Up until now, there is still a part of me who can’t believe what happened to Manila. Everything has been so quick and no one was ever prepared for the rage of typhooon “Ondoy”. I still get teary eyed whenever I look at the news and look at photos of our fellow countrymen who suffered. It is almost unbelievable to see celebrities and prominent people in the midst of thick muds trying to help out others. Everything has been so unbelievable. Yet, in times like this, we get to realize how little we are compared to Him. And how, in a snap everything that we worked for here on earth can be erased. I cannot almost bear seeing these people who are my fellowmen. It hurts, knowing we are here, unable to do anything instant to be able to relieve them of the memory of tragedy, of loss and of sufferings. I do pray and hope that everyone will get the strength and faith to move on and start out a new life. And I do hope and pray this will all serve as a lesson and as a wake up call for us to start living our lives anchoring it on the things that truly matter and not after worldy possessions.

This event triggered spiritual thoughts in me but I also thought about practical things. Like, where are the people going to get the funds to start over? Do they have life insurance to protect the loved ones left behind? i must admit from there and then I wanted to check out on quick and easy life insurance quotes so I could spare myself from the what ifs of life.

I never really asked for it before, but God gave me a special gift and that is to be promoted in my work. All I ever wanted was to provide for my family and keep improving the quality of our life. After living a life of having nothing, I became determined to make steps to create the life I want for myself and for my family. I began to weave dreams for my family.

After almost 2 years in this company, I will now have a different scope of work, and I am really excited about it. God granted my wish to be a QA. I am hoping to get a laptop of my work plus my own work station. How I wish. I am no longer a front liner, and most likely I will be working remotely, almost invisible to most agent, doing a very crucial job of ensuring high quality calls. I will start perhaps next week or next next week. As of this writing, I am still on the floor taking calls due to demands. But, I will be pulled out anytime soon and I need to be emotionally prepared for it. Im sure it will still be stressful, but the stress is more of on the adjustment side. Good thing I also have a colleague with me, her name is Trisha.

I am giving back all the honor and glory to God. I consider this as one of the greatest gifts from Him, since this is really unexpected but very highly welcome.

It’s 7:30 am here at my workplace. My first day of reporting to work for the week as I have been on day off for the past 2 days. I am a little anxious and I’m trying to occupy myself by doing little things here and there, as today is the day I will be informed of the result of my application for promotion.That will be 12 noon, exactly right after my shift for today.

Come what may, I am prepared for the result. If I get accepted, it would surely be a very good thing for me, but if not, I will wholeheartedly accept it. I trust that God has a good plan for me, and I am here not to dictate to Him what I want out of my life, but to faithfully trust that everything that will happen to me, has a reason.

I no longer aim for success in a way that I want to achieve certain accomplishments. But I am more focused on becoming a better person day by day, and becoming better in what I do. In short, I am not focusing only on the result, but more on self improvement. I am determined to keep improving my life, in any areas day by day, little by little and worry not about where it will lead me.

I still remember, last the year or two - those were the lowest point in my life. I felt so low, because i had nothing and I felt that my life was somewhat ending or hopeless and there’s no more bright tomorrow after I ruined my future my having a baby at the wrong time. But, God’s voice told me trust and hold on to His hope and love. And that’s what I did. Without any help from anyone financially, we started our little family from scratch, from nothing. I still clearly remember the times that we couldn’t even afford to buy certain things, even some necessities. That is true. Hard to bear, but we were able to make it during those times. Because of hard work, faith, love for our family, we were able to recover during those times, and now I could say that my family is way much better off than the last years. Our little one has proved to be a blessing, as her name goes “Roneca Bless”, instead of a badluck for me. Things started to come out clearer and I wanted to believe that indeed God has a reason why it happened. My husband and my baby are the two greatest gifts I have received from God. Things are just getting better and better, and were getting their faster than I thought possible. Things are not perfect, and I won’t stop here. This is just the start of a dream, and a new life for my family. I will not stop dreaming and believing that we are destined for a great, fruitful and abundant life. I have nothing else to credit but God, for all these. He has revived us and He gave us a new life, despite our previous mistakes. I am so grateful for where I am now, and wherever we will be in the future, it doesn’t matter so much, as long as I have God with me and my loved ones. I have faith that things will still get better and better each day. Who knows, time will come that we will be checking out for auto insurance quote to get our very own car. That smells very very possible. Hey! We don’t have a house yet. A house is our priority as for now. Just a year more, and I’m sure it will come true. But, anyhow, more than any material possession, I wish to have many many years more with my loved ones. I have a lot of things I want to do in my life, so I’m praying He will grant me a long one, as well as of my loved ones.

