This fence sitter is coming down from her post because some time in your life you have to get into the action. There are others out there who may be complaining about how things are turning out but are unwilling to get involved. The only way for change to happen is for us to get moving and make it happen.
Actually, that is far from the point of this post. It seems to me that we are being complacent about the automated elections. We see that it produced a count and we trust that it will do the same on election day. Now, there was a glitch found. Something I find strange because shouldn't the COMELEC and Smartmatic have been working hand in hand from the start. Were not the programmers told about the design of the ballot?
So there was a problem in the testing. The solution? Change the program with the corrected version. We will just sit tight and watch as the provider replaces the memory disk in each machine. We are giving them one weekend to run the tests. If there is another glitch, we will probably postpone the elections or revert to manual counting which will be a nightmare for the teachers really.
So they will replace the memory disk Has anybody audited the program they are putting in there? Yes, I see a reason to look at the conspiracy theory. In whose favor? I have my guess but that's just what it is so let's not speculate here. I am only forwarding a concern from a practicing systems person.
Who is doing quality control for the software in the PCOS machines?
Skin So
I took a walk late this afternoon. I passed by the 7-11 and decided that walking home would be the best way to get home. It was in the area where we used to live so I was familiar with the place.
As I passed one of the buildings, I noticed a guy giving out fliers. He was wearing what looked like a scrub suit but it was colored maroon. Still, I guessed he was a clinical assistant of some sort.
Anyway, as I was about to pass him, he began to extend his right hand holding out a leaflet towards me. As I got closer, he hesitated and left it hanging close to his body. There was no further effort to give me the flier.
Then, I noticed there was a new derma clinic at the ground floor of the next building. I guess that was where he worked and the leaflet was about their services.
I would like to believe that he hesitated because he noticed that I did not need to visit them. But then it was almost evening.
Teams in the Forest
The PSHS Main Campus faculty went on a two and a half day team building trip a few days ago. We stayed at the Forest Club in Bay, Laguna. The place was designed for team building. They had group activities that will really make you work as a team. They have this Eco Adventure challenge where we got to cross a body of water in three ways, and battle obstacle courses (yes that's plural). There was also a canopy walk where you traverse a path on bamboo poles se high above the ground while admiring the view of the surrounding countryside. Then there were the water games in the swimming pool (which I refused to join on the grounds of endangering myself as it was held in the part where I can not touch the floor). Best of all our team won (Go BLUE)!!
The games got me (and my companions too because we talked about it). Many of the kids we teach were city kids. They probably never had to do anything on a fart. Oh, they have been there, visiting the old folks maybe or staying at a resort farm. But most likely they had not had a chance or were never given the chance to get dirty. As such, they have been deprived the experience of working with the earth or with animals and plants that they study in the biology lab.
I remember when we were kids, we used to spend summer vacations in the province. In the mornings we would clean the house, gather fallen leaves and fruits, and feed and clean the pigs and chicken coop. Sometimes, we would be brought along to the market to get fish and vegetables. In the evenings, we were called to serve food if the adults had a padasal or some such affair. We had to serve plates of rice cakes and rice pies with coffee. If there was nothing going on, we would be counting calamansi or other produce to be sold in the market in the morning.
Occasionally, specially during lent, we watched the men catch fish in baskets (my cousin in the US wanted to import this but we could no longer find the men who could make them so well). We ourselves had tried to gather snails and fresh water eels.
Those summers weren't all work though. After the morning chores, we would all hie down to the river that flowed through our property to swim (the same place where we got fish and snails). After luch, we clambered up trees to ge the fruits and eat them there. Or we would relax on the swings, or in our little playhouse made of nipa.
I think many parents now want to protect their kids from hardship, which is all very well. However, sheltered children may actually be deprived of certain coping abilities. If they had never experienced anything hard, they might not know how to act when the going gets rough. They may also not respect hard work and the rewards it could bring will be lost upon them.
Just a thought: Maybe we should put those politicians through team building, eh?
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