Home Happiness & Then Some

One last home discovery I forgot to mention in my last entry:

• Dylon: my jeans stained this bright yellow silk shirt I recently bought. Was pretty bummed as I didn't even have a chance to wear it. Was wandering through a random store this weekend and found (in the arts & crafts section no less), a product called DYLON. This particular product claimed to restore "items stained by colour runs". I figured what the hell, let's give it a go. Guess what? My shirt's as good as new. Now if only I could get my hands on a product that would iron / press laundry so when you pull it out of the washing machine it's wrinkle free. 

On another not so happy home note:

• Iron Burn: Thrilled to finally use my mini table top ironing board from IKEA (which I think I bought more because I thought it was cute), to iron my sheets. I sat on the floor doing this only because I thought it would be easier to manage a bed sheet that way. Unsurpisingly, the iron found it's way out of my hands and onto my bare thigh. Thankfully thigh lang diba? You shouldn't be too surprised to hear though that this isn't the first ironing accident I've had - I burned my costume the first time I ironed on tour in 2001. Then on another tour in 2006 I burned my hand. Ironing burn victim twice on tour and once living on my own - I think I've pretty much given away my personal ironing habits. 
• Internet: the connection has been more spotty than usual. I should be grateful for the "free" internet but it's recently been getting to me. Hopefully the people providing the upgrade (fibre optics!) will do it soonest. 

rant: phooonnneee eetttiiiquuuueetttteee

So, there are a number of things I'd like to blog about given the events of the last few weeks, but will need time to compose each of things I'd like to share. Time I still have yet to make, but may not find this week.

But there is ALWAYS time to rant and share the little irritations in life that make it more... interesting? This particular one has been my flavor of the month recently:

• When you're super in the zone working on something and you pick up a phone call to hear: "Helllloooo....?! Goooodd affternoooon. Thiiisss issssss blaaaah blaaaaahh. Maaaaayyyyy I plllleeeaasseee spppeaaaakkk toooooo...." 

Ay yay yay! Get to the point people! And get to the point FAST!

I'm connected to the main trunk line so I KNOW i'll always get a call like this everyday. So when I'm in not in the mood, I'll never want to pick up the phone. I always do though. And when I'm in a super irritable mood,  I am always so tempted to respond by putting the phone down. But I never do.  Hehe :)

what the: Airplane Decorum

And since we are on the subject of airplanes.. I'd like to take up a teeny bit of cyberspace to note down a few rants I have about airplane etiquette:

• 90% of the waiting lounge run up and board anyway when FA's call for the boarding of "mothers with children" first. 
• Noisy people on the airplane. Though admittedly, I've probably been one of the noise makers in the past.
• 90% of airport passengers getting up BEFORE the seatbelt sign is switched off and making a dash for their stowed luggage while the plane is taxing to a stop.
• Celphones not being turned off & being used while in flight. And for those that do turn it off, rush to turn it on the minute you land (ok.. i do the latter sometimes too. lol

I'm sure if you give me some more time, I could probably list a few more. But the above? Ya..  it pulls my "uhg" chain every time I travel. 

what the: Web Surfing Etiquette

With a lot of my friends, it has become a common occurrence to start pulling out the laptops and iphones at one point during a get together and kind of disappear into your own world. We kid around about it too.. welcoming members into the "anti-social" club once they have purchased a new wifi-enabled toy. I do it myself sometimes too - I'll bring out my laptop, maybe quickly check facebook on my phone, etc. It's one of many things people check when we go to a new restaurant or cafe - good food? check! good prices? check! free wifi? CHECK!

Recently, it's been bugging me though, bugging me more than usual. There's something I find very off and almost rude about being in the company of others outside, sitting around a table, and then retreating to your technology. It's like, why bother coming then? Unless of course it's one of those get-togethers where the sole purpose IS to just kind of do your own thing - me and my friends do that a lot too actually.

At the very least, quickly check if you need to and then get back to what's going on at present? Or excuse yourself and tell the people you're with "Hi guys, hope you don't mind, will be anti-social for a bit" or "need to work on something", etc. I suppose it depends on context as well (how many you are, where you are, what you're doing, the people you're with, etc), but it's something I'm going to personally refrain from doing as much as possible.

