Pixela Pics

I just posted (most probably) the last picture posts for some time to come. These were taken of Team Pixela. Although some were taken December, 2004, these pictures show all the members of the team including the last three members I trained: Rex, Dax and Lott. (When I left, Dax and Lott have not yet passed their verbal exams.)

If you notice the last picture (me and Cielo, with Rino in the background), I couldn't help but really smile. A very toothy grin, in fact. Most probably because I was just happy -- like the cat which caught the canary. That was taken, if I was not mistaken, either Wednesday or Thursday of my last week at work. As much as possible, I did not take any calls during my last week at work. Several reasons, but primarily because I might not stand the urge to just get irate at the poor caller. Hey, what was the worst they could do to me, get me fired? Anyway, that was a very tiring week, with me working a full shift from 10:00pm to 7:00pm, and doing half-day shift at the new job, 1:00 to 5:00pm. I went home after the call center work, slept around 2 to 3 hours, had lunch and went to Makati for the other job. Afterwards, I went to the call center, tried to catch an hour and a half of sleep, had supper, and started work training Lott. It was a very tiring experience. Funny though, I was very giddy at work, with a silly grin most of the time. I was enjoying it. Crazy. I wonder why. I must admit that the various thoughts going through my mind were mainly crazy: about my officemates, friends, callers, my job, my trainees, individual team members, and their various personalities, that sort of thing.

I was happy. I left the company smiling. Now if I can only finish the damn clearance.

--andoy
30 January 2005

Cielo and Me, again with Rino in the background most probably with a UK-line call.
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Tonette (as candid as I can get).
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Lott and Tonette
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Taken during Lott's training.
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Team Pixela, with Martin (Ops. Mgr.) and Ben (TL).
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On the floor, Tatum (in front) with Lott on the next seat, Rudi at the rear.
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Team Pixela on the job, from the front: Tatum, Rudi, Rex, and (hidden) Rino.
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Me, with my two December trainees, Dax and Rex.
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Pixela Team in the former QA Room, Nov/Dec 2004
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Tonette and Tristan Tatum
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Dax
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Headache

Third day on the job and I have a headache. I have no idea why.

What has happened so far? A software inventory. Finalized decision on software usage. Some research. And now a gradual uninstallation and installation of software. Bugs on the network are slowly coming out. I'd guess if we had the numbers, these would have come out in the open earlier.

Some construction still on the office. The construction workers come in after work hours and finish up with the executive offices. So there's a thin patina of very fine dust every morning, from the sanding, painting, etc.

I do miss my mates at the call center. Though I'm thoroughly enjoying the current work hours. Day Walker! Has a nice ring to it.

--andoy
26 January 2005

On the job...

It's my second week on the job. And my first week full-time. There wasn't much to do last week. Just really taking the time to be seen as a new employee. And even now, I'm still lying low, doing practically nothing yet. I guess this will be the tempo of my work here, background stuff, support things which are probably preventable in the first place. It is different from what I was doing in the call center, bottom line is that at least here, I can research and some planning, along with the odd job of cataloguing the software, buying cable ties, etc.

Looks like a fun place to be in. Just waiting for the time when there really is a need for my services, just to see if I can deliver. Should be some time soon.

--andoy
25 January 2005

Ear Rings

There are some days when I can appreciate women's fashion. Or at least fashoin sense. There are days when I don't even want to even try. And there are those days, when you get transfixed and don't know if you like it or you don't. Case in point: the jacket tied around the waist. I don't get it, it looks logical, tries to be cool but sometimes fails. Another case: the scarf, in a tropical country, neat, elegant, but in a tropical country I'd want to think about it.

Which brngs me to my point. Ear rings I like on a woman. These are cute, elegant, non-descript sometimes, and in most instances "points the way." I dare say, that a woman without any ear rings is lost. The fashion concept though is where I get lost. What makes a woman wear dangling ear rings? Why would she prefer studs? Why the variety? I know this "girl" (for want of a better term, as "woman" seems a little too old a term for her) or "young adult" who wears different ear rings everyday. In fact, last I saw her, she was wearing ear rings which were made by her cousin. It becomes her. I have not noticed if she ever wears studs, but I guess I'd not notice if she ever did. I guess I've made up my mind that she should be wearing what pleases her, and that she has a good idea that her ear rings please her a lot. And I hope a whole lot of other guys also notice her and get captivated by her ear rings.

--andoy
25 January 2005

Hell Week!

