#184: Hassles in Tech Support Service

It is a common occurrence for small businesses to tend to give a lot of power to their Tech Support staff. This is a common pitfall for business owners who doesn't want to deal with the intricacies of technology.

If you have a technician on board or you are planning to contract one, here are some tips you need to know.

1. Have your technician give you a comprehensive technical map of your network. Access codes for every devices such as your internet modems, routers and switches.

2. You must have all administrative passwords for your servers and computers.

3. Register domain names under your control. I have encountered businesses where they cannot access their registered domain because they are not the registrant.

4. Keep track of every software you buy including license keys. Make sure all these software are all under your name or your business name in case you need technical support.

Follow this step and you can rest assure that when someone takes over your technical support service, there will be a smooth transition.

#183: A touch of Nadire

Three days before new year, and I'm nursing a cold. I needed something hot. Maybe a soup. I always like the egg drop soup. And this recipe seems to be very simple.

I followed the 5 "easy" steps but it didn't turn out to be something I would enjoy. "How is it?", asked Nadire. "Bland!", I said, as I tried to shove the soup my mouth. She noticed I didn't like it.

I'll make you a bowl of avocado with milk and a little bit of sugar, she said. And I loved it.

I feel better now.

#182: I'm half way through

I'm six months away from making through one year of blogging. Except from 2 or 3 missed blogs, I feel that I'm still on track in achieving my goal.

In 4 days, it will be 2010. A new year and of course time for new year's resolutions. I have not thought of anything just yet. In a few days I surely will.

#181: Way back into love

While lazily slouching on the sofa and channel surfing, I bumped into this romantic comedy movie "Music and Lyrics".


The movie kinda intrigued me (at first) because it starred Hugh Grant as Alex, a washed-up 80's singer trying to write a song for a teen pop sensation. What Hugh Grant a singer? That's not all, he met Sophie (Drew Barrymore) and convince her to write the lyrics. Another what? Drew Barrymore a lyricist?

Surprisingly as the movie goes on, I found myself enjoying it (and yes Hugh Grant can actually sing) And not to mention the song they finally composed made me cry...ok am exaggerating. But listen and watch the song and tell me you won't love it.

I've been living with a shadow overhead, I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long, Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

 All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine, I've been searching but I just don't see the signs. I know that it's out there, There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

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#180: Ties that bind

I have not seen my mom for long time. Ditto my brothers and sisters. Christmas season definitely gives us a chance to reconnect with each other either through phone, or through the net. But the important thing is the love and caring we have. Those are the ties that bind and you'll have a family forever.

#179: Christmas

Christmas. Receiving is okay. Giving is good. Sharing the memories with love ones is the best. Once you recognized that, it'll be for keeps.

#178: farewell

I thought it was a Sunday today. I'm a bit disoriented because I said farewell to a friend. I said it's all alright, why do I feel so sad?

#177: Just Friends?

We've known each other for a while. We understand each other. In her own words she would say "we get it". She's a very good friend, actually a very special friend.

It's the first day of winter and I long for more of her. Sometimes I wonder if we ever be more than just friends.

#176: My top 5 Christmas Song

5.Band Aid Do they know it's Christmas

4. Mean Girls Jingle Rock (aren't they hot?)

3. Jackson 5 Give Love on Christmas Day.

2. James Taylor The Chirstmas Song

And my number one Christmas song is this version of Santa Claus is coming to town by Bruce Springsteen.

#175: Favorite Christmas movie

It's five days before Christmas. Wherever you turn, where ever you are, it's hard not to be reminded the best time of the year is in our midst. Even on TV, reruns of Christmas movies are all over the channels. And of course I can't stop but watch these movies again and again. No matter how old they are it's still feel like I watched it for the first time.

But of all the Christmas movies, my definite favorite is "Christmas with the Kranks". It's a hilarious movie about a couple (Luther - Tim Allen and Nora - Jamie Lee Curtis) who planned to skip celebrating Christmas because their daughter is joining the Peace Corps. Luther convinced Nora to spend Christmas in the Caribbean. Trouble began when their daughter Blaire decided to come home with a new found love to spend Christmas back home. 

This movie by the way was based on the novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham , best know for his legal thriller novels.

Definitely a must see. Who could ever pull up a stunt and skip Christmas? Would you?

#174: Forever young?

Today I found out that I can pass as Nadire's brother. I guess It's true what they say that women is as old as they look and men is as old as they feel.

#173: Will be gone fishing

Tomorrow will be my last day at the office before I go on a long vacation. I do this every year to re-charge my battery.

