have known better than to allow for the risky credit had their hands tied ‘for patriotic reasons’. Ouch…

Meanwhile other inappropriate practices were unearthed, people discovered the loss of many money on poor investments. Others had unknowingly invested on ‘get rich quick’ schemes… or should I call it scams? With some silver-tongued devil trying to get in and out real quick with all the money they got. Others misrepresented (i.e. hid) their losses, hoping it would just be kept under a rug of forgetfulness – only to have to confess to the losses, when discovery seemed inevitable. All these were happening – albeit, independently form each other – yet all seemed ready to burst at the same time.

Suddenly the U.S. financial system seemed to fall like a stack of cards… and a very tightly connected global economy got dragged along. End result? World-wide worry in an economic scale that would certainly make any economic saboteur proud – had this been sabotage, that is. I’m sure a lot of novelists will have a field day spinning all these into techno or mystery thrillers.

How did this affect me and a lot of my colleagues? Simple – our client, which happens to be a highly recognized Information and Communication Technology consulting company happened to see their top clients, suddenly panicking – pulling the plug on certain projects… ones they were preparing for by building up the necessary head count. Suddenly, less money was coming in.

Less profits were coming in, and all the while expenses were continuing – clearly, things needed to be plugged. Now, since we’re a training service oriented business – we just happened to be one of the easy-to-get –rid–of expense lines in their accounting books (ironic since this is the same company that came up with a study that came up with findings that training does has an average R.O.L. (return on learning) of 5:1 – meaning for every dollar spent on training, the returns average to about 5 times more than what was spent. I guess, they don’t bother listening to their own statistics when they are likewise in ‘pull-the-plug on expenses’ mode.

I just wonder, wehre does reality end and fearful speculation start? Because I feel that there are some negative – sometimes, near panicky reactions to this financial crisis. Anyway, regardless of what those ansers will turn out to be, here I am, wondering what to do next… but not wondering in a frozen manner, mind you.

I’ve still a few prospects to follow up. Maybe farm my updated CV to friends and relations, once again. See what may come up. Now, I can’t just wait for PrimaryEdge to resolve things… and while waiting, I intend to read and learn – better my current knowledge (and possibly skills), be more marketable – but mostly, somehow prioritize in marketing myself better.

<span style=”font-weight:bold;”>Interesting times, indeed…</span> but I’m not one to just wail “who moved my cheese”, I need to search for new cheese. I know that nothing will come out of worrying too much – so I won’t even waste the energy.

This New Year may still prove to be prosperous… after all, we’ve got about 360 more days to do something about it… and Barbie isn’t taking anything to chance either – she just got me a Chinese counter to an otherwise, lousy year – if Chinese astrology is to be believed, said counter ably countering any bad vibes that would somehoe find itself to me this coming Chinese new year.

Lousy Internet Service part 3

The last thing I thought of before, was to see this write up in three parts – alas, fate dealt a different blow, and I’m forced to share, once again, my frustrations with the Internet service… or to be clearer, non-service might be a better word. that we – as in my family and i, were experiencing.

Last time, I wrote about how frustrated we were with PLDT’s DSL service being intermittent… and as the holiday came – non-existent. Well, this made us decide to shift from PLDT to Globe – after all, we were hearing good comments from people we knew about how stable their Globe internet was – so we did just that. We got ourselves a Globe wireless DSL, complete with a phone… and the first few months were heaven.

Service was fast, and consistent. I thought that was it for this article… in fact, I think I wrote part two of this  as a form of closure… just to let others know how much better my internet service was those days.

I guess good things don’t last… and now I’m writing this in reaction to once again not having any internet service at all during the holidays… zip… nada… nothing. unless you accept the fact that we’d get about 5 minutes worth of service – then two hours of no service… I mean, c’mon… 5 minutes, at the speed i was getting, wasn’t even enough to update a Facebook status… let alone, read and answer email from friends. So yeah… I’d say, there was no decent internet service available to our household during December.

To Globe’s credit though, their customer service was way better than what we experienced with PLDT – they were kind and responsive… we had people come in to check our hardware (checked out okay), they suggested we had an external antenna connected – just in case it was all these concrete walls in close proximity limiting the search and acquisition of their signal; and their technician came after a few days to do just that.

So here we were, with a hot spanking new external antenna – and we still could not receive consistent internet signals. To make sure, the technician double-checked our modem and PC… no problem there… so that left us with one possible problem… the transmitter.

