My 2008 in Calendar Moments: The 2nd Half of the Year

Alrighty.. so here's part 2 of my year 2008 Calendar Moments based on how I remembered those memories.. I know this recollection is a bit too late, I actually had this composed a long time ago.. couldn't find the time to post it really.. so here goes:



July- Spent the day in Jayson’s pad with inkie and luvkosileah with Mr. A in tow. Saw some snippets of my very first rompy video. Getting bored and self pitying over my orphaned status at work. Had an argument over a laptop which led me to slam down the phone but ended up seeing a back to back movie, a dinner charged to a credit card and being vulnerable by opening up to things until the wee hours of the morning over affordable iced coffees that lead me to understand him better .
Celebrated Cornkernel’s birthday by going to Rockwell, local stargazing, and watching The Dark Knight – a movie which we sat through the entire 2 hour run despite the nagging calls of nature.



August – got hooked into Twilight. Was reading an online copy of it while chatting with Mr. A via ym not knowing that a few hours after wards, I will get one of the most devastating phone calls of my life. I remember my mom waking me up, panic in her voice saying that someone from SOCO was on the phone about a certain Rue Ann.
My mom was already scared since she knows that SOCO is synonymous with bad news. I brushed the idea off and walked over the phone thinking that Jaggy might just be stranded somewhere. I was wrong. Jaggy was found murdered somewhere in a place I’ve never heard of and I was the first one to know about it. With that triggered the series of events that until now,are still vivid in my mind. . I remember speaking with the officer on the other line asking him if this was a scam or a joke. I remember Inkie calling me on my cellphone right after putting the phone down, like it was on queue of a next act telling me that Jaggy’s workmates are texting her because Jaggy didn’t show up for work. I remember calling Mr. A about it and suddenly crying and asking him to accompany me since my mom doesn’t want me to go to the police station alone. I remember calling Eryll about it and thinking how could I explain the reason why I needed her help in getting in touch with her relatives in far away Gen San. The travel to the ayala mrt station, crying along the way. Was thinking if all of it was just a bad dream. Also remembered if we should break the news to Katqt since it dawned to me that it was her birthday on that same day too. Well, we won’t certainly forget her birthday anymore. Saw the purpose of the freedom in my work schedule during that time since I was able to help out with the things that needs to be fixed during that tragedy. Maybe that’s the real reason why I remained a floating employee. All of us had sacrficed something during this moment: Family, Time, work, career opportunities. Made me appreciate life and the people around me even more. Was sleepless during the entire wake. Got into a row with a company lawyer and a wannabe manager. More tears and a few fears during the aftermath. We will certainly miss her forever.
Back to work, got into trouble with Mark of Helpdesk involving my pc files getting into a restricted account’s pc. Ended up sending apology emails to Mr. A’s supervisor and one of the TM’s in my former account. Lost a few more sleep over that too since I was worried that Mr. A would get a warning for that. Which luckily, he didn’t.


September - Still the highest paid tambay with night differential to boot.
Celebrated the monumental 5 year mark in PS where I finally got
my Kenneth Cole watch.
Getting bored but still entertained with my odesk job and my seatmate, trainer Socki. There’s still Mr. A ofcourse, who always bombards me with text messages and calls as to where the heck am I at past 11pm. Sinisterbucks really did a small favor for me which I will be forever thankful for. Mr. A flew to Singapore , leaving me to catch up on my sleep most of the time during shift. This was also the month where I last talked to my sister after a mix up with her in-laws. Celebrated Jaggy’s 40 days by rounding up the the rest of the Troopers for mass and get together where everyone wore green. Received a Notice to Explain letter from HR for allegedly not showing up for an account interview. Thank goodness for that email, it saved my behind! Winnie’s Gelo was baptized and attended cool_amy’s babyshower. Also had a glee time in watching Kc and Richard’s For the First Time with CarmTeng who we rarely saw due to her busy, busy schedule.








