Marcus Can Blog

Kids Do Say the Darndest Things

I remember several years ago, one of the TV programs I enjoy the most is the one hosted by Bill Cosby, Kids Say the Darndest Things. Several American kids appear as guest and are all seated side by side in front of the camera with the comedian host and they are asked about their opinions on mostly adult matters. The answers are often funny and sometimes so interesting that I’d wonder how at that early age they would have had learned such things. Well, I’m hearing the kids speak once again, this time they’re thinking out loud about the recession.

This morning during our staff meeting our boss started with the usual ice breaker when he flashed through the electronic projector someone else’s doodling. Soon after the bulb warmed up, the intensity of the projection revealed a comics strip personally drawn by his daughter who was just a 3rd grader.

The strip has six frames of colorful drawings telling a short story of their family and their plans during this recession period. Surprisingly, the innocence of his small kid did not fail to capture what has been blasted on TV over and over again in the news reports since our company’s closure was delivered to all of its Philippine manufacturing plant’s employees. His kid even drew a close resemblance of the company’s logo.

Although this is my first time to see a kid’s personal expression of what is currently going on, this isn’t my first time to hear stories coming from colleagues and friends about what their young children said when they learned that their mom or dad will be out of work in the next few months.

One peer told us that when she called her parents to inform them about the retrenchment her young son grabbed the phone and blurted, ”Lola, mawawalan na ng trabaho si mommy at daddy, tulungan mo po kami ha (grandma, mommy and daddy will lose their jobs, please help us)!”

Another heard a different tone from his children, “Tehey, lagi na kaming makakapaglaro kay daddy (We will be able to play a lot with daddy now)!” This joyful welcome of the bad news must have been the most common I’ve heard from other co-employees’ stories. And I can’t blame their kids, really.

Intel’s working environment is so competitive that raising the bar to be at par if not exceed the level of performance (and indicators) of the rest of Intel plants worldwide requires each of its employees to be at their best almost all the time. And to be able to meet that expectation, every employee is at least expected to be at work and leave work on schedule. During the busy years, rendering overtime was often a must. Unfortunately, this is when someone at every employee’s home is deprioritized or worse, ignored – kids. Some will say wives, but that’s a different story.

Therefore it’s really not that impossible if during this recession and global financial crisis, while every parent is worrying about almost everything, there will be innocent kids smiling and rejoicing that sooner or later this year they’ll be one happy family again with their jobless mom or dad just around them ready for 24X7 playtimes.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Review: Free Blog Providers

One of my goals this year, other than driving better than the last year, is to monetize my blog. To achieve that, I realized that getting more traffic or subscribers to my site should be on top of the to-do list. It’s a no-brainer that no one pays for a deserted blog site.

Of course, traffic doesn’t come that easy. Some finger-tapping, networking and a lot of thinking on how to improve the content of the blog site are just some factors that will dictate if who and how many get to be attracted to check the blog out. And after all the countless moments composing posts that at times seem to even interfere with my daily driving, I learned that more factors still have to be considered. Among these are the services from free blog providers.

Free blog providers are to bloggers as point-and-shoot cameras are to photographers. Simply put, both the free blog provider and the point-and-shoot camera are tools that offer beginners of each field the opportunity to experiment and learn the ins and outs of the process. And since I’m still trying to get rid of the urge to dig deeper into the world of photography, I decided that it would be best if I stick to my trusty keyboard, alcohol-enchanced thinking, and try reviewing other free blog providers to see which one fits for me to achieve getting payments thru PayPal once I pursue monetizing my blog.

I first got this idea when I revisited my often-ignored multiply.com account. While checking it out some time in December, I saw that cross-posting blogs is allowed. I learned that multiply blog allows feed from different blog providers which I really find convenient if I want to stay updated with both blogs and photos coming from my contacts without having to leave the multiply network. And these providers are what I have actually reviewed since the start of this year.

