Just got back yesterday from our 2 week vacation.
A week in Kansas to visit Tracy’s folks,
And a week in Florida to check it out, before our big move.

I will put up some pictures as soon as everything gets settled.
Also some of our experiences. Both good and bad.

Got to go back to do some more packing.

Once upon a time,
the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a wasteland.
Parliament determined,
“Someone may steal from it at night.”
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.

Then Parliament wondered,
“How does the watchman do his job without instruction?”
So they created a planning department and hired two people,
one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies.

Then Parliament said,
“How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?”
So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people.
One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Parliament asked,
“How are these people going to get paid?”
So they created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
then hired two people.

Then Parliament said,
“Who will be accountable for all of these people?”
So they created an administrative section and hired three people,
an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Parliament said,
“We have had this command in operation for one year
and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost.”

So they laid off the night watchman.

__________________________
Sad but true.

PS: Time for us to unwind and relax.
be back in two weeks.

We went to the Doctor’s again.
Because Tyler has these rashes all over his body.
Though on a good note,
his fever is gone, and he is pretty much back to his normal playful self.

So, when we got there,
there was this kid and his Mother by the waiting area.
The kid was playing with the toys and the Mother was reading the magazines.

As Tracy and Tyler sat down,
Tyler noticed the kid and smiled at him.
That’s how sweet my son is.
He is always happy.
Always acknowledges everyone with a smile.

Then as I was about to sit down,
That other kid, came up to to Tyler,
leaned over at him and screamed loud.
Loud enough to scare my son.
Then as I was about to say something,
this kid hit Tyler on his head.
I mean, right smack on the side of it.

So, I was like, “What the hell?”
Then his Mother, who was talking to her kid in French,
took the kid away from Tyler,
and I picked my son up, crying.
My poor son.
All he did was smile at somebody.

Then the Mother said,
“He only just wants to play.”

I said, “Play?,
He hit him on the head!!
What kind of a play is that?”

I stood there, the kid looked up at me,
listening to his Mother, all scared.
I think because he knew that I was pissed and staring at him too.

I was trying to make eye contact with the Mother,
but she won’t look at me.
She picked up their stuff and left.
they left without even seeing the Doctor.

What did I do?
I followed them.
The lady was French, and I didn’t know what to say.
Luckily, I worked with two amazing French people, Sylvain and Ray,
that I understand some of it.

So, what did I say?
Since she was walking away fast, and I think she knew I was still staring at her.
I just said,
“You need to control your kid, Tabarnak!”
(I should have learned more French, Sly.)

I was so mad, the nurses at the office were staring at me.

Let me clear something up though.
I was not mad at the kid.
He was just a kid.
He only does what he was taught or what they see.

I was mad at the mother.
Firstly, As a parent, you know how your kid acts around other people or kids.
I am sure this was not the first time it happened,
and she should have been more aware or cautious of what her kid would do.

Secondly, the kid was not alone.
So he feels comfortable enough to hit some other kid,
while his parents are around him.
That is just not right.

and Thirdly,
Not even a single word of “Sorry”
Neither in English nor in French.
(I understand enough French to figure out “I’m sorry”)

I guess, since Tyler was the one who got hurt,
we were supposed to assume and understand that they were sorry?
What if they were not?
What if the lady comes home to her Husband (or partner)
and says..
“Hey! Our kid smacked someone again upside the head.
Good thing I pulled him right away before he hurt his hand.”

Another thing I would like to add.
One of the things that pisses me the most,
is being hit on the head.
I hate it.
I really hate it.
Even if it was just a playful joke.
I always lose my temper.
Always.
To me, being hit on the head is an insult.
Did I mention that I hate it?

So, it’s another one of those,
“You-know-what-to-do, but-you-just-can’t-do-it” kinda situations.
God, I love those.

Anyway.
The Doctor saw Tyler
and he said that the rashes are a sign of the virus getting out of him.
He said that Tyler is getting well.
That’s good.
Now I can be a little less worried.

All I hope now is for Tyler not to remember
his first taste of senseless violence.

I always wondered where would the longest road be.
Where you would feel both anxiety and eagerness
to reach your destination.

