Getting over hump day

verabear Ramblings and Brain farts 5 Comments

Only two more days to go and training’s over. Real life will begin next week. I am not so naive to think that everything will be a walk in the park, or exactly how it’s been this past week and a half. For sure, I am in for a wild roller coaster ride.

Bring it on. 🙂

First though, I should complete my employment requirements. It’s quite embarrassing really, but no one’s been reminding me see. Haha. I remember being a trainer and receiving reminders from Recruitment for the trainees to complete their papers. I don’t get any of that now. But it doesn’t mean I could just forget about it. So before heading to work tomorrow, I’ll go to my previous employer to process my clearance (that is, if I wake up early enough). That will also be my chance to ask for a certificate of employment, and a tax certificate. And hopefully too, I can get my last paycheck by next week. God knows I need it already 🙂

Then maybe tomorrow afternoon I can swing by the clinic that handles my current employer’s pre-employment medical exams. Ugh. I hate submitting stool and urine samples. Ewww, did I just gross you out? Sorry about that. Let me cross that out…

Soooo…. Training’s still been a fun experience. I took the midterm exams on Friday just for the heck of it, and got a hundred percent. 😉 My classmates took their final exam this afternoon. Unfortunately, it looks like someone’s not going to make it to graduation. Let’s just say that this person’s been pretty challenging. Sadly, his presence and poor performance has upset everybody. Too bad, I had hoped he would prove all of us wrong.

Anyway, it’s been a really fun time. We all laugh a lot with the trainer cracking jokes, and the trainees doing the same. The jokes are definitely something I will always remember about this class. 🙂

The class, as all other classes are, is a real mix of personalities. We have both call center virgins and veterans alike. What sets it apart from other classes I’ve been part of in this industry (whether as the trainee or the trainer) is that the girls greatly outnumber the boys. AND half the number of boys in the class (maybe more) are gay. 🙂 There’s another non-agent in the class with me, he’s a new team leader (TM in my old company) transferring from a different account. There are also two agent trainees who’ve been with the company for a while already, but moving to our account. They’ve helped us newbies acclimatize to the new environment. 🙂 One of them was trying to convince the trainer to get a car from his friend. He says his friend takes care of everything to get financing approved. The brand new car is offered at a discounted price and the buyer does not need to give any down payment. The monthly installments are under 20000 pesos (if I remember correctly), and the registration and insurance is already part of the package. Of course he wasn’t able to discuss specifics of the car insurance rate, but he says their supposedly comprehensive. He sounded convincing actually, but I didn’t like the car so I tuned out soon enough.

This week feels longer than last week, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not a good one. How are you on hump day? 🙂

Manny’s Got Class

verabear Ramblings and Brain farts 8 Comments

I have to admit,  for the longest time I wasn’t a Manny Pacquiao fan. Sure, as Pinoy I’ve always been proud of him for his boxing achievements. He is after all, the greatest pound for pound boxer in the WORLD. But my admiration for him stopped there. I didn’t like watching him on TV, and disapproved of his singing. I looked down at his first attempt at entering politics by running as Congressman for General Santos. When news of his affair with Krista Ranillo broke out, his star diminished in my eyes. 

But it really does seem that he deserves all the adulation he receives. 

Wall paper from http://uglybossmong22.deviantart.com/art/manny-pacquiao-wallpaper-crest-104551348

For one, he really sought to improve himself, and this is not just about being the best in his sport. When doors in showbusiness opened up for him, I felt like it was just the networks trying to be on his good side, riding on his coattails. But he really is serious about being a singer. He practices with his band almost as much as he trains for his fights. He sings from his heart too, just like how he fights. No doubt, if he releases another single/album, the people will buy it not because of his soothing voice, but because they have respect for him. And anyone who shows as much dedication to his chosen craft as he does deserves some respect. 

And how about all the jokes about his English? He didn’t use to speak the language well, and then there’s his distinct southern PH accent. Now, he can answer his post-fight interviews without the aid of interpreters, and even guests at American TV shows. He can hold his own – not only in fist fights, but word fights too. 🙂 

Then there’s being a public servant. I don’t know what preparations he’s done in the last two to three years since losing his first elections, but right now, he seems to be earning his keep. If he hasn’t proven yet that he deserved to have been voted, well then he is proving those who voted for him that he intends to make an impact in his days at the halls of Congress. Perhaps he is out to prove that not everyone who goes into politics becomes tainted. 

From Sunday’s fight, people have pointed out how classy Pacquiao was. He fought a hard fight, true. He was a better fighter, yes. But what got everyone’s attention was this: how he didn’t move in for the kill when he could have. He had all the conditions prepped for a knockout, but he chose to finish the fight without unnecessarily adding to the injuries that his opponent already suffered from the fight. I didn’t watch it, but even the boyfriend tells me how several times, Manny looked towards the referee expecting him to stop the fight. On Twitter, while the fight was broadcasted all over the world, people were waiting for the match to be halted. It didn’t happen. Margarito could have easily suffered more if it was a younger and more aggressive Pacquiao in that ring. In his victory, he was gracious. 

So. I gotta hand it to Manny P. He’s got class. 

By striving to be the best in everything that he does, and refusing to stop until he achieves his dreams, and then generously sharing his blessings, he’s become an inspiration to many. Earning what I believe is the best title he’s ever been bestowed: The People’s Champ. 

