Raindrops keep falling...

Meet Peter the Pigeon:

Our carpenter brought him to us after saving him from some guys who want to cook him for dinner. He lives outside my window, and when he starts "cooing", it's hard to get some sleep. Peter is just my name for him. I don't know if he has an official name (which means dad approved it).

It doesn't help when the parakeets start to join in the chorus:


Right outside my backdoor lives Charlie the turtle:

Like Peter, he doesn't really have a name. I just decided to call him Charlie. He could actually climb up a screen door, which makes me suspect he believes he is also a cat ... being surrounded by them most of the time.

It's been raining a lot recently.


So I decided to let Charlie out of his box ... which he has been trying to get out of all morning anyway.


First thing he does? Drink rain water.


While Charlie is enjoying the rain, our feathered friends find the weather too cold for comfort.


And the ground too muddy for them.


This little lizard has got it good though, sitting dry and pretty near the computer, inside the house, just waiting for the occasional mosquito or ant for its dinner.


Yup ... it's a slow day.

My Desktop

Rachel tagged to do this meme.

My Desktop Free View Instruction:

1. Upon receiving this tag, immediately perform a screen capture of your desktop.It is best that no icons be deleted before the screen capture so as to add to the element of fun. You can do a screen capture by Going to your desktop and pressing the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key). Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and do a Paste (CTRL + V). If you wish, you can “edit” the image, before saving it. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop just below it if you want. You can explain why you preferred such look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.
   

   check

   
   
2. Post the picture in your blog.
   
   

   Half of the icons I probably use, the other half are for programs my brother installed and I'm just too lazy to clear them off my desktop.

   
   
3. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.
   

   To be honest I don't know if the following will do this meme as they barely have time to update their blogs (maybe they haven't even heard of memes):

   1. Windina - Heartless Bitch
   2. Sampy - xcentric fads
   3. Meanne's Blog
   4. Mark's Blog
   5. Tashi - mah artsy fartsy shit

   
   
4. Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants

   1. iRonnie - I Set No Corner
   2. Thess - Thesserie
   3. Rebecca - Skippy Heart
   4. Knoizki - A Dialogue With K
   5. Beng - Kauderwelch
   6. Tina - My Good Finds
   7. Rachel- Heart of Rachel
   8. MJ - The Vineyard

Panic Time?

Was looking at my desk calendar and realized I only have 3 weekends to prepare for the Singapore trip. Tentative departure date is October 17 and as promised, Natixis will shoulder accomodations.

The agenda they prepared for me includes:

FX Trading Profit & Loss Management
FX Trading Position Management
FX Orders and Customer Management
FX Options Pricing and Trading Practices

Training Date :

18th and 19th October 2007

I spend the 20th hanging around PNB Singapore branch which is open on weekends, and go back to Manila on the 21st.

Kept hearing "chocolates" and "tapa" today from Boss Dan and Ted. Cristy's excited planning for my stay there.

And I haven't even started preparing ... from checking the documents I need to bring (not sure if just bringing a passport is enough), deciding if I want to be able to use my cellphone in Singapore, and confirming if I could use my credit card there, too... otherwise I have to buy SGD or USD (because the dealing room folks expect me to bring something/anything back ... it's freakin' tradition, what can I say?). This isn't like going to Boracay where I can just dump beach wear in a bag and rush to the airport with only 20 minutes to spare before boarding time (yup, I've done that). Crap ... where is that suitcase?

Just realized another thing: unless my bro is reading my blog, none of the folks at home know about this trip. He he he! Hey, I don't have the plane tickets in my hand yet ... Budget Division still has to approve this thingamajig.

