iPhone. It’s probably safe to assume that it is my most uttered work of the week. With the software unlock and the $200 price drop, it’s really hard to think of a reason not to get one. So armed with a credit card, I went to the online Apple Store and ordered. I have it shipped to Johnny Air Cargo in New York which will then forward it to Manila so delivery won’t be a problem. Or so I thought.

After waiting almost 48 hours for the status to change from “Not yet shipped” to “Prepared for shipment”, Imagine my dismay when I woke up Monday morning and saw that my order was cancelled.

I was stunned. I did not get an e-mail or anything on why they are cancelling my order. Then it dawned on me that a lot of people from PhilMug have been ordering from the store using different credit cards and having it shipped to that same address which probably made Apple put up red flags. One PhilMug member’s iPhone even have his with FedEx already only to discover a day before delivery that Apple have asked FedEx to return the package to them.

Fortunately my sister, who lives in California, kindly enough agreed to just have Apple deliver the package to her place and she will be the one to ship it directly to me.

Apple ships very fast when everything checks out. Within hours my order has been prepared for shipment and in less than 24 hours I got a FedEx tracking number. Just this morning, I heard from my sister that she got the package already and will send it to me as soon as possible.

Ahhh… the lengths I’ll go for a shiny new gadget. If you are in the US, think of how how lucky you are that you could just walk or drive to an Apple or AT&T store and be using your iPhone within hours. I extremely doubt that iPhone will be officially released here in the Philippines anytime soon so I would definitely enjoy being in that “exclusive club” for a while.

Today is a Wednesday and I’m writing this blog entry at 3:21 PM while at work, roughly 2 hours before they let us go home. I should probably have never said that because they might be reading this but whatever, I’m not scared. Yes, I finally gave in and got myself a pays-enough-for-my-lifestyle job. It is my third day here and so far, it’s not going well.

I am so damn bored. You see, I have to undergo training for a month, to learn about the company’s processes. I already know PHP and MySQL so they just let me read how to document everything. The way I see it, changing an uppercase letter to lowercase in a source code means I have to write 700 pages of documentation.

After reading it all for about 2 hours, I am left with nothing to do so I resort to what I like best while at work–covertly surfing websites. Every employee has perfected this art, surfing various junk while on full alert for incoming footsteps, ready to bring up the dummy excel document instantly. It is exhausting so feel free to make a trip to the watercooler every 10 minutes. Next thing you know, the clock strikes 5:30 and FREEDOM!

I am hoping that my situation will get better. Pretty soon I’ll start working on some projects that I will obsess about and I might just love this job. For now, let me go back trying to read a web page in a browser window as small as my head can block.

As I am writing this, the usually faint glow of our DSL modem, signifying that I am connected to the internet, is gone. It has been that way for over a week now, I am going crazy and PLDT is definitely not helping.

Their customer service people is a bit helpful now. They do not treat me as an idiot anymore and read their usual script, instead they just go ahead and forward my concern to the technical team. That is another matter though since I have no idea on what is happening behind the scenes, I am left wondering if it is in the process of getting fixed or stuck at the bottom of the queue.

People have been telling me to just switch providers but what are my choices, really? Smart Bro, which is still owned by PLDT, and Globe Wireless Broadband with top speed of only half a megabit. The lack of competition is pathetic considering I live in the middle of the city.

Take away the internet from me and I am almost nothing. Movies and TV shows that I watch, music and podcasts that I listen to are all downloaded off it. The absolute worst of it all is I do not have an excuse to just stay locked-up in my room and actually have to spend time and talk to people. Some of them just drive me nuts. Oh well, that’s me, always the pariah.

Since I arrived here in Manila a couple of months ago, I have had probably gone to more than a dozen job interviews. Some I would kill to be hired and some I’d rather die because the interview is too freakin’ boring. I don’t really get nervous that much and try to have a lively conversation with the interviewer. Although, I do get the jitters every now and then when I feel intimidated by him or her. My interview this morning was one of those.

One factor was probably is it’s in Eastwood City, Libis and I have to be there at 7:30 in the morning which means I have to be up by 4:30. Another is it’s a webcam interview and somewhat uncomfortable for me. So, the interviewer asked me the usual questions and I usually have prepared answers for those. He asked me about my strengths and weaknesses and the weakness part is tricky as you may have known so I usually say, “I’m a perfectionist and I obsessed about every little detail that sometimes I spend too much time on it.” I don’t know what got into my stupid brain, probably because that answer is too ‘normal’ so I said something different. “I tend to jeer away from work and spend countless hours on YouTube.” Seriously, WTF? The moment I said it, I know I screwed up and I cannot think of any company will that answer be regarded as positive. Maybe if the company is YouTube or Vimeo then that’s alright.

So there, I screwed up. I tend to obsess about these things because I always want to please everybody and leave a good impression on someone. I think they don’t want me but that’s alright, I just feel stupid and I know other people have gone through a much dumber or embarrassing situation but I want to write about mine thinking it will somehow make me feel better. It kinda did.

8 o’clock in the morning. I can hear my mom’s radio blaring loudly in the other room. Despite my hesitation, the prospect of drinking a large hot cup of coffee made me bolt upright and head to the kitchen. After munching on some toast and butter, I head straight to the living room to watch some video podcasts and downloaded TV shows. 4 hours later, I get off my butt and eat lunch. Repeat for the afternoon and then dinner. Read a little bit after that then go to sleep. Typical Saturday? Make it typical everyday.

Yes, I still don’t have a job. Not because I’m too dumb and stupid and nobody wants me. Believe me, I have several offers which I turned down because it doesn’t feel right for me. What am I looking for exactly? I’m not really sure, I think I will know when I see it. For now, I kinda want to do a bit of volunteer work. I’m totally into that whole save-the-environment kind of thing so maybe join Greenpeace or whatever. And no, I’m not some spoiled 21-year old who still relies on his parents for money. A friend hooked me up with some web development projects I have to do which fortunately helps finance my lifestyle for about a couple of months or more.

You know what, I want to go on the record and spill my plans. The reason I don’t want a regular job right now is I still want to study. I feel like what I got is not enough. No, I’m not going to Law School because that’s not my kind of thing. I want to take my Masters in Europe. I’m eyeing several universities in the region so I’m not sure which country yet. Seriously, stop laughing! A guy can dream, right? As I’d like to quote Will Smith in the Pursuit of Happyness, “You got a dream, you gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you that you can’t do it. You want something? Go get it. Period.” I can take a perfectly good education here in my country but the prospect of being in a totally different country and culture that is alien to myself is something that motivates me. Go watch “L’Auberge espagnole” and you’ll know what I mean.

This isn’t some crazy idea that I cooked up overnight. I was actually planning this since the beginning of this year so I’ll be ready for the 2008 Autumn term. I am already scheduled to take up my IELTS exam, a major requirement, next month. By the time application period opens up in October, I’ll be more than prepared to send out my application forms to what I can only think about a dozen universities.

As for how will I fund this crazy idea, I don’t have an effing clue. All I’m focused now is getting accepted then I’ll worry about the money afterwards. There’s getting a bank loan and I’ll be happy to wait tables as a part-time job while I’m there.

Yes, that’s my crazy idea. If any of you out there are thinking of the same thing maybe we could do this together. You know, like proofread those motivation letters or whatever.