I'm Broke!

It’s been such a long time since I’ve been this broke. It was Javier’s birthday yesterday and boy am I glad I had just enough cash to last the day yesterday. We celebrated with a simple dinner and then, at his request, Timezone. My last Peso was spent to pay for our parking ticket last night. Today, I have zilch for cash. And to be supporting a household of 5, my financial status is quite uncomfortable.

One thing that made my day yesterday was this moment as Javier and I were walking back to the car. We ran to the parking lot, laughing as we did, and walked a few meters before the exit to rest. While walking he said, “Daddy, I enjoyed. Thank you.”

Little Boy Gets Sick Again

I'm a zombie again today because I stayed up for my little boy. He developed a fever the other day and now his lymph nodes are swollen. He has a bad cold and has difficulty breathing. Dimetap doesn't seem to work but we give it anyway.

If he doesn't get better today, I think I'll bring him to the doctor tomorrow.

No Smoking Please

Before you read through, let me issue a warning that what you will read is my opinion of smoking and of the smokers that I’ve been with and have seen.

I grew up asthmatic. Every year when I was young, I'd be absent from school for a week twice a year because of the change in seasons, which would in turn cause allergic reactions with my lungs. Due to the weakness in my lungs, I was asked to stay away from dust, pollen and smoke. It’s my Achilles Heel, the one area I try to keep strong because when that gives in, I'd be down and out for such a long time.

Everyday, as I go to and leave work, I pass through groups of smokers outside our building. Before passing through, I’d take a deep breath to avoid inhaling the air in the vicinity. To some people, this might seem like an over reaction. To me, I’m just trying to minimize the amount of smoke that gets into my lungs.

Before, I would periodically pass through Emerald Avenue in the Ortigas Central Business District to pay for a bill in one of the banks along the road. The sidewalks on that road are usually filled with people taking their break, smoking. As I walk through, I usually have no choice but to inhale the smoke-filled air. Even on a windy day you can smell the smoke in the air.

There is something about many of the smokers I see. Many of them don’t seem to understand how seriously people need clean air so they let the smoke drift to an area where people may breathe it. Many don’t seem to care enough to keep their smoke away, even from babies and the older folk. Many of them just throw their cigarette butts on the ground as if they were organic and biodegradable.

This is why I appreciate organizations that make their areas smoke-free areas to promote clean air. I also appreciate organizations that designate areas for smokers that are well away from the non-smokers. I appreciate those smokers who move away when they know there are non-smokers around. And I fully support government efforts to ban cigarette ads and increase sin taxes on cigarettes.

To all the smokers that took the time to read through this, I hope you understand where I’m coming from. Peace!

Parent-Teacher Conference

I went to my first parent-teacher conference today. I got to his school early in the morning so that my wife and I could line up early and finish early as well. I wasn't really worried about what the teacher would say because I knew my son is such a good and smart boy.

The school implemented a priority number system so all we had to do was pick a number and wait in line. We first went to his class adviser, picked a number and sat down. After a few minutes, my wife and I decided to talk to his Chinese teacher first because there were some parents already in line for his adviser.

Our son's Chinese teacher is a young Filipino-Chinese, who could speak fluent Chinese and English. I thought this was good since I knew some Chinese teachers were mainland Chinese who spoke just some English. We didn't have to wait long to talk to her. We just expressed to her that we were concerned that we didn't know Chinese and that we couldn't tell if he was pronouncing the words correctly. We asked if she would recommend a tutor. The teacher told us not to worry since our son was one of her most attentive students in class. Feeling somewhat relieved, we decided to talk about our son and how he likes Chinese. We mentioned that he would offer to pray or sing in Chinese and that from time to time, he would teach us Chinese words. I could see that she was happy to hear that. We left her feeling good that we didn't have to worry. We kept repeating what she had said: He was one of her most attentive students in class.

When we got back to his adviser, we saw that the line had hardly moved so we decided to have breakfast. After a hotdog and an order of siomai, I asked my wife if she planned to discuss anything with our son's adviser. She just mentioned our son's complaints about a classmate who was often rough with him.

We got back in line and after around half an hour, it was finally our turn.

Our son's adviser said our son is a model student. He is always so well-behaved and he recites frequently. She explained that she would ask the class to behave like our son, making our son quite well-known in class. We were also told that he is a bit slow in writing and coloring exercises and so we 'll need to support him there. Then we brought up the complaint of our son about his rough classmate. The adviser laughed and said that while it's true that the other boy can be quite rough, that boy actually declared that our son was his best friend, hence all the attention he showers onto our son.