Note: I rated these free blog providers by comparing it to WordPress, my current provider. Likewise, I did my best (just within my kill-time periods) to test these blog sites and I’d appreciate comments if I did the right review or not.

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Yahoo 360!

Basics:

Appearance. Not so catchy. If you love text this is your dream site, but if you’re a graphics guy forget getting serious with this service.

Dashboard. WordPress need not worry. This service will need more bright minds to even match half of WordPress’ features.

New post. Fair.

Image uploading. Remember, text yes, graphics no — that is, there’s no point loading images here. Though I wonder if I missed the feature that would enable it to load directly from flickr.com.

Categories. Yahoo! does not categorize post. It only has Tags.

Tags. Yes.

Widget. Get WordPress. Period.

Ads. No. period.

Others: Poll. No.

Blogroll. Yes.

URL easy to remember? No.

Members. There could be a lot mainly due to its connection with Yahoo! but I haven’t seen any serious blogger here.

Recommendation: Does saying “Go get WordPress” deliver the message?

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Blogger Basics

Appearance. I find this somewhere near WordPress’ depending on the capability of the user to design his own theme. However, if the available themes are to be selected and applied to blogs, I’d be very biased to word- press’ appearance.

Dashboard. Blogger is affiliated to Google but it appears that they copied dashboard features from Yahoo!

New post. Fair enough.

Image uploading. 1 GB maximum space. Can be done thru direct uploading or by linking to a URL.

Categories. No categories, only tags.

Widget. I’ve read that there are available widgets, but I find it hard to use it on mine.

Ads. If there’s one thing that will make me leave WordPress, this is it. Blogger.com allows one blogger to get paid thru Adsense.

Others:

Blogroll. Yes, it is available. Your contacts will love you for this.

URL easy to remember? Yes. Just the same with WordPress, except for the domain (duh!).

Members. There’s a lot of good bloggers here.

Recommendation: If you want to monetize your blog then this is the place to be. And if you can come up with better themes than the available ones, then WordPress might be a thing of the past.

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WordPress Basics

Appearance. There’s a lot of great themes to choose from and most of it appears quite cool enough. Graphic-illiterate bloggers like me need not worry about having a boring blog site as there’s almost one theme that will match everyone’s taste.

Dashboard. Constantly getting better than the previous one.

New post. With the dashboard improving, posting a new blog has gotten easier every time (Although, I publish drafts and post thru MS Word 2007′s publish blog feature).

Image uploading. 3 GB maximum space. Images may be uploaded directly, by using a URL or by getting it thru the media library.

Categories. The parent category feature made blogging more organized. WordPress also has a converter from categories to tags and vice-versa.

Widget. Lots of cool widgets available.

Ads. Unfortunately, no. WordPress doesn’t allow its members to get paid.

Others:

Poll. Yes, thru polldaddy.com. I find this a very cool feature.

Blogroll. Yes.

URL easy to remember? Yes.

Members. Most of its members are prolific bloggers. And there was once a WordPress group for Filipinos. Unfortunately, it went out of service for reasons that I still don’t know.

Recommendation: I’m biased, but I think most will agree that this is among the best if not the only best free blog provider. Sign up to word- press if you don’t care about being paid at all.

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Windows Live Space Basics

Appearance. Yahoo! people can smile now. This is the least of my fa- vorites.

Dashboard. The appearance is a reflection of the dashboard. Need I say more?

New post. Fair.

Image uploading. Direct uploading only. I even cannot edit the image once I have my blog posted (I could be wrong, though).

Categories. Yes.

Tags. No? Widget. No. Ads. No.

Others:

URL easy to remember? I have so much hate with this blog provider and one reason for that is because I can’t even remember my own URL after I’ve subscribed and posted my first blog.

Members. Most likely many, but that’s because each one is probably sign- ing up for a new blog name after forgetting what their first URL was.

Recommendation: Good for spammers and bloggers with multiple personality.

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LiveJournal Basics

Appearance and Dashboard. A bit closer to WordPress.

