There are reasons I didn’t write for this prompt during the first time around. Continue reading “Spend the Day Imagining”
Category: Diary
My Week So Far…
I realize that yesterday, for the first time since February 19, I did not post. Nope, not a single thing. In fact, I didn’t even spend the day writing. Continue reading “My Week So Far…”
Summer So far…
Today’s prompt asks: If it’s autumn or winter where you live, what are you most looking forward to doing next summer? If it’s spring or summer where you are, what has been the highlight of the season so far for you? Continue reading “Summer So far…”
Waking Up to Irritation
I have been undoubtedly asleep the entire morning. Not physically but mentally. Either that or my brain’s fried. I’ve been in my GMAT class all morning and haven’t been getting a single question right. I got home about two hours ago, made lunch, and drank a cup of green tea. I needed the slight boost of caffeine. About half-way into green tea, aw, it’s like slamming into a wall. My entire upper body itched like crazy and so many other things jolted me at the same time.
Like the fact that mom had been nagging me to charge the camera for the entire week so she could take it to training this weekend and I’m just now realizing she had forgotten it.
And it also hit me that today is somewhat of a significant day. It is exactly 9 years since my father’s passing. Mom told me two days ago, June 4, while she was noting that it was the anniversary of the student protest at Tiananmen Square.
This was how the sky looked about 1 hour ago, right before it started hailing and raining, right before I was interrupted by a loud bang at the front door. I was surprised I heard that despite the hail. I opened up and saw a half-naked man demanding money. “What for?” I asked.
It turned out he was the shady handyman mom hired to fix the spouts for the rental property. He wanted $169. I looked outside, it was pouring. “Does it have to be right now?” I asked, realized immediately I had just asked the stupidest question ever. That question is like asking the cashier at the grocery store’s check-out counter if I can pay later. Inside though, my anxiety was building up and I don’t do well under pressure. My heart pounded as my thoughts hurled at me at 100 mph. Is this guy serious? He could’ve done it all afternoon and he chose now? “Can I write you a check?” I proceeded.
“No, I need cash, like now.” He answered. I don’t have $169 on me. I gave $200 to mom a few days ago to fix something else and I remember mom telling me someone’s going to do some work today but she didn’t say anything about paying. Have I been scammed? Please don’t tell me I’ve been lied to. I’m not in the mood for craps.
So I got in the car and drove to the ATM machine to get $200 out of my account. The inside of the car got completely wet as I was trying to working the damn machine and I hate getting wet. Then, instead of coming home to do the transaction, he insisted we do it right then and there in the pouring rain. I was super irritated but consider I’m a tolerable person, I didn’t go off on a temper tantrum. We just exchanged bills and receipts and I drove home. I just hope I didn’t do anything wrong.
Great, now I have to do this in two posts because it’s too long. Oh well, the more the merrier. Read the next post! It’s a lovely story related to the apocalypse (my own experience).
An hour later, I texted mom and told her. She texted back, “Do Not Pay.” Instantly, I knew I fell for one of those things she expects me to do even without told. You know, I’m not a mind-reader. I don’t know your expectations. When a half-naked man is standing outside my door demanding money, what am I really supposed to do?
Minutes later, she sent another text, “Tell him to call me.”
Um, okay. So I called the shady handyman who answered the phone blasting me with a creative bunch of swear words. I told him who I was and that my mom wanted to talk to him. He cursed some more and hung up.
I ended up calling mom, told her what happened and got a big fat lecture, calling me stupid, blah blah blah. I swear, at that moment, stuck in the middle, dealing with both of them, I wanted to cry, to run away, to drown myself, something. I don’t want to deal with this. This is scary and crazy and suddenly feel regret of not sticking to my original day plan. My day plan was I was going to spend the afternoon downtown. I think if I did that, none of this would’d happened.
I’m scare for what will happen tomorrow and I don’t want to find out.
