Linux Experiment Ends... due to the hard disk

A while back I installed Linux on my home PC. It was okay, an old Fedora distro. No problem it works fine and I really wanted to play around with it a bit. The real problem was that it was installed on top of WinXP using a third hard disk. A 4GB hard disk which is more than five years old, maybe closer to ten years old. Another thing going against the experiment was that I still didn't have internet access at the time I installed it. Would have wanted to see the performance on the net. That would have been fun.

But after this and that, and the hard disk being beyond the expected lifetime, it was beginning to show its age. At first the disk sounded very old school, like an old IBM 360KB floppy disk during boot up of an IBM XT compatible (going a wheezy/nasal "ka-zzhinng-eh ka-zzhing-ah hheengg heengg heeng"), or worse, sounding like a 10MB hard disk from thirty years ago (like a chicken with sore throat clucking "tock-tock-tock ka-shheeeghuee ka-shheeeghue"). But this only happened about once every hour or two after being booting up to Windows.

For about two weeks, I was thinking of deleting the third hard disk and reverting back to WinXP boot up. Okay, I procrastinated. And then I got busty last week, with Lilia at the hospital, I only spent about two to three hours a day at home taking a nap and changing clothes. (The kids weren't home, they were with my parents.) The PC was still running fine, except for the intermittent sounds from the third hard disk.

And over the weekend, the hard disk with the Linux OS died a natural death, from old age.

Which left me with a PC which could not boot up. Good thing I had a ready of things to do, to uninstall Linux. Simple enough to find the XP install disk, then going to the recovery console and running FIXMBR. Well and good, but for a while there, I forgot the administrator password and had to type in several possible passwords before hitting on the correct one. FIXMBR done on the console and rebooting I was able to have the PC up and running WinXP.

Next hurdle was the second hard disk. It was tagged by Windows as unformatted. I was about to give several names a call before I remembered that the internet was up and running. A simple search for a utility to "unformat" a partition, a little effort at understanding the command-line text-based interface, with almost literate computerspeak/technicalese and a reboot, and the hard disk was recovered without a problem.

So there, I found out how easy it was to uninstall Linux on the PC. Just needs some patience. A lot less patience than if you were uninstalling Windows. By the way, though installing Linux does need more technical knowledge, it's a lot less of a chore than theautomated install process for Windows.

So now I am back to a single OS machine. I'm still going to go back to Linux sometime soon. Or maybe using a second machine or even a third PC. I can wait.

-- Andoy
17 June 2008

The One Ring

After more than five years of telling myself that I will have my ring fixed, I finally did.  I had the ring cut and taken off my finger.

I have only one ring, the only piece of jewelry I wear, and that's my wedding band.  It's just there on my right ring finger.  Sitting at the base, like a good ring should be.  Unobtrusive.  Sometimes I twirl it around the finger.  Otherwise, it is not noticeable.  Except for the slight pain as it presses on the muscle.  

After the ring was cut and taken off, I found out that it was two (ring sizes) too small.  I have not taken it off for more than eight years.  Or ten.  I'm not sure.  But I remember that it had been pressing painfully against my finger for a long long while.  It might have started pressing on the muscle around the time I stopped taking it off.  Which was around the time I gained 10 pounds in a month.  And then added another 10 pounds, also in a month, five or so years later.  I weighed about 115-120 pounds when I got married.  I'm now at 140 (hovering between 136 to 145).

Every so often these past few days, I still feel round my right ring finger, as if turning a ring round the base of the it.  I feel the scar there.  It should clear up soon.  And the finger is getting some width (and muscle) back.  There is still the slight pain.  And if I press on the scar, it is still a bit tender.

I am told that this would be temporary, and the pain would go away in a month.  I hope so.  But I guess the scar would be there for a while.

-- Andoy

16 June 2008

Lilia's hospitalization

Lilia was hospitalized this week due to cellulitis of her right leg.  It sounds painful, looks painful and personally, I don't want to find out how painful really is.  Suffice to say, that Lilia was crying when she told me how painful it was.  At which point I told her we should get her to a hospital and in which case, the more she cried, begging me not to have her confined.  We compromised on a visit to a doctor.

She was prescribed antibiotics at first but on the follow-up checkup, there was no other alternative but to be confined in order to have the antibiotics administered intravenously.  After several days of that, her leg had improved.  She was discharged this morning, but with still a regimen of oral antibiotics for the next few days.

The main reason she doesn't want to be confined is because she is still traumatized after her prior stay in the hospital due to a gall bladder stones complicated by pancreatitis.  That was painful.

She's out now.  And taking another maintenance medicine.

--Andoy
14 June 2008

... and a month and a half later, Lakers and Celtics go to the dance

A while back, I wrote about the Lakers and Celtics meeting for the NBA Finals.

This should be fun.

-- Andoy

2 June 2008

Irene's Birthday

Posted pictures from Irene's birthday:  Evolving stories, poems, pictures, images...

Irene is now based in Singapore and she planed in last May 18, her birthday for a two-week vacation.  Original plans were for a family outing.  But one thing leading to another, not all us siblings were there.  Will be posting pictures from the outing next time.

-- Andoy

26 May 2008

A disk crash and a recovery

My hard disk crashed last night.  In a way, I was expecting it as we've just moved and the PC got moved around more than most items.  I was actually prepared for it, I had a backup and recovery program which made weekly incremental backups.

That was not the problem.  Things started going weird from there. I have three hard disks on the PC:  the system disk; the data disk; and a Linux system disk. (For one reason or another I have not been able to access the two other disks when using Linux.  I have not had time to experiment on it.)  These are three physical disks with single partitions each.  So I am pretty sure that the chances of a hard disk crash for all the disks at the same time is very slim indeed.

First thing I did, once I found out that I couldn't boot up on my primary, I tried to reboot using Linux.  But since it was riding on top of Windows, it did not boot up.  Just a lot of hard disk activity.

Next, since I have the backup program, I tried to find the recovery CD first.  And since we've just moved and the data CDs have not yet been taken out of the boxes, I have not had the time to do a cursory (ocular?) inventory.  On the first pass, I wasn't able to find the recovery disk.  I had to resort to the OS install.  Booting up from the install disk, I ran into an error message I have not encountered before:  a blue screen with a short message, the gist of which was "hardware error" with a hex number on the next line.  No other line followed.

At which point, I tried to change the hard disk data cable connections, doing different permutations, taking out one hard disk, changing BIOS settings, changing boot up settings.  I had to have a break.  To calm down as it was getting to be very frustrating and I was on the verge of a panic attack.  I didn't have the time, nor the energy to fix a big problem.  That would have to wait till the next weekend.

After watching some TV, and some snacks (corn puffs), I went back to the CDs.  Finally found the recovery CD, and was able to start work on the data recovery.  Insert the CD, boot, choose the backup file and wait.  After a relatively long wait, which should have felt like a short wait, the system disk was recovered and the PC was able to boot up just fine.  However, it turns out that the last full back up I had was last December, with weekly incremental backups. I had to mount the last incremental backup (made the evening before we moved).  This made the backup a virtual drive.  And I had to copy the files from there to the system disk, which turned out to take much longer.  I copied several folders last night.  And I will have to copy several more till I can get to where the PC was two weeks ago.

All in all, a much shorter exercise than prior experience with hard disk recovery.  But it could have been a much shorter procedure, if the full backup was more recent.

Once all of the recovery is done to my satisfaction, I would have to set the full backups on a more frequent schedule.

--Andoy 
5 May 2008

A New Residence

In the past twenty years, this would be our seventh residence. But it would be more from scratch than ever before.

My brother bought the house last time he was in town. It was a three-door apartment at that time. And what he planned was for me, my siblings and Mama and Tatay to live there. My family would be living on the second storey, my sister and her family on one of the ground floor apartments and my parents and brother in the other one. Several months down, this is just about to come true. Me and my family is moving in. The rest will follow as events have overtaken the plans.

The original plans included some renovation to the structure: raising the first floor roof and ceiling; adding a veranda on the second floor; increasing the area of the second floor; minor plumbing repairs; electrical rewiring; repairing some of the walls; etc. Not much really but it does sound like a lot.

Instead of all of those things, we're moving in with practically just a more livable improvement. We had the second storey floor repaired. It does need a flooring surface, like linoleum or vinyl tiles. The bedroom doors have to be replaced. Currently these have been removed. The rear wall needs to be replaced. hmmmm And the front door, which looks like a gate, should look like a front door.

But it is livable. It is a viable residence. Something we could repair and renovate as we live in it.

We can't bring everything with us. The china cabinet for one. And I'm not sure at all if we need all the cabinets. Or if we have space for them. The computer would most probably be placed beside the TV and beside the sofa. Which is just beside the dining table. hehehe

No, I am not complaining. I am actually and truly grateful and enjoying myself. For all the right reasons. This will be home. As did all the prior six residences.

--Andoy
26 April 2008

NBA Finals. The possibility exists...

