Checkup at P3

Today we hauled the kids over at DH's office at P3 with Tita Gay. Wow, lotsa people there.

There were mascots and some kids singing on the karaoke.

Later on we had a nice lunch over at the "Nipa Hut" where a server was a Kapampangan. I could've taken more pics, but the camera battery just died on me.

Two Advanced Speeches in a Row

Yesterday:
No Swim.
I arrived very late last night (Wednesday) at Kimberly Clark due to a stalled truck in the narrow bridge at Puregold. I thought I got there 6:45 (30 mins late) and they were at the tailend of table topics. I evaluated Jon de Padua and then proceeded with my speech "That Extra Mile" - advanced speech #1, The Entertaining Speech from The Entertaining Speaker Manual. I was overtime by 2 minutes! But Lolet gave me a nice evaluation. And nopes, I didn't miss a thing! My voice quivered a little as I read the letter. Ugh, it was heart-wrenching, but I suppose nobody noticed. What I did was to read it fast.

Today:
No Swim
Felt tired at every lap and was gasping. Maybe it's fatigue.
The ACT (Alabang Community Toastmasters) club was held at Gloria Maris Restaurant in Alabang. It ended at 9:15pm last night (Thurs) as there were 5 speakers in all. I had a big task. I evaluated all 4 speakers for table topics (Neil, Viviene, Peter and Ann). And I didn't know that I had to evaluate the table topics master as well! In addition, I evaluated 2 prepared speakers Viviene and Neil (#1 and #5). I originally didn't plan on giving a speech tonight, but what the heck, I gave Toastmasters Speech #2 of The Professional Speaker Manual - Speech to Entertain. Since I was on overtime in last night's speech at Kimberly, I thought I could just add a few subtopics to my Entertaining Speech last night and talk a little more slowly. Ugh, I only spoke 12 minutes for the 15-20 mins speech. And this time, I was more relaxed, more pauses when reading the letter and so was able to control the emotions more. And the evaluation of Lolet was good!

These lengthy advanced speeches take really long to deliver! I sometimes get the feeling like I'm losing the audience. And one feedback was that my voice was fading a little towards the end. This reminds me to put in more attenion-getters (questions, vocal variety, body movement, MOVE, MOVE, MOVE) at the 10 minute mark to sustain the audience's interest. That's what I'll do for the next.
Felt so tired after my evaluation job today.

See all my Toastmasters Speeches online here!

First Advanced Speech Tonight!

50 x 5 free
Wasn't too sunny today but still, the water was good. Typhoon Inday is gone and Juan is moving slowly. Where do they get these names? From Wakasan or Itutuloy komiks? For the fancy eback I do hands behind back, hands showing above water and hands behind head. The hands-behind-the-head is very tricky. It LOOKS relaxed, but it's much more diffcult due to the change in weight distribution. Putting the arms behind the head transfers more weight in the head region and therefor sinks it more. I guess the trick is to really extend the elbows out so they act as outriggers in a canoe therefore stabilizing the body and assisting buoyancy.

I think I got a morning swim sched that's gonna work for me. Get in the pool at 7:10am, do the above workout and finish by 7:45am. That's around 30mins+ of swim, I shower and still get to catch the 8am "Hot Ten" Yeah!

Aside from doing an Evaluator's job tonight at KCPI TMC, I'll also be giving my first Advanced Speech. Fortunately, Gov. Lolet who called agreed to be my evaluator and TM Jess Mariano is glad to have me speak again at their club. Actually, Gov. Lolet called me up for a bunch of other evaluator jobs too like evaluating for the Alabang Community Toastmasters Club tomorrow at Gloria Maris Restaurant at ATC and another evaluating job at Poquito Mas Restaurant for the KCPI chartering on Friday next week. Whew! Luckily, I'm not booked for this Friday coz it's the old boss' bye-bye party. Honestly, I think I need a new wardrobe. My present red and blue Hawaiian shirts that make me look like an old bartender from Puerto Galera just don't cut it anymore. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll go get some green and yellow Hawaiian shirts next time.

Anyway, this is Advanced Speech #1 (Entertaining Speech) of The Entertaining Speaker Manual. It'll be fun delivering this speech coz it's mostly storytelling an unforgettable experience about my first time to set foot in the United States.

See all my Toastmasters Speeches online here!

Good Swim after a Long Time

Yesterday:
50 x 3 free
Noontime swim sorta just did what it felt like and put in a couple of ebacks too.
The new boss reported today. Heard a funny remark while he was being introduced to the rest of the gang - "Halfday, everyday". It sounded like "Milo Everyday".

The old boss' despedida is a quiet one and will be dinner on Friday at Saisaki. It's supposed to be a secret. Yeah, right. Must be a sad departure - so silent, so quiet - "parang pusa na basta na lamang aalis" Oh well.

Today:
50 x 5 free
Had a nasty case of the runs last night - probly 7. And oh my tummy ached. Woke up at 12am, 1am, 2am, 230am, 3am, 4am just to go to the bathroom. I wonder what caused it.