Her name is Rose Dianne D. Vinluan. She’s my cousin and playmate when I was a young kid. That was during my elementary years and even the years before that. Even in high school, we were still very close. We live far afar, but we see each other every time they would visit us for vacation. I will never forget this girl. She was the naughtiest kid you would ever know, and to know that she is a girl. I would never forget her throwing me into the pond. The pond had no sort of pond filters, and I was lucky I didn’t drown even if the pond was so deep. She was kinda evil right? hehe. Kinda, kidding. I love this girl so much. She has taught me so much about life, happiness, love and success. She made some mistakes in her life too, but now, she is a certified nurse and I just learned she has passed the exam for nurses this year I guess. I am proud of her, and I am happy she is doing good in her life. I wish her all the best, and I wish that after almost 5 years or more that I haven’t seen her, we can enjoy some time together. I really wish for that day.

In the year 2029, interstellar reconnaissance missions are relegated to chimpanzee pilots from the space station OBERON in deep space. On one such mission, a chimp loses communication and vanishes from radar. Fearless assistance astronaut Leo Davidson launches a rescue mission and following a malfunction lands on a jungle-like planet not unlike the earth.

To Leo’s astonishment, English-speaking apes and primate humans inhabit the planet. Following his capture by the apes and subsequent escape, Leo assembles a small band of defiant humans and empathetic apes in an attempt to re-establish contact with OBERON, bu this focus changes following an unexpected discovery. Armed with his new information, Leo leads a rebellion against an overpowering ape force that will result in freedom or complete annihilation.

After some order fulfillment and quick shopping yesterday in SM, i went up to the movie section to check what movies are being shown and also to check for upcoming movies. I was surprised to know they have 15 pesos movie up until november. every 3-4 days, they will switch the movie. So, there will be I think almost 20 movies to be shown, and these movies will only cost 15 pesos. You heard me right! These are movies from the past that you haven’t seen or want to see again such as Inkheart, P.S I love you, Forbidden Kingdom, Nim’s island and a whole lot more. I immediately informed hubby the night he came home, and he was surprised too. He wants us to go see a movie together. Normally, we would choose to just rent out cd’s since its cheaper, more affordable plus we get to choose what movie we like to watch. There are a wide range of selection.

Don’t get this announcement wrong okay? It’s not all movies in SM. Regular movies cost their regular prices. Only selected movie reruns cost 15 pesos. Relive the experience. Bring your whole family to the theater.

I am contemplating of discarding my subscription with PLDT and switching to making use of a usb modem like Smart Bro. I am thinking of either Smart bro or Globe Broadband Tattoo. My one year subscription has expired yet, and now, I am thinking of not renewing it anymore.

My PLDT service has been generally good so far. There were downtimes, but rare and so far PLDT always acted on my issues.

Why am I thinking of switching to a prepaid modem USB kit such as Smart Bro? That’s because I think paying 1,000 a month is too much for less than 10 hours of using internet a month. Yes, I rarely use internet at home.

Maybe, because we do have internet at work and I am on it 8 hours a day, so when I’m home all I want is to rest. Even on my days off, I rarely use it. All I do, is rest, clean house, play with baby, manage other responsibilties but for some reasons, I rarely blog nowadays.

Even if I do blog more, I still think I could save a lot just by switching to a prepair loaded usb connection such as Smart Bro. I hope to tell hubby asap and hope to get his approval on this matter as well.

I want to save more money and I’m trying to eliminate unnecessary expenses as much as I can. I think, this is one area I can improve on.

I was searching for some articles on which is better between Smart Bro and Globe Prepaid and this article has helped me decide a lot.

So what is the difference between Smart and Globe?

