Lunch Out

I haven't seen Frodo since the disastrous Mizuno run last April. Anyway, we met up and had lunch in Cubao earlier this week. He said he once had a meeting with a client inside Starbucks.

"He asked me what I wanted and so I said Espresso," he said.

I didn't think much about it until...

"I was surprised my coffee came in a tiny cup and was extremely bitter. I had to ask for hot water," he explained.

Ohwkay.

Anyway, he plans on striking it out on his own and leave his current job, having sealed a lucrative deal with a supplier.

"I have reached a point where I don't want to be stuck in my job, which is becoming routine," he rationalized.

"Are you sure about your decision?" I played the devil's advocate.

"Things are going to be difficult in the coming years," I said.

At this point, I noticed he was wearing those "elevator" shoes that make him look four inches taller.

"Are you wearing those shoes again?" It was a rhetorical question, but I had to ask.

"Of course not."

"You're lying."

And then our discussion turned towards the prospects of the property and construction sectors.

Corny Cemetery

I didn't know that there is a Cemetery of Negativity somewhere in Baguio.

Ohwkay. Apparently you go there to bury your negative "feelings," ya know, instead of poking dangling dolls with needles, or sending your supposedly-significant other with roses dipped in black ink, you bury these thoughts in the Cemetery of Negativity.

Whoever came up with this corny concept deserves to be buried here...alive!

SCHUMANN: Fantasiestucke Op. 12

The legendary Argentine pianist's magnificent and sensitive reading of Schumann's Fantasiestucke Op.12. Martha Argerich presents a wonderful palette of colors and evokes a whole gamut of emotions in the listener, giving justice to this composer's difficult masterpiece.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Moving On

The coming week will be my last week at work, after only about two-and-half months since I started. Two of us will be leaving at the same time, we plan to submit our resignation letters together.

I feel a bit sad, of course. Despite the aggravations caused by a highly insensitive management, working with my colleagues has always been a blast. I will definitely miss them.

But then again, I have other things to think of, like my consultancy which I plan to take seriously from hereon. Professionally, I don't see myself growing with the company. There's just nothing for me there. Working for a company that considers its employees as "cost items" rather than as "contributors" is a recipe for disaster. I cannot work for a company that pays minimum wages to some employees and ask them to work six days a week in poor working conditions, with hardly any benefits other than the minimum prescribed by law. The high employee turnover is an indicator that the company doesn't really care much about its employees.

The cramped work spaces, the storeroom atmosphere, my China-made PC that is so dangerous because you could get electrocuted just by turning it on, and to top it all...I bring my own drinking water, for crying out loud. The list goes on and on. The so-called "clinic" is nothing but a makeshift compartment the size of a shoe box. It has a bed and a cabinet alright, but if you take a peek inside you won't see any medical supplies or any nurse on duty. It is a complete mockery of the system, obviously "for show" should labor officials happen to make an inspection on the working conditions of the employees. I refuse to believe that top management is unaware of this. The selective "blindness" is unbelievable.

The culture of inefficiency is deeply-embedded that it would probably take a lifetime to overhaul the vicious cycle of indifference and complacency. The worst part is that nothing is being done to address it.

I do not wish to be a part of this organization anymore. I have to go.

I'd treat my short stint with this company as a bad dream, nothing more.

Keynes is Back!

With governments taking the unprecedented move of bailing out large banks responsible for the financial mess worldwide, it seems like Milton Friedman's laissez-faire economics will be taking a back seat. It does seem like the government has to intervene when markets fail and avert a systemic risk.

I have serious doubts however, that the Keynesian interventionist model will work in a developing country like ours wherein the government, time and again, has proven to be highly inefficient and corrupt.

Bouncier

Haven't seen Jun and Jen for quite some time so we had dinner last night in Megamall. Our conversation always turns to how people have gotten fat (because I haven't).

Both have gotten bigger and "bouncier". I was the only one with cheeks that did not resemble an airport runway. I was wearing a tight-fitting shirt (size "small") and an even tighter shorts (joke!). We had a cholesterol-laden night courtesy of crispy pata and kare-kare generously slathered in peanut butter and fish paste. Jun and I each had 2 cups of rice. Had chocolate cake and cappuccino afterwards. And so we all vowed to resume jogging and swimming sometime in the very near future.

Power Trip

In all my years of working in the corporate world, this week has got to be the fastest turnover I have seen so far.

My boss got fired, his replacement lasted a week, and another colleague will be leaving tomorrow. Our USB ports have been disabled, internet access is limited, we have no external e-mails, cell phone calls have to be requested. The ink for the printer takes ages. The list goes on and on, I often wonder whether my office operates in the present century.

I thought I was the only one making plans of leaving. It turns out three have already preempted me. We're being squeezed dry I believe this is already deliberate and putting up with so much aggravation is not really worth it. The level of inefficiency is frigging unbelievable, it is practically accepted as the prevailing corporate "culture."

I have been able to "detach" myself from so much office politics I suspect some of my colleagues think I'm indifferent. Not at all. There's no use getting worked up every time assholes engaging in "power tripping" give you a hard time. It is just not worth it.