on being a good citizen

I remembered today why i hadn't bothered to look at my payslips for a long time. It just depresses me each time i look at my salary and the corresponding deductions across it. My number one, and probably only, eyesore would be the tax deducted from what i worked hard for during the past two weeks. Over the past few weeks, we have been receiving announcements through emailblasts that we would no longer be receiving printed payslips (our company is pro-sustainable development) because it would be more efficient if HR jsut posts them online for us to view at our own pleasure. I was curious, so against my better judgment, i viewed my latest payslip online.

It did not depress me this time. It INFURIATED me. Who would not be furious to find out that, (in my case) aside from my regular, self-imposed deductions, i am wasting 25% of my salary on taxes that serve no particular benefit for me.

Of course, during my stint at the university both as a political science and, eventually, as a business student, i have been bombarded with tax subjects which were meant to educate and to influence me that taxes are there to support the resouces provided for me by the government. i believed that, of course. Though, even then, i already had a hard time naming those resources. Now, as a taxpayer, i am having a doubly hard time naming those resources and those benefits.

But, for fairness sake, let me count the benefits that my government should provide for me as a thank you for the taxes that i am paying:

1. Free hospitals. Most free hospitals in the Philippines stink. And admit it or not, if you have the money to pay for a private hospital, you would not want to wake up inside one of these buildings.
2. Airports. Well, NAIA is relatively better compared to those found in the provinces, but heck, i still have to pay terminal fees every time. And isn't this supposed to be covered by my taxes already?
3. Police protection. Right now, i am finding it really hard to trust the PNP. Broadcasts from 24 Oras and TV Patrol reinforce this doubt on my part everyday.
4. Roads. The last time I went home to Naga, my trip was delayed for several hours because a portion of the national road is undergoing repairs (Blame goes to the corrupt DPWH and DILG officials who pad up the budget for roads, build these roads at so much less than the construction specs, and pad up their pockets instead)
   If only they reinstate the PNR all the way to Bicol, make it better and faster, i'd shut up.
5. Power Supply. Okay, this is not currently monopolized by the government. But while the MERALCO shenanigans sadden me, the prospect of a government take-over scares me even more. Gahd, the quality of government-provided benefits!
6. Schools. This is actually one government service that I want to support, because I believe in every child's right to education. But please, if part of my earnings is being used to support the DepEd. Please, make it QUALITY education, especially for the children.
7. Military Support. I dont care about the military. Really.
8. The executive office and its cohorts. OF COURSE. Where else should these people be getting all their money.

There may be more, i am not sure. I am not even interested anymore.

So, taking my cues from all of these things, what am i to do?

1. I could stop working, and save myself from hating the government every fifteen days.
2. I could put up my own business but, to not pay taxes, it will have to be an illegal one. Hmm.
3. I could just sigh, be a good citizen (by paying my share of taxes), and enjoy spending the remaining 75% of my sweldo on other things. That will still be subjected to VAT. But heck, given that i could not afford being out of job, and i certainly cannot finance my own business, this is probably my only option.
   

For now.

meet my boys.

errr, my housemates. the annoyances i mentioned thought of mentioning in one of my previous blog posts.

these are the people who make me cry over and over again for the most petty reasons, the ones i run to during trying times, the ones who (at times) tolerate and understand my inner bitch, these are the people who i can always trust to lift my spirits each time my ego reaches an all-time low, also the ones who eat up my confidence with their incessant latik and sarcasm, the people who let me live under their roof when i abandoned mine, who let my Pasong Tamo friends use their bathroom each time their water supply gets cut off, who sometimes deplete (hehe) my budget and in return, who i trouble with unreasonable demands, the ones who put up with my perpetual sinigang craze and still willing to wait for me come mealtimes (basically because i don’t can’t eat alone and i am incapable of crossing the street by myself so the most likely probability is i’d die of starvation just because i can’t cross the street to the nearest fastfood or karinderia)

these are the same crowd i share countless of drinking and karaoke sessions with. and these people are a million other things to me.

from left:

Christian (who tolerates(?) my clutter and who occasionally buys me dinner each time i am either too lazy to go out or too scared to cross the street and who sponsored our last EK trip [SMART Family Day] where this photo was taken),

Enteng (not a housemate, but a regular guest, margarita mixer, co-blogghore, and occasional t---o daa),

Budoy (who cooks my sinigang. By the way, it’s been a while, i miss it na ..and the one who listens to my most stupid me accounts each day),

me, and

James (former former housemate, regular housemate guest housemate. i am not sure which one he is, really. but you are always welcome, noi. his face is intentionally not shown here pending his debut appearance on his blog.)

my two other housemates (Don and Bonks) who are not included in this photo will definitely be introduced in my next blog posts. with individual blown-up photos, hehe

In between clutters in my office.