Not so Happily Ever After
Today’s prompt asks: “And they lived happily ever after.” Think about this line for a few minutes. Are you living happily ever after? If not, what will it take for you to get there? Continue reading “Not so Happily Ever After”
First Attempt at B&W Plus Updates
I have been mostly restricted to fiction this week. If you haven’t notice, I’ve been posting nothing but fiction in the last three days. What can I say, I don’t feel like write anything when I feel like crap and yes, I still do but I seem to be just a tiny bit better this morning after mom pushed open my door at 7 am this morning and woke me in a panic for no reason at all except telling me to get to work. She’s gone for the day though, finally, taking a language exam 50 miles away.
I’m so looking forward to this weekend. She will be gone for training and I’ll have the house to myself for the weekend.
Back to feeling like crap, I think I’m having some health issues. That won’t be the first. I don’t want to see a doctor either. All the doctors I’ve been to offer no sympathy whatsoever. I know it’s not your job but still, I came to you. I’m in pain. You can’t just tell me it’s psychological and there’s nothing wrong with me. Can’t you at least do some digging?
Okay, here’s my problem. In the last two days, my head’s been hurting and my chest’s been periodically throbbing. I don’t want to think about it since there’s a chance the pain is “psychological” but at the same time, it feels like it’s getting worse. I want so much to complain but I already know what my mom’s going to say. She’ll either place a large bottle of 600 mg Ibuprofen before me or we’ll bicker.
I couldn’t take it any longer so the other night, I mentioned my discomfort while preparing dinner the other night and we’d just ended up bickering. “It’s all your fault for not drying your hair before heading to bed.” Mom said.
I was, as always, in no mood to bicker and I never went to bed with my hair wet. I always wait until it’s dried before sleeping. “I don’t do that,” I defended.
“If you do that for too many times, it’s bound to happen.” Why do I even make the effort? It’s like talking to a stone.
“Haven’t you been listening to me? I. Don’t. Do. That.” I said through my clenched teeth. There’s no point, my inner voice told me. You’re a minute too late, I snapped.
“I’ve watched you, I’ve seen you do it.” Yeah, like a few months or a few years ago. I didn’t answer. I regret to even brought it up. Forget it.
Aside from that little bicker, so many things had happened this week like I’ve found out a literary magazine HQ in Atlanta is looking for submissions. I have a story for the December issue but I’m afraid it might be too bleak. Should I go for it? I don’t want people to read the story around Christmas and burst in tears. I probably should send another one, huh, one that would cheer people, not make them cry.
I’m going out to work today. This will be the second time this week. I went on Monday and it turned out I couldn’t do much. My boss broke his pinkie last week tripping on a broken sprinkler and now he only has a working right hand while his left hand is wrapped elbow-deep in bandages. I hope he’s there because I went yesterday and he wasn’t there. So I ended up having to have to walk back home but I took my sweet time with the walk.
I’ve always enjoyed black and white photography. I just never thought it fit in with the pictures I took but I just have to try it. What do you think?
Truth, Lies, Assumptions, and Conclusion
Today’s Prompt asks: Is it possible to be too honest, or is honesty always the best policy? Continue reading “Truth, Lies, Assumptions, and Conclusion”
Exhaustion: That’s Life
Daily Prompt: The friendly, English-speaking extraterrestrial you run into outside your house is asking you to recommend the one book, movie, or song that explains what humans are all about. What do you pick? Continue reading “Exhaustion: That’s Life”
T-shirt and Sweatpants
Today’s prompt asks: How important are clothes to you? Describe your style, if you have one, and tell us how appearance impacts how you feel about yourself. Continue reading “T-shirt and Sweatpants”
Pulling Weeds
Today’s prompt asks: What’s the household task you most dislike doing? Why do you think that is — is it the task itself, or something more? Continue reading “Pulling Weeds”
I can’t laugh or joke. No joke!
