Ever watch an episode of the Powerpuff Girls where the mayor calls them on the hotline saying there's an emergency, so they fly out to go to his office only for him to ask them to open his pickle jar? Well we sort of have a guy like that in the office in which he can't do anything.

Yesterday this guy calls me in the morning while I was home asking me (in a condescending tone) "Where are you? We're waiting for you?" This guy only wanted me to give him one of our devices that are stored in a cabinet in the office. Sheesh! You need the CTO to open a cabinet for you? Man is this guy inept. Of course he is one of those defective Japanese that I've been talking about.

If I had the power of the Powerpuff Girls and this guy calls me for some mundane thing like that, instead of helping him I'd pound him into the ground. Now I feel better.

Last Tuesday was a "Murphy" day for me. Forces out of my control were ever so pushing "Murphy's Law" on me (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong). It started with me not going to work. I just didn't feel up to it so I stayed home. Normally this would be a good thing since my home, my room in particular, is my haven. Too bad I had to step out of it.

I accompanied Tito during the afternoon to pick up a prescription at Cardinal Santos. We ended early and decided to go to the Pancake House right across the badminton court and kill time there. So far so good. Wolfing down my order and enjoying it was the last good thing to happen that day. During that meal, we got an SMS from Jay saying that Capone's wanted us to play acoustic. Great! That was our only full-band gig and now they made it acoustic. Back to the cajon. I look forward everyweek to Tuesdays only for the sole reason that I get to play drums. Fine! I'm a pro.

At the court my game wasn't going very well. Shots that I'd normally ace I was missing. Bad. It was so frustrating that there were several instances where I wanted to throw my racket. Normally I'd shrug something like that off but for some reason that day I was affected by it. Getting mad only made my game even worse. Step away.

Hit the shower and get ready for Capone's. As I check my clothes for the gig I see that I didn't pack my pants! Crap! I was supposed to be wearing them already from the office so I didn't pack it in my badminton bag. Panic! Tito and James were kidding me to wear shorts to Capone's. I actually thought about it but thought otherwise because of the Cajon. Good thing I have friends that live near by. I ended up borrowing Art's pair of jeans (they actually fit better on me than my own, must remember the size and the cut....).

At Capone's everything is just fine. Nothing untoward. So I thought that's it. My bad luck is over. Ha! As Tito dropped me off at my place I realized I didn't bring my keys! And the hits keep rolling on! I was locked out of my place at four in the morning. Luckily my brother was still awake and I got him to open the door. Man that day sucked. I told my self to just head straight to bed and go to sleep. God-for-bid something else happens.

A close friend of my just passed away. We've been close for only two years but they were fun. We'd play badminton together and we complemented each other perfectly. Alas, last week during one of our games I could see that my friend was having a hard time keeping together. And so that night my friend passed away. I'll miss those badminton shoes.

Sound plays a huge role in my life. Yeah sure it does with everyone but in my case I make a living out of it. This month I decided to splurge a little and indulge in a few things that make noise..

I bought my computer a new sound card, THX certified Audigy 2 ZS. What this does is give my computer great sound for DVDs and for gaming (the main reason I got it). Mainly bought it out of gadget itch but it's a great addition to my computer.

The other thing I got myself is a "U2 Special Edition" iPod. I've been wanting an iPod for a while now and have saved enough to get myself one. I got a good deal too. Bought it off a friend (thanks Rico) for really cheap. Got it all new, sealed and waiting for me to fill it up. Couldn't wait and bought a case, headphones and a black iTrip for it already. I did want the 40gb version originally but the price, autographs and the color of the U2 version got me (black and red). Besides that, I'm a U2 fan.

So now I'm happy. I can also say I'm officially poor as I just blew my savings on these things. Oh well. Must gig more. Must gig more. Must gig more..............

My blog posts that I send through mail aren't getting through. GRRRRR!!!! I think my office email account is suspect. Crap! Another office related item that doesn't work properly.

"Should I stay or should I go?" Who would have thought that the clash's song would contain words of wisdom? For the past few weeks those lyrics have been echoing in my head mainly because of my current job.

I am currently employed as the Chief Technical Officer of this small Japanese company called Kuni Philippines, Inc. We're only very few in the office and the population is dominated by the Japanese. My dilemma stems from their work practices and their ethics. When I got into the company I thought I'd revel in the Japanese culture (I have and probably will always be fascinated by it), and to a certain extent I did. When you hear about the Japanese you normally would think the following: hi-tech, traditional, honorable, efficient, practical. However, the Japanese I work with I think are defective. The ones I work with don't meet all those qualities. In fact some of them don't meet any. Now add to the fact that I have to work with them makes it more annoying.

Being annoyed by people shouldn't be enough to leave your job (sometimes it is but not in this case). When those traits that those people lack affect the way the company moves then that causes a problem. I'll give examples. We have office policies that are put in place to ensure an efficient work flow. These policies are strictly enforced on most of us Filipinos but, when it comes to the Japanese everything is thrown out the window. For some reason or another they'll justify why it's ok to break the rules. Next is something of a personal slight to me. I'm Chief Technical Officer. That's pretty much a heavy rank. I'm ranked on the company organizational chart as an equivalent as some of the Japanese of the company. However, since I'm Filipino, my moves or decisions always have to be checked by a Nihonjin. I can be overruled by a "no-rank" person simply because he's Japanese, regardless if he knows anything or not. See what I'm getting to? But it gets better. I don't earn that much too! Ha!

Why haven't I left then? Because I liked this job. I took it because of the promise of what it could be. The work was something that I truly enjoyed. It was a job the challenged my tech knowledge. It got me to work hard, of my own free will too! And these same Japanese people who are defective are also nice people. Out of work they're cool. That's why I have this dilemma of leaving (not to mention no where to go to at the moment).

Since work resumed after the New Year break I've been more and more reluctant to come in. I still work to the best of my abilities but it's getting harder and harder to drag myself out of bed to come in. To add insult to injury, yesterday my office chair broke (insert lose weight jokes here). It's a sign telling me to get out of here. Maybe I'll tempt the fates.

Happy new year everyone! I'm back from a long bout of procrastination. I should have written in sooner as I have much to say. I've even forgotten to tell you about the few things that happened before the new year but I'll probably skip those.

Right now I'm at the office and I'm still feeling lazy. The new year hasn't renewed my drive to work harder at this company. In fact, truth be told I'm even lazier.