New post. Fair. There’s also a feature to insert mood options right below the blog. Hopefully, they can come up with a honk-mood rating just like I use in my blogs.

Image uploading. This one has the most options. It can upload image directly or coming from a URL, scrapbook or photobucket.

Categories. No.

Tags. Yes. Ads. No. Others:

URL easy to remember? Yes.

Members. There’s also a lot.

Recommendation: As the name implies, most of the users here post articles in a manner like most journals are written. And upon browsing/lurking thru most of the post, I saw that this is the site if you want to let lose some rants and hot air. Paging all bosses, you might find your names here right after you have delivered some tough messages. Hahaha.

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Abundance Inside

Intel has been (or still is) a very good company, no doubt. And despite the stressful situation that everyone is currently into, most employees will still agree that Intel Philippines has tried as much as possible to show how each one of us has been so valuable that our personal or career development is one of the priorities.

This was once again proven when today the good people from our employees services (ES) group arranged another Beyond the Cube session. This is a series of sessions wherein external corporate speakers are invited to talk to the employees on different topics which Intel thinks is of interest to the majority–one good way to break routines and let the employees hear great thoughts from the world outside of our cube (or manufacturing floor). Although I’ve heard about this program before, this is my first time to attend such.

Today the speaker is Pido Aguilar Jr. who at first got most of my colleagues worried about what might happen during the talks when we saw him pass by in a weird-looking garb which I told them reminds me of a Video Zonkers episode. We almost cancelled attending the session, but then again the thought of spending another five more hours doing absolutely nothing in front of our laptops convinced us to check the session out. We eventually signed up and settled in the session room with full of anticipation and anxiety. To my surprise, I found the room packed.

Mr. Pido started the session trying to be candid probably to loosen up the attendees as he may have sensed that most are expecting that this session better be good. By around 10 AM, he opened up by saying something like, “I don’t need you to believe me…but all I’m asking is for you to open your mind during this 2-hour session.” The session went on.

Interestingly, Mr. Pido soon got everyone’s attention as the session went interactive with the activities that got the attendees’ participation. Every now and then, the room bursts into a belly-busting laughter as he amused everyone with his funny expressions, humorous examples and other anecdotes which filled the room with smiling yet attentive audiences.

In this session, Mr. Pido shared seven ways to attract and radiate abundance which he said comes from within everyone’s self.

I Smile. I couldn’t agree more when he said that by having a truthful smile at the start of the day does attract and sets what one’s day will be like. He said, “Try smiling then at the same time say that you hate someone.” I followed. It cannot be done. Unless, you’re that character from the movie Psycho.

I LIVE in the PRESENT! If you keep on thinking about the past, you miss to live the present. If you keep on thinking about the future is just as harmful. The first is a “has been” while the second may not even come at all. So living in the present may indeed by the sanest thing we can do right now.

I ALWAYS express THANKS! This one consumed 40 minutes of the session when Mr. Pido made everyone think of and say one reason what they’re thankful for today. It may be because of a person, thing, event, etc. as long as they think is worth thanking for. The mic went from one attendee to the other and it’s interesting to hear everyone’s piece. This he said is proof that there’s just so much for us to be thankful for if you really think about it. There was even who said that he’s thankful that Intel (Philippines) is closing. Remember the saying “When one door closes, the other one opens”?

I REMEMBER: Nothing lasts! I was expecting that this one only refers to the bad things just so to give hope to everyone that at the end of every trial is a resolution. I was wrong, however, and I’m glad I learned why. According to Mr. Pido, this applies to both the good and bad things in our life. He said that by also remembering that good things don’t last we get to appreciate and cherish it more. Now, the ad line “Offer is good while supply lasts” just made more sense.

I CHOOSE to be POSITIVE! Mr. Pido said that even if you forgot or was forced to be negative at one point even after committing to be positive, the key here is to get back on track ASAP and choose to be positive again. I immediately related this to my driving. Since this year I said that I can do better with regards to my driving temperament. So far, I still got to honk at someone else but I’m quite sure that it has gotten less and lesser lately. Maybe if I lose the car after being unemployed it will be zero. No question about it. Ti abi.