Now I won’t pretend to know the details of how wireless internet connection works exactly, but I have this sneaky feeling that there is a pool of available signals up for grabs – and to ensure that services are not poor, there would – in my opinion, have to be a ceiling to be followed as to how many people should share said signal. Go beyond that and we start feeling degradation of said signal. I mean, that seems to be the way in wired networks – so I think wireless would have the same headaches.

At first, our wonderful internet service was starting show stressful moments during week-ends, meaning there seemed to be difficulty at our getting any connection starting Friday evenings, and that would last until Sunday… which led me to think that the shared pool considered the possibility that not everyone would use the maximum capacity all the time, since most would be in school or at work… great business sense – if you can get away with it. But the service we signed up for was supposed to be unlimited, meaning it should be available 24/7 – which was clearly not the case. Now I don’t know if people pretended not to know – which would mean they were trying to get away with the capacity load problem, or worse… were really inept at ensuring service was being given… but whichever the case may be, the end result was lousy internet service.

Like I said – hats off to the customer service pool, all the way to the responsive technicians… but what happens when the  problem is more infrastructure? I heard that there was a hardware change – from Nokia transmitters to another brand… Erickson, I think, which might explain part of the reason for the degrading of signal sometime December, but after that had been properly installed and working, shouldn’t the service (and signal) be better? I mean, wouldn’t that be the idea?

It looks like a classical case of ‘Sales’ over-selling the available service – either ignorant of… or just ignoring any performance ceiling… and ‘technical’ getting stuck with the ‘overstretched coverage’ or ’spread out too thin signal’ to meet customers’ demands problem in this one… but the bottom line is, we… the paying consumers, get left in the poor service rut, and we don’t really care which department is at fault.

Sure… Globe may be willing to talk about rebates or write-offs for services undelivered… but how do you equate the inability to connect to friends and loved ones during these past holidays? Now these may not have been transactions worth millions – but they were lost cherished moments, nonetheless.

Aside from that… it can simply be frustrating when for all your efforts in trying to do some possible repairs to get the system running, all I get from Windows is the diagnostic message: There may be a problem with your Domain Name Server (DNS) configuration. Windows failed to fins a well known host “www.microsoft.com” using the DNS. The server may be down.

As it is, we’re thinking of switching to another provider – sure, there’s a lock-down on the service, but if one party can’t seem to deliver what was the agreed upon service, isn’t the other party within their right to dissolve the contract? After all, we were never delinquent with our payments.

The big question though, is… if the two biggest Telecom service providers in the Philippines can’t deliver internet service that is both responsive and really available 24/7 – specially during weekends, then who do we turn to?

A friend mentioned cable… and we already do have cable TV, so maybe… just maybe… that would be worth a try. So definitely, I’ll have a part four for this… and hopefully… it will be a real closure to this problem.

Goodbye 2008 (or how I spent Dec.31)

Last December 30, I had a great night with two colleagues (Jingo and Brian), with Barbie and Ben. Jingo, Brian and I normally dub these as Bacardi nights because… well, it involves sharing a lot of Bacardi – though in reality it just wasn’t Bacardi, as we also consumed Absolut Mandarin, Jagermeister and s few ‘blow jobs’ – a concoction of Kahlua, Bailey’s and Cointreau in one shot glass… but mostly Bacardi with Orange juice or Absolut Mandarin with orange juice.

The discussions were great – and we were enjoying the drinks and snacks (mostly a variety of chips or peanuts), and before we knew it – what started out at 9pm was already moving strong until 2:30am. Had Brian and Jingo not have the need to go home, I’m sure we wouldn’t have minded extending the gathering for another hour or more.

Definitely acquaintances worth keeping and sharing… and yes, we look forward to another Bacardi night.

The next day which was basically the last day of 2008, I found myself having a slight buzz – the one a person gets after having had many drinks the night before… a buzz that is not a hang-over (which goes to show that I drank a lot, but did not drink recklessly; meaning taking care to make sure that whatever I, and my drinking companions drank during that night, we followed the ‘beer over whiskey, very risky’ rule. In other words – a good buzz… not one where you woke up the next day swearing to yourself for putting you in a situation where the slightest noise would be jarring – due to a headache.

Just to share with those who do not know, the complete rule can be described this way: ‘Beer over whiskey, very risky… whiskey over beer, never fear’ Simply put, this means its okay to drink something else, so long as it does not contain a lesser alcohol level – that is, if you want to avoid a hang-over the next day. Whether its true is something I don’t really know… but its proven to be a wise guide to follow – and the few times I did not follow such a drinking pattern, are those few times I had a bad morning the next day.

