Marcus Can Blog

One of the shots during typhoon Ondoy. Photo by: Dennis Barbaira

Why do I help? The truth is, I’m quite surprised with my own actions lately because right after the news updates about the damages made by typhoon Ondoy came out of Twitter, Facebook and on TV, something in me kicked in like an adrenalin rush. All of a sudden I became uneasy, felt pity towards the victims and immediately I felt the need to do something about it. Ah, I now remember. It must be about my experience in 2006 when typhoon Milenyo hit the country where I personally witnessed the destructive capacity of a flash flood and the emotional impact it brought to those affected – my in-laws. 

Although my wife and I were not in Batangas when it actually happened (I was at work during that time), we came to help the very next day after wind and rain abated. Although I was so eager to help that time, I however wasn’t prepared enough at the sight of Milenyo’s aftermath. As soon as we arrived in Sto. Tomas, I saw that the whole area going to my wife’s place was covered with almost knee-deep mud that we had to leave our car beside the highway and had to walk barefoot for several meters to their house. Upon reaching their place, the extent of the damage became more apparent. More brownish mud covered assorted things that were piled outside, some of which were for cleaning but most of it already deemed useless and for disposal. Inside, flood marks are still visible on the the wall and the floor of their whole house still obviously muddy and the clean-up of their flooded basement still on-going.

Pics from the Milenyo aftermath. From top left: Basement, still a couple of feet deep. Another room about to be cleaned. Things to be cleaned & sorted. A relative looking at what was left from the flood.

In no time, I joined the backbreaking task of manually scooping the water out of the house by passing bucket after bucket to my brother-in-laws who have been doing the same thing for almost a day already after the water stopped rising and receded. The only time we took a well-deserved break was during lunch which was also when I get to hear startling details of how everything happened almost at an instant. They said that water from the nearby creek overflowed and reached their house at a very fast rate that my in-laws and their neighbors were caught unguarded. My mother-in-law added that within a few hours, muddy water forced its way inside the house, sweeping away appliances, clothing, food, important documents and precious photos. The only good thing she said was that the flood occurred when it was still daytime. If it were during night time, it could have been an entirely different story with a very high chance of a deadly outcome.

We went home in the afternoon on that same day as there’s just no place to take decent sleep as everything inside the house is still in total disarray plus the fact that power is out, food is limited and sanitation is very poor. Back at home that night I slept dead tired but I did little complaining as I know my in-laws were feeling a lot more than just body aches.

So with the recent wrath that Ondoy made, everything seems to haunt me back even if our place in Cavite, and thankfully, this time including my in-laws’, was once again spared. And with the experience I had in Batangas still fresh in my mind, I now immediately recognize the desperation and helplessness of those affected by what our weather bureau, PAG-ASA, says as a record rainfall for our country in 40 years. I now feel and understand what these victims are feeling and I’d be guilt-stricken if I’d just sit down and watch the news as it is broadcasted on TV. This time I know that I have to act. This time I know I have to help…just like the rest of the kind-hearted Filipino (and even those abroad) people.

Photo credit: Dennis Barbaira

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (happy that more people are helping)

We can’t go out,
They can’t get in.
We preferred being in bed,
They have one, yet under an open shed.

We love the sound of the rain fall,
They wish they can.
We scan our fridge for a good rainy day food,
They, however, look at the nearest trash can.

We have hot coffee,
They have nothing but cold body.
We comfortably snuggle and cuddle,
They hopelessly shiver and huddle.

We turn on the TV,
They are on the news.
We watch reruns all day,
They count cars zoom away.

We sang to our kids a nursery rhyme
The homeless kids has one this time
Rain, rain go away
We beggars want a sunny day.

Mood: 4/5 Honks! (remember & pray for the street children)

Isn’t it funny that change is such a short word but solicits hundreds, if not thousands, of reaction no matter what the subject matter is all about and no matter how trivial or significant the change will be? Think of one thing that went through change that wasn’t met with resistance or protest. A number of us protested when the mere P1 coin was reduced to a smaller size together with the introduction of the new P10 coin denomination because we said we might not distinguish the two among each other. In the offices, people complained when the payroll became automated because the thought of receiving an inaccurate salary made almost everyone uneasy as receiving a printed payslip is much preferred over its online version for proper accounting of each rendered overtimes and premiums. We doubted online transactions just because we fear that someone might hack the system or our account. Taxi drivers and operators hated the thought of using LPG-powered cars baka daw sumabog. Furthermore, they reasoned out when the DOTC/LTO required them to install in their taxis a printer so that each customer gets a copy of their trip’s expense. And so on and so forth. But guess what, all these eventually happened and unconsciously we got over with each of the transition – and the complaints. 

