Goodbye, Facebook

About a month ago, I started getting reminders to enable Facebook Protect, some feature meant to protect certain people who may be targeted by folks up to no good or even other social media platforms. Meta specifically mentions accounts of politicians or candidates who may require additional protection during elections. So the funny thing is that I’m no politician, and I barely even post about politics. I avoid doing so as much as I can, for my sanity’s sake, and well, for friendships' sake. I felt it was a strong-arm move to impose a seeming “need”.

It may look random, but I feel their algorithm checks my networks. Most likely, they’ve figured out that tons of my friends are uber active political analysts, whether self-proclaimed or not. Anyway to hell with their arm-twisting, no? I wasn’t going to give them what they want, primarily because they think they know what’s good for me, and because they didn’t bother offering an opt-out.  

Some time in the afternoon of 12 Nov, I got locked out of Facebook and Messenger. Instagram seems to be working for me, and so is WhatsApp. I told my family and friends through Twitter, Telegram, and Signal that I wouldn’t be posting on Facebook anymore, nor would I be able to comment on any posts I’m tagged in. I think the best take away is that I managed to get my family to use Telegram instead of Messenger if they wanted to talk with us here in SG.

I was able to cross-post from Instagram yesterday, so I think I’ll be exploiting that option meantime. Am I going to enable the feature sometime in the future? No. No thanks, Meta!

March was a good month. Not just because it's my birthday month, but I've been able to do more physical exercises as far as I'm allowed, and I've also been able to get through my first month back in the job.

For the first couple of weeks, I thought I was going to do 4 hours a day at most, and turn up the heat bit by bit until I'm able to do 100% again. But I suppose having to rest over a month does have its toll. It took significant effort to try not go all in with guns blazing on the first day back at work. LOL

Anyway, I'm trying something new this year. We've migrated our applications to a better platform, and we'd like to push that to the cloud this year. It'll obviously need a lot of liaising and cooperative work with other teams and domains so I'm going to do more engagement and solutioning than the usual engineering this time.

Last week, we did a platform-related hackathon and a critical refresh across clusters. There's going to be a lot more of these lined up, among others, and I'm quite excited with the prospect of getting them all done this year!

And oh, it's been 3 months since I removed the FB app from my phone. :)

#20

My daughter turns 20 today. We couldn't be any more proud of her. She's been through a lot and though all that, she had her share of victories here and there, like getting her advanced diploma last year, and getting into University this year.

You've come a long way, langga! Know that we will always be here to support you and your goals. Papa, Mama, and Miguel love you very much! 🥰🥰🥰

Friday night is catch-up-on-learning-targets night

 

Uncle Bong in SG

It's been over two decades since I last saw Uncle Bong. He would usually drop by Diamond Village in Novaliches, Quezon City to visit Lola Magding and my mother's side of the family there. Back then, I was still in college, and I think he had also just started working, in the automotive industry.

He has since worked in cruise ships and it was a good stroke of fortune when he told me that they would be dry-docking in Singapore. Mama's side has always been close-knit and could see the fondness in his eyes as he recalled his dealings with Lola Magding and her children, Mama included. He would then share stories of how many of our relatives emigrated off the "isla" to find better opportunities in Manila.

Given the brief opportunity, I'm still blessed to have seen him again after all these years. I am also happy that he was able to meet Mae and his "apos". Until we next see each other, Uncle Bong!

Christmas 2019

Dad and mum, Jen, Rob, Ava, and Rob's parents spent the holidays here in Singapore. For once, I didn't get to take that many photos, but everything's been awesome, especially Miguel's and Ava's gift opening.

Luckily, I managed to retrieve some of the most important photos, which are those of dining out! :D

Mae's Bday 2019

Dad and Mom dropped by Singapore to celebrate Mae's birthday with us. It was two days of hectic shopping at the IMM, dining out, and cooking for an instant birthday party at the flat with colleagues at work and cousins in SG! Happy birthday, pangga!