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 This was our final pose for our Christmas Party sing and dance contest in 2007. We did the Canadian Chanteuse's medley for the music living legend theme. You could hardly make out of me. Clue: I'm of of the 5 kneelers at the center. You could only see my forehead because I have bad knees and these make me a bad kneeler. This was my first time to perform in front of so many people including our company's big wigs. I was so nervous. I was thinking that I might bring the defending champion a bad luck. Good thing we were blessed, because we bagged the first prize. Hurray! Go check out other PH participants. Click on the logo above. Have a great weekend y'all! 
...before I retire:
1. Why do I get hiccups just before I take my first sip of soda? It happened twice today and it always happens though I rarely drink soda.
2. Why do I have zits on my lumbar area? Obviously they're not caused by constrictive clothing 'coz I always wear low-rise bottoms since college.
3. Why do I get tired of thinking how to clean my messed up room? hahaha
4. Why do people gather in public places to air out they sentiments against an incumbent official when they know that it will all fall on deaf ears? Hahaha. I know I would cause some eyebrows to raise here. I mean after that EDSA gazillion (sorry I lost count of how many EDSA revolutions have been staged) in Makati, what will happen next?
 Actually, I did not it was this huge until I took a glimpse of it on TV. I never got interested in politics. IMAO, it's a dog and pony show.
I'm just thinking aloud. I'm happy and thankful that my expected blessing came in early. unexpectedly.
Hohum....
 It's good hear from other people that when good things come their way, the first words that come out of their mouth are: Thank you Lord. It as simple as returning back the glory. Like my officemate who is not, if I may say like me, a "hardcore" Christian. I mean we're both not the ones who read the bible (which I know should not be), but every time she gets a good news or she would says: Thank you po Jesus! It hurts my ear to hear people curse or say profanities. I have been encouraging my officemates who also have blogs to join TT or promoting TT to my non-blogger officemates by just asking them to visit the site of those who are at least commenting on my entries for them to get inspired. I have been always thankful to have joined this meme because it made me realize so many wonderful things ni my life and to become more appreciative of it. And I know that He's glorified for it. People in this meme are wonderful warriors of God. I'm not speaking of myself because i know that I have so much to prove. Thankful I am because I was able to hear the morning sermon today. Sad because my sister was not able to join me. It was a miscommunication. I did not hear her clock alarm so I thought she'll join the evening congregation and I did not wake her up. Only to find out that the alarm clock was trapped under her pillow and she did not hear it ring either. I'm thankful that when I opened my e-mail, I've got an opportunity to earn extra. I'm also thankful for Tim who continuously giving me that opportunity. For all the things that coming in to my life, I return the glory to Him.
Going on a vacation does not have to wait for special occasions. The R and R should not be confined to your workplace. You owe it to yourself. I know people are running on certain budgets. So when they have finally booked their flights to their vacation destinations, they would not bother on getting accommodations ahead. In the end they end up going home robbed off their fortunes if not having the worst hotel accommodation. Unless you're Paris Hilton, money won't be an object to you and you won’t be noticing that there are Cheap Leeds Hotels and Cheap Blackpool Hotels. Since you are just as normal as anyone else, you need to tighten your belt to be able to squeeze in your budget shopping allowance for simple keepsakes or for fine dining perhaps. I’m talking about saving and not looking like some vagabond that has illegally sneaked in a developed country. If I’d be given a chance, I would like to spend my first out of the country trip to the UK. I always fancy British’s way of speaking. They still sound proper though they are actually insulting you (LOL). Hmmm. So if you have plans of getting ahead, you might want to try checking on Cheap London Hotels. Because we are talking about UK Pounds here so I’m suggesting that you do a little stretching. There are so many places to roam around this lovely and historic country so you might want to consider Cheap Edinburgh Hotels or Cheap Birmingham Hotels whichever would be nearer to your destination. Actually, you don’t have to confine yourself in a single hotel just to enjoy the wonderful scenery and to try the best restaurants, entertainment, witnessing arts or museums. You could hop on from any of these hotels and you would surely maximize your vacation time and budget. Oh, and don’t forget to bring your digicam.
 Although I'm not financially in distress I am still galactic distance from being well off.
I am maintaining just one credit card out of 4. That's BPI. This is not a paid post. I'm just pleased the way BPI continuously practicing old school banking. They would not penalize you for late payment just as long as you pay your due before your next cut off. Cool eh? The revolving interest is also low. I don't compute it but comparing the interest with SCB, theirs is the best.
