photographs and memories

supposed to have my tires aired but the gasoline attendants were busy so i did it myself.  shortly after, an attendant walked over to where i was.

me:  'aw...  i just finished airing the tires...'

attendant:  'all of them, ma'am?'

me:  'yes...  all...  thanks anyway...'

and so he started walking away...

me:  'oh, wait...  i'll reenact it...  can you take my picture, please?'

he said yes and i handed him my phone...

he amusedly took pics of me crouched in front of my tire...

me:  'indulge me...  i rarely do this so i want a remembrance...'

;")

a ripple of kindness

paying for my purchase at the cashier...  another customer comes up and realizes her money is short by five pesos.

me to cashier:  'just add the P5 to my bill...'

customer:  'awww...  that is so embarrassing...'

me:  'it's okay...  just pay it forward...'

customer:  'i'm so embarrassed...  actually, my mom is there...  i could go out and ask her for P5...'

me:  'oh, don't bother...  just pay it forward...  you see a beggar just give him your P5...'

the girl was so thankful...

guess what though, as i was about to sign my charge slip i saw that the cashier did not add the P5.

me:  'you didn't add the P5!'

cashier:  'it's okay, ma'am...'

me:  'who's going to shoulder it if you don't charge it to me?  wait, does it have to be cash?  i don't have cash here but i have in the car...'

cashier:  'never mind, ma'am...'

me:  'will they make you pay?'

cashier:  'my manager said it's okay, ma'am...'

me:  'oh...  you're so kind...  thank you...'

let's spread the love...  <3 <3 <3

face–to–face

cousin has been posting pics of their beloved cat, luna, in facebook...  then today we went to their house...

she goes:  'hey, would you like to see luna in person?'

her sister butts in:  'in animal!'

; )

month amount

paying my sister's bill early.

me to cashier:  '<sister's name>...  for feb...'

cashier pulls up my sister's record then goes:  'how many are you paying?'

me:  'just one...'

cashier:  '<sister's name>?'

me:  'yes...  <sister's name>...'

cashier:  'why four five?'

me:  'what four five?'

cashier:  'four thousand five hundred...'

me:  'oh...  it's higher now?'

cashier:  'no...  it's still the same...'

me:  'then why P4,500?'

cashier:  'you said you're paying four five...'

me:  'haha...  i said, 'for feb'...  for february...'

; p

soften the blow

my dad likes to collect and share information.

he reads something, he clips the article and has it photocopied.

he thinks of something, he asks me to google it and "print three copies."

he writes something (an article, a letter, a speech, a prayer, a list, labels, captions), he asks me to encode it and "print three copies," sometimes five, sometimes ten, one time thirty.

i've been his typist from the time we first had a desktop which was in the late '80s.  that time, even things his secretary is supposed to be the one typing at the office he'd ask me to encode at home on the computer.

and he wants everything final.  no drafts for him, at least supposedly.  (uhm, there's a speed difference printing fast draft, normal quality and best quality, remember?)  actually however, everything is draft for him.  don't make the mistake of giving him his document in the morning.  you'll end up doing it the whole day.  revisions keep on entering his mind every time he gets a printout.  it's a test of patience and endurance.  i've used up printer ribbons before, ink now and even a ream of paper printing revisions of the same document!  the waste of time and resources makes me cringe.  but hey, you gotta indulge your dad.  or should you?

an aunt was relating to us when she retired she had so many things she wanted to do but she didn't have staff anymore.  so she started asking her daughter to do stuff for her.  well, my cousin eventually told her, "you should get an assistant, mom."

and my aunt realized it is just fair that she should so she did!  the same daughter but with billing hours...  ; p

now i don't intend to start billing my dad.  i think, however, i've started to show fatigue for his typing requirements.  yesterday, he told me he's making this book.  he wanted me to type this, this, this and that and that, too.  i couldn't hide the dismay on my face.  anyway, i took the doc but didn't work on it yet.

a while later, my dad tells me not to proceed anymore.  he chose just one and told me to type just that.  ok.

then today, he calls me again and hands me another one to type.

wahaha...  i have a feeling i'll be typing that book on installment.

clever...  ; p

specialty

so yesterday i accompanied my mom on her lunch out at mama lou's UP town center with her friends.

we were the first customers for the day:  my mom, two of her friends plus me.

while waiting for the others, my mom and the two ordered soup and salad while i ordered blueberry cheesecake (yup, i eat dessert first).

actually,

 1.  i'm not a big fan of cheesecake.

2.  i don't like blueberry.

