Yesterday was the first day of my HP experience, for lack of a better term. I would've started much earlier, if not for my exit requirements.

Anyway, I've seen 3 companies conduct their new-hire orientation (whether they call it NEO, on-boarding or whatever) and I guess HP does an ok job, even if their program is new.

Small world. Someone was from Intel too, and I somewhat confirmed what I've been hearing all along. I got to reminisce CV and everything that happened there.

Some batchmates were there too. New people, new environment. I guess I kinda liked it here.

I've been txting previous officemates too, and I missed them. One day I'll go to lunch with them.

Today, I prioritized my health. Not something I've done in a long while.

Early today, I went to some physical exam, a requirement for my moving, as mentioned in an earlier blog post. After that, I went to different doctors, some of which I almost missed my appointment. It's so hard to find time to go to them even for just checkups. A lot aren't available during the weekends (or hold offices at far locations). I wouldn't want to go to new sets of doctors, I am comfortable with the ones I have.

So there, my DMD asked me about my stress level. It seems it has been affecting my health, and is showing physical signs already. She didn't have to probe deeper. I knew her from way back and when I told stories, she told me it was signs of stress. Anyway, she hopes to see improvement too. Afterwards, the next doctor also noticed the same thing. I'm not taking care of myself. Haha. And I haven't visited them regularly as I used to. I blame school and work. I also wanted to see an opthalmologist (no, not an optometrist), for consultation. But I don't know one.

Oh, one of them recommended to do something on me worth more than my salary. I have to save up a few months for that. Or maybe, it's covered in health insurance, I'll surely ask. Hehe.

I've signed.

I hope I made the right decision.

Graduation yesterday.

It was nice. Tiring. Full of bloopers. A moment that signified a lot of things. But most importantly, it was another lap finished in the race called life.

I don't want to move. I really don't want to go anywhere. Just here, where I feel safe. I don't know what the next lap would bring. But I know I have to move, I have to go. I will need to have to be hurt to I'll grow.

Life feels weird really. I didn't really experience the "world of unemployment" as I have started working before even graduation or the last day of school. I think I need a break. A batchmate would spend his time up to the end of the year in community service. I should've done that.

Yikes, I just realized, I have a lot of regrets really, but all I can change is tomorrow. Where will I go? Where should I go? I like it here. 

i don't know how to say it, but i'll try not to be as direct as possible for a change.

AT THE END OF THE DAY there's only one thing I look forward to : SLEEP.

Every weekend (and even some weekday nights), I use my time to DE-STRESS, meet with friends. OR at one point even, was asked to do complete bed rest. My cough has been going for at least 10 days already, and no cough medicines have helped me.

Don't get me wrong. I am still enthusiastic, I ALWAYS arrive first. I still look forward to the day ahead. It's just that I'm always TIRED at the END OF THE DAY.

It's either I kill myself or move.. I'll leave it to destiny. I tried moving, but not far (same location).. We'll see..

i still look forward to the week ahead .

I don't know where I am. Mid-quarter life crisis? I hope not.

The next few days, I will be starting with a new life. I'm to meet my unit and my team on the 6th of September (and I thought September 1). A lot of things are going through my head now. It's like starting in college, or maybe high school. Who do I eat with during breaks? Where do I eat? Will I have new friends there? (It feels so like highschool)

It's kinda scary. Yes, people have told me that I easily make friends or new aquaintances, but I still feel scared. After all, I begged off starting August to make sure I finish everything (and so I can go to Bora too.. hehe) .. Was that a costly blunder? The last I inquired, my team (the new hires) have started training, and would have bonded by about a month now.

And I'm so not sure about this career path. I always give advice to others, but I don't think I listen to them.

Hmm, maybe in a week's time I'll find out the answer to all these questions.

Arguably one of the best beaches in the world.. boracay.. I'll be going there later

As jasper said, I hope the hype is as good as it is..

Hayy.. time for some rest after some tiring month. hehe

I've been trying to update all my blogs, and it seems to be a very hard task.

