Christmas Blues

Christmas is for family. Christmas means lots of food on the table. Christmas is a time for giving and receiving gifts. Christmas is a time for catching up with relatives; sharing food,stories and laughter; singing videoke; playing parlor games. This is the Christmas I'm used to, the one I grow up with.

Today is the fourth time I am spending the Christmas holidays away from my family. Well, not really consecutively, I went home last Christmas. The first time, I spent it on duty at work. Another time, I spent it with people from neighboring rooms in my dorm. One time, I just went to the office to celebrate it with my office mates who were on duty. Today, I am spending it at my boarding house with my sister, who is here with me in Manila reviewing for the board exams next month.

I feel like an OFW but ironically,I am just here in the Philippines.Might as well that I went abroad so my loneliness can be compensated with a big pay hehehehe Well, what really kept me here is the hope that next year, I will be assigned in Davao and be home not just for the holidays but for most time of the year. Duh! I wished that for years now, and still here I am. Well, maybe next year, who knows...

Anyway, me and my sister did our best to make this Christmas closer to home. We prepared a noche buena just for the two of us. Next year, she too would have a lonely Christmas overseas. She might not be able to celebrate it at all for she will be in a Muslim country.

Oh, how we long for home. Tonight, at this time, the whole family on my father's side is gathered at the house of the host. Every year, it's a different host, thus, a different house. My father's siblings each have their turn to be host. We've been doing this for 19 years now. This year is the start of the third cycle. It is the eldest's turn to be host. Well, me and my sis won't be there. It sucks! But this is life. Sometimes, you just have to be away. A ticket worth almost half of my monthly salary for a day or two at home, even on Christmas, is really not practical. And its not possible to take a leave at this time on my line of work so I have learned to accept it. At least for me, it's temporary- a consolation I have to contend myself with.

Merry Christmas to all! Enjoy the holidays with your family. Me and my sis are trying our best to enjoy it. In heart and mind, we are with our family:-)

Mother's Day at Davao Crocodile Park

Matagal na po ito...share ko lang mga pics....

Davao Crocodile Park

Encounter with Airbus A380

I first heard about Airbus A380 the other day when my air traffic controller friend called to ask if I was going to Tower to catch a glimpse of this plane that will touchdown here in our country for the first time. I wondered what’s so special about this particular plane (I even didn’t remember the name) that I will have go to Tower on my day off just to see it. I felt a little ashamed of being so outmoded with the latest news and breakthroughs in the aviation field. Still, I am unaffected and uninterested in a plane.

When I reported for work today, that name again came up when I was doing my routine check up of the equipments at the cab room. We had a few visitors that were busy taking pictures of the runway and a particular plane. I remembered the conversation with my friend. To satisfy my curiosity, I also peered around. I didn’t notice something special with the plane they pointed to me. Sure it was fatter that the Boeing 747s but to my sight, it was not really as grandiose as the popularity it gets.

The plane was positioned at the end of runway 06; the ATCs said it was heading for Subic, where PGMA is awaiting its arrival. Oh…one of the privileges of being President- you can order planes around, even the so-called ‘special ones’.

When the ATCs told us it would not depart until after 20 mins, my supervisor got the idea of using our access pass (orange – Ramp and DPT areas) in order to be able to peruse the plane at a closer view. So armed with the excuse of checking the ILS localizer at runway 24 (where the plane would be taking off), we immediately sped to the runway. Luckily, we were not stopped by MIAA police and guards.

We were able to take pictures of it but not to our hearts’ content because it started to taxi by the time we got to the other side of the runway.

But we raced with it to runway 24, where we could be closest to it, just before it takes off.
It was not that easy though; taxiing planes have speeds of 60-80 mph. 747s can taxi at 80mph. What more can this plane. But it was worth it.

I was impressed with the shape of the wings; it looked more like a bird. It also has more room for passengers and crew because it has two decks. I also heard it is made of lighter materials therefore, it is fuel efficient. And there was little/no sound during take off – it’s like I watched a silent movie of an airplane taking off. And the jet blast was not that bad, considering we were really down there at the end of the runway when it took off. I really expected to get all the black smoke but there was none, only a feeling a gust of wind.

Not bad. Now I know why it deserves to be popular. It even caused traffic in Multinational because cars were stopping/ slowing down to take a glimpse of it.