Driving with a Tricycle more than 4.000 kilometers around the whole country over the last 2 months - and accessing the internet in every town I stayed over night - here are my first-hand experiences regarding Smart Bro and Globe Tattoo:

* Prepaid Offers: Globe offers 15 minutes for 5 Pesos, Smart offers 30 minutes for 10 Pesos. That looks on first view like a win for Globe, due to the lower time unit - but wait a minute! If you get disconnected - what can easily happen in a lower coverage area - you will pay another 5 Pesos again, even if you didn’t consume your 15 minutes yet. With Smart you can disconnect/reconnect as often as you please within your 30 minute period. It’s basically a draw - but something to consider.
* Speeds: Both providers offer similar speeds on paper, with Smart having the upper hand in reality. Both start with simple 3G, which is theoretically up to 384 kbps bandwidth. An extension to that is HSDPA, which can go as high as 3.6 Mbps of bandwidth, although Smart offers maximum 2 Mbps. There is of course a huge difference between theory and reality. In reality I never had higher download speeds than 90 kbps with Smart and 40-50 kbps with Globe - which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is still good enough to surf the web, use Skype for telephony and video chat, check out YouTube Videos and even download the odd larger patch or software.
* Globe Tattoo 3G Starter Kit - better design than coverageCoverage: During the trip around the country I found the coverage of Globe Tattoo mediocre at best, mostly it wasn’t even available in bigger towns - not even GPRS speeds. Exceptions are the island of Luzon and the Metro Manila area. There are also some university towns that are covered by Globe Tattoo as well, but they are few and far between. So probably one reason why Globe changed the name to Tattoo was, that their Globe Visibility service was actually a ‘Globe Invisibility service’.
* Compare that with the coverage of Smart Bro, which is literally available anywhere - even in/on smaller cities and islands. The only exceptions were Samar and Leyte, which has the least developed 3G internet infrastructure. Tacloban and Ormoc on Leyte were the few exceptions here, the rest of the 2 islands had maximum GPRS speeds available. Gloibe was literally non-existant. Smart also offers generally country-wide higher speeds like HSDPA, an extension to the standard 3G speeds, which are offered by Globe only around Makati and Ermita in Manila.
* Reliability: The reliability of both services is pretty good - when you have coverage. There are some disconnects from time to time - but simply reconnect and the data flows again. Also you can experience some longer outages from time to time. Here again I had more troubles with Globe than with Smart. With Globe Tattoo I also had issues using POP3 mail, which could only be received, but not sent. Also the upload speeds are where SmartBro really shines - you can upload almost as fast as download - which is important, if you use Online Services like Flickr.com or Dropbox to backup your pictures or personal files. Globe is on the losing end in that regard again.

I’m currently sitting here on Bantayan Island - a small island about 10km away from Cebu island - and having 4 bars out of 5 standard 3G speed with Smart Bro here. Globe Tattoo isn’t even showing any faster speed than plain GPRS connection, that is somewhere in the 8-12 kbps range, similar to analogue modem dial-up.

Conclusion

Smart Bro LogoIf you are roaming the country, there is only one clear winner here - it’s SmartBro!

It’s virtually available anywhere, the speeds are decent and the realiability is acceptable. The world of Globe is mainly restricted to the Metro Manila area.

I wonder if they still think, that the world is flat?

source: http://www.nomad4ever.com/2009/08/17/3gumts-internet-smartbro-or-globe-tattoo-in-the-philippines/

Thanks to the author. I know Smart Bro has better reputation when it comes to signal but because of the 5 pesos per 15 minute charging in Globe Broadband, I had been enticed. But now, I know better. I should go for quality. So, I’m going for Smart Bro.

The administration informed us that we are not allowed to surf non work related sites for the past 3-4 days. That spells out boredom to agents. When we are not taking calls, we usually surf and go to our favorite sites, until we get the next call. What I did to prevent myself from getting bored specially that for the past 2 weeks or so, we have been getting lesser calls than what we usually get? I brought a book with me at work. A book I am so interested in. It is entitled: A Life In Balance by Dr. Kathleen Hall. It is a really nice book and just what I needed to reclaim balance and sanity in my life.

At some point in my life as a working mom, I cannot avoid times when I feel so tired and exhausted of all my responsibilities. I feel overwhelmed by tasks on my to do list such as the need to buy Ugg womens shoes for my badminton endeavor, the need to look good, the need to go to the doctor, to the mall to buy some groceries and to buy supplies for sari-sari store, the need to spend time with the hubby and with the little one and a whole lot more. Plus with all the stressors at work such as our weekly assessments from QA’s, corrective counsellings or written explanations from our heads and supervisors everytime we commit mistakes, our crazy sched, the nonstop calls wherein you are already running out of breath. Boy! I even feel overwhelmed just by reading these alone. To add to that is the noisy environment at home, where there are lots of whining and shouting kids anytime of the day, the neighbors singing karaoke, and the demand from my own kid, along with other responsibilities that comes with maintaining a home.