Now, my only wish is for him to remain faithful to his wife and family, never to stray again. 🙂 

Here’s a well written post on thoughts of the fight too: http://michaeldsellers.weearth.com/2010/11/14/pacquiao-margarito-what-we-can-learn-from-the-humility-empathy-and-grace-of-manny-pacquiao/

My First Day

verabear Ramblings and Brain farts 2 Comments

My first day on training went really well.

I woke up to the sound of my phone’s alarm. Okay, I hit snooze once. 🙂 Then I had a really nice breakfast of leftover KFC chicken with a few spoonfuls of rice. I made it to my new office building with ten minutes to spare – though in this case it was necessary because I still have to put my name on the logbook and get a trainee pass, no badge of my own just yet.

My old/new boss Ruth welcomed me in and introduced my to my trainer. We then walked down to the ops floor where she introduced me to some of my new teammates. It was a mix of new and a few old familiar (and welcoming) faces. 🙂 We talked a bit about what I’m getting into (nothing that got me thinking twice about proceeding though :)) and then I was off to join my class.

First impressions:

• – I like the layout of their training rooms! The facilitator can see everybody and the trainees have an unobstructed view of him/her and the projector screen. It’s also not friendly for unauthorized Internet browsing – everyone can see what you’re doing! The projector screen has its own push-button (to pull up or down) too. I wish I had a room like that as a trainer. Oh, and you wouldn’t have to shout to be heard all around the room. And the best thing is that it wasn’t freezing cold in that room. 🙂
• – The downside, noise from the next room can get quite distracting. But this is only if they’re making extra noise such as the weird/absurd laughing we heard today.
• – The pantry looks nice and doesn’t smell bad. The food selection from two concessionaires weren’t that appealing, but priced very reasonably. I had sisig, rice and Coke Zero 500ml for lunch all for 85 pesos. Unfortunately, the sisig at SD was better than that. There’s a Country Style Deli there, along with a few other kiosks, but they all were closed. Looks like they open at peak hours only. I would have preferred a sandwich or a salad from Country Style just then, I bet it would transport me right back to The Loop (let’s reminisce on my Country Style lunches of Chicken Sandwich). 🙁
• – I think I’ve made at least one new friend, maybe more. We’ll see.
• – There’s nowhere to tambay on your break/lunchtime. I miss being able to go to Starbucks, or The Loop and MIP. Ahh, and the food options again…
• – The floor is really really nice. Ganda ng setup! The agent stations have a lot of space. Not too happy about the OM stations though, talk about being in the center of everything, on a platform too! Haha.

The ride to work took about 10-15 minutes and that includes stops for the red lights. I hope it’s always that quick but I have a feeling it won’t. I think the cab driver was surprised when I told him where I was going. I still called World, and he was probably expecting to take me to ABS kasi bubuwelta na sana sya pagsakay ko. My taxi fare is about 20-30 pesos more today than what I normally used to pay, that’s to and from work already so it’s not so bad really.

And I did enjoy training. 🙂

I look forward to completing this in two weeks, and then the work will really have to start.

I appreciate how my boss is doing what she can to make this transition easy for me. My first day could have easily been an ordeal if she wasn’t around, and this whole experience of moving and starting new would have been more difficult. Of course it’s just the first day so it’s too early to tell, but things are looking up and if we can assume things based on first impressions, I’m in for a really good time. 🙂

How was your first day of the week?

Stay-cation

verabear Ramblings and Brain farts 7 Comments

My very brief StayCation (stay-at-home vacation) is nearing it’s end. It’s been five days since my last day of work at NCO, and tomorrow I shall start at a new company. It will be a whole new adventure, I bet.

Though I have not had to go to work for the past four/five days, I’ve been busy.

• It was a busy week at Between the Covers with all the link opportunities thrown its way. Thank you! 🙂
• I’ve been filling orders for the yummy Tres Leches Cake. Thank you for our loyal customers!
• We trooped to the NBI to get clearance (this was an adventure in itself), as part of my pre-employment requirements.
• Checked out RM Boxes which supplies all packaging needs for baked goodies! We picked up some boxes for the cake, and also for cupcakes which I hope to be selling soon. There are truffles orders but the chocolate melting gods haven’t been on my side lately so I took a few days’ rest there. This afternoon I’ll be making a batch. 🙂

Other than that, I’ve been sleeping, blogging, browsing… and not much in between. Sleep pattern’s been messed up though and I hardly sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time, which probably caused a minor pimple breakout (yes, so sad) that I hope will clear out soon. It came at the wrong time, imagine first impressions tomorrow? Haha. 🙂

I’ve learned a few things about my small business in the past few days:

• List your stocks lest you realize your missing a vital ingredient at midnight. I realized we were short 1 can of evaporated milk at midnight last night. Good things, there’s a substitute for it, and it didn’t sacrifice quality and taste.
• List your equipment/baking tools etc. In our trip to RM Boxes on Friday, we ended up getting cake boxes that were a size too big for our actual round cakes. As it turned out I remembered the size of the cake board incorrectly. I swear I remember buying size 10 boards, but these are actually only size 9. It’s not a costly mistake as we can still use the boxes and no one will complain, but a size smaller would be perfect.
• Don’t wait until your nearly sleepy before you start working, this is true for whatever time of day. 🙂

Anyway, I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. For digital scrapbookers, here’s a blog train fully packed with wonderful goodies, sponsored by the DigiScrap Addicts (DSA). I downloaded sooooo many of the goodies up for grabs, I only hope I can get to use them in the next decade! 😉

Happiness and Love, love, love! 🙂