February-March is the first quarter installment madness where your purchasing power would be three times your credit limit.
I have talked about my dying PC. I got this also some three years ago through BPI installment madness also. It signals that it needs replacement already. The geriatrics takes a gazillion years to boot and to open programs or files.
My officemate got himself already an Acer Aspire notebook through BPI also. Thirty thousand pesos payable in a year. Eighty Gig, dual core, 512MB RAM, DVD ROM and other features that I can't digest already. I'm not techie. Lecture me about make up, clothes or medical stuff, I think I could catch up but Computer 101? You could sense an impending aneurysm.
Another reason why I want to get a notebook is that I want to do school stuff in my idle time at the office or even during breaks in school. But since I was able to install the program that I need in to my office desktop, I am having second thoughts in getting one.
I'm considering bringing my CPU to its authorized service center for them to perform CPR on it. And if the prognosis is poor, then I will just close my eyes and swipe the powerful plastic.
For some reason, I became allergic to debts. Did I just evolve into a mature being in terms of handling my finances? I'd like to think so. I was in financial turmoil last year. Almost lost my mortgaged house. I think I'm having PTSD.
I'm 75% not buying a notebook and 25% go-get-it-tiger feeling as of this writing.
I know that it’s a bit late for this entry but I know that it’s never too late to be thankful. This morning, my sister and I were able to make it early to the church. Although we have not slept well, we were thankful that God has allowed us to be in His temple.
Being in church is the best opportunity for me to speak to Him and pour my heart out. I’m being thankful for I was able to buy the book that I need in school. The mug that I filled with P10.00 coins for the past three months produced the amount that I need to purchase the book. He really knows what we need. And as what Iris has said in TT her entry: “I am thankful that God hears our prayers. Although I might not ‘like’ His answer, I know that His answer is always perfect…” I’m not getting tired of praying because I know that He does not get tired listening.
I started to blog using my Friendster (this is big in our country) account mid last year. It was just my outlet. I have written things that have affected my life. Nothing too serious because my anonymity was not kept and basically Friendster is a network of friends and family. I started to get a space in the blogolandia (as what I call it) in November. My very own Morning Sniffles. It was some sort of private then because I was not so sure if I want people I know to take a peek into my pensive. When a couple of my officemates found out about my “private” space, I then decided to go “public”. I’m now on my fourth month of blogging. Opportunities to earn extra are just within my reach. It took me a while to decide whether I want to go commercial blogging or just keep it personal. I sincerely enjoy writing not hardcore writing though. My first college degree was Journalism. As I plan to quit my well-compensated rank-and-file job (that has fed me and family for almost 8 years) to go for a not-so-greener pasture, I need a source of income so as not to compromise my financial obligations. It’s a shame but practicing nursing profession here in my country is not financially rewarding. Thing is I really wanted to be a healthcare provider that is why I took Nursing. One of the opportunities I’m considering is writing for Blogsvertise. I love to write but not on the hard sell part. Good thing about Blogsvertise is that they would let you write about product or service as if you are just talking about it with a friend over a cup of coffee. Just a mention of the website and voila! Instant bucks added to your PayPal account. Good thing I was able fix the mess with my PayPal account because I have signed up for Blogsvertise. Please do support me on this one. As I do commercial blogging, I’m promising that majority of my entries would still be my personal ones. I love my space. It has been my emotional and intellectual (?) channel for quite sometime already. 
 Photo source: www.damnfunnypictures.com
The other night, February 14, on my third attempt to get through the PayPal hotline, I was able to speak with a certain Gary.
Take note that I was calling IDD. I have been sending them e-mail through their Contact Us option but I guess they have not defined yet what they meant by shortly when used in their autoresponder that I’ll be getting response from them shortly.
As a background, I signed up for PayPal a couple of months ago. Honestly I can't remember what account type I got. I just learned about it when a friend wired money to me the other week. The amount was deducted with some $3.00++ for the transfer. A charge only applied to Premium account holders. I'm not getting big bucks through PayPal so I have decided to request for the plan downgrade to Personal.
As I am expecting another fund transfer from someone, I know that it's economical to have the free plan right away.
The IVRS of PayPal is so unfriendly. You need to first state your telephone number (including the area code) and the robot can't seem to understand what I was saying. You will only be allowed to type in your number after three attempts and unfortunately, the number that I was keying in can't be recognized either by the robot. (I'm wondering if I have to encode + 63 then my telephone number.) At this time you'll be prompted that your call will be forwarded to live operator.
I was able to reach this point when my call was put on queue for about five minutes. Since I'm calling IDD, I had no choice but drop the line.
