Joepster Blog Goodness

Image via Wikipedia

I hate being late, and today just seemed to be a series of events that revolve around that word.
First of all I woke up just in time for my meeting — only I was still home and in bed. I will not bother explaining why I woke up late as there is really no excuse for tardiness. Then one of our lovely agents visited me again in my office asking why her promotion is not going to push through because of 4 consecutive tardiness in the month that “wasn’t her fault.” That whole situation is another blog entry in itself. Then the last straw today was me sleeping at 3pm from night shift as I had to pack for my weekend trip to Sogod Bay and waking up past 9pm instead of 5 therefore missing out on a dinner with my friend, Nick, who I haven’t seen in ages! Boo me.

Ugh. If there was a machine out there that can avoid tardiness from ever happening to anyone, can someone please let me know about it… oh wait there is one! It’s called an ALARM CLOCK.

That’s what I hate about being late. It’s just about time management. It’s about discipline. It’s about waking up when you hear the alarm go off. If you don’t hear it – change it. It’s all very simple, which makes it so frustrating.

Ugh, again. I hate late.

Joepi Paloma
Manila, Philippines

Chat Google Talk: joepi.paloma@gmail.com Skype: jtothepi MSN: joepi.paloma@hotmail.com Y! messenger: jtothepi@yahoo.com.ph

Contact Me

Joepster Blog Wuhoo! Firefox Add-ons are fun!

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

My friend, Steve, has led me to this wonderful add-on in firefox which allows you to put little links and icons to your websites and chat profiles. Lurrv it!

Joepi Paloma
Manila, Philippines

Chat Google Talk: joepi.paloma@gmail.com Skype: jtothepi MSN: joepi.paloma@hotmail.com Y! messenger: jtothepi@yahoo.com.ph

Contact Me

Joepster Blog Nightly Road Hazards

— @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

I was heading to work the other night and realized the many hazards and potentially deadly situations us night workers go through. If you take a public utility vehicle, you run the risk of being robbed (two of our agents in the office had their purses snatched on their way to work.) You can possibly be kidnapped if you take a taxi. Your jeepney could be held hostage by a man with a knife. Or you can run into hostile creatures of the night (poor drunks and nasty addicts) who can steal not only your purse from you. Taking a private
Vehicle can also pose it’s threats. You can be a victim of various crime operations. You can get squished by the big trucks the come out by 9pm that are either real big or real old with their tires coming off! I know that to be a fact as my driver and I were behind a truck that had two of it’s 8 wheels come off!

 So what are we to do? We can’t totally rid ourselves of these hazards so as the cliche goes:
“an ounce of prevention is well worth a ton of cure” (or something to that effect!)

 Avoid being alone. Stay with a crowd. Hide your flashy (even fake) jewelry. Be courteous on the road. Wear your seatbelt. Don’t attract attention to yourself. Be alert and don’t ever let your guard down when you find yourself in a strange situation. Trust your instincts. Fight or flight reflexes will kick in. Fly if you can. Be a lover not a fighter :-p teehee!

 Sent from my iPod

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

Image by tv via Flickr

The Daily Prophet’s best feature- it’s moving pictures – is now coming to the muggle world. I was driving home today and heard on the radio from the Vitamin Double D program that “CBS is embedding a video player in a print ad in Entertainment Weekly that will serve up a buffet of its fall TV lineup.” read the article here: http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/cbs-embeds-a-video-playing-ad-in-a-print-magazine/

It’s going to be a mighty expensive marketing project for them and I sure hope it works. But over-all, I’m excited to see it!
Technology is catching up to magic!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Harry Potter ‘talking newspapers’ come closer to being a reality (telegraph.co.uk)
• Video Ads in Your Printed Magazine (marketingpilgrim.com)
• Entertainment Weekly Paper Magazine to Have Video Ad Insert (singularityhub.com)
• AFP: CBS debuts in-magazine video ad (blogs.journalism.co.uk)

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

Image by Joepi Paloma via Flickr

“I Gotta Feelin’” was the song by Black Eyed Peas that was playing in Boracay as we partied in Juice. It was very appropriate and timely as I was partying it up to celebrate my last official “Ace Trip” with team Titan. I really wanted to share it with everyone around me — almost all the people I have grown to love in the program were there. I didn’t tell them yet because I wanted all of us to have a good time. And what a good time it was! We had shots galore, we sang, we danced, we hugged, we met new people from all over the world (who can say no when someone points at you to stand up and dance to a good song? ;-p ) and we all had a mighty good time.

