A Challenge to Students on Vacation

After the disaster that typhoon Ondoy brought, the education department Deped and CHED that there are no classes until Friday for elementary and high school students and until Saturday for college students. That means, no assignments, no arrangement and use of exam tables in school.

For a lot of students this means free time and time to go to the mall. But for those affected by the typhoon, there is no time to enjoy. A challenge to students out there: why not take this moment to live your life for others – take time to help out, volunteer or even initiate something that can assist those who are in need.

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On POS and Other Related Stuff

If you are the type who works on barcode scanners, POS and other stuff related to that, you can check out POSguys.com. This is a site that has everything related to POS, barcode scanners, barcode label software, mobile computing and other POS accessories.



They also offer other services like custom card printing, custom programming, credit card processing and barcode generation. Visit their site for more information on barcode scanners and related stuff.

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Ketsana - Ondoy Typhoon: My First Hand Experience from Rizal

Typhoon Ketsana, whose PAGASA name was Ondoy, formed early on September 23 2009 and left a trail of disaster in the areas of Marikina, Malabon, Muntinlupa, Quezon, Makati, Pasay, Pasig, Valenzuela and San Juan. Flooding also occured in nearby provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and other Southern Tagalog areas. Major roads were rendered impassable because of huge flood currents and clogged cars. Our area, which is called Lower Antipolo was also hit.

This tropical typhoon, Ketsana and locally called Ondoy, has brought record rainfall to Metro Manila, not seen since the start of rainfall record keeping according to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), producing only moderate winds but hours of extremely heavy rain, which led to the worst flooding in living memory. I read that the usual amount of rainfall received in one month was brought by Ondoy in six hours.

We were able to document our first hand experience of this disaster in our own neighborhood (Kingsville Subdivision, Lower Antipolo). Below are some pictures from September 26 to 29 as Ondoy ravaged Metro Manila.



September 26, 2009, Saturday at 10:20am: The flood hasn't reached our elevated garage but has filled the street.

At 1:05pm: the flood has reached our elevated garage and has entered the house of our in-laws. We were hoping it wouldn't rise and not reach our house.

At 5:45pm: the flood has reached our elevated garage and has entered our house. It has become waist-deep in the middle of the street.

At this point, we decided to evacuate and we were thankful that our next-door neighbor accommodated us and let us use one of the rooms on their second floor. As soon as we have evacuated our families, I, with my brother-in-law and their helper went back to salvage what we can. When we did what we could, we went to our neighbor's house and hoped the flood wouldn't continue to rise.

At 9:40pm: The flood waters continued to rise. It has become neck-deep in the middle of the street. In the lower part of the subdivision it has reached up to 15 feet deep.

Thank God we were able to evacuate our family and He provided a place of shelter for us. I feel deeply saddened for the other typhoon victims - for their greater loss. May God have mercy on us all.

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