MON(STER)DAY

Yesterday, Monday, was a rather rough day. I just arrived from an overnight activity the previous weekend, so I was feeling a bit unwell. And I did not have a good dinner the night before. But the day went from bad to worse.

I normally eat breakfast before or after dropping off my girlfriend at work. Yesterday, after dropping her off, the rear wheel of my motorcycle got flat (By the way, this is I think the second time in three weeks). So, breakfast was cancelled and I had to go to the nearest vulcanizing shop.
Now with a flat tire, I was driving slowly along F. Ramos St. towards Cogon Market. Along the way, as I didn’t know of any vulcanizing shop in the area, I ask a man who was selling newspaper by the road (after driving two blocks) for directions. He kindly gave me directions to the nearest shop (I felt quite bad for not buying newspaper from him; I’ve come to like reading newspapers in the last year). And the nearest one is not what I would call near. The man, after looking at the bad condition of my rear wheel, advised me not to ride but walk my bike to the shop. His advice had a lot of sense.

So, there I was, walking under the 8:30am sun (You may all agree that at this time of day, the sun is not as friendly as it used to be), with an empty stomach and sweat dripping under my jacket (I wear jacket every morning to protect my self from “panuhot” and the dusty roads to my work place, which is about 13 kilometers from my place).

After walking (and pushing my bike on my side) about 200 meters, I arrived at the vulcanizing shop. A few years back, this distance would have been a piece of cake or, more appropriately, a stroll in the park. But after gaining more than 10 kilos in less than two years, it was hellish.

At the shop, I discovered that my rear exterior tire has been badly punctured – a condition that is bad for my interior tire and is not safe for traveling long distances. The man at the shop, out of kindness, placed some temporary padding on the punctured hole of the exterior. He further said that this remedy is only good for the day and advised me that I need to buy a new tire.

He would have charged me 30 pesos for his services, but I gave him 50 anyway.

Afterwards, I drove off. And I felt something weird about my wheel. The ride felt bumpy for a paved road. So I decided to have the tire replaced before going to the office. As I didn’t have enough money on me, I dropped by my girlfriend’s office to borrow Php 1,000. Then, I went to the nearest motorcycle shop that I know so I can have the tire replaced at the same vulcanizing shop that I went to earlier.

Unfortunately, they were yet closed. So, I decided to drive in the direction of my workplace where I have seen a few motorcycle shops.

I stopped by a shop along the highway. They have the size of wheel I needed. The problem was, they only have one brand. I never bought wheels before and so I never had anything to compare the available brand with. So I bought it at Php 445. The amount sounded OK to me, by the way.

Worse came to worst when I went to the vulcanizing shop just next door. The man there asked me if there are other brands in the shop. He said the one I bought was a brand he does not recommend. He said it would be wiser to buy the brand he recommends (which is the same brand as my old tires) next time. And price-wise, it is only slightly more expensive than the one I got. Well, I welcomed the advice, but it was too late.

Sweet lemoning, I told my self: if the new rear tire does not perform quite well, it would hopefully get dilapidated by the time I will have to replace the front wheel. I would then have two new tires…

It did not stop there though. I spent the whole day trying to muster my guts to ask one of my bosses if I can use one of the billings in the office as proof of billing. I and my girlfriend planned to open a bank account for me after office hours. If you were me, it (asking about the billings) was so damned hard.

Later that afternoon, my head started to ache like it never did in a while. It was maybe because I spent more time in front of the computer than I usually do, thanks to the almost-over-due report we had to submit the same day.

And, just as I was about to ask one of my bosses about the billing, there was a little commotion in the office. Some very important files were missing. They searched everywhere (I helped only a little; I have a headache, remember?). Time was ticking and I am running late for the appointment with my girlfriend.

I never had the chance to ask about the billing and I left the office the same time I was supposed to meet Melcia (the Girlfriend). In other words, I was late. And in other words still, I was in for a fight.

When I got to her office, she was not outside waiting. She went to buy groceries. As expected, she did not speak to me when I found her by the “kaong” and “nata de coco” bottles. It appears that she herself was pissed with something other than me coming late.

It did not really take that long for her to begin speaking to me. And so I said sorry. I told her I had fever and that I drove the whole 12 kilometers with a severe headache.

Afterwards, things went quite smoothly for a rather rough day.