Stuff

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5
Dec 09

Old Family Photos

shinks-great-grandpa-from-spain

This is a photo of some of my not-so-distant relatives from Spain. I’ve been processing quite a number of these at the request of my abuela who lives with us here in the Philippines; these will be sent to her siblings in Spain, to be used as a reference for something the town of Ourense is doing to honor their father (my great-grandfather, it would turn out), according to what I have been told.

I am compelled to renew my efforts in getting to know my family on the other side of the world, as well as a return to a more rigid study of the Spanish language (I can converse in a fairly fluent manner, but lack of practical use has made me rusty).

All of this reveals a rich history within our family, from people who have experienced much, including going through the Spanish Civil war, according to my grandmother. It gets more fascinating the more I think about it.

For now, however, I have a bunch of photographs that are more than twice my age to process and send.

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13
May 09

Bike Upgrades

I shot over to a bike shop today to upgrade some parts on my bike. I’d been having trouble with the tires that came with the bike, namely, they lose air too quickly. So I had the rim taped anew, upgraded the inner tube to a higher quality one, and replaced the crappy Chinese-made tires with a pair of Michelin All-Terrain tires. I also had the front disc brake worked on and adjusted, cos it was grinding a bit whenever I rode.

The bike now rides smoothly and it’s a bit lighter thanks to the higher-quality parts. What I really wanna do next is buy this book so that I don’t feel like a clueless douche every time I go to the bike shop.

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9
Feb 09

Contact Lenses

Last night I played my first full-court basketball game with contact lenses on. It was great!

I had been reluctant to play since my near-sighted vision started degrading beyond 2.00. My whole game suffered once that happened. I play the point guard position most of the time, so once my peripheral vision stagnates, that takes a lot away from my court vision, thus my ability to run a team properly. Beyond that is even worse; once I stop being able to distinguish faces quickly, errant passes happen and annoyed teammates follow. So rather than play the game poorly, I decided to stop instead.

Then I decided to try out a pair of disposables. My optometrist said that they were good for two months, best way for me to see if I’d be comfortable in them. Fair enough. Another thing about this is that my glasses have something for my astigmatism set in (don’t know the proper term for that, sorry), but the contact lenses don’t – they’re just compensated for in some way, said the doc. Still sounds good to me.

The most difficult thing about wearing contact lenses is (for me, at least) putting them on. I’ve had these things for two weeks now and it still takes a great deal of effort, frustration, wishing for Britney Spears to get shipped off to mars, and contact lens cleaning fluid. It takes me an HOUR to put both lenses on right. It takes even longer once I realize I’ve put one or two of the things on backward. I have to take it out, rinse and rub it again, and then try to put it back in.

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4
Jan 09

Parts of a Bicycle

bicycle_parts_labeled

Bicycle Parts [via Jim Langley].

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3
Jan 09

Tea Brand Name Fail!

hornimans-tea-brand-name-fail-shinkaide-andre-salvatierra

Mom sent me a package of various goods from Spain, which included the above box of green tea. Totally made my day! I mean, seriously? You wouldn’t change a brand name like that?

UPDATE: My mom sent me this e-mail after reading the post:

Andre,
bakit failed yung name ng green tea na pinadala ko sau? ndi ko ma-gets.

Oh, Hornimans, you’re just the gift that keeps on giving.

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15
Dec 08

Bicycle

I bought a new bike so I can get around more efficiently. Plus, the exercise’ll do me good… I’ve been too busy to really just dip into a regular gym regimen anyway.

shinkaide's new bike

Shot over to Cartimar today and bought it for Php 5700, got the store to shave 1500 off the original price. Aluminium alloy body, disc brakes, rapid-fire shifter, 21-speed. It’s not like I’m gonna be able to fully push this bike to its capacities, anyway, but hey…

I’ll be using this mainly to get to and from malls and places with bike racks, like Glorietta, and to a lesser extent, MOA. I’m a fan of side roads and rather averse towards big roads, so it’s unlikely I’ll be using this to travel very far anyway. The trains still rule that part of my being a commuter.

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27
Sep 08

When Insomnia Strikes…

Just try to simplify and do as much as I can to be productive. Then, snooze.

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9
Sep 08

Checkered Laces

DSCN2446

Well, it didn’t exactly turn out the way I wanted it to. The laces loosen up as soon as you start walking, and even tying tight knots right next to the eyelets don’t seem to help. Then, there’s also the uncomfortable amount of shoelace slack that I have to tuck between the lace layer and the tongue – it’s just uncomfortable. So after a short train ride to visit my aunt, I just redid the laces:

DSCN2447

Not as interesting, but it’s better than the boring old lacing.