Pivot Table

Article 52.

PROLOGUE: Now in a discovery by fate, I accidentally switched my account here to my other Google account (when I was temporarily having access issues) and I stumbled upon another blog of mine from ways back. To be very, very, VERY honest with you, I had no idea I had an arsenal of articles from that account, mostly unpublished but yet still I've been blogging for longer that I thought I did without me even realizing. I thought I just started writing stuff up back in 2023 but this other account had articles from 2011 up to 2018. I am totally astonished by this run in and smirking as I go through some pieces. Sharing one below from September 2015 to show glimpses of how my blogging was back then. No editing done, just a cut-and-paste effort.

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It’s 130pm. The heat inside my one-bedroom apartment is steadily rising. There is no escape, not even with the sliding doors wide open. Doesn’t help that my flat is up top which makes the temp either extremely hot or extremely cold, at least that’s how I feel. It’s September and I dare say "still" dead center of summer. But in SoCal, it’s like summer year-round, so no, the heat is just top notch and my apartment is one giant microwave. All these years my approach towards the sweltering condition has been to hydrate myself with buckets of water, a steady fan at 3, every so often crank up the AC without getting Edison way too excited, provoke the State by taking two baths in drought-stricken California, and just pray that the open sliding doors and window would bring in some miracle air. Neither an economical nor a steady-relieving approach, I know. I’ve learned to accept my remedies by repetition and knowing that I get through it regardless. So yeah, I have succumbed to those ways usually talking myself out of it that it is the best I can do, and dumb me would just agree. And the closest thing I ever did of really addressing the heat was to upgrade my desk fan to an actual human stand fan early this year, better of course (you think?)  Yes, I visit the office every now and then eventhough a year ago we already became full-time "telecommuters" -- a term that translates to companies saving some real estate money. Or if the mood calls for overpriced coffee, then the destination would be the nearest Starbucks. I could do that a lot often or every day if I really wanted to but working at home in your underpants with Listerine as the only thing you need to get by in the morning is truly a hard habit to break. Oh yeah, it saves me more or less $4 per gallon of gas too.

I have been very observant of my surroundings but amazingly never paid much attention on how the patios of my neighbors were set up. Sure I see some outside furniture in a few of the units but it never crossed my mind that working under the sky with birds chirping as cubby mates would be a better alternative to my circulating Lasko-centric office. I hate to give it any credit but the fortune inside that cookie I had one Panda Express lunchtime -- that "a bright idea is about to hit you" -- may have been on point. With an obviously spurred up inspiration, I decided to give it a shot. On my way to Long Beach, the glaring green color, white-framed outdoor chair from Lowe’s caught my eye. Checked it out and was immediately sold, crossing my fingers that a matching table is lying around somewhere. But after several Riverside minutes, I was defeated on my search. Some other day perhaps. The two new outdoor chairs have been a great accomplishment already. As I head towards the counter, I instinctively stopped, placed the chairs out of the cart and grabbed the royal blue ones instead. My smile got bigger and for the first time, I felt kinda excited about this measly makeover. The thought of working at my patio seems like a really viable cooler-to-its-literal-sense option. Just a tad bummed about the matching table coz now I have to make do with my black individual-sized and very wobbly single dinner table which I only use when I feel like eating at the couch. I can already tell that my HGTV stocks just went down 10 points.

I tried working out on my patio sporadically and was not fully convinced. The chairs were cool but the table was not too inspiring. The breeze for sure was Cloud 9 compared to the inside but I must have my table. And like John Bennett wishing his teddy bear to come to life, the furniture gods of Costa Mesa must’ve heard my plea – the perfect table to my patio chairs made available courtesy of IKEA. So a trip to the furniture store was inevitable. The only caveat of going to IKEA is the urge to buy things that you don’t really need. But like the sucker that I truly am, the credit card was burning. Thank goodness the Swedish meatballs were delightful. Otherwise, it would’ve been another conscience-arguing moment. Got home and didn't waste any time building it like it's a pivotal piece of furniture of my future. As soon as I latched the last leg and stood it up, it almost look like it’s glaring all over. So there, the matching table in its rightful place. I was ready for Pottery Barn’s front page. The battle against heat strokes have been settled and my work-from-home life has never been this naturally comfy. I got my place mat and coaster out, a tall glass of ice-filled water and my office paraphernalia. The table was enabled and Martha Stewart must be proud.

Not exactly the same table!