PJ Bacolod - Tales of a Tech Shark

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Happy Birthday: Lola Andring
2008-05-18 09:20:00
It’s my grandmother “lola” Andring’s birthday today, May 18th. Happy Birthday lola! May the Lord continue to bless you! We love you so much!
More About: Family , Birthdays , Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday: Jojo Bacolod
2008-05-17 09:12:00
It’s my brother Jojo ’s 31st birthday today (May 17th). Interestingly, he’s now as old as I am, since we were born about 10 months apart (I was born on July of ‘76 and he was born on May of ‘77). Happy Birthday bro! We love you! God bless!
More About: Family , Birthdays

A lesson in eye care
2008-04-30 09:52:00
I’ve been suffering from myopia, or nearsightedness, and have been wearing glasses since I started college. And back then, I’d always prefer wearing rimless glasses instead of the rimmed ones since most of my glass-wearing friends and I thought they looked cooler (even though they were actually thicker than the rimmed ones). And I now ...
More About: Health , Care , Lesson

Childproof your computer desk
2008-04-10 17:21:00
My co-workers and I have been checking out different laptop models over the net recently and the consensus is that the Lenovo Thinkpad T61 laptop seems like an excellent choice. But I already have a Dell laptop, and so it wouldn’t make sense for me to buy a new one. So I guess it would be better for me to invest in a desktop PC for home use instead, especially since my son, CJ, is showing signs of being techno-savvy. He’s getting the hang of browsing his favorite websites (or at least he’s getting the hang of forcing me to go to the Disney site - “Daddy! Mouse! Mouse!”) and I can see how fast he’s learning. Now, the only challenge is how to make such a computer system childproof. What I do know is that I need a keyboard and mouse that’s extremely durable. And what’s also important is that the base that supports these peripherals should be strong and sturdy enough to handle CJ’s weight - he does love to lean on the desk. And judgi...
More About: Computer , Desk

YouTube: Harry and Charlie - Charlie bit my finger - again!
2008-03-26 13:34:00
This is definitely one of the cutest and funniest videos posted at YouTube! It has over 14 million views as of this writing! Enjoy! Thanks to HDCYT for sharing it to the world!
More About: Videos , Youtube , Internet , Entertainment , Charlie

Holy Week 2008 - Fort Ilocandia and Pagudpud - Day 2
2008-03-21 15:18:00
The itinerary for Day 2 of our Ilocos holy week vacation was a half day swimming excursion at Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. Here are some early morning shots of Fort Ilocandia taken from my mobile phone: Here are some pictures taken while on the way to Pagudpud, which was roughly a one and a half hour’s drive ...
More About: Family , Week , Holy , 2008

Holy Week 2008 - Fort Ilocandia and Pagudpud - Day 1
2008-03-20 16:30:00
After two years, Conne, CJ and I finally decided to revisit Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte for the holy week. We decided to stay at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel and Casino, in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. We were accompanied by our close friends, Cocoy and Li-ann. We left Manila yesterday at around 11:30AM but had to make an ...
More About: Family , Week , Holy , 2008

Directions to Laiya, San Juan, Batangas
2008-03-05 10:09:00
Now that summer’s near and a lot of people are looking for some fun at the beach, my blog has been getting a lot of search hits on how to get to San Juan , Batangas , particularly on how to get to Barangay Laiya, one of the country’s top beach resort destinations. If you plan to take ...
More About: Travel , Directions

Be responsible, don?t be neutral
2008-02-23 14:12:00
Our country is now in a state of moral and political crisis. But it is appalling that some people have chosen to remain neutral, silent or indifferent with what’s currently going on. Here are some quotes on neutrality that I hope might spur some people to action. ?I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human ...

