It all started with knees.
One fine day, I joined the fire drill in RCBC Plaza. This drill involved walking all the way down to the ground level from the 20-something floor where our office is.
All the people half my age could hardly stand up, knees shaking, when we got to the bottom. I, on the other hand, carless for the greater part of of my adult life and walking daily from Pasay Road to Ayala/Buendia in less than 20 minutes without sunblock or shame fared better than all of them. No hint of jellyness, except for the niggling pain of sports injuries resurrected by vigorous exertion.
So the plan was set. When it's time to buy my own pad I'll go for a walkup one. One without elevators so I won't have an option to cheat.
And I found one! And I bought it, sort of. Paid a lump sum as equity so that my PAGIBIG loan for the balance will fall into the correct interest rate bracket. Happy happy me? Well, yes, until the itch to stitch bit.
I started imagining partitions and cabinets and range hoods and tiles. Tiles! They had to be 60cm x 60cm diagonally set because conventional interior decor wisdom has it that this makes a small place look a lot bigger.
Budget here, budget there. Kasya! I would only need roughly 90 pieces for the whole place. Plus consumables like grout and tile bonding agent of around 20 bags weighing 25 kilos per bag.
Choosing which tile design best reflected my personality was pure joy. I was willing to pay for top of the line Spanish tiles which were selling at 50% off. Heaven. Of course my common sense kicked in right away and I was soon down to two choices. Wood or leather. I was so amazed that ceramic tiles could actually look so close. Leather won. Ramos Cuero. I carefully chose the grout color to match. Paid for everything. Arranged for delivery. I was drooling. I just needed those tiles to be set and I could do anything with the place! Frosted glass on partitions and doors, cabinets of a lighter tone, etc etc.
Two days later, my tiles came crashing down on the dream. Not literally. To my horror, I soon found out (stupid me I didn't do due diligence) that most construction stuff suppliers, appliance dealers, and all other stores that need sweaty muscular young men to deliver stuff DO NOT deliver beyond ground level. And my condo-condohan has this policy of kanya-kanyang bitbit. Even if they were contracted to install my tiles, I had to find a way to haul everything up. Eeeek! 90 super heavy tiles. I could hardly even budge a pack of four, let alone lift it. 20 bags weighing 25 kilos each of tile bonding adhesive! What did I get myself into?
I mean, I wanted daily exercise so I chose the topmost fifth floor unit of that walk-up mid-priced condo in the suburban south. Honest. But not naman that I would consume the daily calorie quota intended for a year in one day only. Wag naman. I'm not a Darna person, and will never be even if I swallow stones and sand and gravel.
And since aminado naman talaga ako that I can't do a Darna with those tiles, I did a Valentina na lang. I used the potent combination of fear and charm to get the supplier to haul everything up. "I will return everything! You pay me back!" And then of course I ambushed the delivery boys and flirted with them. [According to reliable sources boys I flirt with actually have sleepless nights for several weeks, scary kase the way I stare like I'll eat them alive or something tapos di ko naman pala itutuloy eh namutla na nga sila sa pinaghalong libog at kaba, 'chos]. Plus, of course, I paid them handsomely. Mas correct, I paid the handsome one. Meaning, sa kanya ko inabot yung pasasalamat.
So there, problem solved. For now.
I dread the day when I have to do this all over again for the ref, the aircon, etc. etc. It's not easy dealing with toned sweaty young men who use their muscles to earn an honest buck. There's always the temptation to corrupt the honesty.
But like everything, these too shall come to pass and either of two things will happen. Everything that needs to be moved up will be moved up and I will need to spend extra for labor, or everything that needs to be moved up will be moved up and I will spend extra for the laborer. :=)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Why Smart People Do Dumb Things
Lots and lots of food for thought. Lots and lots of thought.
Title links to the article. If you follow the link through, don't miss reading the comments.
Title links to the article. If you follow the link through, don't miss reading the comments.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
I Looked Into It!
As a post-finals exam reward, I’m blogging.
But first the exam. I studied. I really did. I even memorized all the acronyms and faithfully learned Dijkstra’s algorithm for computing the shortest path of a packet transmission from one node to another. I thought I had it all in the bag. I wasn’t aiming for perfect, I just wanted tres. And wow, did I zip through the 100-item exam. But the very last question (worth 20 points) drained the blood from my face.