I LET GO, I LET GOD. Everyone in the room was asked by Mr. Pido, “Why do you think God can’t be God?” There was a couple of silent moments, then he answered it himself. “That’s because you don’t let him be!” Most of the time we have been so full of energy, motivation, enthusiasm or eagerness to solve our problems that we do forget that these are after all part of God’s plan for us. So next time, let’s pause for awhile and instead consult with God if what we’re planning to do is aligned with his so that we don’t get frustrated in the end.

YES, I MOVE ON! This is one phrase with two key points. First is the word YES which affirms our willingness to face the challenge. Second are the words I MOVE ON which complements our affirmation. And if you take a look at it, both will work as our one big commitment to transition to the next part of our lives and/or career.

During the start of the session, Mr. Pido Aguilar Jr. asked every attendee in the room one favor: To bring home and share whatever we have learned and believed may be significant to others as well. There was a chorus of “Yes, I will” So I’m now sticking to that promise which I silently whispered in the midst of a jam-packed room and in front of the man in the weird-looking garb.

***

Pido Aguilar Jr. may be contacted thru telefax number (02)725- 749. His email adds are: abundancecorp@gmail.com & abundancecorp@yahoo.com .

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!

Get Over It, Move Forward

I’m quite sure that at one point of every person’s life there was a time when he’s so desperate and frustrated that he could’ve called it quits. I for one had several of those dire situations when life seems to have had crumbled and that the feeling of not being able to get out of it is so overwhelming. Believe me these ranges from the trivial such as just a quarrel with a sibling to the gravest such as getting into a car accident. And believe me, during these times I just wish I was never born at all. Whether one is a firm believer of God ( or Allah or any other divine being) or not, during these times calling them for help may be the only rational thing to do.

One thing that I always put in mind is that every after trial I had or would have, there is always the hope that I would get over it soon. Change and transition as they call it. Consider being in a break up. That situation is change. Getting over with it is transition. It does not matter if recovery happens right after or several months later but the day would likely come when you’d be able to smile all about it.

Now that I’m just waiting to be among the most “in” person this year of recession, I’m getting more excited than scared or worried. I can’t wait to see what is waiting for me (and my family) until the end of 2009. But what I know that someday, I’ll be out there with my kid (or kids) and wife facing the golden sunset with beer in hand while enjoying the splashing waves and the smell of the salty air.

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Resilient pinoys

If there’s one word that I hated the most when it comes to describing the pinoys, it’s the word resilient. I believe that this is the most abused or overused by journalists or even inspirational speakers especially when used during times of crisis. I hate reading or hearing, what might be already cliché: The Filipinos will get over it. The Filipinos are resilient people like bamboos that sway wherever the wind blows.

That doubt is about to be changed.

What I find remarkable with how most of the Intel Philippines folks (or Intelllites) accepted each bad news that have come in rapid succession in less than a year, is that the transition period seems to be as quick as a snap of a finger. There may have been hundreds of tears shed every after forums where grim updates about the site were heard but believe me that these are the same people who can be seen smiling the very next day.

And the recent download on Wednesday, Jan 21, wasn’t an exception. A couple of hours later and two more days after the closure of the manufacturing operation of Intel Philippines was announced, most of the people at the canteen are already occupied with videoke . Others watched the DVD movies played on two separate TV’s for everyone in the cafeteria to see. Others lined up to play foosball. The rest just seem to get back to their own routine as if nothing happened. It may be temporary, it may even be even be pretentious, but whatever that is just shows that Filipinos can indeed be resilient enough to deal with any situations no matter how dire.