That’s my encounter with Airbus A380. By the time I got back to our office, I immediately searched for information and learn everything I can about it. You can check Wikipedia for more info as well as airbus webpage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

http://www.airbus.com/en/aircraftfamilies/a380/index2.html

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/a380.htm


check my multiply for the pictures:

http://liezlmacas.multiply.com/photos/album/9

Bourne Ultimatum

I had just finished reading the book last yesterday. I really intended to finish it so I could compare it with the movie, which we planned to watch in the afternoon. The movie has been showing for weeks and only a few theaters are still showing it. When I checked the papers yesterday morning, it was still showing at Glorietta so we planned to watch it there. At 4pm, my best friend, who was at the cinema lobby ahead of me, informs me that they changed picture at 3pm that afternoon. What a…! Cinema programming should be changed first thing in the morning at opening and not in the middle of the afternoon.

Well, so much for my intended comparison, my supervisor told me the plot and the characters were different. But I really want to know the extent of the difference and I want to see Matt Damon in action. L There’s nothing I can do about it but wait until I can grab a DVD copy. Grrrr…

Anyway, as for the book, it was my third Bourne reading and I can say I had enough of all the conspiracies and killings. I can never relate to the ways and thinking of an assassin, whether real or impostor. Also, I had enough of all the coercion any institution (like the CIA), military and government can make. I can’t imagine what has been done and currently being done and planned by the powerful countries to control our world history. There must be so many cover ups and corruption that has transpired much more than my mind can take. It is never the world for me.

Of the three Bourne books that I read, I like the first one, Bourne Identity, best. I read through the second, Bourne Supremacy and the third, Bourne Ultimatum, with tedious tolerance. Still like its predecessors, one can still be lost and awed by the dizzying twists and turns of the story. There is still so much action. The best part is Jason’s ultimate defeat of Carlos the Jackal.

But with three books, I just had too much.

Pasalubong - Rambutan, Moron, Galletas, Jackfruit and DURIAN!

Today is one of the best days of my life :)

For a starter, my best friend is coming over...He would be teaching in ILS and DME specialization courses at Civil Aviation Training Center. He would be staying here for three weeks. That would mean three weeks of fun. Yehey!

And because he comes, I would have lots of pasalubong from Davao. Harvest season is nearing its end but fruits are still cheap at this time. Double Yehey! He brought seven kilos of Maharlika Rambutan. . And he has also brought pasalubong from his mom, who just came from Leyte - moron and galletas. It was my first time to eat a moron, and it liked it simply because of the rich chocolate filling. The galletas, I still have to taste.

My parents are also very thoughtful of sending me my favorite fruit, durian! That’s triple (and the biggest) Yehey! I can’t relate with its description of

tastes like heaven but smells like hell

because for me it tastes and smells like heaven. :P

And they also sent a large jack fruit (langka), approximately weighing 25 kilos. It cost Arneil (my best friend) P 1050 for excess baggage charge. My gosh, what an expensive jackfruit! My father insisted on sending the whole of it because it is not yet fully ripe and he said it was the last fruit this season. I reasoned with him last night that I could buy more of it here with the amount I’ll be paying for the freight. Yet he still went ahead of his plans and volunteered to shoulder the excess baggage fee. Sometimes, Papa can really be so stubborn. In fairness, the jackfruit in our front yard has produced sweet and thick-meat fruits. I hope this one is worth its price.

I'm still so full writing this. ;-)

ANSS Responsibilities

Hi! :-)

You might be wondering what I do at Manila Control Tower as an air navigation system specialist (ANSS).
Well, I watch TV. I eat. I sleep. I laze around. I read newspaper, books, anything I can get my hands on. I surf the internet. I chat with friends. I play PC games…Oh, don’t be surprised, it’s what I really do when we don’t have equipment trouble and after I do all the scheduled preventive maintenance (PM) and tasks for the day. But this is mostly what I do, 80%...no make it 90% of the time. Yet, if one of our equipment malfunctions, wish me luck if I could find time to blink my eye. (I was just exaggerating lol)

ANSS are the counterparts of Air Traffic Systems Engineers in other countries. Why were we called differently? I’m not sure. There was this explanation I heard from a superior that we didn’t used “engineer” because our compensation would be limited to the salary grades of engineers. In order to claim higher compensation, we had to use “specialist” instead. Okay….

I am really proud of my job because of the responsibility that I carry. It is our duty to make sure that all communication and navigation equipments/systems in NAIA are operating continuously and efficiently. If one of these systems fails, surely NAIA’s operations are affected; at worse, halted. Of course, I do not work alone. These complex systems need a team to maintain it. I belong to the communication team. So the equipments I deal with are all in relation to communication between air traffic controllers (ATC) and pilots during a flight and between ATCs of different facilities during handling of air traffic. It is a system composed of transmitters and receivers, microwave links, automatic information systems, antennas, consoles, intercoms, telephones, and hotlines.

