Miracle Happens

Yesterday, Sunday was an unlikely day for me. Nothing unusual came about but Sundays for me were unexceptional with the usual late get-up-and-out-of bed syndrome, a coffee...back to bed again for another round of sleep until it is time for lunch, take a bath, read some of the news, then dip in bed for some more sleep 'til the sun begins to fall the horizon. Hah! Hail the King!

Yet yesterday was incomparable breaking the usual...I have to put it in record.

1. Woke up at 6:30 am, drive my wife to the market for some fridge stuff, bought an "Inquirer" for some of the day's news.
2. Had a nice breakfast with bread + coffee + tuna omelet with a nicely done "nilatik" from the market.
3. Cleaned the house inside out. T'was a general cleaning making every inch of the floor really shine with all the stuff and crap organized in place. Hmm...that was something, didn't think i could actually do that.
4. Brought the car to Mang Toti's talyer for a clutch secondary master rubber and head cylinder gasket replacement. Two thousand pesos gone.
5. Drive the car home afterwards and had (again) a nice lunch with alimasag con ginataang langka and a grilled fish. Nice...I enjoyed that.
6. Had a cold shower.
7. Played Lego with my kids for an hour.
8. Dipped in bed for a 2-hour siesta...that is a must!
9. Went to church with the family. The priest’s sermon was about "Humility and Generosity"...that was something, I really liked how the priest delivered his sermon, interesting yet inspiring.
10. A nice dinner with some veggies and grilled pork.
11. Had a nice drink 'til 11 pm with an influential guy from Quezon City. He frequently visits us, his "barkada" after his golf session at the Valley Golf for a nice chat and cold beer.

Now, isn't that something? Who says miracles don't happen anymore? Haha...I do, and wait, man... I forgot to read the "Inquirer" I bought from the market...oh well, what a day...

Young Cadets

Tomorrow would be the official start of the the training sessions, not for me but for the new cadet engineers of the plant. It is a company program wherein these cadets will be on a 2-year training and a contract was given to them that they cannot resign within this time (bah, security of tenure...ok ah!). After three weeks of interviews with the applicants, if I recall i have interviewed around 15 young graduates (all registered young electrical engineers, fresh, no experiences...wala pang sungay), two were chosen as cadets for the electrical department. One is from Mapua and the other is from PUP (i think they are good students as reflected on their transcipts...high grades and board exam results). Aside from these two, there were two more...one mechanical and the other, a chemical. Cadets...so young, aggresive and not so innocent.

I had a chance to review the scope of the cadetship program and was impressed on the way it has been planned and implemented.

• 1st 6 months: Exploraid, wherein the objective is get familiar with the environment, plant equipment and processes. Exploration & acquintance.

• 2nd 6 months: Tag-in, the objective is to merge with incumbent engineers & employees for a hands-on on the actual work.

• 3rd step: T-conference, wherein all cadets will meet in Malaysia to exchange views on the status of their training (there are actually 20 cadets of the company, 5 plants x 4 cadets, in the philippines and it also involves other plants within Asia which means a lot of cadets of different nationalities)

• Final year: Level 1 Expertise, the objective is for them to identify their competencies, what field they'll excel (automation, instrumentation or process) and that would be the focus on their intensive training for one year to reach their level of expertise. After that...elevated to be an electrical supervisor.

As one of the mentors to these cadets, it would be a great job giving them advises & lessons for two long years. Yah, what the heck, it is our obligation to mould these young guys (kuya na kasi tayo). Nice program (and a decent pay, too) , a very good opportunity to those aspiring young professionals of the land.

Comfortably Numb

It is another Sunday with a headache...had too much booze last night = hangover. T'was my wife's niece's B-day last night and some friends came to celebrate. I've sensed the event was turning out to be a bore so I have to liven up a bit ...buy some beers and a couple of liquor + cigarettes, bring out that old guitar and do some throats. Two of the guys got their guitars, too + a box for drum substitute. Everyone was up drinking and singing until my tounge was numb. Man, what a night...I guess everyone enjoyed the mini concert...hahaha. Halo-halo...first, it was heavy bringing out some classics as Sabbath's Call of the Wild, and the likes of Zeppelin, Purple, Bon Jovi, UFO ( and some Tesla ala unplugged)...getting softer with some from Incubus, Greenday and Firehouse. Futher went down to some Folk from CSNY, Young, Dylan and America...then bam! Pinoy rock from Sampaguita to dela Cruz 'til it was time to call it a day after finishing Unbreak My Heart by Braxton (of course, it wasn't me who's singing). Oh, well...very interesting ocassion...never thought the night wouldn't end, great party. Asawa ko...pahingi ng kape + paracetamol....sakit ulo ko.......(napala ko!)

