Happy Friday

#1

Went to the auto shop earlier to have the car assessed after getting into a minor accident last week. My husband accidentally hit a post while backing up from my sister’s condo’s driveway. It’s nice to finally take a step towards getting the car fixed. I mean the real first step was calling insurance to let them know and ask what to do. Which I made three days ago. So yey, that’s two action items for this claim.

#2

Left Koomi at daycare before heading to the office today. My husband has an important demo tonight and I’m going to the office so we figured he can’t be bothered when Koomi suddenly decides to poop while he’s in a call. Specially that I’m not at home.

#3

Now I’m in the office doing actual work lol.

I’m in the second day of my 16:8 fast. I’ve only had black coffee, which doesn’t break my fast and I’m looking forward to dinner.

#4

I just had dinner from Kaya. I’ve been craving for Korean food lately. Largely because I’m currently watching Crash Course in Romance, whose main character owns a banchan restaurant. I had samgyup. It was lovely.

#5

Happy that HSBC finally tagged my credit card with No Annual Fee For Life. They’ve been charging me an annual fee for two years and I kept on complaining about it. They would waive it, but whenever I escalate that I shouldn’t be getting an annual fee in the first place, they don’t seem to get it. After pestering them about it, I finally landed an agent who understood my problem. And even then, when it was routed to the correct team, they still don’t understand the issue. After a couple of emails they finally got what my problem was and found that they forgot to tag my card properly. They explained that the first time they got my application, it was denied, then a couple days later they reconsidered and missed the tagging.

You know what I learned from dealing with them? Never lay out your complain completely. Don’t give them all the details because some people cannot digest a whole story. Let them discover your issue one question at a time. I mean, I gave every single detail every single time and they always miss the point. It’s frustrating. Originally, my emails went something like this:

Hi team. Why is my card not tagged as No Annual Fee for Life? I applied on the website during the promo period Sep 1 – Dec 31 2021 (insert screenshot of promo) and got approved Dec 29 (insert screenshot of approval sms) and I’m still being charged an annual fee. Please check.

Then they would respond with something stupid like…

Hi Ms. Dave, upon checking, your card is qualified for an annual fee waiver for this year. We have waived your annual fee and it will reflect on your next billing. Annual Fees are charged to the customer to ensure that we maintain quality service blah blah blah.

It took me several calls to land an agent who understood my problem and agreed that I should in fact be tagged as NAFFL. But when it was routed to the complaints team, they responded with essentially the same message. And I had to reiterate my question, why do I not qualify for NAFFL? And that’s the only time I felt like they actually looked into my problem. I mean, what’s the point of escalating when you’re just gonna respond the same? Urgh.

Point is, I now have three NAFFL cards yey. I was gonna cut my RCBC card because it doesn’t qualify for NAFFL but they just increased my limit so we’ll see.

#6

I had a credit adjustment today due to a discrepancy in my bonus tax computation. Yey for an extra 3k, sakto I’m already broke!

Happy Weekend!

Life Lately

Reading

Still A Little Life. Slowly starting to like it. I promised to read every night before going to bed and so far that’s been helpful in getting out of the slump.

Watching

Still Crash Course in Romance. It’s fun, but not so kilig which is why I haven’t finished it yet haha.

Listening

The humming of the electric fan.

Thinking

About how to really lose weight. I’ve been avoiding rice during weekdays (although I just ate a rice dish today, sorry) but I don’t think I’m losing weight at all. In fact i think I gained weight. I’m 75kgs now oh my goodness. But I did fit into this one shirt that doesn’t usually fit me well when I gain just a little, so that’s encouraging.

There are days when I feel light. And there are days when I’m proud of myself for not forcing myself to finish my food because sayang pera. I’ve learned to listen to my body better and stop eating when I’m full. This practice has enlightened me a lot. That I don’t have an overeating problem, I have a “sayang naman” mentality. I actually don’t eat a lot, I just dont’ want to waste money. And so the law of diminishing returns comes to play.

But actually, money isn’t wasted by not finishing what I paid for. It is wasted when I don’t get the value of what I paid for. And that happens when I overstuff myself. I become full, but not fulfilled. And because I love food, I want to be fulfilled.

But of course it’s not just my appetite that’s hindering my weight loss. There’s also my slowing metabolism and my recovering knee that’s making it hard for me to overexert myself physically.’

Anyway. Slowly but surely.

Smelling

Nothing

Wishing

For good health, a new car, and a stable job.

Wearing

Pambahay shirt and shorts

Loving

My parents more than ever. I wish I could get them a car so we could drive out of town as much as we like! And I could take them to the beach, the mountains, and just spend time together in a nice bnb.

It’s my mom’s 70th birthday soon and we celebrated it early this weekend. Checked in at Novotel, had dinner at Mamou, and had breakfast together. Short and sweet. We missed staying at hotels haha. We left Koomi at Hachi Kamp for the night and I guess he was fine there. Although it would’ve been nice to have him around as Novotel is a pet-friendly hotel, we just didn’t want the hassle at least for a night.

