Work Suspended on July 31?

I woke up to a rainy Monday early this morning.  I immediately decided not to report to office and thus, I thereafter notified my officemates, and before I realized it, I was already literally sound asleep.

Few hours after, the rain stopped.  I then wondered if I just made the wrong decision.  But then, it was too late to change my mind, dress myself, and go to work.  It was already 2pm!

At around 230pm, an officemate texted that work had just been declared suspended.  True enough, my google search confirmed the text message.  I was happy, alright.  But my happiness was short-lived..

I was bugged by the question, why only at 230pm?  The government should have declared the suspension of work at the beginning of the day when everybody else is still safely tucked at home.  What if something bad had happened this morning, say, flood?  And since the government was not prompt enough to declare suspension of work, consequently, many workers would have been stranded on the streets!

Oh my!  I shudder at the thought everytime I remember what had happened to me on the day typhoon Ondoy struck Metro Manila.  It was a nightmare!  I walked for maybe a 5-km stretch of C5 Road.  And it was raining cats and dogs.  And I bravely (but stupidly) crossed floodwaters just to reach home.  And I promised never to do it again..

That explains why I would rather prefer to be cuddled in bed than be marked "full service" in the attendance report.  My question now is, what about tomorrow? :)

What went wrong?





photo courtesy of gossipcop.com

I wish I knew the answer..

Recent news have shocked hollywood ... First, it was Tom and Katie, now it's Robert and Kristen and Rupert Sanders.  I am neither a fan of the Twilight Saga nor of the Snow White and the Huntsman.  But the scandal that rocked these popular stars was more than enough for me to rouse from my hibernation.  Besides, hubby is a big fan of Kristen because of her beautiful nose.  And I'm jealous!  As much as I hate her for that fact, I guess I just have to write my point of view.. in her defense.

I feel sorry for Robert.  He must be extremely devastated.  Obviously, he is a victim.  Being betrayed is excruciatingly painful.  Take it from me.  Been there.  But sometimes, things happen for a reason.  Blessings in disguise, so they say.  And I agree.

Rupert Sanders, being a married man at that, and who is expected to be already mature at his age, is the person to blame in this whole brouhaha.  He has a gorgeous wife, Liberty Ross, a British vogue model, and they have two beautiful children.  How could he do such foolishness to his family?!  And he took advantage of the vulnerability of a 22-year old lass.  Tsk!  Tsk!

A law against philandering husbands should be proposed and strictly implemented.  How's that?

I Will Miss the Sale...

Each year, I always look forward for the sale of SM Mall of Asia.  (Please see my last year's post on this by clicking this link.)

My most-awaited sale usually falls sometime between March and April, as well as, September and October.  Unfortunately, I won't be around.  :( I have a one-week seminar to attend at a far-away place somewhere at Commonwealth, Quezon City. :(

No, I don't consider myself a shopaholic.  However, when I was watching last night some scenes of the movie, Confessions of a Shopaholic, I begin to wonder, maybe I am one.. But I have to qualify, I still consider myself a certified kuripot.  I just go gaga when I find at the mall things that I like at a discounted price.

I'm so sad.  But I guess, I'll find a way. ;)

Energy Power Saver Is Not Effective!

I paid my MERALCO dues just two days ago, but not before I noticed that it was my lowest bill ever.  This now contradicts my claim which was previously posted in this blog that my November 2011 bill was my lowest.

In that post, I mentioned that starting January 2012, I won't be using my Extreme Power Saver anymore just to test if it is really working.  True enough, I did unplug the device and look, my February bill, which showed a 51-kwh consumption, approximates my September and October 2011 dues.  Also, my March bill further plummeted down to 34-kwh consumption.

Without the Extreme Power Saver, my electric consumption should have increased.  But my MERALCO bills for the past two months however showed otherwise.

I swear I did not try to do something to save on power cost.  In fact, for the past few weeks, I have been using the refrigerator more often than the usual.  Although I had been on training and was away home for almost two weeks, I was also not home for exactly two weeks when my power consumption dropped to 36 kwhs in November last year.

Now, will somebody just explain to me what went wrong?  Or if nobody cared enough, maybe, I would just simply conclude that, I have just fell prey to another false marketing strategy and therefore the Extreme Power Saver indeed is not effective.. :(

Watch? Or Cellphone?

I'm not fond of wristwatches (that may be the reason why almost all of my time pieces were given to me, a.k.a. donated).  Hence, when I was asked by Eastwest Bank to choose between a wristwatch and cellphone (as their freebie for a new credit card), I immediately opted for the latter.

Just this morning, I finally received my new credit card.  Attached with it was a voucher (see image on the right) that says, I may claim either a Timex Marathon T5K367 wristwatch or a Samsung E1080 cellphone.

