my life so far

They say that there is always a magical moment that happens to you everyday. Yes this might be true but I am not sure if this happens to me everyday..

Based on my opinion I live pretty much a regular normal and sometimes boring life. On a weekday, I get up, dress eat then travel to the office using public transport, walk to our office, work, eat lunch, work again, prepare to head home, travel home again using public transport, settle at home, eat dinner, watch TV, then sleep to repeat everything again until Friday. On some Fridays, when my wallet would permit me, I could go to different places, drink alcohol, sometimes get drunk. My weekends are just about the same but I normally stay indoors, watch TV, eat, watch more TV, take care of my niece, watch TV again then sleep. On some occasions, I spend hours finishing a venti hot tee at Starbucks by myself like this instance. See pretty normal. Almost routinary with  little tweeks from time to time.

Although I did not realize this just now. I have come to accept that this is my life and that I am completely OK with it. But there are times that I would have liked it another way. For example, travelling on a week end to some exotic place for R and R. Or go abroad for some adventure. Or spend time with friends. But that is not just the case. I know that there is always an option for me to do that but some factors are limited like financial stuff. But sometimes, I guess, I’m just not in the mood for those kinds of stuff. I prefer to be alone most of the time specially on a week ends. I enjoy movies by myself and going to places by myself also. Don’t get me wrong. I am not a hermit and prefer human interaction from time to time. I guess I am not that open to a lot of people. And like everyone less, treasures alone time. Well may be I prefer it more than others. In my days of visiting Starbucks, I rarely see a person having coffee on their own. They always have company. Well, their choice and my choice. Period.

You might wonder, what about my love life? There is always spice when you have love life. Chilis, sugars, bitter flavouring(I am not sure if there is a spice for bitterness), soy sauce, vinegar and so on and so forth. The list is endless.  Well, it is zero (hahaha) and I don’t care at all. Yes there are moments in life when you would like to have someone by your side. But I have survived for 24 years and counting as a single person and it have been OK. So am not in any hurry to have someone. Maybe I’ll panic a bit if I am still single at the age of 50. 26 years to go then.. But am still optimistic. J

I’m not sure if there is someone out there who would like the same lifestyle that I lead. These would be people who have no tome for themselves anymore, I guess. Is there such a person? If ever I meet some one like that I would still not trade my life for his/hers. Well maybe for a “hers” (hahahahaha).

What can you say about my life? Somewhat boring right? I can still say that my life is pretty much OK looking than others. But all I can say is, there is something magical indeed that happens to me every single day: I still wake up every morning and at times later in the day. That is indeed MAGIC!

life in sales

I have been wanting to write about life in sales but was unsuccessful for the longest time. Probably because my experience is not that established yet and up until now I am still learning the ins and outs of sales.

I have been with an IT distributor for 2 years, 8 months and 19 days to be exact. Still seems pretty short right? But for me it seems like a long time. Promise. Here are some of the things that I have realized in that period:

1.)    There is no work that is easy to do – Each job entails challenges and difficulties. It is up to you on how to manage everything, get it done or exceed expectations since this is why you got hired to the job.

For sales, the daily challenge is to meet the quotas and targets. Easy to say but challenging to achieve. You just have to use your arsenal of talent with your charming personality and a bit of luck. You might just reach what you do.

2.)    Don’t expect any sale if you did not work for it – Since majority of sales people have commissions, they need to earn it by visiting and calling the clients, making proposals, checking the stocks and everything. EVERYTHING! From collection of due accounts, monitoring of store level stocks. Everything! There are chances of getting sales while just seating in the office but those are rare cases. Sales is like planting: you have to place the seed, nurture it, protect it from the elements and grow it to a big tree. Like I said, it is HARDWORK!

3.)    There is no such thing as perfect – FAILURE! Not all proposals will lead to a sale. Most of the time, it ends in failure. Maybe because they still have stocks or that your product is not being asked by the customers or they don’t like you product at all. I have firsthand experiences of failure many times. I normally get depressed before but I learned to check what went wrong, learn from it, then move on. Your time would be better utilized if you get back on the horse and ride again  than mope around to lick your wounds<eiww>

4.)    Relationship is important – In order to continually grow your business strong relationship must be established with your clients. Each client is different so they should be treated differently. A successful relationship is built on trust and it should be maintained always. But we must always remember who we are working for. Your company must not be aggrieved. There must always be balance. Go for the WIN-WIN situation always!

These were just some the things that I’ve learned from that period. I know that these are not enough to merit me a part time teaching post or a book. The thing about sales is that it is always challenging. I am not saying it’s hard because that would be a bit leaning to the negative side. Challenging is a more positive one. And I am still learning more and more each day. Like they say, each day is a new day.

Sales is still one of the most financially rewarding career in the entire world. Yes, all can do sales, but not all can handle the challenge. J

031311 Deer in Headlights

While we were looking at the other way to make a U-turn, there were two yellow lights rushing towards us! And then COLLISION...

