I’m early and so is the traffic

This morning, I woke up and left one hour earlier again to avoid the traffic. It’s Monday and the traffic’s worst. Those coming from the provinces are just arriving back to the metropolis.

I was early all right! But, lo and behold!  The traffic was early too. And, it’s only 5:30 AM. The first traffic was from the foof of the EDSA - Kamias flyover. Fortunately, it’s up to Cubao before the underpass only. A bus being apprehended outside of the bus lane was blocking one lane. That wasted about 10 minutes of my time.

The second one was before the EDSA - Estrella intersection in Makati. A bus stalled on the middle of the road. And, it took me about 5 minutes.

Nonetheless, I arrived at our office building at around 6:05 AM. I still had plenty of time to sleep.

One hour earlier

Since this Tuesday, I’ve woken up and left our home one hour earlier to avoid the worsening traffic on my way to work. Before, I usually woke up and left at 5:30 AM and 6:00 AM, respectively, except on my coding day. And, my travel time ranged from one hour and a half to more than three hours for a 30-kilometer distance.

I thought I had lots of patience in wading through the traffic even if it’s for 3 hours. While in traffic, I do some exercises, listen to the music and sing along to while away the time.

But, last Monday, I got fed up. I didn’t know what got into my nerve. While at a full stop along EDSA for sometime, suddenly, I didn’t want to drive anymore. I thought of leaving the car then bring out my bike and pedal away. I’d been on the road for more than two hours; and, it’d been very taxing. Fortunately, I was able to control myself. I took a deep breath then sang along. And, my sanity came back.

Thus, since Tuesday, I avoided the morning traffic. My travel time was less than one hour. After parking my car, I slept for an hour and half to two hours.  And, it’s a nice feeling reporting to the office fresh.

Lifetime waiver of fee

It’s the anniversary month of my BPI Gold Mastercard. I already received my new card and the extension card for my wifey (replaceable every 3 years) and my September billing statement, which included annual membership fee of P2,250.00.

I immediately called up the BPI Express Phone (89-100) and requested for the waiver of my annual membership fee.  I do this every year.

The call center agent informed me that my request for waiver is already in order.  She further informed me that the waiver is now lifetime.  That’s great! And, I thanked her.

I beat the oil price increase

Tired of traffic, I left home at 5:00 am this morning.  Yesterday, it took me almost three hours to get to my office, which is just 30 kilometers away. I left after 6:00 am.

If I leave at 5:00 am, my travel time is less than an hour; 5:30 am 1 and a half hour; 6:00 pm 2 hours or more.

On my way, I switched radio station from DZRJ-FM to DZRH-AM to listen to the news about the typhoon. Then, it was announced that Shell has increased its gasoline prices effective last midnight. Petron would increase its prices effective 6:00 am today.  I looked at my watch - it’s 5:20 am.  So, at the next Petron station, I refilled. I usually use Petron diesel for my Kia Carens. The price of diesel increased by P2.00. And, I saved about P70.00.

BadminTom

I’m playing badminton again.

By the way, the title of this post isn’t misspelled nor there’s typographical error.  BadminTom is my username or handle in the badminton fora where I signed up.

When I was still active in badminton more than two years ago, I signed up with BadmintonCentral.com -  an international forum.  Just today, I learned about the local badminton forum, the PinoyBadminton.com.ph, and immediately signed up

I hope I could learn a lot about badminton from these fora.

Bon voyage

We’re supposed to be in Balanga City today for the farewell party of wifey’s nephew and his family. They’ll be migrating to the US of A.

As I was about to leave the office last night, however, some problems cropped up.  This necessitated me to work overtime and report for work today for a meeting and report preparation.

Hence, I wasn’t able to go attend the party.  Wifey decided not to go too.

Bon voyage Noel, Iya, Jia, and Lianne! And, good luck!

I play badminton again!

Badminton has been one of my favorite sports as it gives me a lot of sweat.  However, I totally stopped playing badminton for some reasons for almost two years.

Last Monday, I tried playing again. It’s not a formal and serious game. I just conditioned my mind and body into it. When I started to perspire, I felt good. Whoa! I really missed playing this game.

And, I’ve scheduled my badminton day every Monday.  Wanna play with or against me?