grumble grumble

Hala! It's the last week of classes and I've listed all the things I have to do before the semester ends officially for me. I have a list of ten, with '141 stuff' as the tenth. Might as well be the eleventh, twelfth, up to eight-ninth. Well, good luck to me. [Ugh, another acad post.]
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FINALLY, KEM Cup is over. And we are very happy at 2nd place. A bit bitter because of some things, but we all have these things when we compete. Anyway, I feel much much better (and civil) now. I want to say sorry especially to Marj (I won't do this enough.) because she was the first person that experienced my outpour of emotions, in an antagonistic way. And also to the others which I secretly wanted to dismember/hydrolyze (acid/base/enzyme) during the course of the competition. I learned that life won't ever be fair because we all have our biases (and this statement is very biased). I should think of a business that capitalizes on biases and get a lot of money (Wait. Reality TV text voting. Right. Career option---X.) I also learned that sulking can be better than fighting, and that breathing is a good way to dissipate anger. When I say sulking I mean grumbling to people who are on your side. To the people I wanted to throw cuss words to, I've done it. Did you notice? No? Good for you. But I really did. And I won't regret doing that. But I regret being immature again. But nobody wants to lose. It's a bad bad feeling. Especially if it's three years in a row.

It's over. So let's love each other back again. I'll try very hard, promise. I have the emotional capacity to do this naman. I don't know about you. (Oh, I'm starting again...)
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Congratulations to all the wonderful people of WAMFin. To me, you are the best team ever. I love you all, especially those who, for a week, suffered the after-Ham2 body aches. Congratulations to BENJO, LMK Champion. You really deserve it (considering the criteria). To Pat and Haidee, you are the best VPs a KEM Cup team could ever have. You are loving and supportive and inspiring. [Si Haidee ang ka-grumble ko.] Thank you to all the WAMFin people who participated. Sa mga di tumulong, belat. Ang saya kaya. WAMFin, WIN!
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Weee! We won the Cliptomania (brought to you by UP 49ers) contest. Galing ni Aids. Like he watches movies all day. Yay, cash inputs.
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Congrats also to the SepKEMber team! It was the best SepKEMber and LMK ever. And to the hosts, Jom and Marlon, keep up the good work. :D

my hosting career

Naisip ko na talagang career ko na yung hosting kasi I had 2 hosting jobs for Tuesday (yesterday). The first one was the 4-in-1 seminar on EgyE and EnE, at the Engg Theater. I came in and the program started. Wala nga akong alam sa pangyayari. Mils supplied stuff like the complete title, objectives, etc. But like a real professional host (which I am not), I just adlib-ed a lot. Tapos ang dami pala nung naka-assign sa akin na babasahin.

The next hosting gig was SME's EEE seminar/talk. I did this because the head of this event is Shie, which is a good friend. I had to miss Pictionary (KEM Cup) for this, but the spaghetti was worth it. I also learned a lot from Sir Malquisto about Automation. Very 172, but much more fun. Anyway, EmJen co-hosted again (like in the Orientation), but she did not suggest that we do practiced jokes. It was okay, and I think I did better in this one.

Hosting jobs, June-Sept 19, 2007:
-SME Orientation
-Brainstorm 2007 (KEM)
-InterU 2007 (KEM)
-ChE seminar (SME)
-EnE/EgyE (ESC)
-EEE seminar (SME)

Other hosting gigs:
-Inter-U 2006
-Inter-U 2005
-a few GenMeets 2006-2007
-SME Induction 2007
-KEM Induction 2007 (with swollen jaw)
-SME Apps Night 2005

Hmmm, career option. Check. And, you are free to contact me for my dead serious (as a mood) hosting skills.
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We won! We won! I mean, the TIP-Manila Trivial Quiz Show. Not really. We got second place. Second only to UST. But by only 6 points, or one difficult question. We = Me, Aids and Patrick (and Pat who scored 2+ points for answering when no other team can [I'd say stealing but it won't sound right]). We got some cash, a liga trophy and stapled medals. Obviously, that's not much but I enjoyed the experience. :D (This was held Monday.)