This really is Hell Week!

I made the mistake of committing to a half-day of work at the company I am moving to. All along, I thought I was still on the US shift on the call center. Turns out that because I was training a new agent, the schedule was changed to 10:00pm to 7:00am (from 1:00am to 10: pm).

With the new schedule, I leave home at 12:00noon, arrive at the office at 1:30 or thereabouts, then stay 4 hours. I arrive at the call center around 7:30pm, with time enough for an hour or hour and a half nap. After finishing the switch at 7:00am, I get home around 8:30 or 9:00 am. After I sleep aroudn 2 hours, I would then prepare to leave for the day job.

So far this week, after four days, I have taken an aggreage of around 10 hours (maximum). I am not sure if I can attend work tomorrow.

Other worries include: training the replacement Agent; turnover of documents; the friends in the precinct, and my kids. I have not seen my kids since Monday morning, when they left for school. And I was only able to talk to them over the phone that one time, last Wednesday
evening.

With regards the gents, I am just making sure that they are okay and that there would be no surprises,that the new agent (who transferred from another account) would be trained enough not to goof up big time. I also wanted to make sure that there was no loose ends with some of the other agents. I have a trainee from December who still has not passed the verbal exams. And the new german-speaking agent, has not taken the verbal exams yet. There is no QA person yet, either. The training materials should be transferred or endorsed to the new trainor, who is yet to be named.

All in all, excepf for the lack of sleep, everything is fine.

--andoy
20 January 2005

"Moments Which Pass By"

Moments Which Pass By


I stand in awe
at moments which pass by

I ask, "When?"
she answers, "I don't know."
I plead, "I need you."
She bows her head, turns
and whispers, "I know."

eyes mist over
agony wrenching from within

I sit across her and wait
watching her stance to nowhere
as if I do not exist
intent on what she does

whispered conversation
lips almost moving
and voices unheard in the ambient noise
"I need a hug," uttered while looking to nowhere
"Here," arms open
in offering and acceptance
chest to breast
warm and tightly locked

The room continues its life
noticing and not noticing
the couple in tight embrace
nonchalant
belying clarity of thought
and acceptance of need and longing

--andoy
18 January 2005

Closing a Page

Although I've already started in the other company, I still have five more days of work in the other call center. My last day of work will be on Friday. I'd be finishing the training either by Wednesday or Thursday. There are several other items I need to turnover. And I need to make sure that my replacement is in a good position to accept the responsibility. Hopefully, the company can decide who among the candidates they'd choose as trainor.

In the meantime, I'm working full-time graveyard shift here, as well as part-time/half-day in the other company. But only for this week. I know it will be a hard week. But I guess, it has to be done.

--andoy
18 January 2005

Starting Again

I started my new job yesterday, Monday. It was a slow start, admittedly, with no desk, and no computer. The AC socket on the floor has no power yet, as the technician was still working on the cabling. However, auspiciously, I saw an old schoolmate who started working that same day.

Butch has had more programming experience than I have, although I may have an edge being a generalist who'll be on the design end. I look forward to working with him, as I've heard a lot about his job experiences. Seems funny that we would be working together 25 years after high school.

On the other end, we've started talking to two manpower companies about getting java programmers. I've worked with both companies before and I also look forward to getting people from them and working with these people. I just hope that the other people I wanted to work with would be able to join me soon enough.

--andoy
18 January 2005

"undertones"

The sex of a long friendship, is the act which is not physical.
It is the smile,
the slight caress of the palm,
the pinch of the cheeks, or the nose,
a smirk,
a wiggling of the nose to raise the eyeglasses,
it is communicating a need,
a short discourse, perhaps,
a hunger of the soul to feed.
It is asking: "have you eaten?", or just asking: "coffee?"

Let the eye stray, or wander,
and maybe the paths might diverge,
it is not fate, or destiny, which will rule,
but that compass at the back of your mind,
of the wish for peace,
a longing for serenity,
of companionship without asking,
without doubt,
without regret, without restraint, and always with utmost respect,
that the bodies will come,
but only if, and only if,
the sex is with the soul.

--andoy
14 January 2005

Moving On

I accepted the offer for an IT position in a company located in Makati. It is a foreign-owned company, which does the management and development of its internal requirements in other countries. I guess this is the end of my days as a call-center agent. Although the possibility exists I'd be ending up in a call-center job one of these days.

