Life’s Lessons

I am in the middle of organizing things here and I get tired so I stopped and blog while I am still thinking where would I stock all the not-so-necessary things that’s been sitting here for so long. Anyway, I haven’t blogged about Ace’ new possession but I have posted about the bonus he received aside from his 13th month pay. The 13th mont pay was released last November so he was able to buy me my washing buddy. He was actually talking about their performance bonus the other week but he wasn’t sure how much or what percentage of their monthly basic pay. A day before their company Christmas Party, they were all wondering if there’s really a bonus. Nobody from their finance department could confirm the news. The information was really kept confidential. Before he left for the party, I told him maybe it will be announced during the party like what we’re doing in Macondray before. The following day after the party, I asked him about the good news he’s been waiting for and he said “no development”. So I just said “maybe the finances of your company is too tight this time and they could not afford giving out another incentive because it will cost them millions”. He replied “nah, this will be the first time that they won’t give bonus”.

Last Friday is their annual get-together for all the warehouse personnel in the farms’ packing houses. He went home to change clothes then asked me if it’s midnight sale in the mall. Gladly, I’ve glanced at Gaisano Mall’s entrance on my way home from SM so I’ve seen it’s midnight sale Friday and Saturday. Ace said we’ll meet at the mall after their party and I should go there early to have dinner with Che2x. I asked him “do we have money?” I only have three hundred pesos in my wallet. Then he broke the news…he already received his bonus. So he left me money for dinner and allowance in case I wanted to buy something.

It was not planned where the money will go but part of it will be used to pay our bills. So last Saturday he was on forced leave (they need to consume all remaining leave balances) and we started our malling early in the afternoon. We went to SM City to check for toys for our godson and my goddaughter in Toy Kingdom. While I was looking for toys, he was stucked looking at an remote controlled car…just like Nai’s RC car. I know he really wanted to have one so I don’t want to spoil his mood and even encouraged him to buy it. Afterall, it will be a sort of reward for himself for working so hard. He will get the RC car, I know. But suddenly he changed his mind. He lead me out of the store and went to the appliance center to look for a TV set. Remember, he wanted a TV set and DVD player long before. I am with him but my mind won’t agree that we should get one. We don’t need it actually because I am not fond of watching TV and we have bills to pay so I wanted to settle it and we could get a TV set next time. But since Ace worked so hard for that money, he should see tangible thing to remind him of the fruit of his labor so I gave in. I need to support him in whatever way he want so I told him we could check the appliance center in downtown ‘coz they maybe offering great deals. We got something for the birthday party we’ll be attending that night and headed to downtown.

Upon seeing the TV sets, he was really firm in his decision and even wanted to get it right away. At first he was interested with the Samsung slimfit. If we pay it in cash, we’ll get a Samsung compact digital camera. So we rushed to the nearest ATM booth and withdraw money from his account. The walk from the store to the ATM booth made him think of other option. What if we’ll pay the bills and ask MIL if we could use her credit card for deferred payment of the Samsung LCD TV with free DVD player. It costs more than $500 and our money is not enough. It’s actually just enough but we have other things to buy so we could not afford to get the TV in cash. Good thing it was offered for a 0% interest for 12 months and he requested MIL if we could use her credit card which she agreed. But we are running out of time. It was already 6PM and the store will close at 6:30 then MIL is still on her way to downtown from their Christmas Party in Eden. We also have a party to attend at 6. We rushed back to the store and ask if they will be open the next day. He was beaming when he heard the sales attendant said yes. Since tomorrow he’ll be out of town for an inventory in the farm, he instructed me to go with PILs to get the TV.

After that kinda amazing race moment, we went to attend a birthday party in Ranchero’s Grill then meet Che2x at Gaisano Mall where we bough a stand fan. Yey! We already have an electric fan. After my electric fan was broken months ago, we never had a replacement.

On Sunday at dawn, Ace left for the inventory and he reminded me to go with PILs in the afternoon but at lunch time, he was already here. They finished the inventory early. After eating our brunch, he took a short nap and we headed to downtown to buy gift for his nephew and went to the appliance center when PILs texted they were on their way. We waited for almost an hour before the units were released. Ace almost lost hope that we’ll be able to get it but his eyes were sparkling when PILs said we are only waiting for the receipt. After a while, he was already carrying the box of the LCD TV while I was carrying the DVD. We were all starving so he treated us in Little Kowloon and had our favorite dimsum meals. Glad that PILs liked the food and the service. So we will be eating there again next time.

Anyway, after the heavy afternoon snack or should I say early dinner, we headed home while PILs waited for us in Victoria Plaza to have dinner with Ace’ older bro and family. We went back to VP after we dropped the boxes at home. We bought an extension wire for the TV and went to Mandarin for dinner. It’s more than an hour yet since we ate at Little Kowloon and we’re still full so we only have dessert while Che2x had a full meal and PILs ate a little bit of rice. After the meal, I can sense Ace is itching to go home. So we didn’t let him wait in agony. After he changes his clothes, he started to open the box while I clean up the area where we’ll put the TV and DVD. We don’t have antenna yet so he could only use it for his movie marathons. After it was set up, he brought the TV to the living room where PILs are watching Mutya ng Pilipinas and tried to connect the antenna to the LCD. It worked. Then he tried to connect the cable that was not used for years already. It’s still working! We thought it was disconnected already. So, it’s a lifetime cable connection for free. But, the cable wire is too short and it cannot reach our room. Ace, being so determined to fix it, worked so hard even if its already late. He was able to find a few meters of extra wires and jack so he find a way for it to reach our room. After almost 30 minutes of fixing it, VIOLA! We have a cable TV in the comfort of our room. 

So here’s the photos of Ace’ new buddies (it’s Ace’ because I am not YET fond of watching TV). 

The 22″ LCD TV

the DVD player

Now he can have his movie marathon anytime he wanted. And I was joking to him there’s now a reason for him to go home early.LoL