Just Like Friction

Bakit nga kaya, ang lahat ng bagay sa umpisa ang hirap-hirap... pero pag nasimulan mo na dumadali? Hmmm... parang friction...

"The coefficient of static friction is usually greater than the coefficient of kinetic friction. Therefore, the initial force to get an object moving is usually greater than the force needed to keep the object moving."

Hmmm... what could those conditions be wherein the coefficient of static friction is less than that of the kinetic?

mood: exhausted

It's the Church Of Christ's 91st Anniversary!!!

Maligayang ika-siyamnapu't-isang kaarawan ng pagkakatatag ng Iglesia Ni Cristo sa Pilipinas. Nawa ay lalong magtumibay ang pagkakaisa ng ating mga diwa at lubos na magpatuloy sa pagliliwanag sa gitna ng madilim at magulong sanlibutan, sa ikaluluwalhati ng Buong Maykapal.

mood: jubilant

I Did It Again!

I often catch my fingers playing on an imaginary keyboard with a tune playing in my head. Sometimes I unconsciously make doodles and spell out words on air with my right index finger. And now... more than a couple of times did I find myself looking for that scroll wheel between the left-click and right-click buttons of this new mouse. Hmmm...

mood: curious

Armi's Wish Is My Command

three names you go by:
1. Jas/Jazz - by friends
2. Iyang/Ate Yang - by family
3. Minn/Mahal - by Whel

three screen names you have had:
1. nimsaj
2. jazzyminn
3. riverwind

three physical things you like about yourself:
1. my spirit-lifting smile :)
2. my fair skin
3. my shoulders

three physical things you don't like about yourself:
1. my lower set of teeth
2. the shape of my head
3. my rough hands
//only the skin, I love my hands

three parts of your heritage:
1. Filipino (Bongon)
2. Chinese (Altura - father's side)
3. Spanish (Ibero, Labrador - mother's side)

three things that scare you:
1. losing the ones I love... the ones who make me cherish life all the more
2. that I'd wake up one day and realize that I haven't fully lived
3. to witness something that is emotionally disturbing
//when watching a movie i still close my eyes whenever i feel i'm about to

three of your everyday essentials:
1. music
2. laughter
3. "my circle of trust"

three of your favorite musical artists:
1. Sting
2. Bread
3. Toto

classical composers:
1. Johann Sebastian Bach
2. Antonio Vivaldi
3. Wolfang Amadeus Mozart

three of your favorite songs:
1. When I Think Of You by Chris de Burgh
2. I Will Be Here by Michael W. Smith
3. Beauty and Madness by Fra Lippo Lippi

classical pieces:
1. Air by Bach
2. Vivaldi's Four Seasons
3. Clair de Lune by Claude DeBussy

three things you want in a relationship:
1. a love that constantly grows
2. faithfulness and honesty
3. a combination of sugar and spice

three lies and truths in no particular order:
lies:
1. The Trinity
2. Life is fair.
3. "One small step for man, one big leap for mankind."

truths:
1. There is ONLY ONE God.
2. The entropy in the universe is EXPONENTIALLY increasing.
3. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has twice disgraced the Philippine Constitution.

truths about me:
1. Jas is an idealist, a hopeless romantic, a dreamer.
2. Iyang is not proper, she just knows when she needs to be.
3. Minn is more than ever a softie when she pretends to be a toughie.

three physical things about the opposite sex that appeals to you:
>I'm not the type to notice attractive men. I have to know someone personally before I can find him attractive, and so there's no particular pattern in their physical attributes. - Armi

//likewise. "What is essential is invisible to the eye." All of my very few crushes (non-celebrity) I have known personally before actually liking them. What apparently appeals to me:
1. good heart
2. good personality
3. good humor

three of your favorite hobbies:
1. piano, music
2. movies, photography
3. ping-pong, videogames
//i do have a stamp collection

three things you want to do really badly now:
1. play the piano
2. watch a movie and eat ice cream
3. be with the love of my life

three careers you're considering/you've considered:
1. performing classical pianist and voice recording artist
2. software developer and electronic circuits designer
3. photographer and interior designer
//i also consider teaching math and physics

three places you want to go on vacation:
1. any one of the 7 wonders of the world!
2. anywhere in the world where i can enjoy wonderful music, good food and quality time with the ones I love.
3. a place where I can dream of flying above clear skies, sparkling waters and landscapes full of flowers and butterflies... a place where i can be peaceful watching the sunrise at dawn, sunset at twilight, and the moon and stars at night... with the love of my life. :)

three kid's names you like:
hmm... secret! ;)

three things you want to do before you die:
1. perform once on a grand piano at CCP theater/perform a voice solo in any animation or musical
2. be a good photographer and interior designer
3. get married, have kids and live happily ever after...

