Vanilla Has Left the (LV Locsin) Building

It is official. I have left the (LV Locsin) building.

It took me some days before I could finally start to write this blog entry, since so much has happened since my last.

Here's the story:

In my last entry, that was Thursday last week, VG confirmed that I was part of the "list" and that when I am called to the principal's office, that would be it. I wasn't called on Thursday, but it finally happened on Friday.

Ten minutes before lunch time, I received a call from Ma'am asking me to go to her office. So I took a deep breath and walked 5 quick steps to the principal's office.

CM (my boss): So...how do you feel about what's been happening?
V: Stressed po, plus we see you also super stressed, so that adds to the...stress. (I was trying to see how many times I can use the word "stress" in one sentence.)
CM: I'm sure you're aware why I called you in...First, I would like to say I'm sorry for not taking care of you better...and thank you...I appreciate you more than you can imagine...our partner company is pulling out of the country so we only have one project ongoing...we decided who would be the first ones to go based on the functionality, not because of performance...unfortunately, yours was one of the positions that was identified to be (sic) cut-off...it's not anyone's fault...blah blah blah (the ellipses stand for other details that I could not disclose, or forgotten, or are unimportant. it also stands for tears falling...mostly my boss' then later, mine.)
V: It's okay Ma'am; I understand. When's my last day?
CM: You will be paid *toooooot* but you are encouraged to use that time to look for another job. You will not be required to work starting Monday.

That's a super condensed version of our talk, but that entire session lasted for about 45 minutes.

Fast forward to Friday afternoon:

We were all about to go home when my seatmate AG requested that we had our pictures taken. After taking a couple of shots, Ma'am came out of her office looking emotional. We dragged her to our photo session which was a lot of fun, with lots of requests for "wacky" poses. After a few more shots, we were done and dispersed to go home, when Ma'am suddenly started crying. Hay. A good 30 minutes was spent by the entire department hugging everybody and saying our good byes. We all committed to have lunch together the following day (yes, yes, I still had work last Saturday; half day lang naman.)

Going Home:

I was on my way home at about 6:30 pm and texted close friends regarding the status of my job. I took the Skyway going home as usual, and started to (more like attempted to) speed up so that I could get home faster. I was feeling a bit weird and decided to roll down the windows. All of a sudden I heard a series of slow thuds. I ignored it, thinking that it was just the sound of the wind whipping against the railings on Skyway. I pressed down on the accelerator harder and was already in the fourth gear when I noticed that I wasn't going any faster. And then I heard it. The dull thuds of a flat tire.

I pulled the car to the side, turned the hazard lights on, and stopped to think about what I was going to do. I had to set up the triangle reflector thingamajiggys, call home, call for help...what else? I was panicking! So I called Beb and told her what happened. Next I called the office to ask for help, but none of the company vehicles were cars. We had SUVs and 4x4s, but not one of them was a car. Oh, by the way, I didn't have a spare tire. I swear I could hear Papa laughing at me and mocking me for my ineptitude to prepare for accidents like getting a flat tire. At that time, what was important for me was to find someone who could help me think. My last option was to have my car towed. About 5 minutes after setting up the reflector triangles (never mind, I don't know what it's called), a PNCC man came running to my car from the other side of the road. We waited for his partner who was driving their truck, because he would know what to do. When Officer Bravo arrived, he told me that my tire was beyond repair and that I would have to buy a new tire. They made me ride the truck and brought me to the vulcanizing shop beside Pan de Manila on Soledad, where I bought a tire for 2300php. Mind you, my atm only had 2800 left, so right now, I only have 500pesos to my name. Up back again we went to Skyway to my car. They changed the tire, and I felt sooo relieved! After expressing my thanks to the kind officers profusely, I got in my car, turned my key in the ignition, and *click*...turned my key in the ignition, and *click* What the hell. My battery was dead.

The kind officers push started my car. Of course it worked. But when they handed my back my key and tried to start the car once again, it still died. Push start nanaman. Hay. What we discovered was that if you rev the engine, the car was alive, but when the gas pedal was released, the idling thing would drop to zero and the car would die. I was like, GREAT. What else pa?! Since Officer Bravo had his foot on the gas pedal, what he decided was to accompany me (as in drive ha) down to Soledad, with the Sykway patrol escorting us all the way. (I swear, just recalling this day tires me out like anything.) Good thing was that when we got down to Soledad, the car was ok, with the idling thing (again, never mind, I do not know what that's called) dropping just a couple of centimeters, never reaching zero (thank God). I was able to get home safely. Thank you Skyway Patrol officers! You guys are the bestest =) ever!

So there. That was how Friday went for me. I will never forget that date - October 17. Next year, on October 17, I will not leave the house.

I have yet to write about our Saturday lunch. =)