Frankenstein

Last year, I accompanied alba when we took an intern shopping in Greenhills. He was amazed at the cheap prizes (which makes me wonder how thrifty I am since I always thought Greenhills is expensive and I go somplace else cheaper to get clothes and stuff).

He's back in Manila for just a couple of days and went to Market! Market!

Naturally (?!), alba asked me to go with them. And boy was I in for the shock of my life! Greg haggled with the prices like no there was no tomorrow. He paid PhP 500 for a pearl set originally sold for PhP 700, PhP 2000 for 2 pearl necklaces and got 1 pearl necklace free. He bought a necklace sold for PhP 350 and only paid PhP250.

We created a bargain monster!

Stress Relief

After stressing on whether or not the barong would fit, I finally got my answer. The barong arrived on 29 August 2005 at 8:30am EST. It wasn't signed. I don't know why they didn't require a signature. I was afraid that someone may have gotten it if they left it at the door.

Luckily, I was informed that it arrived earlier than he did - since he went to his brother's for the weekend and visited the family and the new baby. :) He told me it fits! But then, he was wary about the length.

The first thought that came to my mind was to ask him to ask his friend who knows about barongs to go and check it out to verify if it IS too long or not. Then, I remembred the website where I got the pictures, downloaded them and sent it to him so he could compare and check out if the barong fits him or if it's still too big.

So I got an email today telling me that based on the pictures, the barong is the right size for him. And then he told me that he saw some of the pictures buttoning up the barong until the collar, but feels funny about: 1) the barong being long coz he's not used to such a long shirt; and 2) not wearing a tie. I can't imagine anyone wearing a tie with his barong. LOL

Oh and I'm expecting another package. Good thing I wasn't informed about it until now, I would have stressed about it too. www.theupsstore.com tells me it's supposed to arrive on 1 September 2005. Such a long wait! Now i'm wondering once again why it wasn't sent through Global Express of USPS since it takes lesser time than UPS - and it should be less expensive. I think UPS is doing a con job by letting the ones using Mail Boxes Etc. use their service instead of Global Express. hmmm...

Chinese Proverb?

Saw this posted on the side of the elevator in Cityland Pasong Tamo a few months back in a paper that says Chinabank:

ABILITY is what you're capable of doing. MOTIVATION determines what you do. ATTITUDE determines how well you do it.

Politics

A good friend of mine received a letter of complaint from a co-worker. She takes care of the initial solution to their clients' problems and was asked by a consultant to do something beyond her scope of responsibility, which she verified several times with her co-worker. The end result, as is th case when people take their work on a personal level was a complaint from that co-worker.

Since she was vying for a higher position, she was, of course, threatened by the complaint and had asked em to help her craft her response to what was being instigated in the complaint. After mulling over the whole situation, here's what we came up with:


Dear _________,

I received your letter regarding the incident report filed by (jealous co-worker) on 19 August 2005.
On 6 August 2005, I received a call from Miss customer who informed me that she ran the Anti-Spyware and Ad-Aware on Safemode several times in her computer in order to remove pop up ads. However, the customer was frustrated since the Pop-up was still in her computer despite the initial troubleshooting done by the previous agent.
I checked the security settings – firewall, anti-virus and windows update. I called (jealous co-worker) and was initially advised by Mr. Jealous co-worker to download program. When I got back to the customer, Mr. Jealous co-worker called out to inform me not to download program and instead do a system restore. I overheard Another co-worker and the other Department representatives advising Mr. jealous co-worker that we, are not allowed to install program, which I knew from the very beginning. At this time, Ms. Customer became very irate.
I followed his instructions. However, this did not solve the problem since the last system restore was done in May and System restore will only work if the system was infected by spyware recently. I assisted the customer in cleaning up the malicious files in the Add and Remove Programs and registry editor, particularly the Run key and BHOs. When we restarted the computer for the third time, the spyware was still in the system due to ABI Network which can only be removed by program. In addition, the customer was receiving pop ups ads and error messages. After almost two hours of troubleshooting and verifying the procedures with Mr. Jealous co-worker, I followed his instruction and downloaded program. After downloading the program, Ms Customer gave me her permission to close the case and verified with the customer if she was satisfied. She said yes.

On 12 August 2005, Ms. Customer called again to ask for assistance in downloading another program and sent an email to confirm that the issue was resolved thereafter.

On the offense against Policies and Procedures:

I believed, and as documented on the case, I followed the necessary troubleshooting steps. I brought the matter to the attention of our department because I found out that Ms. Customer has an ABI Network installed in her computer that can only be removed by program which is outside my support boundary.

I did verify with Mr. Jealous co-worker the procedures I am supposed to take several times. I verified with him if the call should be escalated. This was because I wanted to make sure that I’m following the procedures and the problem is resolved for the customer since at that time, we did not have a protocol on removing spyware for our customers. I am unable to recall the number of times I approached Mr. Jealous co-worker asking about downloading program. Once again, I was doing this to make sure that the matter is resolved for the customer in the most efficient manner. Since I am being asked to do something I am not trained nor authorized to do, I kept on verifying this with him since he is the one trained to handle such matters. I was not arguing with Mr. Jealous co-worker. As stated, I was merely verifying his instructions since downloading MyPC Tune-up is outside my support boundary.

