iPhone!!!!

I got me an 8GB iPhone 2G. I got it for a little over $300. It's difficult to find people who sell iPhones here. People say I got ripped off. They say that maybe because they don't know how hard it is to find an iPhone in this country. Or maybe I really got ripped off. It's okay though. I'm happy with it. First thing I did after I bought the phone, was update it.

The firmware on it was 1.1.1. It worked fine. However, my itchy hands could not take it. I had to make it 3.1.2 if possible but I settled for 3.0. I downloaded the firmware, and updated it using iTunes 8.2 on my mac. I've updated an iPod Touch before. I wasn't scared.

I wasn't scared 'till I saw the "Insert Supported Carrier Sim" screen in iTunes. I didn't know that would happen. That took me back a bit. But I was determined to push on. I went on to jailbreak and unlock it with Redsn0w. Bear in mind, I'm using my mac here.

I followed the instructions from the ihackintosh site. When the instructions to go into DFU mode flashed on screen, the thing wouldn't go to DFU mode.

I also tried using PwnageTool following the instructions from Simon. It still wouldn't work. I read a lot of blogs and forums and I couldn't find a solution. I gave up.

I went to a friend's house for help. He was using Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit. I told him about the problem and he said he'd take a look at it. He did unlocked and jailbroke the phone in less than 10 minutes.

He said he just followed the instructions from the ihackintosh website. So I'm guessing that Redsn0w has problems on mac. (???) I've jailbroken millions of iPod Touch units on my mac and never did I have any problem. It's still a mystery to me till now.

Anyway, I've installed Appsync 3.0 and Installous via Cydia to play downloaded games. I've also installed the Yahoo Messenger, Skype, and Facebook apps for my social networking. I'm also trying Cycorder to do basic video recording. Eat that 3Gs! lol. I put in some of my mp3s just to eat up space. I'm enjoying my experience so far but I had to go through hell first.

PC Specs Updated...Sort Of...and more

I haven't been doing much online for a while, just the occasional tweet or facebook update. So I have decided to make another useless blog post. Just PC specs and what I'm up to.

Here's what I'm running with now:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 running @ 2.4GHz
Memory: 4GB DDR2 667 (2 x 1GB Kingston DDR2 667 and 1 x 2GB Transcend DDR2 667)
Hard Disks: 500GB (2 x 250GB Seagate SATA 7200rpm 8MB Cache)
Video: Inno3d NVidia 8800GT 512MB 256bit
Monitor: 22" AOC 210V @ 1680 x 1050 res
Keyboard: Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech G7 Wireless Gaming Mouse
Speakers: Altec Lansing ATP3 2.1
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (Build 7100)

For those of you who keep track, I'm still running the same outdated system but I got a wee bit more RAM. I know it's not much but it's a start. Also, I got rid of the 32" LCD TV and put it in the living room because my XBox 360 is gone. I can't, no i refuse, to use it as a computer screen because it doesn't give me a decent enough resolution (1080i cuz I don't have an HDMI cable). I'm kind of glad to have my 22" AOC back.

In other news, I've finished playing with the single player mode of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on 4x AA High (not Ultra-high) settings. The game was nice. Just like Modern Warfare, it has a very nice plot. I enjoyed it for about, oh, 4 hours. Just wish there was more. However, I'm making my way through the Solo mode of the Special Ops. This just shows that I need more friends. lol.

Also, I've just finished watching the DVDRip of Samurai Princess and Gamer. No comments. both movies were mediocre at best. However, if you're into blood and gore, Samurai Princess does it like no one else. Just be sure to get subtitles (the link above includes them), or learn Japanese quick.

Oh and I'm also trying out Parallels 5 on my mac. It boasts that you get full support for Aero Effects and Flip3D. We'll just have to see. It's still installing right now.

What's on my mind? This.

I read a few days ago that a New iPod may come out even sooner than the Zune HD. Well, I guess that puts a bigger emphasis on Apple’s victory over Microsoft. Also, a lot of these Netbooks are coming out. There was also this one announcement from Apple that they’ll be coming out with their own. You can also see a lot of what it might look like if you do an image search in google for “apple netbook”. Well this is the truth. Netbooks are small and eye straining. Most of them have keyboards so tiny, you’ll be pressing two keys at a time. Don’t get me started on the battery life. While my white Macbook sports a 5-hour operating time, my girlfriend’s HP Mini 2133 can only do one hour (1:30 tops). What’s the point of carrying around a laptop all day, which you can only use for an hour? Well, I guess it’s the “chic” image.

Also, I read somewhere that they also might be phasing out all the iPods and just keep the iPod touch and the iPhone. Well, that’s fine by me. I never owned an iPod anyway. But notice this, the first iPod that came out was white. Also, the first Notebook by Apple was also white. Now, they seem to be getting rid of everything white. Well, they’re leaving a white macbook. Everything else is black and silver. It’s just like basketball and politics. Goodbye white, hello black. Well you have to admit, black is stylish. Wonder if they’ll ever paint that place in DC and call it the Black House.

I didn’t see GI Joe and Transformers 2. I couldn’t find the time and money. Well, mostly, the money. I saw Ice Age 3 and Terminator Salvation though. Both movies were fine but I just don’t think it’s worth paying $15 for. I could have bootlegged a copy and still enjoyed it. Oh by the way, you can. Good R5 copies are out there somewhere.

