Any break is routine is always welcome. Like Saturday’s. More than a month ago I seem to have injured my left leg having started running cold. I had it massaged once but the pain seems to linger although not as much. My wife suspects it’s something to do with uric acidicity, I think it’s about my 10 pounds excess weight. So yesterday I had it massaged again this time in a place that reminds me of no spa but of my old bed space days. Surprisingly, my co-worker who moonlights as a massage therapist can do better service than most I’ve had. Hope to get back to running again in a few weeks.
My wife couldn’t help but still prepare a simple celebration for being a year here in our new house. She had spaghetti. And Marcus had his cousin as our one and only visitor–the same kid who stayed with us for days a couple of years ago back in Cavite. It’s one of the rare days Marcus would be with someone his age at home. They played video games and they got bored and they drew. Right there is Marcus’ car crash. Close enough, right?
***
Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Got new Bluetooth speaker for work via Lazada. Made me miss the old PO process.)
I can’t recall a daydream that I have ever wished to see a garbage truck. Not. One. Daydream. I’ve wished to see celebrities. It happened. I’ve wished to see America. It happened. I’ve wished to go to the moon. This one remains to be seen. But so does our garbage truck.
Today we turn one year in our new address and we’ve only seen the garbage truck once. Yes, just once and it stopped by to pick up our trash just because we offered to pay for it. It didn’t show up again after that. So what happens to one year of trash? Everything goes up in smoke.
An ironic statement from someone very particular of sorting and recycling stuffs. But that’s how we’ve been doing it for the whole year however opposed we are to burning garbage in our backyard at the expense of the environment and right under the risk of our son’s asthma being triggered because of the smell of smoke.
The metal drum I converted last year into an incinerator is already beginning to crumble so it should be about time to get another. I can make a new one, it should be easy especially now that I have my own power cutting tool. Yet I decided to give our barangay another chance. I’ve dropped by the office last week to inquire when the garbage truck really passes. They said Monday. Today is Monday.
So here I am for the first time in my entire life so full of anticipation to see if that garbage truck still exists. I’m keeping all fingers crossed, toes included, that today I get to see a week of trash taken by our barangay’s sanitation department or whatever it’s called locally. When you see white smoke though, it means only one thing: the truck misses and we start burning our trashes once more. Next step? A visit to another complaints desk.
***
One of things that fascinated me while in the US is seeing in person the modern sanitation equipment at work. One sunny but cold morning the motorized street sweeper made its regular pass on the neighborhood’s court. My in-law said it is just to keep off dirt that could turn into sludge and clog the drains. Too bad Marcus didn’t see everything but it would have made him remember those cartoon shows. Well, Call of Duty was more important that day.
A day or so later came the huge green garbage truck. No other personnel with it but the driver. It performed a seemingly well rehearsed stop beside each covered plastic bins of each house, picked them up using a hydraulic claw, dumped its contents at the back of the truck, returned the empty bins in front of the fenceless yards, and left the court without any fuss. All in a day’s work.
***
Image above is a derivative of William Warby’s Smoke Plume as seen on Flickr’s Creative Commons. Truck is from Google. Driver is Marcus’ Spongebob.
There won’t be any other place that could claim that it was our most frequented place while in the US but the kitchen. Our weighing scale would say aye to that. But we learned something from that stay–or at least wifey did. This Sunday she tried doing the shortcake my brother-in-law taught her and it was almost perfect, not bad for a first timer.
My patience was shorter though. Shorter than the shortcake. Her instructions when she left the house this afternoon were: let the cake settle then you may take a picture of it before you eat it. Obviously my craving got the best of me as it was so soon that I seem to have forgotten which order comes first. Barely five minutes after she stepped out I took the cake out of the fridge and had it for snack realizing too late that the Jello and cream are still sloppy. I took a picture of it still after fixing here and there and I think I deserve a clap for making the damage appear less obvious.
(Postscript: So it’s not only that I lack the patience but I also don’t know my desserts as well. I Just saw the package in our kitchen and it shows that this is actually a cheesecake not a shortcake.)
***
Mood: 4/10 (Marcus evicted me out of his room for snoring last night so I’ll sleep in our own bedroom tonight.)
Day two in Bacolod and morning sun is out shining just like the other day. It was another good opportunity to stroll around with Marcus who surprisingly still remembers the streets very well. In fact, he decides where to go and I just push along.
It was more than a year since we were here as we skipped last December’s vacation. Our subdivision hasn’t changed a lot, except for an ongoing construction a few blocks from our house. It would be the largest in the area once completed.
