Sick!

What a shitty week that was! I was having this cold for a week. And the office? Ugh. Just need to keep the sense of humor intact.

Foundation Day at LaCo
Too bad we didn't get to LaCo in time for Sandra's number for their foundation day, "Polka sa Nayon" last Saturday. It was a double whammy when we found out they even won the Overall Championship. Anyway, we had to content ourselves with taking Sandra's pic with the trophy. Funny though, when I asked the kids to pose with their adviser, another parent of one of the kids came rushing to take a photo too. Apparently, the winners were just recently announced.


Later in the afternoon, Sandra and Renz won for themselves Php700 and it was just for singing Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy". Tita Ella had a Housewarming event and there was a videoke. An elderly gentleman offered Php500 to anyone who can get a score of 97 from the machine. After 10 singers who all had good scores (some higher than 97), it was only the duet of Dada and Renz who managed to get the exact score! They were all amused by the tandem and so the gentleman gave Renz Php200 as a bonus. Wow, Dada, this was YOUR day! Pa-blowout naman!

On the homefront. I caught this little boy sleeping on the floor.


Tita Gay bought a red toy for Sandra. It is a knock-off of the popular Tamagochi. I wondered how much it was while looking at the package.

Dyok Taym!
Me: Magkano kaya ito?
Renz: Sa "pesos" po? Alam ko po.
Me: O, talaga? Magkano?
(Renz, looking at the package's back)
Renz: Eto po, 4 pesos.
Me: 4 pesos?! Ang mura naman!
Renz: Ay, ano po... 5 pesos.
Me: 5 pesos? Bakit ang mura?
Still incredulous, I looked at the back of the carton and discovered that there were 5 models of the toy. The black version was labeled "1". The blue one labeled "2", the green was "3". Labeled "4" and "5" had red colors.

Crocs and Transformers

We went to swim at the pool today. But before that we went to Festival to look for a new radio for me. I gave away my old (still new though) radio to Che who I noticed would always get DH's small transistor to use in the bedroom. We also went to get the mini-transformer toys from Jollibee. We didn't get the radio from Festival but I got a new pair of walking sandals or Crocs worth Php1750. There were pairs of candy-like colors but the pair I got is the beach model colored army-green.

We got all the mini-transformers except one - the Jetfire.



Here's the gang at break from the pool with corn:


Dada and Renz with Renz amused with his "magic" trick.


I got out of the pool earlier coz I was drafting a speech for Che - My Most Memorable Experience. Not only that, I have a small wound I got between my pointy finger and thumb on the left hand. Maybe I'll take a break tomorrow from swimming.

After much driving, we finally got the radio at Waltermart Sta. Rosa which surprisingly had a bigger selection of portable radios. There I got a slightly bigger one - hopefull the reception is better.


Toastmasters update:
I was supposed to leave earlier last Friday and skip the first Toastmasters meeting for the year. I wasn't feeling very well coz I've been awake since 3:00am that day. Some idiot decided to burn garbage at odd hours and some smoke was getting through the windows. Not only that, my heels were a little sore. Anyway, I just decided against going home early to see what's up with the meeting. With the media-blitz campaign I spearheaded and put a lot of time into, I wanted to know at least how it impacted employees. I saw some 20 or more people in the conference room and THAT made me change my mind and proceeded to join in. Honestly I didn't expect that much people.

But if the idea is that those who attended are those who are genuinely interested, I'm not too encouraged with the turnout.
  1. Except maybe for 2 or 3 people there, they were all the 'hakot' types, meaning, they were there only because their boss asked them to. And frankly, only 2 bosses did that. If these bosses are out, well, so are the hakots. And there goes the club.
  2. None of the previous active members were there. This, despite a plea to help revive the club. Nopes, none of them is interested anymore - not to help, not even to be there.
  3. The Cinderella syndrome. For a first meeting, a bunch just suddenly rose and left coz it was 5:30am and time to go catch the shuttle. That was just 20 minutes into the meeting scheduled for 1.5 hours and they didn't even speak yet! Hmmm, maybe it's REALLY time to rethink the sked.


Dyok Taym!
(DH and I were comparing my Crocs against her Crocs knock-offs which I jokingly called 'Cracs'. Renz overheard us in the conversation)
Renz: Alam ko po kung bakit Crocs ang tawag sa shoes ni Papa at Cracs kay Mama.
(corz we were both amazed how he would know anything about product imitation)
DH: Ow? Talaga? Bakit?
Renz: Kasi po, ang 'Crocs' pang 'boy'. Ang 'Cracs' pang 'girl'!