Credibility is not an issue
2008-02-23 03:15:00
I don’t understand why a lot of people have been hitting on the credibility of Mr. Jun Lozada, the ZTE-NBN deal star witness. Some sectors keep on presenting arguments about his checkered past that they simply forget or ignore what the real issue is - our quest for the truth. Come on, the truth is ...
More About: Issue

Political Poetry - v1.0
2008-02-20 06:44:00
Have you read any good poetry stuff lately? Well, check out Ganns Deen’s take on the political brouhaha that’s currently troubling the Philippines. He’s got some pretty awesome stuff going here. Read on. Cheers!
More About: Poetry , Political

Fishbone Fallout
2008-02-18 17:38:00
I haven’t been feeling 100% these past few days. It’s mainly due to a fishbone that’s still painfully lodged in my throat for 4 days now! I’ve already tried different remedies like stuffing my mouth (and throat) with bread, rice, bananas and swallowing like crazy, and even drinking some vinegar, but it’s no use! Can someone ...
More About: Fallout

Dad?s Birthday
2008-02-18 05:16:00
It’s my dad’s birthday today. He would have turned 58 today if he were still alive. I don’t know how much my brothers remember him, as we were still quite young when his plane went down (he was a Philippine Air Force fighter pilot) about 25 years ago. I was 6 years old then. But ...
More About: Birthday

Puerto Galera - v1
2008-02-18 05:04:00
We were finally able to take a family vacation at Puerto Galera over the weekend. Conne has been egging me all these times to try Puerto Galera out, and so, off we went. This was sort of a post-valentine date, family vacation and celebration (Conne’s promotion to manager-lvl2) - rolled into one - event. Conne, CJ and ...

Conne @ Work
2008-02-15 02:36:00
I received another bit of good news today. Conne finally got her much deserved promotion at work. Thank God. This calls for a celebration! :)
More About: Work

Ash Wednesday 2008
2008-02-06 16:32:00
Today is Ash Wednesday . It marks the first day of the Lenten season and occurs forty (40) days (hence the local term,“cuaresma”, for Lent) before Easter. I’m glad that Conne and I were able to go home in time to attend the 7:30PM mass and have ash imposed on our foreheads. And I noticed that the ...
More About: 2008 , Ash Wednesday

Mommy?s Birthday 2008 - Pampanga
2008-02-05 20:46:00
Here are some pictures taken last January 2nd at my grandparents’ place in Pampanga . We went there to celebrate my mom’s birthday even though she’s already based in the US. We love you so much mom! We miss you! —– CJ, Conne and I with Lola Andring and Lolo Mente Emily, Cel and Conne with their respective ...
More About: Mommy , Birthday , 2008

2008 and beyond
2008-01-14 18:03:00
This is my first official blog entry for 2008 . I’ve been busy with work and other stuff (read: PSP gaming, ha!) the past few weeks. Conne and I agree that 2007 has generally been a good year for our family and we’re looking forward to this year, hoping that it’ll pick up from last year. Our son ...

on jeepneys, headlights and super vision
2007-12-04 16:16:00
I previously blogged about my earlier success in changing my car's busted headlight.In relation to this, while I was driving this evening to pick Conne up from work, I passed by a couple of road mishaps involving jeepneys. It didn't take long for me to realize that the most probable reason why these accidents occur is because, as some of you might agree, there are a lot of jeepneys plying our roads at night that have busted headlights, or even worse, deliberately don't turn their headlights on! Do these guys have super vision or something? If they do, well, here's some news for them, most of us ordinary drivers and pedestrians don't!I'm not sure what the statistics are, but by my own observation, I believe that one in four jeepneys travel our roads at night without any headlights on. Come on, if some of these negligent drivers can afford to dress up their jeeps in avant-garde art and spend a lot on ear-damaging sound equipment and funny(?) clown-laugh horn signals, then I thin...
More About: Super , Vision , Jeepney , Headlights

santa's little helper
2007-11-30 17:24:00
Wow, can you believe that it's already December? It means Christmas is just around the corner. We're about to face another exhausting round of Christmas shopping chores. Hmmmmm, I wonder how long my Christmas list will end up this year. ;-P To start the mood right for the holidays, here's a picture of CJ as Santa's little helper.Anyhow, may the upcoming yuletide season bring happiness to you and your family, just as CJ brings happiness to mine.Cheers! Ho! Ho! Ho!
More About: Little Helper

