Mercury Retrograde

I'd like to blame Mercury retrograde (which began last March 2) for my Powerbook being sent to the shop. Had the lcd replaced (for worrying onscreen fuzzy lines)and when the techie and I were checking the stats, the unit wouldn't read the RAM in the lower slot. He said that was a problem in the 1.5Ghz and 1.67Ghz Powerbooks (mine is a 1Ghz model), so unfortunately when we checked my Powerbook's serial number in the recall list, it wasn't included in the model series. My RAM went down from 768mb to 512mb!!! WAHHH!!! Am considering trading in my two 512mb's to buy 1G RAM if it comes out that the machine can only read one RAM at a time. Fortunately my techie was very conscientious and asked to keep my unit in the shop an additional 2 days until he could figure out how to fix the RAM reading. They really give good service there (a well-known Apple reseller based in Quezon City).

Oddly enough, Joy's 128mb flash drive also conked out and had to be replaced. My first Canon digital camera, the A60 (which Joy was using) also had to be repaired, fortunately within warranty).

The last time Mercury retrograde came 'round (November last year) some of my computer equipment began exhibiting problems. Fortunately, all of those problems were solved (but at a cost, damn).

Let's hope it passes quickly.

A Respite From The Rush

This is one of those rare days when I can sit back and think about the flurry of activity that characterized the whole month of February. When you think of it, blogging has been made so user-friendly that everyone can chronicle their latest thoughts, whether those thoughts actually contain useful content or not (hahaha!). Some really talented people I know manage to keep their sites updated despite problems at work, cranky babies, lack of access, name it. Sometimes I wish I were that disciplined.

Since January 7 we've had guests every weekend at Agape Springs, our bed-&-breakfast resthouse in Dasmariñas, Cavite. I'm back to working weekends. Supposedly I have days off (Mondays), where I catch up on sleep and watch tv/dvds. Along the way I injured my back trying to lift a box of bedlinens the wrong way. That meant having hour-long laser acupuncture treatments every Monday for five Mondays at my high school classmate's clinic in Quezon City. I'm pleased to report that I'm free from pain and my back is much, much better. However, leaving the house on Mondays makes me want to fill up my time with useful activities much like work... ergo... Mondays aren't really a day off. Sunday afternoons when I get home to Manila I try not to touch my pc or even check my email, otherwise I'll be tempted to multitask and find myself working still. But I try to make sure I get a social life -- was able to attend my friend Heidi's birthday dinner at the Chinese resto Zong (at The Fort) with the rest of my girlfriends in the group we refer to as The Justice League.

Last week we had no guests, so I had time to do my dad's Baguio City High golden jubilee souvenir program (everything from scanning to editing pix, content editing and layout, and printing a working draft in time for their meeting in Baguio). I also had time to play with my niece Lilo (lots of new pix to follow!). And I've been able to enjoy Battlestar Galactica Seasons 1 & 2 on dvd.

I also lost ten lbs.!!!

Deep Thoughts

Since things neither exist nor don't exist,
are neither real nor unreal,
are utterly beyond adopting and rejecting -
one might as well burst out laughing.

-- Tibetan Nyingma Master Longchenpa Rabjampa (14th century)

(from World Prayers Collective, a real nifty site you can visit for a few minutes each day when you need to soothe your heart or unruffle your troubled soul or just need to plain readjust your perspective.)

Happy New Year!