First Working Day of 2008…

work and money.

Isn’t it interesting that every able human being, regardless of sex, religion, or race, is not immune to the inescapable, inevitable, and undeniable reality of work. E why do we work? Bakit ba kailangan pang mag-work? Of course, everybody knows that we work because we want to get a salary, an allowance, an incentive. So, in other words, we are working for money. Everyone has a need for money. Gone are the days of trade as a means of getting “what you want”. Money makes it all possible now.

Pero, di ba nga sabi nila, “Money can’t buy you happiness”. O di kaya’y, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”. Also, let’s not forget popular clichés such as “Money makes the world go round”, and most especially, “Money is the root of all evil”. Makes me wonder… Is money man’s greatest creation? Or man’s greatest folly?

vacation.

Vacation is finally over! No more long holidays for any of us now. I had to face reality that I need to work slash earn slash make a living. Daddy now has to make some dough. Daddy has to provide for the family. Daddy now, more than ever, knows and understands his role. This is reality. This is life.

the day.

My first working day of the year is far from typical. First, I had to face a difficult situation (I’m not sharing it here. It’s more of a private matter). Second, I have to make-up for my absence yesterday. Lastly, I have make projections about the work next week (and the coming weeks after that).

the conclusion.

The day wasn’t all about these challenges or obstacles. It wasn’t all about serious stuff. There were good moments as well. Funny is a good word to describe it. It was refreshing to reconnect with colleagues and be updated about their lives during the past vacation. Sharing of anecdotes have always been a part of our daily lives. I haven’t been sharing much of my life with anybody other than my family (ergo, my wife, parents, and sister). Paano ka ba naman mag-she-share, e araw-araw mo silang kasama! I missed the anecdotes, or even some friendly unsolicited advices thrown here and there. Some make sense, some aren’t comforting to hear, some are even disturbing, and yet some, you really get. It’s nice to realize that these things makes us human─interaction. Like work, human interaction is inescapable, inevitable, and also undeniable reality of life. But unlike work, we welcome it, we need it, we look forward to it.

The first working day of 2008 wasn’t bad after all because I realized work is just a part of the reason why I come of the office. Money isn’t the only reason why I am driven to work. It’s also about the people I work with too that makes me come every single working day. Another lesson learned. Once again, I am educated.

New Year, New Blog, New Stuff

Haaaaay naku! I don’t understand anymore! There are so many blog sites nowadays and I can’t seem to choose which one I want. I have Friendster, Multiply, MySpace, Live Spaces, Live Journal, and now Blogger WordPress. Although on my previous post (on Live Spaces), I think I have mentioned that I would never leave Multiply, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t blog on another. I especially loved the idea that I could use Windows Live Writer to post blogs on Blogger (not anymore, kaya I switched to WordPress), so I signed up!

The past few weeks have both been very enjoyable and tiresome, especially since we had been busy during the holidays shopping for gifts, arguing which gift should be given to whom, and even keeping a surprise gift a secret. Inarguably, Christmas is a very important even in every Filipino family. That is why this Christmas, celebrating it with my wife, my soon-to-be-born son, my sister, and my folks (oh, and my mother-in-law) at our home (my parents house) was truly a blessing. Our first Christmas together!

Anyway, it’s the new year, 2008, the year of the Earth Rat. Again, as always, this is the time where Manang X, Manang Y, and Manang Z make their predictions about the coming months. I have always been a skeptic, and wouldn’t want to hear my fate from a person who does this by profession. I’d rather do my own research (yeah, to the point of interpreting these myself) than paying someone to tell me what’s in store in my future. Kuripot noh?

Ehem, well, according to my research (for Snakes like moi):

“Today should be a good start for you in 2008. Wear something green for luck, perhaps an emerald ring. You may want to take time to work on New Year’s resolutions. Plan to finish off some things before February 5, which is the end a 12-year cycle. Make plans for the coming Rat year, which could be a good one for you with new beginnings.”

It would be nice to have an emerald ring, but I wouldn’t swap any ring with my wedding band. I suppose, my wedding ring is the most powerful totem (if you may call it that) in the world for me because the ring itself symbolizes the most powerful emotion in the universe̶̶̶̶─Love.

There are so many exciting stuff that WILL happen this new year! The most important of all, is the birth of my son (and I’m keeping his name a secret for the meantime). Everybody is excited. My parents are, my sister’s ecstatic, my relatives in Laguna, our friends and officemates! His birth will dramatically change the courses of our lives, me and Maricel. I will definitely share this joyous celebration with the world when that happens!

Some other “minor” items that are new in my life are:

A new microwave oven given as a gift by my sister’s boyfriend, Noel. At first I thought it wasn’t true but when we saw the oven with our own eyes, well, I just couldn’t believe it! Now, it is easier for us to heat our meals (and at the same time, being mindful of the electric usage. We don’t want our electric bills skyrocketing! Of course, because of the new microwave oven, we had to purchase a microwave stand, but it took a while before we bought it. It’s quite pricey at almost PHP 5,000.00 (inclusive of delivery charges). Nonetheless, we’re very happy!
Our new Intel Core 2 Duo Hewlett-Packard Personal Computer (HP A6000 series) which we really drooled over and decided to buy for ourselves. This would probably be our first expensive thing we’ve bought! Chances are, this would also be the last expensive thing we’ll ever buy in a looooooooong time! So far, we have been enjoying our new toy. We played games competing with each other (and currently, I’m still the champion, but I hope that’ll last! She had been champion far longer that I have… which I hope I would break! *snigger*)
My new Nokia N82 mobile phone! I have been waiting for the release of this phone since the last quarter of last year (2007). I guess it was a good thing that I returned the Samsung i600 Ultra Messaging phone I bought a couple of weeks ago. Not my fault, really. Turns out, the SIM type I’m using wasn’t compatible with that phone. Worked out for me, because I’m a proud owner of my N82 device! No compatibility issues!

A lot of things to be thankful for… and a lot of things to be excited about! I guess, that’ll mean I’ll be more enthusiastic writing about these things this year…