Working as a process specialist in a boutique graphic design agency (read: small but big clients) has me working fulltime now, juggling work there and two classes (midterms was hell) of 20+ students each has me burned out by the day's end.

But the most important -- and exciting -- development of the week was that we got a house. Among it's unique qualities is its on a bend of a quiet street ironically called "Red Arrow". Structurally, it's a menegarie, but it's transforming itself under deft hands, into a very liveable space. Light takes plenty of shelter there, which was what drew us to it.

Earlier we had looked at other places, among them the prospect of tearing down what was once Nora Aunor's house. The excitement of saving some bricks -- possibly from her bedroom -- and selling them on Ebay was, to me, electrifying. Alas, it was not to be and the structure, apparently built on a weak foundation (no doubt some architect poser conned the actress), remains to sink slowly into the same oblivion that swallows its former resident.

Also, I'm raring to go on a new komik. The plot's formed in my head and I just have to do the research. Bolstered by, of course, GMA's recent ultraparanoia. A pre-emptive strike is, in the final analysis, true to form.

Also, and to the chagrin of my wife, I am now bluetoothed. I surrender all my day-to-day nuances to the promise that technology will magically sweep through and rescue me from organizational disrepair. I am very fond of using it as a remote control (my cellphone), which is symbolic of urbanite laziness -- the freedom to do other things, like lie down. But the real smell test was whether it will sync with my Mac. The jury at apple.com is still out on that.

Finally, podcasts. On the journey to work, I use my ipod to distract me from the push and shove (and scratch) of riding the MRT. I ride during the peak hours, so, yes, I'm rubbing off strangers (as they rub off me). It's a luxury for me -- deprived for too long of ESPN Sportscenter -- to listen to ESPN radio and Arianna Huffington, among others. There's a boatload of free content, and I'm likely to explore that too.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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1. If you're getting off the last station stop, find the most forward car. On the MRT, this would be the first car. On the LRT, it would be the second car, unless you're a woman, which means you get preferential treatment in your own "female only" car. This car, by the way, is often 50% less crowded than the rest of the train. Tourists can fake ignorance, smile, and probably get away with getting on the "female only" car because I've seen the security guards shy away from enforcing the "only" part on at least one tourist.

2. If you're getting off any other stop, hop on a middle car. This ensures that you won't have to fall in the back of the line when exiting. I often get off Ortigas station and find only one -- one -- turnstile working for exiting passengers.

3. Wear your backpack in front. For two reasons: it's safer and it's easier to present its contents when your belongings are checked at the entrances.

4. There are no off-peak hours. There is one off-peak hour: 12-1pm. Before and after that, you'll be pushing up on someone else.

5. Buy a stored value ticket if you're riding daily. It saves you at least 10 minutes at the station, because lines to buy single journey tickets are long.

6. Don't wear open-toed footwear. Your toes will get crushed.

7. There's a train every four minutes or so, so wait if you can. If you couldn't get on the last train because it was already packed, there will be another in a bit. On the LRT, just make sure you remember where the doors opened the last time -- the stations don't have arrows to mark where the train doors will be.

8. No one's going to sell you anything. Nope, those Family First people won't be there.

9. The only way you'll lose something is if you drop it, or you present the opportunity for a clandestine dispossession. If you zip everything up and don't wear loose clothing, you'll be fine.

10. Spot the fanners. Some LRT car's A/Cs might be on the blink. To avoid hopping on a humid car, watch the train as it rolls along. If you see people fanning themselves, choose another car.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 03:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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On the company's web site, if you click on "Telegrams" in the left-side navigation bar, you're taken to a page that ends a technological era with about as little fanfare as possible:

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."

Next up: CD players.

Read here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 04:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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View here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Tonight I learned yet another helpful life lesson from one of my patients. If you're on the street corner selling coke and you see the cops coming to bust you don't eat all your coke. Having been taught this valuable lesson I will now know better than to do this and wind up going to the ER in handcuffs, seizing uncontrollably, aspirating my vomit and doing all of this with a white powder moustache looking like and ad for "Got Coke?"

Now if that isn't funny:

#6 Never, ever leave flashlights, shampoo bottles, beer bottles or any long, circular object on the floor because someday you will fall on it and it will somehow, work its way up your rectum.

Read more.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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America Online and Yahoo, two of the world's largest providers of e-mail accounts, are about to start using a system that gives preferential treatment to messages from companies that pay from 1/4 of a cent to a penny each to have them delivered. The senders must promise to contact only people who have agreed to receive their messages, or risk being blocked entirely.

The companies argue its a way to stop spam. Also a nice way to make a neat million or two. Besides, what's to stop spammers from paying the fee? Even worse, they will *still* let the unpaid through, but those who paid e-postage, in contrast, will be "treated preferentially."

Plus:

The system will apply not only to mass mailings but also to individual commercial messages like order confirmations from online stores and customized low-fare notices from airlines.

Read here.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Poor Zoren.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Then I remembered this stat, which, as stats go, is strikingly coincidental:

Speaking during the launch of a new DOTS center in the Silliman Medical Center in Dumaguete City, Benedicto said TB claims the lives of 75 Filipinos daily.

Everyday the same number of people die of tuberculosis. Every day, day in and out. These people at the ULTRA just happened to be healthy enough to roll out of their cots and stand up in the heat for days -- the eery 75 that could otherwise have died of TB a day later. Reduced to a statistic like that, it seems palatable. But if it happens in live television, the needlessness we have come to ignore becomes spectacular.

At the end of the day, it's the same poverty that drove these people to camp out for days to get a chance to win one jackpot worth $384. Today, another 75 will die of TB, and tomorrow as well. As morbid as this sounds, those who suffer TB would probably choose to die on television rather than quietly pass away into a statistic. When poverty kills, even the choices are without dignity.

Posted by Bulletproofvest at 09:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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