Orablog: As A Newbie DBA...

Entered an entry on my Oracle blog titled "As A Newbie DBA ..." .

Gym Progress Week 18 & 19

Not much this week.. there's been a bit of a slowdown lately... I think I'm getting lost without a routine schedule (previously I had a set of schedule that ran for a month long without any schedule changes... It seems easier that way) at the moment it takes a bit of convincing myself to get myself there. But so far, I've managed... sort of.

Week 18
Wed (PS,BP): Suzette, Phyllis
Thu (SM): Steve (and right after I ran 8 minutes from the Central California Fitness branch to the City Hall... yes, I ran like crazy. Just to make it in time for my friend's Annie show)
Sat (SM,ISM): Steve, Steve
Sun (ISM,BP): Suzette, Elizabeth

Week 19
Wed (PS): Suzette
Thu (FW,SM): Myself, Michelle
Sat (SM, ISM): Michelle, Steve
Sun (ISM,BP): Suzette, Elizabeth

Well, now its down to 4 times a week.. 3-4 times of aero, and 1-2 times of weights. darn. It used to be more... I should try to make a schedule so its consistent. Notice how easy it is to make excuses for yourself when the schedule/routine changes? I try to live my life on routines, if possible.

Experimental Ham and Corn Rice Porridge

Owing recently to a great rice porridge I had comprised of corn as an ingredient. And due to the fact that my throat's been sore lately and extremely sensitive to oils, this morning I attempted to recreate the sample corn rice porridge at home, with my own little twist - adding in a bit of ham.

Ham and Corn Rice Porridge

Can of corn: 3 spoonfuls and 3-4 spoonfuls of corn marinade from the canned corn
Ham, cubed: any salty square ham, just enough to put some taste into the porridge
3/4 cups of rice
5-6 cups of water

Just mix them all together. Put on moderate to high heat and keep stirring until cooked, maybe after 20-30 minutes.

Not bad, I'd say. Maybe you want to try it out? :)

Can I Be Invisible, Please?

Its strange how some people want to be famous. They want to be recognized, they want to be known. At some point in time, many of our Hollywood actors have probably dreamt of being recognized; recognized by their peers, directors, casting directors - This helps to get the job on the journey to being famous. Shown in television, shown in movies, shown in glamour magazines, shown in newspapers and weeklies - more revenue, more money, more power. Shown in gossip ads, shown in tabloids, shown in Hello! and Entertainment Weekly - extremely popular and privately intrusive, but still tolerated.

I find the opposite true for myself. I'd want to be recognized, but when recognized, I feel kind of embarrassed about myself and just want to shrink back and disappear. Some people can handle it very well - they're the ones who accept compliments humbly and criticisms gracefully and honestly. They're the great people. But.. the attention. Does that ever happen to you?

I had my own version of being recognized today... funny, but I seem to have dressed up today in long sleeved t-shirt that had enough body coverage to hold off the cold office air (I usually have a jacket in the office during normal days).

So... First time I didn't wear my jacket in a long while right after I started working out.

And also the first time I felt that people started to talk behind my back. Well, ok "talking behind my back" is kind of negative connotation. Theirs are more positive. In the morning I was minding my own business and I see a couple of my office mates grouped together and talking glances at my direction. I didn't really mind it at that time. But it got a little irritating during lunchtime.

One of my officemates, Amy, approached me and asked if I lost weight. I said yes 10 pounds (I wasn't being a braggart, I was just telling the truth).

You may probably have thought 10 pounds seems like a lot. Its actually not, when you consider other dieters who can lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks (of course, most of this would usually be water... its almost impossible to lose 10 pounds of fat in 2 weeks unless you starve youself to the extreme) So I don't really think much of it when I said I lost 10 pounds. Its probably 10 pounds of fat in my case, but most people (even myself) can't distinguish this, but the point is, saying that you "lost 10 pounds" isn't really something unachievable.

Then she asked me how I lost the weight, and for how long. That's fine by me. And then the next thing I knew, right after our conversation, when I was already minding my own business and eating my lunch, Amy called me right over to her place to tell and show another officemate, Moon, how much weight I lost. Take note, I wasn't doing any talking, I was just standing there and trying to smile. But it sort of felt uncomfortable since I felt like a "model" in a observation box. Not the nicest feeling in the world.

And then, another funny thing in our conversation is, she said that she mentioned my "noticeable" change to another officemate, Karen, and Karen merely said it must be because I got a new haircut.

Uhm, you mentioned this to another officemate again? That makes 3 of you talking about me behind my back.

And then.. after 10 minutes, another officemate, Anne, stopped me (Honestly, they rarely stop me. I just mind my own business, they mind theirs, we don't really "chit chat". Its not that we're being rude to each other, but we just have a lot to do and nothing much in common. Its a mutual understanding, and there's definitely no cold war). She mentions the same thing, and calls out to another person to take notice, and they both comment while I just insanely stand there and smile politely.