Better Signal

I got better radio signal today. This is after positioning the radio by the short pole around 3 feet high. I was mistaking by the insulated wire though. I should've gotten a longer one. All the re-fixing with a pair of pliers made some light scratches on the handle. Ah well, it's bound ot happen. But the signal was good and I heard it clearly.

12.5m is too short

No swim the other day coz it was drizzling and really cold.
No swim yesterday coz I took Sandra early to school as their class was sponsoring the mass. It was still too early (and dark!) to go to the pool though. But as I got to the office, I thought I should've brought some walking shorts and shirt coz it was a nice, cool morning to walk and stretch. Maybe next time. The air was cool this morning even without a breeze. I could feel the cold air after the shower.

With better conditioning, I'm finding the 12.5m length at the deepend is getting too short or 10-bits for hufree (headsup freestyle or polo freestyle). This morning I did a couple of hufree by turning quickly at one corner and then coming back hufree again. I'd rather not use the entire 25m length of the pool coz the shallow end is too shallow for any effective eggbeater kicks. And that is how I want to rest actively - doing eggbeater kicks - and no stepping on the floor. Maybe tomorrow I'd do laps (2 lengths of 12.5m) doing hufree while fresh. Then I could proceed with the other utility strokes.

I tried positioning the radio near the pool today for a better signal. I noticed that the signal becomes worse when I put it on the ground near the pool's gutter. It's better when it's on a table in the cottage which is a little further and that's where it was today. Corz I had to turn it fullblast for me to hear it clearly. Tomorrow I'll put a string on the radio and tie it a little higher up in one of the poles there to see if I get a better reception. Putting it on the ground anywhere seems a no-no. Either that or the pool water may have something to do with it. I've read that ripples in a pond could affect reception with something called "multi-path distortion". Ah well, I'll just give it a try just the same.

Ah, problems and shitty stuff. With what we pay for and the bunch of hassles we go through with govt servants at the municipal hall to get the biz permits, we should be considered either martyrs or fools. This kept bugging me for much of yesterday. Somehow today, after swimming, I feel better somewhat.

Sore Calves

Same 'ol routine.
Ugh, sore calves today. This was from the tree branch-cutting last Saturday. I was up in a ladder and was in an awkward position sawing off a tree branch. Most of my left foot took my weight. I even managed to creatively cut a branch and ended up with these:


That milky stuff on top of the "cuttings" is fresh sap oozing out. On the homefront, Renz tries to fly ala-Superman with Ate Karen.

The Running Man

Traffic jam at the junction was bad. There was a stalled van but the road was really just wide enough for 2 lanes - no shoulder, no dirt, nothing. That strip is being widened but it seems so long to finish. Luckily there were a couple of drivers who seem to know what they were doing and asked folks to back up (me included). Anyway, after 10 minutes, I managed to pull out from the gridlock.

It drizzled today at the pool and the water's colder I think. But I don't mind it anymore. I thought of a stroke that's similar to walking or running and managed to do it. It's pumping the arms with close fists and feet so it does look like running but tilted more forward - hence, the "Running Man". It's cool. The body sinks a little more but can be managed with relaxation and proper breathing. Although the hand is closed to a fist, the forearms and upperarms actually help in the thrust.

Coldest so far

PC1/8/8
I have to say that the water today is the co-co-ccccooooldest so far. It was so cold that it took 3 laps around just to warm up and tolerate the temp. By this time, even the pool staff probably wonder how I could go in and swim practically everyday with the cold weather. Well, I'm already losing weight so why stop now? I shaved before showering today.

I tried eggbeating while on my back. Other than it was faster than I thought, it also wasn't splashy. There was no bouncing unlike the previous inverted scissors. I think it is because in the previous inverted scissors, the legs kicked simultaneously and so when the recovered simultaneously, a BIGGER wave is moved/splashed back. I also did the transition of carrying on my right, transition to back, transition to left.

Another thing I tried today was just pumping my legs up and down like climbing a stair. My arms were pumping vertically too. It sounds and looked so simple. It's easy to do but can only do it with easy, relaxed and controlled breathing. This drill is a welcome break to the "foot-outside-the-knees-outside-the-hips" bending. I'll be using this as a mainstay so as not to overuse the knees.

Pool Radio

January 10, 2007
This must be my longest workout so far - One hour and 20 mins. I started at 7:20 and finished at 8:40 and this is to catch the Bgay Clearance which again wasn't available yet at 9am. The runner just didn't come back so I left the bgay hall since I was supposed to have a TM meeting at 9:30am which I later found was moved back.