I would never forget to include in my list my responsibilities as a writer as well. But, more so, even if it could add to my stress, its more of something fun to me. Something I do not because I have to, but something I love to do as a leisure, so its not really a very very big stressor. But, since I manage multiple blogs I kinda feel pressured as well. Though, its almost nonexistent compared to the pressure I get from my work and home.

But, I persevered and tried to adjust to all of these, cause I know I need to feed my family. I know they need me. And everytime I would be able to buy their needs and even some wants, I feel satisfied and more motivated to work. If I’m single with no big responsibility like now, I don’t think I would last this long in my job, honestly. And I am thankful that I have these responsibilities because I wouldn’t have made it this far.

After reading the book and absorbing the insights I just discovered I felt a sense of excitement over me. I realized the mistakes I have been unconsciously doing, and commited to myself to apply the principles in my life so I will be able to live a happy and fulfilled life. The book made me realize a lot of things and I would really include this in my most favorite books. Dr. Kathleen Hall is surely a guru. I realize its not really our situation that makes it difficult, cause there are people in more difficult situations but who are doing just fine, but its the way we handle the situation and the way we incorporate habits and practices that determines the life we will have. From now, I am determined to make healthy and wise choices for myself. I am determined to live a balanced and fulfilling life. I recommend to all of you reading A Life Balanc: Nourishing The Four Roots Of True Happiness written by Dr. Kathleen Hall.

It was exactly 12:00 noon of Friday Sept 4, 09 and I kept looking at the clock. That’s the time I will be logging off. An hour after that, I am scheduled for an interview for the promotion I am talking about. I headed to our entertainment room where there are bench and sofas and lied down to take a rest after another long day at work. This is the normal way I feel every after work. Tired, drenched, burned out….. I rested for the next 30 minutes or so. Then, I stood up in the sofa where I was napping, headed to the bathroom and fixed my hair and face. I put on some foundation, a new foundation I just bought from a friend who is an Avon dealer. Put some lipstick on, a lip and cheek tint one, then comb and fixed my hair. I also put on some scent of sweet honesty and headed to the QA department where I will be meeting the QA manager, who will be doing the interview.

I tried to focus on regaining my energy so I will have enough when I tackle the questions from the interviewer. And surely, I needed a lot of that. We went to the conference room, where I met another QA head. There will be 2 of them, to do the interview. Both of them will be throwing questions at me and I as one, will try to answer it as best as I can. I was praying it would only be short and quick, but it turned out to be the opposite. They questioned and questioned me, which I guess lasted for an hour. I was sitting in front of two QA heads, and there I am with all my answers based on my personal experiences and ideas. For while, I felt like a Seattle personal injury lawyer I tried to be as honest as I can. I was waiting for myself to feel nervous and scared but I wasn’t. In fact, I was surprised to quietly enjoy the conversation. It was like, I was talking to friends and I felt a sense of satisfaction, every time I would see their reactions and faces for the answers I made. I was wondering when the mind boggling and muscle twitching questions would end. I was very talkative. I tried to share myself in that interview, as much as I can. And I think, in some sense I succeeded. Even if that was the first time I had a close encounter with them, after the interview, i felt like they knew a large part of me already. I reminded myself during the interview, there’s nothing to be scared as there is nothing to lose if I wont make it. I also reminded myself of the great interviews I’ve had with people before. I’ve had a lot of interviews in my life, and each time, I have always aced interviews, except for that one time when I was so distracted I couldn’t think cause I hadn’t eaten anything and I just gave birth. They say, its not good to starve yourself when you just gave birth. And I believed it from then. I couldn’t make out any answer for the simple answers of the interviewee. It could be a coincidence, but at some point Im thinking its meant to be. Cause if I have been accepted in that huge huge call center company, I wouldn’t be here in this small but very stable and nice company where I am right now, where growth and satisfaction is possible, and where employees are respected and really given as much joy and benefits as much as the administration can give.

If I would make it to this QA position, I would really be glad. QA might not be a really impressive positon for other call centers as they can pick up anyone who can pass their exams and assessments, but for this company I know how selective they are when choosing their QA’s. The QA’s I know here are really high profile and respectable, and all that.
There are only 7 out of the 300-400 agents we have. So, If I and my other colleague would make it, it would really be something for me. Something that can make me more passionate about my work.
So, I pray and hope that everything will turn out just fine. If it doesn’t, I would surely be disappointed AT SOME POINT, but knowing how resilient I am, I’m sure I would be able to accept it. My world will not end from there.