My So-Called Bone Dry Life
I’m not sure if it’s just the scorching summer heat but nowadays, I seem to get frustrated by even the smallest things. Take my Friendster blog, for example. After I posted my “sniff” entry last week, my blog won’t load even after countless attempts to refresh the page (Yes, I tried pushing the ‘shift’ button as I clicked on ‘refresh’). After the weekend passed without me being able to figure out why, I swallowed my pride and asked for the assistance of QPT, my “self-proclaimed techie officemate slash weekend beach bum.” Alas, QPT’s quasi techie skills failed her, and gave me the lame recommendation of writing an e-mail to the Friendster staff and ask them: “WHY THE HECK WON’T MY BLOG LOAD?!?”
Since you’re able to read this entry now, it’s plain obvious that I finally figured out why my blog won’t load for days. The solution was so simple that I found myself cursing under my breath for being such a dim-witted pile of dung. Of course, I’m not going to write down how I solved the mystery of the “blog that won’t load.” Let’s just say I’m hoping that somebody, preferably my close friends, will also commit the same mistake. As you guessed correctly, there’s no way I’m giving out information for free. It took me days to solve the problem so I intend to gain a bag of Cheetos or a pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups when I divulge the trade secrets.
As I savor the feeling of “cyber dominance” over my clever solution to my blog woes, I suddenly remembered the frustrations of days ago. You see, I’m considered as a project consultant in my company since I got here almost a year now. Although you won’t find it in any thesaurus, a synonym for ‘project consultant’ is ‘contractual employee.’ It’s not exactly my ideal first job but with the economic turmoil and the fiscal crisis that looms like a stalking jackal, I was thankful that I was hired in a geology-related job in the first place. Besides, I’m still lucky that the pay is decent, brewed coffee is free, and I get to work (okay, pretend working) in an air-conditioned office. But then again, a sad fact still lingers: I’m not entitled to health care and other “regular employee” benefits.
The lack of a health care plan led me and QPT (Remember her? Coincidentally, she’s also a ‘project consultant’ in our department) to approach Vince, the MediCard contact person in our company. Vince gave us stapled sheets of paper that contained information about MediCard plans and the corresponding monthly dues. Saying that he was not really familiar with the application procedures, Vince even gave us the contact number of Alice, a key MediCard person. He further assured us that Alice will accommodate any inquiries that QPT and I will have.
After a jillion attempts to call Alice, the irritating recurrence of the busy tone made me raise the white flag. With nothing else to do, I leafed through the papers and decided to read. While I was carefully thinking which plan that I will avail of and which members of my immediate family that I’ll designate as my ‘dependents,’ a line on page three quickly burst my bubble. Under the rules of ‘Membership Eligibility,’ it was indicated that the ‘Principal’ (that would have been me) should be “salaried personnel at least 18 years old up to age 60 and employed by the company on a permanent basis. “
I quickly dialed QPT’s local to inform her about the latest injustice that ‘project consultants’ have to endure. As expected, we just laughed it out. Perhaps it helps that we’re both single with no rowdy kids and unemployed spouses to support. But when you think of the other contractual guys who support their extended families, it will make you wonder how they even survive and maintain their sanity. Admittedly, we’re not yet a hundred percent sure if contractual employees are ineligible for MediCard plans. A chat with Alice would’ve confirmed this. However, judging from the endless busy tones that I receive when I dial her number, QPT is convinced that it’s a sign of impending rejection. As we ponder on the fate of our bone dry lives, we console ourselves with the fact that we’ll see better days and that we’re definitely smarter than the average Jack. That is, until another blog-related problem comes along.
