Blackbook

Being sick, weak, and bored, I decided to catch some fresh air and think about life. As I was standing on the sidewalk outside our house and looking at vacant lots and our neighbors’ houses, I remembered a story that was narrated to me.

*****

Our house here in FARview was only built a few years ago.

One night, during its construction, the workers heard a commotion in front of the gate. When they looked outside, they saw the caretaker of a neighbor’s lot, drunk and carrying gun! He was yelling and cussing. He then started shooting at them! With no weapons available, the defending troops retaliated with what they had in abundance–rocks.

They called the police which had a station less than 100 meters away. The quick reaction force arrived FORTY-FIVE MINUTES later. Oh, but they were the elite SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) Team! They were late coz they were probably called from elsewhere. Yeah, the good guys are here! They were wearing their full battle gear, looking lean and mean, ready to rock and roll!

Showtime!

As they took their positions and prepared to assault our friendly neighbor, one of the workers told them, "Ser, ingat kayo ha. May granada siyang dala kanina." They looked at him in surprise. "HA? GRANADA?! Naku, gabi na. Wala rin kaming search warrant. Babalik na lang kami bukas!"

And they left.

*****

For service above and beyond the call of duty (mixing cement, hammering nails, painting, etc), I hereby commend the workers for the successful defense of our house. You have valiantly fought with your rocks in the face of an armed enemy in a night combat environment. May you have many more houses to build and defend!

For the first time in years, I was able to jog four miles! FOUR MILES! That’s 6.4 kilometers! No stopping! And I did it after not having jogged for almost a week because of sickness, injury, etc. Four miles is also a big jump from the 2 mile route (3.2km) I was using the week before!

JM says our pace was a bit slow. I guess that’s it. But hell, ever since I left high school, I couldn’t run 2 miles without stopping, fast pace or slow! It’s either I get tired and/or bored (especially on a treadmill)! Haha! I always look for nice places to jog in (ex. La Mesa Dam EcoPark) so I can enjoy the scenery and not get bored.

I like La Mesa Dam because it has forests. Forests? Yup! When I’m huffing and puffing, feeling that I’m about to die of exhaustion and thirst, I just think that I’m in hot pursuit of enemy soldiers in difficult terrain. That keeps me going. Failure is not an option, soldier!

The Goods are coming out tomorrow! I got another text today reassuring me that they will be released tomorrow. Finally! There’s no definite time though.

So that is my primary objective tomorrow–wait for The Goods. I’ll just try to finish whatever I can while waiting.

*****

While I was driving today, the gas pedal got stuck just as I was entering a curve! VROOOOOOOM! The car suddenly lurched forward and picked up speed. It took me a few seconds to figure out what happened while I tried to avoid the car in front of me as well as the cars  coming from the other direction. 

Phew! That was close!

I just remembered what was being pounded into my mind during my nightmares the other day.

WHERE ARE THE GOODS?! WHERE ARE THE GOODS?! WHERE ARE THE GOODS?!

Over and over and over again…

*****

Our logistics office “collapsed” several days ago. Fortunately, after a few days of wondering what to do, I got it back to working at 75% of its pre-disaster days level! It was a strategic solution, too! Not some short term, quick fix. Life is good!

By next week, it will be working better and faster than before. Thanks to GHM!

It’s always nice to be able to find opportunities in problems.

*****

Friday was a long day. The day was full but still pretty fun. In the morning, I was already in a Paranaque factory/warehouse finalizing the details for the remaining missing piece in our logistical problem. I like the people there. They are very efficient and accommodating. They even gave me a tour when I visited several months ago. This time, I tried to finish the discussion as fast as I could though. Their office is a major fire hazard!

Then I had a company lunch meeting Makati. We still have our Ex-Deal ongoing with Krokodile up to now. Free food is really good! By 130PM, we were comfortably seated in Mandarin for the training. What fun! The speaker was pretty good. Lots of jokes, good insights, useful personal experiences, etc. I was already pretty sleepy (only had 3 hours of sleep) when we got there but by 2PM, I was wide awake listening intently and laughing. I also won P50,000 worth of accident insurance from Sunlife during one of the mini raffles in the end. Cool, I can go have an accident now.

