“A coward is a hero with a wife, kids, and a mortgage.” -Marvin Kitman, author and media critic (b. 1929)
Today is my first time to be left alone with someone so little yet so handful to be with. I had to skip work just to see and feel how well I’ll do with this tiny living gift. It’s also my way of checking if the baby routines systematically listed by my wife on the cork board would work out fine if followed to the dot by our neighbor whom we asked to babysit while we’re out.
The drowsiness and a bit of headache didn’t keep my enthusiasm to face the day. It’s going to be more than 12 hours ahead with just me and him. The moment my wife closed the gate and headed for work, I was mentally conditioning myself and was trying if I can remember the routines even if I’m not looking at it. There’s breakfast, vitamin and supplement intake, bath time, playtime, and lunch for the first half. The second half shows two more play times separated by two other routines. Wow! Isn’t that overwhelming enough for someone who’ll be left alone with such demanding baby?
Twelve hours later that seem to me like months in the gym–at least there you don’t wipe someone else’s poop–I didn’t realize that I performed everything as listed. Right after I set the innocent and handsome looking small guy in his colorful crib, with his eyes beginning to show his sleepiness, I was so ecstatic that I feel like calling a celebration. However, I can’t shout for joy as I’m so sure it will be like waking a sleeping little giant who’d be so eager to get out of his sleeping pen once again to play like there’s no tomorrow.
A dad’s mandatory and embarrassing picture with the Jollibee mascot. Taken in SM Bacolod.
My mother’s 2-year old PC remains almost in its pristine condition. Until now, the only files that got updated or added are pictures. And normally, it is always us who did the downloading every time we pay them a visit especially during December. The whole year round she uses it only to get connected to us through emails.
Having used it again for this week’s short vacation, I had mixed feelings when I discovered about its almost untouched state. I feel happy that at least she haven’t installed any bootleg software but at the same time I feel a bit frustrated as it still obviously lacks MS Office, photo editors, file compression and other tools that I need to post blog and also share pictures to my distant sister who always craves to see what’s happening back here. So instead of wishing I have another $100 to shed for a genuine MS Office installer, I checked the web for what might be legally free so I can proceed with my business of blogging, editing, and uploading of pics.
Fortunately, my web search became fruitful enough and with the help of my mother’s PLDT Vibe connection I diligently spent some time checking these freebies:
*OpenOffice. This is an underdog with a surprising package compared to Microsoft’s Office. I’ve heard about this before from a friend who is an OSS (Linux) fan. But since I have a genuine MS Office software back then, I ignored the existence of a free OpenOffice. Now, after downloading the 150MB plus file, I became a fan. I never knew that this free software will match that of its Microsoft counterpart. In fact, I’m now using its Writer for this blog post and I find the interface and features not so far apart from MS Word. It has all the basics such as spell checker, formatting buttons and what surprised me most is that it also has an autorecovery feature–no need to worry when the PC shutdowns after the baby has pressed on some buttons in.
*GIMP2. It’s short for GNU Image Manipulation Program. I downloaded this free photo editor with the intention of just resizing the large image files for an easy Flickr.com upload. It came as a surprise when I saw that this one is almost the same with my Canon photo editor. One cool feature I find is its ability to scale an image just by selecting the scale button and then dragging the corners of the picture. During the process, a window shows the aspect ratio of the file so that one can stop at the desired size. The downside of this software though is that it’s a bit slow and cannot accommodate multiple files in an instant. File size: 15MB.
*VSO Image resizer. Now this one means business when the job is just about resizing. VSO resizes multiple files in a jiffy. Period. This one is highly recommended. File size: 6MB.
With these files I now feel that I’m getting hooked to legit online freewares. I’m now looking for a free screen grabber but so far the one that I’ve downloaded (sreengrabberinstall.zip) seems to be a disappointment as its installation requires another file. Anyway, the three files that I have mentioned may be enough for now. Somehow, this just proves the cliché the best things in life are free.
