Deprived

It's been 3 days already. I haven't had much sleep.

The first 2 days of work I felt like I was in a seething 48 hour drunken stupor. Light headed, too warm for comfort, and dead tired.

The girl I asked out for breakfast woke me up.

I'm a very light sleeper, a little noise can wake me up like a fog horn in a port. I'm not exactly complaining though.

I'm glad it's nearing the end of the work week. I can't go for so long without sleep. Not like in my younger years.

*yawn*

I better try getting more sleep while I'm on a bus towards home.

Tuvo Una Fiesta Con Pablo

I partied out last saturday.

Pao's fiesta birthday bash.

I woke up late & hurried over. I didn't feel like wearing jeans that night, it was just too warm. I didn't want to wear the new shirts that I bought because I wanted to have them washed first, it's always a good idea. You never know who wore them and on the plus side, you get to smell like you were freshly laundered. When I arrived in Pasig, the drinks just started flowing. I had the buffalo wings made by Prec.

It was the best i've ever had!!

I just kept on nibbling & nibbling just before I had the vodka that was being passed around. There was a lot of singing & a lot of joking around. I sort of felt overdressed despite wearing shorts. I was comfortable though & didn't care if my shirt was not exactly proportional to my shorts. Then again, I never really cared how I look like. Ha ha

After a few rounds of bad singing & some drinks the toker was passed. It had the effect of sniffing Nitrous Oxide & the munchies, did I mention that the buffalo wings are excellent? Gee, I think I did.

I guess a few hits on chronic is showing it's after effects. Everything was just fun!

All this while, this girl back at the office & I were throwing out messages. It's a slow day at the floor. 30 minutes avail is great for an agent. It's just too bad they blocked out internet access so I imagine it could've been boring & relaxing at the same time. I just can't help it. We just so like talking about stuff. I asked her out eventually about bantering on office life & their GA. I don't know why but I felt I was going to be a long way home. It was my off anyway so I had to give myself a chance. Why not take her out for breakfast? So, I did. She said yes. I finished the party & crashed at Cathy's.

I knew we were talking about who & what to date in the office. Just a little romanticizing. He He I don't remember the conversation but we did fall asleep eventually. I woke up after an hour or two of sleep. I bought myself a toothbrush & let her know that I'd be there around 7:30am.

I didn't know what time Heaven & Eggs opened. We were originally deciding Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or Starbucks. I didn't like starbucks & she doesn't like CBT&L so we opted for that. It was breakfast anyway. She brought along Emmie. I think she was her OIC on her team. It was ok. It's not as if we were going to be romantically involved.

Anyway, we were talking about office work & office life. Emmie had to go home. My date lived not more than 5 mins by can from Eastwood so we spent more time together. I even got a free drink from that conversation after Emmie left.

The Starbucks coffee jelly has these little square jellies inside...It's like nipples in a cup! Ha Ha Ha It was a great 6 hours talking & discoursing on various topics.

Now, that was the best weekend I've had so far. Here's to dating & a very intelligent conversation over free stuff!

Bwahaha

Political Chess (Account Transferring) Part 1

It looks like fate has changed it's tune it ain't what I initially heard. The rank & file employees whisper a different name as shift manager...Derrick.

I've worked with him once when he was still in the SILO team. Oh we've had our conflicts & some good times too! I still have to be wary & cautious though. He has changed & I believe he is tainted by a certain person's influence. He is now a company man, no longer the former D. He's just known as Derrick.

Well, it's better than Chad I guess. Baby steps as Maggi says. Let's wait for the story to unfold.

Political Chess (Account Transferring)

Someone at the office caught a little info in a network resoruce back at the office. They say I'm moving to WaMu as an L2 and guess who the rumored Shift Supervisor is...Chad!

(Let's all hold our breath for a moment)

Now, if this happens to be true I guess my stay in the company will be shorter than expected. I do not have a professional problem with Chad. Hey! If it's worth it he's very good at pushing performance metrics to it's limit. Everyone does have a problem with the way he handles people. I mean seriously, what can he do to improve what I am capable of? His personality is better off in an uptight organization & I do not ever plan on staying with an uptight culture.

I've had enough of that. I am comfortable where I am & I believe I'm better off using my capabilities elsewhere...thank you very much!

We'll see what happens...

LCD TV Mania

I was just inspired by Scott Little's setup. He bought himself a good deal on a Toshiba Regaza 42" that came with a 32" and the latter was used as a computer monitor. The colors were not as impressive as a full LCD but this might be due to the limits on resolution. I'm not much of a gamer but I think it makes sense to have an LCD TV for both computing tasks & TV/Vide viewing. They say that LCD TV's are more energy efficient compare to CRT's of old. Frankly, if it helps save in power, i'd like one.

I've been asking around & Gerry Kaimo recommends checking out Listening In Style. (I think I already mentioned this on a previous post) Someone in the list posted their current offerings & I found a Hitachi that fits my budget. TV's usually last long & it take a while before you get tired of it. At less than Php 30,000, it seems like a good buy.

I have to make sure first that I don't put myself up in financial failure. Hopefully before the year ends I can get a decent LCD TV!

So now begins my LCD TV mania...

Now The Show Starts....

I woke at around 4pm.

I sent an SMS message to the people I'd be watching the concert with. They've been hanging out all this time just to make sure they get the best seats we could. The concert starts at 8pm according to the ticket. I took the MRT, slightly sleepy from a rude awakening from my alarm clock & arrived at around 6:03pm. Just about 12 minutes before the set time we were to meet at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Gateway mall. The trip was quite fast. I expected to hit rush hour once the bus I rode left Alabang.

