starshadow_rivaulx (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
starshadow_rivaulx) wrote2008-11-14 09:20 am
starshadow_rivaulx) wrote2008-11-14 09:20 am
Something to smile about today
Eh, I am trying to catch up with my LJ-friends, but the journaling side of me keeps talking and talking...so, here we go.
I have a very long story for y'all. ::chuckle:: Remember last night, I posted about how I was desperately trying to get my ChiPod converter program to work? Well, I was up till past midnight, experimenting with freeware that would produce output the ChiPod converter could work with.
Despite that, I managed to wake up for the early morning trip to Makati Med for Ramon's blood extraction. Christmas is coming – the air is distinctly cooler in the mornings. It was a beautiful morning, too. We stopped by the bank on the way to the hospital, to get some “mad money” for our projected trip to Makati Cinema Square (aka home of the bootleg economy), and then discovered upon our arrival at the hospital that the pathology lab has now moved to the front of the hospital. So Ramon got himself some unexpected exercise – part of which involved walking down an non-functional escalator. Ergh.
Other than that, the extraction process went quite as usual. The new lab is a thing of beauty, well-organized and a cashier now within easy reach. I like the new set-up.
Once the blood had been drawn, Ramon and I strolled over to Jollibee for breakfast and our morning paper. I ordered extra pancakes – what can I say, I was hungry! (Looking back on it, I think I am entering PMS mode; the moon is full and I am, despite all the good times of the day, feeling strangely moody.) Then, after breakfast, we discovered we had about an hour and a half on our hands, therefore we strolled over to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Convergys), where I had myself a nice cuppa English Breakfast tea. Hot, of course, the way real tea ought to be served. Methinks I will switch over to tea of a morning and save coffee for the afternoons. ::smile::
Reading the paper at The Coffee Bean took up just the right amount of slack in our time, and by quarter to ten, we were off to Makati Cinema Square for our shopping spree. Hubby and I, alas, are shameless in our patronage of the bootleg industry. But I scored some lovely old movies (think Cary Grant in “Night and Day”!) and a couple of classic TV series that have yet to be seen in Astrovision or any of the legitimate outlets.
We are now set up for a month of video viewing, not counting the films accumulating on the DVR. Were I to suddenly come into the funds necessary to build a house on that vacant lot next door, the one thing I'm sure I would put in it is a home theatre – as in, a carpeted, soundproofed room with a kick-ass HDTV, blue-ray DVR recorder, and home theatre sound system. Pillows and cushions everywhere, a daybed, a mini-bar and a bathroom.
But I digress...
Ramon and I went our separate ways after we'd finished at the movies; he went into BookSale and I tried to find a store that sold mice. Spoiled as I am by CD-R King, I find the idea of paying Php250 for a device that can do just as well priced at Php150 quite off-putting. So no mouse today – am getting very well-acquainted with my trackpad, thanks much.
It was during this ramble that I saw the pretty white PSP on display, and on a whim, asked about the price. P8K (USD167) – second-hand, so came without box or manual, but with a 4GB Pro Duo Memory Stick and of course the power/charger cord. Remembered that the gizmo played videos. Remembered that one of the freewares installed on the laptop could convert to PSP-video files. I'll say this much: the saleslady knew how to let the customer sell herself on the gadget – she let me hold it, play with it, see the beauty of the graphics, without saying anything more than that other folk were interested in it. Told her I'd come back after lunch, and if it was there, then it was there.
So over lunch at Chow King, I talked with Ramonabout it. He said he was okay with my having a new toy; so by the time lunch ended, I made up my mind to get it. I went to the money machine to get the budget for the new baby – which of course included necessary things like a case, a screen protector and the all-important USB cord!
Got home, found a freeware dedicated to making file conversion to PSP idiot-proof and hassle-free, and not only have I converted the latest episodes of CSI:Miami and CSI:New York for future viewing, I also installed wallpaper (Horatio Caine!) and updated the PSP firmware on my own. Bwahaaah! Those strange sounds coming from my corner of the world? That would be me rejoicing that the conversion program worked like a charm, and the video is simply beautiful.
::does the happy dance::
In other news? I passed by a stall where blind masseurs were giving massages at minimal rates, and decided to treat myself. I had this little old man assigned to me, and whoa, was he ever thorough. He found knots in my back that I never knew existed, and worked them into submission. Lord, was it ever a painful experience to go through – but so worth it in the end. I feel like a new (if somewhat sore) person again. The best part is that their headquarters is located in Don Bosco, so within easy reach and convenient parking, too. Whee! ::does another happy dance::
Then, as if to reassure me that maybe I wasn't such a spendthrift after all, I get a notice of a dividend coming my way in December. Yay! Life can be so good. ::rejoices and is glad::
I have a very long story for y'all. ::chuckle:: Remember last night, I posted about how I was desperately trying to get my ChiPod converter program to work? Well, I was up till past midnight, experimenting with freeware that would produce output the ChiPod converter could work with.