My Xbox 360 finally had its last breath. I just experienced the 3 red lights and it won’t turn on anymore. I have to give it some credit though. It’s one of the original Xenon units. It did 3 years and it was about time. RIP Xbox. I wasn’t playing anything on it anyway. Last I did was NBA 2k9, which I enjoyed.

Oh and I’m on Facebook and I waste a lot of my time on it. Twitter, I don’t pay much attention to these days. There are a lot more things to do on Facebook than Twitter. But I’m hitting two birds with one stone. I post both on my Facebook and Twitter status using Tweetdeck. Nifty app and works for me.

I’m getting sleepy now. I have places to go and people to kill tomorrow. Y’all take care.

Vacation Mode

My vacation has started. I'm here right now in Medellin, Cebu. Today, we went to one of Mayor Ricky Ramirez's beach houses located in Tindog. Although it didn't have that nice a beach, since the place is more of an industrial, commercial area, the mayor did have some nifty stuff. For example, he had a speed boat which he used to tour us around the different towns here in the north. Mayor Ricky practically drove us around in the boat and at the same time, gave us a tour. He's a real down to earth person. He also owns a 450cc wave runner which my sister was able to ride till it broke down. Had some engine problems, whatever. We were served with 2 lechons, which is a delicacy here as well as every other part of the Philippines. Pics to come.

As of yesterday, I am now unemployed. My vacation has started. I'm going to be working with RQ when I come back and I hope everything works out ok. To all at FALG, I hope you enjoyed the time we spent together and don't hesitate to contact me for any gimmicks or parties, ok?

I'm here at my mom's house right now writing this. My mom and dad are having beers downstairs. I'm about to join em. Hope I don't get too drunk. I love freedom.

My Current PC Specs

Due to lack of things to post, here are my PC Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 @ 2.4GHz
DFI 975XG Motherboard
1 x 2GB Kingston DDR2 800
1 x 1GB Kingston DDR2 800
2 x Seagate 250GB SATA Harddisk
Inno3D NVidia 8800GT-OC @ 650MHz
32" Sony Bravia LCD
Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard
Logitech G7 Gaming Mouse

Here are my laptop specs:
Macbook White 13"
Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz
160GB SATA Harddisk
Built-in Intel 950GMA Video

My PC's fine for me. But I know my laptop is something to laugh at. Heheh. Don't care.

Come Fly With Me

When flying Cebu Pacific Air, stay the hell away from seat numbers 10 and 11. Why? These are the exit seats. They will give you a hard time for sitting there. They won't allow you to keep your handbag on your lap or the bottom of the seat. They force you to read the instructions on the cards on how to open the exit doors. Okay, "force" is too harsh a word but I kinda felt like I was being forced to do it.

Also, when I came on board, I was immediately asked to put my bag in the compartment. I asked the flight attendant why. I was told that I would be sitting on the exit seats. Period. She didn't explain. If I were a dumber person, I'd ask, "So?!!!" Well, she was lucky. I understood fast.

So before I put my bag in, I took out my laptop. I went and slumped into the window seat with my seatbelt on and all. I took my macbook out of the sleeve. I didn't turn it on because I'm pretty sure they'll ask me to turn it off during takeoff. A little while before takeoff, another flight attendant came to me and told me to put my laptop in the overhead compartment and said I could get it back once we were airborne.

Okay. That's fucking fine with me. I understand regulations and all that shit. Why wasn't I told that when I took the damn laptop out of the bag? It would have saved some effort there. Are these people sure that they know what the hell they're doing? Okay whatever.

Now I'm airborne and took my laptop out of the bag to write this. No problem so far. A comment though. I know we're supposed to turn off all electronic devices during takeoff. Then why does my phone, along with a million others, have an airplane mode? What the hell is that for? I thought the reason they didn't want phones turned on is because it gives off some electronic signals that'll fuck up their equipment. Hasn't technology gone a long way since those days?

These days, it's just damn bureaucracy at work here. So in conclusion, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, and all those mobile phone companies are just wasting their money on Airplane Mode. To anyone from these companies, keep these features off of the phones you sell in the Philippines. These are completely useless to us.

The next flight I took was a totally different experience. When I approached the check in counter, I told the teller to put me in an aisle seat and to put me as far away from the exit seats as possible. I wasn't asked to put my bag in the overhead counter. My laptop was on my lap the whole time. I watched a movie in peace. We landed, I took a cab and I'm now in the comfort of our office. I hope I never have to fly again. But I'm sure I'll have to again soon. Tsk.

Lexmark and what they had to offer

I showed up for a whole day activity of Lexmark goodness. I answered a fairly intermediate writing exam. I had to admit, my brain was somewhat jolted. I showed up wearing my favorite shoes, the old Crocs and I got into an argument with a guard who considered them slippers. FYI, Crocs aren't damn slippers! We came to a compromise wherein Crocs were sandals. Ok fine. Sandals aren't part of the dress code. I know better now.

After that exam, I was interviewed by two lovely ladies who I gave my blog link to (I hope you comment ;) ). I was asked a series of questions regarding my previous employment. I told the truth. This was the first interview I ever had wherein I told the actual truth. These ladies were so warm and friendly, I just couldn't BS them.

I asked what type of pay am I going to expect. They didn't give me a direct answer. They told me that it would be based on my experience and how I did on the exam. I'd give myself 20k. Hee hee. But I know it's not up to me. Anyway, I also asked about the working schedule. They told me it was somewhat flexible. I could show up anytime from 8am-10am which is about the time I'd like to show up at work anyway. So that's ok, I guess.

