Story Behind the iPod

Yes I did buy the latest iPod - 60GB white 5G video. I bought it on my first day in Chicago after my fly back and on the first day of the year 2006.

I do admit buying one raised lots of eyebrows and sparked discussions about "why pay the extra 10-20 bucks to get an iPod when you can get the cheaper but equally effective one?". My reason is simple. It's an iPod.

But this purchase is a little more complicated than that.

Flashback to a few years ago. I was the JSE working for the support team. I was the "by the book" programmer who was having trouble grasping the ways of our support team. I was having trouble adjusting. It was that one night after Kat left when I told myself that given the chance, I'll turn things around, I'll do good and when I'm good enough, they'll send me onshore and I'll be in Chicago where I'll be with Czar (who was our onshore liaison that time) and I'll buy me an iPod... IF given the chance.

For some unexplained reason our manager did. Until now I couldn't understand why but she did and I promised myself she wouldn't regret it. I stayed.

Last October, I was sent to Chicago. Last January 1st, I bought the iPod. Last Thursday (Jan 19), Czar was sent here.

The iPod is more to me than just an mp3 player or a hard drive or a leisure item. It's a little white thing constantly telling me "told ya we'll make it"... and that I owe someone something.

That's one monkey off my back. :)

Isterling

"Isterling"

Ang mahiwagang gusali ng Sterling sa Chicago
Kung saan natutulog, nagsasama at nagkukuwentuhan
Maraming nangyayari, maraming nagmimilagro
Maraming bagay na di ko talaga maintindihan

Bakit kami nakukuryente sa handles ng revolving door?
Bakit laging may puting aso na nakabantay sa aking pintuan?
Bakit amoy pritong isda tuwing bababa ka sa 15th floor?
Bakit nga ba talaga dito madaming nagkakatuluyan?

Bakit may kanya-kanyang paraan ng pagyosi?
Bakit sa gym na ito naisipan magworkout ni Goldberg?
Bakit habang nagbubuhat ay nanood siya ng “The OC?”
Alam nyo bang walang ka-rhyme sa Tagalog ang “Goldberg”?

Ilan lamang ito sa mga pinagkakatakahan ko,
Bakit araw araw parang parati na lang may sunog?
Bakit ba mga tao ayaw magpagupit o parating nagpapakalbo?
Bakit yung mga Polish cleaners marunong na magtagalog?

Mahiwaga nga naman talaga ang gusaling ito
Maraming kakaiba at magagandang alaala
Iba iba ang itsura at isipan ng mga tao
Ngunit bumubuo ng isang malaki at masayang barkada

Nges Hu

Got this one from Jaye... thanks! :P

Minsan, umuwi ng maaga si Mister para sorpresahin ang kaniyang kabiyak. Dahan dahan siyang pumasok sa kanilang bahay at hinanap ang kaniyang Misis. Nakita niya itong abala sa pagluluto at di namalayan na siya ay dumating.

Maingat siyang lumapit sabay takip sa mga mata ni Misis sabay sabing "NGES HU!!!"

Sabi naman ni Misis, "Lintek, nges-hu, nges-hu ka pa diyan ikaw lang naman ang ngongo dito!!"

Arnie and the Solutions Factory

The average height of people in the US is 5-8 to 5-10. I’m just basing it on observation and not on any scientific fact so you statistics geeks can back off. People here are tall. Some are er… wide. In other words, compared to the Filipino onshore people here (sans Enrico), these guys are giants.

The onshore people here are a happy crowd – always laughing and singing even without Debbie’s karaoke mic thingie. Some dance in their own weird way. Me? I dance with two staplers in my hand usually after resolving a job failure.

A bunch of short people, singing and dancing while working for this big company in a place known for chocolates for people taller than them and eats disgusting (to others) stuff like fried shrimp paste.

"Oompa Loompas"… :P

(Go watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory if di nyo na gets :D)

Random Thoughts

One of the best ways to annoy the people in your office is to turn up the volume of the speakers and ask lots of questions from your friends through AIM, Yahoo and MSN. Once your friends all reply back almost simultaneously. You will be labeled as an instant nuisance. Apparently the sound of IM’s coming in already has a instinctive effect on people very much like hearing the text tone of your cell phone which makes you automatically grab for your phone even if you already know it’s not for you. Hey I haven’t done this before but I was sure wrongfully accused for it once.

~~

I was able to catch Chronicles of Narnia early this week, the movie that I was anticipating ever since I saw its trailer early this year. (note: may contain spoilers ahead). Since it’s based on a children’s book, I’m not expecting the storyline and the acting to be somewhere similar to Lord of the Rings. Most critics loved the performance of the main characters though I didn’t. I thought it was kinda cheesy but I think maybe because the child in me didn’t come out when I was watching it. A few funny/interesting scenes though…

• The heroes were given weapons by… Santa Claus/Father Christmas?!? Compare that to how Harry Potter got his wand or how Aragorn got the Anduril Sword. After that scene, I was honestly expecting Humpty Dumpty walk on by with AK-47’s or Mother Goose with molotov cocktails.
• The polar bears pulling the witch’s chariot looked familiar. Weren’t they drinking coke just a few minutes ago?
• Near the end, Susan shot the witch’s servant (I think he was Ginarrbrik) with an arrow. Was that scene really necessary?!? That was the only scene where Susan used her arrows against a live target. Then again, I might just be comparing her to Legolas too much. I think this was just a late addition to the movie after the writers discovered that she was given such a cool weapon but never to use it yet in battle. (“Make her shoot something! How do you expect the toy version of that weapon to sell?!?”)
• They weren’t able to recognize the lamppost but they recognized the professor?

~

What’s wrong with MSN Messenger?!? One of the applications I heavily rely on just conked out on me. For some reason I appear offline to others, they can’t send messages to me and I can’t messages to them eventhough I’m really online. It was also encountered by other people here in the office so it must be a network virus thing.

Damn virus.