[728] Thirty-six

The winds of change blow more frequently now. Not as strong as before, but it is there. I can feel it.

Or if you want another analogy, you could say that the idea has been planted and is starting to sprout. Like an unwanted weed it grows without assistance, slowly spreading its roots into the cracks in the concrete. And once the weed grows the foundation breaks.

Also, my birthday is coming up. I have a few ideas what to give myself. The biggest idea is a new laptop. This current laptop I have is around four years old. I think I got in 2012, maybe even 2011. It has served me well, but it is starting to show its age.

Next on the list is a Playstation 4. I really don't need one to be honest. I broke my Playstation 3 around 2012 or so and to be honest I really haven't missed it that much. Maybe for Gran Turismo only. But aside from that I've learned my lesson.

Another option is a Nintendo 3DS or whatever is the current iteration. I really want to play the latest Pokemon games, and I am not ashamed to admit it. I do enjoy Pokemon, however there are no realistic racing games available for the 3DS.

A long shot is a mirrorless camera. My colleague and seatmate at work just recently got one, a Fujifilm X-T10 and I must admit to being a bit jealous. Mirrorless cameras are offering the one thing I miss from my DSLR -- a manual focus ring. And that is something my trusty and beloved G16 cannot give me. Fast manual focus.

The Fujifilm X-E2S looks really nice. Too bad it's as expensive as the laptop I'm looking at and getting new lenses each will cost a low end laptop.

Anyway I have managed to divert what was supposed to be some "mysterious" ramblings about shit going on in my life into a birthday gift wishlist. Which is for the best since I really have learned my lesson and I don't really want to share my deepest thoughts online.

Out.

[727] License Renewal

I just finished renewing my license earlier today at the LTO Satellite Office in Taguig. I was not surprised that I would not be getting the new plastic license since apparently all branches are out of the plastic used to make the licenses.

So I got my temporary receipt and went home. The whole process took a little over two hours, most of which was spent waiting. Ah, red tape. I can't really complain since things were going as fast as possible. I think the LTO still uses Windows XP on antiquated CPUs so that helps slow things down.

The other thing that slows things down in my opinion is the layout of the office. You have to go from one place to another to get stuff done and in my opinion that just leads to a lot of inefficiency. I know they are making do with the layout of the place but if they could create a process that allows a smooth transaction moving from one window to the next window it would speed things up a lot.

Let's say there's one lane for licenses. Another lane for vehicle registrations. And of course the courtesy senior citizen, PWD, and pregnant women queue. Then instead of making people go around the entire compound jumping from window 3 to 7 then to 1, maybe they could just make three sets of windows dedicated solely for licenses. So go to window A to submit the documents and confirm that everything is correct, then move to the neighboring window B for photograph and signature, then to window C to pay the dues, and finally you can go wait somewhere for releasing.

It's sorta there already, to be honest. Except the windows aren't side by side. After getting my information verified I was asked to go to another window for picture and signature, which was on the other side of the building. Once that was done I was back in the main waiting area waiting for my name to be called to pay the dues. Once that was done it was back out to the other side to claim the receipt / temporary license.

Surely there are more efficient ways of getting things done.

Out.

[726] Company Outing

This 2016 KLab Cyscorpions Inc had it's annual company outing at Canyon Cove Resort in Nasugbu, Batangas. The company outing was held on the from the 24th of June to the 25th.

I've been participating in the company outings since I joined last year. For the simple reason that if I don't join I have to file two (2) days leave for not participating. Yes, they count both Friday and Saturday as part of the outing. Unfair? Not really. This year we have Monday, June 26, off to offset the Saturday part of the outing. Last year we had a similar day off as offset but not immediately after the outing.

Aside from that I also took this outing as an opportunity to get to know some of my colleagues at work. We are around 200 strong and I know a handful of people only. Missions accomplished? Not really. I did get to know some from my department better than I had before.

Out.

ps This is only post number two for June. I need at least one more if I am to meet my three posts a month self-imposed quota.

pps I apologize if my posts of late are pretty "shallow" or not as introspective as before. I'm not in the mood to write and I have been more and more careful of posting my thoughts online.

[725] Smart Phone

I only recently got a smartphone for myself. Before that I was using an old, hand-me-down Nokia N8 from my Mom. I guess that was considered a smartphone too when it came out, but when I started using it it was only good for calling, sending SMS, taking photos, and storing some music and videos.

This new phone of mine is an android phone, because iOS phones are very expensive here in the Philippines. I really appreciate the connectivity of the phone. I can check all my emails on-the-go. And because it is LTE ready it makes it faster to check email than using my laptop.

I also mentioned that I switched to a prepaid number and dropped my old postpaid number. I prefer the flexibility of prepaid where I can allocate what funds I need for mobile data and calling.

Out.