Month: January 2012

Are we doing the right green thing?

Got another chance to have our parenting day off yesterday and so other than keeping our son entertained inside the car, wifey and I got the chance to discuss topics that does not include the repetition of the words “behave”,”good manners”, “Marcus stop!”, or “Marcus please!!!” This time we got to dis- cuss mature things. Green things.

Driving from Festival Mall, wifey commented that it has indeed become the policy of this mall in Alabang not to use plastic as packaging for any (or most) product from any of its stores. And that’s actually a good thing, right? Well, sort of. While it seems cool to get away with the use of the material that most people consider bad for the environment, we however, can’t help but wonder the impact of the continuous use of paper bags.

Whenever this topic comes I can’t help but recall the perfect line, “Choke the fish or kill the trees.” Yes, we all know for a fact that paper is already being recycled but I am quite sure that this is still not 100% and so the question how much trees are being cut down to fill in the demand for this so-called green packaging always lingers.

***

On this same day, I saw one of my Facebook friends post this striking image on her wall:

(Image from Facebook) Still in for a sushi?

***

I got an email from another friend and it talks about amusing facts that we used to do back in the days. Incidentally, these are also about the now popular “Green” word.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Time for a pandesal! Enjoy your Sunday everyone!)


I saw dead people


I think this cannot wait November when normally stories about the para- normal can be heard all over. I have been holding on to telling all about these weird personal experiences and today must be the right time. Having worked in a semiconductor manufacturing company for several years, I cannot be considered as someone new to the world of graveyard shift. I’ve been there, done that but never in my entire life working during these unholy hours have I felt something so eerie.

The latest one happened just this week. Everything seems to be SSDD at work when past 1 AM, out of my peripheral vision I noticed someone standing nearby our workstation. I glanced the second time to check and yes I really think that I saw a bulky and dark figure but some remaining skepticism I have had me brush the whole thing off right after telling my colleague about it. The next night, however, I learned that another one from our group saw the same thing on the same exact spot. Ti abi.

But that is not the first time when I felt strange things happening around me. Believe it or not, other freaky experiences occurred even during broad daylight.

Several months ago, we were required to render overtimes and for a week I personally picked the post-shift slot to avoid driving through rush hour traffic. For two hours after 9 in the morning, I’d be left alone inside the totally silent production floor – no incoming calls, no chatty agents. During these times, it’s just me, the hum of my CPU, and the tapping sound of my keyboard. But not all the time.

There have been a number of instances when I have heard the distinct sound of someone dragging his (or her) shoes on the carpeted floor near the area where I work. I have even witnessed an ergonomic chair swivel as if an invisible agent just left in a hurry.

In another occasion, I was alone in the restroom brushing my teeth when all of a sudden the faucet right beside me dispensed water twice in a row like someone just passed their hands in front of the fixture’s electronic sensor.

On top of all these, ghostly manifestations can also be felt regularly in the only area in our office that remains dim most of the day – our sleeping quarters. In fact, I think I have gotten used to the creepy sensation that I can now stay there even while all alone occupying one of the rather comfortable Lazy Boy recliners. Or maybe it is my usual sleepy state during my lunch and end of shift periods that make me so willing to share space with whoever is there – visible or invisible.

So right now, while I have not really seen dead people (yet), I am beginning to think that there are other beings beyond our understanding that co-exist with us – at work, at home, or even inside our car while we drive. I know such thought of having them around may be freaky, however rather than losing our sanity thinking about it, we should start accepting the fact and open our eyes on the purpose of their existence. Besides, at the very least, won’t we live a boring life without these ghost stories? Do you have one?

***

Mood: 2/10 Honks! (The cable TV god granted my request. It’s now just me, wifey and HBO. Marcus is out for a sleepover.)

To SOPA OR not to SOPA

These four intriguing letters seem to be the recent buzz in social media and the internet as a whole but to be honest, other than knowing that SOPA stands for Stop Online Piracy Act, I haven’t had that much knowledge why it’s getting the attention of more and more people. From my half-baked understanding SOPA is meant to put some sort of control over online content and exchanges and the proliferation of materials that some authorities think violate the intellectual property rights of people who claim ownership on things such as music, software, and books just to name a few. And based on this alone, as expected of me, I may be leaning on the side of those who support SOPA. So far, I’m yet to see someone on my Twitter timeline who has the same opinion as mine – other than the very people who want this implemented.