Noise Pollution

Sat upfront in a bus ride home today. I think the bus driver was new because the ticket collector/ barker dude was giving him tips as we were driving along- go this way, don't pick up passengers here, etc. One comment that surprised me was when he told the bus driver, not to honk his horn as we drove by Guadalupe because it wasn't allowed. True enough, there was a "bawal bumusina" sign posted on on electric pole. I've seen those signs around but never thought anyone would actually follow them. It was an amazing revelation... Filipino drivers following road rules?!

I personally cannot STAND Manila buses and their honking. You would think their crazy driving would be enough to call these giant road roaches, nuisances but you add their gritty smoke belching and their affinity for making noise whenever they can. Buses seem to especially love honking their horns when they are in the presence of OTHER honking buses (why not add to the noise right?) as well as sections of the road that are semi-enclosed (why not magnify an already deafening noise right?).

We drove by the bus stop along Ayala, where the noisiest and most annoying group of buses along EDSA usually hang. For the first time, I noticed not only another "Bawal Bumisina" sign, but the relative silence that filled the air. SO WEIRD. I don't know if it was because there were MMDA milling about, but it the silence of the buses was definitely music to my ears.

It'd be pretty darn lovely if buses could shut their horns up forever.

Hissy Fit

When I'm craving a certain food and I decide to go and get some, I REALLY DECIDE TO GO AND GET SOME. I will climb a freaking mountain if I have to. So it REALLY gets my goat when I go there and it's not available. If the restaurant for some weird reason is closed, or even worse, when you sit at the restaurant and then they tell you it's unavailable just for today.. because they've run out of something as common as I dunno, eggs or something.

But if there's one thing that can INSTANTLY turn me into foot-stomping, door-slamming, an ironically "i-would-scream-and-pull-my-hair-if-I-wasn't-an-adult" brat, is when I look forward to something at home, dream about it the whole day or whole night imagining it for dinner or breakfast, and I open the ref to find THAT IT'S GONE. I interrogate every member of the house hold until I find the culprit. Not that it can bring back the meal, but it sure gives me someone to blame!

@#$!$^@#^!%$Q%$%#~Q#$%!%$%%&

Good morning :|

002

i hate sticker price tags.

but what i hate more than sticker price tags, is the icky mess sticker price tags leave behind when you take them off.

in connection with that, price tags that cover part of the information i need to know about a product really bug me as well.

:)

001

i told myself when i created this blog that would write about things that make me happy, recording in internet history random tidbits that i found joy in.

but you can't experience the good with the bad diba? so i figured i'd start doing this as well, listing down things that kinda get my goat, just to give me an outlet, get it out of my system in the hopes that i won't bother me again. they may range from silly annoying things to things that REALLY irritate me.

thus i present to you, pet peeve 001:

i have been the "organizer" for as long as i can remember. perhaps it was because growing up, i took part in activites that kind of put me in that position. 6th grade student representative, student government all 4 years of highschool, glee club execom, etc.

over the years though, i have found that this "label" has been creeping over into my career and personal life. when there are get togethers, parties, occasions, whatever.. i am usually the one who ends up coordinating.

being the "organizer" is actually kind of ironic as i am a mess by nature. i suppose the situations i have found myself in over the years have pushed me to try and be organized in my organizing.

so yes, my pet peeve. when people don't cooperate and /or don't respond at all to your plans (via text or email).

i can bitch about it because i've been on both sides. at one point, i felt i was so busy with my life that i would prioritize text messages. repond right away to some, get back to the ones that don't need my immediate attention. such a terrible habit.

i've also been on the receiving end as well, putting in the effort to organize and get no response. regardless of the reason (busy, avoidance, etc), the act of not responding in general just bugs me. truly. which is why, now a day, i make it a point to always respond right away. it is in my own little way, an acknowledgement of my appreciation for the efforts the person is making in organizing.

i have another pet peeve that's kind of related to this. but i'll leave that for another day :)