The navigation team on the other hand, deals with equipments that aids airplanes find its way during a flight and in taking off and landing at airports. It includes Instrument Landing Systems (ILS), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), Very High Frequency Omni directional Range (VOR), Non-Directional Beacon (NDB), weather instruments and runway lighting systems.

There are also ANSS that maintain RADAR equipments, their antennas and their data processors.

One of these days, I will discuss with you each of these systems as well as their role in air traffic control.

Being an ANSS requires great effort and lots of guts. One must be emotionally and mentally prepared all the time because equipment breakdown always comes unannounced. One must be able to handle the pressure and ensure the shortest, if not zero, downtime as not to disrupt and delay airport operations. One must be concerned to perform preventive measures as to maintain fail safe operating conditions all the time.
Most of all, one must be able to know what to do when we type in our log “all active circuits/equipment are normal” (see above activities).

Till then folks :-)

Lightning Woes

Hi!

I'm again into another evening shift at work. Tonight my supervisor and I are quite uptight because of the dark clouds that signify a heavy downpour is about to come. Also, we heard some sounds of thunder and of course, preceding it were lightnings. We both didn't like the idea of it because three years ago, when I am still new ANSS, we experienced a major trouble ( trouble -is the term we use for equipment malfunctioning) due to lightning.

One of our antennas was struck and following it was the deafening sound of alarm by the Dictaphone recorder.

A Dictaphone recorder is a voice logging system (VLS) that records voice communications between air traffic controllers and aircraft pilots. Our recorder is one of the old models, one that still uses magnetic tapes as a recording media. The supplier even said that this type is already phased-out and replacement parts are not available presently.

Back to our trouble three years ago. We cannot explain how the lightning affected our recorder since it doesn't have an antenna. Yes, it is connected to the transmitters and receivers but only to the audio circuits and not to the RF (radio frequency - the signal that carries voice over the air) circuits so we really cannot comprehend what was its connection with the lightning strike.
Both of our recorders are affected, to our dismay. We always had redundancy in our systems, meaning all equipments have a standby unit in case the main unit malfunctions. The purpose is to avoid disruption in air traffic control. We had to issue NOTAM or notice to all airmen that our recording equipment is out.

We spent a half day of troubleshooting before we finally found the cause and fixed the problem.
The lightning damaged one IC (integrated circuit) of the power supply board and a transistor in the alarm board. We had to replace these components to restore the recorder. Imagine what we all went through just because of an innocent natural phenomenon. And it again happened the next year after that. But at the second time around, it was easier because we had already pinpointed the component that was to be replaced. Same symptoms, same trouble, same remedy :)

That explains why we are on guard tonight. Even if we can anticipate what can go wrong, we will never know what lightning will strike next.....

:-) So long folks!

another day as an ANSS

Hi people! :)

As I am still starting to post on this blog, let me give you an idea of what I will be sharing with you.

One of my interests include travelling so definitely, I would share some places I've been to and the experiences I had during my trips. Well, my travels are within my beloved Philippines (hope not to your disappointment) but I am dreaming of travelling the world ( hopefully one day soon).

By profession I'm an electronics engineer so I would also share with you some electronics theories and my own experiences as air navigation system specialist.

To start...

Today, or tonight- because I am on an evening shift, the computer in our equipment room just turned completely off and we can't turn it on no mattter how hard I press the switch. We also didn't know what happened or the time it shut down or who used it last.

It's a deadset ( deadset - a term we use to any electronic gadget not turning on, just like d-e-a-d) In deadset cases, the usual problem is the power supply. I tried inpecting the power source, the AVR but it is working. I measured the voltage at the wall socket, it is 220 volts.
Out of desperation and because I do not want to open the CPU, I just unplug all the power cords from the CPU to the AVR and replug it again. I pressed the switch, voila! to no avail ( uh! ). I tried doing the process three or four times and thankfully, the computer turned on in my last attempt.

I cannot explain what happened. Maybe the computer just needs some rest as it is always on 24/7 even if there are times no one is using it. Maybe, there are some loose connections on the wires. Or maybe, it is just playing games on me. Whatever...It happens sometimes with equipments and electronic gadget. For now, I relish the joy of having the computer alive and kicking once again. Troubleshooting for the real cause could wait..

So long peeps!

Hello! :)

Hello people! :)
Every wonderful thing that happens to us needs to be shared to spread the joy..
Every heartache, failure, disappointment has with it a lesson to be learned and thus, need to be shared too.
Today, I'll try to share everything I need to share...

Welcome to my life. Welcome to my world! :)