Before I get into today’s post, I would just like to say that I know at the start of the week, I said there would be a marathon of Writing 101 posts. I’ve decided because of the work situation, I will call it quits with 16/20 completion. Continue reading “I can’t laugh or joke. No joke!”
#AtoZChallenge – U For Update
This morning, I woke up to something horrific! The time on my alarm clock read 3:10. I jolted up like I’ve just been zapped with a thousand volts of electricity. Is this a dream? I often have dreams about being late for school. Did I just slept the entire day? Why didn’t anyone wake me? Is this like a parallel universe or something?
Anxiously, I reached for the useless cell phone which I only use for the alarm function. I pressed a random button and the screen lit up. 7:55. I relaxed a little and peeked at the other alarm clock on top of the dresser next to me. It was flashing and immediately, I knew what it meant. It meant we lost power during the night.
Just then my mom barged into my room. “Did we lose power?” I asked.
“Did we?” She replied, clueless.
“Uh, my clocks are flashing.”
“I just know we lost the internet.” How does she know that, I wonder? Because if the internet was out when the power went out, then when the power came back on, so should the internet and in minutes. Does this mean she was up in the middle of the night?
I still haven’t reset my clocks yet, maybe later. I just came home a few hours ago after sitting in the testing center for three hours taking an exam about a book with concepts that feels way out of time. It’s a textbook novel about the evolution of cost accounting in a hospital setting. I hope I did well. I still have three more exams before I’m officially done with this semester.
I came home, almost 1 pm, hands shaking and stomach growling. I asked my mom if she’d eaten yet (being thoughtful). She said yeah and told me to eat all the leftover beef. I looked at the bowl of leftover beef. “It’s too much. I can’t eat it all.”
“Then make some noodle for me.”
“I thought you’ve eaten.”
“But I’m not full.”
I threw in an extra ramen and when I was so close to be done, she came downstairs, frustrated. She had just texted her tenant about the air conditioning tuneup appointment she had made for them all by herself. “Put some lettuce in there. We have so much.”
I paused cooking and became irritated. Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. I told myself. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “I just want this done. I want to eat.” I said with clenched teeth.
“Fine whatever. Too much, you complain, not enough, you complain.” I took a few more super deep breaths, convinced myself to ignore her.
After the beef was done, I just poured them with the noodles. I sat at the end of the counter and ate my lunch silently. I was in no mood to make conversation, although I had no idea why. The moment I finished cleaning everything up, I bolted for my room. I sat at the computer, wanted to start studying for the next exam but my brain was fried. I had no idea what to write for anything let alone the A to Z challenge. So I spent the afternoon catching up on TV shows.
Now, I think I’m ready to get back to work and study for the next exam now. Anyway, just a quick update. 🙂
#AtoZChallenge – R For Reminder/Ranch
There are so many words for R. Therefore I’m going to throw out two from the top of my head. Just now, while I waited for my lunch to finish cooking in the microwave, my eyes landed on the calendar. I’ve been very fuzzy lately and often forget the date. I know what day it is, just can’t remember the date. So when my eyes landed on the calendar, I thought it was weird. An eye exam? Today? Oh no!
The eye exam isn’t for me, it’s mom’s. Gosh I cross my fingers to hope she remembered. If she misses the appointment, it will be all my fault and I will be in such big trouble. I’m already in big trouble last night for not calling her immediately the insurance company never put my old car back onto the insurance policy last October.
You see, that’s a downside of not having a cell phone. I don’t know where she works nowadays and have no clue if she checks the texts and I hate texting, did I mention that? Anyway, if she checks it, great, but if she doesn’t, it’ll still be my fault for not taking the aggressive approach to inquire the insurance agent. In another word, scream at the agent.
Therefore, if I screw up again today, I don’t know what will happen to me. I’m scare which brings me to the second word, ranch. If I can get away now, I will probably go to a ranch. After all, a lot of fugitives (joking, maybe) have known to hide out in ranches. Hey, I’m a fugitive, a fugitive of an emotionally abusive mother. Isn’t that reason enough?