Now here comes several things being presented to us anew. For one there’s the pressing poll automation issue. Then just this week, I saw the emergence of LTO’s campaign for the RFID (radio frequency ID tag). Once again, most people are clamoring for explanations, and worse others just want to rant irrationally maybe out of ignorance or maybe just due to plain stubborness to come out of their comfort zones or false beliefs – baka malabag ang karapatang pantao (the most overused & most irritating), baka madaya, baka di alam kung paano gamitin, etc. 

I see all these resistance to change as counterproductive and alarming. While other countries are moving forward by utilizing whatever modern technology is available, we on the other hand are still trying to cling on to our traditional ways. Most of us have become so fixated with our conservative practices that we always try to find reasons to doubt upfront the benefits that come with the technological advancements that will make our life easier. Actually, much easier.

Although, it is a fact that we cannot deny histories of unethical practices committed by several people, we should not dwell on these alone and instead open our minds that it is not the process (i.e., traditional or new technology) where irregularities happen and that it is rather caused by the people behind it. BUT this is not the reason for us not to move forward. I can see that the information campaign for the RFID implementation and poll automation is on-going. They will implement it soon whether we like it or not. Our role here is to listen intently and attentively instead of immediately shutting our ears and minds to such new ideas. Let’s be informed and support all of it because continuing to be too pragmatic and pessimistic about change will lead us nowhere but at the very tail end (the last time I checked we are almost there) of the rest of our Asian neighbors where we will surely become the laughing stock at the very least.

It is really high time we prove that we appreciate the effort of the people in the government are doing to improve the way we do things: RFID to improve the traffic system and poll automation to speed up the election process.It is high time we accept change. Let’s choose to show optimistism even if it’s more easy to go the other way. After all, didn’t we demand change? Didn’t we demand action from our public officials (whether we elected them or not)? If yes, these things are now presented right in front of us. All we need is to do is embrace it and trust that something positive will come out of it. Dahil kung lagi tayong tamang duda, wala tayong mapapala.

Mood: 4/10 Honks! (mukhang mapipilitan ako mag-drive mamaya)

Let’s admit it, from time to time we love a good laugh, we love a good read, and yes, we even love a good gossip. And that’s what I like about facebook. It’s like an online Aliwan Komiks, a sosyal tabloid, a friend’s sports mag, a contact’s personal tech review forum or whatever one will call it (and sees fit). What makes it even interesting is that as our network of friends and contact grow, the rate of how we acquire knowledge, gather information or even our source of entertainment broadens, sometimes even better than the rate we will achieve from watching (no pun intended) Discovery Channel, browsing an MBA book, scanning an Entrepreneur magazine, reading a paperback novel or even killing time (and common sense) from watching a never-ending boring telenovela.  

So thanks to the advent of such social networking site, everyday, as we open the familiar blue and white site (reminiscent of my ex-employer. hehehe), we get to check and know what’s with our friends lately – an update that makes us happy, more informed, fascinated, sad, and sometimes, shocked. So far here is my mixed top 20 list (some according to my friends who shared their FB experiences):

1. So, he does pray?

2. She can write well?

3. Sila na pala?

4. She’s into kama sutra?

5. She can do yoga?

6. He’s a blogger? Kelan pa?

7. That was shot using a DSLR camera?

8. He’s a war freak?

9. She’s a vegan?

10. She is now abroad and doing good?

11. She’s still tactless after all these years?

12. Bakit hindi na si kumare ang nasa avatar nya?

13. She’s into Mafia Wars?

14. She has good humor pala. Kala ko mataray.

15. He thinks asset nya likod nya?

16. Isn’t that an annoying smile?

17. Was she that fat in high school?

18. When did she become a hottie?

19. He can cook?

20. Matalino pala sya?

Some of these items belongs only to one person, while others are specific, and most of these have its complete opposite (aren’t you glad?) belonging to some other friends or contacts. I’ll let you figure it out. So how about you? Any facebook learning, discovery or shocker? Please share.

Mood: 3/10 Honks (Keane music now playing)

What was initally bought to bake dog food (for our then bully) has finally produced its first baked “people” food. Thanks to wifey, for the first time she gets to bake something out of it. Her baking training plus her natural talent to cook, successfully created delightful treats that once again made my day.