Then there was this thing with Lisa, the assistant to the CEO. She noticed too. And she was probably talking it out with the Admin and Accounting managers, that's why there were looking at my way the whole morning when they were bundled together.

Ok, you must think by now I'm absolutely stupid. I should be happy with the attention, cause it means that my gym sessions are paying off. That's fine. But it just feels weird that the compliments are coming from people who are not close to me at all. In fact the other day my close friends did comment, and that was fine, still needs getting used to, but not so awkward. But these aren't, and I'm getting a big amount of attention -- and honestly? It makes me feel conscious, jittery, and it doesn't feel very comfortable. I already know I got thin, but to be asked to model around to officemates (that you don't know in a very close and personal level), and be complimented and commented on ... well, its just extremely embarrassing for me. I mean, I'm sure they're all just being nice.. but its just how I deal with these compliments and attention. It feels extremely severe and uncomfortable.

Right after lunch, I've started to bite my nails and squirm and slouch at my seat, hoping to disappear already. Extremely uncomfortable, and extremely embarrassing. Thank goodness today was a Friday... when it hit 5pm, I immediately left the office and went to curl up in the comforts of my own room. Invisible. Phew. I never thought I'd be glad to be out of anyone's sight.

Ever felt the way that I did? Strange, huh?

Now You See Me, Now You Don't... (I Hope Not)

I was trying to get a picture of my hair cut and asked my brother to take a picture of me for my previous entry.

And the first two pictures he took came out like this:







Err... I swear I didn't do anything! I just turned the darned camera on and gave it to my brother, and he just straightaway took pictures!... and right after, I couldn't connect to blogger, this blog and my google personalized page went nuts. I thought maybe Google had some problems... maybe... but...

Its not the pictures, is it?

They do remind me of "The Ring"...

WoooOOOoooOOoooo... SpooOOOoooOOooky!

(How coincidental... Halloween is coming up.) But darn it, I'm not joking, I didn't make these pictures up! I'm spooked out! Come off it!

"Ok-la" Haircut

Busy week last week... I finally took the time to have my mane of a hair cut last Sunday. Been almost 6 months since I last had my hair cut, methinks. That's the result of being stringy, by the way. Hair cut here costs extremely crazy. The last time I had a haircut was at Esprit saloon, and they were having a promotion of HKD$1399 for hair cut, hair color, highlights and treatment all in one go. The basic haircut is priced at HKD$400. Expensive huh? yes, that's precisely the reason why I've delayed having my hair cut for so long.

I'd probably delay it some more if not for the extremely stylish cut one of my colleagues got recently. After some inquiring, I found out that she got it for a mere HKD$128 (that's cheap already, by Hong Kong standards, folks) Almost 300% cheaper? Check. Needless to say, I asked to have myself booked for last Sunday.

The huge mop is now gone... and replaced with a tamer one. Still long hair, but I dont look like Mufasa any more.

Pretty good cutting, for the price. Not to say that its horrible; its not. I've had more expensive haircuts with less or the same end result, so its pretty good to say the least. I wish I had before and after pictures for you, but my camera just clunked out like a year ago, and cheapskate that I am, I haven't even bothered to buy a new one. Maybe when I get the chance to borrow my brother's camera and pose for some home made "glamour" shots (ugh, THAT should be disgusting... they always have some sort of softening or halo effect when you get those studio taken glamour shots. WHY IS THAT? WHY??)

Anyways. When I have the time then. If any one's interested in the name and address of the saloon I went to, just drop me a line. I've conveniently forgot to get a name card from the stylist, but I think I could drop by the place again one of these days and post the details. For now, all I can offer are crude directions (Causeway Bay, Hong Kong - across Mitsukoshi Department Store and immediately adjacent the standalone Bossini shop a block or 2 away Times Square, 2nd Floor) , the shop name (Time For Hair) and the first name of the stylist (Jojo).

Pictures will be posted when I get the time (probably never?) to get my headshots (mugshots?).

Have a nice day everyone.

Tech Development: Mind Control on Motor Skills

I'm not quite sure if we should all be thrilled about this bit of news.

(snippet taken from CNN International site)

Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic.

A special headset was placed on my cranium by my hosts during a recent demonstration at an NTT research center. It sent a very low voltage electric current from the back of my ears through my head -- either from left to right or right to left, depending on which way the joystick on a remote-control was moved.

I found the experience unnerving and exhausting: I sought to step straight ahead but kept careening from side to side. Those alternating currents literally threw me off.

The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation -- essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance.

Its not exactly mind control... at least not in the sci-fi way. But this thing would prompt you to go left, right, and straightaway. Makers say that this was created to enhance the virtual experience in video games. Sounds innocent?

I suppose in a weird sense, if this technology goes much further, this could be a precursor for the Star Trek Holodeck. Unfortunately, it could also be just as easy as to end up much like Harry Potter's more famous unforgivable Imperius Curse. (see wikipedia) As technology advances, things are getting smaller and smaller. What's preventing people for turning this gigantic headset into a bug you can flick at virtually anyone and set it to remote control at a distance while your drone does your bidding for you?

