The Frij - Cooling Things Up!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

To skip or not to skip

Its back to school for Frij.


The company decided to send Frij and Robert to a CISCO Bootcamp. Its your usual basic network course with some introduction to CISCO devices. So what else is there to teach when Frij has been same road already? Practically nothing. The only point to all of this is:
  • Its company sponsored so its free
  • A refresher....perhaps?
Other than that, Frij might not learn anything new. If he could only take a CCNP (CISCO Certified Network Professional) without going thru a CCNA (CISCO Certified Network Associate) course. Maybe its time for Frij to go out and get that accreditation.


Now the dilemma is this:
Classes starts on June 24 (hopefully) which coincides with the yearly water bashing feast at his hometown. Seeing and getting people wet on the streets while a parade commences (ala Mardi Gras) is absolutely more fun than any class would be.


Should he Flip the coin or just screw Day 1? Hmm.... still has 4 weeks to decide.


On a sidenote:
Frij found www.ClockLink.com from Tess' blogpage. Thanks for that pretty one, Frij owes you coffee. Now he has updated his clock to this fantabuluous design/link/whatever.


Fantabuluous - Ben/Beppo's word antics. One of the many reason why Frij misses the Blacktower

Friday, May 26, 2006

Help Wanted

The maid ran away! Life is busier for Frij, now that the extra help has vanished.
Its now back to dividing chores until new help is found, let us see now:


M-R-S
  • Shopping
  • Laundry
  • House cleaning

Frij
  • Ironing
  • Dishwashing
  • Gardening
Shopping is still left for the ladies, prices are much friendlier when ladies do the buying.


Frij never liked laundry but would do it for a good price, so this one is left to the M-R-S for processing.


House cleaning has been debated before and decided it was not to be assigned to Frij. For Frij, housecleaning meant dscarding items which have no use (to Frij) or boxing them up for storage. Boxing items for storage seemed like a good idea, until the part about remembering what was stored away came up.


Ironing will be done every weekends once all clothes have piled up, Frij will be doing it with one run. Ironing has always been a favorite for Frij since watching TV is complimentary (no burnt clothes mind you).


Frij is unsure whether if it is a "male" thing, but doing chores in one run is how he works best. You'd see a pile of unwashed dishes (dating back from breakfast) which he'd do in one washing after dinner, same with ironing clothes.


You can't do gardening all day unless you're talking about watering the plant. So again, its a weekend thing.


Now we come to the kids, Frij works days, M-R-S stays at home. Kids stay at home. M-R-S handles the kids. Settled. Of course, Frij brings in the usual candies or chocolates after work for the regular bribe.


So until a new help is found, its back to basics...

Friday, May 12, 2006

And Rain Shall Come

Sunny days and beach parties are over folks. The rainy season has officially kicked in with the entry of Tropical Storm "Caloy".

"maximum sustained winds of 100 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 130 kph"
Not bad for a rainy season opener.

Frij's in-laws drove for a visit down south, directly where the storm is at (talk about timing). They're all fine now after a few hours of traffic jam summing up to a 10 hour travel trip (usually takes 8). On the bright side though, the 38C heatwave is over (enough of the tan already) but a cool 26C is keeping me in bed a little longer than expected.

Its time to follow Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman's instructions on walking in the rain, yep no running, unless you want that additional pound of H2O soaking you (watch Discovery Channel's Mythbusters if you're wondering already)

Frij's DO'd and DONT's during the rainy season (June to October here in the Philippines):
  • DO check the weather forecast before leaving the house, yesterday. Even if its 20% accurate, don't bet on the 60%.
  • DO bring an umbrella (for men who are uncomfortable with bringing one, use a small one instead, just imagine the lady at the corner you could've saved from getting wet) at ALL times! Of course, if you wanted to see a bright sunny day rain, be my guest.
  • DO secure your personal belongings before engaging a clustered "I don't have an umbrella crowd. Where's your umbrella?
  • DO take extra care when giving tips to those stoplight windshield-wiper-kids, you might end up giving a little more.
  • DO NOT engage a flooded street unless absolutely necessary or if nature's call is unavoidable.
  • DO NOT walk along flooded sidewalks, unless you are familiar with the open manhole positioning or is an excellent deep flood diver. If there's a traffic jam (which is highly probable during this season), better walk in the middle of the street instead, flood level is lower and open manholes are a rare find.
Again, it is better to wait it out inside the comfort of a known shelter (office, mall, motel... hmm), than getting yourself wet waist down or all over. If its catching the next episode of Jack Bauer's "24", Frij could understand the urgency.

For those people Frij often see engaging a waist-high flood while holding an umbrella.. WTF?!