Stories

I will do something I have seen on the net. A chain letter to myself. To my younger self. To my older self. A series. An art of writing. A reflection. A projection. Lessons learned. Planning for the future. Anticipating the best and worst. Guessing the unpredictable. Writing. Will begin now.

And somebody from the government wants UP protesters to apologize to Butch Abad. And that's funny, right? Law of reciprocity? thief from the government is laughing when they got those billions of money so we should laugh at them when they are ridiculed and shouted at in an ambush protest in UP. Kulang pa nga yung ginawa sa kanya. Sa Ukraine nga tinapon sa basurahan.

Wake Me Up When September Ends ( Greenday) Summer has come and passed The innocent can never last Wake me up when September ends Like my father's come to pass Seven years has gone so fast Wake me up when September ends Here comes the rain again Falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again Becoming who we are As my memory rests But never forgets what I lost Wake me up when September ends Summer has come and passed The innocent can never last Wake me up when September ends Ring out the bells again Like we did when spring began Wake me up when September ends Here comes the rain again Falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again Becoming who we are As my memory rests But never forgets what I lost Wake me up when September ends Summer has come and passed The innocent can never last Wake me up when September ends Like my father's come to pass Twenty years has gone so fast Wake me up when September ends Wake me up when September e...

Yes the temperature and humidity are gradually decreasing. But it is still very hot here in Dammam. Or our body just adjusted to the extreme weather? Well thanks God it is "ber" month here and elsewhere and I can smell and sense Christmas even in this part of the world. Thanks be to God that some periods like the one we have hurdled here in Middle East is little by little coming to its stabilized state. But wait did you say colder? Oh my..I have forget that it is really extreme here that the swing will be on the far left and the temperature will drop as much as 5 degree in the coming months. Welcome again my jacket!

Last week I have filed my vacation leave and unfortunately two of the highest manager did not approved it. And I was sad. However a turn of event just happened today. I have approached PGM this morning and explained my vacation leave-dates. And he said that he will permit me if it will not overlap other Filipino in the Admin for more than a week. And so I have edit my vacation form and make it sure that only 7 working days will overlap but I will come back here on December 29. And he said "you don't want to spend new year in the Philippines?" I said "of course sir I want to spend the new year at home"! So he said that I should edit and adjust the date so that it will be exactly 30 day-vacation leave that will cover the Christmas and New Year! Thanks be to God! And my paper is in Jeddah now for processing. I will be in the Philippines tentatively on December 3 up to January 3.

Photos above: Last week at Alshatea Mall where we went for a cup of coffee in Starbucks and heavy dinner at the third floor. Thanks God there are malls in Dammam! Photos below: Last Friday in Rashid Mall in Khobar where we looked for some shoes and anything worth buying ( but not buying now - maybe later) and had our dinner at the third floor ( also ) and I have ordered lasagna and it was perfectly good! I have noticed here in Saudi that most of the employees in the restaurant and fast-food chains are Filipinos! so nakakapagtagalog kami sa pag-order hahahaa!!

This day is just an ordinary  day. But wait sometimes upon reflection an ordinary day just come out as a very good day! This morning I have come to our PGM as I always do when something is not very clear to me. I have seek his approval and opinion regarding some issues about some data and documentation pertaining to the plant's take-over. It's good to know his opinion and he is a very good in decision-making and in giving his best options in a certain issue. And he even make the "common comment" - a " very good". This night upon browsing the facebook feeds I have seen some photos and copied them in my computer. Some caught my attentions like the photo above and I have remember those moments when I have to decide whether to accept or not the contract here in Saudi. And I have choose my power of freedom to sign and here I am in the desert. And at first I think I have regretted it but now I can fully say I did not and I am very grateful that I am working...

The plant is on the verge of fully operational. Almost all are so busy doing everything to patch up and clear all systems so that the mighty structure will be on its full capacity. I think we are running on 2700MW and a short of 1000MW to its full potential. I think one block is still not online. But eventually it will and we will take over the plant. And as of now I am so busy too doing the documentation and the follow-ups of whatever things that the owner and the contractor have missed. And hopefully by December it will be a "OK" scenario. And I have filed my vacation leave yesterday. The second in command said that he will allow me but of course with the approval of the first in command. So this day our HR ( a Filipino too) followed up and I was trapped. They do not want us to be absent on December. They need our presence either one of us ( the HR) on this year. And poor me the HR has already filed and has been approved. He promised me that he will try his best to co...

-"And my wife will ask me tomorrow regarding the outcome of this rerun meeting about these SODC's".. - And we burst into laughter. He had a good sense of humor in this time of almost-done project status. Mr Brady led the meeting between the "owner", the "contractor" and the "operator". And we are the operator. The contractor is a Korean company and the owner is a local electricity company. This is the second meeting after two weeks. And we will have a follow up meeting every other week until everything is done. I am one of the representative from our company to attend the meeting though we are only there as an observers but  I am somehow happy since what they are discussing are from my reports which collected from our section heads. I see to it that some processes are executed and turn some data into an organized reports that will be forwarded to the contractors for their necessary actions. Last week the atmosphere is somehow different....

Some days are normal some days are unusual. Some weeks are the same just like the month before but sometimes some weeks has its distinction. There are times that define us some days are just passing by. Some days are just like a Sunday here in Dammam that I have to make some effort to wake up because it is the start of the work-week. And some days are just like any Thursday where we all know that it is the last day of the week working in our plant in Qurayyah. Some days are just like the passing of the sun literally. It will hurt us the most especially the hot weather but nevertheless it is needed to pass and cross another day. Some days are just like night that we have to sleep all days to compensate to the lost hours of sleep during the weekends. Life in Saudi Arabia. Wonderful and sometimes strange. Some nights are so strange too. This evening ( late afternoon maybe) after we have arrived from the plant we were amazed by the fact that there was no electricity in our flat. Imagin...