there's nothing to blog about lately. nothing new or nothing out of the ordinary or nothing worth writing about is happening. each day is substantially the same since i started working last october. i wake up around 8am. i eat my breakfast (i started having sweet potatoes for breakfast as an attempt to consume nutritious food. if there are no sweet potatoes, then my breakfast would be pandesal. there are days i get to have half a liter of soybean custard). then i brush my teeth (i shave if im in the mood or if i need to appear in court), take a bath, get dressed then walk to my office. its a 5-10 minute walk. i reach my office a little past 9am.
going to work is a bit out of the ordinary because its like going to batman's bat cave (if batman considers his cave as his office. but i dont see myself as batman. i dont have the required moral fiber). instead of going to an ordinary building lobby, the most convenient entrance to my office is passing through the dark basement parking with its leaking pipes (so i always need to make sure there are no cars that are about to exit the basement parking before i start walking down the narrow ramp and be careful of the puddles of water). since the elevator isnt working, i have to take four flights of stairs that lead to a dark lobby that has three wooden divan-like furnitures with animal sculptures. the only lighted area in the 2nd floor is the inside of my office (the walls of the office facing the lobby are made of glass). actually, the entire floor is my office and its lobby is dark simply because there are no working light bulbs. there are no signs either that would indicate its an office. the only thing posted on the door is the time of the office lunch break.
the scent of cigarette smoke is what greets anyone that enters the lobby (and stale cigarette smoke when they enter the actual office).
my room is located at the far end of the office, at the end of a corridor. it has a typical wooden desk, one swivel chair for me and two wooden chairs for clients. the only object on my desk is a paper tray containing office notices (whether i received calls while im out of the office, instructions for research to be done, etc), documents ive reviewed or written and papers containing the research ive done. i always return the books ive read when im done using it. there's a filing cabinet at one corner of my room, two monoblock chairs (one of which has a stack of case files), stacks of case files on the floor and cobwebs on the ceiling. i have no computer (so i use my laptop. in effect, i dont have an internet connection since the office doesnt have wifi). when i need to do some online research, i will have to borrow the secretary's computer (but i rarely need to go online. the office library and the law materials i have in my laptop are usually enough). the office also doesnt have running water. most people would find such an office depressing but after some time, its not really bad as it first appears to be. its a fully functioning office and its not as inconvenient as it sounds. i think its very much like a typical office in the mid-90s.
there are days when there's a lot to do. there are days when the work load is just right. there are days when i do nothing at all (so i do bum around in the office. but not everyday). in any case, i always finish my work within a satisfactory period. i dont miss a deadline and they tell me i work really fast. even when i worked for an NGO last year, in my exit interview, they told me that i do work quickly or i get the job done faster than they expected. i guess the normal pace for me is faster compared to most people (thats why fastfood counters arent fast enough for me and one of the primary sources of frustration. a slow internet speed still remains the most frustrating experience). an officemate joked that i shouldnt finish my work too quickly because my boss might get used to it. i might set a new standard in accomplishing work and it would be burdensome for others, including me because im raising expectations. as for the quality of work, no one has complimented me about it and no one has complained either. what they always notice is my speed. so i guess my work is good enough. well, i dont aim for an excellent work anyway. ive always been an advocate of "substantial compliance" since high school. if i think its good enough, its good enough.
when the day's work is done, i walk home. once i get home, i eat some snacks while i go online to check emails (its the time of the day i can finally have some internet time). the moment i enter my room, i change my clothes, unpack my laptop and switch it on. after i check my emails, i watch youtube videos until midnight. i eat my dinner at 7pm, do some night rituals by 11pm and sleep by midnight. whenever i eat dinner, i need to be watching something on TV. so when i find something really good to watch, i sometimes take a break from watching online videos.
this is my usual routine during the weekdays when no external forces intervene. i try not to change it since it allows me to go on autopilot. it makes time fly by faster.
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