After the Storm

A lot of things have been happening lately that I felt it was time to write again. Besides, I do have thoughts so why not share them.

Ondoy left a decidedly indelible mark to us, particularly in mega Manila. Its fury was unexpected. Its wrath was unparalleled. Its devastation was complete.

Actually, it was a weak storm. Its winds were high and hurtled themselves about at the lower end of the range of what would be considered a typhoon. What it delivered to the earth was water, tons of it. The weather bureau said there was enough rainfall to last us a normal September.


It would not have been so bad I suppose, if it was only rainwater that we encountered. What made it worse was the mud that flowed with it. Rivers overflowed lifting their silt and tossing it about like it was whipping cream. The result was mud pushed by the water through cracks and crevices allowing it to go where it was not supposed to.

Memory Lane

On Sundays, almost all the radio stations play music from bygone decades. In the afternoon, I would set the radio to dzbr on the FM band for my mother if my nephew (my brother's 2 year old son) isn't around to visit his grand Mama. They play really old pieces from her youth. I think they still use turntables, you can hear the crackle made by the needle as it traverses the grooves of the disc.

Yesterday, just as I tuned in, a guy named Barr Samson had just gotten on board and was starting his program. He mentioned the date September 9. He was saying that it was his anniversary as a radio broadcaster. This year on that day, he would have been on air for a dizzying 60 years.

He went on to discuss those who were with him on that first show, a radio drama. He was talking to one of them, Laila Hermosa who is now in a wheelchair, a few days prior. He said that of the six cast members, it seems they were the only ones left. He also said he wanted to beat Tia Dely's record of 68 years.

He could have retired some time ago but he didn't. Probably, the station just lessened his air time to give him more time to rest and relax. As long as your voice was okay, you could still work on radio.

I wonder if I could show as much dedication to my profession as he did.

Train Riddle

My friend Joan Piñon once said that I was her lucky charm on the MRT rides. Every tiem she rides with me, the car is not as crowded as normal. I think she was proven correct yet again.



The other day, I had to go to Mandaluyong. I went to the Quezon Avenue station to ride a train. When I got there, there was a train that just got into the station. I decided to wait for the next one because I did not want to rush. The space I wanted was probably occupied already.



So I let the first train go and stood on the platform as it sped off. I did not wait long for the next. In about two minutes time, another train was coming into the station.



And lo! It was empty. The train was meant to take off from this station. All of us got on and all of us were able to sit down (or stand by choice).



Because we were so close to the one before, our train never got full. I will bet that the one I did not ride was crowded to overflowing. In our case, there were a few who were standing but there were seats that were still available.

On the same day, I took the commuter train from the end station at Taft. Of course I got a seat, that's one of the things I like about coming from the end station. It was rush hour so we did not wait long before the train left the station.

We got to the Magallanes station and already there were some people standing. I thought we would be fulll by the time we left the Ayala station. I was wrong.

In fact, until I got off at Cubao the car was not crowded. Oh there were lots of people standing right in front of me but if I tilt my head just so, I could still see out the window across the train.

Lovely, isn't it?