BUT
the cheesecake was called 'mama lou's cheesecake' and i like trying out dishes that carry a restaurant's name so go for it i did.  well, i was underwhelmed...  anyway, that is not the story.

so the rest of the group arrived and we all had lunch after which they started ordering dessert.  the ladies wanted cheesecake but only one order could be accommodated.  they wanted tiramisu but only two orders could be accommodated.  they settled for crepe, again only two could be served.  seven ladies; five dessert.  they just shared.  the mains, by choice; the dessert, because no more was available.

the waiter told me they had only two slices of each cake!  uh-oh!  so i'm to blame why one of my mom's friends could not have cheesecake  ->  i ordered the first slice!  :"}

hmmm...  so a cake carries your restaurant's name and you make only two slices available at the place?  ain't so proud of your namesake?

oh, well, mama lou's is an italian kitchen.  you order spaghetti seafood olio there.  if you want dessert, you walk over next door to nic's...  ; p

cause and effect

my car's supposed to be off the road 7 am to 7 pm tuesdays so today my mom and i took a cab going someplace.

nearing our destination, i asked the driver:  'are there traffic enforcers here?'

his reply?
'oh...  traffic's really heavy here even without an enforcer...'

eh?  wahaha...  the only reason i asked was because i was wondering whether i could have brought my car and still not get caught (aw, sorry, just a thought...).  his reply is an echo of the not so funny non-jokes i've heard so many times during traffic crawls:  'there's an enforcer!  so that's why it's traffic!'

they've gained a reputation for causing the traffic they are supposed to resolve...

not right...  : }

then and now

urging my niece to get a non-professional driver's license...

me:  'so you could drive on your own...  but be sure to review for the exam...  remember always:  "Slow vehicles use the left lane."'

i dunno why but that road rule is the one that has really stuck to my mind...  to think i'm not a slow driver...  i was actually a rather fast driver before...  an officemate used to have a hilarious time reenacting the various feelings he goes through riding in my car:  surprised, nervous, scared, wahaha...  anyway, that's me from looong ago...  i'm a boring driver now...  age, i suppose...  but had i not mellowed with the years the horrendous traffic situation now would have forced me to slow down anyway...  ; }

compliments

wearing shorts given by my aunt...

sister:  'nice shorts...'

me:  'thanks...  you want it?'

sister:  'i have, too...'

oh...  no wonder...  ; )

i can't hear you

on the phone trying to make a reservation at a restaurant...

the one who answered kept on saying she couldn't hear me...  on my end i could hear her loud and clear...

i tried shouting...

she heard  ->  somewhat...

i muttered:  'wow...  so i really have to shout for you to hear...  what if i just call again?'

the girl on the other end quickly replied, 'okay, ma'am...'

i was taken aback:  'you heard that???  i said it in my normal voice...  my reservation, i was shouting and you couldn't hear...'

anyway, i called again right away...  someone else answered and we had a smooth phone conversation with our normal voices...

before saying goodbye, i told her about what happened in my previous call.

she went:  'really, ma'am?  thanks for the feedback...  actually, we've been having problems with our phone...'

me:  'oh...  thanks for the confirmation...  i thought she was just practicing selective hearing...'

; p

you find what you are looking for

so i saw this viral video of 7-year-old xia vigor impersonating taylor swift in 'your face sounds familiar kids' philippine edition.

she sang 'you belong with me' the same way taylor did in her tour, i.e., initially wearing a marching band-style loose blouse and skirt later pulled off to reveal an all glittery dress underneath.

i love the song and i found xia's version sooo cute!!!

then i read that there were negative remarks about the performance, most notably piers morgan's 'sexualization of young girls' comment.

uh-oh!  that never at all crossed my mind while i was watching the video.  all i could think about was that xia was sooo cute and talented!!!

the costumes were fine with me.  the first one could actually pass as a child's real-life outfit for some school activity.  the second one, yup, it's more adult and glitzy but even then i did not find it sexy.

the wig?
the makeup?
the lipstick?
she was on national tv impersonating taylor swift.  do you do that plain-faced?

aren't there really little girls who play dress up and put on their mom's makeup?  what more xia?  she's in show business.  she's used to makeup and pretend.

hmmm...  is there something wrong with me?  have i been desensitized?  or is there something wrong with the others who see something sexual in such a performance?

thankful

a short story with a happy ending:

i dropped my external disk and it became unreadable.

i recovered the original files from my laptop's hard drive through puran file recovery.

: )

doe, a deer

on the phone with a friend...

me:  'you know how to create a folder on your tablet?'

friend:  'no...'

me:  'hmmm...  i was gonna ask you to gather all the pics you want for the video in one folder so it will be easier...'

friend:  'oh, album!  i can do that...'

; p

get real

friend:  'there was a call for blood donation at the office...  you cannot donate blood though if you have colds, cough, multiple sex partners...'

me:  'oh!  you can't donate then...'

friend:  'i said i couldn't because i have a cough...'

me:  'oh, c'mon...  wrong reason!'

; p

wait

shoe shopping with my sister (she's the only one buying;  i just watched, wahehe)...

so the pair she liked does not have new stock...

she moved on to another color...  it didn't have stock as well!

guess what, she bought the color that was available...

hmmm...  if that were me, if the one i like is out of stock, i'll go check somewhere else...  if i couldn't find one, then i won't buy that style anymore...  i'll just wait till i come across something i really fancy...  it's just shoes...  why settle?

getting there

me:  'have you sent her a frying pan?'

friend:  'hmmm...  i've sent her a cooking utensil...  a pressure cooker...'

me:  'how 'bout a pan?'

friend:  'knives...  kettle...'

me:  'pan?'

friend:  'silverware...'

me:  'gah!  i don't care what other items you've sent her!  all i wanna know is if you've ordered a pan!'

friend:  'wait awhile!  i'm trying to remember...  i'm just thinking aloud...'

me:  'ooops...  wahehe...  sorry...  i thought you were just being roundabout...'