I took a few hours break in the evening. Driving can really wear me out. From FARview, I drove to Paranaque (there was a 15min traffic jam along the way) then Greenbelt3 then Mandarin then Katipunan (ugh, really traffic!). Good thing my passengers, Benny and JM, are fun people and kept me laughing on the way back to headquarters. I’m usually in a bad mood during and after long drives. I was supposed to jog 3 miles with JM. Unfortunately, my muscle in my left leg was still aching pretty bad from my jog the day before. I think I injured it during my sprint in the last minute of my jog. I went to Blue Skies and waged war for an hour instead.

Then I had to drive back to FARview. Going back to my province at that time on a Friday is really bad. I was the only one in the car yet I felt like my brain was chanting, "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? " over and over. Now that I think about it, I think it was my forever aching back that was telling my brain to whisper that message. A whole day’s drive can really render me useless because of the backpains I get afterwards. People usually find me lying on the floor in the office after a long drive. No, I’m not dying, just trying to make the pain in my back go away.

I was already sleepy when I got home but for some reason, I couldn’t sleep at all. Must be jet lag from the day’s cross country travel. So I just worked in front of the computer answering emails, making tables in Excel, finalizing prices, and writing more emails, etc until 3AM.

TGIF!

*****

Wait, I just received a text message. The Goods are coming out! Hmm…going to keep my mouth shut this time until I actually get them. Hopefully, I won’t get empty promises this time.

WHERE ARE THE GOODS?!

I need to go mountain climbing or camping in Subic’s JEST (Jungle Environment Survival Training) again soon! I try to go at least once a year. Traveling is not really my thing but for mountain climbing or  jungle survival training, I can make an exception.

It is just so peaceful in the jungle or on top of a mountain at night. I don’t know why but for some reason while I’m there, no matter how hard I try, I can’t even think of the problems or worries that I have back in the city. I usually see a falling star before I fall asleep. I never sleep inside a tent, rain or no rain! There’s nothing like opening your eyes every now and then and just enjoying the stars in the sky until you fall asleep again.

Last night, I woke up several times. Nightmares! I was dreaming about a supplier not being able to deliver our goods on time! Pathetic. And I had the nightmare repeatedly!

I miss my stars…

***

I learned yesterday that a Filipino friend I met while I still lived in Bangkok was sworn in last week as Vice Consul in the Department of Foreign Affairs here in Manila. Cool! Congratulations to you, Ms. Q! Please tell me when you become Ambassador to Thailand!

I was supposed to start cleaning up my room this evening. Unfortunately, I fell asleep right after my jog and woke up 10PM.  Time to work.

***.

Right after the President’s State of the Nation Address, I jogged for 30 minutes in La Mesa Dam. I’m pretty satisfied that I was able to complete 30 minutes without stopping. I haven’t been able to jog during the past several days. Also, the view was so beautiful today that I was heartbroken when I did not stop and admire as I normally do. The route I took today was pretty hard, too. The terrain wasn’t flat like the routes I used to take in my other jogging sites. I went up the small fence, down the dam and up the dam and around the dam.  Next time, I’ll try to count the number of steps the stairs has.

I saw a sign there saying that the Fishing Area is opening soon. Right, there were already around 5 people with their rods there. WOOOHOO! I’m going fishing next week!  =) No one and nothing will get in the way!

At 30 minutes and 25 seconds, I stopped. I could’ve pushed it to 35 or 40 minutes but I didn’t want to end up too tired to do anything anymore. Huffing and puffing, I walked the rest of the way home for 20 minutes. This time I brought some money (P20) just in case I see a taho vendor again on the way back. Happens all the time that there’s a taho vendor but I didn’t bring any money.  Unfortunately, there were no vendors this time. They were all probably selling to the thousands of Pro and Anti Gloria protesters not far from our place. Too bad.

I bought Dirty Ice Cream instead. Five Pesos.

I got home 4AM Sunday morning because it was a fun night.

I picked up Benny and JM in Katipunan and we proceeded to the birthday party. The place is  a favorite venue of mine for afternoon meetings–I usually fall asleep on the sofa towards the end of the meetings!

I think it was a great party. The food and company were great! The food…I loved it especially the chicken terriyaki! Hmmm! Good!  We also met some long lost friends. Someone brought out a guitar and Benny  serenaded us (or maybe he was trying to get someone’s attention…yihee!) the rest of the night. Good food, fun people, nice music, and lots of booze for JM and Benny! The good thing was that the host didn’t forget about me and had a sufficient supply of non alocoholic beverages there–softdrinks and juice. Excellent!