Wanting

A car HAHA

Needing

A car for my parents

Feeling

Lazy. My other meeting got cancelled today so I’m pretty free. The project I’m automating right now seems doable but I still have some dependencies going on so I’ll take my time.

Life Lately

Ever since I said I’ll write in the format of The Sunday Currently every Monday when I’m on RTO, something always gets in the way of me writing on a Monday haha. I was on vacation leave last last Monday, and yesterday I was on sick leave so I wasn’t able to blog at all. That said I’ll just call it Life Lately and tell you all about it lol.

Reading

Nothing. Haven’t gotten back to reading recently. It’s been months. Hay.

Watching

Impractical Jokers with the husband and Crash Course in Romance by myself.

Listening

To my husband on a meeting. He’s been on edge these days because of a big project.

Thinking

About how to save the bonus I’ll be receiving soon. To be honest I was hopeful about the amount but it didn’t turn out as great as I expected. Last year I got the same rating and was awarded a 5% increase which was awesome, and now with the same rating I only got a 2% increase.

The performance bonus was great though. My target bonus is 10% of my annual salary and I hit maybe 97% of that so that’s cool. However, there was no additional bonus this year, compared to last year where they gave an extra 2% lump sum across the board. Oh well. This just means I need to save better.

Smelling

Our ulam which is chicken and bokchoy in oyster sauce which I ran out of, so I substituted it with Hainanese Chicken sauce which is pretty much the same.

Wishing

For a productive year at work. One that will give me security. Cos I really don’t know what will happen to me in this company.

Wearing

Pambahay shirt and shorts

Loving

The prospect of the coming weekend? We’ll be celebrating my mom’s birthday. I just booked a hotel staycation for the family. It’s her 70th so I want it to be special. My mom is very simple, she doesn’t ask for anything but I know she appreciates the fine things in life. All she wants is family time. Hopefully we’ll get a nice dinner and also shop a little hehe. Wish I could give her a car but I can’t afford it!

Wanting

To save better this year and really recover from all the spending I did last year and finally get back on track to funding my MP2, GoTrade, and digital banks.

Needing

To get back to church. I have my doubts, but I miss the community.

Feeling

A bit depressed about the knee situation. I’m 8 months post-op and I’m not getting the ROM that I want. I will be consulting this week to see if it’s a good option to have my scar tissue removed. Maybe it’s what’s hindering my progress. Maybe. I’m having doubts with my surgeon but hopefully he’s skilled and experienced enough to know what’s wrong with me. Hay Lord.

Today to the tune of The Sunday Currently

I used to write a series called The Sunday Currently almost a decade ago and realized why don’t I do it every Monday or whenever I’m in the office doing nothing? Yeah so that’s what I’m hoping to do from now on… cos you know, I’ve been looking for a proper format for my regular brain dumps, and the items from The Sunday Currently are great for weekly blogging prompts.

Today is a Friday but I’m in the office so let’s do this.

Reading

Still A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get to finish this book. It’s so slow and dragging, and while I’ve cried a lot in my 56% of progress, I still couldn’t find time to finish it. Definitely not a page turner. I tried starting other books but I get stuck because I couldn’t bear not finishing a current read before starting a new one. Argh. A Little Life killed my reading mojo.

Watching

Just finished watching Avatar: The Last Airbender by Netflix. Yeah, the live action one. So now my husband and I are back to bingeing Impractical Jokers. I think we’re on Season 5.

Thoughts on Avatar?

Effects and cinematography is good. Music is great as well. Casting is 50/50. Acting is 50/50. Too many newbies playing their biggest roles for the first time. Overall I’d give it a 7/10 just because I keep getting distracted by the casting. Especially Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula. What is up with their faces? Seriously. Couldn’t get a better looking artist?

And Yue? It’s difficult to take the moon seriously when it looks like Gaga. But Mai? My was she hard to look at. Such strong (negative) impact for what little exposure they had.

I mean I know they’re beautiful naturally but they’re a cosplay mismatch. Sorry not sorry.

And finally, what’s the point in making Oma and Shu gay? It doesn’t add anything to the story. Netflix likes to pander I know but this is just lazy. If they wanted representation, Kyoshi is gay, if it’s worth mentioning in the series.

Listening

My current focus music is ’10s Metal on Youtube Music

Normally I listen to Rainy Jazz or Cafe Music but when I’m really busy I find myself focusing better to metal music.

Thinking

About how to really be disciplined in losing weight. I can never control myself when it comes to food. I always always overeat, then regret later. It’s always inspiring seeing people heavier that I am lose weight in only a few months just by following LCIF (Low Carb, Intermittend Fasting) and OMAD (One Meal a Day). Things I’ve already done before, not simultaenously though. But for the life of me I cannot seem to conquer them right now. It’s too mental for me. And my mind is weak.

I used to be able to fast 16:8. It’s easy as long as you get a lot of sleep.

I’ve tried OMAD before and it’s easy if you’re always busy because then you don’t have time to eat. OMAD right now is a mental challenge for me. I have to constantly remind myself that I won’t die if I don’t eat in a day.

You know what, I want to occupy myself too much that eating becomes a chore. But I enjoy food so much so I don’t know how to deal haha.

Smelling

Nothing striking in this part of the office.