At this point where there's a lot of popular players across a lot of teams, and there is no single team with a conceded advantage, anything can happen, and any team has a chance to win the NBA Finals.  However, after having said that, it is a wonder that nobody has talked about the possibility of the top two teams after the regular season fighting it out for the Finals.  Against all historical data, nobody is talking as yet of a Celtics-Lakers (or Lakers-Celtics) Finals.

The thought that this is being pushed out of the collective consciousness is a wonder.  It can be explained by the simple fact of popularity.  There are other teams which are more popular.  And these two teams have not been heavy contenders for some time now.  But not this year.  Start of the year brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to the Boston.  They have been looking tough since the start of the season.  

And just when the trade deadline was coming along, Los Angeles got Pau Gasol into the fold.  This was supposed to be a project which might bear fruit in the near future.  Looks like the future came a little early.

Celtics-Lakers.  The continuing rivalry which by the looks of it will continue for at least another three years or until the contracts of the stars run out and comes time to rebuild again.  Something to look forward to.

I'm a Lakers fan, but if the above match up does happen, Lakers in six games.  Or Celtics in seven.  I really doubt anyone can win against the Celtics on a seventh game this year.

-- andoy

25 April 2008

Kenneth and Darwi, updates

Kenneth has decided to go to St. Scholastica's college to take a up Fine Arts.  He informed me about this during the weekend.  This is good news, I guess.  That ends the speculation as to course and school.  He was accepted to Music Education at St. Scholastica's as well as Computer Science to FEU-East Asia College and at Mapua (Makati Campus).

Darwi's birthday today.  Happy Birthday!  She's sixteen.  I'll be posting new pictures of her soon.  She'll be in her senior year in high school and should be taking college entrance exams soon.

--andoy

14 April 2008 

Another page layout edit

wala lang. hehehe I just thought I'd shake things up a bit. But not too much.

--andoy
12 April 2008

Not Dead Yet

The phone's demise was badly reported.  It's back and working.  Only yesterday did I find out that it does not charge through the USB if the connection is also being used to transfer data to and from the computer.  In fact, it seems that the phone is using up its own power when connected as a USB flash drive, it does not draw power from the computer.

So there.  I tried my luck in connecting the phone, again, and for the nth time to the PC hoping it would get recharged.  It did.  And it's working fine.

Now to keep in mind to keep it charged.

--andoy

10 April 2008

Dead Phone

My phone died.  Or maybe not yet dead.  Just that I can't charge the batteries.  First the charger died a week ago.  I was forced to borrow Darwi's phone.  She's got a charger, whereas I would be forced to charge my phone via a USB connection on a computer.  I intend to get a new charger, but wasn't able to get around to it last Saturday, being too tired from work deploying terminals to Zambales.

Now after several days of charging via the USB, the phone dies.  I am not sure why but it might be related to USB problems on some PCs.  There are some motherboards which USB power have destroyed USB devices.  I should know.  I had a USB flash disk fried because of such a USB connection.

Strategy now is to try other computers and see if the phone would charge.  Would have to go buy a new charger soon.  Soonest being Saturday.  Or when I can spare the money.

Meantime, I can receive text messages and calls (I think) using the office-issue phone, but I can't use it to make a call or send SMS.

Communication wise, I am isolated. Not good.

--andoy

The Mt. Samat Adventure

When I was growing up, Mt. Samat was the venue for the annual celebration of Araw ng Kagitingan, formerly Bataan Day, commemorating the day Bataan fell to the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II.  The Mt. Samat Memorial shrine was built in the late 1960's.

I was within the area about two weeks ago and just had to make a quick trip to the site.  I was with a team deploying EFT POS to a chain of LPG stores in the Bataan area, and we were within an hour's drive of the memorial.  We left the store at Orini just past 4:00pm, went to Balanga to withdraw money from the ATM (it being the only place in the area where there's an BPI or Landbank ATM.  And were at the highway crossroad to Morong by 5:00pm.  I was with Tony, the technical guy and Mang Louie.  And while on the way, we were also trying to search for a convenience store or sari-sari store where we can buy some bottled water.  Mang Louie noticed a fruit stand offering buco juice.   We had fresh buco juice, straight from the buco.  We left the roadside stand around 5:30 or thereabouts.

Off we went to the shrine.  Not getting lost as there were landmarks all the way to the intersection, With the van climbing, we noticed that there were no traffic on the road up the mountain.  We only saw one group of hiders going down, a couple on a motorbike also going down and a road crew painting lanes.  It was already 6:00pm when we got to the gate where a big sign said "Touring hours from 8:00am to 5:00pm."  Only thing to do was to turn around and take some pictures along the way.

Obviously, that was the first time any of us had ever gone to the shrine.  hehe  All in all, it was fun.  Didn't get to see much of the shrine, but the road trip was great.

--andoy
8 April 2008

Holy Week and TV

When I was younger, Holy week TV was practically non-existent.  The only thing you can watch would be Father Peyton's Rosary and the Stations of the Cross series.  And that would not show Jesus's face.  Of course there would be the biblical movies in theaters, and on some TV spots.  Movies like "The Robe", "Samson and Delilah", "Ten Commandments", etc.  Nowadays, there's series marathons.  Admittedly, I got caught up in one of the marathons. And "7th Heaven" is addictive, it makes sense and a whole lot more fun to watch end to end.

 

There was a time my family filleted and dried their own daing for Holy Week.  That was something.  Specially considering that in those days, samaral (barangan) was a low priority buy and not very popular fish in the 70's.  There was even that one time when we dried fish roe (samaral) for Holy Week.  I can't remember when was the last time I had dried fish eggs.

 

There was also one other thing which we did before, and that was to go to one church and pray upon the Stations of the Cross.  Sometime back this changed with a lot of families.  There was more mobility, people wanted to be away from home, in a way, and still be in the Holy Week mode, those with cars started visiting churches, as much as possible, it became a sort of church pilgrimage running around town and the nearest provinces going to twelve churches.  Twelve churches?!!  I find it hard to understand as the concept and tradition of Visita Iglesia loses meaning when you spend more time driving and travelling than praying.  Just my take on the matter.  If some people think that way, that's their problem.

 

Times have really changed.

--andoy

21 March 2008 

Recruiting Freshmen

This past Saturday, my son Kenneth took an entrance exam for BS Computer Science at a school in the university belt.  I've heard of developments within the school and how it has practically spun out the Computer Science program to a new college, complete with a new building and other facilities.  In fact, the new college is quite aggressive in asserting it's position as a serious place for training future IT professionals.

I was surprised that the entrance exam was free.  Surprised because the university has an entrance exam fee for its other courses.  That's okay, by me.  There were other surprises:  the exam is done through a PC, results to be given out after an orientation and tour of facilities.  There was even a free lunch for the examinees (and their parents/guardians who were waiting for the exams to finish.) 

I didn't take part in the tour of facilities and laboratories as I was at an internet shop coordinating to fix a problem at a client site.  (One tech guy going from one client branch to another, three of them in fact, and another one by phone support; and another guy at the Makati office updating the data on client/server software.  While also on the line with the client PM to fix the GPRS connection with their provider.)  But that's a different story I would rather not go into.

Like most of the new IT schools, the college is a collaboration between IT companies and the (older) university.  Though I don't really buy the definition of courses that they gave (which is the same definition of courses a lot of the other colleges and universities have given):  BS Computer Science is for the traditional course heavy on theory and languages, whereas BS Information Technology focuses on "new" technology, specially web-based or internet technology.  All in all, this is one aggressive school.  I just don't know if Kenneth would choose this and the course.


--andoy
17 March 2008

A Rant: Globe's Patchy Service

I cannot take it any more.  This is a rant.

For the past few days, I have been having problems with Globe Telecom's SMS service.  Admittedly, I am one of millions of Globe Pre-paid phone subscribers who use the UNLITXT service.  For me, it is less a matter of the all-day unlimited texting, but more about not worrying of the cost per SMS message sent.  I subscribe so that I don't worry about the cost, even if it might be more expensive that way.  I send the registration, a confirmation is sent back to me informing me of the service start and for how long, and I use the service.  Five days worry free for me.  Worry free that is, until the that point where suddenly the service stops for one reason or another, or a message note appears as "message not sent."  This is ridiculous.  No network advisory beforehand, just the "message not sent" warning after you try to send a message. 

Me, I'm a casual user.  No problem.  But I do know of a whole barangay of dried fish vendors who are dependent on SMS for sales to their middlemen.  They receive the message, the dried fish gets packed and sent by bus, and the transaction gets paid by GCash.  And a day without a text message is a day without sales or collection.  Walang kita!  The vendors would be dependent on the roadside buyers.  Imagine a thousand peso transaction per text message.  These people earn more from their deliveries.  That is how powerful text messaging has become.  Patchy service is not acceptable.

End of rant.


--andoy
17 March 2008

An Audition for Kenneth

When Kenneth was filling up the UPCAT form, he wanted to take up either Music or Fine Arts. Unfortunately he didn't pass the exam. Now he's got an audition for college. He has to pass the audition first, before taking the entrance exam. This is for St. Scholastica's College Manila, BS Music. I hope he makes it.

