oDesk-ing.

Just when I needed tons of bucks to fund my christmas shopping and holiday expenditures, online works become scarce suddenly. When I say scarce, they're totally went down the drain that I don't have any to work on for the past few days. And this made to find some other ways to earn and work from home so I can contribute to our savings. I've heard a lot of times about oDesk before and how lucrative it is provided you're armed with the right skills and know how..and so the scarce opps made me sign up with them just this noon for a data entry and blog writing positions. It's entirely a different home-based online job, a tad similar to my current job but I'm still finding my way through the initial "just signed up" process so I don't have much to say about my experience yet. It's kinda overwhelming actually, but let's see where this will lead me.

Just Checking.

For those of you who haven't gone to my main blog and wondering how am I doing lately, then better head there and be updated. Thanks by the way, for those who frequently visit me here. Now that I have all the time (that is, before Baby A decides to come out), I'd be able to give back the visits to your blogs and link you up as well.

As I've mentioned in my other blog, my colleagues are all having a grand time at MMLDC in Antipolo today til tomorrow for our periodic teambuilding. They didn't let me join them anymore and I'd rather not also since I'm in my last leg of pregnancy and just practically waiting for the big D Day which could be anytime soon. Yesterday was my last day at work as I start my long leave (ML) today and I'm so envious of their excitement. They were all busy preparing and finalizing the team planning details. I heard they have plenty of team games lined up. The organizers reminded them to bring swimwears and extra clothes as they'll also be having some pool games also that's why they're bringing with them my boss' beer pong table also. (They're not going to have beer games, of course, as this is against the company policy). Can't wait to see their pics and hear their stories when I get back to work on May.

Last Hoorah.

It’s the last work day before the holidays and I’m dead tired and exhausted. I thought I’d just be relaxing today since everyone’s on a festive mood and several officemates were already on leave. I started the day light and easy but come noon just a few hours before my shift ended..everything went ballistic. Rush transactions simultaneously poured in. Isn’t that great? Arggh! It’s indeed a one big bang surprise before the Christmas break. Luckily, traffic wasn’t that bad on our way home. It’s a good thing that hubby took the Nagtahan route rather than EDSA because as seen on tv news, traffic was indeed heavy.

It’s four days before Christmas! Happy Holidays everyone!

Party-filled Week.

This week was a party-filled one. One was last Tuesday for our department’s exclusive Christmas bash while the other one was the company-sponsored party for all of our Makati sites last Wednesday.

Our department’s party was supposedly held at Prince Plaza but due to schedule conflicts, the managers decided to have it instead in our colleague’s place here in Makati. It was actually fun although I didn’t participate much in the contests. There were lots of foods (catered by Food Creatives)..i love the Cebu lechon; videoke galore; parlor games and the most-awaited dancing contest. There were 4 groups who competed and strutted their own Papaya Dance versions. Since there are 3 of us in the department who are pregnant and didn’t join, we served as the judges and it was actually tough. They all have their own styles, unique costumes and different interpretations. The first group (who eventually emerged first placers) was the most impressive of all. I like their funky, colorful, flashy and prismatic style where they used little, different-colored flashlights strapped on their fingers and eyewears. Their blings-blings also spiced up their costumes. I heard they even intended to use more props such as solar lights but it just didn’t work when they were about to perform. The other groups adapted various themes such as Filipiniana-Political, Ang TV-Santa Reindeers and 70’s themes. The party was a blast. We ended it up early since we still have work (and another Christmas party) the next day.

The company-sponsored party was held at the PICC Forum. Well, I dunno but it was actually pretty boring. We just availed the free food (catered by Via Mare), tried our luck in winning raffle prizes and just grooved to the disco music afterwards. Out of boredom and since I got sleepy, I didn’t finish the party and went home ahead of everybody although I noticed that several were also leaving the venue early.

I have pics to share but I haven’t uploaded them at the moment. Will post them here soon.

Gasping for Air.

Eeeekk…no weekday updates? Well, it’s December and it’s certainly that time of the year when our department is so swamped with work! Oh well, being with the Finance Department of the company and having a centralized Purchasing Group catering the needs from across all of our sites (7 in Manila and 2 in Visayas), makes us the most wanted and most sought after during these times when everyone’s up with their Christmas Parties (booking of venues and caterers), purchase raffle items, book travels and accommodations (issue LOAs to hotels, pension houses and Condo Hotels)..anything that has to do with procurement of the things they’ll be needing, commercial negotiation with vendors etcetera etcetera. While everybody is so high-spirited and giddily excited over the holidays, yeah..we on the other hand are busy and so stressed out that we can’t even seem to feel the holidays anymore. With call centers having a fast-phased setting aggravates the situation…all time favorite term? RUSH PROCESSING! Arrghh! We can’t even breathe anymore. We need a break..a loooong break!

