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23Oct 2006

Anger Management

It surprised me that there is a scientific explanation for those drivers that are just stark raving mad on the road. Scientists call it “Road Rage” Disorder or Intermittent Explosive Disorder. I thought they were just rude , annoying drivers. Excuse me!

To you, that angry, horn-blasting tailgater is suffering from road rage. But doctors have another name for it – intermittent explosive disorder – and a new study suggests it is far more common than they realized, affecting up to 16 million Americans.

That’s an extreme case of road rage which [tag]anger management[tag] techniques might offer some help along with treatment with antidepressants. For those that don’t suffer from this disorder, how do they relieve their anger? I bet there are many constructive ways.

(enlarge) I never realized how many angry people there were until I saw Isdaan‘s Tacsiyapo Anger wall or rather “The Wall of Fury”. The sign said “Release Your Anger” (Ilabas ang sama ng Loob). Tacsiyapo means “shame on you”. Located along McArthur Highway in Gerona, Tarlac, my husband, M and I dropped by for lunch on our way up to Baguio a few days ago. What a novel idea! Painted on the wall where targets labelled as ex-wife, ex-husband, 5-6, intrigera, mother/father in-law,professors, classmates , manyak, intrigera, Boss, alcohol, gambling , casino and many more. There are just so many reasons to get mad if you let them get to you. (View Anger Wall Photo). At the Tacsiyapo wall, one can hurl your plate at the desired target. Hmm, did I see any politician’s name in the wall? There should be.

anger wall
One has the choice of throwing plates, mugs and even a working television set. Looking at the broken television set among the pile of procelain debris, I wonder if that person’s anger reached boiling proportions or he just threw it in jest. That TV set cost 1,000 pesos (around $20). Imagine that! Doesn’t everyone feel so frustrated at times that smashing something would really help relieve the stress? But breaking plates at our own home is such a waste.

(enlarge photo)
My husband chose a 15 peso mug and also bought one for M. I don’t think he was angry at that moment. Maybe hidden anger inside had yet to be released. M didn’t want to break her mug and decided to just bring it home. Feeling contented, we headed back to the restaurant to enjoy our grilled dishes.

So next time you’re feeling angry over your long drive, take a break, and drop by the Isdaan Floating Restaurant Park Anger Wall.

21Oct 2006

House Hunting Adventure: An Amityville Nightmare

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 7 Comments

I’ve mentioned before of our plans to move back to the childhood home of my kids. It’s the house I sold to my paternal auntie so I could defray part of the medical bills of my brother who was sick of leukemia and had to be brought to the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland. Just when I thought the deal was going my way, my aunt pegs a price that we couldn’t afford. I thought that since I sold the property at below market value , she would also give us the same deal. I think she knows how much we want the property. Even if I didn’t expect her to sell it at below market value, her selling price was illogical. Feeling disappointed, I checked out the listings of 3 brokers in the same village.

To my delight, I found a house wthin my budget not far from our old property. The sprawling bungalow owned by Dr C, a single woman in her seventies and a US citizen is almost twice the lot size of our previous home. The interiors looked brand new. If the house was a car, the mileage is quite low. What I found interesting was an apartment attached to the main house, with a kitchen /living room, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. Construction materials were of premium quality. Though I am not too keen on marble floors, I loved the overall feel of the house. And the price? 30% below market value. Amazing value. The broker told me that it was in the market for more than a year so the owner was convinced to lower her price. Hmm, although I was still cautious , I excitedly broke the news to girls. They were thrilled to have an apartment to themselves. My husband said “it’s really a good deal”. It was pretty much everything we were looking for in a home, and it was at a price that we could afford. After checking the title at the Register of Deeds and a mutual agreement to the terms, we were ready to pay earnest money.

Something ticked in me. “This is too good to be true”

Though I loved the house, I hesitated to commit to the sale.

“Maybe the street gets flooded?” I thought.

I went back to the village to sniff around for any clues to the house. I saw a small sari-sari (convenience store) store a block away from Dr C’s house. In the pretext of buying a diet Coke, I asked the lady if the street flooded all the way to Dr. C’s house. She shook her head “no. but did you know that her maid got stabbed a year ago? and died at the hospital? Her neighbors claim to hear eerie shouts every midnight. Too bad her killer was never found. No justice at all to the poor girl”

“uh-oh. No wonder Dr C is selling it so cheap”

I was quite peeved at my broker for not revealing the violent death of a household member. I asked for the details. It went like this. It didn’t happen last year but over 3 years ago. Dr C’s helper woke up early in the morning and was surprised to see their carpenter waiting by the door armed with a knife. She yelled at Dr C to run and lock herself in the room. The poor girl was unable to run back inside the house since the carpenter caught up with her and repeatedly stabbed her at the chest.