Despite that, I managed to wake up for the early morning trip to Makati Med for Ramon's blood extraction. Christmas is coming – the air is distinctly cooler in the mornings. It was a beautiful morning, too. We stopped by the bank on the way to the hospital, to get some “mad money” for our projected trip to Makati Cinema Square (aka home of the bootleg economy), and then discovered upon our arrival at the hospital that the pathology lab has now moved to the front of the hospital. So Ramon got himself some unexpected exercise – part of which involved walking down an non-functional escalator. Ergh.
Other than that, the extraction process went quite as usual. The new lab is a thing of beauty, well-organized and a cashier now within easy reach. I like the new set-up.
Once the blood had been drawn, Ramon and I strolled over to Jollibee for breakfast and our morning paper. I ordered extra pancakes – what can I say, I was hungry! (Looking back on it, I think I am entering PMS mode; the moon is full and I am, despite all the good times of the day, feeling strangely moody.) Then, after breakfast, we discovered we had about an hour and a half on our hands, therefore we strolled over to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (Convergys), where I had myself a nice cuppa English Breakfast tea. Hot, of course, the way real tea ought to be served. Methinks I will switch over to tea of a morning and save coffee for the afternoons. ::smile::
Reading the paper at The Coffee Bean took up just the right amount of slack in our time, and by quarter to ten, we were off to Makati Cinema Square for our shopping spree. Hubby and I, alas, are shameless in our patronage of the bootleg industry. But I scored some lovely old movies (think Cary Grant in “Night and Day”!) and a couple of classic TV series that have yet to be seen in Astrovision or any of the legitimate outlets.
We are now set up for a month of video viewing, not counting the films accumulating on the DVR. Were I to suddenly come into the funds necessary to build a house on that vacant lot next door, the one thing I'm sure I would put in it is a home theatre – as in, a carpeted, soundproofed room with a kick-ass HDTV, blue-ray DVR recorder, and home theatre sound system. Pillows and cushions everywhere, a daybed, a mini-bar and a bathroom.
But I digress...
Ramon and I went our separate ways after we'd finished at the movies; he went into BookSale and I tried to find a store that sold mice. Spoiled as I am by CD-R King, I find the idea of paying Php250 for a device that can do just as well priced at Php150 quite off-putting. So no mouse today – am getting very well-acquainted with my trackpad, thanks much.
It was during this ramble that I saw the pretty white PSP on display, and on a whim, asked about the price. P8K (USD167) – second-hand, so came without box or manual, but with a 4GB Pro Duo Memory Stick and of course the power/charger cord. Remembered that the gizmo played videos. Remembered that one of the freewares installed on the laptop could convert to PSP-video files. I'll say this much: the saleslady knew how to let the customer sell herself on the gadget – she let me hold it, play with it, see the beauty of the graphics, without saying anything more than that other folk were interested in it. Told her I'd come back after lunch, and if it was there, then it was there.
So over lunch at Chow King, I talked with Ramonabout it. He said he was okay with my having a new toy; so by the time lunch ended, I made up my mind to get it. I went to the money machine to get the budget for the new baby – which of course included necessary things like a case, a screen protector and the all-important USB cord!
Got home, found a freeware dedicated to making file conversion to PSP idiot-proof and hassle-free, and not only have I converted the latest episodes of CSI:Miami and CSI:New York for future viewing, I also installed wallpaper (Horatio Caine!) and updated the PSP firmware on my own. Bwahaaah! Those strange sounds coming from my corner of the world? That would be me rejoicing that the conversion program worked like a charm, and the video is simply beautiful.
::does the happy dance::
In other news? I passed by a stall where blind masseurs were giving massages at minimal rates, and decided to treat myself. I had this little old man assigned to me, and whoa, was he ever thorough. He found knots in my back that I never knew existed, and worked them into submission. Lord, was it ever a painful experience to go through – but so worth it in the end. I feel like a new (if somewhat sore) person again. The best part is that their headquarters is located in Don Bosco, so within easy reach and convenient parking, too. Whee! ::does another happy dance::
Then, as if to reassure me that maybe I wasn't such a spendthrift after all, I get a notice of a dividend coming my way in December. Yay! Life can be so good. ::rejoices and is glad::