freelance update: paid again!

got paid again! :) I'm kinda liking this whole freelancing thing.. :)

--
I am a witness to the suffering of my people.
I am a chronicler of truth and a catalyst of change.

-The Scholastican-

oopsies: on freelancing and birthday greetings

oops! my previous post was supposed to be an update and then I realized I wasn’t able to publish the other post so it wasnt really an update. ahahaha. anyway, here’s the post that was supposed to go before the updates post:

Definitely needed a break ASAP. Feeling the panic of recession, I have basically foregone sleeping the past few days. Currently freelancing as a transcriptionist (with no certainty of getting paid) I have spent hours after hours just trying to complete the files with bouts of asthma and allergic rhinitis on the side.

A week ago I was actually thinking of foregoing this leave but after the past couple of days, I was in dire need of sleep. Still thinking if all this freelancing gig is worth it though, maybe I’d be better off part-timing or something (at least there’s lesser risk of not getting paid). I don’t know. Will just have to wait and see if this pays off. sigh.

–
haven’t had the time to create special posts for my birthday greetings. huhuhuhu. but anyway,

MAUI (FEB.5)
TIN (FEB.9)
TOSCA (FEB.11)
REENA (FEB.13)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

MAUI: we super, super miss you. come back to Manila, now na. hehehe. saw a Terrano the other day and I remembered you. waaah. Uwi naman kayo ni Rach dito, kahit bakasyon lang. hehehe. tawag ka naman sa office, si Rach lahat inaaway eh. ahahahaha. =) (love you Rach, hehehehe.)

TIN: you know naman I’m always here for you (TINY bubbles and HUGE expectations including. ahahahahaha) thanks for always being there for me and always remember, kampi tayo lagi kesehodang kalokohan man yan or may wicked witch tayong aawayin. now on to more important stuff: ano, i-project na natin si you-know-who? wehehe. sabihin mo lang, pahunting natin si girl. hehehe. loves yah! *hugz*

TOSCA: babygirl tush, super super thanks for everything. I really appreciate yung excitement mo pag nagkwekwento ako about the wedding preps, really. it means a lot to me. we miss you na sobra. hi to Gelo. =) ingat lagi ha. loves yah tush. =)

REENA: we’ve been friends for such a long time and I really am glad na all through these years, we’ve managed to keep the friendship going. we met when we were like 12 or 13? that’s like 10 years ago! grabe. =) i miss the letters and the books and the DBP Workshops (kahit na my drawings looked like a 5-year-old could have done a better job while yours looked like they were made by a famous artist and worth like a million trillion bucks. ahahaha.) thanks for the years of friendship and memories. hope to see you soon. =) ingat lagi. =)

--
I am a witness to the suffering of my people.
I am a chronicler of truth and a catalyst of change.

-The Scholastican-

freelance updates

as of 7:30 AM, I got paid already! I was actually getting anxious cause I haven't heard from my client for the past two days and yes I did give him a piece of my mind. hahaha. After a few minutes, I got the payment already and another project for this week. whew. love it! here's the proof from PayPal:

I know it really isnt that big but I really worked hard for it and I am mighty proud of me. hahaha. Freelancing is definitely hard and risky but once you get paid, it's all worth it. =) For freelancing jobs try and visit GetAFReelancer (everything from Data Entry to Transcription to Captcha Work can be found here. You just have to be patient and vigilant as it is risky):

I cried. (repost from 12/11/2008)

I cried. I don't like crying, at least not in front of people I barely know. Work is work. I choose not to mix emotions with my job. I felt embarrassed that I was not able to contain myself. But I just got so fed up with everything that has happened.

I love my job. I like what I do. I like the people that I work with. I go to work on time, I extend my hours if needed, I do everything asked of me. I am not the most perfect employee, but I really do try my hardest to hit whatever we are asked to hit. Employment status is not a small issue, whether it is just a computer glitch or human error. Being marked as termed is bad enough, what frustrates me is how HR dealt with it, or should I say how they did NOT deal with it.

