10 years and counting...

The week started with me debuting new look on new times... a little fresher... cleaner and easily managed look... leaves more time for other stuff like a look in the past...

Blast from the past also had extreme twist... and this was more of ancient past... SLSC page on facebook... Almost twenty years after elementary and the old pictures are there but memories are still just slowly creeping in... and I'll catch up in time but it's always fun reading threads and looking at old photos... I can't wait for my turn to unearth some of those relics in albums stored in the confines of home but before I count down my steps home... There's still a deadline to chase...

I better get used to the roller coaster of emotions that the pressure-packed moments leading to a deadline... Dead-tired on Monday from a plant visit in Subic and Bataan... Surprise on Tuesday... Strategizing on Wednesday... Sick on Thursday... and De-stress via midnight madness on Friday... and then came the time to recharge on the weekend...

Today not only had Pacquiao beating the hell out of Cotto (all places are packed so just watched via mobile screening and good part was my phone could handle the high-definition screening)... It's also my 10th year of being part of the workforce being November 15, 1999 when I started my career as an audit staff... The 10 years seemed longer given the extended work hours in audit and the level of stress leaving a double life as a student and employees and the bigger responsibilities that followed... That's a milestone 10 years of working and considering my walk out anytime persona... It's quite a feat!!!

How do you measure 10 years??? Is it on the funds you accumulated??? Not much, I can say... Is it the places you've been??? Ok, flying colors here... Is it the levels you've traversed??? More than expected on this criteria... The people you meet??? Good network from day 1... Degrees obtained??? Yipee, I got MBA... Properties invested??? Not good on this department...

Well, there's so much ways to measure 10 years but I'd like to say, it's 10 years I'd live the same way again... and again... and again... It's now part of history as I look forward to the next 10 years and beyond... Life's lessons learned that'll guide me in the next step to take... and the journey continues...

Thoughtless thoughts: "Life is not always fair but that doesn't mean you should stop trying."

Mission Impossible Begins

Wake me up!!! This is just a sick joke or a bad dream!!! Taking away full 45 days from my previous deadline is unprecedented but needed move - A task bordering in the realm of impossibility. So here we are again attempting another feat which honestly still entangled with the thought on how it can be done.

So be it!!! Waking up and thinking it is just a sick joke or bad dream is no longer an option. The thin line of relief comes with the idea that there are just time that we discover how the answer to the riddle as we go along and that difficult it may be but there's always a better way. The sad truth sinking in that this requires a plan, flawless execution and team play.

Mission impossible begins!!! The first steps have been taken in Taiwan and the path leads to Bataan on Monday and Cambodia by month-end. I'm starting to be more upbeat as the minute goes by as the challenge have been set and the intellectual marathon is ongoing on on improbable deadline. There's always a strong will and a little optimism that good fate would intercede.

Despite the tough road, it'll be crossed in joyful times with Christmas holidays just around the corner. It'll still be a happy new months and maybe this is just another roadblock to stir the tide to better days and stronger people once everything has been said and done. It'll be critical, It could be heart-beat stopping, it could lead to a lot of headaches but everything can be done if we start finding answers instead of raising more questions.

It's been an interesting past few days with the usual pressure packed moments preparing for the board and delivering presentation. The times you question if this is still the things you want to do and the effort involved in doing it. The endless craving for easier times. All this have to wait till mission possible is over. It's now a case of looking ahead and taking a step at a time and who knows. mission impossible may just be possible.

Thoughtless Thoughts: Impossible is just another word of not trying too hard.

Stress Ball Mode

Cramming for requirements of board meeting has taken up bulk of my time lately and a few hours before my departure, I'm still not ready to leave but this will pass and it'll be fine. I was requested to rebook my flight today but I guess I was not comfortable enough on the requirements so the thought of rebooking never entered my mind. It makes it a lot tougher that the board meeting had to fall at an early date and in the middle of the all soul's day weekend. The good part was that I was able to spend a weekend at home even if I felt that the weekend seem packed and the travel time going back to Manila was such a long with all the traffic.

Cramming is not really my department and to think we had finished the bulk of the report early but I guess there were several items to iron out. Oh well, the stress ball times will be over soon. No amount of preparations can't please people who refuse to appreciate and it leads me to a quote from Anton Ego in the movie Ratatouille:

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. "

Well, all my bags are packed and I'm not ready to go but what the heck. Happy days are ahead and from what I see in store for this month, it's gonna be a great month and the days to Christmas are dwindling so the good times will come so I leave it at that and then there's another important thing to do before I leave, it's too catch some sleep. Need all the energy for yet another stressful stretch ahead.

Thoughtless thoughts: "An open mind can always thrive even in diversity."

Mac and Mi

After months of thinking of buying a Macbook, I finally had the will to buy one over the weekend and it's a relearning process the whole weekend. I still have so many questions on how to maximize the features of Mac at the lowest cost. I guess, I'll get my answer in time. At the least, I'm now able to use the regular internet functions, update Itunes and update audio and video codecs. How to come up with applications at the cost-efficient manner, this I have to learn yet.

Also, was able to get my customized Adidas Mi early this week in its purple and gold colors and I like it. The personalized feel... I did choose colors that is not easy too pair with other shoes but I'll find a way to mix and match. It was a nice surprise last Monday that my Adidas Mi was available after 2 full weeks of waiting and I got it at 50% discount at that time.