Ugh! Do we still want the house? I asked L what she thought of the eerie ghostly sounds, and the killing.

The curious writer in her squealed “Cool… a ghost in a house would be exciting and spooktacular!”

Haha, I didn’t expect that reaction.

i turned to M . “What do you think of the ghost?”

M, in an imaginative mode was more intuitive “I’m not scared of the ghost. What’s scary is the living. That killer could come back to kill the new occupants. Just like that Amityville House killer”

M is right. Safety is an important consideration. The back of the house was a vacant lot prone to burglars who can easily climb the fence. Even with high fence rails, it was still possible to gain entrance using ropes and steel cutter. Using an electrified fence is not feasible since we had cats.

Much as we loved the house and the affordable selling price, we had to let it go. No , we don’t want a Filipino version of the Amityville Nightmare.

So we’re back to another house hunting adventure. Have any ideas?

(I’m in Baguio right now cooling it off)

20Oct 2006

This blog is a pre-finalist in The 9th Philippine Web Awards

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 10 Comments

I just received this email.

October 20, 2006

Dear Representative,

Congratulations!

Your Web site, Touched by an Angel, is one of the Pre-Finalists in the Blogs Category of The 9th [tag]Philippine Web Awards[/tag]. You have been qualified to move on to the Pre-Finals round that will take place on October 20, 2006 and will end on November 8, 2006.

As a Pre-finalist you are required to post The Philippine Web Awards Semi-Finalists Badge on your site. Digital resources can be found here. Please link back to The Philippine Web Awards Web site (http://www.philippinewebawards.com).

You also have the chance to be this year’s People’s Choice in the Blogs Category. The voting for The People’s Choice Award can be done through SMS or online. For details on how to vote, please log-on to www.philippinewebawards.com.

Thank you and good luck!

Best Wishes,
The 9th Philippine Web Awards

Congrats to the other pre-finalists in the BLOGS category!

…well whatever www.wellwhatever.com
Fire in the Gut chrislagman.com/blog
fivefeetflat.com | illustrated www.fivefeetflat.com
Pinoy Tech Blog www.pinoytechblog.com
Pinoy Travel Blog www.pinoytravelblog.com
PROJECT MANILA projectmanila.com
Sexy Nomad sexynomad.i.ph
The Man Blog man-blog.com
The Orangelover www.orangelover.net

15Oct 2006

A Great Teacher is Never Forgotten

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 17 Comments

Two days ago, my daughter asked….

do you remember Miss Syquia?

Of course I remember her. How could I not forget the sweet and soft-spoken first grade teacher/homeroom adviser of my eldest daughter? Many years ago, I vowed that I’d take an active role in Parent-Teacher activities just so I can monitor the progress of my kids at school. So I asked L how her first grade teacher was.

OMG, How tragic! Miss Syquia died last Monday after giving birth to twin girls.

My heart filled with sadness. Aww how terribly shocking. After giving life , her life is taken away?

I hugged my daughter and felt her grief. I knew her teacher was like a second mother to her.

Apparently, L is still in contact with some of her classmates at Miriam College. An email got circulated to her former students since she had been a teacher for the past 15 years. Many knew her. L went on and on how her First grade teacher was so nice to her. Her succeeding teachers were not as memorable as Miss Syquia. L and I paid a visit yesterday but L refused to take a look at her coffin. L chose to remember her teacher as someone alive and well. I noticed a few of her younger students looking so sad.

I gathered from a brief talk with her husband that her married name was Ma. Theresa Erlinda Syquia Caringal and that her nickname was Ernie for short. And the cause of her death?

Pulmonary embolism

She died a week after her cesarian operation.

Such a sudden death. If that was not tragic enough, a day before Ernie died, her mom passed away. In fact her burial was just 2 days ago.

