Staying Alive

I feel like celebrating! And no, alcohol is not involved.

Went on a long drive today to visit two potential clients. Got it! Convinced a competitor’s big account to switch to our company, am humming a nice melody on the drive home.

The day started out quite slow, woke up at around 4am and got my things together, including the post dated checks that I dropped off with the guard for my landlord. Wanted to be off by 5am, to steer clear of the school buses and hundreds of kids making their way to school. Of course that didn’t happen, I left the house at around 6am and had to gas up before anything else. Quite surprisingly, it was already pretty bright out by this time so it was a less stressful drive for the most part.

I was a bit hesitant to get on the SCTEx, site of the unfortunate rim-breaking events of the new year, but with classes starting and students lining both sides of the national highway, I didn’t have much of a choice. I nursed the car throughout the northern stretch of the highway and was quite pleased that it turned out uneventfully.

So I’m on the national highway, and by the time I got to Pangasinan, I had my doubts if I still remembered the way to the dam. Yes, the potential client was the dam, that which half a decade ago I was organizing protest rallies against. Talk about selling out. Turned out I still remembered parts of the way, but for some forks and intersections I had to rely on general directions and some strategically placed markers pointing in the direction of the adjacent town. I was still making good time, though, and was more or less relaxed while watching out for chickens, cows and goats crossing the roads. Got there right on time, and had a nice little conversation with their representative. No, this isn’t the great part yet.

Since I was way ahead of schedule, decided to take the more scenic, albeit traffic infested way back. It was alright, got a chance to drive through memory lane and note the changes that happened in the span of 6 years. The place wasn’t the same one that I wandered and lived in years ago, but of course, a lot of things still felt the same.

By the time I got back on the SCTEx, I was right on schedule and had to hurry up a bit. So I skipped my usual coffee and jumped right on the highway. This was a bad move, halfway through the highway I suddenly woke up and realized that I was a bit sleepy after my lunch. Uh-oh, at the wheel while doing 90kph with my eyes shut wasn’t really ideal any which way you looked at it. Opened all the windows, got the radio blaring (Michael Bolton was crooning, guess that hadn’t changed in this part of the region as well) and lit a cigarette. Short of slapping myself every minute or so, this was the best insurance that I could think of. Well it worked, and got my ass to Clark on time, and very much alive.

Picked up an office mate of mine on the way to the next client, needed some back-up for this job. Went there, listened and heard those sweet words: “Yes, you may start in August.” Ahh…

So how do I celebrate? Got myself a coffee at the nearest gas station. Being alive is all the celebrating I need right now.