I found my lost ATM card, which had kept me worried for the last 36 hours. You know, the I-don’t-care-I’ll-eventually-find-it kind of worried, not the expected omg-how-in-hell-am-I going-to-feed-myself-for-the-next-two-days kind of worried.

Which, I realized, had been my attitude when I first found out that my mobile phone was missing. Because I thought I just mistook my laptop bag for my shoulder bag and placed the phone there instead. Or because I thought that people are generally as good as me, who will return found items without as much as a second thought. (Or maybe I have yet to stumble upon a bag containing millions, for me to really say that about myself.)

Which then made me realize that I really should have been worrying and panicking already, given my propensity for losing things not biologically attached to my body. Plus the fact that, if my ATM card had indeed been lost, it will be the fourth time that I’d be applying for a card replacement (for the same account). Which will be humiliating, I am sure.

So, upon waking up late this morning, I made my decision to start looking for it. Wallet (for the seventh time)? None. Bag (for the second time today)? None. My bed? Under my bed? Jeans? Blazers? Laundry basket? None.

That eventually made up my mind to “work” on a Saturday. And yes, after a few minutes of looking under my table, in between documents and trash, I found my lost ATM. Which justifies my planned trip to the mall later. To reward myself.

And of course, I really am working on some documents for archiving. Just like what I told my boss when I informed him that I am working overtime today.

Because you asked why i never mention you in my posts.

I did mention you in one post. In fact, a significant portion of that blog was about you.

I haven’t been blogging consistently until lately.

I am usually too busy that I no longer bother to think of what to write. I just write what comes to mind.

I did not realize that my clickable status message would result to you knowing about my blog.

I-am-running-out-of-excuses.

Honestly. I did try, several times. I just did not know what to write about. Or, even if I did, I simply cannot put those thoughts on paper. The things that made and (sometimes) still make me laugh, the things that made me realize how important it is to have someone (always) beside me and not on the other side of the world, the things you said and did that make me think of better days ahead, these are big things that I cannot put on paper. Because my writing skills would not be adequate to describe all those things.

A better writer (and a better person) would perhaps be able to do justice when she tries to write about you someday.

So, there.

euphemisms for discontent (too).

Here's my actual job and workplace:

1. My deadlines are always due yesterday, even upon giving me the work assignments, which means I always have to move heaven and earth to meet the yesterday-deadlines.

2. My bosses drive me crazy everyday. The first one has an extreme case of ACDC (uh, ADHD. Not the band, hehe). My other boss’ obsession is with meetings. Where we discuss the latest in fashion, movies, and of course, the classics – ranging from music to books and to whatever he can think of to keep the meeting going.

When I was new, I used to enjoy these conversations because, aside from keeping me from doing actual work, I get to have free history and literature classes. As I was getting older with the company and tasks and assignments are also getting heavier, these meetings became something that I struggle to escape everyday.

Not that I do not like my bosses, though. Besides these things and a million others, I believe they are alright bosses. And I would not have stayed this long if I could not stand working with them. There, point number two justified.

3. Here, people are always calling me for information I do not have. Both people from here and those goddamn credit card people. I believe these are people I cannot easily get rid of, unless I decide to unplug my phone for a day. Which, of course, I will not do else I’ll be spending a considerable time everyday responding to emails from people who cannot reach me over the phone.