makati's bungled coup attempt
2007-11-30 11:33:00
Yesterday was another interesting day in Makati City, highlighted by another bungled 'coup' attempt, mutiny, rebellion, standoff, or what-have-you, led by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Brigadier General Danilo Lim, which was staged at the posh Manila Peninsula hotel.'Tis true, the government has lost the support of a great number of Filipinos, mostly induced by the recent spate of scandals, questions on legitimacy and alleged constitutional and human rights violations. True still is the fact that the opposition is slowly gaining ground in its attempts to wrest control of the government leadership. But whatever momentum the opposition has gained went for naught simply because they can't put their act together. Haven't they ever heard of the 'team building' concept?Oh well, are there other lessons to be learned? Hell, yes!And some of these are:1. Never make bookings in any of Makati's premier hotels. Settling for three-star hotels or motels will do.2. Make sure you have eno...
More About: Coup , Temp

new philippine passport requirements
2007-11-24 06:14:00
We were finally able to apply for CJ's passport yesterday, Friday, for our upcoming trip this December which was, as expected, accompanied by the usual hassles prevalent when applying for or securing any government license, certification or identification document.We just found out that the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) recently issued new passport application guidelines, specifically on the new colored photo requirement where the photo of the applicant should be taken against a royal blue background.We already had a passport-sized picture of CJ taken a month ago with a white background, the old requirement. And it's a good thing that Conne checked out the DFA website to verify the requirements, otherwise she would have wasted a trip to the DFA office if she brought along CJ's old pictures. And so we had a new set of CJ's pictures taken last Thursday, his birthday.
More About: Passport , Hili

tales of an auto shark - newbie no more
2007-11-20 14:31:00
After weeks of trying to make do with only one functional car headlight, I've finally been able to replace the defective bulb by myself! And I never knew that replacing it would be very easy! Ha!Conne and I have been trying to figure out when to squeeze in a bulb replacement schedule with our car shop but failed to do so for quite some time because of our hectic work schedule and family commitments.As an IT consultant, I've been very confident when it comes to tinkering with complicated server and IT infrastructure systems, but the helpless newbie in me prevails when it comes to fixing my own car.And so after finally buying a new pair of headlamps for "Puti" I finally tried my luck on the thing.After reading the car manual, I realized that replacing the bulb wasn't that complicated. And so when it came to actually doing it, it was easy as pie, and I couldn't believe why it took me that long to do the dang thing myself.It was just a matter of opening the hood, finding the lamp's...
More About: Auto , Tales , Shark , Newb , Newbie

new job, old job, looking for a job
2007-11-19 16:48:00
Today's my first day at my new job. I reported for work after lunch but not after reporting to my old workplace first.I had to drop by my old workplace first thing this morning to conduct a scheduled panel interview, together with my officemates (Cocoy and Gerald), for my replacement. Unfortunately, the guy didn't show up and so I just had to spend the entire morning creating a list of my turnover and training activities. Gerald, on the other hand, went on with another scheduled applicant interview but for a different position, of which he had a funny and interesting story to tell us afterwards.He came into the interview room and saw a female applicant stooping down, fidgeting with something. It turned out that the applicant was in front of a wall outlet with a phone charger in hand, apparently charging her mobile phone. Thereafter, during the interview process, Gerald was interrupted midway through one of his questions, when the applicant asked if they could cut short the intervi...