But I also realized as I waited in the airport for 2 extra hours that it’s not just being in Boracay, nor being at the Juice bar, nor meeting new people that made it fun. It was the beautiful people around me that made it fun. We can sing, dance, hug and pretty much bring the party with us wherever we go. It’s all about the company you keep and how you can make people stand up and dance.

Thank you, Titan for dancing with me. Thank you for the good, good times!

I will be changing a big part of my life and will have something new and exciting to look forward to at work.
It’s my turn to point and make people dance and have a good time.
I have a feeling, it will be a good, good night!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling” Music Video (hiphoproll.com)

-

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

I had just come home from a Boracay trip this weekend. It’s a company event, but I basically just wanted to tag along and join the fun. So I booked my own flight with Seair because they are now the only ones who fly straight into Caticlan airport while the rest fly through Kalibo (add one more hour of land travel to your itinerary.)

I was also very lucky to have gotten a good price as I got it before this whole “only Seair flies to Caticlan” business happened. I got my ticket for roughly Php 5K. My friend tried booking a week later — it was Php 11K! Whatta rip off. I say rip off because it would be good if the plane was a rockstar of a plane — it’s not. It’s small and is already showing signs of aging. BUT if the story ends here, I’d say, yay for me and yay for Seair, I would recommend it.

Of course the story does not end there.

Going home, I woke up at 6am to get ready for my flight at 8:10 am. Dressed up, paid my hotel dues, got a tricycle, crossed the water back to Caticlan and got to the counter by 7:10 am. ONE HOUR from my flight. For domestic flights you only need 30 minutes before the flight to check in. But I am OC when I travel and I always want to be there at least an hour early for domestic flights. Now, imagine my surprise when I was told “Ay, mam, you have to pay a penalty for late check in.” Here goes the conversation and series of unfortunate events…

Joepi is flabbergasted by what she heard “What?! Why am I going to pay? Check my ticket. My flight is not till 8:10! I have plenty of time!”
Girl at the counter: “Ay, mam, no, your flight was moved to 7:35am… you weren’t notified ba?”
Joepi (silently but screaming in her head): DOI!!!!!
Joepi out loud calm but tone rising: “I wouldn’t be surprised if I knew right?! Why am I going to pay? I won’t!”
Girl at the counter: “Ay, mam, go with her…” — what a way to hand off your customer I thought.
Joepi speaks to the other lady. We shall call her Lady 2.
Lady 2: “Come with me ma’am – you have to talk to the people at the office…”
Joepi: “Why?!”
Lady 2: “They handle these concerns not us”
Joepi thinks to herself and knows she won’t get anything from her at all and decides to follow (poor porter is still lugging my pink bag with my dive gear and my roxy overnight duffel which matches his pink porter shirt.)
Joepi and Lady 2 get to the office – 1-2 minute walk from the terminal gate.
Joepi to Staff 1 2 and 3: “Excuse me, why am I going to have to pay for late check in?!”
Other Unlucky Passenger: “You too?!”
Staff 1: “Dalawa na sila!” (There are now two of them!) [this was said in a surprised and uh-oh manner"
Staff 2 bravely comes over: "Mam I'm sorry but your flight was changed"
Joepi: "I know that already but why do I have to pay for late check in?"
Staff 2: "Because the counter closes 30 minutes before the flight"
--- now at this point I was getting confused because she started saying this:
Staff 2:"I need to get you on another flight mam"
Joepi: What?!
Staff 2:"The next one we have available is at 9:50."
Joepi: "Hangon a second. No, check the flight. there's one about to leave!"
Staff 2 calls someone and asks if I can sit in the jump seat of course pilot advises no go.
Staff 2: "I'm sorry mam but I can put you on the priority wait list"
Joepi: "WAIT LIST? What do you mean WAIT LIST? You're not even guaranteeing my seat?!
Staff 2:" Mam, that's the only thing I can do."
At this point they started calling for boarding for the 7:35 flight.
Joepi is alarmed: "Wait a minute, is my name on the manifest for the 7:35?"
Staff 2 checks her paper, her eyes widen: "Yes mam it is."
Joepi: "THEN WHY THE HELL AM I HERE AND WHY ARE YOU NOT LETTING ME ON THAT PLANE?!"
Joepi: "Where is your manager? What time does he arrive?! I want this fixed, I want my seat, I am very inconvenienced and I want to be compensated."
I hardly EVER ask for a manager, nor for any form of compensation but this situation was absurd.
Staff 2: "He arrives at around 8am"
Joepi: "Now I have to double what I'm waiting for."
I shut up because I knew I was getting really angry and irrational and I was trembling.
Staff 3 in the background was trying to help but she was obviously a newbie and was going to be of no real help at that point.
Staff 4 arrives - looks more senior but does not look at me despite Staff 2 and Staff 3 briefing her of the situation.
Then Mister Manger arrives....
NONE of them look at me. NONE of them talk to me. I see them all making phone calls, etc etc.
Then after 10 minutes of silent fuming, Mister Manager approaches me and says:

• He is very sorry
• He has spoken to their VP and they're going to give me a discount of sorts (it didn't matter to me anymore. I just wanted to go home - I cut him off at this point and said my piece, when I was done, he made another call and then...)
• He has guaranteed my seat - HURRAH..

Finally someone was doing their job. He accompanies me to the counter, checks me in personally and waived my excess baggage.
I thanked him and told him that I was not too happy but very grateful for what he has done and he needs to reprimand those who messed up the sequence (especially the girl at the counter who handed me off!) Then I was alone and I sat in the cafe and ate breakfast.

This just shows how communication is KEY to anything in this world. Had I been notified, it wouldn't have been a problem.
Had I been given the choice of paying and getting on the plane or not paying but having to deal with these levels and hand=offs I would not be complaining. I just really found it stupid how I could not have been contacted. I made sure my communication lines were open over the weekend. I had my phone, I got internet in the hotel. I bought my ticket online - they have my email address! How difficult would it be to set up a notification system?

If there are any seair folks reading this - please pay attention to the details and processes of your operations. You are competing with a lot of airlines out there so you better step up. When PAL changed my flight - I at least got 4 calls to make sure I got it right. Cebu Pac - I got an email. Seair - none. If you want to be competitive and if you want to keep your customers, step up and improve. We want to make the Philippines a tourist destination right? Well you won't help if you keep this up. My 2 bosses were also bumped off today and sent to Kalibo on their flight home. Looks like we might not be seeing their names on your clientele list again.

I am only going to fly with Seair now if I absolutely have to. If you ask me if they are my first choice going to Boracay... only when I am in a time constraint and can't spare an hour.

Posted via email from joepster's posterous

Which one would you rather do?

Image by DVIDSHUB via Flickr

There are many aspects in life that this can be applied to and I think there are many answers to it as well. Of course more often than not, folks will say Guided Parachuting is the way to go. You're not alone in that big jump. But there are quite a few daredevils in this life who will prefer to Free-fall. They prefer the rush, the challenge of the unknown, and they yearn for that moment of conquering the seemingly impossible.

Here's another question: When you make that jump – will you be able to muster up all your experiences, keep your wits about you and pull that other line to release the emergency chute? Do you have enough experience to jump on your own or will you need someone with you?

Some folks tend to think too highly of themselves and say "I can do it" even if they can't. I just want to throw a little word of caution to those who think they can – check yourself and check you chute. Make sure you got back up. You never know when your plan will fail. Winds can change and blow you off your course. Just be ready.

