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The weather’s really nice today – windy and not too sunny - and I’m here sitting in the office conference room overlooking Ortigas buildings and a new Cityland condominium being erected. It’s my rest day but I’m here to ”supervise” something being done. Hehe. It just feels good to be here during the day minus all the hoopla of working in the business district. Less traffic, no large crowd and the elevators are quick.

Times like these make me feel good about my position in life. Recently I’ve been dealing with random issues which leaves me uninspired but I swore long before not to take it all seriously. So keri lang. I see these men working under the sun and dust wearing hard hats to build people’s future homes while I am here very comfortable and cold and yet I am paid higher than them. I’m not even sure if they have their own homes. What more should make me feel fucked-up, diba? It may seem harsh but we won’t see how blessed we are unless we witness others’ hard times. Or unless we lose it all beyond recovery.

I’ve been trying hard to put “The Secret” into action but I still need practice and deactivate more my pessimistic side. I successfully did it once but it was long before I found out about the book and it later made me realize it might be true. Believing is the key – songwriters cannot stress that enough – and that’s what The Secret’s about. If you believe firmly that what you wish for is actually within your arm’s reach, it will be. Soon. You just have to know how to “feel it” and not feel those that you do not want.

Anyway… I’ve been being distracted by a former officemate in YM so I can’t focus much on what I wanna say. I’ll end this here. Later I’ll meet my friends for a little chat. The usual catching-up moments that I really need. The past week was fast in terms of work – I had a lot to do in and out of the office and it almost drained me so I really need a night out. Next week’s pay day. I plan to have a body scrub and massage in this spa recommended by Carlo just a short walk away from the office. Sabi nga nya, I need to reward myself for extra work that I do. Nakow! May justice na pala ang shopping ko. Hahahaha!

Early this evening I was talking to two friends who already have young kids. M’s husband is about to leave for Singapore this month and we discussed about her feelings on her soon-to-be long-distance relationship. I have come to know through reading blogs the common issues about having your partner leave the country and fidelity is the most worrysome among those. Aside from being the foundation of what’s keeping you tied together, it raises further issues as it goes. A downward spiral as they say and having a kid somehow makes it worse.

In a homosexual relationship, somehow, they find ways to adjust. There’s this “open” relationship that (I find weird and personally questionable) they can resort to which helps them deal with their physical needs so long that no emotions will get involved. It takes a different level of wisdom for one to understand open relationships. I respect those who are in such and it’s remarkable how that really helps them to keep their relationship going. Its validity and sensibility may be questionable but if that keeps the intimacy alive, that may have to be what it takes. But with heterosexual relationships, can they handle it? Especially when they already have kids? And when the woman does it?

We were there exchanging points of view and it eventually surfaced that the paranoia is a lot easier to bear if there’s no kid involved but it is also more rewarding if the relatioship worked fine. The extremes. It’s all about taking into account what really matters most. Those LDRs that work apparently choose to keep having a complete and happy family in mind so they don’t stray. Sadly we didn’t get to finish our conversation because J’s baby was tired and started acting up and wanted to go home. I had to leave with them. So it left me with these thoughts in mind: Is it really easier for homosexuals to handle the distance because we can choose to have an open relationship? And because we don’t have kids? Is there an exclusive long-distance homosexual relationship that works? For how long?

This proves one type of difference between being straight and being gay. Positive or negative, you decide which.

I am fortunate to have my Piglet close with me and we’re happy. I was just asking…

Last night I was bloghopping and stumbled upon a video of Charice Pempengco singing on Ellen last month. This one’s old news and I’m sure I saw a video link to it several times but I never watched it until last evening and I did not really know what to feel. She can sing but she needs a lot of work on her diction – she sounded too oriental. Nobody does it “And YO and YO and YO – YO’r gonna love me!” Argh! I felt like melting when I heard that.

A lot of people admire this kid’s singing voice and I should give it to her, she really can sing. But why did she have to belt out the entire song to the extent of her range most of the time? It did not require her to do so. And the way she moved around the studio while singing “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was soooo weird – there was no trace of modesty in that at all. That song’s a ballad for goodness’ sake! Why did she have to rouse the audience as if she wanted them to dance? Stand still girl – it’s too in-your-face! On the other hand, you can easily notice how beautiful her voice was with “I Will Always Love You.” It’s the best. For me it’s way up there – next to Whitney’s version.

Well, oversinging really is an issue nowadays that has sadly become most people’s standards for a good singer. Fortunately some singers can actually sustain the beauty of a song even if they take it higher than usual and that really takes super talent. But younger singers just lose it when it comes to vocal acrobatics as if they’re always trying (very hard) to prove that they can sing. Slowly, with this trend, beautiful songs will be forgotten and our radio will be filled with interpretations of talent-show alums that will pound your head with screaming voices and unnecessary high notes that can shatter speakers and one’s belief in the beauty of music.

Watch Charice Pempengco’s beautiful “I Will Always Love You”:

Yesterday morning, minutes before I left the office, something happened and the lights went off. All our UPS started tooting and I naturally panicked and called the building Admin about what was happening – there was no scheduled power interruption yesterday. Well… As we know now, the building’s transformer went baloney for the nth time and still hasn’t been fixed. We have limited power to get the support operations going and also limited QA effort. This incident delayed our release of RC7 today and (I don’t know if it’s good news) prolonged our testing cycle.

Bad things: I am here in the office alone and it’s really dark, it’s hot, my eyes hurt because of the bright screens, I’m scared to go to the bathroom, and I can’t go down for a break because the doors won’t automatically lock anymore so I’ll have to manually tie a bicycle lock on it each time I’ll go out. Plus I wasn’t able to join my officemates in our bowling activity supposedly last night at 7PM. They rescheduled it to an earlier time because they had nothing to do here all day.