I was supposed to name at least 20 reserved TCP ports, and identify the application reserved for each. If the port number and application didn’t match, wrong. Oh lord. At that very moment, I felt completely and utterly mortal. I realized I was nearer to death than I was to birth, and my once-famous photographic memory is now only capable of sad sepias. Honestly I never ever anticipated that 20% of the exam will come from that miniscule table tucked away in one corner of one page. One page! And the coverage was around 120 pages. So I did what was proper. I left the item blank, submitted my paper and left the room. So what if I spent only 45 minutes of the allotted three hours? Even if I stayed until the very end, nothing approaching a correct answer would have flowed from my pen. Something approaching tears, baka pa.
But, nothing will dampen my spirits for maybe the next three or four weeks. All because of Eugene Domingo and Kimmy Dora. I had seizures inside the cinema. Like always my laughter was maniacal and prompted my seatmates to the left and right (I was watching alone) to change seats. But what were we watching this movie for, anyway? Eh sa hindi ko talaga mapigilan.
For a good part of the movie I was laughing at us who were trained like Dora by DingDong to say these three golden nuggets of wisdom when we need to say something but don’t know exactly what to say:
1. I’ll look into it.
2. I’ll give you an update.
3. I’ll get back to you on that.
Those very same words. For two weeks now I simply couldn’t keep a straight face in the office. Problem talaga because I say these things by force of habit. And even if I say “I’ll keep you posted,” or “I’ll have an answer for you within the day,” or some other similar cultural necessity (because we all need to speak the language and grease the wheels of progress nga naman) wa epek pa din. Specially when I contemplate appending najejebs to any of these. I still blush a deep red from controlling the urge to go epileptic. A deep purplish red, because the experience is very similar to having an unwanted and embarassing erection.
Sige na nga lang. This too, like all agonies, shall pass. Wag lang akong itapon sa malayo, apak-apakan at paluin ng tsinelas.
But first the exam. I studied. I really did. I even memorized all the acronyms and faithfully learned Dijkstra’s algorithm for computing the shortest path of a packet transmission from one node to another. I thought I had it all in the bag. I wasn’t aiming for perfect, I just wanted tres. And wow, did I zip through the 100-item exam. But the very last question (worth 20 points) drained the blood from my face.
I was supposed to name at least 20 reserved TCP ports, and identify the application reserved for each. If the port number and application didn’t match, wrong. Oh lord. At that very moment, I felt completely and utterly mortal. I realized I was nearer to death than I was to birth, and my once-famous photographic memory is now only capable of sad sepias. Honestly I never ever anticipated that 20% of the exam will come from that miniscule table tucked away in one corner of one page. One page! And the coverage was around 120 pages. So I did what was proper. I left the item blank, submitted my paper and left the room. So what if I spent only 45 minutes of the allotted three hours? Even if I stayed until the very end, nothing approaching a correct answer would have flowed from my pen. Something approaching tears, baka pa.
But, nothing will dampen my spirits for maybe the next three or four weeks. All because of Eugene Domingo and Kimmy Dora. I had seizures inside the cinema. Like always my laughter was maniacal and prompted my seatmates to the left and right (I was watching alone) to change seats. But what were we watching this movie for, anyway? Eh sa hindi ko talaga mapigilan.
For a good part of the movie I was laughing at us who were trained like Dora by DingDong to say these three golden nuggets of wisdom when we need to say something but don’t know exactly what to say:
1. I’ll look into it.
2. I’ll give you an update.
3. I’ll get back to you on that.
Those very same words. For two weeks now I simply couldn’t keep a straight face in the office. Problem talaga because I say these things by force of habit. And even if I say “I’ll keep you posted,” or “I’ll have an answer for you within the day,” or some other similar cultural necessity (because we all need to speak the language and grease the wheels of progress nga naman) wa epek pa din. Specially when I contemplate appending najejebs to any of these. I still blush a deep red from controlling the urge to go epileptic. A deep purplish red, because the experience is very similar to having an unwanted and embarassing erection.
Sige na nga lang. This too, like all agonies, shall pass. Wag lang akong itapon sa malayo, apak-apakan at paluin ng tsinelas.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
This Blog is Officially Closed
But since I'm a fan of Tristan, I'll decide to reopen it within the amount of time required to make three tabs to navigate from Title to Compose. I suddenly remembered crossposting from and to Multiply is possible. I'm not so sure I can with Wordpress, but I'll give it a shot.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Trekking Linabo, Inhaling Dakak
So I was finally dragged by relatives away from my musty, dusty, smoke-filled hole-in-the-wall and out into sunshine and fresh air. It turns out that we have a huge. huge branch of the family tree on the mother side in Zamboanga del Norte, specifically in and around Dipolog.
