Backlog!!!

Times are a-better and I hope I’m not seeing the last nor the best of it. Anyway, it’s really been a while before I managed to squeeze in some time to blog around. And a lot of happy things have happened since the last time: Got kicked up Convergys’ organizational ladder (ain’t much but i’m still scratching my happy ass)and I got myself a nice little laptop  and wi-fi rig (Ah, liberation from the rigors of crowded internet cafes!)to name a few.

But then there were sob stories as well, the biggest of which was our dear friend Aying’s passing away at the young age of 30 from a lingering illness.

Affectionately known as the “mayor”,  Ariel Q. Caneda lived on his own terms. Once he’s made up his mind, nothing can sway him from what he wants to say, believe or achieve. Always a leader, he was the creative force behind “Paper Boats and Flying Saucers”, the college band of which I am a dedicated groupie (damn proud of it!). He was also  was the first person in the classroom I held a decent conversation with on my awkward first day in college. A workaholic husband and father , he stubbornly refused to let his illness get the better of him even into his final days working in Epixtar.

God bless your soul and seek peace in the light bro.

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midnight bytes with Neo

On a lighter note, I can say i’m pretty pleased with this little bugger I got from Compex in megamall last March 17. We originally set out to buy a Neo Explore, that cute little VTEC- like subnotebook with a 7″ inch LCD and 30G of legroom but ended up getting a full-size Neo instead. I’m not big with brands. but for a few grand more I decided that full size is the way to go since the Explore doesn’t have an optical drive and runs on 900Mhz of processing power if I’m not mistaken. Compared to other pricier portables, the specs of my Neo Endura ain’t much but it can run the SIMS 2, Adobe Photoshop and Corel Draw at the same with minimal lag and that’s enough to make me a happy camper, inspite of all the horror stories regarding Neo’s After Sales Service.

As for things to look forward to, hmm…ah, yes my second wedding anniversary this coming July. As luck would have it, we might just spend that day holed up somewhere inside the M.O. in Makati after my (semi-rusty) story writing won us a free Overnight Stay in a Superior Suite with Free International Buffet Breakfast for two, As for the prize winning story, check it out below.

(P.S. The story doesn’t have a title as I forgot to create one in the mad rush to beat the 11pm deadline)

“My story began on a Wednesday, July 2, 2003. I was working as a graphic artist/copywriter for a Makati-based ad agency back then. Having parted ways with my call-center agent girlfriend almost two months before, I wasn’t really looking for a significant other, but fate had other plans that day.

A friend of mine who was working in a law office called me up around noon asking me if I’d like to be set up for a blind date. I said why not, but I wasn’t really entertaining hopes that anything serious would come out of it. My immediate past consisted of a seven month relationship punctuated by fights and mistrust so I resolved not to put myself in a situation where I’d have to go through that all over again. I resolved to come just to amuse myself and while away some free weekend time.

Phone calls were promptly exchanged and the date was set for Saturday, July 5. The venue was Craic’s Irish Bar in Jupiter Street. The appointed time was 8 PM but I showed up at around 7 just to check out the place and get a nice vantage point at the far end of the bar after getting me a cold ice beer. I was supposed to wear a blue shirt but I came out in white, reserving the right to walk away or sneak out of the venue if my blind date doesn’t impress me with her looks (Yes, I was THAT evil!). After a few drags on my cigarette, I set aside my booze and pulled out my little sketchpad and started doodling scenes and people at random: The quaint Guinness posters hanging from the wall, normal-looking couples idly chatting and drinking the night away or sweet oddball pairs with ages so widely disparate it’s almost criminal.

Suddenly, my eyes locked on this girl sitting on the opposite end of the bar. There was definitely something in her that caught my eye but before I found out what it was, I found myself drawing a quick portrait using my Staedtler HB pencil. She was wearing a red halter top and jeans. My date was supposed to come in a white blouse and she won’t be in until 8pm if her text message is to be believed so I didn’t even bother checking on my phone, not knowing the precious battery life is barely hanging by a thread. Around 8:05 PM I checked my phone again and I almost spat out my beer upon finding it dead. By that time, the quickie portrait was finished. The girl was fiddling with her phone and twice I saw her try to make a phone call. At one point I can see her actually talking on her phone while I waited for my date impatiently. At around 8:40 I stood up and decided to call it a night. I scribbled my name on the portrait and stood up. After two bottles of beer, a dead phone and a lame portrait, I finally decided to spend my night elsewhere where the beer doesn’t cost as much. As I passed miss-girl-by-the bar I slipped in the drawing under her margarita and walked out the front door without even looking back. While I was hailing a taxi I heard the waiter yelling at me: “Ser! Ser! Sandali po!”

I backtracked and had the surprise of my life when I found out that miss-girl-by-the bar was there waiting for me near the entrance of Craic’s. Needless to say, she recognized my name from the scribble at the bottom of the sketch and took her chance to know if the guy she was waiting for was me indeed. As for me, I would’ve found out earlier had my phone held out a little.

To make the long story short, that was how I first met my wife of almost two years now.”

Percival C. Biadora

ATT DSL QSP, Convergys PBCOM