three ways that you are stereotypically a boy:
1. I like doing things on my own. I hate being underestimated.
2. I enjoy ballgames, target-shooting and race-driving videogames.
3. I can get by pretty well being a rose among the thorns.
//i can harana a girl with my guitar =p

three ways that you are stereotypically a girl:
1. Even commercials make me cry.
2. I cringe and shriek at the sight of a FLYING cockroach.
3. Chocolates and shopping make me feel good.

three celeb crushes:
1. Angelina Jolie
2. Charlize Theron
3. Nicole Kidman

//ah guy ba? hehe...
1. Jude Law
2. Adam Sandler
3. Michael Vartan

my turn to tag...

three people that i would like to see take this quiz:
1. Angel
2. JAm
3. Alekos

mood: rejuvenated

All Things Bright and Beautiful...

Beautiful... "Tutipul"... my first uttered word. (I was 7 months old then according to mama)
-+--'=:!O!:='--+-
Fantastic... "Tantat-tic"... my second. (while I was watching the commercial "Pop-Cola, it's fantastic!")

-+--'=:!O!:='--+-
Found some cute mood icons... I love stars, and the moon... and all things bright and beautiful! :)

mood: bright and
beautiful

Only One Red

I was there during the Pisay Junior-Senior Promenade 2005... last night in my dream. I went to meet up at the grounds with friends I've long missed... Monica was there, even Hazel. I came at about 10pm and heard the registrar announce the start of the Prom. Weird because it was held inside the classrooms whose blackboards were filled with drawings of castles. Each room has a videoke and the songs were sang by whoever wants to sing while the boys and girls dance close together. After that the lights were turned off and they were made to sleep on the floor. Seeing all that I wondered if Batch '98 were the last one to see what "Pisay" was really made of. Standing in formation at the corridors was the model company, there was DJ. The alumni who gathered together with us formed a "tren-tren" and we strolled around the campus. At the backyard we found an apple tree with plenty of fruits... one of them is red and the rest is green.
"...plenty of green apples... but only one red."
What could that possibly mean?

mood: reflective

Just right on time!

Weeee... mission accomplished! :)

-+--'=:!O!:='--+-
We were just informed that every month we'll be given one saturday off provided that for the following 2 consecutive weeks, office hours shall be extended till 5:45pm. Hmmm... good enough for me! :)

mood: accomplished

Cramming yet again...

I started with the menu interface design for our cordless phone two weeks ago, it was already running with the In-Chip Simulation but I think the code isn't that efficient so I tried to restructure it using arrays and pointers. Today's the deadline and I'm cramming again! It's okay 'coz I think more clearly when under pressure... pressure makes me motivated! And for the record, I almost always manage to finish on time (if I wanted to). Somehow I know when to start cramming. Last saturday I dreamt of carrying out part of the code using the unsigned char s as a flag bit! Wehehe :)

mood: excited

Hang-over

Ang sarap talaga 'pag 2 days ang weekend! :) Kung pwede lang sana na ganito every week... :(

mood: hopeful

Silly Wonderings

Have you ever wondered why an insect FLYING inside a car doesn't end up being WHACKED on the back windshield considering a car's speed is at least 60 kph on the average?

