invisibly visible

passed in front of this bank where a former classmate is bank manager...

me:  '<classmate 2> and i went there when she was here...  i accompanied her to see <bank manager classmate>...  the pics that were uploaded, i was the one who took those...'

schoolmate:  'i had a feeling when i saw the pictures that you were with them...'

me:  'huh?!  why?  you can't see me in the pics...'

schoolmate:  'because the shots were nice...'

;")

confidential

mom couldn't log in to her e-mail...  she calls me...

mom:  'what is my password?'

me:  'huh?!  i don't know...'

mom:  'is it <guess 1>?'

me:  'i don't know...'

mom:  'or maybe <guess 2>?'

me:  'mom, i don't know your password so whatever you say i can't really reply yes or no.'

she just recovered it.

solved.

mattress not floor

dropped by the land transportation office to claim previously unavailable car stickers (turned out to be still unavailable actually)...

me to guy beside me:  'i registered march yet...'

guy:  'me, october...  up to now i don't have my plates...'

oh...  so i'm better off...  ; }

unrelated

set up my mom's new phone...

later she asks me, holding her old phone, 'how come [aunt's] number here suddenly became aaa?'

me:  'huh?!  i don't know...  it was your new phone i touched...  i didn't do anything with your old...'

: }

branded

mom:  'i think your shirt is inside out...'

me:  'is it?!'

that has happened to me more than once!  :"O

i check...

me:  'this is really how it's supposed to be, mom...  that's the design...'

mom:  'but the tag is showing...'

me:  'where?'

she points to my side...

me:  'oh!  that tag's really supposed to be outside...  there's another one inside [i pull up my shirt and show her another tag]...  that tiny exposed tag right there actually jacked up the price of this shirt...'

but of course i bought it on sale...  ; p

goals

niece:  'tita, what's a good mission for myself?  we have to come up with a one-sentence mission.  i'm thinking, 'to finish college on time.''

me:  'huh?!  that's just like a regular to-do!  that's not your mission in life.  it has to be bigger than that.  for example, mine is, 'to make wherever i am a little better somehow.'  it's simple but it means a lot.  it's a good guide.'

niece:  'hmmm...  ok, tita.  i'll think it out.  we're supposed to have a BHAG, too.  Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  mine's to earn my first million by the time i'm 21.'

me:  'that's fine.  if you're going to dream, you might as well dream big.'

: )

behave

moths creeping me out...

sister:  'why are you afraid?  you're so much bigger than them!'

me:  'yeah but i don't go around flying over the dining table!'

it's not just your size...  it's what you do where...

loud and clear

i call my brother...

<blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah.

blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah.>

brother:  'don't tell dad anymore...'

me:  'hahaha...  i'm on speaker phone!'

; p

loving mother

sweeping leaves in the yard while there was a drizzle...

sister:  'why are you sweeping, it's drizzling!'

me:  'i was first!  i was already sweeping then it drizzled...  had it drizzled first i would not have started sweeping...'

sister:  'it's nature!  it came before you...  so stop sweeping now...'

me:  'i don't want to stop midway...'

soon after the drizzle stopped...

me:  'see!  it stopped!'

sister:  'because you won't...'

wow!  nature took pity on me?  mother, indeed...  <3

give it a try

i forgot to bring my car out of the garage yesterday so this morning i was supposed to squeeze it through a tight spot to get it out of the garage.  that's how the cookie crumbles on our end.  you want to be able to drive out quickly and safely, you have to park your car outside the garage.  why?  because the one (!) lane street in front of our garage has been appropriated as parking slots by persons so very thoughtful and considerate.

good thing my brother was around so instead of me doing the maneuvering, he was the one who drove my car out for me.  how?  first he moved the steel bars between the parking slots in our garage.  then he  positioned my car from straight to diagonal, with the rear protruding to the left beyond the supposed slot and the front very close to the pillar on the right in between the slots. then he drove it out missing the blocking vehicle by not even the width of my hand.  very convenient.  whew!