I want to go to a ranch because of the vast space. Acres and acres of grass and land. No burning hot asphalt and certainly no pavement. I would love that. Wait doesn’t everybody?
#AtoZChallenge – O For Out with it
Okay, I’ll just come out and say it. It’s Friday! You know what that means? The weekend!
I’ve been super behind with almost everything this week (blogging, writing 101, work etc). I haven’t gone to work half of the week and I feel like everything is rushing by while I am just standing still. For school, I feel like I’m just dragging myself through it, like my teacher said, “You’re at the last few miles of the marathon, your feet are bleeding and you’re breathless. You just want it over.”
That is exactly what I want, for everything to be over. Yesterday, almost as soon as I stepped through the door, the plumber pounded on the door. I had to take them to the rental home where the tenant complained there was a leakage in the pipes. It turned out our know-it-all ex-tenant, the one who built the basement bathroom without consulting us first, plumbed the place completely wrong. So that was $350 to re-connect the pipes.
Mom was completely pissed when she heard how much I paid. “What were you thinking?”
“You hired the guy.” I retorted. It is super frustrated when that happens.
I was in my room after that, quickly drafted the A to Z challenge post (20 minutes) before writing the post for the prompt. Unfortunately I got a little distracted and didn’t finish it until this morning. I would’ve finished it last night but I was dead tired after coming home from the GMAT workshop at my alma mater. I even fell asleep in the car. Thank god I wasn’t driving.
I’m alone at the moment but I’m afraid this peace won’t last long. Mom’d be home soon. I thought I just throw this post out there before I brace for another weekend of annoyance and anger.
Tranquil to Rage
Daily Prompt: Tell us about a time when you flew into a rage. What is it that made you so incredibly angry?
First of all, though mad and angry mean the same thing in American English, it does not in British English. Thus, “Mad” Hatter does not mean “Angry” Hatter. Secondly, I don’t fly into rage, I don’t think anyone does until you’re a very good actor. Thirdly, I don’t get angry in a second, it’s usually built, first annoyance, then irritation, and finally full on rage.
Today of all days should be the day to be angry, at least for me. Why? Nothing is cooperating – the traffic, weather, and of all people, my mother! However, I am not.
What began as a cool light breeze this morning had turned into raging wind by the time I got out of class. As I settled myself in the computer lab, I could hear the wind howling and banging on the windows. I had expected this. After all, the radio did warn us yesterday about the wind warning and the storm that would bring rain and snow.
Late this morning, as I walked to the car, I could feel the wind pulling me back, not allowing me to go forward as garbage, tumbleweed, and debris flew across the way. I felt like I was pelted with garbage like some infamous person. So lucky nothing nailed me in the eyes.
At last, I made it to my car. I quickly threw my backpack into the trunk and climbed into the car, slamming the door shut. At that moment, I became nervous about the drive home with the strong wind and light car but I have to get over it.
Two blocks later, traffic began building. As I sat in the car with my head leaning against the head rest while listening to the radio and the howling of the wind, I became irritated. Can’t anything go right?
I thought back to this morning when my wonderful slumber was rudely interrupted for the second time this week by my mother’s early-bird phone calls. Yesterday, she called at 6:58 am and today at 6:40 am, more than half-hour before I was set to wake up. The reason for her call? To ask me to set up an order to buy stocks. “Do you think it’s a good idea to buy?” She had asked.
I yawned, still half-asleep. “That’s up to you.” I said, almost gagging from my retainers.
“What do you think?” I just sighed and awkward silence ensued, still pissed that she had woken me up so early. Then just as I halfheartedly wanted to hang up and go back to bed, she said, “Just set up the order.” So I did, hung up, and finally climbing back to my bed across the hall only to be woken up again less than 30 minutes later by my alarm.
