There are a few basics to talking to people, or so we're told. Always smile. Always make eye contact. Always acknowledge their presence. Always thank them for their time.
Well, that's basic enough, I assume. I mean, that's how we expect to be talked to, right? Unless we're looking up something on our phones to aid the conversation, or we're looking out the window wistfully for effect, or we're not in the right frame of mind.
I've been driving a lot more than usual lately. (Wait, that sentence feels badly constructed.) I don't always get the e-Pass, so I have to go through the long lines at the C5 toll booths and actually pay with money. A hundred and twenty-two bucks, already set aside, a necessary delay before you leave home or the office, that sort of thing.
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2/27/2015
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2/25/2015
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Turns out you don't need to do research on road networks, public transport options and vehicle numbers to understand just how terribly planned Metro Manila is. You just have to live in it.
Let me throw in my voice to this angry cacophony. Who the hell thought closing a big chunk of the city's most important highway would not lead to trouble?
Remember that time when a heavy truck's brakes gave way, causing it to slide backward while perched on an on-ramp along C5? You know, the accident early in the morning that hit eight cars, killed one person, and closed all but one lane in the southbound side?
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Let me throw in my voice to this angry cacophony. Who the hell thought closing a big chunk of the city's most important highway would not lead to trouble?
Remember that time when a heavy truck's brakes gave way, causing it to slide backward while perched on an on-ramp along C5? You know, the accident early in the morning that hit eight cars, killed one person, and closed all but one lane in the southbound side?
Read more »
2/24/2015
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I'm probably the only one peeved at this, because I don't like repeats in general. Imagine this. You follow the official Twitter account of something - I don't need to be too specific about this; it can be anything - and, one day, it tweets out a pretty big announcement. By "big", I mean a song and dance, sometimes literally.
So, okay, yeah, it is a big deal, you say when you see the tweet. Okay. You've taken away what you needed to take away, and you, more or less, move on.
Fifteen minutes later, that Twitter account retweets someone, saying the same big announcement. Yeah, I already know this, you go, but then, it's just one retweet.
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So, okay, yeah, it is a big deal, you say when you see the tweet. Okay. You've taken away what you needed to take away, and you, more or less, move on.
Fifteen minutes later, that Twitter account retweets someone, saying the same big announcement. Yeah, I already know this, you go, but then, it's just one retweet.
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2/23/2015
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Dear [salutation] [last name],
I would like to inform you that, after considering your submission, and in light of our current requirements and the other submissions we have received, unfortunately we have decided not to choose you for the position.
On behalf of the team, I would like to thank you for making us part of your journey towards more opportunities, and for taking part in our own journey of growth. I know the challenge has been tough for you and your fellow participants, and I would also like to thank you for taking it on.
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I would like to inform you that, after considering your submission, and in light of our current requirements and the other submissions we have received, unfortunately we have decided not to choose you for the position.
On behalf of the team, I would like to thank you for making us part of your journey towards more opportunities, and for taking part in our own journey of growth. I know the challenge has been tough for you and your fellow participants, and I would also like to thank you for taking it on.
Read more »
2/18/2015
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Most afternoons - I notice this whenever I have lunch at the malls near my office - I see this man standing at the sidewalk, discreetly flashing a watch he's holding in his hands, quietly peddling it to those walking past him.
Well, of course, he's selling that watch, I thought. And that has to be fake.
I don't remember if it's the same guy every time, or a different guy. I don't really notice, because I don't really like staring at people who are just standing on the sidewalk. (People walking on the sidewalk are a completely different matter, partly because the window of opportunity is so quick you can't help but take a peek.) That, and I tend to look down, slightly down, when I walk, so what I see is the watch he's peddling. It looks like a luxury watch. I don't know. I can't stop and inspect it. All I know is it's shiny.
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Well, of course, he's selling that watch, I thought. And that has to be fake.
I don't remember if it's the same guy every time, or a different guy. I don't really notice, because I don't really like staring at people who are just standing on the sidewalk. (People walking on the sidewalk are a completely different matter, partly because the window of opportunity is so quick you can't help but take a peek.) That, and I tend to look down, slightly down, when I walk, so what I see is the watch he's peddling. It looks like a luxury watch. I don't know. I can't stop and inspect it. All I know is it's shiny.
