training room posse

training room posse
Originally uploaded by gem.cfg.

It was an early Saturday morning and someone brought her camera along (the girl in blue at the foreground)...and trainors and trainees alike struck a pose.

People were smiling because we just had a major product exam and almost everyone passed. But it's Monday now and those smiles have become teensy-weensy apprehensive as we move deeper into the intricacies of the product we support and another major exam is looming.

And yes, fafi Peloy, I enjoy the company of these people. We have been somewhat reduced (we started out 31 and now we're only 21) and people form a bond under such rigorous conditions. And no, you won't hear invites for a gimmick or a 'night-out' every after shift, but we did have a small celebration right after this picture was taken n_n. Conditions are way harder than THAT of the previous training, but it is infintely more satisfying to hit the mark this time around.

oh yes, I still have problems with the dress code. o_0

from Ely, because I think Capt. Jack Sparrow is the greatest too!

Which one of Captain Jack Sparrow's bizarre sayings from Pirates of the Caribbean are you?

You are "Welcome to the Caribbean, love." You're more than a little world-weary, but also intelligent and you keep your head when things get dodgy. You're everybody's favorite drinking buddy, but your stubbornness does get in the way sometimes.
Take this quiz!








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Anagrams

'Gemma Corazon Florete Gacho'
anagrams to
'Hog clean amaze comfort ogre.'

Dressing up for work

Yes. I dragged my lazy self out of the house and dropped my butt at the nearest call center recruitment in the area. Bungled the screening process just fine, but still managed to get myself into a tech account. Got through the 1st week (accent training) even with massive doses of paranoia and some insecurities. Now, I'm in the 2nd week of training and we'll be talking about the product later tonight.

I guess I'm doing ok if, so far, my biggest worry everyday is what I'm going to wear. Aaaah, business casual. I would love to hate it, but I know I have learn to live with it. It's just difficult when you don't have much in your closet and payday is soooooooo far away and you have other obligations that hold sway. (I just wanted to rhyme so sue me.)

_________________________

Dad is still in the hospital. It has been more than 45 days and everyone worries cause the PhilHealth coverage only lasts that long. Last night my mom said she had to sign a promissory note just to have dad dialysed.

I'm a sloth....

...that's why you love me, that's why you hate me too...

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Medium
Sloth:	High
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com


From Elyboo's LJ.

I didn't know exactly how to react when my sister texted me last week and asked if I could join a game show contest just to help with the hospital bills. (I didn't even know the show she mentioned.) I didn't reply to that message at all.

At the end of last month, the bill has amounted to P200,000. Whatever money relatives and other people have given has been used up for the hemodialysis (which is paid separately) and the tons of medicines. She called me last night to tell me that.

------------------------------

Hmm..as of July 5 it's P258,812.76.

Dad has been in the hospital for more than a month. If last week I mentioned that he was out of the ICU, he was brought back in the middle of the wwek because he had difficulty breathing. Things we're looking up again and he was progressing fine when...apparently last night he became restless, managed to sit up in bed even with all the restraints and in the process removed the vital tubes attached to him (i.e. one attached to the ventilating machine and the other would be the feeding tube).

These tubes, of course, had to be re-inserted again. I don't think anyone among us can really imagine how it would feel to have a tube in the mouth going to the lungs or one inserted outside the nose that goes down to the stomach.

This is the third time this has happened and is the primary reason why he stays in the ICU.

The money involved is not even mentioned...hospital bills, medicines, the ongoing dialysis,etc. Some relatives have given financial assistance but that has already been severely depleted.

It just gets frustrating and I'm not even there. I'm tired of thinking about it, but I know it's nothing compared to what my mom goes thru.

At the Sickbay

family_jun07
Originally uploaded by gem.cfg.

The photo of the family was taken as soon as I arrived at the ICU Watcher's Lounge in Brokenshire Hospital in Davao City last June 7. I got back in Manila yesterday afternoon.

My dad is still in the ICU at this time but he is infinitely doing better. He has approximately spent 10 days in intensive care already and yesterday underwent his 7th dialysis. At the best of my limited medical understanding, he was diagniosed with chronic renal failure and pulmonary congestion. It's hard to pinpoint a specific cause, but smoking is definitely one of the major culprits. He quit smoking sometime way back and, of course, took up the habit again at some point. He stopped smoking again only this March and has been in and out of the hospital since April.

This morning I was informed that his doctor has ordered the removal of his endotracheal tube and he is off the mechanical ventilator. That means he can already breathe on his own and will be out of the ICU soon! After that there's still the dialysis to contend with, but it's good to know that his condition is improving daily.
--------

I made a mistake in my previous post. My dad is 64 years old. My bad.

Soundtrack of sorts

From Al's LJ n_n

Directions: Open your choice of music player and put it on shuffle. Press play. For every question, type the song thats on. When you go to a new question press the next button.

