Punzi's Corner Blog

We lost our law partner today to lung cancer. He was our age, a heavy smoker for 20 years.

He found out he had it only last September (but I found out that he was already feeling something since February) and his condition plummeted so quickly. Did not even make it to Christmas. Did not even make it to December.

May he rest in peace.

And may he be a lesson to you smokers out there. The time to quit is now. Do not wait until you are 40 or 50. You may not even make it.

As a precaution, I have enabled comment moderation on all my blogs until further notice. While I believe in the freedom of speech, also believe people can find their own venues to do so.

But not my blog.

I will enable them when I see fit.

Thank you for your understanding.

I really need to take a break so I can get over the disappointment I had yesterday. So here's a video from one of my idols, Sir James Galway playing Annie's Song that may help me to do just that:

Have you ever heard of the saying "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all."? Well today, here's what I have to say about this day:






















































I expect tomorrow to be way better than today.

As promised, I'm posting my initial thoughts on Leopard so far.

1. Installation

As I stated yesterday, I was surprised how easy installation was compared to how the online literature portrays it to be. But of course, I took note of the "horror stories" out there and made some safety measures, as follows:

• Upgraded to 2Mb RAM
• Used the "Archive and Install" option instead of the "Upgrade" option, though most of the online literature agree the safest (but very painful) option is the "Erase and Install" option that is also known as a clean install
• Disconnected all (as in all) USB devices attached Scarlett until I could boot Leopard first

It took about 2 hours for my installation (I took a short nap while it was doing its thing). Curiously, it ran a process that checks the readability of the installation files on the disc first before attempting to copy files and install the OS. That's a prudent move for a conservative install. It avoids any mishaps on your system caused by a failed install due to file corruption. If you are in a hurry, you can skip this step. But I don't recommend it. You should have set aside the time to do this important task anyway.

I'm grateful Apple was thoughtful enough to include this step, unlike Microsoft that leaves you, your computer and your data at the mercy of possible defects in the installation CD you got. I can only say this for XP only because I have never installed Vista... yet. My Vista experience comes from two HP machines with pre-installed Vista Home Basic.

That process of checking the integrity of the disk took a good hour I think.

After that, the copying of the files went without issue and was relatively quick.

Then came the most scary part of this experience: the reboot.

There were a lot of people who got a typical PC experience called "The Blue Screen of Death" or BSOD for short. For the PC it looks like this:


But for the Mac OSX, it's just a plain (sky) blue screen that refuses to go to initial login screen.

My own experience was more focussed than the anxiety over possibly having BSOD than what actually happened. Scarlett went to the login screen almost as fast as in Tiger.

After this, it was pretty much finished, except for the optional installs I performed afterwards. I had to put X11 for Open Office, the language options, as well as the printer drivers.

2. First Impressions

As an upgrade (opposed to a totally new OS), Leopard is still OSX. This means this was not a totally new experience but only an improvement of it. So I was not actually lost when I handled it the first time.

And when I finished installation, Apple manages to fulfill its promise that it will "simply work."

Leopard simply works.

And as I said yesterday, I was pretty much finished after installation, since I chose to preserve my Tiger settings. I could already live (and work) with the setup I had right then and there.

I had some error messages when I ran Twitterffic while performing optional installs. But after downloading the 10.5.1 update, I did not have problems up to now.

On the other hand, I kind of miss troubleshooting a PC install. Perhaps using OSX is becoming too boring. But what I don't miss is the trouble I had with Vista.

So far, almost all of my previous applications also work with Leopard. And this is just as well because as I said, this was supposed to be an upgrade and not a totally new operating system.

3. The experience so far...

At first I thought there will be no major changes in the experience I will have with Leopard. And for the most part it is true. But going deeper, you will know that it delivers as an upgrade.

For my purposes, I appreciated two improvements: Quick Look and the improved Spotlight.

