Itsy Bitsy Sunday

No I’m not having a compressed hour Sunday, but rather than dwelling only on one point of interest my mind disagrees with it. There are just so much things going on inside my head right now that I think it’s a good idea to post a mixture of topics to cater to a broader aspect of my thinking brain (glad it’s still working).

So before I dig into the fridge and search what’s for lunch, here are today’s tidbits:

Short term and long term plans

As I’m finally counting down to the inevitable “bumhood”, I now have the following plans:

Short term:

1.Prep up the sofa for employment hiatus.
2. Polish the remotes (TV,audio,aircon).
3. Upgrade the PC.
4. Blog, blog, and blog more (and try to earn from it in the process).

Long term:
1. Learn, learn, and learn how to raise a kid.
2. Fix the leak in the roof.
3. Find a job.

Writer’s cramp?
While reading my usual newspaper – The Philippine Star – I can’t help but notice that Francis J. Kong and Bum D. Tenorio, Jr. just posted email clippings for most of their articles. These two are among Philstar’s writers whom I read most of their articles and sometimes it fascinates (or irritates) me to see them cut and paste forwarded emails and get paid for it. It’s a good thing I still enjoyed reading both of their articles today.

Philippine F1, anyone?

The recent F1 Singapore – F1’s first night race – seemed to shut (just a wild thought: if alumini is plural for alumnus, is shut a singular of…) my hopes for the Philippines to get significant publicity (good) over our Asian neighbors. I can’t help but wonder will I ever be truly proud to be a Filipino?

Well, I’d like to help raise this bid for us to conquer the F1 scene. I’m thinking, why not have the first real live F1 street race in the Philippines. This time there will be no modification on the roads or clearing up of vehicles in the streets. I can just imagine how these F1 cars will perform over our buses, jeepneys, some mad motorcycle drivers and our suicidal jaywalkers.

Paging the FIA. Interested? Oh by the way, no more G.H. Mumm ceremony, let’s propose using our San Miguel Grande beers to be sprayed while we’re at it.

Misery loves company

Often times I’d wonder who else got problems. So today, I tried to look for others who might have some problems other than me. So here are some of the people and their problems they’re facing right now.

1. George Bush – America’s economy. If this doesn’t make one stutter, what will?
2. Benjie de Lara – a 6-year-old boy with a fourth stage cancer. Want to help? Contact his mother Elenita at 09293289591 or donate thru the Star’s Operation Damayan. Call 527-7901 and look for Millet Dioso.
3. Filipino veterans – they’re not getting their pension. I assume that one American congressman’s grandfather might have been in hand to hand combat with a Filipino during the Filipino-American war.
4. Philippine Senator Manny Villar – double funding for a C5 project. So what’s new? I think he can handle that.
5. Chinese milk manufacturers – does Melamine rings a bell? And count me in as one of those angry at this SNAFU. Now I’d have to think twice before I eat my favorite White Rabbit candy. At least the female cows in China are free from breast suction gadgets at least for the mean time. The male cows I know are smiling broadly. Mooooo…
6. Fat bellied policemen – the new PNP chief Jesus Versoza is out to revive fitness consciousness to these “pugad baboy” characters. Any tremors on the next few weeks won’t come from below. Its origin will most likely be from PNP camps around the nation.
7. Philippine Olympians – most of the officials are staying put especially Aventajado who is running for another term as the Philippine Olympic Committee’s chairman. Where was he when our athletes went down on bended knees during the recent Beijing Olympics? I bet Aventajado was beside the Chinese team during the awarding thinking that these are our tsinoy delegates. Hayyy…can’t help but rant.
8. Jessica Zafra – her computer (laptop) keyboard is filled with cat fur. I’d like this to be my problem.
9. Tanya T. Lara – sunburn while in Manhattan. Let this one also be mine.
10. Obama and McCain – waiting game for the U.S. presidential seat.
11. Kimi Raikkonen – hated the rain. Hated the night race. My wife still likes him though – is this a sign that I should block all Kimi tags and searches in our computer? Damn, she’s got her own laptop.
12. Tingting Cojuangco – freaking out over wrinkles and Alzheimer’s. To each his (or her) own, they say.
13. Lucy Torres-Gomez – misses having dates with Richard Gomez. hmmmm…
14. Hagar – Helga
15. Archie – between Veronica and Betty
16. Mr. Wilson – Dennis the Menace

Hey, I must have skipped the other sections and got stuck in the Philstar’s comic section – the last 3 people I posted with problems are comic characters. Sorry about that. Time to have lunch, I guess.

