new year

monday marks the start of our new fiscal year. so ganun na nga, ngayon magkakaalaman kung sinu-sino ang mapropromote at kung magkano ang aming annual increase.

simula pa lang nung unang araw ko, determinado akong maghanap ng mas magandang opportunity pagkatapos na pagkatapos ng aking bond. at ngayong nalalapit na ang katapusan, heto ako at kaliwat-kanan ang applications.

so late ako ngayon - todong late, halos half-day na nga. pero dahil flexi naman ang oras ko sa trabaho (or so i thought), lakas-loob akong sumipot sa exam/interview kaninang umaga. pagdating ko sa opisina, hindi pa ako nakapag-online agad sa messenger kaya naman nag-email ang isa sa aking bossing para magpakita sa net. ayun, nag-conference kami sa chatroom ng 2 kong bossing. syempre, anu pa ba ang takbo ng diskusyon kundi ang aking tardiness at pagiging distracted nitong buong linggo. isama pa dyan ang isa kong pending na trabaho na deadline na ngayon (actually, napakiusapan na na i-extend yung deadline at ngayon na nga yung deadline na yun). napagsabihan pa 'kong wag muna mag-jobstreet at friendster. bingong bingo ako! pero opo, opo, alam kong pagkakamali ko ang mga ito.

hindi naman sa nagmamalaki ako, pero dahil sa mga pangaral sa akin kanina at dun sa pressure sa mga projects na hawak ko e muntik na ako magpaalam kanina at sabihin ang plano kong paglisan. buti na lang may natitira pa akong hiya. plus the fact na wala pa akong patutunguhan. at syempre, p'anu ko naman bubuhayin ang sarili ko kung wala ako trabaho?

bakit nga ba gusto ko umalis? hmmm... maraming issue. sa totoo lang, maayus naman ang mga naging katrabaho ko dito. dun sa una kong project, lahat kami magfriends. dito naman sa kinalalagyan ko ngayon, parang pamilya kami at super close kami ng mga bossing ko. sa totoo lang, nahihiya nga ako 'pag nahuhuli sila na naka-jobstreet ako. sorry naman. tapos ngayon, malungkot pa ang karamihan sa amin dahil sa liit ng increase namin ngayon.

anu nga ba ang hinahanap ko? magandang sahod? sa totoo lang, tuwing lumilipat ako ng trabaho, hindi ako umaasa na mas malaki ang offer. mas pinipili ko yung mas magbibigay sa akin ng magandang oportunidad sa future. willing ako magstart sa mababa at saka trabahuhin ang pagtaas. sadly sa ngayon, medyo hindi aligned ang future na gusto ko sa future na plano sa akin ng management. hay! pero sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, baka kainin ko muna tong pride na ito. wish ko lang makahanap ako nung makakapantay man lang dun sa kung anu ang meron ako ngayon. hmmm... 'di naman ako makapag-ibang bansa para subukan dun dahil unang una, wala akong pansustento sa sarili ko habang naghahanap ng work dun at pangalawa, sa tindi ng kumpetisyon ngayon e kelangan ko pa kumuha ng industry certifications para makasabay dun sa mga mas experienced.

sa susunod na mga araw nakaplanong kausapin ako mga bossing para mapag-usapan ang mga plano sa new year na ito. 'di ko pa naman balak magpaalam. kung anuman ang mangyari, sana maging maayos ang lahat.

pagbati

doc joven fule
doc sugar blanco
doc april anne lambio
congratulations dear high school batchmates errr classmates...


at syempre, babatiin ko rin ang blockmate ko, si doc analee sabadao. congrats!!


hmmm... may susunod pa sa kanila. syempre sa tagal mag-aral ng med, yung ibang friendly friends ko nag-asawa at nagpahinga muna. sila naman ang susunod.

go NASTIA!

finally, olympic champion.

