Just trying to adapt to the stress of the graveyard shift. I just spent an hour updating my laptop (virus scanner, etc). So no real energy left to write. Last 2 days of work involved overtime - so some rest is called for. But, other than that, things are OK. I’ll probably write more tomorrow (before I start my new work week).
Just too damn funny - seriously
Check them all out by clicking “next” at the bottom of each page
http://www.lileks.com/institute/funny/comicads/guns/index.html (click here)
My website has been on hiatus since I started a month-long graveyard shift training adventure on my new job assignment. I’ve done quite well but, to be honest, it’s been extremely difficult. I wont go into the details – but it takes some getting used to. On my two days off, I’ve had little motivation for anything other than resting, eating and sleeping. This should change soon, however, as my body adjusts to the schedule. The good thing is that the commute back and forth to work is shorter and cheaper.
My observations of life in the Philippines have assisted me in making a quantum leap in my philosophical assessments. It all boils down to one thing. It makes no sense to be concerned about the events of the future. To do so is to commit two grave errors. The first is trying to predict the impossible – thus adding unneeded stress and confusion to one’s life. The second error is even more serious. We all have a limited amount of personal energy that we accumulate through the things we do from day-to-day. Some of us have little clue as to how to increase our personal stores of energy. Some of us have learned more. But it is a horrible error to spread this energy out over “the future” through the mechanism of worry and concern. The best and only sane thing we can do is to limit the focus of our personal energy to the immediate present. By our focus on the present – the future shapes itself. This is all in terms of “linear time” which, itself, is an illusion. But that’s another story. We all need our reference points.
I had the opportunity to watch a Filipino movie from the 70’s. It’s a comedy involving 3 guys searching for a mystical parrot whose singing is the only hope for the recovery of a king who is gravely ill. The one catch - the parrot can sing it’s victims to sleep and then turn them to stone by pooping on them as they sleep. It’s a comedy made even more hysterical by the mystical bird singing famous tunes like “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” in Tagalog. The really weird part is that the bird is actually a beautiful sorceress in disguise. Which means that here you have a beautiful woman, disguised as a parrot, sitting in a tree, singing popular tunes and taking a crap on the unsuspecting. Pure gold…
The last week has been spent training for a new assignment. This is always difficult, especially when my day is spent leaving for work at 8:30 PM, training on a 9 hour shift and returning home at 7:30 AM. But things are working out, so far. The only hitch was having to undergo a medical exam, at my expense (!!) and a subsequent visit to a local physician in order to obtain a medical certificate stating that my blood pressure is in normal boundaries (!!) This came about as a result of a high blood pressure reading after taking 9 exams in a row (don’t ask – things are rarely logical, these days). The cost for the exams and certificate didn’t amount to much in U.S. terms (about $50) – but it’s a lot for here. The most expensive thing was the doctor-insisted ECG along with the blood pressure readings taken over a period of a week (you can add transportation costs to that). I’m convinced this was all in the name of extra profit for the local clinics. Plus, all of this was done last week during training, on my own time. Hence, no energy for updating my website. I also needed some dental work done – but that was just 200 pesos. Now, it’s Monday evening and I start the next section of training in a few hours. I secured the highest score in class on the first section (95.27%) – so there should be no worries.
Other than that – nothing much new, since I had little time for anything else. We did have a visitor for a few days who was attending a Lawyers Convention not far from where I live. She lives in Singapore and is a longtime friend of Alma’s. She was able to stay with us, since I was working nights and we only ran into each other when I was on my way to work on Tuesday and on Friday night at a family get together (just before I had to leave for work). She highly suggested that Alma an I relocate to Singapore (about an hour away) where I can work as an English teacher. She’s sending some information regarding that for me to look over. Sounds intriguing…
I stumbled across this on youtube. I’ve seen Mr. Di Meola live twice. Once in Albuquerque with his own group and once in a great concert at Lehman College in the Bronx, NY. On that particular occasion, he was playing with the legendary group “Return to Forever” with Chick Corea (on keyboards), Stanley Clarke (on bass) and Lenny White (on drums). Whenever I hear his distinctive style of playing and music composition, it immediately takes me back to my teenage years in New York (circa 1970s). Another guitarist I know (Mr. Al Fontaine) would be quick to point out the lack of “feeling” in Di Meola’s style and the mechanical presentation - but I like it…
As requested by various interested parties - here a few photos of me, Alma and various family members. Depicted are: Alma, myself and some family members at the one year old birthday celebration of a grand-nephew, the downstairs portion of my apartment and, of course, the lovely Alma. BTW- the actual stove and cooking area is located in a separate room behind the brown door in the photo showing the refrigerator. Upstairs is the bedroom, TV, wardrobe and sitting area. Clothes are washed by hand and dried on clothes line devices on our enclosed porch - hence, no washer and dryer.
Hello, everyone! If you want to see the site in a hilariously bad Filipino language version, (click here) Note - only my readers who speak Tagalog will get how funny the Google translation is. (I didn’t translate it GOOGLE did - so don’t blame me 
)
Anyway, it appears that I’ll be starting a new job on March 2nd (good for me). Of course, as I once mentioned, the job application process, out here, is quite ridiculous. This one ultimately took 4 interviews, 9 exams and a physical (!!!). Amazing. Anyway, at least I got a chance to take a breather from the all-night cross-training schedule for an account that’s sponsored by a company which narrowly avoided bankruptcy and whose shares are selling for under a dollar. That, plus the long travel, was making things too stressful. I should be doing technical stuff by next month, so I guess everything happens for a reason.
