Punzi's Corner Blog

As I have said before, day one of our South City Escapade was dedicated to rest and recreation.

We only converged as a group during meals and a few hours at the beach. In between those periods, I was deep into the internets (Facebook in particular), as our place fortunately provided free broadband internet access (albeit wired). But since there were two of us in the room with computers, I'm grateful that it's easy for one Mac to share the wired internet to another wirelessly. But I had to call service for the internets to work in our room as the wires were apparently disconnected at the plug level.

Hence, I had a running pictorial account of our stay in my Facebook account.

I'm glad I had this chance to recharge my batteries. I would need it today, as we would start our planning session this day.

But first, I'm planning to take a dip at the beach early morning.

Also, a hat tip to the resort/spa/hotel where we are staying. They're really taking good care of us. Definitely, I will stay here again if I get the chance to be in this city again.

Got to rest some more again, as the real work begins today. Although we can just extend our rest and recreation activities to today and make our planning session as brief (but meaningful) as possible.

I had to get up early to catch an early flight to some city down south today.

But I had some trouble packing I could not sleep at all.

I will bring Olivia to this city, as this is a working vacation. I will probably buy into our hotel's overpriced internet access so I may be able to blog while I am away from home.

Hopefully the flight goes without incident. I'll blog again later today because the agenda calls for some rest and recreation. And while this is not my first time in this major southern city, this will be my longest stay there. My first two times were very brief, with one I did not even spend the night there.

I'll also bring my camera today so I may be able to post some pictures.

So that's it for now. I have to prepare for this trip some more.

Catch you later.

Lifted from another Facebook Tag by Arjay:

THREE NAMES THAT FRIENDS CALL YOU:
1. Punzi
2. Noel
3. 'torney

THREE MOST IMPORTANT DATES IN YOUR LIFE:
1. 4/07/1998
2. 10/06/2003
3. 12/26/1970

THREE THINGS YOU'VE DONE IN THE LAST 30 MINUTES:
1. meeting
2. plumbing
3. testing the new hot water air pot

THREE WAYS TO BE HAPPY KAHIT SA BAHAY LANG
THREE WAYS TO BE HAPPY WITHOUT LEAVING THE HOUSE:(translated for my non-Pino Friends)
1. playing video games (PS3 and PSP)/watching Star Trek Voyager/Blu-ray movies on my new TV
2. playing my instruments
3. playing with my kids

THREE GIFTS YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE:
1. Rolex Submariner
2. a new car
3. a new iMac

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. Computer
2. Playing flute/saxophone/clarinet/keyboard
3. Video Games

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO FOR VACATION:
1. Washintgton, DC
2. Paris. France
3. The Vatican

THREE FAVORITE DRINKS:
1. Sprite regular
2. Coke regular
3. Carlos Primero

THREE THINGS FOUND IN YOUR BAG:
1. PDA/Celphones
2. Moleskine organizer
3. PSP with games

THREE FAVORITE COLORS:
1. Blue
2. Silver Gray
3. Teal

TOP THREE HANGOUTS:
1. Mall
2. A nearby mall
3. computer stores (rows of computer store in, you guessed it, in malls)

TOP THREE YOU LOVE SO MUCH:
1. Kids
2. Parents
3. Sister and her family

TOP THREE WHOM YOU THINK WILL ANSWER THIS SURVEY:
1. You
2. Them
3. All

TOP THREE "THINGS" SPECIAL TO YOU:
(things only)
1. Olivia
2. My PDA
3. My TVs (and those attached to them)

TOP THREE ANYTHING THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY LATELY:
1. work and how it's going and its fruits
2. my kids
3. resp and recreation periods

TOP THREE REASONS WHY YOU ANSWERED THIS SURVEY:
1. Habit
2. Facebook addiction
3. Nothing else to do

Well I logged into my Google Adsense and it's confirmed. I've hit the threshold amount that Google will send a check.

So it's official. I'm going to be paid for my blog.

