Condominium Living: My First Report Card

Having lived in a condo for a little over a year, I am inclined to think living in one is NOT ALWAYS DEFINITELY for convenience. It could be liberating on the one end; it could be short of wanting on the other.

* One big typhoon last year and I slept through for about 4 hours without electricity.
* Long weekends are a bore, not even the beauty parlor is open.
* One laundry in the basement lost my polo shirt which happened to be a favorite one. The owner of the laundry shop paid me in installments.
* Christmas get togethers with family and friends were mostly at restaurants rather than in the condo.
* Two times in the pool to catch the sun during the summer weren’t enough to give me a tan.
* Damaged bathroom fittings could be expensive to replace if the condo personnel were to do it. I was presented a five hundred peso statement for a less than ten minute job, labor only. What irked me the most was his audacity of wearing rubber shoes in the bathroom.
* Brisk walking to Church early Sunday morning can be cool so long as I’m careful not to be hit by vehicles.
* After office cocktails, meriendas or lunches are limited to up to six invitees. I have learned to stock up on styropor plates and cups; and plastic spoons and forks.
* Some friends from work sleep over; and some want to sleep over even uninvited. My bed is single and so am I. Bring your own mattress is the house rule.
* Some fourteen plastic grocery bags once filled a portion of the kitchen, ready for the next day’s out-of-town.
* One rainy evening took forty-five minutes to get to the office in a cab. I can walk it in ten minutes.
* A respiratory tract infection bolted me from work to the hospital where I stayed two days. The rest was not enough and the after effect of the hospital stay was a lurking glaucoma.
* I have collected almost 600 family and friends in Facebook and others in another network. They’re a motley of virtual friends, to cite a few: three doctors; two lawyers; four IT professionals; two bankers; and many businessmen asking for my email addy or YM.
* The newly opened Mini-Stop downstairs is a pretend liquor store, I can’t get anything healthy either and would rather walk to 7-11 a stone’s throw away.
* Pest control must be well managed by the building administration or that I maintained cleanliness to a squeak? I have never seen a mouse or they don’t get up to the 12th floor? Roaches are tiny, compared to the neighbor’s; and there’s one or two lizards that try to frighten me.
* People that have been here say the place is “cute” and yes, it is and that's the way I like it.
* One friend asked before coming in if she had to leave her shoes outside and she was serious!

Today after I went to Church, I wanted to get some plants for the condo and just like I can’t figure out where to put a small TV, I thought I should forget about having another living and breathing creature around here. There may be a lot that I’m missing, especially my children, and there may be cutting corners here and there, but here’s one place where you can never say “leave me alone” and mean it.