Haring Habagat

They call the mighty wind “Haring Habagat” back home in the Philippines.  It has been blowing so hard all day I thought it was best Angel and I stayed home.  The sun was out momentarily and it was a relatively better day compared to the wet week we just had.  It gave me a chance to recharge and prepare for the week ahead.. somewhat.

I can’t wait until I start a new job with a new boss — whenever that may be.  It seems going to work has become a heavier and heavier burden with each day.  At least the boss is starting her interviews this week.  With luck, someone will accept the offer in a week’s time and start the week after.  I’m optimistic I will find something to move on to by next week.  I am doing at least 2 interviews this week and I am waiting for word from 2 others I did the previous week.  Due to the incident with the filing takeover last week, though, I’m treating this as my last week and tidying everything up pronto.

I’m putting my own things in boxes getting ready for the eventual move.  In fact I’m going to be looking for temporary space to stash my things into until things get finalized.  I don’t feel my things are safe in my space anymore.  So much for working with dignity.  There is no such thing as privacy in a corporate setting after all.

So like the wind blowing everything away, I’m trying to sweep this all behind me.  There’s always tomorrow to look forward to.

Thinking about a hundred and one things

The sun finally came out today after a whole week of rain.  It’s a weekend celebrating Alan’s 39th birthday last Thursday, and I think the antipasto salad got to my stomach.  Must’ve been the mussels or the clams.  No regrets — it was a great antipasto salad.  We had lunch at Legal Seafood — one of our favorite restaurants.

There are so many things I’m thinking of doing — right now I want to wash the dishes, write my Dad a letter, start the scarf for a friend (or myself — I haven’t quite made up my mind yet), continue another project that has been on hold for a while, write my niece a letter, mend the hem of a pair of my pants, tidy up our bedroom, etc., etc.  Saturday is one day, though, where I’m entitled to just sit on my pretty butt.  So that’s what I’m doing.

(Of course it means I’m washing the dishes in a bit, writing that letter later, and maybe, just maybe, picking up the knitting needles.. finally.  The others will just have to wait.)

The nights are getting colder — the co-op hasn’t turned on the heat for some reason or other.  Probably trying to cut back on oil consumption to save us additional assessments.  Meanwhile, I am just trying to organize my thoughts here.

My stomach feels a little better but I still feel unsettled.  I have reacted to mussels this way before, so I know it’s not the restaurant per se.  Time to wash the dishes.. then maybe write Dad that letter.  I’m sending off the stuff for home finally tomorrow — been putting it off for the longest time, and it’s about time it went on its way.

 

 

 

Halfway through the month and eating up bandwidth

Don’t be surprised if my blog disappears again before the month is out.  I’m just 30 something megs away from going offline again.

Trying to be Grateful & Thankful for being blessed

It’s another rainy Friday and we had to bring Angel to daycare.  I hate doing it not because it’s such a chore driving into the city, but more because I know it’s not easy on Angel even if he does have fun at daycare.  I know I wouldn’t want to be put in daycare if I were in his position, and I never was.  (We always had the yayas to see us through.)

It’s not a good day at work because I came to my desk with all the files stacked high in just 2 piles, everything spic and span, but it was obvious someone took it upon herself to clean everything up.  I really wouldn’t have minded if I had been told beforehand, and if there were no personal things in my drawers that they went through.  There were, so in a sense I feel violated.  I was only gone for a day and my personally created “order” was untangled and now I have to go through everything to find what I’m looking for.

I just feel bad.  Did they think I would abandon my post?  Not that I can — I probably would’ve if that were an option.  It was not like I left my desk in disarray when I left.  Everthing was in its place, and now I don’t know where to find what I’m looking for without having to go through everything. 

And yet I am grateful that one of the principals I had applied to be an Assistant to had called to set up an interview next week.  I’m grateful that my family is healthy and will have another weekend to spend together.  I’m grateful that I’m moving on to something better.  So all in all even if part of me feels bad, part of me feels good, too.

Walking into the Lion's Den

I’m going back to work tomorrow after staying home today with Angel.  Just thinking about it doesn’t make me feel good.  I keep wishing that my boss and I could just part ways and we can both start anew with other people.  As the days go by, working for her has become more and more intolerable.

Lost a post

Here I was emoting through a blog post which my son managed to lose with the touch of a button.  My attitude about those things is they are not worth fretting about because they probably were never meant to be.  So be it.

Going back in time

With Pearson & Phoebe Lim taken in the early 90s

My forays into Friendster searching for long lost friends and family have brought me in touch with two favorite ‘pamangkins‘ of mine although they are not related to me by blood.  Here they are at age 3 and 2 if I am not mistaken.  Now they are full-grown teens.  How fast time flies. 

