update on the previous post

heads will definitely roll. it's been 4 days. tsk.

when we called, they said "ay, hindi pala 48 hours. 5 days"

pwede ba sabunutan ko na lang sarili ko?

2 days without internet, and 2 days of making calls to the sec, bir, and rod. and of course, to the idiot phone company that cut our dsl.

the idiot phone company disconnected our dsl without notice, and without provocation.

called the manager and some idiot picked up the phone, put the headset on the table, and left. i put it on speaker and spent the better part of an hour listening to the manager try to explain to a customer why his phone got disconnected when he had no arrears whatsoever. i hung up (accidentally!).

finally got to talk to some customer service person and they claimed we had our dsl disconnected, then they said no, we didn't. our secretary had it disconnected. and then they said ah..., no, nobody had it disconnected, they're sorry, please wait 48 hours for reconnection. then when we called again, they said the building administrator went to their office to have OUR dsl disconnected, but they're sorry, please wait for another 48 hours.

48 hours! gardemet (as fams would say). we needed to research, and email, and print! yes, print. our office is wireless so we won't trip over wires that lead from one end of the room to the other. and there we were, slaves to the net, our office practically paralyzed.

to top it off, all the transactions we had with government agencies for the past two days went bust. arrrrrrrrrrgggggh!!!

i dread my phone bill.

as of this writing the thing is still disconnected. and if we don't have our dsl connected by tomorrow, heads will roll, with my sister wielding a very sharp, very heavy, very wicked ax.

reality chomps

5 months of vacation out of the country, 2 birthdays, 2 weddings, christmas, new year, and a series of special non-working holidays that seemed (to me at least) unmatched, and you can imagine what state my brain was in. or is.

my brain is mush. i work so slow my fingers leave me behind and type their own thoughts. i have to pause to recall the last thought i thunk 5 minutes ago. i stop in the middle of talking because i forget what i was going to say.

i guess what they say is true. the brain atrophies. i tried to keep my brain active and busy while i was on vacation. but somehow twilight did not provide the much needed brain stimulation i craved. csi, ncis, the unit, and csi marathons did not help any.

unfortunately, work does not wait. nor is it a patient and lenient mistress. it takes out its whip and mercilessly slashes at you, the tip pointing at the clock with each swoosh. and yes, you must obey.

it's been a week since the last major non-work event took place. since then it's been a struggle for me to keep focused. but i try, and i manage. with a little luck the brain will be well-oiled soon, and the machinery more efficient.

till then, i guess it's whapakkkk!

for all babies about to be born

wrote this after the september 11 twin tower incident. i just found it in my files while looking for another poem. :P so i'll just share it with the world and expectant mothers out there. :)


what will you see my little one
when you come to this earth
where terror is constant
from the moment of birth
a place where planes wreak havoc
and bring death from the skies
where land mines maim children
bullets end countless lives.
how can i protect you
from this race i call my own
how can i assure you
that someday you'll have grown
safe, unharmed
able to cherish life
able to embrace peace
able to scorn strife.
i dread your coming
but i welcome it more
i hope for the best
no matter what's in store.
but i promise you this
my dear little one
you shall know peace and love
while i walk this land.

feeling introspective

it's a brand new year. sometimes you just can't help but do some soul-searching. sometimes you find yourself standing in front of the mirror, taking stock of your life.

i found myself doing that yesterday, standing there after i flossed and brushed my teeth. i stared at myself in the mirror for quite some time.

i stared and stared and stared. after a while i came to a realization that really threw me.

syet. di pala pantay ang kilay ko.

pang tanggal ng pagod at sama ng loob

labor of love

3 days of baking, and practically not sleeping paid off. how's this for an alternative career?

sigh.

yes it's good to be home

Tagged by April

1. Boy - Book of Love
2. Rejoice - U2
3. All These Lives - Chris Daughtry
4. Circle of Life - (Lion King OST)
5. Imagine - John Lennon
6. Learning How to Fly - Tuck and Patti
7. T.L. AKO SA YO - CINDERELLA (hahahahha! i swear, i love my playlist)
8. The Best - Tina Turner
9. Chu-chi Face - (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang OST)
10. Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies

what does this say about me? hehehe

turkey day

it's my first thanksgiving, since it's a holiday that is not celebrated in the philippines. since i'm here, i might as well join the festivities. so i've made flan to feed about 20 people, and i'm waiting for the ribs to cook. we're having ribs for lunch.