I had lunch with my dad at a nearby mall before my next interview. Here's how it went: Since I was already telling the truth, I was interviewed by the manager. I told her about my previous employment as well and she asked me a series of questions. She also asked me a question that took me by surprise. "If my current employer gives me a counter offer, will I take it?" It took me some time to answer. I thought for a bit before opening my mouth. Again, without any BS, I told her that because of the my "job stability", I was inclined not to. I'm really used to lying to HR personel and managers. However, Lexmark gave me the impression that they were warm and accomodating. I just couldn't bring myself to lie to them even if I wanted to.

I learned something today that I should have learned a long ass time ago: The truth shall set you free.

Work work work

For our company to have a working network via the internet, we needed the help of a VPN. We initally subscribed to PLDT's Shops.work but it just isn't working out. At first, we were so okay with the idea. The thought that we would be able to get connectivity between all our sites was like bliss to us. And if there was a problem, PLDT would just take care of it. Well, our high hopes blew up in our faces. We were having more problems than what we bargained for, and PLDT did not take care of all of them. We decided to scrap the service.

Now, we were stuck wanting to set up our own VPN. Animansys, an IT company ran by Jimmy Alvarez, proposed a solution. It was going to be a VPN and Remote Access combined. Our data would still be recieved from our sites but the terminals recieving them were located at our main office. Meaning, there would be no actual data transfer over the network, just a remote server to receive the data. It sounded so good. I loved it. However, it costed a fortune. Our company wasn't willing to pay.

Now, we found a more cost effective solution. We enlisted the help of one of the IT Gods here in our country, RQ. He came up with a real solution. All we needed was to purchase a VPN server for our main office, and we just connect to there from our sites. Then a couple of remote access servers using Slackware and VirtualBox. And we're set. RQ did everything. I just have to familiarize myself with Slackware and Mikrotik RouterOS so that I can make it more customized. But it's fine just the way it is.

On the other hand, Lexmark gave me a call. They asked if I was interested in a Technical Writer position. From where I'm standing now, a Tech Writer position would be a step down for me. However, it's Lexmark calling, the big boys. So I don't know. I'll just show up and see what they have to offer. I don't have any final decisions yet. I just want to see where the winds of destiny blow me.

What My Work Has Done For Me So Far

Okay. So I forgot to mention that I was employed now. I'm a Systems Administrator for a Retail Company. I've learned a few useful things during my one month on the job.

1) Training is useless

• I came into this company with everything I know already in my brain.
• I was pushed into the fire with no know-how whatsoever about the company's operations.
• I did not go through any training whatsoever yet still I managed to survive this long. (Although, it's still too early to tell.)

2) Learn New Things

• On my second day, I was asked to revamp the website. Although I knew how to do basic HTML, it was not enough for the company's CEO.
• I learned Flash, Photoshop, CSS, and a little PHP just to get what the big boss wanted.
• The HR Manager of the company wanted me to develop an HRIS (Human Resource Information System) for her use.
  
• I have no idea what the hell it is so I googled it. I read and read until I found OrangeHRM. It's an open source HRIS system developed initially for Linux. However, since it was PHP based, it can be (and I did it) implemented in Windows.

3) Make Friends at the Office

• On my first day, I was introduced to a number of people around the office. I'm really bad at names but later on, I could remember everyone.
• I hang out with 4 chicks. The 4 most beautiful and somewhat powerful women at the office.
• Consequences...Nobody questions my DTR. Nobody asks why I don't show up. I'm never alone. I have reasons to look forward to going to the office.

And there you have it. I'm pretty sure my life sounds boring. And it is. So fuck you and fuck the world. I love Torrents!

What I Did With My Free Time

After finishing the website my boss has asked me to do, I helped a friend write a love letter. Here it is:

Hi Baby,

I've finished fixing your laptop. I hope you'll be able to use it na. Babe, I know you're stuck in a very confusing situation right now. I also know that it's really difficult for you to make a decision. I just want you to know that I completely understand. I understand everything that you're going through right now. This is why I don't want you to rush things. I don't want to see you get hurt. God knows what I'll do to myself if ever see you get hurt. I know how hard this might be for you but I really need to get some things off my chest.

Ever since I saw you again, all I could think about is you. Your smile, your eyes, your face, your voice, it's all I could think about everytime I'm alone. This only gets amplified when I look at our pictures. I never thought I would feel this strong for you. I knew I was in love with you when we started talking endlessly on the phone. No one else has ever made me feel this way in my entire life. I know this is starting to sound cliche, but that's how I really feel.

When I first saw you on that bus, my heart started skipping beats. I felt like I was breathing again. I felt like all the burden in the world was taken off my shoulder. It was then I knew that you were the one. That first hug, that first kiss, meant everything to me. My life had meaning again. It was you all along ****...You...I'm just hoping someday that you could be mine. Realistically though, I realize that it's
impossible because from my standpoint, I know you still love him. On the other hand, you and I both know that love has no boundaries.

Remember before when you were with ****? I used to tell you that I didn't want to see you cry. Well, now that I'm here, I will make sure that a single tear will never fall down your beautiful cheeks. I would even stop time if I had to. Your happiness means everything to me and that is the sole reason of my existence. I will make sure you are loved the way you are meant to be loved.

