We're off to see the WIzard, the wunnerful WIzard of OZ!

We'll be calling Adelaide, South Australia, home in 2008 because...


Benc got his scholarship! A FULL SCHOLARSHIP! YEEEAAAHHHOOOOOOO!!!!! I'm so proud of him, and excited, and bursting with happiness. :-)

More details later! For now, join me in a standing ovation for one of the most brilliant men in the whole world!

Thank goodness for the weekend

It's been unbelievably hectic this past week. The senior team left Margie and I in charge of the department for 5 days. It was a little bit nerve-wracking. There was a major executive presentation happening that week and there was a bit of pressure on us to make sure it ran smoothly. The presentation prior to this one was not as satisfactory and some of the executives were naturally nervous about two newbies handling it.

But it came out okay. It was pretty smooth and painless. Margie and I heaved a sigh of relief afterwards. It was unspoken but I think our anxieties about that hour-and-a-half event were eating us up all week.

On top of that we encountered some issues in other areas of work, particularly recalled write-ups, requests for reshoots (this, after I had assembled the episode, haha!), and my VPN problems. But I guess we weathered them. And now the weariness has set in. I blame myself for forgetting to breathe regularly, haha.

Thank goodness for the weekend. At least I can concentrate on other things. I can concentrate on Benc and the things we miss doing together. Most of all I don't have to endure the early-morning travel. I've noticed my back and shoulder muscles have become stiff, and they hurt. I'm not sure if it's the travel or the weight of the laptop (I have to walk quite a way when I get off the shuttle). I have noticed my left leg and knee have started hurting. I suspect it's because of the awkward position of my leg on the bus. I'm cursed, I think, to have legs like Ikabod Crane's. :-(

But I'll forget all that for now. The weekend is here -- and a long one at that. I plan on making the most of every moment. :-)

The Hole mark of "security"

They measured it to be 8 meters in diameter. Everything around it shattered to unrecognizable bits. Despite those inane bag checks and stern looks from security guards at the mall's entrance, they missed it. And 8 people and a hundred others were injured -- not to mention the money lost by businesses because of the mall's closing.

Glorietta Bombing

Granted, if something was meant to happen, no one could really stop it. But I can't help but think, more could have been done in the way of prevention. Sure, you can't have security guards posted everywhere. But they could have come up with a better strategy. I don't know why they never thought of trying random searches, which statistically can deter mischief. Why not invest in CCTV cameras? It's been proven to work. What's more, tapes can be reviewed and perpetrators identified.

If the Ayalas take their businesses seriously, they should take their clients' security seriously too. Invest in the cameras, invest in a good security strategy. Train the security, for one, to actually look inside bags, and people's faces -- not talking to each other while waving everyone to enter. PAY ATTENTION! That's all they need to do, when you come to think of it. That shouldn't be too expensive to teach. Plus, the money spent for it will be significantly less than the losses they've already experienced. (As of press time, an estimated P100 million in losses have been calculated)

They're saying stricter measures will be implemented so we're to expect longer lines at the train stations, at the mall entrances, etc. Before they do anything even stupider I wish they'd stop to think about its effectiveness. I don't mind the security checks. I just wish they'd actually work for a change!

Sidewalks at the Center of Urban Development

I decided to walk home from the office today because (1) I had Jollibee for lunch, which was evil; and (2) I didn't want to argue with nitwit FX drivers about the less-than 2km distance from the front of my office building to the lobby of our condominium (they charge me P18 instead of the standard P10. Malayo-malapit daw kasi lugi sila. Ehek. Lugi my arse.)

So I bore the weight of my things in my backpack (about 4 lbs. of stuff--don't ask me what) and began walking. As I did I noticed ribbons and chains and "barriers" along the sidewalks of San Miguel avenue. In some spots, the pavement looked like it was carelessly drilled and dug up. Slabs of cement were thrown onto the alternate path for pedestrians. Puddles of water started to gather and turn murky in the shallow canals. Most of all, some 60 pedestrians per minute tried to make do with the less-than-a foot-wide sidewalk, attempting to dodge reckless FX drivers and not bump into one another.

This absolutely annoys me. I started ranting to myself. Why are pedestrians so disrespected in this country? Zebra crossings are ignored, walk-don't walk signs are meaningless, sidewalks are tiny to non-existent. Companies and establishments build sprawling parking lots and eat up side walks in the process. Local governments allow them to do it, then subsequently destroy those "sidewalks" and fail to provide alternatives for its constituents. They'll build buildings, walkways and erect barriers in all the wrong places instead.

