Anything goes...

Ahhh February! My birth month, my favorite month of the year! I am welcoming this new month as if this was a fresh year. Like January has been a long while ago, with so much stuff happening, so many new tasks I couldn't even learn yet, but I do anyway.  It was like January has been too long a month. Overwhelming! Three major events, and 1 horrible cry.  I am once again, moved to a different cocoon. I only stayed for 9 quarters in my DOLE Gensan Family and after 2024, I started with the Technical Support Services Division (TSSD) due to the retirement of its former boss.  I used to believe that TSSD holds the most engaging positions as it is quite known to be the think tank of the regional operations. I stand corrected. While it is true, it remains as the think tank of the DOLE operations, in my first month, I could say it is the most tiresome office where your brain cells forever function even when you are asleep.  I may be saying this just now because it is my first ...

As a leader, you are expected to be on top of every situation, no matter how minor it is and even more so when it is huge.  December is a month of breaking barriers, utilization of funds to zero and making sure that every target is hit bull's eye.  And yet, there are personnel who, no matter how long they have been doing the job, can't seem to give focus to the requirement.  I cannot simply ignore the fact that a direct report has been repeatedly giving me headaches, here and there since the start of my stint. If that was deliberate, I do not know, but in my mind, that was a low class act of incompetence and inability to cope to change and to pressure.  I am a person who wants things done in a snap. I do not delegate much. In as much as I can do it, I will do it, and do not leave things be in the hands of my staff who are not technically equipped to do such tasks.  This December has been tough! But what can be tougher than a subordinate who doesn't do justice to...

On November 17 at about 4:14, I was just lying on the bed reading Kevin Kwan's The Crazy Rich Girlfriend on my phone when there came a sudden jolt, and what was a simple shake turned into a crazy frenzy of tremors up until its first minute.  My first instinct was to go out even if I wasn't really clothed properly since I just arrived from a meeting and just wanted to lie down and take a good rest. But I couldn't get myself out of the house since the shaking has disturbed my peace of mind.  I was trying to open the latch of the door to let myself out but I struggled with it. And for a while, I thought it would be the end of the world.  While we in Mindanao have been experiencing normal shakes here and there, this was quite a different experience; it was the longest one minute of my life, and it was by far the strongest one I have experienced.  If you follow me on Facebook, I have posted a similar experience while we were in Baguio City. It was a M7.2, Intensity 4 kind...

I have not been much of a reader nor a writer in the past few years. Read, yes. But I would confess, it's not as always as it seemed to be. I hated the fact that I can no longer read a full book in one sitting. My latest book is A Man Called Ove, and I have not even finished t yet.  I have a friend who always gives me e-books, I ask him for e-books and yet, I just have them ready in my collection. Even the real, tangible books I have are quite ignored for some time now. For some reason, I have become lazy. I have become the person I didn't want to be, maybe because of the busy schedule at work, or have I been too complacent with a lot of stuff? Just this morning, as I have always planned it to be, I finally got the urge to get my Bob Ong box of cards. This Bob Ong's Aba! are a set of cards with questions or tasks that you can answer or that you can follow. I vow to at least answer one card every week, or the most often that I can do it because I need to sharpen my brain cel...

I have made myself quite anxious for a month now. Well, almost.  I applied for a position that I really wanted but since this is a government post, I have undergone the tedious process of selection and promotion - exams, interviews, and the paranoia of waiting for the result.  Of course, it is a valid feeling when we get excited for the result of something we have been waiting for.  Just like this promotion, I guess I am excited because I want the anxiety to end. I have been sleepless for a number of days last week, and have been fighting the urge to wake up in the middle of the night overthinking about my actions. Did I sound good in the interview? Have I made myself clear in my intentions? Was I articulate in my answers? Did they see me competent? And many others...  The election ban is nearing (March 25) and we are all waiting for the 4 positions to be filled, as appointments are actually made by the Central Office.  I may also be under a lot of stress l...

So after less than three months, the husband flew back to the concrete jungle of Metro Manila for work as he was quite needed there. No, not quite. I guess he was really needed there.  And so, after eighty-four (84) days here in Gensan, 14 of those days spent in quarantine when he arrived, I am back to being alone with the kids and trying to live.  While he was here, he was the same man I married, that guy who would do the laundry, sweep the floor, do carpentry, clean the bathroom, fix some broken things, cook, and most importantly, clean the car! He was also home to drive me back and forth to the office, or the grocery. And spoiled I am, 'coz for a short while, I was able to just lay on the couch while I watch him do the dishes, fix the table, and wait for him to call when dinner was ready.  But lo and behold, some things are meant to end!  So on Friday, January 15, I brought him to the airport. It was painful, but I have to admit that he is doing this for the famil...