 
Related articles by Zemanta

• Poem; Do Not Fear The Unknown (cradleoffilth.com)
• Will Hunch Help You Make Decisions? Signs Point to Yes (xconomy.com)

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

In the first two blogs about Sipadan I wrote about how to get there and what the accommodations and food were like at the rig.
Now it's time to talk about the diving! (Woohoo!) Here are the photos to match the reading: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joepiclicks/sets/72157616959159766/

One thing that people don't readily know is that Sipadan is one of the islands/dive areas in this place and there are actually two other main islands or dive areas which are Mabul and Kapalai. So when you say you're diving in Sipadan – you're actually going to be diving Sipadan, Mabul and Kapalai. To be honest, all areas are fantastic diving, but the main difference in Sipadan is that there are tons of sharks and barracudas to see (as well as the possibility of hammerheads and mantas which we did not see.)

So in these three areas, there are at least 3 major resorts. The Kapalai resorts (there are 2) and the one where we stayed in – Seaventures. But in Semporna, there are plenty of diveshops and hotels that cater to divers. Now with that in mind, think of how many divers there are out there in a weekend – say at least 200 (that's a conservative number I reckon.) Imagine this now – Sabah Parks will only release around 100 dive passes for Sipadan in a day (that's the number I heard the DM say.) Needless to say, this was quite an issue for our group of 40 divers who were all wanting to dive Sipadan in the 4 days that we were there. I only got to dive Sipadan in one day and was lucky to dive 2 different sites. It was pretty messed up and I think it was not handled very well. So if you're planning a trip there – this is the FIRST thing you take care of. I have heard of several horror stories where folks from far away went to Sipadan and were unable to get their passes. Mind you they are strict and they are scary mofo's there with Military watching the island. Ok – this was the ONLY issue I had with diving in Sipadan. Everything else was great! So let's get on with the great stuff!

MABUL & KAPALAI

My experience: Mabul is the area right in front of Seaventures and we went to this dive site first. I have to say – tip when traveling + diving = as much as possible REST the night before and NEVER dive when you are dehydrated. This was the first time that I had gone diving feeling disoriented and tired and bothered. I was watching the jacks in the artificial reef and taking a video had never been such a struggle. I tried to calm myself but the viz at that time was not fantastic and I was trying to photograph + calm myself + catch up with the group. As soon as we surfaced I was really not myself anymore. First, I saw my camera drifting away, so I swam after it (imagine that – I LET GO of my camera – I never like being apart from it! How could I let that slip through my wrist?) Second, after safe-guarding my camera, I looked for my mask which I took off because I had wanted to breathe properly… it was gone too. I didn't have a spare mask at the time so I was really really bummed about it thinking of the extra cost of having to buy a mask. BUT good thing we have wonderful dive friends who have dive shops and want to have their items tested – so I got to try the Atomic mask – which to be honest has a very very good lens – it's beautiful and I didn't hand it back. Anyway, going back to the diving – the diving in this area is interesting and I was happy to go back several times in different sites around the island. What can you see in Mabul: Lots of things to see, mostly macro and an occasional big turtle surprise This is where I saw my first mandarin fish, big hunk of a turtle with a chunk on off it's shell and of course a couple more turtles – they are really friendly and are not shy, leaf fish, blue-spotted sting rays (lots!), garden eels, cuttlefish, schools of jacks, frog fish of different colors, nudibranchs, smaller barracudas and Titan Triggerfish. It's very very easy diving in this area and very good for exploring. I actually wish we spent more time in some areas – but it's quite difficult to do that with a big group and when you know you have more dives coming up. There are some areas though that are deeper where you will start seeing the sharks and the barracudas. Careful with the lone barracudas – they can attack you. As for the triggerfish – it attacked Jessa and Tricia. Nasty buggers as always — the triggerfish! Not Jessa and Tricia! LOL!

