All Hallows Eve 2006

I've been out of touch... again. Been there, done that and I'm gald I had the chance. To start off, I went on a mini-vacation to my brother's house in Bulacan and played the role of a dutiful tita to my adorable niece and nephew. I even took them to taekwondo practice but, I fell asleep on the chair (hehe). Those kids won bronze and gold medals for their first-ever competition! Also, I had a chance to hang out with my cousin and his growing family at SM North's The Block. The place was cool with lots of stores and everything else the mall is famous for. Yep, it was a nice breather and I enjoyed my short stay, including marathon Dream Cable/TV shows.

Now, I'm back to reality. Back to ICS this morning at 4:00am. It was nice to see familiar faces again and meet a really awesome girl. That's the word: awesome. We also had call sims which was a pick-your-number kind of thing. My number? It was #1...and obviously I had to go first. I gave it my best shot, was given encouraging feedback and because of that, I will be taking live calls tomorrow for timeshare (for half-a-shift or roughly four hours).

And for a bit of sad news...just read on.

Human nature is really complex. Sometimes I tend to use that as an excuse for untoward behavior, individual differences or as a conversation opener. Today, it's a good topic for this blog entry. I don't know if there's any connection to human nature and to the event which took place early this morning at ICS.

Sixteen agents made a not-so-graceful exit and even gave a press statement against ICS. One particular agent (I don't know who that was.) said over the radio that ICS is not paying their salaries, not giving their demands, etc. It's just sad because the molehill became a mountain, the issue became a local source of news. Well, a person has the right to be heard but it shouldn't have come to such a drastic measure when all one had to do was to talk it out with management in order to clear up the mis-understanding. When asked by the management if there are concerns or problems they'd like to address, the said agents replied in the negative. I'd like to believe that the owners/management are good people. It's the least I can say about those who put up this kind of business here to be able to provide work when they can easily go to Manila to do business. Since the company has been operational in less than 8 months, it's still learning its way around. Sadly, the noble idea of wanting to give work backfired. Another good intention gone wrong. Even our city mayor was baffled by all these since the owners are good business people. He asked one of them to clear up the issue.

I'm not taking sides here. Sure, it's still business but hard work is needed to make it thrive. Sacrifice is part of hard work. So is patience. It's of prime importance to work together and reap the benefits (read: monetary rewards) later. The irony of it all is that the business deals mainly with communication. Why was there a communication gap between the agents and the management? Is human nature a valid excuse for what took place? Could be.

Moving on the lighter side...

I was asked by a guy as to how I would react about this scenario. "What if you have a friend and you've got to know him/her on a personal level and you like what you've discovered so far. However, some well-meaning people who know you only have mean things to say about your personal friend?". Hmmmm...Personally, I told him that it as a friend, I'd take time to listen to what other people have to say about him/her. Weigh if what they're saying is true or not. Don't be affected by the negative comments. And most of all, I said that it's ultimately up to him to make the choice of continuing the friendship or not. (That's my two cents worth of advice. Now, it's his decision to take it or leave it.)

BTW, this blog entry's title has nothing to do about All Hallows Eve. Except that today is Oct. 30.

Snippets of something else?

It was a hot Tuesday afternoon. I met up with some friends for a "reunion" of sorts. 'Twas quite a respite after all the boring weeks that went by. So, the guys took the liberty of ordering buckets of beer and pulutan. I just ordered a bottle of Coke (I'm always the party-pooper, hehe).
I took a seat. And...well, just read on.

"I'd like to sit beside you," he said to me.
"Sure," I replied.
"You're serious, right? You may not know it but I'm serious too" (I'm a serious person, hehe)
"I know. I'm always serious" I answered.

Then he proceeded to talk about other stuff like...
"I'm your friend, right?", he asked.
"Yes, you are my friend".
And he shook my hand. (Is it a deal or no deal?, hehe)

"If ever you need me for anything, just give me a text and promise, I'll be there", he said.
"Ok. Thanks."

"I like you," he said.
"Same to you," I replied.