October – Still diddly daddlying over my idle time. Thinking that I should be given an award for the employee who’s been floating for the longest time (then realized that someone has already beaten me to it. Darn!). My online job was suspended during this time. Probably due to the recession that the US was having. Ideas of working abroad already fleeting in my mind. Had plans of resigning by December. Celebrated Mr. A’s birthday, along with Sinisterbucks’. Cool_amy also gave birth to her daughter, Andie. Most of the Troopers were planning a Boracay trip in which I really didn’t have any plans of going but due to the generous funding of Cornkernel for my one way ticket, I gave in. This was also the month where my beloved K800i was lost in a bus ride home. Grieved for it for one week by crying. Was robbed while sleeping in the sleeproom on the same week. Was thinking that I’m probably the most jinxed person in earth that time and that God must be punishing me for my sins. Thanking Mr. A in those times that he was convincing me I was not and for cheering me in his own sweet but bullish way. Lent me Copper for the meantime (his 8210.. oldie but reliable phone) . Was a bit worried of being laid off after news flew around that all floating employees will be given the axe if still accountless by Nov. 1. Also thought that it would be convenient on my part since I will probably get a large sum of separation benefits that would answer all my money problems. Was already computing how much I’ll be getting when I got a call from HR saying that I already have an account – darn! Want to thank lovekosileah and Jayson for all the favors that they did for me during this month. This was also the month where the infamous I have a friend poem of mine was aired in a birthday special that Astrobabe made for Sinisterbucks. Hayz!

November- went on a 4 day trip to Boracay. Forgot my pocket money and ended up having Mr. A covering for me for the rest of the trip. Had a bit of a misunderstanding with him along the way. It was also during this trip that he learned that his brother passed the Chem Eng boards and this lead him to his plan of pursuing his PT career by taking up the boards next year. Told me that he wouldn’t be resigning in December after all which lead me to think, ‘ Hey, I guess I’ll be on my own.. but what the heck, I would rather know that you took the damn exams and will learn that you had aced it by searching for your name on the internet because I’m already half way across the world. ‘ It was a bit of an issue for me for several weeks and I really don’t know why. Went back to morning shift for Client Specifics training for RD. Met new people, one of them was my seatmate for the entire training course, gulliver7890 of HR, who made me laugh with his side comments along with the thought that what a waste he was gay. Saw myself five years ago thru the newly grad kids who were the rest of my classmates in Training. Spent the extra hour after class everyday, composing my detailed email replies for Mr. A about the things that I want to share to him for that day. Since we had completely different work schedules , the only time we get to see each other then was when he gets off from work, he would pass by our training room to wave goodbye to me. Watched a concert of a guy who was an AI runner up with Sinisterbucks at Glorieta where I was a bit irritated at first since we were standing the whole time but ended up enjoying it anyway because we were situated near the production box and I got to see how they operated the sound effects and all. Also had a night of guy talk with him, no alcohol involved. Cool_ Amy’s Andie was baptized and we all headed out to watch Twilight while having a phone conference with CarmTeng where everyone greeted her an advance happy birthday.

December- Started my return as a supervisor on the floor. My days of bumming around were over. Back to GY shift again. Had a bit of a time adjusting since I have to fend off for myself for a while.. but thanks to some helpful colleagues, I’m now managing ok . Had a problem though with getting to know my direct reports. Seems that people around don’t know each other that well. Started the series of Christmas shopping days where me and Mr. A would immerse ourselves in staying past our bedtime to shop for gifts. Usually had like 3 hours of sleep during these days. Had the annual Trooper Christmas Party celebration where we had a lunch and movie gimmick just like the old days. Watched a movie starring Keanu Reeves where I soundly slept through it and I actually woke up after the movie ended.. Darn! Attended the Aegis PS Christmas Party.. Same old same old there.. We didn't get to win anything..again! Saw an old highschool friend of mine where we had a quick exchange of where is who and who is doing what while he accompanied me while I finish off my last minute Christmas shopping. Spent Christmas eve at work. Got a beautiful silver bracelet and a mini lion stuffed toy on top from Mr. A. Very generous gift! Supported the local movie industry by watching Ang Tanging Ina ninyong Lahat.

Saw my sister again after going AWOL for 3 months.
She bought along Salem, who stayed with us for several days. Dad was also at home and there was an instance where we were complete as a family again.
Spent New Year's Eve at work. Didn't get to see any fireworks.. and, I was in a sup call when the clock struck twelve! Great! So does that mean I'll be having these sup calls all year round??! Happy New Year to Everyone! Mr. A and I went to church to say thanks and say a lil prayer for Jaggy's birthday.. had our very first new year's lunch where I got to get a glimpse of Dexter's final episode via Alliepod.. I wouldn't go and describe the rest of the details,since 2009 has already began.. and 2008 was just like last night's shift.