It is fun to work at The Call Center. I need to put that as a definitive because the company itself should be the baseline or model for all other call center sites. The company itself is very dynamic. Although the dynamism sometimes leaves the employees dizzy. The people are young, though they have no concept of what tomorrow will bring. A lot of them think that they are earning a lot of money. They're just kids, actually. And yes, they are earning a lot of money, considering that most of them just got out of college, and in other companies can only give them half of what they're currently getting. The industry as a whole will only grow larger in the next few years.

Martin, the Operations Manager for the account, left at the year. Rudi, the German-speaking agent, will leave middle of the month. And I'd be leaving a week afterwards. In the meantime, the French-speaking agent will most probably also leave some time soon, once his father's appointment papers to a foreign-country job pushes through. Anyway, I'm not worried about her, as she still has about two more years of college to finish.

As the account trainor, I had the pleasure of recommending one of the ladies on the account to replace me for that post. A German-speaking agent from another account, will be coming on board immediately, and I'd be doing the training along with the new trainor. As for the QA, which I also do part-time, assisting Rudi, I recommended the Spanish-speaking agent for that post. For the Escalation Agent, I have no recommendations.

And the TL? He's been hinting about resigning since he came on board, and he still has not resigned. Anyway, I never did like him. Maybe I'd rant about him next time around. But not now. This is a happy post. (Not a ranting angry post kind of thingy. hehehe)

But why did I resign? A lot of reasons:

1. Working hours are on local day-time (8:30am to 5:30pm) as against 9:00am to 6:00pm Pacific Time;
2. The pay is better. It is roughly equivalent to two promotions in my current post;
3. It is the industry I've been working on for the past years, until the bottom gave way (or the bubble burst, whichever way you may call it);
4. I will be working with friends I've been working with before and who I've found to be great working with;
5. It would be a stimulating job as it is a totally new approach from the way IT projects were handled before;
6. Internet time, where there is no red-tape;
7. I will be paid to do research over the internet, and play around with the software;
8. Since this is from the ground up, I can mold a team culture, dictate a methodology and a work ethic;
9. As much I can be fired for not living up to expectations, I can also do the firing of guys who don't live up to expectations, the culture, the methodology, and work ethic;
   
10. I will be developing my own team; and, finally, the best reason I can give
    
11. I will not have my current boss.
    

As a whole, these are small reasons, but taken as a whole, I can't just turn around and ignore them. This should be a great ride.

--andoy
8 January 2005

Comments on "My Friend..."

I posted a poem earlier about friends in general and what we sometimes do, or, rather, what sometimes happens when I talk to them (or more precisely, when they want to talk to me.) After reading it, one of my friends called me "asshole." And, of course, I answered, "Yes, I am."

I sent an email to explain, and part of what I wrote was:

"I deserve to write that poem. I have been a very dear friend to a lot of friends. And I have been a shoulder to cry on for a whole lot of them. And for a whole lot more of them, I have been someone who will listen patiently and be there. For some more, I had to talk and say something. Maybe it made sense, maybe it was just platitudes. But they listened.

"I have seen people cry, people you do not know, but I assure you, you are kindred to. And off the top of my head I can name a whole lot of them. At any point in time that I see them in the mall, on the sidewalk, bus stop, airport, or wherever, we stop, we laugh, we cry, we shout, we hug, we kiss, and we cannot get enough of each other. I have never asked anything of them. Yet if they ask, I drop everything that I do so that we can meet. In some instances, I badger these people so that we can meet.

"I hugged a girlfriend at the Farmer's Plaza bus stop while she was crying. I kept still as a good friend narrated the past year of his life, and crying while we were at San Francisco coffee. In an empty Aurora Blvd. Dunkin Donut shop, on a weekday evening, I was sharing my fourth cup of coffee while a was dissecting my friend's relationship -- and he was across me shedding silent tears. On the fire escape, of an old building in Cubao, while a girl friend was narrating her frustrations. At the Mega Mall stairs, while I was holding the hands of a friend's girlfriend. There was one time, on a bus, the girl was crying on my lap (on my lap, for crying out loud!). While sitting on the subdivision's sidewalk, again, holding the hands of a friend's wife. My family, my daughter, my son, my wife, I have had the occasion, to talk while hugging tight and crying together. And more such things have happened before, with other friends, and their girlfriends or wives.