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Domino effect

It’s no wonder that the closure of the Intel site in Gen. Trias, Cavite became one of the headlines of the week and that several thousands of people got worried about it. That is because when Intel stops its operation here in the Philippines the export industry will feel its loss. Frankly, I don’t know the exact figures but Intel contributes to billions of pesos in export which makes it one of the top exporters in the electronics sector. This of course translates to jobs other than the permanent employees.

Many other people work for Intel Philippines. There are the vendors and suppliers who handle everything that Intel needs. They are the people from the cafeteria, the janitorial personnel, facilities maintenance, field service engineers, health services providers, and insurance agencies just to name a few. And like Intel employees, they too will be out of work soon.

There’s not much to do right now to dampen the effect of the recession but to just keep all hopes up and remember that this will all come to past. So to all Filipinos, especially to my fellow Intellites, let’s pray and hope that we’ll get over with all of this soon and be able to laugh or smile all about it.

***

Mood: 4/10 Honks!

Intel Philippines in the News

On Wednesday, Jan 21, 2009, the heart-breaking news spread like wild fire. The corporation has finally decided to cease its manufacturing operation in the Philippines. First it was just known by the Intel employees gathered in the recreational center, then a leak spread online that same day. Although some bits of info seems to be hazy, it was one news that sent even non-Intel people wondering if it was one big bad dream.

Then of course just after less than 24 hours of withholding the news about the Cavite site’s closure, the employees finally saw their corporate affairs representative confirm the news on TV. It was a signal that the confidentiality policy regarding this once brewing event ends. The online community soon got even busier and exchanges went back and forth. The major media networks sent their news teams lurking and stalking the company’s campus to get first hand scoop among the employees. Intel Philippines that day became the center of discussions on top of other recession related news.

Intel among the headlines of the prime time news.

Corporate affairs personnel for the official statement.

The rumors that Intel Philippines will be closing down became apparent just less than a year when the big bosses dropped the first news on April 2, 2008 when they announced that the building in Cavite is structurally unstable and that this is just the main reason why they actually consider transferring operations somewhere in Laguna. And to prove that there is indeed a plan, Intel Philippines had setup a small group of transfer team to assess the new site and keeps giving updates about it every now and then. Sadly, despite the high hopes it has brought upon most employees and the thought that there will be a couple more years of extending its operation in the Philippines, the employees in the end weren’t meant to be there. It became their white elephant—it does not exist.

I never knew how it would exactly feel like to be related directly to the news on TV until Thursday. For years, it has been one of my guilty pleasures just to be home and be settled in front of the TV after a long day’s work while I watch the day’s events unfold. I’d always remind myself how lucky I am just to be a mere viewer and not being involved in any of the headlines. Now everything changed when the days are already counting down when I’d just be home for a week, for a month. Hopefully, not for a year. Ti abi.

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Mood: 5/10 Honks!

I’ve got some weird things running in my gray matter since the start of the year. And last week everything seems to have happened in topsy-turvy manner or as what I sometimes describe things in the production floor as chopsuey—just a mixture of different things. There was anxiety, there was hope, and then there’s despair.

And today the emotional intensity has gone up and one thing that made me think less or control it rather than it controlling me was the anticipation that things are about to happen. It’s not matter of IF but it’s just a matter of WHEN. It’s like running out of brakes and just bracing for impact while each second is a countdown of the imminent worst case scenario.

Last week I was mulling over the topic of death once again while killing time (pardon the pun). I was asking myself when was the first time I realized how death of a loved one must be like. And then I remembered, it was way back in my elementary days.

It was one lazy summer 1984 afternoon. The flickering rays of the sun passed the swaying ipil-ipil leaves in our front yard. I was about to enjoy my mandatory siesta when a familiar voice called. ”Mahampang na kami siguro (it must be playtime already),” I thought. But as I rush out of the door, a rather sullen look greeted me. It was my classmate and friend, Jonathan. “Cris, patay na si mama (mom is dead)…,” he said.