So technically, I can call myself a problogger henceforth.

While it is a milestone, I should downplay this event (and just limit emphasis on it to this entry). It's because I did not start my blog to earn money. I still have a fulfilling day job for that.

I'm just glad and grateful that some money is coming my way from my blogging. But mind you, that came after almost five years after signing up for an Adsense account.

So I'm sticking to my day job and my livelihood and still for personal reasons. The money that will come my way because of this is incidental and not the goal. I'm not losing sight of that.

Sleep all day
Jason Mraz

Pradapapapa radada radada papap padede
Pradap papa radada radada padap padap bom-bey oh hey
His after moan though cries oh no
He's building up a shine but he’d take it slow
And he knows it time to make a change here, time to get away
it's time for all the wrong reasons, time to end the pain
But he sleep all, we sleep all day, sleep all, we sleep all day over
Said well we, sleep all, we sleep all day, we sleep all, we sleep all day
over

She said what would your mother think oh lord, oh how would your father react oh
Would he take it all back what they've done
The way they said take it, take it and he said make it with your own two hands
That was my old man and he said
if all is grounded you should go make a mountain out of it

oh what a lovely day to slip inside of humble pie
oh recalling of the while we used to drive and drive here and there
going nowhere but for us
and we knew it was time to take a chance here
time to compromise our lives for awhile
it was time and all the wrong reasons
but time is often on my side but I give it to you tonight
and we sleep all,we sleep all day,we sleep all, we sleep all day over
said well we, sleep all we sleep all day, sleep all we sleep all day over and over over and over again

as time goes by we get a little bit tired of waking and baked another Marlboro mile wide
it's sending the boys on the run in the time in hot summer sun
to swim beneath or over outside
but they remember the part in the hallmark card where they read about the dreams
and reaching for stars to hold
and they knew it was time to take oh, time to take a chance here
time to compromise to occupy the lies
and it was time for all the wrong reasons
and time is often on my side but I give it to you, oh boy
said we, sleep all, sleep all day, we sleep all, we sleep all day over
said well we sleep all,we sleep all day, we sleep all we sleep all day over

She said what would your mother think oh lord, how would your father react oh
Would he take it all back what they've done
the way he said, take it, take it and make it with your own two hands
That was my old man and he said
if all is grounded you should go make a mountain out of it
well you see, if all is grounded you should go make a mountain out of it
pradada dadadadadada…alright
you should go make a mountain out of it
if all is grounded you should go make a mountain out of it, go ahead oh yea
you should go make a mountain out of it

Could not blog yesterday because I was so tired.

Had a lot of things to do yesterday. A hearing in the morning and a string of meetings after that.
So for today, it's grocery errands and some rest.

No session, no choir today. So no play today.

I'll probably take advantage of this day to just rest and enjoy my new LCD TV, while enjoying my new Olivia, which is in the middle of a download I started from Scarlett.

Checked out the website of the place where I traded Scarlett in and found our she's sold already. I hope her new owner more productive times with her.

And Olivia... she's getting her fair share right now because there's so much work.

So time to rest up. I'll probably hear mass tonight so that's out of the way tomorrow. And for tomorrow, more rest.

Happy weekend everyone!

Yesterday was a mixed bag.

Immediately after taking Bea to school, I had to head out to my first meeting of the day: an early partner's meeting at a swanky hotel near our office. I personally requested for this morning meeting because of personal reasons I will detail later.

Of course, I'm not at liberty to discuss the meeting at detail because those are office matters. But that ended closer to 10:oo a.m. Then it was off to my government consultancy where I also spent a considerable amount of time.

Then, to the main event of that day. I had to play bus driver and fetch Bea from school. That's the reason I requested for an early partners meeting. My sister was undergoing a procedure and could not fetch Bea. So I had to do it myself.

Bea and I went to a nearby mall to buy my mother's birthday present. Of course, Bea's payoff came when she pigged out for a meal at a fastfood joint.

