You know your life has become boring when…

You check your internet browser and your bookmarks read out:

• Economist.com
• Los Angeles Times
• Times Online
• Stanford’s Entrepreneurship Corner
• Business Week
• HSBC Internet banking
• …

Oh my god I think I’m getting old (and boring)…

I Lost My Ipod

Okay tonight’s a sad night — I lost my 120G Ipod Classic! gadamit.

After dinner with my father at a mall, I went back to the office to finish my EMEA shift. He told me to ride a cab, but silly me took the MRT in an effort to cut down on expenses. It was honestly a practical choice since my office was only a station away. So I rode the jam-packed ‘ol MRT hurriedly after parting with my father.

First of all, I got on the wrong train (going northbound). I realized my mistake immediately and transferred carts on the next station. As I was getting out of the cart, a woman was shrieking on top of her voice, hurling vindictives at me, “Stop pushing me you rude @#$%^& boy!” I was barely touching her so I was baffled on why she was making such a scene. I got off hurriedly anyway, a little annoyed. I proceeded to transfer lanes and got off on the correct station this time.

I was finally back in the office when I realized my left pocket was empty. I panicked and tried to scour the floor if I had dropped my Ipod. After emptying all my pockets, I realized it was truly gone and the fact sunk in that I have really lost it.

I gathered my thoughts for a while. I then realized how I must have lost it. I remember reading in the news the modus operandi of some pickpocketers. The woman earlier must have been an accomplice. She tried to distract me while someone must have reached into my pocket. I would have hardly noticed it, there were lots of people coming out of the cart.

I couldn’t care less about the physical product (ok maybe a little), but the songs! the songs! The songs which I have painstakingly compiled over the years. I have no backup copies! I remember the sleepless nights tidying up my collection — renaming the artists, editing the genre, and even adding album art for EACH song.

Carrying a tune — maybe not for a while or in the near future. Guess I will have to save up again. Sigh..

*Update* Bought myself an Ipod Touch 3rdGen 64G. So much better, I don’t think I’m ever going back to Classic!

Close-up moment

I was running late for office this afternoon (EMEA shift at 3pm) and as usual, had to flag down a cab next to my building lobby.

There was this beautiful black girl standing next to the main entrance, and obviously she was trying to flag down a cab as well but was too wary staying under direct sunlight (ironic eh considering she had loads of melanin?:D). I could tell that she was becoming impatient.

Now for all you Makati folks out there, you know that when it comes to flagging down a cab, chivalry is dead! You gotta learn how to be rude or you will end up dry and dusty on the roadside for hours. I used to be “the” nice guy, but people will trample on you.  They will deliberately overtake you in a queue even if you’ve arrived at the scene before them. Adaptation, I guess, toughens you up.

But I do make those exceptions, especially for cute girls (well not entirely true i.e. when cute girls are with boyfriends). Okay I’m being discriminatory, I admit.

So I finally flagged down a cab, but I offered it to her. Her face brightened up and gosh, she had the biggest smile I had seen in the longest time. Shiny, pearly, straight white teeth! Oh they almost blinded me. I wanted to smile back in return but didn’t coz of my metal teeth. Damn you braces.

Anyway, my point is that she really made my day. I’m certainly smiling now even as I type.

Look far and when you get there, look farther

I was organizing some storage boxes in my apartment when I happened to stumble on some college paraphernalia. I unearthed an essay I wrote almost four years ago about a career on IT. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect (or unusual) because today I am officially celebrating my one-year anniversary as an IT yuppie.

To my amusement, the essay became a self-realizing prophecy, and it breathed into me a renewed sense of vigor. I guess I have to constantly remind myself that there is still so much to learn.

When I was in high school, I was always close with my English teachers, especially with one English teacher. In a morning conversation in the faculty room, she made a remark that I will never forget, “Ten years ago, I walked into the lobby of this school and waited for my big break. It still hasn’t come.”

In saying that, I always thought that my teacher had two points she wanted me to hear. One, seniority trumps. She had to stand in line and wait for her turn in this school – no doubt about it. Two, I believe she wanted me to understand her attitude – her belief system. Her belief was that there was nothing to get enthusiastic about and nothing to elevate herself from the drudgery of her own work.

I remembered these messages when I chose my career path in college. Our career begins and ends with us. It’s all about us. And it’s all about attitude. What we perceive as rewards and incentives, with enough time, frustration, or failure, can easily be perverted as nothing more than decorations and worthless entitlements.

When I applied for admission in this college, I got into the BS Management Engineering Program – an Honors Program. Sure, it would have been truly prestigious if I were to graduate from it. However, my passion has always been with computers. So the week before classes started in my freshman year, I decided to shift to BS Management Information Systems. I thought that perhaps I was getting the best of two worlds – it had management and computer subjects.

I was entering into a career in information technology, but I also have doubts that my future work would probably have (1) long work hours, (2) inconsistent and changing expectations of knowledge, (3) exceedingly high customer service, (4) truly agonizing time investments in training, documentation, analysis… and so on. Most would agree that’s the short list, but if I truly do not like what I do – I mean, if I’m not immersed in my job to some degree – if I hate any of this, then maybe MIS isn’t the right career path for me. Incompatibilities between immersion and other aspects of my life will only promote negativity and frustration. Contention is normal, but balance should be obtained to where the attitude towards the job and a private lifestyle equals some positivism.

