I was caught off guard yesterday that when I got back home from buying veggies and gimbap from the Korean mart, it was already very dark. I took the jeep at 5 pm and after my errands were done, I thought I was out for 2 hrs because it was already dark. Nope, it was only 6 pm.

Mid-autumn festivals are done and we’re getting closer to winter. We don’t have that here but we in the tropics can feel that the days are getting shorter.

I can feel my body craving rest, the instinct to hibernate until sunny days are back again. Exhaustion is taking over so much that I will take PTO next week for my birthday.

I haven’t fully recovered yet from whatever virus struck me last week that caused me to sleep the entire weekend. My veggie shopping last night left me so tired that dinner for me and my kids consisted of only gimbap.

I’m so freaking tired. I just want to cry. I worked from 9 am to almost 8 pm nonstop, pandering to the demands of the editor from the land of bubblegum pop.

I don’t want to write a data piece again. Not in a very long time. I didn’t even volunteer for that assignment; she just shoved it to me and I didn’t have a chance to say no. That’s the only thing I worked on the entire week and in the end that thing got flipped over its head.

I also got my rejection letter from the rival company. Oh well.

I wonder where God is taking me. Like everything I applied for closed their doors on me. My bff a few minutes ago was explaining to me the unhappy process of how my own undergrad department passed me over for someone the academic committee of our college (which she is a member of) didn’t want. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’m over it. I mean I’m semi glad that I didn’t get the post or else I would be so poor right now as an academic.

The consulting gig that I’m taking would depend on so many factors that are out of my hands. If successful, I can get as much as half of my current salary every month just for one project. If I manage to bring in more, there’s a potential that I could earn double my current salary.

But again, it depends on so many factors that I’m not counting on it.

I wonder where I’m headed.

I never knew or even had an inkling that Billy Corgan is a Christian. And even comfortable talking about his belief.

And here we are, the famous and infamous frontman of the Smashing. Pumpkins, who warred openly with D’arcy Wretzky and finally made peace with James Iha, is a Christian. 😱

Billy Corgan is now in the company of Dave Mustaine as the unlikely Christian rockstars of the planet.

Dave Mustaine (ex-Metallica, founder of Megadeth) is also openly talking about his Christian faith. How he came from witchcraft to Christianity. The Dave Mustaine who had traded barbs with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. The Dave Mustaine who was a raving lunatic when drunk. That Dave Mustaine.

And of course, Alice Cooper. Shock rocker Alice Cooper. Son of a preacher. The Alice Cooper who threw a live chicken at the audience, and that same audience who promptly defeathered and beheaded that live chicken at a show. 😬 Yes, that Alice Cooper. He teaches at Sunday school. 😉

And of course, Bono a.k.a. Paul Hewson of U2. He has been outspoken  about Christianity for quite a while.

As someone who comes from a land torn apart by religion (Protestants vs Catholics), he doesn’t shy away from the subject. But he has a more non-chalant attitude when talking about Christianity compared to Dave Mustaine.

And oh! Don’t forget about Brian “Head” Welch from Korn. I have his book about his conversion and overcoming his addictions after becoming a Christian. Pretty cool dude. I also subscribe to his belief that nothing in this world is just coincidence.

You see, God chooses the broken, the flawed, the sinner, to spread the Gospel. Just like Paul, who was a Christian killer, these people have become the unlikely spokespersons for the faith. They’re more flawed than anyone of us or holier than anyone of us. God doesn’t care.

I thought Fossil leather bags are really animal hide. I bought an overpriced one from Tangs in Singapore a few years ago before the pandemic.

The bag itself is intact and is made of real leather (I think) but the crossbody strap and the top handles — they’re a different story. They started to flake in the cold PICC halls.

And I was running around an international conference, chasing after millionaires and billionaires with a flaking bag over my shoulder. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Le pauvre!

So after three days of freezing and jumping from one auditorium to another, I ended up very sick. I could have gotten home yesterday at lunch but I was waiting for an official of another ASEAN member to interview.

But I got stood up. 🙄

Staff said he got sick.

Oh boy, you should have told me earlier. I’m sick, too, and I wanted to go home and sleep on my own bed. On the way home, I was blowing my nose into my tissues while driving. It took superhuman effort not to fall asleep at the wheel. 🤧

My body has yet to recover. I’m really sick. 😷🫩

I left home at 6 am, checked into my budget hotel at 8 am, left my car and luggage there, and took Grab to PICC at 8:30 am. 

Still here.

Forgot my jacket. It’s so cold. I now have the sniffles.

It took me around 20 pages to produce this gigantic agenda because the excel file they gave us is too difficult to view on a tablet or a laptop.

For context:

I left it on my workstation at the international media center. Including my laptop. I’ve been jumping from one session hall to another, looking for stories or people to interview.

I’m exhausted. My feet are tired, my brain is fried.

I’m gonna be like this until Thursday.

Because why not?

I bought this from Ikea the past week on a whim. It was on their bargain bins so I grabbed a strip, thinking I could install it under my overhead kitchen cabinets.

It turns out this strip is horrible in the kitchen because the LED bulbs are too far apart from each other so it’s ugly if they’re exposed. They’re really for back of the TV. Since I don’t want to do that because I’m running out of power outlets in my living room, I thought of just installing it somewhere in my bedroom as I seldom use the overhead big white light anyway.

I thought it’s going to be really ugly but it turns out to be not that bad. It’s still cosy.

I didn’t drive to Manila this week and just stayed at home for online briefings and an interview. I was again the flavor of the month for this editor from the land of bubblegum pop and it is sending me over the edge again. She has been nitpicking my every move, so much that I sent my application to a rival publication, which opened again the bureau chief position in another name.

Bahala na.

If God wants me to move, He will make it happen smoothly.

This editor is so toxic that former colleagues have described her as such. And to think the other one we talked to ranked higher than her. She’s just insufferable.

If I’m not dealing with an asshole owner who doesn’t care a fig about us humans, then it’s this garbage of an editor who is making my life harder than it should be.

I no longer have ambition to climb the ladder. I like the way it is now, like I have the luxury of having slow breakfasts on my balcony, with cats romping up and down my staircase and enjoying the sunshine with me. I just want to have a slow and comfortable life. I work my ass off because I need to deliver well but other than that, I no longer desire anything more. Maybe a fat retirement fund, but that’s it. I won’t be chasing accolades and very fat paychecks that would be asking for my mental health.

And yet there is YKK, the editor from the land of bubblegum pop, who destroys my peace.

I know life isn’t supposed to be perfect but I was close to achieving that steady, slow rhythm of life that I dreamed of. The asshole company owner is a curve ball but he just gives me a finite timeline as to how long I can stay. But YKK is evil that darkens my days. There might be some demon over her head that has been pulling her strings to make her evil as evil can be.

Anyway, I’m making the most of the fair weather today because next week Kr and I will be busy with ASEAN events. By Friday I will be meeting with someone who flew all the way from Singapore so we can talk about some consultancy arrangement.

I booked a two-night stay in a budget hotel near PICC because I know I will be dead by each day of coverage.

So here’s to us slaves of the corporate masters. Cheers. 🥂