On Benefits.

Spreads of call center job vacancies and advertisements are widely published in the daily newspapers nowadays. There are even billboards of such sprawled along the busy road of EDSA and even MRT coaches aren’t shunned by the biggest call centers in the country for their marketing strategies. (Oh yeah, the company I’m working for has one). While it’s true that call centers pose the highest hiring employment percentage yearly, it’s also a fact that this industry has the highest attrition rate.

There are several factors why call center agents resign easily. Oftentimes, you just find these resignees hop from one call center to another, one that’s offering a more attractive and competitive salary package. This is the reason why these companies shouldn’t be lax in designing their employee benefit packages. Aside from attractive perks, like bonuses, incentives and commissions, they should also come up with benefits such as health and life insurance benefits. There are actually several Corporate Insurance Plans for Employers that are offered by various Insurance Agencies locally. These types reduce premiums so both employers and their employees benefit a lot from such. Our company, in fact, has this benefit. Now they just need to come up with other interesting retention plans to lessen the attrition rate.

My Tuesday....

..as usual and as always, was busy.

I accomplished a lot: processed multitude of invoices for payment, answered several vendor calls, replied to numerous emails and queries, and filed several Purchasing docs…arrrgghh! But, still several pending transactions are left. I still have 3 days anyway this week to finish them all. Really can’t wait for the weekend to come. I need a break. Relax..mai..relax! Breath in.. Breathe out..

Rainbow Brite Kris Kringle.

Our yearly Xmas Kris Kringle in the office is on! Oh yeah..I can really already feel the Christmas ambiance in the air. We’d be having our Department's Christmas Party on the 7th of December that’s why we started our weekly exchange gift last Friday. When the organizers announced that the theme for the first week is something “pale golden rod”, we were all dumbfounded clueless of what things that could be. Then the list went on…

2nd week – something thistle
3rd week – something sienna
4th week – something gainsboro

Only to find out later, these are simply colors or crayon shades. Our code names are all hues also..thus having a “Rainbow Brite” theme. Well, to our advantage, thinking of things to give is a lot easier compared to last year when we had a “United Nations” theme. Who wouldn’t have a hard time thinking for a “something African” gift? Lol! By the way, in case you also don’t know those above-mentioned hues, here are their shades:

Pale golden rod – something of yellow shade
Thistle – something of purple shade
Sienna – something of brown shade
Gainsboro – something of gray shade

Moving.

On Monday, I’ll be transferring again to a new workstation. Actually, I’ll just be moving onto the adjacent cubicle from where I’m stationed at for the last three months. My new space was formerly occupied by our boss, who’s also transferring to the next cubicle. Then some transfers were also made in the Accounting side last week. A lot of us are affected with these movements as our group is expanding. Our workplace was renovated to accommodate 2 additional hires that joined our department recently. Well, I don’t mind the transfer as long as it’d be comfortable, has the same office furniture and as long as it’s spacious as the one I have now…I don’t mind packing up my things, moving and adjusting again.

Tiring Yet Fulfilling.

Work was hard last week and the coming weeks ahead are definitely harder. The whole Purchasing group (all 5 of us) stormed all our sites in the metro to conduct training in preparation for the new financial system which the company will be adapting soon. We finished the training for Makati sites the other week then just last week, we went to outMak sites namely Ortigas, Commonwealth and Alabang. It was indeed tiring since we had to conduct the trainings during operation hours. And operation hours for call centers spell night time. So for three consecutive days, I went home late…as in almost midnight already. Thank goodness we had a van rented for our transpo and hubby was kind enough to wait for me eventhough he was so sleepy already. It was pretty strenuous really since we also have our regular day work. I bet I’ll be reaping some whopping amount of OT earnings on the 15th huh?

At any rate, it still feels relieving especially that the end-users seem to have a positive approach and outlook on this new project plus I’m just glad that I finally got to visit all our other sites (after 9 months of being with the company). The remaining sites I haven’t gone to are just our 2 Cebu sites which I hope I’d get to set my foot on someday. Also, one good thing about this site hopping is that I got to see the faces behind the names and email addresses that I daily correspond with online. (Well, our group is always in demand and they regularly get in touch with us since we’re the ones who do their purchase requisitions across all Philippine sites).

Seems the preparation of our new financial system has been 90% ironed out and implementation will be on its initial stage this week. Tomorrow, I’ll be having a special training with our project SME since I’ll be handling a critical role under the new system. I’m scared, nervous, probably overwhelmed too, but definitely, I am challenged. I’m pretty sure that there are a lot of birth pains, but hopefully, we’ll get to surpass them all. After all, as our department’s slogan goes..we’re the best and the fastest. (Jokingly, they also say we’re the fattest…because of my plumpish colleagues Lolz!)

