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Blogger for 3 years...

I was reading Bianca's blog yesterday morning. One of her past entries was about her Blog's Anniversary, where she gave her readers a chance to ask her a question which she answered one by one on a separate entry. Then I just remembered, it's September! My Blogger just turned three years... :-)

I remembered to visit my very first blogsite, which I haven't visited or updated for quite a while now, and I noticed how much my attitude towards blogging has changed for the past year. I was chatting with my girlfriends Joi and Nel that time, then I told Joi that I think I am no longer into blogging as I was before and she's one of the reasons why, ha! ha! On top of that, ever since I underwent a hardcore Voice and Accent Training in the company, actually twice now, I got confused and I got really conscious to blog, thinking that my VA trainers and co-trainees will 'PEG' me here, ha! ha!

Blogging for me all started when I stepped in to the corporate-world-of-unlimited-access-to-high-speed-internet three years ago. ;-P I met this girl who was already into blogging, and I guess becoming her friend requires being hooked to blogger as well, while the rest is history. :-D

I was so into blogging that time where I actually see to it that I update it AT LEAST once a week. I used to blog every friday but there came a time where I'll write an entry on the beginning of the week, save it as a draft, update it everyday and publish it by the end of the week. It just feels good knowing that someone somewhere actually is reading it and I love the way I kinda let people into my life by reading my thoughts and experiences on this online diary I have. Then Friendster started to have it's own blogsite as well so I thought, just to be consistent, I will cc my posts there. After a year of having my blogger account came Multiply. I was so happy with this site because aside from allowing you to post unlimited photos and videos, you can also blog there, upload music, write a review, add friends, and everything I can basically do with my blogger, friendster, photobucket, flicker, youtube and freeweb accounts all combined!

Now, as the years go by, I got tired of updating the online accounts I have and started to just stick with my multiply. And even if there is now an option to sync blog entries from blogger to multiply, I loved the rest of the other options multiply offers with regards to blogging. I came to realize that my only reason why I am keeping my blogger account was because of it's value for me... this was the first home of all my thoughts put into words... At the same time, I'm not into blogging that much anymore...

Since my best (blog) friend Joi moved to another company last year, I no longer have a friend by my side reminding me to update my blog, haha! But really, aside from that, I think since I had a career move in the beggining of the year, my attitude towards work has changed too. I mean, access to everything online is still there, especially now that we're using this genius iMac, but I think now I am more serious when it comes to work, I am now more focused on what I am doing since I'm working on achieving "a goal". Before, work for me is just play, and the best part of it is that you're getting paid and since I got used to what I was doing so much, it was just easy for me to update my blog and take in calls at the same time, chat with my seat mate.

I sign up for online accounts left and right just so I am updated. I am everywhere online, try searching for 'nicoledgoddess' in google and you'll get close to 600 results, try yahoo, you'll get 1,200 plus! My expression that goes "my life is an open blog" slowly became for real. And the sad part of it is the more you let people into your life, THE MORE THEY WANT! I started to have invalid accounts to websites I don't even visit, and the spam, around 30% of the messages I receive on my email accounts everyday is junk! And the worse part of it, there are people who think that they know me so well just because they read my blog. There are even times where I'll see people buying the things I want, doing the things I planned to do and going to places I'm planning to go, because I blogged about it and apparently they read it! How pathetic!!!

Well, I really have gotten so tired about the bad side of blogging. I then decided to just blog when I feel like it, like right now. haha! So in celebration of my Blogger Account's third year anniversary, I'm giving this blogsite a permanent rest. Since I know I won't be able to "take care" of it anymore, I decided not to update this blogsite from anymore and just stick to my multiply.

Three years of being with me through tough, crazy and happy times, my blogger I thank you. I know that if the time comes where I'll need something to write down my thoughts with you'll still be there for me... Happy Anniversary and goodbye... :-)

!!!!!

My friendster account was hacked! My about me was wiped out, almost all of my photos on the profile was deleted (one was left), my shoutout was removed and 16 of my friends who has an apostrophe (') on their names was deleted. So guys, in case you no longer see your name on my friend's list, I didn't delete you, just add me again. I'll try to just track you back one by one but I need your help.

Whoever did this, God Bless You!!!

Goodbye ...

[warning: long entry!]

While the rest of the people from the bloggin' world has declared their New Year's Resolutions, and while everybody had told all their stories for the have been year 2006, the bloggin' addictus me who used to publish her have been, to do's, plans, right now, future, adventures, dreams, shopping and food escapades etc., as often as she can, has been quiet for some time now, for some strange reasons. Guess what, I can no longer hold my silence. The sadness of the word goodbye that I've been keeping to myself for a while is something that I think, I am now ready to share. I've actually started writing this entry months back, but it's just now that I felt ready to publish it.