And because we were there already, why not spend a night in Dakak? So we did. There was nothing supertacular about the resort. It had the usual monobloc tables and chairs and the requisite floral shirts as staff uniform. There was something tacky about the whole place, but tasteful decor isn't the come-on. It's the air. Pure as pure can be. The sand isn't as fine or as white as Boracay's (haven't been to Bora so I took my cousins' word for it), and the sea wasn't still and blinding blue, but the wind blowing from it was like liquid oxygen (fed from a tube straight up your nostrils). I wanted to just sit and deeeeep breathly for hours.
I grew up in Mindanao but I swear this province is a lot more blessed than the others I've stayed in. The green of its vegetation is so vivid it's almost painful to look at. After you've stared at the plants and trees here I swear you'll feel sad for the the flora in Manila. One friend who's originally from Bontoc and who now works in Manila said that the leaves (of the mangosteen tree, for example, growing in our host's backyard) looked like they were waxed everyday.
And there was absolutely no chance to feel guilty about all the food we shoveled down our throats. Oysters (P100 for half a sack), Andres-Andres (a seashell unique to the area), crabs (small and not as fantastic as Surigao's but crabs are crabs), freshly-picked mangosteen (at P30-40 a kilo, imagine?), longkong lanzones (a bit pricey but worth it), durian (almost as cheap as Davao's but with a unique flavor; they say the taste always depends on the soil and climate of the area where it's grown). Why no guilt? Because in the afternoon of the day before we left for Manila (meaning yesterday), they made us climb the 3,000++ steps up Linabo Peak.
In the picture above on the lower left side you'll see 1,800 clearly painted in white on the steps. For the record I made it way past that point. A few hundred steps beyond that you'll come across a mini plateau and, believe it or not, an elementary school! They say the students and teachers walk up to the school everyday. Wow! But going down they ride the rails using plastic net bags. It was a Sunday so I didn't see the spectacle for myself, but the metal rails are so smooth you wouldn't think twice about believing the story.
Of course I wasn't told about this side trip so I didn't come prepared. I was wearing Birkenstocks! After that climb, my faith in the product jumped a quantum leap up. My feet didn't hurt at all, the Arizona slip-on didn't break or show obvious signs of wear from the ordeal, and I never wavered or had a misstep on the way down in darkness because, of course, we had to wait at the peak for the sun to set before starting the trek down.
The sunset was something else. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, it was a sunset like any other. But a minute or two after the sun sank the sky morphed into a giant fireworks show -- golden rays shooting through clouds, and... and... and... there are no words enough to describe the beauty (or maybe I'm not the kind who would or could). My sister tried to do a running commentary of the spectacle and I, of course, bitched. "This is a visual, not auditory, experience. And don't try taking pictures either or you'll miss the show."
A few hours before we left for Manila, it was pasalubong time and to my extreme delight I found out that Dipolog is THE source for bottled sardines (and bangus, tuyo, herring, etc.) in olive oil. Montanos is the preferred brand and the prices are worth excess baggage fees (e.g the same bottle of spanish sardines in olive oil is sold in Shopwise for P98 but can be bought for P56 only in the Montanos outlet). I've tried gourmet tuyo in olive oil with freshly-streamed rice. Heaven! The sardines, they say, are perfect for pasta and as pizza topping din daw with sun-dried tomatoes. Tsk tsk. I have to give all those bottles away. LOL.
All told, this is an experience I'll definitely repeat. The trek up Linabo Peak, that is, not the pigging out.
Also, I won't be allergic to taking vacations with the family anymore. Yeah, the women are noisy and nosy and fussy but I have an iPod.
And because we were there already, why not spend a night in Dakak? So we did. There was nothing supertacular about the resort. It had the usual monobloc tables and chairs and the requisite floral shirts as staff uniform. There was something tacky about the whole place, but tasteful decor isn't the come-on. It's the air. Pure as pure can be. The sand isn't as fine or as white as Boracay's (haven't been to Bora so I took my cousins' word for it), and the sea wasn't still and blinding blue, but the wind blowing from it was like liquid oxygen (fed from a tube straight up your nostrils). I wanted to just sit and deeeeep breathly for hours.
I grew up in Mindanao but I swear this province is a lot more blessed than the others I've stayed in. The green of its vegetation is so vivid it's almost painful to look at. After you've stared at the plants and trees here I swear you'll feel sad for the the flora in Manila. One friend who's originally from Bontoc and who now works in Manila said that the leaves (of the mangosteen tree, for example, growing in our host's backyard) looked like they were waxed everyday.