while cooking earlier, i got to thinking about what i'm thankful for. it turns out, i have a LOT to be thankful for. from the tiniest thing like being able to scratch my back, to the big ones concerning family. so here's my list:



the tiny stuff--

i am thankful that...
1. i can scratch my back without pulling a muscle
2. my front teeth have never been subjected to root canals
3. my skin is not prone to acne (thank you parental genes)
4. i am able to touch type
5. i can still see my toes
6. i do not fidget
7. i can jump start a car
8. i have good night vision

the medium stuff--

i am thankful that...
1. i am able to eat regular meals
2. my parents put me through school
3. i am healthy enough to work
4. i speak excellent english and tagalog, and passable ilocano :P
5. i was born pinoy

the big stuff--


i am thankful for...
1. my mom and dad
2. the best sisters any one can ever have
3. friends
4. the blessed life i've had (yes, despite the laments)
5. µ¥ ∫ø≈.

thanks Big Guy. for everything.

whiner's block

this phrase popped into my head this morning, and a quick google search turned up quite a few results. i didn't read the results, though, as i think i have my own definition.

whiner's block is what happens when you have nothing to whine about, or too much.

i think i have the latter. too much to whine about that i don't even know where to begin.

sigh. quick question.

if i whine about whiner's block does that mean i don't have whiner's block?

firestorm

the lights went out at approximately 11 in the evening last night. since i come from a country where power outages are more or less the norm, i thought nothing of it. i chalked it up to the wailing winds. most like, i thought to myself, it's just a safety precaution.

the silence in the apartment, however, meant that i could hear everything outside. it didn't take long for me to make out the sounds of choppers and sirens. my sister thought it was a car chase along the highway. i agreed.

it wasn't until around 1 am when the lights came back on that we were able to watch the news. the mountains behind the apartment complex were on fire. had it just been my sister, her husband, and myself, we would have waited it out. but we had baby mac. so we had to go.

i had always wondered what i would bring if i had to leave the house in a haste for one reason or another. i knew that my laptop was going, of course. plus my ipod which doubled as an external hard drive. my sister piled some clothes into a big bag.

i looked at my backpack which held all my chargers and electronic stuff. i considered what else to bring. pictures. my passport. my small journal. my rabbit necklace.

and that was it. i guess i'm fortunate that most of my stuff have more or less taken permanent residence in my backpack as i've been living out of a bag for a few months now. easy access.

i realized then that i've pretty much gotten rid of my packrat tendencies. or perhaps tamed them. i left my new books, clothes, small items that i would've taken with me had this happened last year. instead i packed food, in case we got stuck somewhere while in the car. i packed toothbrushes, my contact lenses, spare eyeglasses. water. soda. cooked rice and the banana bread i had baked that afternoon.

i packed necessities, and traveled light. before 3 am we were out of there.

we stopped along the road to configure our navigator because they had blocked the freeways. i took a quick photo with my phone. pardon the blur. the winds were too strong. i could smell the smoke, and strangely, it reminded me of christmas in baguio. burning pine wood.


our apartment complex is located at the foreground, where the lights are.

right now the fire is 20% contained. 8000+ acres have been burned. 1400 firefighters have gone out to help. 600 homes burned to the ground. i can only pray it gets no worse.

for now i'm glad we're safe and together, and we had a house we could go to. i pray for all those who are not as fortunate.

the idiot box

i have always been a big fan of the written page, not so much the boob tube. i'd take a book any day over movies.

since i got here, however, it seems like i've been spending most of my time watching tv. it could be because i've run out of books to read and the tv is more accessible than the nearest bookstore.

or it could be because the mindless exercise of sitting in front of the tv is just that -- mindless.

for the past few months i have had a lot of need for mindless entertainment, and the tv has happily obliged.

it actually kept me sane.

so i guess i'll be a bit more tolerant of the idiot box. i have a lot to thank it for. :)

now all i need is a bowling ball.