Silly me, when that first occured to me I didn't realize at once that it's just simply because an air-conditioned car is an isolated and closed-system. :D

mood: geeky

Amnesia

Wahaha! Don't they have any other means to establish a conflict in a story? I watched SUGO last night, Graciella got hit by a car and guess what? Ano pa nga ba... eh 'di ang walang-kamatayang amnesia! Haven't they got enough twists already out of babies being switched and twins being separated? Distinguishing between the clan of "alay" and "sugo" is confusing enough.

mood: disappointed

A Life-Changing Experience

I was actually having second thoughts on posting this after I finished writing and reading the whole story, but something tells me I should pay it forward. So now let me share with you this life-changing experience my family went through just a couple of months ago. I didn't expect it would be this long, please be kind enough to bear with me...

Mama was admitted at the Manila Doctor's Hospital on the 29th of April, friday afternoon. Her right eye was swelling for more than a month since her former doctor scraped off the sty under her eyelid. Everyone suspected that the redness and swelling was due to infection because of an improper medication (steroid eye-drops without antibiotics) prescribed by this doctor, but almost a week of dextrose and antibiotics showed no significant improvement at all. She had a CT Scan and the result revealed no infection or abnormal cell mass formation. Doctors and nurses come in and out of our room to see her, but not one of them gave a sensible analysis. It was only until wednesday the following week when she had her first proper diagnosis. Dr. Remulla, a top-of-her-class UP-graduate who specializes in Eye Orbit, came to see mama for the first time and finally claimed that she's 99% sure she has a fistula and that the only way to ascertain and locate it is through angiography. I couldn't believe mama's condition was that critical until she told us that if it is indeed a fistula, it has to be embolized which can cost us P300K to P800K depending on the case, or around P150K for charity. She said we could still buy some time to prepare that amount because it is just a "low-flow" fistula.

It was my eldest brother's birthday and we were about to check-out and go home that thursday morning when mama suddenly felt an intolerable pain in her right eye. She had to be dextrosed again. The pain was unbearable and I knew it really was 'coz mama has a high threshold for pain. Pain relievers did not help at all. Her right eye had bulged much more she couldn't even open it anymore and it had already deviated from its proper alignment causing her to see blurred double visions. Her eye pressure increased to 50 (normal is 10) and the white spaces around her iris turned into red because of swollen blood vessels. Dr. Kamantigue, her doctor-in-charge who specializes in Glaucoma, said that mama has a "high-flow" fistula already and that she needs to be embolized as soon as possible so as not to strain the blood vessels too much and prevent the possibility of blindness... and even death.

"Strength is born in the deep silence of long suffering hearts, not amid joy."
It was just a sty, how can it possibly be something that critical? I couldn't believe it... i didn't want to. I know things like that really do happen but I never thought it could ever happen to us. I prayed and convinced myself that everything will be fine, but deep inside I know I should be ready for all the possibilities. I look at mama and I can feel her pain. Everytime she looks at the mirror I can feel her fears. At times I felt I'm close to breaking into tears... but I hold it back in and feel my cheeks burning. Many times I can actually feel pain inside my chest. I wanted to cry but I just couldn't... I couldn't let her see me like that, not even papa. If there's one person who carries most of the weight that would be him. I didn't know it was that hard to be strong and for the first time in my life I really didn't know what to do.

Dr. Kamantigue said that there is only one team here in the Philippines that specializes in embolization, the team of Dr. Renato Carlos, a Neuroradiologist. Thank God that he is a colleague of the wife of one of papa's conductors, he was very kind to conduct the embolization that night right after the angiography although we still haven't provided the money. The operation was conducted in PGH, considering that it was the hospital nearby with the medical equipment that wouldn't cost us too much (relatively).

"The darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn."
The operation lasted for almost four hours, from 12 am to 4 am of May 6. At last, after so much restlessness we were so relieved to see mama out of the O.R. There is still one big problem though the operation was a success. Dr. Carlos said that during embolization, many collateral arteries arose from a tiny branch of the meningohypophyseal arteries (the ones they embolized). They also tried to embolize those but there is one tiny artery that they cannot touch for it might cause a stroke. Catheters are too small to go through it and it is located near the brain. Because of this, Dr. Carlos taught us a massage therapy to be applied on the carotid artery at the left side of mama's neck. With this technique hopefully the tiny artery will somehow close by itself after some time. But for now, it is forbidden for her to get mad, get tired, bend down, and exert any form of effort forcefully.