Take a look at what they did (because they didn't stop to think) to the exit paths at the Ortigas MRT depot on the ADB side. People have to squeeze through a foot of space to be able to exit. If you're heading to Megamall, you have a slab of stair on your left cheek, pink, filthy grills to your right and 20 or more individuals trying to squeeze through the same space you're already occupying.

Why can't this country recognize that there are more people who walk than drive cars? There are more Filipinos dodging speeding vehicles, because there aren't any sidewalks for them to use. There are more people whose knees and lower backs ache from trying to desperately keep their balance on those ridiculously high and precarious overpasses, holding on to the rails as lightly as possible so they don't get tetanus from the rusty railings and nails sticking out every which way.

I wonder if they realize how mych better it would be for everyone if we had better sidewalks and pedestrian -friendly structures. Think about it: if a network of good sidewalks and walkways were built, more people will walk. If they know that these sidewalks lead to malls, offices, restaurants, institutions, then those establishments will benefit from the traffic. They're all a walk away. How can the people not stop for a coffee at the shop, 2 minutes' walk away?

If we had better sidewalks and walkways, less people would have to take their cars everywhere. THis would mean less traffic, less un-roadworthy passenger vehicles on the streets. This translates to less carbon emissions, less noise pollution, less road rage and stress. Mass transport will suddenly be more focused, more concentrated on highways instead of so many passenger vehicles trying to squeeze into tiny streets (like San Miguel avenue, J. Vargas and Meralco avenue).

And because more people will start walking, more people will start being healthy: imagine walking to work in unpolluted surroundings. This translates to more savings for the common tao. No more exorbitantly-priced gym memberships, liposuction clinics, "doctors" who say they have the best diet for you; no more dieting, no more stress. People will have extra doses of endorphins and be happy indefinitely.

I'd like to think that, because people will be able to walk, they will have more opportunities to explore. This will prompt enterprising Pinoys to put up little businesses, maybe small cafes or bistros with their own recipes, the way the Italians do it. You walk through a town in Italy and you're bound to discover some new flavor everyday. In the Philippines, this will encourage entrepreneurship! Entrepreneurship = progress, I believe.

Most of all, we'll be able to take it slow. Imagine, if we can walk through our own cities, there will be more time to appreciate the finer things in life: culture, heritage, people.
We'll be able to share our umbrellas when it rains, or help the elderly cross the road; we may be able to sit and watch day go by if the sidewalks were well planned and spacious enough to have benches. We'll soon have parks, more birds will start singing, children will be encouraged to come out and play.

Why doesn't anyone put sidewalks at the center of urban development? It will work! I'm convinced it will. And it won't be difficult to convince the 50 people I bumped into on my way home.

Meet Madeleine

My brand-spanking new Macbook! Hooray for the law of attraction, and a very very loving husband.

Stumbling and Serendipity

My new toy online is Stumble Upon! I love it! I downloaded it with the new Firefox, and I've been enjoying stumbling through the web eversince. :-)

Here's something I found because of it:

Thinking Like A Genius

"Even if you're not a genius, you can use the same strategies as Aristotle and Einstein to harness the power of your creative mind and better manage your future."

The following eight strategies encourage you to think productively,
rather than reproductively, in order to arrive at solutions to problems. "These strategies are common to the thinking styles of creative geniuses in science, art, and industry throughout history."

1. Look at problems in many different ways, and find new perspectives that no one else has taken (or no one else has publicized!)

Leonardo da Vinci believed that, to gain knowledge about the form of a problem, you begin by learning how to restructure it in many different ways. He felt that the first way he looked at a problem was too biased. Often, the problem itself is reconstructed and becomes a new one.

2. Visualize!

When Einstein thought through a problem, he always found it necessary to formulate his subject in as many different ways as possible, including using diagrams. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers as such did not play a significant role in his thinking process.

3. Produce! A distinguishing characteristic of genius is productivity.

Thomas Edison held 1,093 patents. He guaranteed productivity by giving himself and his assistants idea quotas. In a study of 2,036 scientists throughout history, Dean Keith Simonton of the University of California at Davis found that the most respected scientists produced not only great works, but also many "bad" ones. They weren't afraid to fail, or to produce mediocre in order to arrive at excellence.