SIPADAN ISLAND

The diving in Sipadan is of course – awesome. We didn't have the best viz in the world as it was raining top side so the sun wasn't shining – BUT as soon as I hit the water – the richness of the reef just makes you stop and just look around first – there were so many things happening all at the same time I didn't know where to look! There was a shark passing by at 20 feet of water, there was a huge school of jacks to the side and there was another school of barracudas nearby as well. You'd see batfish swimming after turtles, sharks going about their business, some swimming, some sleeping. There is just such a variety of fish to see that you just have to keep your eyes open at all times. You have to keep a look out in the blue as well just in case you can catch a glimpse of bigger sharks. I never saw anything though. I was already too happy to just watch everything around me. One of the most interesting moments I had in there was at 25 feet of water, big momma turtle (and I mean BIG) had just come from the surface for a breath of air and had settled by a rock where we were about to do our safety stop. She stayed there and did not move despite the many photos taken of her and all of us trying to have a moment with her. I know I shouldn't be that close to it, but looking at her eyes was such a magical moment. She looked so peaceful and it was just so calming to be by her side. I looked at the tag on her flippers and it said she came from Turtle Island in Sandakan – which is many, many kilometers away from Sipadan! No wonder she was tired!

We did a total of two dives there for that one day (I will tell you about the dive pass fiasco some other time) After our first dive, we had a quick brekky of sorts on the island, then back in the water for one more dive and then back to the resort.Will I say it was the best dive I've had? Probably not, but it is definitely up there with "must go back and see more!"

Leaving Sipadan, we saw a shirt in the souvenir shop that said "Hammer your head if you didn't see the Hammerheads"… I won't hammer my own head just yet. I will be back, and I WILL see them someday…

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

I would appreciate it if you'd say excuse me before crossing my path or cutting my lane at the grocer's or the ATM line.
I would appreciate if you'd ask if you can move my belongings so I'd at least know where to find them.
I would appreciate it if you consider where I am coming from and not make assumptions.
I would appreciate it a lot if you'd stop to say how are you doing and mean it.
I would appreciate it if you'd take a look around you and see how the world isn't revolving around you all the time.
I would appreciate it if you'd join in on the silliness every once in a while and see that it's not bad to be silly sometimes.
I would appreciate it if you can find joys in the simple things and not keep looking for more than what you can afford.
I would appreciate it if you can let me state my opinion without judging me for it.
I would appreciate it if you can keep from worrying (in effect making me worry) about things you shouldn't worry about.
I would appreciate it if you can avoid competing over something unworthy of the fight.

I appreciate it when you show me the right direction without leaving me cross.
I appreciate it when you ask before you borrow my things.
I appreciate it when you nod your head in agreement and I know you sincerely are at least acknowledging my thoughts.
I appreciate it when you send me an email or an SMS just to say hello despite your busy schedule.
I appreciate it when you and I "people-watch" and realize how big the world is, and yet how small it is at the same time.
I appreciate it when we laugh over the silliest things. This matters to me a lot.
I appreciate it when you can appreciate the little things and not have to keep looking for the big show.
I appreciate it when you do not discount my ideas, hopes and dreams.
I appreciate your confidence in yourself and your confidence in me. I draw strength from this.
I appreciate how you will allow me to stand up for what I believe in, and for being there when I need someone to nurse my battle scars.

There are many things in life that can be thrown at you. You just have to learn what and when to demand for things, and when to stop and say thank you for what you have and what you are going through.

PS – pardon the little show of poetic-emotion. I tend to bottle up little thoughts for musings on a rainy day. It's raining today.

Posted via email from joepster’s posterous

Small things can come in big packages.

Small things in big packages can get lost in the paper wrapping. So you have to be careful when you unwrap it, or else you might totally miss out on the gift!

Small things in big packages can be a pleasant surprise or a total disappointment – depending on who gave it to you.
People who give small things in big packages can have a warped sense of humor or put in there for a reason – maybe to surprise you, maybe to trick you, maybe to test your patience.

Small things in big packages are an effort. Why would you put time and space into it? Is it because small things in big packages can be the most precious cargo and it needs all that wrapping?

Maybe, maybe not.

Whatever it may be, handle with care. This side up please.