I always look forward this time of the year. For one thing, I got to just lounge around with the kids most of the time. Catch up with some sleep and finally watch every single movie/show stored in my DVR.

Most important thing though is to NOT even think about computers, rather think about other stuffs like normal people do. Like read a gossip magazine, learn a new recipe or join a book club.

Whatever it may be I am pretty excited! I will be gone fishing - figuratively speaking.

#172: Dear Santa

This is another one of those email forwards. She's just so cute not to share her thoughts.

Dear Santa, this year, please send clothes for all those poor ladies  in Daddy's computer

#171: Google Phone, another iPhone "Killer"?

For the past few days, the internet is buzzing about the reported Google Phone called Nexus One. According to this report

the Google phone would be an unlocked GSM device running the Android 2.1 mobile operating system. Google, they claim, would sell directly to customers with no wireless carrier subsidy. The device could go an sale as early as this January.

Of course as with every smartphone coming out of the market, there's always speculations that it could be an IPhone Killer such as this article.

#170: Speak softly love

Today is my late father's birthday.He would have been 75 years old. I've talked a lot about him in this post and this too. My mom was never the same when he died. I know she missed him a lot. We do too.

Anyway, I heard my mom cooked  Arroz Caldo and Lechon (easy on the skins mom!) to celebrate his birthday. For me, I wasn't feeling well today. I have some feeling of sadness as I recall how he has been great with our family and how he worked hard (to the point of exhaustion at times) to provide the best I father could give to his children.

Aside from his sense of humor, my dad loves to sing. So on this day I am remembering him with one of his favorite song from his favorite movie. I remember how he would hum this song while sitting in front of the house after dinner. Here's to you Pa!



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#169: Office party

I missed posting yesterday. This is the second time I did it. And for the second time, I had a good excuse.

Me and my kids attended our office Christmas Party at the Casa Guadalajara, a very festive Mexican watering hole off San Diego's famous landmark Old Town. This year, the company went all out with great food, overflowing beer and margarita and to top it all, an all night strolling Mariachi (Mexican Musicians) serenading every table.

All in all it was a great night, a fitting year-end for another great year for the company. Although I had too much to drink, I know we're safe going home as Deirdre was my designated driver as Josh brought his car.

By the time we were home, I had a terrible headache and in no mood of writing anything.So there's my alibi.

#168: Love of my life

Freddie Mercury of the rock band Queen, has been voted many times as one the the greatest rock vocalist of all times. Here's why!




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#167: Against the wind

Aside from Running on Empty, this is another song featured in the movie Forrest Gump. I play this song a lot of times. Nadire knows the lyrics so well that we would sing along while we drive.

"And I remember what she said to me, How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight, Wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then."

"The years rolled slowly past, And I found myself alone
Surrounded by strangers I thought were my friends, I found myself further and further from my home. And I guess I lost my way, There were oh so many roads
I was living to run and running to live."

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#166: Friendster makeover, now up for sale

Friendster, was the pioneer of social networking until it was overshadowed by myspace and facebook. Although this is the case, there are still big following specially in the Asia-Pacific Region.

I have not logged in to my friendster account for a long time until i bumped into this article outlining major makeover. I was curious and checked it out. It was indeed a major facelift. Somehow the design  has a facebook look and feel. Gone are the clutters and it's much cleaner.

But just as the big fuss on the announced change, a Malaysian based company is about to buy friendster with a reported price tag of $100M. This is much lower than when the asking price was about $200M a couple of years ago.

So the battle lived on. Looks like Friendster won't easily drop dead despite the dominance of Facebook and Myspace. Take your pick. And if you can't then settle for a much closely knit  community of abrenian.com.

#165: All I want for Christmas

My kids have been asking me what I want for Christmas. I always wanted an Aston Martin, I said. Seriously they asked. All I want is for you guys to be happy, I said. Ok it's lame because that's a given.

Alright let me be more practical. Here's my list. I hope Santa is listening. I know I have been good (most of the time) so I'm sure I'm on his nice list.

5.  Digital CamCorder - I had one couple of years ago and it uses the 8mm tapes. Maybe if I have this, I can finally shoot my comedy series I have been developing for a while. Ok I have not written the script but I probably have 10 episodes ideas so far.

4. Android Phone - my iPhone is getting more annoying each day. I hate being constrained with stupid apps. With the Droid maybe I can get into apps programming.

3. Kindle - an electronic book reader. Although I still prefer reading the traditional paper-based books. I want to know what's the big fuss about this gizmo. Maybe I can now catch up with my reading.

