when december ends...

what is it that most of us look forward, when december advents?
    it's the holiday season;
    it's christmas;
    the christmas dinners;
    the wishlists and gifts;
    the rainy moonsoon season;
    the cold winters;
    the shopping splurges?
i might say all of the above.

december is really a family thing, there are more on the list above; but they are all i can think of at the moment. but i'd know that whatever i have listed above should be... ought to be... must be capped w/ families gathered together when 25th hits the calendar.

to the soulfull ones, the tail end of the year are for retrospecting... i might say, "to look back in retrospect, and set perspectives when looking ahead". it's meant to be a rhetoric. anyhow, the year has had it's highs and lows. it must be costumary for all of us to have probably set goals at every start of year, then "to look back in retrospect" at the end to take a rain-check on what has been achieved. what has to be managed. what were set aside. it really is a cycle: set-execute-check.

i'll probably have my share of "retrospecting" and "prospecting"... and whatever comes out of it; wake me up wake me up, when december ends...

On my PC desktop, it's called e-clutter

My PC desktop is cluttered with downloaded files, documents. 

From code snippets, articles, white papers and ebooks. I think, this is what may be called as e-clutter. 

Since I don't have a permanent desk at work (been working for 1 year & 4 months, and I have no desk), I move around a lot. Sometimes I'm seated at the helpdesk's work area, where there is a vacant space or sometimes I seat at a colleague's cube when he's station at our other office. So, you won't really find a lot of papers, print-outs, notes around me most of the time. But when see my PC, it's another story... 

Talk about going green huh!, went green by saving on print outs and paper clutter; but ended up having the clutter electronically-on my PC desktop.

I call it e-clutter...

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

This is from Robert Frost... the last four lines are some of my favorites...

Whose woods these are I think I know. 

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year. 

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake. 

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

i'm learning... and it's called work...

build a page, to show records filtered with "data status date"

the caveats:

-there would be 5k+ records to show.

-the data is sitting on single database with 2k+ tables,

tables are prefixed w/ application name i.e "INVENTORY_*", "PAYROLL_*".

-there are 20+ applications that'd be accessing the db at any point in time.

-some of the 20+ apps have a normalized table structure & some have not.

-app and db are sitting on one machine & it's a P3, vintage servers

the solution:

-use sql paging, to show specified number of records per page; basically split the data into subsets.

-recomend more specific filter options i.e. field range, dept, item category, etc.

-use indexes on queries.

on the solution part, item 3 is within our control... we can do this easily but the first 2 items are the catch. the stakeholder wants to be able to view all the data as filtered only by the data status date. no other filters would be created. does not want to do a paging function coz, it's better to scroll down rather then click thru the page numbers. would also need to edit a selected row within the page's tabular data presentation. and requires it to be fast. this requirement would work well on a desktop app, it's a challenge if it were a web app...

i do believe that the paging solution plus the additional filter options would really be able to aleviate the perfomance issue here, i've recomemded this approach over and over again and i'm still recomending this (else, i won't be blogging about this).

this are one of the things i do... i'm learning... and it's called work...

caught with a thought

there have been so many times that these fleeting thoughts catches me; and in my mind, i have them written.

but these fleeting thought are just what they are... fleeting. by the time; i want to write them, they have come and passed.

try as i can to recall them, when they are written; they just are not the same as the first intance of that thought.

i guess the saying "hold that thought" is far from applicable at this point.

have you ever had these?

has it ever occured to you that at any given point in time, you may have written a book-worth of jibbering?

these random mind-jibber that despite a hectic, stressfull, weary day; is still able to creep in and give you the benefit of self-reflection or whatchamacallit.

'tis not like i cannot write, i'd admit 'tis more of not being in the zone to write something.

they often pop up when i'm in the middle of doing something else, either at work writing code or on some chores.

rare are those days, when i can sit over coffee and think what to write; never those days even. only an ernest hemingway would have those.

The DBA's Demise

excerpted from an e-book: "Confession of an IT Manager", this is a funny poem but I do find this too close for comfort. I was here before, I am no DBA but this is relatable to every aspect of what I love to do for a living...

From your face I can see

that you work in IT

what has brought you to this sorry state?"

This poor wretched geek

then started to speak

and told me his terrible fate

Cruel fortune had picked him,

as sad deadlock victim.

The conflict had left him for dead;

for wise men don't mess

with a deadlocked process

an incident DBAs dread.

"When I'm dead, on my harp

I shall play in C#"

on my terminal, happy I'll be.

