Everyday Life Nowadays

Okay, I am blogging offline, will have to publish this when we have internet connection. The past two days, Globe Telecom has been down. I wonder when it will serve our connection again. Though I could blog and read other blog posts, they are not updated on my tab.

I usually wake up at 5am almost every day except when Josef reports to the office three times a week, from Monday to Wednesday. Since Jovy brings the car to work every day ( she works different time), Josef takes a ride with his officemate who lives in the town as ours. They pass by every day at around 4:50 am since our street is a short-cut to Pasig area then to Bonifacio Global City where JP Morgan Chase is located.

You know the morning routine of a senior citizen like me. I sweep the yard, clean the dogs poop, water my garden plants, then hose the garage. I clean the house first before preparing breakfast. Since I only take plain oats and nuts every morning, I only need hot water for it and for my chamomile tea. I only prepare breakfast for mom and Josef. He works at home twice a week. By around 8:30am and 9am, I’m usually done with the morning chores. Lunch is at 12pm. I take a slice of whole wheat bread with what dish I have prepared earlier. Then I’M FREE.

Take that to mean the rest of the afternoon is my “me” times when I am able to read and update our Catholic page and group on social media where I’m one of the admins. Reading takes the cake of course. I recently read two books which I both rated five stars⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

Home Before Sundown was written by Barbara Hannay while The Sweetness of Forgetting was penned by Kristin Harmel. Both are new authors on my list. I just copied some lovely words from Harmel’s book.

– the dawn’s narrow finger are just reaching the horizon

– life changes you, even if you don’t realize it while it’s happening, and it turns out you can’t take back the years that have passed by

– you do not always have to see something to know that it is always there.

Presently I am reading We Were The Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, another e-book about the holocaust. Seems like an interesting read too.

The mother of a friend died and they live in the same town as we do. My friend and her family are coming home from Australia and we’ll see each other tomorrow together with some priest friends and brothers from the Society of Saint Paul. Fr. Pao will be celebrating mass.

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Stepping Out….Finally

Alleluia!

For the first time ever in a period  of nine months, I went out of the periphery of the subdivision. I  needed a hair trim and I also wanted to buy gifts for the family.

My temperature was checked for the first time at the mall entrance then another check at the entrance of the DIY shop and finally at Kenny Rogers Roaster. I was armed with a small bottle of Alcohol and a small bottle with hand sanitizer is attached to my bag.  I am not complaining though but writing your name, contact number and address in the establishments I visited is sort of overkill. I know, they might need contact tracing later on (is there still one nowadays?)  but  I guess names and phone numbers would suffice.

I had my hair trimmed at David’s Saloon and the hair stylist said I am lucky there were no customers yet early this morning. Yes of course, I deliberately went there early so as to avoid the crowd. Imagine, nine months of not going out of our subdivision gate.  And the rate of the hair trim, there was an increase of at least 30% since I had my last hair trim there. 

I bought a  a manual grass cutter at ACE Hardware together with gardening scissors, a cutter and some Ramgo seeds for planting. Since I have a list of what to buy for the family, I was done in more than two hours.  The department store no longer wrap gifts for free but when you present your receipts, they will give you one gift wrapper for every P500.00 pesos or more cost of one item. Nice try, I enjoy wrapping gifts anyway.

A friend asked me how it feels going  out for the first time after so many months being on a lock down. I am no longer comfortable seeing a lot of people so I kept my distance.  What has this Covid pandemic done to us? Gone are the days when I could chat with baggers and cashiers while waiting for my purchases especially in supermarkets. Even tricycles here have that plastic between the driver and the passenger. Only one passenger is allowed so you could imagine the price increase of fares nowadays. Next venture would be at the supermarket when Josef or Jovy are not so busy to accompany me. Though we plan  to just order  food come Christmas, we still need groceries to tide us over.

We won’t let this Covid defeat our will  to live as normally as we can. We just need to have that self-discipline to protect us from the virus.

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At Last

Finally yesterday, we were able to fix mom’s problem regarding her  pension. Have to wait in line for more than two hours before we were interviewed by the  SSS in-charge of senior citizens’ affairs. He asked why it was not honored by the bank. I told him, it is all about her signature. He said, “Nay, I will allow you any type of signature here,  your physical presence is more important”.  He told me further that the bank “is just a go-between SSS and the pensioner, it is your money, not theirs”.  Gosh, I can’t believe it, SSS is more lenient than the bank itself.  The clerk-in-charge did not recommend guardianship since only one would be able to represent mom whereas if we  have those requirements for a  legit representative,  any one of us, her kids would be able to renew her pension. He wrote all those required papers we have to produce. If she could no longer sign and can no longer go to any branch at SSS, she could use a thumb mark with a letter of authority thumb marked too, ID of the representative,a barangay clearance, sketch of the house where she lives, and a latest picture showing her reading a newspaper with the latest date clearly visible. Things that would prove she is still alive.

Some requirements but I think it is better to go directly to  SSS than to suffer such inconvenience with the bank. The  frontliner at the bank even told me that SSS is strict now since she won’t give me an ACOP form to fill up. I was able to acquire two extra sheets at SSS. How’s that BPI? Why can’t you serve your customer in a manner that would not inconvenience them?

