DAYDREAMS & DISTORTION

Just have to put this here.

Today had been one big...

Discussed proposed return to WFH with the concerned Usec. who said he couldn't care less if we work in Timbuktu as long as we churn out the desired output. But instead of capitalizing on this pronouncement, our bosses decided to argue among themselves on how many days we should be on-site. We ended the day no closer to the solution to our dilemma than before.

I like my job and I love the people -- some of the hardest-working men and women I know -- but there are times I feel like I'm part of a dysfunctional rock band just going through the motions.

Dreamed I was being pursued by the NBI over a murder I committed years ago. Woke up a bit shaken.

Saturday afternoon at the mall with the girls, partly to escape the blasted heat, partly to do a little shopping (kiddo needed cocktail dress for her moving-up ceremony). Learned that Data Blitz in Robinsons Antipolo is selling Kindle 11th Gen at P6,999. Hmm...

In other news:

Took the e-jeep from Anonas to Antipolo several times this week instead of the usual LRT-2 + bajaj. This saved me P30 per trip. With tricycle fare up, and with fuel prices seen to skyrocket next week, I need all the centavos I could save.

Had a beautiful moment one night when I looked out of the e-jeep and saw the pretty lights along Sumulong Highway and, like on cue, "Pinkish Hue" by We Are Imaginary started playing on Spotify.

Started revisiting The Boys all the way from S01. The goal is to finish all the available episodes before the final season drops in April.

Also watching Man on the Inside S02.

Woke up in the wee hours of Sunday due to an upset stomach and couldn't get back to sleep. Watched a film instead, A Kiss and a Promise, which is about a serial killer.

Finished reading Y: The Last Man: Unmanned on my tablet.

Girl from my first job died the other day. Breast cancer, I was told. I remember her for her fun-loving demeanor... and also her dirty jokes!

The President has directed several offices in the executive branch to implement a four-day workweek starting next week as part of the government's cost-cutting measures amid developments in the Middle East. Whether this will affect our push for a return to our previous WFH arrangement should become clearer on Monday, when we meet with an important Usec.

One thing I've found I enjoy about onsite work: coming home to parcels. It's a bit like having presents delivered while I'm away.

We may not be working onsite for long. There's a circular issued today directing government agencies to "immediately" implement energy efficiency and conservation measures in light of what's happening in the Middle East. Among these measures is the adoption of flexible work arrangements, which include WFH.

There is a new chicken resto near our go-to place for massages, so naturally, like flies to shit, we felt the urge to check it out.

Family time, comfort food, self-care -- I deserve all these because five straight days of onsite work have left me feeling like Duncan the Tall after the Trial of Seven. So much so that last night I ditched Sandwich and Razorback at 70's Bistro in favor of home, ice-cold Smirnoff, and the Cream Flower CD I bought the other day.

Boss sent us home early, so I had time to join my wife on her nightly stroll. The weather is now transitioning from cool to warm; soon it'll be hot and I'll be worried about heat stroke again, especially when commuting to work.

Re: our continuing battle for WFH. Boss said the official on whose shoulders the resolution of this dilemma lies seems to have "softened up." Not sure what the basis for that observation is, but we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Oddball Saturday morning -- oddball because my wife and I don't usually spend weekend mornings having coffee in posh places, but there we were, at the lobby of the Manila Peninsula, talking photography and Hong Kong life with an affable Indian guy over sips of overpriced latte. Received a pair of Kodak Bluetooth speakers for our trouble. It was all cool and nice.

It occurs to me that I've been to Tien Ma several times already but haven't ordered anything there except beef noodle soup. Obviously I'm no Bourdain -- my sense of gastronomic adventure is poor to non-existent -- but I'm working on it.

First bike ride after sciatica -- short and sweet and only within city limits. No point in pushing my luck. I see busy days ahead.

Toying with the idea of reformating this blog. Now that we're gonna be working onsite daily after the Chinese New Year I doubt I'll have the time nor the energy to look back and write about my day at night or the following morning. Also, I'm afraid entries will be redundant and boring if I insist on keeping a daily log.

We'll see. Not even Warren Ellis, a prolific and astute writer, blogs daily.

Stats: 4,221 steps, 4h 47min sleep.