Anyway, for today's workout, I adjusted the carrying arm. I put it on my waist with the elbow pointing upwards. Sounds easy, but what a difference it makes. The head sinks more because the cog (center of gravity) now moves towards the chest and with the elbow out, its heavier. It's now just the face that shows.

The radio signal was much better today. I just didn't notice that the sun's gone up and the radio was NOT in shade. Maybe it's better to remember to put the radio directly under the palmeras. But then again, I don't swim THAT late everyday.

There was a lola with several kids strolling at the poolside today. The kids were particularly excited to see a pool so I gathered that they weren't from the village. I asked lola where they were from and was told that they just lived very near the pool and yes, it's the first time they saw it. The lola asked me why I was alone. I said I'm always alone. The cold mornings and cold water probly deter people from swimming. Yup, I don't think anybody will be swimming here for quite a while.

Later in the morning I went back to the hall and finally got the clearance. That's 4 visits in 2 days! They were very apologetic but... I could only just shake my head.

Later in the afternoon, I was feeling warmer than usual and broke into a light sweat. Not only that I was also thirsty. So I bought this Tropicana Twister drink from Pepsi. Bad mistake. It was too sweet and sugary. Ugh. It didn't even have the proper ingredient labeling. And it's a Pepsi product at that. So much for that. I'll just take water.

Surprisingly, I'm no longer getting that terrible "pain-in-the-neck" feeling at work. Maybe my back and neck muscles are more flexible and stronger now because of the "heads-up" drills. Now, I'm no longer quick to ask for paracetamol and mefenamic acid just for the neck soreness. I also don't rub and massage my traps with Tiger Balm which may be soothing to me but annoy others at the office with the smell.

January 9, 2007
Twice Today
Funny, but this morning my skin felt warm like feverish. But I didn't mind it too much and jumped into the pool just the same. The wind chill factor was bad, but that won't matter when I'm in the pool already. After a couple of laps around the pool, it was all good. The radio signal was not too good with the radio station frequency mixing up with another.. Yesterday, it was just working fine. Maybe I should just position it near the gutter, so I could readjust the channel/tuner if need be. It's just a waste having the radio on without understanding anything. Corz the downside is the risk that it might get hit or splashed by the hose or the pool boy.

Because of the damned Barangay Clearance, I went back to the Hall but still didn't get the clearance. I did get the Php100 change owed to DH though. The guys there were Ding and Toma Cruz. Since I was already there, I went back to the pool and swam for 20 mins for some stress-relieving exercise. The water was still cool at 2:30pm. From there, I went to Arlene's Clinic and gave her a check for Php3736. This is their rent refund.

I did learn a cool move though. Today, I put together a sequence for a simulated save and this comprises an approach, leveling and the carry.
  1. The approach is done by a polo freestyle to one end.
  2. The simulated leveling is done by eggbeatering in place and raising the left arm (or both arms) up.
  3. The carry is done by doing an inverted scissors on the back and the right arm doing shallow sculling. The left arm is horizontal and is above water.
This stroke is very strong and movement across the pool is very fast.


January 8, 2007
Radio at the Pool
I brought the radio to the pool today. Sometimes though I wonder if I should've gotten the 2-speaker portable instead. But then I only use it for a few minutes in a day. I suppose it's loud enough if I am at the deepend where the radio is. And what's more important is that I get the correct frequency. The reception isn't as good as when I'm at home. Ah well. at least it works.

DH was there today to get the Barangay Clearance and the renewed DTI Certificate. She got the DTI certificate for a hefty Php900, but only Php300's written on the receipt. Yup, THAT bad.

My Eggbeater Kick Videos

After watering the plants in the morning, we proceeded to Pavilion to see some of the refs as we were planning to buy a new one. Going to Abenson's, we noticed that The Sports Depot (Adidas Outlet) was having a 50% Off Sale! DH bought a couple of bags and shirt. Me, I saw a pair of Adidas Storm Goggles at Php265 down from Php525. Wow, I've never had Adidas coz it's an expensive brand so at that sale price, I took it. It's antifog, anti-scratch (really?), with UV protection and a spare nosebridge.


In the afternoon, after lunch, we decided to go swimming at the pool. There were no review classes for today and everyone's available, so what the heck. Che's stye in the eye is getting better too. I think it's the first time that we didn't bring lunch there and brought only snacks. On the way, we bought Japanese Corn. After an hour of swimming we munched on the corn. Here's Renz giving me the attitude with his corn.


Renz relents and offers me his corn (cob, that is), which by now already looks like a wilted flower.


Renz doing the starfish float with lot of "support" from me of corz.


Che, Dada and Karen all practiced their backstrokes which I thought were good. Here's Renz doing a perfect freestyle from head to waist. It's completely ruined though with me holding his legs.