Is it the Trans Canada Highway?
Is it the desert highway in China?
Is it the Highway Tunnel in Norway?

No.

I have found it.
I have found the longest road.

First let me tell you this,
My son Tyler has been sick for three days now, with a burning fever.
He vomits everything he eats and you could tell he is not feeling well,
and totally miserable.

So Tracy and I decided to bring him to the hospital.

And there my friends, is where I found the longest road.
Where it feels like you were never going to get there.

Now, I realized, there is also one other road that concerns me.
Tyler’s road to recovery.

Thanks to Mike W. for hosting my site,
until our relocating ordeal is done.

The Photos would still be off line,
But the songs under “Chorus” should be working.

Of course, the “adlibs’ would still be updated.

Why? Where? and When? are the questions I get the most.
I don’t want to jinx it, but here goes,

Where? – Florida.
When? – Very soon.
Why? – Because I can’t bitch and complain my whole life.

Just like what Dr. Phil said:
“If you want it to happen, you got to make it happen.”

God, I hate that man!!!

The other night I had a dream.
It was all kinda blurry,
but one thing I do remember,

I was in a restaurant, having dinner with people I don’t even know.

I was feeling kinda bummed out about everything.
You know, just one of those feelings where,
nothing ever goes right
and something always seem to turn out wrong.

I always thought that life wasn’t fair,
and it just seems that you go through life more frustrated.

So, in my dream, I went to the restaurant’s washroom for a tinkle.
As I do my business, looking down (as you do),
I heard these two men enter.

The first guy was assisting the other, holding his arm.
And then I recognized who the other person was.

Out of excitement, I shouted “T-BONE?” “T-BONE WALKER?”

T-Bone Walker, The Godfather of Blues.

I am not very familiar with his songs,
but I know him from my guitar magazine collections.

He said, “Yup. you got that right, sonny boy. I don’t get recognized that often.”

As he uses the urinal beside me,
(and I did not mind the “One urinal space rule” between men in the washroom)

I said, “Are you kidding? you are one of the pioneers of Blues guitar!”

He smiled, and said,
“You know, I did not make it rich, or very popular.
The benefits of my career are far long gone.
But one thing I should tell you,
It was one hell of a ride. Oh yeah, I lived it to the fullest.
I am very happy. No regrets.
You gotta live it too.”

Then he smiled, and left.
Then I woke up.

How bizzare was that?
And why T-Bone Walker?

Then I realized, that when I write an email to my friends,
I sometimes sign it as TBONE, or TMAN.

And what an advice.
I guess someone, or something is trying to send me a message.

“Life” is what you make it.
No one is going to live it for you.

But you know what really made me happy?
As much as I was amazed that T-Bone Walker talked to me,
Good thing we didn’t shake hands.

—————————-
“Let your hair down, baby, let’s have a natural ball/
‘Cause when you ain’t happy, life ain’t no fun at all.”
– T-Bone Walker, “T-Bone Shuffle”
—————————–

So the power is back up.
And we are seeing the crisis on TV for the first time.
Wow, Here I am complaining about the inconvenience,
when thousands of people are in much worse situations.

But what bothers me is that some people, who did not go through this ordeal,
Has the guts to rub it in, like the bastards that they are.

Just like this guy from Quebec, called in on a radio station,
Saying:
“Well, I am enjoying all the lights around me,
and I am glad I went to the gas station before
all the people from Ontario came here”.

And this other guy who boasted about his 5,000 Watt generator, that he bought,
And announces how he enjoys his air conditioned home,
with food to eat, and a nice comfortable bed to sleep in.

Come on, do you really have to do that?

So anyway,
since the power was back on, I thought, I could go abouts my normal life.

I tried to go and have my windshield repaired,
I called the repair place and told them about my car and asked them how much it would cost,
So they said:
“Even though you will try to claim it on your insurance,
you still need to come up with $300 for
the deductible, then we bill your insurance the rest.”

Fine, since I am selling my car, I need to get this done.

But as I got to the bank machine, They were all closed, due to yesterday’s
power failure.
So I went inside, and this guy stopped me like I was the Unabomber,
He said,
“What transactions are you going to do Sir?
All we could do are deposits and Withdrawals.”
I thought, “Well that’s good, because you are a bank. That’s what banks do.”

