Random Thoughts

Another term from my Environmental Manager.  Of course, as  I always do, if there is something I do not know or I do not understand, I usually google it.  Actually, I already had an idea what ROACH MOTEL is because our Environmnetal Managerw was compalining about cockcroaches.  Well, cockroaches is a common problem here in Qatar during summer.  I typed "ROACH MOTEL" in Google and 131,000 matches were  found in 0.39 seconds.  So the term really exists!   I clicked the very first link, which is wikepedia.org.

Accordingly, Roach Motel is a term used to describe a roach bait device designed to catch cockroaches.  Although the term is trademarked by the insect control brand, Black Flag, the phrase has come to be used as a reference to all traps that use a scent or other form of bait to lure cockroaches into a compartment in which a sticky substance causes them to become trapped.

Early versions of the Roach Motels used food-based bait, but later designs incorporated pheromones. The widely known tagline of the Roach Motel was "Roaches check in — but they don’t check out!" In the 1980s, this line was frequently delivered by Muhammad Ali, who was then a spokesman for the product.

The term "roach motel" also refers to a low-priced lodging facility, usually a considerably older property in disrepair, not affiliated with a major chain, and located in a decaying area of town.

Metaphorically, the term is used in computer circles to refer to a proprietary file standard — "you can check your data in, but you can’t check it out".

Well, I learned a new term.  So why do I always doubt him?  Watch out, I’ll answer that question in one of my blogs!

My day is not complete if I am not able to log on at www.friendster.com.  It has already become part of my daily routine.  Actually, internet is a part of my daily life.  It’s one of the things I can’t live without at this time.  I get disappointed if I am not able to access the internet in the office and at home.  I can get rid of my mobile phone and as long as I’m on-line, I’ll be fine.

We have a new Environmental Manager,. He’s South Asian but was assigned in Chicago before moving here in Doha.  He reviewed the scoping report for one of the projects I was working on.  The report was actually put together by one of our new Junior Engineers.  He had the following comments:

Note: We have repeated the proposed project modifications repeatedly — mostly a regurgitation of the RFP text which is really redundant.  May need to re-arrange Scoping Study contents to avoid this redundancy which adds no value… Also, ALWAYS use semi-colon breaks with AND connector in a bulletized list

For the first time in my entire life I encountered the word  REGURGITATION.  The moment I saw this word, I highlighted it and I pressed sihft+F7 to show the MS Word Thesaurus.  The Thesaurus did not recognize the REGURGITATION but it was neither identified as misspelled.   So I went to dictionary.com and typed REGURGITATION and got these meanings.

• v. intr. To rush or surge back.
• v. tr. To cause to pour back, especially to cast up (partially digested food).
• n 1: backflow of blood through a defective heart valve 2: recall after rote memorization; "he complained that school was just memorization and regurgitation" 3: the reflex act of ejecting the contents of the stomach through the mouth

What can I say? I’m speechless! He doesn’t really need to use a $100-word.  Use of the word REGURGITATION also adds no value to his comment.  For heaven’s sake, we write technical reports and it’s not a vocabulary contest.  Gosh, I just couldn’t accept how this guy wrote his comments.  How can I trust him to correct grammatical errors and do editorial changes when he himself couldn’t write well. 

For bullets, it’s difficult. It’s a matter of preference.  Can be written in different ways. Semi-colon with END connector is not the only way to go.  I am not good in English but our Environmental  Manager’s way of writing is worse, I guess.

I am always hesistant to buy e-books because I always think that reading novels in my PC/ laptop and most especially in my PDA is too straining to the eyes and I am afraid that prolonged reading in PC or laptop can worsen my already bad eyesight.  I also think that e-book may not give me the same satisfaction as reading the real book. 

But last night while browsing for new novels in the internet, I figured why not try to buy an e-book, instead of asking my brother to buy books and send it through our friend?  $7 will not hurt.  If I didn’t like it, fine.  It’s just like buying a novel and after reading it, you didn’t like the story. And I am in front of my laptop atleast 10 hours a day, so there’s really no point worrying about straining my eyes or worsening my myopia. E-books will also provide the following advantages:

• cheaper and less hassles- The price of books here in Qatar is twice as much compared to Amazon and National Bookstore.  I can buy paperbacks from Amazon, but the shipping charge is sometimes more than the cost of the book.  If I buy from the Philippines, I need to find someone who will bring it Qatar, otherwise sending it by post can also be expensive and not reliable.
• Less clutter and space saving.
• Microsoft reader and Adobe Reader also allows the reader to highlight and bookmarked pages just like in an ordinary book.
• You can buy e-books while relaxing at home.
• You can download it a few minutes after buying it.

Finally, I bought a novel and I enjoyed reading it. So I think, from now on, I will buy e-books instead of paperbacks although for reference books, I still prefer the real thing.

I still have one problem though.  Now I want to buy a PDA with pocketPC OS so it can run both adobe reader and microsoft reader.  My palm pilot can only run adobe reader. I am sure my husband will go nuts when he reads this because the past weeks, I was so excited about getting an SLR camera before our next trip and the new sony hard disk camcorder.  I am afraid I am becoming a gadget freak.   And there’s more…..but he might have a heart attack so I’ll stop for now.

I’m DRAINED…It’s been a busy week.  I spent half of the week attending meetings and trainings.  Today, I spent half of the day doing administrative tasks for the three projects I am handling - follow-ups, meeting minutes and e-mails.  Worse, my office e-mail is not working so I am using the web version and it’s driving me nuts because of its limitation.  I am not able to work on any of my deliverables.  I have not read the supporting documents for the report I am supposed to review.  Two of the reports I need to submit is due early next week.  I guess, it’s going to be a working weekend, again!

Gosh, I miss Philippines!  It’s been almost a year since I went home.  This year, we decided not to spend our vacation in the Philippines because we went to Dubai last May and we are planning to spend our remaining vacation somewhere else.  But hoenstly, I really miss the Philippines even if the everyday news is depressing, even if there’s a never-ending fuel price hike and even if the crime rate continues to rise! 

I think my vacation will not be a vacation if I am not gonna go home.  I miss Filipino food specially pork dishes, pancit palabok, I miss Jollibee, I miss Philippine Mangoes and Lanzones.  I miss shopping, I miss Rustan’s. I feel bad that I won’t be able to go to SM Mall of Asia for the next 12 months (We are planning to go back to the Philippines July next year).  I miss my friends and I miss Philippine holidays.  There’s really no place like home.  I am not sure if I could wait another 12 months before I visit Philippines again.