March 12, 2011 started out as a normal day for me. Since I came from a meeting last Friday, I came home late. Although I would have liked to have a belly full of beer, I settled with dinner with friends and a belly full of laughter. So going back. I got home late. Slept in the wee hours of the morning with the thought of going to DLSU-D to eat Stromboli. I know I have been announcing how much I miss that oh so good food that is actually a Hawaian pizza that is folded to form a bread with tomato sauce, cheese, pineapple, and ground pork. (OMG, I just started salivating hahahahhaa)

Another thing happening was the canvassing of votes for the DLSU-D’s college student councils and university student council. Of course, being a council officer before, it was another good reason to visit. I met up with a good friend of mine, Keka  with her baby(which also happen to be  my god child) and her youngest sister. We were off to DLSU-D by around 2pm and got there after an hour. We met up with our friends chit chat and heard news for this and that. Then went to the square canteen hurriedly might I say(hehe). When we got to the stall that sells Stromboli, they say it’s all out! I almost died. hahahaha. Just kidding. The good this was there was two orders of baked mac left. This particular baked mac is also good. So I just got settled for it. Slowly eating to savour each bite. After eating we went back to our friends to monitor the canvassing of vote. We were already doing good though not perfectly good as we would have wanted it. For 11 years in the running our party was a source of leaders for our university. 11 years!

From a college building we moved to the College of Business Administration (Home of Achievers! J ) to break the ice and for a bit of enjoyment. I had fun memories of that lobby. I did my first ever fashion show of business attire there, plus a lot of fun and enjoyable memories as well. Everyone was having a good time. There was food. There were discussions and stories to be shared about what has happened in the school over the past year, the campaign period and so on and so forth. The counting was put on hold since there was a curfew already within the university by 9:00 pm to be resumed by Monday. We ran out of food during and our stomachs were asking for a bit of attention already so we headed for a 24 hour burger and tapsilog joint Countryside at Villa Nicasia, which I called home for 4 years and a half of my college life. I remember that that particular place was formerly a Burger Machine joint. Much has changed already. Rumour has it that there will be a Starbucks opening soon also. Progress sometimes happen very fast. At least I was updated.

After getting our fill, we were off all 11 of us.7 will be riding in the car going north. 3 will travel by motorcycle going further south. We said our goodbyes and our “ingats” to each other. I was in the car. We were laughing and sharing stories still in the car until we reached Imus where 3 from our group would be dropped off. Since there was an infant in that group we made a you turn to drop the off the other side. Another round of good byes again and “ingat”. I moved to the front passenger side and we were off. I recall thinking twice to wear the seatbelt but didn’t bother. Then we assisted our friend to make a U turn. Since this was a highway we needed to do proceed with caution since jeepneys, trucks and private cars were whizzing with great speeds. We made a signal to turn left. A jeepney slowed to a stop to give way for us in the two laned highway and we proceeded again with caution. We were about to complete the left turn when all of a sudden, two yellow headlights suddenly approached us with great speed. And then collision.

I remember seeing the light then closed my eyes for the impact and holding on to the driver, Mahal. I heard someone saying “Break! Break!” but is was nearly impossible since we were just hit at the driver side. The impact was strong that the car was moved a few meters from the point of collision. Mahal was able to step on the breaks a few seconds later and i looked at every one in the vehicle. Everyone was OK. I asked Mahal if she was ok but she wasn’t but is conscious and can talk. I got out of the car to look at the damage. It was big! I asked her again, she said she’s stuck and her head hurts. The rest of the people with us in the car got out also. Keka was also there since she saw the whole thing.

The good thing was we were right in front of the mall where security guards we patrolling. There was a guard saying that they have contacted the police already and is asking if they would contact an ambulance to. I said yes. Since Filipinos were innately inquisitive(a more nicer word than “nosy”), people were asking us if we were OK. We needed to get Mahal out of the car first. She asked me to call her parent which I did. I told them that she was safe and request that they come soon. She was able to move herself and step out of the car. She was OK. A sigh of relief issued. The next thing was to deal with everything. We call our friends who lived nearby who turned up quickly to assist us. The jeepney collided with the mall’s plant box. Apparently all of the passengers were also safe. Gene, another co-passenger, was already in a heated argument with a stupid motorcyclist claiming that our car was about to run him over and yadahyadahyadah.. IRRELEVANT! We were the one who got hit and he had the nerve to blame us and yet there was no damage to him! GRRR..  The jeepney driver was also saying that we came out of nowhere and so on and so forth. INCORRECT! And we can prove it (I guess our political party also prepared us for that kind of arguments).  The police came and dismissed the stupid motorcyclist and made sketches of the area then called in for a tow truck to tow the jeep. The car was still functioning. Both of the cars were brought to the police station.

 Mahal and I got to the police station via the tow truck. I rode at the back with all the chains. While travelling, I was checking myself. I was intact but had a manageable pain in my head and probably from the impact. But was OK. I kinda laughed a bit since I was OK. A bit loony right? The rest of our group got to the police station by the car. Keka’s baby and youngest sister were picked up by her mom while we were still at the mall. The rest of the group got to the police station and met up with everyone who came. Mahal made her statements and was interrogated by the police with the jeepney driver. We hanged out in the vicinity of the police station and shared our stories. Waited for the investigation to finish then went to our respective homes.