4. We have a reliable messenger, though. Who takes care of my bills, my bank transfers, my breakfast, lunch, and occasional Cremil-s and Mefenamic Acid from the clinic. I have an officemate who is always willing to run to the nearest Watson’s to get me a feminine pad, regardless of how humiliating it will be for him. I have my constant movie buddy, dinner buddy, kainuman, the most reliable colleague I know, who I can confidently call anytime of the day to throw tantrums at, to grant my unreasonable demands, and to listen to my endless rants about my (former) dysfunctional lovelife. And no, he is not a love interest.

5. My office has a sluggish internet connection. My yahoo messenger gets interrupted in the middle of important conversations (meaning: phone conferences discussing inuman the following night) and heated arguments (discussing the pros and cons of going to the US or anywhere out of the country for work and otherwise). These interruptions resulting to grave damage to my social life.

6. In my workplace, our pantry is otherwise known as Starbucks. And sometimes, Delifrance.

7. Financially, I can confidently say that I am not starving, though my lifestyle is still waay far from being comfortable.

This time, however, my great spending talent is not to blame. I simply want too much.

What am I doing writing all these things down? Actually, I am just reassessing myself and my decision to stay where I am right now. And I realized what I already know. That I do not have much. Am I happy? With all these annoyances? I definitely am.

Regardless of the non-air-conditioned apartment, my non-solo room, the more than occasional ipis and the now-becoming-constant cat shit on our doorstep, because my current job does not provide me much, I definitely am satisfied with the way things are. For now.

euphemisms for discontent.

This is my picture of an ideal job and workplace:

1. No deadlines to meet.

2. No bosses ordering me around, no bosses calling me every few minutes to bore me with stories about the Roman Empire and Shakespeare and Yeats and Hemmingway, when we should be discussing business processes and risks instead.

3. No phone queries about procedures I basically don’t have the slightest idea about (which I normally end up responding with let-me-get-back-to-you-in-a-few-minutes then have to undergo a fifteen-minute crash course on procurement, etc. to be able to really get back to these callers – blame it in part on my paranoia with what people are saying upon putting down their phones and in part on my uncanny inclination to people-please).

4. Fast internet connection is a must. Also, social networking sites should not be blocked, for reasons I need not elaborate here because I am sure most, if not everybody, can relate to this. YM that does not get disconnected every now and then.

5. Access to a pantry that never runs out of coffee.

6. An office where I can use earplugs without my bosses complaining, because I can’t hear them calling me. Which is essentially the idea.

7. And my payroll ATM card has to always have something in it. Though this last one will largely depend on my ability to spend or not to spend. Just happens that I have a great spending talent, so there.

one of the few times i am really proud to own something.

The plan was to look for Pratchett in Powerbooks. He was nowhere to be found.

The only Pratchett book there was “Good Omens,” which was written together with Neil Gaiman. But of course, even without that book having been written with Terry Pratchett, the probability is I already have that book.

Well.





I already have that book.


We were about to leave Powerbooks when Don spotted this:

What else should one expect me to do? Without second thoughts thinking, I grabbed the book and brought it to the cashier. What I was about to do then was to ask for another copy, since the one displayed already has creases on the front cover. I was a bit disappointed when the store assistant said that that was the only copy left of the book. So for about a split-second, I considered looking somewhere else. But, what the heck, I want that book, and I want it there and then.

So, at around four on Monday afternoon, I already have my own copy of DC’s Heroes – Volume 1.

HEROES Graphic Novel @ Wiki:

This is a list of issues of NBC's Heroes webcomic, which supplements the television drama of the same name. The comics, which NBC refers to as graphic novels, are made available on their official website each Tuesday.

Written by the show's writers and drawn by Aspen Comics, they are generally 7-9 pages long, the first page of which is always an advertisement for a vehicle made by Nissan, one of the sponsors for the series. The comics give additional character background and plot information not shown in the television episodes.

Wildstorm, a subsidiary of DC Comics released the first 34 chapters in a hardcover volume on November 7, 2007. Entitled "Volume One", the collection also includes Tim Sale's artwork as seen on the show.

The comics are available in both PDF and Flash formats; the PDF versions are linked below. The Flash versions often offer a link to a "hidden surprise", also listed below. A few also have an animated version.

I know that this page exists, though I never got the chance to read any of the episodes. Regardless, nothing beats having MY own copy, and being able to touch and read it at my own pleasure, in my own bed, even without my laptop and a working internet.