So I went in and hoping all would go well inside,
As the Bank teller asks me, “Can I help you Sir?”
I said “Yes, I need to withdraw $300 please.”
“Oh, I am sorry Sir, we could only give out $200.” She answered.

Oh man, I thought I was going to lose it right there.

So she recommended that I go to their other branch which was
miles away to get that extra $100.
So the fool that I am, I was like,
“Sure, as my trip there alone would cost me $100 in gas
Not to mention a whole new break job for all the stop lights are still flashing red”.

But when I was driving, I noticed that most of the stoplights were not working,
So I thought I’d be smart to just go home, and just do this some other day.
I got home, and called the repair shop and asked them if they were open tomorrow (Saturday)
and told them my predicament.

The Guy said, “Really?
I was just at another bank and I had no problems.”

Since I really wanted to get this done, I asked him where it was,
and I surely went there, and I was able to get enough money.

So I drive to the repair shop, and told them:
“Hi, I just called a while ago about the windshield on my car.”
They said,
“Oh yeah, but I have none of that windshield in stock,
come back on Monday or Tuesday.”

As I literally feel my hair falling out from stress,
I just clenched my fist, and went straight home.

Now I have made this conclusion,
With the cascading effect of my bad luck,
it only means my life is back to normal.

And another thing I realized,
There is always something good that happens in a day.

Today, Tyler is 10 months and 1 day old,
He started walking.
On his own,
Unassisted.

Makes me feel proud.

—————————-
Nothing is all wrong.
Even a clock that has stopped running is right
twice a day. ~~ Anonymous
—————————–

You have a Power Blackout Story?
Where were you when the lights went out?

As you all know, most of Northeastern U.S and Ontario Canada,
had a power blackout that lasted for hours.

The Great Power Blackout.
The Power Crisis.
The Eastern Interconnect Grid Failure.

Great names!

Back home in Manila,
We call it,
“Daily Routine”

Come to think of it,
I had most of my guitar training whenever there was a power outage back home.
Me and my cousins would grab our guitars and sit by our fence, facing the river.
My uncle with his nightly coffee, singing with us.
Then when the power comes back on,
Everybody would shout,
“May Kuryente na!!” (The power’s back),
Then we would all rush inside and have a snack.
(sighs) Good times. Good times.

Anyway,
Yesterday was a crazy day for us too,
on top of us, hating the power blackout.

First, since we are having some relocation issues,
our dog has to stay with a different family,
which pretty much bummed us, for days.

Then while we were driving,
Of course it was pretty stressful since none of the traffic lights were working,
Tracy noticed a huge crack on my windshield.
I didn’t even notice.
I heard a crack while I was driving a couple of days ago,
But I thought it was just a small ding.

Why did this happen?
I’ll tell you why.
Because I am going to sell my car. (Another relocation issue)
And I am trying to get it certified.
Since money is pretty tight,
My freakin’ bad luck struck again,
Pointing at me and laughing.
“Selling your car eh? Take this !!!! Bwahahhahaaaa!!”

So that bummed me out even more.

Then when we got home,
Tyler was so fussy,
Because it was hot, and he’s very sleepy.
We opened all the windows, trying to get him to sleep.
But nooooo, of course all our neighbors,
Decided to have a barbecue party at 10:30 at night,
With all their kids screaming, running around like always,
Bouncing their basketballs, shooting their water guns,

So it’s either I go out there and slap them until next payday,
I just played it cool and gave them the “eye”,
while closing the windows,
shaking my head.

As I do this, one of the Mother’s saw me, (The nosey one”¦ oh wait, they all are),
And she said a loud “Hello” with an enthusiastic face.

Since, I’m a nice guy, I didn’t tell her what I was really thinking.
All I said, was “I have to close the windows, We’re trying to get my son to sleep”.
Then she just looked away from me, pretending she didn’t hear a word I said.

What I was really thinking was,
“Why don’t all of you, and your “tard” kids shut the hell up!
Now we have to close our windows and suffer the heat, because you inconsiderate
orcs won’t shut your mouths!!

Good thing I only thought of it.

I better be careful, sometimes I can feel it about to leave my mouth.