Bad and Good Email Subjects

“Good things comes to those who wait” – Anonymous

Today was almost perfect. But sadly another great creature passed away. Upon opening my email this afternoon, I saw this subject: Baby the Bulldog! 5/18/98-7/29/07. At first I hesitated, but then opened and read it nevertheless. It’s confirmed Baby died. The inevitable did come.

I’ve been a fan of this lovable bully since we had Styro who was also an english bulldog just like Baby. I’ve been receiving email updates and occasionally in contact with Dan (his owner) who himself is a great multi talented guy. Aside from being a good pet owner, he’s also a construction estimator, author and sculptor. He’s so fond of Baby that he dedicated a famous website for him (and the rest of his four-legged gang).

I just can’t imagine his sorrow right now after having Baby for 9 years. We “lost” ours after just a year and we we’re almost devastated. Please drop by http://bullybaby.com to appreciate their wonderful companionship.

Goodbye Baby.

****

Whew! After all that, it seems hard to for me to compose what I initially planned to write. Anyway, today was actually a very good day for me.

It started last week with an unofficial (I’d like to think so) SMS on my application update. “That’s good”, I thought, but I tried to be reserved. Then as if by coincidence the priest’s homily on Saturday’s anticipated mass mentioned about –“I’m not believing, until I see it”. Well, when I opened my email at work the following day, the subject – Congratulations! – Application Update almost made me jump out of my chair. That first word alone made my day.

Now I know that the maroon shirt’s jinx has been washed off indeed. When I was called for this position’s interview I was having doubts if wearing that shirt was a good idea as it was the same shirt that I wore when I got dumped by a supposedly good employer. (Am I getting superstitious or what?). But of course I know that wearing the black one would be sending a bad sign as well. Come to think of it, I only have two pairs to choose from. So, that leaves me no choice.

And so today, I started my training as a new leader. I’ve been waiting for this chance for so long and now at least my efforts (and my wife’s prayers) paid off.

Four more days of training. I can’t wait to start and meet my people.

Definitely not SSDD

One of the movies that influenced my life somehow, just a bit somehow was Dreamcatcher. I actually read the book (my wife gave it to me as a gift) first before I was compelled to look for its VCD (no “original” DVD yet that time). Other than the fantastic plot, story line, setting and characters, I love the word that it introduced me – SSDD. Same Sh#t Different Day.

You see most days lately have been SSDD. No choice, but its been like it. Work. Home. Work. Home. Off. Play. Mall. Those things even done in pleasure becomes SSDD, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong though, as sometimes I’d just utter SSDD just for the love of saying it.

July 20, Friday, wasn’t meant to be.

10AM. After waking up late and a brunch meal at home, I was on my way to work. Driving my car for a quick trip so I could be on time for my 11AM interview. This has been one of the much-awaited moments in my career. Just another chance to step up. Hopefully. Fingers-crossed.

And just along the way, I was repeating on my head over and over again the answer to the question, “How do you deal with difficult people?” You see I dreaded this question, the last time I was asked this on an interview, I fumbled. I failed.

The interview came late but I think I did fine. The dreaded question didn’t came. Whew! And For the delight of it, I got my wife and I a to go lunch from Tokyo Tokyo on my way back home. Japanese food to go please. Namit.

Past 7PM. This was supposed to be a routine one. I was doing the weekly cleanup of our hamster’s habitat. I was almost done re-assembling his trails and he was the usual jumpy rodent eager to check it out. Surprisingly on his way out in the middle of the trails, he sled and looked stunned while resting on top of the stopover point – called the space explorer.

So I grabbed and raised him to see what went wrong. Once I laid him down though, my wife saw that he was panting, breathing heavily and just laid still. Oh oh.

I once again lifted him up and checked for pulse. There was none. My wife tried her luck. It didn’t work either. Hollie was gone. It was heartbreaking for us. I did shed a tear (It’s funny how a small creature can mean so much) while I was completing the whole trail. It’s empty now. No more running & cage biting noise for days to come. He was 2 years and more than a month old.

