Another encounter with my guardian angel

I was driving my brother to Makati early (verrrry early) this morning, and before I left the house, I already had my route planned out. It's a Sunday morning anyway, so driving along C5 would be traffic-free. I planned to drive on C5 rather than Edsa, turn into the Fort, and go to Buendia via the Buendia flyover.

No traffic, no time limit -- Sunday morning driving is a breeze. :) I was singing along to the song playing over my speakers when I suddenly realized that I did not take my planned route, but rather, was on my way to the office. GREAT. Talk about AUTO PILOT. >:( It was too impractical to turn around, so I devised an alternate route. And given that Makati has a lot of one way streets, let's just say that my "alternate route" took me so much longer, and has caused me unnecessary stress. I ended up traversing Jupiter, making a "U-turn" via Kalayaan, and then finally coming out to Makati Avenue. My Buendia plan was ruined, thanks to my lack of presence of mind. What a waste of time and gas. *grumble grumble*

Ok, so what is the point to all of this? After dropping my brother off, I found myself along Buendia, trying to recreate my plan in reverse. It will be good for one leg of the trip, at least. Going down the length of Buendia, I noticed something: there was a marathon on-going and so they closed the other side of Buendia. They closed it all the way to the Buendia flyover, ending at the Fort. If I was alert enough this morning to take my planned route, I would have been worse off.

Maybe the "autopilot" that led me to the roads I took today was fate. It made me avoid all of those closed areas, and I realized that I took the only route that was available for me to take! Wala lang, ang galing. A guardian angel, perhaps?

I have always been a big believer of guardian angels. Mine has saved my ass for many times now, and has always led me to the safer route. Who else could it be an angel? It may seem trivial to you -- I mean, why would an angel waste his/her time guiding me through the streets of Makati, right? Small beans -- but every little thing has a purpose. Maybe Nemaruel (that's the name of my guardian angel, according to Sir O. Hehe) doesn't want me to get stressed out today. Or maybe she wanted me to be home early, in order to write this blog. Who knows what the heavens have planned for me, right? Hehe.

Here are my other encounters:

(1) The most famous story of my childhood: how I got lost during the People Power rally in Luneta when I was just 4 years old. I got up from my family's picnic blanket and followed my dad (who was on his way to the toilet). I ended up following the wrong pair of knees (I could only see up to that level), and I was lost for an hour. My parents always love telling others the story of how they were panicking, trying to figure out how to find a little girl wearing a yellow shirt in a crowd of people all wearing yellow shirts, and when after an hour, I just sauntered (if little girls could saunter) onto the picnic area, oblivious of all the hysteria I caused. My parents always say that it's my guardian angel who brought me back.

(2) I was a freshman in college, and I just learned how to commute. One Saturday, I was in MegaMall (I forget for what), and I had to commute all the way to Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City to meet up with my parents. I took the MRT (or, wait, did I take a bus?), and I successfully made it to Mindanao Avenue! Yay me! Now all I had to do was to take a jeep along Mindanao Avenue, and go down in front of my dad's office. Piece of cake, right? I immediately rode the jeep which I assumed was for Mindanao Ave. (I didn't look at the destination written on the side anymore...It was parked along Mindanao, and it was facing the direction I was supposed to go!) OF COURSE, it was the wrong jeep, and I found myself en route to U.P. Diliman. I panicked, and shouted "para!" to the driver, without really looking at where I was. I went down in front an informal settlement along the Philippine Science road. I tried flagging down a taxi, but no one would take me. It was already dark, and it was raining, at naki-silong lang ako sa payong ng katabi ko. :(( After a while, 2 small boys -- approximately 10-12 years of age -- approached me. "Ate, di ka taga-dito ah, nawawala ka ba?" I guess they've been observing me from the start. When I didn't answer, they said "Tulungan ka namin kumuha ng taxi!" and they proceeded running after passing taxis, leaning out precariously from the side of the road to force taxis to stop, even running to the other side of the road to flag down taxis from there. But no, if the taxis weren't stopping for a semi-drenched teenage girl, they weren't going to stop for 2 street kids either. I was so distressed that I told them, thanks, but I think I'll just have to walk from here to Mindanao Ave. "Ate, sasamahan ka namin, delikado maglakad diyan, lalo na sa kanto!" And so the three of us walked side-by-side, until we reached the place where the jeeps were. After they led me to the right jeep, I sat on the seat nearest the door, I turned to thank them and handed them a 20 peso bill. "Wag na, ate, tulong na namin yun sayo, ingat nalang po kayo." With that, they ran off, and when I looked back out the window, they were gone. 2 good samaritans...2 guardian angels. :) How can you not believe that those 2 were sent by God? God bless 'em. :) I wonder where they are now...

