Indulgences and Resolutions

I'm being bloody mad at myself recently, making personal sacrifices for the ultimate prize.Too bad I can't make all the pictures fit but I hope I'm being financially sane and responsible at the end of the day. I'm saving up for an ultimate prize, a shot in the dark deal which practically floored me from day one.

Sometimes I commit lapses (I'm pretty weak when it comes to food) and I make up for it with an anaemia-inducing work schedule. Who doesn't have an online shopping wishlist that can be deemed bizarre by most even by ourselves? I had to fight with myself when it comes to shopping, muttering how expensive things are when I'm pushing a full cart to the cashier. The shopping list always gets edited en route to the counter, making enough side trips and returns to tone one's arms and legs.

I haven't been to the spa for months and out of town trips have to be planned very carefully. It's a good thing I don't have to fork over money for the bills at home. Mind you, we split the grocery list at home and we take turns who brings home the bacon, literally speaking. I would have had a pedigreed pet by now if I wasn't met with protests about hairballs and allergies. Who could have told me there really is something greater waiting for me?

Until my next zap of inspiration....

Whilst On An Idle Afternoon..............

The world of Ebay reminds of a famous street market in Madrid called El Rastro where one can either get lucky with a few pesetas worth of a deal or be whacked in the wallet with a pricey piece of junk. There were those who found themselves with antiques worth a hundred or more times more than they paid for. There were those who were so fueled with the desire to 'get lucky' with a purported antique only to get scammed into buying something completely worthless.

So what led to this?

I only had a few classes today so I had time to surf the jungles of Ebay to see what's on. I usually look around for antiques, books, dolls and computer games. But I found myself clicking the link to the most unusual item I found in weeks.

I was looking for somebody who sells Soul dolls and I ended up on someone's Ebay store that sells another type of soul doll. But what a find indeed! It's supposed to be a haunted doll. It makes me wonder if it comes alive if the owner is not home or asleep. There's a choice between a djinn and a vampire. If I can get one, I'd probably get the vampire. If a doll like that can be had, life might get a bit more interesting where I'm at. There's also a necklace that, if worn by your doll, has the power to bring your doll to life. Cool!

Here are my finds: http://cgi.ebay.ph/HAUNTED-DJINN-VAMPIRE-SPIRIT-OUR-SOULS-ARE-BONDED-DOLL_W0QQitemZ170387399624QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27abe163c8

http://cgi.ebay.ph/Haunted-Bracelet-Brings-Haunted-Dolls-To-Life-Must-Own_W0QQitemZ130343220776QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e590fb628

22:30 until closing time

If an idle mind is a devil’s playground, how about a hyperactive mind with lots of idle time to burn?
Welcome to my peculiar life as an online teacher. We don’t have sales quota to beat, only a number of students to maintain and increase. We don’t have AHT but we have class schedules to keep. We don’t have irate customers we cannot see but we sometimes see rather indignant faces on the crisp video feed staring back at you if you missed a word. We never had culture training to prepare us, only grapevine lectures on what or what not to say.
I never thought I would ever be confined to a cubicle but here I am in a 4x3 cubbyhole painted in the shade of dark beige (I keep remembering a particular shade of a nail polish color). No flowers on the desk since the you have your LCD monitor, keyboard and your files. I opted for a mousepad with the Angel Sanctuary design instead of sticking with the company issued boring blues and beach sceneries. No USBs allowed, my webcam at home is way cooler than the one I have at work and I can practically hear everybody else with my single earpiece headset.
So what do we do with our free time? It really depends since Youtube and other streaming sites are banned. Online games were shut down months ago since they played havoc with the connections. We are allowed Facebook and other sites for surfing. I have my Multiply and Blogger to fiddle with. Of course, we have paperwork to deal with first like students’ performance records, attendance sheets (I’m really tempted to bring a class record here), class counts and the dreaded IR (see, we have them, too). After all is done, where do we turn to?
Almost everybody here is connected in Facebook and Friendster. But I ventured further, I’d like to say, by using going to sites that are rather bizarre and outlandish to the rest of my fellow teachers. Sites like www.peopleofwalmart.com and http://icanhascheezburger.com are good examples of websites they haven’t even heard of. But my favorite is www.darwinawards.com where anybody contemplating morosely of their lot in this world can get a laugh. But tonight, as of this writing, I found a site that just made my sleepiness go away. After typing a random line of words, for example, get revenge on your ex, and actual sites came up. Getrevengeonurex.com is one site and, well, no free galleries. The services offered are tempting but the dollar price tag was enough to stop me.
Idle time…idle hands…hyperactive minds…..
Let’s go home before Halloween starts early this year.
(to be continued)