vague

friend asking me what time we'll meet...

me:  'you set the time...  i'm very near; you're rather far...  just text me what time you want...'

that was yesterday...

today i received a text message...  she tells me we'll make it early...  yup, 'early'!

oh!  so that is the time?

ok...  see you early...  ; p

think positive

i love chocolates.  coffee i'm not a fan of.

two consecutive days now i've picked from a box of 16 assorted chocolates of two flavors each, ta-daaan!  ->  the coffee variety...  :O

first i had an 87.5% then a 93% chance of getting something i like (ahahaha...  yup, i computed) and both times i got the low-probability deal.

hmmm...  hmmm...  hmmm...  how do i put a positive spin on this?

1.  it's really a no-lose situation.  no matter what i pick, it's still chocolate.  that makes me a winner still...  : )

2.  i can beat the odds!

"When odds are one in a million,
be that one."

lemme go and conquer lotto...  ; )

who you gonna call?

mom shutting down her laptop then she calls me...

mom:  'it's taking too long...'

me:  'whoa!  your windows is upgrading!  did you click anything?'

mom:  'i don't know...  i was shutting down then i texted...  when i looked up it was already like that...'

me:  'well, that's not just an update; it's an upgrade...  from 8 you're going to 10...'

mom:  'so?'

me:  '<cousin> was telling me it's sort of his rule that his mom's gadgets are not more advanced than his...  i think his reason was because he's a heavier user...  you're way ahead of me now...  mine's still on 7...  next time you ask me i may not know what you're talking about...'

help desk helpless...  ;"p

pro

phone call...

me:  'aw!  they're here...  i can't really talk...'

without missing a beat, the caller went:  'okay...  i'll just ask you questions, just answer with yes or no...'

and he fired off a series of questions...  i simply replied with yeses, hahaha...

quick thinking, eh...  must have had much practice...  bah!  ; p

then and now

resurrection sunday...  priest made the round of the pews blessing churchgoers with Holy Water.  i wanted to have even just one droplet land on me but none.  aw!  : (

and then i suddenly remembered past sunday masses when unlike now i had my camera with me.  i was hoping those times not to get wet to protect my lens.  ugh!  :"}

the very same thing, you can both seek out and avoid at different times depending on prevailing circumstances...

believe in yourself

i was submitting documents to this agency and i made sure certain docs were in duplicate so i would have a receiving copy.  (after having been asked to re-submit practically everything i've already filed with them before, i wanted a record that this and that document was actually already with them.)

so i put each duplicate after the original and submitted the bunch to the reviewer / receiver saying there were more than the required copies as i wanted receiving copies.

the receiver said she's going to go over the documents first.

ok.

she checked this and that and this and that and that and that and that.

they were ok and i was given back a set of documents for my copy.  my request to have the documents stamped individually was declined though.  it's just the update form that was stamped received.

hmmm...  ok.

i went over the set given me and noticed that two important documents were missing.  i therefore asked for the duplicates saying i don't have any copy of those.

the recipient said she kept just one each.

i said i submitted in two's, the second supposedly my receiving copy.

the receiver checked.  she said there's just one.

really?  where did the dups go?

the receiver said she doesn't know reminding me she went over the documents in front of me.

true.  and i saw the duplicates there even telling her they were my receiving copy.

the receiver said i should check my stuff.

oh!  maybe the docs jumped inside my bag, hehe.

ok.  i went outside and checked my big bag.

nada.

i went back and asked whether she could check again sending a message to the universe that i hope she's going to be fine with it.  yay! she was!  she checked again and told me there's really no second copy.

really???  where could they be???  they couldn't have been left with the photocopier as i am sure i attached them to the originals.  i again went out to re-check my stuff.  really not there.

i went back in and asked whether i could just take a picture of the docs with missing duplicates so i would, at least, have a copy.

ok.  she then handed me photocopies.

me:  'huh?!  where are the originals?'

receiver:  'that's what you submitted to me...'

me:  'i submitted both the original and a photocopy...'

she said those are the only ones i gave her.

what???!!!  it's the originals that are missing?!

i again asked her to re-check.  again she told me those are really all i submitted.

whoa!  twilight zone.

i therefore just took pictures of the photocopies then again went out to go home.  i could not get myself to leave, however, as i could not for the life of me understand how the documents, originals at that, could so suddenly just disappear.

for the third time, i checked my stuff.  really not there.

i went back in again.  (wahaha...  never say die.)  i asked whether i could check myself.

she let me.

ta-daaan!  right in front of her and in the presence of this other guy, i easily found the documents in the less than 50-page bunch...  : D

gee...  sometimes you really have to do things yourself.

true colors

caught a glimpse of someone's watch over a counter...

me:  'is that pink or red?'

girl raises her arm...

me:  'oh...  fuchsia...'

girl:  'yes...  fuchsia...'

me:  'spell...'

girl:  'just make it pink...'

me:  'hehe...  red is easier...'

we both chuckle...

me:  'tip...  'fuchsia' is F, U, C, H, S, I, A...  fook-sia...  but you pronounce it fyusha...  a lot of people misspell it 'fuschia'...  they put the 's' before the 'ch'...  the 'ch' should come first and it's silent...'

girl:  'oh...  okay...  so this is fuchsia pink...'

haha...  color outside the lines...  ; )

zero-sum

"...  one of 13,186,088 people pwned in the R2Games data breach"

eh?!

i didn't even know what R2Games was until i googled it now...

some things show up in your radar for the wrong reasons...  : }

price cuts

at a department store about to pay for my two-item purchase...

