Holiday seasons are always busy that even the “bloggers” I know don’t get to post often this time of the year. So I thought I’d force myself to blog about anything just to get a post up. If my memory serves me right, the last time I posted was about a month ago, but I distinctly remember the scarcity of posts starting after Typhoon Ondoy. A lot has happened since then, so I figured I break them down and blog about each topic until I get a semblance of an active blog again.

Since I mentioned Typhoon Ondoy, I guess that would be a good topic to get things rolling. I wasn’t sure if it would be in good taste to discuss how lucky we were that day as far as avoiding the floods went, but since a bit of time has passed, I guess now’s as good a time as any.

Long story short is that we weren’t affected by the flood(s) apart from the blackout. I remember that day however, because we were at Nuvali (Sta. Rosa) that very morning for a bike clinic (that was cancelled.) We hadn’t been informed that it had been cancelled, but it’s a good thing we just decided to go straight home instead of dilly dally around the area. ¹ I was thinking of having breakfast there Thankfully, there wasn’t any traffic that morning and we were able to get home in record time… not a moment too soon too; 15 minutes after I had parked, C5 was already at a full stop – and would be for the rest of that day.

That afternoon, we just decided to kill time and walk outside – checking out how much the the rain was affecting our area. Tactless as this may sound, but walking around Tiendesitas, in the rain, taking pictures, etc. was a fun experience for us – as we were unaware of how it was affecting the areas in lower ground.

In any case, hopefully, everyone has moved on since and gotten their lives back on track. So there’s no point in dwelling in the horrible past. Instead, we should learn from it… and what I found myself doing during the aftermath was imagining if I had lived in those flooded areas – and I would simulate a “recovery plan.”

I call it a recovery plan because let’s face it, us Filipino’s are a tough bunch. Making the best of what has transpired is pretty much the default instead of whining and cursing the heavens for such an unfortunate fate. ² I just hope that we’re like that with relationships as well, but you can’t have everything Anyways, the other thing left to do, like I said, is to learn from it… and be prepared the next time.

The goal of the “recovery plan” is sort of a misnomer, since the “recovery” being done would be “during” the event instead of recovering after.

By “recovery,” I mean prioritizing the things that you will need to “move on” quicker. The real killer about Ondoy that it caught everyone unaware… people tried saving their stuff without prioritizing; not realizing how fast the water was rising. With that in mind, the premise of my simulation was simple: Assuming that your house will be flooded to the roof, what will you save?

Once the urgency is established (not enough time to prepare) the approach of recovering/saving items changes… If before, you’d normally try to save stuff indiscriminately, now you’ll go straight to the most important things, making sure they’re secured before working your way down the list for those that you might be able to save as well. It’s much more effective to think this way because you’ll actually get things done (since you know exactly what’s most important), and you’ve already psychologically detached yourself from most of your stuff… so being able to recover those down the list would be a bonus… which is good for morale.

Having said that, here’s my list.

Absolutely have to save

There are only 3 things I have to really make sure are safe before I start trying to save the other stuff; my mobile phone (or a mobile phone), my Drobo and my Laptop.

1. Phone
   Having a phone is self-explanatory, communication is key during any emergency.
2. Drobo
   The Drobo is a scalable HD enclosure which offers data redundancy/protection… I say “scalable” because you can just swap hard drives to increase the space available without having to reconfigure. ³ As of its current state, it can hold up to 4TB of data It goes without saying that all my data is stored there.
3. Laptop

Why only these three? Because the key to “moving on” from calamities is being able to work afterwards. It’s foolish to prioritize saving your personal effects based on how expensive they are, when at the end of the day, your job made it possible for you to acquire them in the first place.

So the goal is to get yourself as close enough to being “operational” in the workforce despite the disaster. My Drobo has all my data, and I’ll need a computer to access it… while my Desktop is really my work machine, a laptop is easier to save/carry, and transfer to different places should you need to leave your home.

You could get a waterproof container that can house all of them, so that in the worst case, you can dump them all in the container, seal it, then just leave it to submerge while you try to save “other stuff.”

Next in line

Now that I’ve saved the most important stuff. I can now try saving based on practicality/price. But take note, it’s all optional starting this point.

1. Cameras
   One reason would be because of the price, but having a camera to document the experience could be a very good way to cope with the grief.
2. iPod(s)
   It would be easy enough to include this in the first list since they’re so small, but priorities are priorities. All the same, having music (or audiobooks) to listen to during the long hours of commuting, ⁴ Since you should still be capable of working if you got your first list secure cleaning up your house, or waiting in a shelter.
3. Desktop PC
   If it’s something like a mac mini, I could put that right up with the first list, but my work PC is a monster tower. I’ve got all my work applications set up there ⁵ I’ll be able to install them on my laptop as well thanks to the Drobo, but they’re already properly configured in the desktop If I cannot recover it, I’ll try to go for the hard disks.

Maybe?

Here are the things that could probably hold without protection even when submerged. Items starting here fall under the just-leave-them-be-and-hope-they’re-ok-when-dried-out category.

1. Work Chair
   I’m not familiar with the inner-mechanisms of my Aeron, but assuming the worst, I would probably regret losing this more than than anything else. That chair has made even the longest hours of slaving away in front of the computer tolerable – I probably sit on it more than I lie down on my bed… and they’re both in the same room!
2. Bike(s)
   We know bikes could be submerged, the only question would be for how long. Especially since my frame is carbon fiber; which essentially, is cloth. I’m not certain how that would hold up against being “soaked” for an extended period.

Bummer

Now here are the things that I most probably won’t be able to recover.

1. Car
   Of course it goes without saying that you could have it repaired… but it’ll never be the same after that. Most people I know who “recover” their cars from something like that intend to sell them the first chance they get. Plus all those videos on how to protect your car are too optimistic. The computer box is probably the most complicated thing in there, and having electricity running through your car is really the thing you have to worry about.
   So while disconnecting the battery will go a long way, the question is how many people could actually anticipate that? Either you try to drive your car away from the flood (or through it most of the time), or you assume it’ll submerge and disconnect the battery to prepare for it, how many people actually choose the latter?
2. Genelecs
   I probably could save the speakers if I find a big enough waterproof container for them… but I think the subwoofer will be doomed. It’s worth saying though that even electronic equipment, could still work when allowed to dry properly, but high end audio equipment… while they may work… I’m not sure if they’ll sound just as good when all that dirt has accumulated and dried up in the system.