now i have a story.  just a couple of nights ago, the vehicle blocking my way arrived, again ready to park on the street, while an aunt was dropping off stuff at my parents' house.

my aunt's SUV was idling in front of our garage not at all occupying that part of the street which is being used as permanent parking slot of the arriving vehicle.  (our garage has recessed gates and my aunt's SUV was partially parked within our property.)

the newly-arrived vehicle just stopped behind my aunt's SUV.

i knocked on his window telling him to proceed and park.

he wouldn't.
it was too tight.

eh?!

you put others through it, you won't even consider going through it???

me:  'you try it!  we endure that everyday.  you should try and experience it yourself.'

the guy would not dare attempt it.

wow!

one time he saw me having a hard time squeezing out of the driveway.  instead of moving his vehicle, he just directed me, tapping my car, making sure it doesn't hit his, all along telling me, 'it can be done...  it can be done...  it can go through...  it can go through...'

well, it also could be done the other night.  his vehicle could also go through.  why did he not even attempt???

when you inflict something on others, on a regular basis for so long at that, you should not shy away from trying to experience it yourself as well.

dose of your own medicine.  try it.  bitter pill to swallow.

spoiler

so i'm in chocolate heaven nibbling on my fave see's awesome walnut squares <3 <3 <3
(someone sent me ten (!) boxes with specific instructions they're all for me.  i di...  aaaahhhhh!!!)

suddenly clouds appeared in the bright sky and my mom asked me to smell this dish to see whether it's still good...

me:  'i'm eating, mom...  i don't want to smell bad...'

that doesn't dissuade her and she comes near me with the dish:  'just quickly check...  whether it's already spoiled...'

i turn away:  'mom!!!  don't dilute my joy!'

: }

complementary

it started to drizzle...  i dash out of my parents' house...

me:  'my clothes will get wet!'

dad:  'where?'

me:  'at my place...  in the clothesline...'

dad:  'you do laundry???'

me:  'of course!'

dad:  'i thought <mom's laundrywoman> washes your clothes...'

me:  'my sleepwear and house clothes, yes...  my outside clothes i wash myself...'

i'm pretty domesticated...  i do everything...  uhm, except cook...  which reminds me:

'a girl who does not know how to cook
should find a man who does not eat.'

c'mon!

i'd say,

'a girl who does not know how to cook
should choose a man who does.'

; )

sane

me:  'be careful in the dining...  i saw glass slivers near the cabinet...'

sister:  'which part?'

me:  'on the side of the paper towel...'

sister:  'did you remove them?'

me:  'of course!  who in his right mind would leave broken glass on the floor???'

one good fight

i initially liked rodrigo duterte.

in the end, i voted for grace poe.

but it was mar roxas who, in his concession speech, borrowed from one of my favorite bible verses.  he said it was an honor

"to have carried our flag,
to have fought the good fight,
to have kept the faith,
to have finished the race."

yes...  2 Timothy 4:7:

"I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith."

taking chances

voting time was supposed to be from 6:00 am to 5:00 pm but i was able to cast my vote past 6:00 pm already.  i was at the polling place around 4:30 pm and i was number 92 on the queue list.

i was telling a fellow voter (his queue number was over 100) that i intentionally came near closing time because i wanted to give them time to fix the vote counting machine.

my sister was there 7:30 am and she told me the VCM at our precinct was not working.  she said they were given the option to either wait for the machine to get fixed or cast their vote and just leave their ballots with the election officers who will just be the ones to enter it in the vote counting machine.

fellow voter:  'oh, if it's me, i'm not going to leave my ballot.  i want to put it in the machine myself.'

me:  'that's what my sister wanted, too.  she first waited two hours.  then she went home.  then she came back.  the machine was still not working.  only then did she opt to just cast her vote and leave her ballot with the election officers.  that guy was telling me the machine got fixed around 3:30 already.  good thing i came 4:30.  if it still wasn't fixed by closing time, i would opt to just leave my ballot, too.'
[at our precinct alone, more than a hundred people already did.]

fellow voter:  'i would rather not vote than leave my ballot with those people.  what if they don't enter it in the machine?  or if they change it?'

me:  'ah, me, no.  i'd avail myself of the option to leave my ballot.  if i just go home without voting, it's already 100% sure that my vote won't be counted.  if i leave my ballot, there's still a chance that it will be counted.  i didn't let the probability fall to zero.'

the first step to winning is simply showing up.

truncated

me to aunt: 'happy mother's day, auntie!'

she greeted me back: 'happy, bong!'

