Day 115 – A Lesson in Procrastination

2009/05/14 at 11:41 pm | In personal note | Comments Off
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Today I learned a lesson on procrastination.  Never put off for another day something that could cause you your means of living.

Five people from the office are in danger of losing their jobs because they decided to put off a very important job requirement for another time.  For the past five years, we have reminded these people to take an examination required to make them keep their jobs, but these people keep on delaying, telling us that they will take it when they feel they are prepared to pass it.

This afternoon, we received a memo that all those who have not passed this exam will have to go by June 30th.  It was only then that these people panicked.  Our management, realizing that it’s a bad time to lose a job, are now wracking their brains to find a way to keep this people employed.

I told one of the bosses that they were lucky I am not part of the management team.If you ask me, I would not a lift a finger for these people.  They were given enough time to take the exam but they decided not to.  Of course it’s hard to lose a job these days but these people acted for the last five years like they didn’t give a care about their employment.

To anyone who is reading this post right now, let this be a lesson.  If you have something very important at hand, do it right away.  Get it out of the way as soon as you could.  If you leave it there, it might become your stumbling block later on.

Day 114 – So Like the Other Ones

2009/05/13 at 10:43 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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As I write this, I am downloading a number of software updates from Apple.  One of them is a security update for Safari 4 Beta which I am currently using as my primary browser.

My title refers to how this day went.  I spent most of it in the office so most of I the things I did were the usual job related things I do everyday,

Day 113 – The Big Question

2009/05/12 at 11:21 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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It was another warm morning that I woke up to today.  I woke up just in time to prepare for work but I still ended up getting to work late.  Thanks to the buses that took long before getting to our place.  I really suspect that the bus companies reduced the number of their fleet to save on gas and maintenance.

I finally finished working on the manual I was working on for the last two weeks.  I printed a copy and asked our proofreader to go through it.  He wasn’t able to finish it today so I had nothing else to do at work but surf for materials for upcoming projects.

Facebook is blocked in the office except during lunch and after 5PM.  In those limited time, I was still able to work on my Mafia Wars game.

I continued surfing the Internet after lunch and I came upon a letter of a congressman protesting to the President the issuance from the finance department to tax imported books.  It stemmed from a decision of the customs office to levy duties on imported books that are not for education purposes.

The defense of a finance official for this tax was both shocking and speaks so much about how they value reading.  Said official said that “reading books does not educate.”   I was dumbfounded by her words not because of its profoundness but because of its sheer stupidity.

I hope the lawmaker succeeds in convincing the President to intervene.  I also hope our president also reads books and knows the value of reading.

It rained in the late afternoon in the vicinity of our office.  It wasn’t as hard as the one yesterday but still it lasted for more than an hour.

During the our afternoon break, my office mates and I had a nice discussion about a lot of things.  A UFO believer in our group started telling us about actual encounters around the world.  I am skeptical about these stories.  But the discussion went on and on until we touched on the Bible,creation, Jesus Christ and a lot of other things.  It’s funny how a conversation could take several twist and turns until the original topic is becomes forgotten.  That’s what happened to our small discussion this afternoon.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful.  I just waited for the time to go home and nothing unusual happened even during my trip home.

So that’s my day today.  Thanks for dropping by.

Day 112 – Politics and Parades

2009/05/11 at 11:56 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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I’d like to answer those who have been asking me whether I don’t like the country’s boxing here.  No, not that I don’t like him I just think that he should stop acting like the whole country owes him its very existence.  No doubt he’s the best fighter in the world today and everybody acknowledges that.  The problem with this guy is he struts like a peacock while displaying false humility.

This morning, he was at it again.  He was in a parade, surrounded by people with questionable intents.  Foremost is a former mayor who once wanted to cut hundred of ancient trees to give way to a building ad now, by a strange twist of fate, is the secretary of natural resources.  This is the very same person who said on national TV that not even the H1N1 flu can knock down the strongest man alive.  Conspicuously absent was a lawmaker who said that the health department and WHO are over acting on the H1N1 flu virus.

Now, Mr. Champion is thinking of leaving the boxing ring to go into politics.  He was once knocked down by a lady legislator when he ran for office in a southern province.  He’s going to try it again, and I say good luck to that.  Not to him but to those people who are crazy enough to trust him to bring them development.

While one broadcast network covered every activity of the boxing hero, its rival network launched a political movement that encourages the youth to come out and vote in 2010 and let their voices heard.

I have an experience with young voters that made me completely lost my trust on their judgement.  It was another national election and we were to choose twelve men and women who will compose the Senate.  I was standing in line and in front of me were three girls who were comparing their line up.  They were so excited to vote for the first time and I felt happy that these young girls are starting young to make their voice count.