Fruit tarts for breakfast.

pizza for lunch

seafoods pizza for snacks & dinner.

Hello lola, with the rate daddy is eating, you might not recognize him come christmas time.

Disclaimer: The oven never baked dog food as I never had the time to do it. Now  that I’ve got lots of it, the dog isn’t around naman. But hey, those dog biscuits do look good. 

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (pizza, pizza and school works)

Mafia Wars stay back. I now have a game I started just to read from my Facebook friends’ status. During those days, I smirk when I see someone asks for tomatoes, cheese, flour, etcetera. Who cares? Losers. Such a waste. 

Then I heard our MBA professor confessed that he and his wife got addicted to it. Bah. Fad. Peer pressure maybe. Soon enough I discovered that a number of my first term classmates play while trying to kill time during a break and some even during the lecture. Slackers.

Then I saw my wife playing it. Well, let her be. She deserves it, that’s her break. Not me. I’m not playing that SIM-like game…ever. Period. And with such firm stand, I was able to let go of the thought – besides I’ve never peeked and got interested what the game is all about anyway.

Several days and weeks passed, and thanks goodness, I’ve never heard about “the” game. And then guess what? One day, a classmate borrowed my netbook. I was wondering if she’s about to do me a favor by typing accounting-related formulas and answers for me. And before I know she asked me if she can play Restaurant City. Uh oh, it’s that game once again.

This time however, I paid a little bit of attention. I’m now more curious what grabbed almost everyone I’ve known to play the damn game. A couple of moments later, she showed me that she assigned her real boss to be just among her resto’s staffs. That to me is neat. That to me is sweet revenge. I became an instant fan.

Now, it’s more than a week since I started playing this restaurant simulation game under my wife’s coaching (she’s either celebrating or swearing she got me into this game). Since then I’ve left my netbook a couple of times running for fear of not earning points. I’ve checked my virtual staff almost every 3 hours or so to see if they need “rest” or “food.” I’ve sneaked between school work and baby duty to see if the resto is still clean. And just this morning I woke up from deep slumber because of the sound of the strong rain and one thing that immediately came to mind is if my online restaurant is flooded or not. So in the wee hours of the cold morning, I logged in and checked. Well, I was thankful that it’s not. Ti abi.

Oh before I forget, chances are, my 6^th staff will be my ex-boss. A cleaner duty will be perfectly right I guess. Hehehe. Just kidding. But then again, I just might. Blame those I’ve mentioned above just in case. Hahaha.

Mood: 4/10 Honks! (tomorrow is D-day!)

Have you ever looked at product expiration dates and think about other things than just what it exactly means to that product? Well, yesterday I did. While washing the dishes after lunch, my peripheral vision caught this bottle with my wife’s handwriting. It’s labeled, “ Corn Starch exp. June 4, 2011.” 

For a couple of minutes I find myself staring at it with a concoction of weird thoughts running in my head. What will I be doing by then? Will we still be living in the same house? Will I be back to being an employee or better yet be running our own business whatever that is (?). Who will be our president by that time? Will I still be washing dishes just like today? Definite questions, yet unclear answers.

It actually took me only 15 minutes to finish my chore, but it seemed like years before I let go of the final clean plate. Weird, but I never realized that my reflection about life will come from a mere product expiration label. Now let’s see what’s in store for us on June 4, 2011.

 Mood: 5/10 Honks! (will be having only 1 subject this term)

I had a funny recollection while listening to a classmate discuss about video conferencing. Several years ago while I was yet a technician, we had this activity wherein we did an RTC (or Real Time Collaboration) with another site somewhere abroad (if it’s Costa Rica or Malaysia, I can’t exactly remember) using video conferencing.

Here’s the short yet anecdotal experience. It happened inside the manufacturing floor. A bulky American man in smock approached, obviously in casual collared-shirt and faded rugged jeans.

Man: Good morning, what are you up to guys?

Cris: Hi there, we’re doing video conferencing to check if their machines are set up just like ours.

Man: That’s amazing. How does it work?

Cris: Well, we use this RTC equipment to…blah, blah, blah (technical jargons).

Man: Hmmm, cool…anyway, thanks a lot for the explanation.

Cris: No problem, what’s your name by the way.

Man: Kevin Taylor…

Cris: Your name sounds familiar…

Man: Yes…I’m the factory manager.

Should I describe how laughter (and embarrasment) broke out after that conversation? *LOL*

 Mood: 3/10 Honks (now, school work is next…that is, if I can figure it out)

A month have past since I got into this job. The moment I learned, from one of my facebook contacts, that it does exist, I grabbed the opportunity to get to know more about it. I just love writing and so it didn’t take much time before I signed up. Few weeks later, I attended the training.