V-Day and uncharacteristically rainy. Spent the morning at the gym with my wife. It was my first time there after that ugly bout with sciatica, which I'd like to think is now behind me. For lunch it was Peri-Peri but via Grab -- we heard traffic was pretty baaaad out there. Afternoon was for napping and a little bit of errand. They were giving roses and chocolates to lucky customers at Vista Mall and my wife received one. They even had our photo taken. I wasn't dressed for the occasion but what the hell -- wife and I had a good laugh about it.

Stats: 6,206 steps, 8h 09min sleep.

I love picking random movies on stream and striking gold. Such is the case with Drive-Away Girls. Chose to watch it for two reasons: It's short, just an hour and 24 minutes, and it stars Margaret Qualley. That it was directed by Ethan Coen is something I only learned after the fact.

Stats: 3,768 steps, 5h 02min sleep.

Didn't know how I did it, but I was able to fix my smartwatch. I just messed around with the app, trying to see what sticks, and voila! Planned weekend trip to Digital Walker is now nixed.

So it's a nice day... spoiled only by that office memo directing us to resume onsite work next week "pending the decision on the appeal to continue WFH arrangement." Funny how fast the pendulum swings sometimes.

Stats: 5,362 steps

I was already en route to the office when I noticed my smartwatch was dead. Battery, I thought. The watch, an Oppo, hardly top of the line, is after all five years old. About time its battery starts showing signs of fucking up. But after charging and tinkering with it at home I realized it's more complicated than that. Gave up and vowed to resume investigation in the morning. Still, I spent a significant amount of time in bed Googling possible replacements. One click was all it took and algo did the rest.

Stats: n/a

Woke up, worked, LOL'd at the following lines from The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo:

"In the last twenty years, Swedish financial journalists had developed into a group of incompetent lackeys who were puffed up with self-importance and who had no record of thinking critically. [Blomkvist] drew this conclusion because time after time, without the least objection, so many financial reporters seemed content to regurgitate the statements issued by CEOs and stock-market speculators -- even when this information was plainly misleading or wrong."

Not only in Sweden, I'm sure. And not just financial journalists. I should know, I've been rubbing elbows with such types for more than half my life now.

Stats: 3,332 steps, 6h 10min sleep.

Walked two sets -- 30 minutes in the morning, alone, to get my head straight for the workweek, and another 30 minutes in the evening, with my wife, to celebrate having finished work early. Strava wants me to nail 100,000 steps every month this year. Tough order but I will try.

Fought Monday blues by reading journal entries by some of my favorite writers. Bourdain, Ellis, Horton... now adding Bruce Elliott to the list.

Stats: 8,290 steps, 7h 15min sleep.

Stayed half a day at Zaragoza before going home. Perhaps it was the hours spent stuck inside a moving car, seeing nothing but fields and highways and gasoline stations under a gray sky, that gripped me with a loneliness so heavy I couldn't shake it off. Pair that with migraine and two days of bad diet and no wonder I was a lifeless wreck when we reached home. Slept, woke up around midnight, couldn't sleep again. Read Nocturnes. Checked out socmed. It's Wolfgang this, Wolfgang that. Trump vs. Bad Bunny. A sex scandal supposedly involving a female athlete. Assorted internet slop. Regretted going online in the dead of night. Turned off the light and tried to go back to sleep. Finally succeeded around 2 a.m.

Stats: 1,277 steps, 10h 15min sleep.

When in Gapan. Judging from the clientele and the number of SUVs in the parkling lot I could tell Luz Kitchenette was no bit player in the city's culinary scene. Not surprised: they have good food and good service at prices that didn't make me want to scream and gnash my teeth.

Before dinner we checked out Tagpuan sa Lumang Gapan, the city's version of Vigan's Calle Crisologo (cobblestone street, Spanish colonial era houses, etc.). I liked that there were only a handful of people -- mostly youngsters snapping photos of themselves -- milling about. Together with the setting sun and the soft glow of the ancient looking streetlights it made for a wonderfully surreal, almost dreamlike experience.

Stayed the night at Modesta Resort and Event Place in Zaragoza, my wife's hometown. Pool was out of commision though so my daughter, who was looking forward to a dip, was crestfallen.

Stats: 3,161 steps, 4h 46min sleep.