I first encountered a snag when we were supposed to take the security test and people from US could not seem to find my name or even my email address on the list of employees. I was requested to contact our local HR. My immediate supervisor emailed them, she asked me to email them a couple of days later to follow up, which I did. That was three weeks ago. I did not even receive a single reply. How hard can it be to say: "We're working on it. We'll get back to you by blah blah blah." ? That's basic decency.

Weeks later, we were asked to do a self evaluation. Again, my employee ID was not accepted. The reason? According to US, that employee id number, the same number that I have on my supposedly valid company ID, is marked as termed. Again, I was advised to contact local HR, which we did. They replied, stating that they will be looking into it, which they should have been doing THREE WEEKS AGO.

In the first place, I don't understand how I could be marked as termed. We're not even a company of thousands of employees. Yes, people do make mistakes. Yes, it could be possible that it was a computer glitch. But my point is, why are they treating this lightly? Like something they could just deal with after the holidays? For a company that makes money out of background checks, they should have known how important employment records are.

Yes, everybody knows that I am part of the company. Yes, I have received every single pay. But that's not the point. This is my employment record. We're dealing with legal documents here. If let's say I apply for a loan and the bank conducts a background investigation on me, there could be a possibility that my records would not be in the system or worse, my records would show that I was no longer part of the company! Is that what you don't call a big deal?

The other night when my leave conversion did not come in on time, I was beyond upset. I cried my heart out, not because of the money, but because of the way things have been happening the past couple of months. Yes, it could have been because of the bank, and yes, it did arrive around 3am, but still, when you're marked as termed and you're supposedly leave conversion did not come in, what was I supposed to think?

It was never about the money. My work has never been about the money. If it was, I would have left Manila a long time ago. I am here because I like what I do and I choose to do it. I do feel a bit offended with how they treat us. They should have realized that this was a big deal and it's not something you get back to as an afterthought.

I cried, and to be honest, I felt a bit embarrassed. I should have maintained professionalism. I should have sucked it in and spoke without revealing my true emotions. But I was just so disappointed and fed up already. It's tough enough to get motivated when you're dealing with a hard client who has impossible demands, what more when you dont even get the treatment that you deserve.

I just feel blessed to have C as my team lead. If not for her, I don't know how I could have kept calm for so long. I remember I was all set to walk out that night. I called James, crying incessantly, telling him I dont wanna stay anymore. But he convinced me to go inside and deal with it like an adult.

My eyes were red but I was fairly okay. And then I saw C and emotions just got the better of me. She's just so nice to us and I just really felt guilty about complaining. But at the same time, I'm just so disappointed with how everything was dealt with. It was not her fault and I felt bad that she was at the receiving end of my pent up frustrations with HR.

I have a couple of days to relax, to get my act together. Monday morning, I will be back to work with my game face on. No more tears, no more crying. But I will not take the issue with my employment status sitting down. They will hear from me, just without the tears and snuffles.

--
I am a witness to the suffering of my people.
I am a chronicler of truth and a catalyst of change.

-The Scholastican-

missing Batch 1 and 2

--
I am a witness to the suffering of my people.
I am a chronicler of truth and a catalyst of change.

-The Scholastican-

of leaves and suprises

We've all been there. You know those days when we're lying on the bed, wishing we didn't have to go to work and then thinking: "hmmm, what if I just call in sick and then sleep all night long." I'll be honest I have come close to calling in sick about more than ten times (hahaha) 'cause I felt like my pillows were calling me to go back and sleep. But for some reason, my conscience always gets the better of me.

Just this morning, I found out that all those days that I have chosen to step away from my bed and haul my ass off to work have basically paid off. By some sort of fluke we had extra four paid leaves and that's on top of my 10 encashable leaves. yey! I was super happy. I got to choose the dates that I wanted and all of those days would be when James gets back home. another yey! =) Love it. =) I was literally smiling on my way home, which probably looked a little bit crazy cause I didn't have anybody with me. hahahaha. =)

Another good news that I got this week was about the w@w auction. a little backstory: WeddingsAtWork held an auction wherein things like hair and makeup trials, photo and video packages, flowers, wedding coordination, etc were all up for bid. I wish I could have went for the big ones like Cecilio Abad Wedding Gown Packages or a Jason Magbanua Video Coverage, but most of the big ticket items were only until November 2009. Oh well.