I know that it might not be a surprise for you anymore, since I think the news of me moving out of EarthLink WebHosting in PeopleSupport, my second home for the past three years of my career, has been roaming around for the past few months already. Yes guys, that company where I lived 9-12 hours of my life a day, 5 days a week, for close to three years of my life is now on my dearly past. Maybe people from my workplace already saw this coming since last year. I've been holding on since I started being left behind by my friends, Pakko and Wacks in 2005, and Joi on June 2006. It was a good thing I was a part of the team ever since it started so all of the people there are like family to me and that made the adjustment much easier. I've been keeping to myself the struggle I was really feeling inside for the last year of my stay there. 2006 was really a challenge I may say. I didn't want Carlo to start asking me again to quit the job and I avoided the "I told you so" comment from my friends, especially those who were aware of what was happening around. I loved the people I worked with so much. Even those that I know I hate, really. They were the reason why I stayed and hoped for some changes for the better, but until the end, there was none.

One day when I can't sleep I thought about my stay there in PS. I remember that I was half happy and half scared back the time when I learned that I got the job and I am to start on March 15, 2004. I was still in College then and school won't be officially over in two weeks. I had to transfer to the night class to be able to attend to my training in the morning. Days go by and as I started to learn a lot of things I never even thought I'd be interested about, the fear was replaced by excitement and happiness each time I am to go to work, each time I am at work. Months go by and as I do my best to be a wife, a mom, a family, a friend, and a career woman all at the same time, for some reason I never get tired and I just kept going.

After about less than a month of taking calls I was offered by my supervisor then (Mommy Irish) a spot on the line up of what we call "Tier2". People who'll be responsible for taking "supervisor/escalated calls" and stuff like that. I refused. I was so agressive then that from the start I was eyeing for a supervisory position and I didn't thought that additional responsibilities was the key to that path. Months and years pass by, still no promotion. I am such an achiever so I started to get tired of what I was doing just because I oh so mastered it already. Some people even say that I can take calls even when I'm asleep! I admit during that time I am not happy with what I'm doing anymore and the only thing that kept me going to work are the people I work with that I love who I know believes and cares for me. When I said that 2006 was really a challenge, for me it really was because I almost gave up, well, yeah in the end I actually did.

It was September of last year when Carlo said that he might get the Store Supervisor promotion by summer of 2007. That time I knew it was like a sign from God that it's time for me to move on. I know that I've worked as hard as I can but it just strucked me that I will never get promoted because I can't be a drinking/smoking buddy for "them". That time I realized all the flaws that I've been trying to ignore just because I love the work and I love working my a** off. Talent, hardwork, loyalty, commitment and whatever it is I can offer is nothing especially if some people are aware that I can be better or let me say I am better than them! That is the sad truth on the account I lived and left. And until know I wonder why it took me almost three years to get to realize that.

During that time I started looking around for other options that might give me more opportunities I deserve. I planned my silent exit from work by going on vacation leave after Christmas. I did a lot of thinking and finally decided to leave the company a month before my third year anniversary with them. Since my resignation, I've been to the office just twice and made sure that I didn't encounter anyone really close to me. Morning was the best time just because there were just a few of them on the floor. It's not that I'm avoiding any ambush interview but I know that it'll definitely be harder for me if I get to see them, my family for years and bid goodbye. I just told myself that maybe, my official goodbye to them was when I handed my holiday presents to everyone a couple of days before Christmas. Technically, my last day "at" work was on the 31st of December because on that day, I took my last call.

I've been out of the company for more than three months now, and I'm proud to be able to survive the "leaving your comfort zone" struggle that they call. Everyday I still think and imagine on what could've happen if ever I didn't actually left, maybe this, maybe that. I miss everything about my previous work. I miss the workload (the company and the account that I'm working with now is just so darn easy!). I miss getting 40-60 calls on a regular day where 8 out of 10 customers are irate! (haha!) I miss invalid escalations, invalid SRs, update trainings, team buildings, parties, and all the activities where people from our team are always well dressed!(really!) I miss eight hours of non-stop Jabber. I miss site downtimes. I miss troubleshooting Trellix, FrontPage, Outlook, and hearing customer's rant, wanting to speak to Gary Betty! (haha!) I miss the floor, our office. I miss the feeling of being at home where you see people walking in bedroom slippers, wrapped in blankets and borrowing each other's pillows. This might sound funny, but I miss "7th floor", haha! (Robinson's Summit Center) I miss the way people hates going there because they'll smell like used cooking oil in minutes but they still do just because the cafeteria simply got almost everything we might need and want. I miss Makati. I miss the place where almost everything is accessible 24/7. Taxi, ATMs, MiniStop and 711 are everywhere; Starbucks almost in every builing; a wide variety of fastfood and delivery even in midnight; and a few blocks walk away from Ayala Center! Working in a city like that makes life much more easier! haaayyy ...

