I'm not crazy about cellphones, as a matter of fact, the last cellphone I used was a hand-me-down from my sister. I lost it three months ago and I haven't bought a replacement phone yet. I don't mind not having one until this came along. Everytime I see the commercial, I want to cry, I can't afford it. It's too damn expensive.

I dream about it every night. And then I wake up and realize that it's never gonna be mine. Damn!

Katrina Remembered (from the other side of the world)

I should've posted this yesterday but I was busy... enough of excuses!

How could anyone forget Katrina? She made landfall last year, it was Monday evening here, I was supposed to attend a very important meeting that night but I opted to stay home and watch CNN because I was hoping to see Anderson. It will be my third time to see Anderson that year, the first time was when he covered the Asian tsunami, the second time was in August, when he was in Niger and then Katrina, also on the same month.

Hurricanes never bothered me before, I ignored it completely, all I knew was that we don't have it here, thank God. Anderson changed all that, he made a weathergirl out of me. From that time on, I keep my eye on the weather everyday...

Katrina shocked me, It's was my first time to watch a hurricane, with all it's strength and power unfolding before my very eyes. I monitored her from the time she was conceived to the minute she made landfall. And then, I thank God some more we have no hurricanes in Makati City. There's no way we could recover from it and I'm not bringing up our government yet! Anyway, I saw last night on CNN that too little has been changed since it hit New Orleans and Mayor Nagin's still bragging of the supposed "plans" that he has. I think it's still on paper, the plan is still a plan, not implemented yet. I'm wishing everyone in New Orleans well. And, I pray that Katrina, with all the mistakes made, will not happen again. Sure, every now and then, I'm wishing for hurricanes to happen but I don't really mean it, it's just that there are days that I miss Anderson so much.

Let's not forget Katrina, the FEMA failure she exposed, the levees she broke, the families she destroyed, the dreams she shattered and the lives she cut short. Let's us not, in every possible way, let it happen again.

Anderson, don't let them forget!


special thanks to sheryn for the lovely screencap

Of Admitting my Mother is Right and Swallowing my Words

My mother is right! I am a rolling stone. I just can’t stay in one office for too long. Something must be wrong with me? She keeps on telling me to find me an office and then settle, grow some roots and stay rooted but I can’t do it. I think I'm addicted to the thrill of jobhunting. I think it keeps me alive, I can't stand doing the same thing over and over. Oh no! I am a shark, too! (Apologies to Anderson Cooper for the shark reference.) Maybe I'm in the wrong field of work, maybe I should be doing something else, maybe I haven't found my bliss yet!

I'm afraid of changes and yet I keep on changing jobs. I wonder how I can keep this job before I start to scan wanted ads again?

As of this moment, I am working, officially, with DLSU Press, again. I’m so lucky they took me back with open arms (I think), And I am so lucky they took me back without any question, after I “disappeared” from my Makati office. I know, I said I didn’t like it here because of so many things, they've been so kind to me, I think. (at least they don't say anything bad about me in my face)

I realized that I like going home early and spend more time with my kids. I realized that I enjoy walking my way to and from the office, it's a 15 minute walk from my house. I realized that money, really, does not make me happy, my family makes me happy.

Lately, it seems like swallowing my words is all I ever do, I'm not proud of it, mind you. Here they are, let's count...

"I'll never work in an office that would require me to work on Saturdays!"

"I'll never work in an office that uses PC, I'm a Mac user and I'll stay that way." (When one is desperate for a job, computer brand is not an issue.)

"This office is boring me into a coma, I'm so glad I resigned." (I came back, turns out, I like boring jobs.)

"I'll never work on an Adevertising agency, ever!" (I did, for two days.)

"I'll never work in a government office, ever!"

"I'm quitting Anderson Cooper!"

"I'm quitting Anderson Cooper for good!"
"I'm quitting Andy, this time it's true!"

"Damn CNNi! I'm never gonna watch CNNi again if they don't bring Anderson back."

Call Center Experience

Last Tuesday, August 22, I didn’t show up for work. I guess I made up my mind…I didn’t want to go back there anymore. It didn’t feel right. Making an ad for cigarettes and liquors just isn’t right. It’s one of those things that I don’t want of be a part of. Not to mention the super old imac they want me to use. It still runs on classic environment. So not right.

Instead of hanging around the house, I went and applied in a call center company, hahaha!!! I bet you didn’t see it coming, right? Me, of all people, applying for a job in a call center…so out of character. For as long as I can remember I’ve been wanting to beat the daylight out of those call center people I see everyday. Being stuck with them in an elevator is so painful. Mental note to self: bring epidural just in case I ran into them next time.
I’m not really sure why I went there, I was probably desperate to look for a new job or maybe I was bored.

So, here’s how the application went:

I arrived at around 2 p.m., I immediately saw lots of faces inside the lobby and reception area, they all looked young at first glance, I panicked, “What am I doing here? What have I gotten myself into, agin?” I wanted to turn back and go home but the guard was already frisking me and directed me to the reception area. I was asked for my resume and then she gave me a piece of paper to be filled up. After 30 minutes, I gave the paper back, I wanted to tell her that I’d come back another day but before I could talked the girl asked me to sit for a while and wait for my name to be called. While waiting, I scanned the whole area looking for applicants close to my age or perhaps older, I probably saw around twenty. Some are really old.

After twenty minutes, five of us were called in a room for the free speech interview, the interviewer was pretty and so young, she looked like a college student. I don’t quite remember how the conversation went but I was surprised that I passed the first interview. I didn't realize that I could converse in English for more than 10 minutes, and I didn't faint!

