Another Day Inside (And Outside) The Office...

"What do you do for a living?" has always been a common topic between my miniature wargaming friends that really hasn't gone the distance in terms of conversation.

Things that don't make my job boring...

1. Nasty uncooperative contractors - In my job, there's always one.
2. Moving of deadlines to other dates that get moved again at the very last minute
3. Scheduling people to meet - Now I know how secretaries feel. It's frustrating at times.
4. Trying to make my meetings interesting - Meeting with the Project Team I can compare to children at times. Limited attention span.
5. How to answer flammatory letters from contractors with a cool head - Many times I have to put down one such letter, step out of the office, take a deep breath, come back and start all over again. Well... something like that.
6. Safety - I'm a stickler(?) when it comes to this. Just a couple of days ago, one of the workers had an accident, details of which I would rather not elaborate. He's lucky to be still alive today, although badly injured. Hope we can prevent that in the future.
7. All this posturing shit - Even in the field of construction, there's politics in one form or another. You just have to know you're way around to survive it all. Sigh.

Things I had to do yesterday...

I went on leave! But it wasn't exactly rest... +P

1. Things at home caught up with me. Accompanied my Dad to his regular check-up. Partly the reason why I took the day off so that I can drive for him. He sounded hesitant at first but I insisted I take him. Looks like he'll be fine.
2. Gorgeous Sister's at home taking some much needed rest from all the school work. Looks like she'll be extending that rest to let the storm Reming pass. Hopefully that will recharge her enough to get back on track once her nursing duties resume.
3. Got a call from a job placement office, wanting to update my profile. It's usually around this time of year that they do that. Was able to squeeze that in during my leave of absence. Almost got into an interview right away. Wow, that was fast. We'll see what will turn up in the coming weeks.

Things I gotta do today...

1. Last day of the month - Reporting time. I think we can afford one more day... ;)
2. Some plans laid out and needs to be done before the year ends.
3. Meeting with the Project Team - After that, most likely everybody's in Christmas Season mode in the succeeding weeks.
4. I need to stretch - Played badminton two nights back and I've been sore all over. Feels like a pulled muscle near my ribs where I stretched a little too far from my usual reach. It's a major effort to stand up from a chair or from the car seat. It's a bit distracting from what I have to do today.
5. Safety yet again - The jobsite has to be prepped to take on the storm. I fondly termed this as "tucking the jobsite in", when we have to prepare jobsites for storms or long idle days due to extended vacations.
6. Moving my office - We're relocating! Just a couple of meters to bigger space. Christmas decor again. +P

Then hopefully a chance to watch the sun and moon trade places to end it all. :)

Such is my life on a day to day...

Uneventful Weekend...

Saturday...

Substitution mode. Gaudi didn't report for work today so I had to cover for him and stay in the office till closing time. Today was a bit boring, not that I wanted any excitement at work today either. I had reached my quota of excitement at work earlier in the week, some parts of it will go on continuation in the week that will follow.

Went to Hobby Haven after office hours to meet up with Chico and Ronald to get some of the bitz I bought off from Daemon Russ to add to my Emperors Children build. Also saw some of the Warmachine players at the Haven. There was Pol aka Pork and his Mercs, Fred aka Panty Man with his Cryx, and Jake aka Pokemonster with his Cygnar/Mercs. Saw the Pork vs. Pokemonster match and if its any indication of how its being played now, the game of Warmachine has changed a lot since last I played it. It was exciting to watch at first, where the momentum swings back and forth as both battle groups advanced. But then the game dragged itself to a grinding 3+ hours of advancing/retreating/tactical positioning whatever, only to end abruptly in a frustrated advance by Pork's Magnus the Traitor only to be punished by Pokemonster's Major Brisbane for overextending his charge. It was a lot different from the early days when I started out the game with shink1m and a few friends where it had the "play like you got a pair" appeal which first attracted me to start out the game with him in the first place.

Sunday...