I'm glad I didn't encounter such.

We were waiting for the others to arrive & got in around 6:24pm. The coliseum hasn't changed much. Old & crickety covered up by new construction did not improve its look. Nevertheless, the climate has at least greatly improved & battled the harsh warm air outside which was a welcome change. We got seated around 7:30. The seats we were on have never changed since the '70s I bet. Thin foam & small chairs were a tad uncomfortable. I had my dinner inside, 2 slices of Pizza Hut's super supreme held my hunger at bay. I forgot to mention when I bought a small bottle of water that they had to take the cap. They must have had bad situations which turned the concert into a cap-flinging war among the audience. Kind of reminds me of the last time I was here. The Metallica concert was really rowdy but being in highschool, it was such a blast! I would have wanted to buy a complete meal, yet this would suffice.

We waited through several reruns of the sponsors. I think they mentioned at least half of the radio stations. I would have given them a piece of my mind by just advertising "almost all radio stations, in almost all frequencies sponsored this event!" Oh god, they even showed the future concerts to be held at the coliseum inf future dates. Now, it would be interesting to note that Burt Bacharach would be here with a certain Steve Tyrell. I tend to think he is a so and so lounge singer from Las Vegas. In another minor interesting note, Frank Sinatra's junior has also subjected himself to singing American contemporaries & should also be here soon. I'm glad I won't be there. It would have been much more profitable to do this in a hotel setting with dinner & all that jazz. I don't know much about music but spending my coin in an old foggies son aint particularly my cup of lattè.

Anyhoo, back to the concert proper. There is apparently a front act. A woman who has huge arms & probably related to political wife-cum-actress-cum-singer Sharon Cuneta. Faith Cuneta is her name. I think I saw her in a hotel Ad once. I'm not impressed with her singing or her performance. She could have opted to whet are appetites by singing something upbeat, saldy she went for singing what she thought was best for her. Promoting her album & all that. It was a gruelling 45mins, in my opinion. It pissed off a lot of people who had been waiting for what seemed like hours now. Faith mentioned that the band was still eating backstage. "Sure..." I thought while rolling the eyes in my head. They probably took the MRT or a cab ride at rush hour traffic from the hotel they were staying at.

30 minutes after the lights dimmed & only an opaque light illuminated the stage. The song from Rocky kicked in & a few people with towel in their heads started walking doing practice punches in the air....then there they were Swing Out Sister! The front man (or woman, for the sake of political correctness) started the concert. They were a 5 piece band, vocalist, backup singer, drums, keyboards, bassist, & guitar. I was disappointed that the brass section (I kept refferring to them as the trumpet but was corrected) is not part of the current line up. They sang a few songs from the new album. You should have seen Adrienne. despite her age, she hasn't change from what I saw. She moved as graceful as ever (Basically waving arms like a marionette) & kept her movements undistracting as she sang songs from Beautiful Mess. In the middle, they sang old songs like Twilight Zone, You On My Mind. The latter which majority knew started standing & waving through the rhythm of the song. A jam session ensued & since they've been together for so long you knew everything was well rehearsed! It was amazing! The band itself even did some solos & my being a fan of bass, the black guy was as impressive. I just wish I could afford a bass guitar & an amplifier of my own. The slaps on the string with a crunchy tone was just absolutely mesmerizing. The person next to me even commented that the bassist ran his fingers on the string like Jaco Pastorius, I politely agreed but of course, Jaco liked smooth bass lines playing part of rhythm than standing out in a song. I was still impressed though. Then after an hour, the band left the stage. As expected, everyone started clamoring for "Breakout". I thought that the concert ended but deep inside I knew that more was still to come. In a few minutes the band came out again & Adrienne changed costume apparently. She was now wearing a long dress shirt made from "barong" material. She says she had it made. She knew how to handle herself well, I imagine! I liked her better in the first costume she wore because she really stood out on that one. They started another song & then the climax of the second set, BREAKOUT!!! Everyone knew the lyrics & started to sing along, it wasn't as intense as the original recording without the brass section but still satisfying for a die hard fan. I can't seem to get over the fact that the backup singer reminded me of Chaka Khan! Then a few more songs & the concert ended in a good way. A thousand bucks for 2 hours weren't too bad. I joked to my colleagues that I felt a bit swinged out after waiting than the concert itself but I can't complain. Watching Swing Out Sister live was the best thousand bucks I've spent this year. Overall, I'd give the concert 3 1/2 stars. It was satisfying but I expected more.

Kudos to Swing Out Sister & hopefully they get back to their former glory. I wish them luck!

Swing Out Sister

It's been so long and I would like to start with some news!

I got tickets....


I am really excited!

The LCD TV Plan

I took my leave for the SOS concert & a few more extra days for catching up on some personal business. It seems I have left something like a little more than a thousand emails unanswered.

It's like work email!

I asked around for the best bang for the buck LCD TV which I can use both as a TV & a computer monitor. Gerry, referred me to Listeing in Style. I checked another post that mentioned their current offerings, a Hitachi LCD TV for Php 28,000. It looked like a good deal & I'd like to save up on it since the account I am currently working on is about to close down & I have to renew everything that I know about handling tech support calls.

I think around 30k would be more than enoguh without the monitor. It makes good financial sense to buy myself a new TV/Monitor. The LCD TV uses up less power & I plan on getting some broadband as soon as I can afford it. Cable interent seems ideal but I'd hate to leave my current provider since they offer a better channel line up.

I'll figure that out once I get to that point. For now, I have to leave for work.

Ciao!