Barely Blinking

I'm still reeling from a very tiring week and a long weekend that wasn't even a weekend. We had a quick visit to Cambodia to prepare for yearend closing which starts with a full day travel from Ph to Cambodia which includes an exciting prop plane ride from Vietnam (exciting may be an understatement). We survived!!!

We had to make do with the limited time and had another adrenalin-rush on our trip to Kampong Cham and back to Phnom Penh. In short, they drive real fast in this part of the world. Another thing on my to do list is to learn how to cross the road with multitudes of motorcycles rushing along the road. Not much really for this trip but we did have some progress on our 'to do' lists.

One item not on my to do list is pleasing know it alls whose sole purpose is to catch attention by endless non-sensical comments. Sarcasm has overtaken me since the last thing I'd want to hear is a self important individual giving comments when we've been practically throwing all our efforts from one place to another just making both ends meet and managing problems simultaneously from one country to another. I hope people are considerate enough to realize that we have better things to do than listen to eternal list of unneeded remarks.

Barely blinking that's how things have been and to the extent that I feel like a global slave these days catering to dilemmas from all corners. Well, I hope that all the spirit of Christmas shower all its might and swing me to the jovial mood of the season. At least even if I'm still asking "Spirit of Christmas, where are you?," I've already started my Christmas shopping and hoping that family and friends do pull me in the season. Let the festivities commence.

Excess Inkblogs: My heart bleeds for what happened in Maguinadanao. It sad that so many people had to die but it makes me a hundredfold sadder that there are people who are heartless enough to commit such act.

A Week so Fast

I barely noticed the week bleep by... So much of things to be done, so little time... I guess it's how things are gonna be until my deadline date but at least, the plans are starting to emerge...

A packed week... 1 day spent in the plant... 2 lunch treats... 1 standards training... 1 airport pickup... and 1 great party with AGSB friends... The short part of the week and the rest is the frenetic race to finish as much as I can...

The rush is a bit tiring as it is and one of the reason I feel the day is now shorter is that I get so drained for other stuff after work... I'll get used to this but next stop, a trip to Cambodia tomorrow would be another test of energy...

A week so fast but at least it ended on a festive note... Good Earth with AGSB friends and its always nice to reconnect and you got to appreciate times like this amidst all the busy times and stressful moments... It's always fun being with AGSB friends...

And speaking of reconnecting, I still haven't been much in the loop in the recently established group site among my elementary batch mates... I'm still working on my prequel and will post it soon... Those memories are still being unearthed in the deeper part of my mind as of the moment...

Spent the remaining part of the week, earning my first planner... A slower paced this year since we now have a brewed coffee supply in the office... Oh well, I never get to use the planner anyway... I guess I so much live by the day that I don't get to plot the to do's of tomorrow...

And tomorrow is a full day for travel in another week that'll be so fast...

Excess Inkblogs: I just have some comments on the new route coming from the airport. Having the U-Turn slot before was a tinge of insecurity to showcase the new terminal 3 but to extend the U-turn lost to Villamor is just crazy.... Why??? Simple, three airports + commercial area = heavy traffic... I don't even want to go to the statistics on how many people arrive by the hour which has to pass through that area...

Thoughtless Thoughts: You don't make an impact standing still waiting, you make an impact by taking the first of many steps.

My SLSC Prequel: A Trip to Ancient Past

Elementary, my dear friend... the formative years that transforms young kids to old kids... Let me start everything with the word "fear." Outside of family, we had to deal with the idea of an authority figure in front of us and we did encounter punishments along the way, be it being reprimanded as noisy to being cleaners or even to the extreme by being in the squat position or getting hit in the arm. We had faculties ranging from the friendly, the motherly and who could forget, the terror ones.

The carefree life. Recess and lunch were a time for a game of sipa, touch the body and the of course, Washington. It had sections ranged against each other and would entail a lot of team work, and at times a bit of violence but who cares, it's quite satisfying to make a run towards captured classmates to make the save and at the end of it all, it still is a friendly game and then we have to answer to our teachers why we are dripping in perspiration.

Funny how world expands as we grow older. Living from a small room to a bigger playground. Transitioning from home to a whole new playground and growing up in such an environment where we develop our first few sets of friends, partners of mischief, attempts at leadership and responsibility and a lot of subjects you get to learn and get to forget after each of the year. At least, you have the next year to look forward to who your classmates are gonna be.

1991 signaled an end to this era but not before some earth shaking event - A 7.7 quake in 7/16/1990 that had us living of the streets for a few months and a graduating elementary bunch with no idea on when they would eventually be back to school and finish their remaining elementary months. A brilliant coincidence that this happened on a daylight saving time (d'life saving time according to my Dad then) since we were off to home early or else who knows if we're still in the confides of school. The short part of the story is that we finish the remaining months and officially became SLSC batch 1991.

The next encounter: A reunion 4 years later aptly titled intensity 7.7 and the stage was a hotel and this time old kids are now in mid-teens. Now, that the group has been resurrected after almost 20 years from our elementary days. The next encounter will definitely be something to look forward to, the comparison with then and now will be something interesting and though I haven't made much noise yet, I'm glad to visit the site and just check on what's up in the lives of the friends and people that made up my elementary life.

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."