On the home front, things are pretty peaceful and relaxed. “Winter” (such as it is here) seems to have gone away and it’s starting to get hot again. Actually, there isn’t any real “winter” here. Just a wet season and a dry one with temperatures cooling down to a pleasant level for about 2 or 3 months. I’m not looking forward to the real heat, later on in the year. That’s one of the few good things about working the graveyard shift. You tend to miss the hottest part of the day while traveling back and forth to work. The downside is that you run up your electric bill by running the air conditioner during the day while you try to get some sleep.
Alma’s barbeque is moving along, slowly, but surely. I got up the courage to try the barbequed pig intestine sections on-a-stick. It was a bit chewy – but it tasted ok. It’s best if you don’t smell it, directly. Moving on…
I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to hang out at the barbeque stand in the evenings with Alma, Mailene and the neighborhood locals. 3 or 4 cats are usually there, as well and it’s sort of like one big family gathering. We have folks who range in age from one years old to … well me. I get to munch on various items that we sell (including some tasty fruit flavored slushies) and, in general, just getting my perspective back after the previous whirlwind of night time job activity. But it looks like I’ll be back to front lines soon enough…
Valentines Day is not really my favorite occasion (don’t ask), but I enjoyed the day, yesterday. I went to the market with Alma and it wasn’t the usual ordeal that I have come to expect. At the end of the day (after the daily barbeque, fried foods and halo-halo (click here) selling), Alma, Mailene and yours truly had a really nice Valentine’s dinner consisting of the famous Philippines Milk Fish (click here), mussels and new variety of snails (cooked in coconut milk) that I hadn’t tried before. Quite nice, actually.
I have a job interview, tomorrow which, hopefully, will get me a position closer to home and more in keeping with my technical or supervisory qualifications. Ultimately, though, Alma and I are planning on having our own business. The “dream” is be diversified and have offerings that relate to food, some sort of technical support and possibly English lessons. That would be nice. Until then, it’s a bit of a struggle, economically. But when I look around, I’m thankful that I’m not in the category of “destitute” like so many of the local population.
Anyway, it’s Sunday morning here, now (I exist 13 hours in the future if you happen to be on Eastern Standard Time) and I’ve had my breakfast and ready to star the day. Here’s a big “Hello” to all the agents at Convergys, 1-800-Flowers.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. I hope everyone had a good Valentines Day and I’ll see you in the future…
It’s nice to have a bit of a break in a classroom, alone, during lunch. Here I, once again, find myself training for yet another complex (yet uninspiring) project. Feeling the tired behind the eyes. Trying to remain focused on a paltry three and a half hours sleep with almost none the day before. That’s the problem with having a weekend off while assigned to the graveyard shift. Your schedule gets thrown off and it takes a day or two to adjust. Only you don’t really have that time and you hit the ground running. Or rather stumbling. Ah well. There’s nothing to be done for it. Anyway, training will be over, soon. Then off to work in another section of the company. This time, things promise to be more profitable, though.
Alma’s business seemed to be doing well, today. The constuction workers across the street are busy assembling another abode for the more fortunate among us and decided to spend the evening engaged in a session of cheap brandy consumption. (Interesting enough, the workers actually construct a small hut for them to live in, on site, during the building process). This, of course, necessitated a round of barbequed pig-ear noshing - courtesy of Alma and niece. Good for them. My benefit consisted of some minutes placed on my cell phone and a couple of packets of instant coffee to bring to work - which is fine with me. Profits will eventually accumulate over time. I’m not a pig-ear man, myself. But I did try the barbequed chicken feet. Not bad - but not really my style of munching. I’m not trying the barbequed chicken heads, though. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure they’re tasty. It’s just that I can’t bring myself to sample anything that looks like it’s screaming.
The ride home, yesterday, was rather spectacular. Having grown up in New York City and lived in many places throughout the United States, I have had the opportunity to ride literally thousands of buses. Yesterday had to mark at least one of the top two most frightening bus rides in my life. It only cost eleven pesos (about sixteen cents) - but you could have easily sold the ride in the States for six dollars in any amusement park. And you would probably hear more screaming than in any single location in Six Flags or Disneyworld. Harrowing, to say the least. It included everything from maniacal driving that would give Charles Manson pause, to a guy exiting an open side door while the bus was in full motion - while carrying a rather large circular piece of wood (!!!). The whole thing could have been a set piece for an Indiana Jones movie. Yet no one seemed disturbed in any way. Eveyone was calm and relaxed. I guess I was the only one who was treated to an early morning art house viewing of my entire life as it flashed before me. That’s what happens when cab fare is scarce. Although, I somehow suspect that there is a benefit (in the form of experience) wedged in there somewhere. At least I’ve learned to always have someone behind me when getting off a bus. That way, when it starts to take off before all passengers have disembarked - I’m not the one who has to leap for safety. Clever, no?
Alma and our niece, Mailene, just started their barbeque business, today. It’s a lot of hard work, I have to admit. We have some support from two of Alma’s sisters - one who operates a stall at the local market and the other, who is married to a prominent meat supplier for the city. I’m very proud and I wish the two them all the luck in the world.