First Day of Go Live

Last night was our Go Live date in production and it's my first night shift after 2 years. I survived, and more days to come. I'm still not confident with what I'm doing in my job. I can't imagine taking what will I do once we started taking incoming calls. My job is not as easy as my previous jobs. Well, this is a job for Network Engineers. I just hope that I'll stay longer in this company because I really want to work here in Accenture. This is the company that I can be proud of. I just hope that my brain will function very well so that I can absorb all the things that I need to learn to perform my job better. Networking is really not my thing. My job just needs analysis so I really need my brain to work out. I'm just motivating myself that I want to stay in Accenture for more than 5 years.

2012 Chronicles: Awesome April

April 2012... The only thing I can remember that's significant  was my first year anniversary of being employed in Convergys and @a1official (A1's twitter account) followed me back on twitter. That's all I can remember.

Back to Blog

And yes I'm back. It's almost 3 months since my last post. Looks like the blog hiatus is now over. There are major events that I failed to blog last year. And since I'm back, I'll take a glimpse on the year 2012. I will try to remember all the memorable events every month. Time to test my memory again.

The a1 Dream

And so I have this weird dream again. Well, not so weird. I dreamt about a1. In my dream, I know that a1 is here in Cebu. I went in some place which I don't know where exactly it is in Cebu. All I know, a1 is there and I'm right. I saw Mark, Ben and Christian. I'm wondering that they're out there without any guards. So I approached them and they said that they're on their way to the hotel. I joined them. I was amazed that we rode a tricycle and guess who's the driver. It's Ben. So he knows how to drive a tricycle. I was on the backseat and they are actually having a conversation with me. That's just the four of us. Then we arrived. I forgot the exact name of the hotel, but what I remembered, it's Sun Days or Sun's Day. I know that there's a Sun and a Day in the name. I remembered my friends - the admins of Cebu Loves A1 facebook page. I texted one of them and she actually called me. I informed her where I was and I'm with the band and I can't talk to her right now because this seems to be confidential. I just found out that there were some fans expecting them there. My best friend and his family are actually there (the Ortegas). They just arrived from Japan. They were able to have some photo ops with them. I'm the one who actually the photos. Then, the a1 lads were giving some souvenir or memorabilia items to their fans. I was surprised that my high school friend Gladys was there. She's an avid fan of a1 as well and it's because of her that's why I'm an a1 fan as well. I also participated in giving those things to the fans and in back of my mind, I want to get some for me *evil laugh*. When the event was finished, I told myself that this is my chance to have a picture of me and a1. I approached Mark first. I said, "Hey, Mark!" and I informed everyone "This is my idol". Mark replied "I don't care". I'm not sure if he's pertaining to me. He's tired that time and he was speaking with somebody else and he's not looking at me when he said that so I would assume that it's not for me. And there we go. I finally got a picture of me and my idol Mark Read. And then, the worst part of the dream. I woke up. I checked my phone with high hopes that the picture is there and I realized, oh, I was dreaming.

Why do you always wake up if you're on the best part of your dream?!

April Friday the 13th

I just want to share my Friday the 13th experience. I was in PAGIBIG office to pay the amortization and membership of my aunt. I forgot to bring the receipts but I didn't worry at all because I'll have my brother bring them. I fell in line to get a priority number for payment. The cut-off is 4:00 PM and it's around 3:40 when I arrived. Usually, the person in charge will just ask what do you need and they'll give you a priority number. Well, this particular employee ( I will name him STU for stupid. Sorry for the word but I just can't help calling him that way. Forgive me.), asked what type of payment will I do.  By the way, Stu is the same employee I encountered before and asked for the same thing. I said amortization that time and he asked me to get a payment order form first before he will give me the priority number. So I did what he asked me to and fell in line again to get the priority number. And now, knowing that he will ask me to do it again, I said membership this time with the thought that he will give me the priority number. But he asked for the receipt and he won't give me a priority number without it. I said I left it but somebody is on the way to bring the receipt. I know for a fact that the receipt is needed by the cashier. But the point is, I just want to get the priority number for 2 reasons. First, it's almost 4:00 PM and that's the cut-off. My brother will arrive most likely after that time. Second, if you have a priority number already, you will still have to wait for around an hour and a half to two hours for your turn. So I'm just saving myself some time because I don't want to wait that long again. But Stu insisted and instead asked me to get a payment order form. The payment order form is needed if you will pay the amortization. Well that's a different thing for the payment for membership. It just aggravated me because he's the only employee who does that. Other employees will just ask what you need and if you say payment, they will give you the priority number for payment right away without any questions. And Stu's insisting that this is the implementation and they've been doing that for a long time. He's so wrong. Even the lady after me complained because she was not given the priority number too. My patience was tested that time and I answered him back with not so nice words. I know it's not good but I just can't stand being pushed away by a government employee who doesn't know how to deal with other people. We're not paying a large amount of tax every payday to be treated like that by a government employee. I hope he'll realize that the salary he's getting is from us. This is not a big deal anyway but I'm very aggravated. Next time, I'll just make sure that I bring the receipts. 