(photo: nbcolympics.com)

can't believe she had the top score in floor despite her ankle injury (in 2006). 3 more event (beam, bars, floor) finals to go girl!

i watched the competition online. shawn johnson (US) and yang yilin (CHN) and ksenia semenova (RUS) were great as well. it's a 1-2 finish for USA as expected. here's the final result from nbcolympics.com.

newsflash: twister hit los banos, laguna

last year, i've been ranting about how i hate the current world's climate. well, i haven't got any weather complaints lately as it has been raining every afternoon. but i got a text message from my mom. bad news - a twister hit my hometown, my dear los banos. no article from inquirer.net yet but a "kababayan" has posted a video in youtube.


the video says the twister formed at 4pm. according to my mom, it hit the areas of umali subd, trace college, anos, and bayan. God! hope no one's hurt.

in quest of greener pastures

my current YM status is "2 months to go". yep, i'm doing another countdown. in less than 2 months, my employment bond will be gone. hurray!

now i'm looking for a new job. it's not that i don't like my current one, i'm just looking for better opportunities. a boss even caught me last week browsing jobstreet.com and jokingly said "you'll never get an offer better than what you have right now". he might be right. but then i haven't told him that i chose to work here eventhough the offer was half of what i used to get. but honestly, i'm hoping for a better salary.

so far, i've only got phone interviews. well, i wasn't able to come on some invitations since the companies were so far (cavite, taguig, singapore) from work (qc) and i can't be gone for too long during business hours.

speaking of interviews - think this stuff really make my brain work. in most cases, i give answers that i never imagined i could say. feel ko nga pag sumali ako sa mr. pogi e mananalo ako sa dahil sa question and answer portion.

well, i just wish myself luck.

- - -

by the way, congrats to china for winning the men and women's gymnastics team competitions.

goodluck to nastia on the all-around competition. i never expected that aside from the beam and bars finals she'll be on the floor finals as well. hmmm... should i say, break a leg?

sino ka?

nakakaasar lang talaga 'pag may mga taong hinuhusgahan ka base sa mababaw na pagkakakilala sa iyo. ang masama pa, e yung tinitira ka ng patalikod at walang kalaban-labang sinisiraan ka sa iba. sino ba sila sa akala nila?

madalas 'feeling close' na ako sa isang tao na nakakagaanan ko ng loob. hindi ako mapagpanggap. at ayaw ko sa mga taong nagpupumanggap. pero hindi naman sa konting panahong nakakasama mo ang mga tao ay nakikilala ka na nila ng lubos.

ang sa akin lang, bago sila namintas e tignan muna nila ang sarili nila. akala mo kung sino, wala pa namang nararating sa mga buhay nila! akala mo totoo, e sila mismo hindi nila maamin kung sino sila.

hypocrites!

tayp tayp

lunes. unang araw ng linggo. hay! sa kasamaang palad, miembro ako ng monday group (natatanging nilalang na kailangang magreport sa office 'pag lunes). maaga tuloy ako gumising kaya heto, masakit pa ulo ko dahil sa puyat. wish ko lang kasi marating naman kami ng sibilisasyon para hindi ko na kelangang makipagsabayan sa mga byahero pag lunes.

- - -

pansin ng mga boss ko na tuwing lunes ang taba-taba ko tapos pag byernes, lumiit na tyan ko. panu ba naman kasi, 'pag asa maynila ako todo diet ako tapos 'pag umuuwi ako nilalantakan ko ang kanin. panu ba naman kasi, nasasayang ang kanin 'pag dahil maraming magsaing pag weekend sa bahay.

buti na lang ngayon, super inspired na ko magdiet. sa mahal ba naman kasi ng bilihin at pamasahe ngayon, napapatipid na ako. hindi na ako nagkakanin talaga 'pag weekdays, fruits na lang. tapos 'pag weekend, hindi ko mang maiwasan manghinayang sa kanin, dinadaan ko na lang sa hiphop abs at konting pagbubuhat. ayan, may konting resulta na naman ngayon. medyo maluwag na damit ko, normal na BP ko, nakakapaghandstand na uli ako at hindi na ko masyadong pinagpapawisan. sana lang talaga magtuloy tuloy na para mabili ko na yung damit na gusto ko. ahehehe!