So there we go folks.. My 2008, as far I can remember it. It's been a whirlwind of a year and one important thing that I have learned from 2008: Life is short.. the people around you may not be the same people who you'll be with tomorrow, things can change in a blink of an eye.. so you must make every second worth it. I know it's a cliche, but I guess, it wouldn't make such an impact if you haven't had anything to relate it to. I had lots last year.. and I learned it the hard way, and with this, I would like to say thank you to the people who have helped me in surviving it. By opening my eyes to new views and perspectives, and by adding more reasons for me to be thankful everyday. Though, I'm fairly worried what 2009 may bring, I know that I still have to brave each passing day as the new year progresses.. And with the Latin saying, Carpe Diem.. I end this recollection of my 2008 memories and will hope everyone will always live their lives to its fullest.

My 2008 in Calendar Moments: Part 1

I know I haven't blogged for the longest time. It's either I had the inspiration to write but was not near a pc or my doodle pad, and when I did get to one, all the thoughts that I want to let out were already gone, or I really didn't feel like writing (Haha.. that's what I call a lazy mind!).

I was only jolted into writing again when I realized that I have frequent spells of forgetfulness these past few weeks, the last one was just a few moments ago when I can’t remember what I was supposed to do next while browsing the web and shifting to my desktop. I got a lil scared. Is this a symptom of dementia or alzheimer’s or my memory is just getting poorer as a sign that I’m I’m truly growing old, or my mind just warps faster before I act.. Whatever the cause maybe, this reeled me into at least making a sort of a record book of the things, moments , feelings and ideas that continue to shape me as to what I am today. So when I’m old and I’m clouded with dementia or old age, I have something to look back to and say.. ‘My, I led a very colorful life! ‘

As the whole world already rung the new year away by now, I will begin by making up for the things that happened to me back in 2008 that I wasn’t able to record, while I can still clearly remember them in my own way..


January –After celebrating the new year in my aunt’s place in Fairview, I began my first month of being the highest paid bum in PS. Spent my working days supervising a group of agents who are floatees since my old account moved to Cebu (just made sure that they show up for work and sign the roster), surf aimlessly, chat with Mr. A via YM and on the phone. I also remember that this was the month where we began our gastronomical adventures by eating at different restaurant every night after shift. We mostly conquered the Indian ones. My sister also got married and gave birth to her first son – Alexis Mikhail. We call him Salem.


February – Still floating. Still doing the same thing everyday except I was given an extra task to make myself useful by helping out with the QA work for PPC Cebu. I remember that this was the month Sinisterbucks resigned from work.. (or was it January or March?). Valentine’s Day.. got a long stemmed rose in a box with an orange bow from Mr. A, along with a kiss in the cheek (all together now.. awww..!). Gave him a bunch of his fave chocolates. Sweet no?


March – Still floating..
Most of the agents already went to their own accounts by this time . That only left me and one agent who are still orphans. Employees who are uncategorized in HRIS. Spent my days researching for the upcoming trip that we will be having in April. Withstood the long lines of applying for an SSS ID and passport. Applied for my first government loan(s) and struggled with my hair. I must had like 4 haircuts during this month.. Haha.

April- Went abroad to HK and Macau- my first unsupervised out of the country trip. Learned a lot of traveller’s tips – the hard way. Saw a lot, Walked a lot on our first night in Macau. Got a panic attack on our first night in HK (we fell asleep laughing). Had a foot race in Disneyland’s garden. Got a bit testy with each other on our last day over a broken mirror and flimsy lies. Cried in the lounge of the Venetian and ended up going back to Manila, limping and still together (whew!) Who am I with?
That would be left unnamed.

Learned that cool_amy’s expecting by accident. Learned to be tactful when dealing with such situations. Winnie gave birth to her own bundle of joy, Gelo.


