San Miguel Beer's Grand Slam Bid Prevented By Ginebra

As a San Miguel Beermen fan, I was disappointed at the result of last night's game against Ginebra. San Miguel had an off night and Ginebra played well.

Many say that the Beermen placed themselves in this position when they squandered a huge lead against the Meralco Bolts and allowed them to come back, ending up as the 6th seed instead of as the 2nd seed. And because of that, they had to try to survive two do-or-die games against the Gin Kings.

Ginebra has been scary since the return of Greg Slaughter in their line up. And Coach Tim Cone has utilized him in what I call the Ginebra four-headed monster where he plays Slaughter, Aguilar,  Devance, and Brownlee all at the same time - all tall players, with a single guard like Tenorio, or Thompson. I've even seen a case where Ferrer comes in to substitute one of the four bigs. Brownlee, can slide to the off-guard position or even the point guard position, and with three bigs dominating the paint on defense, even an inside offensive threat like Jun Mar Fajardo can find it difficult. And having bigger players allowed them to defend against Marcio Lassiter and Arwind Santos from three point line.

This combination also forced Coach Leo Austria to play with only two of his guards at a time. But I think that having Lassiter, Cabagnot, and Ross all on the floor at the same time is the key to San Miguel Beer's success. The three guard formation allows for fluidity on offense, helping them find the open man and not forcing their offense only through Jun Mar Fajardo. By playing his bigs, Coach Tim Cone forced Coach Austria to adjust to their game, instead of the other way around.

Many of the PBA teams are actually imitating the San Miguel Beermen's design, having three guards and one post threat. NLEX, Black Water, TNT, Star and even Meralco have tried having three guard formations with Eram or imports like Onuaku. Perhaps, teams will now shift their team designs to have four-headed monsters seeing how effective this was against the Beermen.

Fatigue could also have been a factor to the early exit of the Beermen from the Governor's Cup. They have won the Philippine Cup and the Commissioner's Cup this year. As players, it is probably hard to maintain being driven when you've already achieved a semblance of success. Even some of the PBA fans want to see a different team win - to give others a chance, and if you are a part of San Miguel, that can be demoralizing.

Some fans even had conspiracy theories that Ginebra, being San Miguel's sister team, would just allow them to win so that they could continue their Grand Slam campaign. But this loss just proves that there's no collusion between sister teams in the PBA - at least when it comes to important games. (Maybe there are in terms of trades, but that would be difficult to prove)

You could see that the San Miguel Beer core was tired. Ross, Cabagnot, and Santos' numbers were down. Even these guys probably want to go on vacation early. And without a supporting cast who can step-up in times when your core is slumping, San Miguel really had no chance at a come back. I felt that if they tried to load up on shooters at the beginning of the second half, they might have had a chance. But Ginebra took away their 3-point shooting and Ginebra's shooters were the ones delivering the goods. Props to Brownlee, Mercado, and Devance who gunned the Beermen down from the 3-point line.

And as for Watson, he tried his best. But trading two-point baskets was not a formula for a come back. And with the Beermen defense being absent from the game, the rest, as they say is history.

But this loss can also help the Beermen. This will be their drive for doing better next year. With a healthy and solid core, and perhaps, trusting a few more players from the bench, they can regain their Championship poise, and try another Grand Slam run. Their core is known as the only team that has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit in the finals in basketball history. The Beermen can still become better. And as the saying goes, the hungrier team - the team that wants it more - usually wins.

Star Trek Discovery 2017

Warning: possible spoilers

Just watched Star Trek Discovery's first episode, and so far, I'm impressed and I enjoyed it! So far, the audience knows that there will be an impending war between the Federation and the Klingons. The Klingons have entered Federation territory and destroyed one of their relays. The USS Shenzhou's investigation results in the death of a Klingon soldier under the hands of the ship's first officer, Commander Michael Burnham. (her name is pronounced like a guy's name)

Michael's parents were killed by Klingons in an attack when she was young. Flashbacks show that she went under the tutelage of Sarek, Spock's father. And even near the ending of the show, she consults with Sarek via a holographic interface (The captain also spoke with an admiral of the Federation using the same interface... Star Trek finally stole a Star Wars staple - think Princess Leah's holographic message which projected from R2D2).

Now, for some nit picking. Apparently, they haven't heard of drones in space for reconnaissance missions. Why send a first officer on a jetpack to an unknown object and risk her dying of radiation? Because that altercation with a Klingon warrior will serve as the motivation for war.

Why are cowards now part of a ship's crew? I'm referring to you, Saru... Maybe they learned from that robot in Star Wars Rouge One who was a foul mouthed C3PO and now, personalities with negative traits will be one of the highlights of the crew. Saru kind of reminds me of Odo from Deep Space Nine. I guess he is there to balance Michael's brashness (which is strange, considering she was tutored by a Vulcan).

Michelle Yeoh serves as the captain of the Shenzhou, but based on the credits, it appears that she won't be on the show for the long haul - unless she dies and Michael keeps getting flash back conversations with her. They apparently have been working together for seven years.

The timeline of this show is somewhere before the Original Series and The Next Generation. So, that means that at some point, peace will be achieved between the Federation and the Klingons (unless this show is in a Mirror Universe, in which case, we could end up with a scenario where they never attain peace in their alternate reality.) But if peace will be achieved, then what's the point? Is the journey better than the destination...

