Life After Call Center

It's been a roller coaster ride for years now.

My life had been nowhere in the call center industry, I initially thought I'd make it big, but I didn't. Many did say that I'm good at what I do, I personally believe that, but when I start taking my chances in moving to another position, I'd lose it, they'd say that I'm not good enough or I'm not ready to be promoted. When these depressive moments strike I'd usually give up, moving on to a new center is my next option, which in my opinion had never resolved my issues. It's been a vicious cycle, striving to be promoted, failing and falling apart, move on again to another center.

Until, I made a choice of working from home and chilling from home, I first thought I wouldn't make it, I'll get bored doing the things I never thought I'd do, but I was wrong, this online industry saved me from my call center addiction. True to my cyber friends' words, working from home does make a difference, financially and emotionally. It's draining because you have to keep up above the rest who does the same, you have to upgrade your skills once in a while but you do all of these while at the comfort of my own home, so why not right?

So, this is my story, from an addicting life in the call center to a fulfilled journey towards happiness in working from home. Indeed, there are choices outside the industry I used to love, there is life after call center.

Recap from October to December of 2007

Wow, I miss blogging.. It's like I miss half of my life when I stopped blogging.. I got a lot to share with you guys.. Probably I'll start where I left off.. Last October was one of the lowest of my married life. Jeff got hospitalized during late October till November. He was out of work for a month. When we brought him to UST, it was only the second day of his hospitalization when we found out that his health card, which I forgot the name, he got this from Convergys though, would not cover the charges. So, in a week's time, the bill accumulated to 30,000 pesos. I tried every way just to get the money, I took my chance with Mrs. Santos again, I was able to borrow 10,000 from her and another 10,000 from a friend of mine, Jhomai (thanks girl). I waited till I get my salary and decided to just bail Jeff off from that freaking hospital, which didn't really help get him well. Anyway, after a week of hell in UST, we only waited a day and I brought him to Medical City, I immediately brought him his Medicard, which is his secondary card from Dell, he's my dependent. That card saved my ass since they covered almost everything, except for some phone bills and his cast which only amounted to 168 pesos. Aside from that, I was able to get about 80 percent of the money we shell out in UST through reimbursement. And to pay for our debts and bills I had to get a loan from SSS which I'll start paying by January of 2008. We were also near the separation stage in early December because of some differences and stress.



Another thing that happened just last Christmas eve was when my brother incurred Dengue, the worst sickness ever. It started out just a simple fever, we almost spent our Christmas eve in the hospital. Come Christmas day, mom brought him to the Meycauayan Doctor's Hospital, which I don't really recommend you guys doing, but since this is the nearest hospital from our place, mom made the wrong decision. Anyway, it took them three days to realize that the hospital was just after their money, they paid 7500 for a freaking room and some medicines that did nothing to cure my lil bro. So mom brought him to the public hospital and after some hours the fever started to to go down slowly. As of this writing we're still waiting for the doctor's confirmation that come next week he's fully cured.



I was always stressed the whole year and this year brought me a lot of tears. I just wish 2008 will bring me luck and joy and I hope it will prosper our life.

Capping and Pinning...

Last Friday was indeed really tiring, I started out waking up earlier than my daily ritual. I had to prepare for the whole day. I went to work, attended the training for three hours then left because I had to attend something really important. I then went back to my station to finish a little more of duties in Dell. I then went to my friend and previous colleague in Siemens to pay my dues. After nearly 15 minutes waiting for her at the lobby I went straight to Cubao to find a more comfortable footwear, since nothing fit my somehow small size of 9 inches foot I just shrugged it off because I know I'll have to content myself with my 1 inch sandals. I headed for SM North since I'll have to meet my mom there so she could get a decent clothes to wear for my sister's big day. I waited for over an hour for her so I went to Jollibee to have a quick brunch, im glad I did. So, we spent 30 minutes trying to rush things and looked for that special blouse that would fit my mom, who I think is a size 15, I know because im almost her size, hehehehe.. So, because we're so in a rush, as soon as she fitted the first brown blouse we headed straight to the cashier and paid it. We almost ran because my sister kept texting mom to rush straight to MCU. While inside the cab we took turns in painting our faces and lips to be a little bit presentable. We came there almost late because they were about to start when we took our seats. The program started with a thanksgiving mass, whew one of the longest catholic mass I've attended, it took almost an hour and a half. Then the main part of the program started, my sister's and her colleagues' capping and pinning. It was a memorable experience for my sister and my mom, it signifies that their dream is almost near, she's about to reach them. Though it was tiring, I know my presence did made her day. I wanted to spend more time with them and go back to Valenzuela to sleep and rest but my work on Saturday did not permit me to. So, tiring as I am, after a sumptous (wow) meal at Jollibee I headed back to Pasig, I got home around 11 pm. I nearly ended my day but because Jeff usually arrives at 1 am, I had to wake up to eat dinner with him. Such busy day but it was well worth it.. Probably tom I'll upload all the pics. No time right now..