I tagged the case as resolved only after the customer had downloaded the program and only after Ms. Customer gave her permission for me to do so. Ms. Customer also stated that she was satisfied with the resolution.

As for what I said about my AHT, I apologize if it sounded like I was escalating the call and not taking ownership of it. I wanted to bring to the attention of Mr. Jealous co-worker that the call is unnecessarily taking long since I knew that downloading program is the only way to resolve the matter. I also wanted him to note that the customer is irate since none of the steps we have been going through is solving the problem. In fact, I stayed with the caller for about two hours precisely because I wanted to resolve the issue for the customer.

On the offense against team members and co-employees:

I would like it noted that Meriam-Webster defines harassment as to irritate or torment persistently and to impede and exhaust an enemy by repeated attacks or raids. Whereas Mr. Jealous co-worker may have been irritated by my numerous questions, I was asking them to verify that I am following the correct procedures and I was doing that in order to help the customer and not with the intention of irritating nor tormenting him. It was not my intention to irritate or torment him persistently nor attack him in any way. I also believe that by verifying procedures with Mr. jealous co-worker, I did not prevent him from doing his work normally, infringe on his rights as an employee of Company. In fact, I believe I am incapable of harassment.

****

In the end, my friend "won" the battle and Mr. jealous co-worker received a sanction.

In the end, this corporate setting is merely a reflection of what goes on in our everyday lives. People don't like being questioned, particularly if they hold higher positions. But then, if no one "checks" on those in the leadership role, who else will? If our so-called leaders are left to manage us and we remain passive receipients of their every whim, where are we to generate new ideas? Where are we to exercise our reason, our rights and our responsibility? We will all be left to rot in a hellhole of our own making.

Some pictures from work and from trainings

First picture: training in Quezon City togerther with the graduates.

Second picture: this was our version of a masquerade ball back inn February 2005. Look at our rubber shoes.

Barong Tagalog

Okay, this is not about the guy in the picture, but about the shirt.

For those who don't know what a barong tagalog is, it's the traditional clothing worn by Filipino men which I think started in the Spanish colonial era when Filipinos are prohibited from wearing the "amercana" or suit to maintain the status quo. These days, barongs are worn as a formal wear as an alternative to the suit or more commonly worn during weddings. Of course, there's what we call the polo barong, which most guys wear for work.

His sister attended a Filipino wedding in Ohio and she raved about the barong. So, I had to get a barong and ship it off asap since he's attending a Filipino wedding on September 2. This is the first time I was going to get one and so I asked for the necessary measurements. And since I could only use a long sleeved shirt as a reference (the one worn under a suit)... it could prove to be a disaster. You can't imagine how many people I asked on what type of measurements are needed.

Day 1: I asked for the collar, chest and arm measurements only to find out that we have a different references for each part that needs to be measured. I think I ended up asking for the masurements at least three times. I found out that the arm measurement in the US is from the middle of the neck until the wrist whereas we measure the shoulders and then we measure the arm.
Day 2: I had to go down to the barong center and ask the girl what kind of measurements are needed and how the measurements are done. Good thing my work place is within a mall. At this time, I was thinking barongs cost like PhP 10T. I also ended up hunting for Onesimus and Tesoro's since those are the only two places I know which sells barongs. Actually, albs just recommended Onesimus. How she knew there's barong there, I don't know. I thought it sold clothes like the ones one could find in Van Huesen.
Day 3: I asked some friends to help me pick out a barong since I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CHOOSE A BARONG. I also thought that any round-necked shirt would do, but it turns out that the undershirt should be a camisa de chino. I know most people may find this weird, but there are just too many different styles and I don't know which ones can be considered as one that looks good. It provved to be beneficial as well since one of them tried on the barong for me to see how it fits.
I realized then how overpriced it is to order it online. $89.99 for barongs alone!
Day 4: Sending the barong was a feat! I didn't know how to fold it. I didn't know how to pack it. I didn't know how not to wrinkle it. I was getting harried over the whole packaging and all the other stuff I need to send. So I sent the barong, the shirt and some other stuff that I don't want him to find out in case he gets to read this.

Oh and I got the cream-colored one :)

Help!!!

up till now, i still couldn't figure out how to manipulate this blog. i couldn't seem to make the side bar information run normally. grrrrrr! where's alba when you need her friends? I don't really need her for her help in manipulating this blog, but I need her friends' expertise for that.

heard that albs?!

.... okay, i just looked at my blog and it's okay now. weird!

It felt like years...

Ages and ages ago... in a land far, far away... I started this blog. hehehe.

It was meant, I suppose as most blogs are, to be a journal - sharing my thoughts and adventures with anyone who wishes to read them. But then life had a nifty way of intervening with our plans and I stopped updating it... not that a lot of my friends still had time to read about what has been happening to me recently. and so i totally forgot about it until now.

someone brought up a blog of her friend and I decided to read...and update this.

The letter was a great one... one that we (women in general) would probably cry over just from the heart-wrenching emotions overcoming us while reading it. However, it lacked one main point: those who love others are normally descriptive not of the smiles, hugs and sms messages, but of the personality... or a person or the way a person reacted on an event... Love is not about drinking coffee, hugs and kisses...

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

I was thinking about it because it does sound like preaching. But then again, reading it... it IS true. It's the most perfect of all things in this world.

Some people wait their whole lifetime for someone they love - not knowing whether they can expect them or not.