I still remember feeling confused, not knowing what to make out of it. I can’t remember the exact discussions that followed but I remember us just sitting in the yard and with me listening while he tells stories about his mom. At a very young age I witnessed funerals of my own relatives but I have never been closed to understanding until that memorable afternoon that with death comes inevitable grief. It’s how one handles it that makes the difference.

Then just two days ago, I received an email with an urgent subject: Emergency Appeal! I read the message and it’s from someone in Africa. I shrugged it off as a scam but verified it anyhow through my college yahoogroups. Just as expected, my inbox was soon flooded with replies confirming what I thought it to be. But one replied out of topic and only addressed to me. It was from Jonathan.

We’ve had some lengthy email exchanges since then and I find it weird that everything has been so mixed up but yet still appears to be in harmony as every dot gets connected in the end. Weirder is the fact that I’ve been holding to a clipping from this Sunday’s newspaper with a story from Francis Kong’s “Tragedy into blessing” article.

Year’s ago in Scotland, the Clark family had a dream. The Clarks had worked and saved, making plans for their nine children and themselves to travel to the United States. It had taken years, but they had finally saved enough money and had gotten passports and reservations for the whole family on a new liner to the United States. The entire family was filled with anticipation and excitement about their new life. However, seven days be- fore their departure, the youngest son was bitten by a dog. The doctor sewed up the boy but hung a yellow sheet on the Clarks’ front door. Because of the possibility of rabies, they were being quarantined for 14 days. The family’s dreams were dashed. They would not be able to make the trip to America as they had planned. The father, filled with disappointment and anger, stomped to the dock to watch the ship leave.

The father shed tears of disappointment and cursed both his son and God for their misfortune.

Five days later, the tragic news spread throughout Scotland – the mighty Titanic had sunk. The Clark family was to have been on that ship. When Mr. Clark heard the news, he hugged his son and thanked him for saving the family. He thanked God for saving their lives and turning what he had felt was a tragedy into a blessing.

The story was made even more meaningful when bad news struck yesterday. God must indeed have plans for us and now, I’d like to believe it more. Few weeks or months from now, I’ll be missing things in the production floor. No more chopsuey. No more turning back.

***

Mood: 5/10 Honks!

Dead Employees Walking

In the death rows of the prison cells they call the inmates dead man walking. This is because the people inside this part of the penitentiary walls are those whose cases have been heard and judged. Consequently, they are sentenced to death and from then they are basically dead. Thus seeing them around until judgment day is like seeing a dead man walking.

Right now, there’s no better analogy but that of a dead man walking for the situations that some of our colleagues have faced already—after ending employment by the end of 2008 – and those that were able to hold on to their jobs this year. I was one of those who were supposed to wake up jobless on January 1, but for some stroke of luck I got extended.

I reported back to work after being hired for an engineering position from a supervisory position. I’ve never felt so good and excited in my career transition than this. But on top of it, I did not discount the fact that with the recession effects knocking on everyone’s door, the possibility of being sentenced to the jobless row isn’t far behind. The problem, however, is that that possibility seems to come too soon.

Yesterday, my observations of our manager’s manner of reporting to work confirmed my fears. I usually arrive at the parking lot almost during the same time when he does and I have even told some of my peers that our expat manager prefers to alight far from the main building and takes a walk from there. Lately though, I see him getting out of his service van at the nearest spot to the lobby doors. It appears that he’s saving on steps, or if not, saving on some energy. I told my peers, “He must be into something, and it doesn’t look good…let’s worry more if I see him report to work in pajamas.” The email blast yesterday addressed to all employees was the final nail to the coffin.

Just more than four hours from now, everyone at work will gather at the indoor basketball court for a forum. The last time I was at a basketball court for a forum with my previous employer I got paid and laid off. Ti abi. Let’s wait this time.

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Mood: 7/10 Honks!

Cold Blog

It’s been cold for days, literally, and the frigid temperature has brought some changes in my routines other than the mandatory blanket curl that made me look like a huge fetus for several early mornings already.

