Rough Groove

On a bind

Three days of no work starting tomorrow (commemoration of the Edsa Revolution, a holiday) and I haven’t yet decided on where I should be traveling tonight. I checked out my Lonely Planet guidebook, and:

- Manila and surrounding environs are just too near, a weekend trip is all it needs. Not this time though.
- Plane flights are not considered due to the expense, even if I have mileage in Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, therefore Visayas, Mindanao and Palawan are not a possibility
- Ilocos or a bus trip around North Luzon (Manila – Ilocos – Cagayan – Nueva Ecija – Manila) can be possible but I’ve done that before, sans my camera
- Bicol is also okay but what are other places to go? Catanduanes is out of the question due to its distance. I’ve already been to Legazpi, and Bulusan in Sorsogon
- Masbate, Romblon group? Too far
- Mindoro? I might only be limited to Puerto Galero but I’m not really a beach person
- Baler? While the lure of Aurora National Park is tempting, I’ve already been there. Might go there when beetle collecting season is at its peak
- Cordillera. Hmm, just like Leona’s cakes and pastries in Cebu, very much irresistible.

Cordillera. Not Baguio and definitely not Sagada since I’ve just been there two weekends ago. While I’ve been to Banaue before, not Batad. The lure of hiking 2 hours to that fabled place through a forest trail and marvel at its magnificent rice terraces is just filling my imagination. Wallowing in the grey matter of my mind. Swimming, calling out. I might just succumb to its siren’s call.

Let’s see…

Hard drive’s busted

Was able to visit the Toshiba service center in Makati yesterday and it was found out that the hard disk is busted. Damn. All those important data still embedded into the disk’s platters but irretrievable. Its as good as gone unless I shell out thousands of bucks just to retrieve it. But I can manage. Still got backups of my website and important databases circa 11 January. I just need to update these files. Another way also, is to make a copy of my entire salagubang site.

Now the hard disk. I was told that stock’s not yet present and I have to wait from 30 – 90 days for it to come! Not just that, I was given a quotation of around P16,500 pesos for a 20GB proprietary disk! Jesus! I never thought that notebook computer drives are scarily expensive. Not just that, I also don’t have the option of upgrading it to a higher capacity disk since I was told that the computer’s just built to have 20GB. Darn! Luckily, an angel came to my rescue and offered me a P12,500 hard disk, same capacity, same model and brand new which I readily got. Talk of underground deals. Shhh… but still, bad for my budget.

Now I’ve learned my lesson. Back up, back up and back up.

365th day

365 days ago, after much things have happened between us in so short a time, my amour finally said yes. Yes to a commitment to each other. Yes to be in a relationship even if were miles away. Yes to become a precious one to cherish, to love and to fight for. After much tears, laughter, love and misunderstandings, we are still together. And together, we shall face what’s ahead of us.

Happy one year of love my dear. I love you.

A Very Long Engagement - Jean-Pierre Jeunet

I decided to watch the movie after its weekly run and found to my great horror that its no longer being shown in the Glorietta (1 and 4) and SM Megamall cinemas. Luckily, it was still being screened in Greenbelt 3 that I scrambled to that movie theater last 9 February before I was to leave for Baguio an hour past midnight. And I was thankful that I did. Sweeping vistas. Great cinematography and tone. Audrey Tautou of Amelie fame. Controversial director Jean Pierre Jeunet who has been battling French officials for this movie. Moving soundtrack. French. War scenes that brough back images of “Saving Private Ryan.” Mathilde’s unbreakable thread (or rope) of faith and love. A good story with the harshness and brutality of war as its backdrop proved to be too irresistible to pass even if the movie theater was charging 130 pesos and 150 pesos for a bag of white cheddar flavored nacho chips and a glass of lemonade. It was all worth it.

IDE #0 error

Just as I was setting up my photo gear to photograph my beetles that my notebook computer suddenly had that infamous blue screen. Well, I experienced this many times before and the only way to do it was to disconnect the power cable and then the battery. Just did that and the next time that I turned it on, “IDE #0 error.”

Intel (R) Agent FE v4.1.09
Copyright (C) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent.
Insert system disk in drive.
Press any key when ready…

Press any key and the same problem. Fuck. Hard drive’s got a problem. A major problem. Hijo de puta!

The saddest part though is that I only backed up my RAW files before coming over to Cebu. Stupid! No backups for my website salagubang, my outlook PST, my beetle database and a host of other important files.

Really stupid me.