And I passed the 125 first exam! Woot! And not only that, I got 89! :D *grabs Levenspiel for dreaded 3rd exam, or not*

And, WAM-Fin! WIN!

my sept 16 post

I read an article about how blogs (Uh, MS Word 2003 is saying, “No, blog isn’t a word!” with red squiggly lines.) are causing this generation to be self-centered. I somewhat concur to what the author said as the large part of the content of many blogs these days are about the rantings and ramblings of pre-teen, teen and post-teen people. Thank Friendster (Uh, Friendster isn’t a word either.), Multiply and other similar websites for starting a blogging culture among the young ones. However, can we blame them for writing (in a whole spectrum of versions of the English and Filipino languages) about themselves as they make the transition from the ideal childhood situations to the almost-real-world problems? Let’s just hope that blogging keeps the teens close to the (safe part of the) Internet, and far from drugs, violence and thoughts of suicide. Perhaps if one person writes about these things in his/her blog (I mean the drugs, etc.), then at least someone in the whole world knows and a solution can be made.

Of course as a blogger, I am for blogging. We just have to tone down a bit with the angst and whining. But it feels good after, right?

We won! We won! At last, after four straight years (five, actually, but I was a student of UP for just 4 years now) of spectacular losses in the Cheerdance Competition, we finally won. Congrats guys! At last, my UP life is complete (or not, I have to have another Eng’g Week! And I have to finish our plant design, among other things). Unibersidad ng Pilipinas!!! Oooooh!

On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: (Jeopardy spoof)
Jay: The answer is “Superbad”.
Britney Impersonator: How is my dancing, my parenting skills…?
George Bush Impersonator: How did [name] describe Iraq so that I can understand it?

Oh, the contact prints have arrived. After nine excruciating booth hours, I finally got mine last Friday. It was definitely worse than last year. I mean, last year’s photos were better. If only I could use those for this year’s yearbook. The photos were, um, just okay. Acceptable.

The field trip. Yeah. That was a bit early. We left UP at 6 am, which means the meeting time was 5 am. Let’s just say everyone except for some tough cookies and, of course, the driver slept through the trip to Mak-Ban. The place was steamy. And I meant that literally. The plant relies on steam from the underground.

Highlights:
-Seeing a real cooling tower that looks exactly like that in Foust
-Learning the (Chevron) Tenets of Operation and corresponding gestures
-Waking Janine every once in a while
-Picture-taking (with hard hats!) and goofing around
-The steam and designing (in my mind) an industrial-scale dim sum cooker using the steam from the plant

I am in big trouble. It is because I am currently doing the job hunting thing and thinking about my career (so, this is the self-assessment part). I am not very sure I want to work as a chemical engineer. It’s boring stuff. Maybe because of 125 and 172. Maybe not.

Career choices (as of now):
-Chemical Engineer, but a fun job, perhaps not a process engineer
-Teacher, but maybe not ChE, high school Physics maybe, but I need Educ units, I think
-Series writer. Like Grey’s Anatomy, which shows life of surgeons, I think I’ll write a TV series about chemical engineers. People would just ignore the jargon and go for the drama, or humor.

Sample:
Person1: (approaches in big steps) There’s a huge leak in the nitrogen line.
Person2: So?
Person1: What, “So?”? What will I do?
Person2: You’re a licensed engineer, top of the class, exam topnotcher. You’ll know what to do exactly.
Person1: Oh, no no no no. You are my supervisor. I am new here. I’m not supposed to make decisions. You do.
Person2: Well then, put a sock in it. (walks away)

I hope it works.

some good things

Buti naman, I passed 125. I really feared for the worst because I changed my answer, which turned out to be correct, in one problem. However, I did not get bonus points for my "Braindead-o-phobia". But, there's still a third exam.

We have ended the two-week fight. Yipee! It's nice to be not angry all the time. And to have my other arm/kidney back.

There's a field trip on Saturday to look forward to. However, I will miss the Coastal Cleanup and HAM2 (on my last year, hopefully, as KEMer!!!). Why can't I miss worthless activities instead?

Congrats to the wonderful KEMers who joined the PRC Random Event: Bring Me Extreme. Especially those who won:
MONDAY: Cutest Baby Pic
winner: Jan Marc
runner-up: Gideon
(I hope I can post the pics later.)
TUESDAY: Biggest Umbrella
winner:Kong
runner-up: (aqua umbrella)
Special thanks to Ruth Guinto for joining!

So, back to impending failure of 172 2nd exam (Why me?).