Why condone Manny Pacquiao's actions just because he is a "man?"

I know that it is a free country...freedom of speech, right to have your own opinion, etc. WHATEVER.

The Manny Pacquiao-Krista Ranillo story is the biggest news these days, following closely after the Pacquiao-Cotto fight earlier this week. Many are outraged, some don't really care, while others aren't surprised at all. There are SEVERAL opinions being said about this issue, and I'm sure that YOU, my dear reader, have some sort of reaction to all of this hullabaloo.

It's hard not to come across ANY kind of information regarding the Manny-Krista-Jinky love triangle, especially when you're perpetually connected to the internet. True or not, this is the hottest news around. Just this evening, I came across a blog which had several articles about Pacman. It sparked a sort-of "controversy" within the blogging community, and the article garnered a lot of hate mail / comments, from his statement below:

"Until something materializes, as he said in his Cotto post-fight interview, he plans on taking a break, getting some rest, and having some fun. I guess I would assume that this would involve time with his family and also time with his reportedly new flame--Krista Ranillo. To me, I can empathize with Manny regarding this issue, and I think that as long as he takes care of his responsibilities then he should not be restricted of his liberties. I find the situation quite natural and the instinct innate in the human male. I believe that it gives Manny added inspiration, motivation, and/or pleasure in his life, which is something that we all need in life to keep going. Thus, I feel that the media should just let it be. (http://coconuter.blogspot.com/2009/11/manny-pacquiao-on-fire.html)"

Other bloggers slammed his statement, saying that he was a chauvinistic pig for condoning immoral acts of infidelity/adultery. Seeing that his readers are mostly Filipino - and presumably Christian - it is no surprise that he received so much hate for actually supporting this kind of behavior from a married man. You would think that he would stop there: either apologize or just shut the hell up. But he just posts this follow-up blog entry in which he tries to justify his words by calling his haters ELITISTS and CONQUISTADORS: (http://coconuter.blogspot.com/2009/11/anomalous.html) In this blog entry, he goes on a round-about explanation of how Manny's actions are justified because it is a "natural instinct:"

"I merely pointed out in my statements that such feelings or tendencies is natural and ever-present amongst animals (especially mammalian species). And, of course, it is a fact that humans are mammals (animals) themselves. And since I feel that it is a natural instinct, then I do not think any external agency should restrict this liberty."

One comment pointed out that we cannot completely compare ourselves to the behavior of animals because we have something (supposedly) that they don't: common sense and rational thinking. If we keep on justifying our actions by saying that "Hey, this is natural instinct, this is the way of nature," what kind of society do we expect to live in?

This boils down to morals: what is our definition of morality? Isn't it dictated by social standards? By our social standards (Philippine-Christian setting), adultery is morally wrong, unlawful even. Of course, there are certain cultures which practice polygamy, but we cannot compare our values to their practices because we have different culture bases.

I am all for freedom of speech. I know that each of us have our own opinion on any particular issue (I, myself, am practicing my right to voice out my opinion right now). This blogger (coconuter) has gained a lot of followers/haters because of his opinion. Is it hypocritical to criticize him for expressing what he feels?

Am I wrong to say that he makes absolutely no sense, and he just shows desperation in his pseudo-intellectual arguments of natural instinct, which then segues to accusing his haters as elitist and conquistadors (huh, where did that come from?)? He even has the gall to compare his situation to that of great men such as Socrates and Jose Rizal! Am I wrong to say that he is a chauvinist pig ("Hell yeah, infidelity is natural to men, so we should all practice it, and it'll be ok"), and that I feel sorry for whoever has the misfortune of marrying him someday ("Honey, I will be following my natural instinct and go f*ck every woman I am attracted to.") Am I wrong to feel enraged (especially as a woman) that there are actual men like him who exist in this society?

My opinion may not make sense to you, it may be laden with emotion or irrationality, even. I am just appalled by the realization that many people in our society still have warped moralities such as coconuter's. I thought we were an advanced generation? Aren't we supposed to improve over the years? Or has time corrupted our perception of what is right and wrong?

Oh well. I might be getting riled up for nothing. This just my opinion. What's yours?

LATE!!!

Crap. This is the 2nd frickin' time I've woken up at 7 a.m. this week! 2 consecutive days of waking up at 7 a.m. - the same exact time I should have been at work!!!!! Potah talaga!!!!

I don't know WHY I never seem to hear my alarm clockS. Yes. Plural. I have my iHome alarm clock which gives off this annoying series of high-pitched beeps. And then I have my celphone, which has a really weird alarm clock sound (an unearthly melody...hmm...I should change it soon). Well, the point is, regardless of what kind of sound is emitted by these devices, I DON'T HEAR THEM!!!! I don't f*ckin' remember hearing them AT ALL!!! I wake up at EXACTLY 7a.m. (in the worst way possible: my heart thumping like rabbits on uppers), I see the sun streaming through my bedroom window, and I get this sinking feeling in my stomach, telling me that f*ck, I'm screwed.

