Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Adieu, until we meet again....

Its been awhile since I wrote and I was meaning to write but I wanted to be a little less sad about what happened, but still sad all the same.



Last week, while I was talking to a friend where I used to work, she mentioned that a friend of mine had passed away. More than the passing away was the the sadness at how they found out she had passed away. I won't say the details, but I guess that's the way of the world sometimes. We get so caught up in our own world that we forget that there are other "worlds" that matter just as well.



Ms. Babes, I will really really miss you. I won't say good bye because I know that we will see each other again, but adieu, until we meet again, in the next life time.



I met her during my first year where I used to work. Back then, I wasn't doing a lot of substitute teaching so they thought I would work under the president of the school as one of her "minions" (hehehe). There I was with Jesiel (who's now in Dubai), Christine (who's now in the US) and me. Usually, I was given responsiblities as well as helping out Jesiel when I can. That was when I met Ms. Babes or Ms. Baby as they call her. For me, she was Ms. Babes with her distinctive laugh and her huge smile. She worked as an editor. She went through different kinds of papers, from research abstracts, to books, to write ups for the school to procedures or rules. She never ran out of work to do. Usually, she would go to work around 9 am and then have lunch at her house and then come back in the afternoon. Sometimes, we would eat lunch together. Back in the day, I would usually eat lunch around 11 am to avoid the rush when everyone else would be at the cafeteria too. I learned a lot of from her, what she used to do, her passion and most of all, her generous nature. Once, Jesiel and I went to her house so Jesiel could help her out in setting up her computer. She was a freelance writer and wrote about different kinds of subjects. I'm not much of a writer, in fact, I hate writing, if it has something to do with work. After that, she would sometimes invite me over to her house (she lived within Admiral Village) and we'd have snacks. I remember going to her house one time in the afternoon. We went out together to buy Coke, she knew my soda addiction. I met her adopted cats and her helper. But I knew that her helper didn't stay with her for awhile, she had to go home.



Through my sporadic visits to her house, I learned a lot about her. Her patience, her funny experiences, like going to Mexico in the 1970s I think and drinking the water there, her subsequent relationship and even her cooking. She invited me once, I think it was around November, and she made "bico" which I really appreciated. She also made binignit and all kinds of delicacies. I was really touched by her generosity and that is what I will remember most about her. When I was almost going into my thesis writing, I jokingly told her that I would ask for her help when it came to editing my work. I know she wouldn't have said no if I asked for her help.



This year, I saw her several times in the cafeteria in the mornings and once, she even visited me in Munich and asked about our research. I think the last time I saw her was around February, when I submitted my research and I told her that I was resigning. She asked me why, I told her I was going to go into practicum. I won't say what her last advice was to me, but its something that I will remember. I hope I can do it, but if I can't, I hope she won't get too annoyed with me. But I know she won't, she's far too kind.



I will miss you Ms. Babes, your smile and especially the way you laugh, its so real and what a laugh should be. I hope you are happier where you are now and one day, I will join you there. And when I do, I hope we get to enjoy the same food that you served that long ago day in November.



Adieu Ms. Babes, until we meet again....





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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Burning the Midnight...errr...early morning oil

When I was younger, I would usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10 pm. Then when I started graduate school, I would sleep 11 or 11:30 pm so I could have time to read and study. And then, when I left my job, I started sleeping 12 MN and now, much much later at 2 AM. I tried counting sheep, going to bed earlier but nothing. It frustrated me to no end (and still frustrates me until now) that I wouldn't be able to sleep even though I was tired unless it was 1:30 AM or 2 AM and I have to wake up early the next day for practicum.



I read an article in Yahoo, "Mars experiment help Earthling insomniacs" and it sort of shed light on the reason why I have strange sleeping habits,



Other research has shown that using a computer after dark,
working in a brightly lit office or other exposure to bright
light can mess up a person's internal clock, making it harder
to fall asleep.



So I guess the moral of the story is, avoid PCs after dark (yeah right, like I could do that) and turn off the lights, hehehe, at least that will save electricity.





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