Taking off the copy editor’s heels for a while

It has been approximately 14 days since I decided to take off my copy editor’s heels. I do know know when I will be putting them back on, but I have to admit that I truly miss them. Although those heels were uncomfortable at times, more often than not, I felt confident to a certain level when I strutted my stuff on those heels.

Now that I am trying out the comfort of being a programmer, it makes me wonder if I could still tap into my copy editor counterpart. Life is weird being a programmer. Sometimes I think I have to adjust myself sometimes in order to fit in. But that would mean that I would have to give up pieces of me that become the copy editor.

Anyway, marking my progress in the world I have been reintroduced to, I just finished my training for PowerBuilder 10.5 basics yesterday and I would like to share some group pictures that were taken on our last day. This is also something of a peek into my new world.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES

To be honest, I am longing a bit for those copy editor’s heels since I am terrified of the work that I am facing. Hah! There goes my confidence out the window. I wish I could say that I can do it 100%, but I am just scared stiff that I do not know a single thing about programming. Nevertheless, I have a feeling that I will be just fine.

I have surrendered all my worries to God, and I pray that He will guide me through the whole process. Things have been heating up a bit at the new place, but I guess I need to relearn the ropes of being the new kid on the block. First and foremost, I think I need to “make like a wallflower, and fade behind the woodwork.” More updates on that later.

Yowza! It has been 14 days still and I feel like I have been gone for MONTHS! *faints*

Career changes just might be a good thing

Written on Jan. 30, 2009 [evening] – I was supposed to post this but I fell asleep.

I just spent a whole week at Parole School. So far, so good. I managed to stay alive and a bit alert. Hopefully, I will be able to reach my top most potential to the work demands. At least our German instructor has assured us that our progress is okay so far. He does not expect that we would automatically be the best PowerBuilder programmers after a little more than a week of training.

Obviously, all of you must be waiting for my thoughts about my life there. Suffice it to say, tonight is my first free Friday since I stepped out of college. Amazing. I feel so great and I feel so free. It’s like I can do so many things with my time now. However, as much as I would like to work on all those sidelines that are pending to be done, I cannot help but try to just breathe for once. LOL

As what Ehn told me, somehow she reckons that I no longer know what to do with my free time. She just might be right. More importantly, I think that for my first week, I have learned to at least take it easy. Honestly, I just feel so free. This freedom extends to my appearance, apparently, since this week I could not stop smiling. Even as I walk around Silliman University, I kept smiling to myself with that extra *oomph!* in my step. That is a good thing, right?

So far, however, I do not have any pay yet. That is perhaps my biggest problem. However, I learned that we would get some sort of “allowance” during our time for training. Which is really so cool! It made me extremely happy so much so that I felt so excited as I received my allowance today!

I wanted to take a picture of me and my first PAY as a programmer, but like I said, I do not have a camera. Nevertheless, I was so happy – even happier and more excited than when I received my first pay from camp minus prison. LOL Incidentally, my pay is a bit bigger than our first pay at camp minus prison, which was below Php. 500.00.

Now then, the pay will always be a challenge, but with any luck, I’ll cope. Dare I say, I will update you next time? For now, I shall enjoy my first weekend that is not a HOLIDAY!

Personality through your Desktop Wallpaper

I find wallpapers of people’s computers interesting. I believe that their personality is often reflected when it comes to their choices of wallpaper. I, for one, am a bit of an obsessive with my wallpaper. D often comments if my choices of wallpapers are tasteful or not, but often we find the same ones quite attractive.

Normally, this would not be a big deal for me – not that I change my wallpaper frequently… Okay, maybe I do. Nevertheless, I think my choices are right around the same theme or something like that. All by preference and not through my diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yesterday a new friend / colleague who we shall call F of 2 commented on my desktop wallpaper. He said that he noticed I preferred abstract designs compared to their scenery. I usually have a figure or or something on my wallpaper, but sometimes I go for the scenery, too.

