I have been struggling for the past three weeks with Noah’s SD card, and it’s driving me batty!

My Nokia 5300 Xpress Music, a gift from my beautiful wife, is designed for the music lover. When I first received it, I used the PC Suite it came with to sync the phone and transfer music in and out of it, which worked fine. Unfortunately, when I transferred jobs, I was assigned a Macbook Pro (named Macky), and I could no longer sync Noah, because, apparently, Nokia doesn’t produce similar software for Mac users. (Why use a Nokia phone and mp3 player when you can have an iPod and iPhone? Blast you, Steve Jobs, for your savvy future-telling skills!)

Noah has a ‘data storage’ function that enables it to upload information and the like via USB. For some reason, though, the Music folder, when synced with my Mac (and Cathy’s subsequent PC), doesn’t reflect the songs in the memory card. They’re like 180MB worth of ghost songs!

The end result? Noah has 51 songs totaling almost 180MB that I want to erase to make room for new songs, but can’t, because they doesn’t show up on the USB. I reinstalled the Nokia PC Suite software last night on Cathy’s PC to see if I could erase it using the legit software, but even that isn’t working. When I removed the memory card from Noah, the phone told me it had no songs in its memory, which tells me this is really a memory card issue.

*sigh* So my next action plan is to bring the memory card to Nokia’s service center to have them look at it. Seeing as I’ve had this phone for less than a year, I’m hoping that any issues I may have with the card can be resolved with their simply replacing the card. Hopefully. If not, I’m going to have to either buy a new memory card or just deal with this one, which sucks because 180MB is a lot of space.

This link to a PDI article is dated June 10, 2007. It’s a little less than a year ago. I quote:

The latest fuel price hike was the ninth for gasoline for a total of P5 a liter… The price hike brings premium unleaded gasoline prices to between P39.07 and P41.77 a liter.

Today, on the way home, I realized fuel is now selling for as much as P55.47 a liter. The cheapest fuel in my immediate vicinity is Petron’s P54.97/liter. This means that in just 12 months, gasoline prices rose P15.90, an incredible increase of almost 30%!

I know the world is reeling from skyrocketing fuel prices (thanks a lot, China!). For Filipinos who are getting by on the barest minimum, these high gasoline prices hit them hardest where it hurts - their stomachs. It boggles my mind that parents have to scrimp on their children’s food and education just so they can go to work!

Take us for example. We live very near the border of Caloocan and Quezon City. Cathy works along Taft Avenue; I work in Taguig City. Without traffic, I can get to work in a little under an hour; during rush hour, it can take as much as two and a half hours. The trips are approximately 60km, back and forth; we finish a tank of gasoline in approximately one week. At P54.97, filling up our 45-liter gasoline tank will cost approximately PHP2475, or a staggering P9,900 a month in gasoline! That’s a significant chunk of my salary right there, just to get to work. (Luckily, I love my work, so it’s worth the trip, kinda like Dunkin’ Donuts.)

I am so believing God for Nathan to make it to a good Chinese school in Makati, Taguig, Pasay, or Malate, then we can move houses and save money on both gasoline and time. We can’t live like this, we just can’t. Why can’t we stop the rise in gas prices? I don’t know how the corrupt in government can stomach squirreling millions of pesos while the middle and lower classes scramble to just make it by.

Cathy and I are not happy with Sky Cable, and join the many angry voices that are crying ‘FOUL!’ against the Philippine cable service provider Sky Cable. Today, Sky Cable removes many of our favorite channels, including Discovery Travel and Living and JackTV.

Here are some of the more important Sky Cable announcements that matter:

1. Praise God, Crime/Suspense is still around! It replaces RPN-9 on Sky Cable Channel 14. While the news and current affairs programs will continue to air, it’s wonderful to know we still get Bones!
2. ETC! and Second Ave are still alive. ETC! will air on Channel 16 (replacing SBN-21), while 2nd Avenue will air on Channel 19 (replacing RJTV 29, but that channel’s RJ’s Talk Show and Music Concert shows will continue to air on 2nd Avenue).
3. Lifestyle Network is now on Channel 52. Good to know we can still watch How Clean is Your House?
4. Disney Channel is now on Channel 47. (Big deal; we still don’t get Disney Playhouse.)