Having calmed down while waiting for the investigation to finish, I realized something. You can’t see your whole life in a flash when you are about to have an accident. I didn’t. I just saw two yellow head lights and got stuck like a deer in head lights waiting to get hit. I guess you can’t do much at that point. You can just brace yourself for the impact and wish that everything would be OK. That is just what you can do. Another thing I realized, that if it is your time to die, you can’t do anything at all. Having seen the car damage, I can say we have some lucky star or a number of guardian angels looking over us! And thank God for that! I still need to do my purpose in life still although  I haven’t figured it out yet.

Since I am not the type of person who dwells well in to the negative, I would just say this: “Sh*t happens each and every day. We just have to go and deal with it the best way we can.”

030511 Rain!

Rain! Glorious RAIN!

although i like the song,"Walking on Sunshine", i still prefer my fair share of rain!

i can't remember my affinity with rain. may be i was born under an earth element sign Taurus or its just something that no longer needs to be explained.

when ever it rains it feel really good. from a business seminar that i joined to, they say that rain has anions that are supposed to make us feel good. also, rain brings in cold which is another thing that i really like. it also gives me this relaxed feeling that makes me want more rain. that it should not end. that might not be a good thing to wish for because i don't want a repeat of flooding from the strongest rain storm our country had where it caused landslides and floods that led to people being stranded and dead. too much of the good stuff is indeed to much.

but on a day like this, where it is just drizzling, no strong winds.. it's just good. add a cup of something hot, whether coffee, tea or soup, it will turn out to be great. then go out to get soaked in the rain, then it would be just perfect! hehehe.

when i was a kid, i used to get out and get soaked  and play in the rain. my parents would allow me if it was really raing hard otherwise, they would say "you'll get yourself a bad cold"..and i sure missed those days. twas really a liberating thing! i remember running in the rain then faceplanting myself to slide across the s. then standing up to see scratched knees and legs plus a tear on my shorts.. hahahah..and i'll have a hot bath afterwards..ah, those were the days..carefree right? as i grew, it just the habit died away. though i would like to get drenched still but that would be just weird if i was in by business attire looking all corporate but wet.. it just won't do.. heheh

now a days, i still appreciate the rain although indoors or with a roof above my head. but would appreciate a day to relive the good old days to get my self wet with rain..

030311 After a Long While

It has been a long time since I last blog. If you have been a reader of mine you would know that i normally have a new entry once a week. But I have slipped. I feel like a sober addict that just took a substance just out of the blue. Maybe am just getting into Biography channel’s “Intervention” show where addicts share a part of their life.

Since I had time this week, I thought a topic would come like a breeze. But it is not coming! As in “nadah”. I’m not even sure if that’s a word there you go: “NADAH”. Normally when I write, I do it on a Saturday afternoon at a the nearest Starbucks from our house, with a Venti hot camomile tea plus about 5 to 8 sticks of nicotine. And after about 3 to 5 hours, when I have finished my tea or it has gone cold, VIOLA! I am about to post my entry online.

For the past week I am not sure if I didn’t have time or just didn’t have the inspiration or didn’t have anything to write about. I couldn’t help but wonder<channelling Carrie Bradshaw again>

Is it really possible to run out of things to write about??

Hmmm.. <thinking>

<more thinking>

<still thinking>

I think it is IMPOSSIBLE to run out of things to write about. There are so many  things under the sun to write about! Not to mention the things around the sun and where the sun don’t shine. So all in all, there are about a SUPER DUPER OVER MEGA MAJOR MAJOR GAZILLION things to write/ discuss about. Me expressing my lack of topic or inspiration per se is already something to talk about! <duh> Silly me thinking (quite long perhaps) that there is a possibility to run out of things to write <scoffs>.

Then what was it? The reason of why I still have no entry for a week.

Time?

Hmmm..<no, thinking would not take that long> I was busy for the past weekend. A couple of Saturdays ago, I was with new friends and I mean new. As in “JUST MET” new and I got drunk. And, I’m pretty sure that you know what happens when I get drunk. I won’t say it because it is always a disgusting thing. You get it?? If not, I recommend you drink till you almost drop and then look down for a couple of minutes then you would know what it would be like. (UH HMM) <head movement from side to side>. The following Saturday, I played badminton! YEY! As in YEY! It has been a while since I played and I have been declining several offers already from an old friend from the “JUST MET” group. So I said yes to his next invitation. Who wouldn’t after an embarrassing incident? It was A LOT of FUN though! I got to work my muscles that already have cobwebs around it. The body aches that lasted for 2 to 3 days was all worth it.

Time was indeed the perpetrator of the lack of entries. I think.

Just have to make time for it in order to not find it hard to start again.

As they say, a well oiled machine is GREASY! <PAK!> Hahahahah