I’m back!!!

No… you ain’t seeing things. Lone Opinion is still alive and kicking.

Sure, LO has been idle during July, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of it. However, I do owe my handful of followers an explanation as to why they haven’t heard anything from this side of the Internet.

Allow me to shake off the cobwebs of inactivity by revealing the reason why I took a month-long leave from blogging, and getting some thoughts (on the latest issues) out of my system.

D.O.T.A. – Definitely Obviously Truly Addicting

Some time back in 2005, my best friend, Great Teacher Aguña, introduced me to DOTA. An experienced Warcraft III player, I found having no control over the creeps spawning from my base awkward, and was intimidated by the number of item combinations I had to memorize in order to prepare my hero for battle.

My best friend believed that the best way to learn DOTA was to play against him one-on-one so I’m won’t be overwhelmed by all the action going on. Being a newb, GTA didn’t have any trouble dispatching me. My competitive fire got the better of me, and from that point on, I got hooked to the game.

Six years later, I graduated from college, am working two jobs, running a blog, and still playing the game. And that’s the longest I played a game since Counterstrike, which I played from late 1999 to early 2005. But unlike before where I can only afford playing DOTA in LAN gaming centers, I now have a good computer and just got Internet connection at home. So could you blame me if I get so excited with my new toys and spend so many of my should-have-been-blogging and waking hours playing against other people online?

Maybe it’s just me, but I never get tired of this real-time strategy/RPG hybrid. There’s just something about its cool items, nasty heroes, skill combos, stats, kill recognition (Godlike!) and fast-paced action that get’s me all giddy. And to prove that it doesn’t get old, some developers decided to pick up the DOTA idea to produce new games like Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends, both I’m interested to try out.

But if I’m so engrossed in setting foot on Felwood to pawn anyone dumb enough to runaway from Strygwyr, what am I doing back on Lone Opinion? Well, it’s because…

bayanDSL sucks!

Lola Techie: bayanDSL will make
you smile in frustration.

At first, it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was off to a good start. I had no trouble surfing the Net with it. But when typhoons Juaning, Kabayan and Lando hit the country, the connection started becoming crappy.

I tried to fix the problem -- changed cables, reboot my computer, and constantly turn my modem on and off -- to no avail. I had someone from bayan come over to see what’s wrong. According to their guy, they had to replace my modem. When he did, the Internet returned to its normal, wonderful self. A few hours after he left, it became crappy again.

Don’t get me wrong, the connection is still good for checking e-mails, logging into Facebook, looking up some stuff on Wikipedia and Googling. But I didn’t sign up for that. I wanted to get bayanDSL because a freaking firewall is preventing me from having fun at work. I wanted to get bayanDSL so I can watch funny videos at Cracked. I wanted to get bayanDSL so I can read Naruto from Ten Manga without any interruptions. And above all, I wanted to get bayanDSL because I want to take a screenshot of my hero destroying the Frozen Throne, not to get disconnected from the host in the middle of a killing spree.

I know it’s still too early to bash bayan for this product defect. I haven’t made a follow-up call yet. But the word is, I’m not the only one experiencing this. Other bayanDSL subscribers said that it’s normal for bayanDSL to turn lame during bad weather while the competition maintains normal operation. And sadly, these fellow bayanDSL subscribers are apathetic about this because their bound to the same contract that I am, a contract wherein you will be penalized for discontinuing patronage of their product (terms and conditions apply).

C’mon! We’re paying you good money here. At least try to give us something good in return. The whole contract is already a big “fuck you” in our faces. At least, have the decency to give us our money’s worth. It’s the ethical thing to do.

I just don’t understand why we’re having Internet troubles during typhoons that aren’t all that strong, while Japan gets hit by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and is spared from such problem. Sheesh!

Maybe it’s the same deal with our electricity -- most expensive yet most worthless in Asia. There’s gotta be a common ground here. Did I hear someone say Lopez?

Suspension, suspense yun!

Talking about typhoons, the Commission on Higher Education is taking fire for not suspending classes during the stormy week that was.

Everybody’s hating on CHED for not suspending classes while the Department of Education is garnering praise for doing the opposite.

In various interviews, CHED Chairperson Patricia Licuanan has reiterated that the decision to suspend classes in the collegiate level falls on the hands of the administrators of the schools.

College students have been stating that they’re no different from high school and elementary students, and they too will catch a cold from the rain. Furthermore, rains nowadays cause severe flooding, making travel next to impossible.

Brian Griffin: contrapelo.

That’s why there’s a clamor for a system that authorizes one body to suspend classes in the college level. Most people are hoping CHED would be that body.

But while there are a lot of good reasons to go with this idea of CHED suspending classes, allow me to play Brian Griffin and be a contrarian.