"Using Quick Look in Leopard, you can view the contents of a file without even opening it. Flip through multipage documents. Watch full-screen video. See entire Keynote presentations. With a single click."

That's very useful for me since I already have a lot of pleadings in my files that I still use for reference in making new ones. With Quick Look, I don't need to open my word processor, spreadsheet or presentation programs (which still runs on Rosetta).

Spotlight now searches contents of files rather than only filenames and now allows Boolean searches. Again for my purposes, this is very powerful. Sometimes I remember a legal principle or a case, or a provision of law I used in a pleading, a letter or an opinion that I need to use again. With Spotlight, I can search these from my existing files easily.

I just started setting up Stacks for my documents and downloads and haven't even explored Spaces. But I anticipate these will be useful for me.

Also, I feel my computer is faster, even with Leopard. But I think that's because of the 2Gb RAM upgrade I had in preparation for this upgrade. And my 500 Gb external hard drive mounts faster in Leopard than in Tiger...

4. Summary

All in all, it's a good experience. The installation was easy, unlike how online literature portrayed it. Leopard simply works out of the box for me. And the upgrades, so far, will only improve and not hinder the OSX experience.

I'm grateful I finally decided to upgrade. The experience is good so far.

Of course, if there's something wrong, I will blog about it here...

Have a great week, everyone!

If there's a way to clone one's self for today, I would have done it.

I have two family members on sick bay. As you know, my dad underwent an elective procedure yesterday (which incidentally went very well). But Nico decided to join in the mix and was in and out of his fever also yesterday.

This prompted me to go home yesterday and tend to him (Nico) today.

So for today, I had to attend to my dad and Nico, and then run some errands and get some work done in the office, and then attend choir practice and mass. So I had to clone myself and make at least 3 copies.

Fortunately, some smart scheduling did the trick. I dropped Nico and her nanny at the clinic and did some work while waiting (since my office is near the clinic). Then, I even managed to have my celfone repaired and picked up some awesome upgrades for Scarlett while I was at it.

Likewise, my sister stepped in for hospital duties for my dad so all I did was secure some supplied my sister brought there.

As for Nico, he has a sore throat so all he needs are some meds and a lot of rest.

Then, I got Scarlett's RAM up to 2Gb now... in preparation for her major Leopard facelift.

And then... there is Leopard...

Yes I know, I read all the warning signs of early adoption. But because I did not make the jump to Leopard immediately, I benefited from the wisdom of the pioneers.

All the literature I read states the best way to install Leopard is a clean install, namely a disk reformat and a fresh OS X 10.5 installation. But I have too much content that such installation may take all day. That's time I did not have.

The same literature also agree that the upgrade option was very dangerous, as any wayward "old" application may loose you the entire system. So I did not choose this option because I did not have time to troubleshoot Scarlett if something went wrong.

So I chose the next best thing to avoid installation problems: Archive and Install. It preserves your old settings and creates and archive of it, and then completely installs Leopard over it.

And it worked like a charm. I must say, I did not have any problems getting Scarlett to run on Leopard. Of course, there are some incompatible programs I have to troubleshoot but basically, I can already live (and work) with my system now as it is.

With the horror stories I read about Leopard installation, I was really afraid to do this today because of my schedule. But looking back now, it was really a relatively painless experience, even less painful than a clean XP install, and less time consuming, to add.

The process when so well, I had more than enough time for choir, which also went relatively well.

I will blog about my thoughts on Leopard so far tomorrow. So I can have something to blog about... tomorrow.

Here's to a good weekend for us all!

My dad is undergoing an operation as I write this entry.

My internet speed is limited to what my phone can provide me right now. But it's still fast enough to blog comfortably...

Don't worry, it's an elective procedure but it was something he had to have for a long time.

So I spend most of my day yesterday attending to my dad's needs as he checked in the afternoon.

I'm also here with my mom, who will stay with my dad for tonight. I will have to go home tomorrow because Bea still has school tomorrow. Make up classes for the unexpected holidays they had, I guess.