Anyway, after a nerve-wrecking 40 minutes drive, I finally stepped through the door. My hair was full-blown messy but I was okay. I successfully made it down the canyon gripping tight to my swaying car’s steering wheel.
The sky is brownish, near red now. It will be a powerful storm, I can feel it just by the sound of the wind. “I am coming,” it howls. 🙂
Everything I’ve Ever Wanted
Daily Prompt: Tell us about a time when everything actually turned out exactly as you’d hoped. Continue reading “Everything I’ve Ever Wanted”
Plumber, Electrician, or Cellphone Repair?
Apparently, I’m not the only one who got a new job. My cousin, the one that used to live here, decided to hold off college and got a job selling Boba in China. I learn that from eavesdropping mom’s conversation with my aunt. My mom was disappointed and angry when she got the news. She started screaming at her sister which I don’t get at all. It’s not her fault or her decision. If he doesn’t want to go to college, isn’t that a good thing? It means he’s not coming back to the U.S. anytime soon, right?
Since then, every time she’d called home, though I don’t know why, she had suggested my aunt put my cousin in some sort of apprenticeship. “He needs to learn something.” My mom said. “Life isn’t just about math and science.” Sometimes, I feel like she treats everyone like illiterate sh**. Just because people chooses to not go to college doesn’t mean they’re stupid. Some people who chooses to go might be the stupid one. Take me, for example. My entire family didn’t go to college and they turned out just fine. My cousin from my father’s side is a manager of a business right out of high school. Of course, it didn’t help that he inherited the business from his dad but my point is a lot of people don’t go to college and they turn out just fine.
Anyway, so far, she’d suggested him to be a plumber, electrician, and cellphone repair. 
That last one was the most recent due to the fact my new job is in a cellphone repair shop. I didn’t even know those things existed until now and apparently, it does not exist in China. I wonder what people do if they accidentally drop their phone on the floor and break the glass. Do they just throw it away?
Did I mention she didn’t sound happy when I told her I got a new job?
That had been turned around last Friday when she suddenly was interested to know everything about my new job like what does the business do or how much is labor per hour.
The motive? Oh she always has a motive alright…
…and I figured it out in a jiffy. She wants to take over as usual. This time is different though. She doesn’t really wanted to take over my job, well she does but really, she wants to take over the cellphone repair guy’s job. She thought taking apart an iPhone is easy and that it’s no-brainer to fix a phone. She thought earning $70 an hour fixing a phone is easy. She wanted me to ask my boss to let her be the protegee of the cellphone repair guy.
Ha ha, very funny. I’m not going to do that. Nice try, though. The last thing I need is to have my mother breathing down my neck again. However, if I could learn a trade, I would learn cellphone repair. It looks profitable but I’ll have to learn it secretly maybe from the cellphone repair guy. He seems nice enough. 😉
#AtoZChallenge – I For Insane
The past two weeks have been just insane. I feel like all the blog posts have been rushed and I haven’t had the time to really buckle down and do some writing that’s really worth reading. So I can understand why my site traffic is taking a plunge; yes, I’m crazy about that. 😉
I got up early this morning even though I went to bed super late last night. I guess I’m just excited because first of all, it’s Friday and secondly, I have work, a good way to earn some cold hard cash.
I’m mostly excited because all this craziness is coming to pass. I can finally sit down, breathe, and catch up all that’s happened in the blogging world and not worry about to have to run around as I’ve done this week.
So in my post on Sunday, I mentioned I skipped my daily ritual (Daily Prompt) two days in a row. Well, I have only done it once this week. How ’bout that? First, the prompt are not really inspiring me to write anything, except yesterday which I intend to write in just a moment, and the weather wasn’t not exactly cooperating.
This was a picture I took on Tuesday and it was already passed 9 am when I snapped it. It’s been like that the entire week.