Yesterday, I had to don three layers of clothing on my way to work. Being on a motorcycle may be beginning to be a fun ride but the biting cold makes it necessary to add just another layer so that I don’t get stiff nipples. I’m now even considering riding gloves not for looks but rather for the insulation that it could provide. I just can’t imagine myself riding a motorcycle somewhere in Europe. Back there, I’m quite sure that Vespas are not among their favorite transport options right now.

Blogging has to be rescheduled as well. I now prefer sleeping earlier as the cold early evenings seem to suggest nothing but to hit the sack — that is, after everything about the baby has been taken care of. I now blog whenever I get up sometime between midnight to early morning which is at the very least an hour ahead of my wake up alarm. I find the cold and calm morning more conducive to write.

I heard from the news that this cold season may be until another month more or so. This means that I’d have to get used seeing our thermometer stuck at 22 degrees Celsius or less. This means more alarms to be snoozed. And every time I wake up, this means that that I’d be wondering for a few more weeks how much it would take me to install that water heater in the shower. Ti abi.

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Mood: 2/10 Honks!

News “On” Paper

Just like almost everyone this year, I too had my own resolutions regarding cutting expenses. I came up with most of these even months before the end of 2008 while some are still in the works as I listen and read thru New Year suggestions that are up to this day is just all around every media – from print, TV, radio and even in homilies during the Sunday masses.

Among the many unwritten resolutions I have is to stop buying newspapers especially during the weekends. I’m thinking that if I do this then I’d spare Php 40 a week multiplied by 52 times a year would give me around Php 2000 savings. Not bad, huh? This amount could make 20 relatives happy by the next Christmas time. Now before you start thinking how a terrible gift giver I am, I’m breaking that resolution anyway.

It really seems I can’t get away with buying these dailies even with the option to read the news online. There’s still something about holding and reading a newspaper while in front of the breakfast table or sofa alongside a perfect breakfast. Having said that, I won’t go totally paperless any time soon.

What I like about having the real newspaper is that I can go thru any page or section anytime I want to without being under the mercy of my computer’s speed or worse, of my DSL provider’s. I also don’t have to deal with the jerky mouse and monitor glare. There are just some things in this world that new technology can’t beat, for now. Besides, has anyone ever heard of someone getting carpal tunnel syndrome for reading a paper newspaper? Now isn’t that one good reason to spend 20 pesos?

The only problem though with buying a newspaper is that lately, its contents or articles have degraded for my taste. It’s either that there’s really no good news to fill the majority of the pages or there’s really no other news to be printed. Maybe today’s an exception. Today’s edition redeems The Philippine Star.

Expressions peeve

Scott R. Garceau in his regular section, The X-Pat Files, had my heart thumping with anticipation as I read thru his article – Expressions that gotta go this 2009. He listed several words or expressions that he finds irritating and when he mentioned “…it doesn’t take more than a few hours of trawling the blogs to spot ‘em…” it had me thinking if I’d find the same words in my blog. ~~OMG~~!

One that got my attention was “This 2009 (or Last 2008).” I can’t remember where exactly I’ve read about this but the use of This or Last followed by a date might be indeed wrong. The appropriate word to use would be On like in On Dec 31, 2008. Unfortunately, more people even professional writers still use This or Last. Now, it’s another person (and an American) saying that it’s wrong. So, for me it’s farewell This and Last.

Other words that I totally agree should be scrapped and buried for good are shortcuts such as OMG, WTF and showbiz words such as starrer, comebacking, and guesting. And while I’m at it, I suggest to stop calling our local and old singers Diva – if there are words that trigger my migraine, this is one of them.

Very Guilty

Another remarkable article today is from Nelson T. Dy’s “Guilty As Charged.” This one discussed how criticisms in the workplace should be taken especially if coming from your boss. How can I not relate to it when just a month ago I had several discussions with my manager? Good thing that what Mr. Dy mentioned in his column are what I’ve done so far.

The following are his suggestions on how to make the best out of these criticisms:

Abandon your pride. Instead of becoming defensive, one must be humble enough and think why was he was criticized in the first place.

