Today I lost another colleague to suspected Covid. It was too late when he got to the hospital. Those who are dying because of this disease are in my Facebook network. The dead now have names and faces, they’re no longer just numbers. Death has come closer to home. I have memories of them and with them.
The colleague from my old TV network is still in the hospital but thankfully he and his wife are not intubated. But their problem is the skyrocketing hospital bill.
My newsfeeds have become an online obituary of sorts. I’m tired of saying condolence. And I continue to have this fear that the people I love the most would contract this disease.
I got news that ex-colleague, JG, from my former TV network has turned for the worse and is now confined in one of the hospitals here in Metro Manila.
Another colleague of mine, T, and I were exchanging news about our ex-colleague-now-covid-patient. I told her that I may be able to donate to his fundraising only when my salary comes in because my extra money for charity was spent for milk for the orphanage in Manila that is under lockdown due to a high number of COVID-19 cases. Then T said, it’s kinda sad that it has already come down to this, that we just have to rely on one another because we can’t get help from the government. I told her that this pandemic has taught us privileged people that we are the safe harbor for those who are drowning and lost at sea.
“This pandemic has caused so much disruption,” she lamented.
“Yes but I think of this as a sort of reset for everyone. So that we, the privileged people, would finally realize what we are here for,” I told her.
“And this pandemic has taken almost everything from me. All I got are my kids. And that is enough,” I added.
This pandemic also shown us what are the most important things in life? I was taught that it’s my children and myself. It taught me to love these three people more.
Let’s start by saying, yes, we still don’t have Internet and Globe doesn’t have any plans of fixing it.
After inundating their Facebook bot with my complaints several times a day.
So of course, there’s no phone call or whatever feedback after four hours. I’m not actress Liza Soberano, who would just complain about her Internet connection on Twitter, the telcos would come to the rescue within the day.
Yesterday the Secretary of Foreign Affairs tweeted a series of profanity-laden outbursts vs China. Which is highly suspect because this is the same guy who let Filipino fishers drown when they were sabotaged by Chinese intruders in our own seas, saying stupid things to appease the Chinese overlords. Thank God for the Vietnamese fishermen who rescued the Pinoy fishermen.
This really goes to show there is an orchestrated scripted anti-China rhetoric to appease the military that is ready to stage a coup d’etat against Duterte. I want Duterte out but I don’t want us to be the next Myanmar.
Wheeeee! Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I decided to ride the bike tomorrow and skip it today since my brain was already fried by 5 pm. So to help me sleep well tonight, I took out one bottle of vodka for a nightcap. But here I am still alive and blogging.
And yes, alcohol ban is lifted in my city. Hurrah!
UP Naming Mahal, pamantasang hirang. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Hello Darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains
Within the sound of silence
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel
Had a very bad night last night and I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts again so I rode my bike at 7 pm to catch some breeze.
Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I cycled around a bit but that didn’t give me enough cardio exercise so I locked my bike at the guard station and walked around and round University Avenue. And looked at the stars while I listened to music saved on my phone. I wondered about the night sky and how nice it would be to view it by the beach where there would be less light pollution. The northeast monsoon (amihan) is perfect season for diving. I shook my head to rid me of those thoughts.
Nice walk, almost no people. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
I needed to exhaust myself so I won’t spend the rest of the night thinking. I need to do this tomorrow, and the next day, amd the next…
As my colleague and friend told me, live for yourself and your children.
“Hindi man lang siya naghabol,” sabi nya.
Ano pa bang sampal ng realidad ang kelangan ko para matapos na to?
My friends from my former TV network interviewed me and my kids about some kid-friendly topic yesterday. It will be online next week and it was a fun interview, with my cats in the background making a ruckus like climbing on my chair’s headrest and clawing their way up the curtains that were still holding up despite the abuse. So yeah, my cats are already fine and back to regular programming.
My naughty Kimichi evading me. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
After that, the Internet went out. Good thing we were going to my hometown so I won’t have to deal with it yet.
Checking roadworthiness of wheels. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
As last preventive maintenance check, I went to a vulcanizing shop to have my wheels inspected why they’re letting out air. The rims needed grease to seal the rubber around it. Good thing I did that or else I would running on the South Luzon Expressway with a flat tire. So we traveled around less than 2 hrs and when we arrived at my mom’s house, they immediately rode their bikes after I have unfolded them.
Meanwhile, I brought my mom to a thrift store near us to buy a grill and some saucers, just to get her out of the house. Then fixed their router and modem. My kids are loving their time with their cousins. By the way, they’re all boys.
I got home before 8 pm. Still no Internet.
It’s already morning, still no damned Internet and I’ve been speaking to bots on Twitter and FB Messenger to get me a technician to visit our site. This is what you get when your service provider doesn’t prioritize customer service–you get relegated to bots.
My cat, Sushi, still hates me. She’s hiding from me, under my bed, to be precise. When she feels a little bit social, I would take advantage of it and pour Betadine on her stitches and then she goes back snarling at me. Then she would then hide under the bed again, out of my reach.
She hates me. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
Her sister, Kimchi, on the other hand, is almost back to normal and is taking advantage of my mommy guilt by begging for more wet food.
Later on Sushi sort of forgave me, but I think it’s conditional, because she got hungry. She finally got out and joined her sister but she’s still haughty, like she would rather die than beg for food. “No, hooman, I’m not yet forgiving you but I’m hungry,” she telepathically told me. Meanwhile, Kimchi has no shame and pulls my heartstrings by meowing like she’s in so much pain and dying.
Nope, not yet interested in going back to their bunk beds. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
My entire day was unproductive because I was troubleshooting personnel issues. Things were simpler when I just handle writing stories and editing. But managing people… It’s a whole different ballgame. Much of the stress of this particular job of mine is managing people and dealing with egos. I remember a microbiologist told me (can’t remember if she was my mom’s research assistant) that the reason she chose this field is because microorganisms are more predictable than people. They also don’t bite back or tear you down.
So I find that journalism is 10-20% writing and the rest is human relations. A big chunk of that is mind games or battle of wits, especially when dealing with big people or difficult interviewees. That’s why I always recommended to junior journos and journalism students 48 Laws of Power (full version, not the abridged) to be able to know how to deal with egos and cunning people. It also applies to people who deal with investments or trying to win consultancy contracts.
So it’s kind of double whammy if you’re in my position–managing people and balancing quality with limited resources. Should you let go of this resource because he is a poor performer and risk not being able to hire again due to budget constraints (because 🤦🏻♀️ pandemic)? Or you grin and bear it? It’s a constant battle. You deal with egos when pursuing stories to meet your KPIs, and outside of your KPIs you have to deal again with egos, culture, and self-esteem to keep the peace and have a fully functional team.
How to stay sane? Drink tea and move on.
Chamomile tea to the rescue. I’ll soon be ordering rose teas and hibiscus. Photo by CallMeCreation.com