Read more »
2/12/2015
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I was driving to work today, and because I did not want to change radio stations every five minutes - which I was likely to do because I wasn't in the mood for wall-to-wall classics on Retro, I didn't want to wait through tired songs just to hear Shai Tisai on Love, and nobody can make me listen to Roanna's inanity on Jam - I decided to listen to AM radio.
The big news story is still, of course, the bungled police operation in Mamasapano. You all know what happened. Since I last wrote about it, we also found out that there have been a bunch of lapses in the chain of command, so people who were supposed to have been told, at least, don't really know what's going on. The result was the death of a "high-value terrorist", to put it in military-sounding terms. And 44 police commandoes. And three civilians, one of which, if I remember correctly, is a young girl.
Inevitably, though, the focus is on the fallen members of the police, especially as more details emerged: of how the men were surrounded, of how reinforcements came in too late, of how some of the victims were killed execution-style. Or at least that's what I gleaned from PNP deputy chief Leonardo Espina, who was surprisingly kept out of the loop as the operation went down, who attended one of many legislative investigations into the encounter (as if these probes solve anything other than a politician's public perception problems) and who, with one speech, seemingly managed to capture the frustration the public feels over what is seen to be a series of senseless deaths.
Read more »
The big news story is still, of course, the bungled police operation in Mamasapano. You all know what happened. Since I last wrote about it, we also found out that there have been a bunch of lapses in the chain of command, so people who were supposed to have been told, at least, don't really know what's going on. The result was the death of a "high-value terrorist", to put it in military-sounding terms. And 44 police commandoes. And three civilians, one of which, if I remember correctly, is a young girl.
Inevitably, though, the focus is on the fallen members of the police, especially as more details emerged: of how the men were surrounded, of how reinforcements came in too late, of how some of the victims were killed execution-style. Or at least that's what I gleaned from PNP deputy chief Leonardo Espina, who was surprisingly kept out of the loop as the operation went down, who attended one of many legislative investigations into the encounter (as if these probes solve anything other than a politician's public perception problems) and who, with one speech, seemingly managed to capture the frustration the public feels over what is seen to be a series of senseless deaths.
Read more »
2/10/2015
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Okay, so a bit of context on this blog entry. A good eight years ago, Lizette and I collaborated on a blog. It was called The Mind Commute (there's a reference to that in the title of this blog entry) and it had a photo of a toilet in its header, because it was one of the default offerings of the now dead i.ph blogging service. You might remember that toilet appearing on this blog's old layout, even.
We only did seven blog entries: the first five were published in the summer of 2007, and the last two were rushed to life in May the following year. We assumed identities that pretty much reflected who we were at the time: she was the wise Miss Snotty, and I was the cynical Sir Uhm-a-lot. On random nights we'd decide to write a blog entry ("let's mind commute" was the safe word, or something) and the YM conversation that would follow would be transferred, wholesale, to the blog window.
Since I was the blog's administrator, I got a copy of all seven blog entries when i.ph closed down a few years ago. I haven't thought much of them until a few months back, when I stupidly decided to go on a nostalgic route to mark ten years of blogging. I decided to post this today solely because it was Lizette's birthday last Saturday - and also, because, well, I still had to post something vaguely about Valentine's Day this week. So, here it is: one of seven entries from The Mind Commute, first published on 17 April 2007. That should explain all the dated references and terrible grammar.
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We only did seven blog entries: the first five were published in the summer of 2007, and the last two were rushed to life in May the following year. We assumed identities that pretty much reflected who we were at the time: she was the wise Miss Snotty, and I was the cynical Sir Uhm-a-lot. On random nights we'd decide to write a blog entry ("let's mind commute" was the safe word, or something) and the YM conversation that would follow would be transferred, wholesale, to the blog window.
Since I was the blog's administrator, I got a copy of all seven blog entries when i.ph closed down a few years ago. I haven't thought much of them until a few months back, when I stupidly decided to go on a nostalgic route to mark ten years of blogging. I decided to post this today solely because it was Lizette's birthday last Saturday - and also, because, well, I still had to post something vaguely about Valentine's Day this week. So, here it is: one of seven entries from The Mind Commute, first published on 17 April 2007. That should explain all the dated references and terrible grammar.
Read more »
Niko Batallones writes The Upper Blog.
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