Anyway, back to December 31st… I had done the buying of necessary groceries the day before, but realized that there were a few more items I had not bought, so I needed to get then this day – preferably before the new year came, specially since one or two were needed for tonight’s food. So off I went to Unimart… after I’d passed a cake shop near Tomas Morato to get myself a Chocolate cake we reserved the day before, too.

Once I got to Unimart, I realized the main reason I had the good sense do do my groceries the day before; mainly, to avoid the kind of crowd I now saw mingling in the groceries. There were people everywhere, and long lines at the counters – and you definitely know that the grocery was full – if not for the obvious physical proof as presented by the people all around, but by the fact that Unimart’s shopping carts were scarce. It took me a minute and a half to find one just abandoned by its previous user.

To make matters worse, it seemed the the grocery had abandoned its express lanes, so people who needed to buy just a handful of items (like me) had to brave the usual lanes and line up with those who were doing all their shopping that day. Had I another option, I would have decided to just forget the entire thing… I mean, the scenario was not worth any effort of getting a few items only. But since I had no other choice, I just had to line up with the rest of the crowd.

Now… you’d think I’d find this exercise rather frustrating, right? Well… yes… and no. Normally, that would be a definite yes, but something different happened in that line – not too profound, but it still affected how I felt that morning.

So, yes… it was frustrating, because the grocery might have had establish better ‘crowd control’ and enforced the express lane – or not having that, opened the few remaining lanes to accommodate the large crowds… as I spotted at least five other cash registers not being used that morning… preferably both options should have been used of course, after all, I’m sure this kind of pre-New Year shopping happens all the time. So many people love to do things on the last minute… strange, huh?

Then again, as i was saying earlier, ‘No’… because those long lines gave me the time to text my new year greetings to my friends and relations – something I might not have done otherwise. I mean, hectic as things were this entire Christmas season, I hardly had tome to plan for and greet my friends. So as I was in the line, I whipped up my cell phone ans started texting my New Year’s message.

One more thing, this waiting in line afforded me an opportunity to meet a very amiable old lady, who happened to be right behind me, in the line. She was very friendly, rather conversational and would have made a very great grandma for any family get together. She needed to get something else, so she asked that I wathc over her cart – which I did. Now, since the line was moving (thank God for small favors) she probably got confused as to wehre she had left her cart – you see, I had kept her cart beside (behind) mine, and the carts ans I had eventually moved closer to the counter as she tried looked around for those other things she needed.

She eventually found me and explained, in her own pleasant way why she took a little long – because she had forgotten where she left her cart (as I suspected) – and this was not fully her fault; guess she forgot about the moving lines, and she probably was looking for her cart in the last place she left it.

Anyway, having talked to her a bit, I eventually came to the cashier and paid – and as I was about to leave, we greeted each other a Happy New Year. To think, I did not even get her name. We were just two complete strangers, making pleasantries in an otherwise time consuming and possibly frustrating situation. But that simple act of communicating in a very pleasant manner, changed the frustrating factor into a nice and friendly conversation.

Since that happened in the morning, you could say it set the tone for the rest of the day. New year seemed relatively fair, and with the overcast clouds and seemingly constant shower; which I’m sure many people who had invested a lot in fire works for the evening, found it worrisome. But for me, I’d choose that weather for New Year’s anytime.

See, though I had bought just a few fireworks (about 500 pesos worth) just for the tradition, I wasn’t really going to lose money had the rains really poured. I mean, tradition it may be, but its still a night filed with noise and smokes. And I never really did like my New Years too noisy or polluted.

As it happened, everyone had a window for good weather minutes to midnight – long enough to have our fireworks light up, then have the rains come afterward to wash out all the dust, smoke and garbage.

We did our traditional noise barrage using pots and pans, threw coins in every room for fortune, and yes… even jumped high for the possibility of growing taller… well, this tradition was for the kids really, not I. After which we took a few pictures, and then decided to rest… after all, we had things to do the next day – a Cavite trip being one of them.

Over all, 2008 was a good year. Not spectacular – but it gave me more than enough to save for the holidays. It could have been better, of course… but no complaints here. As I look back and reminisce with my handy dandy 2008 planner, I see some poignant events that happened… mostly work related… some just trivial… met new friends – lost one. Sat in for teach-backs of some colleagues… and watched them get better as recognized facilitators.

Went to Hong Kong with the family, facilitated a wonderful and honest to goodness cross-cultural session, watched Bernice as a scout leader, watched Bryce (on the side) enjoy his first date. My faily – including the Cuenca side, were all relatively healthy… specially Bing Bing, who had a scooter accident with a jeep/truck and had to undergo a painful operation to reset her bones in August… now relatively cast-free. Yup… thank God for that one.