Then...he gave me a kiss on my right cheek. So, I kissed him back. (Nothing wrong with kissing back someone who kisses you right? It's just a buzz on the cheek and it felt good, hehe)

He also placed his hand on my hip, fleetingly. I placed my arms along his shoulders and hugged him too. (Nothing wrong with that either, right?. Hehe) My arms didn't stay long upon his shoulders, sorry.

There was a lot of small talk in between too.
Lots of laughter.
I was in good company.

Goodbye...was a kiss (on the cheek) and a hug.

Yey!

The net is back on track! Woohoo!

It's a relief to know that I'm able to go online again. Hey, if you look at the net as a good source of instant info, a way to catch up with wired friends and an outlet for your angst (hehe), you'll know what I mean.

After how many days of constant blackouts here and problems with net connection...finally, things are back to normal. Hopefully, no more typhoons with Milenyo's intensity. News has it that Naga City landed on top of the list of badly affected areas by the said typhoon. But as of this writing, life is again up-and-about here. Good thing we don't really have massive billboards and other signages like that in Manila. Those humongous things are hazardous to lives and properties. Good thing that they're now regulating the billboard biz (well, it's about time.) Why should it take a disaster before anyone will stand up and take notice? Maybe someone took notice of things before but his/her sentiments never pushed through because of bureaucracy or other reasons? Hmmm.

Since electricity is available now...(Again, the net is back!) it also means that work is once again in full swing. Back to work, back to the normalcy of everyday routine, back to the grind. The days off were so worth it. Even if it was tough sleeping at night with only the curtains up...and the constant buzzing in your ear.

Oh, crap!

I'm in a very sullen mood today.

Actually, I've felt this way since last night. I've been told to stop whining about not being able to make an internet connection. Huh? I wasn't even doing anything to her. I was just trying to make a net connection after calling tech support and doing what I can to ease things up. Not even trying to bother her with my supposed "whining". Of course, I told her that she sometimes don't act like a psyc teacher. You know, psyc teachers are supposed to know about individual differences, right? Now, she asked me to do something for her. Double huh?

Earlier, I came to realize that another person has been talking really mean things about me to someone else. Like: I'm too proud, I don't do anything at home, I don't wash my own clothes, I have low self-esteem, I always ask for money, I sleep all day, I have attention disorder, I am a deadbeat, etc. Hey...she made me sound like I'm a BIG BITCH. Take note, she's been telling this to a guy who doesn't know anything about me. The guy even said that: I'm strange. Yikes! That coming from a guy who only got to talk to me for about 10 minutes tops.

I've been told that if "you don't have anything nice to say about anyone, then don't say anything"...and..."it's not what you say but how you say it". Perhaps both of these well-meaning women never came across those quotes before.

Just in case you're still reading this portion, let me just say that I'm not any of those mean things above. I'm not confrontational, I cook-wash the dishes-shop-market-wash my own clothes-cleanup-etc, I don't sleep all day, I've no problems with my self-esteem (but only when someone demeans me to other people), I'm no deadbeat and I DON'T have attention disorder.

I had to defend myself because no one else will defend me, hehe.

Stormin' Thoughts

Well, it's been almost a week after the storm here in the PI.

Milenyo only stayed for three hours max but it really left a lot of damage...floods, broken power lines, no electricity for days, lost lives, sickness, no work, no classes, extended vacation time, wasted food, destroyed property, boredom. Most of the business establishments in Naga have been running on gensets/generators only. ATM machines are offline so bank transactions are done over-the-counter. Telephone lines went awry and it was also hard to get any internet connection or even stay online. Typical occurence during and after any typhoon. My aunt said we should blame it on global warming. I've read somewhere that people complain a lot about the weather BUT no one is doing anything about it. Chalk it up to human nature, again?

My friend Jack has been complaining about being bored since the typhoon started. He's been "bored to death" because of the blackout and not having anything fun to do. Sometimes I'd like to think that he's just really antsy. He's really super-hyper to even stand still for a minute. But I'd like to give him due credit for all the updates regarding our work schedule or lack of work schedule for that matter.

As for me, I got scared when the typhoon was on full blast. The wind was howling and the wires outside the house were breaking. There were loads of strange sounds going on and my imagination went overdrive. I've never been scared of any weather disturbance before but this one got to me.

It was fast, furious and really fear-provoking.