I'm going offline

to a site that's divine

where all pizza and coffee is free."

"Insert into grave

select * from poor Dave

And put on my gravestone 'Raiserror!

a victim, one time

of a deadlocking crime"

Then he died with a look of sheer terror.

I think I'm gonna like reading this book... i'll read along and see if there're anything else worth sharing, or perhaps I'll share this book soon

Widgets...

I'm trying to figure out how to attach a widget on my Facebook, tsk, tsk, tsk...

I got widgets already setup on my blogger account but it's still a work in-progress on Facebook.

The widgets i'm trying to attach are on:

The Australian Open, Roland Garros (French Open), Wimbledon and The US Open 

well, it's a work in progress... googling now... hehehe

On any given day...

On any given day...

Where the office is quiet and people are busy with work (or so we think, at least),

you can even hear the mouse clicks.

... You just run across the hall screaming

On any given day...

Where deadlines were yesterday, 

and you did your best but bosses always critize.

... You just run across the hall screaming

On any given day...

Where you have been trying to figure out a bug on your code,

and you've googled all over the internet only to find out that you just needed a comma to make the code work (it happens)

... You just run across the hall screaming

On any given day...

Where you needed a caffeine boost,

only to find out there's no coffee

... You just run across the hall screaming

On any given day...

... You just run across the hall screaming

I would not believe no one has thought of this, I know so coz I have thought of it hehehehe...

Just some crazy thinking to shake the Doldrums... Man, would I love to see the looks on their faces hehehehe but then again, I'd rather sit tight & hold my thought hehehe wouldn't want to end up clearing my desk before the end of the day (",)

Game-Set-Match, B1 Doubles Finals @ FTCSG 2-day Open... Post Match...

This was after that great match... relieved that we won... we were just laughing and smiling all over the court... all smiles, from ear-to-ear

here's the story: http://scribblesoneiro.blogspot.com/2009/05/game-set-match-b1-doubles-finals-ftcsg.html

Blogger posts on Facebook...

I know Facebook has a blog feature called Notes, but I already have a blog setup at Blogger.com so I just sought a way to be able to integrate or have Facebook read posts from Blogger.

Alas, eureka… found it. There are a lot of applications but I found this to be the simpliest….

 

How to Import Your Blog Into Facebook
February 22nd, 2009
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/02/22/how-to-import-your-blog-into-facebook/

Inside Facebook has recently written about simplifying how you use Facebook with other social media tools in order to make life a little easier. We’ve discussed merging calendaring by syncing Facebook events with Google calendar and simplifying microblogging by syncing Twitter and Facebook status messages.

For all of the bloggers out there, here’s another how-to that will eliminate the need for you to “re-blog” stories on Facebook. If you’re a blogger that isn’t already linking to your stories on Facebook, you might want to think about it. Here are a few simple steps to increase your web presence by leveraging the power of the social graph. Why not?

 

 

What this’ll turn out is gonna be like a jigsaw puzzle, where I put the pieces together into Facebook…

 

 

 

Game-Set-Match, B1 Doubles Finals @ FTCSG 2-day Open

We crawled our way back from a 7-2 deficit to win the finals on a tiebreak, at the end it; the official score was 8-7(7-0).

It was the finals of a doubles match at the FTC's (Filipino Tennis Club-Singapore) 2-day Open Tournament on Labor day. I paired up with Wilmar Ancajas, a former office/project-team mate at NCR-Cebu. It was also the first time we partnered, on a tournament that I joined for the first time too.

We were up against a veteran pair; veteran meaning, they have played together on a lot of matches, some "commercial" ones even. I am referring to "Commercial" here as matches where there're wagers, one of them was even a tennis trainer. They were a good pair, the trainer had smooth fluid strokes and speedy footwork where he can just outrun the balls till you break down. His partner, had a wicked kick-serve. So, to sum the match up, it was a bit intimidating; especially when you kept hearing side talks prior to the match.

We were a nervous wreck, we were playing either too careful or over-aggressively that we were spraying balls from all over the court. Even a no-brainer-sitting-duck-good-to-kill floaters were either dumped on the net or were at least 2-feet off the lines. I believe, we were winning points at 20-30 percent overall, this was a very low percentage considering that we were able to pull off our pervious matches at ease earlier with large score gaps. What could have been frustrating was that we'd actually lead at 40-15, 40-0 on our serves or 0-30, 15-30 on their serves, only to throw those leads by blowing them. The sudden-death rule on deuce just added to the pressure. This pattern went on; even Famela who was at courtside watching, had to leave coz she couldn't bear watching us being slaughtered by our own errors... until it was around 0-5, my serve when we held it... finally, we broke the love-set (zero score in tennis). They held serve again and made it 6-1. On changeover, this was where we started to regroup. We changed our game plan, and took calculated risks. I can't remember the details anymore as to what happened in the next succeeding games, but we crawled our way back into the match slowly to take the match into a tiebreak.

