Prep for our OZ Journey

Sunday  and it's the first day of the  Survival Training of the Philippine Solar Team ....off to DLSU  I went...

The very first person I met is a veteran of the Solar Car Race and I hope he will forgive me ...I cant remember his first name , but Mr Isidro was so accommodating . I actually  arrived a little after 8am and he was already chatting with our two trainers Rich and Faye. Mr Isidro was telling us about the race in 2009  of which he was also a part.  According to him it was smooth sailing at that time and pretty safe. We also learned from him that there is a representative from the organizers of the race that will be with the team all the way to Adelaide. He will be observing the group , check if the team is following the guidelines/regulations of the race  and probably act as a guide and safety officer? And he will be part of the advance party , Then came  Martin, this guy I manage to remember his first name maybe because he was in charge of the food ha ha ha...well actually because Mr Isidro has made me feel relaxed because of his very accommodating personality ...you see I was little tight meeting the group, this is a very young group after all.

Then came the students, my gulay , they are so young average age is 20 , but it seems the group is a fun batch , then Mon Agustines, you should here him speak in tagalog! Then Jack, Edward  whew , these are the names  ...for now. I was actually looking forward to meeting the only other female member of the team!

The training was fun...all the trivia and skills we need to learn to keep somebody alive in case something happens. Each one present had to demonstrate  how to do CPR....We had dummies as victims. Rich and Faye taught us the correct way , how , were to place our palms ... We had to pump the victims breast/sternum 200 time in 2 mins, apparently if you are not protected or do not have any barriers to protect you , it is not advised that you administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!! Even the trained rescuers , they have gadgets now to protect themselves and not compromised their safety....This is cool... Then their is the recovery position, this time each was asked to act the victim then rescuer , even bystanders.. We even have to learn the dialog, what to say during an emergency ...!!Daunting at first but the team was a fun bunch and they made it really  fun and easy ...we ended up laughing at each other as we try to remember the step by step process!! By the way Martin kept the group "busog" what with the breakfast, snacks and lunch coming one after the other!!!

Finally , in the afternoon came the only other female member, Carol and this girl looks even younger than the boys! Oh my I am really the mommy of the group, I have after all, an 18 year old daughter !! The afternoon was spent in scenario building and reacting to these different scenarios. Then how to get the Blood pressure if you don't have a spigma!! this is really cool... wow cool daw o! then how to  use the spigma....it was a very productive afternoon...left DLSU at around 230pm?

Back to my real world, being a mommy , doing the groceries,  planning where to have dinner .....hmmm pretty exciting life for a  mommy!!!

In Memoriam

Today I mourn the loss of my foster daughter from Indonesia...She is Kharunissa or Hani as we lovingly call her.

She was a PY (Participating youth) of SSEAYP representing Indonesia. She was part of the Batch 2000 SSEAYP. Together with Oh a Thai PY , we went trekking in Tagaytay, we trekked the volcano itself, Taal Volcano! We had fun and she was game to think that it was the time of Ramadan if I am not mistaken, she hardly ate so she and Oh had to ride a horse up Taal..

We continued communicating even after SSEAYP....she was so happy to see our pictures with Oh when we went to Bkk a year or so after 2000.  She was from Bandah Aceh  and was lucky to have been rescued when the Tsunami struck , she informed me that they migrated to Australia .

A year or so ago , we continued our friendship at FB though we seldom communicate , when we do , it is as if we were just alking with each other just yesterday...

A month ago I won the WWF challenge and got a free ticket to Australia and I was planning on emailing her to make plans to see each other in Australia somehow. But I did not know she was pregnant again and was soon expecting another baby.

I am shocked , I am so sad....but sadder that her baby will not see her mommy anymore....my heart goes out to her husband and kids ...i can still remember how pretty she is, such a gentle soul....we will always remember you.....

To our Hani...Allah is waiting for you.....Godspeed...... 

Journey to OZ

.. I have another affair to distract me from my issues at the office. Today, I officially begin my journey to OZ....I have been told my OZ visa is ready for pick up...to Griffin Sierra I go tomorrow  to get my visa and hopefully my plane tickets !!!!

This is it!!! Soon I will be taking shots of the Sikat II and its crew and slugging it out with Kangaroos , koalas , aborigines and  all the splendid things thins they say about the outback...of course with all the splendid things come the dreadful things ha ha ha.. I have been told that Oz has broken the 10 year draught and rain has come to the Land Under....so expect insects, animals and even snales to be aplenty....

I have also started preparing  the things I would be bringing and would be needing....including looking for a Bush hat or I am thinking maybe I can make one but first I have to see one....

On Sept. 18-20, I will hopefully meet the whole SIKAT II La Salle Team competing in the 23rd Solar Car Challenge in Australia!!! We will have our survival training!! Whoa..........Survival training!!! Sound exciting and scareee.........!!!! But I will be meeting the whole team, this is a "young" team maybe a little older tham my first born-Nikita!!! well, we will see.......

I will also be meeting one of the professors of the Engineering students who made the Sikat II and it is really a small world. He happens to be the son of my first boss in the GSIS, Mgr. Tony Catalan and the brother of a Ka kosa sa Rally- Louise Catalan....Though I have seen him in La Salle during the Launch of Sikat II, I even told Louise there this professor in La Salle who looks like your Dad, kaano-ano mo yun? To which Louise said-Ate Ni bro ko yon, we have not really been introduced...

i also hope to meet, the only other female member of the team!!! Who will be my partner when it comes to "wee-wee" time in the outback!!! and other girlie necesseties !!! oooops....too much info/ well that is the reality or rather that would be the reality when we are actually journeying  the 3000km race from Darwin to Adelaide.......SIKAT II sulong!!!