We decided to give my mom's present yesterday because I figured, we would only have the chance to gather today late afternoon (this being a school/work day and all). My mom's been eyeing that thing we gave her for quite some time now and really appreciated it when we gave it to her.

Because the day started early for me, I got tired early and turned in earlier than usual. The only problem is, I'm now awake (which is typical when I turn in early) and could not go back to sleep anymore.

Hence, this blog entry.

I really do hope I can go back to sleep. There are a lot of things to do tomorrow. And that's even before I leave the house for the office.

So I really better stop blogging right now and start resting up again... right?

There were a lot of unexpected things that happened yesterday.

I will not elaborate on all of them. But I like to express my gratitude that they happened because they were all for the best.

I like to share one of them. It's a funny story and it involves my mother.

I came home last night quite late (after an unexpected traffic), but still on time to kiss my children goodnight. But my mom was fuming mad at some ghost transaction charged to her credit card. Apparently, she had already called the card's call center to complain and was asked to put her complaint into writing. She rarely used her card and she was certain she did not spend that significant amount on anything that day.

She called me to formalize her complaint. "Of course," I said, "I would do it because that's what I do for a living."

Then I looked at the questioned transaction. I said, "Mom, this is for a purchase at a celphone store last week. Didn't you say my aunt bought a celphone that day?"

And then she remembered. And started laughing.

She finally remembered that day. She used the card to purchase a celphone for my aunt (her elder sister). And she started laughing some more.

And I started laughing with her...

To think, it's my mom's 69th birthday tomorrow.

Happy Birthday in advance, Mom! We love you all.

I started out with a better office than some of my batchmates. As a matter of fact, one of the things that attracted me there was the beauty of that law office.

Unlike some of my batchmates that got cubicles, I got a real office that offered me privacy. Though small (it only had space for the desk and the chair, with little pacing room), I got a window view. Never mind the view was the Amorsolo Creek.

When I resigned from the Makati law office life, I got a decent office, albeit encased in glass. I was the only lawyer there (I was in-house counsel for a realty company) and I felt I was in an aquarium, with everyone staring at me for a year.

Then when I went to solo practice, I got a small desk in my father's architectural office. But I mostly worked from home. And for this I used that L-shaped desked I used during law school in what used to be Bea's room. Since solo practice means bearing with a spartan atmosphere and equipment, that set-up suited me fine.

Then I got into government. When I was chief legal of a big government company, I got a big office. It had it's own living space and conference table, apart from my big desk. The only problem is, it is old, from the furniture to the actual space.

Since leaving government employment and into consultancy, I was not particular about having an office, or even a desk of my own for that matter. I used to work mostly from home, with my only workspace, wherever I sit down in front of a computer.

Then, I joined a law office again. But I was also not particular about a personal office space. I used to have a small desk in a small corner with a window view of Music 21. But then again, I did not use that space all the time. I still worked from home.

Then, we moved into a big office. And I got again another big office with a big view.

But this time, I'm in charge of populating it with the things I need to work there.

I figured I needed only a few things there to start working comfortably:

1. A decent desk
2. A decent computer
3. A decent TV (because I work with it on, as background noise)
4. A decent chair.

The rest were optional.

But since moving in to that office with the desk I had in our old place, I managed to get the stuff I needed:

1. They had a big desk made for me, that doubles as a conference table that could be comfortably used by six people. Then I still have a small desk that I can use when I don't need a big desk.
2. I managed to acquire Olivia, more than a decent computer.
3. I managed to get my old LCD TV to my office today. And as it turns out, that TV is still pretty decent. Also, they managed to fit out my component system to the shelving today.
4. The seat I acquired will be delivered tomorrow.

So finally, I can turn in some decent work there. Sure, I'll still work from the house, because I'm still very comfortable there. But now, I have a second space, a more or less permanent office, where I can turn out more than a decent day's work.

Yes, I know, my office still some needs some work like decent wallpaper and a cabinet for spare clothes. But that would come eventually.