I couldn’t ask her husband on the cause of “pulmonary embolism” because I know how tiring it must be for him to keep repeating the same story all over again. Just this afternoon at our monthly Compassionate Friends meeting, a friend-doctor shared how life is just so precious. She knew of a mom who just gave birth and turned blue on the way home from the hospital. Cause of death was pulmonary embolism.

Two moms died of pulmonary embolism this week?

I gathered that pregnancy increases the risk of developing blood clots. Wow, I never knew that. I had 3 cesarian births. Though I always thought I’d die with each operation I never thought blood clots could be one of the causes of childbirth complications.

Today, Ernie was cremated. Her sudden death is very devastating to her loved ones. Trying to make sense of or understand sudden losses can be difficult. Survivors are left asking “Why?” “Why did this happen?” Like all deaths, the “why” will never be answered in this lifetime. “In our hearts, we all know that death is a part of life. In fact, death gives meaning to our existence because it reminds all of us that life is precious.” It’s just that coping with the loss is not an easy task.

L and her First Grade Teacher

30Sep 2006

Desperate for Power Supply and the Internet

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 7 Comments

Along with power interruption, the internet service also got disrupted in the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane).

When your business is dependent on internet service, a day without it is problematic. Two days without it gets to be “near critical”. Where does one get an internet connection when the whole city has no power?

Go to the nearest Starbucks or coffee shop with generator power and wireless internet

Not just any coffee shop. Earlier in the day, I went to Figaro branch at Salcedo Village to go online. After 3 hours, my battery was dying. Looking around the corners, I was disappointed to see power outlets taped over with a sign “do not plug in here”. Grr, I was willing to pay for the charge. Without electricity, how can I get online? A coffee shop must be generous enough to allow me to charge my macbook and avail internet wi-fi connection. I found a friendly Starbucks Coffee shop at the Walter Mart branch. Apparently, Makati residents also thought of the same idea as I did. The place was crowded. All 4 power outlets were occupied with cellphone and laptop charging. It took me 30 minutes to get a seat near a vacant power outlet. Great! The free Globequest internet wi-fi access (given to me by Globe-Innove last month) came in really handy as I got a fast internet connection.

My daughter and I took turns working on our sites while my patient husband read a book. It usually takes me 2 to 4 hours to work on my sites but I didn’t plan to stay that long. See, a lot of laptop users were eager to go online too and I didn’t want to hog even one precious power outlet. Look at these people huddled in the corner working feverishly on their laptops.

29Sep 2006

Typhoon Milenyo Aftermath:Deaths due to Fallen billboards, trees and electric poles

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 22 Comments

Note: View My PHOTO GALLERY of Typhoon Milenyo (international codename [tag]Typhoon Xangsane[/tag])

At 8:30 am EDSA, on the way to pick up my daughters

(Enlarge) The heavy rains woke me up and my thoughts turned to my daughters holed up in their dorm in Quezon City. Butch and I quickly turned on our TV sets and heard that “[tag]typhoon Milenyo[/tag]” would be the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years. The typhoon was expected to arrive at 12 noon. It was 6:00 AM and the perfect time pick to them up in Quezon City. Feeling worried over their safety, my main concern was to bring them over to our home in Makati City knowing they would be safe with us. On the way to my daughters’ dorm in Katipunan Avenue, the empty trusses along EDSA is a rare sight to behold. I thought, “good thing. it’ll prevent accidents“. On the way home, we passed along C-5. Ah, it’s an amazing treat to see the landscape devoid of the tarpaulins click here.

At 11:00 AM, at our house in Makati City just before Typhoon Milenyo

(Enlarge) A few leaves are strewn all over the front lawn. We prepared for the inevitable wrath of [tag]Typhoon[/tag] Milenyo and shut all the doors and windows. The electricity had already been cut at 9:00 AM. Shortly after 12:00 noon, I heard metal screeching and crunching somewhere. I thought “uh-oh there goes my roof!” I expected a gush of water to pour down our ceiling. Looking out of the window, a gigantic branch from the tree outside suddenly looms outside our living room window. The branch broke from the tree outside , landed on the fence, broke it and ended up on the lawn.