Second attempt, I was prompted that the office was closed. Another IDD charge.
Third attempt, same long process but luckily I was able to speak with a monotonous operator named Gary. I don't know if he's trying to intimidate me or it's just his natural graveyard voice. I felt uncomfortable but I know that I was in control since I was the customer then.
The transaction ended with the assurance that my plan will be downgraded in a matter of minutes. I even asked him if I’ll be getting an email about it. He said yes. I think this info should be volunteered by the operator.
True enough, in less than an hour I've got an email from PayPal confirming my downgrade. I was happy but I told myself not to deal with PayPal CS anymore because IDD call is not an option for aftersales concerns.
I'm a walker. If I don't get satisfied with the service, I'll just walk away without saying anything and won't come back.
When I opened my email last night, there was an email from PayPal asking me to participate in their CS survey. All the things that I have said here, I put in the survey.
I even commented that if they can’t get local or toll free CS, they might want to consider hiring me to manage their e-mail aftersales support. They are trying to play global so the CS accessibility and quality must also be global.
Update:
I've got 3 replies today in my inbox. It all read:
Thank you for contacting PayPal. We believe we responded to your recent
inquiry either through a call into our service center or through another
e-mail from you.
Please know that we appreciate your business and we want to address yourquestions in a timely fashion. If you still need to speak with a PayPal representative, please feel free to contact us at 888-221-1161 or 402-938-3570. Yey!
 Being in the call center industry almost all my professional life, I know the focal point of the business. That is delighting our customers all the time.
Call center is big in our country. Reports show that US and European countries are investing their customer services in call centers here. For two major reasons, cheap labor and Filipinos adaptability in terms of shift changes and accents.
Usually, the call centers here cater to US and British clients so one must pass through rigid training to ensure that the agent would sound American or English.
So when I call international offices, it makes me think if I'm speaking with my people. I usually try to make comments in my native tongue just to check if I'm being understood and if the person on the other line would reply. Ofcourse with call handling checklist, he/she would not answer back even if he/she understood otherwise, he'll/she'll be marked X.
I work for a local telecoms call center as an e-mail correspondent. Majority of our trasactions are postpaid accounts and when the situation calls for it, we do call outs. Ofcourse before we do that, we should be equipped with the right customer profiles. More often that not, we also handle foreign clients who are living in the country. Good part is, we don't have to pretend that we are of the same nationality. Thing is though, we love to make fun of ourselves. When we know that we are about to speak with foreigners, we would tell our teammates to pray not to suffer from epistaxis. Here on our side of the planet, difficulty speaking or understanding English would cause brain hemorrhage or just a simple nosebleed which is a figure of speech obviously. Though we are confident about our good command of English, talking with foreign clients makes our hearts flutter and become diaphoretic no matter how cold the environment is. Oh well, I'm speaking for myself here. Plus the fact that you'll be heard by your teammates you can expect that you'll have your not so good 15 minutes of fame after the transaction.
So where I'm exactly pointing at?
Wait for my next installment.
I need to doze off.
Hint: it's about Paypal.
For now, I'm leaving you with a sidestitch. Just click on the image to enlarge or use a magnifying lens whichever delights you. LOL
Another Thursday full of gratefulness and love (not necessarily love for significant other). I've being thankful because: 1. The rashes on my legs have disappeared. They have been there since December and it only took a week of using Jergens lotion to make them go away. Hurray! 2. Although I lack sleep last night, I did not doze off in class and I was not late. 3. My sister and I were able to go to church early this morning and I was able to talk to Him. 3. Being in the early shift this week, I was able to come to the office early. I hope I won't be late in the coming days 4. I was able to meet my daily quota in the office early and I had ample time to brush up on my notes before going to school. 5. I was able to make it home safe coming late from the school 6. For Angel, my niece, getting a slot in a better public school. I'm praying that I could send her to private school someday. I know God will give it to us in His time. 7. For my heart for not getting any palpitations in the past though I have been taking in much caffeine just to keep me alert and awake 8. For being able to pay my remaining balance in my credit card and I could now request for its permanent disconnection. Special thanks to Iris for the Thankful Thursday and to all the participants whose gratefulness makes me feel inspired and cheers me on.
Please click here or scroll down for my wordless entry.
Barbs, who's the gorgeous heiress of Skittles' Place, has presented to me my first ever award.
It was created here that made me brush up on my Spanish through Babelfish with these comments:
"This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity. In them I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day."
