So today everyone I know that resides in the Southern part of Luzon are getting ready for the storm FERIA, who was said to hit us by afternoon of this day. When I went to work there were some slight rains and I thought that was it, but it stopped and it hardly rained all day. The sky looked scary though, and it looked like we were in the eye of the storm.

But alas, no rain.

Rain where are you?

Not that I’m complaining. Seriously, as much as I like the rain, it can be so depressing. Plus it makes my commute so hard and inconvenient that I can’t help but wish that I have a car (and I drive). Hay. Plus its traffic everywhere when it rains here, and it makes people sick…with all talks of AH1N1 now, who wants to be sick?

Hay. I miss the sun.

I have a feeling it will rain later, so I’m praying that electricity won’t go out. There’s nothing more I hate than being in the middle of a brownout – there’s nothing to do and I don’t want to use any of my gadgets because I feel like they’d run out of batteries. And there’s no Internet.

Well would you look at that. This is kind of a long entry…right? Anyway I better quit this and get back to reading “The Shack”. I’m almost halfway done! That’s book # 44!  6 more to go!

Good night everyone, stay safe. :)

I didn’t want the iPod Touch, and I thought that if ever I’d be getting another iPod, I’d get the classic or the Nano since it has so many colors.

So why the sudden change of heart when I added it in my 23rd birthday wishlist?

I saw Mae using hers during WordCamp 2008, and I was…amazed. I mean, everyone was using their own laptops to Plurk/Twit/blog/whatever, but Mae was just fiddling with her iPod Touch. Then I wondered about all the other things I could do with that, most especially writing. I read somewhere that there’s a WriteRoom application for the iPod Touch…and I can sync my iCal with that (I wonder if Notes Calendar can be synced with it? Hmmm)…and I can just imagine what else I can do with that. :))

So why do I want an iPod Touch again? Let me count the ways:

• Write anywhere. Whenever I have an idea that I just need to write, I usually use my phone. But I can only write so much in Captain Tal. I can probably even try NaNo-ing in an iPod Touch if I’m crazy enough. Plus WriteRoom!!!
• eBook Reader. I discovered the fun of ebook reading in Triskal, but imagine how hard it is to read and remember which section I last read there. Plus using the clickwheel to scroll can be tiring on the thumb! I’ve seen how ebooks are shown in the iPod Touch and I can actually read multiple ebooks with bookmarking. Oh the possibilities.
• Wider viewing pleasure. I tried watching videos in my teammate’s iPod Touch and I was amazed at how big the screen was. And so bright since it’s not composed of  led light bulbs. Haha, this should be fun too.
• Internet anywhere there’s Wi-Fi. I don’t have to bring Aslan everywhere now, as I can use the iPod Touch to blog/Facebook/Plurk/Twitter. :D Portability oh yeah.
• Built in speakers. I don’t have to get speakers to play my music in my room. Of course, Aslan is there…but I don’t have to turn him on all the time to play music. :D

That’s all I could think of now. Haha suffice to say I’m excited to have one. :)) I’d like to think of it more as a productivity tool than a luxury. ;) Or it could be both. Wahaha. It’s my birthday gift. :P

So as the ever-prepared (or so I’d like to think) girl that I am, I’m lining up apps to install once I get it:

• eReader/Stanza. Still choosing between the two, but I think I’m leaning towards Stanza.
• WriteRoom. This is the only paid app that I will really pay for. I can’t not have this. This is the ultimate writing tool for me. Unless of course there’s Scrivener mobile already…Hm.
• WordPress. Self-explanatory.
• Facebook. Self-explanatory too. :P
• Twitteriffic. This, too.

Ah…all web stuff. :P I’m thinking of getting White Noise too, but it might be really a luxury since it’s not a free app. Anything else you might suggest?

Anyway, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. But I will get an iPod Touch…sometime…soon. Haha.

I have to go and get ready for work! :D

Later, when people started coming in, I decided to unplug my iPod so I can listen to my music in private. I clicked on Shuffle Songs but it wasn’t working, which made me wonder if Triskal is acting up…so I decided to just go to my current favorite song (Until You by Dave Barnes) and play it from there but…

WHERE DID MY SONGS GO?!