"If you think that the above diminishes you and makes you ordinary, because it happens to a lot of my friends -- that they share with me their frustrations, fears, anger, grief, fortunes, trials, passion, tribulations, and tears -- I want you to think again. You are my friend, which I why I spend time with you. I care for you as much as I care for these other people. Even if I had no money, if you had asked, I would still share with you whatever is in my pocket. This I had done before, and I guess, I would do if you just ask.

"I cherish these memories. Because I was given a gift: that of a friend, standing before me naked, asking help and offering everything and the only thing that is their own, their open unabashed self. I love them for the trust that they give. I could not do any less than to repay that trust with trust.

"I love these people. And in most instances I have told them so. And I also love their girlfriends and their wives, and I have told them that I loved them, too.

"I am not an emotional vulture. I do not feed on the pain. I do not hold the talks as secrets for me to use as blackmail later on. I may remember and I may not, but these friends remember that I was there when they needed to talk to someone. It has taken its toll on me. For a long, long time, I carried the burden with me, the talks I had with my friends. And after a time, I found out that I could not serve them if I keep the pain to myself. Some days, the pain wrenches me, it is a wearying, tiresome burden. And the pain remains with me still, for a month, or two months, or a year, or five years, or ten years, or twenty years or even twenty-five years after.

"I have learned early on, that I can cry along with my friend. But if I do so, it sometimes trivializes what we do. I feel that I need to be strong for them. That they can cry, and I can only ask them to continue to cry as long as they need to and as long as they want to.

"Handkerchiefs? So far as I can remember, very few are returned. I don't remember, because I don't count them. And, anyway, I would rather forget about the hankies."


And after some more explanations by email, I had to write back:


"The poem, I owe to myself to write. For a long, long time I was feeling that I have gone past that, and that all of my friends will live happily ever after. And then reality struck. One by one, old friends from UPLB and AMA have come to call and talk. And in some instances, cry. If after an eternity, you reach out to a someone, I would think that that someone would be a very good friend indeed And frankly speaking, if you were not my friend, I would steer clear away from you the moment I saw you about to cry, or about to tell me some detail about your life I would rather not know. As your friend, I treat you as a friend: someone who will accept me as I am, acknowledge my presence, and trust with what I have. Looking at it from your viewpoint, I need only ask, was a good friend to you? If I was, then that means that you have been a much dearer friend to me. If I didn't care about you, I'd make you cry with a very nasty remark, and leave immediately. Instead, because I care very much for you, I talk to you about your problems. The tears are gravy; they don't bother me, but I like to think that you trust me enough to show them.

"...I never mentioned that you have been a bad friend. To explain further, there are lots of types of friends... Some friends, you go to when you want to enjoy yourself. There are some friends you go to when you want to be alone. And then there are some friends you see and talk to and cry in front of. The last one happens to be me. And not just for you but for a whole lot of my own friends.

"Looking at it from the other viewpoint, you would the friend I would like to be with if I were drinking wine and want to enjoy the view, keeping silent all the while. You would the friend I'd go to if I were window-shopping, for instance, and looking and discussing the merchandise without really buying anything. You would be one of the friends I'd want around if I wanted to diss someone. You are not the friend I'd go to if I wanted to cry. And if you ask any of your friends, that would be the exact same sentiments for a whole lot of them.

"Just my luck, my friends want to be with me if they want to talk about depressing things. And your luck that they seek you if they want to enjoy things. Friends come in many flavors. And whatever friends do, you do not consider these as weaknesses.

"...And you do not have to be friend who goes looking for a shoulder to cry on..."

article: Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES - vnunet.com

Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES - vnunet.com

Blue screen of death crashes Gates at CES
Opening keynote does not go entirely to plan
Iain Thomson, vnunet.com 06 Jan 2005


Bill Gates's legendary luck failed him during his keynote presentation at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

His demonstration of Microsoft Media Center crashed during the presentation on integrating digital photography, and later a Microsoft product manager failed to access the internet with a Tablet PC.

A new game, Forza Motor Sport, also triggered the dreaded Windows blue screen of death.

The presentation started on a jokey theme, with late-night TV host Conan O'Brien presenting a mock version of his own show and a video diary of his and Bill's 'lost weekend' in Las Vegas.

"I got too drunk, I woke up with a hooker," O'Brien said. "Bill got too drunk, he woke up with an Apple computer."

O'Brien said that he was unable to criticise Microsoft because it had implanted a Pentium in his brain, and suggested that Gates should be played by Milhouse from The Simpsons.

But his banter was less welcome when things started to go wrong. "OK, and right now nine people are being fired," O'Brien said as they waited for a slide show to appear.