Next, I went to Jollibee to order C1 - Chicken Joy + Rice + Drinks and C3 - Chicken Joy + Jolly Spaghetti + Drinks. I asked if possible the chicken part is thigh or breast. Unfortunately, only drumstick and wings are available, which I don't like. I don't like because for me, it's not worth of what I will be paying. If I eat in carenderias or chicken stores, drumsticks and wings are the cheapest. I know this is a silly reasoning but I'm not really comfortable of eating drumstick and wings in Jollibee. It's not SULIT. Why will I settle for something less if I can get more. There's nothing I can do about it anyway, not a happy camper though. 

So there you go. What a friday the 13th experience. Not to mention not having sales at work and getting a not so high  salary. I will not go into details. Enough said. 

District 12's Earth Hour

I know this is a bit too late. I just want to share my Earth Hour experience last March 31, 2012. I went to Persimmon to join the Earth Hour Trivia Night. I'm supposed to be with my former coworkers that time. Apparently, they're still in Slumber Land. I felt bad a bit, because I've been reminding them of this date. Good thing, my friend Cristine was on the way to our boarding house so I invited her. It's just the two of us who joined and we called our team DISTRICT 12. Awesome name, right? We didn't do well though, but I enjoyed it. Our final score is 22. Anyway, it was fun and I hope I could join another round of Trivia Night. I also won a 100 pesos worth of Gift Certificate from Mr. Coffee in the raffle. Nothing to lose. :D 

A whopping score of 22. At least we're not the last. 

Me and my BA Shield Shirt with my friend Cristine. 

Mark Read Followed Back

March 6, 2012 - Finally, Mark Read followed me back. This is so great! Mark Read is very active in twitter and he's actually replying to the tweets of his fans. He replied 2 of my tweets so far. Then they (including Ben) announced that they will start following back. I started requesting last March 1. Good thing it did not reach a month considering that they have lots of fans all over the world. Mark Read is one of my favorite singers. I really appreciate that he takes time to interact with his fans even in Twitter despite the busy schedule. He's really someone to look up to. A1 will be back by May or June. I would really save for their concert. 

Fail

I was not able to comply with my action plans on my first week. I'm still not taking a public utility jeepney on my way to work, that's 3 consecutive taxi rides. I was 5 minutes late yesterday. Well, I hope that would be the first and last instance of my tardiness this month. I will still try to wake up earlier so that I will be able ride a jeepney. I really need to save money.Vertical Horizon will also be having a concert this April in Waterfront.

Merit Increase!

2 more months and I'll be celebrating my first anniversary in Convergys. I just received a very good news yesterday. I received Salary Notification Letter - that means Merit Increase! 6.54% on top of my basic salary is not bad. At least, I felt that my effort has been paid off somehow. 

Hello March

Yeah right, it's March already. Time flies so fast. February was the best month of the year so far for me. I hope March will be a good month as well. 2 months already passed and I haven't made my goal for this year still. I haven't made any last year. My plan is, just to make a goal for every month. I think I need to have a sense of direction. I should be more responsible this time. 

Here are my goals.

1. 0% Absenteeism Rate for this month. I made this possible last January and I was tardy for 4 times last month. I think I can do it again this month. I just need to value time more. 

2. No Taxi in going to work. For the past 2 months, I never went to work without taking taxi. Yes, it's quite expensive. My action plan is to wake up at least an hour and a half before my start time so that I'll have enough time to walk until Jones Ave. 

3. Trace my expenses. I've been doing that last January since I've got my free journal from Jollibee but I don't know what happened to February. The laziness syndrome was all over the place last month.

4. Delinquency free by end of the month. I'm referring to my bills - internet, electricity, water and house rent. I still owe my friend around 4K but I'll settle that in some other time.

5. Save 3 thousand by end of the month. I'm saving for a1 concert this May or June. I'm starting this month. Hahaha :p

6. Clear the Laundry Queue. I'll make sure that I will do the laundry on my rest days and if I have time.

That's all I can think of for now. I might need to add more in the coming days.

Reply from Mark Read

Mark Read replied to my Tweet that they will be performing indeed at Magellan's Landing Pub. Thanks Twitter for giving me a chance to communicate with one of my music idols..

Dreams Do Come True - A1 in Cebu

February 18, 2012

This is one of the best nights of my life. I've finally seen a1 in person and watched them sing live in Magellan's Landing Pub. They sang Caught in the Middle, Everytime, Like A Rose, In Love with an Angel - Sara and Christian duet, Take on Me and Heaven by your Side. That's amazing 6 songs for free!!! Thanks to Young Life Foundation for making this possible and for making my 10 year dream come true. I feel like I'm High School again. They will be back in May for a concert. Time to save.. :D

Here are some of the pics I gathered online. My camera went dead the time they performed so I don't have any pictures of them singing.