But the people I worked with were the ones I missed the most. I regularly check their multiply sites for new pictures and read their blogs for updates. I miss the times where we just laugh our hearts out of anything, making fun of wrong grammar, pronunciations and stupid customers; Ordering food from whoever we feel for the night; walking two blocks to get McDonalds, three blocks for KFC; Hating Clark for being such an a**, loving Lowell for being the master, and wondering what Mike E.'s mood for the day is, haha! Bus rides, MRT, Videoke, Valero Cafe, and all the things we could do for bonding; EOP, Clean desk policy, no mobile phones and gadgets on the floor, and the rest of the other regulations we hate and disobey whole heartedly, haha! I could go on and on but I know, it will not make any difference, I can never bring the good old times back anymore. Even if we all know that we hate each other at times and that there were issues between power trippers at the management team; the gap between Tier2 and Tier1; and the rest of the other issues we had for the past years, in the end, we still stick to being together, we are one family, we care for each other.

There's a saying that the only constant thing in the world is change, it doesn't make any sense for me before, but as I started the new year, 2007, a lot of changes in my life took place and now I get to realize, yeah, maybe change is the only constant thing we'll have in our lives. Whether for the better or not, we have to have them, we have to face them. There are lot of things that I have wanted to do to be able to express how grateful I am to the company who sheltered me, the account who tolerated me, and the people who loved me for the past three years, but I did nothing and left. Despite the reality that I had tons of negative reasons why I left, yes, I am still grateful.

So to everyone, thank you. Thank you for the experience. Thank you for the friendship. Thank you for everything.
I'll see you around. Ü

I'm good!

It just hit me that my last post was last year, exactly a month ago. Yeah, I know you guys, my co-bloggers out there might really think the "This is so not her" thing, haha! But the reason why I haven't been online as often as I used to was because I was on a "real" vacation! Wohoo! I had a vacation from work so I also had a vacation from instant messaging, from spamming your e-mailboxes, (haha!), from blogging, from online reviews, from multiply, from youtube, from blogger, from friendster... A vacation out of the internet world. I just had to check them once in a while (like in three days) or I'll get sick. Hahaha! Kidding...

So, what's up with me the past month or so... I already updated my multiply site with photos and some kwentos so just go check it out. Well, the reason why I had to have this vacation of some sort, aside from the holiday season of course, was because I was advised to give my voice a break, I had to take medications for it and it does include/require less talking. In other words, I can't take calls for two months. Gee ... I used to be able to do Mariah's Whistle but now, I suffer from soar throat almost every month! So I just realized that yeah, maybe it's just about time to listen to the doctor. Ü

I didn't really expect to have a full vacation though, since, knowing me being addicted to being busy; I took it as an opportunity for me to do the things that I've been wanting to do last year. Attend to some affairs with family and friends; Ran errands at home, organized the house from the furnitures to the paperworks to the appliances we've been trying to purchased that now we were able to. I was able to finally finish watching the second season of two of my favorite TV series (LOST and Desperate Housewives). I was able to run through Nianne's books and toys and finally decided which ones should be donated/disposed. I was able to go out on dates with Mahal anytime he wants. etc. etc. I just think that I was able to accomplish at least 70% of my "to-do's" already without abusing my voice. Haha! The major thing on my list that I haven't done yet though, was getting a TIN ID, SSS ID, and a Driver's License! God bless me for driving without license for two years now! Haha!

To be honest, now that I've been on leave for exactly a month, I'm going crazy already! Hahah! I dunno. I just feel sometimes that being at home all day, whether or not I was able to do tons of things and stuff, I still wanted the way it was when I was really "working" on a "real job". I just realized how bored I will be by the time Carlo and I have our second child. Since we decided that I'm gonna have to quit my job after giving birth to take care of the baby until he ("HE" talaga oh! hahahah!) starts Preschool, just like what we did with Nianne. Now I'm starting to think of some business which will keep me away from "going crazy" by then (hahaha!), to keep me still productive even at home, which will not require so much time than what I have for our kids. But hey! This is just another one of my crazy thoughts of mine guys ok! I am so not pregnant! haha!

Alright, time to go back to my vacation mode now. Take care everyone! See you around! (^_^)

Everyone: How are you?
Me: I'm good! Ü Thanks for asking ...

Happy New Year !!!

Wishing you and your family a fruitful, prosperous, and a blessed year, 2007.
May God be with you always. Love life and stay happy.

Happy Birthday Dad!

before the end of 2006

You are a Performer!

