Tropical depression now active in our part of the world. Good thing I’m no longer in Metro Manila to suffer horrendous floods and traffic jams.

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Last night was our global townhall meeting and almost 90% of the questions are about hiring. Long story short, no, we will not hire. Management will be very selective in hiring a.k.a. pirating from well-known competitors or companies in allied industries.

Good thing I didn’t fly to HK for this personal campaign of mine. I would have just wasted my time.

Meanwhile, in another editorial regional meeting today, the message is: AI will be replacing some work done by stringers.

Well, as I said before, if you’re a generalist, you will be replaced by AI or any Tom, Dick, or Harry that can edit videos. I wonder how long will it take them to replace us editors and reporters.

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Meanwhile, this laptop is completely dead. Like the former owner of this machine. It would not power up anymore.

Good thing I was able to transfer all my files from the partition I did (Drive D) to my new PC but I wasn’t able to get the recordings of my interviews since they were in Drive C. For one last time, I will try to power this up to retrieve those because they’re my backup if some legal issues come up. (One of the reasons why I don’t throw away notebooks; handwritten notes stand in court as evidence.)

After so much grief and unintended purchases from Lazada (bi-directional HDMI splitter and HD DP to VGA cable at 6 am today), I was able to make this work through a DP to VGA converter. Then I downloaded the AMD software Adrenalin Edition. Then I went to Gaming > Display > Display 1 (display port) > enable Virtual Super Resolution. Since the input signal (from DP) has higher resolutions, this setup will render at resolutions higher than my display’s native pixel grid (my two Lenovo monitors are not 4k because I’m cheap and not really a gamer). The AMD software scales down the resolution to my display’s native pixel grid.

I tried adjusting the refresh rate of my display but no, I’m stuck with 60 Hz.

It took me a couple of hours today to figure this one. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Meanwhile, I had put this on my bedroom door because my kids are makulit. After they come home from school, they would barge into my room without knocking or any other warning.

I am having a standoff with Kimchi. That dratted cat has been clawing, biting, and hissing at me all day because she was so pissed that I brought them to the vet for check up and deworming.

I was able to outwit them this afternoon by taking advantage of their fear—I had their claws trimmed at the vet clinic. When we got home, I was able to sneak in the deworming medicine into the Royal Canin recovery food that they loved so much when they got sick when they were younger.

Because the dewormer caused havoc in their tummies, my cats are doubly pissed at me. Despite that, I was able to give Sushi her Metronidazole.

Kimchi is another matter. She’s so ill-tempered that I had altogether given up on giving her the Metronidazole. I tried folding it in the RC recovery food but she smelled the Metronidazole so she was pawing at it, as if she’s burying poop. 🤣

She’s now hiding under the love seats (either of the two seats) and is waiting for me to disappear. But no, I am patient. Let’s see if I can outwit her again.

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I didn’t order the semi-mini PC (ITX casing) because it was still a waste of space for me. Instead, I went for a mini PC that already has the latest chipset (AMD Ryzen 5 6600H, 16 GB DDR 5 RAM, 512 GB SSD, WiFi6). The mini-tower being offered to me only had DDR 4. The specs of this mini PC assure me that I’m good for the next 4-5 years.

I had put the unit on a laptop stand to dissipate heat underneath.

This one is so small that I think it’s better I bring this to SG instead of a laptop. It’s super handy. I’ll just chuck one of my keyboards and mouse in my luggage since I already have dual monitors in the office where I can plug in. I’ll just carry my Samsung Galaxy S Tab if I need to edit or write on the fly. I can fit that one in my handbag without causing shoulder strain.

However, I’m having problems with my DP jack. The HDMI is working but my second monitor uses an HDMI to Display Port cable. The systen can’t detect the monitor and much worse is it causes the PC to lag.

I had reinstalled Windows 11 Pro, updated software, updated AMD Radeon and AMD Ryzen drivers, but still the second monitor doesn’t work. 🥴 And now I only have a few hours left before I wake up again to cook breakfast.