The fallen tree branch in our front lawn

(Enlarge ) It was a relief that it wasn’t our roof that got blown away. What could we do now? I knew there were more damage and injuries outside our village. We were grateful to God for the safety of our family, a strongly built home, ample food, fuel and water. The only other inconvenience was water dripping on L’s room. The strong winds blasted all the rain water towards the upper balcony, creating a pool of water which overflowed to L’s ceiling through a crack on the second floor balcony. Removing the flooded waters in the balcony was futile as the strong gust of wind literally blew us away to the wall. We ended up placing cardboards on the balcony floor so we could elevate the flood waters. I haven’t felt these strong winds in years. Although we had no power, we still had a gas range that would enable us to cook for a candle-lit dinner.

The aftermath at around 2:00 PM
The good old reliable radio was our only source of information and link to the outside world. No power. No internet. No TV. We heard that the southwest part of Metro Manila had a direct hit and sustained more damages. Makati City, our place of residence is one of these places. I immediately took photos of the typhoon Milenyo aftermath.

25Sep 2006

Live Blogging at the First Philippine Blogcon 2006

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 27 Comments

I am an early bird at the First Philippine Blogcon 2006 here at the National Sports Grill, Greenbelt 3 Makati. The reason I am early is because I have to fix my powerpoint for my talk “Content is King”.

5:20 P.M.- The Globe-Innove Group, our gracious sponsors for this event are here busy fixing the place. As you register, they hand out out 100 pesos worth of Globequest internet wifi access. It looks like they are giving out other prizes in their game portion.

6:54 P.M.– Abe and Jayvee are busy fixing their visual presentation. Abe Olandres will talk on “History of Blogging in the Philippines & Professional Blogging” , Jayvee Fernandez on Blogging as New Media vis-a-vis MSM

And Marc Macalua on “SEO and Blog Make-Over”. I had to end my live blogging when dinner started. Just View the Photo Gallery for the highlights of the event.

At the meet, I met new and old faces like:

Abe Olandres; J Angelo Racoma; Marc Macalua; Kevin Codamon ; Jayvee Fernandez; Rico Mossesgeld; Jennifer Velasco (Globe Innove) ; Mike Abundo ; Bimbo Isidro ; Gail de La Cruz ; Marc Villanueva; Gloria Gamat; Annalyn Jusay; Markku Seguerra; Jun Asis; Dominique Cimafranca; Ade Magnaye. Sorry if I missed out on anyone. My memory fails me nowadays. Hehe, blame it on old age.

The photos show the events as it unfolded ( I still have to label them soon). Since I took these photos, I am not in the gallery but thanks to Annalyn, here is a photo with both of us posing. Another photo here, thanks to Mimi and Karl and from Eugene.

All I can say about the meet is that it was so much fun. Being the oldest among the bloggers made me feel younger and completely at home. I thought I’d feel out-of-place but no…it shows that the internet knows no “age” boundaries. Maybe we can continue this meet on a regular basis? Now what does Globe Innove think about this?

Other Bloggers who wrote about this event

Abe Olandres on “Blogcon aftermath”

J. Angelo Racoma on “Back Home from the Philippine BlogCon 2006”

Gail Villanueva on “The first Philippine BlogCon”

Bimbo Isidro on O6 BlogCon Roundup

Annalyn Jusay on Seen and heard in the 1st Philippine BlogCon

Chris Lagman on Pinoy Bloggers Face-to-Face

Sonnie on BlogCon 2006– Field Report

Kiven at Blogcon 2006

Penoi on 1st Philippine Blogcon 2006

Ka Edong on Philippine Blogcon 2006

Juned on 1st Philippine BlogCon and 1 Internet Day

Kukote in a Jar on 1st philippine blogcon

Mike Abundo on PICS Book Launch and BlogCon

Markku Seguerra on After the Blogcon 200

Mimi and Karl on Blogcon 2006 (with lots of photos)

Janep @ Blogcon (janep.org)

Blog Con 2006: Shoulda; Coulda’s (Me and my Delusions of Grandeur)

To the Blogcon (Morofilm)

What Happened at BlogCon 2006? (Fool for Five)

The Flash Drive that Blogging Won (vaes9)

Teh BlogCon is the Shizzle! (The Parody)

Marc Macalua Philippine Blogcon 2006

Jayvee Fernandez on Back from BlogCon 2006

Jun Asis on 1st Philippine BlogCon

Noel Bautista on the 1st Philippine BlogCon

Gloria Gamat on BlogCon 2006 was a blast

Christine Ocampo on First BlogCon 2006

and Blog-o-rama mention.