Daang Matuwid Daw Part 2

..the morning after I wrote my Daang Matuwid part 1 , i learned who was given my slot at the Museum...I think people has this mistaken notion that if you are an Artist, you will be okey in the Museum. However, an Artist is a performer and entertainer, the position in the Museum is 80% administrative  , PR and of course creativity, it is not a "performer"  position .Though of course being an Artist will be an edge if you are willing to do the 80% administrative duties but if you are not, the position is not for you...I have all the respect to the person they placed there, a world class artist and I respect him more now  since he declined the position!!!! He knows it is not for him  .

So now here I am...I went to KMG and Abdon in fairness to him, went out his way to endorse and accompany me to the Office of the Chairman of the CMC. I wrote my letter, my application letter citing the circumstances and stating that the position I was originally slotted to and which was given to another person who declined it, is now technically vacant .....I really wanted to cry, i have nothing againts this policy of applying but to re-apply to a position where I have been originally slotted made me wanna cry  not so much because I have to write a letter and talk to so many people but by the way things turned out..Imagine being bumped off  from a position you have been slotted  by someone who did not even apply and now even has the right of first refusal? No offense meant  this is not about  the person but about the process these things have been done.....

And now I wait for my fate.........

GSIS Camera Club Photo walk

On a lighter note, the GSIS Camera Club went on a photowalk with Bong Dela Pena and Atty dela Pena, our mentor and certified photograpy addict ha ha ha!!!

The place :  breakwater behind the Folk Atrs Theater. The group went on a frenzied clicking as soon as we reached the breakwater!  The sky was majestic , the wind was gentle on our faces and the view was just perfect. The group experimented witht he different settings, others are so natural, they have a knack for setting their cameras to catch the perfect lighting. Me/ I struggled, I really need to get to know my camera better. But, in fairness to me (  my personal standards) I got some pretty amazing pictures...if I may say so myself ha ha ha!!!! I have seen the pictures taken by the others in the group and Boy , they are really really good. Me?  I enjoyed the view and took some pretty amazing pictures ha ha ha!!! Rose had a very nice looking tripod!!!

Check out the photo's

Enjoy!!!

Daang Matuwid Daw

Today I am really really sad!!

This morning I learned that I have been "bumped" from "my" slot at the Museum after I gave up my slot at the GSIS Legal Office ..  I know I have previously said yes to the GLO but when the position at the museum came I asked to be "let go" from  the GLOl  since my qualifications and perosnal inclination and interests are more suited to the position at the Museum. I have been told that if one is slotted to 2 positions, one will be asked where one wanted to be . I gave up my slot at the GLO because it was the decent thing to do. Allow GLO to get another person who is more suited and afford another personnel to be slotted to the positiona  at the GLO.

And then BOOm! this morning a concerned personnel texted me and told me " someone na taga itaas" (usually means someone from the OPGM or BOT) is being given the position where I am supposedly slotted . I am still trying to find out who this person is and how he/she came to be slotted to the position I was slotted , slotted by the Manager himself and signed by the VP! If my suspicions are correct , this person is from the BOT and this is what they call "daang matuwid"

The status of somebody from the BOT or OPGM is co-terminous-permanent  as opposed to the status of my appointment  career-permanent.  Makatarungan ba na palitan ang isang tao , who has been slotted to a  career position by a co-terminous personnel who walks the corridors of powers? would you believe for a second that the co-terminous person who will now get the position at the museum got it without the influence of a powerful person? This co-terminous person is  not even the one originally slotted to the position at the museum..so what gives? And the worse thing is that nobody can tell me , though, I am waiting for answers from some authorities.

My fear is that this reorganization might be another excuse to place certain co-terminous personnel to permanent positions. Sigh...sigh....wala nga promotion di ba, now may kaagaw ka pa sa positions..mga co-terminous personnel?

It  just makes me sad and angry that the administration that says they will do the right thing , will  walk the "daang matuwid"  is doing the very opposite thing . Who can say that if they can do this to one personnel , they will not do this to others?

I am planning to write a personal letter to the PGM, maybe he does know what is happening "down here at the level of the Rank and File". But first maybe somebody can tell me who this co-terminous personnel is or if it is really somebody  na "taga taas". "Taga taas"  for those uninitiated ha ha ha usually means from the office of the PGM or BOT ...redundant redundant!!..

Tomorrow is another day .........will see what happens...

Side Step

Something funny happened at  the office today...I am amused and  I am annoyed.

This morning we were told not to "laugh out loud", in short we were hushed" Part of me wanted to understand, it was an office , there are sets of decorum , there are rules , there are regulations. Part of me though strongly feel that times are different, the TSD people are in mourning (whether we want to accept this or not) the TSD people are coping with  a "loss", the loss of our department, the perceived loss of not being able to be with our team anymore, the loss of identity which we have formed for how many years, the loss of a team ..... and some people can not give this small "thing to us' can not let go , just for once that we needed to cope and our way of coping is through laughter!!

it saddens me , that people who have the perceived "powers' can be cruel ...what does it take  for some people to be happy?

Maybe I am wrong after all an office is an office is an office. They have their set of rules , but why do we get that feeling it is not only because there are rules but because they have their rules and we are the ruled....  and yet the TSD people has yet to learn this  ....... funny , sad..........