The Day The Earth… Huh!?

Mom bought some DVD’s and while we were going through the titles, we noticed something off.

Well, technically, if it “stood still” it is “stopped” right?

Either way, mom got gypped.

Kris Kringle

I really suck at Kris Kringles. I guess it's because I always insist of giving the right gift to the right person. I don't fall for the commercialization of Christmas wherein you just give gifts for the sake of giving. I don't agree at all.

Another factor is that most (note... MOST... not all) people don't take Kris Kringles seriously and you always get something that fits the criteria but is far from useful.

This year, we had 4 categories.
- cute and heavy
- funny or naughty
- geeky
- chemical

There was a 50 Peso minimum requirement. The workaholic that I am, I was late with my weekly gifts and ended up having to shop for all of them at the same time at the very last minute.

Cute and Heavy. Paper weight? Scotch tape dispenser? Paper weight? Really now, office supplies are the second worst gifts you can ever get. The worst gifts? Christmas decors! We'll discuss that some other time though. What's cute and heavy? Paper weight. Darn it! I can't get paper weight out of my head! After walking around, I settled with this photo holder (which doubles as a paper weight :P)

Funny or naughty. My personal experience - never go with naughty. If you HAVE to go with naughty, go with the most conservative "naughty" gift you can find. Why? Let's flashback to 4 years ago - Kris Kringle of 2004 which had a "naughty" gift requirement --> a senior executive holding out a pair of thongs and a very embarrassed dude in the background. Poor guy. This time, I was going for funny. Almost all the time you'll get a Pugad Baboy or a Pupung comic book. At the last minute, the sponteneous guy that I am, I suddenly went with naughty with probably the most straightforward gift I've ever given, a keychain that says "Naughty".

Geeky. It was the first time I had to shop for something "Geeky". I had one thing on my mind though - a Sudoku book. Easiest gift of the day.

Chemical. Another first time category. cleaning agent? too household. cologne? too complicated. scented oils? nah. I decided to go with a fancy soap and pray that my gift "baby" is a girl.

The Christmas party came and like all events in December, I missed it because I had to work. My "baby" was Tina who thanked me for the gifts. She said a lot of thought really went into the gifts and there was no way it could be from a guy.

Hmmm, I'll take that as a compliment.

How about the stuff I got?

Cute and heavy - a souveneir jeepney. I never saw that coming but it was actually more than decent. I find it hard to see jeepneys as cute though :-/
Funny or naughty - a Shrek 2 VCD. One of my favorite movies! Too bad I already have it in DVD.
Geeky - a Sudoku book.
Chemical - alcogel, which is actually in my shopping list. :)

We oughta do something else next year... :)

Driving Through

It was close to midnight on a weekday. Mom and I picked up my brother at the MRT station and on our way home, as "payment", we went to a drive through at a nearby burger chain. Itago natin sa pangalang "Burger Ming"

Our car trigged the sensor and the voice box greeted us "Welcome to Burger King!" (este... Burger Ming pala... sorry sorry)

My brother wanted combo #4. I wanted combo #1. Mom wanted combo #6.

I said we'll have #1 and #4 with large fries and a number #6.

"So sir, you ordered for combo meal number 1, 3 and 6."?

I quickly corrected her: "No, it should be 4, not 3".

"Ok sir, that's one number 1, one number 3 and one number 6".

I looked at my brother who gave the same bewildered look back. I repeated my order and slowed down: "number 1, number FOUR, and number 6!".

No response.

We heard discussions in the background from the crew as they were asking each other what the meals were and what the numbers were for. (?!?)

She repeated my order: "So isa pong number 1, number 3 and number 6?".

I glanced at my mom and she gave me that "If you won't do it I will" look.

Before I repeated my order, I told them to look at the security cameras. "Number 1 with large fries" (while holding up my pointer finger). "Number 4 with large fries" (while holding up 4 fingers and point at them one by one with my other hand as if counting it slowly). "Number 6" (while holding up 6 fingers together with my other hand).

We continued to the second window and there was this van with a very angry driver. He was pointing at something and returning the plastic bags. It looks like he also got his orders crossed. The guy sped off and it was my turn. I decided to give them a break... I think that other guy already gave them a hard time. I opened my plastic bag and confirmed my order. What do you know... they DO know what number 4 looks like :P

I Hate These Days

Weekday. 5am.

My alarm goes off and I try to sit up. My chest hurts. My body hurts. My head hurts and my nose is all clogged up. I lie back down to reduce the shock to my body. Makes me wish I hadn't let myself get wet in the rain two days ago.

I sit back up again. My head now stings a little. I'm a bit dizzy but I can walk and read. My coordination's a bit shaky but overall ok. My body hurts but it's more of an inconvenience than a hindrance.

I hate being half sick. I am sick enough to feel I am but I'm not sick enough to miss work.

Ugh.