Memories of An Old Friend

Daryl Lee was one of the nicest people I knew. He always had a smile on his face and never let the pressures of work get to him. When I first became a floor manager in 2005, he taught me a lot about how to do my job and I owe a lot to him. One of my favorite memories was when Tommy, Sony, him and I went to see the Russell Peters show for Tommy's birthday. We got front row seats and Peters even made jokes about Daryl (part of Peters' schtick). We had such a good time. There were so many good times. And even though I hadn't heard or seen much of him since the COB closed, I never forgot the good times. Thanks, buddy. Rest in peace.

Manny

It's amazing to see how an entire country can put their support behind one person. I am of course talking about the Philippines and a certain athlete named Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps to the "outside" world he is just a boxer, but to his homeland he is a hero, a legend. He grew up from humble beginnings to become an almost religious figure. The fight is only an hour or so away, and it's pretty obvious he has the support of an entire nation (and even other countries) behind him. I can almost envision everybody in the Philippines watching Pay-Per-View right about now. I honestly don't think we have such heroes in North America (Britney Spears and Paris Hilton??). That's a shame.

Stress at Work

November has been a very stressful month at work. There's not much I can say about it other than the fact that a lot of things happened. A lot of things have been happening that one may not agree with, but I guess that's the way things are. As much as I could say that things could be different, and most definitely a lot better, it is not my decision. I can only suggest and hope that perhaps somebody listens and takes things to heart. I can try to keep that smile at work and try to put a smile on the faces of my coworkers but it's getting harder to do that.

The truly unfortunate thing is that the stress has affected my work at Mahalo as of late. I'm writing less and less and even the articles or tidbits I write have been of a lower quality than I am used to. There have been a number of projects at Mahalo that I wished I could have been a part of. I really wish I could spend more time there but I also need a lot of winding down time after work. The swing shifts also do not help as in the past while I've been unable to sleep well. Maybe it's just a sign I'm getting old.