Puro nalang problema

Last day nanaman ng buwan, ito hirap parin.. Nakahiram nga ako sa 5-6, sobrang 5-6 nga sya kasi kailangan 3 sweldo lang ang bayaran, ang nahiram kong 4000, 800 tubo. Pero sabi ni Mrs. Santos pag binayaran ko within 15 days eh 400 nalang ang tubo nya. Yung 500 dun pinahiram ko sa nanay ni Jeff na kasalukuyang naghihirap din. Yung tira, pinangbaon naming 2 at pinangkain ang pambayad ng electric bill. Mahirap, sobrang hirap ng sitwasyon namin, hindi ako masyadong makapag isip. Parang binabarahan lahat ng problema ang utak ko at di ko maintindihan ang lahat ng dumarating. Unang una ay ang pambayad ng bahay, kahit pa sabihing naitatabi ko naman ang pambayad dito pero kulang parin. Pambayad sa credit card ko, ilang buwan narin akong di nakakahulog, pambayad sa phone, iniexpect ko na ilang weeks nalang lalabas na ang bill ko dun at isa pang bayaran yun. Sa totoo lang di ko iniexpect na mamomroblema ako ng ganito, at kung alam ko lang di ko na sana sinigundahan ang idea ng asawa ko na lumipat ng bahay, mas naging komplikado ang lahat. Sana lang madaan ko sya sa tulog, pero ang totoo ilang buwan ko nang gustong iyakan lahat lahat ng ngyayari sa amin, sa akin. Lahat nalang ng napupundar kong gamit eh out of date na, ang cellphone ko, ilang taon naba ang nakakaraaan ng huli ko syang palitan. Kailan nga ba ako huling bumili ng maayos na gamit? Puro nalang para sa bahay ang nabibili ko, siguro nga nagseself pity lang ako, at ngayon nga ultimo kama namin di kami makabili dahil sa problema namin ngayon. Si Jeff, nagstart nga sya sa CVG pero may chance na matanggal pa sya, more than 2 weeks na syang pumapasok at syempre dapat ay may nakatabing pangpamasahe nya mula sa sweldo ko, 15 days pa bago ang unang sweldo nya. Ang araw naman dumadaan at parang ang bagal bagal, parang wala akong pupuntahan. Paulit ulit sa araw araw. Sumweldo na ako nung Friday last week, pero ang sweldo syempre may kaltas ng 1600 para dun sa 5-6. yung natira pinanggrocery, pamalengke, at pambayad sa bahay. Nabigyan ko na rin ng pera para sa pamasahe si Jeff. Kahapon naman pag uwi ng asawa ako, ramdam ko agad na may problema sya. Nalaman ko after naming mag dinner na delikado nga sya sa CVG. Would you imagine, pera na nga ang problema namin pero heto at di pa sya sinuswerte sa trabaho. Nu nga ba ang magagawa ko? Saan pa nga ba ako kukuha ng pera? Minsan nga nakakahiya na, sa call center kami nagtatrabaho pero ito, ni isang pirasong panty di ako makabili. Kailan nga ba masusulusyunan ang problema ko? kailan???

5-6.. Answered prayer or bawal na hiram?

Dahil sa kailangan ko talaga ng money para pambayad sa monthly bills ko this end of the month kinailangan na naming kumagat sa 5-6. Actually first time kong mangutang ng 5-6, although nanghihiram ang mama ko nun sa bumbay at sa nagpapa 5-6 sa aming lugar para sa pang enroll ko nung college, never ko pa talaga nagawang mangutang for myself. But because sobrang higpit na ng need namin for money eh kailangan na talaga. 20 percent ang tubo, kailangan pa nasa kanya ang ATM for 3 consecutive payout para sure daw na makakabayad kami, kailangan pa ng company ID saka payslip, oh diba, kulang nalang magbackground check sila. Contact lang sya ng mother in law ko, nagipit lang talaga kaya kahit na nga 5-6 eh papatulan na namin. Sana nga makaraos kami sa ganito, im really wishing. I've been actually praying na magkaroon kami ng pera, just enough to sustain our needs until the end of the month, sana nga we did the right thing.