***
I said to mark the word diligently when using PLDT Vibe’s connection. Why? That’s because it did not perform to my expectation. My mother has a P999 plan and it’s supposed to have at least 500kbps (or even more) connection speed but upon using speedtest.net’s tester it only yields 196kbps download speed. My Digitel connection at home can even match that at some point and my subscription plan is just for 128kbps. I have doubts now if I’ll change DSL provider next year. Tiabi.
This afternoon I woke up from a long nap and being half awake half asleep, I strolled around the yard. Coming from a distance, I heard a familiar music playing that reminds me where I’m currently at.
The music was Life Dance followed by another which I’m quite sure I heard decades ago when both are still the in thing among the youngsters. I hate to admit it but I was one of the fans of these songs. My guilty pleasures, then and now. After catching myself pausing briefly to listen to the music which I know for a fact and based on experience, are all coming from a baylehan (dance/fiesta area) as we call it, I began to remember that prior to my mandatory siesta, we actually just had our son’s baptismal.
This event, thankfully, happened after one postponement due to a problem we encountered when we initially scheduled it in my wife’s place back in Batangas. This time, it was finally realized and despite bits of snags, upsets and confusions before and during the ceremony. Thirty minutes after the baptismal rites and photo ops, we ended at Imay’s restaurant where a simple yet fulfilling celebration with our closest family and neighbors took place.
I’m now still groggy and trying my best not to blame it either to the brandy I had nor the jet lag since we arrived yesterday lunch time. But deep inside I feel happy as after all the excitement from welcoming Marcus to the Christian world, I suddenly remember that also today is our father’s 75th and likewise my 35th birthday. Right now, I can’t think of a better way to be home again in Bacolod.
My recent blogging inactivity did not keep me away from English. Instead, what I lacked in English writing was compensated by opportunities that compelled me to speak the language which I always thought has been my forte. I was wrong. I once again realized that English remains foreign.
When I was in grade school, I was among those who would rather speak than compute if I can avoid it. I was always more comfortable filling pages after pages of theme writing compositions than competing with someone else in the mathematical flash cards race. I did well in English than math. I just love words more than numbers.
It wasn’t surprising then when I jumped into the blogging bandwagon right after I got hold of my own internet connection at home. I dumped my pens and paper journals. And although I only rate myself as among those considered average in terms of English skills, it didn’t deter me to post my entries in the form of blogs. Practice, practice, practice was my mantra.
So just imagine how excited I was when I found a couple of perfect excuses to speak English. First, our son’s arrival meant that my much awaited time to teach English to someone came. And I find it funny that while he’s learning the basics—alphabet, words, and vowels — I on the other hand was silently relearning most of it. I correct myself every time I pronounced a word wrong. Second, l attended a training last week wherein our instructor was Tenora—a black American with a doctorate degree. Obviously in this training, interactions were all in English.
Other than learning how to become a good manager by using the Symphony/Conductor metaphor, I also began to make a conscious effort to get my message across by trying to speak up every time I had the chance. And just as I was persecuting myself for the mispronunciations I regularly had, I was quite surprised when at one point Tenora had to write something on the flip chart and seemed to have doubts whether she’s spelling the words right. Sensing that some of us might be looking at her, she admitted that often times she’d falter when it comes to writing. She even joked that someone once said, “Only a wise person spells one word in different ways.” She’s not sure if it was from Thomas Jefferson. Whoever it was, at that point, I was smiling. Nodding. Well, I can’t be that bad then.
***
One of the newspaper clippings I keep until now is a poem which Philstar’s Mary Ann Quioc Tayag posted on her February 13, 2005 article: So what if my English sounds funny? This one is like a year of speech class com- pressed in one tiny clipping. Here it is:
Hints on pronunciation for foreigners (by TSW) I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble, but not you
On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through? Well done! And now you wish perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead: it’s said like bed, not bead
For goodness sake don’t call it deed! Watch out for meat and great and threat,
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt. A moth is not a moth in mother
Nor both in bother, broth in brother And here is not match for there
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear
And then there’s dose and rose and lose
Just look them up – – and goose and choose And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword And do and go and thwart and cart Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start! A dreadful language? Man alive,
I’d mastered it when I was five.
