This post would be better kung mag-attach ako ng pictures pero tamad ako.

Anyway, kahapon binibihasan ko ang 2 y/o ko. I got him a light blue Ralph Lauren knit top. Underneath is a Garfield sando. He was trying to pull them off, sabi nya “dyon ayk” (read: don’t like). Since nasa mood ako sabi ko he can choose his shirt. Aba ang kinuha yung “Incredibles” na Disney shirt nya. Nung nilalagyan ko sya ng sweater on top sana, nagalit. Ayaw. Di sige.

Makita ko nakatayo in front of my life-size mirror, tinitingnan mabuti sarili nya. Sa isip isip ko ang yabang.

“Working from home” ako ngayon. Dahil di ako marunong mag-drive at dahil umuulan (as usual), tumawag ako sa regular cab service na ginagamit namin para ihatid ang bebe ko sa nursery. Dumating ang driver at ito yung kinaiinisan kong driver nila (halos lahat ng driver nila, ok naman, yung iba first name basis na kami, regular customer nga e). This guy once ko pa lang nagamit, nainis na ako dahil una ang dumi ng sasakyan tapos mal-edukado pa.

Getting off, I gave £4.50 without asking for the fare dahil nga araw-araw na ginawa ng Diyos e nagka-cab ako, so alam ko na. Aba e bakit daw? Dapat daw £5. Sabi ko alam ko ang fare dahil regular akong customer, then asked him where is your meter for him to charge more? I told him I will give him the rest if he presents me with the receipt. Get out daw sabi ng bastos na Eastern European. Next time daw e gumamit na ko ng ibang cab service, sabi ko “get the f*ck out of here thief”.

Ang aga-aga nanginginig ako. Yung ibang cab driver kapag mababait binabayaran ko ng £5 parang tip na lang, wag na kong suklian. Itong isang assh*le na ito, ang dapat ibigay suntok. I called their operator to complain, ewan ko kung ano naman ang mangyayari dun. The point is they have an unscrupulous driver who likes to cheat by not using the meter. He’ll deal with it “daw”. HMP!

Then this afternoon may tumawag sa aking ahente, job opening daw. Sabi ko tawag ako uli after I look at the job spec. As it turns out, the company is not the place I’d want to work for. So I told him, naku I’m after big money daw ba “is that it” sabi ‘no. Dahil hindi ako bastos & alam ko nang maraming badgers sa mga job agencies, sabi ko na lang it’s not about the money but their line of business. Ngayon sabi ko kung upset ka kako e wala akong magagawa but I don’t like wasting my time kako nor of other people at ayoko kakong pinipilit akong ibigay ang CV ko dahil lang gusto ng agent. Nagkalma naman ang unggoy ire-refer daw nya ko sa ibang colleague nya.

Eto tumawag ang colleague, gaming industry, sabi ko sige padala nga details sa akin para matinggan ko. The story is this with most job agents I wouldn’t hear from that agency again dahil ib-block na ko nung dimuho na yan. Pero eto kasi, nauna talagang tumawag sa akin yung colleague nya sabi ko lang tumawag later dahil busy ako. Then tumawag ang unggoy ang sabi nya bakit daw di sya sinabihan na tatawagan ako e team daw sila. Obviously nagkakasulutan sila so inunahan nya yung kasama nya by sending me his client’s requirement via email knowing na yung kasamahan nya tatawag mamaya pa.

See? Sama ng ugali talaga. How can I trust him to seek the best options for me? That’s what their job is to represent both sides, but this guy is greedy.

Ibig-ibig ng masira ng araw ko kung hindi lang natutuwa ako at darating ang tita namin bukas plus bukas as Sabado, tapos naka-off ako ng Mon to Tues! YEHEY.

I’ve always liked Agatha Christie & when I was still in Uni I tried collecting some of her books all about Poirot’s exploits. I gave up ‘coz book, like wine, is an expensive past time in the Philippines & I’m not very patient trawling thru Booksale’s dumping grounds.

To my “utter delight” ITV3 shows re-runs of the British Drama Poirot starring the charming David Suchet, you know the guy Hollywood presents as terrorist or plane hijacker?

Anyway, I look forward to weekend tv (telly) for two things: AM it’s cartoons time and in the PM, it’s Poirot. The funny thing is, my toddler & I seemed to have come to an agreement about it. He doesn’t cry or demand I switch the channel back as soon as he sees Mr Suchet’s mustache. In fact, I always have a feeling he likes watching it. He’d sit with me & sometimes ask me “what happened?” If he actually understands I don’t know, siempre I’d like to think so.

He also likes* watching re-runs of the “Relic Hunter” with me. Siguro dahil adventure & Sydney & Nigel are always having fisticuffs. He also likes Scrubs and the Simpsons. Sige the latter is cartoons, but I remember when my nephews were my son’s age, they’d cry for my mum when I switch the channel to Simpson. Not Kelvin, he’ll say “simson!” with a smile.