The kids showing buoyancy principles in the water. Renz is carried by Sandra, Sandra by Karen and Karen (painstakingly) by Che.


The four attempting to do simultaneous jumps.


I'm not sure if Renz wants to learn swimming . . . or bicycling in this pic.


After 3 hours at the pool, we went on to Waltermart Abenson for DH to see more refs and for me to find a suitable portable radio that I could bring over to the pool for those times when morning sessions become boring. Here's the cassete/radio I got for Php1,280. Too bad I didn't bring my Abenson Plus Card.


After Waltermart we were thinking where to take dinner. We chanced upon a Tuding's at Carmona. The place isn't too bad. Well-lit, it's open and airy and we could see Petron gas station and cars passing by.


Here's the gang after dinner. I don't know why but the kids loved the food. But it's just so simple: fried pork chop, tocino and fried egg. Sandra burped so loud that Karen said she burps "like a man".



Finally, here are the eggbeater videos that were taken by DH:
Here's a normal eggbeater kick with the hands sculling:



Here's a hands-up eggbeater kick with the hands out - water level at midforearm:


Finally, an inverted scissors kick:

More Stamina

Today, I planned on staying later at the pool to get this year's car pass. Yup, Php300 for a piece of paper to get in the village where the pool is located. But lots happened today. Here are some of the breakthroughs:
  1. Frogkicking on back with both hands out of the water. The hands are parallel and vertical. In the past, this was a little harer to do. But today, I surprised myself. Maybe it's the improved stamina from all the non-stop eggbeatering in previous weeks? Maybe it's the better breathing control technique hence the improved buoyancy? The hint here is to frog kick downwards. Keep the legs low in the water. If they're near the surface, the recovery of the legs causes splashback to the face.
  2. Eggbeatering with the water level at mid-forearms for 1.5 minutes. Just yesterday, I tried this and couldn't get more than just a few seconds. Wow. Just focus on stirring up the water under the feet with the soles. Short but quick eggbeaters.
  3. Managed to put on and remove the goggles with BOTH hands while eggbeatering. Thee was no way I could do this before other than on an hubrst with 1 hand paddling and the other hand pitifully fiddling the goggles and adjusting it ONE EYE AT A TIME. Good thing I wore my goggles today. Actually, I was thinking of freestyling coz the water was clear yesterday. With the goggles on my forehead, and both hands OUT of the water, I was able to put on and remove the goggles without the previous bouncing and bobbing and fiddling. Cool! Just remember to relax and control the breathing well so the mouth stays above water.

Now I'm thinking of weights. Not weights as in dryland weightlifting - but weights to use IN THE WATER. This is to simulate the actual towing or carrying. I was thinking of using a 10-lb. weight plate at home, but I fear it might chip, crack or scratch the pool's floor tiles. So I'm searching for ideas like:
  1. Covering the plate with a tire interior. The rubber will protect the tiles. It'll be compact but weird-looking too. I mean, folks would have to wonder what the heck is that thing I'm carrying to the pool.
  2. Encase the plate in an old nylon or synthetic leather kind of a bag. Maybe a clutch bag or a small shoulder bag will not be so conspicous - or is it? Well, at least it's not so weird-looking when I take it out of my swimbag. Another advantage of using a bag is I could adjust the poundage for the weight. I've got so many small plates so I could put in any number of plates there. Hmmmm. I could even think of games. How about putting in and taking out plates from the bag underwater? Hey, now there's an idea! And I just thought of it right now!
On the homefront, it's back to school for the kids. Munsci kids and Renz started last Wednesday while Sandra started yesterday. Here's Renz coloring while "indian-sitting" on the stool. He's small so he still fits on top of it.

Hands Out of the Water

Finally, I was able to eggbeater kick with BOTH hands out of the water. It wasn't easy though. With the water level at my wrists, I tread in 1 minute and 15 secs when my legs became tired. While doing this, the soles of my feet seemed more sensitive of the water as they mixed it up. Corz, I had to speed up the eggbeater too. Another factor was breathing. I need to control the breathing so that there's really more air. So there are the hints:
  1. Pump the lower legs faster.
  2. Feel the stirring of the water with the soles of the feet so you can get the technique for increasing thrust.
  3. Control the breathing so you have more air in the lungs at any given time. It's like holding the breath more.
Later I tried raising my arms more so that the water level was at mid-forearms. Nope, only managed 3 seconds maybe, until my feet just brushed the floor. I guess that's the thing, if the pool isn't deep enough, there's no way to eggbeater with both ARMS up. The body will somehow sink deeper and the legs need to pump more and more deeply to keep the thrust. But how do you pump deeply in a shallow pool?