When I think about this whole experience, I can't help but smile. My son is a good boy. Of course I already know that, but it's nice to know that other people think so too. I also realized that my son has this whole world now that I am not a part of. My son is experiencing the world on his own and he is coping quite well. He is forging his own friendships, facing his own challenges and learning new things from other people.

I better get used to this, I guess because that world will get bigger and bigger as he grows up.

The Speed of Trust

I'm at Summit Ridge Hotel right now for an overnight seminar on The Speed of Trust, one of the programs offered by FranklinCovey and a leadership book written by Stephen M. R. Covey. This is a new experience for me as I've never been to anything like this for work before. As the name says, it's all about trust, building it, restoring it and making it work for you on the level of Self, Relationships, Organizations, Market and Society. It's actually a good book too. Yep, I spent a number of nights trying to finish reading the book before the seminar.

So far, there are good things that I noticed and some bad things. I'm really trying to make the most of it. For the first part of the seminar, I "volunteered" for the trust fall activity, and I was picked to be table leader to help facilitate table discussions. So much for the chance to kick back and relax. Well, I actually enjoyed those moments.

Anyway, I am truly grateful for this experience. It's nice to be spending the night in a hotel. It's also nice to have all day long free wifi, flowing coffee, free meals, etc. It's really great meeting so many new people from the seminar.

I guess I just miss my wife and little boy.

Little Boy Goes to School

My son now goes to the big school. What can I say? He's growing up and there's nothing I can do to stop it or slow it down.

Is it right for me to be worried? He still such a little boy. Will he get along with his classmates? Will he have difficulty making new friends? Can he do all those things on his own? What if he gets lost? or gets into a fight?

I can't be there anymore. There was this one time I rushed in when he was being bullied. He'll have to fend for himself now.

This is not like his first school where he just walked to the next block, where there were just five people in his class. Now there are more than twenty in class and they look like they can speak just as good and run just as fast.

All of a sudden, letting go and trusting in someone has a whole new meaning to me again.

Kepner - Tregoe

I've been out of the office since Monday for a 3-day workshop on problem solving and decision making and it has been a welcome break from work. While I did appreciate what the speaker imparted through the workshop, I also found it difficult to absorb. Nevertheless, I tried hard to take in everything he had to say as I was told that there will be a revalida in a month's time to show management that I can now apply what I've learned for the betterment of the company. Needless to say, I've been going home with a headache each day.

Below is a general schematic of what was discussed. I found it on the net surfing about KT.

I actually want to pass on what we discussed these past few days to my department. Content-wise, I don't think there was anything new. For me, it was more of a thinking process that makes sure that all relevant details are considered. It's a way of training your brain not to jump to conclusions, to document how you came up with a conclusion so others can follow your thinking process. Then again, I found it difficult to absorb. If I try to pass it on in my current state, it might be a grave injustice to Kepner, Tregoe and the people I pass it to.

For now, there is a lot to do. I go back to a job I've been away from for three days. I have to catch up on the where I left off with the projects I handle. I have to go through 3 days worth of emails, which is lot considering that I got a warning that my mailbox is closed due to the sheer number. But even after all that, I go back to work with a sense of optimism that I can still do a lot to make things better at work. It's amazing how taking a break from what you normally do can make one see things differently. And with my head still fresh with new things to try out, my work became interesting once again.

Just Do It

There are so many roads being fixed these days that I can't help but think that these public works are connected to the coming elections. If you travel around Quezon City, you'll see that many of the pedestrian overpasses have streamers thanking GMA for the construction of the said overpass.

Dear leaders, if you really have a true desire to serve the public, just do it. What I see around me reminds me of how Jesus described the pharisees who would sound their horns as they give alms to the poor. It's disappointing and it makes me question your motives for seeking public office.

Just ranting. Hopefully, I can write about something positive soon.

(Re-posted from I Think Therefore I'm Write)

Change

There will be a number of changes at the office next week. The two managers I've grown quite comfortable working with won't be showing up for work anymore. One will be moving to Canada; the other will be moving to a new job assignment within the group.

It affects me in various ways. First, I expect my boss to lean on me a lot more now. There's still one more manager around, and I believe she is competent and capable. It's just that my boss tended to rely a lot on one of those leaving. I need to step up and anticipate her needs and be ready for what she asks for.