The Mystery of the Missing Radiator Cap

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 4 Comments

“uh , where’s the radiator cap?” my husband’s irritated eyes glared at me.

I followed him to the car. “Look you have been driving the car without a radiator cap.”

Ugh, I was dumbstruck and felt stupid. I normally let the service guys over at Shell Station check my radiator and the usual engine fluids. I hate soiling my hands with black soot or yet breaking a nail whenever I have to check under the car hood. The guy must have forgotten to put it back or just placed it loosely on the radiator. Maybe he was multi-tasking and had totally forgotten he was checking my car. It pays to carefully watch these guys as they fiddle with your car parts.

Now how was my husband going to Baguio without the cap? It was 7:00 on a sunday morning.

A quick look at my gas receipt showed that the last time I had loaded gas was on September 13. Imagine for 11 days, I was driving to and fro Quezon City without a radiator cap?

By this time, my husband was livid with rage. I went about ignoring his dark mood knowing it was completely my fault.

Where in the world will I get a radiator cap at this time of the morning? He yelled.

What can I say? In my mind “I don’t know. How should I know?” I know better than to be a smart ass in time like this.

My husband left in a huff. Thirty minutes later, I heard him arrive but still I avoided him .

He was in a better mood when I showed up in the garage a few minutes later. What do you know? He found a surplus radiator cap in Evangelista St.

A car junk shop saved the day.

23Sep 2006

Customer is (still) King

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ Leave a Comment

I believe that customer service and satisfaction is critical in my webhosting business. In fact, I offer money-back guarantee and refunds for unused months. That’s how confident I am with my services. Happy customers are loyal and even refer you to potential customers. Word of mouth referrals is a more effective advertising medium in the initial stages of business growth. I make sure that valid customer complaints are addressed to immediately. But we in the service industry are just human. What if the customer is rude and cursing at you?

You people must be stupid. I have had nothing but problems with you idiots. I have asked for information on this account. can’t get it. I tell you I need to pay for the year. Cant’t get it. and you keep turning my shit off. Who do I FUCKING talk to in person to settle this.

Ugh, receiving an email like that makes me want to combust spontaneously. This is an actual query from an irate customer in another business. He’s not from the Philippines. I can’t imagine a local talking like that. So far , Filipino customers are patient and whenever they have a complaint, it’s in a polite tone. When I received the above email, I thought about replying “Um, I’m sorry I can’t help you”. However, I placed myself in his shoes. What did he really mean to say if he wasn’t so angry? Most likely this customer was ignorant and impatient with the steps to take in filing a support request. He didn’t even submit a helpdesk ticket (the standard method of support) and got frustrated when he didn’t receive any reply through emails. I chose the peaceful manner of settling this issue and released an invoice of $100.00. If he wasn’t happy with my service , he can choose to ignore the invoice. What do you know? He paid it. He hasn’t bothered me in months. In fact , he ordered another plan.

Can you imagine if I spoke to this person? Pity the poor call center workers who have to deal with irate customer complaints. It’s alright if the customer is angry but cursing and name calling is a no-no. And then one can be more rude in emails since there is no direct confrontation. That’s so much better than dealing with their ire over the phone.

Is a customer still king? Customer is king as long as they don’t curse and call you idiots.

22Sep 2006

Shopping for a new Cable Broadband Internet Provider

by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado ⋅ 20 Comments

My family is moving to our new home in the Pasig-Markina sometime next year. It’s an exciting move and something to look forward to. One of the things that I will miss in Makati are the array of Cable Broadband Internet providers and free wi-fi hotspots. I just realized how fortunate Makati residents are when it comes to broadband providers. I have been spoiled by Destiny Cable my primary broadband provider since 1999 which provides us with no speed limit at a reasonable rate of 1688 pesos a month. And this includes TV cable as well. In fact the speed falls to 386 kbps, the support service is sent to the house. Now, I also have Smart Bro which is incredibly slow. If you are spoled with 2MBPs internet speed by Destiny Cable, you will scoff at Smart Bro’s dismal less than 200 kbps speed. It’s supposed to be 386 kbps. Speed and reliability are important to me because I am a netrepreneur and derive income from my e-commerce sites.

When I started to ask around the area of our future home, disappointment overcame me when I found out that my trusty cable provider did not have any service there. I need 2 cable broadband internet providers for redundancy measures. What choices did that leave me?

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