Worst Day for 2006-2007 and Footprints in the Sand

I guess this is timely for holyweek. But I do believe this is something to Blog about. I was suppose to go to singapore last monday afternoon. After coordinating other travels including mine, I did my usual rounds of preparations at our home in quezon city...., packing, buying toiletries, checking travel docs. I left my passport at my apartment in Taguig , so when I got there at around 1130pm, I readied it and checked it as I usually do.. To my shock I saw my passport expired. I feld numb.. I mean I'm the one who nags my staff before travelling to get the travel docs ready etc. Worst case, my Boss , had to fight for me to get the travel opportunity so it was really embarassing , lastly there was the the travel cost. I felt really down and felt so dumb to have missed it. I was totally out of it, I just sat there stunned for 5 min... then I tried to gather my wits and used my training at work to get myself together. I texted some friends who could help me with my passport problem, no answer.. then my good friend randy called, he wanted to check if I needed a lift to the airport, I told him my problem then he gave some suggestions and best one was to talk to Mark (one of the guys from my department who I was coordinating travel for). Mark had to go the US, kaso ang passport nya umaangat so pumunta sya DFA para magparush ng passport. OK , silver lining, possible magparush passport. I called Mark and got some directions. Ang main requirement is to get to the DFA early and have a letter prepared why I needed to expedite my passport processing. Before all of this , I was in a hike to Mt. Pinatubo kaya pamatay sa sakit ang katawan ko at nasira pa ang Nike Shox ko paakyat palang. kamahal na sapatos AMPAO!

Anyway, I was actually thinking of going to the spa kaso puno. Then I was thinking of meeting up with a friend kaso busy. So buti din if not baka di ko na check in time ang passport ko.

So Ayon.. pinilit ko mashakeoff ang pagkatulala ko, Sinulat ko in true project management spirit all the steps I had to do until I get my passport , did a small what if scenario if I got it and if not and what are the other things to consider..syet ang geeky.

Slept almost 3am and woke up at 5. Got to the DFA around 6, nagpapicture sa bwitre sa labas and filled up the form. Paalala pala wag kayo papabulas sa entrance ng DFA, biruin mo me mga ugok na nagaabang sa entrance me stick pa tapos tatanungin ka "Sir complete na po ba ang requirements, pwede ho ba makita?!" , bigla ko nga sinagot "Eh bat mo ba ako tinatanong eh ang ID mo eh Photography?".. sabay ba naman tumalikod ang hayup.

Anyway ayun.. mega sorry ako sa boss ko, nahihilo pa ako sa puyat , no breakfast tapos medyo mainit at mahaba ang pila sa DFA. Pero infairness maayos ang pila, talagang dahil lang sa volume kaya mahaba ang pila. Paid and went to the directors office to plead my case. Waited for quite a while, then sa wakas natawag ako around 10 , buti talaga mabait yung andon and handled it quite professionally. I met up with my friend Mike for lunch kasi malapit lang bahay nya don. Siguro nakita ni mike na mukhang latang lata ako kaya nilibre ako. Yung mga close ko na barkada tumawag agad for support and nagisip kung paano makakatulong. Grabe napaka loser ng feeling ko non, One of the things I hate is failing without trying. Failing is ok for me as long as I tried.. eh yun magulo ko ang sched and gumastos then papalpak dahil sa .. sa wala..that sucked for me. I felt it was the worst day for 2006-2007 for me.

Luckily pumayag ang DFA kaso indi same day..ok na rin. Kaso 2nd challenge, nacancel na ang flight ko at may penalty pa. So magkakapassport ako kaso wala ako flight. I went back to the office , I checked my email kaso wala expired na rin ang email login ko .. I wasnt suprised kasi nga bad day . Tapos pati ang hotel ko dahil no show ako, me no show fee na almost the same as the daily fee.haaay.

Chineck lahat ng flights kaso no luck, tapos naalala ko bigla I was researching how much ang singapore flight sa tiger air..so pinatry ko sa office namin.. ayon .. Tiger air na ako.. so ang loser don.. sa Clark ako .. it meant after getting my passport at roxas blvd , I would drive directly to Clark. Then tumawag ang secretart namin, kaialngan daw ng passport number to reserve a flight .. labooo eh wala nga ako passport eh. Buti tinawagan ang Tiger Air so nadaan sa pakiusap. 30 min later ng akala ko ok na.. ayaw daw gumana ng company credit card .. buti di pa ako nakaalis.. so we had to use my card. At last na ticket na ..ready to go. Before that nagtext out of nowhere yung taga DFA to tell me to fax the copy of my passport receipt. Ang galing nito kasi wala naman akong iniwan na cell num sa DFA. Luckily my luck turned the next day, I got my passport in time and flew out from Clark as sceduled. Our secretary also called to tell me that she was able to persuade the hotel not to charge for the no show. Also since im flying Tiger, the entire cost of my travel is still the same even with the penalties. When I got to singapore, the organizer told me I could join the special sessions the next day so I would still get a 2 day programme instead of just one. Thing were fine again.

Footprints in the Sand...
The story of footprints in the sand in gist is that Man was blaming God why during the times of trouble there were only 1 set of footprints on the sand , Man said God left him, God said he was carrying man . I believe this always , I actually had a blog about God's great intricate plans way back, in appreciating the times he carries me , this was again another time. I strongly believe that God would always throw in stuff if things are really going bad to help you get through it. Para mainda mo ika nga. Buti na lang puno ang Spa and may lakad ang friend ko so maaga ako nakabalik sa apartment to check my passport. The friends who called me to check how I was and tried to help as much as they can, they made me strong. Mark needing to get his passport ealier as well so nagkaidea ako what to do. Me remembering Tiger Air , me not leaving the office although I wanted to which enabled me to give my credit card info. The DFA officer working on my case was so good she called my office and asked for my cell num which is how I found out I needed to faxt my receipt, plus all other breaks and stuff that I didnt see. I thank God for all the help.. He is always there for us, carrying us when we need it.