Since January, work was heavy. Dakul nagtataram: Maray pa ngaya an trabaho mo pa-easy-easy lang.

I smiled and murmured to myself: Kung aram mo lang.

It was seven months. Pero pagmate ko, it was seven decades. Lalo pa kung maagi ka sa mauntog na dinayang highway asin mamrublema sa traffic sa Legazpi o kaya mapagalan maghanap paparadahan sa Iriga. Konsuwelo na lang, dai maurot an buhok mo pag yaon ka sa bulod kan Estanza asin nadudungawan mo an siyudad kan Legazpi asin Albay Gulf, o kaya hinahapros ka kan paros na hale sa dagat samantalang nagpapasiram-siram sa Embarcadero. Medyo malilingawan mo man na embattled palan si Cong. Fernando Gonzalez poon pa kan karampanyahan kung magda-drive ka sa kahalabaan kan Tercer Distrito kan Albay asin pinapandungan ka kan mga kahoy na garo pasiring sa paraiso; o kaya malilingawan mo na igwa ka palan na deadlines kung nasa CWC ka sa Pili, Camarines Sur lalo kung kabungguan mo an nagkakapira mong kabisto. Maisip ka: Ano kaya kung dumiretso na lang ako sa Caramoan? Pero siyempre kaipuhan mo magtrabaho. I-enjoy mo na lang an dalan sa Bicol National Park o kaya sa Quezon National Park, o kung dai makatios, mag-agi sa Lucban lalo na sa Batis Aramin asin magloblob sa malipot na swimming pool na garo man sana sa Deo Endheka sa Sabloyon.

Pero iwas ka. An side trip, side trip lang. An trabaho, trabaho man.

But you don’t need to look haggard just to show that you are working hard. And you don’t need to bury yourself in your papers and office files, or make your computer smoke just to provide an evidence how busy you are. Si Ken Pornillos ngani, nagtatrabaho na, nakaka-pagpicture pa para sa blog niya samantalang si Apo ni Handiong, Vic Nierva, igwa pa ki pang-patakam na olog-olog habang nagtutukdo asin nagpapadagos kan saiyang mga adbokasiya. Peachy Alfelor, of course, does her blog also while busy with her civic and academic activities like Renne Gumba who is still very much active in local issues and politics apart from his personal advocacies and work in Ateneo de Naga. Siring man si Disciple-to-None na uru-aldaw may trabaho pero bukod sa regular na blog entry, igwa pa ki panahon na pag-experimentuhan an saiyang buhok. (Dispensa sa mga dai na-mensiyonar.)

But at last, a chance to get a break from the demanding work of data gathering conceptualization to the actual gathering then to political mapping and then analysis and then strategy planning and then packaging and then communication and then calibration and then implementation and then assessment and then calibration and then implementation and then assessment and then calibration and then implementation and then assessment and then calibration and then implementation and, hush, ad infinitum. Dipisil.

It’s worth, though,  if you finish your job and your clients are happy. If they are candidates and they win, it’s an additional feather in the cap. The next election, you have more confidence to run more campaigns maski dai mo man mabitbit an ngaran ninda. But the more na magiging confident ka kung ang kandidato mo tinupad su pangako sa mga tawo. That makes future campaigns easier as you will not have a hard time convincing networks to support again your candidate. If the clients (or partners) are organizations, siyempre additional item sa credentials. But of course, there are those who would want things kept in the shelves. But that’s another story.

The good thing is: The jobs are well done and many are happy and satisfied. And it’s worth pampering yourself with a break. Bako iyo, Pading Joushua?

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