j a n s e n. i. s. m.

I have not blogged in a while for two reasons: (1) my desktop computer at home has been acting up (blame it on age), the most recent drama is a hardware issue with the monitor (2) I was preoccupied the past weeks with stressful work, some “friendly” issues and emotions (I wish I could put better in words and share to public but I can’t), and then there’s the sheer form of procrastination.

The good news is that I am formally introducing my new BFF here– Compaq CQ40-180TU. I got a laptop to replace my old and stinky PC at home. It has been part of my past two Christmas wish lists already and I am glad to finally get my own wish granted this year (in advance).

Also, I was swamped at work but found some time to unwind, and here I am ready to share to the curious people of the world what I have been up to lately.

Festive Fridays

I went to dinner at Max’s Restaurant in Pioneer to celebrate the __th birthday of our lead, Weng last November 7. It was a surprise dinner sort of. We gave her a weeklong birthday surprise at the office. That is, everyday, she received a gift anonymously from us (I was delegated to give mine Wednesday – my idea was to give her fave Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups which I replaced the name with “Ruena’s” — her first name) and the final surprise revelation was on this dinner. We knew she was too smart for this and our plan has definitely its loopholes, so she wasn’t really surprised. Nonetheless, we succeeded in making it a good , if not the best office birthday celebration. I dunno if it’s in the food we ate or it’s just me trying to distress myself but I was laughing a lot and cracking jokes that night. The most hilarious and comfortable I’ve been with the people I worked with in the office.

The next Friday, November 14, I had dinner at Bubba Gump in Greenbelt 3 with Rox and JohnF after two months of not seeing each other. The plan almost got rescheduled because of me but thankfully, I was able to find a way to be available. Over a filling dinner, we shared stories about our recent trips– Rox’s recent family trip to Bora, JohnF’s solo sojourn to Baguio and my Hong Kong expedition. I can’t help but wish my Friday night’s would always be like this. I’ve been working in the metro for 2 1/2 years now but it seemed like this was my first Friday night out that I organized myself.

Weekend House Arrest and Weekday Office Blues

Our project team is now rendering 24×7 support, that means yes, including weekends. Unluckily, I was the first person to experience how is it to be on house-arrest on weekend. I hated the idea of my freedom on how to spend my weekend being taken away and the possibility that when you are on-call, you can receive an urgent call in the middle of your sleep or bath and suddenly covert yourself from a normal human to a working machine.

Lately, I have been experiencing “office blues”. I found myself struggling with tasks and somehow I felt like I am not as motivated as I used to be. I am working on something relatively new and I can’t seem to find the focus and sense of direction to finish it on time… and maybe I am just a little distracted…

Meet Bob

“Who is Bob Ong?”– somebody posted this question as a status message in my YM contact list and that’s how I re-appreciated this witty author. I know you’ve probably read his practical wisdom forwarded through text message or chain email and got curious as well. So I picked up a copy of ABNKKBSNPLAKO (Aba Nakakabasa Na Pala Ako), a book I first encountered in college but enjoyed reading better this time now that I’m done with school. Then after finishing, I finally had the chance to share it to the one who posted that question in YM. About a week later, I stopped by at a bookstore and got two other titles of Bob Ong books.