THE JUNE 3 EMERGENCY

There was an incessant ringing in my ears and I was floating helplessly.

That was 15 minutes after going out to to buy a stick of cigarette for my after-dinner smoke and just after plugging  a desk fan.

Is this dying?

I'm not ready yet so I asked to be brought to the hospital --- in an ambulance which is my second time, hooked to an oxygen tank which is my first, carried in a wheel chair which is my second, was declared well, then discarged from the ER. 

A nursing student said I had an episode of orthostatic hypotension.

It has nothing to do with my scope of work from June until November or Monday's bloodletting for our quarterlies nor having to pay my social insurance myself. 

Still, the doctor ordered a 2D echo test.

Not because I paid my huge credit card bill although the first installament for my second consultancy was still unremitted which is why I requested another SWIFT code for my third consultancy that will cover both co-convenings and a side event.

The sad thing was to be told not to ride a bike, for the meantime. 

So we walked in Munoz to buy a bit of our prescriptions, in San Jose for an  appointment with our eye doctor, in CLSU where I reminisced about blowjobs in the bleachers.

The eye doctor ordered a fluorescein angiography.

I had two bottles of Chilean merlot and an Argentinian  malbec but it was Red Horse that got me as I passed on the cigarettes, enough for Bulan to come home and grill pork ribs and tuna parts for the Mistahs and the Sunday bikers of Bakal 2...

THE RETURN OF THE JEDI (A Sequel to "The Unemployed" Series)

The Jedi in this case is not a master of the mystic-warrior way.

He was in an Order whose symbols were disposed in toilets and garbage bins, an inactive Master of the Royal Secret that track desolate desert planets for leftover tinumis, lechong paksiw and bopis that powered the lightsabers of a Thursday night session in Bakal 2, and a substitute guard of the outer door to King Solomon's Temple who allowed the personal representative of the Grand Master to pass through. 

The hocruxes of Jabba the Hutt were dissipated by static (+), a transient ischemic attack (T), and a skyrocketing ichor (T) but Darth Vader probably still sells protection from financial lose so he too will soon be judged by the Rebel Alliance.   

These are the reflections and recommendations from a communique, that care will not be enough and investments for affordable shelter financing and universal health coverage were paid until December to ensure adequate social protection for the unemployed and therefore the continuity of his appointments with ajumma (The Principal) and noona (The Nubiles) too.

A 5-month contract was finally signed on Wednesday after April's CANSEA stint (6 days and paid) and May's EI work (13 days and unpaid) so $785 was deposited to upgrade an aircon power outlet, renew a driving license, and validate a national convening in Vientiane.

Thus, he will remain to be The Consultant who is fond of pairing Irish whiskey with sisig, adobong bibe and kinilaw na bangus; a classic operator who becomes better with age, Like Fine Wine, and the Tadej Pogacar of ASEAN influencing that is guaranteed to make things happen.

THE UNEMPLOYED 8: The Train to Oudomxay

There was my way of leaving unwanted shirts and old underwear at airports and hotels...

...and there is The ASEAN Way, an anthem about the beer tap of a samanera and the rain TG 574 dumped over the new office and a virtual meeting in Vientiane, the ballad of zombies from Yuxi who boarded the train in Luang Prabang during a 375-kilometer trip to Muang Xai where a tribute of 5 goat dishes was offered for the ceaseless pouring of Beer Lao. 

There was Olivia Newton-John's Xanadu and there is the train to Oudomxay, the Northern City in a sea of clouds and the hill tribes who modeled new unwashed polo barongs that survived a waterfall of pee near an empty Khmu village where the shifting gears of a borrowed bike crooned like John Devenver after being proposed with a contract.

There was a group photo between incessant rains and two mornings of validation.

I had my second love shot despite a cancelled hike to a waterfall and a butterfly park.

We pledged our continuing support and had a sandwich dinner on the train from Oudomxay.

Almost 24 hours, a communique, two airports, two bus stations, and a short nap later, I took my oath of office in Bongabon for my continuing service to the Craft, evaded a fellowship for a proper sleep, and celebrated Tadej Pgacar's dominance of the Giro d'Italia at a birthday party of sweet brandy, tinumis, lechon and bopis...