2. A MAC -  tired of widows. Need I say more?

1. Finally my top wish for this Christmas is.... Bunch of shirts and/or pants - what I have are too big for me now since I became serious about my weight. Maybe some linux shirts.

 My kids breathed a sigh of relief. Oh a shirt! that's affordable! Well what can I say, I'm cheap!

#164: everybody loves Stevie

This song by the rock group Fleetwood Mac featuring the amazing voice of Stevie Nicks. Another all time favorite and even this baby loves Stevie.

"well...Lightning strikes...maybe once...maybe twice...Oh....and it lights up the night...."

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#163: Who's smarter?

In the movie As Good as it Gets, The main character Malvin Udal (played by Jack Nicholson) 

Melvin Udall is a racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic misanthrope who works at home as a best-selling romance novelist

In one scene, a receptionist asked him "How do you write women so well?"  Melvin Udall replied  "Easy. I think of a man, and I take away reason and accountability"

But is it really? Is a man really smarter than a woman? Well according to this report,  the male ego is often larger than his actual IQ and women tend to underplay their intelligence.

I say it's neither. Both have human impulse in a spur of the moment.

#162: Technology can't wait but so is Our Christmas Tree

I had to work today (yes on a Saturday) but technology can't wait. It's crunch time. We have to finish the development of Simple Transactions. At the same time working on upgrading a Law Office's technology systems - building their network, website, telephone system and email. This should be fun.

As the holidays creep in, so is work. But of course with all these craziness I would certainly not forget to put up our Christmas tree. That would happen tomorrow. Kids' can't wait!

#161: Three great shows

I can't remember the last time a watched a play. Tonight I had a great time watching Josh on stage acting multiple roles (Sgt. Duffy, Bill. Mad Dog Mulligan) in 2 plays. Entitled "Sorry wrong number" and "Nightmare High School".

I definitely like his role as Mad Dog, the psycho Cereal (serial) Killer. He actually killed a Chex Cereal.

The play was well received by almost 100 cheering crowd. One funny quote "We will be the first to discover why students go the restroom before taking the test".


Monk the finale
I arrived early for the play. I was determined and excited to finally watched Josh in his first play. He has been staying after school for two weeks rehearsing.

I finally settled in my sit when it suddenly hit me. It's Friday and it's the last episode of Monk. I totally forgot to set my DVR to record the show. There's no one home and my IPhone apps to access my DVR has been going crazy lately. But I tried it anyway and was surprised that I was able to access my programming and set to record the show. And I was calm.

Anyway, the show finally revealed who killed Trudy. It's a judge who Trudy had a secret affair (and got knocked-up) long before she met Monk. The judge  killed Trudy (and the midwife who delivered their baby) to cover up the affair because he was up for nomination for a higher position. The baby (girl) was hidden from Trudy (she was made to believe her baby died) and was taken away for adoption.

In the end, Monk finally figure it out the puzzle with the help of a taped message of Trudy before she died. The judged was put to jail, Monk finally met Trudy's daughter, Randy Disher moved to New Jersey and married Sharona (Monks former assistant), Capt. Stotellemeyer remained with the force.

Finally Monk remained a police consultant and continue his brilliant crime solving ability with his loyal assitant Natalie Teeger at his side.


And just like that. My friday night TV event ended after almost 8 years.

#160: The Lady wants to know

This song of Michael Franks used to be my lullaby. The week is winding down and tonight I am tired and I'm feeling some body (maybe even heart) aches. This song will definitely makes you at peace for a moment and then realize it's going to be another day tomorrow. 

"The Lady's just like heaven when she smiles"

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#159: A worthwhile project

Tonight I was coordinating a simultaneous technical install on 4 business locations around San Diego.

My phone was off the hook most of the time as we were racing against time. We were given a 3 hour window to take out a system that seems to be running for decades and install a new system that would (perhaps) run better.

It was tiring but it was a good experience which makes it worth the effort. Maybe in the future I will be coordinating a nationwide roll-out, who knows!

#158: Overwelmed and concerned

After launching the new abrenian.com last night, the site has been buzzing with activities. As of this writing we already have more than 130 registered users and still climbing.

The launching of the site coincides with the last day of filing for Candidacy for the 2010 Local and Presidential Elections. Already, Abrenians are reacting to the candidates in our province. Looks like a two cornered fight between the Valeras and the Lunas, with some other familiar names like Ching Valera and Mailed Molina.

For those familiar with politics in Abra, you can be sure that with the protagonists I just mentioned is a recipe of disaster. The only question is who's going to draw first blood.

I have mixed feelings, overwhelmed and concerned.