And yet, when I heard who they were voting for and for what reason, I was completely aghast!  One is voting for a candidate because he’s cute and handsome.  Their other choice is an action star because he has a very nice body and they are also voting for a lady candidate because she only dress in nice clothes.

What worried me then was that they compose almost half of the total electorate.  No wonder that the cute, the action star, and the well-dressed lady candidates made it all to the senate.  They were so silent in the chamber I don’t even know what they have contributed to the country so far.

Now on what I did today, I totally avoided the parade and the political activity, and went to level up my character in Mafia Wars.  I did this in between my layouting project at work.

There was a heavy downpour in the early afternoon.  It was so heavy, there was a report that a portion of the city was flooded in its aftermath.

Fortunately, it was over by the time we were out of the office.  I went home immediately and caught a bus with a TV.  I saw for the first time an ad where the secretary of defense was instructing people about disaster preparedness.  There’s nothing political about it except that upon closer inspection, he used the letters of his surname for his instructions!

Anyway, it’s still 365 days till election time and yet it already feels like the campaign is in full swing.  More on this in the coming posts.  In the meantime, that’s my day today, thanks for dropping by.

Day 111 – Dry and Wet Seasons in A Day

2009/05/10 at 11:00 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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I’d like to think that mother nature cannot make up her mind this Mother’s Day.  In the morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day.  There were only slivers, in fact thin ones, of clouds in the sky.  Those were not even rain clouds but really thin wispy clouds.

By the time I was traveling to Manila, the temperature has risen considerably and it felt like summer again. It’s a good thing we got to ride on a bus with air conditioning or else we would have been sweating a lot again.

On my way to my father’s house, I passed by posters announcing the victory parade of the country’s boxing champ.  I wonder who decided to push through with this on a Monday.  I just hope they don’t do it during the morning’s rush hour.

The summer like weather continued until lunch and even when I went home from Manila, it was still vert warm.  This must be the reason why, aside of course for being Mother’s Day today,  there were so many people at the mall where I usually buy my grocery supplies.

The mall was literary bursting in the seams with all the people inside it.  The usually empty aisles were teeming with people of all shapes, color and sizes.  I passed by the mall to buy some supplies for the coming week.

I’m glad that I was able to get a ride home immediately.  When I get here in Bulacan, the sun was still very much high in the sky.  The house helper did some laundry earlier and all were already dry.  The warm weather persisted until around six in the evening when the sun began to set.  Some of the neighborhood kids went out to ride in their bicycles and go around the village.

As the sun set, the winds started to pick up and  blow stronger and  the sky  got filled up with dark clouds.  A few minutes later, lightning was streaking throughout the early evening skies.

It didn’t rain until around 8 in the evening.  It was a heavy downpour accompanied by very strong winds and claps of thunder.  It must have lasted for more than an hour and when it was finished.  The whole grounds outside was wet.

The funny thing though was that even at its peak, the rain didn’t affect the heat.  I was still sweating inside the house even as the rain was falling in torrents.

Perhaps we should start getting used to this kind of weather patterns.  Bringing of umbrellas is a must if one doesn’t want to get caught in a heavy downpour in the evening.  I don’t know but I think it is a recipe for disaster, people will be a little sickly having this kind of weather.  If the H1N1 A flu virus gets in our country, it could spread easily in this kind of situation.

While I always get sick in this kind of weather, I think my body will soon learn to adapt to what I think is mother nature’s revenge to our excesses.

Day 110 – More Rains

2009/05/09 at 11:15 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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It must have rained the whole time last night because when I woke up this morning, it was raining and the ground around the house was wet.  The dogs were huddled in one area of their house, comfortable from each other’s heat.

I cancelled all plans to go out today because of the rains.  I really don’t like going out when it’s raining.  For one, my shoes get wet.  I don’t like the feel of my shoes when they’re wet.  I hate the swishy, squeaky feel in my feet.

Another thing is the wind.  When it rains and the wind blows, I always get wet.  Sometimes, I haven’t even reached my destination and I am already soaked in rain water, or half of my body is.  This may not be a problem for those who have cars, but it’s a major issue for commuters like me.

And of course when it rains, chances are there would be very few public vehicles on the road.  So a commuter would end up wet, cold and nowhere to go.

Rather than experiencing all these troubles, I decided to stay at home and let the rains fall.  I went online and alternated on checking my Facebook and the different online forum I am a member of.

I tried Mafia Wars on Facebook and before I knew it, I was hooked.  I found out that many of my friends are already playing it and they instantly became part of my mafia.  What I liked about this game is, it’s more of a strategy game than a role play one.  I leveled several times throughout the day.