How about hubby? He’s football mad but since I introduced him to Ugly Betty, kahit Champions League pa yan, he will not fight for the remote (unless finals or elimination na with ManU siguro then he can use the other telly hehe). Very interesting coz Ugly Betty is very much a chick-”flick”. I like it kasi very escapist & that’s what I want when I want to relax, to not to think.

—
*the word “likes” can be synonymous with “doesn’t complain”

Akala ko pa naman ako ang unang aalis sa buwan na ito. Naunahan ako nung isang programmer.

Two weeks ako, kinausap din ako nung isang programmer sabi nya worried daw sya na bakit yung trabaho e dinadala sa India. Sabi ko wala syang dapat ipag-alala dahil sa quality ng code na nanggagaling sa India it would be a verrryyy looonng time before the company starts closing the English operations. Now I started noticing last week that this guy has started disappearing for 10 minutes every now & then to answer his mobile phone.

Also two weeks ago, it’s been identified that one department needs more people. The company unwilling to hire people, moved one person out of his department & is put in as a stop-gap solution. Nung Lunes, late pumasok yung guy at naka-formal business attire pa! Then nag-ring ang phone, aba sumagot at hindi lumayo. Sabi nya “yes I am looking”… and then I switched off.

Since darating ang tita ko this weekend, I took next Monday off. Sabi nung HR assistant “things must be going downhill on your side of the room”. Reaction ko “eh?”. Yun pala sunod-sunod ang nanghihingi ng leave form sa kanya ang puro 1 to 2 days off lang. Sabi ko baka coincidence. Charing!

“Actively looking” na ang description ko sa internet. Sana nga next week meron na kong bagong trabaho. Siempre nag-iingat naman ako. Ayokong mag-jump ship basta-basta. Kelangang pag-isipang mabuti.

I’m in a good position to have the luxury of “thinking things over”. Unlike nung unang salta ko dito sa London, I grabbed the first job in sight. Sabi ng kausap ko kanina, bakit daw aalis na ko dito sa lugar ko e di pa daw ako nagtatagal. My tenure is 2 years by May, hindi pa ba matagal yun? Haven’t I suffered enough? hehe

Nung Monday (parang ang tagal na pero kahapon lang yun), nabuset ako sa comment nung head ng mga programmers kaya sinopla ko. Kasasabi ko lang na ito ang gagawin ko, akala yata e boss ko sya dahil after ng meeting na ako ang tumawag, sabi e gawin ko daw yung kasasabi ko nga lang na task. Gulo ‘no? Basta. PMS siguro basta ako e nainis.

Na-i-kwento ko kagabi kay hubby yung sinabi ko. He looked at me seriously and said “ingat ka dahil kailangan mo pa ng reference, mamaya dyan ka yariin”… Muntik na akong mabilaukan buti wala akong kinakain. Actually two things have been bothering me, yung mga offsick days ko plus parenting days ko (pag may sakit ang anak ko) at yes, yung referral… hehe

So siempre being the good person that I am, I make sure I don’t burn my bridges with any of the companies I work for. I wish I could disown some people I worked with but then you cannot really erase your past.
:-)

Tumingala ako sa tube the other day & my eyes were greeted by ads to visit the Bahamas, or Cairo, or to go home to Turkey or to other exotic destinations in the world. Nagkalat yung mga posters everywhere.

So pag-naaalala ko ang print ads ng London, yan ang unang papasok sa isip ko - travel, breaks, holidays.

Pag naman naisip ko ang print ads ng Pilipinas, ang pumapasok sa isip ko “bawal magkasakit” o kaya yung mga lukot na mukha for diatabs ads.

Economic differences? Dahil “mayaman” na bansa puro “gumastos ka” ang advertisement. Sa atin naman “iwasan mong magastusan”.

You’re supposed to post something positive or at least “something nice” after the hols but not me.

Kelangang mag-rant ako.

I spent nearly £30 on stamps for the Christmas cards I queued for & posted last year - 2 weeks before the Big Day! Yet none of the Philippines-destined cards arrived. Where are they?? For Pete’s sake, 2006 is the worst year. I’ve already cut down on the number of recipients since in 2005 25% of my cards were deemed lost. This time all of them are MIA (missing in action)?

Sabi ng pamilya ko sa Nueva Ecija may news nga daw weeks before XMas na may mga letters bound for Cabanatuan that were dumped in a certain fishpond. Di na ko magtataka kung yung ibang letters ko di man lang makasakay ng van going to Nueva Ecija. Take for example an SSS form I sent my sister. Nakalimutan na naming i-follow up sa isa’t isa. Three months after I’ve sent it, sabi ng Nanay ko bakit daw di ko na pinadala?? Gulat ko siempre. I had to resend a copy which hey surprise suprise, di din nakarating!

May la-lala pa ba sa Postal Service natin na halos lahat ng kilala kong OFW e takot gamitin? This year? No XMas card, e-card na lang!