Oh, that's me.. with the blue stripe polo shirt.. :D 

Photo credits to the owner.. :D 

Slipped

February 17, 2012

I was in Jollibee, trying to relieve myself because I failed to see a1  yesterday. This is what I've written down while I'm eating:

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

A1 is really here in Cebu. I regret that I failed to go to the airport yesterday. I so regret it! I should've paid PAGIBIG earlier. I could've seen them in the airport. I saw their pic yesterday at the airport posted in Facebook. They're really outside the arrival station. I would really be able to see them if I go there.

I tried to search what would be their itineraries. I found out that they will have a press conference tomorrow at Magellan's Landing Pub in Marina Mall by noon. I won't be able to go there as well since I have work. Damn it! I hope I would have sales tomorrow so that I will be able to leave early. I'll go on VGH! I found another website though, and it's stated there that they will perform in the same place by 9PM. This is my chance!!! I hope it's true. This is really my only chance to see them!  Good luck to me!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

When I arrived at home. I checked the A1 Reunited: Philippines group in Facebook and my twitter account, and I saw Mark's Tweet:

I hurried right away to the City Hall, I might be able catch them up there. Unfortunately, they're gone. I went straight ahead to SM and they're still not there. Tomorrow is really my only chance. I have a strong feeling that I will see them tomorrow. 

A1 is Back in the Philippines

I woke up as early as 4 am and here's what I found out. Their concert in Manila will still be on February 25 and they will be coming here in Philippines 9 days early. They're in Doha's airport when this picture was taken, and they're on their way to Cebu!!! I checked the arrival schedules of Mactan International Airport and if the data I gathered are correct, their estimated time of arrival will be 3:55 PM. I have enough time to visit the airport. I want to go there just to have a glimpse of the first band that made me love music. I won't be able to attend their concert because of financial reasons. Hopefully, they would stay here in Cebu even just for a day.

Photo courtesy of a1 Facebook page.

Just When I Thought I was Over You

This is my first personal post this year and 3 days away before the month ends. I just had a dream. DJ hasn't contacted me yet ever since the year begun. So in my dream, I met her. I think we're in our school. I'm just ignoring her but it bothers me alot. Then on my way home, I met her and we're like holding hands while walking. I remembered the time when she asked me that she we should cool down a little bit and give her and her bf a space. That's so high school. It's just so ironic that I dreamt about her the time I said to myself that I'm letting go. Her memories keep on taunting me. And this song, Here I Am by Air Supply is the most appropriate song for this dream.

Red Nose

I really hate having a pimple on my nose.. DAYUM!!!

Bye 2011

5 hours and 30 minutes to go before 2012. I'm alone here in my boarding house but I'll leave by 7 to celebrate New Year with my friends. It's been 6 years already since the last time I spent the New Year with my family. The last time that we celebrated the New Year complete was 10 years ago. I really hope that next year, we'll be complete. I spent Christmas last year at home, and we're complete.

2011 has been a challenging year, very challenging indeed. It's been a year of failure and I've learned lots of things from all I've been through.. but I don't think I became a better person. I will start this year right and I'll make 2012 a good year.

This is How To Start the Month

First day of the month and it's not a good start. Early this morning, I'm on my way to work when the rain fell so hard. I got wet.. very wet. And on top of that, I'm 5 minutes late. I just told myself yesterday that I won't be late this month. I hope that tardiness will still count to November. Another not so good news, I'll be enrolled to PMP. What a way to start the month. I'm okay with everything that happened, but what I can't accept is I don't have an internet connection since morning. I'm not sure if the LAN card on my computer is already busted because when I connected the ethernet cable, there's no light on the port. Usually, the light is still lit even the internet service is down. I went back from work and still the internet is not working. I've tried connecting the ethernet cable to a different computer and it's still not working. So I guess the problem might be with my ISP. I'll wait until tomorrow and if still I won't be able to connect to the internet, I think I'm gonna call the technical support. :D

I'm not a Quitter, But I Know When to Surrender

Today’s my rest day. I’m supposed to render OT for me to lower down my AHT. 3 more working days before the month ends. Basing on my score, I don’t think I would hit an AHT lower than 15 minutes. I tried to calculate the possibilities yesterday and I would need to get an AHT of 11 mins for those 3 remaining days. I don’t think I can do that unless there’s an outage. Well, I decided, not to push through with the overtime.. because, 1.) there’s no FC around yesterday when I’m about to ask if I can render OT this morning. 2.) I woke up late. 3.) I think I’ll just be wasting my effort.

Though I want to still try and I’m still holding on to the chance that I would get an AHT below 15 minutes.. when reality strikes, it bites. LOL. Let’s just say, I’m keeping it real. Better luck next month and hello PMP. :p

Team Jason Bulletin Board

"One man can be a crucial ingredient in a team, but one man cannot make a team."

Here’s our Team Board. We didn’t win the contest though, oh well. Anyway, I was able to use my little talent in drawing and finally I was able to use my Faber-Castell Classic Colour Pencils, Faber-Castell Oil Pastels and Faber-Castell Connector Pens. I drew the chibis, the angry birds and the pigs.

Like Faber-Castell Philippines on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/fabercastellmanila