Today, Wikipedia.org joins the growing number of people who are against SOPA (and the complementary PIPA or Protect Intellectual Property Act bill) – in a couple of hours it will black out its whole website to protest SOPA. Recently, there have been strong calls for subscribers to pull out of GoDaddy.com (which incidentally is my domain host) after it declared its support to the controversial bills.

So where do I stand in this issue? Anyone who has been lurking/reading my blog posts probably knows the answer. I am anti-piracy. I try hard to be one even if it has costs me to miss on learning new software, catching up on new movies, and possessing a copy of the latest hit music. And yes, my advocacy and commitment to this has made people, especially my friends, scratch their heads in disbelief.

But perhaps people who are against SOPA and PIPA have a valid reason behind their outcry and so I think I will have to step back a bit and learn what these are before I declare a hundred percent support to whatever I believe in (or will believe in next). In the next few weeks I’ll try to absorb as much knowledge as possible and see if there’s a rational explanation why one will have the right to use (AND SHARE) something that is not his (or hers) or something that he did not pay for. Let’s see.

***

Mood: 4/10 Honks! (I think I’m having fever. Good reason for grammatical errors.)


Knock, knock!

Contrary to my goal, again, I’m failing in my goal to fill my need to write more posts and Marcus has a lot to do with it. For wifey and me, parenting lately has been a lot crazier than before. Don’t get me wrong, despite nerve-wracking moments with an active 3-year old we seem to spend more enjoyable times as we witness his rapid development and antics that come along with it. Nowadays, our one and only boy….

…has become more articulate than ever. Other than saying our names clearer, he can now say Manny Pacquiao.

…can recognize Toyotas and Pajeros and other car brands. He can just spot Hondas before. (When he was more than a year old, he screams whenever he sees wheels.)

…has transitioned from nursery rhymes to more mature music. He used to just like GTO from the movie RV and lately he surprised me when he showed to me that he can dance to Top Gun’s Danger Zone and Mighty Wings. He also goes ballistic when he hears Party Anthem and Moves Like Jagger.

…continues to impress us with his pace in learning to use cellphones, computers and home theater. (Thankfully, he has not figured out why his favorite cartoon show doesn’t appear however he press the TV’s channel button. Yes, I locked it.)

…seems to start understanding that littering trash will result to flood and that whenever he sees some of the Sendong video footage, he’ll look for his clothes and tell us to donate them. (This one makes us feel so proud.)

Well, this is just a knock knock and I have to cut this short because sooner or later, he’ll be up and ready again to keep our day busy…and stressful…and fun. Parenting is exciting, isn’t it?

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Thankful to be home.)

Parenting Rest Days

This must be the longest time I will be away from both wifey and kiddo. Yesterday, after just staying overnight coming from a quick holiday vacation in Bacolod, I sent Marcus to Batangas to meet his mom. For five straight days they will be there while I get to stay home alone due to work. It’s my parenting rest day and I’m quite excited (at the same time anxious that Sunday comes soon).

I actually have plans in mind how to stay occupied and productive while at home — like cleaning up the mess that have been left behind due to the hectic schedule during the past few days before 2011 ended and doing things that I’ve been wanting to do and get over with. Well today I think I made a pretty good progress with the video editing which I’m doing for a colleague. Once I get to finalize this one, I’ll proceed with compiling videos of Marcus which have been left untouched ever since we started recording them since he arrived. Writing more sound blog post is of course on queue.

Sounds like a plan, right?

***

Speaking of plans, I have yet to make my first entry on my first ever Starbucks planner but I’m already eyeing something to write on its December 1, 2012 space: “Do not patronize Starbucks planner again.” Ti abi.

***

Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Called wifey and Marcus awhile ago. Kiddo, does sound good over the phone already. He does talk better than before.)