By mid-afternoon, the weather changed again.  The sun suddenly came out and it was so bright and warm it was as if it didn’t rain the whole day.  We definitely are having some crazy weather here in the Philippines.  Whether we blame it on some man made catastrophe or not, it is quite irritating.

What’s even more irritating is by nightfall, it began to rain again.  I can only shake my head.

That’s how I spent this Saturday.  Thanks for dropping by.

Day 109 – A Day to Slow Down

2009/05/08 at 10:00 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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The sun came out this morning after a rainy night.  It shone almost the whole day, interrupted by some cloudy skies only in the early afternoon.  The dogs seemed too happy, they ran all around the house and engaged in some horseplay among themselves.

I decided earlier on that I will take everything slowly today.  I had a relaxed breakfast and drank coffee while reading the newspapers’ online edition.

I spent the rest of the morning on Facebook, updating myself with what my friends were up to.  When I got bored with it, I went tweeting on Twitter.

I also found out this morning that the country’s boxing here went home in spite requests from the WHO and the health department to stay for a while in the US to be observed for signs of the H1N1 A flu infection.  I think his winning yet another boxing fight has completely gone to his head and he ignored these requests and went home anyway.  It was so frustrating seeing him hugging and kissing his little children, fresh from disembarking from his plane, surrounded by his staff who were also potential carriers of the flu virus.

There was also this former city mayor who was adamant of getting the boxing champ home.  His reason was so incredible I wanted to hit him with a baseball bat.  He said that the boxing champ is the strongest person in the universe so he couldn’t possibly get sick.  And of course he was always beside the champ in all photos.  With people like this who would defy all logic and common sense and have no regard whatsoever for the welfare of the greater people just to get political mileage , it is no wonder that this country continue to have major problems.

Now to other matters.  After lunch, I felt some buzzing in my left ear.  I couldn’t tell what caused it but it wasn’t painful or hurting, it was just irritating.  I also think my hearing is somehow affected because when I watched TV, the sound was like metallic in my left ear.  I wonder if I have an infection or something but I will go to the doctor soon.

The rains came back late in the afternoon.  It was as if the typhoon made a U-Turn and dumped more rains upon us.  It turned out that in the typhoon affected areas, there were several people killed by flash floods and landslides.

After dinner, I went back online.  I went to some helpful sites regarding the mac mini I am planning to buy soon.  Then I prepared this post.

That’s how I spent this Friday.  Thanks for dropping by.

Day 108 – Typhoon

2009/05/07 at 11:58 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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It was a rainy morning tat welcomed me today.  The sky was filled with dark clouds filled with moisture and there was a strong wind blowing all over.  It was raining hard that I almost decided not to go to work today, except that I remembered the numerous things I needed to finish at the office.

I’m not used to having typhoons in the country in May.  Not even nature.  In fact, by this time, the rice farmers are ready to harvest their crops for the season.  The irrigation canal at the back of the house was already dried in preparation for this.  Now, I wonder if the farmers would be able to harvest enough grains to keep them happy.

I’m also worried about the atis tree  in front of the house.  It bears fruit in May, as it does now, but the fruits are not ready for eating until July.  With these early rains and typhoon, I am afraid that these fruits might rot.

I had a hard time getting a ride to work today but thankfully, the bus I took was not full yet when it passed our place.  Traffic was horrible in some parts of the highway not only because they were slippery but also because certain parts of the highway were flooded.

It was almost lunchtime when I got to the office.  In fact, some of my officemates were already getting ready to eat.  I didn’t get to buy some food so I contented myself with some cup noodles.

By mid-afternoon, we were already wondering whether the head of our office will declare early dismissal, especially since the rains have begun to fall again.  Some of my office mates even left early because they were afraid that the floods may get worse.  I decided to stay on and finish what I was doing.

Our intern reported to the office for the last time.  His two months internship with our office was over.  I advised him to serve his community first before finding better opportunities in other places.  He said he would stay in his community and share the knowledge he gained from his experiences.

The early dismissal never came and I left the office at 7PM.  By then, the rain was pouring in torrents.  The roads that we pass through going to the bus terminal was flooded, and the water resembled a flowing river.  It’s a good thing the jeepney driver positioned his vehicle in such a way that our feet will not get wet once we get off the jeep.

Thanks to the rains, the only available bus didn’t have any air conditioning.  I took it and I got a seat beside a drunk.  It was the only seat available so I didn’t have a choice.  He was so reeking of alcohol and I had to turn away from him to avoid smelling him.   The man closed his eyes and slept after paying his fare.  In fact, he was so inebriated that he slept the whole duration of the trip.

