Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop

Today, Louise and I were supposed to go to the gym coz it's been weeks again since the last time we worked out but because of the stronger desire to just hang out at a near by mall, we changed our plan and headed to Podium.

I brought along with me my laptop, in which i just bought mid of 2nd quarter this year and then after almost a month, its uber 250gb harddisk crashed. Yeah i know the feeling!!! Not to brag about my laptop that has soaring specs, a black dell inspiron 1525 model: 3gb RAM; 250gb SATA HD; Intel Core 2 Duo; 1.83Ghz; built-in 2 megapixel webcam; and wi-fi capable. I had my friend buy it in Canada, and it's really cheaper compared to those laptops available here that are far down with regards to their specs. Well i guess this is the price you pay for having it bought outside because the warranty support for it will be a tedious thing since there's no official Dell support center here in the country, and the only choice for me to avail the warranty included is to ship it back to Canada. No way! I'll just shed some money to have it fixed rather than taking the risk of sending it to Canada with no finite timing when it can be returned to me.

Anyway to cut it short, I went to GTG shop at the basement level of Podium and had them checked on the unit and advise on whether my speculation was true and on the solution. Vern, the guy from the shop received my laptop, and took out the harddisk from it and have it plugged like an external harddisk on a near by pc to check whether he can retrieve my numerous and precious files before reformatting it if it can still be used. We left the laptop with him while he was trying to revive it because it will just bore us out. Instead, he will just text me on the findings once done.

Side story...we left the GTG shop and had ourselves dine on NYPD, that's in the Cinema level of Podium, beside Subway. Louise was the one who picked the place and as well as the food. We pigged out on blue cheese delights. She ordered an NYPD Blue Pizza, Buffalo wings and Clam Chowder soup. I love the unique taste of blue cheese on the pizza, she's hesitant that i might not like the taste of it but c'mon i love food trip. The buffalo wings for me tops it all, i drooled on the sauce, its somewhat tangy and a bit spicy, that really complimented the dip made up of tartar cream sauce mixed with blue cheese. I love the dip! I even used some of it as a speard over my blue cheese pizza. Clam chowder is fine with me nothing speacial but delicious. Definitely i will go back to get some of the buffalo wings again and blue cheese pizza. Ok enough about food! Remember, you didn't go the gym! Hahahaha! Going back to the main topic...

I received an sms message from Vern, saying that he could no longer reformat my harddisk and worse, couldn't make it work anymore to retrieve my files. Oh no!Goodbye to my files which includes a lot of pictures, personal stuffs, previous work-related projects, etc...I don't have any back-up of those coz to sum them all would amount to more than 70gb in size. Regrets...regrets...if i haven't deleted the files after transferring them from my old laptop, i should still have them.

The only option left for me was to buy a new hard disk. I went to megamall to buy a new one, instead of letting the shop buy for me which would take a number of days before they can give me back my laptop. I bought a 160gb harddisk. I decided to downgrade it from the previous 250gb to 160gb harddisk because I am afraid that it might crash again and will just make the remaining free space go to waste. I'll just buy an external hard disk so that I can have more than 250gb of space that is separated from each other. So if ever, well I hope not anymore, one of the harddisk crash then i still have my backup stored in the other one. I got my laptop around 8pm, its fixed already with all the packaged installers installed. The total amount i spent for the repair is 5100 pesos, the breakdown will be 1800 pesos for the service fee and 3300 pesos for the 160gb hard disk.

Lessons learned:

1. Always have a back-up!

2. Don't let your crashed harddisk saturated for too long, as early as you can bring them to a repair shop for a higher chance in reviving and repairing(as advised by Vern)

3. Don't be so over confident that a powerful laptop could not be faulty.

Why bother blogging??