Now, all I need to do, is work for an equally spectacular 2009. … aside from the fact that we’re all wondering how this coming year will be – based on how the world is being affected by the U.S. recession – I’m sure there are a lot of promising activities just waiting to be explored.

One can dream, right? And as long as its a positive dream… well, let’s let the Law of Attraction do its work.

‘The Shack’ by William Young… a great read.

The Shack
by William P. Young

The plot is quite simple… while on a camping trip with his kids, Mackenzie Allen Philips experiences something most fathers dread – the abduction of his youngest daughter – Missy. To make matters worse, with exception to a bloodied dress, she is never found. How this affects Mack and his family, however is just the prelude – the set-up for the REAL story… and what a story it is.

How does one recover from such a tragedy? How would anyone not question the existence of God – specially a God that allows this tragedy to happen? Well, Mack’s family tried to do the first, and Mack definitely did the second… and pain of not having any closure for Missy was giving his entire family the ‘great sadness’.

But Mack gets a chance that most anyone would either balk at or find too incredulous – he receives a note asking him to meet the sender at the last know location where traces of Missy’s existence, her life, was found… an old abandoned shack in the middle of the wilderness. The note’s sender? ‘Papa’ which is their family’s simple and private reference to God.

How would you feel if you got such a note? Would you believe it? Would you pass it off as a cruel joke? Would you just tear it up? Would you not pass up the chance to tell God in the face what you think of his existence and love; specially since having allowed Missy to be a victim and casualty? Mack eventually did – and his experience, as the book elaborates, borders on incredible to believable, from simple to profound… and the story is a testament to love and healing.

As a father myself, I found that I could empathize – even sympathize with Mack… his questions, his frustrations, his rage… these could easily be my own as well – and with exception to the latter, I really could relate. And as Mack approached the Shack – no spoilers in that one, after all… there’d be no story had Mack decided to ignore the note and not go to the shack, I read with equal curiosity.

The author requests that the book’s readers help spread the book – specially if they found it a fascinating read, and that is the reason for this blog. He also requests that we do not give anything away… hence my being vague about the book’s contents with exception to the said conversation with God, that I have read from a friend’s blog… so I feel that I am not giving anything away.

I will not be surprised if many others who read this will find themselves profoundly touched and changed – and it is a very engaging read. Imagine me reading the book, while having my annual physical… it was not just helping me pass the time in between waits, it helped me look at a few well entrenched religious perceptions… one of them which is automatically thinking God is a he – due to the well entrenched ‘God the father’ connotation… and yes, Jesus is here too – and for people who respect but wonder about the Holy Trinity, well, let me just say that this book will either leave you with a better understanding of such trinity, or leave you with more questions.

Oh yeah… before I forget… fine, I’m man enough to admit that the book made me cry — <span style=”font-weight:bold;”>seven times</span>, and I can only imagine how I looked; tearful and all, while waiting for my next test. It touched me… and maybe, in some ways, strengthened and renewed my faith… and if I could, I would not hesitate to give several copies of this book to loved-ones and friends. Unfortunately, I’m currently experiencing what is hopefully a temporary setback with financial earnings (its connected to the global recession – thanks for nothing Wall Street), so instead, I write this blog and openly recommend the book – I hope my friends read it, and look forward to meaningful conversations about The Shack.

My suggestion? Give the book a try, but I guess this comes with some caveats – if some of your religious values are being questioned, don’t stop right there and just toss the book down, thinking its a subtle trap from the devil – rather, go beyond your views, and see this story through – after all, just because you feel or think you are right, does not make your view the absolute truth or right (unless you can say you’ve had as close a conversation with God as Mack did – in which case you could likewise ask someone to write your story).

Why am I saying this? Because I believe that many institutionalized ideas and notions may suffer from its pedestals, and the book may be given a bad rap. But when you really think (and feel) about it, you might… just might give a grudging consideration to the topics and ideas being discussed within the book’s pages.

If you don’t agree with the ideas put forth, I’d likewise respect that. But if you find the book equally enjoyable… and maybe even revelatory, then well and good – nice to know it would have helped – and in my little way, I too helped facilitate this chance for change.

As for me… how did it affect me? Well, I can’t wait for the movie adaptation, and am already wondering who they’d cast for the main parts… but that ’s just the surface considerations – do I have deeper value changes as a result of reading the book?