Being incredulous

Ted mentioned reading something about HSBC closing its subprime mortgage businesses. Which wasn't surprising to me because as early as January this year, HSBC was one of the first banks to admit that a company it bought dealing with sub-prime mortgages has been losing due to the increasing number or defaults ... I actually pointed that one out to our former boss, Colin, and I suspected then that the defaults will affect everyone in the subprime business. What was weird was dreaming about that brief discussion with Colin last night... without hearing or reading anything of what Ted told me this morning.
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A funny request came in Friendster today ... someone claiming to be the boxer Manny Pacquiao wants me to add him as his friend. Looked up his site : everything Manny Pacquiao from pictures to background music. Chose "no".
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Sat beside a nice old lady in the bus going home tonight. I say nice because she told me to take the seat beside her. The bus usually puts the TV on GMA7 because it has good reception even if you're on the road. She asked the conductor to switch it to ABS-CBN2. Luckily for her, the reception was clear. The show was "Deal or No Deal" with actor Piolo Pascual as the guest contestant. I thought the lady just likes the show ... then during one segment she pointed at the screen and told me that's her "pamangkin" ... which could either mean nephew or niece and I don't know if she's talking about Piolo or the girl helping him choose the briefcase. Okay...

Anyway, I gave her a nod and a smile, then chose to get some sleep rather than get sucked up into a conversation with her.

Lost Opportunity

I have not developed the habit of always having my cellphone near me. While most people have their phones in their pockets or hanging from their necks, etc., my cellphone usually just sits in its pocket in my bag which in a corner of my desk.

Upside:

1. I don't have withdrawal symptoms on the occasions I forget my cellphone at home, or if cellphones are forbidden in some events/places.
2. My workmates know there's little chance they can contact me after office hours regarding work through cellphone because it's likely I'm not near it when it rings.

Downside: I miss out on opportunities like the one below:

Message from Jon:

Jing, may nagbigay ng tiket para sa "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" mamaya, pero sa Rockwell. Gusto mo manood?
Sent:
21-Sept-2007
15:38:25

It was 7pm when I saw the message. Waaay too late to get to the movie house. My bro gave the tickets to someone else and headed home.

Going to Singapore?

Natixis Singapore agreed to host one trader from PNB to spend two days in their office and see how they run their dealing room. Ted, Rey and I were the candidates to go there. The piece of paper with my name on it was drawn earlier by Boss Mon, which means I get to visit the Natixis dealing room in Singapore... IF budget approves the expenses.

Now, it's time to list down what I should get out of this trip other than being toured around by Cristy and shopping. Ha ha ha! To be honest, I wasn't that interested when the idea was first broached. I've been away from the thirds desk for a year, so I haven't really been dealing with Yannick or Carol. I expected that they'd give the slot to the third desk dealers.

Was a bit worried too when I remembered that Sam's play will also be this October. The Singapore thing will be from October 17 - 21 if it does push through. Checked out her Friendster message to me .... whew! Her play will be on October 13. It's the first play/musical that she wrote and I want to see it. Wonder if she plans to record it? Wonder if I have a video cam by then to record it?

Last thing I heard ... Natixis is willing to pay for the accomodation. Ted had asked Amex if they have a similar program ... Amex said yes ... but they will only pay for the plane fare. That doesn't mean I get free plane fare as well ... this means they can send a second trader with me to Singapore ... either Ted or Rey. The only problem will be accomodations. Cristy says I can stay with her if we ran out of options.

Wonder how this will turn out? It's a month from now, so I don't want to think about it till everything's been threshed out.

Right now, I want to either see a movie in a real movie theater... or if I end up just going straight home ... surf the net till morning. If I feel like up to it, probably edit the clips I've taken early this year and put them up in YouTube. I've got two sets of clips waiting to be edited ... one from Boy Favis' despedida and the other from the PNB Anniversary. Make that three sets if I include Sam's recital. Been bugging Che and Dennis to lend me their CDs of 1) the mock interview I made last 2003 regarding "love teams" and 2) the mock interview I did early this year that has something to do with the "Kris Aquino/James Yap" almost-break-up issue. They were hilarious clips when we showed them, and since they were my ideas, I want a copy of them as well.

