Some people wonder why I am still with the company I am working for. Except for the work from home benefit, I have nothing else I could think of to brag about working there. Haha. But if I were to leave, I will still prefer a multinational company. Maybe because I trust big companies to abide by the law, and send their employees’ contributions to SSS, HDMF, etc.

This is probably because I’ve heard too much sad stories over the news (usually while riding a cab on the way to work) complaining the denial of their social security disability claim. Sometimes, it would be because the previous employer didn’t remit the contribution. And you guess it right, most of these companies are small to medium businesses.

Well, another thing that I also consider is the medical coverage provided by a company. Being married and having a child, it would rattle me to have unexpected medical expenses. It’s comforting to know that the company you’re working for got you covered.

Before I refresh my laptop later, I had to back up my files. “Refresh” in office terms (at least in our office) means you’ve been using the same laptop for 4 years. Well, mine is technically with me for less than 4 years, but our employee website says it is 4 years so I guess hooray for me! My laptop isn’t reliable anymore. Plus, I badly need a bigger memory because for quite some time now, it takes half an hour before I can normally use my laptop after it boots up.

Oh yeah, there’s a catch. Before I can have it refreshed, I had to format it, and install that new enterprise format (?) So yes, it’s not that easy. Stress!

Working in a multinational company certainly has its advantages. One of the disadvantages though is the competition is very high among its employees. Everyone seems to be competitive. Some have opted to earn master degree on their weekends. But for people like me, who loves to relax on weekends, Online master degrees are highly recommendable.

Gonzaga University is one of the few top ranked schools that offer online programs. It gives professionals a chance to obtain an advanced degree from a prestigious university at the luxury of their own time and home. Now, your weekends need not suffer to get that master degree! Check them out now.

I miss blogging. It was because of the migraine attacks that kept me from it. Well, today, I took the risk. :p

Hmm, yesterday, I had another migraine in the afternoon. After drinking lots of hot tea during dinner, and eating mango/banana/apple (The Sandwich Guy’s fruit basket), I felt better and the migraine was gone. So now, I am wondering if it’s just the tea or the fruits.

Anyway, for dinner, we had yang chow fried rice, (4 orders of) siomai, lemon chicken, brocolli w/ oyster sauce, spareribs. All these consumed by 4 ladies… for about 10 minutes? When I told my sister about this, she laughed telling me she’d give me the best diet pill she’d find. I couldn’t possibly eat this way every day, or I’ll balloon up for sure. Sigh. It’s just so fun to eat!

Today was my first day to report to our McKinley Hills office. And it was, described in one word, TIRING!

First, no cab driver wanted to go from my place to McKinley at 11am. Why? The traffic was so bad. So I had no choice but to take a cab to MRT, ride the MRT, then take a cab again from MRT to the office.

I kept telling myself, “I need to bring a car! I need to bring a car!” I kept thinking, maybe I’ll just pray that everybody on the streets will have a disability insurance each. I actually can’t decide between leg cramps (EDSA is such a long stretch considering the traffic) and the hassle of jumping from one cab to another.

Now I finally understand why I heard some people saying they might consider resigning just because of our new location.

I’ve been analyzing my previous career moves and what I really want out of it in the near future. It would make me more focused on my next steps. It got me thinking if I might want to take an online university degree, MBA on Enterprise Software Architecture, perhaps.

I saw that Capella University is offering several degree programs. You can browse their site for programs by degree or by profession. Read the program overview or you can request for more information. You can also avail of scholarships and grants, or learn how you can reduce tuition costs. Check the site now and start following your dreams.

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I am now counting the days till we move to McKinley. These changes have been nerve-wrecking for me but I still try to remain calm. I can no longer afford to ride a cab from our house to the office once we transfer. I can no longer afford to miss signing up for the late night shuttle twice a month to ensure that I go home safely in the wee hours of the night.

Forgetful that I am, I should start doing the inventory of my things in the office. I don’t like the idea of going back to Ortigas just to get something that I have forgotten to pack. Good thing the admin assistant is doing her job of making the move as efficient as possible. She took note of some moving tips. According to her, they will start giving away moving boxes this week.

So much for procrastination. :p

Yesterday, I forgot to submit my schedule for the late night shuttle in time. In short, I had no idea how I will go home from the office at midnight. So I talked to my manager today, and fortunately, he agreed to taxi reimbursements. Yey!

My daughter and I played before I left for the office this morning. And when I got home, my husband and my daughter had just woken up from a very long nap!!! We had dinner together, giving time for me and hubby to talk. And till now, my daughter is still awake, and as of this writing, I am singing along with her.

Well, today was my junk food day. I bought some chips that I shared with my team mates. I also had a mango shake, rootbeer and coffee. Surprisingly, I didn’t suffer migraine even if normally, I would (considering the things I’ve done earlier). So it must be the higher dosage of caffeine. Or maybe because I consumed more liquid. Not sure. All I know is I’d probably need to take diet pills to at least balance all the calories I had today.

Also today, I am happy that someone sort of promised to do what he can for me to be a member of one initiative, it’s a group of employees with a common interest in our company. No, it’s not photography-related if you’re wondering. Hmm, well yes at first I thought of getting into the “Shutters” club but then, I was told that if I were to become one of the “Shutters”, I might be asked to take pictures whenever there’s an office activity. That would become “work” for me instead of just a hobby. This is a different club I’d like join. I hope it pushes, so then I’d be able to share here.

So how’s my work-life balance? I think I’m good!

I have decided two months ago to change my working hours. I figure I need to be able to at least bring BG to school starting June. I would like to be near the school in case something urgent happens.

I have talked to my manager about it. He agreed to my request. But now that I only have two more weeks till the change, I couldn’t help but wonder if I did the right thing.

For one, I won’t be having dinner with the family Mondays to Wednesdays. So I am torn between monitoring my daughter’s schooling and having dinner with the family. Well, at least I could have dinner with the family from Thursdays to Sundays.

Second, I will have no night life whatsoever, at least, on weekdays. I will have to schedule all meet-ups on weekends. I really have to mind my calendar with all the birthdays of relatives. It looks to me I will be missing lots of dinner get-together’s starting June.

I sometimes wonder how my mother was able to handle it. She had no choice but to trust us to our school, our school bus and the household help. I wish I could be as brave.

I have been hearing a lot of retrenchments going on in my field of work lately. It makes me nervous because for a much-in demand industry where I belong to, there are still massive lay-offs going on. It reminds me to save and be careful with our money. The problem is it scary to invest whatever savings we have on the tried and tested methods of investments because of the financial crisis. There is another way of investing that is not as popular but has been steady despite the crisis – investing on gold bullion. Gold has never depreciated in value so it makes sense. One can invest by buying through the Monex Deposit Company.

Would you believe, you can even invest on silver? Silver has been becoming more in demand lately because the demand has outgrown the supply so the appreciation has been shooting up.

Ok, the reason that I didn’t blog for 2 days (more than 2 days on my other blogs) was I was away with my teammates. It was our team planning. The plan was: a. swimming b. team planning c.drinking session.

We went to 8 waves, but some chose not to swim. I can’t remember exactly why I decided not to swim too. Must be the rains before we got to the place. Or maybe, I was just not in the mood to get wet. So skipped the swim. That should be less stress for me.

The girls opted to play cards. Unfortunately, the only card game I know is the solitaire. Well, I now know the 1-2-3-pass that they taught me.

What else for me to do but shoot?

They told me they felt like celebrities with a paparazzo taking shots of them while they were playing.