I'll keep you posted about my dad later. In the meantime, prayers will be appreciated.

A new Happyslip video. Yay!



This one's for the books as regards editing. I don't know if she's already using her MacBook Pro for this one already... probably.

Nice to watch this to relieve the tension... Tanks a lot, Christine!

Again, I'm forced to wait.

Forced to wait for some developments in a case I'm involved in. This time, I'm waiting for word from a client. That will come sometime soon...

Likewise, I'm waiting for another appointment that may come sooner than later...

Waiting is doing nothing to soothe my nerves. But I have to stop thinking of what could go wrong and start thinking of when everything goes right.

By the Law of Attraction, it will come.

Since my appointment today was rescheduled tomorrow, I decided to wait out what I'm waiting for at home and just head out to the office this afternoon.

This is a make or break time for us. We have a lot riding on this case and this could spell our holiday season.

But I think the people will deliver and we will get it today. And when we do, I'll head out to our office for a much-needed drink...

Anyway, it will be paperwork and waiting here at home. At least, I can drive Nico to and from school today.

I'll keep you posted on the developments for the day.

Oh, there are two important Senate hearings today. Perhaps I can watch that and live-blog (or just do some live comments on the legal points that will raise).

In any case, this will be a crucial and interesting day.

There was one payback when I drove my mother to meet with her siblings (two aunts and an uncle) at a mall of considerable distance from where we live. And for this, I'm truly grateful, even if I missed chamber session (which, I found out later, fizzled out due to lack of attendees).

I have been looking for this game, the Heavenly Sword, for quite some time now. I've downloaded the demo game and got blown away. And I found one in that distant mall, one copy left. And that mall was having a sale at the time so I even got a discount.

Let's just say for now, it's in the tradition of the God of War series, which means, it will turn out to be a classic, definitive PS3 game. But with power of the new game machine, you don't even notice when the cut-scene ends and the gameplay begins. And the picture you see above is comparatively standard graphics of the actual game. It's that good.

And I just barely played it yesterday because we got back home only in time for choir practice.

So for the rest of the day, I plan to savor the cinematics and the button-mashing gameplay, which is how I like my games.

And I look forward to a productive week ahead...

Enjoy the rest of your week and here's to good week ahead of us...

Well what we were expecting from a case did not come today... again...

But basically, yesterday was a good day. I got to a good start, churning out a pleading that could earn us a lot next week.

It was my boss' birthday (the one over at my consultancy) and we basically ate the morning and afternoon away in a restaurant near my office.

But between that pleading I did yesterday morning and what we were expecting that day, I was supposed to make enough to buy my Yamaha YFL-421 flute. I checked yesterday and the last unit has not been sold. Perhaps it is meant for me...

Oh well, we'll know by next week, I think.

All in all, I'm already grateful for how yesterday way, in general.

I was supposed to look forward to the resumption of our chamber sessions today, but it appears I have driving duties. But that may be a good opportunity for me to acquire a new game title for my PS3, I mean, Miley...

If I don't make it to chamber sessions, there's always choir in the evening. And for that I have grateful already.

Here's to a great weekend for everyone.

With some snags in some pending work, mainly because what we have asked has not been given yet, I'm under immense pressure and tension.

But I know these are needless anxieties. And yet, a significant amount of years being wired that way will take some time to be rewired.

I want to tell you it was not a good day yesterday but by the Law of Attraction, I would attract more. And yes, I got a healthy dose of the Law of Attraction yesterday, as the first thing that happened dictated the rest of the day. I started the day angry, so yes, I attracted anger and hostility throughout the day.

Anyway, thanks for the lesson/slap in the face in any case.

So today must be different because I'm starting this day early and in good spirits.

And I'm looking forward to today's activities. I expect everything to push through.

A major day today...

Our law office won a major case against a major law office. They even sent not one but two lawyers to argue their case and I faced them alone. And we beat the living daylights out of them.