(Dominant Extroverted Abstract Feeler)You are a PERFORMER (DEAF)— personable, self-assured, and excellent under pressure. You are extroverted and strong-willed, which, in combination means you are good with people and aren't willing to let opportunity pass you by. Congratulations. I'm sure all the peons you've stepped on never saw it coming and didn't feel a thing. You have formidable creative talents, and you often follow what your heart tells you instead of your logical mind. Your exuberance can earn you many friends and admirers, despite your ambition, or it can intimidate the less confident into keeping their distance. It's also possible that you're Madonna.

Check out yours here.

Happy Weekend!

(^_^)

SE on 007

We just saw the latest sequel of 007, Casino Royale, and to be honest with all of you guys, I enjoyed the film not because it's been a while since I last saw James Bond and his stunts, but because I love the way they actually featured various Sony Ericsson phones on the film. Well of course the film was produced by Sony Pictures so SE phones will definitely be a part of the production, but the way they actually make them visible on each scene, plus they featured most of the coolest units there, is the part that Carlo and I really loved.

We've been SE users for sometime now so forgive us for being biased. We just love their unique design, cool-funky features, plus the fact that they're being manufactured by one of the leading companies in the field of technology, Sony, merged with one of the leading company in telecommunications, Ericsson, what more can you ask for? ;-P I remember that Carlo's first ever mobile phone was a one-liner Ericsson which I already forgot the exact name of, he switched to using a Nokia 6150, then a Nokia 3510, but he was never satisfied, until I got him an SE S700i as an early Christmas present last year (please don't remind me of my stolen p910, please!). And now, he's been eyeing that K800 since the beginning of the year, and after seeing Casino Royale, he said that the silver Limited Edition K800 is not worth the wait (even if it's set to be released anytime soon) so I'm getting him a black k800 by next week, ha-ha! I'm just wondering if it's really waterproof ... ;-P

Let me just play a little game and see if I was able to identify the phones featured on the movie right. I'll try to enumerate the model units used by the characters ...

• James Bond = K800 (limited silver edition)
• Vasper Lynd = M600 (I like this phone but it doesn't have a camera)
• Solonge = W810 (the camera of this phone rocks! Mic have it)
• Mathis = K700
• Mollaka = T68
• Alex Dimitrios = W300 (the black one which looks really cool!)
• Mr. White = Z520
• Airport Bomber(I dunno his name) = K608 (a 3G phone)

These are just the ones that I can recall, just feel free to correct me in case I got some of them mistaken since that's one of the reasons we have a so called "comment box" ha-ha! By the way, you can check out my full review for the film here.

Have a great weekend everyone! =)

The fake me!

It's just one of those forwarded text messages we regularly receive, but this time, it requires other people to participate and it's really fun. I spent an entire day (or two) laughing my heart out of all the replies I received. So, let me just go ahead and share some of them with you all, here it goes ...

"What if one day, may dumating na fake na NICOLE, how would you know na fake sya?"
Give me 3 facts, Don't break, it's fun! =)

Ces said:

1. she hates cooking.
2. she never blogs, not even once.
3. she doesn't share a birthday with her daughter and grandma. :-)
   

Joi said:

1. ask her to cook.
2. say "dude, Oh my God!" with feelings!
3. ask her what her ultimate favorite movie is. (it's titanic guys, just in case, ha ha!)

Sybil said:

1. she's not loud!
2. she doesn't say "Oh my God!"
3. payat sya! bwahahahaha (this part's included guys, seriously, ha-ha!)
   

Erin said:

1. pag hindi glamorous.
2. pag hindi nakakatawag pansin.
3. pag hindi ako pinapansin kasi hindi kilala. Ü
   

Karen said:

1. Panget.
2. Boring.
3. Walang sex life hehe. (oh no! ha-ha!)
   

Cecil said:

1. her english is bad.
2. "high" AHT.
3. doesn't have a friendster account or a blog. am I not so right? ha ha! (you got it! ha-ha!)
   

Nel said:

1. silent-type.
2. nag-iiwan ng tira. (food)
3. hindi palaban.
   

Popin said:

1. may mataas na AHT.
2. malungkot.
3. hindi nangbabati. :-)
   

Aleck said:

1. fake na Nicole would be quiet and pa-girl.
2. if she's not makulit, it's fake.
3. I'll let her say the phrase "you're so good!", pag iba pagkakasabi, fake na Nicole yun.
   

Mic said:

1. di nag-iinterrupt pag may nagsasalita.
2. di nya expression ung "Oh my God!"
3. doesn't talk about her family every hour. - ayos ba? (ha-ha! ayos mic!)
   

Nice answers guys! ha-ha!

Anyways, FYI for the people from outside the Call Center world, AHT stands for "Average Handling Time" for calls. For example, you took 45 calls a night, 5mins. AHT. And in case you still don't get it, ask any of your friend from the same field I am to explain more further/go into details. ;-P

What about you? How would you know if it's a "Fake Nicole"? Ü