Wish they'd also showcase new tech which could influence our present geeks and idea generators to come up with better products. Like the new uniform designs, despite no distinction between ranks and roles. Am excited to see the next episode and see the interaction between other crew members. But am not interested in the Mot the Barber look a like. Replace him with some hottie chick, please, like Bridget Regan from The Last Ship. And maybe recruit the Rat King from The Strain, cause he needs a job. The ship probably needs a security officer with a coward science officer unable to accompany the commander on away missions.

Brian McKnight - 6 8 12 Guitar Chords

Here's my attempt at a Brian McKnight classic, enjoy!

Intro
Bb F Gm7 F EbM7 
Ooh, ooh
Bb F Gm7 F EbM7
Ooh, ooh

Stanza Pattern
Bb 
Do you ever think about me?
Gm7 
Do you ever cry yourself to sleep?
Cm7 
In the middle of the night when you're awake,
F - Fsus - F
Are you calling out for me?
Dm7 (Hammer pattern) 
Do you ever reminisce?
BbM7 EbM7 (Dm7)
I can't believe I'm acting like this
Cm7 F Gm7 Am7
I know it's crazy how I still can feel your kiss

Hammer Pattern
e  5 h 8 p 5 |-----------|-----------
B -----------|-6-h-8-p-6-|-----------
G -----------|-----------|-2-h-5-p-2-
D -----------|-----------|-----------
A -----------|-----------|-----------
E -----------|-----------|-----------

Chorus 
Bb Gm7 - F EbM7
It's been six months, eight days, twelve hours since you went away
Bb Gm7 Dm7 (Bb) - Bbsus - Bb
I miss you so much and I don't know what to say
Cm7 F BbM7 EbM7 (Dm7)
I should be over you I should know better but it's just not the case
Cm7 F (pause)
It's been six months, eight days, twelve hours since you went away

Bridge
EbM7 Dm7 
It's hard enough just passing the time
Cm7 - F - BbM7 BbM7 - Cm7 - Dm7
When I can't seem to get you off my mind
EbM7 Edim7 Dm7 G7sus G7 
And where is the good in goodbye?
Cm7 F Gm7 Am7
Tell me why, tell me why

Chorus

Use Intro to fade

Duranta and Garden Snails

Some of my Duranta plants started showing what I call "burn marks" on their leaves. These are black spots on the leaves, some so severe that about 50% of the area of a leaf is covered. I thought that my Durantas got some kind of plant disease. As I looked closely, one of the spots appeared to be crawling. It turned out to be a small black snail the size of a match head. I lifted the plastic pot where the Duranta was planted and found many of these small snails surrounding the pot, on the interior of the pot, and some on the leaves of the Duranta. They like to stay hidden on the underside of the leaves.

There were also several big snails, with a shell diameter of about a centimeter. The plants close to these bigger snails had more severe damage compared to those plants with only the small black snails.

I looked up ways of containing a snail infestation online and most recommend killing the snails. So I took two small bamboo sticks and used these as chopsticks, then started picking the snails off the pots and leaves and dunking these in a salt-water solution. I'm not sure I got all snails, but at least I no longer see these on the sides of the pots and underneath the leaves of the Durantas that appeared unhealthy. Will still have to check every now and then to see if some snails have evaded my initial search.

Just hope my Durantas survive the snail infestation.

PC Express Limited Warranty and Cash Price List

Bought an APC BX625CI-MS 625VA Battery Backup less than two years ago as of this writing. The unit failed last night and the circuit breaker would no longer reset. By just plugging in the unit to an outlet, a continuous tone would be heard. Power light is steady, but even if you press the power button to try and shutdown the unit, the noise would continue, and you would have to unplug the unit from the outlet.

I thought that the unit had a two-year warranty as advertised on the box it came with. But when I went to PC Express, the same shop I bought it from, they told me that items purchased from them only came with a one year warranty. This was despite the 2-year warranty label on the APC box. To process this unit, they wanted to charge me a Php 500 processing fee. They would then send the unit to APC and the processing time might take 3 to 4 weeks. And even if they return the fixed unit, its warranty would only end up being continuous, which means I could probably only use the unit for another three months before its warranty runs out.

The unit I purchased more than a year ago was priced at Php 2,850.

I couldn't wait for 4 weeks so I decided to purchase the same unit model. The price of the unit on PC Express' price list was now 3200. That's more than a 12% price increase in less than two years time. I figured I'd rather invest the 500 peso processing fee in a brand new unit than risk the old unit failing again in a couple of months.

I was expecting to get a discount from PC Express since they usually provide a discount for customers when they pay in cash. But they have what they call a "CASH basis" price list. It essentially is the same price list they have been providing all these years with the term "CASH basis" printed on it. This means, gone are the days of a cash discount from their stores. The price on the list is what you would pay if you paid with cash.

I was not a happy customer. PC Express discourages warranty claims by charging a processing fee. I got in touch with the Department of Trade and Industry and narrated my concern. (You can call them at 751-3330 local 1). According to them, in this case, PC Express shouldn't have asked for a processing because services should be free under a warranty. It should be PC Express' responsibility to spend for the shipping fee of the unit to APC's repair center because the product was still within APC's guaranteed two-year warranty.

Called up APC to see their take on the issue. (You call call their customer service hotline at 976-9999). They advised that I should have called them directly at their hotline and after troubleshooting, if the unit needs replacement, they can have a replacement shipped within 2-3 business days, or if the unit is out of stock, within a week. But APC agrees that PC Express shouldn't be charging their customers a processing fee since the unit is under the 2-year warranty.

So, if you go through the same experience I went through, if your battery backup is still within warranty, call APC directly.