Yesterday got me observing those who brought their personal laptops to work. Another new friend, who we shall call Niv, has animated wallpapers of games like Assassin’s Creed and stuff like that. A female, who is training with us, has Bella of Twilight for her wallpaper. Interesting, right? So I researched online if there was such a thing as personalities reflected through wallpapers. What did I find out? (more…)

Where in the world is Lurchie?

For the past few days, both the online and offline world has been looking for me. It made me smile, really. I do not take pleasure in making others’ emotions range from worry to panic, from fear to concern. My apologies to those who have been looking for me, and thank you for your concern.

I’m quite fine, really. I was just going through some things that have proven to be phenomenally life changing. Okay, obviously, this pertains to the previous post for approximately 75%. Yes folks, I have decided to go for what I want and accept the job offered by GTZ. The pay is definitely low.. think almost 50% pay cut from camp minus prison, yet so far I find myself immensely happy and worry free. Can stress be worth that money?

Although I know that somehow I may end up stressing about where to find money, I somehow have this feeling that everything is gonna be alright. I am praying that I can still find some decent source of cash to help me support my family and at the same time go for the job that ultimately gives me the building blocks for career progress that I desperately need.

Everything truly went at the speed of light. It all started with the handing over of the letter on Friday plus impromptu interview, then off to the seminar to see whether or not I still have it in me, next thing I know, I am handing in my resignation papers right after attending the training. The following day, I find myself on the road to a last day of my SPied life.

Ladies and gentlemen, a jail break has just happened, and I guess it was ME who got to  leave this time. Somebody else is dusting off her underground maps and getting ready to follow suit, but that is another story.

For now, this is a confirmation that in essence, I am free – as free as I can totally be. More challenges are coming my way especially with the huge pay cut. Worried? In a way, I am, but I am definitely happier. It feels like a knife was taken out of my back. The sad part, I guess, is that when the knife was taken out, my heart felt a bit hallow and alone. I will truly miss my friends, but I know that they are always around – reading my blogs – and catching up with my latest endeavors.

Good bye camp minus prison! Hello Parole School!

Oh, Snapped!

I remember a couple of months ago somebody spoke to me about how camp minus prison has affected their lives. I guess to some it is still a walk in the park. Even I can safely say that it is not that hard for me these days.

However, not everybody can adapt to the hard life at camp minus prison. I can attest to this fact since somebody did eventually snap at work. It is a scary thing, really. Who knew that somebody go down that road. Oh sure, we often joke that one day somebody would really go crazy from working at camp minus prison, but often we simply counter this by saying that we were already nuts.

Who knew what was going on in the mind of that employee..? Sources say that she was working on the night shift, and as is the usual with camp minus prison, they asked her to extend her schedule so as to accomodate more work done – yes, overtime. She was the silent type, and during that day, some people said she was beginning to talk to herself. This wouldn’t really raise many eyebrows at camp minus prison since one general rule is that you must not talk when working – a rule we often break but some do follow.

Now what sources say that happened was that her talking to herself became more abnormal or something, so the heads sent her off to the canteen to eat breakfast/lunch. When she came back, some said she was not feeling well or she was still in a state of shock or something, so the heads sent her to the clinic so that the doctor might give her a check-up. Suffice it to say that perhaps she really snapped while at the clinic. How so? Well, she locked up the doors in the clinic – with the nurses inside – and told the nurses not to open the door because there were monsters outside.

I have no idea how they managed the situation, but what my colleagues tell me is that she was escorted outside, just around lunchtime, so she could be taken to the DSWD or the proper authorities. This is not exactly gossip folks, but she did snap. I am not saying that she really is/was crazy, but she snapped. The exact details as to how the day went are still a bit hazy, but a lot of people saw what happened, and with the number of workers working at camp minus prison, hardly anything is kept a secret.

I feel sorry for the employee. Truly, camp minus prison is not a pretty place. Perhaps she had some tough problems, plus the stress, and the heavy work pushed her over the edge. We cannot blame her. Almost everybody else at camp minus prison is prone to go down that path. It could be the combination of everything, or she could have had just a little too much all at once.

I pray that she is well, and that somebody can give her the help she deserves.

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