I still can't decide if its a good or a bad thing. There's likely going to be some sort of governing body to handle this in the future.

But, while the technology seems relatively young, what's there to say that you'll end up with a messed up nervous system with those electrical currents shooting up your brain?

Habibi Cafe: A Shot at Middle Eastern Food

Been craving for Middle Eastern food for sometime. I've finally got my chance last Friday when I headed off to this newly opened Middle Eastern resto near my office. Its not really a chain, but it has 3 of its kind opened all throughout Hong Kong. I've read about it somewhere, and I figured it was about time to try it out.

The place was small, and could only house 15-20 people when packed full. Fortunately for me, it was quite empty last Friday with only 4 people around. They were having lunch specials for HKD$60. Lunch for today were a cold mezze (appetizers) of Hummos (Actually, I'm not sure about this, but it sure looked like hummus to me) with combination of greens and pita bread, some mediterranean soup, and a choice between meat and vegetarian (Lamb Kebab/Mussaka) meal sets with Koshary, together with your choice of drink (tea, coffee, iced tea). I opted for the Lamb Kebab.

Service was quick, as they handed over my plate on my table in about 5 minutes. The whole lunch set came with one big plate, which I would've appreciated if they've at least separated the appetizer with the main course. At least they did bother to place the pita bread in a separate basket container. The whole plate still looked like one big heap piled on top of another. The waitress was nice enough to point out which item in the list is which. It was unncessary, and they could've just dumped the plate on me and not bothered, but it was still nice to be told which one was the Koshary, and which one was the Lamb. :)

Regardless, the Hummos tasted as good as I'd expected it to be; none of the crap commercialized, Hong Kong-ized taste, here. (For those unfamiliar with Hummos/Hummus, its a paste of Chickpeas purreed with tahini and lemon juice. See my Hummus entry here.) Like most Mediterranean food, this one is full of flavors and spices. I'd say the same with the soup. It was kind of like a Middle Eastern minestrone, but with the usual Mediterranean twist.

The main course was pretty good, too. I'm a sucker for lambs, and theirs were soft and tender. I was hoping for couscous as their staple, but this was the first time I've tried Koshary - its basically a mix of pasta and rice with lentils and chickpeas topped with fried onions. Its a change from the usual rice, and was flavorful. In fact, everything was just a burst of flavors.

Despite everything being served in one plate, the whole meal was a mouthful... I could finish the meal, but not while leaving the resto quite uncomfortably full. I'd suspect the serving was just about right for guys with big stomachs.

I'm not an food expert, particularly in this cuisine, but the place gives a good impression. Most likely you're not going to get a watered down version of a Middle Eastern dish, and if you're not adventurous in that way, you might not like what you eat. But for those looking for a different taste, it would be a good place to go. The menu items are not as extensive as the non-cafe version, but it should be good enough for lunch. Needless to say, I'd like to try it again some time.

You can find the list of menu items and a short introduction to their restaurant in their official site.

No Need to Call 999

Relating to a previous article...

I'm still alive by the way. No need to call 999. :P

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Will I Be There The Next Morning? (Ingesting Past Validity Date Chinese Medicine)

And that is the question.

I've been unlucky enough to be hit by the flu for the past few days. Extremely sore throat, very runny nose, and constricted fits of coughing from time to time. Its virtually rendered me weak, light headed and befuddled at the moment. This is likely brought about by the recent seasonal weather change, where throngs of people are being brought down by symptoms such as mine. In my office alone, there are at least 4 infected.. which was most likely been started by our three hardworking lead managers in different areas of the office - the Admin, IT and Accounts Manager - a week earlier.

I've thought that working out for some time would leave me free from this, but I guess being active doesn't necessarily mean becoming rock iron solid repellant against bacteria and viruses. Oh well. I can only dream.

To alleviate my condition in the office, I remembered a chinese medicine I've previously bought a year ago... I thought, considering that expiry dates usually range from 2-3 years validity, this particular chinese medicine should still be valid for consumption. Turns out it isn't. The outer tag clearly says "Expiry Date: 2004-12-01". Should I still attempt to ingest it?

Ok, I know normally we shouldn't be consuming expired products. I've had my share of extreme discomfort and slight vomitting a few months ago when I gulped in milk that said "best before [today's date]". I figured, it should mean I can still ingest it today, but not tomorrow... and well, how wrong I was. There was another case a year or two ago when I opened a pack of ready-to-go oat cereal (this time this pack didn't have any expiry date on it so I wrongly thought that it was fairly recent batch) which caused me to regularly squirt out a very-interesting-yet-very-horrible projectile barf for over 8 hours. Not a pretty sight (But its facinating fact on what the human body can do to get rid of poisonous, non-human friendly material).