My plans are hazy as well. I still haven’t completely quit smoking though I’ve been able to keep it to a maximum of four sticks per day. Due to my laziness I won’t be going to the gym this January so I’m sure I’ll be losing weight again. I’ve been trying to call Bert Lozada swim school to inquire about their adult fitness swimming programs but they’re always busy.

Argh! I’m stalled at the moment and it’s frustrating. You know how I hate doing nothing else but the same old things everyday!

It’s been almost three years since MCO (airport code for Orlando, Florida) was founded in ACS. That was my first job, they were my first officemates and it was my first and only call-center experience that changed the way I look at people and the call center industry.

A very big misconception nowadays is that working in a call center is easy: you’ll just take calls and that’s it. Wrong. Yes it’s true that you’ll be taking calls but you will have to do that eight hours a day – nonstop. You’re lucky to have random short gaps between calls where you can breathe and recompose yourself but most of the time it’s talk talk talk. You do have breaks off course, but these are very-strictly-monitored breaks and it’s a major offense to be late – seriously. People often get fired because of overbreaks and lates. And on top of that, you have to consistently maintain Quality Assurance scores and by that you need to never forget to mention certain things to your caller, perform certain procedures, and most of all, keep your every conversation within a maximum time limit (when I was in ACS it was 280 seconds for each call) – all at the same time. It’s like you’re back in school – every call is a quiz and they’ll be computed and the average will be your QA score and the basis of your performance in the company. Still sounds easy?

Not everything that happens in a call center is challenging, of course. There is this good side that keeps people applying for a post. Aside from the fact that it pays you well, I think this is why people enjoy and endure working here: the friendship. Once you work in a call center, you’re social circle will expand like ripples. You’ll get to meet cool people of different ages who act and have fun the same way you do. Walang kuya or ate ego here. Lahat kabarkada even those who are already past their prime. Once your shift is over, it’s impossible not to have an after-work hangout. Dito mo mararanasan uminom ng tanghaling tapat in the financial district dahil yun pa lang ang tapos ng trabaho nyo. Before, we would go to Krocodile Grille in Greenbelt, W Grill or Gilligans in Park Square. Dito mo rin mararanasan pumasok sa office ng lasing or walang tulog. Hehe. It really is irresponsible but those are the fun moments that’ll really spice up your stay in a call center. Masarap ang kwentuhan, araw-araw may tawanan at palaging may napapagalitan which makes it even more funny.

Last night I met up with my former officemates after many months apart. We’ve gone a long way since ACS. Few (remarkably) still stay there and have been promoted. The others, like me, are stable in their chosen companies. And sadly, some still can’t find what they want so they keep jumping from one company to another. Regardless of the imperfection, these are my friends. They witnessed my hardships, failure and vindication. It was a brief experience being with them but it’s amazing how we treasure those moments that until now, we still feel cool with each other. We’ve grown and become bigger people – so nice to see. Hehe… Working with these call center guys was the best and that’s what I miss a lot now. In DTC we don’t go out often – I don’t even see most of them everyday now that I’m on night shift – and sometimes I feel like some of them are just my officemates and not my friends. My team mates are cool and I like them but those in the other teams, I wish there can be more. Deeper. Because I like it there.

Anyway, here are some of the fun moments I had with them last night. Simple but fun. See you again soon MCO.

Next to Summer and Christmas, this is my favorite time of the year – the month of post-Christmas chills. Don’t you feel the unusually cold air at night? Or even during the day, it’s much cooler, right? Well… Just say yes because it really is.

On my way to work this evening I missed the bus again so I had to ride the PUJ. I generally hate it because of the highway smoke but tonight was a bit different because of the cold air. And walking along Emerald Avenue gave me a glimpse of Session Road in Baguio. It was almost this cold when I was there last year so I wondered how cold it would be there now. Along Sapphire road there was this stop light and it said the temparature in Manila was 21 degress. Hmm… I wish it could be colder but it’s still nice. Hehe… I really love it.

And a plus to those who love to dress up, this is our time to wear our long-kept heavy clothes, jackets and scarves. The ones that you despise all-year long because they make you sweat like crazy – this is it. Wear them and flaunt them at night – the cool weather totally brings them justice. I wore a scarf tonight that matched my shoes! Hahaha! Never mind if it may be a bit off for others - di lang sila sanay kasi we’re in the Philippines but wait until ginawin sila sa kakaarte. Hehe. One or two months lang ‘to so let’s get the most of it.

I’ve been overly nostalgic to make a year-end review pa. In general, it was quite a nice year – not over-the-top but something cool and I am thankful for. Let’s just look ahead ’cos I plan to make 2008 one of the best years of my life!

1) Quit smoking
2) Be more productive at work
3) Have a healthy schedule
4) Spend more time with family
5) Lessen shopping expenses

My list of resolutions goes longer than my shopping list but those five are on top. I am not the best person. My schedule’s a mess. And I often make bad choices. But this time I’ll try to get my act together. Seriously.

First of all, I wanna thank my boss for letting me work at home this new year’s eve. It would’ve been so different and so lonely if I had to spend the night alone in the office. Thank you Sir Bobet and Sir Virgil!

Why this New Year celebration is so important to me? My cousin who stays in Singapore is here for a visit and we have not seen each other for so long. And now all of us are here, once again, in the house where we all grew up together. Of course the absence of significant people in our lives is still felt and acknowledged but this momentary togetherness somehow compensates the void. I don’t have a perfect family but I love what I have.

This was Christmas 2007 (delayed pic)

Happy 2008 everybody! This is the best time for change. Make the world better by being better people.