I have this "travelog," or trying to be travelog at my multiply site. It's http://sojourn.multiply.com Do drop by if you can. It contains a lot of pictures of travel, well at least, there's no home pics there. It contains a lot of sojourns, and some random shots too.

I've been connecting with a lot more people lately.

I guess I'm one of those who thing that the interoperability of MSN / Live Messenger and y!m is  a good thing. Am I one of those who thing that while live messenger is a great product, my friends are on y!m. But then again, I also with a fuller compatibility. Smileys are one thing. I always point out to people, hey, that smiley is not shown here. Oh, and I hope MSN type of smileys are shown in y!m.

Are you one of those fond of sending the >:D< or hug smiley in y!m? While hugfests are probably old, I'm seeing it used a lot more  Probably, my conversations with people are a lot more intense now, that it merits a hug. Or I was too problematic that they want to comfort me.Maybe, as my friend in Vegas says, she just misses a lot of people. I guess it's also a way of saying thank you.

I actually made a remark to 2 people recently. I told them sending the >:D<  looks gay. I don't know. Maybe I live in the 1900's when men shouldn't show emotion or affection. One of them even countered that it's normal even in real life. But, I still don't see a lot of hugging for men in real life. If you got a problem, I'll invite you for a beer.

But since everyone is doing it, I think its ok. However, I still don't see it in real life. Unless you are celebrating in sports.

So to everyone, >:D<

Reality is slowly slowly making its way to scare me.

I'm about to pay for graduation expenses. I'm about to decide if I would really really tie myself down to a job.

Yet, everything is still uncertain, and I'm afraid of tomorrow.

Because tomorrow, might not be what I expected.

Tabitha, the name I gave my laptop had several problems recently.

I had her fixed twice in just one month. Yesterday, I couldn't bear it anymore, she couldn't stay alive for more than 30 minutes.

So we brought her to a repair shop. She ran for more than an hour, without any problems. She played movies, etc.. A previous diagnosis told us that it could be the memory that was the problem. I was so prepared in replacing and upgrading it, but since it didn't show any problems, I decided to just go back to the repair shop again if ever it showed.

When we went home, the unimaginable happened. It died again. It just turned off, without warning. This happened to both my room and the living room. Because it was unexplainable, I guessed it was fluctuating power. My mom had a weird idea, I didn't even care about. She theorized that maybe the line of the business was better, since it was new. See, there were 3 lines in the house, 1 for the old house, 1 for the extension, the last for the business. Guess what, it never died again. Weird really, but when I test it in the living room (old house), and my room (extension), it still dies. Now, I'll believe my mom when she had that weird instinct to solve problems. Now, a huge huge extension extends from the business line to the living room. If only it could be brought to my room.

A few days ago, Jasper inquired about my status message. He thought it was pertaining to love.

It wasn't, but if you could read my status message, it now pertains to it..

Some things had to suffer, Some things had to take a backseat. There are things that you might want to prioritize, but you really can't. And some people, won't understand.

I hate love.

I just had a temporary setback in my thesis. Hehe.. But as I said, I'll fight 'til the end.. I can do it..

Hehe, that made me feel so bad yesterday, but no worries though..

And I just got another phone call today. I've rejected lots of job offers already. Some, well, rejected me too. Haha. But this late afternoon, I got another phone call. And I accepted the job. WEEEE.. There's no time for me to be a bum. Yikes, I'll start days after my defense. I think I'll be signing the contract next week. Yikes.. I've got to complete the requirements..

It feels weird to be back.

Haha. I don't know. I maintained another blog somewhere in cyberspace. I guess the past 3 months (or more) were packed with lots and lots of news about my life.

Jasper earlier directed me to his blog. I kinda feel the same way. When I need an escape, I plan to just go away. I love nature too, and I'm fascinated with the simplest of things like sunsets. It's those moments that we tend to neglect, but in reality are important part of our lives.

So what have I been doing lately? Hmm, I don't want to blog about things I've already written down, so here's something new..

I'll start with a poem I got in California.. it talks about volunteers..