The concept and value of forgiveness springs to mind… not that I’m not a forgiving soul… I’d like to think that I am; just that I find it difficult in certain situations to dish out forgiveness. This book gives me a fresh perspective on some concepts, and it definitely make me more ’self-aware’ – as the book made me reflect on the meaning of unconditional love… and yes – even the simple concept of verbs versus nouns… (read the book, so you’ll understand where I’m coming from) will have a deeper effect on me.

I envy Mack his experience… though at this point in time, I am honestly not in any real hurry to experience what he did. After all, having a conversation with God isn’t something one can say they are prepared for. I wouldn’t even mind reading the book a second time… though I think I’ll lend it to my sister and mom first – God knows they could use it. I expect not just a few tearful moments from them too.

As for you, reading this entry… should you (hopefully) decide to give The Shack a try, and find the book moving, well; as the lyric goes: ‘…tell me all your thoughts about God… cause I’d really like to hear ‘em…’

No… really… I wouldn’t mind hearing them.

<span style=”font-style:italic;”>P.S. Thanks are due to my friend, Gege Sugue… it was her blog about this book that made me decide to go ahead and read it. You see, by itself, the book’s blurb left something to be desired… rather than wanting to read it, I felt that I had better things to do. Only after reading Gege’s blog did I realize that I was possibly missing out on something great. So… Thanks Ge!</span>

This article orignially appeared in http://minutiaemusings.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B08%3A00&max-results=50

Finally! I got my Starbucks planner – 2009

A few weeks ago, I posted in my other blog the fact that Starbucks had released its new planner – and the accompanying card where you’re expected to collect and stick stickers for said planner, and though I had not yet seen it, I was already commenting on the fat that a lot of people would start getting their coffee fixes in Starbucks, just to get the necessary stickers for the new planner as reward after you’ve had the required number of stickers stuck to your card. This year, the number of stickers have been lessened, form around 20, we now just need 16 stickers… guess they wizened up… maybe less people got the planner last year – me being one of them… but that was more because the design didn’t strike me as worth getting – see, last year’s design was too artsy for me. Hence I just bought a simple but elegant planner from National (as you can see from this picture – the green one of course) I was, in fact, half ready to once again buy the same planner – but when I saw the Starbucks’ planner for this year, I thought it was indeed less artsy – simple and handy… so i thought, its just 16 stickers anyway, and i would not go out of my way to buy and drink the coffee, so… it was worth a try. After all, even if its just one coffee a day – for 16 days… I’d have my planner before Christmas… that assumes, of course that I would start my daily coffee or ‘frap’ on the first day of December (I started earlier), and it wouldn’t be like I was addicted to the stuff – nor was I getting more than my usual, just to get the planner. Well, I finally got my planner about two weeks ago – yeah, that fast, and I’m happy to say I did not overdose on caffeine either. See, I had help… Barbie and the kids would order their fraps on a Saturday, and naturally, we’d get four stickers just like that. Sometimes, Barbie would even pay for the drinks, so those would be free stickers – hey, why will I complain? I chose black, of course… I mean, I found that red and blue, though stylish, were not exactly my color – if they’d have had green, that would have been my choice – but lacking that, the only other color option they (and I) had was black… so black it is. Though if I’m to understand them, red seems to be a favorite color… maybe for the ladies. Anyway… I’m satisfied with what I got. A week or two later, Barbie also got her card filled and she went for the black as well (since there was no red). Now? I’m still collecting stickers – but only when I chance upon as Starbucks. If I can find a red, that is what I’ll get next so I’d most probably give it to Barbie… if she’s interested.

Note: this article is a mirror of its original found at http://minutiaemusings.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00%2B08%3A00&max-results=50

Compulsive Coffee Buying… (or ‘here we go again at this time of the year’)

Every November, I notice – and likewise get caught up in, a seemingly Filipino close to Yuletide practice. No its not gift-buying/giving… not that long a traditional behavior, anyway; and it hardly brings good cheer to others – at least, not directly… thought others could argue that it may do that too.

The practice may even seem like a phenomena to some, and may have even spurred a cottage-industry like event amongst its particular niche. I refer of course to the practice of Starbucks – specifically the buying of coffee to get enough stickers, with the intent of exchanging enough stickers (as proof of purchase for so many of their coffee) for their exclusive Starbucks’ yearly planner.

Why a cottage industry? It seems that others of the same niche have noted the popularity of these planners, and have naturally jumped into the bandwagon – offering their own planners for the same mechanics (with some minor alterations of the mechanics, of course, lest they be accused of stealing an idea). Why popular? It seems that Starbucks has found a way to make even none-avid coffee consumers (like me) to get more of their coffee than what said consumers would normally think of doing.