Though I don't know much about music, and guitars, I do know that Kenneth practices the guitar an hour or two a day. He downloads tabs, and instructions from the internet, and practices on his own. I'm not sure about technique, and I don't know if he plays chords, but I do know that he tries hard at it and he has the discipline to study music. It would be a stretch for him to study music as it is taught in that school, St. Scho being famous more for classical bent, and Kenneth (being Kenneth) only plays rock music at the moment. But he does appreciate good guitar playing, specially those with technical mastery. I guess above a certain level, a player would know how tough it is to play a piece once he hears it.

I say good luck. And I hope he passes.

--andoy
27 February 2008

Blanking Thoughts

Took a leave of absence for today. I needed to get some application forms for college admissions tests for Kenneth. Did some calls first and then the rounds. It was a no-stress kind of exercise.

Kenneth wants to go to Music or Fine Arts, then third choice is Computer Science. Some schools have a more friendly admissions staff than others, and I was able to gather some information, like what's the difference between the Computer Science course with their Information Technology course. One University's staff answered that their CS course is language-heavy (meaning that the CS is taught with computer languages in mind) whereas their IT course is web-dependent. Which leaves the next question as a clincher: Where in the picture is Java? The other school answered that their CS is more on the traditional theoretical based whereas the IT course is on evolving or new technology, including the web. I have no idea if these people have ever been in the wild or the real world of IT. But at least they have a stand. They know what answer to give.

A slow day in the wild. hehehe

--andoy
27 February 2008

andoyc.multiply.com

I finally got around to using my Multiply account.  I've had it for a while now, but not had the time to do anything, post or customize and hadn't visited it.  Just so happens that the pictures from the "Babang Luksa" exhibit were also posted there (not the pictures exhibited but pictures taken during the exhibit).

Turns out that it has the capability to do cross-posting from my blogs to Multiply and vice-versa.  Though I have no plans of doing that, I did post some blog entries from Blogger.com.  I only mirrored some entries not all of them.  Will keep the blogs unique from one another, though, by not posting the same entries between sites.  I think I might also do mirror posts of pictures and videos.  As well as post original music or audio files.  Then again, maybe not.  Thinking about posting a video of Kenneth on the guitar.  Will have to plan that so he can rehearse.

 

Should be interesting.

--andoy

6 February 2008
 

I thought it was an audition...

Since Kenneth started playing the guitar, he's been practicing daily for at least an hour, most days two hours a day.  He wants to be a music major in college. I admit he's got the discipline and the talent, or at least the creativity (I would be biased in saying the word "talent").  My uncles were very good with the guitar.  And I've got cousins who had a band and toured Japan before.  At least he's got the genes for it.

He mentioned something just this week about an audition for a band at school.  It was supposed to be today after school.  Turns out there would be no audition as a band member.  But an audition by the band for a school affair of some sorts.  There were four band members who had performed at school before, and they needed another member.  And Kenneth has been playing guitar with them at school for some time now, teaching one another.  So there.  I think they'd be playing a song by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.  I don't remember the title though.  Well, good luck to him.

--andoy
31 January 2008

A Ride Round the Triangle

Yesterday, Monday, the barker at the terminal where I catch a ride to Makati was distributing flyers to the commuters waiting in line.  A captive audience for flyers, he does this every month or so.  This time it was an announcement that their member drivers were going to use the Gabriela Silang car park for their terminal for the evening commute back to Marikina.  Well and good, I thought.  The Marikina drivers had used this car park before and besides, it's almost just across from the office building where I work (the Makati offices, that is).

Several shuttle lines have been using the Gabriela Silang parking lot as a terminal through the years, and it is practically at the center of Makati, being right beside the Makati Stock Exchange building.  It was named that because right at the corner of Ayala and Makati Ave. is a statue of Gabriela Silang riding a horse.  And for all intents and purposes, the area is the oldest developed block in the Makati business district.  It's located at the Ayala Triangle, a large green area which was formerly an almost park, but now just waiting development with more Ayala buildings.  Right beside the car park is the old Nielsen Tower, now the Filipinas Heritage Library.  This is the oldest building in the whole Makati Business District, predating the business district.  The two storey building was called the tower because it was the control tower when the place was still the airport during pre-World War II.  Notice the three streets bounding the triangle, Makati Ave., Paseo de Roxas and Ayala Ave. were the airstrips at that time.  The Nielsen Tower restaurant is now located right across the old Nielsen Tower, in the Peninsula Hotel.  And yes, there's Shangri-la Hotel Makati just across the intersection.  But I digress...

So late afternoon came and end of shift, I walked to the parking lot, asked where the queue was for those going to Marikina, and was pointed to the right van.  There were two vans going to Marikina, one via Bayan, and the other via Masinag.  I got in to the Bayan van and waited.  There was only one passenger besides me.  So we waited.  And after thirty minutes, the van still had space for about six passengers.  I didn't really count as I was busy snoozing in my seat.  I just approximated by the number of voices in the chatter.  The driver noticed that there was a very thin trickle of people who knew about the terminal, decided to move out of the place and find passengers.  There's always two long queues at Ayala for Marikina passengers.  He parked in front of the Stock Exchange and tried to get some passengers, those crossing the street to go to the long queues.  Since this was a no parking space, and there were lots of jeepneys, he wasn't able to properly position the van at the pedestrian crossing, he drove round the block, through the traffic and tried again.  This time he was able to park right at the pedestrian crossing.  After fifteen minutes of this, and sans one passenger who decided to get off, he finally decided to drive to Marikina.  A wait of more than an hour, with a tour of the triangle, before finally leaving Makati. 

The good news was that, considering it was a Monday evening, there was relatively light traffic.  I got home about an hour later.  Normally this would have been an hour and half ride from Makati via a shuttle.  And about the same length of commute if riding the train and jeep.

All in all, a different end of workday for the start of the week.

--andoy
29 January 2008

Spaghetti

I cooked spaghetti yesterday.  It was a request by my sister, for the birthday party of Angel, she's seven-year old and she celebrated her second party in two days: Saturday in Antipolo; and yesterday in Marikina.  It was catered, but for the spaghetti.  My sister was supposed to cook chicken, but seeing that we only had a small table and not too many guests, she decided against adding chicken to the buffet table.

I asked her what she has for me to cook, and it turns out that was for a large batch, with two kilos of spaghetti, two kilos of spaghetti sauce and two kilos hot dog.

I asked her to buy oregano and basil.  She said that there was oregano, which I found to be the ground powder type.  And no basil on the cupboard.  I also asked for a can of potted meat or liver spread -- not the small tins, but the double size tin -- as well as a medium carrot; onions -- there were small onions, the pungent strong tasting type, not good for spaghetti for kids -- and a can of mushrooms.  She got back and had the items I requested.  Almost all that is.  She bought dried oregano, whole not chopped.  I coarsely chopped it and may have added more than necessary.  And she bought bay leaf.  Not basil leaf, bay leaf, also called "laurel."  (I think I should buy her a pot of basil herbs.)

Sad to say, I flared up after a particular comment about the pasta.  I didn't add oil after the cooked pasta has been drained.  And my sister gave a comment to that effect.  It's been a running game between us to trade barbs.  It's okay as long as it's all between us siblings.  Unfortunately, this time, one guest, who I never particularly liked, seconded the comment.  No, I didn't like her, and I think that as a guest, she should have shut up seeing that this was a disagreement between siblings ("away bata").  Yes, I immediately apologized to my sister.

So there, the spaghetti was sticky, and the sauce was slightly burned.  It was sweet, no pepper, no chili, no bite, but not too sweet.  And not enough spices.  It was okay, I guess, for kids.  And no, I didn't eat any spaghetti.

--andoy
28 January 2008

Start of the Day (and I'm glad it's already the middle of the week)

Darwi is on a field trip today.  They're off to Subic, and left the school at 6:00am.  I think it's great that the school chose that as the location this year.  It was a good start for the day.

Left home to catch an early ride to Makati, in order to catch the shuttle to Alabang.  Forgot to take my medicine.  And I don't bring the prescription with me.  Once at Makati, took a look at my ATM balance, which should reflect my credited salary, and it's still the same negligible balance.  And I am now wondering if I'm still employed here or not.  hmmm  Too early in the morning to be thinking those thoughts.

And getting to the office in Alabang, I turn on my PC and it has this intermittent sound, rhythmically going like a syncopated hiccup.  One of the hard disks is dying on me.  And lucky day, it's the one with my data.  Wow!  Great!

And since I wasn't able to take my meds, I can't afford to get mad, angry, let go my temper, or show any real emotion about all this.  Normally, I would be fuming, trying to find a trash bin to kick or had already thrown my cell phone to the floor.  It's a great start to the morning.

--andoy
16 January 2008

UPCAT Results

The UPCAT results came out online on the web last Friday.  Sadly, Kenneth wasn't on the list.  I hope we receive the notification mail soon so we know what score he got.  That would give us an idea on whether he can still get into the UP system or not.  We'll see.

