Halloween these Days

Growing up, I don’t recall ever attending a Halloween Party. Kids nowadays though have it in school like it’s a regular yearly event! For us, maybe it’s the belief that we’re not Americans and there’s no sense having it.

But then, most folks nowadays, including school officials, just see it as plain fun.

That's Renz in the Robin (as in Batman and Robin) suit.


The Beetle

Imagine the fear that enveloped the kids’ room when a rhinoceros beetle (uwang) appeared out of nowhere in the clothes hamper. Karen was screaming her wits out when DH finally found it.

Come to think of it, the last time I’ve seen an uwang was in the province. I don’t remember seeing one even here south of Manila. I suppose this fright is the usual (and silly) reaction of those who’ve not seen one. But for the younger smaller ones like Renz? It’s one of curiosity. After seeing DH hold the uwang, Renz takes it and lets it even crawl in his hand.

House Update: Kitchen Cabinets, Window Glass, Toilet Tiles

The basic structures of the closets and tables have been completed and some adjustments had to be done with regards to the placement of electrical outlets.

The study table below for the 3 girls shows the drawers on the right side. This was requested coz they’re all right handed anyway.

Also, the bay window’s seat to the right may be used as study chair as well. With the drawers at the right, the person sitting at the bay window seat won’t be crowded.

But notice the outlet at the right. We foresee the drawers hitting the plugs on this outlet and so we requested for an additional outlet on the left side.


Birthday 2008

Meetings, meetings.

I was practically at the Calamba office the whole afternoon yesterday. Good thing I managed to reach the Carmona office just in time to get the Baked Lasagna I ordered from the cafeteria. It was a half-pan worth Php250 and good for 15 persons.

So what did Tita Gay and I have for this year’s celebration at the renthouse?


United Nations Parade 2008

Today, being United Nation’s Day, the IJMC school celebrated the usual United Nations Day.

Customarily, the students wear an attire of the country they're representing (or something close to it!). They then parade down the streets outside of the school.

Here’s Renz wearing a made-up Indonesian garb as he represented Indonesia. He's sitting on a deadwood at the back of the renthouse.

New Cabinet for the Digicam

After much dilly-dallying, I finally had my Sony camera fixed at the Sony Service Center Alabang. Sadly, the warranty is voided coz the technician declared the damage (broken battery cover guide rail) as caused by mishandling.

I think I’ve milked the warranty anyway with at least 2 free repairs already. The extended warranty is for 3 years and will expire this December. That was a good deal for a warranty.

This camera has been worth it since I bought it and has served well all my blogs and websites eversince.

Completed my ACS, on to ACG

I've not posted a Toastmasters-related entry for quite some time now. Ever since I became the club webmaster, I've been busy maintaining our club website at http://theactclub.freetoasthost.biz and club blog at http://theactclub.blogspot.com. These kept me busy on Toastmasters related matters and I've not had time to post Toastmasters entries elsewhere.

Well, just a year ago, I started my journey towards my ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver) with this entry in this blog. A year and 10 Advanced Manual speeches and 2 Successful Club speeches later I've completed all the requirements. So now I'm taking on the next journey toward ACG (Advanced Toastmasters Gold).

Anyway, to see the list of all my Toastmasters speeches click either here or here. Either way, both sites currently point to the same set of speeches. One of these sites will soon disappear though.



House Update: Closets, Bay Windows, Glass Blocks

Some of the closets have been started. The design is fairly simple. Inside the closet is a partition for hanging clothes and another partition for side shelves. There are big drawers at the bottom of the closets.

The table was designed to be like a dresser with a provision for a dresser mirror. Above the table are shelves for books, presumably.

So I don’t think it will be used as a dresser though. A study table is more like it.


House Update: Windows, Flooring, Ceiling

Much has been completed on the second floor. The windows have been delivered and installed. The thing is though, the windows with fire escape panels were incorrectly installed. I had asked the windows fabricator to make 2 windows with fire escape panels.

And he did deliver.

The problem is one of the 2 was placed where the glass blocks should be. It had to be pulled out and now is an extra. Somebody wrongly counted the number of windows(?). The other one was installed in the bedroom of the first floor. Yeah, I suppose none of the workers even checked the windows. Grrr…