We regrouped and changed our game plan, it was just simple... in doubles, we had to play serve-and-volley on our serve or chip-and-charge when receiving. The intent was to sit at the net as much as possible to close the court. We had to hustle, this meant running down and scrambling at every ball on every corner and making them work. And lastly, GUTS... just pure GRIT and GUTS. We pumped fists and celebrated at every point made, held our ground on our errors. It was intense...

We crawled our way, but it was still tight... at 6-7 our serve (mine to be exact) I double faulted at 40-30, making it deuce 40-40. With the sudden-death rule on deuce, that made it more nerve-wracking coz they actually held championship-point. There was pressure... all that hustling and fighting back into the match and it came down to a double at 40-30 to make it deuce, championship-point to them. Crucial, critical for both of us... holding serve, meant we still has a chance... broken meant it was over. I took my serve at deuce, t'was a percentage serve... just made sure it went it in on the first serve. Then, BHAM!!! We closed the match on a tiebreak at (7-0)...

They returned a floater; Wilmar was waiting at the net... ready to poach on floaters. And he whacked the ball into a tiebreak. The tiebreak ended in a shut-out. We played the same game plan, but this time... We were just more intense, more driven... or maybe we had already broken them down.

When we closed the tiebreak at 7-0, Wilmar dropped his stick and we were screaming all over the court. After the customary post-match handshake, we were celebrating again, we sang a line "We are the champions" by Queen and we are all smiles from ear to ear...

The Singles Category is another story…

Images of the 2-day tour: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/herbert.lacay/TennisFtc2DayOpen# and http://picasaweb.google.com/herbert.lacay/TennisFtcTeamBullionPark#

Electronic OCD... sometimes, most of the times, all the time...

Do you get caught in the Electronic "OCD Loop?" 

This is something interesting. I got this from a former colleague. Didn't think there would be such a thing like this but somehow, it does have some truth to this. I would sometimes find myself subconsciously doing this; falling into this trap, as I would call it. 

Here's what would happen: I would just launch the browser and open specific websites i.e. Gmail, ATP tennis sometimes, when I really need to look for some info i.e. some codes snippets or google on forums for info; I would end up opening some sites time and again without knowing it. 

Sad but true… 

"Do you sit there and hit the send and receive for your email inbox repeatedly, anxiously waiting and looking for "something"... not sure what but "something"?

 

 Do you find yourself automatically going to a website, even though you 

 were just there 5 minutes ago and nothing possibly could have changed 

 yet?

 

Do you stop what you are doing everytime the phone rings, even though we know it will take us 20 minutes just to get back into the grove of where we just were... destroying all our momentum.

 

-> free moment -> run to the computer -> check email -> check websites -> ...

<- repeat ...<-

 

Analyze your tendency for falling into this trap, and start thinking of ways to snap out of it when you feel yourself getting sucked into this loop, because it can waste a LOT of your time. How often do you actually allow yourself to fall into this OCD Loop, and fail to stay focused on doing the things that bring results?

 

The electronic OCD Loop involves a phenomenon among many of us in the current informational society where we exhibit a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the way that we are obsessive about following a specific sequence of actions repeatedly throughout the day, even if they make no sense. If you were paying a person by the hour and you saw them doing those activities, you would fire them... or re-educate them fast.

 

STOP THE MADNESS

 

If at the end of the day you feel exhausted, stressed out and anxious because you know you were busy but are not sure what you have to show for it... then maybe it is time to do things different.

 

Aside of simply being aware of this trap, at least three times per day at scheduled times, you can yourself these two questions...

 

1. Am I inventing things to do to avoid the important?

2. If I were paying someone to do what I am doing right now, would I feel good that the money is being well spent?

 

Although today's technology is great, we are becoming attached at the hip to these things and not giving the proper attention to getting things done. Success is based on massive action (output). And increased output most often necessitates decreased input."

my facebook... one

I just got hooked into this facebook hoopla... I used to keep a friendster account, but lately they have been having connection problems and outages that somehow made their site inaccessible. It started when my wife created a facebook account after her friend's proding and that "It" being a more "sosyal" (loosely means, high class in Filipino) networking site.