- - -

madalas TV lang ang pinagkakaabalahan ko 'pag weekend. nitong huli, hindi ako nakabili ng mga dibidi kaya tyaga na lang ako sa re-runs. natuwa naman ako nung napalipat ako sa channel 9, aba may olympics. kakaasar lang at panay boxing at football yung palabas. buti sana kung may pinoy na pinakita para makapagcheer man lang, kaso namuti na mata ko sa kakaabang wala pa rin. kung gymnastics prelims na lang nung aug9 at 10 na lang ang pinalabas e 'di sana mas masaya.

- - -

kagabi medyo late na nakatulog ang mom ko dahil sa pag-aalala sa mga kamag-anak namin sa mindanao. panu, yung panganay na kapatid ng lolo ko at yung pamilya nya e nasa maitum (sa mindanao) pa at balitang all-out war dun ngayon. balita pa na pinapatay dun ang mga christians. hay! hindi pa namin alam kung san sila tatakbo. sana lang talaga matapos na ang gulo dun.

- - -

speaking of mindanao - minsan narinig ko sa radyo yung commentary ng mga announcer. hmmm... ba't ba kasi 'di pa maayos ang consti ng pinas at maging federal na lang ang form of gov't. hayaan na may autonomy ang bawat 'regions'. ganun... pero kung magkakaganun, pangit. kasi naman, dadami ang mga ka-federasyon! ahahaha!!

hmmm... what if bitawan na ng pinas ang mindanao? since lagi magulo sa ibang parts dun, hayaan na sila ang maglabo-labo! kaya kaya nila magsurvice na sila lang? well, siguro sa dami ng international fundings dun ngayon. pero syempre, since may magic word na funding papayag ba naman ang gobyerno natin na wala silang kick-back sa ganun? saka, panu na ang del monte? ang dole? imported na ang lahat ng fruit cocktail natin kung ganun. mahal na maghanda pag fiesta at pasko. ganun? pero siguro naman, makakatikim na ako nung saging from mindanao na super kinis at malaki ('di gaya ng saging dito na maiitim at lamog) dahil mag-eexport na rin sila sa atin (kasi naman for export lang ang mga sosyal na saging e).aside from fruits, mababawasan na ng congressman from mindanao like zubiri. tapos kelangan na ng visa 'pag bibisita sa tourists spots sa mindanao? sad naman kasi 'di pa ako nakakaapak sa mindanao.

pero seriously, sana talaga matapos na ang dapat matapos dun. peace na lang sana dun.

- - -

balik tayo sa olympics... hay! kada 4 na taon lang nagkakaroon ng ganun. ba't ba walang matinong coverage? yung mga videos sa youtube, pinag-aalis. asar naman!

this is it!

august 8, 2008... a day of celebration (well, yes it includes birthday celebration of my bro and a couple of other people i know).

today's the opening ceremonies of the olympics! after 4 long years of waiting, finally it's here! too bad i don't have cable, i don't have pay per view. i don't even have a TV set for crying out loud! good thing i have a vpn connection to our chicago and dallas offices so i'm able to watch some olympic videos from nbcolympics.com.

olympics. who never dreamed of becoming an olympian as a kid? sad to say, i live in a country where athletes (except for some boxers, read: pacquiao, and basketball players, as in PBA folks) can't make "sporting" a living.

olympic protests. the hell! olympics is not a venue for political interest. dreams are ruined. even athletes who made some gestures of protests has found themselves as outcasts. look at what happened to Věra Čáslavská, Tommie Smith, John Carlos and Peter Norman.

today's a big day for all the athletes. celebrate humanity. celebrate life! cheers to our olympians. hmmm.. should i say, "break a leg"?

let the games begin!

one day to go before the olympics. can't wait! of course, among the spectator sports like synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics, i'm dying to watch the women's artistic gymnastics competition (WAG). well, my fascination with WAG started because of this girl during the 1996 olympics.

(source: http://isportspix.com/2008/04/04/svetlana-khorkina-picture-gallery)

yes, it is the queen of bars, svetlana khorkina. no, she wasn't wearing that in competition! anyway, i've seen her performed her optional floor exercises and she simply took my breath away. that time aside from the optional competitions, gymnasts were still required to perform compulsary exercises (gymnasts performing the same routine).

