Old Friends Meet Again

Allan, Chris, Rico and Sunshine at Audric's First Birthday Party
at KFC Banawe

It's seldom that you meet friends who you would want to be friends with for a long time and if you do happen to find them, you try your best to keep them with you until you grow old together.

I am fortunate to have such friends. Our friendship has lasted for more than 20 years now--almost half of our lives. We were a bigger group before brought together by our love for gaming. (Actually, I knew nothing about it then but when one of them took me under his wing when I was a College freshman, I was hooked.)

That big group of about 8 have now trickled down to 4 (sometimes, 5). Some have moved to other countries while others have pursued different interests. I'm glad that we still have this core group that gets together during special occasions--such as the first birthday of Allan's youngest. We don't see each other as much as want, moreover since two of us are already married and with kids, but I always look forward to meeting them when time permits.

There are still 2-3 of them that still meets to play and someday, I hope we can have a spare day where we can have one serious role-playing game. I miss going on an adventure with these guys--even if the adventure is just in our minds.

Multiply Sync and Double Posts

To those who are first-timers to my blog, my apologies for some of the double-posts especially during the period of 2006-2008. When Multiply shut down, it gave us the option to merge our Multiply content to whatever site we have. Unfortunately, I've forgotten that I share some of my Blogger posts with Multiply and vice versa. So please give me time to sort things out. I have not been taking care of my blog as much as want this past year but I hope I'll have more time to do this soon.

A Good Manager Is...Part II

In 2008 when I was a unit head with another bank, my management skills were sorely tested then which you can read about here. Five years later, my skills were again put to the test. After the first incident, I knew that I can handle anything else but it never made it easier.

Back then, I had to make a decision to transfer people to another unpopular unit. This time around, I had to deal with an erring staff who went against our company's code of conduct. Fortunately, I had another colleague with me to help me through it and made the unpleasant task more bearable.

I love my team. I consider them my children--all 58 of them. Like all relationships, our work was based on TRUST. I trust my team to do their jobs and they trust me to take care of them. Unfortunately, this person broke my trust as he managed to find a way around the controls that we installed. Moreover, he still persisted even the previous times that we warned him. That what got my goat.

I asked him if I was lacking as his manager but even before he answered my question, I knew that there are some things that are out of my control which I cannot blame myself for. Nevertheless, that does not stop me from doubting my skills as a manager and think whether I'm good enough for my team.

I've always believed that a team is reflective of the manager. If the output of my team is trash and they are disorganized, it will reflect on me. That's why when I first came in, it was a dictatorship the first few months. I instituted different controls and check and balances. I was aiming for better quality of work and I truly believe that it should stem from discipline. I strictly monitored attendance and overtime and checked their process and productivity standards. I was known then as "The Hulk" as I was the type of person that you would not want to anger ("You won't like it if I'm angry"). Further on, I learned to relax and let go and accept that some things I cannot change. But this type of blatant disregard for company policies is something that I cannot tolerate.

I truly hope that everything will be settled for everyone soon--including me. There's a local saying that goes, "Trabaho lang". But I am still a person who still feels emotions and I cannot help but feel pity for the person.

Oh yeah, I will never take CCTVs for granted ever again.

My New Hobby

Since only recently, my answer to the question "What is your hobby" can be somewhat generic -- reading, watching movies and TV series and internet surfing. Though it can be justified that they can different forms of learning, they are not as productive or would give me a sense of accomplishment. My EQ was quite low and I am for immediate gratification. However, that can only get me so far.

Early this year, I rediscovered my love for cross-stitch. Since Christmas season is fast approaching and since I'm on "tipid" mode, I entertained the thought of giving out some of my cross-stitch pieces as gifts. However, I'm not as prolific as I want. Ever since February this year, I only finished one complete piece and I sent this to my mom in the US as my birthday gift for her. I started a piece meant for my mother-in-law but I'm not even halfway done. If I want to at least make a dent on my Christmas list, I need to come up with a DIY project that can be easily duplicated and replicated and which will not make a big dent in my pocket.

Enter, Pinterest (look for me: sunshifairy). My office colleagues introduced me to this wonderful site and I never ran out of craft ideas. I started my crafting a month ago and I never looked back. I was able to jazzify some wooden pegs (see picture at the left) which can serve as an alternative to foldback clips or even paper clips. They also make nice clips for attaching gift tags on presents. I even placed magnets on some of them so they can be placed on metal surfaces to hold pictures and what-have-you.

However, this type of gifts can only be appreciated by girls. I still have to look for DIY projects for the guys in my team. I found another one in pinterest which I can hopefully replicate. If ever I am successful, I will definitely post it as I will top any craft project I ever made.

