And the Creator said, “let there be light.” And the flickering screen was alight.
June 23, 2009 at 10:47 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I have not been fond of cars. Unless used for business, vehicles are a liability. First, they do not earn you any additional money. Second, they use expensive gasoline, and third, they depreciate. Thus, buying, detailing, and maintaining a car has been shunned, if not dreaded.
The last car I drove this June
Yet, I am not saying I have not used a car. In fact, my car was my home. Driving through the city was soothing [one should do this on very late nights; if done on a rush hour, one is driving the road to hell]. I carried much of my paraphernalia in the trunk: Three plastic cases of clothes, my gym bag, my laptop, my two plastic bags of food and goodies, my four pairs of shoes. Inside the car, I would hang several shirts and pants.
Much more, if I got drowsy on late night gimmicks, I would sleep in the car. For a couple of times, I slept at the Shell gas station at The Fort until dawn and drove a few blocks, took a bath at Fitness First, and drove across EDSA and reported for work very early in the morning, avoiding the morning traffic rush.
So why did I have a car and still dodge away from its liabilities? I got a company car! Yes, the only way I got a car was for work. Acquisition, maintenance, insurance, registration, toll and parking fee, and gas were shouldered by the companies for which I worked. Still, I could bring my car home. Wasn’t that a good perk for work?
So far, I had a Rally Blue Kia Rio in 2004, a gray Honda City Z in 2005, an automatic Honda City in 2007, and a sleek black Honda City before 2009 started.
Now, I am carless. I had been a commuter veteran, but am now an ignorant pedestrian. Adjustment is uncomfortable. The 15-minute car drive from Meycauayan to SM North is now an hour and a half. I used to be always on the go, carrying all my stuff. Now, I have to fit everything in my big backpack. Traveling has become harder. Most of all, my family and I cannot go on trips in my car anymore.
The good thing is I will still have a company car abroad. At least I can still carry all my stuff wherever and whenever I go. That is a soothing assurance that I will not be backpacking again, and torture my back in pain. As of now, I have to plan my trips, know the fares, and be the commuter veteran that I was. Where bus fare matrix I kept?
June 19, 2009 at 3:04 am · Filed under Uncategorized
An influx of change has arrived. Together with the torrential Manila rain, this flow cannot be stopped.
My resignation is in effect. I reported for my last day of work last week. People were amazingly happy for me leaving for abroad. Several colleagues requested for my contact and asked assistance if they too can apply for a post. I found it weird that they had felt envious that I would resign. I was surprised, pleasantly surprised.
This week, I usually wake up at 10 o’ clock in the morning. I have late laid back breakfast and take my time packing for my trip. It is no rush.
However, this chillax mode has been prolonged–and this means prolonged days not earning. Contrary to the schedule agreed earlier that my flight be scheduled June 16, my headhunter informed me a couple of weeks ago that my plane ticket was dated earlier: June 3. I was notified when I was riding a motorcycle, doing my rounds in Puerto Princesa [I drive neither a bicycle nor a motorcycle, much more; my female sales personnel was driving while I was backriding her, I mean the motorcycle]. I definitely declined the sudden change in schedule. I did not take it. As a result, I am still waiting for a new ticket hopefully to be given before the month ends. Aargh!
May 21, 2009 at 9:27 am · Filed under Uncategorized
My headhunting agency called me up early evening to inform me that my visa has been recently released and asked the earliest available day I can schedule my flight out of the country.
I told Ian, the personnel in charge for document-handling and flight-booking, that my resignation will take effect June 14. She then advised that I will be under orientation a day prior to departure. I suggested that we schedule my orientation on June 15 and my tentative flight on June 16. She agreed.
The schedule was of no problem to me. I have never left any work with any down time. Earning per day is of utter importance, and this case is no exception: Resignation on 14; orientation on 15; daparture on 16; work on 17.
There is no time for goodbyes. I have been left by less than a month to secure clearance from my company, prepare my paraphernalia for departure, and still accomplish monthly obligations to my family. I can only meet people after office in Makati and Alabang on weeknights, and squeeze several meets on weekends. Three weeks is too short.
I have informed my family earlier this evening of my scheduled departure to prepare them the soonest. I have been texting and calling up friends to say goodbye and thanking them. I have not told J*****, my date for more than a year, about my very early departure. It will leave J***** shocked and extremely bothered, I guess. J***** may not show it, but I know it will bother J*****.
What we have will not blossom when we are apart. It is rare for me to be ready for a commitment. In fact, my dating relationship with J***** has been on for a year and more–and just that. I cannot commit. I simply cannot because I know I have to go and leave.
Both of us have talked about this. In fact, we have discussed this long a couple of times past and seemed to be ready. Yet, as my departure details get firm, and plans fall into their places, the worry pierces my heart more and more like a heavy shrapnel sinking deeper in me, cutting and leaving me bleeding.
Yet moments have turned full throttle, and the throttle has numb me. I cannot savor each passing time. The pace has gotten quicker. The clock is ticking faster. It has become too fast; its effects too furious.
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