***
And here’s a hilarious poem I found while searching related topics:
I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC
It plainly marks for my revue Mistakes I cannot sea
I’ve run this poem threw it I’m sure your please to no, It’s letter perfect in it’s weigh My checker tolled me sew
Oh by the way, I also tried searching for Thomas Jefferson’s quote related to spelling and what I find is completely opposite to what Tenora mentioned:
“Take care that you never spell a word wrong. Always before you write a word, consider how it is spelled, and, if you do not remember, turn to a dictionary. It produces great praise to a lady to spell well.” – Thomas Jefferson, to his daughter Martha.
It’s been a week already since we welcomed a third member at home. He’s the reason every routine changed completely. On his very first day at home I realized soon enough that despite the long preparation—mind setting, shopping of baby stuffs, reading of articles about having a baby, and other things we did to prepare for such day—we still seem to be overwhelmed by the mere presence of a little boy.
This little boy whom we’ve anticipated–like normal parents would–since early this year has taken charge of our lives. Now our sleeping and waking hours depended on his. My brewed coffee turned cold. Other meals have been skipped. AXN has been traded with Cartoon Network. Mythbusters was crushed by Dora. We’re now out of our comfort zone but we’re not complaining because we’re now officially parents.
One of the things I missed is having the time to blog. There’s no more time to kill. Like now, kid’s now watching TV and sooner will be begging to have his bath and I’d have to cut this entry short. So to end this post, I will leave a touching poem (by an unknown adoptive parent) which was shown to us on the first seminar we attended when we decided to have an adoption:
Once there were two women who never knew each other One you do not remember, the other you call your mother.
Two different lives shaped to make yours one One become your guiding star the other your sun.
The first gave you life the second taught you to live it
The first gave you need for love the second was there to give it.
One gave you nationality the other gave you a name
One gave you the seed of talent the other gave you an aim.
One gave you up – – it was all she could do
The other prayed for a child and God led her straight to you.
And more you ask me through your tears, The age old question through the years.
Heredity or Environment, which are you the product of? Neither my darling – – neither. Just two different kinds of love.
The 11th month which happens to be our birth month seems to be totally ours. Although it has not yet reached even its middle part, everything that has occurred after 11 days is like life itself compressed in two weeks. There was confusion, anxiety, boring times, and of course, funny and exciting moments as well.
As previously posted, November 1 was better than compared to last year’s. The days that followed have been spent waiting for results, results that would dictate how 2009 would be for us. And yes that’s right, this month I’m thinking that this may be the conclusion of our 2008 already.
I’m very excited to share the details but unfortunately there are reasons (one is time) as well that hold me back from doing so. Instead, I’ll just be brief about what has happened so far: Yesterday, I’m resetting my countdown to bumhood; And tomorrow, we’ll have one that will complete our family. Needless to say, both of these are blessings that I can never thank enough.
For now, I’m just feeling lucky even if the news coming from our TV is just as bleak as the weather outside.
The problem with having a rather routine task every week is that time flies so fast that by the end of each week I’d wonder what kept me busy, why I was busy at all, and my frequently asked question during every weekend, “What have I accomplished so far?” Sad to say, my frequent answer is, “I actually don’t know”, and sometimes worse, “None.”
Having these questions and answers may therefore just lead to a conclusion that during most part of the week I had another dose of the SSDD syndrome or simply put, boring days.
Luckily, as I reflect on what has happened so far this week, my days haven’t been SSDD at all. In fact, some of the days have been interesting enough that I regret at the thought of not having the 25th hour for me to write about it.
Last Thursday, I attended what seems to be among the best Front Line Managers sessions—despite being the last one. Initially, I responded to this invitation as tentative because for some reason I got the feeling that this session could be like any commencement exercises that are as predictable as clockwork. With this thought in mind, I dragged myself just thinking to make the most out of it and at least end it with a perfect attendance. Little did I know that a couple of minutes after the session started I’d be as attentive as if I was at home watching the Mythbusters on TV.
Ooops, wrong forum. I thought I was attending a trick or treat event.
