I thought I won't make it as a Tech Support Rep. For 2 weeks, my brain was filled with countless tech jargons and it hurt my brain pretty bad. I was about to concede but I fortunately was able to pass the final exams. A big sigh of relief for me but it left me really exhausted. I can still feel the exhaustion when I went live this morning to handle technical problems for America's largest ISP - EarthLink. I'm not sure if I'm gonna like this job but probably I'll get the hang of it after a couple of months (I want to say weeks but knowing myself, it's quite impossible to achieve). So far so good, I was able to save 2 possible irate callers (thank goodness I was able to fix their problems) and had a long call from this lady who probably, could've been the most illiterate person in computers I've ever assisted. The lady was nice though which made my heart soft for her. If the customer was a bitch, I would've been fired right away because I am known to be a very irate agent, and when I turn to a very irate agent, I do unimaginative evil stuff that CSRs (Customer Service Representatives) or TSRs would never, ever do.

I'm officially back in the call center industry. Back to square one. Big adjustment. I'm a nobody here compared to my days in Peoplesupport where I could've been a Team Supervisor. It's quite okay I guess. I don't care about promotions anymore. I just wanna work, work, and work. I will work until I get tired and collect all the money I can earn. As much as I want to buy gadgets, I'll have to sacrifice them (even if it hurts) though I still might buy my friend's notebook pc since I will consider it as a necessity when I leave next year (Lord, please make me work in a different country next year!!)

I think I'll go to bed now. I can't believe I'll be sleeping at 7pm, but hell, I need enough sleep for tomorrow.

I was with my 2 officemates last week and while driving around in the south, we had a discussion about ghosts, religion, and anything else about the paranormal. In between serious discussions about the said topics, we inserted some jokes about them, since too much seriousness could make all of us paranoid that ghosts or demons might suddenly show up inside the car. Patrick was already sleepy around midnight so we brought him home in Las Pinas, and after we dropped him off, I tried to scare Jen with my usual big-eyed, bite-lipped monster faced with my hands on my ears supposedly as horns. She got scared alright, but it was a different kind of reaction which I didn't really expect.

Jen has a third-eye but it is not fully developed as she refuses to see these things because they make her scared to death. What she saw that evening was an element, a scary element. While we were driving out of Las Pinas she doesn't want to look anywhere as there are elements too inside the car. I know how she feels. 2 years ago, my close friend Jasmine and I even encountered something similar, but that experience was scarier for her part. We took the Sta. Rosa exit from the South Luzon Expressway on the way to Tagaytay and around 8 or 9pm after we passed Laguna Bel-Air, her head began to hurt. I asked her what's wrong and she said that I should drive faster. After bugging her on what's going on, she finally told me that there were a lot of elements in that area, and all of them were attracted to her since she has a third eye. There are no street lights in that area, so naturally those elements would rather stay there. She said that a lot of them are inside the van we're riding. It gave me the creeps, but I still went on driving fast but was careful at the same time since I don't want her to get nauseated with the way I drive. We finally reached the Tagaytay Rotonda and she immediately felt better and explained that the elements are really strong because she was wearing black and it was also full moon.

Last night, after we played billiards, I brought up the topic again with Jen and Coy, who's also my officemate. I asked her if she really did see the element at the back of my seat. She said she really saw it, but it was not at the back of my seat.

She saw the evil element in me!!!

I know I shouldn't be looking for work again during these last few months of the year, but given the crappy work environment in my new office, I have to think twice. Honestly, I am disappointed how this company runs. I've been hearing complaints about pay descrepancies, unfair treatment of employees (with regards to their benefits) and the call center operations, which I say is soooo primitive! Where can you find a call center where they have to check the attendance of their agents by flipping pages and pages of paper and write a check mark beside their names? sheeshh.....

I was so lazy to go out last night but I'm glad I did. Things happen for a reason, and I believe that the reason why I went out last night is for me to realize that I can leave my pathetic company and have a promising job. Met up with Markie first, an old friend I've known through the Monster Radio RX 93.1 (one of the most popular radio stations in Manila) Mailing List. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have known that our former employer Peoplesupport is giving amnesty to all former agents whether they filed a 30-day resignation or not. Hell, I'd rather go back there than work in my current job. Later that evening, Randy a.k.a. DarXkin who's a fellow member of Airfagev told me that their company is looking for a Marketing Manager. Wow! Me? A Marketing Manager??? I couldn't believe that he's actually eyeing me for this position! Of course I would love to take this challenge! I just hope though that the price is right   I feel ecstatic for the whole evening. What if I do become a Marketing Manager? I know the expectations will be really high, but I have a big feeling that I can meet those expectations. Why not? I was able to convince people to vote for our candidates for the Student Council during my student political party days. I remember a time when I trained an independent candidate - I was able to convince and make her believe in her own capabilities to become a great, responsible student leader. I even went as far as trying to make her quit, a reverse psychology move to psych her up. The result - she demolished her opponent whos was backed by a political party, by over 400 votes! Back to the present - I always advocate the use of Windows Mobile devices such as Pocket PCs and MS Smartphones. A conversation would always start after pulling the pda from my pocket and making a few taps on its screen. It always happens, believe me! I never fail to convince people on how these devices can help people organize their lives. These experiences I think can help me get this position. I think I have this passion of convincing people to patronize the products I'm marketing. I think this is the challenge I've been waiting for in my career. If this is the one, I'm ready for it! 

Oh yes... I am very interested to get the Marketing Manager position! Like what I've said in my previous blog entry, I am waiting for this kind of opportunity to turn my career around. I believe this is where I work best. Communicating with different people, advocating the product I believe in, planning and implementing projects, going to different places - these are the things I've been wanting to do. Tiring it may seem, but I haven't been involved in this kind of work for a long time.

I had the exam yesterday (which was the longest exam I've ever taken!) and I hope to be scheduled for an interview later this afternoon. If anybody would read this, please wish me all the luck!

(Note: this was supposedly posted last Friday, October 29)

... still waiting for dothPH if I will have a second interview or not. To be quite honest, I am already losing hope, but I'm trying to psyche myself into believing that I may still have a chance. As Lenny Kravitz would sing, "it ain't over 'till it's over..."

Out of desperation, I went to St. Jude last night to attend their mass and novena. It is said by many that most of the people's prayers are answered if they attend mass and pray the novena there. Rhoda, an officemate of mine is a believer of this. She related to me before on how she passed her board exams for ECE when she thought it was already hopeless. I've been wanting to go there for years. Thanks to Rhoda, it finally became possible.

I'll give it a week to wait if I'll be given a second interview or not. I'm still hoping for a possible response.