The worst thing about today was that it was my dad who woke me up. My dad, who is the CEO of the company I work for. I know he's pretty pissed, because I got home really late last night, and he's probably going to use this as leverage to never let me out of the house ever again. Not a very good prospect since I am planning to go out tomorrow night, and I was gearing up to ask for permission to go to Galera at the end of the month. GREAT. GOOD LUCK TO ME.

Shit talaga. I can't believe I'm absent again. I've had 3 absences in February-March (including today), 2 half-days, and I super-lates (super late being 9 a.m.). I am such a bad example to my employees, I can't believe it. :( The thing is, I have always been early to work. I get there a little before 7 a.m., and I have this *reputation* for being an early bird. But recently. I've been arriving only a few minutes before 7:15 (7:15 is the grace period). I try as much as possible to not be late, since it's very bad if it shows on your record (they post the daily absences and tardiness near the entrance). I hate being late because I don't like showing my staff that I'm a delinquent. I hate being absent because I don't want to set a bad example, and also because there is so much work to do!!! ARGH!!!! I can't beliiiiiiieeeeeeeeeve thiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssss!!!

The annoying thing about today is that I also woke up at 7 a.m. YESTERDAY. I had to rush to work, give some flimsy excuse (in fairness, I told my boss the truth, that I woke up late because I haven't had sleep in 2 days), and I got to work at 9 a.m. Very embarrassing. I slept last night (early morning) thinking that I would be early TODAY and forevermore. Haha. And I still woke up at frickin' 7!!! Instead of giving another flimsy excuse for being late, I just decided to stay home and give a flimsy excuse for not reporting to work. This is sooooo embarrassing. I will be model employee for the next hundred years. :(

I wish Ate Ann comes back (she's our maid). She took a leave for a month, and ever since, I've been waking up late everyday. Hahaha. She usually knows that something is wrong when it's 6:05 a.m. and I'm still in bed. Dagnabit. I blame the new maid. I blame my useless alarm clock. I blame myself for blaming everyone/everything else. I'm f*ckin' 27 years old, I should be able to wake up on time, by myself. *sigh*

That's it. I'm just ranting. If I wake up at 7 a.m. again tomorrow, I am going to slap myself.

It Never Ends!!!

I was able to lessen this mountain of paperwork in 2 days...

But in a matter of HOURS, another pile was created...

Everytime I accomplish something, a new problem / assignment / obstacle sprouts out from nowhere to replace it!!!

I.AM.GOING.CRAZYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

I am swamped with work. The list of drawings to produce / check / transmit is never-ending!!!

School is making me gaga. Why the hell did I take 3 subjects this semester? WHY???

My weeks are too short. I need more sleep. I am eating too much tapsi/hotsilog, and I am using depression/stress as an excuse!!!

Every time an obstacle looms ahead (homework due tomorrow; meeting later), I fervently pray for it to pass quickly. A few minutes after it has passed (hurrah!), I feel as if I can breath normally again, and I have images in my mind of a happy happy joy joy life. But then reality sinks in (usually a few hours later...I think the stress gods want me to believe that I have achieved relaxation finally and then they drop the bomb when I least expect it).

I realize that there's another obstacle I have yet to overcome, and whatever it is, it's due ASAP. :((

Gad, I have so much to do, and so little time to do it!!! WHY THE HELL AM I WASTING MY TIME BLOGGING?

Onward!!!

Early!

I left for work 10 minutes earlier than usual...
And I got to work 30 minutes earlier than usual.

Hurray! :)

So I get 10 more minutes free time to blog before work officially starts.

What to blog about...nuninoo...

It was so dark on my way to work today, that I had to use headlights! And so cold that I didn't have to use my air conditioning. Hehehe.

Well, that's it. Pretty useless, but that's all I can manage in 10 minutes. Bell has rung. Time to work! :)

(Note: Wheeee, I missed you, dear blog. Wheeee, I'm talking to you again. Hahaha!)

Lesley is...

...too damn busy to update her blog.

Bye! :)

I Hate Expectations

Check list for a fun night:

1. Really cute outfit (to change into after work)
2. Fully-charged camera battery
3. Empty CF card
4. Newly purchased Rico Blanco CD
5. Parents on vacation = no curfew!

Yes to all of the above!

But was I able to utilize them? NO.

Was I able to go somewhere? ANYWHERE? Yes. Straight HOME.

Hay nakoooo.

God, I hate expectations! They ruin everything!!!! >:(