May – Nadj_urbandove and Katqt flew to Malaysia on their own to compensate for the trip that they weren’t able to join the previous month.Celebrated my birthday (along with cool_amy’s) with a surprise bash in Max’s restaurant. Was also surprised by the return of Cornkernel from his voluntary exile in SG. Got a lot of gifts (thanks guys!) Got an online job thru odesk to make use of the idle time I had as a floatee, got to talk to some new people but usually spent my shifts alone since Mr. A started working GY again. Always rushing in the morning to come to work so we could have atleast breakfast together. My online job ends at 2am and I have to get up at 6am to make it on time..so that leaves me sleeping most of time in the afternoons. Haha..


June- Since my online job and social life really took the toll on my sleeping time, I decided to go back to GY, with the inspiration coming from Melvin’s work hours during which he came to work on a gy shift for the night diff when he was still part of the floating crew. Co-Organized Astrobabe’s birthday which was celebrated in Dampa for the 2nd time in a row. Saw Jaggy for the last time (sob!) in which a cloud of sadness was noticeable in her demeanor that day. Got a bit tipsy and was laughing aloud all the way out of MOA






To be continued since blogger already spent an all nighter uploading and changing another multiply page.

Backtracking

Im writing this around 4am on Saturday early morning. My ears kinda hurt and my head is feeling woozy since I might be coming down with a slight fever or something. The past few days have been a major adjustment for me since I am now leading the life of a semi normal person in terms of schedule. Ever since I started to work for this industry, I was working the gy shift. Right now, I have the 4am-1pm sched.. Fri Sat off. Sure, it's a bit weird because I have to get up at 2am, which means that I have to be asleep around 8pm. The first few days were all hustle and bustle since I have to take a cab everyday just to get there on time.. (I have to login before 4am to get the night shift allowance) and when I get there, after a few minutes of reading my emails, I have to go ahead and barge my agents since I have some who will be logging out at 6am.. then I do the rounds of checking up on everyone (how they're doing and everything) and not to mention, the meetings that I have in between.. Yup, I lead a busy life in this shift, but once it's 1pm, it's usually a breeze to work on the deliverables since I'm not that too tired, although, I fell asleep one time while doing QA. But what I love most about this shift is that when I go home (which is around 4pm), I see people going home with me.. (re: RushHour!) I love it as I walk the streets of Ayala and see the hundreds of working people like me, hurrying to their appointments or wherever and it just feels more alive.
*******


We actually got together last week to celebrate my friend Techy's birthday. We watched Harry Potter (which again, did not live to its book counterpart!) and just hanged out until Thursday early morning at Starbucks. We also learned that Keith has retracted his resignation (yipee! double yipee for astorbabe!) since he was offered a position as part of the TAG team for Earthlink.. (Thanks to Chino!)
I get to see him around now,walking with his clipboard at hand, looking like a surveyor.. hehe!





********


From the prose collection of Stella Deranged..


I made the resolution to finally call it quits.
I give up.
Maybe I just deluded myself in believing in those times where you were so nice, where in fact, that was just some innate trait since you treated everyone who's close to you that way.

No tears.
I may have used up all my tears reserved for this event. The difference is that today, I really meant it.

No sad goodbyes.
You won't see any farewell letters, confession letters, what might have been letters.. I'm just going to forget you cold turkey.
You will never know, or atleast you won't hear from me that I have felt this way towards you,though, if you say you didn't at least felt it, I might really start to wonder what planet you came from..

Life is Kinda Nice After All

I've been on a break from blogging for quite some time because I got into trouble for it. So what's a blogger to do if her privacy and right are invaded? Change the url of your blogsite and keep the postings flowing...

Anyways, it's been a month since I last posted anything here and to keep you updated, let me fill you in on what I've been up to...

*I was regularized as a Team Supervisor effective September 1. No more feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Atleast not too much anymore.

*I just celebrated 3 years of stay at PeopleSupport as well. Another year? Do I hear the ticking of a Kenneth Cole watch? I don't think so..

* Got the award for being the Best Team for August. After months of being last amongst the micro team rankings, my team (MCROCKERS) got the highest rated team for last month..and hopefully if I get to fix our team's SAF, we will be gettig this month as well.

*Was the highest rated supervisor for August as well. =)

*One of my agents was promoted as Supervisor Trainee for a different account effective this October 15.

*Became a full pledged popcorn eating,soda drinking, movie buff for the whole month of September.