As usual, it's pretty much laid back. A welcome rest day. Wasn't exactly rushing into nor intent on accomplishing anything except maybe catch up on some sleep. Saw a portion of my personal library on the floor and realized how much I've been currently reading but never had the time to actually finish reading them. +P

Hmmm... let's see... there's the Legend of Drizzt books, the Tales of the Otori I've been wanting to read a second time, Sun Tzu's Art of War, Bob Ong's senseless-but-fun-to-read stuff, and now the Chronicles of Narnia audio books my Sister Pie lent me. Yeah, the Magician's Nephew sounds like a good book to listen to today. So, popped Disc 1 into the player, pressed the play button and Kenneth Brannaugh was somewhere near the end of Chapter 2 when I lost track and fell asleep. Woke up well into the night (must've slept off a combined 15 hours for the whole of my Sunday...), and had nothing left to do except a little dinner and a couple of minutes of TV before packing up the stuff I need for the work week ahead.

Hope...

dans le besoin d'inspiration, à la recherche d'une vision

When it felt like all is lost.

Like a blade of grass breaking out of the desert sand,
with all chances for it to flourish yet uncertain...

It was only a brief moment did you make your presence known.
Then then as quickly as you appeared, slipped back to the depths of silence.

A sign that past hurts have healed perhaps?
Or a message for time to further weather its jagged edge?

I'll take it either way.
I refuse the dictates of logic.

I continue my search...

Deck The Halls...

November 22, 2006...

In a jobsite office somewhere in Makati...

Office was unusually dreary so some of the officemates started putting up some christmas decor to brighten up the office a bit. Kept it simple, nothing too spectacular. A few christmas balls, silver bells, some some tinsel and holly here and there, and a few christmas lights, plus a christmas theme on the computer wallpapers was just the trick needed in changing the overall mood. Too bad we couldn't go all out since we're planning to relocate the office to another location on site before the year ends.

Well, at least we can have fun putting them up again once we do transfer.

On Other Pursuits...

November 18, 2006...

Lost the inspiration to paint for some reason. Don't wanna force it. Lost some momentum in blogging too. So doing this would do me some good.

Focused more on work for the majority of the week. It's that time of the year where things get a little edgy. People you've worked with will have the volume of their voices a small notch on the higher side, usually brought about by pressure to meet year-end targets. Now's the time to think with the cooler head otherwise we'll all just end up growing older and crankier and still not get any work done.

Friday traffic was terrible last night so I decided to take a small detour to the local mall to let the vehicular madness pass. Been a long while since I went window shopping. Just took in the sights, plus the usual visit to the bookstores and musicstores, just to check on what's new without really looking. Later, I came upon what's probably the billiard cue I've always wanted and she's a monster. The balance, the feel of the grip and the slide across my bridge hand was close to perfect. She's gonna cost me a little extra, extra to the point that I need to place a deposit for it should I get it. It's a major financial decision on my part, but we'll see how it will play out.

Saturday I took some time out to see some friends play the WFB Gladiator Finals. Didn't join this year due to scheduling problems mostly, but I was able to visit and see some old friends playing the final rounds. Not all 40k players play WFB and vice versa so some of these guys I haven't seen in a while. Too bad I didn't have a camera to take some pics of some of the players' works. Some have done some major improvements in the modelling and painting aspect of the game. Hopefully that will give me the inspiration to continue with my own personal project. We'll see.

---
November 19, 2006...

Sunday was a bit surreal. Roads and malls were empty, since practically everybody was home watching the fight. Manny Pacquiao won over Eric Morales in the third and final installment of their series. Personally, the knockout on the third round was a bit anti-climactic knowing that a lot of people have waited 7 hours to watch the fight.

Got a call from Big Hamster today, while watching the Pacquiao/Morales reruns. It was nice of him to call, given the fact that he's way over there in Iloilo.

Thanks man. I needed that.

Not Exactly My Finest Hour...

Date : Monday, Dawn, November 13, 2006
Venue : Just the front terrace of our house somewhere in Marikina
The Characters : Me and my dog Dodong...