Baby, I'm not a very lucrative person. As you can see, I don't have money, nor a car, and not even a house. I am a nobody. All I could promise is that this deeply flawed excuse for a man will love you the best way he could. He will do everything he can to become as stable as possible so that he can give you the life you've always deserved. I want you to enjoy life as a queen because that's what you are to me. You've mentioned before that we start fresh, starting from the bottom. Without any hesitation, I know I'm up for that challenge. All I need is you beside me. You are my inspiration Babe, and you always will be. If you really meant what you said, I am more than willing to cross the highest mountain or the deepest ocean just to climb up that ladder with you. We can do this together, Baby. Please have faith.

****

I almost cried writing this letter. It felt so real and so raw, except that it wasn't coming from me nor did the recipient mean anything to me. Damn. I replaced all the names with an asterisk (*) for obvious reasons.

Also, I wrote a song. That same friend who I wrote the letter for is going to provide me with a tune. You won't understand the song unless you see this. Make sure you see the contestant who "performs" second to the last. I'm pretty sure you'll laugh. Here goes:

sometimes you're up sometimes you're down
either you smile or either you frown
you either slack off or you give it your all
one thing's for sure life's inebitabol

you live today you die tomorrow
you experience happiness then pain and sorrow
one day you're on top the next day you fall
one thing's for sure life's inebitabol

life is inebitabol you don't realize it.
life is inebitabol you just cant fight it.
life is inebitabol you think that you can.
life is inebitabol cuz your just half a man.

everything's going according as planned
people love you and you're in demand
you decide to risk it all in Philippine Idol
guess what bitch...it's inebitabol..

life is inebitabol you don't realize it.
life is inebitabol you just cant fight it.
life is inebitabol you think that you can.
life is inebitabol cuz your just half a man.

Other than this shit, I haven't been up to much, lately. I still have a lot of plans for the office which I can't implement right now because of an infrastructure issue. Thanks for your time.

Latest Movies I've Seen

Here are the latest movies I've seen and my brief summaries of them. Please take note, they're in no particular order.

The Rocker
It's a story featuring a fictional Robert "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson from The Office) depicting his life as a failed drummer from a rock band called Vesuvius. After getting ditched by the band, he goes on with his life as a mundane office employee until he loses the job and he somewhat got dumped by his girlfriend. He lives where his sister where his nephew invites him to join their teenage band called A.D.D. He becomes a rock star again and there's drama and comedy and all. I don't really think it's a must see but if you have nothing else better to do, then it probably is. The movie is available on most torrent sites. Just google "The.Rocker[2008]DvDrip-aXXo".

Note: If you have no idea what a torrent is, check out my tutorial here.

The Wrestler
This movie was interesting enough. Starring Mickey Rourke and Marissa Tomei. In this movie, you get to see Marissa's titties. The story is about a wrestler (Rourke) who is past his prime and how he makes a living doing what he does best, wrestle. He eventually falls in love with a stripper (Tomei). He also tries to have a relationship with his daughter whom he abandoned when he was still at the top of his wrestling career. The basic story is he seems to fuck everything up except wrestling. It's interesting but again, it's not exactly blockbuster material. It's downloadable on most torrent sites. Just google "The Wrestler (2008) [DvdScr] [Xvid] {1337x}-Noir" for an excellent copy.

Seven Pounds
This is a drama starring Will Smith. He takes on the role of an IRS agent who fucks up big time by messing 7 people up and makes up for it by giving 7 other people better lives. Again, not really blockbuster material, but if you like have a girlfriend and you like, wanna get laid after watching something, this is the thing to watch. I'm not really a sensitive guy, but the movie got me teary eyed towards the end. Again, google "seven pounds.[2008.Eng].DVDScr.DivX-LTT" for a decent copy.

The Fifth Commandment
This action packed action movie is more like my cup of tea. Starring Rick Yune (from Fast and The Furious) and Keith David, the movie is more like a beat 'em up if it were a video game. The story revolves around a Chinese kid (Yune) whose parents died during a drug deal and was adopted by a hitman (David) who brought him up to become one of the best hitmen of his time. Story is an absolute cliche of other hitmen action packed movies but the fight scenes are what etched an image into my brain. If you have a bunch of friends that are into action, and you all happen to be hanging out at your pad, this is a must see. Search for "The.Fifth.Commandment.2008.DvDRip-FxM". FxM did a great job on this one.

Bedtime Stories
Comedy drama starring Adam Sandler. I watched this movie with a friend and I fell asleep. I have no idea how it went. But it's not the movie's fault. It was mine. I hadn't slept for 48 hours at that time. I'll probably watch it again later when I have the time. Synopsis is available here. It's a fairly new movie so there aren't any DVDRips available. Just google "Bedtime Stories 2008 TELESYNC XviD-KingBen". It has a decent enough quality.

What's Going On Right Now

If you know me, you may already know that I'm out of a job. I have no girlfriend, and a brief summary of my life so far is sleeping all day and drinking all night. In between all that, I have also found time to read up on current gadgets and technology.

Currently, I'm hooked up on to my Xbox 360 which I got not less than a year ago. I've played a few games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Gears of War 2, Fable II, Spiderman Web of Shadows and the most recent, the new and amazing Prince of Persia. I have GameSpot to thank for that. However, GameSpot has been experiencing a lot of problems. I'm not sure where it's coming from but the CSS just doesn't load properly. Which is now why I'm getting most of my reviews from IGN. I've also wasted my time with games like Fracture, the new Golden Axe and Tales of Vesperia. When I say wasted, I mean wasted. I didn't enjoy those three games I mentioned. I just found them to be a waste of good DVDR+DLs. If you're from where I am, DVDR+DLs are like diamonds, expensive and scarce. It's a good thing I found a store where they sell them relatively cheap. I won't disclose the name though, so that they won't realize that there's a high demand. Hehe.