The medicine is called "Sanshedan Chuanbei Ye"(三蛇胆川贝液) in which main ingredients are - take this - Snake's bile and Fritillariae. (What the heck is a Fritillariae? The snake bile part sounds "cool" though :P) Its generally used to relive cough and eliminate sputum. Extremely sweet (must be used to mask the snake bile). Its usually packed in small miniture bottles, and you stick a hard straw in to break the thin aluminum top. I'll get a picture one of these days. In any case, this is what my mom used to pass along to me when I was still young and had a cough, and I bought myself one box (6 bottles) a year ago. My mom usually bought the 12 pack ones. I used to see her "stocks" of it at home.. and there were piles and piles of boxes of this, so I figured that sometime in the past she's probably had me ingest past-validity of this sort of medicine (Knowing my mom, yes, she'd do that. Why'd you think I grew up living in the clouds and my head screw a bit loose?)

I also asked a lady coworker (much older than me), who's almost like a mother figure for me at the office, and asked for her opinion. She also said that it shouldn't be a problem, since she's had the same experience with a chinese doctor who also gave out "past validity" medicine back when she was still in Canada. I figured, two moms, all of their kids still alive and breathing? I guess that's ok....

In any case, I took a gulp this morning, despite the past expiration date.

If I don't post another entry in 7 days, please contact 999.

Killing Time (Productively)

As it turns out, it wouldn't be until 4am until I would get some shuteye today.

I spent some time trying to figure out how to get the headache off my head, while:

1. Checking out regular blog pages I visit (see side bar) for new entries,
   
2. Wondering why my Nero burning software sometimes does not load at all - unsuccessfully doing so the first few tries - and mysteriously causing the whole PC to hang,
   
3. Simultaneously recharging and updating my iPod shuffle at the same time, and finally
   
4. Troubleshooting why my Nero burning session hangs when using the CD/DVD burner software to burn some pictures to disc - the burning session will never end even if left it for a million years, or when my disk is filled up from error logs/history generated by the burning software, whichever comes first.
   

************
All in all, before I fell asleep, at least I was able to settle the 2 burning troubleshooting issues. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to get ANY sleep at all. Call it obsessive compulsive tendencies - I simply cannot leave something half baked and undone.

The results?

(1) No recent updates early in the morning (+8 GMT) for all my regularly checked blogs;
(2) Sometimes Nero does not load when clicked to open. I peek into Task Manager and found out that there are at least 3 instances of the same executable running, but surprise, no opened burning software program in sight. Additionally, there are other processes that seem to be affected:

- Any existing/opened Windows Explorer (or ones that will be opened in the future) seems to hang in most the cases when the burning software does not pop up
- After hanging, I tried "safely disconnecting external USB component" with my iPod Shuffle, but also hangs
- Killing the additional Nero executables in the Task Manager Processes tab is impossible; it can't be killed despite my best efforts to terminate the process.
- Kill the Windows Explorer application forcefully via the task manager, and I'm faced with a hanging PC. No windows taskbar, no desktop icons, can still Ctl-Alt-Del to bring up the pop up window with the option to shutdown... but selecting the shutdown or restart option will leave me... still hanging. Having to resort to pressing the physical reset key in my PC just to get it restarted.

After several tries and frustrating PC restarts, I realized that my Ipod does not automatically bring up the iTunes software... which it normally does when plugged into the USB and detected by the PC. Opening iTunes seems also virtually impossible. An inspiration quickly hit me: DVD/CD drives and programs not responsive, iPod shuffle not being detected, and Windows Explorer/Taskbar hanging - all storage components. I quickly ruled out the DVD drive and Windows Explorer as they are standard components and no necessary autodetection needed. That left me with my iPod Shuffle plugged into my USB drive. Would it work? I yanked it out.

And out pops my burning software program. :)

So, at the moment, I will have to make sure that iTunes does pop up when my iPod Shuffle is plugged in before trying to open the burning software. Will still have to figure out what in the world caused this; I don't recall this ever happening before, and I'm sure I've already done this "routine" lots of times previously. But for now, workaround found, and that's good enough for me at the moment.

(3) Having gotten the burning software to open, I reattempted to burn my pics into DVD again. But DVD/CD burning hangs when I directly burn a particular file into the disc; I've already wasted more than 10 blank DVD CDs trying to burn it since the weekend, and also incidentally, updated the DVD drive's firmware. Searching for clues in the vast information repository of the online web did not yield in any satisfactory or working result. In a rare stroke of insight, I tried working around the problem by creating image files in the hard disk first, then burning the image file into the DVD. (I've never created image files, so this is perhaps the very first time I've attempted it) That morsel of an insight seems to have worked. Burning the image file onto DVD/CD did not result in the burning session hanging, and it finished rather quickly than I'd expected. I double checked if opening the suspected problem file was possible, and it seems it does open properly. Two things still bug me, but it can wait until a bit later:

- there doesn't seem to be a "verify" option when burning image files. I wonder why.
- I wonder what EXACTLY was in the particular file itself that resisted being burned directly into CD/DVD. (This is to avoid wasting at least 1 DVD CD for every potential file that I need to burn. I wouldn't want to have to create an image every time, THEN burn it to DVD/CD) ...

