Ancient Relic

Having a relic of a PC has its several obvious downsides that reared its ugly head this unfortunate time of December. Shortly after I posted my previous post, our computer's monitor went kaput. XD

After a long long battle with an inane repair person (2 weeks) and a short skit with a weird but skilled repair dude (3 days), the monitor was repaired. Finally. For you guys, steer clear of repair shops that have little or no diagnostic tools as the repair skills of a repairman is not very apparent at first glance. The inane guy couldn't find what was wrong with my old black monitor for a span of 2 weeks. The weird guy found out what was wrong with it in 10 minutes flat.

Then, after a short celebration for having the monitor repaired, my PC went kaput. XD

I had to spend a few more hours transferring the important innards from my PC to Hansel (it's the name of the PC my wife used before, don't ask XD). I had it up and running, sure, but not with the results I'd expect. Right now I'm still struggling on how to correct the stuttering audio output.

Ah well..

The Ordertaker

I went to the Ayala Malls to look for a tower PC that would fit the profile of the PC for the Philips Stressvue stress test machine (for people who haven't been to my old blog click here.

For something this high-tech, the Stressvue actually needs a legacy nine pin serial port to connect to a treadmill. I'm not sure if using a USB to serial converter would work, I haven't gotten around to experiment if it works. Only a few shops carry HP desktops (as needed by the machine) and all of them are the new Pavilion models WITHOUT a serial port. And none carry a 17'' Philips LCD as needed by the machine.

Well, I only tried the Park Square I shops where they are all confined. I remember reading T3 where a shop in Greenbelt carries a nice range of electronics, but I'm not about to walk that long for that one mythical shop which might not even carry what I'm looking for. ^^;; The PC I can understand but for crying out loud - a high-class mall such as the Ayala Malls do not even have a shop that has a Philips 17'' (or better) LCD monitor? I'm calling the attention of the owners of the Park Square I shops, give these people with ill-gotten money branded and obscenely expensive electronics to burn their ill-gotten money with! lol XD

On the way home in a converted Mitsubishi L300 Van with "air-conditioning" (the fare costs 45 Php from Park Square II to Imus, I'm not complaining about the obscenely expensive fare because it's actually convenient - but they should install top quality air-conditioning with the money they're making because it's impossible to cool down a full passenger cabin with that crappy air-conditioning unit it comes with), I listened to four sample tracks from PNE's Halina sa Parokya Album. I had to cover my mouth because I was snickering like a crack junkie from the insane lyrics of the songs. If you haven't heard the new album of Parokya yet, try singing the below lyrics to the tune of System of a Down's Chopsuey and you'll know what I mean. XD

The Ordertaker

Parokya ni Edgar
Halina sa Parokya

Waiter! Pa-order naman ako ng Porkchop
At tsaka ng dalawa ngang kanin
Lagyan mo na rin ng konting
Meron ba kayong chopsuey? (wala po)
Meron ba kayong adobo? (wala po)
Meron ba kayong bulalo? (ubos na po)
Meron bang kahit na ano? (wala)
Wala?!
Hoy! wala na bang ma-o
Wala na bang ma-order, ma-order
Shit! Meron ngang menu
Wala namang ma-order, oh waiter
Sana naman may siopao man lamang o burger
Pa-order! Pa-order! Pa-order
Waiter!
Pa-order naman ako ng Porkchop
At tsaka ng dalawa ngang kanin
Lagyan mo na rin ng konting ketchup
Meron ba kayong chopsuey? (wala po)
Meron ba kayong adobo? (wala po)
Meron ba kayong bulalo? (ubos na po)
Meron bang kahit na ano? (wala)
Wala?!
Hoy! wala na bang ma-o
Wala na bang ma-order, ma-order
Shit! Meron ngang menu Wala namang ma-order, oh waiter
Sana naman may siopao man lamang o burger
Pa-order! Pa-order! Pa-order
Waiter! (Waiter!)
Order! (Order!)
Waiter! (Waiter!)
Order! (Order!)
Waiter na gwapito ano bang meron dito?
Waiter na gwapito meron bang Chicken Mami
Longsi, Tosi, at Tapsi, Pancit, Lugaw, at Lomi
Tokwa't Baboy, Pares Beef, Fried Siomai
Gutom na talaga ako (fried siomai)
Gutom na talaga ako
Hoy! wala na bang ma-o
Wala na bang ma-order, ma-order
Shit! Meron ngang menu Wala namang ma-order, oh waiter
Sana naman may siopao man lamang o burger
Pa-order! Pa-order! Pa-order
Tang-inang karindirya wala man lang pang miryinda
Tang-inang karindirya wala man lang pang miryinda

The Morning Rush

Think of this as guide to go to work everyday of the week when you live in Imus Cavite and work in New Manila Quezon City. ^^ We are assuming that you can get prepared for work in one hour from wake-up to leaving your house, work 8am to 5pm, Mondays thru Fridays only, have a 15 minute grace period on time-ins, and a psychiatric evaluation ensuring you are completely insane doing this everyday probably for the rest of your adult life.

> Normal days except Monday, Wednesday.

1) Wake up at 5:15 AM
2) Leave home at 6:15 AM
3) Take the long bus trip to the Pasay Taft MRT Station. If you plan on getting a guaranteed seat on the bus leave 15 minutes earlier. If you want to sit down during this long arduous trek(especially if you're carrying something heavy or slept only 2 hours), take the Baclaran-Coastal jeepney. Please note that taking the jeep means you have drop off in front of the Baclaran Redemptorist Church (or somewhere nearby) and take the MRT-Nichols jeepney to the Pasay-Taft Station. The bus costs 13 pesos, the jeep costs 27.50 for the two rides (20 for the first, 7.50 for the second). You should be there by 7:40 AM.
4) Taking off from number 3, The train ride from Pasay MRT to Cubao MRT is 20 minutes long. The fare costs 14 Pesos. There will always be long lines for the tickets so be sure to have preloaded value tickets with you. The lines take as much as 15 minutes if you're unlucky. To plan for your exit, always proceed to the first car and take a seat near the third door. This will put you in front of the stairway nearest the Farmer's Plaza exit.
5) If the time on your watch is 8:00 AM, you'll still get to your timecard before 8:15 hits. Make sure to briskwalk all the way across the footbridge and towards Aurora Blvd to the Quiapo-bound jeepneys. Make sure to pick the jeepneys that are near full and/or nearer the traffic stop. If it's 8:05 AM, that's pushing it.. but 50% of the time you'll still make it by 8:15 AM!

> Mondays
You're fucked if you leave anytime after 5:15 AM. XD The traffic at the Palico diversion road will kill you and even then there's the SM Bacoor traffic to worry about. lol

> Wednesdays
No big shit if you leave on time. The only traffic to worry about is the semi-congested Roxas Boulevard in front of the Baclaran Church.

> If the day/s after the weekend happens to be a holiday...
Treat the next working day as a Monday.

> If schools have no classes
You get almost 20 minutes off your travel time!

> In short - don't be an idiot and get an apartment near Quezon City. XD But if you're a deadbeat like yours truly, just leave early. ^^;;

Adios Friendster Blogs

As my wife pointed out (she had to drill a hole the size of the moon through my cranium to get the message through), I'm sorry, the free friendster weblog sucks lol. It took me weeeeks to finally realize it. And it took me 2 minutes to create a brand spanking new blog on blogger *hugs blogger*.

I was too busy and deep in design rut to even consider switching at first. Maybe watching too many zombie movies finally got me out of my online catatonia lol.

So we're off to a fresh start, and down with the 'chronicles' in blog titles! Sorry Blackwing. XD