The Thin Line

Jet Lag

On Sunday morning yesterday, I was running around Woodside trying to slowly ease into the training I began last month. It's only a couple of weeks to my first 8k, the Gawad Kalinga Heroes Run at the Philadelphia Marathon on November 18, and I hadn't run in three weeks.

What was remarkable about that picture of me running around Woodside? Well first, it was really cold and windy outside and I added only a thin thermal top to my usual running attire. I gave up after three minutes of running around the block. Secondly, it was 5:30 in the morning. I'm not usually awake this early. There were only a few people around Woodside Avenue. They all looked warmer than me. A couple of them walking the opposite direction looked at me curiously.

I haven't slept normally in a week now. Some days were worse than others. There were nights when I never slept at all and than other nights when I slept too much. These are all symptoms of jetlag. That's something to note the next time I make one-week "vacation" plans in the Philippines again.

Though it was also a good time to see how it felt like to run in the cold, my main reason for running was to tire myself out and force myself to sleep. I went back in my place and although my body felt a little warmer, I was as awake as ever.

An hour later, I tried running again. This time I added a third layer on top, a long-sleeved tennis jersey, on top of the medium-weight thermal layer that I used on top of my shirt. I ran for about 10 minutes and gave up partly because of the cold but mainly because I didn't want to overdo easing back into training.

Back in the apartment, I was still as awake as ever. I showered, got breakfast and for the rest of the day -- through Sunday mass and going to Union Square (to buy more thermal running apparel at Paragon Sports for one) -- I walked around like a mild-mannered zombie (though indeed, I think most zombies in popular films from classic Romero to later copycat films seem to be mild-mannered -- except for the part where they start to eat people).

It's 5am right now. It looks like I'll be on time for the weekly 9:30 meeting.

Hideous Shoes, Only $175

Nike Jordan Spi'zike

The Quarter-Life Crisis by Unknown

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know and may or may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you do not realize is that they are realizing that too and are not really cold or catty or mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job. It is not even close to what you thought you would be doing or maybe you are looking for one and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and are scared.

You miss the comforts of college, of groups, of socializing with the same people on a constant basis. But then you realize that maybe they weren't so great after all.

You are beginning to understand yourself and what you want and do not want. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging a bit more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and add things to your list of what is acceptable and what is not. You are insecure and then secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough to get to know better. You love someone but maybe love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you are not a bad person.

One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap and getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans and money and the future and making a life for yourself and while wining the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!

What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.

"Hey, Gorgeous"

It was a long story, except that I've lost most of it, so now it's a short story.

Anyway, it ended with me walking on a beach in a pinkish sunset. I was making my way towards the water, when I saw this girl. She's wearing a hat and looking at the water (or was she actually in the water?). But then she sensed me getting closer and she looks back at me with this self-assured and beautiful smile.

"Hey, gorgeous," I said.

She keeps the smile for a few more moments and then she replies.

"Ikaw yung into photography?" ("You're the one who's into photography?")

I nodded and smiled.

And then as if on cue, I started hearing:

You, soft and only
You, lost and lonely
You, strange as angels
Dancing in the deepest oceans
Sitting in the water
You're just like a dream
You're just like a dream

. . .

Then I woke up and I'm back in New York in winter weather. I'm lying ever so comfortably on my bed and mumbling "Hey gorgeous?!"

Then I went blissfully back to sleep.

On Craigslist Scams

Below is an example of a Craiglist scam.

I was trying to sell my 20" Apple Cinema Display for $550. This is the first time I'm using Craigslist to sell something. Read it below and try to recognize what's wrong with it, and then I'll tell you why I'm not selling my monitor to this person.

Thanks for your reply... am quite comfortable with the condition now since i wont be making any repairs on it.its my first time buying anything here..i just need the item for my son..he's recovering from an illness..he picked up in college..he's studying computer programming..SunJava ....the PC will keep his eyes opened,i've checked out the payment options i'll prefer making payment through ( U.S.P.S)postal Money Order and if you would prefer the money to be sent through money gram delivery service just let me know all i need to proceed & send out payment to you is your full contact  info where you want the money or money order delivered to,because  this will be written on the money order that will be sent to you,i  will offer you $650 for the item for proper packaging..wont mind a gift box so that we can close the post as  soon as possible and enable me pay for the shipping, i hope my bid is okay?...if not let me know your highest bid..Once my payment is approved i will like to pick up the item  with my personal fedex account.Let me know how it goes okay?

So What's Wrong?

Why would I refuse to sell it to someone who had just added $100 over my asking price?

1. Precisely because the person added $100 more to my asking price...


2. The sob story about her son sounded fishy.


3. Nobody says "Java" as "SunJava". Dumb.


4. She said that it's for her son's PC. If she knew any better, the Apple Cinema Display can only be used on a PC with a DVI connection. But since she said "SunJava", it tells me that she's not tech-savvy. In any case, she should have said her son's "Mac".


5. Someone studying programming will already have a monitor and would not need his mother to buy him one on Craigslist.


6. Why on earth would  you be interested in buying computer equipment that you might need to repair?


7. Fraud involving USPS postal money orders, cashier checks, money gram payments and Western Union are fairly common.


8. For someone who's buying on Craigslist for the first time, she sure had it all figured out with her Postal Money Orders and moneygrams. She never asked me how the payment process would go.


