Crabs Are Crabs!

That's life! Crabs are crabs! The supposed concluding statement of my last post, but I can't edit it because I posted the same using the shortcut way where in MS Office 2007, you can now open a new document either as 'blank document" or "new blog post". I recently discovered that short cut way of posting blogs. Unlike before, I would type in a word format, then copy and then paste it in a new compose mode in my blogsite.

Where am I now? Yes, I don't know if I consider it as a Filipino value that what we call "Crab Mentality". There's a favorite maxim that I have posted on the wall of our office which runs this way and I quote: "If people are trying to pull you down, be proud of it! It only means one thing, you're above them! And there's one sure reason why they hate you. . . Because they want to become. . . just like you!

Said adage has been pasted on the wall of our office for several years now! When teachers from the elementary school came to our office one time, well, they copied it, telling me that said saying is very apt to be posted on their wall, too.

Pulling each other down is characteristic of crabs. Let's animate the crab. Some people are like crabs, too. They envy others when their lot in life becomes better. Thus, the "pulling down" spree starts.

Can't they not just let those who become better in life be a living example for them to make their life better, too? Well, some living stupid people are characteristic of, like what I said, crabs! And crabs are crabs! I want to devour their negative energy but don't taste yummy, anyway!

Disrupted

A few minutes ago, I was inspired to write a new entry for my blog site. A few seconds ago, it became the opposite. Why? I am in a cold war with a sis-in-law. I castigated and scolded his delinquent son this morning for trying to remove the franchise sticker of our tricycle. He has two nannies (for the rich and famous, huh?) watching what he's doing but no one between them tried to stop what he's doing. They just watched and tolerated him.

When the mother arrived, his other nanny reported that I scolded his son. She flared up and up to this moment is still flaring up and from the looks of it, she's so mad at me. She's so adept at hurling invectives to an opponent who is not at all willing to fight back at her explosive character since time immemorial. I did not try to go out of my house. Who cares if she'll continue to utter invectives against my person? It only shows who she is.

Maybe, what I am writing now is too personal. But if I can't express how hurt I am now, I might end up in a hospital. When you don't fight back, the hurt feelings keeps building up and that may become detrimental to one's health state.

Not all scenarios like that are worth fighting back. I am not stupid to stoop to their level. I just can't believe why my in-laws seemed so indifferent with me. But one thing I know, I usually do not accommodate their financial yearnings from me. But why should I? Basically, I don't have the means to give in to their wishes and caprices. It's hard to earn money. And is it fair to lend money to people who do not pay you as promised? Once, twice, thrice, is enough!

But it seems that they have a license to demand from us from time to time which does not expire till death. And that's the reason why they are so mad at me. My husband and I worked hard to make our life better. We did not ask alms from other people, much more from my in-laws. From the start, they did not like me because they have great dreams for their son, now my husband. Maybe, they dreamed that their son will marry a rich woman which is totally the opposite of me. But is there anyone out there who would like to marry a man who did not finish college because his parents are not the kind who's willing to sacrifice just so their son can get a college degree?

While we worked hard and grabbed wonderful opportunities to make our life better, another license for them came in handy. They treat us as if we will forever be indebted to them. Of what? And why?

Oh, My PAL!

As I have written earlier, I will soon be having my first plane ride via PAL Express. But everything went differently than expected. PAL staff called me a day before my first flight informing me that my original flight schedule will be delayed for a couple of hours. What can I do? I decided to take the bus then because I don't want my hubby to be the one waiting for me at the airport.

Anyway, I was still hopeful because I also booked a flight back home with my hubby as companion already. The excitement didn't subside anyway. Our flight back home would be at 9:30 in the morning of the following day. On the night before our flight, again, and again, another PAL staff called me on the phone informing of the delay, again, of our flight for, again, another two hours. Excitement subsided a little. We woke up at 6 in the morning, ate our breakfast, checked out at the hotel where we stayed for the night and went to the airport. Oppssss….we entered the wrong airport terminal, thus we boarded again another taxi and went to NAIA Terminal 3 as per instructions of the guard.

We checked in our luggage, exceeded the baggage limit, and paid almost 2k for the excess kilos. At the back of my mind, my discernment before that taking a plane ride would be more comfortable and cheaper gave me a resounding disappointment.

After checking in, we seated ourselves in the most comfortable area of the airport waiting lounge. So that was how an airport lounge looks like; comfortable yet too cold for me. I was sleepy, wishing to catch some sleep but I was so destructed by a fellow couple of passengers, the guy, an American and the very young girl, a Filipina with a Visayan twang every time she speaks. I don't care what they do but they're just too mushy. Are we Filipinos as liberated as that girl already? We are in the Philippines but a show of too much display of public affection still affects me negatively. They're not in America, anyway. But my hubby kept on nudging his elbow at me, maybe prompting me to just ignore it. Well…. That's life.