* Cancelled membership with Fitness First. Gained weight. Hoping to lose it by October.

*Sold my stocks...Should've not done it since it's much higher right now and the dollar rate is lower. Still finding time to bring my check to the bank.

*Bought the entire season of DVDs of TV shows that I want to watch on Saturdays, and come Sunday, watch all the episodes the whole day.


*Always had a great weekend for the entire month of September. was always looking forward to it all month.. sigh! =) Hopefully, it would still be the same for next..


Hmm.. I can't think of anything more. But basically, the goals that I want to achieve as a Supervisor that I have listed in my mind back then are already coming to life one by one, and I'm so proud of it. Thanks to God! Now how about giving me the same for my personal life as well... =) Well, a girl can't wish for too much..

The Long Week that was....

It's been a long week for me.. I'm glad that I'm on my weekend restday and I'll get to spend the whole day Sunday in my bed until I go to work for hopefully a better week. Being a supervisor can be oh so draining at times, and it doesn't help that you have lost confidence in the higher powers of my professional life. Sometimes, I find myself just staring at my pc aimlessly at the excel sheets, email floods, feedback forms,jabber broadcasts and a hundred other things that are messing up my screen, until someone will approach me and interrupt me to ask for a bank routing number. Like what someone told me, it comes with the job . Now, I'm sort of low in the confidence department right now. I'm really just a step away from my judgement day when suddenly, Mr. Bean called me one day in his presence and told me that I was somehow responsible (although he made a disclaimer that it was not so, but who is HE kidding?) for two agents who were given warnings because of the performance management program. I was surprised because I was not expecting that those two agents will be one, my close friend and agent 2 is someone who even praised me in her appraisal. I really felt bad after that time that I wanted to cry. Ofcourse, being a supervisor, you don't have the right to show your personal emotions especially to your agents who are also low in morale themselves because of the things that have been happening on the floor since they look up to you for motivation and inspiration. I distanced myself from my peers,just getting in touch with them on official and business matters (I don't care if they will take this personally against me since what we require is just harmonious working relationship and not be chummy with each other). I just do whatever needs to be done in my work. I know that I may seem alienating myself, but I am not really a hypocrite. I had seen enough. With all the demands and expectations of my position right now, I have learned that the simplest things are the reasons why I always made it through the day in one piece. I find my solace with the few (oh so few) of my true friends who has the initiative to drop by my station and amuse or make me laugh with silly jokes and the latest gossip and who really asks me how I am feeling right now. I find my relief everytime I see my 'sundo' as I know that his presence always meant that we will soon be going home,as soon as I finish whatever I have to do for the day, which will prompt me to really finish it double time to just get out of the floor. I feel a rush everytime I receive a particular jab from someone as I know that this will result to a fruitful exchange of ideas(stimulating), I find some slack in having my lunch break with the non-ops people nowadays as this gives me free time away from ops floor. Seeing someone from my direct reports thank me because I have helped them in improving their performance reminds me that this job in this account can still be rewarding afterall. I love it when I know it's Friday shift since this means that it will be Saturday in a few hours and it's my restday and I can't wait to eat lunch somewhere good. These are the things that kept me alive this past week. I wonder what will happen for next week?

Great Expectations

Txtin, originally uploaded by mramos.

I'm counting the days till December comes, till Christmas comes, till the year ends and I have to decide where to go from here...

Guess what... I was being awarded E-rep Excellence Award, first ever for our account.
As you know, I've been selling internet service for more than a month now. I was awarded Top Performer about 3 weeks ago... Now, I was chosen as E-rep Excellence Awardee for the month. I was not really expecting that award anymore because I was not able to meet the conversion rate of 35%. I only got 34. My sched ad is not that great. Because of my 8pm shift, I was late like every other day. My AHT is totally a dud. I have the highest in my team. The only thing that I can actually be proud of, are my QA scores which I have to say are so far a perfect 100! I was surprised when Jimbo came over and congratulated me in advance for that award. Then he began to tell me that I was the one they nominated for that award, even if I have a lot of flaws in my stats. I actually made a committment of course, that I would not be late anymore since my shift is already from 9-6. I was able to come to work on time for a straight week! The only thing left to work on is my AHT. Jimbo is putting a bit of a pressure on me to lower my AHT. So, I've been trying but today I ended around 13:28. I am targeting atleast maybe around 10:30 by next week. Then, both Jimbo and Kris told me that they will start delegating additional tasks for me to prep me up for (gasp!) the SUPERVISORY LEVEL! Jimbo even gave my first task which is to make a report for the outcome of this week, to be submitted this coming Monday. Talk about the pressure. I really have to live up to the expectations of my supervisors and my co reps as well. I really have to learn to exercise authority now, they said. I'm really happy of course that they are believing in me, but I just hope that I wil be able to prove that I really have what it takes to be an E-rep Excellence Awardee and maybe, just maybe, a future sup even.