Maybe I would dislike the service commitments in my “would-be” work; perhaps I would hate carrying a pager or a cell phone for a midnight technical support problem. Or maybe I’m contented with limited career advancement and a stable job in IT… until a technology comes along to replace me, or, somebody can do my job cheaper in India. But it’s too late to turn back now, since I’m almost halfway into finishing this course. Stagnation and complacency is not a characteristic of the industry I would be getting into or of IT people.

Some suggest that the successful are extremely lucky. Sure, luck helps. We should never turn down even the smallest affection from luck. But really, luck only affects short-term conditions. Over the duration, success consists of doing the basic things really well and improving them slowly over time. And because information technology is such a demanding field, immersion is almost required to fully comprehend and know the basics.

My father once told me to never expect to stop learning; I, and others in my generation, will be going to school for the rest of our lives. Immersion in the field is a requirement to remain competitive, yet it is also a requirement to remain confident in what we do: up-to-date, relevant, and involved. I don’t believe that a four, six, or ten year education means that I can stop. Now and then, I pick up new books, read new articles on the Internet, stay involved and stay relevant. This is truer today that any other time in information technology as the tools, methods, and techniques are constantly changing. More learning equals more confidence. More confidence equals a better attitude. A better attitude equals success.

My English teacher in high school failed to stay up-to-date, relevant, and involved; she was laid off. Perhaps she believed that, one day, she would get lucky and the situation would change. Ultimately, she felt powerless to change the perceptions of others and orchestrate the outcomes of her own career. I believe her negativity affected her ambition, her attitude, and her surroundings. Her circumstance is the natural outcome of her own belief system.

Musings on “Ulan”

Dumidilim na naman ang langit. At sa isang saglit, bumuhos ang ulan. Makailang araw na ring hindi umuulan. Subalit umulan o umaraw, ano ba ang halaga nito sa akin? Mabilis ang takbo ng aking mundo. Malimit lamang akong humihinto at magmuni-muni. Matagal na rin nang ako’y huling nagmuni-muni. Napagmasdan ko ang ulan. Sa labas, matuling tumatakbo si Manong Guard para sumilong at ang mga binibini’y nagtatakip ng kanilang buhok gamit ang kahit anong mahagilap sa takot na mabasa ito.

Masarap pala ang pakiramdam ng ulan. Wala nang mas komportable pa kaysa paghiga sa kama, malapit sa isang bukas na bintana at nakikinig sa pagbuhos ng ulan. Wala nang mas nakabibilib kaysa pagliwanag ng apat na dingding ng aking kwarto dahil sa lintik na yumuyugyog sa ilalim ng lakas ng kulog. Naaaliw ako sa langit tuwing umuulan – mga nagdradramang ulap habang kumukulimlim ang kalangitan. At tila laging sariwa ang amoy ng ulan.

Sa Cagayan de Oro, hindi masyadong umuulan. Minsan inaabot ng ilang araw. Ngunit kapag ito’y dumating, ito’y sa paraang may paghihiganti. Ang ulan ay matinding bumabagsak sa mga bubungan. Nagbibigay ito ng dahilan upang manatili sa loob ng bahay. Kakaiba ang ulan sa Cagayan de Oro. Walang nagdradramang ulap, walang kulog, walang kidlat. Sa madaling salita, dinadagdagan lamang ang nakabubuwisit na lamig. Nakakainis ang mga putik na natatapakan ko sa daan o kaya’y kailangan mo pang umiwas sapagkat may padaang umaarangkadang sasakyan. Sa Cagayan, walang mga coffee shops na puwede mong puntahan para makapag-kape o manigarilyo. Nakakalungkot ang ulan.

Ganoon ang pakiramdam ko noon. Ngunit ngayon, ako’y nasa Maynila na. At kani-kanina lamang napagtanto ko na hindi pala ganoon kapangit ang ulan. Nagigising ako sa mga luntiang damo at sa mga namumulaklak na punongkahoy. Para bagang nalilinis ang aking kapaligiran, ang buong siyudad. Ito’y nagiging sariwa muli, pisikal man o espiritwal.

Nabuhay akong muli pagkatapos ng ulan. Unti-unti nang naglaho ang mga madidilim na ulap. Marahil bumagsak na ang huling patak ng ulan at kasabay nito, nakaramdam ako ang kasiglahang ngayon ko lamang nadama. Ang lupa’t kalangitan, na kailanma’y di magtatagpo, ay napagbuklod ng simpleng ulan. Maaari din kayang mapagbuklod nito ang ating mga puso? Maari din kayang ang May-kapal ang nagbubuhos ng kanyang mga biyaya upang baguhin ang mga bagay-bagay?

At kahit ako’y babalik man sa Cagayan, hindi na akong magaalinlangan pang umupo sa beranda at pagmasdan ang ulan.

Lucifer the Rhetorician

I just finished reading John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and I give it two thumbs up. Now I understand why it is often referred to as ‘the noblest poem in the English language’ and one of the most imaginative. From the opening phrase, when the poet calls upon the Heavenly Muse to sing of “Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit of the forbidden tree,” to the final lines describing the departure of the fated couple from Eden, Milton narrates the story with unrivaled drama, emotion, and vivid visual effects.

I especially liked the war scenes–imagine angels throwing mountains at each other. Haha.

But then, a thought comes to me. How the hell did Lucifer persuade a THIRD of the “heavenly hosts” to revolt against God? He must have been a very, very good elocutionist (or liar) to dissuade even the most reputable of the seraphs. Too bad he’s not a politician, he could have gotten away with it.