I mean, think of it… those coffee, tea or fraps aren’t exactly cheap – and yet many folks just line up to the baristas to order their coffee, or try the joint’s limited supply Holiday flavors – all for the sticker. I’m sure satisfaction for drinking the coffee is a given as well, but I also am sure that many people line up for the stickers.

Now, Starbucks has learned – perhaps from its last foray, that making the planners easier to get will push more people to be ‘temporary’ regular coffee drinkers, since they claim that this year’s edition (of the planner) will be a lot easier to get than the 2007 release version.

Today is the first official day for such a quest – and I noticed how a colleague of mine was genuinely wanting to taste the ‘Dark Cherry Coffee’ flavor (that is, if I heard her right), now this friend has been a regular Starbucks drinker, so I don’t find this surprising – and though I have, of late, been taking more coffee for breakfast by way of our office dispenser, I felt sorely tempted to accompany her and let curiosity carry me to the planner – just to see if it’s design was really something worth getting (as I did not deem last year’s model really worth getting – hence my not engaging in said practice then).

I eventually decided not to go – after all, I am not a compulsive coffee (let alone, Starbucks) drinker. SO I was able to control myself. But I won’t be surprised – specially if the planner does have a nice design, if many people start getting coffee at an accelerated pace – just to be one of the few and proud early owners of said planner. In fact, if the planner is, indeed, worth getting, I just might consider drinking enough Starbucks coffee or fraps to get those stickers – but at a very relaxed pace. I won’t succumb to impulsive buying.

Meanwhile… here we go again. It truly is beginning to look a lot like Christmas when people start buying coffee for the planners… and not just for the taste.

Our Hong Kong trip (introduction)

Last May 2008, my family went on a trip to Hong Kong… our very first trip out of the country, and you might say… our very first ‘official family vacation’ in years. Our itinerary was daunting… in three days we were to visit Disneyland, go see Ocean Park, and – prior to the return trip – go shopping!

Sounds like fun? Well it was… immensely so, but not without the downside of fatigue in between. But that one damper aside, it was a worthy excursion – one not made possible had it not been for Barbie having won an outstanding leadership recognition from her regional organization’s viewpoint (we used her prize money), and a summer promo by Cathay Pacific – specifically their ‘buy three, one free’ offer… thus allowing the four of us to get to Hong Kong at 75% of the usual cost.

Enough with the economics. I’ll be presenting some pictures (with running commentaries, of course) of our experience. But due to limitations – either of the site or my imagination, I will have to do this in tidbits, as I have yet to see how I can upload several pictures in one article. Besides, it may be more manageable to have many smaller posts than one long and large post.

So much for lucky 08-08-08

Yesterday was supposedly an auspicious day – more so for the Chinese where the date 08-08-08 is supposed to bring luck, hence the multitude of people getting married, not to mention the Olympics starts today for that same reason. But if that were the case, it seems that the triple -8 date is hardly a lucky day.

Why so? I just learned that my sister, Bing was involved in an accident – apparently something backed into her; courtesy of one reckless and unlicensed driver, and all I know – based on conversations with Tizza, my other sister, is that she is in a hospital with Bing, who will be needing to undergo an operation and maybe a few metal implants.  Bing will need money for this and my dad, of course , will help out – but looks like I’m elected to bring said cash to Batangas.

In that regard, I’ll need to sleep – it;ll be a long drive, and I’m sure my family need not get or want any more bad luck – this right after a tita of mine (Tita Olga) just died a few days ago – so understandably, my dad is reeling from this twin events. I wander how my mom is feeling – I’d better check on her tomorrow too. I’ll learn more by then – I can’t do anything else now… I’m just too far and too tired, and yes, its late too.

Guess I should be thankful it wasn’t worse – nor the fact that this did not happen in an isolated place where some drivers, to avoid added expenses of hospitals, would rather ensure their victims die – sometimes, by running over them again, rather than helping their victims by rushing them to a hospital. Its a warped sense of priorities, borne out of hardship, and I’m not proud of such practices by others about that; after all, that is murder.  I’m just glad my sister was spared that particular fate.

Touchy Torchwood Topic?

In a previous entry, I had mentioned the creation of a Torchwood and Doctor Who site. Well, this is just to follow up on what I’ve been seeing lately in Torchwood.

