JUST ARGH

This is NOT a good day.

I wake up early because I have to go to Pateros to get data for our workshop. I want to get there and finish everything before lunch so I can have the afternoon off. Mark texts just as he's about to leave for Manila, and I go take a shower, trying to figure out how to get to Pateros without a car.

Do I leave immediately after getting dressed? No. After breakfast? No. After late riser Ivan has woken up? No. Instead, I sit on the couch waiting AGAIN for Mama to finish getting dressed and fixing her stuff and doing Just. Everything. Imaginable. For the life of me I don't know why I still wait for her even though I know I'd be sitting for an hour or more doing nothing, just watching time slip away. Maybe this is really all my fault, coz I could have up and walked out the house and left on my own. But I didn't. Sometimes I do hate it that I'm such a lazy brat. AAAARRGH.

So we leave the house at 10 am. It takes us 15-20 minutes to get to the Caltex station near Bicutan where my mom drops me off. I hurry out the car and slam the door with all my frustration, and wait fora cab. And then I realize I just might be wasting my time here. By my calculations, IF I'm lucky to get a cab in the next ten minutes, I would arrive in Pateros just after 11. And since in government lunchtime unofficially begins at 11:30, I would have less than 40 minutes to go to five offices, get the data and interview the staff before they lock up their offices and leave me hanging until 1:30, which in government is the unofficial end of lunchbreak. AAAARGGHH.

So with all bitterness, regret and mounting fury I walk away from Caltex and walk to SM, where I decide to spend the next two and a half hours still waiting. Pateros will be dealt with after lunch.

On my way I man from a truck whistles at me. Whistles and honks his horn. ARRRGGGHHH. F*ck you asshole! Why does the male population insist on retaining their cavemen instincts? Haven't they evolved yet?!?! I'm wearing jeans and shirt and covered up in a jacket, for crying out loud. Women are beautiful creatures, yes, but even if I'm dressed in the tiniest skirt with the appeal of a sex goddess, that does not justify such retarded behavior. Do they expect us to feel good about being gawked at?!?! It was all I could do to keep myself from fishing out a coin and throwing it at the guy's face.

Three steps later, I catch the whiff and wake of a garbage truck that just finished collecting garbage meters from where I was. I look down and see bits of wet trash and maggots crawling near my feet. AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH.

Move on Lara. Just maggots. I walk up the overpass that crosses the entry to the Skyway, instead of just dodging passing cars (because I'm trying to be a good citizen). But the feeling of goodwill that would have compensated for the crap of the last 30 minutes quickly disappear as soon as I hear a PLOP and a SPLASH. I look down and see my umbrella, seconds ago nestled in my bag, now lying in a puddle at the overpass landing. I attempt to pick it up, but it's just too goddam...WET. Worse, my pants are wet from the impact. I can just imagine all the germs seeping into my legs. I know, praning na kung praning, but I hate the feeling of unidentified wet. I look at the umbrella for three seconds, and decide to leave it lying. Defeated, I walk away, willing myself not to feel sentimental about a stupid umbrella that isn't even mine. But see, it was just only recently that I made it a habit to bring an umbrella, and I can't help but feel sad. AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH.

So with all my morning spirit practically gone I trudge to SM, shell out money and sink into a flimsy chair at Netopia. I slam on the keys hoping they absorb my anger. Two hours left until my next hurdle. Unless this computer store suddenly blows up and flings my remains all over the third floor. Now that will definitely spoil my mood.