-> because i'm not a mom... ; )

menu not many

me:  'chocolate xtreme...'

crew:  'chocolate xtreme's not available, ma'am...'

me:  'ok...  rocky road...'

crew:  'we have no chocolate xtreme, rocky road and brownie temptation now, ma'am...'

me:  'nyeh!  i was supposed to choose brownie temptation next!  why don't you have the ones i like???  never mind, i'll just have a shake...  double cocoa fudge...'

crew chuckles:  'ma'am!  double cocoa fudge's not available!'

me:  'what???!!!  i don't like strawberry...  i don't like mango...  ok, chocolate shake...'

crew bursts into laughter:  'chocolate shake's not available today, ma'am...  we don't have chocolate now...'

me:  'oh...  my...  goose neck!  does warren [buffett] know this?!  okay, just give me what you have.  be the one to choose for me.'

: }

choices

staff:  'who's your president, ma'am?'

me:  'i'm still undecided...'

staff:  'go for duterte, ma'am!'

me:  'you're duterte?'

staff:  'yesss!!!'

me:  'haha...  i understand...  i liked him before, too...'

staff:  'why don't you like him anymore?'

me:  'his remarks and actions that came out turned me away...  i found him uncouth, insensitive and careless...  i want someone a little more diplomatic...'

staff:  'binay?'

me:  'haha...  #ExceptBinay!'

staff:  'miriam?'

me:  'she's battling cancer...'

staff:  'poe?'

me:  'my current choices have actually narrowed down to poe and roxas...'

experience- and qualifications-wise, it should be roxas over poe.  but then i want a strong president.  someone who can make things happen by making people toe the line without having to shoot them in the head.  for some reason, i feel that grace is the stronger man.

i have four days left to decide...

decision-making

new acquaintance:  'your name's bong?'

me:  'yes...  nickname...'

new acquaintance:  'so your vice president is bongbong.'

me:  'oh, no!  leni is my VP!'

new acquaintance:  'oh...  you're RoRo...'

me:  'just Ro...  robredo...  i haven't decided on who my president would be...'

some choices are clear.
some require a little more time.

born for a reason

mom's friend:  'did you know that your dad was assigned in vietnam?'

me:  'yes...  i think my brother was made in vietnam...'

mom's friend:  'was your dad here when you were born?'

me:  'oh...  i don't know...'

mom's friend:  'well, yeah...  how would you know?'

uhm...  i could have asked?  fifty years and i never did?!  ugh!

hmmm...  lemme quote mar roxas (misquoting batman though)...

'it is not important how you came into this world.
what is important is what you did with your life.'

\m/

complex creature

little boy giving me bottled water.  (no, he's not a vendor.)

me, shrugging my shoulders:  'thanks...'

he extends the water closer to me.

i again shrug my shoulders:  'thanks...'

he looks at me intently and asks:  'that's already okay?'

me:  'yes...  thanks...'

only then did he move on to the others.

hmmm...  so my response wasn't clear.

'no' is you move your head side to side.
'yes,' you nod.
yup, a shoulder shrug is neither here nor there.

and 'thanks' you usually say when you receive something.
i should have said, 'no, thanks...'
but then i didn't want to say 'no' to a child.

some things are not that simple, uhm, at least to me...  :"}

a matter of taste

checking out this dish...

me to sister:  'is it good?'

sister:  'it's good to me so it's probably not to you...'

ahahaha...

just last week a friend and i were out...  i suggested she order this bread because i didn't like it so she probably would...  guess what, she indeed did!  very much!

one man's meat is another man's poison...  ; )