- - -

well, so much has changed on my favorite sport. first, gone are the days of perfection. yup, no more perfect 10 like nadia. say hello to 14's (mediocre), 15's (safe) and 16's (possible medal).scoring has been changed in the code of points (read: the rule book). since 2006 world championships, there are 2 kinds score that a gymnast can receive. the A panel score (additive) which is all about the difficulty - meaning the harder the skill, the higher the score. aside from difficulty, connection of movements/bonus points are also in included in A panel. the B panel, however, is the execution score. basically, it rates how a gymnast perform a skill. this scores is deductive from a perfect score of 10. deductions are counted from unpointed toes during tumbling (0.1 deduction) to a fall on a skill (0.8). final score is the sum of the A panel and B panel scores.

the new scoring was due to the controversy in the men's all around competition in the 2004 olympics. korea's yang tae young was given a start value of 9.9 in the parallel bars instead of 10. a 0.1 difference cost him to just take the bronze medal instead of the gold. the international gymnastics federation (FIG) suspended the 3 judges who made the mistake, but paul hamm (the all around winner during the games) kept the gold. the FIG standardized the scoring for both the men and women. other than this controversy, the difference in the level of difficulty among the exercises the gymnasts are performing also led to the establishment of the new system.

for the equipment, bars has changed since nadia. during her time, there was just a narrow opening between the low and high bars. well, the bars hasn't changed since 2004 olympics but some of my readers may have fallen as sleep for about 30 years so i think it's worth mentioning.

in the 2000 olympics, many gymnasts got injured during the all-around competition because the vault was set 5 centimeters lower than the standard height. so no more side-horse vaults. we now have the vaulting table which is both used by men and women.

(source: www.fig-gymnastics.com)

since 70's the beam and floor has improved as well, with the inclusion of springs on the apparatus.

with today's level of competition, the artistry in artistic gymnastics is literally a thing of the past. wish i could see more of this, this and this instead of this and this. only a few gymnasts like my current fave, nastia liukin, can still combine difficulty and artistry.

- - -

i am no expert on the sport. luckily, i found a beginner's guide to today's gymnastics. according to the author, "Gymnastics is a dynamic, always-evolving sport. It's about power, beauty, grace, athleticism, virtuosity, and, perhaps most of all, innovation. A, uh, great PHILOSOPHER once noted that the best example of this is how, in gymnastics, when you're the first to "climb a particular mountain" (do a skill no one else has done) they name it after you in celebration. This is one of the many reasons that the style of gymnastics, the rules, the skills, and even the athletes all evolve quickly and constantly." good thing, the author was able to describe the new scoring better on different four apparatus - "Women's Artistic Gymnastics is performed on four apparatus. EACH ONE MORE DEADLY THAN THE LAST."

anyway, here's the dummy guide about the women's vault, bars, beam and floor.

home

umuwi ako nung friday na nag-eexpect na nasa bahay ang mom at mga kapatid ko at may food pa na nakatabi para sa akin. almost every week, ganun kasi ang nangyayari. pero nung umuwi ako, walang tao sa bahay, walang pagkain. ang lungkot.

sobrang napagod ako sa byahe ko. 'di ko na rin natiis ang kalam ng sikmura ko, buti na lang lucky me dahil  may instant pancit canton pa sa tindahan ni lola. carebear na kung mamatay ako sa pacute pancreatitis sa pagtulog ko matapos kumain ng pancit canton basta busog ako bago matulog.

buti na lang may mga dibidi akong nabili kaya pinalipas ko muna ang kabusugan ko bago natulog. napaisip tuloy ako habang nakatunganga sa harap ng tv. nawari ko, wala man ang pamilya ko, masaya ako at nakauwi ako sa aming tahanan. siguro nga, dapat masanay na rin ako sa ganito. 'di na magtatagal, tuluyan na ring bubukod ang mga kapatid ko. darating ang panahon na minsanan na rin kung magkita kami.