My iPod was completely empty! :( I wondered if I unplugged it prematurely, so I tried plugging it in again. I looked at iTunes and there were all my songs! I unplugged it again…and it’s gone again! ARGH!!!

I was panicking real bad and wondering how will I get through the night shift without my songs. I decided to restore my iPod, but I have to back it up first, so I started dragging the songs out to Guilo’s desktop. Then I did some browsing and some places were no help (seriously), until I got to this entry. And I quote:

Apple has released an iPod software update, version 1.2.2. This update is supposed to have some ‘bug fixes’. How important these fixes are to the enjoyment of your iPod is still undetermined.

Many users, myself included, have experienced an issue after installing the update where all the iPod menus are now blank even though it appears to have been properly synced with iTunes. This renders the iPod completely useless and unplayable.

The problem seems to occur when Windows users with 5th generation iPods install the 1.2.2 update before installing the 7.5 update to iTunes.

To avoid this problem install the iTunes 7.5 update and restart before applying the 1.2.2 update to your iPod.

If you’ve already installed 1.2.2 and are suffering from this problem then update iTunes to the current 7.5, restart, and resynch your iPod.

Argh, what a hassle. I went off to download iTunes 7.5, and then installed it (had trouble with installing QuickTime pa, hmph!), but when it’s finally installed, I plugged Triskal in again, and it worked fine. :) Whew.

Lesson learned: Don’t take iTunes updates forgranted. I’m just happy Guilo is a relatively fast computer that I can run Lotus Notes, MS Word, Firefox, Photoshop and iTunes all at the same time. :)

Yes, that’s Triskal over there, a 30GB Black iPod video. :) I got him last Monday in a really amusing way which I call, “Day of the Fast”. Or it could be called Cyber Monday, too, since it seemed to be a day full of gadgets.

First off, my brother sold his 40GB iPod the other Saturday to his officemate. That night, he called me and asked me if I was planning to sell Star, my pink 4GB iPod mini. Our iPods are both 2 1/2 years old — ran through a lot of unit and headphone replacement and used up Apple Care nicely. My brother and I were planning to get new ones but not really soon because of the budget constraints.

Monday lunchtime, my brother called me and asked if I want to sell my iPod that same day. He told me that we’d also be able to buy new ones that night, and he told me that because I’d have to give up Star right after lunch. Quick thoughts and I gave it up with me feeling much stunned after — my iPod’s gone and I haven’t even made a proper farewell! :(

Anyway, that night, my brother and I set off to Megamall to check out which iPod videos fall within our budget. Our plan was to get one for each of us, pay 10K cash (the cash we got from selling our iPods) and swipe the remaining balance on our card — an extension, really — and we’ll pay it off every month with one price, thanks to 0% interest plan. Our budget was 15K per iPod, not more than that because if it reaches more we’d be bankrupt. :P

After much searching, my brother and I found two stores which sell within our price range — Silicon Valley and Apple Center. Apple Center’s price was more expensive by 1K but we ended up buying there. Why? Well, it’s mostly because of security, and the name where we’re buying our iPod. Apple Center is still Apple Center, after all. We’ll be paying P100 more from Silicon Valley’s monthly, but it’s okay.

And that is how I got Triskal. But why Triskal?

Triskal is one of the angels in Frank E. Peretti‘s This Present Darkness, which is where I got Captain Tal‘s name too. Triskal is one of the angels in Captain Tal’s army. He’s the angel who was in charge of taking care of Pastor Hank and Mary, who got assaulted by demons and got angry at the demon Lust. I think he was also the angel who was in assigned to be in charge of Ashton in the sequel, Piercing the Darkness. Yes, I think I may be speaking in Greek right now — I’ll lend you a copy of the book or give you a copy of the audiobook if you’re curious. :)

So the next time the Pinoy Bloggers raffle out an iPod video…you can count me out from the competition now. [Hears cheers everywhere] Triskal’s enough, thankyouverymuch. :)

Or like one of my officemates, who holds different kinds of cellphones everyday to test. She gets to see and hold and play with the latest Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung and Motorola handsets, and she can tell you which phone is the best to suit your lifestyle. But when we talk, she tells me she’s tired of seeing all those phones because they’re all the same and there’s always something missing with the new unit. Being around new cellphones everday wiped out the amazement and wonder she used to get whenever a new unit comes out.

