A PetiX Life

My scanner’s been broken for over two weeks now. I’ve been meaning to have it repaired but I haven’t found the time. Time is a super luxury for me right now. I have a major deadline coming up in June but from the way things look, I’ll probably miss the mark by at least a month. one thing i’ve learned about my new job is that it’s much harder to finish even a simple job if you have too many hands working on it.

I’ll talk about this in my next few blogs. I’ve run out of time. I gave myself 15 minutes to check my friendster and update my blog. time’s up.

It’s so nice to hear from old friends, especially from the ones you’ve cherished all your life but not have had the chance to catch up with as much as you’d want to.

For the past few days, I’ve been able to talk and learn about some of my good friends from high school and I’ve been struck with some nostalgic bug. One thing about hearing from old friends is that you get to think about how you’ve lived your life since the time you were with your old friends. You’ll marvel at how much things have changed and maybe even feel renewed, inspired by what your friends have acoomplished.

Then there are friends who I’ve missed so much who suddenly pop up in the radar. More than nostalgia, I’ve felt a more intense kind of longing, a kind that disrupts the day to day routine, because the mind can’t think straight, the mind can’t think of nothing else but the next opportunity I can get my friend on the message line again.

In my field of work in IT Journalism, we call this "disruptive technology" because it changes the way things are done in such a drastic and powerful way. I wouldn’t go about calling my friends, a kind of technology, but friends affect us in a similar way, only deeper and much more personal. Hearing from old friends have warmly touched me, especially because these friends, despite being physically distant for a long time, have always been right here, occupying a space in my heart.

I’ve just heard that there’s a new Choco Peanut-flavored ice cream from Nestle. I haven’t tasted it yet, but if it does indeed tastes like our childhood favorite snack, Chocnuts, I’m pretty sure Jing Simes, who is somewhere in California, would fall off her seat, get goosebumps on her skin and make like a bee with a mild panic attack.

Oh don’t you just wish you were back here, Jing?

I wouldn’t have expected it, but my XDA phone just saved my hide a few days ago. I was sprawled on a poolside bench somewhere in a far away beach resort last Thursday when I got an urgent text message asking me to make some corrections on two stories posted on our Web site. I panicked as soon as I read the message - the only computer on the island was broken and, except for cell phones, there was no telephone in the resort.

I didn’t expect to get a GPRS signal on the island, but I still brought out my XDA II smartphone to try connecting to the Internet with my phone. Lo and behold, I got connected in a flash and was able to log in to our Web site’s admin pages without any trouble. I was done with the corrections in a few minutes and in no time at all I was back enjoying the sun and imagining how I’d look in my cell phone provider’s next TV commercial.

Here’s one petiks tip on how to change a light bulb and take probably two days to do it:

1. The first step that you need to do is buy the light bulb that you will install. In my case, I bought a 40-watt flourescent lamp for our living room. Now, for some people, a 40-watt lamp can be too bright for comfort, but I still went for it because I enjoy the daylight effect which makes me feel it’s still day time and that I haven’t wasted any time at all.

2. Choose the site where you want to install the flourescent lamp. When you’ve spotted a nice place for your new lamp on the ceiling, bring out your tools and take the lamp case out of the box.

3. Go back to the hardware store and buy some screws, because you forgot to ask if the new lam you brought came with any. Before you go back home, drop by the new Ice Cream Store near your house and take 15 minutes to pick out a flavor you want. So that you won’t waste too much time, eat your ice cream while on the go. Not only will that make walking back home less inconvenient, you will also become the envy of people you pass by along the way.

4. When you get back home, place the screws near the lamp and leave it to boil for 30 minutes. Get your favorite bean bag, pop in a copy of The Quiet American on you DVD player and watch until the end.

5. When the movie ends, watch Paparazzi, a movie directed by Mel Gibson and then follow it up with Jet Li’s Once Upon a Time in China and America. If you still feel sluggish, take down the Motorcycle Diaries from the DVD rack and recite this line, "Che Guevara’s not dead!"

6. After the movie, open your computer, log on to your DSL line and open your Friendster account. Reply again to all your past messages (save the new messages until the next day) and then write what you did today on your Blog. Cross your fingers that somebody might read it and send you pizza.

7. Go to sleep and pretend you’ve already installed your new flourescent lamp.