outlet and extension

Barack Obama and Me

2009-04-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

I just discovered that Barack Obama, like me, majored in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations.

Not with the same school though. . . . (wishful thinking..!)

Thanks to wikipedia.

6 Happy Things

2009-04-07T06:10:00.000-07:00

Tagged by Mam Daye.

This is called the "6 Things That Make Me Happy Tag." According to the rules, the things should be unimportant.

Here are the rules:* Mention the person who tagged you.* List 6 unimportant things that make you happy.* Tag 6 blogs, state the rules and notify them with a teeny comment on their blog.

1. Manga and anime release of Naruto. Usually, Kishi (author) would release the much awaited manga every Friday.That's also the time when the anime version is being shown in Japan.

2. BookSale and National Bookstore for all the discoveries that i made about books and other interesting reading articles or materials.

3. Night-sleep. The one that i crave so much because i was, and still is (until Arpil 13) , deprived of it for more than a year now.

4. Strawberry Shake. Can't get over it whether summer or not.

5. Movies.

6. Walking. Our apartment is located somewhere in Libis and it is just a walk away to Marikina's Riverpark.

By the way, the things listed above are important to me but they may be unimportant to others. And so far, i can only tag 1 person that has not been tagged by Mam Daye.

Cause of Outrage

2009-04-01T10:54:00.000-07:00

The article below was written by Tsao in his column for HK Magazine. It was published on March 27, 2009.

'The War at Home' by Chip Tsao

The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen onboard. We can live with that-—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That's no big problem-—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on-—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: There are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as HK$3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell everyone of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.

Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her Government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The Government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout 'China, Madam/Sir' loudly whenever they hear the word "Spratly". They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, "Long live Chairman Mao!" at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that's going a bit too far, at least for the time being.

5 Seconds

2009-03-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

i got a very kind customer who, out of the blue, just asked me if i go to church.

i was stunned.not only she initiated a converstation but more importantly, i was not prepared for such kind of question.i thought it was a strange thing to ask coming from a person on the other side of the globe.

(and usually, in building rapport, we, as agents are the ones to open up a discussion to avoid placing the customers on hold or on mute and to build trust and confidence as well especially if we are going to pitch for a sale or to do any modification in the account. It's one in a million if its the other way around)

after about 5 seconds of silence, i reluctantly answered,"yes, i do".

her reply was followed by another question, "then you know Jesus Christ?".That seems illogical, i thought.all church goers are definitely aware of Him. Perhaps she was not convinced that i really am going to church.

i suddenly realized that it was my voice and the way i delivered my response! That was very easy to determine.Even i was not sure of it.

feeling the need to reassure her, i immediately said, "of course".

******************************

i felt guilty after that call because i lied. i lied to avoid inconvenience. i lied because of the personal urge to end the call asap. and it took me only 5 seconds to do that.

i was guilty. and it's 2 counts of lying.

First, I do not go to church.

Second, i do not really know Him. ONLY by name. and i guess knowing Him by name alone does not give me any clue as to who He really is.

************************************

But then again, who among us does not lie for our own convenience?or for others' sake?

Perhaps this is not a valid excuse for not telling the truth but this is ONE piece of reality that we can't just negate easily. In fact, this reasoning is becoming a truth in itself.

The Long (?) Wait

2009-03-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Now is the 22nd of the month.
Our payday is still on the 28th.
5 more days in-between.
The wait is very far from over.

5 days.

My friend told me it isn't such a long wait after all.
I responded, "Not if what you are waiting is your salary."

I feel like its been more than a month now since i got my last pay for the hard work that i suffered even if we just had our last pay day on the 13th.

For Younger Generation

2009-03-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

"It takes a great deal of courage to follow another person's lead."

-Bill Hybels

Cowardly Lion

2009-03-19T14:33:00.000-07:00

"i have always thought myself very big and terrible. Yet such little things as flowers came near killing me, and such small animals as mice have saved my life. How strange it all is!..."