Booze! Haha not really that much but it was enough to significantly increase the fun and laughter coming from Benny and JM. By the time we left after midnight, JM was laughing and making fun of people and a bunch of other things. We were still laughing our heads off as I drove them back. JM had this idea of playing Battlefield 2 in Blue Skies in Katipunan before going home. I was already a bit sleepy before we left the party but somehow all that laughing made me wide awake.

It was already around 1AM (Sunday) yet there were still more than 20 cars parked in the vicinity of Blue Skies. Kids! Time to show them what the older generation can do in computer warfare…

There was no one else playing the game we wanted so we played against the computer "bots". JM and I were massacred! Game after game, we got "Minor Defeat" and "Major Defeat" ratings! This is what happens when your war buddy is drunk while playing. Haha. But it was a good game. We were outnumbered 3 to 1. We were able to play a World War 2 scenario called "Invasion of the Philippines." We were unable to defend our homeland against the Japanese invaders that time.  I apologize to the Filipino people. In the words of General Douglas MacArthur, "I shall return…"

We played for an hour and a half. Blue Skies’ system automatically ended the game when my credits ran out. Time to go. JM (his car was parked near Blue Skies) and I parted ways and went home. It was already 230AM.

Uh oh…

If we started playing 1AM and we played for an hour and a half, that means we finished playing 230AM. But I got home 4AM! It takes only 15 minutes to drive from Blue Skies to my house in FARview at that time of the day. I’m missing more than an hour’s worth of my memory from that night! Ugh! This is bad. Maybe I got the times wrong…

It was already around 4AM when I got home. The gate was opened by Uwa. As I got out of the car, this high-pitched really irritating sound pierced my eardrum. I looked around and for a few seconds, I wondered what in the world was causing such a racket so early in the morning. The it hit me! FIRE ALARM!

The sound was coming from inside our house! I asked Uwa if she even had any idea what the noise was. She had no clue but said that she’s been hearing it for quite a while already! CRISIS!

I quickly walked into the house. It was coming from my dad’s always-locked office. I held the doorknob to check if it was already hot(yeah, i would like to thank the movie, Backdraft). It wasn’t. Then I checked to see if there was any smoke coming out from the space underneath the door. None.

Cool, I still had time before I became barbeque.

I calmly told Uwa to go get the fire extinguisher. Then I went upstairs to wake up my dad and get the key to the office. I tapped on the door.

"Yes?" my dad called out in a sleepy voice.

I chose my words carefully–no sense alarming the oldies by saying that there’s a fire. "Kailangan ko yung susi sa office niyo kasi TUMUTUNOG yung fire alarm dun," I said in my calmest voice.

"Fire?" he said, a bit awake now. I heard him slowly getting up.

I told him to just give me the key and I’ll turn off the alarm.  He still went down. It was his office.

Still no smoke downstairs. Uwa wasn’t there with the fire extinguisher. This is what I get for not panicking. She probably thought I was joking!

We slowly opened the door. No flames, no smoke. We checked the electronic devices and their wiring. We sniffed the air. Nothing.

I deactivated the fire alarm. I got ready for bed.

The alarm went off again a bit later. I got the key again, went down, grabbed the fire alarm from the ceiling, and removed all of its batteries. Good night.

*I’ll just have to reorient (I already did before!) Uwa and the others what the high-pitched sound means and what they should do if they hear it.

* * * * *

My reaction to the situation was ok. I guess I’ve learned a few things over the years.

I remember a time while I was still living in Thailand more than a decade ago. I was only around 10 years old then. My parents and I had just entered a supermarket inside a mall.

We had just taken several steps when we heard a scream and saw a woman running towards the exit behind us.

"Pai! Pai!" she was shouting. Pai means "go" or "flee" in the Thai language. I also thought she might have also been shouting "Fire!"

People around us panicked and rushed to the exits. My mom took hold of my arm. And I, the little coward that I was at that time, started to run towards the nearest exit…

A hand suddenly grabbed me from behind and forcefully pulled me back. It was my dad.

"What are you running from?!" he scolded us. Did we know what was happening? How did we know that the danger was not in the direction we were going to run to?