Of course, we're looking at other alternatives.  He got a brochure/application form for FEU.  And we're looking at other schools based on what course he likes to take, his current interests and what career he wants to pursue.  And then maybe we can take a look if we can afford the school.  For now, I can say definitely that we cannot afford the expensive universities and colleges.  But we'll see what comes up.

His choices for UP were Diliman first, Los Banos second.  For Diliman, he wanted to take up Fine Arts and Music.  I informed him that the exam for Music required that he be able to read notes.  He changed that to Fine Arts (first choice) and Computer Science (second choice).  His UPLB choices were Computer Science and Chemistry (second choice).  I think that with other schools he'll have to content himself being enrolled in Computer Science, not a bad choice, but I'm not sure if he's got the temperament for it.  The next few months to the start of classes should be exciting.

Meantime, Darwi has to start preparing for the UPCAT.

--andoy
14 January 2008

The Black Dot

There was a long thread in a Mac OSX forum several years ago, and it revolved around a dead pixel on an LCD monitor.  At the time, the monitors being discussed were 14-inch ones.  The contention was that for graphics professionals and for the high-end buyers, buying  expensive LCD monitors must be worth it.  Meaning that they want it perfect.  Not a single dead pixel in all of the 14-inch screen.  They're paying for quality and expect it from the product that they buy.  In the grand scheme of things, the thought has lived out its usefulness.

I don't get it.  I have a dead pixel on my phone, and I only notice it if it's on screen-saver mode.  I don't care one way or the other.

A single black dot in a sea of white.  It does need a refocusing in order to see the white background.  All of the other spaces.  Admittedly, even after all the large space surrounding the black dot, the single black gets the attention.  And the more attention it gets, the larger it seems to become.

Like my present situation.  A lot of people have hypertension.  I now have hypertension.  And I am not comfortable with it.  Reason is that I am scared.  As if I was cornered and with no place to run.  I haven't asked what I was running from.  I took an inventory of symptoms before and after medication (the line would be noon this past Monday).  Without medication, I felt prickly, some numbness on the cheeks, migraine-like headache, pain on nape, I felt sleepy and lethargic.  After the start of medication, I felt more prickly, constant pain on nape, sleepy and lethargic, and some numbness of the cheeks, slight pain on joints and knees.  hmmm  So unless I check my BP, I wouldn't know if I was feeling better or not.  Supposedly, some hypertension maintenance medicine side-effects include lessened libido with erectile dysfunction.  I don't want to check.  Though I notice lots of cute-boy guapo lately. hahaha

I was dejected for most of the week.  Now I have to haul ass and get out of that funk.  This should be fun.  Will try to shoot some hoops and jog during the weekend.  I hope to live long enough to be able to beat former high school classmates in a game of basketball at the age of 70 or thereabouts.

There are lots of white space around the black dot.  I need to take my eyes off of it.

--andoy
11 January 2008

Share: Your Guardian Angel by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Wala lang. Kenneth has been on the guitar and singing songs by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus since November or December. And most days it's stuck with me like an LSS. Video above is from Final Fantasy VII (???).

Your Guardian Angel
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

When I see your smile,
Tears run down my face.
I can't replace.
And now that I'm strong, I have figured out,
How this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul.
And I know I'll find deep inside me,
I can be the one.

I will never let you fall. (let you fall.)
I'll stand up with you forever.
I'll be there for you through it all. (through it all.)
Even if saving you sends me to heaven.

It's okay.
It's okay.
It's okay-e-ay-e-ay.

Seasons are changing,
And waves are crashing,
And stars are falling all for us.
Days grow longer and nights grow shorter,
I can show you I'll be the one

I will never let you fall. (let you fall.)
I'll stand up with you forever.
I'll be there for you through it all. (through it all.)
Even if saving you sends me to heaven.

'Cause you're my, you're my, my-e-y-e-y,
My true love, my whole heart.
Please don't throw that away.
'Cause I'm here... for you!
Please don't walk away and,
Please tell me you'll stay... here!

Whoa-oh!
Stay!
Whoa-oh!

Use me as you will!
Pull my strings just for a thrill!
And I know I'll be okay,
Though my skies are turning gray! (gray! gray!)

I will never let you fall!
I'll stand up with you forever!
I'll be there for you through it all,
Even if saving you sends me to heaven!

I will never let you fall!
I'll stand up with you forever!
I'll be there for you through it all,
Even if saving you sends me to heaven! (fade out)


--andoy
11 January 2008
lyrics added and other revisions 15 January 2008

"Are You Okay?"

Yes, I am fine.  And if I keep getting that question, I would keep on repeating the answers.  Who knows, after repeating it so many times to myself, I might even believe it.

I've had this question since Sunday when I found out I had elevated blood pressure.  And yes, I feel fine.  I just have the regular migraine.  I once had migraine attacks about every two months.  Now it's just once.  Per weekend.  The whole weekend.  Amend that, it's the whole week.  So, it's once a week, the whole week.  And since it's there all the time, I don't (usually) bother with the pain killer medicine.  I just live with it.

So after the consultation last Monday, and the blood chemistry tests last Tuesday, it became official, I had hypertension.  This was pronounced by my doctor in the afternoon after the blood chemistry test results were read and analyzed.  No problem with blood cholesterol, sodium, kidneys, and in fact, all levels for the blood chemistry were within normal range.  So that leaves heredity (genetics) and environment (stress/lifestyle) as the culprit for the hypertension.  I'm betting it's the stress.  I don't want to say that all those relatives of mine who died of stroke and/or had hypertension passed on these genes to me.

The good news is that I am now forewarned, I know it exists, and I am on medication.  I can do something about it.  I only have to live with it, not gripe, not worry about it.  No stress on top of the stress.

Thank GOD it's Friday!  And now to the business of living with it...

--andoy
11 January 2008

Star City First Timer

Last Friday my family was invited by Lilia's nephew, Dictus, to join them for a trip to the Star City.  Tha plan was for us (me, Lilia, Kenneth, and Darwi) to go to Novaliches first and we'd all go to Star City in the afternoon.  I think there was some miscommunication there as what they meant was late afternoon.  We left Nova around 5:30pm and got there after 7:00pm.  This was the first time I ever got into an amusement park.  No kidding.  Of course, I've gone to the perya before and rode the Ferris Wheel and caterpillar, but I've never had the chance to go to Enchanted Kingdom or Star City or any of the other all-year amusement parks.  It was great.  And crowded. 

Considering that most of the rides are in an enclosed space (a pre-existing building), it's the first weekend of the New Year (or the last few days before the start of classes), and it's in the metropolis, I was expecting it to be crowded.  I wasn't surprised at the crowds, but there's the illusion that there's less people than there really were.  This impression was dispelled by the queues for the rides -- the  popular rides had at least a hundred people waiting in line.  Roughly equivalent to an hour's wait at the least. 

Only five of us were riding, that's me, Kenneth, Darwi, Peaen and Dictus (he financed the trip).  Lilia and her brothers, Peping and Paquito weren't riding.  She's scared, Paquito is in no condition to ride, and Peping doesn't like to. 

The Zyklon Loop rollercoaster was out of commission.  But the "Star-Flyer" was the real center of attraction -- and at least 200 people queueing.  We never did get to ride that.  Besides the long queue, Lilia didn't want us to ride.  I think that if any of the kids pushed for it, we would have ridden, but the ambivalence did show. hehehe  Nope, we didn't ride. 

The bumper cars looked like it had less people waiting in line.  After a bite to eat, we waited our turn at the Wild River.  We even donned our jackets so we won't get wet.  And most did get wet, though some were a lot more wet than others.  Next up was The Flying Carpet had two queues, the one on the first floor was longer, but the other starting from the second floor was shorter.  We took the shorter line and waited only about half an hour to get a ride.  Kenneth didn't ride, though.  We weren't able to get any more rides as it was almost closing.  We barely had time in the Snow park.  Funny that, there was a no picture-taking policy but lots of cameras.  The pictures we took were mostly blurred as the hands were shaking from the cold.  We left at closing time, 2:00am and got to Novaliches around 3:30am.

The following day, Peaen's birthday, I had a BP of 160/90 (rounded off).  Oh well.

--andoy
10 January 2008

"A (Not so) Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Lechon... and the danggit" (?)

I'd like to post a disclaimer before anything else.  I am not overly fond of lechon.  Balat lang po.  Crunchy and well done golden turning medium brown.  Now after having said that, I'd like to make it clear that I can live without it.  Basta may danggit o pusit.  Kahit tuyo lang.

And that's precisely what I did last Sunday, when my niece Peaen celebrated her birthday, I snobbed the lechon.  It was slightly larger than a lechon de leche.  Not too fat.  Relatively small.  Enough for an extended family to feast on.  Unfortunately, the household has more people who should be watching their diet, than those who were healthy enough to eat of the feast.  hehehe

I knew that my brother-in-law bought lechon, but I didn't expect it to be a whole pig.  Soon as it was settled and ready for the chopping block, I grabbed the electronic sphygmomanometer and took a blood pressure reading. 