Two hours and yet no public announcement from the PA system informing if we have to be ready to board the plane. But instead, we heard an announcement to line up for a packed lunch while waiting for the plane. Lunch finished. An announcement came, and there, we heard that our flight has been cancelled due to inclement weather. They guided the supposed passengers to an exit/arrival door, as if we have just arrived. My hubby was mocking me. He said I was not meant to take a plane ride, just yet. I smiled and countered him that maybe, my next plane ride would be international and not just local.

We reclaimed our baggage, refunded payment to excess baggage and terminal fees. While we were queued at the counter, several couple of passengers was so mad, exaggerating of the too much inconvenience brought about by the cancelled flight. All the staff and even the head, I supposed was just too humble to answer their complaints: DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER CONDITION IN TUGUEGARAO CITY.

I felt different emotions, of disappointments and maybe of relief because we're spared of possible air accidents, should PAL was insistent on flying one of their planes.

All I can say now is, "Oh, my PAL"! You made my supposed first plane ride very memorable.

Losing Precious Gadgets

Losing precious gadgets does not only mean dropping them or leaving them in places and realizing thereafter that you can’t retrieve it anymore as some other souls coveted owning it and hiding it from the real owner. It could also mean being destroyed unintentionally.

My daughter lost a high end cellphone and an Olympus Digicam to snatchers one after the other last year. The same is through with my youngest kid. He left his cellphone inside a tricycle while taking a ride back home which we were not able to retrieve anymore. Aside from that, my daughter, again, dropped his newly bought cp inside our toilet bowl. Naturally, it was destroyed. We tried to request for a replacement as it was just newly purchased and covered with a year’s warranty, but the dealer found out that the reason of its destruction was due to mishandling. Thus, they did not replace it. I said to my daughter, “have that cp wood-laminated to serve as a special memento of carelessness”. She just shrugged off her shoulders.

Because she would lose one gadget after the other, she resigned herself to using just the ordinary cp which snatchers wouldn’t care to take a look at or will never try to snatch it. She learned a lesson which reduced her to prefer the cheap and low end celphone like the one she’s using now.

But the most hurting way to lose a precious gadget is to destroy it unintentionally. That’s the case for my Sony Vaio laptop. What’s worse is that when we requested the services of a Sony Service Center in Baguio City, we were disappointed to learn that they are not allowed to touch, repair or open laptops bought abroad as is the case of my own. Believing that these service centers cater to the needs of their clients/customers, it was never their case.

We left the service center too disappointed. I wanted to cry. But then, we tried another service center that was willing to find out the cause of why my precious gadget does not boot and we were led to an hp service center. They examined it and found out that the motherboard was destroyed. That’s a first opinion and as of now I am not yet resigned to accepting the fate of my precious friend. But in those moments after learning that it’s already beyond repair, as alleged, I wanted to cry.

Just the other day, I contacted a friend whom I believe can have a second-best opinion on the case of my gadget. I am crossing my fingers now and hope that they can still repair it. Although my hubby bought me a new one, dispensing my first really breaks my heart. I want it to be working again.

It is so precious to me. Since the time I can no longer use it, I stopped writing blogs. I felt I am a lesser person without it. Though my new one arrived three weeks ago, I had this fear that I might destroy it again. But this afternoon, I realized that it’s useless to continue brooding on a hopeless case? So after arriving home from office, I immediately went to my bedroom, brought the laptop out from where it was hidden since it arrived and here I am writing my second blog today. This time, I’d be more careful in using it. This time, I should not let anyone use it. This time, to hell with those internet prompts for updates that continuously pops up on the screen every time I am connected to the net. Basically, they are the greatest culprits which you can never fight back or get even at. You’re always at the losing end.

My Happiest Birthday

Feb 16, 2009. It’s my t-2nd birthday. And. . .it’s my happiest birthday, as far as I can remember. First, I was with my hubby after five years that he’s not around during my birthdays due to his work assignment on the opposite side of planet earth.

He arrived on that day at exactly 11:15 in the morning at the NAIA Terminal 1 via Cathay Pacific from a more than two days plane travel and after an eight months’ absence from his family. I went to Manila to meet him at the airport. Though I was supposed to travel by plane via PAL Express (Tuguegarao-Manila) but due to time constraints, I opted to take the bus a day before his arrival due to a delayed flight relayed to me by PAL staff before the scheduled date of my travel. My decision to take the bus was because I don’t want him to be the one waiting for me at the airport. It was too much of an inconvenience on my part but there is no better choice.

His arrival on my birthday was loaded with great surprises and I was so amazed. He bought me a new laptop when I told him before he signed off from work that my Sony Vaio was destroyed. He really knew that a laptop is my best companion every time he leaves me for work. I was more than thankful. He’s really a guy full of surprises. How I wish that one day, he would buy me a car, a Toyota Fortuner, ha ha ha. Happy thoughts. Great dream of a lifetime. They’re a lot. I am just giving you a taste of one.

And why it was my happiest birthday? It’s a secret only you kuya and I know. It’s a secret only me and my laptop knows.