The invited speaker was a former employee of our company. Beth Arriola was once our HR Manager. Although her name was one of the most familiar during her tenure, it was my first time to listen to her talk. She discussed the difference between change and transition—topic I’ve written several times, without knowing that although being seen as synonymous, both are in fact far different from each other.
To explain the difference between the two, Beth referred to William Bridge’s definition of changes versus transition. Looking at the meanings of these words—with the global recession going on I’m sure that these two are as popular as Obama and McCain—one will see that each has its own essence, and by understanding both will help guide a person to which one he is currently dealing with. The explanation she had on Powerpoint was the simplest yet the clearest I’ve read so far (or I haven’t read that much lately).
Beth explaining the role of a manager.
Beth made strong points. She advised everyone to have the mindset that there’s life after work—whether one is leaving it after 4 PM or leaving it for good. She also reminded us to keep our external networks connected. And more importantly, encouraged all of us to never let our self-respect and pride (Filipino) down even during this time of uncertainty. Kayang-kaya nga ba kung sama-sama?
On my way home that afternoon, I did realized that I’m quite lucky that I changed my mind and attended this final session. Had I skipped this one, another opportunity to learn (both about the subject matter and the speaker) would have been lost. And did I mention already that I got a free book, The Toyota Way, for having attended all the FLM sessions? I can’t wait to claim and read it – I’ll have 365 days to read it next year.
***
Also related to this topic of change are the news that made it to the headlines this week. I’m sure that everyone by now knew that Barack Obama had a historic win over John McCain as the first black American president.
But I’m also sure that not everyone knew about the recent Formula One’s (F1) event, which despite being the last race for this season was nevertheless among the exciting. This race in Brazil had me and wifey sacrifice precious sleep by waking before 1 AM for the live feed on TV and just in time to see the race start after a brief downpour that added the element of excitement – as if the close match between Ferrari and McClaren isn’t enough.
Eventually, Lewis Hamilton grabbed the 2008 driver’s championship title by one point (thanks to Timo Glock or Toyota) over Felipe Massa. And this one is another historic race in F1 as Hamilton being the first black driver to attain the most coveted title in auto racing.
I now wonder, if Michael Jackson’s changing color? My bad, can’t help it. She said anyway that “It don’t [sic] matter if you’re black or white…” Tiabi.
***
Erratum: My editor-in-chief (that’s my wife) said I can’t have a mood rating of 10/10 Honks and be happy – although I argued that the more I honk at other drivers the more I’m pleased. Anyway, to avoid further discussion, I’m now changing it – 1/10 is the highest. 10/10 is the grouchiest. *LOL*
San Vicente, Batangas. We’ve been here since yesterday to spend our Halloween weekend together with wifey’s family. So while the rest lazily settles in front of the TV and watch the movie Robots on DVD, I’m thinking of testing their newly installed internet connection and try to post a blog for the very first time from here.
***
One of my blog rules dictates that I should not write anything that hundreds or even thousands other bloggers (and even professional writers) will for sure write due to its current popularity or just for the sake of doing so.
But there is always an exemption and one of which that cannot be avoided is Halloween. It’s that time of the year when the grinning plastic pumpkins, skeletons, and scary costumes come out. It’s also my cue to panic and think about what gift I should be giving to wifey–Halloween is also when she celebrates her birthday.
It’s a good thing that this year is a lot more different than last year. Back then, wifey and I had to go to Batangas separately because I was still busy at work; we also had no car yet after selling our old Kia Pride; traffic was worse then. I remember arriving by lunchtime after leaving work at around 8 AM with the last two hours spent travelling from Turbina to San Vicente.
This year is a lot better. (Though I miss covering the hundreds of microprocessor chips before a cold shutdown. You’ll know what I mean.)
***
While on our way to Batangas yesterday and while driving at a snail pace in the middle of the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), I honked at another driver when he tried to get into my lane without signaling his intention to do so. My wife commented, “Aba, that’s the first honk for today!” I was laughing hard after realizing that she’s actually taking notes of it. Then she added, “I’ve actually started measuring your mood by the number of honks you make.” Tiabi.
That short exchange on my driving habit made me smile. I’m now thinking if it would be a good idea to indicate my mood using “honk” score – 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest. Not bad. Thanks wifey for giving me the idea. Oh by the way, happy 32nd birthday.