Taking a breather on a busy day

Any day that we bring Angel to daycare in Manhattan is a busy day.  I always end up at my desk a few minutes late.  Today it was 20.  Add to that the aggravation of dealing with the boss’s aggravation — well, at this point, it’s really not much of a concern because we are already transitioning “away” from each other.  (I actually let out an audible sigh upon reading that line I just wrote.)

Gray skies over Manhattan again.  It’s also colder.  Fall is here, indeed.  So out with the fall coats, the thin scarves and shawls, and this weekend, I’m officially stowing my summer clothes.  Time to shine the boots and start looking for a new pair I promised myself this year.  I have to double time the scarves I’m meaning to knit, and finish that long overdue blue wrap I’ve been working on through the summer. 

I really ought to start taking lunch away from my desk.  For the two years and 4 months I’ve been here, I’ve very rarely stepped away to have lunch.  I have a lot of things on my plate right now but I’m trying to be systematic about my anticipated transition.  I’ve started weeding out the useless and dated files — and I’m creating a back up system which will enable them to easily access whatever I will be saving.  The job hunt has been interesting and I’m aggressively pursuing new opportunities — all internally.

Meanwhile, the situation between me and my boss has been tense.  It’s come to a point where we are just doing a final dance before we get rid of each other.  It’s touch and go most days but I’m trying to just go through it and get it over and done with. 

Sometimes it takes all the patience I can muster to go through a day without giving in to the temptation of just blowing my top.  I keep telling myself I’m getting there.. getting there.

 

 

Connecting with friends of old

Cross-posted on Pinay New Yorker on Friendster

I usually check Friendster after checking my e-mail.  I try to see if any of my 20-something friends have any updates, if the dozen or so people I’m requesting to add as my friend have responded, and I try to remember who else I can search for.

Over the weekend I found Denmark, a rapper I did some voice tracks for as “Louningning”.  (I heard he had re-issued this but I suppose he would’ve used someone new because it was produced by a different recording label.)  I just wanted a copy of my old “mini hit” because my husband has no idea I did that in a previous life.  (I am almost certain he will roll on the floor laughing once he hears it.)  Denmark, though, has several accounts and I can’t seem to get through to the one which he appears to be checking regularly of late.

Last night, I decided to go further back and searched for friends from my original block in UP Manila in 1983.  (Ask me my student number and I will rattle it off without batting an eyelash.)  I was part of a group of around 6-8, the only girl, and everyone’s little sister.  I still remember the guys: Robert, Ronnie, Ronald, Abner.. the others are somewhere at the back of my head.  This afternoon I got a response from Robert and yes, it’s GARP!  (Our pet name for him back then..)  Because I bumped into him, I searched for Ronnie, and I shot him a note although I’m almost certain that’s him in the picture I see.  SMALL WORLD INDEED!

I must say it’s very heartening to be able to connect to people who became part of a very interesting stage in my life.. way back when.  I don’t know if it’s the innocence of the age or just that it was from something very real and familiar that makes it all the more meaningful. 

Now let’s see who else I bump into here..

Thinking Pasalubong

Mom arrives on the 19th. 

I was on the phone with my sister, Offie, earlier and I was rattling off my bilins.  So I thought I’d list it down here so I won’t forget between now and her departure.

1. Pastillas  – I was able to find some from the Goldilocks in California but it just doesn’t taste the same, so this is something that I really crave for when I hear someone can bring me some from Manila.

2. Goldilocks Cheese Boat Tarts – Yes, we have Goldilocks, and yes, they have boat tarts, but believe it or not — NO CHEESE TARTS.

3. Copy of the latest YES Magazine and maybe MEGA – Just to keep myself in the loop about showbiz and the social scene.

4. My debut souvenir – Never brought one here and forgot to get one when I went home in 2002.  Offie is sending me hers.

5. Royco Chicken and Beef Noodle Soup, as well as Beef and Chicken Sopas – The Filipino stores don’t carry them and I need them for Angel’s broth base.

6. Serg Milk Chocolate – Serg has always had a taste all its own.

7. Palo chino sandok – for the rice cooker.  I bought 3 for P100 back then, it might be P100 each now

8. My rotadisk for my Ventolin – all out since my last asthma attack.

9. Powdered calamansi – I came across a small bottle selling for $1.19 here but I’m sure it’s much cheaper back in Manila.

10. Megamelt ensaymada – Ube, Macapuno and plain please — something Alan and I look forward to.

11. Purefoods Sisig – perfect for those nights I feel like having it with a sunny side up and some rice.

12. Argentina Corned Beef – Alan loves this cooked Arroz a la cubana style with plantains on the side.

13. My favorite gourmet tuyo –  How fortunate we are that the actual “factory” is over at New Manila which is just a stone’s throw away from where we live in San Juan.

More to come.