It never came to my mind why on earth I started out with this blog a couple of years ago, not until I came to a blog post on wordpress.com. So why did I create this blog in the first place? If I am going to cast a spell to turn back time and be the person I was before when I first started out this blog, definitely i'll say for fun and the trend. Couple of years ago, tech life has been living in its peak and online journals or the word 'blog' as the term the trendy and 'it' people calls it were sprouting everywhere. Lots of websites hosting free online journal are coming out, to date there are 14,500,000 hits when you try searching the words "free online journal blog" using Google. Yes, that much hit is returned, looks exaggerated but true. And because im still young then, almost all the yuppies have their own personal blogs and so i said to myself, i need to have one as well hahaha! Too petty right? I know very much childish and immature!

Anyway going back to present, as time goes by, people change and so as their perspective in things. If I am to ask now why do blog, I would simply say that it's my mirror. Through here I can definitely express myself. I can freely say the stuffs that I want to, no holds barred to everything. I can become true to myself without any pretentions. I can laugh and cry without any hesitations. For the longest time now, I've always try to hide away from what i really feel and who i really am. And it is because of this blog, i can open up. For me, its easier to express whatever is in me thru here rather than talk about it. And lastly full of memories worth reminiscing and lessons that are to be learned from... when i don't feel good, i just revisit my previous posts to unravel my feelings.

With blogging, I can carry out intellectual conversations and opinions on everything. Its also a good way for me to see thru other people's mind from different parts of the world. I consider blogging to be a portal of the heart and mind...a plane worth exploring. :)

Proud to be Pinoy!

It is really sad to know that the foreigners recognize the filipino workers rather than our government does. This is something that our government should work on, improving the lives and welfare of the filipinos, giving credits to them instead of just politicalizing. They are considered as modern day heroes, not only because of the revenue they gave to our country but also because of the loneliness and sadness they have to endure being away from family just to give them a good life. They sacrificed the times where they could be with their loved ones especially during the childhood of their sons and daughters.

The article shows how filipino workers abroad are highly appreciated and given importance to their society, like in Saudi Arabia.

In relation to this, i would like to give credits to ABSCBN's 55th Year Advocacy, "Walang Iwanan Sa BAYANIJUAN" in which it brings back the concept of Filipino volunteerism or the bayanihan that will be the core foundation in launching different projects that will help create a better, more compassionate Philippines that will nurture the lives of future filipinos. The first successful tv campaign with the official theme song "Bagong Simula" really struck the hearts of the youth to realize how it is essential for the filipinos to do something about the current situation of the Philippines if we want to preserve the worth of filipinos.

I just hope that the spirit of bayanihan touches the filipinos in all parts of the world, especially our 'Government' , =P .

Cheers to the Filipinos! WALANG IWANAN SA BAYANIJUAN!!! ^__^

The Day After Tomorrow...

I have finally accepted the fact that sometimes things are not really meant for you no matter how bad you want it. It has sinked into my mind now that Watson Wyatt is not for me. At first its so hard to accept that coz the way i see it, it will be a very good opportunity for me. My career will really blossom in Watson Wyatt. I'm blinded by the short term achievements and pleasures, coz with them i will be able to go to UK, but only for the training.

I realized that God wants me to look what's beyond tomorrow, He's preparing me into something I don't know what it is and it's making me shiver in a way but I know, like always, He has plans. I just have to put my 100% trust on Him. I've felt a tremendous amount of depression and sadness, I've cried for a number of nights already and that's enough i've already suited myself up with pity and grief of how my life has been doing.

My last day here at work is nearing, and i don't know what will happen to me after. I'll just have to put my faith in Him and be amenable to whatever He gives to me. I've already asked Him a lot of questions that you could ever imagine, and He just answered me with two words.....FAITH and TRUST.

Like everybody else here in the Philippines, I am also dreaming, wanting and would definitely do anything just to have the life that i want. I want to give my family the comfort of life in exchange for the hardships and sufferings I have endowed on them while they were raising me to become the upright and brilliant person that i am now. For me, no matter what, thats how i would want to give them the token of thank you.

Just like the way i uttered my promise that i have fulfilled now, I am going to make the same attitude of statement that I will definitely prove that I stay true and intact with my words.