Speaking of morning, my cat Kimchi is recharging her solar cells on my bed, hidden behind my curtain on a Sunday morning.

Ah it’s Monday again.

My girls just had their first school dance. Twin I did not win the Ms. Freshman title and she was a bit disappointed. I told her, don’t be so—you joined for fun. She said, no, because I am competitive. 😶😶😶

I told her, you’re just starting high school, you have several years ahead of you to do so many things. Don’t push yourself too much. You join this, you join that but at the end you complain that you have too many things to do and can’t go to bed early. 😑

Twin A, on the other hand, enjoyed herself so much that she was in danger of losing her voice because she was screaming with friends so much. No, I wasn’t there, of course, as this is just the story they told me.

Next week will be the parent-teacher conference. I’m not worried because they report everyday that both of them are the highest in exams in their respective classes (they belong to different sections). They’re scared that I would throw a fit if they get marks lower than 90%. Well, I haven’t thrown a hissy fit yet.

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I struggled keeping myself awake this morning to cook because I got knocked out by diphenhydramine last night. My allergies were bad; there’s something in the air that triggers our histamines to go nuts. My sis-in-law and nephew are sniffling and coughing while my sisters’ rhinitis got pretty bad. I think the changing season has activated something from the forest around us.

Meanwhile, I haven’t booked anything yet for HK. I’m still torn.

However, it seems like the bed bug problems in Paris and New York have reached Seoul. Now HK is freaking out.

The problem with bed bugs, once you have them, it’s difficult to get rid of from your house.

So no, I haven’t booked anything yet.

This cat has nothing on my cat, Kimchi. She is the devil incarnate. If there’s a cat shrew, she is that. I have multiplied my scratches and I don’t think it will stop.

I am psyching myself now to do this on my own.

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You’ll be surprised how strong she is. I tried doing this on my own, it’s impossible. I can manage Sushi by myself but Kimchi is a different matter.

I haven’t booked anything for HK next week. So it seems like I won’t go so I will not come home to dead cats. Although Kimchi is improving a bit, drug resistance is real and it could make symptoms worse. Sushi, on the other hand, has not exhibited symptoms but her fecalysis showed she has protozoa (can be counted) and bacterial infection. Kimchi’s protozoa was “too many to count” so it was critical that I’m around to administer metronidazole and cotrimaxozole.

My mom couldn’t believe I am sacrificing work for my cats. I told her that I would be devastated if any of my cats die.

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I tried ordering shoes online, via Instagram to patronize Marikina shoemakers.

The leather is so soft so I think I won’t get that much blisters like the usual when I buy leather loafers. But I have to return this for exchange because the size is too small. I like it though.

Once I get the right size, I will order more from them. The price is reasonable and I want to support the local shoe industry. Talking to Buddy Tan, the owner of Blackwing Shoes, also convinced me that local shoe-making industry shouldn’t die because of China imports. My usual go-to shoes like Naturalizer and Aerosoles (they manufacture shoes in China) have gone down in quality after being bought by private equity firms—not surprising. Rockport and Geox are terrible for my feet. I bought a pair of black pumps from Ecco and only worn it once because they hurt too much. I just gave them away to Ate C. These brands give me blisters and it takes a long time for me to break into their shoes. I no longer have the stamina for that especially that I chase people, literally, all over conference halls and across hotel lobbies.

I am going back to buying local brands. They are enjoying a resurgence with the help of Instagram/clever marketing via social media. Aside from OAK and Blackwing Shoes, I am planning to order from Mariquina Shoes and probably Rob and Mara.

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I have also followed local leather bag makers like Sato & Co, Astrid Leather, Manila Tannery, and Niqua. I am already a patron of Our Tribe and it was so convenient that its factory and showroom is just in Sikatuna, walking distance from our former apartment. I have two bags and a belt from this brand. The bags have yet to sustain damage—they’re built like tanks. My first Our Tribe bag that I bought in 2014 is still intact and very much usable and hasn’t aged that much.

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