Turning a New Leaf

"What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating," Jobs said in his Stanford speech. "I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.".... Steve Jobs. former Apple CEO

I kept reading Jobs's thoughts on being fired from a job he so loved .... and realized that the end of a beautiful thing need not be the end of everything ... as has been said, everything has a season .... with each beginning comes an ending ...... and so with this blog as I make one last post .... to end this chapter of my life .... there were good times, there were bad times ... there were times I simply coasted along .... somehow I got through... calloused, bruised but wiser and richer with experiences that imparted a lot of lessons .... As I turn the last page of this episode, a new leaf unfolds in my new home.... if you were with me in this

journey, join me in 22karat which will be my soundboard from now on ... For starters, the name pretty much describe my current state ..... golden and proud ..... It could have been the purest thing, 24k .... but after some thought, 22k is just the right mix for this perfectly imperfect human being ....... enough of the teaser as the rest has to be told in the new place ..... I will still revisit this old home that has given me so much security and comfort ..... to feel the familiar ... on those times when I feel the need to relive the memories. Like before, there is hesitation to leave the familiar .... but it's time to move on .....

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Dancing to the Tune in June

A month that will test my mettle ....

More krap came my way but I was ready... armed only with guts and the astuteness of one who has had too much .... and assisted by my counsel. I went to the trap conference laid out to bait find out and draw blood from my own mouth ferret out the truth ... as they want to have it .... My counsel presented the same position I had since that charade started

You see the CCF is a by-product of many days of morphing into what it is today through the abled manipulations of RB, her trusted aide T....., the new super alalay who inherited another kingdom from RB's old friend turned nemesis, and some other people close to thy Royal Highness ... during the time they are all members of the Ineffectual Accounter cum Underminer which is supposed to uncover anomalies in the bureaucracy including erring employees. True to form, they will not pass up an opportunity to use their positions to take advantage of the opportunity to do me in the guise of bureaucratic expediency but still be politically correct
Finally, I was face-to-face with the members of the CCF. Some expressed mock surprised when my counsel and I walked into the KC at their designated time. One of them had the gall to tell me that they are expecting that I won't show up because I didn't in the first two times. I would like to reply, "Duh... I'm here..." except that we have to respect the august KC.  I opted not to face them in the initial invitations because it would have felt like walking into a snake pit .....After all, I have raised issues that remained unanswered which would have tilted this case against me....  I felt I needed more than the truth and courage to face them. So here I am ready with my counsel....

At this time too,  the Queen, sensing trouble, once again used her loyal allies as convenient scapegoat asking them to deflect my threat of a battle of wits with petition against me termed as sidling up to a paternal head by this true-to-form Santita character as she tried to coerce persuade a colleague to sign a concocted petition against me ... dog loyalty in action ..... it's so unfortunate that mindless cult members readily accede to such threat gentle persuasion ...

 N.B. After all the fiasco, the case was left to dangle again as I have not heard from the the members of the KC to this day ....

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One Fine Day

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. Mother Teresa

One last look before I stepped out of my homey abode painted a priceless picture of my three lovable dogs by our door looking at me with sad eyes as I left…. That nearly made me change course but the practical and thinking side of me prevailed over the weaker and emotional me …..

Smile …. Read this sign posted on a corner sari sari store…. And I can’t help but put on a smile, taking care not to let anyone see my silly grin. I was walking thinking my day is made with one single sign. As I continued walking, I would see two elderly male neighbors in a huddle with one of them giving out a familiar boisterous laughter…. I would secretly laugh remembering Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in the movie, Bucket’s List….. One of my male neighbors maneuvered his bike to head home but instead of going straight to his destination, stopped me on my tracks to ask about the remedy for his dog’s skin ailment. He also happily told me about his dog giving birth. The same dog he tried to breed unsuccessfully two years ago at a very young age for which I ‘scolded’ him after it was revealed to me that he asked me to have that dog mated with mine without telling me the real age of the dog. He never got back to me after the first incident. Now he is back asking me about dogs which he thinks I master. He is the same person who brought me his dog halfway through whelping with a puppy’s behind protruding. I gave him and the dog a ride to my vet. Instead of dismissing him, I listened to his problem and offered a suggestion promising to give him a better treatment in the weekend if he comes to my house. He went his way after our brief conversation.

The other elderly gentleman likewise had his time with me as he called my attention with a question. He asked if I am on a diet. I had to ask him to repeat his question and I heard him right. With a sly smile, I said "no and I never diet". He said that I am sexy. And I couldn’t contain the laughter, biding him goodbye and going my merry way…..

All the way to the office, I had my thoughts trained on something else… perhaps this is the perfect time to carry out my long-conceived plan…. Deep in thought, I sent several text messages to the vet who will make a house call later; a dog owner in my phone book listed as owning a stud that I need for this heat season; my helper to give additional instruction for the vet’s house call; and my handyman/contractor to talk about a project related to my plan….. was thinking perhaps the time is near ……

As I near the office, I felt the all too familiar hesitation in my steps like something heavy puts enough burden on my feet. I have to drag myself to reach my destination. I recall yesterday’s meeting with the top official as she told me to do one final act of appeasement with my ‘enemy’….. and it’s not only getting to be a habit, it’s becoming tiring too. For crying out loud why should we always have to give in to mindless, whimsical follies like her …..
Recently, I met a former colleague on a project I worked on not too long ago and she asked about me. She must be feeling good about herself as I heard she now heads a department formerly handled by an ailing top official of their office. I gave a curt one-liner to her question, “Crossroads”… followed by “as always”. She acknowledged with a knowing smile followed with a lunch invitation. I replied saying, I’ll arrange something with our other friend-colleague and will get in touch soon.

All of this happened one fine day …….

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