My Thoughts :

It was only few minutes till dawn that I decided to watch the morning break through the skyline for a couple of minutes with a heavy heart. It just crossed my mind that there's this girl I know who would've loved seeing this same sunrise.

...

I just had to say this.

I've had my share of regrets in my life, some of those regrets still haunting me to this very day. I guess this is my feeble attempt at trying not to add another one to my list. I've never felt like a such loser of this magnitude in a long while. This one girl just recently made me realize that. Guess I assumed too far and taken her for granted on this one by a country mile. A real kick-in-the-balls kind of wake up call.

People deal with problems differently, sometimes to the point where in my opinion would go to an extreme that might prove unnecessary. But people are people, which should be given the respect, and the space which they are all entitled to.

Things have taken on a sad turn, to a point where apologies would not be accepted quite as easily as before. Some harsh words were said, some noble intentions taken for something else. And it ends in severance. What I would give or do to take everything back, back to that time in August where we shared the simplest of joys. Personally, I know no fairytale that could've possibly rivaled it. It had everything except maybe the desired ending.

I've said enough. There's no point here in giving everything away. Would there be any merit in spending a lifetime waiting or searching the ends of the earth if one doesn't want to be found?

...

Wish you had seen that sunrise. It was beautiful.

For Da Poker Boyz...

Funny revelation how all of us were thinking about this girl the last time we played poker...

Makes ya wanna go... ALL IN!!! Lolz.

Piece Of History That Was Just Made : Watching late night television somewhat prompted me to stay up so late. Just watched the replay where Ronnie Alcano won the 2006 World Pool Championship. Go Ronnie! You just made a whole nation proud! :)

On A Tear...

Date : Thursday Night, November 9, 2006...
Venue : Elbow Room, Metrowalk
The Players : Salubri, Ermitanyo (aka Balian), BataIsip21 (aka Kyuzo)

Highlights :

Due to recent personal events, it was mutually agreed by BataIsip21 and Ermitanyo to push through in hooking up and divert our misery in less stressing surroundings. Salubri came along for the ride to keep us honest in our little diversion. Vacant billiard tables were hard to come by even on a Thursday night, having discovered a company tournament taking half the tables available. We were extremely fortunate in not having to wait long and have a table made available to us, which was incidentally my personal favorite spot in the whole establishment.

Perfect. Just the therapy I needed. No thoughts of work, or women to drag me down. Just a game of 9-ball with a couple of friends to channel all my frustrations. Ironically my break was somewhat better, given that extra ounce of aggression. I started tearing at the racks with that personal goal that I had no intention of shooting a miss. Got some good run-outs, but that elusive break and run-out has eluded me still. Even when I wasn't playing, I kept my mind on the game, watching my friends play, figuring out how I would've taken the shot, hopefully finding a way of making each other's games one notch better. Yeah, I needed this game. It was more effective than the beer, which just numbs the pain only temporarily.

The drive home felt a little lonely during the last couple of blocks. This song was playing as I was just rounding the corner to my parking spot. I personally like this version.

Seems to me my desire to escape have been frequent lately, with the crashing and burning scenario the likely outcome if I don't give in to this urge. Like an itch that has to be scratched or else be driven mad by it if ignored.

Date : Friday Night, November 10, 2006...
Venue : BEC, Magallanes...
The Players :
Table 10, 9, 7 - Mabi, Kat, Stephen, Alex, Arnel, Kevin, Armand, Carmina, Dindin, Jan, Mackay
Table 3 - Marie and Fidel
Table 10... again - Nony and wife, Alfred

Highlights :

As fate could not have staged it any more perfectly...

I accepted a friend's invitation to play over at BEC with a couple of more friends from my previous work at the very last minute. Something prompted me to tear myself from overtime and go play a couple of games with former officemates for a couple of hours. I'm sleeping over at the office anyways and I needed the drive to clear my head.