9. The whole email sounded too generic.


10. $650 for my monitor is too much, plus the buyer wanted to pay for shipping. You might as well buy a new one for $699.

The last point was a dead giveaway.

I'm a good guy, right? In fact, I was going to email the lady and advise her that she was going to pay too much for my used monitor, no matter how good the condition was. But later, I smelled a rat.

Check out this page:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html

This page confirms my theory.

Here's the clincher, I received another email with a similar offer and terms.

The page above has this one piece of advice for Craigslist transactions: DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON. Sounds like good advice to me.

So be warned. If it involves money and it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

-m

P.S. If you haven't used Craigslist, it's not a bad site. It started in the San Francisco Bay Area and I used to look for apartments around the Silicon Valley on that site back in 1999. I've been using it to look for real estate around here as well.

Gone Home Sick

What I put up with at work...

Yesterday afternoon (about 10 hours ago), I decided to take a half sick day.

I was by the elevators in my jacket and my backpack when a group of people from the office noticed me.

"Where are YOU going?" A Project Manager asked me.

"Home. I'm sick."

[starts over-reacting]

"Don't go near me Marvin!. Oh geez guys, Marvin's got this weird Filipino sickness!"

"Weird Filipino sickness?"

"Maybe it's SARS, man!"

"Yeah, I'm so sure it's something that doesn't originate from human beings. Like some weird animal sickness."

[elevator chimes. we all step inside.]

The same PM starts the thread again.

"Don't go near Marvin. He's sick. He's been scratching all day. I've seen him!"

"I'm telling you it's SARS man!"

Black-Out at Queens Continues

And I mostly don't feel any of it because my area in Woodside was spared.

This has been the case since Monday night, though for some reason my building and its periphery are not affected. My cable-based internet connection went out though and has been erratic. It was out for most of Tuesday night and Wednesday (along with cable TV). Otherwise, everything's normal where I am and I can sleep with the AC on. Other Woodside folks are not as lucky.

Black-outs -- especially in the hot NYC summer -- remind me of the Philippines where the term "brown-out" was invented (not quite severe as a black-out, but it happens several times in the day and quite so often, as in the case of the aftermath of powerful typhoons or earthquakes).

It's generally a hassle. On the bright side, no electricity means clear, star-lit skies, candle wax balls, and peace and quiet if you need it.

Black Out

Except for my area it seems, everything around Woodside, Queens is in darkness. This seems to be the case since Monday night.

But only yesterday, Tuesday, my cable Internet connection went out along with cable TV itself. Fortunately, everything else was ok and I can sleep with the AC on. The other Woodside folks aren't as lucky. Traffic lights were erratic this morning also and train service is bad (I heard anyway).

Black out days reminds me of the Philippines. Clear night skies dotted with stars. Houses lit with candles and charged lamps. Hand puppets, creepy stories, the Cory Administration and Typhoon Saling (both in 5th grade). The sometimes depressing and sometimes relaxing silence.

Text-Messaging Bloopers

Phone Usability Problems

Most memorable text messages sent to the wrong people:

1. "Try anything funny and I will have you hunted down and castrated."

(It's a joke, but mistakenly sent to someone in the Singles for Christ group.)

2. "I opened up my eyes. And found myself alone above the raging sea that stole the only girl I loved and drowned her deep inside of me."

(From the song "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure, sent to my cousin in response to a query, mistakenly sent to a girl friend)

3. "I wasn't there at all. It was my twin brother."

(Another context joke, somebody responded, "twin? u?". No I don't have a twin.)

4. "No. XXXX will not like it."

(Mistakenly sent to XXXX. Uh-oh...)

I need a new phone. Soon.

Why Am I Having This Conversation, II

"...So what's going on? How are you and your girlfriend?" says the first guy.

"We broke up," I said.

"What?! Really?"

"Same girl when you were in California?" asks the second guy.

"Yes."

"You have a new girl?"

"No."

"You have several?"

"No."

"What about her?"

"She's seeing this guy..."

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I still see her sometimes."

"You still see each other?"

"Yes."

[second guy turns to first]

"Now that's a bit unusual."

"Yeah Marvin, that's a bit unusual."

"No hang-ups ups? No nothing? I think he's not human. I think maybe this guy's evolved."

"Marvin, here's some advice: Don't get married. Go bang as many women as you can!"

"Well you're married," I replied. "And he's married."

"Yeah. That's beyond the point. I'm telling you go bang all women. Enjoy you youth. CONSUME all of them. Leave no bones behind!"

[thinks]

"You really just need one."

"See he's a smart guy."

"Do you date white women? Do you date just your own kind?"

"I'm not really exposed to non-Filipinos."

"You should mix and match bro. Get a black girl, a Puerto Rican, a Dominican... Let's see... So we can take you to the Bronx, Washington Heights... What about Puerto Ricans? [pause] Jersey City..."

"And this religion thing, Marvin. I'm telling you, religion is the downfall of mankind."

"But you're Catholic yourself."

"Sadly, yes. But I'm telling you the Catholic Church is one guilt-stricken organization. But I'm into that stuff you know... Love thy neighbor..."