Opening Credits: Never there by Cake

Waking Up: Violence by Disturbed

Average Day: The Power of Orange Knickers by Tori Amos

First Date: Sweet Dreams Marilyn Manson

Falling In Love: Trippin on a hole in a paper heart by Stone Temple Pilots

Fightscene: Aenema by Tool

Breaking Up: I'll Grow Old With You by Adam Sandler

Getting Back Together: Salamat by The Dawn

Secret Love: Old School Hollywood by System of a Down

Life's Okay: Yellow by Coldplay

Mental Breakdown: Puff the Magic Dragon by Me 1st and the Gimme Gimmes

Driving: Mang Jose by Parokya ni Edgar

Learning a Lesson: Happy New Year by Rent

Deep Thought: Don't Stay Home by 311

Flashback: Pinch Me by Barenaked Ladies

Partying: Rock and Roll by Led Zeppelin

Happy Dance: Toxicity by System of a Down

Regretting: Summer Song Joe Satriani

Long Night Alone: Calm like a Bomb by Rage Against the Machine (waaaah!)

Death Scene: Rollercoaster by Red Hot Chili Peppers

Closing Credits: A Long December by Counting Crows

__________________________________

I used iTunes and out of 10GB worth of songs in our computer, these were the results.

almost at the end of (calendar) days

I refer only to my age with that title. Friends who were at the midi-bash at Bengki's would know what I mean as we had a banner announcing it right at the door.

In the ref right know we have some leftover alcohol: half a bottle of Ely's orange vodka, half a bottle of Absolut vanilla vodka, 3/4 of Cuervo tequila and an unopened bottle of red wine. But what I want right now is just a bottle of ice-cold coke. ho.

My dad is sick. For quite some time now, but I could never understand the extent as my mom tended to text garbled messages when talking about it. I know she was just worrying a lot. From my sister in Cebu I got a clearer picture: high blood pressure, diabetes and now a complication with the kidneys which might involve peritoneal dialysis (I don't have a clear idea what this is) if nothing else will work. Last night my eldest sister texted that they were again admitting him to the hospital cause my dad was complaining of severe stomachache. No news yet after that. I'm not really sure if I should start worrying yet. Sometimes its a bit hard to get a good grasp of the situation at this distance. My dad's only 61.

It's a good birthday, but when something like that overshadows it...it just makes me think, most of the time not want to think about it. My birthday's not till Wednesday.

gem -- [noun]: A person of questionable sanity who starts their own cult 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I'm posting just this one result...I didn't like any of the others that came out when I tried other variations of my name. ohohoho

Left work, just finished my 1 week self-imposed hiatus/hibernation period.
Will go out of the house this week.
Will do stuff.
Will meet friends.
Will do things I haven't done in the past four months.
Will be watching where every cent of dwindling funds goes.

Happy New Year, Happy No Post

what's new....

new TM at work...and these days handling calls mostly from one part of the US only and it's not as easy as it sounds. You can catch me getting irate these days because of it, something that has never happened before.

We've been at work 4 months now and a lot of people have quit already. It's not really surprising. If I didn't NEED the money, I would have gone down that path too.

I'd rather not think about it now.
Day off. Off day.

Quzzzing before Khan

GRYPHON

You are the gryphon! A
gryphon is a large creature that is half lion
and half eage with immense feathery wings. A
gryphon is very fierce and loyal; however, a
gryphon also symbolizes independence and
freedom. The gryphon is actually multi-facted.
The lion half represents ultimate courage,
honor, and loyalty. The eagle half stands for
independence, freedom, and justice.

Which mythical creature resides in your soul? (11 Results + Pictures)

You Are Internal - Realist - Powerful

You feel your life is controlled internally. If you want something, you make it happen. You don't wait around for things to go your way. You value your independence and don't like others to have control. You are a realist when it comes to luck. You don't attribute everything to luck, but you do know some things are random. You don't beat yourself up when bad things happen to you... But you do your best to try to make your own luck. When it comes to who's in charge, it's you. Life is a kingdom, and you're the grand ruler. You don't care much about what others think. But they better care what you think!

The Three Dimension Luck and Power Test

You Are a Losing Lottery Ticket!

Full of hope and promise. But in the end, a cheap letdown.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Sick at being sicker

Physically sick, that is.
Didn't go to work last Tue cos of fever, went to work last night feeling a bit better with only an itchy throat to contend with. Alas,what happens after hours of incessant talking? As expected, the sore throat is now a full-blown dry cough. Luckily it's my day-off today and tomorrow and hopefully I'll have a semblance of a voice back by Sat.

So yes, I have work on Christmas Eve and so does Master F. I'm not sure yet about the 25th, but I'm betting we'll still be working then.

Got a Khan guild blog started for Knife's Edge. This will just mean less Khan related posts here (also less stuff to post about here...hmmm).

Must dash off....having...coughing..fit...

Braindead Lazy Ass...

It's after 4:30am and I'm still awake. Got off work at around 2am, now killing time while Marc finishes his work. No complaints here, I'll get to surf and later play Flyff for a bit cos I'm saving up all my Khan load for tomorrow's part-ay. Yey.