But since I could not resist joining in, I just bid on the hair and make up trial packages, particularly Eddie Bruan's. It was fun and exciting. With literally 20 seconds left, I was able to win an Eddie Bruan HMU Trial for 750 pesos (it was worth 1,500). I was so happy. I mean, I saved like 50%. When I got the email from Ms. Benz confirming that I won the item, imagine my shock when she told me that I didnt have to pay for it. They're giving it to me for free! Wow! =) Talk about lucky. =) All this because I'm a w@w bride. =) hahaha. I just love being a w@w bride. =)

--
I am a witness to the suffering of my people.
I am a chronicler of truth and a catalyst of change.

-The Scholastican-

work, babies, parties and true friends.

It has been a sluggish work week. We've been on a heavy workload and I think it's beginning to take its toll on me. I come home and all I wanna do is sleep. James has been around more often than usual but that didn't even perk me up. He has been commenting on and off about how I have zero energy (true.). I dont know, I just feel tired and a tad bit overworked. Hopefully, things will be better this week.

One great thing about my week was getting to see the girls. It has been soooooooooo long since we last saw each other. Even if I had zero sleep, we invaded Keane's party with our endless stories and booboos. hahaha. =) It was nice to get reminded about how truly blessed I am to have friends like them. It has been years and yet here we are, still the same girls, cracking the same jokes (although our topics have since evolved to more mature ones. hahaha.)

Doesnt matter how rare we see each other, I know we'll always, always be friends. We've all gone through a lot, but I think what made things easier for us was the fact that we have gone through the tough times together. With them, I could just be me without fear of ever being judged.

Keane's party was definitely a blast. I loved everything from the food, to the games, to the mascots. hahahaha. It was a bit surreal, though. I can't believe that this little guy has actually turned one already! Time flew by sooo fast. I havent even fully absorbed the fact that we're all in that timeframe already. You know that time where everybody around you whom you've known since way way back, either start having kids or start getting married. It's nice, actually. =) Really, really nice. =)

And oh yeah, we're welcoming a new little kid in the group and we've all decided that the baby is gonna be a girl (her parents just dont know yet). ahahahaha. =) We're so, so excited. Can't wait. =)

Big Plans. One Leave.

I actually had big plans for my middle of the week leave from work. (okay, they were not really not that huge, read: life changing, but what the heck, they're huge for me. wehehehe.)

- go to the bank, deposit some money
- call travel agencies for hongkong-macau or hongkong-disneyland packages
- get a head start on our misallete
- finish my wedding master checklist
- finally organize all the fliers and brochures that I got from previous bridal fairs
- watch tv shows that I dont get to watch cause I'm at work
- make blueberry cheesecake (been craving one for the looooooongest time)

I had a good start. Around 11am, I went to the bank and succesfully deposited some money (love BDO!). Got home around 1, laid down for a while and started checking my mail and surfing the usual sites I visit. Went to get my phone and started calling travel agencies, but nobody seems to be answering (hmm, they might be on lunch break or something).

Got back to my lappie and started editing out the misallete. My eyes started to feel a bit droopy (I haven't slept since I came home from work), so I decided to take a short nap, thinking that I'll just get back to whatever I was doing a little later. Woke up around 4, I was simultaneously texting Tin about the "pabibos" and typing more stuff. Decided to wait for James (he got home around 5:30). We chatted for a while, then after signing off, I got back to my typing.

I remember that while I was envisioning the things I'm gonna do with what's left of my big leave, I started to feel a bit sleepy again and thought: " hmm, a couple minutes of snooze won't hurt." umm, no. I woke up to a dark room, TV off, lappie off. Picked up my fone and almost fell off the bed when I saw the time: 11:00 PM. WTF? ahahahaha. =) There goes my "big" plans.

oh well, at least I got "some" sleep. blueberry cheesecake can wait. =)