And there was absolutely no chance to feel guilty about all the food we shoveled down our throats. Oysters (P100 for half a sack), Andres-Andres (a seashell unique to the area), crabs (small and not as fantastic as Surigao's but crabs are crabs), freshly-picked mangosteen (at P30-40 a kilo, imagine?), longkong lanzones (a bit pricey but worth it), durian (almost as cheap as Davao's but with a unique flavor; they say the taste always depends on the soil and climate of the area where it's grown). Why no guilt? Because in the afternoon of the day before we left for Manila (meaning yesterday), they made us climb the 3,000++ steps up Linabo Peak.
In the picture above on the lower left side you'll see 1,800 clearly painted in white on the steps. For the record I made it way past that point. A few hundred steps beyond that you'll come across a mini plateau and, believe it or not, an elementary school! They say the students and teachers walk up to the school everyday. Wow! But going down they ride the rails using plastic net bags. It was a Sunday so I didn't see the spectacle for myself, but the metal rails are so smooth you wouldn't think twice about believing the story.
Of course I wasn't told about this side trip so I didn't come prepared. I was wearing Birkenstocks! After that climb, my faith in the product jumped a quantum leap up. My feet didn't hurt at all, the Arizona slip-on didn't break or show obvious signs of wear from the ordeal, and I never wavered or had a misstep on the way down in darkness because, of course, we had to wait at the peak for the sun to set before starting the trek down.
The sunset was something else. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, it was a sunset like any other. But a minute or two after the sun sank the sky morphed into a giant fireworks show -- golden rays shooting through clouds, and... and... and... there are no words enough to describe the beauty (or maybe I'm not the kind who would or could). My sister tried to do a running commentary of the spectacle and I, of course, bitched. "This is a visual, not auditory, experience. And don't try taking pictures either or you'll miss the show."
A few hours before we left for Manila, it was pasalubong time and to my extreme delight I found out that Dipolog is THE source for bottled sardines (and bangus, tuyo, herring, etc.) in olive oil. Montanos is the preferred brand and the prices are worth excess baggage fees (e.g the same bottle of spanish sardines in olive oil is sold in Shopwise for P98 but can be bought for P56 only in the Montanos outlet). I've tried gourmet tuyo in olive oil with freshly-streamed rice. Heaven! The sardines, they say, are perfect for pasta and as pizza topping din daw with sun-dried tomatoes. Tsk tsk. I have to give all those bottles away. LOL.
All told, this is an experience I'll definitely repeat. The trek up Linabo Peak, that is, not the pigging out.
Also, I won't be allergic to taking vacations with the family anymore. Yeah, the women are noisy and nosy and fussy but I have an iPod.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Rip What You Sew
And so it came to pass I realized that even in the world of massive multiplayer online social gaming, karma rules.
Eh kse naman, hinack ko ng hinack my gourmet points in Facebook’s Restaurant City so now I have this faaabulously big restaurant and I can hire the maximum number of people (eight) and all the nine plots in the garden (new feature added today lang) are unlocked. But do I have money? ‘Nyeta.
I found out that (1) you really don’t enjoy something you didn’t work hard for and (2) if you go big time suddenly the old rich will still turn their noses up at you even if you can pee higher. So in unreal life as in real, the same rules apply. After all, there are very real people behind those very unreal ‘toons walking ika-ika.
My first thought was.. why do I have to suffer this ignominy? I can always use PayPal to buy coins and splurge on decoration and ingredients. But no! Haven’t I learned enough? I’ll wing it the hard way and build up points while salivating over that most expensive item of indoor décor – the Ming vase. I was planning on having eight of those craftily scattered as if carelessly inside the restaurant.
But no! I will control my saliva and focus on earning my coins one day at a time, with the thought in mind that each day I play gets me a new ingredient, free!
So there, I now know the true meaning of the aphorism “Reap what you sow.”
And since my newfound status as a high roller in the food and drinks stakes was ill-gotten and shadier than the acacias of Forbes, I will have to undo the fabric of lies that weave together my dream karinderya and admit that this thing I’ve sewn together will have to be ripped asunder.
Or maybe not. I can always cloak its origins with the sheen of social responsibility. It has been done before. It can happen again. I will give away free tiles to aspiring restaurateurs. I have three roofs and I only need one. I can give away two. I covered the whole building with extremely expensive glass doors and windows, hiding the brick beneath. I can give these doors and windows away… Noooo…!!!!!
I’ve spent too much on electricity already. I deserve all those points. Plus, hacking needs brainpower. That was my equity. Most of all, if my laptop suddenly gives because I’ve left it on non-stop for two weeks already, I need a reason to buy myself a Mac Book Pro. The me of three months ago would have despised the me that I’ve become.