Feeling a bit better about the job. Receiving half of the minimal 13th month pay does help put things in perspective. Good passable QA scores also count, I guess.

Beginning to really get annoyed at where we live now. We all feel (again) a bit overcharged with the electric bill. Someone tell me honestly how much they think should be the estimated overall cost of 2 electric fans, a rice cooker, 2 computers (though only 1 is really used), 3 lightbulbs and the occasional cellphone charging.
Seriously.
oh yes, we d plan to move out soon.

I feel the need for more quizzes before going off to play.

Your Birthdate: May 17

You tend to find yourself lucky - both in business and in life.And while being wealthy is nice, you enjoy sharing your abundance with others.You put your luck to good use: you are very ambitious and goal oriented.Often times, you get over excited and take on more than you can manage. Your strength: Your ability to make your own luck Your weakness: Thinking you can do it all Your power color: Bronze Your power symbol: Half Moon Your power month: August

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Your Fortune Is

Support bacteria -- it's the only culture some people have!

TheWacky Fortune Cookie Generator

Haven't done quizzes in a while...

You scored as Ginny Weasley. You definitely share your mother's (Molly Weasley) fiery resolve and slowly but surely people are learning to respect you because of it. Ginny Weasley 80% Ron Weasley 75% Sirius Black 75% Albus Dumbledore 70% Harry Potter 65% Severus Snape 65% Remus Lupin 60% Hermione Granger 55% Lord Voldemort 35% Draco Malfoy 35% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

Got this quiz from Apwil...can't have this quiz display properly, but it's 80% Ginny. I don't really know why it's Ginny. Luckily, it's not Hermione, eh, Peloy?

He (P) has accused me of having the "Hermione Granger Syndrome" at some point during our training. No, it doesn't mean I'm doing great at the job. It's hard when you don't even like it that much, just something to pay the bills with. Literally, that's all it has been for the last three paydays.
I guess as long as I'll find some call situations funny, I can still take it.
I can't even bitch about it see? It feels like I'm just whimpering.

Anyhoo, to happier thoughts, I'll definitely be able to watch HarryPot this coming week and also Rent when it shows. Weeeee. With my sked, I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch it with friends though...hmmm. I'll probably "see" Harry this Friday. Any of you guys free by then?

Here's another quiz...which made me say, "I thought so too!"

You Are 23 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

graduation pizza

Gemki and Master F are now officially call center agents.
After five weeks of training, we got our congratulatory graduation pizza in lieu of a diploma.
Woohoo.
Now endeth the "fun" part that is called training.
The part that will make us empathize with Dilbert begins, for me, on Monday at 11:30pm.

And I gift myself with more-or-less 10hrs of Khan time.
Weeee.
There goes my miniscule training allowance.
You didn't see it?
Me too.
;-Þ

money hunt fever

it's a time to look for decent work of any sort.
oh yea.
uhm.

if anyone needs their PCs fixed and the like...
the resident tech is available.
a single text is all it takes.
and you'll be helping us eat too.
yea.

Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with Gem's Lurgy
Cause:	thinking too hard
Symptoms:	crying, vestigial extra head, frequent tiredness, mildly green stools
Cure:	electroshock therapy
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:

over-exposed!?

Over-excitement sometimes leads to forgetfulness, but it's making me update my blog.

Normally, when I have access to a dsl net connection, I would just download tons of stuff after checking my email...but since I forgot to bring CD-RWs for this session cos I was mostly preparing for the Isengard event, I'll just update this blog and do some long overdue changes in the links.

Thanks a ton to Ely for the food and drinks and to Peloy for the food and the place and to everybody else for the great company. I really miss you people! (that's my cheesy moment right there.)

Anyhoo, just so you'll appreciate the effort I made (for whatever its worth) in giving you plant names in my links, I'll list down the common names of said plants in order after this. After all, only Bengki will probably recognize them for what they are.

Cat tails (methinks this needs no explanation)
Papyrus (it's the same one as the Egyptians used. I say it's appropriate =D)
Weeping Bottlebrush tree (pssst, favorite mo ba ito dati?)
Water Lotus (sacred ito sa mga egyptians. napakadami niyang gamit, edible as well as medicinal.)
Wedelia (a weedlike plant. grows everywhere with small yellow flowers)
Water Hyacinth (marami nito sa pasig!)
Staghorn fern (it was either this or a plant called penisettum hehe)
Morning Glory (kamag-anak ng patatas at kangkong pero maganda ang kulay ng bulaklak para sa 'kin)
Water Lettuce (also locally known as "kiyapo". yes, dito nanggaling ang pangalan ng quiapo kse marami lumulutang nito dun noon. no joke!)
Night-blooming Water Lily (isa lang siya sa varieties.pero interesting kse sa gabi lang nag-oopen ang bulaklak. pasensiya, this is the most non-obscene way I can think of saying that.)

You all belong to my pond hahahahah!
Next time when I'm better prepared, I might actually post or use images as the links themselves. Maybe.
If you feel like I've inappropriately stuck a plant name at you, feel free to suggest a more suitable representation.