We are 2 floors down December 22, 2008
Posted by snowivy in Office tales.add a comment
We just moved to our new area in the 17th floor, 2 floors below our previous work area. In this new place, we are almost adjacent to my sister’s team, allowing me to spy on her. hehe (Or it could be the other way around). Anyway, some of my officemates are complaining about the rather foul odor of the carpet along with a smell of stinking feet. So they bought Lysol to disinfect the area underneath their tables. The tables here are larger although the seats are better in the 19th floor. The lights are also dimmer. I hope we can adjust to our new place soon before they move us to another area hehe. 
Celestial smile December 4, 2008
Posted by snowivy in Astronomy, Geo Corner, What's Up.add a comment
Venus, Jupiter, Moon Smile on Earth (courtesy of National Geographic)
Last Monday evening when I was about to hang my wet towel at the back of our house, I noticed the crescent moon with two bright ’stars’ above it, forming a smiley. I tried taking a picture of it on my camera phone but the resolution was very low to capture the sight. I went inside and told Ate to take a look at it and show my nephew the moon and the ’stars’ above it. The ’stars’ were not twinkling so I was assuming that they were planets instead. Venus was my first candidate but could not think of another one for the other bright thing. It turns out to be Jupiter, as the evening news and newspapers later reported. It is good that here in the East we see a smiley since in the US and Europe it was reported that they saw a frown.
There are plenty of stars that could be seen lately, because of the clearer skies and the time of the year. I was fortunate enough to be in Ilocos when this celestial smile appeared in the skies. The night skies here are not hazy and are not blurred by artficial lights, thus you can behold the heavens in all its splendor. The wonderful sight reminds me of these verses from the Bible:
(Psalm 19:1) The heavens are declaring the glory of God; And of the work of his hands the expanse is telling.
(Psalm 8:3-4) When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers, The moon and the stars that you have prepared, What is mortal man that you keep him in mind, And the son of earthling man that you take care of him?
For me, beholding such a sight is both an awesome and humbling experience. I hope I can catch a glimpse of the meteor shower on December 13.