I have heard and read a lot about facebook but never rode the band wagon till now, it turned to be something much cooler than I thought. It has a whole lot of things to keep your network interested and hooked. It also able to keep track of the updates within your network too; or so I at least think so, with all the updates posted on "the Wall"... What I find "kewl" about this is that, I am able to mesh together my other web thingy's i.e. pictures at picasa, blogs from blogger, micro-blogs from twitter (which I have been able to integrate as facebook updates)... so all in all, I am able to keep these different items and view them from my facebook.

As now, I have been able to integrate:

-pictures from picasaweb 

-blogs posting from blogger 

-tweets from twitter 

Integrating pictures from picasa was simple enough since there is this "Application" called [xxxx] that grabs the images from picasa and shows them in facebook. All I need to do was add the application into my facebook, then login my picasa account; then.. there you go, you got all the pictures that you have posted in picasa shown on your facebook.

The same goes for the blogs. I know I can write blogs on facebook but my blogger account came in first & I kinda liked the way my blogs are set up at blogger as they are now, so I'm keeping 'em that way. So it follows the same process, added an application [xxx] to read blogs from blogger; then configured my blogger account, then there I go... my blogger account can not be seen on facebook. the cool thing is I can also select which post can be seen on facebook whilst, at blogger... it shows all.

Then I got this Twitter... this is way kewl... Twitter has been gaining a lot of steam lately and I also got into it. Not because of wanting to have a Twitter but out of neccesity. Twitter is something the is what they call "Micro-blogging": "Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 bytes in length." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

"Tweeting" has come handy to me since I am not able to write lengthy blogs, due to time constraints... I know, I know... it's a lame excuse, but it's the truth. As much as I would love to be able to write (an illusion, that I can be a writer!!!!), the truth is, time just illudes me. Sigh... TIME has become a luxury to me these days (it's another story...) Anyways, with Twitter; I am able to Tweet every once in a while. So, I am tweeting from time to time so-to-speak. The flip side of this is that, no one knows that I am tweeting so this is another challenge. (it's another story :-) )

The Cure for What Ails You: How to Beat the Misery of Discontentment

Got this from a former colleague... I find this interesting...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Cure for What Ails You: How to Beat the Misery of Discontentment

"There is no greater sin than desire, No greater curse than discontent, No greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself. Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough." - Lao Tzu

I was talking to a loved one yesterday, a woman who from an outside point of view has everything: an incredible house with a swimming pool, a wonderful husband, two smart and beautiful and good-hearted children, and a life of mostly leisure. But as we were talking about contentment with life, she said, "That's what I need — I need to find contentment."

And there were tears in her eyes, and my heart reached out to her.

She's not alone, either: many people feel that there is something missing from their lives, that despite having everything they need they aren't happy, aren't content, cannot find satisfaction.

I've been through stages in my life like this, and I've also climbed out of such ruts more than once. I know it isn't easy, but I also know that it's possible. Looking back on these times in my life, when I overcame discontentment, I've realized there are three things you can do:

1. Change your attitude and perspective.

2. Take some kind of positive action.

3. Do something that gives you meaning.

And you can do one of these things or all three, all at once, one at a time, or in whatever combination works for you. They can work alone, or together.

Let's look at each one of these solutions.

Change Your Attitude and Perspective
This is huge. I can't overstate the importance of how you look at things. And I know, the power of positive thinking is a cliche in the self-help world, but that's because it works. It's worked for me in everything I've done, and without it I would have accomplished nothing — no popular blog, no best-selling book, no running three marathons, nothing.

But it's more than accomplishing things — by changing your attitude, you can become happy, almost immediately. It's a choice.

Here are just a few but important ways:

1. Appreciate what you have. You already have some amazing things in your life, whether you realize it or not. Most of us have incredible family members, friends, other loved ones who love us back. Learn to appreciate what a miracle that is. Most of us have good health, which is another miracle. Most of us have eyes, with which to enjoy the amazing miracles of sunsets and nature and beauty all around us. Most of us have ears, with which to enjoy music, one of the greatest miracles ever. Be grateful for each of these things, and more! Take time every day, throughout the day, to thank life for all that it has given you, to thank others for what they give you, to be grateful.

2. Find good in everything. Everything can be seen in a negative way, or a positive way. I've said this before, but even the death of my grandfather was an opportunity for me to appreciate life more, to appreciate his amazing life, to appreciate the time I have with my loved ones, to be thankful I'm even alive. When I get sick, it's a chance for me to rest. When I was jobless once, I had more time with my family, more chances to create, a fresh start on life. When your child is throwing a tantrum, he's expressing himself, asserting his individuality, being human. Find the good in anything that normally irks you, in anyone who you have issues with.