But workarounds settle I need for now. Address another important issue I should.
************

Head still throbbing, I browsed through Backstroke Of the West google hits to get some distraction, and found myself bursting into fits of giggles while I review the screen shots for the movie again. I was a good way to loosen up, and finally at 4am, I resisted further urges to browse and figured I'd have enough abdominal exercise to get some rest.

Plopped into my comfortable bed, lied down on a Dead Man Stance and regulated my breathing... and after 5.. 10 minutes, I'm off to dreamland.

Not bad for a owl prowl. But I stil would've liked to have been able to sleep earlier and waking up refreshed. Oh well, can't get what you want all the time I suppose.

And Going And Going And Going...

Agaaah. 1:52 AM in the morning and I can't sleep!

I have a long day ahead tomorrow.. ahem... or should I say - today- need to be in the office by 8am, have the usual 9 hour work, then 2 hours to kill before I head off to a voice class (yes, by gosh, I've been taking voice lessons!) for 45 minutes over at Kowloon side. In case you're wondering, I live over at the Hong Kong side, so its a long commute back home, too. By the time I get home, it will be 9 - 930pm...

And I should've been asleep HOURS ago!!!

I swear, at this moment in time, I will be able to accurately predict my near future - it won't be much of a problem predicting, in my case:

"I see a dark, dreary and drowsy future ahead of you... you will be prone to mistakes, and will be very unfocused today as Saturn will be aligning with the Moon. You will try your very best in every way but will have a huge probability of failing miserably. Do not do anything dangerous, important or significant today, or the black cat will fall 9 storeys and land at your head. Be cautious, and keep a low profile - I suggest you fake a diarrhea, hide in the office bathroom for a few hours and take a short nap there. Better yet, stay at home."

Hmm. I wonder if I could convince my supervisor I'm sick and will be taking a leave today...

I am so screwed.

Gym Progress Week 16 & 17 (and Yoga)

Ahhh.. time to log my gym sessions again.

It seems that time has been coming along very slow lately. I'm not sure why, but it seems like its been a month since I've logged a new entry for my gym escapades. But then again, it must be that the weeks have been passing by very very slowly.

First time I've retried Yoga again.. the last time I tried yoga, I fell asleep (that was in another Gym/Health chain.. freebie account) so I've been hesitant to attend another yoga class again. But since a friend of mine (who got a month long free gym access courtesy of moa and my lifetime membership) wanted to try it out, I took a shot at it.

The result?

Well, this time I definitely didn't fall asleep. It's not as relaxing as I'd thought I'd imagined it to be (just goes to show sometimes impressions aren't always right) ... All we did are standard postures: Sun Salutation, Warrior Stance 1, Warrior Stance 2, Triangulate (or something like that), Tree Stance. They're only english equivalents to the Sanskrit names (and no, I didn't remember the Sanskrit names. Maybe later). And all I can say is this: you definitely need absolute concentration when doing yoga, and its even up par to any cardio exercise that you'd try out now or in the future. Don't let the "non-impact" looking yoga class deceive you, its really DEFINITELY, ABSOLUTELY, TOTALLY harder than it looks. I've been attending advanced step aerobics and body pump classes for three months, so I can be classified as moderately fit, but this one is definitely interesting and challenging at the same time. Its an entirely different class altogether. No wonder these gyms also offer yoga.. it definitely IS tiring.

And to boot, I ended up with a sore aching back the next day. That's good. Means my back is being worked out more compared to bodypump classes. (And as a side note, my friend, who's less active than me until recently, couldn't stand or move properly the first 2 days after the yoga class. But she insisted on attending the same class the week after! Good for her ;) You know who you are ;) )

Second week of yoga, and my back still hurts after the class. Amazing stuff. I think I'll be regularly attending yoga classes from now on... It's pretty challenging ;) Now on with the classes for the week:

Week 16
Tue (ISM): Lorenzo
Wed (PS*,BP): Suzette, Mike K
Thu (IA*, SM): Lorenzo, Michelle
Sat (SM,BY*,ISM): Michelle, Frankie, Steve (First time I've been to Michelle's Advanced class.. very vewy interesting and fun)
Sun (ISM,BP): Suzette, Elizabeth

Week 17
Mon (MS): Louis --> What a slow day...
Tues (ISM): Michelle --> Today's a Holiday... Chinese equivalent of All Saints Day
Wed (BP): Charles (CB) --> Had to stay up at the office til 6:30.. hence missing my usual Central class
Sat (SM, BY*, ISM): Michelle, Frankie, Steve
Sun (ISM,BP): Suzette, Elizabeth

*Refers to
PS-Power Step (Multilevel)
BY-Beginner's Yoga (Beginner)

Where Are You Spending Your Life On? Part II

Continued from previous entry...