I would not have gotten a BP reading before, but just before Christmas, the company I work for had an annual physical exam for all its employees.  I had a BP reading of 140/100 and the doctor warned me about my age, advising me to think seriously about a low-fat low-salt diet.  I said I'll think about it.  In fact, I thought long and hard about it and came to the conclusion that she's right, I should watch my diet.  I've had readings of BPs as high as 140/100 before and I was wary of that becoming the norm. And that was almost three years ago.  I decided to make it my New Year's Resolution: low-fat, low-salt diet.  I figured to be cute about it; eat during the season and have the diet after December.

Going back to the BP reading after the roast pig came into the picture, I already had a headache that Sunday morning.  I just needed to make sure that I'm safe to eat pork.  The instrument read 160/93.  I was stunned.  I had juice, lots of it.  I went to bed, and read a little bit, but the migraine was not helping me any.  I think I dozed off.  I sent a text message to some friends.  One of them answered that the migraine and the BP readings might be related; the migraines might be because of intra-cranial pressure, which was why there was a big gulf between the diastolic and systolic readings (I have no idea which is which).  To me that meant that an aneurysm was possible.  I asked for aspirin, and there not being any in the household, I took a walk with my son to the corner drugstore to get me some aspirin. I was also advised to drink pineapple juice.  There being none, I had what was available, four seasons juice.  I peeled the pomelo and had several slivers.  Of course, Darwi was there to help with the pomelo. 

An hour or two later, I had another reading, and this time it was 150/97.  After the scare, I had lost my appetite and was not in any mood to eat.  Besides, the things on the table were a lot worse than the roast pig.  Except for the char-broiled pampano, most of the food was either salty or rich in fat.  There was even kilaw na baboy, boiled pork rind in vinegar and spices.  Steered away from the Carlos I (not being a drinker myself, that was no great loss).  I had some pancit, and a bite of ube cake (about three inches square by four inches tall, a single bite).  I also made myself a fresh fruit salad, slicing apple, orange, kiwi, banana with calamansi juice sprinkled on top.  No cream thank you.

And in the afternoon, I had my last reading, and it was 140/97.  Most of the day was spent playing chess with the in-laws.  That was the only good part, I guess.  My brother-in-law Paquito played "two-out-of-three" and got mated the first two games, didn't play the third.  His son, Dictus played a lot of games.  We usually halve wins.  This time, he got mated in all five or six of the games.  Only Peping, another brother-in-law had good games against me.  He won twice, drew once and lost once against me.

The following day, a Monday, I went on sick leave to go to the doctor for a check-up.  My BP reading was 170/110.  And in the evening I was crying over the danggit.  I know if the danggit gets washed first so it won't be too salty, it should be okay.  But Lilia wouldn't want to do that as the cooking oil would splash once the wet danggit is put into the pan.

Tough.  But I guess this is one New Year's Resolution which will stick.

--andoy
9 January 2008

Danggit!

Danggit is salted/dried fish fillet about two to three inches in length and very popular locally.  It wasn't always popular in the Metro.  I remember when we were kids, we had the larger fish, samaral or barangan (rabbitfish/spinefoot) as a regular on our table. (hehehe)  And the reason it wasn't popular, judging by the selling price in the market, was because it ugly and doesn't smells worse than fishy.  Which was why we had it regularly, it was cheap.  It's a common food fish in our province.  Fried, or with a sinigang variant, or salted-dried, the barangan is very tasty and a real treat.

There were times when my grandma would salt dry the fish herself.  So what we have are much larger than the danggit now in the market, at least twice as large and more fleshy.  She once gave a comment that fried danggit could be eaten without anything remaining.  Of course, she cheated:  she pounded the fried fish to pulp (flakes?), bones and all.

There was even one time we had dired piay (fish eggs or roe) from the barangan.  That was really something.  And I doubt it would ever again happen for me.

The smell of the danggit may be a turn-off but there's a fool-proof way to mask the smell:  wrap it in carbon paper.  That's not hard to find, if you know where to look.  Carbon paper is still out there and easy to find.  It's between sheets of computer continuous form.

Nowadays, danggit is considered both a delicacy, a staple and a preferred pasalubong.  And it doesn't matter that it's a pasalubong to bring back to Manila, Qatar, Singapore or New York.

Now I can only take a look at the danggit in the fridge.  I'm just getting old, I guess.

--andoy
9 January 2008

Sesame Street Characters

I asked Darwi a funny stupid question:  If I were going to a costume party, what Sesame Street character fits me best?  She answered Cookie Monster.  I didn't ask her why.  But I guess it would be because of the near-psychotic manic way Cookie Monster has with cookies.  At least I hope that was the case, because I wouldn't want to think that I'm like Cookie because of the way I speak.  hehehe

Going by the Sesame Street character list, I tried to see if I fit the image.

Bert and Ernie.  That's a vaudeville comedy pair.  The straight man and the smart-aleck sidekick.  No real identity without the other.  And besides, stupid things happen to Bert (see http://www.snopes.com/rumors/bert.htm).

Big Bird.  Wrong image for me.  Wrong shade of yellow.  Now if instead of canary yellow it was green, then maybe I can say he fits just right for studying at Taft Avenue.

The Count.  More OC than Bert and his soda pop cap collection.

Grover.  Possible.  Thin, gawky and old looking guy.  Fits in the background.  Pensive.  hehehe

Elmo.  No, sorry, but me as Elmo, I would scare the kids.  hehehe

Kermit the Frog.  Ooops.  Sorry, but I am not a frog.  hehehe

Oscar the Grouch.  Close.  But I am not wearing that costume!  I am not a grouch!  Does anyone really think I'm grouchy??!!!  (Ooops, sorry about that outburst.  It just slipped out.)

Oh, well.  You should try it sometime, ask a friend or a kid, the same question and see what happens.

--andoy
3 January 2008

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It was a good season.  But after slogging through a stretch of one and a half months which felt like a very long two months, the whole of December went by so fast.  And I didn't even blink.  Christmas came and went so fast, my head is still spinning.

Really, Christmas came and went.  And I am happy and merry through all of it.  There was one big (and long) Christmas party to start things off.  And then there was a Christmas party for our company's Alabang staff, after Christmas and before New Year.  That was quiet, uneventful, but significant for the bonding time it afforded us the employees.  (Which meant that though most of the guys got drunk, they weren't drunk enough; shop talk and gossip was at a minimum; and lots of good ribbing and roasting.)  And then we were off for a long weekend preparing and celebrating the New Year.

Yes, a Happy New Year to all.

There's food, fruits, cheese and wine in the fridge.  I know no one with a New Year's Day injury.  I am looking forward to the year ahead, looks good from where I'm standing.  December (and Christmas just past) was okay as far as my experience goes.  Not the best, but a whole lot better than most, thanks in part to the four-day weekends.

After all of that, and though I kept it to myself, I was most enthusiastic about the last package given to us last night.  It was a small newspaper wrapped package of danggit, which my mom gave Lilia, with instructions to wash off the salt first before cooking.

--andoy
2 January 2008 

PS:  If this sounds disjointed, that's because it is.  First working day and the first migraine of the year.  --same

Roselle and Naomi in the chrorus of "Bituin Sa Langit"

My niece Roselle and Naomi had roles in a church play. This is the black light scene where the kids were singing "Bituin Sa Langit." Si Naomi yung malikot ang kamay. And yes, the scene is dark because they used black light. hehehe

--andoy
28 December 2007

Kasoy

There are now a lot of street vendors who ride the buses selling various snacks and I've often wondered about them.  Normally, the items would be cheap ones and easy to sell, like peanuts, quail eggs, bottled water, boiled banana native sweets or candies.  Even chicharon bulaklak in some areas.  But there've been a lot of vendors lately who've been selling a relatively expensive item, the shelled cashew nut. 

 

The cashew nut the bus vendors sell has been shelled and roasted and sold for either 10 or 20 pesos per small container, either a shot glass or a small water glass.  I doubt if you can have 5 whole nuts in the shot glass, or even 10 nuts in the larger container.  Even considering that the nuts sold are not even whole anymore. 

 

This is not sour graping, because I really miss snacking on kasoy.  Not the commercially packaged items, but roasted in the shell, with dark burns, whole or not, strong aroma, type of kasoy.  And usually with my fingers dark from soot and with some acid burns from splitting the cashew shell.  In our province, and until now whenever we get the chance, we roast the kasuy in the shell, using a can with holes in the bottom.  While roasting the shell catches fire and the acid inside the shell burns with a pungent odor.  The acid practically explodes while burning.  The roasting aims to burn off the acid, and to cook the nut flesh.  And when all the kasoy are burning, we tip the can, let out the contents, and put out the fire with loose earth.  If done correctly, the flesh is a nice golden brown color, otherwise, it looks singed or plain burned.  Most of the time the shells are crisply burned to the flesh.  And the fingers as well.