I also expect a lot of work to be turned over. Last Tuesday, as one of the managers turned over his documents, he showed me all the documents that will need looking into, sorting and filing. Aside from cleaning house, I'll need to work at a faster pace to be able to keep up the pace of releasing reports for the Chairman.

One more thing I have started to think about is how to coach each person that I will now supervise. I did not give much thought to this until now, but since we'll be losing two talented people, our group needs to make up for it through the training and development.

Finally, the assets that the two will be leaving behind will be reallocated. The laptops that will be left behind will be given to those who need them. The matter regarding the turnover of company vehicles is a bit more awkward since my boss required that the vehicles be turned over to the department for a change in custodians. I will be benefiting from this so its quite awkward for me to enforce.

With the changes taking effect this April, we'll be in a transition period for awhile. With the possibility of new recruits coming in, the objective is to build the group into an effective multidimensional team that is flexible and experienced enough to undertake projects to the satisfaction of the Chairman. Taking stock of our best practices and learning new tools would greatly help here.

How to do all of this is another problem. And so the story continues...

The Trio is Down to Two

I have a running buddy who'll be migrating to Canada next month. When I think about it, I can't help but get into a melancholic mood because of all the experiences we've shared.

We met when we were both recruited to be part of this team of individuals who would undertake the Chairman's pet projects. After some of the team members moved on to follow their own paths, the two of us moved on to a new group. When I started running more than 2 years ago, I found out that she would also run and it became almost like a ritual that we, along with another officemate would go to UP to run every Sunday morning.

She was quite competitive and if it weren't for some health problems, she would have probably been the faster and stronger runner between the two of us. We've had our differences and we've worked through each one.

With her moving on, it just makes me think about how it will be now that the trio is down to two. I guess I shouldn't see this as an end, but instead as another one of the changes that constantly happen. And I'll now know one person more in Canada.

To my friend, officemate and running buddy, take care, be safe and happy. I am really happy for you. You will be missed.

Far East Bank Forever!

For the past three Wednesdays, I’ve been attending practices with the Far East Bank Chorale. After 10 years since Far East Bank was fully integrated into BPI, this is my first time to be singing again with other chorale members. On the first practice day, I showed up knowing that I would probably not know most of the people there. Nevertheless, I felt I wanted to be part of this project – to sing for the Far East Bank Golden Anniversary.

I always look back at Far East Bank with fond memories not only because it was my first corporate work experience but also because I believe it had the best HR organizations among all the companies I worked for. At the time, I could feel the employee support be it a need for assistance for an administrative transaction, a venue to air a grievance, bankwide or building-wide celebrations and First Friday and other special masses. Far East Bankers were really proud that they didn’t have a union.

I remember that during my New Employee’s Orientation Program (NEOP), it was explained to me that the Human Resources group was a whole division and not just a department because the HR function was taken very seriously there. What was quite impressive then was the number of training seminars that were available for new employees. One had to go through courses of Business Writing, Advanced Excel, an Advance Credit Course (I & II) and Supervisory Training. HR personnel then understood that they were role models and that they had a key role to play in culture building.

I am quite sure many former Far East Bankers have their own fond memories and I think that’s why for many years now, Far East Bankers have been getting together at organized reunions and some informal gatherings. I myself have been to a couple of those gatherings. But I’ve heard that this reunion might be the last and I can only think that it maybe because many of the senior officers are either getting too busy or old to keep organizing gatherings year after year. Anyway, not wanting to miss out on a good thing, I got myself a ticket and volunteered for the practices.

It’s quite entertaining to listen to the stories of the chorale members. They seem to have had such good times before. I already heard about how the chorale was formed and how they would be pulled out from work to perform for branch openings in areas such Aklan and Tuguegarao. They also shared pictures of their competitions against other bank chorales. They must have had so much fun.

Being the newcomer to the group, having been recruited in the last few years of the bank, can only boast singing for of a couple of branch openings and launchings. Nevertheless, I can’t help but feel proud of still being considered part of the Far East Bank and the Far East bank Chorale. This is why attending the anniversary as part of the chorale is important to me now. Although Far East Bank and Trust Company no longer exists as a corporation, I know I miss a lot about what was. I sounds cliché and corny, but yeah, as our anthem goes, “You’ll be there, Far East Bank, forever.”