So for now, I have an office. And I look forward to stay there in comfort and put in decent work for years to come.

It is not as romantic as you may think.

The day started quite early. Nico joined me at the mall to get some roses for our "ladies," my mom and Bea, of course. We got four flowers because Nico and I would give them one each.

The next part of the mission is to hunt down an LCD TV. The TV in my office actually belongs to the office and of course, I could not hog that one all to myself forever. I have a set TV model and budget in mind.

I went to our favorite appliance store in said mall to shop around. There were other TVs over there with a price. But I had one particular brand and model in mind. But if I did not get it at that price, I would not buy it. That price is at least P5,000.00 off the list price but could go as much as P8,000.00.

I don't know what came over that store. It might be Valentine's Day fever or it might be a zeal to close a sale very early in the day (the "buena mano" phenomenon). But surprisingly, they gave it at the price I wanted.

So now, I'm a proud owner of a new LCD TV for my room. I will assign my old LCD TV to my office. It will still be used to the hilt there. And the fact that it's color scheme of silver and black matches Olivia is a bonus.

After installing the TV and boxing the old one, off I went to my actual date. I had chamber sessions with three friends. We just jammed to some tunes and the only song we actually finished was a Nora Aunor song called "Kapantay ay Langit" (loosely "High as the Sky").

Then a Valentine snack at home of pasta and barbecued pork skewers. Then choir, with my niece.

In all, it was a good day. Totally unromantic. But just as good.

Who needs romance, anyway? Just kidding.

How about another song this Valentines Day?




Heart of Mine
Boss Scaggs

One day you may
Find true love that will last forever
And ever
Till then you'll spend
A lifetime wishing one together
You never thought she'd say goodbye
And you'll never understand the reasons why

Heart of mine
How will you keep from dying
Stop reminiscing
Who is she kissing
Heart of mine
Oh what's the use in trying
No one can mend you now mmmmm

Love plays cruel games
You can't believe she's found another
...Lover
Does she miss me
Sometimes you just can't help but wonder
No you can't hold the hands of time
And you'll always be the one she left behind

Heart of mine
How will you keep from dying
Stop reminiscing
Who is she kissing

Heart of mine
Oh what's the use in trying
No one can mend you now

And you'll never understand the reasons why
Heart of mine
How will you keep from dying
Stop reminiscing
Who is she kissing

Heart of mine
Oh what's the use in trying
No one can mend you now
Oh heart of mine

Heart of mine
Heart of mine

Thought I play this song because this came up in memory recently.

Plus, it makes a good pre-Valentine's day song:



Head over Heels
Tears for Fears

I wanted to be with you alone
And talk about the weather
But traditions I can trace against the child in your face
Wont escape my attention
You keep your distance with a system of touch
And gentle persuasion
Im lost in admiration could I need you this much
Oh, youre wasting my time
Youre just wasting time

Something happens and Im head over heels
I never find out till Im head over heels
Something happens and Im head over heels
Ah dont take my heart
Dont break my heart
Dont throw it away

I made a fire and watching burn
Thought of your future
With one foot in the past now just how long will it last
No no no have you no ambition
My mother and my brothers used to breathe in clean in air
And dreaming Im a doctor
Its hard to be a man when theres a gun in your hand
Oh I feel so...

Something happens and Im head over heels

And this my four leaf clover
Im on the line, one open mind
This is my four leaf clover

(La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la)
(La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la)
(La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la)
(La la la la la, la la la la la, la la la la la la)
(La la la la la, la la la la la)

In my mind's eye (la la la la la la)
One little boy, one little man (La la la la la, la la la la la)
Funny how...TIME FLIES!!!

Well I'm really enjoying the power Olivia delivers and of course, I like the fact that she's still new.

So for yesterday, after reporting to my government consultancy, I decided to go around the nearby mall where I park when I go there.