Bless Them
It's not for the money, It's not for the fame.
It's not for any personal gain.
It's for the love of fellow man.
It's just to lend a helping hand.
It's just to give a tithe of self.
It's something you just can't buy.
It's not for medals won with pride.
It's for that feeling deep down inside.
It's that reward down in your heart.
It's that feeling you've been a part
of helping others far and near,
That makes you a volunteer.


I've been part of this org we continued from college. We now call it CLAY. Comp literacy advocates for the youth. Earlier, there were plans to do this, but everything was finalized in Puerto Galera. From there, consequent planning was done, registering with the proper authorities and coordinating with a lot of people. I knew it was hard, specially for the leaders, but they really pulled it off. We already had two succesful runs. Last Saturday, even if I didn't have decent sleep since Thursday, I taught the youth (and even some teachers!) that were present about using some basic tools (word was what was assigned to me). The students will have 4 days of free tutoring (and snacks too) learning different computer fundamentals. I had 30 students, and it was nice hearing the reaction of some of them as they were amazed. I guess a big part of society really needs learning, specially for the youth. That got me energized that I temporarily forgot I was so tired days before. After that, there are plans to teach them multimedia stuff too. I'm excited, and at the same time I'm proud of our leaders. They are sacrificing their Saturdays, even if they are too tired from work. There are some problems here and there, but I guess its part of the learning since we're really just beginning. And I love the slogan too, "behold, we mold."

A look at how we celebrate this week. A cross-post.

I sincerely cannot remember how we celebrated this last year. Maybe, its the same customary "visita iglesia" that we do. Maybe I'll visit my blog later to see if I made accounts.

Seeing the world, I know its a different scenario. The days pass like any ordinary day in other countries in the world. It is different in this country.  In this predominantly Roman Catholic country, the Philippines remember the day that Christ suffered on the cross. Hence, there is no work and there are no classes. However, I know a lot of people who celebrate this day as vacation. Usually, from Holy Wednesday (half-day) to Easter Sunday (that's a long 4 1/2 day weekend!), there wouldn't be work or class. It's the perfect time for others to go on vacation, popular destinations include beaches or other tourist destinations.

I can remember of only one instance we went on vacation on a Black Saturday. Maybe because we had visitors then, and it was the perfect time for sight-seeing. On most occasions, when I was younger, we'd stay home. On Maunday Thursday, we'd go around Metro Manila. We'd visit 15 churches, each praying one rosary decade. We also recite the stations of the cross, for 14 of them. I'm not sure, but I think the country does Visita Iglesia for 7 churches.

My family has a lot of beliefs on this day. We usually don't go anywhere to respect Christ's death. We also have the belief that we shouldn't be happy on this day, to the point of mourning. I don't exactly believe it, but I follow it anyway. I know of some who don't take a bath this day.

Consistently, in the past few years, from the time I was a little younger, I've spend most of my holy week's in the U.S.A. My last few holy week's were spent sleeping. I can't really blame anyone. This is the perfect time for me to arrive in the U.S.A.  The past 3 years (except the last), because of the trimestral schedule of my university, I use this week to recover from jet lag. I can't really bring myself to visit at least 7 churches. I don't know how to drive and all my relatives are working. Worse, I don't know where the other churches nearby are.

But then again, there are some traditions that are worth noting. Though I can remember easter egg hunting and easter egg painting when I was younger in the Phillippines, it was never really a tradition. In the U.S., I can remember being with my cousin doing those. At least for the Church we go to, it seems there's more people who attend mass during this day. I might be wrong though.

The Mass in the U.S., is celebrated a little differently. There's more discipline in receiving communion. The holding of hands is a little longer. People shake hands instead of just saying peace. Wine is offered too not just on special occasions.

I wonder how the other parts of the world are celebrating this day. I'm hoping I could get more sojourns on this time of the year spent on other parts of the world. Maybe I'll do visita iglesia again. For those in other countries, and for those who are on their sojourns, or even those who live in the Philippines. how do you celebrate yours?