The second part was the computer exam. It was divided into 4 parts typing skills, logic, grammar, customer service and sales exam. After the computer exam, two things were sure, my typings skills were 36 wpm with 97% accuracy, I think anyone who types really slow like I do will get 97% accuracy and I am not a logical thinker!!! Let me get this straight... I don't think logically... I am not reasonable... Did I get it right? How the hell do I think?

A good friend of mine told me, "Of course you don't think logically, you think outside of the box, you are an artist! You don't think the way other people think!" It made me feel a little better, a good friend she really is.

But in all honesty, I never gave the exams a lot of thought, we were given 40 minutes to finish the whole exam, I finished in 15 minutes. I wish I took it more seriously. I think I will comeback and apply again after 3 months only to prove to myself that I can pass all four exams. This time, I will take it to heart.

The good news is that I made friends with lots of call center people, some of them are really kind and helpful, upon learning that I didn't pass for the call simulation exam someone came up to me and said, "Why don't you try and apply at eTelecare or ePerformax, we will go there tomorrow, we'll meet you there, okay?"

"Sure, thanks." I said, just to cut short another long conversation, it was quite late, I was tired and I have work the following day.

First day, last day?

It was Wednesday, August 16, 2006, my first day of work in my new office in Makati. I was rather calm, it’s a feeling that kind if surprised me because normally, I get really, really nervous on my first day. Actually, I always get nervous on every first time of everything I do. I’m a bad first-timer but after a few tries, I’d be okay.

So, here’s how my first day went:

8:25 a.m. – I arrived. The official office hour starts at 8:30. It’s my first day, I figured I should make a good first impression. I was asked to sit and wait at the reception area. That’s what I did… forever... or at least it felt like it.

8:50 a.m. – Still sitting, wishing and waiting (come on, sing with me…)

9:05 a.m. – Everyone was walking past me, they all seemed busy. Then, at last! somebody approached me but to my disappointment, she asked me to sit around a while longer.

9:15 a.m. – I can hear my name, they’re talking about me, I was just a few feet away, I can’t see them because there was an aluminum and glass divider between me and them. I wasn’t sure if I was just being extra sensitive that day or if it was really irritating to hear people talking about me when they knew full well that I was just an earshot away. I wanted to yell, “Hello, I can hear you, I’m only here, remember?” After a few minutes, their topic began to change, I think somebody’s gonna leave the company and look for the proverbial greener pasture on the other side of the fence. That must be the reason they hired me, to replace her.

At around 10 a.m., they led me to my working area and the computer that will serve as my partner, a 12-inch-aquamarine imac from way back 1999, I think. "They’ve got to be kidding me!" I thought to myself. I wasn’t impressed at all. The computer was a major turn-off, but let's talk about the working area, shall we? Try to imagine an area of 6 x 6 feet more or less, not to small, you might think, then add three antiquated Macintosh computers and a PC that didn’t seem to be working anymore, a printer, three swivel chairs, a small elongated table in one corner plus three people, including me, all squeezed in that area. So horrible. We have no privacy, every time I move I bump to the person either on the left or right side of me. Then I learned that they don’t allow internet connection for us, artist. My gosh! How on earth will I ever survive? And worse of all they don’t allow their employees to go home early, as long as the bosses are around, nobody leaves. What about my kids? Why do I always end up with mean, psycho and greedy bosses? Why?

Anyway, I didn’t show up the next day, it was Thursday, because I needed to think things over. The following day, I showed up, I was determined to try and make things work, the day went well but really, I don’t want to work for them. I have a life to live, I can't stay in the office all day and night.
My mind’s telling me to go on, who doesn't need work and money, anyway? But my heart wanted me to get out of there...

An AC360 review or NOT

I asked a two day rest from my new employer before I start working for them because, I told them, I wanted to rest. Well, it's half true, the other half reason is that I wanted to watch AC360, whatelse. I wanted to catch up, and catching up I did.

Last Friday (Saturday morning, my time) , was my first time to watch 360 since the war in the Middle East started and since it got back to CNNi. I was so thrilled to see Coop in London, and felt guilty at the same time. There he was reporting serious, life and death kind of news and I was giggling and smiling all throughout the show, full two hours of it. Don't think that I wasn't listenig to the reports because I was, every single word of it but I couldn't help but act in a very, very undignified manner. My kids did notice the smile on my face that just would not go away.

Here, in my country, gels and other liquid stuff are also banned in airports, LRT and MRT. LRT and MRT are kinda like our version of subway or bullet trains, only, they're not.

Today, I readied myself for another "date" with AC but he wasn't there, Christianne Amanpour and Wolf Blitzer took over. What a way to start the week, no AC! I wonder if he'll be back tomorrow? Sad to say, I won't be able to watch him, I'll start my new work tomorrow.

One thing I noticed last Friday was Will Geddes, the counterterrorism analyst in London... when Anderson was interviewing him last Friday, I kinda felt like he had a crush on AC, Will wouldn't get his eyes off AC, it's kinda irritating, if you asked me, because the whole time he was talking and even after AC stopped talking to him, he's looking at AC so intensely. Man, I didn't even see the other half of his face. By the way, Will kinda looked like Gary Oldman. I got jealous probably. Hahaha!!! But I was wrong about Will, because when Christiane interviewed him earlier, he kinda looked at Christianne the same way he looked at AC, perhaps that's just the way he talk and look at people. Like I said, I was probably jealous. Silly me.

big thanks to BCFraggle for the tower bridge Anderson screencap.

field Anderson, tan Anderson, long hair Anderson! I loooove it!

A very tan Anderson is in London. How does he do it? He was in the Middle East yesterday and now he's in London! I'm glad he's out of Israel, and out of Katyusha rocket's way, I never get tired of saying katyusha rocket! I could sleep more soundly now. I wonder if he'll still be on CNNi tomorrow?