Wishing

We’d get to the compensation discussion soon. It’s the only thing that excites me right now lol.

Wearing

My RTO “uniform” which is a blue floral blouse that’s getting tighter already, denim leggings, sneakers, and my husband’s jacket because I don’t fit in my jackets anymore huhu.

Loving

Mary Grace’s salmon dish. I forgot what it’s called. It has a dill cream cheese sauce, couscous and side salad. Love it.

Wanting

Needing

To get my knees fixed sooner. I am progressing. I know I am. My range of motion has improved. I can walk down the stairs better now. And I can play badminton for 2 hours straight when weeks ago I need to rest in between.

But its still not enough. I still couldn’t Indian sit. I still couldn’t Asian squat. I still couldn’t frog kick. I still couldn’t hug my legs. I’m still very limited and it sucks.

Part of my wants to go through another surgery to remove the scar tissues if that’s the only thing holding me back right now.

Feeling

Excited about this weekend!

Meetings

I have four meetings tonight…

1. One to get automation use cases.
2. Another where I just listen in for the most part.
3. A one-on-one with our solutions architect which happens monthly.
4. And finally a meeting to discuss how we are to align our automation efforts in light of the recent reorg.

I’m scared for meeting #1 because even though I asked for this meeting, I’m not sure how I can help and if I can handle their requests at all. I was just being proactive looking for more work lol.

On top of that I’m suddenly busy with my other project because techops has completed my SP request so I have to work on the script quickly in order to have it tested by tomorrow.

Meeting #4 also makes me anxious because I seriously just wanna be told what to do and I might not have any valuable input when it comes to the governance side of things. Part of me wants all the requests to go to the other team, then assign some to me. That way I won’t have to look at the requirements so much and just focus on dev.

Oh well.

Let’s do this.

Whew.

Today

It’s RTO day today. Currently in the office wasting time. I feel hungry but I don’t know what to eat. I hate that they removed the concessionare in our pantry. Didn’t really wanna go out to get snacks. But I’ve been craving Filipino food a lot lately. so I’ll probably eat rice again.

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Just got back from dinner. Had Pepper Lunch. I think it’s the first time I ate there? I got Beef Pepper Lunch which was so freaking hot it burned my tongue. I mean they were proud of their sizzling plates for being able to retain heat for up to 20mins, but I didn’t think it would be this good? Or bad for me.

I had dessert at Krispy Kreme. Got iced Americano and Apple Pie Crumble donut? The donut was okay, not too sweet, not too apple pie-y either.

I have my period today so my abdomen’s kinda acting up. I wanted to get a massage but didn’t want to be out too long.

I’ve been spending so much money lately in anticipation of my husband’s bonus lol. I thought I could hold off on shopping but I get blinded by my multiple small purchases. I thought I wasn’t spending so much. Will deal with the pile later this week lol. Hopefully.

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I’m really feeling very lazy today. I just want to finish watching Avatar, continue my KDrama, and maybe get 5 minutes of Kindle reading.

How to survive on just one income

I told my husband last night that if I get fired he’ll be shouldering all our household liabilities in the meantime so we tried to compute how that’s gonna work and realized we’re not gonna be able to live as comfortably on his salary alone.

This is a reminder for us to adjust our standard of living.

Here’s how it works in our home. All of my earnings go to the household. Rent, parking, utilities, grocery, gym membership, gas, insurance, subscriptions, mortgage, financial support, emergency fund, stocks, and a sinking fund used for car and home maintenance. His earnings on the other hand, we split to ourselves as our personal allowance.

And it’s been great. Our allowance affords us to buy whatever we want. Normally we spend it on food, shopping, and recently on Koomi (which we didn’t expect cost a lot to maintain haha). We’re very comfortable this way. And if his salary increases, our allowance increases too.

However, I just realized that if one of us loses our job, we need to be able to live off on whoever’s income remains. If my husband loses his job, we’ll surely be able to live off of my income because it already pays for everything. We won’t have a personal allowance though, but that’s not a necessity anyway. It will be tight but at least our lifestyles won’t be compromised too much.

If I lose my job though, we need to reasses out budget and cut down on other stuff because he earns less. It’s gonna be difficult. We probably need to quit the gym, stop the financial support we give to my parents, reduce our grocery budget, and stop saving for a while. That’s gonna be so hard considering I couldn’t imagine lowering our standard of living lol. It’s not even like we live glamorously. We’re just comfortable, but not rich.

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Oh well. I’m just getting anxious about possibly losing my job because I’m not doing much at work.

It’s frustrating because the whole reorg made everyone busy aligning their current teams, and I don’t belong in a team, so nobody really checks on me. Even the one who’s supposed to be my acting manager doesn’t seem to care. She’s probably too busy. I need to scour for work if I want to stay because nothing will get funneled to me without proper management. Everybody is doing their own thing and I have to keep myself busy. At least prior to the reorg, I had a manager and a team who can join me in calls and listen in to the request. But right now I have no one.

I hate that I have to be proactive because I usually never have to be because there’s always work waiting for me. But now, nadda! I’m scared.

Please pray for my job security.

I want to get a new car lol.