However, before I got to all the gaming goodness that the 360 had to offer, I had to go through every Xbox 360 gamer's nightmare, the dreaded "Three Red Lights". This happened about 3 days after I bought the darned thing. I was playing Crackdown at the time. Next thing I noticed, the screen went black and the 360 just powered off. When I tried to turn it on, three red lights. I wanted to die or kill someone. Not to worry though, I got a new found friend of mine known on the online community as joroje, to fix it. Apparently, this man has become a local sensation because of his 360 repair service. If you're in the area, and you have a fucked up 360, i highly recommend him. In case you were wondering why I didn't ship it back to Microsoft, it was because it was going to be timely and costly.

On a lighter note, I've discovered the magic of Google Reader. I've added a lot of my RSS feeds to it like Engadget and Gizmodo. These are my two favorite weblogs. I've also added feeds like Releaselog and Boing Boing. It took me about 10 minutes to know my way around the Google Reader service and found it to be real nifty. I couldn't think of any other way they could improve it. For me, it's perfect. But knowing the minds that work for Google, I'm sure they will come up with more improvements.

Aside from sitting in front of a monitor all day, I've also taken the time to kick it old school. I've been reading books. Yes ladies and gentlemen, books. Not the kind of books that you open with Adobe Reader, but the kind that's "made of trees and you have to flip over and you can't increase the font size" books. I already read the Twilight Saga, which cost me about $50 more or less. I'm currently making my way through old books like Richard Matheson's What Dreams May Come and Stephen King's It.

I have also seen a few movies of different genres from the Dark Knight to Stepbrothers. The most recent movie I watched was Quantum of Solace, which can be downloaded for free via BitTorrent but I can't go into that, because the CIA is probably reading this. A brief review of the new James Bond for me is, "Boo! You suck!"

I also have my collection of TV series which is taking a heavy toll on my Hard Disk. Currently, I'm watching the following:
1) Heroes Season 3
2) House MD Season 5
3) Chuck Season 2
4) Knight Rider Season 1

My dad also asked me to get a copy of The Middleman Season 1 Partial, which I found somewhat amusing. I'm currently trying to get Reaper Season 1, which I also found interesting after watching an episode on TV. Now my sister wants me to get Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty but I no longer have the space.

I've also seen a few documentaries thanks to Torrentz.com which is where I get most of my stuff. Zeitgeist, Bigger Stronger Faster, and the Endgame are only a few that I've seen. From what I noticed, if you take any of the documentaries people make these days seriously, you'll end up one fucked up individual. I'm almost there. Hehe.

I am also into music so instead of downloading music which may get me a hefty copyright infringement lawsuit, I've decided to make my own. I already am an adept player of the acoustic guitar and the piano. About a month ago, I also learned how to play the drums, thanks to a friend of mine who used to be the drummer from a former local band, Redlites. I don't mean to brag, but I think I'm getting good at it. I've also used my online expertise to learn how to read drum tabs, but I don't really think they're that useful, for now.

I'd like to end this post with my wishlist. First and foremost, I'd like to get my hands on a 42" LCD TV. It doesn't matter if it's Samsung or Sony, as long as it has the HDTV jacks I need to play with my 360. Where I'm from, there are no Bluray players out yet, and no HDTV cable service so the HDTV is only going to be for the Xbox, which makes it a far fetched buy right now. Thus, the wishlist. The next thing on my mind is a Yamaha Mio Scooter. About 2 months ago, the gas prices everywhere doubled. That was about the time I was going to give up hope for humanity and said fuck it all. I stopped driving my '94 Toyota Corolla, and took out my dusty Diamond Back mountain bike. Since then, I've been biking my ass around town. Just recently, gas prices dropped back to where they were before. As soon as I can get a new job, I'm driving a Yamaha Mio scooter to work.

Last but not the least, I want the ION Premium Drumset. Need I say more?

My Forbidden Obsession

Have you ever had that feeling in the pit of your stomach and you really had to fight it? Feelings are a very powerful thing, you know you can't escape them. You have to deal with it. But there are those times that even if those feelings get the best of you, you must learn to suppress it because if you don't, you'd be in deep shit. Deep shit as in, "I'ma cut of your balls if you don't fuck off" deep shit. Why can't life be as simple as "I love you, you love me, let's make out."

Why does love have to have rules like gifts, walks in the park, and the biggest bitch of all, marriage. Can't we just keep it simple? Why is it so hard for a guy to profess his feelings to a gal. I'll you why. Human beings are stupid.

Everyone says we're the dominant species on this planet. According to who?! It's just like the NBA. They declare one of the teams the "World Champions" at the end of the season. And the owners of those teams are all Americans. What the fuck, man? You're just playing yourselves. You never gave a chance to other countries to play you! How the hell can you declare yourselves WORLD champions? Same thing with human beings saying that they're the dominant species in the world. WHO SAYS? Righteous human beings.

Fuck! We're only occupying 10% of the world. The rest of the 90% is covered in water. Now if we base it on population, we aren't dominant. Now let's take a look at survival. When a baby giraffe is born, it falls 6 feet to the ground and still has to stand up and look for its mother tits before it could be fed. Try dropping a new born human baby 6 feet and tell me if even it couldn't stand up, see if it could still suck his mama's tits. Bullshit! Okay that's number one. Look at the cockroach. When it's born, it has to look for it's own food. No mama, no tits, no shit. Dig that. So survival is out. And reproduction? Mosquito males and females don't have to fuck to make baby mosquitoes. Well, that's not really a good example. What would the point of living be if we couldn't fuck? If I were a mosquito, I'd freakin' kill myself.