Past 8PM. Hating to leave home with just the recent event, I pushed myself to take a bath, get dressed and am on my way to a co-worker’s house. It’s his farewell party. He’ll be leaving for abroad by Monday to work at another company. It’s been like this at work. People leaving. Those left behind enjoying the party (farewell) while it last. And probably be leaving also anytime soon.

Well, that’s life. Sometimes it’s just the same things going over and over again. Sometimes new things come (and go). And often times I’d wish that it wouldn’t just be SSDD.

Missing Styro

After a tiring but exciting game of badminton with colleagues and friends, one night I arrived home expecting another routine I follow when home alone – i.e. park car, open door, dump perspiration-soaked clothes, watch the late news and hit the sack. I was so surprised though to see our handycam on top of our center table with a sticky note attached. It says “..watch the video! Bulldogs are beautiful! Miss Styro!…” It was from my wife (who’s working graveyard shift that night) who was able to record a 30 minute excerpt from a Martha Stewart show on TV which I presume is most likely a rerun, but it doesn’t matter anyway. The episode featured a show packed with English (and French) bullies. Among them was Tyson the skating bulldog which we actually first saw through a forwarded email and that I somehow doubted if it was somewhat fake or what. Anyway, he does skate in the show’s set.

Watching the show, did brought back memories of a bully named Styro who was with us just for a short period. We “adopted” him from my aunt. I can still remember at that time my wife was somehow reserved on the idea of having a dog at home with us. However, upon her arrival from work and when she and the white bully (thus the name) met each other, I knew from that time on, the bully did win her heart.

Prior to his arrival at home, I did some research on how to handle dogs, specifically English bulldogs – Styro’s breed. But on the first night, the advance reading didn’t quite work. What I must have missed was that this wrinkle-faced, short-nosed, big-headed creature does already have his own idea of a good night sleep. Before sleeping that night, we tried placing him at a cozy corner inside our house to sleep on (barricaded by our makeshift fence of washing machine, cardboard boxes and shoe racks) and what we got instead was total resistance and a couple of hide seek game from him. Eventually, we gave up the chase scene, and were wondering how to settle the stand off. What surprised us even more is when he just went straight to our bedroom and as if saying what he wants, dropped his stout body on the floor right below our bed, and almost immediately went to sleep and snore.

So there goes the cozy corner and the start of us having an instant baby whom will be between us, on top, on our feet, on our face or whatever its sleeping mood dictates every night for the next months to come. I cannot exactly remember how long before we adapted to this new company of ours and a new nighttime routine introduced to us by this cuddly dog. For the most part of his stay, It seems like our subconscious was programmed to get used to his daily activities, one of which was his “peepoo” time which I still think he scheduled by himself to be between 12:00 midnight and 1:00 am daily. Every time I think of it even until now, I cannot exactly comprehend how I was able to wake up every night at that time. And to actually see him sitting beside the bed, staring directly at me as if controlling my mind to get over with my REM so as to accompany him outside the house while he does his “peepoo”. Well, the saying maybe right, “You don’t adopt a dog, the dog adopts you”.

Styro has his own set of menus for his meal too. This dog was a voracious spaghetti eater – other than his regular canned or dry foods. And not only that, he knew which spaghetti sauces were cooked well by my wife and which one weren’t. He sips the pasta just like any person does. And although we knew from books that chocolates are bad for them, we occasionally gave him a taste (just for the taste of it!) of choco flavored ice creams, which he likewise liked a lot especially during the summer season.

Having a breed like Styro is a feat almost similar to having a baby, at least we think so (even until now). Regular trip to the vet is a must. And what’s funny at that time is that we haven’t had a car yet so going to the clinic means taking him through the tricycle – a local transport. In there, a mixture of awe, fear & adoration is what we’d usually get from the drivers to the people we’d pass by most as if wondering if it’s a cartoon character they’ve just seen. Even in the clinic while waiting for our turn, other dog owners would also spend time patting and playing with him which is usually the reason why their own dogs would whine or bark to take back their attention.

Well we can’t actually claim that Styro was the greatest dog among others, but we can be sure that he did left a mark in our hearts when he left us just more than a year of staying with us. He was never just a pet to us but a family member that will always be missed.