 

The difference in taste is due to the processing.  The commercially available kasoy is split first before roasting.  The shell contains an acid which usually seeps into the kasuy nut's flesh. This results in the slight acidic taste (closest I can describe it is "tanning") and slightly soft flesh of the kasoy, with less of an aroma.  To me, it smells uncooked.  The kasoy we roast, toast or burn in the shell, has a strong aroma, crunchy flesh and strong flavor.  Definitely not finger-licking good, but eating the crumbs still gives you a sense of achievement.

--andoy

27 December 2007

The Short Work Week (this is not a rant)

This week is a short work week.  The Barangay and SK elections (a national holiday) were held yesterday (29 October) and we have two more holidays All Souls Day and All Saints Day on Thursday and Friday respectively.  And all we have left is today and tomorrow for work.  I am not complaining and this is not a rant.  In fact, I am perfectly happy that we have this short work week.  In principle, at least.

 

However, things at work have come to head because of this.  I was given two projects to manage and for turnover from the current Coordinator, and her last day of work is tomorrow.  Normally this would have been just a matter of paperwork but one of the projects have some updates needed on a daily basis -- at nine o'clock in the evening.  Additionally, some data clean up is needed before the update.  With only five branches, the data clean up could be done easy.  But once this is rolled out, the data clean up has to be automated. Less user intervention, less data errors and all that entails.

 

This will be a hectic two days.

 

And a dentist check up at the end of the week.

--andoy

30 October 2007

Naomi Singing "Dancing Queen"

Naomi singing "Dancing Queen."

--andoy
22 October 2007

Naneng, Darwi, Roselle and Naomi singing and dancing to FOOTLOOSE

Naneng was singing and dancing, with Darwi, Roselle and Naomi doing backup singer/dancer roles.

--andoy
22 October 2007

Naomi sings "Beauty and the Beast"

On the weekend before Bert left for the Middle East, we had a small get-together and Naomi sang "Beauty and the Beast." At her age, she's still pretending to read from the TV screen.


--andoy
22 October 2007

Saucony Shoes

The new shoes, the white ones are Kenneth's and the blues are mine. Courtesy of Albert. Thanks Bert!

--andoy

Saucony Shoes

Kenneth's first pair of Sauconys.

Saucony Shoes

New Saucony shoes

Mama's Birthday Weekend

Goofing off outside Gerry's Grill while waiting for a table.

Mama's Birthday Weekend

Roselle, Darwi and Naomi

And then they came for Mama's birthday

Over the weekend was my Mom's birthday.  And my sister Irene and brother Bert had to surprise her.  Irene arrived in the afternoon from Singapore.  And then Bert arrive around 9:00pm.  They just arrived without informing Mama beforehand.  That was fun.  We had dinner at Max's the following day.  Sunday afternoon, we had spaghetti in the afternoon merienda before going to Gerry"s Grill for dinner. 

 

Irene went back to Singapore Monday morning.  A quick stop, really.  And Bert will be going back to Qatar in another two weeks.  He's been abroad for more than three years.

-- andoy

20 September 2007

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea."  - R. Heinlein

Pictures from Mama's Birthday weekend

Irene, Mama and Darwi

Pictures from Mama's Birthday Weekend

Adora, Irene, Darwi, Roselle, me, Mama and Bert the night Bert arrived.

From MSN: 'Unchained Melody' Writer Hy Zaret Dies

I first heard this song from my Dad. Whenever he was driving he kept singing this song. But I guess he only sang this song when he wanted to keep awake while driving. Truth is, I'm not sure he even sings this song when there are more people in the car.

Back to the song... There was a Harry Belafonte version with a different stanza: "Lonely mountains soar..." I can't remember that one but I've been trying to find THAT particular version for a long time now. Elvis Presley sang it in one of his concerts, and U2 as well.

And even though the most popular version is by the Righteous Brothers, which version was included in the movie GHOST, I like the more sedate version of a straight ballad.

So now I know who wrote the song and when. Thank you, Mr. Zaret.

--andoy
4 July 2007

And in my head I am dancing...

Listening to CRASH INTO ME. Standing immobile with headset on
listening to nothing. With the music in the background. And in my
head I am dancing.

-- andoy
26 May 2007

LSS out of nowhere: Your Love by Alamid

Your Love

Artist - Alamid
Lyrics - Your Love

verse:
you're the one that never lets me sleep
to my mind, down to my soul you touch my lips
you're the one that i can't wait to see
with you here by my side i'm in ecstasy

pre-chorus:
i am all alone without you
my days are dark without a glimpse of you
but now that you came into my life
i feel complete
the flowers bloom, my morning shines
and i can see

chorus:
your love is like the sun
that lights up my whole world
i feel the warmth inside
your love is like the river
that flows down through my veins
i feel the chill inside

verse:
every time i hear our music play
reminds me of the things that we've been through
in my mind i can't believe it's true
but in my heart the reality is you

repeat pre-chorus and chorus

-=0=-

A slow day and you find people singing this song from out of the blue.
Even my kids sing this song. Maybe I really am getting old.

--andoy
25 May 2007

Dragonfly

Dragonfly
(Magne Furuholmen)

I will never let you down
I will always be around
In the time we are here
We'll see love disappear
Don't ask how
Don't ask why
Just fly, dragonfly
Just fly, dragonfly

I will never bring you down
I will always stick around
I will heat you when you're cold
In the time we have left
We'll raise eyes to the sky
Don't ask how
Don't ask why
Just fly, dragonfly
Just fly, dragonfly

Don't ask how
Don't ask why
Just fly, dragonfly
Just fly, fly, fly dragonfly

-=0=-

Another LSS.

--andoy
3 May 2007

I have nothing against Manny

During the weekend and on till Monday, the news was all about Manny
Pacquiao. (Well, there was this little piece about the First
Gentleman Mike Arroyo, but the only way he would have grabbed the
headline would have been if he had died. Which I don't believe would
happen anytime soon. Not in the next twenty or thirty years, in
fact.) But sorry to say, I have not watched any of his matches. I
have never wanted to watch any of his matches as a matter of fact.

Frankly, he may be good and worth his weight in gold, but the only
reason I am writing about him now is that he is falling into a
classical trap where people (specifically politicians) are fawning and
falling all around him and he is beginning to believe his own
propaganda. The worst that can happen to him and to his province is
if he wins the election as a congressman.

Imagine a guy with the potential to earn upwards of 100 million pesos
a year net, for the next six years, going into politics and be used by
countless politicians (including Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Chavit
Singson and Lito Atienza). He may be rich but the riches he has
earned and the "good" name (naive and innocent in politics) might not
be worth it. I think Gabriel "Flash" Elorde made the right decision,
he stayed away from politics and just lived quietly with his own
boxing gym.

Which reminds me of what Dolphy keeps saying whenever he is asked if
he will ever run for office. He always answers "eh kung manalo?" To
which a Marxist answer would be something of the sort: "but we've
already booked the Quirino Stadium for the victory celebration."
Paraphrasing Groucho Marx, that is.

Oh well. If we have senators like actors Ramon Revilla and his son
Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Joseph Estrada and his son Jinggoy Estrada, Lito
Lapid, and Tito Sotto as well as basketball players Freddie Webb and
Robert Jaworski, and now we have Cesar Montano and Richard Gomez
running for the post, maybe we do deserve Manny Pacquiao in Congress.
I have no idea what he'll do there, but I do know he's going to be in
a better position as a boxer rather than as a lawmaker.

--andoy
19 April 2007

New things; old things

There've been a lot of things happening. Some odd and unexpected. Others are just plain weird but should have been happening for a long, long time.

I was riding a jeep home one day, when I saw this guy, a vagrant, a "taong grasa", walking the empty street going to the Marikina Engineering offices. He was practically naked, except for his briefs. He may have been dirty all around, but his briefs was not as dirty. It was not brown or gray. It was pink.

As the jeep passed him (and he was going in the same direction as the jeep) I didn't have the sense to look back. I guess it was shock. More of a shock because of the pink briefs.

And during that same week, as I was walking around the mall, and into a Watson's store, there was this "matrona" who was walking around talking on the phone. It looked like a regular desktop phone. Except that she was walking around lugging around the phone. I didn't really pay much attention to it at the time. It could have been a Bayantel or Globe wireless phone. What grabbed me was that after the phone call, and not being able to stow the phone in her bag, her cell phone rang.

I just had to ask myself, up to what extent people want to be in touch with other people. I've seen a woman on the commute to work sending text messages, on two phones, at the same time. One cell phone in each hand. I didn't care if these were the same message or not.

And before the cell phone text explosion came along, I saw a guy on the corner of Ayala and Paseo de Roxas, talking over two phones. He had another cell phone on his belt as well as a pager. I did say it was way, way too long ago.

Again , I wonder up to what extent people would want to get in touch with other people. I have no idea about that answer.

--andoy
16 April 2007

LSS: PLEASE DON'T GO , KC and the Sunshine Band.

