Certificate in I.T.

This is for those curious about the 1-year Certificate in I.T. program offered by the University of the Philippines Information Technology Training Center (UP ITTC).

In a nutshell, the program is for 1 year. You read that right, 1 whole year! Better stack up on blue acne light because you’ll really need it. It consists of four 10-week quarters. Classes start on June 7 from Monday to Friday at 8AM to 5PM. The program currently has three areas of specialization. And at the third quarter, you’ll be given the choice on which specialization you want, either Applications Development, Network Systems, or Embedded Systems.

I’m currently interested in Applications Development. But as I learn more about I.T. in the coming months, there’s a big possibility that I’d choose Network Systems or Embedded Systems too.

UP ITTC

About two years ago, Eks told me about the University of the Philippines Information Technology Training Center (UP ITTC). He knew that I’ve been wanting to take technical courses and learn more about networks, routers, ls2208, etc. Initially, I just wanted to take short courses. But after discussing it with my wife, we’ve decided to invest in the 1-year Certificate in I.T. program.

And last February, I took the entrance exam. I was a little bit worried because I didn’t do too well on the exams. But I guess it’s His will because He gave me some special favor and I passed!

Our classes start on June 7. And I’m very scared and excited!

pig (baboy)

It has always bothered me why we have that small container by the water dispenser area. And always, I see it filled with murky water, and sometimes it is accompanied by used tissues and discarded sachets of coffee, Milo, or Ovaltine.

This happens because colleagues are too lazy to walk up to the bathroom, which is but 10 steps away (okay maybe 20 steps), and wash their mugs after fixing themselves some kind of drink, either coffee, tea, or hot choco. What they do is rinse their mugs by the water dispenser and dump the contents in that small container. And there we have it.

I wouldn’t have been an issue if we had a pantry. But we don’t. And guess where the water dispenser? Right smack in front of the bosses’ office. Now imagine if the higher management, some foreign client, and/or cheap home insurance guests decide to visit one of the bosses’ office. I’m pretty sure they’d notice that interesting pail of water, not to mention the floaters. I wonder what kind of impression they’d have. In a top BPO company like ours, this shouldn’t be happening.

Today, when I went to the water dispenser, there was this chubby (I don’t want to say fat) woman (and I dare not call her a lady) putting hot water on her mug. And right after filing her cup, I noticed something interesting in her mug. It was a folded Ovaltine sachet that she was using as a stirrer. Quite resourceful I’d say. But after using this stirrer, she threw it right by the water bin. As she walked away (refer to pic to appreciate), I had to restrain myself from whacking her head. 

Seriously, what’s wrong with these people?

green smoothie

I was online looking for easy ways to eat and be healthy when I saw this cleansing smoothie that’s really very easy to make. Here’s the recipe for a healthy green smoothie:

2 bananas

1 ripe mango

2-3 large handfuls of baby spinach

1 celery stick

1 cup of water

Just combine everything in a blender and blitz.

I figured that since it’s a hot day, I’d put some ice cubes too so that I can sit by the outdoor cushions while sipping this green stuff. I’d try a little experiment and try other combinations too. Now we’re off to the supermarket.

Have a healthy weekend.

brewing excitement

I think it has become a habit every night to listen to the baby, talk, and wait for him/her for a response with a little kick or poke somewhere. We are still in awe at how babies are made. I mean, isn’t it just amazing that a human being is growing inside my wife. And it’s alive and kicking and making itself noticed!

So far, we’ve been blessed that my wife is having a good pregnancy. Aside from a little discomfort, everything’s ok. She’s also trying to eat as healthy as she can, focusing on fruits and veggies, and dutifully taking her women vitamins (I think two or three capsules as advised by her OB).

She’s near the end of her second trimester, and we can’t believe how fast time flies. Just three more months and she’ll be giving birth. And we’re all very excited.

malware attack

And so I actually thought I could relax this weekend. I politely turned down offers for weekend work so I could get that much needed R&R. Usually, I spend my Sunday working from home at about mid morning (after attending a very early church service at 7:30AM) till late afternoon. And with Mother’s Day being that Sunday, I figured I didn’t have time, not even getting rid of blackheads.

It was Friday when my wife alerted me that a malware pops up when she tries to access my site. And true enough, when I checked, there it was, redirecting our site to http://www1.firesavez7.com/?p=p52dcWpkbmqHjsbIo216h3de0KCfYWCdU9LXoKitaVzHysd2lJN%2Fel6orKWeZJWaZWJkamWem2SIo6THodjXoGJdo3OL1cytnpl2Wp6dpJ6eU9rPlqdqWpuooV6UYl6bYJGVmWFlY2aah9WemHGhqKykcmiQj8XOkqlalpOgxabDnl7JnNCTiaWqb2eXmJZsY2lpZ2harKyTapWYaGNgZWdol12Ik5OjfauK2pqbb26emQ%3D%3D and popping this message:

Warning! Your computer is at risk of malware attacks. We recommend you to…

And so I spent most of my weekend and the last three days learning about MySQL and backing up the MSSQL database. It was so frustrating trying to learn these things when at the same time worrying what the effing is going on!

I was somehow worried that it may be my fault. You see I was playing with a few subdomains, trying out new themes and editing some stuff.

suspense

Early this month, we visited my wife’s OB in the hope of being able to determine if our baby is a boy or a girl.

We had to wait a couple of hours during last month’s visit so we made sure we are early this time. We skipped lunch, which usually happens at around 2PM, and was at the OB’s office before 3PM. One thing you should know about me is that I get particularly grumpy when I’m hungry, so you think I took appetite suppressants that day because I was quite nice and wasn’t really bothered even though my stomach was silently making a protest.

Only the OB’s secretary was there and we were the first in line. Awesome! Good thing we were informed that the OB will be a bit late so I asked permission to buy food from the nearby fast food so we could eat. Thank goodness we were the only ones waiting or it would have really embarrassing eating at the doctor’s office.

Anyway, during the previous ultrasounds, the baby was always lying on its back. But this time, just when we can have a peek, it decided to roll over and hide. Very naughty baby!

Well, we just have to wait till next month then.