4. Make novel combinations. Combine, and recombine, ideas, images, and thoughts into different combinations no matter how incongruent or unusual.

The laws of heredity on which the modern science of genetics is based came from the Austrian monk Grego Mendel, who combined mathematics and biology to create a new science.

5. Form relationships; make connections between dissimilar subjects.

Da Vinci forced a relationship between the sound of a bell and a stone hitting water. This enabled him to make the connection that sound travels in waves. Samuel Morse invented relay stations for telegraphic signals when observing relay stations for horses.

6. Think in opposites.

Physicist Niels Bohr believed, that if you held opposites together, then you suspend your thought, and your mind moves to a new level. His ability to imagine light as both a particle and a wave led to his conception of the principle of complementarity. Suspending thought (logic) may allow your mind to create a new form.

7. Think metaphorically.

Aristotle considered metaphor a sign of genius, and believed that the individual who had the capacity to perceive resemblances between two separate areas of existence and link them together was a person of special gifts.

8. Prepare yourself for chance.

Whenever we attempt to do something and fail, we end up doing something else. That is the first principle of creative accident. Failure can be productive only if we do not focus on it as an unproductive result. Instead: analyze the process, its components, and how you can change them, to arrive at other results. Do not ask the question "Why have I failed?", but rather "What have I done?"

http://www.simondale.net/house/index.htm

Where is everyone?????

I have to constantly remind myself that I'm the one who made a drastic change in my work schedule. Most days I forget that when I log on to YM and find no one on board...at six in the morning.

The maniac bus drivers pick me up at 5am in Mandaluyong and can deposit me in the office an hour later. In Cavite!

But I'm not complaining. I just have to mention it, as if to remind myself that no, people are not avoiding me online. They're just asleep. I'm the one who's up before the break of dawn.

My Heart is in San Francisco

He left this morning on a jet plane. Tonight, I'm all by myself.

:-) Indulge me. I've been missing him since the beginning of the week, when he had to attend to so much last-minute business, I had to fight for some quality time during the last hours of all our evenings. It didn't help that I worked so far away now. The traffic nearly drove me mad! All I wanted was to get home.

He'll only be away for 9 days, I keep telling myself. And he kept telling me that too. I tried to put things in perspective but really, can you? Knowing he'll be thousands of miles across the Pacific, in a different timezone (almost half a day's difference) and I'll be waking up in the wee hours to travel to work all alone? Half of it is self pity, the other half is just me trying to fight the loneliness.

Since we got married, this is the first time he's travelling to a new place without me. He said so himself when he came online at his HK stopover and he snagged some free wifi at the airport. That just made me tear. We both love to travel together. It's one of our ultimate highs. I'm always sad when I'm in a new place and he's not with me. He feels the same.

This is the first time I'm really feeling lonely. I was supposed to go home to my mom's tonight but decided against it. I just wanted to be by myself and allow myself to cry if need be. I cried at the airport. But stopped myself when I had to leave the airport by myself and accomplish my tasks for the day. Mercifully, I found my way home. I tried not to feel alone, pushing my emotions aside so I could get through the day's work. Now I think I'll let go and just feel.

This absence comes at a time when I depend on him so much for strength and confidence and love. Oh I know I can still get it. But it feels so much more whole when it's given with a smile, an embrace and a kiss at the end of a long and tiring day.

Photos of the "Office"

Here are some snap shots my office mate, Margie, and I took at lunch time this afternoon. We wanted a breath of fresh air, and to get some sun after being stuck inside all day.

This is the building where we work: CV1. Our department, Employee Communications, is lumped under the term Site Support. Who do we support? Manufacturing. Because they're the heart and soul of the business.

Everywhere you look there are traffic safety signs. If you fail to walk on the zebra crossing, guards call your attention! Here vehicles actually stop BEFORE the line to let people pass.

Here I am. I look paler than usual. Hehe

And here we are (Margie and I).

Margie is fascinated with this moat.

And the trees.

Here's what the inside of the office looks like. And you thought Conan was exagerrating, huh?

Here's our cube, and Marla, our boss.

And here's my spot.

And me, pretending to work.

At four o'clock everyday I pack up and take the 2.5 hour ride on the employee shuttle back to Manila. *Sigh* Like I always say, just think of it as weekly field trips. The next 6 months will be interesting. I'm looking forward to what I'll discover here: both about my job and myself.