Gears Update

It has been a while since my last post and many things have happened since then. For one, I decided to upgrade my laptop as I saw it fit for the direction I am moving towards particularly on data analytics. It's been almost 10 years since I bought "Julian", my first work laptop, and there were so many milestones that we shared together.

I bought my first laptop during my second job in Taguig City. It served as an extension of myself as I work to earn for my family particularly in helping my siblings with their education as I am the eldest and breadwinner of the family. That laptop was able to create a joint personnel reporting system excel file which was used by the Philippine Army to be able to account their personnel on a national level during my stint as an Engineer / Researcher in the aforementioned organization. Julian was my laptop when I finished my Master's degree at the Ateneo de Davao University where I also created the Programmable Logic Controller Trainer for Marine Engineering Students. It was my laptop as a CourseHero tutor and also as a college instructor in the University of Southeastern Philippines and Agro-Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines. It was my laptop when I created laboratory manuals for Automation and Electrotechnology. These are just some of the so many things that my previous laptop was able to accomplish.

I have seen Julian as the not-so-powerful laptop it once was, until its needed upgrades empowered it to become faster and more efficient. From adding an additional RAM of 8GB from its original 2GB, it made me able to do simultaneous task on the laptop more doable and minimizing the experience of lag. From booting times that took a considerable amount of time to faster boot times and faster access of the needed applications, thanks to the 500GB SSD which I refurbished from my friend's old laptop. It was one of the best decisions I have made as it made life more convenient for me as a computer user. I also bought a new battery but it did not last very long so I opted to use Julian as a "dextrose" laptop (always plugged in). Instead of a battery, I opted to buy an Automatic Voltage Regulator with Battery so that when I plugged in my laptop and a power interruption occurs, I will still be able to shutdown the laptop and minimize the damage that could be incurred due to sudden power unavailability and also to save whatever it is I am doing using the computer. Julian is not yet retired though and more on this later.

Say, welcome to Shin, my new and improved extension. Here are some of the improvements in the specs based from my previous laptop. 

• From Julian's 2 cores and 4 threads to Shin's 14 cores and 20 threads
• From 10GB RAM 2.666 GHz to 32GB RAM 3.2GHz
• From 500GB SSD to 1TB SSD and I do plan to add another SSD since there is still an available slot for upgrades
• From iGPU to RTX 3070Ti Dedicated GPU
• Shin will also inherit Julian's peripherals such as the MX Vertical Mouse, the DAREU keyboard, the 24" horizontal and 27" Vertical monitors, lightbar and Logitech Brio webcam.

I am very much excited with my journey with Shin as my new extension. During the past days, I tried to prepare this new laptop by installing the needed software and trying to replicate some of the things that Julian does.

Update 28 September 2024:

Proud of the four new gears for my work-from-home setup. The Logitech K580 bluetooth keyboard, the Herman Miller Aeron (say goodbye to backache), the FlexiSpot M8M Standing desk riser and lastly, a whiteboard which cannot be seen in the picture. I will now have ample choices while working. Whether it's standing or sitting, it will be a joy to work. Time to get more productive! Haja!

On another note, I went into an escapade in a nearby hiking area about 2 hours travel by commute from our hometown with Adonis, a classmate of mine during college. There were supposed to be three of us climbing but our other colleague, Dean, was not available. Here are some pictures of that adventure. 

This area was once plagued with battles among the government army and leftists. As a result, it is called "Battlefield". What I like about the journey was the sip of a "2-peso" stick coffee as the cold breeze gently passes by while we were eating "lutong-bahay" food such as fried bulad, fried egg, chorizo, pancit canton, and our staple rice. I liked how hikers greeted each other with "Morning/Buntag" as we pass each other on the trail. I also enjoyed the conversations about life, struggles we encountered, and the key steps moving forward with what has already transpired in our lives as we trudged along the muddy path towards our destination. The jokes that weren't so funny at all but for some reason, you'll find yourself laughing or, at the least, grinning. For example, "What do you call a fish without eyes?" "FSH". This serves as an unwinding for the work that still needs to be done. I acknowledge that I am still on the planting season and the months that will follow is going to be crucial in the journey ahead. What is important are the people surrounding us that help us ground ourselves and lift us up as we navigate our lives and climb towards our intended destinations - whatever these destinations that we put our mind into. And, as we surmount the peaks that awaits us, may we also arrive towards that calming and personal realization that we came, we saw, we conquered.