Anyway, back to my point. It's not really fair to say that human beings are the dominant species on this big blue ball. There is something that we excel in though. And this is something I think many will agree with. Human beings are the most complicated species on this planet. Life could be simple. Take the dog for example. No clothes, licks his own balls, and goes over to a lady dog, and fucks her brains out. No flowers, no chocolates, no walks in the park. Just walks straight up her, smells her pussy for a while, then starts wiggling his way into it. Simple.

Now why can't we be like that? We have to have all these rules. "I can't give you my virginity because we don't know each other that well yet." "Well fuck you bitch! I'ma look fo' some ho'! Ain't got no time fo' yo' shit!" or "Hey boy. I'm bored. Fuck me!" That's how we all ought to be. None of these shitty ass rules.

Back to my main point. The reason for all this ranting and raving is because a long time ago, I fell in love. She was perfect. She made me feel like I was on top of the world. If she had given me the chance, I'd have done the same for her. I worship her like the moon worships the sun. From the start, we couldn't be together because of forces out of our control. We had so much in common and we could talk all day and night. Unfortunately, it just wasn't meant to be. We fell out of touch. I learned to love other women, but the thing is, there's a missing piece in the puzzle. None of these other women really made me happy. I'd fall in and out of love and I didn't know why at first. It's been a while and I met the true love of my life again. Then I realized, all the women I fell in and out of love with were just excuses. She is the light of my life and all other women are shadows. For the brief time that we've been together again, I've cherished every single moment. Distance has separated us at the end, but my heart will never be apart from her. Not anymore. I will never forget the way she makes me feel. And at this point, I don't even care if she doesn't feel for me at all.

To my best friend, my love, my life. I hope and pray you find someone who can make you feel the way you made me feel, someday. As for me, after all I have been through, I don't think I can never find what I found in you. At this point, as long as I can see that you're happy, I will be as well.

On a lighter note, I would like to end by saying: Complications are what make our lives worth living.

Another Downward Spiral

Remember I've written previously that I've transferred to another company to expand my horizons. Instead, what I've managed to do was to sink down deeper into oblivion. I've resigned my prominent title in pursuit of a more promising career. Instead, I've boarded a sinking ship. The company I've transferred to is basically hell. I won't name names so that I could not be implicated for any reason. I'm ashamed to say, instead of standing up to what I believe in, I've decided to take the left hand path and just resigned my position. I don't really believe in the company. It's being run like a slave trade and I have no empathy or sympathy for the company's reputation. I have feelings for the people though. The supervisors have tried to make us feel as home as much as possible but the management in charge of the operations are making things even by giving us a very difficult time. I didn't really payed mind to it at first but later, things would only get worse. Now, instead of standing my ground and trying to make a point, I took everything sitting down. That was my mistake. I feel I could have done more but at this point, I think it's too late. I'm abandoning ship before it sinks. I'm moving on. But that doesn't excuse me from being responsible, even though I wasn't given any responsibility. I feel sorry for the people left that I care about. I'm very sorry to abandon the people I have grown to care for, but I have no regrets in leaving. I just hope this doesn't become my modus operandi for the rest of my life. Still, I can't help but think I could have done more.

Land Transportation Office (LTO)

I just love the corruption in this country. Two days ago, I went to the Land Transportation Office (LTO), equivalent to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the States. I just had my license expire oh, for about a year. A friend of mine, also had his license expire, except his expired for two years. I imagine, it'll either take him longer, or more expensive to get his license renewed. Anyway, we woke up that day, met up, and it was off to the LTO for us.

It was a hot Friday morning in Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines. My friend and I ate our breakfast separately, and at about 8 am, we arrived at the LTO office. Take note, we were in the domain of the government, and my friend and I, between us, we had 5 years of expired licenses. But when we pulled up at the LTO office with a Toyota Corolla, we weren't given a hard time. I parked my car in front of the office and locked it up. If you don't lock up your car here in our country, even if you park it in front of a police station, it's still gonna get robbed. That's protocol.

Anyway, almost immediately, two guys in street clothes approached us and asked us what we were doing there. No, we didn't get back in the car, we were used to this. These people are what we call fixers. They make our lives easier by handling all the paperwork, for a fee of course. Normally, it'll usually take 262 pesos to process an expired license. The wait for that would be like a week. In our case, we wanted it processed within the day. So that cost us about 1200 pesos. 1000 pesos is a lot of money for people like us. That's a lot of cigarrettes, man. 25 packs of Marlboro reds to be exact. But we took it. Hell, I've worked all my life to fix the system. And all my efforts were futile. A lot of people died doing the same. Hell if I'll die over this shit. If you can't beat them, take advantage.

Anyway, the guy told us there'd be no way it'd be done by the end of the day because we had to take the exam which took place on mondays. Okay fine. So we took care of the other papers, which were the pain in the ass in processing anyway. So we had our piss tested for drugs, and we had a medical examination. Funny, we were never given a vision test. Common sense should have told them that. Anyway, the "doctor" (I quoted because I wasn't sure if that man was really a doctor) took our vital stats. Height, weight, and in place of the vision test, blood pressure. Okay, I'll try to understand that. Can't have young, hot headed people driving on our streets. Fine.