The wristwatch looks cute.  As I wondered how much is its cost in the market, I then googled for Timex Philippines and found the contact number of its branch nearest my office, at SM Mall of Asia.  The person I talked to asked me first if I was referring to the Eastwest credit card promo before answering my inquiry.  Accordingly, the watch is priced at P2260+.

Since I already knew that the phone sells at around P1200, I begin to doubt whether the Timex man was telling the truth.  If the watch was indeed priced at P2260+, then why a big price disparity between the cost of two freebie items?

If you were asked to choose between a valuable item and a less-valuable item, common sense would tell you to take the former, wouldn't you?  To solve the problem, I inquired the phone's market value online and found this:

 It does not however include shipping fees.  But then, I still wonder..

I guess I will just have to go to the mall and verify it myself before making a decision between - a wristwatch or a cellphone. :)

Post-valentine Moment

Despite my busy schedule, yesterday, I finally had the chance to watch again one of my favorite movies, The Notebook.  If I'm not mistaken, I first watched it at the big screen, with ex-hubby.  Come to think of it, I watched a romance movie with an unromantic companion.  Sad fact... :(

But that did not hinder me from going gaga over this movie. Here are some of its memorable quotes:

"So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. We're gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, for ever, you and me, every day. Will you do something for me, please? Just picture your life for me? 30 years from now, 40 years from now? What's it look like? If it's with him, go. Go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again. If I thought that's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out."

"My Dearest Allie. I couldn't sleep last night because I know that it's over between us. I'm not bitter anymore, because I know that what we had was real. And if in some distant place in the future we see each other in our new lives, I'll smile at you with joy and remember how we spent the summer beneath the trees, learning from each other and growing in love. The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, and that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give to you forever. I love you. I'll be seeing you. Noah"

 What struck me most was the final scene wherein Noah did not leave Ally and even joined her to her death..

Truly two thumbs up for this movie..

Harassed by a Credit Card CSR..

It first happened just two months ago - December 4, 2011 to be exact.  I got this call from a certain Alvin Paredes of Collections Department demanding payment from me for an allegedly unsettled bill from my Citibank credit card.  He was so arrogant that up to this day, every time I recall those incidents, I would clench my fist in anger.  (Actually, I rather prefer a hair-grabbing match with Mr. Paredes)

Accordingly, my previous requests for reversal of surcharges were disapproved, hence, I still have unpaid balance even if I already had my credit card closed.  I asked, how could that be?  My card was deactivated for more than three months already and during those period, nobody called me about my unsettled bill, knowing Citibank's reputation for being too aggressive in their collection efforts.

I should know this aggressiveness because I already witnessed my officemates being bullied and threatened over the phone by these collection agents.  But that's another story...

Don't get me wrong.  Citibank, is one of the few companies that I highly recommend for those who intend to get a credit card because of their perks and privileges.  In fact, I blogged (click this link) about that irresistible offer that I now regret I didn't grab. :(

Further, of all the credit card companies that I transact with, only Citibank would take the time to call me few days after my due date (talking again about aggressiveness..) to remind me should I fail to pay on time.  That again, is another story.  But let me explain briefly, lest some negative conclusions might be formed.  I usually don't receive my bills from Citibank.  I would know that I have dues at such date only when I get a call from Citibank.  Such an inconvenience..  Tsk! Tsk!


Below is what remains of my poor memory of my conversation with Mr. Paredes, which goes something like this:

Paredes:  Gusto ko lang naman malaman kung magbabayad ka o hindi.
Me:  Bakit ako magbabayad?  Hindi ko nga alam na may unpaid bill pa pala ako.  Tsaka, ang tagal ko na pina-close ang credit card ko.
Paredes:  Ok.  Pero inform lang kita, tatawag uli ako sa'yo dyan in the next few days.

Considering that he would be bombarding me with his calls, I told him to contact me thru my cellphone instead of office phone.  He said he can't.

One reason why I would want Mr. Paredes to call me thru my mobile phone instead of the office phone is that, I do not want anybody in the office complaining why I spend so much time on the office phone for my personal business.  But actually, the more important reason behind is that, I could record on my cellphone all the snide remarks he made and perhaps make a formal complaint about it.

And yes, Mr. Paredes was so true to his word, he called me up many times again, and yes, thru my office phone, with the obvious malicious intention of embarrassing me to my officemates.  You can just imagine what I went through.  Grrr!

About two weeks later, I got another call from Citibank, fortunately, it was not Mr. Paredes.  Bad thing, I was not able to get his name.  He was polite while talking to me.  He even apologized for the behavior of Mr. Paredes.  Everything went on smoothly while we were discussing about the details of my dues.  (Mr. Paredes, why can't you do that?)  Later, it was found out that my due was only P427.50 and not P2000+, as previously demanded.

Today, weeks after payment of P427.50 (imagine, I was being harassed for not paying this amount.  I must be poor, Mr. Paredes!), I got this bill showing that I overpaid in the amount of P1,939.12:

Tsk! Tsk!  again..