The place in general didn’t improve a lot but it didn’t deteriorate any further either. At least moving around wasn’t as depressing like in the past years. Or maybe I have just gotten used to seeing houses gradually changing from grand to bland state. Others almost becoming deserted for whatever reasons. Maybe nothing stays permanent after all. (My mother’s car is gone but except for the inconvenience of losing transport for Marcus’ wheelchair I’m happy that it’s gone due to the headache it’s been giving her.)
Fake fireplace, real smiles.
I don’t know when we would be back again after this short vacation but our neighborhood of mixed social status will always be a perfect reminder for me that neither will stay rich nor poor. We are all just passing through. We will all just pass away anyway, ready or not.
***
Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Always a pleasure to have a talk with mother.)
One of the free stuffs Marcus brought with him from our Christmas vacation is an Xbox One. It was something he has been asking for for since he heard about its existence even if he still has the older Xbox 360. When he showed me YouTube videos of what this Microsoft game console can do I too secretly wished that his dream to own one would come true or at least he gets to play with it someday even just temporarily. And it was granted. Less than 24 hours after we set foot in the US he played with the one installed in our bedroom and when I saw the graphics the stronger I fell in love with it. Unknown to us, there’s already one packed and waiting to be opened on Christmas day. It’s a pre-owned unit from his cousin’s boyfriend but it made his day like he won a lottery.
Similar to his routine in the Philippines, most days he would just play Xbox games but only this time the experience was way better. My in-law’s AV setup complemented the gaming console. Their big flat screen TV plus the hi-fi sound system provided Marcus his own mini arcade. It was all his for the entire three weeks stay. Although I knew that we’d have a simpler version when we return home, my expectations with the Xbox One alone remained high. It was one of the very few reasons that made me excited to go back home.
Setting up the Xbox One was among the top priority when we finally arrived in our humble red house. I tried to ignore the urge to catch some sleep, I set aside sorting the chocolates and other free stuffs and left wifey to get things in order. It was then when we discovered that our new game console has lots of downside. Getting it to work was a challenge.
All in a day’s work.
Missing the original manual was a trivial issue as Microsoft’s website provides the needed details. Sadly, among these info reveal the cons of a seemingly flawless game console. First discovery is that the Xbox One cannot be installed in a vertical orientation unlike the Xbox 360. Based on forum threads, the only way to make it work is to place it flat. It’s the only position in which it would read its game CDs.
Backwards compatibility is the next problem and maybe the one that I hate the most. The Xbox One does not play old games or at least in our case, almost all of the Xbox 360 games that Marcus loves to play. Xbox 360 Call of Duty, Minecraft, Lego games and Halo series cannot be used on the Xbox One. It was a big disappointment. Not to mention that I cannot sell the old console. My evil enterprising plan foiled.
Another issue that hounds us to this day is the Xbox One’s network dependency. We brought several Xbox One games–Fallout 4, Destiny, Forza 5, Call of Duty Ghosts, Assassins Creed Black Flag, and Halo Master Chief collection–just to realize that each game would undergo an installation and/or update process each time before it can be played. Sometimes in a few minutes, sometimes it takes forever. Given our country’s poor internet service, this would require much patience, patience that Marcus and I normally lack. The workaround to this is to set the console’s network into offline mode.
Last but not the very least of the woes is its controllers. My in-law purchased two brand new Xbox One controllers as the pre-owned console did not include any and one of which we tested immediately after Amazon delivered it after a day it was ordered online. Since then Marcus started using his own controller to make sure it works while the other unit was kept in the box after a quick check for physical defects. Six thousand miles and a short Forza 5 game later, the other unit conked out. We now have a brand new Microsoft Xbox One paper weight. Online sources show that this problem affects others worldwide.
Mods are easy on Xbox One. This is a Fallout 4 mod that Marcus installed himself.
All is not lost however. Again, graphics is the selling point of the Xbox One. Once the games start playing, the characters and stuffs just appear life-like beating whatever the 360 has to offer. The quality of colors and textures are more vibrant and defined than the old games. Cars run faster and smoother. The bloodshed in the war games are gorier. Oops, one of my parenting lapses. But yes, the overall gaming pleasure compensates for this console’s limitations.
Maybe it is true after all that we cannot have everything. It may even be true that while the best things are free, it does not apply to the Xbox One. We love it but it could have been better if only our network runs like the one in the US and if we can claim warranty for the second controller unit without questions asked. Or maybe even better if we could return to the land of milk and honey for good which by the way is Marcus’ other wish that the three of us mutually share.