It's not my ordinary week but the pressure has been mounting for the requirements for the upcoming board meeting. Busy times are here though it was nice to squeeze some time to meet up with She and other friends last Tuesday. The deadline has been tighter given that there'll be a holiday before I leave so finished or unfinished, pass your papers at the end of the month. It's gonna be another tough week... Haay!!!

There's always a function of pride in the equation that no matter how stressful the times, I still will try to do the job within office hours. No extra time for work. In fact, I have packed some of my stuff for the gym tomorrow as I await my coding cutoff. Need to unload some calories. I was a bit sluggish and sick last week so might as well, try to be healthy this week.

And part of being healthy is catching some sleep... ZZZZzzzzzzzzz.....

Thoughtless Thoughts: "We always try to find short cuts yet there is always something we gain by taking the long hard road."

What Weekend???

I barely noticed the weekend pass by as I felt it was so short though I did enjoy most of it. Makes me wonder, "What weekend???"

It was a good thing this week that I was able to reintroduce exercise in my daily routine and just as I was making progress the came the weekend. Let's see... Kamayan for dinner on Fridays with Cousins. Dads for lunch on Saturday with friends and Breakfast meeting in Fraser Place on Sunday. Well, back to square one at least, there's effort in being healthy - small gains. I still feel less bloated compared to last week.

The holiday spirit is fast rushing in with malls starting to offer their holiday sale and then the obvious it was an expensive weekend as well. The malls were packed with people and also I'm lucky enough to be able to avoid GB5 on Sunday morning where there was a robbery and shootout took place. It was a good thing I wanted to change clothes after coming from office or else it could have been traumatic.

It was also nice to share some time with friends for Anna's Birthday treat at Dad's Megamall which was a well attended event (Anna, Me, Arlyn, Mark and Ria). A well attended event is one which is attended by people who rarely attends (Peace Mark and Ria). It's synchronizing each other timeline as it's been years seeing seeing the others and now, we're on the same page, we can set out new events in the timeline.

Then there are missed events. I missed my chance to try to reconnect with another friend from a different time but I did excert much effort. Not the right time. On a brigther note, She is homebound and Mike would finally be back in Makati so there would be some friends to meet next week and it's also gonna be a busy week as we start our preparation for the board meeting.

It's the final hours of my weekend and I just hope I won't notice the weekdays and say, "What weekdays?" =>

Thoughtless Thoughts: "We can't always control our emotions but we can always control our reaction."

Blue Week

Two things that stood out this week is the back-and-forth rampage of Typhoon Pepeng and the other one is Blue Thursday wherein Ateneo Juniors and Seniors team bagged the championship in their respective divisions.

The first a continuous saga of disasters that came every week and I'm sad that my hometown is ravaged and isolated but I'm glad my family and friends are safe. The problem now is after all the rains where now overflowing with water. I did ask this question, do we still have 7,107 islands??? When all else does not fall into place, hope remains and whatever positive juice left in me, I'm leaving that to aspire that the path of destruction is over and it's time to rebuild.

Almost overlooked by the craziness around, it was an outstanding feat that Ateneo High School and College teams was able to score back to back championship with the clincher made on the same day. Victory is always sweet and this time I was able to attend Ateneo's championship bonfire and one message did stick out, the event was for celebration and the next step was continue rebuilding the nation.

There's also the scent of busyness lurking around with the upcoming board meeting but I'm glad I'm still able to meet my raffle friend* during the week. (*A raffle friend is so hard to contact & chances of a received call is similar to a lottery). I also hope to squeeze some time to exercise a bit and attempt to lose weight. Good luck to me but at times, stress makes me lose weight and with an upcoming board meeting. Stress is on my side. The new games in Wii Fit Plus makes exercise a bit interesting.

A good part of the week is looking forward and I hope the weather forecast is correct that it's gonna be a fine weather as the sun is much needed now and from a blue week, I hope to see the yellow rays of the sun. =>

Excess Inkblogs: Happy Birthday Princess Sioberella!!!

Nature's Warning

The week had a series of events that heightened the need to reassess our ways to be more conscious with our environment. A typhoon delivering a month's worth of rainfall ravaging several countries along its path... A tsunami affecting an island... Series of earthquakes causing much damage and scare to the South East Asia region... and a super typhoon still pounding its wrath... I hope the list stops here as there's much needed time to heal.

A strong statement that some acts of man have been disrupting the balance of nature... Dark clouds have been hovering and the clear skies is a distant memory... Hope remains that the resilient nature of people will be strong enough to get past this and once we are done licking our wounds, there's a task at hand in making the world a better place...

A lot of time and resources have been spent in reaching a helping hand to those in need and yet I feel bad that amidst all the goodwill there's still people who are wasting resources in smear campaigns and then there are some delays caused by the bureaucracy. There's always a time element to consider . The dynamics has changed and I hope that the system would adopt to the times and let help flow through those who need it as soon as possible.

Just since I'm in the mood of whining, I find the influx of political ads on TV right now annoying. Candidates carrying their department in their ad makes me think... Is their department rich enough to come up with ads at this time of needs or these candidates philanthropic enough to promote their departments with their personal ads??? Either way, I don't think this is the time to flood us with those ads designed to condition the voters mind that they are such credible people... I guess the voters should be smarter...

So much for dwelling on those stuff... There's so much reason to smile amidst all the disaster... Majority are now so involved in reaching out and united in the hope that better times are ahead... There should be a rainbow after all the rain... =>