Ang init!

Ang init talaga!!!

I know, I know, I am not alone in this predicament. Everyone in the Philippines is suffering from this infernal heat and I cannot bear to imagine what it is like in other countries that are closer to the equator. I understand that in certain places wildfires have occured because dried grass just suddenly ignited. I also know that in some countries scores of people are suffering from heatstroke. I empathize with everyone who is suffering as well.

The problem is that I am extremely sensitive to heat. I get migraines, nausea, skin rashes, and hypertension. And although I think it is pushing it a little too far, my gastritis has also been acting up in the last two weeks, and well, the litany goes on and on.

Expectedly, my blood pressure has been on a rollercoaster ride in the last two weeks. I would have extremely low blood pressure in the mornings (at one point this week, 90/70) which then begins a perilous a climb around noontime. I know "high" is also relative - in my case, anything in excess of 120/80 already qualifies as high; my internal plumbing system is simply designed that way.

So the last two weeks have been really hell for me. And because life has a funny way of testing one's fortitude (at least I can still see it from a lighter perspective), work has never been as hectic and as demanding. I had to finish the annual reports of two companies and organize three presentations in a record four-days time. At the same time, I had to prepare and deliver one paper for a group of HR professionals last Thursday. And tomorrow (Saturday), I have to conduct a whole-day training program for a religious congregration. And on Sunday, I have to drive all the way to Bataan to conduct a team building program for the editorial staff of the College's paper. And oh, I had to finish grading papers, checking tests, and computing grades in time for course card distribution last night.

I am whining, I know. And I am on a roll.

So my patience is really running thin. In fact, it's hanging by a thread. Which explains why I haven't been blogging as much lately. There are zillion and one things I would have loved to write about - from the latest psychological torture in PBB, to that tragic killing spree in Virginia Tech, to the senseless cruelty inflicted by the Bureau of Census to Filipinos applying for birth certificates (they are made to queue in the middle of the scorching sun in this supposedly Serbilis outlet in front of my office every day), to the various inanities in this mad mad election season, ad nauseum.

And yes, I would love to write really scathing rejoinders to a couple of entries in some blogs about me. But then again, why bother, since it is pretty obvious that some people have already made up their minds about what kind of person I am anyway. Life is too short to waste on narrow-minded people who think anyone with a perceived contrary opinion is automatically their personal enemy.

Meantime, please bear with the irregular updates in this blog. This infernal heat is just too much.