I can’t believe it’s been a month since I last updated. So much for a post a week. To say that things have been hectic is an understatement. I’ve been wrestling with SQL queries, database designs, and a bunch of other stuff that writing online doesn’t feel as relaxing as I’d like.
Category: Daily Ramblings
In The Dark
Last night a number of neighborhoods in Bacolod City were in complete darkness, not because of a problem with electrical supply but as many people have been discussing is a result of City Hall padlocking the administration building of Central Negros Electric Cooperative (CENECO).
Turns out CENECO had cut the power to City Hall because of the latter’s failure to pay electricity bills amounting to nearly P5 million pesos.
In a tit-for-tat move, City Hall issued a closure order because of CENECO’s failure to pay their taxes.
Note-worthy enough in the above link, the City Legal Officer said:
Only the Administrative Department (of Ceneco) will be padlocked, the power connection to all commercial establishments (in the city) will not be affected because the maintenance and operation sections are not covered in the closure order
Seriously?!
So why did we have a brownout lasting 10 hours?
Calls made to the CENECO hotline 1621 all had similar answers – power lines were sparking or there were problems with connections which the maintenance crew could not get to because all their materials were locked in the admin building. Are you kidding me?!
These two entities are acting like temper-tantrum throwing 5 year olds. You wouldn’t think that they provide vital services to the city with they way that they’re behaving. This is no way to conduct business and only serves to put a black eye on Bacolod. I wouldn’t expect this behavior from a city that claims to be “a city of the world”.
For shame folks. For shame.
How I Spent My Holidays
Happy New Year bee-yotches!!
The holidays have been fun. Technically I’m still on holiday – work officially begins on Jan. 5 but I’m in today just in case there are calls. Thus far, zippo, so hopefully things will be quiet today.
Spent Christmas Eve at my aunt’s place – lots of food, games for the kids. Plus I got to catch up with my other aunt who was visiting from Florida.
The office picnic was a blast – we went to Sto. Domingo, the boss’ orchard and enjoyed a day with nature – well enjoying the breeze and greenery and Simba swimming in the river. Overloaded on food though – we had an exchange gifts of snacks late in the afternoon which tipped me over the edge. I ended up not eating dinner that night and lunch the next day.
Also got to spend time with the gang. We met up for dinner at Bar 21 on Christmas Day and were laughing our asses off with all the medical horror stories Jake and Julius had to share. We went to Bar 21 again on the 30th.
Since I had some down time from work I also managed to overhaul the Post Avatar plugin and my other plugins. Mostly under the hood stuff – more on that later.
I spent New Year’s Eve down the road at my other aunt’s house, eating the greatest of all comfort foods: barbecue and valenciana.
I’ve only made two resolutions for 2009: Eat less rice and write at least one post a week in this blog.
It’s best to keep things short and simple.
Kick Me In The Teeth, Why Don't You?
Ugh! I’ve got a cold, my sinuses hurt like hell and medication isn’t working worth a damn. Yes, this post calls for swear words damn it!
In Search of Inspiration
Pia and I finished all the things we had to do for this project so I spent most of yesterday afternoon wandering aimlessly around the web in search of inspiration to re-design my website. I’ve got a number of ideas floating around in my head – it’s just getting them to make sense on the page is what’s difficult.
My favorite discovery is Creattica, an excellent resource for creativity. I spent a couple of hours reading through the entire collection of posts (all 26 pages of them). I’m totally in love with this tea set.
I re-watched The Cutting Edge last night. Yes it’s predictable and kinda cheesy but I adore it. The chemistry between D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly totally makes the movie. I have two words for you…TOE PICK!
In a bit I’m going to do some grocery shopping – I’m making a mango dessert for dinner – and then it’s back to cleaning house.
P.S. I’m still a bit bummed that it’s a few more episodes till the end of Stargate Atlantis. *sigh*
The Annoying Rooster
My room faces the backyard and for the past couple of weeks, a rooster has been coming into our yard and making a fracas – crowing at all hours of the early morning. Seemingly when just as I’m about to drift off to sleep there he is crowing loudly. And in the morning he disappears back to the neighbor’s house.
The only good thing is that I’m waking up early.
I’ve been receiving some e-mails that Post Avatar is working as it should it WordPress 2.6. I did a beta test when it first came out and everything worked. I’ll have to check with more current versions.
When I have the time I’m really going to have to overhaul the plugin to work with the gallery manager that comes in WordPress. That way, users can upload their images from within the web interface. Another thing for the to do list.
The One With The Accident
You know how people say that when you’re in an accident, your life flashes before your eyes? I got a taste of that on December 6th. John, Paulo and I were on our way back to Bacolod from Cadiz when we were involved in a car accident. Some idiot decided it was a good idea to cross the main highway wihout looking to see if there was any traffic.
John (who was driving) swerved to miss the idiot and crashed into a parked truck. As it was happening, my life didn’t really flash before me. Instead it seemed like everything went into slow motion without any sound. I didn’t feel the impact and the next thing I knew was Paulo asking if I was feeling alright. I wasn’t feeling anything but when I sat back my right arm started hurting, exactly how I imagined the phrase “I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck” to be. John and Paulo had sore muscles and sme bruises but I apparently had the most pain. Paulo took me to the hospital (which thankfully was about 300 meters from the accident site).
The first thing that happened to me when I got in the ER? I was placed on a weighing scale. Yes, indeed. My arm is hurting like a bitch, I’m about to faint and attendants want to take my weight. I’m placed on a gurney and the whole ER routine starts – what happened, who am I, do I have insurance, where’s the pain, etc. The doctor sends me for an x-ray – getting off the gurney was incredibly painful so after the x-rays are done I elected to stand rather than lie back down.
While waiting for the boss to arrive to pick us up, the doctor decided to put my arm in a sling as the x-rays showed a fracture in my right arm and a dislocated shoulder. I hit the back of Paulo’s seat during the crash. Since there weren’t any slings, he fashioned one out of a sack cloth. Within a few hours, the boss arrived to bring us back to Bacolod. The drive home was exruiating – I felt every single bump and pothole in the road and just when the pain was so numbing I wasn’t really noticing it, we were reaching Bacolod.
At the hospital in Bacolod, the doctor reset my shoulder. In fact he did it three times when the second x-rays showed my shoulder was still dislocated. John and I had to stay overnight in hospital for observation.
Thankfully our injuries weren’t serious. Having seen photos of the car, it could have been a lot worse.
Bon Voyage
The gang got together for an afternoon out before Jake headed off to Camiguin Island to practice medicine. We watched Blades of Glory (much better than I anticipated) and had dinner.
Unfortunately Jake couldn’t join us for dinner – he still had to pack. I got a text message from him yesterday that his baggage was 20 kilos over the limit.
Well Jake, enjoy your experience in Camiguin. We’ll be looking forward to your missives on your new island adventures
Rain, rain, go away
It rained heavily for over an hour yesterday. Bad timing because I was getting ready to go home and I had to wait. The road leading from the office was full of water but it wasn’t as bad as the roads leading to my street – both entrances were flooded for 20 meters with six inches of water.
Walking through the rank water all these words flashed through my mind: typhoid, cholera…
Oh my god! No way!
I’m in shock. Denial. Numb. After moving servers it turns out that my database for Ben Affleck Fan is gone.
Dead.
Kaput.
Nada.
Yes that was my reaction too. 8 years worth of database content *kicks something* is frakking gone. And to make matters worse, I can’t read the cd that I backed up the database on!!! Grr Arrr Grrr!
My only consolation is that I used MovableType’s static html capabilities so I do have physical copies files. I just have to put everything back into the database.
*sigh*