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One Of Those Annoying Things

My goodness. I am just pissed that the bank didn’t honor the renewal application of mom’s SSS benefits because her signature is different from when she applied years ago. She is the beneficiary of dad so she has to  renew it every year, go to the bank and sign ACOP (Annual Confirmation of Pensioner’s Program). She almost couldn’t see the line allotted for her signature.   I only received the bank’s advice that the ACOP was rejected by their branch manager a few minutes after we got home.

They referred us to an SSS branch where she needs to elect a guardian to represent her. My older brother accompanied us to the bank. Mom finds it hard to go out without a car so we have to wait for my brother’s free time so he could drive for us. SSS (Social Security System) is always full. You need to fall in line and wait for a long time before you can be served. Even a simple inquiry needs a number so they could attend to you.  I hope they find a way to make home visits to our senior citizenry who could no longer fix their pensions on their own. Such is the  kind of government we have, simply lacking.  They are not compassionate about the aged population. What if a pensioner is ill and could no longer walk or something?

Come Monday, we have to accompany mom again and go to SSS for that update.

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A Blogger’s Life

Haha!

When I am not gardening, I am holding a book or my tab and when I am not holding a book, I am in front of my computer blogging or updating our page on FB.

The routine of a senior citizen. They vary every weekend of course  when the kids are around.  That’s when I experiment on some recipes  in the kitchen depending on what  fresh ingredients we find at the market.

Don’t get me wrong. I am happy as it is. A friend asked me once why don’t I travel? We do go on road trips but going far is no longer an option for me.  Since I got sick, my immune system sort of weakened too. My goodness, I am even afraid to get colds because it usually take almost a month before I get well.  I wear face mask when I go out. The pollution in Metro Manila is such that you won’t really feel safe when you ride a public transport.  I feel  okay of course when I am riding in the car.

Ah, gardening!

Yes, I love my garden. This morning I planted a few seeds of mini-zinnias which I bought yesterday at the supermarket along with a packet of ampalaya (bitter gourd) seeds.  The seeds of the eggplant I bought two weeks ago have germinated. Maybe in three weeks I could transfer them to pots. Really looking forward to summer when these seeds will have grown.  Done with trimming the carabao grass over the weekend. It’s a monthly ritual, otherwise the grass would grow long and it is not nice to see. My Amazon lilies are starting to bloom again. The Crossandras are sprouting everywhere.  I have Shamrock in green and purple. I love its tiny white flowers.  How I wish I was able to grow another Gardenia before our  lone plant died last year. I replaced it with Ti plants and they are thriving well.

Hmm…books!

I love books but of course. Who doesn’t?  I am in awe of the new books I found lately. The authors are simply gifted.  I read at night before going to bed and sometimes before I take a nap in the afternoon.

Oh, blogging!

So far I’ve been able to turn up a post every day. I wonder how long this blogging muse would stay. I would like to thank those new followers. One of these days, I will try to visit your blogs.

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Loving Sundays

Ah, the joys and perks of being a senior citizen.

I turned sixty more than a month ago, finally having that much-awaited SC card.  There are so many perks attached to being a senior in our country. You have the cinemas for free at certain days of the week or having discounts on other days. I am not much of a cinema fan though so I have not availed yet of free movies and such. Maybe, when I am not that busy anymore and could find time to see a movie, I will.  What I did manage to make use of that card  in a big restaurant was when Nissa, Josef and I dined at Vikings Marikina  on my birthday. And it’s not because I am a senior but they give free lunch or dinner to birthday celebrators for the month.  I enjoy the perks of a 20% discount though  at Jollibee and McDonald’s.  Almost every Sunday we attend mass early and have our breakfast at Jollibee. I love their longganisa with poached egg and a cup of hot chocolate or coffee. They also give a  free copy of Philippine Star (one of our national dailies).  That at least makes me enjoy dining out at fast food restaurants. Jollibee is a home-grown food chain  which has also become famous in other countries. Some grocery items also have discounts depending on what you will buy and if it is included in their list.  Hotels and travels have 20% discounts too.

It’s taking a long time for my Social Security pension to be credited to my account. SSS said it usually takes two months to process such.  I wonder what’s taking them that long. Hopefully, by January I’ll be able to enjoy it.

Talk about the joys of blogging. Imagine a grandma blogging still and enjoying reading other blog posts. Sometimes, I just could not keep up with those wonderful posts I see here on WordPress. And I noticed too that most bloggers I follow are in their senior years like me.  Well, base on experience,  they have more things to share  and more wonderful happenings in their lives. We talk about our kids, how successful they have become. We talk about our grandkids,  how we enjoy their company and their presence in our lives. We talk about several things like photography, gardening, trying new recipes, visiting places and our daily struggles in life. We learn, oh how we learn from other bloggers.

I follow a certain blogger here Ana Linden. She’s giving away free copies of her e-books  until December 31st I think. I just downloaded them  They have 5 stars at Goodreads.

Happy Sunday to all.

 

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Senior At Last

It is quite amazing to see the local government at work.  It was an enjoyable visit to the OSCA (Office of Senior Citizens Affairs) to apply for my SC card.  It was a good twenty minutes wait then I got my official ID.  I am all set to enjoy the perks and privileges of a senior citizen….hooray!

Next I went to Philhealth for an update of my Member’s Data Record. I am now officially a non-paying member. Gone are the monthly payments of health premiums starting October  this year.  The commute going there was longer than the time I spent at their office, a mere five minutes. Seniors are always on the priority lanes allotted in each establishment. It’s quite nice to see and feel the difference.

It is indeed a blessing when the government truly works for you.

 

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