After that, it was back to our fixers, who should have the other papers ready by now. They told to go to the back of the office to meet someone from the inside. This was a bigger operation than I thought. They had people on the inside. That was cool. Anyway, she gave us our papers and we had them signed by the chief himself. The chief was this short, fat, high strung, trash talking guy. That didn't bother me much because I work with high strung, mostly irate people. Anyway, the short, fat guy told us to come back on Monday.

Monday, 7:30AM. We got to the office of the LTO and we were greeted by our fixers, who told us to go to the back to take the written exam. One of them said not to worry because we would be given answers. I told him we didn't need the answers. It was a very easy written road exam, anyway. My friend said, "Don't worry 'bout it. We already paid for it, so let's just take advantage." Okay. So we went to the back.

There he was, guy in black, the proctor. It was now 8:00AM. The guy announced that the exam would start at 9. That was fine. That's usually how we do it in this country so people wouldn't be late. So the proctor started chit chatting among the examinees, mainly us. We were told, the exam was really, really difficult because it was computer generated. I said to myself, "whatever." He said, in one class, 10 out of 40 passed that exam, and 5 out of those 10 had to pay their way to pass. He also said the chief himself didn't pass the exam on his first take as well. Okay, that caught my attention. This must be a really difficult exam. I braced myself. My friend, who sat beside me, looked relaxed, but I bet he was also nervous.

The fat ass, high strung, LTO chief came out with the test questionnaires. He was trash talking again saying we were all going to fail. He shouted at one of the examminees who was standing in the corner asking him who the hell he was. I believe his exact words were, "Who the fuck do you think you are standing there like a somebody? Everyone else is seated yet you stand there like you own the place! Sit the fuck down!" I said to myself, "Ookay." Shortly he started giving out the exam papers, which consisted of 4 pages: 3 questionnaires and an answer sheet. We all got our pencils, and started scribbling.

Here comes the funny part. All of the questions in the exam were give-aways. Here's a question for example.

You should be alert and awake when on long drives.
If at any point you feel sleepy, you should:
a) Pull up to the side of the road and take a rest.
b) Take Metamphetamines or Crystal Meth.
c) Take Marijuana.

Okay, what the hell?! And 30 of 40 couldn't pass? Then I remembered. Most of the people in this city couldn't read or write in english. Damn. Anyway, I finished the exam as soon as I could, grinning, trying not to laugh.

I signed on the bottom part of the page, saying that I took the exam with a sound mind and body. And proceeded to submit my paper. My friend did the same. When I got to the front to submit the paper to the proctor, he pulled out from his desk another answer sheet all with correct answers and asked me to sign there. Okay. So this is how they do it. Everyone, even the people on the inside were in on it. Nice. Anyway, I compared all my answers with the answers from the other paper, and guess what. I had all the correct answers! And the chief himself couldn't pass. Oh my God. I could be the LTO chief. But at the wages these people are making, think I'll pass.

Anyway, we both finished the exam and laughed before going back to our fixers. They asked us how it went. We told them, "Just like chicken". They told us to come back at 1PM and our licenses would be ready. At this point, it was still like 10:30, so we went to visit an old friend who lived nearby until 1PM came. We had lunch, came back and sure enough, we were certified, non-professional drivers again. We gave our fixers a hefty tip. And off we went into the void.

One thing I learned from this whole experience, if you can't fix the system, take advantage.

Wazzzaaaaap

To my loyal readers (that's if there are any),

I've been busy and I have nothing to say. A friend of mine pulled the words out of my mouth.

This is what I wanted to say.

'Till next time

My experience with PLDT

October 23, 2006
7:00AM - i dialed 171 because my phone line could not make an outbound call and my DSL modem did not have any signal. I followed the prompts,

until i got to a rep. I told her my DSL wasn't working. She said that there is a problem on the system, and it will be fixed in 24-48 hours. I

asked her what the status of the account was. She said it was okay and it would be fixed in 24-48 hours. fine.

about 11:00AM - i called back. I felt uneasy about what that other lady told me. anyway, I was able to get in touch with another rep after waiting

on the line for about 10-15 minutes. i told her the same thing i told the other lady. this time, the lady said that the account was temporarily

disconnected because of a past due payment. (what the hell?! same company, same extension, same concern, 3 hour interval, and a totally opposite answer! what the heck is going on?!) anyway, i said fine and i will pay that due.

2:15PM - after i had a light lunch, i got ready to go to the office to speak with a manager. we settled the payments, processed the reconnection and i told her. "I do not really care much about the phone. What I need more is the internet." She said, "It's okay sir, the phone will be reconnected first, and shortly, the DSL will follow." Okay. I guess it's protocol. She assured me that I will be reconnected within the day. So I left it at that. The manager was very polite, by the way.

about 4:00PM - i got home, looked at the DSL signal on the modem. no light. i went into the room where the phone was and picked it up, no tone. fine. anyway, it was still 4PM. i went to get a drink of water. when i came back to the room to pick up the phone, there was now a dial tone. i called up a friend to check if i was able to call outbound. we were talking. things were starting to look good at this point.

