Tomorrow, I'll be working from my desk at the Desk.
And from the look of things (and a quick mental peek into my week's calendar), tomorrow will only be the full day I'll even be in the office because come Thursday there's an ingress for an expo the Desk is joining and then by Friday and Saturday will be the expo days proper. Still determining whether I'll be working on Sunday (another event in the wee morning) but that's still 50-50 until tomorrow when I check my emails and find out whether that'll be pushing through or not.
Today, I just came from another trip down south in Koronadal City to supervise and cover an event for the Desk. I say another because about a month ago I was also there to cover another event. Arrived about lunch-time, another hour to clear the baggage and then got home to Makati before 2pm to drop off my stuff. Checked with my boss if I could have the rest of the day off, got the affirmative and took a nap. Was awakened about 30 minutes later by a phone call from the Desk. Lost my sleep momentum so I ended up doing Desk-related stuff (press releases, liquidations, photo-editing, etc.) for the next couple of hours with the only interruption of waiting for Ikai at the apartment gate as she got home from school.
Been busy the past month with coverages of events and stuff. Good thing about it is that my airline-travel miles is racking up so probably by next year I'll be able to go on a vacation somewhere south (Bohol, Boracay, Cebu, or Davao) for free ... for Elvie and myself. All that we'll worry about then would be accommodations, food, and pasalubong stuff.
While I have no problems with traveling and doing stuff (except maybe trips to the more dangerous parts of the country), the sad part is this takes a bit of sacrifice on my part as family and personal time get to be compromised. There's no helping it as the job calls for it. I do get some leeway at times but these days, there's an oversupply of work and a lack of manpower (at least from the department where I'm attached to). To illustrate my point -- for the past four weeks, events have been averaging at two events per week and out of the four past weeks, three have seen me travel via air.
What has been nerve-wracking, more than the travel and events coverage itself, is getting budget approved and actually getting the actual cash needed produced. It's a balancing act and a juggling act rolled into one. Good thing my colleagues didn't have pending cash advances on them :P
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Part of the work I do on these coverages is to take photos for press releases.
While I have no qualms of taking photos during these events -- jostling for position with others to take the best possible shot, ordering those in the photo to pack like sardine to fit the frame, telling them to smile and cheer and jeer and shake hands and stuff -- when it comes to taking personal photos of people, places, food, and things$, I tend to have second thoughts. Unlike others who unabashedly point, click, and shoot, I think a thousand reasons before I push the shoot button.
It's more of I feel embarrassed. Nahihiya. What right do I have to whip out the DSLR and click?
It's odd. When I take photos during the Desk's events, I know I am mandated to take them. However, when the event ends, it's like I lose that authority, that swagger, to point and shoot.
This is something I need to work on. There are a lot of trips upcoming and what better way to relieve the stress of these trips than to simply take up the camera, adjust the focus, the shutter speed, the aperture, and shoot something that'll hopefully turn out a tad lovely, right?
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Every now and then though, I do get the courage to point-and-shoot. The following are some random photos taken from various places using the Android cam of my Netphone (ZTE Blade).
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| Coffee, espresso, I think, at Bag of Beans - Tagaytay |
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| Big Red Car (as my kids call it) undergoes repair to have clutch disk replaced |
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| Halu-halong isda priced per kilo at San Pedro wet market |
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| Construction at Glorietta 3. This was taken last year. |
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| Mount Mayon. Taken right after disembarking from the rear of the plane at Legazpi City. |
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| Menu board at Mogu. |
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| Christmas shoppers. Taken from the 2nd floor of SM Makati. |
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| Interiors of La Mia Taza branch in the Old Albay district in Legazpi. |
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| What I drunk and ate at La Mia Taza for dessert -- pili cappucino and a slice of their carrot cake -- after I ate ... |
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| ... the famous Pasta Pinangat at Small Talk Cafe. |
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The Tuesday post has become a Wednesday post. Sheesh. Goodnight, folks!
