A lot of things come into mind at 4am.

One thought is the look of this woman's face outside the ICU the other day as i was walking the halls of the hospital. I hope she is just feeling hot and grimacing about it and not because of what's happening inside the room. It just reminded me of how much despair the halls of a hospital contains. Yeah, there's more despair than joy there. Its always a losing battle. Sometimes you just get to win more time for someone but they all die one way or another. Well, i mean we all do. A decent quality of life is always something worth fighting for.

Another thought is that old song that goes "O ang babae pag minamahal, may kursunada aayaw ayaw...." or something like that. Why do people take things for granted and just miss them when it is gone? People should learn to cherish what joys they have at that point in time because you never know when your clock will stop.

Last thought is on the fact that im now stuck carrying three phones, one for each network. I used to just have smart and sun but i had to get a globe phone too because of the 232 and 235 cheap calls they suddenly offered. If you ask me, i like Sun Cellular the best. They have improved tremendously and they are still the most cost efficient. Unlimited calls, Php 20 peso day long SUN Instant messaging, cheap internet access rates. The smart im keeping because it is prepaid with a good number. It is worth it because even if the phone gets stolen, i can apply for a replacement with the same number and even the remaining load. Globe... has always been a disappointment one way or another. Long story. I hope my friends from Globe wont read this. Anyway, i got a second line from them so i think my friends wont feel so bad that im telling people about my disappointments.

Time to get a couple of hours of sleep before going back to the review at Fatima Correctional. Would you believe that they still conducted a review during the Milenyo typhoon and yesterday, a national holiday. People who cant make it to class were absent and got zero for the tests that day. Plus, you needed an excuse letter. Mine should have read, "Duh! It was signal number 3. People died on the road and you wanted me to drive to frigging Fatima?" but they probably wouldnt like it :) There were a few who made it through the storm but got in late and they still werent allowed to take the post-lecture test because they came past 9am. Unbelievable? Its true. And they wonder why the graduates dont come back to thank them.

About 2 weeks ago, i had to go from where i attend a review class to the Shoemart nearby. Since SM Valenzuela was only a couple of kilometers, i decided to just take the jeep. After i got in, 3 guys came on. Then soon after a fourth guy came and sat beside me near the front. In the middle of the ride, the third guy moved beside the 4th guy in the small space between the fourth guy and the front seat. It was really weird that he moved since it was ok on the other side and we basically had the 4th guy sandwiched between us. Then the 2nd guy across me dropped coins. While picking them up, he kept moving my feet. I dont see how his coins could get under my shoe but what was more puzzling was how he was shaking. I thought that he was either nervous or sick. Anyway, he soon after got down. When he did, i suddenly noticed that the cellphone i had on my hip was missing. I checked behind me but the street was empty so nobody could have gotten it from the window. I declared the missing cell and immediately the 1st guy in front of me said that it must have been the guy who went down. He then said that the guy went into the small street we just passed and that there was a police station there. (Hmm... come to think of it, why did the jeepney driver stop?) Anyway, i knew the guy who went down couldnt have taken it since i was watching him the whole time. I was looking around my seat in case it fell when i heard my phone beep that a message came in. Luckily it wasnt on silent and that my message alert tone is a long superman theme (yeah, go figure). I immediately looked at the two guys beside me and said that my phone is there. I asked them to move so i can look. When the third guy moved away, the girl beside me saw my cell and pointed it out. As i grabbed the cell, the other guy ran out. Well, i very well cant accuse the two who was left can i? Since i was already at SM, i decided to just go down. One of the guys who went down sidled up to me and said that the two who were left were in cahoots with the other two who left. He didnt want to stay in the jeep so he went out even though it wasnt his stop.

Anyway, i called my cellphone's saviour for texting me and then i went about my business. After retelling the story to some friends who live in the area, i learned that i wasnt the first victim. These guys have been operating in the area for some time and the jeepney drivers know them. Yeah, they know them and some are probably working with them. Perhaps they give them a signal or whatnot when a likely target boards the vehicle. The police... are too busy causing traffic in the area daily to bother with such trivial matters. I can only hope they catch these criminals.