***
Not to be outdone by others who have given their own scary ghost stories, video captures and even trick or treat experience, I might as well post my own. This one though isn’t fabricated in any way. This one is real and I captured it on October 31 when I was in the parking lot of SM Dasmarinas just minutes before sunset.
I was having our car seat cover replaced with fake (which others will call faux just to make it sound a not so cheap) leather and decided that it would be a good idea to take pictures of it to show how it will be done and to see the improvement right after. After I got my camera from the trunk and aimed it towards the workers I saw what appears to be a couple of ghostly figures inside the car after the pictures came out of the LCD screen. Scroll down to see the pictures…
Gotcha! These are Ace Hardware employees in their Halloween costumes. Kudos to these guys. Waiting for the leather seat to be installed wasn’t boring at all.
The news I read from the recent Sunday editions of The Philippine Star have been so full of negative items that I’d wonder why I’m still addicted to buying it regularly. Maybe it has something to do with my obsession to write more that I made it already a habit to read, read, and read no matter how unpleasant the news is. And Sundays for me is the perfect time to do just that.
When I feel frustrated or depressed, however, by what I’m reading I immediately scan the newspaper for the comics section. Works all the time as once I’ve set my eyes on it I would spend time reading every strip and shut my mind away from the senseless current events. Sometimes I would even think that the comics section has more depth in it than what they put in the headlines. Tiabi.
Among the comics I’d always read is Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin’s role-playing games or daydreams always fascinate me. I think that his imagination, frustrations, and alibis appear to be the toddler equivalent of mine. I also like how he interacts with Hobbes who in his own world appears alive but in fact is only a tiger plush toy. (Isn’t that schizophrenia, by the way?)
Oct 26 Philstar C&H strip.
My fascination with this creation by Bill Waterson sticks in my head like some subliminal Rock ‘n Roll message that allegedly dictates an act to its listeners. Proof of this came apparent when I passed by a book fair stall in our company. I was passing time and aimlessly looking at the books when I noticed a familiar cover that’s almost out of my periphery—a Calvin and Hobbes book. It’s a bit old but I got interested in it anyway. And just after a couple of minutes browsing its pages, I bought the book (There’s Treasure Everywhere) on impulse and went away smiling as if I just made a killing from an auction.
And so tonight, it looks like CSI: NY may have to step aside. And maybe I’d try reading the book with Hobbes.
I wasn’t drawn towards the title, but I think it’s a bit symbolic.
***
Well, since I’m now talking about the Philippine Star’s recent irritating con- ten, this Sunday’s edition has actually a lot of interesting stuffs that I can’t help but re-read it on Monday and re-read it again today. Here are some of those worth sharing. Of course, let’s start with the good news.
***
A Story from Francis J. Kong’s article, Feeling of Fear:
During Napoleon’s invasion of Russia he was accidentally separated from his men. A group of Russina Cossacks spotted him and began chasing him. Napoleon ran for his life and slipped into a little furrier’s shop on as side alley. Gasping for breath, he saw the furrier and asked the man where he can hide. The furrier pointed him to a pile of furs in one corner. Napoleon immediately crawled into it and the man covered him with more furs.
No sooner had he finished when the Russian Cossacks burst in the door, shouting “Where is he? We saw him come in.” They tore his shop apart, poked the pile with their swords but didn’t find him. Soon, they gave up and left.
Later Napoleon crept out from under the furs, unharmed, just as Napoleon’s personal guards came in the door. The furrier turned to Napoleon and said timidly, “Excuse me for asking this question of such a great man, but what was it like to be under those furs, knowing that the next moment surely be your last?”
Napoleon drew himself up to his full height appearing insulted and angry. “Guards, take this imprudent man out, blindfold him and execute him. I, myself, will personally give the command to fire!”, he ordered.