By the way, to wrap up our exhausting week, my newly-promoted best-bud-colleague treated us to a very sumptuous treat at Seaside Macapagal last Friday night. Yehey! Even if my stomach got a little bit crabby due to the Chocolait Milk I drank for breakfast, I allowed myself to overindulge with sweet & spicy crabs, baked tahong and buttered shrimps. Yummy! Now that’s my literal Fridays Feast.

MIA.

I might be MIA for a few days as we'll be having our nightly rounds (3 consecutive nights) across all of our OutMak (Outside Makati) sites - Ortigas, Commonwealth and Alabang, to conduct the new financial system training. Arggh! Ngaragan to the max na naman ito! Uh-oh!

Random Blabs Again.

It’s almost midnight and I’m tired..I’m sleepy..I’m weary. My Tuesday was pretty strenuous, actually, my life as a “corporate slave” has always been like that. Nothing’s new. I extended work until 9:30 tonight then tomorrow, will have to stay until 10 pm again for our Peoplesoft Training. We’re all sooooo busy these days really. I just hope everything will work out fine once this new financial system gets implemented soon. I’m so worn out of these trainings and pressure, on top of the heaps of our daily workload. Arggh!

Yikes, I can’t think straight as I’m trying to finish this quick post. There are lots of stories up in my mind right now but I can’t organize my thoughts so perhaps, I’ll just randomly jot it down:

• It’s kinda late but I sneaked in to do some dollar opps, as well as blog hop to my fave blogger friends’ sites (and left them some love).
• Again, I can’t help but be thrilled with my improving Alexa Ranking. From last week’s 2,008,243 to current ranking of 1,636,219….konti na lang, below 1M mark na ako woohoo! Keep those visits and “linkings” coming please.
• I noticed that several of my blogger friends are into paid blogging na rin. Good luck peeps…wishing for more opps coming our way.
• I just watched PBB and I hated Wendy’s non-stop blabbering and contradicting, immature reasoning. I hope she’s one of those who’ll get evicted soon. It’s just so bad of her to wish for her father’s death. Ano bah! My parents separated when I was still a kid but I’ve never wished anything ill towards them. I still remain grateful to them no matter how hard the circumstances were living in a broken family.

Okay so much for that. I need to sleep already and have to replenish the energy I’d be needing for another exhausting Wednesday tomorrow. Nyt!

Thursday's Random Thoughts.

Random Thoughts:

1.) I’m nearing the 1M Alexa Ranking Mark! I know it is still a long way up or should I say “down” there but I’m thrilled every time I open up my page then my improving Alexa Ranking shows up. As I’ve already mentioned, it started to get better when I joined and hopped in the Alexa Train, downloaded the Alexa Toolbar and joined the You Comment I Follow Movement. In less than 3 weeks, my 7,900,000+ rank dropped to 2,008,243 (currently). How cool is that, eh? Of course, I also should thank my avid viewers (meron nga ba? Haha!) By the way, for those of you who are clueless about this Alexa thing, just read it here. Simply put, I’m anxious to lower my rank because the lower it is means the more opps I can do. The more opps I do means more moolah for me.

3.) It’s pay day tomorrow woohoo! Just great. We need some more resources to pay the annual car insurance as well as Paul’s yearly life insurance dues this month. My credit card will also be due tomorrow, my cellphone bills on the 20th, another credit card on the 24th, groceries for next week…waaah! (So please..let me grab that $700 opp)

4.) I forgot to blog how I’m enjoying the comfort of a new workstation. A real workstation that is, because during my contractual months with the company, I was stationed in a little corner that’s just enforced to look and function as a work terminal. Anyway, I’m relieved to graduate from that..and now it’s our new Project Emp who’s cramped in the corner. Will be posting pics one of these days.

5.) Work is pretty exhausting these days and is expected to worsen in the weeks to come. We’re migrating to a new Financial System to align with the Corporate Offices in US and India by 2nd week of July. Being with the Purchasing Group, we’re the ones directly affected with this implementation. We’re still undergoing series of rigorous trainings and orientations on top of our regular workloads and we’re all stressed out. Waaahhh..good luck na lang talaga sa amin.

6.) Hubby was also designated with a new and according to him, a bit more complicated task at work. At least, I can relaxingly afford to render extra hours of OT since he’s also busy and I’m not that “pressured” to clock out instantaneously. Lolz.

7.) A lot left me love on my previous post about the novice shots courtesy of our new toy. (Thank you for the praises!) I love the shots too..and I’m thrilled to learn more of its features.

8.) The $700 opp hasn’t showed up still. Hubby’s eyes are already drooping and he’s started bugging me to shut this notebook down. Lolz.

Hello.