Looked around for a new LCD TV. Thought about getting one for my office (the TV in my office belongs to the office and may be retrieved to a common room anytime). Maybe when I earn some more money I could get one. I chose Olivia over a new TV because I always think it should be business first before pleasure. The good stuff will come soon enough. But first I have to work for it.

Next, I thought about upgrading Olivia's hard drive from its present 250 Gb to 500 Gb. It turns out, Olivia's hard drive is user-swappable and as easily accessible as her battery. So I acquired a hard drive for just that.

Had second thoughts, though. Olivia is still under warranty and I may do something in the process of swapping hard drives to void it. Besides, I can always put the 500 Gb drive in a drive casing and use it as an external drive. And since that bigger drive will do less work, I can always swap it for Olivia's present drive once it conks out.

So what I'm doing now is transfering the contents of my existing 500 Gb external drive to this new one. That old one has FAT32 filing system and I would like to repartition it to OS X. That way, I avoid the 4Gb per singe file limitation of FAT32. Yes, as a matter of fact, I have some single files more than 4Gb. Also, this may improve the performance of my old external 500 Gb drive.

Anyway, that drive only has about 60Gb free and it is almost full. It was nevertheless time to increase capacity. Because of sheer total size of the files I have to transfer, it will take at least 6 hours to transfer from the old to the new and the same time to the other way (after a repartition).

So while that is going on, I think, I'll catch up on some needed sleep. I'll attend to this transfer in the morning (when the sun is already up).

So if you'll excuse me, I think I'll turn in. Tune in to what happens to this conteplated upgrade once I ultimately decide what to do.

Believe it or not, my workday today started at 5:30 a.m. with my trek to my office.

Since I worked on Olivia the night (or morning, as in until 2:00 a.m.) before, I just limped and barely made it to the office. I could not drive a single inch longer.

The deal with my client was they would pick me up at the office. But they were running late and someone had to be in court on time. At first, I wanted to take the chance and drive to court.

But prudence got the better of me. I know I could not drive anymore, at the risk of an accident. So I just took a cab, a feat I rarely do.

Fortunately, that solved all our problems and I had a productive hearing.

Now about Olivia... she works like a charm. The feel's as familiar as Scarlett, since I set her up the same way. But Olivia has way more power under the hood. And that's my chief complaint with Scarlett during my last days with her.

And Olivia's display is way better. And her (uni)body's way more attractive

Going back to my day, I say it was pretty productive, but it was too long. It just ended at around 10:00 p.m. or later, I forgot.

And then I unwind for this day... by blogging.

I think I better go. I'm beginning to feel the length of this day catching up on my body. Good night.

She was a fine specimen for her time.

And I invested much in her.

In return, she gave so much more...



But there comes a time in any relationship where each must go their separate ways.

And that day is today, for Scarlett and I.



Today, I traded Scarlett away.

I will miss her and her dependability. (Except when her hard drive failed me.)

But as one chapter ends, a new one has begun.





Here's Olivia.

No, I did not name her that out of some narcissistic quirk.

She's named after Olivia Munn.

So here's to Olivia and the good times with her to come.

For today, I like to share with you probably the best paragraph I have ever read (that's prose). It even best exemplifies what it intends to convey.

It is Professor William Strunk Jr.'s Rule 13 in his original Elements of Style:

13. Omit needless words

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.

This is now Rule 17 in Strunk and White's Elements of Style. I suggest you get that little book. It's a must if you want to improve your writing skills.

Today, we remember the passing of a dear friend last year, who I did not have the chance to say goodbye to.

I have not seen much of her the years before. And how I wish I was there to share in her struggle.

But life must go on.

Today will be simply be a day of remembrance. Just discovered this link to her medical blog.

Eternal rest grant unto Chelo, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon her.
May she rest in peace. Amen.

Forgive me but in some sort of blogging constipation right now.

I would love to blog some more today of what has happened these past few days. But I'm finding it very hard.

So I'll blog again when I'm already in the right frame of mind to blog.