PLEASE DON'T GO
H.W. Casey and R. Finch

I love you
Yeah
Babe, I love you so
I want you to know
That I'm going to miss your love
The minute you walk out that door

(Chorus)
So please don't go
Don't go
Don't go away
Please don't go
Don't go
I'm begging you to stay
If you leave
At least in my lifetime
I've had one dream come true
I was blessed to be loved
By someone as wonderful as you

(Chorus)
Hey, hey, hey
Yeah
Babe, I love you so
I, I want you to know
That I'm going to miss your love
The minute you walk out that door
So please don't go
Don't go
Don't go away
Hey, hey, hey
I need your love
I'm down on my knees
Beggin' please, please, please
Don't go
Don't you hear me baby
please don't go

Don't leave me now
Oh, no, no, no, no
Please don't go
I want you to know
That I, I, I, love you so
Don't leave me baby
Please don't go

Copyright (c) 1975 , 1976 sherlyn publishing co
Harrick Music, INC

-=0=-

Man, I am getting old. hahaha This was a popular song when I was
still in high school. We actually slow dance to this song. Now, I
think those who went to high school during the late 70's slow dance to
this, very very slowly. hahaha

In a way, this song is a goodbye song. There've been songs which
sampled portions of the first stanza and chorus. Come to think of it,
it's not a bad goodbye song. A fun song for all that. Reminds me of
memories dancing slow.

Man, I really am getting old.
--
--andoy
15 November 2006

Another LSS: "Once In A Lifetime" sung by Sarah Brightman

Sarah Brightman
Once in a lifetime

Cuando anochezca
Te esperare
Quiero volverte loco esta noche
Con la luna llena
Te esperare
Hoy moriras entre mis brazos
Nunca soñaste algo igual

(When the night falls
I will wait for you
I want to drive you crazy tonight
With the full moon
I will wait for you
Today you will die in my arms
You never dreamed about something like this)

Let me dive in
To pools of sin
Wet black leather on my skin
Show me the floor
Lay down the law
I need to taste you more

Refrain:
Then I feel your sea
Raining down on me
Can this be my once in a lifetime
Hell's at heaven's door
As I need you more
You know you're my once in a lifetime

Todo tu cuerpo temblara
Pero esta vez, es realidad
Aunque el tiempo pase
Nunca, nunca lo olividaras
Sera
Solo una vez en tu vida

(All your body will tremble
But this time it will be real
Though time passes by
You will never, never forget it
It will be
Only once in your lifetime)

When you take me
And make me cry
Then I feel you satisfy
Show me the cage
It's all the rage
And lock it up

Found a part of me
That's a mystery
That will be just once in a lifetime
When the moon is high
Passion never dies
Will you want me for all a lifetime

Once in a lifetime
Once in a lifetime
Once in a lifetime

Giving you my soul
Letting you control
Took away a part of my lifetime
Memories of you
Left me black and blue
Now I know you're once in a lifetime

Refrain

Found a part of me
That's a mystery
That will be just once in a lifetime
When the moon is high
Passion never dies
Will you want me for all a lifetime

Refrain

Found a part of me
That's a mystery
That will be just once in a lifetime
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music: Peterson, Schwarz, Meissner
Lyrics: Peterson, Brightman

-=0=-

--andoy
28 October 2006

LSS: "Every Little Thing" by Dishwalla

Artist: Dishwalla
Song Title: "Every Little Thing"

Let me in
to see you in the morning light
to get me on and all along the tears they come
see all come
I want you to believe in life
but I get the strangest feeling that you've gone away
will you find out who you are too late to change?
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
some times

lift me up
just lift me up don't make a sound
and let me hold you up before you hit the Ground
see all come
you say you're all right
but I get the strangest feeling
that you've gone away- you've gone away
and will you find out who you are too late to change?

I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted
all the time
some times

Don't give me up
don't give me up tonight
or soon nothing will be right at all
salvation
will you find out who you are too late to change?

I wish I could be
every little thing you wanted

-=0=-

Was at the internet shop, when this was playing. Just thinking about it.
--
--andoy
3 September 2006

This made me smile...

I came upon this quote:
Most women set out to try to change a man, and when they have changed him they do not like him.
Marlene Dietrich

hahaha

It made me smile. Made my day, methinks. And it works both ways, too.

--andoy
19 August 2006

A Funny Thing Happened This Morning.

A funny thing happened this morning. Walking to the barbershop, I
passed by the shuttle terminal where Makati and Ortigas office workers
queue for their ride to work. Though I am not feeling well, dry
cough, sore throat and flu like symptoms, I felt different when I saw
these people lined up and waiting. It was a weird feeling. So weird
that I felt it. I can't say I understand what I felt. But I knew I
felt it. I was proud walking in front of them. Walking with
shoulders high and head proud. I don't remember passing by the area
with that feeling since way before January last year. I had actually
forgotten how that felt, early morning and feeling tired but proud.

Really weird.

--andoy
26 June 2006

Pagemaker 7

I first used Pagemaker way, way back 1993 (if I remember correctly). Back then it was version 3 and then version 4 which I used. I also had the opportunity to teach Pagemaker at the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) in Makati. I last used Pagemaker around 1996. During the weekend I had the chance to install and re-learn Pagemaker. It's now version 7 and it seems that there have been few differences from the earlier versions. Only thing is that I may have forgotten a lot about using the software. Been fun trying to teach myself again how to use this product.

I plan to use this with the next release of the Pinoy Poet Poem Collection. That would contain the poems posted from June 1 to 15. Least I can say is that I have an easier time of formatting the styles and pages than when I was using MS Word. And the real clincher is creating the Table of Contents (TOC) and the Index. I had fun with those on Pagemaker as the pages were done automatically. In contrast, I had a hard time with Word in creating the TOC and Index.

Creating something for free should be fun. Or else it's not worth it.

--andoy
14 June 2006

Chaim Potok, "The Promise" and "The Chosen"

More than twnety years ago, I read these two books by Chaim Potok. The Promise and its sequel, The Chosen. Since then, I've been trying to find these two books so I can have my own copies. Finally, I have them. Mind you, these are from yellowing paperbacks from a second hand book store, but it was well worth the effort to try and find them. This has been a very surprising week, if only because I have these two books at last! hahaha

--andoy
14 June 2006

It happened again! Football shoes to work

I was at Eastwood last week, minding my own business when I saw this girl. Nothing extra-ordinary about her. Frankly, I don't even remember what she looked like. But what caught me were her shoes. Football shoes by Puma, black with yellow trim. I could not have been mistaken because the heel proper was more than a half-inch above the floor. I guess wearing soccer shoes to work isn't uncommon nowadays. This is the second such lady/office worker/call center agent (no doubt about that one). Yes, no doubt a call center agent. I was in Eastwood around 9:00AM and here she was going home from work. No brainer. Well, I guess if you could pull it off, why not?

Now if I can only pull off wearing hawaiian shirts to a (very corporate) business meeting, hahaha.

--andoy
5 June 2006

Going to work in sports shoes, a new twist

While on the way to work, I usually ride the van (shuttle) from
Marikina to Makati. Other times, I ride the MRT/LRT. Tedious but
gets me on time if I walk fast from SM Makati to Rufino Street.

This particular day, I thought, what the hell, if I'm late, I'm late
and queued for the shuttle ride. Everything okay. I even had a few
short shut eyes. And just when the van was turning Buendia Ave. I
had a glance at this young girl's shoes. Okay, she's not a young
girl, young girl, girl, but more like early twenties, in t-shirt denim
pants and rubber shoes. (But forgive me if I call any female younger
than thirty, a "young girl.") Looked like a call center agent. I
raised my head from my nap, and the shoes caught my eye. First time I
saw a young lady wearing white soccer shoes. No kidding. The studs
were yellow. I don't know what model it was, but it was a Nike, with
a number 90 on the heels.

Soccer shoes are not the most comfortable shoes outside the pitch.
And maybe only a woman who's worn high heels can appreciate the beauty
of wearing soccer shoes to work. I don't know, I'm not "smart
looking" enough to wear soccer shoes to work.

--
--andoy
28 February 2006

Last Friday: A Funny Thing Happened on the way to EDSA...

(or Making Sense of a lot of pre-emptive missteps)

Friday morning. A coup happened. And of all types of coups, this one was the worst kind. It was a scheduled coup. At the start of the day, Tatay sent me a text message informing me that there was going to be a coup. Everyone knew there was going to be a coup. And then Friday morning came, and first thing I heard on the TV was that classes were suspended. (At which my wife told my kids that they can undress from their school uniforms and go back to bed.) Next thing I heard was that a coup was aborted with the "arrest" of three senior officers. ("Arrest" being a conditional term as event unfolded during the weekend.)

There were scheduled anti-Gloria rallies. Not really anti-Government as the rallyists were mostly Government personalities and the main rally was to be at Makati with the appropriate permit from the City Government (and where the Mayor of Makati, Jejomar Binay was expected to attend.) There was a rally at the EDSA People Power Monument, and another rally at the EDSA Shrine. Watching TV last Friday, I can't help but note that there was a sense of "Three Stooges" meets "The Twilight Zone" masquerading as CNN breaking news.