On your Birthday, Son

My dear son, Angelo:

I have to write this letter; tomorrow will be your birthday. I got nothing in my pocket to buy you some grand things on your occasion, but a love of a father would certainly compensate this shortcoming. How time flies, it's been 5 years when God sent you to us...a very fine young and healthy boy full of vigor and enthusiasm. Sure, you and your Ate Alyssa are our greatest wealth.

I just couldn't resist, I had to cry when I first saw your face behind the mirrors...kept asking "is it real"? The emotions were just overwhelming, my tears just came unnoticed, I kept this sight to your Lola but I'm sure she must have noticed it anyway. Could it be that you were born four years later after your ate's birth or could it be that your mom almost had a miscarriage while she was bearing you? Truly, you are meant to be God's gift to us. Seems like I've waited for a lifetime. As you grow older, let me ask you to be very patient with us, me and your mom. I cannot offer you the grandest things at this time but I am working on it...Papa's exerting all his capacities to realize this...I have to for you and your ate's sake. Sometimes I feel you hate me for neglecting you, no time to throw balls, too tired to play marbles or "tex" but please try to understand, too...I wear out sometimes, got some back pains after a hard day's work. But I'll be better, no excuses, no alibis...I have to reserve quality time and attention, for you, ate and your mom. But please promise me, too...that you'll grow up to be a fine young man, a good Christian (as your name implies, Ian Angelo, Christian angel...I were the one who thought about this and gave you the name) remember all the lectures and good words your mom has been telling. Sometimes she nags too much but it'll guide you, as you grow older. Love and take care of your mom and sister and maintain to respect anybody. Treat every woman as princesses; they'll give you their utmost respect in return. Lastly, realize your dreams, for those who can dream, there is no such place as faraway. Happy Birthday, son... I love you.

Papa

Kuwentong Barbero

 

Nagkaroon din akong oras para magpagupit after a month...di ko na matiis ang buhok ko, para akong nangangati pag mahaba ang buhok...di ako sanay (retired na akong Jeprox). Di ko kasi naasikaso sa sobrang gawa sa trabaho lately (kadalasan 7 pm na kasi uwi ko). Kahapon, pinilit ko talaga na makauwi ng 4pm para naman sa gupit. Naisama ko na rin bunso ko para maputulan buhok nya, para na ring karayom na nagtayuan sa ulo. Sinuhulan ko pa para lang magpagupit (di nya type talaga pagupit kahapon, pilitan pa)...kaya ayun naibili ko tuloy ng holen at "spiderman flash cards". Mga bata talaga!

Mabalik tayo sa barbero, wala yung suki ko...tiwala pa naman ako sa kanya, magaling, mabilis at maayos, alam na nya style gupit ko. Ala nga kaya napilitan ako sa isa, kailangan lang bantayan mo putol nya baka maiba. Habang naggugupit sa akin at sa bunso ko nagkukwentuhan sila sa mga bagong issue ngayun...showbiz. Ang lupit ng mga ito kako...mga kalalaking tao, tsimis sa artista pinag-uusapan.

- - - - - -

Barbero 1: Naghiwalay na pala si Kris at Mark Lapid...sayang bagay pa naman sila.

Barbero 2: Napagtanto yata ni Kris na di nya talaga mahal si Mark, sayang bagay pa naman sila. Kala ko magkakatuluyan na.

Barbero 1: Buti nga nagkaganun...sa akin di ako boto, tahimik si Mark, mabunganga si Kris. Ok lang yun.

Barbero 2: Bahala ka, basta ako...Kris Mark L...maski ano mangyari!

Barbero 1: Buti pa si Alma...ok na lovelife, live-in na ata dun sa batang boypren...kabwenas talaga

blah....blah....blah

- - - - - -

Di na ako nakining sa usapan ng dalawa...napunta pa sa usapang Alma Moreno at pati si Dugong napasama. Langya, walang kwentang usapan, baduy, korny, basyo, walang substansya...kaya naisip-isip ko, kaya di tayo umasenso...puro kayo tsimis at showbiz pa! Pati bunso ko, parang namamangha sa usapan ng dalawa. Pakings**t!

I've read about an article in some news about the "Sickness in Philippine TV"... "programming centers on a daily menu of situation comedy (sitcoms) and variety shows that suffer from extreme vulgarity, profanity, inanity, and lack of moral values. Screaming faggots (or transvestites), and ill-educated entertainers dominate these shows, as if to showcase that the country has gone to the dogs. Gossip, that concerns private lives of the famous and not so famous is the norm".