He pulled me towards the direction where the screaming woman came from. Some people were there, anxiously looking around. A guard was there looking bewildered, not sure of what to do.

Nothing. There was no danger. No fire. Only a screaming woman.

Life in the mall went back to normal.

"See?" my dad told me.

I felt foolish. I had always said that I wanted to be a soldier. Yet, there I was, in full view of my Commanding Officer, retreating from the battlefield without even the slightest trace of the enemy.

I never forgot that incident.

Primary Objective: to organize my room.

My room is a MESS! I will concentrate all my leisure and entertainment time this week towards having a healthy and presentable environment in my room. Excessive time, money, and effort will be expended for this endeavor.

I can only sleep on a third of the bed because I’ve got bills, brochures, documents, and DVDs scattered all over it. The floor is hard to navigate. There are boxes, product prototypes, bags, more documents (some which fell from my bed during the night), envelopes, BB pellets,  and a bunch  of other odds and ends that will make a junk dealer happy. The tables and desks are also no good. All of them are completely covered  with books, VHS tapes, VCDs, DVDs, magazines, depost slips, electronic devices, pictures, contracts, scratch paper, and unfiled calling cards. A MESS!

Several days ago, I was rummaging through some cabinets looking for some 1×1 pictures. I wasn’t able to find them but discovered hidden wealth instead! Inside several old envelopes that I found were Canadian and US bills of various denominations! Total: Can$ 60 and US$ 35! Good thing I checked before I threw them away.

I wonder what else I will find?

I went shopping! War Shopping! There  comes a time in one’s life when you just have to drop everything and go buy something!

One of my acquisitions is this high tech walkie talkie earpiece. I’ve been dreaming about this ever since I saw it in the store! It looks like an ordinary walkie talkie accessory except it doesn’t have a microphone.

The vibration of your voice is picked up by this highly sensitive device in the EARPIECE. The vibration in the ear-bone caused by the voice is picked up and translated into electric signals. Cool! This means, it doesnt matter if the wind is strong or the person next to you is yapping away.

The PTT (Push To Talk) button can also be attached to your finger. No need to press the button on the walkie talkie. While shooting at the enemy, you can call for reinforcements without removing your hand from the firing weapon. This contraption will truly help in our military operations.

I also bought a nice toolbox from Ace Hardware along with some tools (of course!). Going to do some major mechanical and electrical tinkering soon. There were some toolboxes that were way cheaper than the one I bought. But I like the colors of this toolbox-yellow and black.  It’ll be nice to have a good-looking toolbox.

I also wanted to purchase some more protective gear but unfortunately they were out of stock. Maybe they’ll be available later this week. With all the accidents I’ve been experiencing during my wargames,  I need to be ready for the next game. Heaven forbid that I get hospitalized and not be able to go to war anymore.

***

I’m trying to follow JM’s jogging program. Jogged for 20 minutes today.  I was a bit surprised because I didn’t stop at all during the 20minutes. All those wargames are really helping!

I never really enjoyed going to the gym. I get bored especially while on the treadmill. No matter what I do, I only last 5 minutes or less on the treadmill because of boredom.

Oh, but there was this time when The Rock (Nicolas Cage & Sean Connery) was showing on TV in front of the treadmill. I was able to jog for an hour! I was even able to speed up my pace during the assault/ firefight scenes! Funny what a person can do when he’s inspired.

Lesson: I need a good war movie to be able to last long on a treadmill.

Back to my jogging. I jogged in La Mesa Dam which is just 5 minutes from my house. I love that place. I live along Commonwealth–traffic, crowds, smoke, etc. In La Mesa Dam, it’s like I’m on vacation somewhere far far away.

You see this beautiful view of the water surrounded by forests (yes, forests!) as you pass over the dam. On a not-so-windy day, the surrounding scenery is reflected on the surface of the water. There are mountains behind the forest which make me wonder all the time, "Mountains? Is my house really this far?"

I huff and puff along the way, making sure that I check for passing vehicles as I enjoy the scenery.

***

i want to go fishing!

When I lived in Bangkok more than a decade ago, I went fishing sometimes in a pond in front of my dad’s office. I would stay under a tree the whole day just waiting for the moment when boy and fish would determine who’s boss. I usually caught only one or two medium-sized ones in a day but I’d be very happy with my catch.

I didn’t really get bored waiting. Patience is a Verchie =)