We paid our Sky Cable bill in full last year, expecting to receive all the channels we subscribed to at the time. Isn’t removing some of the channels that were being broadcast at the time of our subscription, including JackTV, Solar Sports, and Discovery Travel and Living, against our contract or something? Boo, Sky Cable, boo!

Today, I tried to purchase three CDs - Mandisa’s new Christmas Joy EP and two autographed CDs, Matthew West’s 2005 opus Happy and Avalon’s upcoming Another Time, Another Place: Timeless Christian Classics - off MusiChristian.com, one of my favorite online retailers for Christian CDs. The collective total, when one factors in the shipping costs, is somewhere near US$30, a price I was more than willing to pay for two autographed CDs and Mandisa’s new album.

After I filled out the shipping address information, to my consternation, a pop-up box told me that EMI will not allow the shipping of its items to a non-US address. It told me to remove the EMI CDs from my shopping cart. So I reviewed my shopping cart and found out all three CDs are distributed by Chordant/EMI. In other words, I could not buy any of the Christian CDs I wanted!

Far be it from me to rant against corporate America, but this isn’t fair. I can’t imagine American CCM piracy escalating to such a level that merits such harsh penalties on non-American Christian music lovers. Even if it has, why punish the majority for the sins of a few?

I have purchased several EMI-distributed CDs in the past, including both my autographed copies of Avalon’s Stand and The Creed (my only non-autographed Avalon CD since Michael Passon’s departure is Faith), Mandisa’s True Beauty, and Britt Nicole’s Say It. Most of these were purchased off MusiChristian.com.

I imagine I could buy off Amazon.com, but I prefer to support Christian online retailers (especially since MusiChristian.com gives me a premium with its autographed collections), plus, as in the case of Mandisa’s Christmas Joy EP, the price differential between Amazon.com and MusiChristian.com is a whopping US$3 in favor of the latter. Why pay an extra US$3 to Amazon when I can get the best price at MusiChristian.com and support a Christian retailer?

The last thing I want to do is slam corporate Christian America, but it is plain wrong to alienate someone based outside of the United States who is willing to pay full price for your CD and not download it for free off the Internet. Yes, there will be those who will cheat you, but there are those who will not. It’s not right to leave foreign fans out in the cold, it’s not, it’s not, it’s not.

Update: I received an email from MusiChristian.com. The email said:

Unfortunately for us, EMI Distribution does not allow us to ship their products outside of the USA. Any items that state “Distributed by: Chordant (EMI)” under its Product Details section we cannot ship outside the USA. However, we can ship all other items outside of the US.

Please let us know if we can further assist you in any way.
Thank you for your support and have a great day!

No, you cannot assist me further because apparently, everything I want is distributed by EMI Chordant. Something to Say is now available for purchase - with Matthew’s autograph! - and I can’t order it! GAH!

This October, I would have racked up another two years with Smart Telecommunications, making it four years of my being a postpaid subscriber. My relationship with them is well-documented online. From my surprise at learning they had Smart retention plans, to being happy at having received my phone a year later, to the realization that I was getting less value as a Smart postpaid subscriber. (The only perk to being postpaid, apparently, is 1,200 Mabuhay Miles points when you retain your plan. Whoop dee doo, like I have the time to travel.)

It looks like none of the phones being offered by Smart appeal to me for retention, so it’s highly likely I may either switch to Sun or Globe for a lower subscription rate, or probably just go prepaid and control my phone spending at the source. (Globe’s website, however, is awful; I can’t find my way around, and it’s always hanging. Sun would be a good choice if it, well, weren’t Sun.)

I don’t think I’ll take the path Tina took, spewing fire and brimstone only to chicken out last minute and settle for Smart’s peace offering. But who knows?

Update: Holy guacamole, Batman! The Nokia 6288 is being offered free at my plan. Pretty 3G phone! Free 512MB memory card! OH NO. MUST RESIST…!

Over the course of the past few days, someone has been taking from my roll of paper towels, so I popped this passive-aggressive note on the roll.

I think it would’ve made a bigger impact or difference if there had been more than two sheets left.

It’s not that I don’t mind sharing. It’s just that this paper towel roll was pretty pricey. It was imported and all that. What’s wrong with asking for permission in this day and age, anyway?

Whoever had been taking my towels better fess up. Grrrr.

According to this link, Starbucks Philippines was originally scheduled to participate in the international coffee cafe chain’s annual Coffee Break, giving away tall lattes from 10AM to 12NN.

