Takeaway #1 Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Posted by hopefulinsomniac in Today's Takeaway.add a comment
Bet you’ve seen a bollard. Bet you’ve passed by several ones. But I bet you didn’t know it’s called a BOLLARD!
So, what is a Bollard (pronounced as buh’luhrd)?
Wikipedia.com says: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollard)“A bollard is a short vertical post. Originally meaning a strong post used on a quay for mooring, the term is also used in the United Kingdom for a variety of structures to control or direct road traffic.
Bollards are strong metal posts that can be used to close a road or path to vehicles above a certain width. Bollards can be mounted close enough to block ordinary cars, for instance, but wide enough to permit special-purpose vehicles through. Bollards can be used to enclose car-free zones: removable bollards allow access for emergency vehicles.
The American Heritage Dictionary describes this use of Bollard as “chiefly British”, although the term has crept into the jargon of some American universities.
A recent development is the “rising bollard” – a bollard that can be lowered entirely below the road surface to enable traffic to pass, or raised to block traffic. Rising bollards are used to secure sensitive areas from attack, or to enforce traffic rules that are time related or restrict access to particular classes of traffic.”
So, where in the metro can you find these vertical structures? Sirit na?
Of course, in the land of the Binays, Makati City! Most prominently along the road of the Zobels, Ayala Avenue.
You know those yellow vertical structures that could damage your car if you’re DUI (read: driving under the influence…of alcohol!) hehehe.
So, the next time you are with a friend and find yourselves along Ayala Ave, try to impress him/her by educating him/her about bollards, your takeaway of the day.
(P.S. I’m trying my best to refer to both male and female sexes as equals by emphasizing the “him/her”) J
SONA means Same Old Nondescript Act Monday, July 24, 2006
Posted by hopefulinsomniac in Bureaukrazy.1 comment so far
I’ve signed out already but I just couldn’t resist commenting on the SONA of PGMA. So here’s my two-cents worth on the SONA.
It really is a miracle that she delivered her 6th (!) address to the nation; that means she has been the reigning queen for the past six years. The news said that it was a sixty-one minute speech with about 26,000 characters, the second longest speech compared to the past ones. But I really didn’t care. It was a fully scripted geography lesson, and what a boring unsuccessful class session it was. She had to resort to name-dropping and the appearance of various personalities to make it a “lively” presentation, the power point thing didn’t help much. But what irked me the most was the super-Philips1600watts-vacuuming act of “janitor-fish” and “leech-erous” politicians sucking up by punctuating each statement with an applause! And they added a standing ovation, my arse! Poor PGMA, her spin doctors had to resort to using those blinking APPLAUSE box used in TV shows.
What I was really looking forward to was just a simple, straight-forward update on the accomplishments of the promises made in past SONAs. But there was none. All she blabbed about were those grandiose plans. Oh all right, I’m all for those plans, if all of those are true, hindi ba “drawing-drawing” lang. But given the situation for the past six years, plans like those she mentioned end up like the phantom weapons of mass destruction Bush and Blair used as lame excuses to invade Iraq for its oil reserves (well this is another topic I will elaborate at a later time). I pity the Ifugao family she presented, they’ll probably end up like the three kids of the bangkang papel fame, broken promises, broken dreams.
Haaay…buhay…mahal na ang gulay…dahil sa bagyo po, nanay…
May hope pa kaya para sa Pilipinas…siguro, kung magkakatotoo ang mga SONAs…
It’s 6:16am, haven’t slept yet, but still a hopeful insomniac (but i’m so tempted to change it to hopeless na…)
Navigating through the Quagmire called EDSA, especially on a Rainy Day Monday, July 24, 2006
Posted by hopefulinsomniac in Potpourri.add a comment
Alas, the rainy season is in full force now. As a daily commuter, the first thing that comes to mind is EDSA on a very wet day. It’s the time of the year when EDSA reprises its annual role of being the catch basin of flashflood waters brought about by the heavy rains. Hence, navigating through Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare during this pluvial period turns into a quagmire, easily beating out any Indy 500 race.So I thought that maybe a few tips are in order for all ye commuters and users of EDSA. Let’s start the ball rolling:
- Stay within your lane, ok. This isn’t a difficult request to abide by.
- Please…if you need to change lanes, USE your signal lights! Don’t cut! Don’t try that zigzagging technique, either! Same goes out to tailgaters too.
- So you won’t drowse during those long idle moments, listen to AM stations whatever your preference may be (DZBB 594 if you’re Kapuso or DZMM 630 if you’re Kapamilya). If you’re on the road by 5PM, try Tita Swarding at the not-so-holy but not-so-frightening station 666, sorry I forgot the station ID hehe. He-she is a riot to listen to. Or listen to Atty Danny Concepcion on Kapamilya 630 for sound legal advice on various problems and issues from 7-8PM. I like listening to this show; it gives me the feeling that I can be a pseudo-lawyer and dish out legal advice to friends as well. BUT if you’re the kind who couldn’t stand the local stations, “coñotic” (read soci as in sosyal) ba ang dating, then switch to those loud FM stations that employ DJs who play pop/rock music, who are downright OA, pa-slang and silly, well sometimes. Really.
- To all drivers of public utility buses, don’t use the gargantuan size of your vehicles to cut or overtake or just plain occupy half of EDSA! To all private commuters in their Ford Explorers or dambuhalang four-wheel drives, same message goes to you too.
- Please don’t text while driving (although I’m one of those guilty here). If you’re expecting a really important call, use those handsfree set that comes with your mobile phone unit.
What else ba….feel free to add more tips. Let’s compile a list and send it to LTO for dissemination to all commuters. Discipline that starts in each individual Filipino is one key towards propelling the nation to progress.
Oh, by the way, i posted this at around 5am. Still a hopeful insomniac.
Yuhoo out there! Thursday, July 20, 2006
Posted by hopefulinsomniac in Moi.4 comments
Welcome to my world! Ooops, it’s 5:31am now, gotta sleep. Sorry, my welcome is kinda abrupt. But I’ll get back to it later, ok. Ciao!