During the training in one of the buildings along commercial avenue in Alabang, I was surprised to see that there’s a lot of people, who are actually interested to be in this program. Our batch was composed of retirees, teachers, event organizers, freelance writers, ex-call center agents and even those with current jobs and not surprisingly, several bums just like me. There was even one complete family who attended.

So what is this job all about? It’s a form of business process outsourcing (BPO), and basically, it’s the call center’s non-voice counterpart. It’s a bum writer’s dream as it entails one to work at home without the nosy bosses and ill-tempered co-workers, not that they existed before. Hahaha. Anyway, despite those attractive perks, until now I find it an odd job.

As much as I love writing, I soon realized that editorial abstracting is a different discipline from plain blogging. It requires a lot of reading and comprehension to form an acceptable, if not good, abstract. It starts with having what they call a journal that is accessible through the company’s website. This journal contains files that may either be articles, book reviews, news briefs, instructional articles, and photo essays just to name a very few. These files in pdf format should then be read, identified if what article type it belongs and finally, an abstract should be written out of it. The abstract length ranges from one sentence to 300-500 characters maximum, depending on the article type. Once done, these abstracts are then emailed to the company and which they then send it back to whoever (and wherever in the US) customer in abroad requested the abstract to be written.

The customers abroad are actually publishing companies who outsource these writing jobs here in the Philippines. These companies send articles that ranges almost anything under the sun. Yes, you read it right. It’s anything under the sun. Proof of it, the first journal I got was actually about GLBT. And I learned just then, that GLBT stands for Gay, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender, so imagine my surprise when I saw pictures of male caucasians tongue-tied in a bar and that I’m expected to write about their events and experiences. What’s funny is that I’m writing it for a fee with the highest being P16. And yes, once again, you read it right. 16 Philippine peso ($0.35).

But don’t retreat yet, unless for reasons of receiving a GLBT, the P16 fee is per article. Each journal may contain several articles and as you get the hang of it, the more abstracts you can write and the more journals you accomplish in a day. Soon you’ll be earning according to your phase and will be surprised how much you’ve actually accumulated and received as payment.

So far I’ve written abstracts about law, sports, treasure hunting, agriculture and lately, Russian-related articles. I’m expecting they’ll soon assign what I’ve listed as my topic of interest – economics, business & industry, religion, education. But then again, they say that it’s unlikely to be followed and that journals will be assigned according to availability. Well, I’ll take anything but no more GLBT please.

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (survived half-day of being home alone with the hyper Marcus)

A couple of nights ago, despite the piled up school assignments, I was tempted to design a logo which I will post here on my blog until next year’s election is over. Like most people (I assume), the recent development in the political arena is quite something that should be of concern to us Filipinos.

Once again, we see a circus of events and a mix of personality that seems to make a mockery of our intellects or whatever is left out of it. Politicians are now more active than ever with a few more months before the May 2010 event. Unfotunately, their sudden activity doesn’t translate to any benefit to the majority but on the contrary, large sums of money, likely from the taxpayers, are once again circulating to benefit these self-serving individuals.

This logo with the Filipino phrase, Boboto Ka ba? (Are you voting?) is a sign of both my frustration with the political development and my commitment to vote wisely. And by posting it on my blog site, I hope to help instill informed decision-making and critical thinking. With this logo, I encourage everyone to…

…not get suckered into believing that those mingling with the poor are immediately for the poor.

…not get emotional and get carried away into picking one because he is related to someone we adored so much.

…not blindly follow someone because he said was called by god to lead his people.

…not get jiggy with political campaign jingles (or songs) because most likely it’s there to sugarcoat our tamang akala.

…not believe when they say that the info ads were paid by friends (and if it were, these friends will likely get a favor in return).

Let’s take a look what they really can offer and if they can get that offer done in the end. Let’s be properly informed and then let’s decide who gets to take our country’s top seat.

Remember that after 2010, there will be another 6 more years. Let’s rub off the thought that we can just go back to EDSA again, hold hands, say a prayer, sing another mushy song, wear yellow or whatever color is IN and kick (figuratively or literally) whoever is in power and then do it all over again. Being an informed voter isn’t easy but at least let’s try our best to be one. O ano, BOBOto KA nga ba? Sana oo.

Mood: 5/10 Honks! (hope he’ll decide against it.)