;"p

retention

aunt and i talking about missent messages and misdialed calls...

mom:  'oh, yes...  that happens...  the other day i accidentally pressed [my ex's] name...  it started dialing!  i immediately cancelled the call...'

me:  'whaaatttt???!!!  mom!!!  why do you still keep his number?!  i myself don't have his number on my phone, why do you???'

mom:  'it's been there a long time...'

me:  'well, it's about time you delete it...  i don't see any reason why we should be calling each other, what more the two of you...'

aunt:  'if you still want to save the number just write it down...  no need to store it on your phone...'

me:  'yeah...  if it's there, it occupies space...  it's part of the universe when you do a search...  it slows you down...'

in databases and in life, you have to do performance tuning...  archive old / inactive records so you could devote your resources to current matters...

minimize

at a bookstore with my mom...  we were both checking out stuff and then i see her at the cashier paying for, among other things, a bookmark with my name.

me:  'is that for me?'

mom:  'yes...'

me:  'aw, thanks but i'm doing kondo...  i'm discarding a lot of my stuff...  i'm keeping only those that i need and those that spark joy...'

mom:  'so this does not spark joy?'

i chuckle:  'not really...  can you still have it replaced?  get one with some other name...'

so she did...  ; )

reverse testimonial

at a supermarket...  couple checking out this long-handled broom...

me:  'excuse me...  sorry to butt in...  i have one like that...  the plastic bristles break after a while...  they scatter on the floor leaving what looks like fallen hair...'

wife:  'oh, really?  thanks for telling us...'

and they put back the broom on the hook...

me:  '<supermarket> might get mad at me...  i stopped a purchase...'

husband:  'it's okay...  thank you...'

happy-sad...  :"}

haves and have nots

last year, my mom slipped in the bathroom and broke her arm.  she underwent an operation and metal plates were put inside her arm to connect the bones together.

upon discharge from the hospital, she did not go back to their upstairs bedroom anymore.  a corner of their living room was converted into her sleeping area where you have a real, not a folding, bed.

last night, my aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces dropped by my parents' house.

my 11-year old nephew had this puzzled look and asked, 'how come there's a bed?'

wahahaha...  ;"p

i explained to him my mom broke her arm and the bed was put there for her convenience.

i was just thinking, in his world, houses have separate bedrooms and living rooms.  a place for everything and everything in its place.  there is, however, this other world where families live in a cramped one-room affair and that is where they eat and sleep and do everything else people do inside a house.

yes, life is not fair.
but God is good all the time.

do's and don'ts

in the car with my niece...  cab in front of us suddenly stopped to unload passengers leaving my car in a diagonal position from a supposed right turn...

me to niece:  'don't ever do that when you're the one driving...  be mindful and considerate of others...  nothing is useless...  you see something, it either serves as a model or a lesson...  if it's good, you use it as a model...  if it's bad, take it as a lesson of things you should avoid...  aspire to be a model...'

go find a catwalk...  ;")

ultracomfy

mom:  'i'm going out...'

me:  'where are you going?'

mom:  'i'm going to buy meds...'

me:  'lemme...'

mom:  'no...  i will...'

me:  'i'll drive you...  where are you gonna buy?'

mom:  '<drugstore nearby>...'

so we hop in the car and then my mom entered the drugstore...

i waited in the car...  and waited...  and waited...

more than a dozen people have come and gone and my mom has yet to appear at the door...

how much meds is she buying???

i waited some more...  suddenly i see her through the glass wall leisurely checking out groceries...

eh?

after sometime, she finally comes out...

me:  'you didn't tell me you were gonna buy groceries, too...  i would have worn a b _ _  so i could have gotten off the car...'

:"}

not that

friend:  'what do you want to eat?'

me:  'i'm full...  if you want to eat you choose...'

friend:  'jolly hotdog, you want?'
(i was craving jolly hotdog the last time we were together.)

me:  'i've had jolly hotdog.'

friend:  'you have?'

me:  'yes...  new year... i satisfied my cravings...'

friend:  'bread?'

me:  'i thought you're doing after-six [no meals after 6 p.m.], why are you looking for food?'

friend:  'i've converted my leave...  i'm going to treat you...'

me:  'but i'm full...'

friend:  'where do i treat you?'

me:  'i've just eaten...  i don't feel like eating again unless it's spiral...'

friend:  'spiral?'

me:  'yes, you could treat me to spiral...'

friend looks around:  'chocolate, you want?'

wahahaha...  toinks!!!  ; p

shoot for the moon

on the road with my niece...  ford fiesta in front of us...

niece:  'that's my dream car, tita...'

me:  'oh!  that's not the stuff of dreams...  lamborghini, ferrari  ->  those are dream cars...  ford fiesta, you simply say you're gonna buy one once you start working...  dream big!'