Recent episodes – specifically those in the latter part of season 1 and the pilot of season 2, has lately shown the character of Captain Jack (John Barrowman) showing overt – though not lewd, homo/heterosexual preferences – first with Captain Jack (the real one who died and who’s name he took) – though I must add that it was the original Captain Jack who took the Torchwood Captain jack to a dance floor for a slow drag – a possible last dance before going off to a deadly mission, so he did not care what others thought of him, and naturally, the Torchwood Captain Jack actaully knew it was this real Captain Jack’s last dance – so he accommodated him the dance – though not before commenting earlier on that he didn’t know that the man, who’s name he took over from was ‘hot’ i.e. attractive.

Then there’s the Pilot for season 2, where Captain Jack, upon seeing an old associate, rushes into what seemed like a fist fight – only to end up locking lips with each other, like long lost lovers – and its been insinuated by their conversations that they were; then they fight each other and enjoy it like testosterone-heavy men. So… gay and masculine, is it? It is also in this same episode that Captain Jack later asks one of his team mate – Yanto, the group’s valet/driver, if he’s open for a date… and Yanto considers the idea seriously, and say something equivalent to a “why not?”

Now, maybe its the ‘British’ leaning culture of relatively open gay relationships – and the seeming approach of such being relatively ‘open’ in these episode, or maybe the show is trying to be really daring – not shocking daring, but just daring in stretching the norms… I don’t know.

But is the show openly presenting the fact that the characters find having a gay relationship openly acceptable. Sure it does. There are a lot of trysts amongst the male and female population, and there was one episode where one female staff or Torchwood ended up having a relationship with another female (again, tastefully done) – but with scenes like this, I can understand the possible reluctance for these episodes to be shown locally. I can imagine the howls of protests among conservative groups shold such scenes show in prime-time – either that or the show’s scenes could be edited out (a.k.a. censored) to show these locally.

I noticed some uneasiness while I was watching – a slight reaction… but only for a few moments, as I had to make sure my kids were not watching it – lest they get the wrong impression. After all, I may be bordering on tolerance or accepting the fact that such practice exists… after all, I’ve a few Gay friends, and can understand them, even respect their rights to love and have happiness where they find it – but not necessarily share their life. Sorry… call it my Catholic upbringing, but I’m strictly heterosexual… and yes, at one time, a friend did ask me – but I politely  said I’m not the type to share razors.

Am I a hypocrite? Nope… at least I hope not. I believe in diversity, and respect the lifestyle choices of others – so at least, I’m tolerant… but ‘tolerant’ sounds so condescending – and I don’t want to be that. Like any parent with strong Catholic upbringing, I would be very uneasy should my kids stray from acceptable Catholic norms of heterosexuality. That is as honest a statement as I can give… but I don’t see others – more so my friends who are in homosexual relationships as wrong. weird or sinful… despite the church’s stance or what it may say about said relationship.

I’m just a realist to the fact that society does not look acceptably to the practice, and know the possible stigma society puts on these people – yet they still go and have their relationships… and by this I don’t mean one standers – or lustful associations… though I’m sure there are those… but I mean to say the couples who honestly share a life and love like any couple should. I can’t condemn anyone for loving… and I don’t see any wrong with them practicing it.

But let me be clear – I do not wish this type of life for my children. Life is hard enough, and I hope I am survived by grandchildren.

By the way, I think the better explanation for Captain Jack is that he can be bi-sexual… meaning he can work both ways… showing a greater openness, perhaps? So has this stopped me from watching Torchwood – nope. But I’ll still be more careful watching it around my kids.

Ironic, really. With all the issues covered by both Torchwood and Doctor Who, I find that I’m not too open about bi-sexual and homosexual relationships. In a way, this is good – in a ’self-awareness’ viewpoint. It shows that I need to be more open and acceptable… specially since I do lecture on Managing (and accepting) Diversity. But apparently, there are still some lines I will not cross – nor will I find it naturally acceptable for my kids to cross.

Hope this means I’m still an okay person – specially to my Gay friends. I’ll still support them and respect them – as friends should. I’ll even defend their right for a lifestyle of their choosing. Gay friends, after all, can be very, very loyal – and I think… and know… that they definitelyt deserve better treatment from the norms of society.

If you are feeling queasy as you read this, then there is noting wrong with you – you just have to recognize certain biases… but remember, just like you and me…  people in Gay and Lesbian relationships are people too – they deserve to be treated with respect. If you can’t accept that, I’d say your world-view needs widening… maybe you should watch Torchwood – still a great TV series – and it certainly makes me think about preset norms I have about myself and life. I guess, if that was their intent to begin with – then they definitely succeeded. I still recommend watching it… nothing changed in that regard, as its still a quality, thought-provoking, Sci-Fi series.