Consider these:

1. Before noon, Friday, there were riot policemen at the EDSA Shrine, facing rallyists who were on the Shrine steps (just below the Mother Mary statue). This was planned and announced days in advance. One of the police officers was holding a water cannon, and water was already gushing out of the hose. And there was a guy in barong tagalog (or white long sleeves polo, tucked out) talking to one of the police officers discussing or negotiating the dispersal of the rallyists. First time I ever saw the water cannon hose spewing water while negotiations were ongoing just beside it. And then former VP Guingona goes up and joins the rallyists. The water cannon was not used at that time. I think it was used later in the afternoon.
2. Friday afternoon. News from Malacanang is that coup plotters have been tagged and the coup aborted. After lunch, a press conference with the Joint Chiefs of Staff have the top military brass winging their way out of the questions posted to them. Turns out that the coup plotters were relieved of duties and under custody, but not in the stockade, or have been charged with anything yet. Turns out that one of the suspected coup plotters, who was supposedly already under custody was in the Chief of Staff's office talking to him about joining the coup attempt. And then they arrested the guy. The Chief of Staff said so on national TV.
3. Government negotiators talk to Former President Ramos, asking him for support. He's holed up in Tagaytay, and the only thing he gave was "conditional support" for House Speaker de Venecia's statements to support the constitution and state, etc. As of Friday, FVR's position was that a statement will be released the following day, Saturday. Said statement in essence condemns the State of Emergency, suspension of habeas corpus, and other actions by PGMA. And now, Congressman Pichay (a pro-Gloria politician) taunts that FVR thinks he's still the President. Pro-Arroyo people ask for FVR support and when they don't get it, they turn against FVR.
4. If the coup plotters have been rounded up, why suspend the writ of habeas corpus? And why declare a state of emergency? No reason.
5. If this was a coup attempt, why are there (supposedly) a hundred suspected civilian supporters and another hundred military supporters to be invited for questioning for their possible involvement? This boggles the imagination. A coup attempt with that many supporters. Wow! No wonder everyone knew about it.
6. House Speaker de Venecia gives a statement that the coup attempt was an alliance of right-wing military elements with communist insurgents. I have no idea where he got that idea.
   
7. Live on national TV, UP Professor, sociologist, writer and political scientist Randy David got arrested. Insane!
8. One newspaper was shut down Saturday morning. And the TV stations had military personnel securing them for the safety of the press. What?
9. Sunday late afternoon. Remember the military brass who have been tagged as coup plotters? One of them, a marine, goes to the the Marine Headquarters and asks that he be charged and put imprisoned. This is a weird turn of events. I'd have thought that the coup plotters were already in jail. Now here he comes, asking to be imprisoned. And the Marines don't know what to do. The new Marine Commanding General even has to introduce himself as being in command because the marines don't know who's in command. Really, I thought they jailed these guys. And this Marine commander walks to Headquarters and asks to be imprisoned? WTF?

As an offshoot of all of these, there was hardly anyone out during the weekend. The EDSA celebration was still held at the EDSA Shrine, but not enough people in attendance.

All this because Madame President has the propensity to pre-empt all opposition. This will be the real beginning of her downfall. Funny thing is that I have no idea if the President really thinks that she can get away with this, or that she's outsmart the opposition, or that there's someone else out there pulling her strings.

Crazy.

--andoy
27 February 2006

Statement of Vice President Noli De Castro ON PROCLAMATION 101

Statement of Vice President Noli De Castro
ON PROCLAMATION 1017:

I urge everyone to rally behind the Constitution. Only
by adhering to it will we be assured of the continued
enjoyment of our freedom and our democratic way of
life.

I respect the right of the President to declare a
State of Emergency in order to preserve the peace,
maintain law & order, and ensure the protection of
human rights & civil liberties of the people for as
long as there is an imminent threat to public safety.

I reaffirm my support to the people, the Constitution
and the duly constituted authorities. ###

-=0=-

Vice President Noli de Castro was in Batangas last Friday at a Fiesta
celebrating coffee and with him were some ambassadors. The statement
above was also released from his office during the day. Question is,
even if he had tried to be a lot more vague, could he have succeeded
more without using a fire-alarm and smoke bombs in a movie house?

This is a standard issue statement from his office, and I wonder if he
will ever give a statement giving a definite stand. Then, again, at
least he gives statements and press releases. When PGMA was VP, she
never gave a statement while Erap was having problems.

--andoy

Quiz: Check the difference.

PROCLAMATION 1081
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Article VII, Section 10,
Paragraph ('2) of the Constitution, do hereby place the entire
Philippines as defined in Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution
under martial law and, in my capacity as their commander-in-chief, do
hereby command the armed forces of the Philippines, to maintain law
and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of
lawless violence as well as any act of insurrection or rebellion and
to enforce obedience to all the laws and decrees, orders and
regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction.

PROCLAMATION 1017
NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic
of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18,
Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: " The
President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed
forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, " and in my capacity as
their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the
Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines,
prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of
insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and
to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or
upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the
Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.

--
--andoy
27 February 2006

SHARE: Sun In the Night, Lighthouse Family

Sun In The Night
LIGHTHOUSE FAMILY

How many times in your life have you ever had the feeling
That the way you live is crazy and there must be something else.
When you look at the sky does it ever cross your mind
There could be something you’ve forgotten that won’t ever go away

(Chorus)

Like the sun in the night,
Like the sun in the night,
You’ll always be with me baby,
Be in my soul,
You’ll always be with me
Wherever I go.

Gets too much after a while trying to always hide your feelings
When the world is going crazy and you keep it to yourself
How much it hurts; though you try, try to get on with your life
And tell yourself that worse things happen and just hope it goes away.

-=0=-

--andoy
22 February 2006

MetroWestDailyNews.com - Local / Regional News: No refunds on dates

MetroWestDailyNews.com - Local / Regional News: No refunds on dates

This is a crazy story about a guy asking a refund for a date which didn't turn out well. He asked for $20. Stupid guy. hahaha

--andoy
14 February 2006

Another LSS: Iris by Goo Goo Dolls

Iris
by Goo Goo Dolls

And I'd give up forever to touch you
'cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now

And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your life
'cause sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight

And I don't want the world to see me
'cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive

And I don't want the world to see me
'cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And I don't want the world to see me
'cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am
I just want you to know who I am

-=0=-

Another song which title is not mentioned in the song. I joined an
out-of-town trip with several office mates. A (delayed) birthday
celebration by the Head Accountant, Ms. Beng. And this is one of the
songs played on the car's sound system on the way to Iba, Zambales.

Valentine's kasi, kaya I posted it here. hahaha

--andoy
13 February 2006

SHARE: Somebody by Depeche Mode, another LSS

Somebody
sang by Depeche Mode
(c) 1984 Martin Lee Gore - Depeche Mode

I want somebody to share
Share the rest of my life
Share my innermost thoughts
Know my intimate details
Someone who'll stand by my side
And give me support
And in return
She'll get my support
She will listen to me
When I want to speak
About the world we live in
And life in general
Though my views may be wrong
They may even be perverted
She'll hear me out
And won't easily be converted
To my way of thinking
In fact she'll often disagree
But at the end of it all
She will understand me

I want somebody who cares
For me passionately
With every thought and
With every breath
Someone who'll help me see things
In a different light
All the things I detest
I will almost like
I don't want to be tied
To anyone's strings
I'm carefully trying to steer clear of
Those things
But when I'm asleep
I want somebody
Who will put their arms around me
And kiss me tenderly
Though things like this
Make me sick
In a case like this
I'll get away with it

-=0=-

I watch "Unang Hirit" every morning while I have breakfast. Not
really watch as in paying attention. Just watching as in it's there,
I hear it and if it's interesting I pay closer attention. While
having breakfast, and listening to my wife and yesterdays' recap of
daily events. Anyway, this morning Aiza Seguerra sang "Somebody" live
and playing the guitar herself. [The only person who ever lip-synched
on that show was Mike Hanopol last week. All the bands and singers
sing live in the studio or on location.]

First time I heard Aiza sing that song. I sang that to my kids as a
lullaby till they were old enough to notice that I don't know how to
sing. hehehe And then I stopped. They still know the song by heart.

Good way to start a day.

--
--andoy
7 February 2006

Discovery Channel :: News :: Odors Trigger Memory In Squirrels

Discovery Channel :: News :: Odors Trigger Memory In Squirrels

It has been noted that memory is strongest when associated with odors. In other words, odor reinforces memory. And not just in humans but also in squirrels, it seems.

--andoy
6 February 2006

Thursday!

One of those days when you want to shout and curse at the toilet bowl
and flush it all down afterwards! Ahhhhhh!!!!

And a headache to boot!

When is Friday when you need one?

--
--andoy
2 February 2006

The Ultimate Blog of Jesuit Humor

The Ultimate Blog of Jesuit Humor

That says it all.

--andoy
1 February 2006

Is Hell Exothermic ?

**new twist to the joke

Is Hell Exothermic?

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is,of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or somevariant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul getsto Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell toincrease exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over.

The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct...leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explainswhy, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY A

--

--andoy
1 February 2006