Still not enough

Jeff started his new Job last Monday, July 16, 2007. It was an A-Ok start for him but he also got the worst bad news I've heard that day. He was an hour early, they were dismissed early because it was their first day, they didn'treally have anything to do so they just went home. Anyway, he said that his salary will only be credited on Aug. 15, which is almost a month from his start date. I didn't know how to react because we were already expecting that he'll get his salary at the end of the month and we will be able to pay our debts. I've not been able to pay my credit card for 3 months, our phone bill is due on the 30th, we owe his aunt 1K pesos and I owe a friend of mine 500 pesos. It's really difficult to think about what's happening, it's really getting out of our control. I don't want to think about it, but hey, it's money, we can't survive without it, that's reality. So, I decided to panic. I started by sending SMS to my friends, was able to borrow 500 pesos from a friend of mine. I know it's not gonna be a good week for us, especially that my sister's birthday is due tom, I'm bound to give her 1K on Saturday because she'll be inviting her friends for a small party at my mom's house. Anyway, I hope God help me and Jeff get through this situation.

Transformers

Grabe Dell had really proven that they are so much concerned about their employees' welfare. One of the few things na hindi ko na masyado magawa is ang panunuod ng sine with my hubby, lack of time na rin kasi. Tapos, they gave some teasers about the film Transformers. Syempre I was so excited, kaso nga lang I got worried kasi baka exclusive sya for Dell employees. But since tickets naman ang pinamimigay I found a way to get a ticket for my hubby. 5:10 nag start ang movies, umpisa palang napa Wow na talaga kami, ang GANDA grabe. All the stunts were amazing, lalo na ang mga autobots. Although di ko talaga naging fascination ang manuod ng transformers kahit nung bata pa ako, pero napahanga ako ni Steven Spielberg. It was a very good movie. Napanganga na nga lang ako kasi talagang Wow. Anyways, kahit medyo late na kami nakauwi ng asawa ko it was worth it. We enjoyed it so much.

Häagen-Dazs

Ice cream day daw.. I though at first, wow, galing naman dahil lang natapos na ang Tell Dell, which is a yearly thing for Dell, eh magpapa ice cream na sya, Haagen Dazs pa. We were given stubs early in the morning during the shift, we can start savoring sa ice cream ng 9 AM. When I saw it, wow, totoo nga, imagine mo naman, Haagen Dazs costs P100 plus per scoop and yet libre dito sa Dell. Maganda rin ang presentation, pang summer na summer. Pero bakit ngayon lang, patapos na ang summer diba? Nag uulan na nga eh.. Although, kung tatanungin mo ako about the taste, it's just the same as the other coffee flavoured ice cream. Ang sarap lang itago ng cups, pang sosyal talaga. At one more point is, bitin kami!!!..

Here are some samples of the ice cream courtery of http://www.haagen-dazs.com/products/product.aspx?id=64.

Nice view

Ang ganda ng view from the Dell building, ang sa harap ng aming building is McDonalds tapos Shakeys ata yung kaharap nya.





I dunno what it is, pero parati syang nakikita sa mga TV shows.




Picture lang po ito..

Photoshoot with mah new team..

These are the photos taken with the team I belong. Enjoy..


It seems like SL Jon is dancing..



We're still finding our places..



We really can't be still..




Pose..



Serious mode..



We're goofing around.. ehehe.

Memories with the Dell XPS laptop

These are the photos taken by yours truly while playing around with the ever beautiful laptop, Dell XPS back in training. Archie (my trainor) was too busy to notice me.

" Do I look good with a crown?"

" Si Señor!!!"

"Oink, Oink"

" I should be dead by now, if this is real"

"You're doomed!!!"

Graduation after training

These are the photos taken on our graduation from training (DELL), April 20, 2007, my birthday.. We performed a not so nice dance number from the sound track of Austin powers, that explained some of our outfits.