See, Alex made me a sort of, a logo postcard commemorating my achievement. How sweet of him... Although it's kinda too girly for my taste and too flowery (what the hell is he thinkin'?), and the pictures that he used were not the best ones ( I have better pics!), I still appreciate it. (I have to! hehehe!) Really, I do.

Of course the rest of my friends were happy for me. Thanks to Jaggy for the words of encouragement.

By the way, I am Php6000 bucks richer..... Thanks to PeoplePC! hehehe!

Over and Over again....!

group gerrys
Originally uploaded by mramos.

It's Monday early morn as I am composing this entry....3 am in fact... I am at home, with Hale's The day you said goodnight playing on the radio. Haven't much time to write an entry anymore at work since becoming an ATL means that you have to be focused only on work related stuff in all your times being in meeting status the whole shift. In anycase, let me just tell you what happend for the past few weeks...

We had this party last July 4 to celebrate our team's nth time of passing QA. I was one of those who were awarded because of having one of the most number of passing QA marks and i won a gift certificate of 500 for that. (I thought I will never get one of those things!) I got to join a game with Alex the lion as my partner, for Break the Egg, and we won of course! Matching picture frames to boot! See our picture below:


A pair of good-looking Winners! Hehehe! :)



Prior to the party by the way, I went to this agency that where I applied a job for Singapore. I was made to take another set of exams. I did not made it. Bummer! I did not really set my heart on it, but it is kinda disappointing. I was thinking of the salary..it was actually enough for me to save for my future. But then again, God must have a different plan for me. But there is another opening however. Although, there is another opening for the cabin crew at Saudia. I was thinking of applying. I think I will give it a go.

Sigh! I have this habit of falling asleep early and then waking up around 2 or 3 in the morning.I feel contented and dreamy at this moment. The night is so calm and everything is just so quiet outside. Mom is already sleeping. I wonder what he's doing at this moment....Must be sleeping....Right before I fell asleep, I was toying with my mobile phone, browsing through the pictures that were stored there. I came across his picture. My mind began to wander....I suddenly scrolled to options and decided to set his picture as wallpaper for my phone. I smiled to myself.... and suddenly blurted out "Uy, bagay!" Wish I could really legally keep it that way,but of course, it's all just in my imagiantion. It's been more than 2 years now since I was in a relationship. Although, it really does not bother me that I am single now, but it would sure be wonderful to be in one again. Maybe I would be destined to be an old maid. I am certainly seeing a lot right now. It's already Saturday by the way, and my shift ended early. I was on swap with Kat Cordova and we're just passing the time away since Techy Rod will be treating us to lunch at Glorietta to celebrate his birthday. It was my sister's birthday as well last July 13 and I could not think of the perfect gift to give...not until yesterday.... Hehehe! I gave her this pair of flat shoes I bought the other night at Baclaran. When I got home, both my mom and my sister commented that the shoes were ugly...(Hmp! It was kinda cute when I bought it....) My sister even said that my feet look dirty on it so I made her try it on so I can have a clear idea what it looked like. It look kinda cute on her feet and the idea dawned to me that I would just then give the shoes to her as my birthday gift. I only wore it once anyways..... She stucked out her tongue at me to show her protest... Well, I am not kidding...but maybe as a consolation, I would add something, like a cologne or such...

I am actually at the training room right now, alone. I love that it's quiet here and I can gather my thoughts without the distraction. Sure, it's a bit lonley and literally, cold...that my lips are chapping right now....but still, I love the time alone to myself...

Now, I have to rush off because I really need to go to the bathroom...bad! Ciao!

P.S. Thanks to Eryll Arroza for the pics!