3. Start believing that you can change things. A general feeling that things are too difficult to change, that they'll never get better, can in itself be the cause of our problems. Instead, start believing that you can make things better, and you will open the doors for change. And you can change things — I've done it, and many, many others have too. It's possible.

4. Enjoy the moment. Whatever you're doing right now, or at any time during the day, take the time to enjoy it. Anything: reading, writing, talking with a co-worker, taking a shower, walking up stairs, eating, washing dishes, sweeping. Anything can be fully appreciated if you pay attention. It makes life better.

Take Some Kind of Positive Action
It doesn't matter what the action is, as long as you're doing something positive. Start small — just take a tiny little baby step. But start.

And you know what? Taking that little baby step will feel like a victory. Then take that feeling of success and use it to take another little tiny baby step. And another. And then, yet another. And so on, until you look back and you've actually taken a series of baby steps that add up to a whole great amount of traveling. It's amazing how the power of little positive steps can add up over time.

Two good places to start:

1. Exercise. Just do 10 minutes of exercise a day. Walk, jog, swim, do yoga, pilates, pushups, it don't matter. The act of exercising regularly will make you feel amazing. It can turn your life around. Use this great feeling to do something else good. Read more: start the exercise habit, simple beginner programs.

2. Decluttering. Just declutter one shelf, one tabletop or countertop, one little corner of a room. That's it. Just start, and then bit by bit (or a whole bunch at a time), continue to declutter. You'll feel great. It'll help you create the surrounding you need to change your life. Read more: how to declutter, 5-minute ways to start decluttering, great decluttering tips, fighting and beating clutter entropy.

These are just two suggestions that have worked for me and many others. But there are many other good ways to start: wake earlier, meditate, do some yardwork or housework, start paying off debt, or one of the actions in the next section, for example.

Do Something That Gives You Meaning
Often we feel dissatisfied with life because while we might have a good life — at least, all the comfort and leisure we need — we might not be doing anything that feels worthwhile. It might feel meaningless.

The cure: find meaning, do something meaningful. Just a few ways:

1. Spend time with loved ones. I love spending time with my wife and kids, with my sisters and parents, and other loved ones. It gives me joy. It feels more meaningful than most other things I do (besides writing). I recommend you take the time to do something with a loved one — just go for a walk, play a game together, have a conversation, it doesn't matter what. Really be there — don't be thinking of other things you need to do. Really listen. Really try to help the person if possible. It will make a difference in both your lives.

2. Volunteer. This is a common suggestion, but that's because it's so awesome. There is nothing like giving yourself — your time, you love — to something you feel is worthwhile. Make a call today to find out how to volunteer for an organization you like, and make an appointment on your calendar.

3. Create something meaningful. As I said above, writing is something that is very meaningful to me. Any kind of creating — whether it be writing, drawing, playing music, designing, building something — can bring meaning to your life. You're creating something new, expressing yourself, sharing it with others so that it may enrich their lives and the world in general.

4. Make the lives of others better. Volunteering is just one way to accomplish this. But you could also think about your loved ones, your neighbors, others in the world around you, and think about how you can help them, make their lives better, even in a small way. That might mean baking them cookies, listening to them, cleaning for them, writing a kind letter, buying a nice gift, anything.

These are just a few ways, of course — there are lots of ways to do something meaningful. These have worked for me, but I'm sure you've found your own ways.

What are some ways you've found meaning in your life, and ways you've beaten discontentment?

Tips for Better Life...

Tips for Better Life

If we can ever get there… it must be great… but here are some tips that could help us get there closer….

1.    Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2.    Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3.    Buy a DVR and tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4.    When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'
5.    Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6.    Play more games and read more books than you did last year.
7.    Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8.    Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9.    Dream more while you are awake.
10.    Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
11.    Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12.    Try to make at least three people smile each day.
13.    Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14.    Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16.    Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17.    Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.
18.    Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20.    Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
21.    You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
22.    Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
23.    Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25.    Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
26.    Forgive everyone for everything.
27.    What other people think of you is none of your business.
28.    GOD heals almost everything.
29.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30.    Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
31.    Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
32.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
33.    The best is yet to come.
34.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
35.    Do the right thing!
36.    Call your family often. Or email them.
37.    Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: 'I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.'
38.    Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
39.    Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.
40.    Start living your life!