The guards grabbed the poor furrier, dragged him outside, stood him up against a wall and blindfolded him. The furrier could see nothing, but he could hear the movements of the guards as they slowly shuffled into a line and prepared their rifles, and he could hear the soft ruffling sound of his clothing in the cold wind. He could feel the wind tugging gently at his clothes and chilling his cheeks, and the uncontrollable trembling in his legs. Then he heard Napoleon clear his throat and call out slowly, “Ready…aim…” In that moment, he entertained a feeling that he couldn’t describe welled up in him as tears poured down his cheeks.
After a long period of silence, the furrier heard footsteps approaching him and the blindfold was stripped from his eyes. Still partially blinded by the sudden sunlight, he saw Napoleon’s eyes looking deeply and intently into his own. Then Napoleon said softly, “Now you know.”
***
And here are some interesting tidbits:
*A bust of our national hero – Jose Rizal, in case you forgot – is a shrine somewhere in Juneau, Alaska. It was built in honor of the contributions of Filipinos in that community who in 1904 assisted in the installation of the first telegraph cable linking Juneau and Seattle. (From What I saw in Sarah Palin’s neighborhood by Julie Cabatit-Alegre)
*Richard Gomez is now writing an article (this must be the first as far as I’m concerned) about photography. (From What makes me click by Richard Gomez)
Frankly speaking, he’s got good shots but sadly, this article had a bit of grammatical error. And knowing Lucy Torres as one prolific writer, she must have blurted out some curse in embarrassment after reading that. I’m quite sure though that this is just an editorial fault.
Yes, they do make grammatical mistakes.
*From Movie sets of evil, its author Scott R. Garceu, made a good article on instances (or coincidences) when actors and actresses of horror movies got into actual terrifying, if not deadly, incidents in their lives after shooting the film. Some that captured my attention are the cases of Bruce Lee, Jr. and Heath Ledger who both died even before their respective movies were finished. I guess it must have something to do with bad makeups? Hmmm.
Lastly, here is some of the bad news:
*It’s been a number of weeks already that I’ve been trying hard to appreciate the articles of Joey de Leon. I know that he’s an artist-songwriter, singer, painter, etc – like Jim Paredes. I’m therefore expecting to read something worthwhile from his Me, Starzan column. I hate to say this, but it seems like I’m starting to see another Juliana Palermo who wasn’t able to match her perfect curves with her writing style. I think it’s about time the editorial staff of Star convenes to purge more sense from Mr. Joey de Leon. His recent article ”StarzanPunta Ilog, Hugas Itlog!” isn’t just appropriate for Philstar’s niche.
*Whoever wrote “Baby can you drive my car?” which made it to Starweek’s front page – must have been cramming to get one good article that however good or catchy the title is, it fails to expound on the topic. And besides, I find the cover photo confusing versus the title — it shows two motorcycle riders and more motorcycles in the background. I’m starting to suspect that there’s trouble brewing among the Philippine Star’s editorial staff.
I attended a training last week about job search. Among our activities was writing how we got to know our company and how we applied eventually. Some of the choices were walk-in, wanted ads, and networking. I wrote networking on my index card and surprisingly I was among the majority who had the same answer.
When our instructor flipped the next page of the Powerpoint it displayed the statistics of job search methods. The figure showed that more than 60 percent of successful job search was due to referrals from friends, colleagues, classmates, schoolmates, neighbors and some relatives. The rest of the methods shared the remainder of the pie chart.
That session made me realize that no matter how busy we are, our network just had to be constantly visited or updated. From then on, I felt the need to open the communication lines whatever the medium may be. I need to act fast before I become a no-one among my network and become the weakest or at least visible among the links.
***
I am a spider that has been in hibernation. All of a sudden awakened from my comfortable spot in the middle of the web. The hunger and urge to check on what has happened around just kicked in. I need to see if the web needs repair, or if there are trapped insects for a meal.
Such fitting analogy. The spider and its web have elements that reflect a network. The webs are my connections and I’m pondering now if there was any damage done due to my inactivity. Have I been too busy that led me to forget to check in on friends? Have they eventually took me out of their “favorites” list? Hopefully, it isn’t too late.
The insects in the silky trap may be considered updates from friends, technological development in my field of study or even trends. It may even be job opportunities that my network has offered for me.
Marcus Can Blog 