Let’s Drink To That

It seems as though it was just new year’s day yesterday, and now, January is almost over. I have been quite busy with work, what with the 12-hour work shifts, and add to that the very harsh conditions at our work site. Imagine this: chilly winds, with almost whole-day/night rainshowers. More than enough to make your chin shiver (is that even the right term? LoL)…

Anyway, I was talking to the assistant driller the other night and he told me that in this line of work, we would certainly age faster. I asked him why he thought so, to which he answered that not only was our work demanding physically (with the conditions I mentioned before), but we had to keep sharp mentally as well, with the multimillion peso value of the repercussions of our decisions. I had to agree with him.

As we were discussing this, another thing came to mind, another image. As I was looking at them braving the cold and the windy chill of the night, I couldn’t help but think of errant and irresponsible children, so very caught up in the life and liberty that they enjoy. Sometimes to the point of just taking their studies for granted, engaging in drinking, drugs and other similar activities. I am no saint, but I can honestly say that whatever it was that I went through, it has certainly made me all the wiser. After all, what is important is not in the falling, but in the getting up after, right? So cliche. LoL.

What I would give to be able to take them on a magical trip, much like the pensieve of the Harry Potter novels. Just so they would see how difficult their parents toil to provide for them. I can’t help it. I don’t know, call it maturity perhaps, but somehow I just see life through a different perspective nowadays.

The circle of life. Funny but true.

Wet or very wet.

As I have already mentioned in my previous post, that is how I would describe the weather here. I am speaking of course as someone who resides high up in the mountainous regions (read: taga bukid). LoL. Anyway, at first, I did find it hard to adjust to the very wet weather here and to days that never go by without any rainfall, but I am pretty much warming up to it nowadays.

Due to the high altitude, more often than not, I also get to experience really foggy days (and I mean really foggy!), and as I look below the cliffs beside as we travel to and from our work site, I can’t help but imagine the eerie feeling you somehow always get when you watch horror movies.

One time I asked our driver,

“Meron naba nahulog sa bangin dito?” (yep..tagalog kunuhay…hehehe),

to which he replied,

“Wala pa ho sir, gusto nyong subukan?”

LoL. Kidding..the first part was his reply, and the second part was part of my mental conversation, my unverbalized thoughts, hehe.

Anyway, as we travel to our site, we get to see the majestic Mt. Mayon from afar, granted that the skies are clear and there is no fog. We’ve seen it on a couple of occasions and indeed, it is a sight to behold. I mean, I have seen it on postcards and from numerous history books, but nothing really compares to the feeling of seeing it with your own two eyes.

..ang mga bakasyonista..bow!..

Which reminds me..my exilim digicam has bade me goodnight. Game over. I dunno but there seem to be many horizontal lines whenever I try and take pics with it, but when I use it to take videos, all seems to be working well. I dunno whadaheck is wrong with it. I am not in the mood to purchase a new one anytime soon. But it always is good to have one in hand whenever you are in the mood for taking snapshots, right?

Everyday I get to watch the perfect conical shape of Mt. Mayon from afar, and everyday I am reminded of my retired digital cam…

sigh…

This is an overdue post, a follow up to the post An appeal to the readers. You see, my appeal to Borski’s bro and SIL was accomodated almost instantaneously, and I couldn’t tell them enough how much I appreciate what they did. They helped install a plugin that would make upgrading of WordPress a breeze.

Now I am in the mood to post pics.

Earlier today, I was interviewed by a panel composed of 3 persons, the Deputy Managers of the department where I am applying for a transfer to. More or less, it was just them making sure that I was already committed on my decision to transfer and not having second thoughts since they needed people who were 100% committed.

the interview was somewhat informal, with the first part doing away with the general personal info such as the age, general interests, with the toughest question of that round being, “Why do you want to transfer to this department?” That was a tricky one since I had to answer in such a way that it would not sound like I am putting down my present department. In fairness, I love my present department, as the people are okay and the atmosphere is pretty relaxed (we have 6 days of consecutive days off). However, there’s always that bit about wanting “career growth” so I guess moving to  a new department would be the logical choice.

Then came the second part.

Questions were like…umm..actually, they weren’t at all questions. It was more of them painting a picture of the job description, and you imagining it, and then reinforcing your resolve that THIS is what you want to be a part of…

1. Nasubukan namin na nagtatrabaho while nagbabakbakan ang NPA and military sa kabilang bundok, kaya mo yan?

2. Habang nag aalmusal kami, dumaan yung military bringing with them the slain rebel leader with his guts spilling out, do you think you can have breakfast like that?

3. Sa ibang sites natin, when we lost water supply, you have to trace the water line through dense vegetation and there is always that risk of a snake lurking somewhere.

Are you sure?

Even though I was a bit surprised/astonished by these facts, at the back of my mind, I certainly was hoping that this was their attempt at bluffing me so that I’d be scared off and run, but I guess I’ve wanted this for so long, so I told them, “Bring it on!” or words to that effect.

I hope this decision is right.