-The Cowardly Lion from Lyman Frank Baun's The Wizard of Oz.

Such a great literary piece! This is a must-read for everyone.

Discovery I

2009-03-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

It started from Harry Potter series and it eventually became a habit.

I was a 4th yr High School student then when i asked my classmate if he could lend me JK Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Philosopher (or Sorcerer's) Stone". I wasn't really interested in reading it, i just got curious why suddenly most of my friends were talking about it like it was one of our subjects (their actually more interested in discussing what happened to Harry than what transpired in the class).

I had a doubt that i was going to finish reading it because it will really consume my time and my priority then was to watch my favorite animes. But after reading its last page, i just realized that i enjoyed the story and like my friends, i had too many questions (and theories) which were left unanswered.

Before the schoolyear ended, i already finished reading its four books ( the Order of the Phoenix was not yet published) and thereafter i waited with excitement and eagerness for the next book to come.

That was the time when i discovered my passion for reading.That was the time when reading became part of my being.

To be continued.

(shift is about to end, needs to go home asap)

What?!?/

2009-03-17T13:36:00.000-07:00

what we're afraid of:
-sun
what we brag about:
-salary
what we cant live without:
-a decent sleep
what we like and usually demand:
-auxes
what we're not sure of:
-schedule
-TLs or coaches
-teammates
what our body needs:
-health insurance
our most precious asset:
-throat
our bestfriends:
-for feeling rich - starbucks coffee
-for those who are saving - nescafe
-1-2 pieces of cigars every break
our enemy most of the time aside from the customer:
-payroll dept
what we're hard to get rid off:
-mag-tagalog
what we always do in a call:
-hold
-mute
-chat with teammates
-browse the net
-cURSE the customer
most common curses while phone is on hold or mute:
-anG bobo mo!
-stupid!
-BItch
-f____ you!
*all lines directed to customer
what we ALWAYS need to improve:
-csat
-Sale
-aht
-pee breaks!
-hold time
-mute
-magtagalog
what we always envision:
-Vacation Leave
-VTO
-Holiday with pay
What we secretly want:
-not to take calls
**how to do it:
-go to clinic and complain of
_headache
_stomachache
_LBM
_toothache
_at ibpang aches

things we're usuallly associated with:
headset/
mug for coffee or water/
jacket or coat/
pack of cigarette/
shades/

most common lines from customers who are venting out:
i cant understand you...
i cant hear you properly...
where are you calling from?
pls transfer me to someone who can speak english..
your service sucks...
i need a credit...
your company is robbing me money...
transfer me to your supervisor or manager now...

universal spiels for call center agents:
Thank you for calling...
Thank you for choosing..
How are you today..
I apologized for the inconvenience..
I understand your frustration...
Let me see what i can do for you..
is it ok to place you on hold for about ...

end and beginning

2009-03-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

its a quarter of an hour before my shift starts and what better way to spend it than to blog.
I've been working for more than a year already for the same company and it will not last long enough for me to receive another 13th month pay.
Last two weeks, i told my boss that im going to resign.This day, i just finished making my resignation letter. I didn't know how to write a resignation letter so it resulted to only 4 short lines.
The first line is the word Greetings!
The last line says "Thank you and more power".
The 2nd and 3rd line indicate that i'll be resigning from work effective on 13th of April 2009 because i had to focus more on my studies.
The letter only occupied 1/4th of the small bond paper.
What i wrote in the letter is not entirely true since the reason is incomplete. Yes, it is right that im going to focus more on my studies but i did not indicate there that im still going to work.
I want to get a day job.And i want that job to be related to what im currently studying.
Last week, i had an initial interview with a foreign litigation company. Since i passed the initial screening, ill be having the final interview next week and hopefully ill be able to make it as well.Tomorrow, ill be having another initial screening with a local company. They told me i need to be at their office at 9am for company orientation. My shift ends at the same time so definitely i'll be late. My gut tells me that the orientation will not start at 9am and so its just ok for me to be there 30 minutes after.
Its already 10 minutes before 12 mn so i have to say bye for now.

