in view of what's happening in manila...how is everyone?

Hello brothers and sisters? Musta na kayong lahat? Alam ko binabaha na dyan sa Manila? How's everyone?

It's not a hang-up......

Just tonight, I watched a video on the site of another friend. It had something to do with pets and, hell, I had to check it out. I expected to see funny pix but what I got was a poignant video that almost made me bawl.

I always loved my pets and I am a doting mommie to my dogs. But when I watched the video (and until now that I'm writing this), I broke down because I remembered how the most precious of all my pets was taken away from me.

He died last year, during Typhoon Frank. He didn't drown like the others. He died because of the water that got into his lungs and there was no way he could have recovered. But the fact that he died when the waters had receded and I was out of harm's way was what really breaks me to pieces whenever I remember his name.

It was a night that I thought I would die, recalling that the waters got into my house and he was there with us, on a chair, shivering and still managing to bark. But when it was his time to go, I couldn't bear to watch. We said our goodbyes the night before he died. He was looking at me in sad relief that my family is ok, that I am ok. And in the morning he was gone while I was at work. I wish I had a lock of his fur to keep. But I am thankful of the memories that I was loved by him.

I love you, Kyle. I miss you.

hospital angst??

I'm not usually comfortable in hospitals. My family has people in the medical field, as doctors, nurses and medical technicians. But I don't usually hang out there. It's the smell of antiseptics and the constant traffic of patients that make me dizzy.

Sunday night, after a day of hanging out with my best friends, I made my way home, rather tired and sated. I chose not to spend time with my SO that day because I can be such a drama queen and he was too tired to deal with it. However, when he texted that he's actually at the ER of a nearby hospital, I dropped everything, scampered into my shorts, grabbed the essentials and made my way there.

He got some allergic attack going on and, yes, I was bugged out of my mind. He was so weak that he rested his head on my shoulder from time to time. I stayed there until he was safely in a room and I went home, losing my appetite for my dinner that got postponed.

Fast forward to Thursday. I spent the night there Monday night until Tuesday morning (didn't have classes). I watched over him, got his medicines, tried not to look when the nursed came with their needles, and let him use my comforter. Then he got moved into a private room where the most unbelievable thing happened. I don't believe I've seen a student nurse who kept on fussing with her hair while interviewing her patient, asking the most mundane questions and giggling through most of them.

And, he admitted, he enjoyed being fawned over.......................grrrrrrrrrr......somebody hand me an axe, I'd like to add to his injuries....

Peculiarities with the Ps and the Cs....

A week ago or so, there was a power outage again that more or less placed the city at a standstill. It rolled in about noontime and humidity was hellish. It was unannounced and unexpected. I work for a company which is wholly dependent on electricity for its daily operations, I took it upon myself to call PECO. Having memorized the electric company's phone number by heart, I called them and, after a series of rings, a man took my call and kindly answered my questions pertaining the loss of power. He was very helpful and apologetic with the whole situation, claiming that PECO had nothing to do with the outage since it only relays the electricity produced by the PPC. He claimed that there was probably a power trip-off with PPC. He claimed that they are still awaiting a phone call from PPC. I asked if I can call the company directly and he said I'm not the only one who asked for the number. He even gave me the number that will connect me with PPC.

So there I was, feeling a bit settled that finally I can get the answer for myself. After a few rings, a lady to my call and she did identify the number as that of PPC's. I asked my question and the answer that I got surprised me. The lady started complaining why they are the ones getting phone calls and complaints when she is sure that nothing is wrong with their system. She also said that it is PECO's system that is at fault.

Tsk..tsk...tsk....power comes with great responsibilities....

I'd rather leave them at their tongue-wagging and finger pointing antics, hoping not to have jacked up electricity bills to compensate for restoring the system. With a mindblowing price of kilowatt per hour in our city, can't we have at least an announcement from any one of them? Maybe next time, I should insist in getting their names....then we can announce here who to call when the lights go out.....