Tick tock

i have officially been late to the office four times this half-month, which means that i am about to receive a nasty memo from HR on my tardiness.

getting to the office on time lately has been a series of battles. the first skirmish is internal: to get up at the first alarm or not? i often lose on the first try, and hit the trusty snooze button on my phone at least twice before poking a toe out from under the comforter to turn off the electric fan. (isn't it horrible to have to get out of bed in snuggle temperature?)

the next battle is waged in front of the closet. i take significantly longer to decide on an outfit on fat days (of which there are more when you're, well, fat). the moment i plop down indian-style to better peruse the contents of my closet, it's time to raise the white flag.

deciding what to wear often takes over what could be a nasty hunt for makeup and accessories. often, i am forced to totter out the door with unconcealed baby eyebags (baby daw?!), curly bangs, hair pulled into a hasty ponytail (unbrushed, of course) and no earrings. thus i proceed to my next battle already looking like a casualty.

which is of course, the battle with public transportation providers: the dearth of jeeps, waiting time for jeeps to fill up, missing my stop, more waiting time for tricycles to roar to a stop at the tulay terminal, hanging on for dear life as said tricycles perform stunts worthy of air force training, and finally, the ten-minute or so walk-sprint to the office (in heels, no less).

all to arrive at work, panting, breakfast-less and sweaty at 8:41 a.m.

yep, late.

--

my office has cooked up a new way to get people to come to the office on time: an "early birds" award. the name was met with token boyish sniggers from our perennial college boys darius and ren (sa susunod naman daw, ibang bird na ang criteria. ano buzzzzzz).

anyway, acy went around distributing chocolate-covered mallows to the lucky cluckers this afternoon, which was nice. i am inspired! if there's anything that can get me to wake up early, it's chocolate.

now, if they would only start giving away shoes...

or even cover samples... elec had digital cameras on their cover last month. hmmm.

----- Original Message -----
From: Acy Ramos
To: EBU
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 2:03 PM
Subject: Early Birds Tally


Dear all,
Since tardiness has been rampant lately, we have thought of a "fun" way to help most of us get rid of this nasty habit and encourage a number of us to keep up the good work.

Starting this month, we will be relaunching an "early birds" tally every half of the month.

In order to qualify as an "early bird," one must have no smudge of tardiness in his/her attendance for the past 2 weeks

And here are the "early birds" for the first half of September:

1. Bal
2. Darius
3. Ren
4. May
5. Emper
6. Jennilyn
7. Louise
8. Chie
9. Rose

CONGRATULATIONS! A wonderful prize awaits you....

For the next round of this "contest," we will also be recognizing those whose watches seem to be following another time zone. Since this is the soft launching, we will spare you for this one time. :) (If any of you can suggest "penalties" for the late comers, let us know.)

Thanks
Acy and Charlie

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Rose Raguindin
To: Deepa Paul
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 2:03 PM
Subject: RE: Early Birds Tally


Parang ayoko magpa-recognize. Para tuloy kaming outcasts. Magpapa-late na ako bukas.

Rose