For now, I'm declaring a temporary blogging hiatus.

That chain post (or Note in Facebook) finally got to me. Actually two people tagged me.

But it's worth a day's post so I decided to give it a go.

But I'm not tagging anyone. I would find it hard to tag 25 friends.

Here are the rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

Sounds easy enough… Here it goes:

1. As most of my friends know, I'm a single dad. I have a ten year old daughter and a five year old son that I support and live with me.

2. Though I have a court order giving me sole custody and parental control over my children, I haven't gotten around to pursuing my annulments yet. Maybe this year (both church and civil).

3. We live with my parents at the house I lived in since first year college.

4. I do the groceries. Whether the kids join me or not is optional.

5. I've been blogging almost everyday since December 2004. I have two active and one semi-active blogs.

6. I have names for my musical instruments and my computers.

7. I don't eat vegetables. At all. And my dietary habits are on the edge.

8. Consequently, I've had hypertension since I was 21 (and in law school).

9. I managed to survive, thrive and get high grades in law school while maintaining a complicated relationship. That is probably the single most significant factor why I got hypertension early in life.

10. I have more than 10,400 songs in my iPod.

11. I keep the TV on while working as background noise.

12. I try to go home before my children go to sleep so I can kiss them goodnight. That's sometime around 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.

13. Whether real or a hoax, I swear "The Secret" changed my life and the people around me.

14. I have more than double the friends in my Facebook account than in my Friendster account.

15. I am a member of three church choirs but really active in only one.

16. I knew how to drive since I was 12 years old. So I have been driving for more than 25 years. And I'm really tired of it already.

17. I have a scar near my left knee as a result of a license plate (that I mounted on my bike) slicing through it when I was young.

18. I was granted Career Service Executive Eligibility on 2003. That means, I can get an permanent executive position in government. As if I want to.

19. I was a solo law practitioner from 2000 to September 2007 when I joined a law firm again.

20. I am grateful for all (as in all) the blessings that I have been granted.

21. I live by Strunk and White's rule: Omit needless words.

22. I don't have a personal domain name. But I'll probably get one shortly.

23. I've been using PCs since 1987 (Wordstar 3.3 and 4.0, Lotus 123 days) but switched to Mac in 2005. But I've been using computers since 1983 when I got my first one.

24. I've been playing the flute for almost 17 years, saxophone for almost 2 years and clarinet for more than a year. I have three flutes (one more expensive than the other), two saxophones (and eyeing a third, a tenor sax) and a clarinet. And I have been playing piano since the first grade. But I don't play guitar. Never wanted to anyway.

25. Given a choice, I prefer to stay at home. But when I go out with friends, I make sure I'm already out of the house (from work or something else). That's because if I come back home to change or something, it's either I'll get too lazy to go out again or I won't get permission from my.... children.

Just resting up for a crucial week ahead.

And it would be such a relief ff everything plays out ok next week. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed and expect a good week ahead.

It will be a busy week, that's for sure, as I will have wall-to-wall hearings and meetings for the week. But after this, I expect a little rest and recreation.

So how about a song?

This is supposed to be the song to an associate's wedding that I could not attend because of a (major) schedule conflict. We were actually going to play this one. But alas, it was not meant to be so on to second-hand information tomorrow.

I sincerely wish these newlyweds all the best.




You're my home
(Lea Salonga, interpreter
Odette Quesada composer)

I close my eyes
And I can feel that you're a part of me
You are my home
Though I'm afar I'm in your company
I'm in you

I play my song
And I can hear you're in my melody
My life, my home
No matter what with you I'll always be

Refrain:
You're my home
And together we share this love for us
To be happy and free
You're my home
And together we'll strive to make this world
A better place to be

Come take my hand
Come fill your heart with all the love you see
Let every child
Be what they are, be what they wanna be

You're my home
And together we share this love for us
To be happy and free
You're my home
And together we'll strive to make this world
A better place to be

For you and me...