I think my conditioning is becoming better with the non-stop activity at the pool (active rest). I don't tire anymore as often and heavily gasp for air when I do the polo freestyle strokes.

When is the Pool Water Cold?

is When, after your swim, you shower and find that the tap water is so nice and warm. But it was actually cold when you showered BEFORE you got in the pool!

Talk about cold. Going to the pool, it was cloudy. And when I got at there, it even started to drizzle. I also felt hesitant coz I have this scratch on my face. But I had petroleum jelly and I smeared a little so it'll be a bit "waterproof". I had to rethink my options and finally I just decided to go ahead since I was already there. They put in new water. The level was higher and was a little greenish though not murky.

It's really the first few seconds when the cold water bites. And for these few seconds, I swim a couple of very brisk hubrst (heads-up breaststroke) and stir up the water. Thereafter, it's pretty okay AS LONG AS YOU DON'T STOP MOVING. And that's the key. It was hard before when I didn't know how to eggbeater kick. I swear I've gone into some sort of zen state coz all of a sudden I realized the rain had stopped. For 45 minutes, I was eggbeatering and doing polo lengths non-stop. It was fun and quickly forgot about the cold.

In that zen state, I kept remembering, why do the eggbeater at all? Well, the most important reason is that it allows you to tread at a constant height. Unlike the frog and scissor kicks, eggbeater kicking doesn't have the bouncing, bobbing motion that sometimes makes you dizzy if done for long periods of time. With eggbeatering the water level is almost always at my chin. From afar it appears that I'm just standing with water at my chin level. I even appear walking when I eggbeater ala 'spider stroke' across the length. It's easy to fool anybody who doesn't know I'm deep water. I could even show my hands as though I wasn't sculling.

Just as I got in the shower area I bumped into Mr. Gayboy, one of the schmucks who works at the place. He was shampooing his hair right in front of the mirror in his underwear! He probly fancies himself as a shampoo model of some sort. Ah well, at the office, I was sweating and that to me was a sign of a good workout.

Homemade Diving Brick or Pool Weight

Many times I read of swimmers who practice treading while carrying a 10 pound weight to strengthen the legs. The 10 pound water pool weight is quite heavy in my opinion. Plenty of swimmers find treading already difficult as it is. Adding 10 pounds to your bodyweight, even in water, is certainly an added challenge.

I believe swimming with a pool weight is also a requirement of the Red Cross for someone wanting to become a lifeguard. A prerequisite is for an applicant to be able submerge to a depth of 7 ft, retrieve a 10 lb. weight from the pool floor and return to the surface. In addition to this, he should be able to tread water for 2 minutes using legs only while holding the pool weight above the head.

First Swim 2007

pc1/9/0/0
Brrrr! The water today was freezing! But since I had this resolve to swim on the first working day of the year to start the year right, I jumped on in, even without the rashguard. The first few seconds were really tough. I did hubrst (heads-up breaststroke) very briskly for 2 laps. Another thing I noticed was the level was very low - lower than normal. That confined me to the deepend (which wasn't deep now) most of the time. I brushed the floor a couple of times too with the eggbeaters.

Since I've now started the year right with my swimming at least. Here are a few of my resolutions:
  1. Swim everyday (or at least when I'm not sick or it isn't raining).
  2. Eat more veggies, less meat.
  3. No swim, no eats. If I don't swim, I don't have a rice breakfast.
  4. Half cup of rice everytime at the office.
  5. Follow the "After-6" diet - this time, everyday, even on weekends.
  6. Brush teeth at 6pm to get that "I'm-clean-no-more-food-for-me" feeling.
  7. Do knee exercises everyday to strengthen the knees.
  8. Do weights for bone density.
The first 6 resolutions are meant to support my resolve to lose weight this year. Yup, I'm targetting to lose 20 lbs with this regimen. Tall order, I know, but I will try.

New Year 2007

Yesterday
No, we didn't buy firecrackers like we used to in the previous years. No more trumpillos, no more Roman candles. Why? Me, personally, I've had too much of the smoke already. We just bought some kid luces (sparklers), some pop-pops (a hit with the kids) and a very small box of baby missiles.

Here's DH lighting the baby missiles box with a sparkler.


Renz and Che lighting a couple of sparklers.


Renz dancing around lighted sparklers.


Sandra joining making it look like some kind of a ritual.


Only Renz missed the 12 midnight jumping coz he was just too tired.

Today
Just a restful day. Here are the kids at the hammock.






We've got many hotdogs so we roasted a few.



We finished watching the "War of the Worlds" video today which we started last year 2006 (just last night, actually).