Talking about YouTube, I have yet to ask Rhoda how to find the clip of her son on the site. Raphael is the drummer of a band he formed with his friends and last Sept 14 they had a gig in a mall. The place was actually swamped with his schoolmates who turned out to watch the band. That's interesting ... his classmates must think they sound good, so I want to know how they really sound. Heh, wonder if it's close to Fall Out Boy ... which is his favorite band right now?

Rainy Day Rant

I should have taken the hint last Monday when it was raining in the morning and I clocked in at the office around 9:30AM. Cars on the road sprout like mushrooms when it rains ... I don't really know why. Maybe a lot of people feel like taking their own cars than commute when it's raining.

It was raining again this morning and I got in around 9:15AM. The worst part actually was going back home. I left the office around 5:35PM and got home a little after 8:30!

Considering that I often end up sleeping in front of this computer I'm using than on my bed, and usually just have around 4-5 hours of sleep on a weekday (would you call me an insomniac if the earliest I feel sleepy is at 1AM, or if I ever do sleep before 10PM, I'am usually awake at 3AM?), you could say I should be thankful I had all those hours to sleep in the bus? Well, as it turned out - on both trips, I've had more than the sleep I need and was still far from my destination by the time I was fully awake.

So, here I am now, fully awake after 3 hours of travel time going home mostly spent sleeping, currently surfing the net. My dad is also awake with the radio on at full blast listening to his favorite "Dr.Love" dishing out advice to clueless people in relationships. Tolerable to listen to, really, although the Chistmas songs being played in between callers are driving me nuts. It is only September, after all!

That's one reason I decided to make this room the computer room. This used to be my bedroom, but when the extension room was made I decided to move in there even if it is only half the size of this room. My bedroom now has my bathroom and this room to buffer me against my dad's loud radio.

Come to think of it ... I think I inherited my dad's sleeping habits. He sleeps at midnight (12:00) and wakes up at 3AM.

Side note: The USD/PHP hit the 45.57 level today. After going as high as 47.10 last week. Too bad Buddy's in Hong Kong wracking his brains studying something related to bonds. We've got a running joke here ... there was a time he asked me for the buying rate and I quoted 48.60. He did not say "done", only that he will call again. When that day ended, the rate had nosedived to around 20 to 30 centavos (can't remember). He still wanted the "60" level but I didn't give it to him. He said he'll wait for the "60" level again. So after that, whenever the small fig is around 60, we at the desk would call him just to bug him and get a quick laugh. Ofcourse that meant he'll get a prank call from us when the rate hits 47.60, 46.60, 45.60 ... get the idea? Boss Dan actually wanted me to text him that the rate is 45.60 ... but I don't know if he activated his phone to work in Hong Kong.

------Sam's Rainy Day--------

Looks like I'm not the only one whose day was negatively affected by the weather. Sam texted this to me:

grabe! Kmi jst came fr leisure farm lemery batangas as our skul field trip. Bnagyo kmi dun. Mga 6am ang col tym den uwi l8 n trapik kc
Sent:
19-Sept-2007
20:33:28

This is Sam's blog entry regarding their field trip: http://xcentrikfads.blogspot.com/2007/09/liesure-farm-lemery-batangas.html

Sam's LET exams

Haven't been going out lately, simply because Sam's been busy ever since she decided to take the teaching job.
To quote from a text message from Sam:

Mukhang sa November pa ako makakahinga.

Sent:
1-Aug-2007
07:08:35

She just took the LET exams last month. It's a requirement for all teachers.

Sam's text message:

Pls pray 4 me esp bukas kc board exams ko. Tnx. Gud nyt

Sent:
25-Aug-2007
21:42:12

I asked her when the results will be released.

Sam's reply:

Oct or Nov pa fr bulletine 2day or inquire

Sent:
7-Sept-2007
01:12:56

Linking YouTube videos to Multiply

Dennis told me yesterday he could not play the videos on my Multiply site. Checked it last night and apparently, the feature that linked my YouTube account to Multiply did not work.

Removed all those videos in Multiply and decided to re-post the videos link by link. This time it worked. Did not post the videos made before 2007 though. Figured if someone wants to see them all, they might as well visit my YouTube channel.