Habagat

It's that time of year when monsoons abound and flooding is now becoming a norm in the Metro.

It all started in 2009 when Typhoon Ondoy happened and I shared about my experience here. From then on, flood after flood hit our country with the recent one just last year--also during the same month as this one.

In 2009, Marikina was badly hit. In 2012, Habagat caused a landslide at Commonwealth and flooded Roxas Blvd most especially that swanky hotel in the CCP Complex. This time around, it's Cavite, Laguna, Las Pinas and Paranaque that took the brunt of the habagat brought about by typhoon Maring.

It has become a running joke (although some people are beginning to take it seriously) that everyone should buy rubber boats and keep it for emergency purposes. Even for areas that are not usually susceptible to flooding are no longer spared. I dread the time that even our area, which is quite high, would also be submerged. If that happens, all of Manila should already be underwater.

This morning, I woke up at 3AM with rains literally pounding our roof. My staff began to text me one by one that they will be unable to report to work due to floods. I still got ready for work and began to monitor the flood situation through @SkywaySOMCO (and witnessed Lady Gaga's and Perez Hilton's twitter war at the same time). I usually take the "At Grade Level" of SLEX but after reading conflicting reports about flooding, I took the Skyway and arrived in the office within 30 minutes. My colleagues started to arrive in trickles and we began to hear of other offices and banks that called off work. By 8AM, our president suspended operations but most of us stayed letting the floods subside. I went home a couple of hours later after doing a bit of work. I freaked out when I saw in my FB and Twitter feeds about the flooding at the Sta. Rosa area of SLEX and hoped that the tail end won't reach Alabang. Fortunately, I made it home in decent time.

I've made it a habit of keeping an extra change of clothes, slippers, water and crackers in the car whenever typhoon season starts. I do not want to be caught unprepared again although I hope to have an amphibious car someday if  global warming should continue.

Midterms

I'm stuck here in school waiting for my class to finish two midterm tests. Yes, I'm proctoring for the other teacher as she's still on bed rest. I'm feeling a wee tad guilty (just a little bit) as my bonus question is harder than the actual exam. But well, I guess that's the reason why it's a bonus question. I guess it's my way of making my class listen in the future as they always tend to become talkative whenever there's an ongoing recitation. My bonus question is based on their recitations and if they are listening to me instead of discussing some side issues with their seatmates, that question will be very easy.

As an update, my department chair requested me to take on the class previous to my time slot. It seems the professor is experiencing a delicate pregnancy and would not be able to make it to class the rest of the term. I don't mind the additional income although I'll be learning the subject from scratch. Good thing I have some sort of background knowledge on the subject as it's mostly about my job but on a different perspective.

Reading through my post yesterday, I'm glad I made the conscious decision to be happy today. I remember walking in the mall yesterday telling myself that I will be happy and I'm glad I did. I do not like feeling depressed or wallowing in self pity. I finally took to heart the pep talks that I've been giving myself yesterday and it finally did the trick.

Prayers are still welcome. :)

Happiness is...

Whenever I hear the word "happiness", a song from Charlie Brown (which was also sung locally by Lea Salonga and her brother Gerard in one of their concerts) comes to mind:

Happiness is finding a pencil.
Pizza with sausage.
Telling the time.
Happiness is learning to whistle.
Tying your shoe for the very first time.

Happiness is playing the drum in your own school band.
And happiness is walking hand in hand.
Happiness is two kinds of ice cream.
Knowing a secret.
Climbing a tree.
Happiness is five different crayons.
Catching a firefly.
Setting him free.

Happiness is being alone every now and then.
And happiness is coming home again.
Happiness is morning and evening,
Daytime and night time too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That’s loved by you.

Happiness is having a sister.
Sharing a sandwich.
Getting along.
Happiness is singing together when day is through,
And happiness is those who sing with you.
Happiness is morning and evening,
Daytime and nighttime too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That’s loved by you.

And if you want to sing along, here's the song:



I've been in the doldrums lately and I've been repeating the mantra "happiness is a decision and not a feeling". I want to decide to be happy but extenuating circumstances are forcing me to rethink that decision. It could be the reason why I'm keeping myself busy to keep myself from facing it.

There's also "God has a plan for me" and "God's timing is always perfect" which I posted in my timeline. I know these things but it's so hard to keep them to heart when you're being battered by negativity. I cannot afford to break and I know that I'll be back to my old jolly self in a few days time.

In the meantime, please pray for those who would need more prayers than me. I know my concerns are insignificant compared to those who are struggling with life-threatening illnesses or those who are struggling with their lives and relationships. However, if you can still say a small prayer for me, it would be a big help.