7:00PM - i started to feel uneasy now because it's been 3 hours and still no dsl connection. i called up 171 and followed the voice prompts again. I was able to speak with another rep after 17 minutes of waiting. i told her my concern and everything that has transpired. she told me that since i already paid for the account, i will be reactivated in 24-48 hours. what the hell?! the manager at the office said, "...within the day." She said the ff: "Sorry po sir, sir, kase hindi kami maka bigay ng exact time kung kailan mag balik yung dsl ninyo kase pending pa ang activation. basta 24-48 hours ang oras para mag activate." For those of you who do not understand monkey language, this is the english translation: "I'm sorry sir, but we cannot give an exact time when the DSL connection will be back because the activation will take 24-48 hours." Okay. At this point, I was starting to really get pissed, but I maintained my composure. I told her that I was informed that I would be reconnected within the day. I asked her if there was anything she could do to speed up the process. She said that since the account has been paid for, she will do follow ups to activate my account. I said thank you very much, and hung up.

At this point, it was already 9:00 PM so I went to sleep. Enough aggravation for this day.

October 24, 2006
12:00AM - i got up and got ready for work. When I checked the modem/router, still no DSL signal. Fine. I understood because it wasn't business hours yet, anyway. I went off to work and did my daily routine.

11:00AM - i got home from work, immediately checked for the DSL signal, and still nothing. Okay. My heart rate went up again because of the anger building up. I called up 171, informed them of everything that has happened so far, and i got this service order number which they gave to me. They told me to call up 17144 and provide the service order number. Well, I did and this is what I got. "Sorry, this is an invalid extrension, please press 0 to speak with a customer service representative." I was pissed at this point because I felt I was given the runaround. Anyway, I remembered that I had two phone lines at home. One was mine, and the other was my father's. I pressed 0 and spoke with someone after about another 15 minutes of waiting. I informed the rep what happened and I was wondering if I could give the service order number instead to look it up. She told me that she was from a different department and told me to call once again 17144 to get to the correct department. I said, "Look ma'am. I just dialed that number and your prompt told me that I dialed the wrong extension." And she told me I might have dialed it wrong. (okay, bitch, we'll see about that!)

11:30AM - i was still on the line with the rep when I told her, "Stay on the line and I will dial that number with my other telephone line, okay?" "Okay," she said. I dialed 17144 on my father's line and I got the same voice prompt and another rep who told me just the same. At this point, I hung up my father's phone. I said to the rep on my phone that I got the same results. She told me that to keep dialing that number until I was forwarded to the correct department. What the hell?! Russian Roulette on an automatic response?! I told her, "Listen to me, if you cannot help me with this, forward me to your supervisor." She said okay and placed me on hold. She came back about 2 minutes, and told me that she didn't have a supervisor that was available. Hell. I was really, really pissed off at this point. But still, I managed to remain calm. I told her I'd wait. She placed me on hold for another two minutes, and then hung up.

The End.

Moral of the story: Subscribe to PLDT, and experience your very own customer service hell.

Note: I don't blame any of the reps that I've spoken with. I understand that these people are merely gears in a bigger wheel trying to make ends meet. I understand that they have limitations on what they can do on their systems. They can only help us so much. My main concern, is the system itself. PLDT, how much are you spending on your customer service department? How much do you really care about your clients? I guess you don't. After my 1-year lock-in, I'm moving to Globe. They may also have bad customer service there, but I'm willing to take the risk considering the kind of shit PLDT put me through.

P.S.: My DSL connection came back about 3:00 PM on that day. I'm wondering, if I didn't call to bitch about it, would it have been reconnected at all? I guess we'll never know.

Death is the Best Option

Life could be a dream. Unfortunately, mine is a full force nightmare. I don't know if I will survive a few more months of this. I have no life outside of work, nothing to look forward to every day that passes. I think if someone kills me now, it would be the most humane thing a person can do for me. Ever since I started living, I have been confused on what to do with my life. Fortunately, I never had any identity crises. But I believe I'm suffering worse. At least people who are confused with their identity have other people with the same problem to turn to. I, on the other hand, am literally alone. I have nobody who understands exactly what I'm going through. People who have taken little glimpses into the life I'm living say that I have it good. I'm a very lucky person. I am very lucky to be me. I do not feel that way. I feel I can be more, but I have not the faintest idea where to start. Hell, I don't even like my job. As a matter of fact, I don't like any job. I don't know, I think I'm better off dead.

Life So Far

I'm now working in this company as part of the production team for about a month now. As I may have earlier mentioned, I'm a customer service representative. My short time with this company has garnered a lot of learning experiences. I have learned patience, perseverance, and tolerance. At first, I have learned to like it. I handle all my relationships outside of work the same way I handle work, with caution and political correctness.

Although I am getting very good ratings for my job, it seems that my life is still as empty as before. I feel that I'm not cut out to do this type of work. I seemed to be happy with my last employment, except that it was really getting stagnant and I felt like I needed to move on. Now that I did, I still feel as empty as before, if not, maybe even more. Maybe I just don't know what to do with my life and my career. So for now, I guess I'll just keep on pushing on and keeping up the good work. Maybe someday, I'll finally get into the type of work that'll keep me happy.

Bob is still watching me from the sidelines. I bet he's saying to himself, "At least the bum had the courage to accept change." Nonetheless, I still feel like a fucking bum.

People at work have been great. They support me and I support them. Unfortunately, this isn't the crowd that I would like to be exposed to. It seems like I am a bit too mature for them. Not that I am bragging, but if that's how it sounds like, then so be it. At least one of them understands me. This person is the guy who also quit the old job to join the team. Unfortunately, our trio hasn't been united yet. Soon, we will be. And things may get back to the way they used to.

Internet is Shit

If you want to listen to a person blowing smoke, and using big words like they have a point, click on the link below.

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