It was good that the rains stopped when I arrived at the gates of our subdivision.  The night was filled with sounds of frogs doing their mating call.

I was able to catch the last part of American Idol while having dinner.  Allison, the last woman standing left tonight and made host Ryan Seacrest remark that it’s an all  boy’s club that would be making their homecoming trip next week.  I think it’s going to be a Danny vs. Adam in the finals.

After dinner, I visited the forum I am a member of and the hottest topic was about government imposing tax on imported books.  This after 50 years of complying with the Florence Agreement that prohibits signatories from imposing tax, duties and tariffs on imported books.  The problem is, those importers have no choice but pass this new tax to book lovers like me.  Prices of books are already high here as of now, and not many people are into reading anymore.  With this action, government is further reducing the number of people who could afford to read.  I so hate this new tax I joined a group that is currently protesting it online.

Before I started this post, my housemate and I let the dogs go in the carport.  It is still dry and they could sleep on the planks in there.  I could hear Betty scratching her paws on one plank, maybe trying to mark it as hers.

It is still quite as I write this and it isn’t raining.  I hope it continues on until morning.  It’s already the start of my weekend.

That’s my day today.  Thanks for dropping by.

Day 107 – Tired

2009/05/06 at 11:09 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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It was a busy day at the office today. First, I continued to work on the layout of the handbook prepared by my office mates. Then, we had a forum and presentation in the afternoon. Third, we had a very long meeting on what to do in the next quarter.

I also filed my application for the renewal of my passport. The people at the help desk told me that it will take some 8 working days before they could release my new passport.

On my way home, there was a report on the TV news that there are now three suspected cases of H1N1 flu in the country.  This is scary stuff, if you asked me because it could be a major health issue in the country.  I am scared because I am constantly exposed to places with lots of people.  I commute in cramped buses, walk through a shopping mall to get a bus ride, and I also have to contend with taxi and jeepney drivers who do not cover their mouth and nose when they sneeze or cough.  This is really scary.

I was so tired after all these and now I just wanted to sleep. I hope I could get a good night sleep tonight. It’s raining outside and inside it’s cold but comfortable.

Day 106 – Back to the Office

2009/05/05 at 11:12 pm | In Daily Journal, personal note | Comments Off
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After a day of rest and nursing a flu, I finally went back to work.  There’s really nothing exciting about it, except that it was raining when I left home and the buses were few and far in between that I had to stand up again during the entire commute.  I arrived late at the office and saw the same people I see everyday.  I spent the first few minutes fixing my table and preparing the files I was to work on today.

After this, I had my usual morning coffee at my desk while reading my emails and responding some queries from people who use our website on geocities.com.  I also had to tell them that Yahoo will close Geocities later this year and the office is still working out where to post the papers we posted there.

Our intern also dropped by for his evaluation.  I had to talk to him for sometime about his rating because although I wanted him to be on the top of his class, I wasn’t really impressed with his performance.  I told him that I could not give him a really high score because that would be unfair.  In the end, I gave him a rating that we were both happy with.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch and I went to the cafeteria for my noontime repast.  I enjoyed the seafood chopsuey I ordered because it was different from the one I usually have at home.  I finished lunch with a fruit shake and it filled me really good.

When I got back to the office, I was able to get connected to my Facebook account and I played with my latest favorite app, “Fun Toys.”  This app lets you take care of a pet toy and to earn money for his keep, you must pet the pet toy of other players.  So far, my pet is a well contented bubble gum named BUBU.  Come to think of it, my first pet was a dog named Bubu.  She was killed by someone who gave her spiked food one cold December morning.  I wil always remember that dog, she’s my first dog.

Anyway, were only allowed to access Facebook until one in the afternoon so after an hour, my connection was cut and I went back to work.

I was about to start working on my labor force statistics when I was asked to format a handbook.  It was hard because the one who prepared it already started a layout for the book but the higher ups didn’t like the look of it.  The worst part is I need to work closely with him.  I met with him this afternoon and so far, we haven’t had any differences.  He was quite open with my suggestions.  I’m crossing my fingers that he would like what I could come up with.

By the way, personnel from the passport processing of the foreign affairs department were at the office to accept applications for renewal of passports.  I went out of the office earlier today to have my passport pictures taken.  I didn’t like the photo, it reminded me of that joke that says, you know a person has jetlag when he looks like his photo on his passport.

I bought a pair of leather step in shoes which I plan to bring to the office.  Then I went home.  Dinner was pork sinigang and daing na bangus.

I didn’t watch any TV tonight but instead went directly online to visit my pet Bubu.  I just stopped to make this post and will immediately go back to Bubu afterwards.  So I will stop here and hope you enjoyed reading what I did today.

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