I’m just thinking, college is supposed to be that phase where you’re being groomed for the real world. Remember those professors saying that as long as you’re not disabled, you should be present in class (or something to that effect)?

Public storm signals rarely apply to offices or other industries outside of education. If we baby the college students and have them stay home whenever it rains, by the time their working, they’d be clueless as to how to weather the storm.

The college students should grow up and take these kinds of situations as an opportunity to discover ways of getting to their destination regardless of obstacles in their way. Not only is this a test of resourcefulness and adaptability, but of character as well. If we’re talking about floods that are waist deep and beyond, then I’d say we put safety first. But if some people can still find ways to get to work when faced with a lesser situation (e.g. knee deep floods), then I don’t see why college students cannot.

College students should exert similar efforts to get to school. After all, they could be faced with the same scenario when they join the workforce.

And that’s my Lone Opinion.

Comments of the weak

My last entry during June was the start of the Comments of the Week section. Sadly, it’s also the end of it. While looking for good comments is fun, it turns out to be a Herculean task, especially if you’re scouring other websites or blogs for it. Besides, it ain’t so original. I mean, Cracked has its weekly round-up that features that best comments from their readers.

I’m thinking of doing it on monthly basis, but nothing’s set in stone. One thing’s for sure though, with LO turning a year old this August, you’ll be hearing more from me.

But I hope to get help from you guys. Feel free to contact me (just view my personal profile) if you want to contribute articles here. You’re more than welcome to hop aboard Lone Opinion.

Who knows? By joining forces, we can increase LO’s followers and eventually turn it into one of the most popular blogs in the world.

Pinoy nga naman

I’d like to dedicate this part to Rogen, a cab driver for City Hopper.

I had the pleasure of boarding a cab driven by Rogen yesterday on my way to work. This guy is the epitome of The Super Pinoy Driver, if ever Bob Ong thought of one for cab drivers.

Public utility vehicle drivers are always driving fast due to the nature of their occupation. In an entire day, they have to load lots of passengers and make as many trips possible in order for them to earn money that will be used to pay boundary fees, purchase gasoline, and bring home to their families. Because of this circumstance, violating a traffic regulation or two is all in a day’s work for a PUV driver.

But Rogen is a cut from a different cloth.

I had a chat with the guy and I was amazed by his way of thinking. Even though he strictly observes traffic rules, he’s not what you’d call a slow poke. Though he’s no speed demon either. But let me get to the best part. Rogen doesn't have the desire to one up anyone on the road. His reason: we’ll all reach our destination, eventually.

See, whenever I take the trains, it’s not unusual to see people shoving and pushing each other -- gender, age and physical condition be damned. The sad part: foreigners who take our trains witness how uncivilized we board our mass transportation systems that they either imitate our practices or disrespect our systems and laws because we seem to be the first ones to violate it. The fuck?

Here’s the deal. If you freaking idiots, and I’m referring to the pushers and the shovers, are in such a hurry, don’t hurt people. Try leaving early. I mean, seriously. It fucking saves you the trouble of hurting and getting hurt. It prevents you from getting into a fight. You don’t have to be cramped up in a train with hundreds of other passengers. And the best part is that you get to your destination in mint condition. How convenient is that?

There are days when my shift starts at 6:00 a.m. On those days, I leave home at around 4:00 a.m. and take the bus because the train station ain’t open yet. I reach my destination at around 4:45 or 5:00 a.m. and still got plenty of time to do other stuff, like have breakfast and brush my teeth thoroughly, unlike if I were to do those things at home, then I’d be grabbing a quick bite, applying toothpaste in my mouth and still end up late. It’s those little things that can improve our lives and those around us (again, back to the whole train pushing and shoving scenario).

And when I wake up at late, I still go about it the same way. The only difference is I take the train. I look at the train station's clock and it says 5:50 a.m. I’m 10 minutes away from being late, but we do have a 15-minute grace period. I wait for the train and see ample people waiting in line before me. When the train arrives, everybody goes on stampede mode except for me, and probably a few other people. Why? What right do I have to push and shove when I should’ve gotten up earlier? No amount of force will get me to work on time. If I’m going to be late, might as well make the most out of it and get to work in the most convenient fashion – wait for the next spacious train. Hey, we’ll all reach our destination, eventually.

One of my bosses once told me, getting stuck in traffic is never a good reason for being late at work because traffic will always be there. You can’t let traffic control your life. You have to anticipate it.

So don’t push and shove. Prepare. Anticipate. And if you’re late, then just make the most out of it. As Rogen said, we’ll all reach our destination, eventually.

How I wish there were more Rogens to go around.