Another Fallout 4 mod that allows Marcus to insert Darth Vader and change Dogmeat’s appearance.
***
Mood: 3/10 Honks! (Had Marcus take an afternoon stroll and it appears my left leg is healing.)
My time in front of the PC spilled over the weekend as I made myself useful and productive by helping out wifey with her work. Then also queueing are years of old blog posts to be migrated AND edited at the same time. I can see this same pattern happening in the weeks to come and it’s a good thing that switching from one PC to another would at least be minimized as I have once again started using Dropbox. I didn’t really appreciate the application the last time I used it on our desktop about a year or so ago but now that I have a phone that could handle more apps then I’m giving it another try. That picture of Marcus dated three years ago showing him climbing the ladder is one of the files I discovered hidden among my folders. Sigh.
***
Mood: 5/10 Honks! (This left leg could be a challenge this week. Hope it gets better before the weekend so I could keep running.)
What seems like in a snap of a finger, we find ourselves staring at 2017. Now we once again wonder what this new year has in store for us with all hopes up that it would be better than its preceding year. In our books, 2016 is hard to beat especially that its last days ended with a bang. But after three weeks of living the life in the land of milk and honey, our life goes back to normal. We have returned home, we move on.
Meeting 2017 at Old Sacramento.
Yes, we move on. One tall order after one unique travel experience. In the next days we merge back to the rat race–like it or not. In Marcus’ case, however, moving on is a pun and at the same time a big dream. And time is of the essence. This year we need to execute what we have regularly discussed between pauses during our American adventure. Our good hosts, my sister and her hubby, want to see Marcus undergo the next phase of DMD testing. They pledged to support it.
Kid in America.
To say we were happy at their commitment would be an understatement. DMD is one of those medical conditions that is expensive to deal with despite the uncertainty of success. With the much needed support we can now proceed and see if the available DMD drug in the market would be of benefit to Marcus. So as early as this January we’ll be busy. It’s time we see the doctor again. Fingers crossed.
***
Marcus is among those in wheelchairs waiting to board the plane from Manila. He is the only child.
We continue to realize the challenge of travelling with someone in a wheelchair. Not that we are complaining but its a struggle we have to face. This is why I didn’t have any issues staying at my sister’s home and just enjoy time with everyone. I just know that Marcus preferred it that way too.
Even within the confines of the house there’s always something to keep us occupied anyway: gym, pets, TV, toys, food. They are also fond of non-smartphones games like Uno and Jenga. And it was where I learned my second card game (Trump cards is first) while Marcus proved he can play the latter.
He’s got steady hands.
Marcus once mentioned that he has seen how Jenga is played but we never saw him play the actual game not until this trip. To the surprise of everyone, he was a natural. He picked Jenga blocks on his own although I carried and assisted him to be able to place the blocks when the stack got higher. His dexterity to handle the blocks gave me some sort of hope. It proves that after all his remaining muscle functions may be preserved somehow. Let’s see.
***
Mood: 2/10 Honks! (Now using Marcus’ HP PC which we fixed ourselves. Thanks to the male Santa.)
Depends on who you ask, the idea of Christmas could differ. For most kids, it’s all about Christmas socks. For most adults, it’s Christmas sucks and that is just sad. It is why it pays to be a kid or a kid at heart this holiday season. It’s about setting aside all that pride and prejudice that hinder the true spirit of Christmas. It’s about having that innocence, at least for the time being.
Christmas is the perfect time to once again believe in Santa because Santa does exist. Baloney? Grinch, eh? Hear this. You see kids do not have a strong grasp of the origin of Christmas yet and so it takes some creativity to enforce to them the reward system–what one gets when he’s naughty or nice. And this is when Santa Claus comes to the rescue. With his sleigh and reindeer. With Rudolph the red-nosed leader. Remember that even Jesus made use of parables to get his message across. To use therefore a fat bearded man in a red suit who tirelessly shouts ho, ho, ho isn’t really a bad thing. Given the right parenting and faith, kids will soon understand the real reason behind this season. For now let’s allow Santa Claus to fill those Christmas socks.
***
I have to stressed most kids in the statement. There are others out there with an empty Christmas socks as the least of their worries. Let’s spare a thought and a prayer for them.
***
Mood: 1/10 Honks! (One more day and Marcus’ dream will come true.)
Marcus Can Blog 