Gates traditionally has a reputation for being lucky at showing off software to its best effect.

A major slip occurred at a Windows 98 demo at Comdex in 1998 that went into blue screen mode, but Gates returned the next year to successfully show off the progress that had been made.

My Friend, I Ask You Not To Cry In Front Of Me

my friend

I ask you

please not to cry in front of me



why is it, I wonder, that you do that?

unashamedly you cry

in a donut shop while we drink our fourth cup of coffee

in office corridors amid walls decorated with Christmas cheer

in a gotohan, and really crying out loud with tears dripping to a

bowl of arroz caldo

at an EDSA bus stop, in Cubao, while I hug you tight with eyes closed

on a bus going to Laguna while you look out the window trying to

ignore me yet not seeing the scenery

while sitting on the stairs of a mall while I hold your hand

in a grassy field in Laguna where we sat cross-legged in the middle

of the night



you told your tales

how you felt

what you did

who you loved or who you hated

how the land cracked open or how the heavens fell

somebody left or walked away or did not leave



you shouted or whimpered

kicked, punched

bawled, caterwauled

cursed and cussed



in turn I uttered words

empty platitudes besides your concerns

generic words and cliches it seems

"this too will end"

"we will laugh about this years from now"

"such things happen"

"I told you that before"



I too am ashamed that I made you cry

because I listened

and watched while tears wet your cheeks

I offer my handkerchief

once wet, it disappears, never to return

while tears continue from blood-red eyes

accompanied by sniffles



my eyes start to turn wet

yet I could not cry with you

for now you weep

and I can cry later

in silence and alone

where I can shed tears

but not in front of my friend



--andoy, 3 January 2005

Happy New Year 2005

First day of the year 2005. And I am looking forward to more of it. This should be a good year, might even turn out to be great year.

2004 was a good year all in all. Things happened to my career. There was mobility, opportunity and regularization. But, there were job-related health issues. I guess that would be unavoidable. New friends. And I was able to get in touch with friends from the old days, from UPLB and AMA Computer College. Some of my friends got married. And, of course, there were some who were very lucky (or in a hurry) and got pregnant. That should be fun.

There were tragedies. Soc and Alex's daughter died from an aneurysm last August. Rene's father died last October. About the same time Dona Estrella also passed away.

There were national calamities, with several typhoons coming into the country late in the year. There were several international (natural) catastrophes with the earthquake just off Indonesia, resulting in a tsunami which caused a lot of damage from Indonesia, across the Bay of Bengal, to Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and across the Indian Sea, to Africa, and the various island countries.

The elections. 'Nuff said.

Fernando Poe, Jr. died of an aneurysm.

I got held up last January, after spending the good part of a day trying to find a good pair of shoes. I was in an FX, the guy had a gun, and he wanted cell phones. Didn't take any money from the passengers, just the cell phones. I guess he would have been disappointed with my phone as it was a low-end Siemens.

Last November 1, there were three guys who tried to punch me. I was able ride a jeep and these guys did not attempt to get in, but wanted to get the punches through the window. No real damage. For the life of me, I could not remember their faces, although I think they work at Chowking, Riverbanks branch (they were talking about something they did with a customer involving black gulaman.) I guess I was lucky, their punches didn't connect.

Last March, my brother Bert went to the Middle East to work. I would not comment about his loneliness. We miss him very much. He gained weight, mainly because there's nothing to do there. Maybe he can get a vacation later this year.

I have a standing invitation for a an IT job with a former boss. I just need to pull some people first to make sure I've got good technical support before I even start negotiating for the job. It's for a technical/supervisorial position. And I am still not sure if I will accept. Although I am looking forward to working with some of my friends, the current job has its advantages. It's near my home. After the shift, the job is done. The people I work with are great. Well, most of them are. Lousy work hours., but great OT terms. I'm sure with this job opportunity, I can get three times my current salary, but unless a clincher (or deal sweetener) comes along, I'm not pulling stakes and move. If I take up the offer, it's for a long-term contract with prospects of regularization. In my current job, I'm already a regular employee, and with some patience, I think I can make the same amount some time soon (maybe within two years.) If I have not taken up the offer within the next two months, I would most probably stay in place for at least the next six months. And if nothing happens (no movement, no increase, no nothing) during that period, I'm moving.

I am looking forward to the surprises 2005 has to offer. I am sure there would be a lot of them.

--andoy
1 January 2005