ToDo Entry

*First and foremost I would like to apologize for the work reference in the title...

A few things that I want/need/hope to/will do when I get back home:

1. Go to Boracay for a week
2. Live fire exercises (Verchie, if you can read this let me know when this will happen... BANG BANG NA!)
3. Organize Anawangin Trip (anyone up for it?)
4. Consider a Surf Safari to Siargao
5. Decide on the next step of my career
6. Ask Pads if I can work on his farm for a week (Pads, I'm serious... can I work as a farmer in your hacienda? Hard labor, I want to get ripped! I will work for food, lodging and transportation)
7. Get ripped! (I need to hit the gym again)
8. Sharpen my knives (hehehe)
9. Organize my email, pictures and other files

upgraded

I have approximately a week left if Vermont and I still have a few things to do (such as climb Mt. Mansfield). I am ready to go finally go home... not just for the fact that I will be going home, but that I will be going home in style.

World Business Class baby!

the geek in me

As mentioned in my previous blog entry, I was in Houston TX last week with Manny. It was a side trip from our Austin kick-off meeting, and as luck would have it Manny had a friend in Houston so we had a place to crash into.

Speaking of crashes, one of the few things did in Houston was visit the Space Center (space shuttle... spaceships... crash landing? get it? sorry corny moment). Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I was a bit surprised that I was very interested in some of the things that NASA does, how they do it and why. I always thought I knew a bit about space exploration and the space program from the media (TV, internet, etc), but visiting NASA was a real eye-opener.

I realized what a daunting task space exploration really was, and seeing the actual items used during the early days made all of what I already knew more real.... and more personal. Seeing the training facility was cool, and I could just imagine what actually goes on the other side of the glass. It was pretty neat to touch a piece of the moon, the actual Apollo modules that brought people back safely to Earth. I just couldn't fathom what extremes those "things" went through before ending up to right where I was standing. And I just found out that they do plan to go back to the moon for further exploration and I understood why (economical and scientific reasons).

Our last tour (and I was glad we took it as the last tour) was to Mission Control. This unassuming guy gave us a brief description of what goes on in Mission Control and a few personal notes on what it feels like to work in NASA. It was a priviledge to know that he was actually one of the guys who trains astronauts that go into space, and that he knew a couple of the guys who died in the shuttle disaster pretty well.

That kind of tied everything together for me. They had 4 badges on one side of the room that would never make it to the successful missions wall of the room. Because for them, they failed in not bringing those people back. Because they made a mistake. They didn't care about how much it cost to run the space program, or how expensive the shuttle that just blew up... it was about the people. Because at the end of the day, despite all the technology and the accomplishments and tragedies it still goes down to the human person. Humanity without the boundaries of sex, religion or ethnicity. Space exploration raises the simplest yet greatest philosophical question of life.. personally and in the grand scheme of the universe, who are we and why we are here?

Naval Officer Vistan

I am currently in Houston, TX but this blog entry is about my trip to Austin, TX. Confusing I know, but I will explain it on my next blog entry (hopefully).

Manny, Arnold and I were invited to a corporate kick-off meeting in Austin, TX. After a long trip from Vermont, we arrived a resort in Austin and the first order of business was some fun. We had some ideas that it would somehow involve the lake... I initially thought it would be simply hanging out on a yacht in the lake sipping booze. I was pleasantly surprised that we were divided into 8 groups and given a sailboat. That's right, a true blue (and expensive) sailboat... and we were told we were going racing.

After a few pointers from our skipper on some basic sailboating concepts (like how to man the lines), we were off. As soon as we got out of the harbor the skipper asked who wanted to drive first. And as I was nearest the wheel at that time, I was tasked to man the helm. We practiced the concepts taught us earlier about tightening and loosening the lines and turning the boat (which surprisingly turns on a dime). Then it was time to race.

We didn't have a good run at the beginning as we were a bit off the starting line. We were a little behind a group of boats but we somehow was able to catch up. And as luck with have it (and some good driving by yours truly), we got the inside line on all but one boat going into the turning point. We turned pretty tightly near the buoy, strategically blocked the other boats, and caught a pretty decent gust of wind. There were a couple of boats that were trying pass us but we crossed the finish line ahead of them.

We had another heat, this time with me as one of the lines men. Unfortunately we finished dead last. We had great fun though, and I now understand the fascination of sailing. I am definitely going to try it again when the opportunity presents itself.

a couple of our competitors

I also heart NY

As some of you may already have found out Manny, Waw, Vianney and I went to New York last 4th of July weekend. I don't think I have the capacity or time to write up everything that happened during that week, so you would just have to visit their sites to read all about it. I will not post any pictures as well since I took crappy pictures so again visit their blogs and check their pictures out.

I will have to say that I enjoyed NY. It may be due to the fact that I got a chance to get away from Vermont but that's another story. All the walking was pretty tiring, but I what can you do right? At least we were able to go where we wanted to... plus the added bonus of getting a pretty good leg workout (man I need to get back to the gym...)

surfing dreams

I wasn't really in the mood to work yesterday (as usual), so I decided to go on the Net (as usual) and check out possible things to do for a possible sabbatical from work.

I have more or less set my mind up for at least a couple of weeks of surfing. Simply living the life of a surfer, with no hassles... just plain old hanging out and surfing. It should of course be economical in terms of transportation, food, lodging and gear (rent or buy, that is the question). Living local is probably a viable option. Rent a room or apartment (rather than a resort), cook your own food (or local carinderia), rent a board (or buy one, whatever is cheaper in the long run) and hitch a ride with my parents (they are also looking at going on a vacation)

As I was researching, I came across a blog which more or less what I had in mind. Living local in Siargao. I was almost in tears... that's my dream! I want that kind of life!

I did find a place that was relatively cheap, and I could use some of my NWA miles to buy my plane tickets. It would now simply be a matter of buying and tranporting a surfboard or simply renting it. Miscellaneous tranportation, food and supplies cost. And of course the timing...

I haven't really considered this completely (cost vs feasibility), I just might as soon as I get back home.

wait for further developments...

... literally.

Expended 1 roll of film, another one in the barrel with 3 shots left and another waiting in the sidelines. I will try to get them developed as soon as I get back home (3 weeks left!). Very excited on how the pictures turn out.

nearly 2 years late

Someone else was there first