Thanks Barbs so much. You really deserve the award. I owe you big time (tissue please, I'm having sniffles attack again!). Now, let me bestow the award upon these people who keep on rocking the blogolandia with their talent and passion.
Gabriel
Sandy Carlson
jams o donnell
Hootin' Anni
Sarge Charlie
Hats off to you guys!
Go click on their names to see what I'm talking about.
 Photo courtesy of my fraternity bro Juan Paulo Gutierrez
 At almost1400 grams, pretty heavy for a coffee mug huh? Well it's because I'm pitching in P10.00 coins and only P10.00 coins in there. It's nearly filled and by the time that it's full already, I'll be bringing it to the bank. I wonder how the bank teller would react seeing an adult carrying a "piggy bank".
 Should I or should I not?
If cutting your own bangs is a crime, then I would surely be in jail and sentenced with a lifetime imprisonment for being a frequent offender.
Out of my gazillion attempts to "re-invent" my look, I only got it correctly once. I always end up putting clip on my murdered part of the hair and wait for them to grow so I could experiment on them again. bwahahaha!
Like now, my hands are starting to itch again. The little voice in my head tells me to grab my iris scissors and snip away a few inches off my anterior tress.Before, I finally give into the little voice's command let me share with you this tip from Marie Claire.
 Hopefully, I could hit my second success in murdering cutting my bangs which are by the way the only straight hair I've got on my head.
The New York medical examiner announced Wednesday that Heath Ledger died from the effects of taking six types of painkillers and sedatives - prescription medications not illegal drugs.
"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications," the New York City Medical Examiner's Office said in a statement. "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine," the statement said. The drugs are the generic names for the OxyContin painkiller, the anti-anxiety drug Valium, Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, and the sleep aids Restoril and Unisom. Hydrocodone is another name for Vicodin, a painkiller. Kim Ledger, the actor's father, said in a statement released Wednesday that the family was humbled to be "among millions of people worldwide who may have suffered the tragic loss of a child." "Few can understand the hollow, wrenching, and enduring agony parents silently suffer when a child predeceases them," he said. He said the toxicology results should "put an end to speculation" about the cause of death. "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy," Kim Ledger said. "Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage." (Yahoo! news)
My hear still goes out to his family especially to her little girl, Matilda. 
Heath Ledger, 1979 - 2008
It's Thursday once again. Sorry for being late. Came from school.
I can't believe how time flies so fast. This is going to be my third Thankful Thursday. And I'm Thankful for that and for the following:
1. Me and my sister were able to get up early again this morning to attend the mid-week congregation
2. Angel, my niece aced her periodic exam in preschool. I'm thankful that she was able to finally adjust from her old private school set up to her new public school. I was kinda worried about it because it was really humid in her new school and she's prone to getting epistaxis. I have no qualms of her being in public school because I attended public school from grade school to college.
3. I was able to attend my class today and learned new things in pharmacology. Yeah, I wish I have attended the review before I took my stateboard.
4. For Tim and Anna because they have given me new job opportunities again that would make me earn extra.
5. For Arvin, who agreed to swap restdays with me next week so I could I attend the class on Tuesday.
6. For our payday tomorrow with unused Sick Leave credits conversion. I have 14.5 days to convert which means I called in sick for only 2.5 days last year. Woopee!!!!
7. For Iris who serves as an inspiration to me and everyone else in becoming grateful for every blessing that comes our ways.
Looking forward to another TT.
 Unlike everyone else, my sure predictor that I'll be having my monthly period is severe hyperacidity.
The moment I felt that I'm extremely acidic, I will just have to wait for an hour and then voila! It's already there.
I have been looking up for possible reason for this but I am yet to find the answer.
This morning, I got snoozed the alarm up until at 6:30 AM. I'm feeling acidic already but I took cold shower anyway. I was still in bathrobe and my hair was still pulled up in towel when I felt surge of acid in my gut.
I lied down for a while and next thing I know was my sister knocking on my door. It was already past 9:00 am and they were wondering why I have not gotten out yet of my room since it usually takes me about 30 minutes to dress up after bathing. I dozed off, I guess because of the pain.
I was supposed to go to school but I took a raincheck instead and rested until 10:30 this morning.
The acidity went a little off when I woke up. I was able to make it to work though a bit late.I popped an antacid because....I need to get my daily fix of caffeine.
Now I feel a whole lot better.
It's good that it struck today because tomorrow is the live lecture on pharmacology. Today was computer based which I can catch up on anytime.
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This was our final pose for our Christmas Party sing and dance contest in 2007.