ONEderful

ESC Auxcomm Party
Sept 8, 1 PM
Had a very wonderful ESC Auxcomm Party, thanks to team ONEderful. I'd say all their names, but I may miss out someone, so I'd just say thank you, collectively, to my teammates. At least something nice happened to me after that damned 125 exam.

And I can do tongue twisters. Yay! And I love trash talk, if you really don't mean it and get into a fight.

Ivanz: 1, 2, 3!!!
All: ONEderful!

Anyway, we won over-all. We only lost a few tableaus, some Reverse Bring Me rounds and the Dive-for-coins game but we were the best team.

125 Exam
Sept 7, 6-8 PM
Of course, we all studied, in different intensities but all worried because of unreleased first exam (very low scores), but almost all of us cannot say that they really passed. Sir told us that it would be an easy exam. Maybe. Who knows how 'easy' means to our profs? I mean, it was easier than the last exam, but I might fail. I wanted to roll down the Eng'g Theater after the two-hour exam. But I didn't. I will not spill my blood in that place. I may not graduate because of that exam, but the war isn't over. *gets battle gear*--> (which is what exactly?)

Biochem Lab Field Trip
Sept 6, 9:15 AM
Actually it was a simple tour of the lab. I think no undergraduate student has ever been there before us. It's the creepy building separate from the main ChE lab. It actually has two floors, with only about 2 m height, so some people could have difficulty inside the lab.
Features:
-Constant Temperature Room: This room is hardcore geeky. It actually has insulating stuff (the soft silvery sheets) on its walls. And we don't know what it's for.
-A room with what looks like an electric chair. For stubborn students. *grabs books*
-A shaker for chemicals and stuff. It's an old piece of equipment that will shake the flasks that are needed to be shaked.
-A weird space with blue water drums. We dared not ask.

Actually, we made a lot of bekray about the place. It was an actual living quarter because the biochem experiments could take hours per sample. It has food, water and aircon. We didn't see beds but we didn't see all the rooms. Sir joked that Doc Jose actually designed the place. That's why the ceilings are so low.

JG Summit Payday
Sept 5, 11 AM
Carlo, Mils and I went to the JG Head Office to collect our cash (and check) for our summer internship. Considering the work and loneliness I suffered during the 23 days I stayed there (but I went home on weekends), it was a very small amount. Luckily I learned a lot from the experience. I now have more insight on how ChEs end up after graduation. We had an Old Spaghetti House lunch, to celebrate.

Uploading Overnight
Sept 4, 8PM- Sept 5 9AM
Let's just say that there are a lot of Inhinyero subscribers this year. Woe to ye who will layout the thing. But you will get all the help that you need from us (of course, legally and not really that much).

My Firstborn Child
Sept 3, 3-6 PM
Everyone who is a KEMer, meaning he/she went through the application process would understand what I mean. I had my first anak, Justine Castillo. There will be no details here, but I'd just say that I'm glad (but will not elaborate now). To everyone: There was no fruit of my loins, it's just a KEM thing to call that person his/her anak.

catharsis

CATHARSIS

Definition:		[n] (psychoanalysis) purging of emotional tensions [n] purging the body by the use of a cathartic to stimulate evacuation of the bowels
(www.hyperdictionary.com)

If definition no. 2, would be used, then Catharsis, a night of soulful music and poetry would then become a night of soul-cleansing through bowel evacuation. I imagine toilet bowls and plastic medical tubing.

Anyway, I enjoyed the part of Catharsis I watched. The mega-production by the talent pools was...MEGA. It brought tears to my eyes, sort of. Yay for Vany for the dance number. Everyone did well. Congrats to the staff.

moments:
Marvin (the host): O, baka may nag-bleep diyan sa dilim... (pointing to our portion of the audience)
Maynard: Si Marge! She's playing with herself! (laughs)
Marge: And I have a ballpen...(laughs)

Of course, she didn't play with herself.

person1: *hugs*
person2: *hugs*
Mina (beside p2, in front of p1's face): !!!!!!

And the 125 exam did not push through. Thanks.
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I've been in and out of situations involving me being very much madaldal, revealing things I shouldn't and saying things that should be kept to myself, or a few trusted people. But I'm at it again. Even if I resolved to stay away from other people's business. I successfully did that, to some extent, and my brain has de-clogged a bit because of that. I promise to do more de-clogging. And on with studying!

And to you: I'm sorry if I knew.
And you: !
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Congrats to the nursing board passers!