What a big victory! Not only did their application for a restraining order got denied, the judge even threw (or dismissed) their case altogether. As my partner said, "That case was dismissed as quickly as it was filed.

To celebrate, I went to a fancy restaurant for a sumptuous lunch. But then I ran into an old friend and he treated me.

Then, I got a good deal on a Spiderman Blue-Ray box set... a major acquisition for my video collection... Three discs for the a little more than the price of one...

I was then supposed to have dinner out but good thing I got home because of a major event that happened tonight.

I heard that explosion from Batasan from where I live (which according to Google Earth, is only about a kilometer away). When I heard it, I thought it was too powerful to be a mere firecracker.

And true enough, it was. My mother remarked that it may have come from Batasan, then I jokingly quipped, "I hope there are still congressmen there..."

And yes, by the Law of Attraction, there were. Powerful stuff... If I could take it back, I would...

Now, I fear a major scenario building scheme of some people who will use this blast to justify martial law and still get congressional approval for it, since congressmen were the ones attacked....

But anyway, I better stop thinking these thoughts because they may come true by the Law of Attraction.

So I better just pray, and be grateful I was safe at home when it happened. My profession takes me there sometimes, you know... and let's just hope there are no casualties...

I was so exhausted both physically and emotionally last Thursday that I decided to recharge somewhat yesterday.

Of course I did some work, but I did it from the house, something I have not done for a long time.

I did help out my dad in his international project by providing technical support. And I made some serious follow-ups on a crucial matter for a valued client. But that last one showed no results so far.

Anyway, I just got Bea's grades this morning and they're pretty good. She improved a lot since last quarter and her conduct grade was better.

But still, the teacher said she has a lot of potential and could do better.

I like what is happening to me right now insofar as career is concerned. But that meant I don't get to keep track of my kids as much as I want to.

So why not ask that I get more than enough time? By the Law of Attraction, and applying the secret, I will get that as well.

There's choir tonight and for that I am grateful.

Then I better catch up again on some rest for today. It appears that I will not get to sleep late this week as I have to drive my mother somewhere early tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend!

It seems I need to catch up on my blogging because I missed a day or two. I wonder why?

Came back yesterday from a grueling hearing in the morning then some work in my consultancy.

I was supposed to catch up on some paperwork this morning, only to discover I can't because I did not have the latest manifestation of the document I was supposed to edit. So I have to fit it into this busy day somehow.

Anyway, I also needed to catch up on a couple of HappySlip videos I missed:



"French Fries" is the latest video. It's a music video about a spat Christine had with her father about cholesterol-laden food.

Funny. But not spectacular. But she has a good voice. And she should stop using those ghetto floodlights. Too yellow.

I like this other video she made for Xoom, although it's a commercial. The humor is dead-on Filipino.



Well there. So I'll catch up now on... sleep instead.

In this, my 12th year anniversary in practice, allow me to present a small lecture.

What is the law on amendment and supplemental pleadings?

It is governed by Rule 10 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure. It states:

RULE 10

Amended and Supplemental Pleadings

Section 1. Amendments in general. Pleadings may be amended by adding or striking out an allegation or the name of any party, or by correcting a mistake in the name of a party or a mistaken or inadequate allegation or description in any other respect, so that the actual merits of the controversy may speedily be determined, without regard to technicalities, and in the most expeditious and inexpensive manner. (1)

Section 2. Amendments as a matter of right. A party may amend his pleading once as a matter of right at any time before a responsive pleading is served or, in the case of a reply, at any time within ten (10) days after it is served. (2a)

Section 3. Amendments by leave of court. Except as provided in the next preceding section, substantial amendments may be made only upon leave of court. But such leave may be refused if it appears to the court that the motion was made with intent to delay. Orders of the court upon the matters provided in this section shall be made upon motion filed in court, and after notice to the adverse party, and an opportunity to be heard. (3a)