Of course, this is probably the typical breakdown for the average yuppie. And the direct result of this 40% is mainly financial value. You spend the time, earn money, you get the money, you spend the money happily at the end of each month, .. without even realizing that that salary is 40% of your life's worth. How better to put that ... its almost akin to selling 40% of your life to the devil - of course, I'm not saying your company's a high level demon chewing on your life force and eating away your soul - its just a "similarity". You might as well see it however you like, but whether devil, demon, imp, saint, angel, god/goddess or universal benevolent creator, its a helluva lot of time to devote yourself on.

I suppose my consternation and aghast comes from the very fact that I may have been living my life a little too "freely" for my taste. I got my current job without any clear cut idea what I wanted to do in the IT field. Originally I wanted to be a Java Programmer and build applications, but seeing that I had no exact working experience in java during my resume sending process, I opted for the DBA position since I had previous experience with SQLServer7.0. One thing lead to another, and I've adopted the preference for Oracle. I've been steadily increasing my background and experience, but nevertheless, I realized I haven't been pushing forward as much as I'd expect myself to. Ecstatic fulfillment isn't really what I would use to describe my current job, although it is somewhere between a-ok to fulfilling, but more edging toward the "fulfilling" spectrum.

I suppose if I were working in a job that would be described specifically as fulfilling, I would not have as much problems with my 40% life contribution to a company I have no direct relation with. But that's the thing, isn't it? Its not just about fulfillment in the day to day motions you do for your job. A string of successful projects would not exactly be up par in exchange for 40% of your life. Would you settle giving 40% of your life to the devil just for salary pay? Would you be willing to just settle telling yourself: "I'm good at what I do here, they pay me more than enough financially, and I deliver results with astounding success." Being good at what you do isn't good enough; It seems that what's more important, aside from the little details of math calculation that I've just done, is where exactly is the substance that you're spending your life on.

What did that wildly successful project you handled recently do for you? Gotten pats on your back? Better connections? A salary raise? More benefits? promotions? more job perks? Have your name and picture pasted on the latest New York Times/Forbes publication? Or did it just build up your ego?

Maybe, did you realize, that just by being successful in what you do, you've just caused an industry to engage in increasing the gap between third world and industrialized nations, promote tobacco use for the minority or enabled easier access to nuclear warheads for terrorists?

These are very far fetched implications, of course. I'm just trying to drive a point here, and exaggeration makes for a clearer picture than an obscure, vague one. 40% of your life (and mine) is a huge chunk. If you're thinking that devoting 40% of your life to earn money (or any other thing I've just mentioned in the previous pararaphs) is enough, it might as well be for you, but aren't there more important things that DO matter? When are you going to allocate the time for the things that DO matter when there's only 60% of your life left (aside from work)? Like I mentioned in the previous entry, I'm left with 15.5 hours to do whatever it is that I'd want to/love doing.

"40% of your life" sounds more disastrous than "40% of your time", doesn't it? Besides, if its time we're talking about, us tweens have all the time in the world. But if its 40% of your life... its sounds a bit scarier, no?

Assuming that work is purely for earning bread... in my case, that leaves me with 15.5 hours within the week to do the stuff that REALLY matters. 15.5 Hours sounds like a lot? That's a mere 2.5 hours per day. That seems like a short time to allocate to achieve any life long achievements. And 40% of my life seems such a long time just to be earning money...

...

...

...

Maybe its not just the autumn season changing nowadays.

Where Are You Spending Your Life On?

My work is eating my life away!

I just made a schedule of my usual week.. typical 8 hours work time, gym, odd lessons. Assuming I sleep daily 10 hours a day, that leaves me with 14 hours to spare. And based on those basic assumptions, I came to realize that an astounding 40% of my typical waking hour is studiously and regularly spent in the office, doing the work things that I do. Maybe that doesn't sound like an intimidating breakdown, but if and when you see it in a chart version, it definitely looks intimidating to me. Its looks like a monster waiting to eat up the rest of your life; spanning several blocks and several rows and taking up more space in the piece of chart than you'd like to admit. Its like finally realizing one huge chunk of your life is being eaten away - and its not a pretty realization.

Within those typical 8-hour per day, 5 days per week work schedule, what would you ideally like to accomplish? Realizing the huge percentage of time that I put into work, I can't help but think of all those time spent procastinating in my seat, or trying to get myself to work up my braindead status to finish all those mini projects... and that those sometimes end in a depressingly big, black, height-spanning-to-the-heavens immovable wall.

A microcosm? It is, when you realize you've spent close to 40% of every week, sitting in your cubicle. And then you realize you'll be doing the same thing next week, and the week after, and the week after that. And you're going to realize that you'll be spending 40% of those 52 weeks in a year in precisely the same manner and percentage (no, holidays don't count; those holidays and overtimes even themselves out.) That's 40% of your time in the past 365 days spent working. That's a whooping 40% of your life, after getting your bachelor's degree, devoted to your company environment. And if you've been working for more than 4 years, it will suddenly occur to you... that's simply A LOT OF TIME.