Hello Philippines and hello world..hmm just borrowing the intro tagline of Pinoy Big’s Brother Toni Gonzaga. Oh well, I can’t believe that I missed blogging and hardly accessed my blog for 4 straight days. I’m not going to list down lame excuses anymore but I do apologize to my blog for the delinquency. I know it might have probably got used to the weekday absence I’ve been doing but what can I say..that’s how my life has been since I started assuming a full-time work. Even hubby is complaining and I even got my own dose of castigations from him due to my so-called “exaggerated OTs”. Arggh I hate it. I need to be lectured again with the Work-Life-Balance Rule.

Anyway, I will truly make the most out of this weekend. I noticed that there are a lot of changes in PPP and I need to be updated on that. I need to earn more moolah…yup, I already have plans what to do with the rest of my PPP $$$ earnings come December. Hmmm am I hearing HK Disneyland Theme here?

Monday Sickness.

Waking up on an early Monday morning is always a torture. Well, I can say, that I’m not the only one who can attest to this. This morning, almost everyone came in the office later than they usually should. Call it Monday Sickness. Don’t you just hate getting back to work after the week end? It felt so “bitin” and you can’t help but wonder how fast the weekend went by. Then, upon reaching your workplace, you’re aware of the heaps of workload waiting to be actuated upon and yet, procrastination sinks in as you ignore them and feel like just lagging. Several of my officemates were also on leave today which aggravates the sluggish ambiance. To make things worse, they have blocked the Yahoo launchcast on our server, thus, with the deafening muteness. Darn! There’s only one word that describes my Monday at work…B-O-R-I-N-G.

Long Day Friday.

Yesterday was a bit long day for me. I was up as early as 5:00 am to attend the NHO Training at 6:00 AM in Insular. Even though I’ve been with the company for 6 months already as a project employee, I am required to undergo this new hires’ orientation since it’s only now that I’m directly hired by the company technically. My co-trainees were all agents for an account to be based in our Alabang site. Basically, it was just an orientation about the company which a new hire must learn about. There were several video and powerpoint presentations, icebreakers and group activities as well. It was a bit boring probably because I’m quite familiar already with the information that was presented. The freezing cold temperature of the training room didn’t help either to keep me awake. The orientation ended early to my delight. I was supposed to do an errand to claim my brother’s educational plan check in QC but I couldn’t bear the scorching heat so I headed to our office. I suddenly remembered that I need to send my OT report prior the cutoff this Saturday to HR that is for crediting this coming payroll period, otherwise, it’ll be reflected late. So I opened my email and voila, the emails I received made me stay until 6 pm unconsciously. If Paul didn’t buzz me, I might have stayed late again and might have “castigated” again by my dear hubby for rendering too much late OTs lately. So with that in mind, I packed up and went home.

Back Again.

I finally reported for duty today after four days of sickly break. As soon as I stepped near my workstation, I almost retreated and backed out from working again. There were heaps and piles of invoices and AP vouchers waiting for me on top of my desk. But reality sank so I relaxingly started my routines. One at a time. Keeping “stress” aside. Of course, I do remember and must live by my doctor’s reminder: MANAGE STRESS APPROPRIATELY. And that’s what I did on my first day back at work. I did extend a bit but hubby and I nevertheless, went home early.

Nearing Battery Empty.

Last night, I went home from work at 9:30 pm; then tonight at 11:00 pm.

Arrggh!

I'm still swamped with work albeit the extra OT hours I've been rendering since last week. I can't seem to catch up with the piles of work with my new post. I wish I can get the hang of it and get used to it asap. I'm almost already drained and in need of a break.

I wonder what time will I clock out tomorrow. I just hope tomorrow is not as overloaded as today and yesterday.

Brand New Monday.

Today's officially and technically my first day with a brand new position title and brand new additional responsibilities. I'll still be handling my old tasks alongside with these new workload. We'll be starting with the turnover this morning and I'm bracing myself. Just like what I told my boss, I know it won't be easy but I'm giving it a try. I know I can do this!

Mount Sea.

As promised, here are the pictures of our summer outing and teambuilding activity last March 22-23, 2007 at Mount Sea Resorts in Tanza, Cavite.  Looking at the pictures alone, you'll already know how fun it was with all the activities that we did: formal business discussion, games such as obstacle course & group sack race, basketball, trampoline, all-night videoke galore, non-stop chit chats, swimming, camwhoring and of course, eating! Actually, those are the 2 weaknesses of our group...food and camera. :)





Credits:
Visual Stories Floating Frames & Squared by Katie the Scrapbooklady
Mix N Match Basics Papers (Blues) by Katie the Scrapbooklady
Digital Dates by Meryl Bartho
Flower by Carrie Stephens
Flower vine by Christy Lyle
VHF Arrows by VickieHF