Section 4. Formal amendments. A defect in the designation of the parties and other clearly clerical or typographical errors may be summarily corrected by the court at any stage of the action, at its initiative or on motion, provided no prejudice is caused thereby to the adverse party. (4a)

Section 5. Amendment to conform to or authorize presentation of evidence. When issues not raised by the pleadings are tried with the express or implied consent of the parties they shall be treated in all respects as if they had been raised in the pleadings. Such amendment of the pleadings as may be necessary to cause them to conform to the evidence and to raise these issues may be made upon motion of any party at any time, even after judgment; but failure to amend does not effect the result of the trial of these issues. If evidence is objected to at the trial on the ground that it is not within the issues made by the pleadings, the court may allow the pleadings to be amended and shall do so with liberality if the presentation of the merits of the action and the ends of substantial justice will be subserved thereby. The court may grant a continuance to enable the amendment to be made. (5a)

Section 6. Supplemental pleadings. Upon motion of a party the court may, upon reasonable notice and upon such terms as are just, permit him to serve a supplemental pleading setting forth transactions, occurrences or events which have happened since the date of the pleading sought to be supplemented. The adverse party may plead thereto within ten (10) days from notice of the order admitting the supplemental pleading. (6a)

Section 7. Filing of amended pleadings. When any pleading is amended, a new copy of the entire pleading, incorporating the amendments, which shall be indicated by appropriate marks, shall be filed. (7a)

Section 8. Effect of amended pleadings. An amended pleading supersedes the pleading that it amends. However, admissions in superseded pleadings may be received in evidence against the pleader, and claims or defenses alleged therein not incorporated in the amended pleading shall be deemed waived. (n)

Are these rules applicable in Congress or any other government agency which is not a court?

If these offices do not have specialized rules on the matter, the rules I stated above is applicable as a supplement.

But we have to take note of the Section 147 of the House Rules that state:

Section 147. Suppletory Provisions. - The parliamentary practices of the Philippine Assembly, the House of Representatives, the Senate of the Philippines and the Batasang Pambansa shall be suppletory to these rules.

What is the difference between an amendment and a supplement?

According to the rules, an amendment is a modification of an original. Hence, we are only referring to only one pleading and the amendment merely modifies this original pleading (or affidavit, or any other document).

Now a supplement, as the rules state, states transactions, occurrences or events which have happened since the date of the pleading sought to be supplemented. Simply put, a supplement adds to an original pleading (or affidavit).

So is an amended pleading considered a separate pleading?

Technically it is not because since it merely modifies an original pleading (or affidavit), there is no separate pleading to speak of.

How about a supplement?

Again, it is not technically because it merely adds to an original pleading. There is, again, no separate pleading to speak of.

But what is important in considering an amendment or a supplement?

Of course, the party that originally filed the pleading or the affidavit has to consent to such an addition or modification. Ideally, the supplement or amendment should be filed by the one that originally filed it.

Also, when an amendment or a supplement substantially changes the theory of the case, it may need the consent of the court, or the body that received it.

Happy 12th anniversary to me...

It's back to work/school tomorrow!

Let's just sit back today and relax and be thankful for the long vacation we all had. It gave us a chance to remember our dearly departed and perhaps take stock and be grateful for their part in our lives.

It's likewise time to be grateful that we are still alive to be grateful. And of course, it's likewise the time to be grateful for what we have.

Now for what happened today:

We went to Greenhills today, for me personally, to scout around on what I want to acquire. I managed to buy a cheap SATA hard disk enclosure for the former 60Gb hard disk of my PS3. Then I gasped at the price range of PS3 games there because they're almost 50% cheaper than in the malls. Then I got some metal styli for the DS. And finally, I was almost tempted to buy 2Gb of RAM for Scarlett because it was way cheaper than in the Apple Authorized Service Centers. The only catch is installation is DIY.

Tomorrow (or next week) is another busy week for us. And with that comes more opportunities. And you know what that means.