cashier greets me and tells me they have a sale this coming friday to sunday...

me:  'really?  wow, thanks...  i'll just get this one then...  this other one i'll just buy during the sale...'

it's such a downer to see something for which you paid full price get discounted just a week later...

and it's such a joy to see something you got on sale go back to original price once the sale ends...  : )

make it double

so i've been regularly filing these docs but this agency's system shows that i have open cases (hahaha...  no, not court cases.  a 'case' in this case is really just a record in the system that you have failed to file certain documents within deadline.)

me, after showing proofs of filing:  'so how do these cases get closed?'

staff:  'if you know somebody from <the agency>...'

me:  'huh?!  i know so many!  but i don't want to use connections...  i want to go through the regular process...  i want to see how you really do it on the ground...  assuming i don't know anyone, what do you do to close these?'

staff:  'we have them data fixed...'

me:  'data fix?!'

staff:  'actually we're already strict about data fixes so if you really want to have them closed you have to write to the <boss>...'

me:  'who's the <boss>?'

staff says the <boss>'s name...

me:  'oh!  <her>!  is she here?'

staff:  'yes...  you want to talk to her?'

me:  'sure...  but is that part of the regular process?  do the others talk to her, too?'

staff:  'yes...  you show her your docs...  she will scrutinize them...'

me:  'wow!  the <boss> really personally checks all these?'

staff:  'yes...  she really looks at them...'

me:  'shouldn't that be the staff?  she has more important use for her time...'

staff:  'we're strict about data fixes now...  she's wary when she sees that cases have been open for a long time...'

me:  'yeah!  but could also be because no payment docs are not an encoding priority...'

staff:  'it's not about payment...'

me:  'really?  so why do the cases remain open for years?  could you imagine i've submitted these before and now i have to resubmit them again?'

staff:  'you're not the first person to say that...  i was just talking to others and they say the same thing...'

me:  'most likely...  you file on time and still cases are generated and remain open for so long...  why?'

staff:  'that's also the question of the <boss>...  that's why she disallows data fix...'

me:  'and the cases will just remain open?'

staff:  'well, we tell the person to just re-file and pay penalties...'

whaaaatttt???!!!

isn't that adding injury to injury?!  aaarrrggghhh!!!

inch forward

so i was monitoring my mom's uber trip and i call her...

me:  'you're still On Trip?  why'd he turn right?'

mom:  'heavy traffic...  i was going to ask him to turn back and take another route but on second thought i decided to just stick it out...  <friends> were saying traffic's also bad in the other areas...  anyway, i'm used to this...'

me:  'aw!  it's not just you, mom...  so many are experiencing it, too...  it's an election issue, imagine!'

endure what cannot be cured
but cure what need not be endured...

food for the soul

it's both international women's day and national pancake day today and a friend wanted to go back to this place whose pancakes i'm not a fan of...  well, you do things you don't like for friends so meet there we did...

while having our meal, she constantly complained about the crumbly pancakes and even blurted out, 'my pancakes taste better than this!'

me:  'see!  i told you!'
(wahaha...  yup, i am an i-told-you-so person...  if you ever complain to me about something i've warned you about, i'm definitely going to remind you that i've given fair warning...)

friend backtracks:  'it's ok...  we're helping others...'
(80% of the price of the pancake will go to a foundation helping sick children)

me:  'hahaha...  yeah...  just focus on the children these pancakes will help...'

as one of the meal prayer cards in my parents' house says:
'may the purpose of our eating be to gain strength to serve others'

from a distance

i walked by two guys at least two arm lengths away from each other...  the moment i was right between them, they started talking!

huh?!

i instinctively ducked saying, 'aw!  excuse me...'

they're together?!  so far apart?!  talk about personal space...  or maybe bad breath?  ; p

comforting thought

i fancied this bag at the department store yesterday...  i didn't buy it because i didn't bring a rewards card...  i was sure i was gonna be back soon anyway...

so today i dropped by  ->  the bag was not there anymore!  : }

like i always tell myself when that happens:

something better is meant for me...  ; p

men in pink

saw a big, muscular guy eating piattos  ->  small 40-gram bag to boot!  (sour cream & onion, btw)...

he was alone so i guess it's safe to say it was really his...  cheat day maybe?

anyway, i was both amused and kinda gushy...  pardon the sexist / stereotypical bent but there's something heartwarming about seeing a very masculine-looking guy doing something softy and feminine...

cute...  :")

allowable

i redeemed foodstuff i got free by charging certain amounts in my credit card...

me:  'make the drinks 7-up, please...'

crew:  'it only goes with pepsi, ma'am...'

me:  'huh?!  i've redeemed so many, they allow 7-up...'

the crew asked the manager...  the manager said yes...  : )

if you don't know better, you would believe the things you hear...

sign language

getting air for my tires...

from inside the car, i communicated with the attendant through the windshield by making like an OK sign with my hand  ->  three fingers up, thumb and index finger forming a circle as i said 30 [psi]...

the attendant went, '30?'

again raising my OK-like hand, i replied, 'yup, 30...'

the attendant went, '33?'

huh?!

i peeked out the window:  'no...  just 30...'

maybe next time i should use a thumbs up to indicate agreement...

hmmm...  31?

waaahhh!!!

; p

two birds

courier's body facing neighbor's house,
his head turned toward my parents' house
and he was calling for the homeowner.

me:  'where are you calling, there or here?'

he looks at the envelope on his hand and reads out the neighbor's name.

me:  'oh...  there...'

efficient...  : )