In a world as chaotic, scary and stressful as ours, one thing we can universally agree on is the comprehensively soothing power of a child's song and dance.
Stated otherwise I'M DRAGGING YOU ALL IN TO WATCH HOME MOVIES OF THE LLDD-BABY PERFORMING
Trust me, it'll be good for you.
Book Week
Family Day
Ballet Recital
Lavish musical numbers not really your thing? Fine, here's a loop of the kid happily skipping away...
As you may have heard in the news, our Diplo-Elvis was leaving the building. Now, I never got to work that closely with this boss, and I was posted abroad when Pardek said his goodbyes to the Department years ago, so I had no sense of what the last day at work of a Secretary might be like.
Turns out, pretty cool.
While work-as-usual continued throughout the day, the different offices found time to drop by the guest of honor's room and leave some going-away presents. My office gave a fine, stone-inlaid case hand-crafted by Visayan artisans. Really tasteful and classy.
So much so, you know I had nothing to do with it
At the end of the work day, everyone headed down to the auditorium for a final gala of testimonials, videos, musical numbers and other senior official performances
When we say we'll have singing ambassadors, we'll have SINGING AMBASSADORS
And keeping it hip, everything ended with some epic groufies
Can you spot the pandork in this picture?
Then people just found themselves lining the long, last walk to the main doors. Smiles, cheers, tears, hugs, handshakes (even a slow-clap!) all the way out. A couple of senior officers and I may or may not have also been loudly humming the Battle of Yavin Medal Ceremony theme.
And of course, for the final "Riding off into the Sunset" moment, some lens flare
I mean, the thing's already foreseen that mechanical bugs will become sentient and turn on their human overlords! Just like the prophecy/supreme court decision said they would!
(on the other hand, its stock photo of a lady scientist might also just be Denise Richards, so there very well may still be a flaw in the programming that mankind can exploit during its fightback)
I'll be honest, I never previously got what those ISO and quality management systems were all about. Aside from being the butt of a thousand Dilbert strips, the whole thing just seemed so massive and complex and would always go entirely over my head.
That was until the office held a weekend seminar and explained everything! And now I'm all in! Well, no, I still don't fully understand all of it and have a lot more to learn. But that seminar, man...it just blew my mind! First, it had an opening rap number (always a winner). Then it had some people sing "ISO the Sign" -- to the tune of "I Saw the Sign." (I know, right?). And then, it finished off with some totally righteous Captain and Kapitana posters!
So now I know. ISO is 9001 different ways of saying "Husay"
So happy to have been able to take an all-too-quick family vacation at our favorite / honeymoon spot, Anvaya Cove! We've long regaled the LLDD-Baby with tales of sunny Philippine beach resorts and their warm waters and fine sands -- as opposed to the freezing and stony UK "beaches" she's only ever known
never forget
Anvaya, of course, did not disappoint. It's held up very well over the years, and effortlessly comforted us with its usual gorgeous views and fine amenities
It's even added some fun new facilities, including a playplace...
...a hillside pool/gym complex...
...and a forest zipline!
Ziplines are my new if-a-place-has-it-I-must-try-it thing. They're fun, offer unmatched views (the Anvaya line made me feel like I was racing over Endor sniping Ewoks) and dare I say it, bad-ass. I mean, it's not like some child could do it...
That's not the same and you know it, anak
Anvaya also surprised us with how close it was to Subic Ocean Adventure, so a side trip to see the wildlife and enjoy all the shows right before going home was easily pulled off.