It rained and snowed on Wednesday not to mention the temperature went from 60’s and 70’s to 30’s and 40’s. I didn’t want to wear my warm down jacket since it’d just been cleaned. I had to settle with my regular thick coat which didn’t do much good against the cold.
Another thing that made my week insane was in my post Sunday, I told you the fantastic news that my instructor had cancelled class on Tuesday. Well, that came with consequences because I spent until midnight on Wednesday night doing all the homework and filling in the notes for Thursday’s class. I was so tired I didn’t even want to get up yesterday but I did anyway with the hope of just getting the day over with. That was difficult. Nothing was cooperating especially the traffic. It took me 45 minutes instead of my usual 20 minutes commute to get home. Thank god I don’t have to go anywhere except work today.
So here is to a wonderful day. 🙂
#AtoZChallenge – H For Headphones
I know, such a dumb word I have chosen to represent H. Continue reading “#AtoZChallenge – H For Headphones”
#AtoZChallenge – F for Forgotten Streak
As I lie awake in bed last night, I realized something. My blogging streak started last April and since then I haven’t stopped blogging. So I think this is the real anniversary of this blog, not February of 2013 since I blogged for less than a month before quitting. Okay, so I posted a few times between September and April but it doesn’t count. Less than 10 posts a month does not count as consistent in my books. Continue reading “#AtoZChallenge – F for Forgotten Streak”
Fantastic Relieving News
Daily Prompt: You get some incredibly, amazingly, wonderfully fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?
What is the fantastic news?
I feel so out of touch doing these daily prompts after not doing them for just a few short days. Anyway, my reaction depends on the news.
Last night, I did get some great news. My instructor had cancelled lecture for today. So I only have one class today. Yay! I was super relieved because so much studying in the last couple of days, I need a break. It looks like I will get one this week.
I peeked at the schedules for all my classes and it looks like my last assignment for my cost accounting class is due tomorrow and then that’s it except for the book report. My other two classes look like it’s winding down as well. That is wonderful for me.
Oh right, what was the first thing I did upon hearing the news? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
I spent the night alone curling under two blankets watching TV. It’s freezing in the living room.
My mom’s off to training once again and she won’t be back until this afternoon. So last night was sort of my night off. After finding out this beautiful spring weather was going to turn on me, I went back to my blog and wrote a flash fiction along with reading a few posts to get my head in the groove again before heading off to bed.
I just cannot believe it’s going to get cold again and snow. I thought this warm weather’s going to last but apparently, winter is going to swoop in again.
#AtoZChallenge – E for Excessive Control
Thanks to my mother, I just got home from a crappy exam and oh look, the light on the answering machine is blinking. I pressed play and guess what, it’s mom calling home to check on me. Continue reading “#AtoZChallenge – E for Excessive Control”
Mental Note
All day today, I’ve been thinking of how I missed doing the prompt two days in a row. I blame my stubborn self for that because until I finish my homework, I cannot think about anything else. Well, just now, I completed one of my homework assignments. I still have to study for the two exams I have to take tomorrow but apparently I cannot do that.
One of the major downside of being in the same program as my mother is being in the same class together. I’ve been spoiling her for the majority of the semester, doing her homework all because I fell for her excuses over and over. Oh, I’m so busy. Oh I paid for your this and that. Oh I’m old. I helped you, didn’t I?
(Sigh) I told myself over and over, stop falling for them but every time she uses those excuses, it just makes me feel guilty and hence, rendering me speechless. I guess that’s what mothers do, send their children on a guilt trip to make them do their bidding.
This morning, I gave her a quick overview of the assignment and told her to do it on her own. I am not even sure if she was fully listening when I explained it to her or was she thinking about money again. I even told her, “if you don’t understand, watch the instructor’s video.”
Her answer was, “It will be quicker if you did it first.”
Of course it will be because then all she had to do would be to copy it. So here’s what I wrote for my mental note. Can I stick to it? We’ll see.
This is Another Story 