“All company-operated and licensed Starbucks stores in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China will be giving away free Tall (12-ounce) cups of coffee to anyone who drops by. Starbucks Coffee Masters clad in black aprons will be present during each of the coffee breaks to kick off the company’s spring brewing sale and to answer any questions you might have about the coffee or coffee brewing. Last year, many stores used the coffee break period to sample some of their pastries out to customers waiting in line, as well.”

Well,I just called Starbucks Greenbelt, and apparently, Starbucks Philippines isn’t joining.

“Applicable only to US market,” the gentleman told me.

Well, that’s just peachy. I guess today I’ll just have to bounce my rapidly shrinkin’ butt over to Seattle’s in protest. Then I’ll swing back again tomorrow. Decaf rocks my socks.

Cathy and I recently learned Nathan did not make the cut of Grace Christian’s pre-school. Needless to say, we were very upset, and to say I was furious would be the understatement of the year. Read more

My heart bleeds for Globe prepaid subscribers who are forced to undergo the indignities of rate hikes that ideally will result in a lot less text spam. No, really, I do understand why they would be upset, because money nowadays is tight, and every centavo saved is vital to our survival. I understand.

Prepaid subscribers – who probably make up the bulk of mobile phone users in the Philippines - are getting a ton of value with these promotions. Unlimited text, unlimited text and call… One’s mobile lifestyle can literally survive on P620 a month.

Meanwhile, I have been a postpaid Smart subscriber for more than four years. My plan has hovered around P1300, yet I have found spending easily more than P1500 monthly, easily and regularly going over my maximum number of SMS and phone allotment. To make matters worse, I am locked in to this plan for at least another year and a half, thanks to the two-year plan that gave me a free phone (which I apparently could’ve bought for P5,000.00).

I am therefore led to ask, ‘Why stick with a postpaid plan?”

This entire Globe furor has made me realize that I am being duped as a postpaid subscriber, forced to pay extra when I don’t meet standard allotments, when prepaid subscribers enjoy ‘sky’s the limit’ privileges.

Do we not have a right to be pampered too? Just because we are by far in the minority, does this mean that we should not be given any perfunctory ‘Thank you’s’ with promotions, perks, or points to make us feel there’s a reason to stay postpaid?

We, the postpaid subscribers, are still part of the foundation and the sustenance of the telecoms. Prepaid subscribers can opt to boycott or transfer to another network; postpaid subscribers are legally bound to the telecoms. This is not to mention the hassle and inconvenience of regular bill-paying and account challenging in cases where dubious calls show up on our bills.

Would it hurt you, Globe, Smart, and Sun, to also think about us, the postpaid subscribers? At this point in time, with options for unlimited service available on prepaid service, there is virtually no value in staying postpaid. Mark my words, when my contract runs out, unless the telecoms comes up with some kind of loyalty program that will make me feel as special as the prepaid subscribers, I will happily join the ranks of the latter.

Prepaid subscribers think they have it tough. Try going postpaid, kiddies, and see how well-treated you guys really are.

Remember how I narrated the ordeal of how to replace stolen Philippine license plates?

Well, apparently, the Philippine government just looooooves to bite me in the butt.

I learned today - Saturday, when I can’t do anything about it - that my 2007 car registration, facilitated by the wonderful people at Toyota Balintawak, no sarcasm there, was temporarily halted because there was a car alert on my car.

Apparently, some cop saw my car, with its improvised license plates - which say “LTO Registered” - on the road. Standard procedure, which I welcome, is to pull me over to investigate. I then show the cop my papers and go merrily along my way. This cop opted not to pull me over, choosing instead to report my car with its improvised plates to the LTO.

Apparently, their records over there at the LTO don’t update over the computer system, such that the LETAS - or whatever department handles this car alert system - doesn’t know I already filed my lost plate alert and facilitated my duplicate license plate request.

The end result: I have to go to the LTO and show them the papers - that I myself got from the LTO! - so they can lift the car alert and allow Toyota Balintawak to facilitate my car registration.

Hay, another half-morning, guaranteed lost from my workday. This January alone, I will have lost two whole days of work because I have to facilitate all these government requirements that should ideally take only a day if everything were systematic.

Update: So I finally got the alert lifted.. after two and a half hours at the LTO. Grrrrr.