I can't wait.

Technically, I just turned my new PS3 into a computer with the addition of a cheap USB keyboard and a recycled wireless optical mouse.

I have been testing it since we got back from Trinoma. Of course, it has limited capabilities. The keyboard and mouse are basically used just to make surfing the net with the built-in browser more bearable than using the Sixaxis controllers.

The PS3's built-in browser is not exactly Firefox or even IE7. It's very limited because of its limited Flash and Java capabilities. I was actually attempting to blog using the PS3's new configuration but it did not work out because I could not write to the space for the actual entry. All I could do was write to the title and label spaces. I have not tried to write using Wordpress, though, and I may attempt to do that later.

But for basic surfing the net, it's still way better than using the controllers. You can basically check your email, surf most of the popular pages like Friendster and Face and actually even watch YouTube there, although you cannot go fullscreen.

I have not tried the Yahoo! apps yet, but I will probably try that one soon.

So far, the experience is a little more than a phone's but still way less than a full computer.

Anyway, I'll give you more updates on surfing the net using the PS3 soon. I'm even planning on installing Linux since I have a bigger hard drive now.

So since my PS3 is technically a computer and thus part of my home network now, I think she has to have a name. For the sake of consistency (I name my computers after US teen stars), I have decided to give her the name "Miley," as in "Miley Cyrus."

I finished my download of demo games and I don't like them at all. I don't like them because they're so good, I want to buy them all...

Anyway, I'll get back to surfing using Miley now...

By the way, choir went well tonight and I'm really seriously considering a flute upgrade instead of upgrading my clarinet. I have not forgotten my roots, you know.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

We approached our November 1 activities like a mission with activities planned with military precision.

The traffic-less streets did help a lot.

So it was a road trip to our province near enough to go to in less than two hours but far enough to be considered as out of town. We made excellent time as we arrived there just in time for lunch. Then after a hearty native lunch we set out for the cemetery.

We had three places to go: my paternal grandparents, my aunt and her husband (my uncle, of course) and what we call the "condominium." It's a mausoleum of my maternal grandmother's family containing at least 15 family members. Yes, they're so old, most of them are already there. And the few that are left already have their "places" reserved for them, as in, all they have to do is slip them there when the time comes.

Of course, we spent more time on the road than on the cemetery. But considering we did not plan to visit in the first place, it was already a good visit.

Today, we go to my maternal grandparents and another aunt and her husband (again, an uncle, of course). We go this afternoon. It will also be a brief visit but today we will bring the kids.

I think it does not matter how much time we spend at the actual gravesite(s). What is important is we remember them and be grateful for their part in our lives.

Hard work surely has its rewards.

For we have been working until the last minute. And because of this, I missed my kids' trick or treating.

And for that, my friend and I got our treats. No need to mention what he got because he can always say that in his blog.

As for me, I got three (3) treats:

1. My first Blue-Ray movie disc of "The 300." Just browsing through it left me breathless.

2. A Nintendo DS Browser for Bea's DS.

3. A 120 Gb hard disk for the PS3. It took me just now to finish backing up the content from the original hard disk to my 500Gb USB drive, removing the drive and installing the bigger drive and then restoring the content. But now, I have a 120Gb PS3, way bigger than the 80Gb they sell now. And my PS3 is still has PS2 backward compatibility at a hardware level, as it still has the Emotion Engine and the PS2 GPU. (The new 80Gb PS3 only has the PS2 GPU and only emulates the PS2 Emotion Engine.)

I will not have time to enjoys these treats because we have to go the province tomorrow to visit my paternal grandparents' resting places and to Loyola Marikina tomorrow for my maternal grandparents' resting places. I'm driving, of course.

Anyway, I still have rest for a while before the days ahead. And after this break, more work of course.

I am truly grateful for this day and the coming days that will prove to be both exciting and rewarding at the same time.

We are, as they say, having the time of our lives, at the risk of being corny.