Nature pictures by me

This time around, I’m trying my hand on taking nature-related pictures. Here’s an orchid that can be found in the middle of the Makati Greenbelt park. I noticed this orchid before from afar, and thought to myself that I should have brought my camera. Naturally, the next time I went – armed with my camera, I looked for this orchid and took one shot.

I hardly had to make any changes to the image. You might say, this is one picture that I am proud of – the subject is very much in focus and does not get smothered by its surroundings – and the surroundings are not exactly something to ignore either. Its just that the orchid seems to naturally stand out – it was begging to be taken.

A friend and colleague of mine (Mon Villar) commented that I should have taken the picture much closer – thus making the orchid the real main subject of the picture. It also makes the focus zoom into the flower and sort of zoom out (defocus) the background. This is something his wife did.

Sound advice… problem was I couldn’t go nearer said orchid anymore, as there were other natural and man-made barriers between the flower and me. Good thing too… I suspect that the flower might not have been there long had it been easy to access.

Still, I will try out said advice come the next time.

Here’s a nice looking scene with bamboo on the side of a pond. Some people say that a great photographer should have the eye for beauty – maybe similar to how a cinematographer sees things. I’m not sure I’m there yet… but I hope my eyes can catch some beauties in the middle of the Metro… and show that there are spots of paradise in the city… if only people take the time out from their busy schedule to notice these.

Oh well… should that be the case, hopefully they’ll discover this blog, become curious about the pictures and wonder – where exactly did these scenes come from? That said, these people would surely consider revisiting said place and look for these locations. If they’re lucky, it’ll still be there – though flowers by then, may have been wilted or cut or refurbished together with the rest of the garden.

What do I like about this? Bamboo gives off a sense of Zen – tranquility and relaxation. So definitely, this image exudes just that. Tranquility in the middle of a very busy metropolis. Unique indeed.

Talking about ponds – what’s a pond without fishes… and when we think of fishes and ponds, what comes to mind are Koi. This has been a dream of mine… owning a place where I can afford to build a pond, and in that pond… a school of magnificent Koi.

Until that day becomes a reality, I’ll just have to contend myself with taking pictures of such ponds and Koi – and continue dreaming of the day I can afford to set up my very own Koi pond. BTW – it’ll have to be deeper than the Greenbelt pond which, as far as articles I’ve read indicate as too shallow for the Koi to really live well and happily.

About this picture? I was slightly worried about taking a picture of the fishes, as they were moving. I had little success with my fishes in the aquarium (still do, actually) – but I guess, that was because I set my speed to a slower option to compensate for less light – end result was a blurry pictures of my fishes. On the other hand, these seemed to turn out right. But I guess, I can thank the sunny day for this. I took it using natural speed and light absorption – and the camera did not need a flashbulb, since the outdoors were really bright.

Once again, Mon had something to comment about this picture – not regarding quality, but to ensure that my picture would possibly have as many Koi as possible. How so? Simple… you need to tap the water – assuming you can reach it, with your foot. The ripples or noise will be heard or flet by the Koi who would then possibly interpret this to be food falling form above – then you’ll see these fishes crown around, thus leaving you with more than enough subject for a picture. Great tip, huh? I obviously have not tried it yet, as I walk this route rarely these days.

There’s something to be said about a well-maintained lawn, or garden. This may very well be the best spot to look at in Greenbelt. Where others may be beauty in isolated cases, this presents beauty in its totality or its collective effect.

I like this view – the seeming artistic sculpture of the plants positioning and if you just focus on these – leaving out the building in the background… one can forget (for a brief moment) that they are in the heat of the city. Behind me is a restaurant, and I must say, this view; while eating your meal in the evening, can be very enticing to relaxing and enjoying said meal – specially with good company… be it a loved-one or friends. I would not be surprised if said view can be alluring enough to make people stay in said restaurant to order a few rounds of drinks, specially after a hard day. On a weekend, it would be a perfect spot for a picnic – though I tend to think that this would be frowned upon by the restaurants in its immediate surroundings… guess that would be for the better, because said picnics could spoil the serenity and cleanliness of such a place.

What is not too evident about the picture is that the shaded area in the middle can actually seem like an alcove – a naturally made one, that can shade people caught in light rain.  Also, from a religious (Roman Catholic) viewpoint, I’d say it would be perfect to place a statue of the Virgin Mary… but it can easily be as perfect for, say any religious statue, like say Buddha, since the place can definitely promote tranquility.

Note: These pictures, and the articles (as they were originally separated from each other, as I was learning the ropes of attaching pictures back then – ans still am. now) first appeared in my Blogger site last May 2008.