"Even serious drama shows are not spared from this malaise. It is common to see them portraying the lives of show biz figures as if they have run out of topics. Homosexuals, who take pride in admitting they have live-in partners, host talk shows. Local telenovelas show violent scenes and scheming characters; imported ones are mostly unfit for Filipinos. Showing ignorance, the scheming villainess in the teleserye is named Dugong, a gentle and lovable sea mammal. The two networks have no decent sport shows, but they have plenty of suffocating show biz talk shows mostly during prime time."

Yes...in my opinion, local tv's have gone down to a level wherein values were not taken into consideration anymore. Our children must be guided which shows they have to watch and as much as possible kept away with unrelevant shows that promote "idiot-ization, moronization, and faggotization" to Filipino viewers, especially the children.

Mahirap na...baka lumaking barbero mga anak ko....

Cool Set

At last, I got my Kiss Symphony dvd which I had been wanting for a long time. I had a chance to pass by a music store at a mall yesterday and found myself peeking at the 2-cd set, man I just couldn't resist the urge...I have to buy it. So I did, though a little bit costly, but it's worthy. Another addition to my dvd metal concert collection. Kiss was one of my influences...in fact, my first album during my teens (2nd year in high school) was the "Kiss Alive II" which my dad gave as a gift. From then on heavy metal was in me.

The 3-hour documentary/symphonic concert was really cool...held in Melbourne, Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Ensemble. The full concert was subdivided into 3 acts, with act 1 as a 4-member playing their classics stripped to the bone. Act 2 was different giving an acoustic treatment with a 12-piece string section. And finally, act 3 which really rocks (the Beast, Starchild, the Cat & Spaceman) each giving their piece of the classics. I love the "Shandi" song from the Unmasked album (i actually had this album when i was in 1st year college...great!).

Yap, another blast from one of the hottest band in the world. A kick ass!

Finally, Work's Done (whew!)

Finally, my babies, the industrial PCs and servers are in tip-top condition. Each one were opened up for revitalization after a year of non-stop usage...cleaned the internals as well as purged the operating systems (OVMS for the Digital PCs & Windows Server 2000 for the Compaq servers as well). Applications were debugged, after which a complete database backups were done (hmmm..a nice spa for the computers).

Finally, after months of planning, preparation, configurations & interfacing, the new 490-kw drive for the kiln (frequency inverter + power transformer + motor) had been commissioned. Results were execellent and hopefully, will offer us a headache-free years of operation. Tomorrow, sunday morning, operation will be restarted...that means, still have to work til sunday (ahhh...gotta have my vacation after this, I'm really worn-out).



Of course, "the after", all the hard days' work...back to the real world:

It's now time for some bottles of beer, dudes!

Stupid Me

One more day and the company's safety benchmark of 600th day non-lost time accident (accident-free) is achieved. We are now on the 599th day, first class achievement and each one will then be receiving a modest incentive (cash+gift).

This morning, as i usually do, did a toolbox safety meeting to remind each in my department to be very cautious with their safety, assess risks at workplaces and never turn a blind eye on any safety issue. Everybody were cheerful about the safety record news and as promised, a luscious lechon will be laid on the table.

After some pleasant discussions with my men, i went straight to the field to carry out early rounds... had to go down the stairs to check the newly-installed 490kw motor due for commissioning, then blag!....ouchhhhh, that hurts. I 've just rolled down the steel stairs, 6-steps high (been wet and slippery on last night's heavy rain). What a shame, got some bruises on both arms, now my body hurts, damn! Stupid-me talking about taking care on safety and here i am in pain...shame, shame, shame.

After that incident, I just stayed on my office the whole day, never attempted to even go out 'til its knock-off time...delikado, baka malas 'tong araw na 'to (superstition rules!).

Just remebered the same incident when i was in college (Baguio). A storm was up, really heavy rain, so automaticaly no classes. Everyone was deep bored in the boarding house so it was decided that we all see a movie (palipas-oras), man, each one enjoyed the movie. We were giggling with delight as we were going out of the moviehouse, then blag!...ouchhhhh, that hurts. Everyone from the lobby were laughing and clapping as they watch me roll down the wet stairs (could be a 15-step high). What do ya know...the movie we've just watch then was "Breakdance". Damn!

The Iraq Orientation

The picture tells the story:

Very strategic! No wonder, Iraq is in deep shit....

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