Started the night with an impromptu reunion with Jimboy, with one of my favorite spotters/setters in years past! Turns out he's ok. He chose to grow his hair long and tied up now. His wife Liway (another favorite spotter/setter from that same previous establishment) and his two kids are fine too. Yeah, me and my friends were witnesses to the budding romance between the two and them ending up together was a fairytale come true for them. I made a promise to be back soon for some serious play.

My former officemates took up three tables, two devoted for one-on-one 9-ball, while the other was for two-on-two 8-ball. Kinda confusing playing against anyone whose available. Not much in terms of conversations or small talk. Just playing one game on one table and move on to the next one. Speed billiards. +P

While in the middle of play, I was suddenly approached by Marie and Fidel, some close friends of mine for a good part of four years. What a surprise! I was happy to see them and just a couple of minutes later, I had to move over to their table to play a couple of games with them too.

Much later that evening, Nony and Alfred, a couple of friends back in my college days, also stepped in. Long time no see!!! Turns out they're also regulars here in BEC and before I went home, I had to pull my cues out of the bag yet again to play a couple of games as well. That's a total of 5 tables! A personal record. I was so busy I never had the chance to get a drink. +P

Went back to the office without incident. Just a couple of minutes to settle down a bit and work on a few letters before turning in for bed. I had a Serendipity fan video playing over and over while working. I happen to stumble upon it after a couple of searches, my version of seredipity right there. Guess I'd have to agree with the uploader that this song would fit nicely in the soundtrack.

On Wargaming, Poker Weekends, God Daughters, Invisibles And Non-Respondents...

My Most Recent Rave:

Been playing regularly on the Warhammer 40k scene as of late with the HGR boyz over at Galleria. The games have been fun and more players have been showing out of the woodwork. Well and good while the regular players still have a common schedule to play.

Boyz later on chipped in and bought a poker set over at Greenhills. This has been talked about for a couple of weeks now and we're all excited to brave the Greenhills crowd and buy it. All that trouble just to able to try shuffling poker chips like the pros.

Got bit by the wandering bug on a Sunday afternoon. Instead of my usual vegetative mode, I went out. Saw my kumpare Ronald and my god daughter Christina Mia. She's grown a bit. Almost 7 months old. And bubbly like the sun (too bad I wasn't able to take a picture). Time flies so fast... :)

My Brief Rant:

I was a bit distracted during the course of the weekend. Though I wouldn't expect a lot of people to understand this, but I've been troubled by particular non-responding people for what felt like ages. You know they're there but they prefer to act as if they're not, as if you're invisible to them, like someone who doesn't deserve to exist. Attempting to reconcile differences with this wide gap in between would seem a hopeless pursuit. I would rather break these imposed boundaries and be told straight in the face rather than be treated like I'm never deserving of sharing the same air with them. That's frustration talking on my behalf. But it usually passes. It's not in me to hold a grudge against a friend.

What becomes of this drama anthology I'm close giving up on waiting for its next episode, especially if the predicted ending is not to my liking.

Balikbayan...

November 3, 2006...

Fongi's here!!! She's back from London and will be here for a couple of weeks before heading off again to look for work. We took the opportunity to touch base in Quezon City before our schedules would not allow us to meet at all. Had a quick dinner at Burgoo, and decided to play a couple of racks of billiards before coffee.

Billiards over at the 9-ball Cafe and Billiard Hall along Tomas Morato was a bit crowded, being the last gimik day for some students and all, so we didn't play that long. Coffee over at Starbucks across the street was no different, but we were lucky enough to get a couple of chairs to sit down, have coffee and catch up on stuff. Seems to me that Fongi had quite an adventure there in Europe, mostly memorable as well as its fair share of not so memorable moments from what I gather. Staying most of the time at home since she arrived didn't help much. I guess getting her out of the house did her some good.

Some wacky stuff ensued, including shameless photo-ops, book reviews and Fongi's sudden fascination for dogtags... Time flies, and we did promise our respective folks to be home before the stroke of midnight, so we made sure we kept our promises or me and my ride become a mouse driven pumpkin... well, you know what I mean. ;)