Suddenly I realize that's a absurd chunk of my existence. And I don't want to face the fact that I've just spend 40% of my life... just working.

To put things in more prespective. These are potential average figures, but they are more or less a reflection of my life at the moment:

40.0% Working
08.0% Necessities (Brushing your teeth, taking a bath, morning and nightly stuff)
08.0% Commuting and travel
10.5% Eating, Dining (No this does not include partying)
12.0% Exercising (Going to the gym, jogging, sports)
06.0% Watching TV, movies, reading books
----------------------------------------------------------
15.5% Left to do other stuff (Fill in your blank.. talking over the phone with friends... partying, whatver)

And that's a remaining 15.5% of my waking time left to do whatever else that I want....

A shrinking, crazy feeling has occured to me while gazing at that big 40% of my time spent working... There is strangely something wrong with that figure.

But what does this all mean? Think about how you spend your time, and think about the enormity and importance of those sets of figures...

To be continued...

Chestnuts Roastin' and Sweet Potatoes Bakin'

How appropriate.

Just tonight I was coming home and I saw a familiar seasonal makeshift stand by the road a block away from my place - the roasted chesnut and sweet potato stand. Its one of my seasonal favorites, something that I constantly look forward to when autumn and winter dips in.

For the uninitiated, the roasted chesnut is .. well, roasted. Its got this amazing rich, nutty flavor when you crack it open from the shell and pop it into your mouth. If I recall correctly, it used to be occasionally available at Manila chinatown, but I don't really know exactly when or where because I don't do the buying; my mom does. She'd bring back a bagful of these delightful morsels, and it'd be finished in.. oh well.. around 4 hours. It only takes that long by the way because the shells are hard to crack. But the meat is defnitely worth the time spent cracking. My mom would ocassionally add chesnuts in into our typical pork adobo, and I'm shameless to admit, I'd pick out the chesnuts instead of the pork. Chesnuts by themselves are great, just like others nuts (macadamia immediately comes to mind) but roasted chesnuts are even better. Its like the comparison between a freshly baked pandesal and pandesal that's been left for a few hours on the kitchen table. The warm, freshly roasted taste is indescribable.

As for the "roasted" sweet potato, I'm surprised we don't have a supply of it in the Philippines. Considering there's camote-Q, which is pretty popular by itself, sold usually outside schools in the Philippines along the sidelines together with street foods like banana-q, turon, isaw and fishball. The current camote-q version is fried together with brown sugar, usually sold skewered in sticks just like the more famous banana-q, but sometimes its also sold in the form of typical french fry "wedges". Roasted sweet potato would make a great addition to the street food ensemble. Of course, its not really "roasted" the same way as the roasted chesnut, but it is actually charcoal cooked (primitively baked, if you will). The smell of charcoal baked sweet potato is astounding in itself. Its even more amazing when you "break" the potato open and greeted by one of the sweetest fumes around (think of the persistent durian smell but of a more pleasant, sweeter aroma). The taste is even better.. if the sweet potato is picked correctly and ripe, its going to taste exactly like camote-q, as sweet, and yet more smooth and mellow, since the natural sugar is inherent within the sweet potato, unlike the camote-q, which has gobbles of crystallized brown sugar on the surface. If the taste isn't enough to assuage you to become a religious follower, at least you can rest assure that this version doesn't come in "fried" and with additional processed sugar. In effect, this decreases your chances of obesity, diabetes and a rotting sweet tooth when eaten in place of the traditional camote-q.

Of the two, I particularly like the baked sweet potato more, and it comes in two types: the typical yellow ones, and the more favorable (at least for Hong Kong people) purple yams. To me they both taste the same, but I think the purple ones are more coveted because they are more rare, and tastes slightly milder in terms of sweetness, and have more of the deep sweet potato-ey taste.

I've been tempted to grab a snack from the stand, but I figured, autumn just came in, and I'll be having few months' worth of chances to get them. Besides, they both taste better when the weather is extremely cold, and they are not exactly for the atkins follower freak, since both have loads of carbohydrates. I'm not really an off-carbohydrates person, but I can't seem to be able to munch down on too much rice at any one seating, and this is most probably the same. But an occasional snatch of them would be good...

I can't wait.

Autumn is starting to sound pretty good to me. :)

The Wind Talks

"Autumn is coming."

Its strange to be able to tell just by feeling this morning's wind. The air today feels different from two days' ago. The air is still damp and humid, but the slight passing wind that playfully came to me this morning also had a strong, persistent quality to it - as if whispering to you to get ready.

Normally these things just creep up on you... seasons change ever so slightly and one day you'll realize its 10 degrees outside instead of 30, and you'd rather stay in bed. On another hand, this one is not so obvious. Its just a change in the wind, and that's all there is to it. There's just a slight chill.