wedding bells for my mom
2007-11-18 16:33:00
My mom finally remarried after more than twenty years! She got married yesterday, to Daniel Pavan, in Jacksonville, FL. I feel sad because we weren't there to witness the special event. But I feel happy too knowing that they both love each other.I wish both of them the best. May they love each other and take care of each other always.To Mr. and Mrs. Pavan, congratulatios! We love you guys! God bless!
More About: Wedding

you win some, you lose some
2007-11-15 16:12:00
Today's another one of those weird "you win some, you lose some" days.My day started off pretty well in spite of the heavy rain. Conne and CJ were in their usual jolly and "malambing" selves. Then on my way to work, I received a bit of good news on a career opportunity with an offer I simply found hard to refuse. The timing was impeccable since my renewable monthly consulting contract with my current employer just ended Monday this week. This makes the transition a bit easier since all I have to worry about now is to ensure that my turnover activities go without a hitch. And so, instead of auto-renewing my contract, I guess I'm off to a new workplace come Monday! Yikes, that was fast!I also found out this morning that my blogs finally got over a three-day slump and earned me a few $'s via Google's AdSense, well okay, maybe a few cents. Ha! (As an aside, my SEO skills are definitely improving since, for the past weeks, most of my targeted key words have ranked high or are #1 on m...
More About: Some

cj's upcoming 2nd birthday
2007-11-14 02:36:00
CJ's 2nd birthday is next week, November 22nd. And we still don't know how we're going to celebrate it! Ha!We were originally planning to visit Hong Kong Disneyland but might be rescheduling it this December in time for Conne's birthday, or at least until our budget allows it.Calling all "ninongs" and "ninangs": "Yoohoo! Utang niyo!" :)
More About: Birthday , Upcoming

CJ's first halloween trick-or-treating
2007-10-31 16:46:00
Here are some pictures taken from CJ's first Halloween trick-or-treating event. Our first stop was at the Festival Mall in Alabang. We then proceeded to Ayala Alabang Village to round up the day's gig.CJ had a great time and was simply adorable in his Winnie the Pooh costume. Barely two years old, he had no idea what trick-or-treating was, well, he couldn't even utter the words "Trick or treat!" But we really had fun watching him eagerly and clumsily rushing towards every house that we went to and knocking zealously at the doors. It's too bad that we did the rounds a little bit late or he could have gotten more treats. But, all the same, we were really proud of our cute, cuddly and oh so adorable little Pooh bear.
More About: Allo

is philippine cable tv really worth it?
2007-10-26 04:43:00
Is subscribing to cable TV really worth it? Sometimes it is, but most often it isn't.You see, it all starts with the way it's marketed. You can see it everywhere. One of the marketing points being touted by competing cable TV providers is by stating how many channels they serve. In this case, the usual spiel would be for them to: 1) list how many channels they have; 2) list some of their well known programs such as HBO, Star TV and ESPN; and 3) list channels that are targeted for a specific demographic community (Chinese, Indian, Arab, Filipino, etc).Not that this is bad in any way. It's actually good - if you're a motel or realty owner and plan to resell it, that is!You see, the Pinoy Juan's instinctive reaction to these ads is to see which deal offers more bang for the buck. He does this by computing for the effective cost per channel by dividing the subscriber's monthly subscription fee over the number of channels they offer. So if Cable Provider A offers a monthly cost of ...
More About: Worth , Hili , Wort

the makati city bomb blast at glorietta 2
2007-10-19 16:26:00
Today's another very tragic day for the Philippines due to the Glorietta 2 bombing incident. At about 1:30PM this afternoon, an explosive blast ripped through the ground floor of Glorietta 2, one of the country's busiest and most heavily populated shopping malls, located at the heart of the Makati City central business and shopping district. The Makati bombing claimed the lives of at least 9 people and injured hundreds more when its shock waves caused a violent chain reaction of collapsing building structures (ceilings, floors, walls and roof), menacing shards of projectile-like glass and metal shrapnels, falling debris and paranoia-induced human stampede.The blast was initially thought of as an LPG tank that exploded inside Luk Yuen, one of the restaurants located at ground zero. Investigators soon ruled out the exploding LPG tank theory and found evidence that the cause was far more sinister than initially expected, it was a terrorist bomb attack using C-4 plastic explosives.Mos...
More About: Blast , Bomb