Chatty Cathy

As I type this , the hyped 08-08-08 (or the catchier sounding LingBa LingBa LingBa in ping yin) Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies had just finished (via delayed live telecast). China's (I'm guessing) oldest living gold medalist, after being hoisted up by a harness a-la Peter Pan, just fake-ran the whole length of the upper perimeter of the "Bird's Nest," moving like The Flash running on water. He was being followed-- and finally overtaken by a video projection of a carpet that featured video montages. (Some ideas just seem to better during rehearsal, I guess.) While it ended spectacularly w/ the Olympic torch lit like a giant firecracker (complete w/ fake fuse), it's funny how with all the complaining Western (read: US) Media did about the poor quality of Beijing's air, no-one thought to ask if having big-@$$ fireworks and explosions going off all over the city during the entire program was a good idea. Oh, well. They can try asking after the smoke clears.

(Holy crap, BMX racing is the new Olympic event? I don't even give Formula 1 Racing that much credibility, much less bicycles going around in muddy circles. Ugh. Tony Hawk's bike stunts would've been much cooler to watch.)

I also came back from SM MoA after meeting up w/ old DLSU/EngLiCom buddy Cathy Sy (who's now technically Family, as her brother married my sister's sister-in-law). Dinner was at Gumbo, where I suffered through the spiciness --we ordered stuffed crab and ribs w/ a side dish of cajun rice and mashed potato -- w/ a sweaty head. After dinner she treated me to almost-fat-free frozen yogurt at White Hat , while I provided the "1 Free Topping" coupon. With that first mini-spoonful (and the free chocolate chip sprinkles) I remembered why I disliked yogurt in the first place. It's ice cream's answer to "sweet-n-sour" food.

We got to talking about the trials and tribulations of the Tsinoy Family Business Model, as it's success sometimes means accepting unsavory practices as the norm. She tells me to be thankful that I've inherited one, even as, unfortunately, unsavory practices and politics are part and parcel of the whole thing. A glass half-full outlook, so to speak. While my formally educated brain tells me that a more organized (or legal) way of doing things is called for, Cathy suggests to only implement new rules after I've gotten a handle on how to things their way. Bad enough I'm no good at wrapping my head around numbers, but it's unlikely the 'Rents would retire full-time and leave things to me. Then again I wouldn't want that to happen right away, either.

On the drive back home I passed by G's street in Del Rosario (between Buendia and F.B. Harrison) to avoid the traffic in Taft Avenue. The first thing I noticed were the new and numerous street lamps installed. It used to be that this street was enveloped in pitch black darkness that was only pierced by automobile headlights. Now it's so well-lit people can better avoid using jaywalkers as fender benders, as well as see at how decrepit the place still is like it was daytime. Would-be muggers can't hide, but neither can the garbage littered on the streets.