"In order to see the rainbow, you must first endure some rain."
It has been two months now, and Mama's recovery was fast. Her right eye is still a little swollen but the pressure is now down to normal values. The redness around her iris is clearing out although some swollen vessels are still visible. Her vision and balance are getting back to normal. She is much stronger now, and we're very thankful. There are no words to ever express how happy we are seeing her regain her health and strength.

What happened in a week has changed our lives forever. We have realized so many things that we couldn't possibly have if none of these ever happened. We have seen how truly powerful a prayer can be. In behalf of my family, I want to take this oppurtunity to again thank all the people who have been there in one of the most difficult times of our lives... for all the financial help, for all your prayers, for all the love... we owe you my mother's sight, my mother's life. May graces pour unto you a thousand fold. Most of all, may all the glory be to God Almighty, whom we owe everything that is good in this life.

-+--'=:!O!:='--+-Fistula

An Arteriovenous Fistula/Malformation is an abnormal channel between an artery and a vein. Normally, blood flows from arteries into capillaries and then into veins. When an arteriovenous fistula is present, blood flows directly from an artery into a vein, bypassing the capillaries. The area can swell quickly if blood escapes into the surrounding tissues. If a large acquired arteriovenous fistula is not treated, a large volume of blood flows under high pressure from the artery into the vein network. Vein walls are not strong enough to withstand such high pressure, so the walls stretch and the veins enlarge and bulge.

Dural Arteriovenous Fistulae are blood vessels that represent abnormal connections between arteries veins that are found in the covering of the brain.

Carotid Cavernous Fistula is a specific kind of Dural Fistula that involves the carotid artery (or its branches) and a large vein (cavernous sinus) behind the eye.

-+--'=:!O!:='--+-Embolization

Embolization, a fairly new treatment method, is a way of closing, or at least drastically reducing blood flow to one or more blood vessels that are doing more harm than good. The term "embolization" derives from embolus, which can be any object that circulates in the bloodstream until it lodges in a blood vessel—in this case, a synthetic material or medication specially designed to occlude the blood vessels. The material is passed through a catheter, its tip lying in or near the vessel to be closed.

-+--'=:!O!:='--+-Angiography

The first step in embolization is to perform angiography to locate the exact site of bleeding or abnormality. A thin catheter is introduced through a very small incision into the femoral artery, a large groin vessel, and guided by TV monitoring as close as possible to the area of abnormality. Contrast material then is injected and a series of x-rays are taken where even tiny thread-like vessels can be seen. An appropriate embolic material then is chosen and injected through the catheter to lodge at the treatment site. Repeat angiograms are done until bleeding is controlled or there is enough embolic material in a tumor or vascular malformation.

mood: indescribable

Ilaw Ng Tahanan

Ngayon ay ika-pitumpu't-limang kaarawan ni nanay Luz, ang ilaw ng sambahayang Labrador-Bongon. Gaya ng ginagawa namin taun-taon tuwing sasapit ang kanyang kaarawan, nagsagawa kami ng isang malaking family reunion. Idinaos namin ang pagdiriwang kahapon, at hindi man nakumpleto ang labing-isa niyang mga anak, matatanaw sa kislap ng kanyang mga mata at ngiti ng kanyang mga labi ang bakas ng kaligayahan.

Kung inyo lamang malalaman ang naging buhay at kapalaran ni nanay... daig nito ang kahit na anong telenobela at maalaala mo kayang kuwento ng buhay. Ngunit sa lahat ng pagkakataon ng kanyang mga pagsubok at paghihirap, higit pa sa sipag at tiyaga ang kinailangan niya upang matagumpay na maitaguyod ang kanyang sambahayan... naging mapanalangin siya, ni isang saglit ay hindi niya nalimutang humingi ng tulong at magbigay pasasalamat sa dakilang Ama. Hindi man sila naging mayaman sa materyal na bagay, naging mayaman ang kanyang mga anak sa mga wastong aral at pamumuhay, maayos ang kanilang kalagayan ngayon sa buhay... at dahil iyon sa lubos niyang pagtitiwala at pananalig sa magagawa ng Buong Maykapal.

Sa inyong ika-pitumpu't-limang kaarawan... maligayang bati po 'nay!

mood: jubilant