Apparently the runs couldn't stop me from today's swim which totally rocked!!! The weather was fine, the sun was out, and the water, 'cept from some dirt was perfect! It was so good that I did 50 x 5 and alternated with ebacks. Not the simple ebacks mind you but the tricky 'no-hands' type. After some fiddling, I learned that the way to do no-hands was NOT to kick strict frog style. Doing so creates waves on the kick's recovery. The waves pushes towards the face. Yuk. So what to do? Well, do a scissors type kick! This has a couple of advantages.

1. The kick doesn't create much wave coz the legs are always under the waterline. Scissor kicks movement is slicing sideways. They don't have much vertical oscillation and thus don't raise the water up.
2. Doing the scissors kick on the back is like doing a modified sidestroke on the back. Doing this allows you to navigate and look easily where you're going as in a normal sidestroke.

After today's swim, I felt so good and rejuvenated despite the lack of a good night's sleep.

Looks like I'm having my hands (and mouth) full with the evaluation engagements I'm getting. Governor Lolet called today about some evaluation assignments. I've not met her yet but she's got a nice voice! Apparently some folks have been giving some good reviews about me. And no, I don't really let that get into my head.

• Aug 9, Wed, 6:15pm - KCPI, San Pedro
• Aug10, Thu, 6:00pm - Gloria Maris Resto, Town Center (Alabang Community TMC)
• Aug18, Fri, 7:00pm - Poquito Mas, Town Center (KCPI TMC Charter Presentation)

TM Turnover on Sunday

The weather's clear today and I would've gone had I not left my driver's license at home. Argh. I'm not taking risk getting caught without my license so I'm skipping today. There'll be the Division Turnover (H to K) ceremonies on Sunday. But I most likely won't be going. We haven't gone to Pampanga last July and now it's already August. So we'll be going home instead.

First Swim in 3 Weeks

50 x 5 free
Had a noon swim today. Hasn't rained for a day and so I took the chance. Felt the water and it was good. Wrong! After I jumped in, apparently only the surface was good. Two inches below the surface was cold. Luckily I still wore the cap. I regret not using the rashguard though. The water was high too. I alternated frees with sculling/ eback. On eback I failed to see the gutter drain holes coz the water was too high and covered them. I initially didn't plan on doing freestyle but the midday sun was too much on my face that I had to submerge too. Remember to replenish shampoo and bring the rashguard tube tomorrow.

Toastmasters Officers Induction Cancelled

And I suppose the cancellation will be indefinite. Although I've sent the title of my speech since Monday, I've not gotten any feedback at all about the supposed meeting today. None, nothing, nada, zilch, ala, wala, anggapo. This club is in a state of inertia. Thus far, I only noticed Doc Noy and myself sending feedback. For today's meeting, there was no programme given out. And since there was no programme, I can only think there's no meeting. But it gets worse. It's up to you to use your ESP and predict that there'll be no meeting coz there's no announcement saying the meeting is cancelled either! Had it not been for Doc Noy, I wouldn't have known for sure there's no meeting today. Fortunately, he called me at the last minute yesterday to say it will be deferred.

I'm beginning to think that the only way for me to progress now with my toastmastering is through other clubs. Shame. I feel like a mendicant here requesting, nay, begging for slots at other clubs so that I could deliver my speeches. It's just a good thing that Doc Noy has enough clout to inform/ convince other clubs to take me in.

There's a sentiment in a recent meeting that the reason toastmasters here doesn't fly is coz some folks don't support it strongly enough. And the reason? They think they're "GOOD ENOUGH". Bwahahahahaha! Good enough? Bwahahahahaha! Well, the other reason I think is that many folks here think that toastmasters here is just for personality development. Why? Coz, professionally, I don't think it doesn't get rewarded or recognized. The thinking is: So what if you have good communication or presentation skills? So what? So WhAt? SO WHAT? What only matters to some folks is you get the machine running, the rejects eliminated, the savings generated and (put whatever performance index you like here) . Yeah, right.

Now it's Typhoon Henry

I fear that this blog is starting to turn into a Toastmasters blog rather than a Swimming blog. It's too cold in the mornings and it rained hard today. Ah well. Now I get to do a little more on toastmastering. Speaking of which, tomorrow is the induction of officers. I wonder if the other officers know who they are. It's been rather hard convincing folks to take on officership. Me, am feeling great and excited about this VP-PR thing. Fact is my mind has been racing day and night on ideas to really put this show on the road - in the office of course. I'm just wondering why the other guys can't find 'free time' when they're single and unattached? Wanna talk about free time? Hey, I've got 4 kids who I help everynight with their schoolwork and a business on the side to attend to! Geez.

Anyway, we'll be having Gov. Carina "Bobbie" Galang tomorrow at 7am. Hope she makes it on time. Traffic infront of the office is horrendous. I got the digicam ready today so I won't forget it tomorrow. I'll be clicking away tomorrow for the pics I'll post soon in our bulletin board and eventually in our new website.

I pretty much have my 1st Advanced speech (The Entertaining Speaker) down pat. I think I'll enjoy delivering it. Entitled "An Extra Mile", it's about my misadventure at the San Francisco International Airport and the chaotic events that resulted. I just hope the audience enjoys it too!