She doesn't know.

2009-03-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

honestly, i already forgot that i created this blog 3 yrs ago...i never thought that it is still existing after not updating it for ages.

I have to thank my lovely, gorgeous and intelligent mentor whom i always call Mam Daye because if not for her blog which provides a link to my own site, i would have not thought of reviving this one. It happened last Saturday while i was working, i decided to browse the net. In google, i typed her name and it promptly provided me a link to go to her well maintained blog. And in the links section i just noticed my name.

Mam Daye is also one of my few inspirations why i took up law while also working. She successfully passed the bar only last year. Just imagine, durng the time that she was in lawschool she had a full time job as an Executive Assistant to SC Justice Nachura and she was also a part time professor at PUP. Moreover, she was and still is, very active in two organizations where im also a part of. Her dedication to her work, studies and orgs is really something that is worth emulating.I just read in her blog that she already resigned as an Exec. Assistant to Justice Nachura and is now working in Makati.

I met her at Liberal Party HQ after i and my classmates joined the Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas. On my second year in PUP, she became my professor in Constitution. All of my other professors then were somewhat old and boring so our class was kinda "saved" from deterioration when she came. We had 8 subjects then (our class was a bolck section) and it seemed that during that time hers was the ONLY one that we had. The subject was complicated and therefore a little hard to understand for most of us (not for me though since it was (in PUP and now in lawschool) my fave subject- not bragging!) but it was well compensated by her intensity, knowledge and dedication to teach. Learning was not compromised.

i can write all day just about her but i guess that is not necessary anymore..she knows that i, together with so many other young people, respect and love her.

I just thought that i need to sincerely thank her for paving the way for me to finally decide to revive this blog. She is indeed an inspiration!

revival

2009-03-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

after only 1 post for about 3 years since this account was created, here i am again.

Though this is only going to be my 2nd post, i definitely hope that it's not going to be years (again) to come up with another one.

And i hope i can continue to do this ..not because it's really necessary but i guess it'll be a very good training for me to finally hone my writing skills.

Yes, that's right. I seldom write but with the career that i chose to take it's an advantage to properly put into writing all the ideas that i have in mind. ..( for sure, i'll have one post exclusively about how and why i always have a hard time writing).

I guess i owe this blog of mine an explanation of why i failed to update it..and how i suddenly realized that i can work this out this time around.

That means i have lots of explaining and writing to do. Unfortunately, i can't do it at this moment.

I'm in a computer shop and i only intended to be here for 1 hr to make my resignation letter (another subject that needs to be expounded) and to check my email.

So bye for now!

"When I Can’t Do What I’m Supposed To Do"

2006-08-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog three weeks ago, not only did I promise to update it every now and then, I also swore to myself to start doing the things that I need to accomplish – in my studies, in my organizations (KILOS!, KALIPI, Tabanog, SK…) and in my personal life!

However, whenever I begin to “reform” the complexities in every aspect of my being, for unknown reasons, I seldom achieve my planned purpose – to have a “desirable” end. Instead of a tangible outcome, I ended up with nothing but plain regrets.

I don’t know if it’s an opaque disease or a personal impairment but I’m definitely sick and tired of it. I already don’t want to put my word on the things which I plan to fail in the future nor do I like to tarnish my not-so-proven credibility. The way it is affecting my already chaotic life makes my world senseless. Figuring out what’s wrong with the way I perceive things also add to the grave burden my shoulder is carrying achingly.

For the people out there, I need help! . . . Help me to get rid off all the atrocities I am experiencing….Help me to be free from the senseless world I’m in. . . . Help me to avoid my self-destruction. . . . HELP ME!

My Own Space

2006-07-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

At last, I have something to get busy with aside from watching my favorite reality series "ROCKSTAR:Supernova". Thanks to certified "blog addicts" Kuya Eric and Ate Donna not only for encouraging me to create my own space in the world of blogging (is there such a term?) but also for the continuous assistance in maintaining this blog of mine (for free).