Hay, this is the work life, I guess.

I’ve made up my mind to go on gimmicks every weekend as this year started, and so far, I’ve been doing just so. Last year, I preferred staying at home during the weekends so I could rest, but I end up bumming around all day. For the past month, I’ve managed to go out every weekend and not be a party pooper. :P

Last Friday, I went to a small blogger’s dinner sponsored by Abe. I got there late, as usual, because the UAT finished late, but not too late that I couldn’t enjoy dinner. Jomar, Juned, Jun, Gail, Marc, Rico, Jayvee, Noemi (who is featured in this month’s Marie Claire), Will, Carlo and Miguel were there and that was the time these people discovered two things about me: (1) I’m the “baby” of the group, being the youngest and (2) I have a blog. I know the second one sounds funny, but really, some people thought I was just a nice non-blogger who wanted to help with the Blog Parteeh. That’s why people missed me in the link love in the Blog Parteeh site – I was not in the list of attendees or organizers. Hmph. Biruin nyo yun, after all the bingo calling I did?! Waah! Kidding, kidding. Jomar told me I should’ve spoken up about not being linked there, but I’m not the one to speak and call attention to myself (seriously). And I thought they only listed committee heads. Haha. :P But thanks to people who linked me, especially to Miguel and Jomar who actually has a post about me. =)) You guys are funnee. Haha.

Of course, being the baby of the group, I left early because I had to catch my mom and brother at Megamall who were waiting for me. On the way to the MRT, I saw Pam, an old YFC friend, and we chatted for a while. Then I passed by Recipes, where my old college friends (fondly named YM Berks since we all love Yahoo! Messenger) were having dinner (which I skipped). Said hi, then left and headed to Megamall.

I got my pink iPod mini back by the way. That is the fourth unit I have, the third and last time I have it replaced since my Apple Care warranty expired last January 30. The first two times I had my iPod replaced was because of the battery and this one was because of the defective hold button. Now, that’s maximizing an iPod’s warranty. :P I recommend all iPod owners to get an Apple Care warranty for their iPods. For Php 3,500 only, you get to extend your warranty to another year, which could save you a lot of money if your iPods are overused (haha, likem mine). I didn’t count the numerous times I had my earphones replaced, by the way. :P It feels kind of weird holding a small unit again since I was using my brother’s iPod for three weeks already, but it’s nice to have it back. I do, however, want to sell that already so I could save up and buy a 30GB iPod video (seeing as someone else won the iPod video a week ago) for a change. I need to check out the prices of that before making any decision. I just hope my newly replaced mini won’t die on me too fast — iPods tend to be broken after I use it. :P

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to the gym but I woke up late so I decided to bum in the morning and then head to Greenbelt after lunch to meet with Tuesday (who is now on the plane on her way to Tampa where she will stay for three months). I was late again, as usual, because I let two senior citizens go ahead of me in the line while buying an MRT ticket. We (me, Happy, Tuesday, Joey and Joby) hung out at Seattle’s Best at Greenbelt 3all afternoon. Since I didn’t eat lunch, I got myself a small bag of Holy Kettle Corn from the MRT station before going to Greenbelt 3. What you see in the picture is my side of the table: my new blue bag given by Majoy, my drink (Double Mint Chocolate something. Which now makes me ask, is Seattle’s Best more expensive than Starbucks or are they just the same?), the popcorn and my copy of Christ the Lord Out of Egypt: A Novel by Anne Rice. Tue saw my book, and Happy and I told her we’ll buy her a copy as a “going away present”. Too bad Bea wasn’t there; I would’ve been home a bit later if she was there for all the gabbing we would do. She was there on the phone though. :P

[From L to R, 1st row to second row, except for the biggest picture]
(1) The back of Tuesday’s really cool jacket
(2) me, Tue and Happy on the way up to Powerbooks Live
(3) Tuesday, Joey and Joby
(4) Tuesday talking to Bea on the phone
(5) Tuesday and her going away present

There’s my weekend. Sundays are reserved for rest and family and sometimes, SFC stuff. It’s nice to be able to go out every now and then. :P It makes me feel so alive. :P I still have a goal of being able to go to at least three out of town trips this year, with different sets of people. Let’s see where that brings me. :)