Holiday Loot

I have a very low EQ. Give me a gift and I'll unwrap it as soon as you hand it to me. Perhaps it's because I'm not used to receiving stuff or maybe it's because I'm just naturally impatient... or OC that I want to quickly see how my new "acquisitions" fit into "my life." All the same, this year was really fun because I received quite a handful. Hehe

I love boxer briefs and some were thoughtful enough to give me some. Lol.

I was really really really happy to receive this huge bottle of Physiogel from a colleague. Remember my love affair with O? 'Nuff said. Lol

And the vanity continues... Hehe

But what really got me all excited were the things I bought with my - erm, now my nanay's - bonus. Item number 1... a travel toothbrush. Haha

Item number 2... a new lunchbox! Seriously, I had to convince nanay to buy me this. I was all smiles when I opened it and saw two "compartments" inside! Nakakaiyak! Haha

And one of our bosses gave us new one-peso coins for doing an awesome job with the Christmas party presentations. Lol

I also rallied the family to clean up yesterday. Yes, our Christmas was spent cleaning the house, thanks to me! Haha. Found this clutchbag I gave tatay for his birthday a couple of years ago. It's still unused! Finders keepers. Hehe. I just swapped it with some new car mats for him. Lol

And after working for around 7 years, I finally gifted myself with a savings account. Thank you Lord for the means to open one. God really provides. He does make ways.

In other news, a lot of establishments have been mushrooming around Antipolo lately. Yesterday, I saw a mini-mall right outside the church with a Starbucks branch. Yardstick of progress much? But the kasuys and sumans and kalamays still line up the plaza though! :)

Anyhow, thank you to everyone who remembered. Some of the gifts are now neatly lined on my office desk or were much enjoyed by my and my family's tummies. Hehe

Here's too 2011!

Let's go 2012! End of the world! Joke. Hehe

:p

Phone Call Blues

Everyday I try my best to be nice which isn't really that difficult since I'm a very non-confrontational person and I've got loads of patience. One of my colleagues at work even said that if I get ticked or if I lose my cool, then it must be really serious. Lately, perhaps because things ultimately do add up, I found myself sighing a handful of times as I talked to a "client" via phone. It's one thing to spoon feed "bosses" but it gets elevated to a whole new level when they're wrong yet still have the gall to throw their weight around and be arrogant about it.

C: Hi, I want to clarify some things.

D: Sure ma'am.

Round 1...

C: I want to know how many responded to this study.

D: (Hmmmm....) Ma'am, if you noticed, in the first slide, we placed there n=xx.

C: Ok... But there are other things I wanted to ask.

Round 2...

C: Like for this item, you asked whether they give this out or not. But so what?! You didn't even ask about the exact rates!

D: (Hmmmm.... hmmmm....) Ma'am, if you noticed (I'm beginning to love this phrase!), right below that chart is another graph with the percentages and ranges of rates...

Round 3...

C: But how about this one? You asked for the mean when you should have asked for the average, 'di ba?

D: (Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm...) Ma'am, the arithmetic mean IS THE average...

C: Ah, so median iyong middle point?

D: Opo...

And finally, round 4...

C: Pero ito, you asked if they give out this birthday benefit but you didn't ask how many times they give it out in a year?!

D: (Hay...) Erm, ma'am, 'di ba po isa lang naman ang birthday ng isang tao sa isang taon?

C: Hindi kasi ayoko mag-assume, dapat exact... (at this point, I was no longer listening to her. magpapalusot pa eh.)

D: Sure ma'am, next time I'll try to refine the questions further (Ho hum).

C: Oo kasi bakit iyong XXX may ganitong details, kayo wala!

D: Sure ma'am, next time we'll ask those things (but what my raised eyebrow really wanted to say was: Duh, you pay hundreds of thousands for the studies churned out by XXX, I'm giving you these results for free. Kung maka-demand ka naman eh parang hindi mo naman naintindihan iyong mga studies na iyan.)

Sometimes work really is frustrating. The thing I'm scared of is that there are already instances when I'm close to losing my cool while talking to a "client" which is really not a good thing... and I don't want to be like that. I'm cool, calm and collected... at least that's what I aspire to be.

*****

Anyway, in other news, I really felt for KC when she was asked from where she's getting strength and she answered something like, "I've never prayed this much in my life." Hay, I know the feeling. When matters of the heart get me sad or broken, we really do cling our hardest to prayers.

*****

It's the first of December! Merry Christmas! =)