On connections, and our good friend Mr. Penn

Since I got the 3G broadband wireless router at home, my old gadgets have been flexing their dusty Wi-Fi muscle: Sony PSP, Tungsten TX, Nokia E52, MSI Megabook VR 320X notebook, and Lenovo S10-2 netbook.

Now, whenever and wherever I am in the house, as long as the router is powered up, I can get connected to the web.

***

But with all this connectivity, I miss my connection with my family the most.

My daily interaction with my family ended when I started high school. On day one at high school, I lost my daily dose of dinner-time talks with the family, with everyone exchanging tales of how the day went, lending ears to my troublesome issues, giving advice, and keeping my inspiration burning at its brightest.

So I am forever grateful to the generous souls that kept me company around the dinner table at the end of the day for my entire high school life -- the Baylas family and the Badana family. ^^

They made the adjustment so much easier, and fun. ^^

***

It's been five years since our dear friend Penn passed away. I give thanks for the good man, the good and bad times we shared, and his legacy at the stations.

Cheers!

Restless

Over the past week, I've been reading reviews, trying out demo units from one shop to another, peppering sales reps with every possible question I can think of, and bugging my officemate about her own unit.

Yep, the tablet fever finally caught up, and I'm making sure all my anti-"mindless spending" safeguards are in place.

The first safeguard is easy enough to resolve: determining that the urge to buy is a function of "need" instead of just "want".

The second one, and the more time consuming, is choosing the right unit.

And here lies the rub.

You see, I have this genetic tendency to be attracted with the uncommon. Had I been a voter, my natural tendency would be to take interest in the dehado (underdog) rather than the llamado (favorite).

In the early part of the tablet race, I have unfortunately fallen in love with a dehado.

Of course, I weigh the pros and cons. With enough time and technical information, I too can have a change of heart.

And when my head and heart are at peace, I would be just inches away from saying "Miss, kunin ko na 'to."

But then again, there's a reason for the title of this blog.

Just before I decide to make the purchase, the final and most powerful safeguard I have in my head will kick in: it will tell me to go back to #1.

It's a character flaw, I know. ^^

But the fact that my Palm Tungsten TX is back in my bag -- and that this entry was drafted entirely using it -- is proof to just how powerful this final safeguard is. Haha!

Let the tablet wars begin. The major players are only beginning to show their weapons. I'm happy to wait a little longer and just watch.

Oral history

Forget IPad or IPhone. The first gadget I'm getting myself this 2011 is a handy-dandy video recorder.

It's always a treat listening to my father-in-law share his life experience. This morning he recounted with great detail the story behind his signature "bao"(Hiligaynon for turtle) or the turtle power tiller.

By the time we finished our morning coffee, I learned about the person who first patented the bao, how my father-in-law worked his way around that patent to come up with his own design, how these patents work, and the names behind the pioneers of mechanized farming in Panay.

Throughout his sharing one could piece together the kind of life he's lead, and how it explains his current relationship with his children.

Priceless nuggets of wisdom, as well as stinging jabs at us and the rest of today's generation -- each time I hear them I wish I could capture them verbatim.

So there, the first item in my electronic wishlist for 2011. ^^

IPad would probably be second.