I wonder if this was how pre-computer era people used to tell if rain is coming, or winter will be late. I just find myself a bit surprised to have caught on on the weather change with just a wisp of wind. Maybe we really ARE too busy with our daily lives to notice little things.

Of course, it also helps that I had some tip from the local weekly weather websites, but that's beside the point. You can actually notice the difference.

Just a quaint little thought... and also a few others involving getting out winter clothes from storage. :)

A Problematic Office Hiatus

I've just been hit by a hiatus this morning.

I was just... vegetable in the office. Staring at the monitor. Not saying that there wasn't anything to do. Actually, there were tons of things I need to finish, I just can't shake the blank stare off my face and my dead brain to function. You know, like, here you are, telling your head to just get on with the work, you need to optimize the time if you want to finish everything on time... but the head is JUST not listening!

Couple of things I did to try to perk me up:
1. Walk around the office several times. (no, not working)
2. Ate a couple of candies (maybe low in sugar? no, still no good)
3. Ate a pear (maybe it needs some more "natural" sugar? errm.. I guess not)
4. Went to the fire exit to do some calf raises (yes, it is going to be embarrassing if my officemates find out.. but hey, I'm desperate)
5. Tried to "do" the aero choreography in the fire exit once (yes, I was jumping around with my heels on, but still, no go)
6. Ate some corn flakes (maybe its carbohydrates I need instead of sugar?)

I was already at my wits end.. my head wasn't moving.. I thought about asking my supervisor to give me something "brainless" to do, but I decided against it (he might realize I haven't been productive the whole day.. but then again, its not like I'm not TRYING.) Finally, I was left with getting myself a strong cup of coffee to jerk my heart rate up (while we're at it, I did also measure my heart rate while trying to figure out how to get out of this hiatus. Its 68 beats per minute.) or trying to listen to blaring music while trying to force myself to work.

I chose to do option#2 first.

It seemed to have worked ;) I've selectively picked a couple of perky, upbeat songs, and after the 3rd song and doing some brainless scanning of a huge 15MB database tracefile (text) that's been causing significant performance problems to the production server, I've successfully got the ball rolling.

My list of effective perky songs? Take a look...

You're Only Human (Second Wind) - Billy Joel
No SuchThing - John Mayer
Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
Enough To Go By - Vienna Teng
Shashta - Vienna Teng
Hope On Fire - Vienna Teng
Tear in Your Hand - Tori Amos
Happy Phatnom - Tori Amos
Crucify - Tori Amos
Dont Let It Bring You Down - Annie Lenox
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces - Ben Folds Five
Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows
Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows
Hard Candy - Counting Crows

Thank goodness for earphones, mp3s, and winamp in the office. And I even got the chance to find out what the performance bottleneck is. How wonderful.

Gym Progress Week 14 & 15

First of my bimonthly gym status reports... and so far the verdict... Things have been going slow recently.

I've been finding myself going to weights class less.. only a mere 2x a week, and still attending the step classes that I usually attend to. But its now going like a 3-4 times a week instead of the usual solid 4x a week (actually, before that, sometimes it was 4-5 times a week. Yes, ok, I'm starting to sound like a gym rat. Sorry.)

I can't seem to figure out why the slowdown. Maybe its because I've been picky about the classes I go to nowadays. I get tired of going to intermediate classes now, and advanced classes are starting to feel repetitive. Since there's only a handful of advanced classes available per week, and with varying intructors changing from one schedule to the next (There are DEFINITELY instructors that I don't agree on) sometimes I drop on an instructor I don't like, and don't feel as excited as I should. The changes in the weekly routine doesn't help either... stuff to do here, stuff to do there.. joggle my schedule..

But I can't seem to figure out why the slowdown.. things are starting to feel like a chore. Maybe its because I feel my arms are still as big as when I started, and its not improving. My friends have commented that it did trim down, but I still feel its not enough against the effort I put in for the last 15 weeks.

Been also feeling weak lately.... Doesn't seem right because it feels like I've been weaker for the past week compared to the other previous weeks. Strange...

Regardless, here's my list the past few weeks. Strangely enough, I've been attending some beginners class either to (a) ensure that I get a space and a step for the next class, usually involving Steve's class... its ALWAYS packed, or (b) accompanying two of my friends who've recently joined a "trial" month long sessions to a beginners aerobics class:

Week 14
Mon (MS*, BP): Louis, Patrick (Oh oh, this day is holiday. The Multistep class was amazing! :D)
Tue (ISM): Bibi
Thu (IA*,SM*): Steve, Steve
Sat (IS*,ISM): Steve, Steve
Sun (ISM,BP): SUzette, Roger

Week 15
Wed (ISM,BP): Suzette, PHyllis
Thu (ISM): Steve
Sat (SM*,IS*): Steve, Lorenzo
Sun (ISM,BP): Suzette, Roger

*Refers to
MS-Multistep (Advanced)
IA-Intro Aerobics (Beginners)
SM-Step Moves (Advanced)
IS-Intro Step (Beginners)