But… I won’t have internet access for three days starting today, as in now na… I’m done packing and will be off to the airport in two hours. I hope these three days will be enough to slap me to my senses.
Eh kse naman, hinack ko ng hinack my gourmet points in Facebook’s Restaurant City so now I have this faaabulously big restaurant and I can hire the maximum number of people (eight) and all the nine plots in the garden (new feature added today lang) are unlocked. But do I have money? ‘Nyeta.
I found out that (1) you really don’t enjoy something you didn’t work hard for and (2) if you go big time suddenly the old rich will still turn their noses up at you even if you can pee higher. So in unreal life as in real, the same rules apply. After all, there are very real people behind those very unreal ‘toons walking ika-ika.
My first thought was.. why do I have to suffer this ignominy? I can always use PayPal to buy coins and splurge on decoration and ingredients. But no! Haven’t I learned enough? I’ll wing it the hard way and build up points while salivating over that most expensive item of indoor décor – the Ming vase. I was planning on having eight of those craftily scattered as if carelessly inside the restaurant.
But no! I will control my saliva and focus on earning my coins one day at a time, with the thought in mind that each day I play gets me a new ingredient, free!
So there, I now know the true meaning of the aphorism “Reap what you sow.”
And since my newfound status as a high roller in the food and drinks stakes was ill-gotten and shadier than the acacias of Forbes, I will have to undo the fabric of lies that weave together my dream karinderya and admit that this thing I’ve sewn together will have to be ripped asunder.
Or maybe not. I can always cloak its origins with the sheen of social responsibility. It has been done before. It can happen again. I will give away free tiles to aspiring restaurateurs. I have three roofs and I only need one. I can give away two. I covered the whole building with extremely expensive glass doors and windows, hiding the brick beneath. I can give these doors and windows away… Noooo…!!!!!
I’ve spent too much on electricity already. I deserve all those points. Plus, hacking needs brainpower. That was my equity. Most of all, if my laptop suddenly gives because I’ve left it on non-stop for two weeks already, I need a reason to buy myself a Mac Book Pro. The me of three months ago would have despised the me that I’ve become.
But… I won’t have internet access for three days starting today, as in now na… I’m done packing and will be off to the airport in two hours. I hope these three days will be enough to slap me to my senses.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Blur that was August
First the imperial boss arrived from the ‘Merika. When gods descend, mere humans quiver like gelatin in buko-pandan salad. I’d like to think I’m made of stronger stuff. Unfortunately, I have a brood of kids that I need to protect so the last two weeks were a blur of trying to ensure that my kids did their cartwheels to perfection.
Then there were the needless moments of agonizing over assignments for school. Days and days of guilt and anxiety that dissipated when I finally sat down to attend to them. Madali lang naman pala. Of course I had to wait for the eleventh hour. I think I’ll never ever rid myself of the addiction to cramming. The adrenaline rush is pure joy! Perhaps it’s my way of reconnecting to my cavemen ancestors. Because I don’t have giant snakes or some other prehistoric beast trying to eat me for breakfast, I get my survivor surge from anthropomorphizing my schoolwork and pretending they were vampires out to suck me. I mean, suck my blood. ‘Chos.
First week of the month I went home to the province to make my Papa happy on his 84th birthday. Because vacations are usually the most hectic and non-relaxing of all human activities, this set the tone for the rest of the month.
While all these were happening, I discovered Restaurant City on Facebook. In two weeks of playing I now am Level 27 thanks to (minor) hacking and leaving my laptop on overnight.
So there, this is my excuse for not posting enough, and I know it’s not enough but what can I do? I’m only human.
Then there were the needless moments of agonizing over assignments for school. Days and days of guilt and anxiety that dissipated when I finally sat down to attend to them. Madali lang naman pala. Of course I had to wait for the eleventh hour. I think I’ll never ever rid myself of the addiction to cramming. The adrenaline rush is pure joy! Perhaps it’s my way of reconnecting to my cavemen ancestors. Because I don’t have giant snakes or some other prehistoric beast trying to eat me for breakfast, I get my survivor surge from anthropomorphizing my schoolwork and pretending they were vampires out to suck me. I mean, suck my blood. ‘Chos.
First week of the month I went home to the province to make my Papa happy on his 84th birthday. Because vacations are usually the most hectic and non-relaxing of all human activities, this set the tone for the rest of the month.
While all these were happening, I discovered Restaurant City on Facebook. In two weeks of playing I now am Level 27 thanks to (minor) hacking and leaving my laptop on overnight.
So there, this is my excuse for not posting enough, and I know it’s not enough but what can I do? I’m only human.
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