All Hail The Avatar!

Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender just finished its third season - and how! I mean, I've been following the show since it first aired and I have to say, season three's finale has got to be the best season-ender yet! I know it's a cartoon but you just got to appreciate the creativity and the imagination of all the show's writers. And besides, the kid in me simply loves the show. So for those kids-at-heart who haven't seen Avatar, here's a brief introduction.

The show takes place in a world where human civilization is divided into four nations: the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, the Air Nomads and the Fire Nation. Each nation has its own base element - earth, water, air and fire. Within each nation there are "benders", or individuals who have the ability to manipulate their nation's element, such as earthbenders, waterbenders, firebenders and airbenders.

In every generation, one bender from any of the four nations is chosen to become the next Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form, who can manipulate - or "bend" all four elements. The lead character Aang, is the last living airbender after the Fire Nation wiped out the entire Air Nomad population. The main antagonist, Zuko is the Fire Nation prince. Or at least he was the antagonist until the end of season 2.

The first season basically laid out the background and introduced the audience to the main characters. It also showed how Aang, being the Avatar, learned how to waterbend. In season 2, more characters were added and Aang worked hard to gain earthbending abilities. It also introduced what I thought was a uniquely awesome ability - metalbending.

In the third installment, enemies became allies as Aang learned how to firebend. He has to master all four elements in time to defend the world against the evil Fire Lord Ozai, who wants to become supreme ruler of all nations, before a comet passes over the skies. The passing of this comet will strengthen the firebenders' ability and make the Fire Lord virtually unstoppable!

I'm telling you, if you haven't seen Avatar, go buy the DVD (or learn how to torrent) and watch all 3 seasons. You won't regret it, I promise. I can't wait to see if Nick will come out with a fourth season, although I have a pretty good feeling that they will. You see seasons 1 to 3 were titled after the elements in the story - Water (Book I), Earth (Book II), and Fire (Book III). But weren't there FOUR elements?

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Near-Dead Blogger

Posted in mundaneity

I know I haven't been updating my blog for quite a while now. That's what I get for not having full admin internet access on my workstation. Yeah I do have internet at home, but most of the time I'm either too tired to sit in front of my PC or I'm busy watching TV. Or I could simply be out with my friends. I hardly ever touch my PC at home, and I feel bad about it. I've been struggling with the new schedule, and I haven't completely adjusted to sleeping in the day. There's just so many things I want to do but couldn't all because of this perceived lack of time. But I'll get around to working on it soon. I hope. Now where'd I put that book about having better time management? Oh right, I don't have one. Figures.

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An "Aha!" Moment

Posted in mundaneity, subservience

So here's the 411. I recently quit/lost my job, but I was lucky enough to find a new one. The thing about it is I had to swallow a few ounces of pride and accept the position offered to me despite the fact that I had to go back to the phones again; sort of my own personal demotion, so to speak. In other words, I had been feeling a little depressed and disgruntled these past few weeks and my ego was a shot away from being crushed. But I am still grateful, and I'll tell you why.

Today as I was on my way home from training, a man got on the bus I was riding in and started talking to anyone who would listen about the issues they've been having with the bus company that they've been working for. Apparently, the guy was some sort of union leader and he explained how the management of the bus company had deprived them of certain benefits such as vacation leaves and their 13th month pay. He also explained that the management did not abide by the terms of their CBA or Collective Bargaining Agreement, so their workers' union decided to go on strike. He asked for some financial assistance from all of the passengers on the bus, and he seemed like he would get on as many buses as he possibly could just to be able to convey their union's message and earn some sympathy. He said the money they would collect would be used to keep their strike going in order to fight their company's oppression. I saw how passionate and sincere this man was with his cause. In fact, I actually gave the guy some change (which I don't normally do, being the tightwad that I am) to help their cause despite the fact that I had barely enough money for me just to be able to get home. That's when I realized how lucky I was to be able to receive not only a fairly competitive wage but also a decent compensation and benefits package from this new company that I work for. I know its not much to brag about, but hey - at least I am still able to feed my family.

I'm sure many of us have had the same woeful dread of waking up on a Monday and agonizingly dragging our feet to the office. I say this because in the last few years that I have been part of this industry, I have met a lot of people and, let's just say that some of them aren't exactly jumping for joy with what they do for a living. I've also had my share of grievances before. In fact, I learned the definition of the word "disgruntled" from all of the issues that I've had with Management, HR or Payroll. This afternoon's experience just made me think twice about complaining excessively about how miserable my career has been, simply because in more ways than one, I am still fortunate.

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Not So BS-Proof After All

Posted in infuriatum, patheticism, subservience

The title says it all. I guess all good things do come to an end. I bet she's laughing her guts out (I hope she is, literally) while holding her P35,000 paycheck. Oh well.

I just got back from the provinces after attending the burial of my mom's sister Tita Elvie. At least her suffering from her long battle with liver cancer is now over. At least I think it was liver cancer.

It's time for me to look for new and better (and hopefully BS-proof) employment. Hold that thought while I update my resume.

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