Adopt a learning attitude. Most people’s tendency especially when new to a working group or a company is try to exude so much confidence as if they knew everything. Often times, this is good as they say that first impressions last. However, on the contrary, I learned that sometimes this is just not the case. Sometimes, it is good to tell upfront any help that you need (from your peers, manager or support group) instead of nodding and making people believe that you know everything. Believe me, it’s based from my own experience.

Assume the best motives from your critic. Working in a company where every employee is trained to give constructive confrontation, I’ve come to accept feedbacks whatever they may be – well, most of the time. It’s one trait that I’m proud of. But it could have been actually better if these feed- backs were done on time and that’s another story.

Not only that Mr. Dy had me relate his advice to my work, but he had me think twice about my driving. And how was that possible? It’s because his example in assuming the best motives from critics is about driving. He said, “…imagine if you are driving your car in the expressway. Another driver suddenly cuts into your lane. You slam on the brakes and blare your horn. You fume and curse the other driver for being such a reckless idiot. But suppose you discover that he is rushing a loved one to the emergency room of the nearest hospital. I bet your attitude will change.” I’m now reflecting if how I can make some resolutions on the way I drive.

Another good one from Jim

One of the author’s that I regularly read for his thought-provoking articles is Jim Paredes. His article today, In love with books, wouldn’t have made more sense to me had he not mention about his children’s fondness with books and how they got into it from the very beginning.

He wrote about his children being eager readers since they were just kids. Jim said, ”Very early on, even before they were one year old, I made sure that I read books to them at bedtime, or when they were in the proper mood to be quiet and still to just look at the pages and listen to words or even verses of poetry.” Likewise, he quoted literary artist, Emilie Buchwald,“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

All this made me feel that what I’m trying to do every night for our baby boy is after all the path that he would sooner or later thank me for.

Becoming a fan

In my blog, I rarely (or haven’t?) discussed about having some crush or being a fan of a local celebrity. But on the Starweek mag’s cover today is Karylle whom I have to admit has become one of the stars who captured my attention. It must have something to do with my regular viewing of TV patrol which of course includes showbiz news where I saw her featured often. I was never a fan at first as I find her appeal something from the retro era. But it looks like that her smile and face will be regularly seen this year. So when the article mentioned that this singer/actress may indeed be one hot chick to look out for in 2009, I think I would have to agree.

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Mood: 1/10 Honks! (It’s cold outside but the presence of wife and kid make me warm.) inside.)

2008 Honda City: What’s Good, What’s Bad

After a year with the 2008 Honda City I’ve come to discover and experience more about it, both bad and good.

Bad

Some paints have chipped off from the door and trunk edges. And this is not due to bad driving (I swear). I actually saw this just a couple of months after we got it. The service personnel said that they’ll do a re-touch of it once they have the exact car color.
Upon closer inspection–which I usually do when I don’t have anything to do while waiting for wifey–I discovered that some panels do not align perfectly. Well, it’s not a Ferrari in the first place.
The left A-pillar does create a blind spot when turning.
The underside engine cover/splash guard got snagged after I parked where a big chunk of concrete is hidden from view. I can’t believe at first that such thing could happen but after seeing several new cars with the same problem, I wonder if placing this part was a good design idea.
My wife still won’t drive it. It’s not directly related but it’s still among the bad. Hahaha.

Good

Suspension is still remarkable. Most people would say that Honda suspension is indeed better than the rest. I couldn’t agree more.
Engine purrs silently. When stuck in traffic, I will just know that I prematurely released the clutch, and eventually cut-off the engine, if I see that the yellow and red indicator lamps have lit up. This is because of the low engine noise in addition to the good interior noise isolation (or insulation).
Recently discovered out of curiosity that the rear ash tray can be taken out for cleaning. Good thing no one smokes while inside the car.
The “Baby on Board” sticker looks good on it. : )

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Mood: 3/10 Honks!