Time space warp, ngayon din!

Jeff of Dubai Chronicles tagged me for this interesting bit of time travel. Here goes...

twenty years ago
[1985] I was second year high school then. At the height of the eighties! We generously spread vaseline gel on our hair or - after school hours - the variety with glitters on it. I went through the pins and metallic buttons on shirts phase. Baston pants, baggy pants, mismatched clothes. We joined a school competition and danced to the beat of Like a Cannonball by Menudo. I watched a Spelling Quiz contest, got most of the words right, and regretted not having joined. Our Social Science class asked us to do an essay on something I have forgotten. I didn't know it was a contest. My piece was chosen, but there was another contest right during lunchtime and I did not fare well, thanks to hunger pangs. Yes, I missed a lot of opportunities that year. Must be why I like writing these days. Met three of my best friends this year, and we still keep in touch. Sophomore year was one of the most fun years of my life.

fifteen years ago
[1990] Third year college. Got into the ECE course (first two years was general engineering subjects). Working student in the Library. Got a really difficult time balancing my schedule between work (1-5PM) and studies. But I had a lot of fun working. June 16 was a terrible time for Baguio City. We had the magnitude 7 earthquake. I was at the basement of the St. Louios Library with colleagues (that's where our office was). We first felt a slight shake, which stopped. We all stopped working and looked at the ceiling. We were about to resume work when the quake came full force! We embraced posts as we ran to the adjacent Medical Library which had an exit going to the nearby gym. We were about to go out when the shade at the entrance collapsed. We were nearly crashed on. I saw my bonsai plants which
I display at the Medical Library fall off the cabinet and the bookshelves topple on top of each other like dominoes. After the major seismic activity, people from outside called out for survivors and they pulled us out. We were lucky: we only got minor scratches. Funeral parlors got overbooked with corpses and had to provide makeshift extensions outside their shops. We had to deal with the occasional aftershock too! No electricity, and we had to save up on water. We had to line-up in grocery stores to buy canned goods and noodles. We are thankful they did not raise prices and made these things available to all.

ten years ago
[1995] I was just about to complete my first year as a working member of society. I was not doing very well in Sales, and so management decided to move me to Systems Engineering, a new department they were creating. October of that year, I went to Silicon Valley in California for a two-week Conference on the Sniffer, a network troubleshooting tool. It was my first time to go out of the country, and I was all alone! I landed at Los Angeles, and then I did not know what the next step was. I wandered in this huge airport, feeling dwarfed out. And then I saw the Delta Airlines schedule going to San Jose, which was part of the itinerary. I crossed my fingers, booked a ticket, and rode on this small plane. The house I stayed (owned by Mariott Residences) was haunted, by the way.

The following week, my boss joined me. We went to Disneyland Anaheim and had the time of my life. Star Tours was the best! I silently celebrated my birthday changing time zones as we flew back to Manila.

five years ago
[2000] After after six years' worth of working with the same organization, I suddenly felt that I needed a change of career. There was so much work to do and I felt being spread out too thin. And so February of that year, I resigned. I worked for a Web Development / Network Security company. I was having fun in my work but on the seventh month, I felt that I strongly missed the work I once did. No kidding. I missed the fast-paced business life. And my colleagues. I ventured to try to go back and talked to my former boss. Come September, I was back in my original office, this time working on the corporate website and eventually doing Marketing. I like my job.

three years ago
[2002] I got married! Many of my officemates went to Baguio to attend. They say it was one of the more well-attended weddings in our office, inspite of the fact that it's 6-hours away from Manila. Went to Boracay for our honeymoon. It was both our first times to go there and it was fun. We vowed to go back again.

last year
[2004] In November, we went back to Boracay! This time with four of our friends. We learned that my wife's pregnant! We went to Boracay by boat, then we went back to Manila by plane. Not because Tina would become tired of the trip, but because we did not have a boat ride going back :-).

this year
[2005] Tina delivered Jose Carlos at 9:44AM on June 18!

yesterday
I was in Baguio. Baby Jo-Lo said his first words! Is that normal for a two-month old baby?

last night
I was in the bus on my way back to Manila.

today
I'm at the office catching up on work. We had an event last Friday so I'm taking it a bit slow today. We will have an ingress at the Shangri-La Edsa later for a Call Center Trade Show.

tomorrow
We have a partner event in the afternoon, a photoshoot for an awarding ceremony in the morning, and a meeting with the giveaways supplier for our golf tournament.

next year
I want to be halfway done with my debts!

five-ten years from now
I will be debt free and in the middle of a progressive business!

Wow, I never realized how interesting the past years have become for me. Thanks Jeff! I have never been good at responding to tags (I passed three actually), so I will leave this as an open invitation. Try it!