The Things I Learned After My Return to HP

Doing this list two years ago after leaving Lawson and going back to HP was very significant that it has given me a different outlook on how to value all the lessons that I learned during my stay from the company that I am about to leave. And most importantly, to blog them here in WordPress for everyone to read! And now, after 16 months, I just left HP (again). The reasons behind it are hard to explain here. But just like after leaving Lawson, I did learn a lot during my stint. And I could say that I have learned more valuable lessons during my 16 months stay here than in Lawson. It has definitely helped changed my life, that it has brought me to a new destination (more about that on my future posts). So here you go.

On people, I learned…

… that some people, no matter how weird they are, should just be left alone, but somehow show them how much you care

… to prolong my patience on them

… that no two people are alike, no matter how similar they look

… that there is always something good to say about everyone

… that eventually, they will learn

… that in times when other people are giving you a hard time, it is a sign to just keep your cool a little longer

… that it’s alright to interact with the people under your supervision at a personal level

… to appreciate their efforts for a job well done by rewarding them

On the job, I learned…

… that there are no bad jobs, but only bad attitude on jobs

… to calculate a risk

… to realize when I am already complaining too much

… that it is healthy to question some decisions made by your PM

… to trust your gut instincts

… politics is a natural occurrence at the workplace, and it’s hard to get rid of it

… that some people will be promoted for all the wrong reasons, that you just have to accept it

… that HP is dominated by one school, hence the culture

… that even if you have worked your best, you can’t go to the top when someone’s still sitting there

… that management will always be capitalists

On technology, I learned…

… that SAP is an interesting tool after all

… that the iPhone is so overrated

… CD-R King is really THE king.

… Nintendo DS is way better than PSP (sorry PSP fans)

On life, I learned…

… to make use of time more wisely

… not to take anyone I love for granted

… not to dwell on the past too much

… not to be overly sensitive

… to think of the present only

… that one can have a good life by having good thoughts and attitudes, not by believing on Feng-Shui

… that reading books could really help change your outlook in life

… to value friends more than ever

… to always believe in Him

There you go. With all the lessons I’ve learned, I thank HP for all the experiences and for accepting me back as an employee. Although it was a short stint, I didn’t regret going back to them.

Now, on to the next chapter…

Tschüss!

Happy New Year from Polcasting

Wow, it’s been weeks since I last posted an entry here. My sincerest apologies to you, my beloved readers. I have been busy working on my documents since I will be working out of the country in January. I hope I would post more entries here soon after clearing my busy schedule. Then we’ll get back to ranting. For now, let’s welcome 2009 with a bang! Here’s to a more fruitful and blessed new year for everyone.

Top 20 Signs that a Movie is Gawang Pinoy

Just to provide a different tone to this blog, I am posting this article that describes accurately the signs that a movie is made by Filipinos (although not in a generic sense, but more on those that were shown ages ago). Thanks to Sheila for posting this in Facebook!

The article though is in Tagalog. So to those who can’t read this, my sincere apologies. I’ll make it up to you next time.

Top 20 signs that a movie is GAWANG PINOY:

1. Sasayaw sa likod ng puno ng buko pag nasa beach yung scene. Alternate pa yung mga ulo nila. 

2. Yung kontrabida yayakap sa bida, sabay taas ng kilay at ngingisi. 

3. Ang pancit, nagdadala ng malas. Uuwi ang bida na may dalang pancit sa kanyang nanay na si Anita Linda. Tatawagin nito ang mga bata para kumain, at kakamustahin ng bida ang pag-aaral habang kumakain ng pancit. Biglang may titigil na sasakyan sa harap ng bahay at pauulanan ng baril ang pamilya! Mamamatay si Anita Linda, at sisigaw ang bida ng “Inaaay!” at mangangakong ipaghihiganti ito. Moral lesson: Ang pancit, nakakamatay. 

4. Pag may magkaribal na babae, yung mabait diretcho ang buhok at may bangs. Yung salbahe, laging kulot. 

5. Sa pinoy action movies, ang bida hindi nauubusan ng bala. 

6. Sa pinoy action movies, kapag tumakbo ang bida, sa lupa lahat ang tama ng bala ng kalaban.

7. Kapag may angry mob na pupunta sa bahaykubo ng manananggal, si Vangie Labalan ang laging lider. 

8. Alam mong moment of truth na ng bida kapag sinabi na niya yung title ng pelikula. 

9. Ang tawag ng kontrabida sa mga goons niya, “Mga bata.” 

10. Yung nakababatang kapatid ng bida habang naglalaro ng bola, mabibitawan at mapupunta sa gitna ng kalsada. Tapos may darating na sasakyan, tapos itutulak siya ng bida. Yung bida naman ang nasa gita ng kalsada. Biglang may sasakyang darating. Ang bida, ico-cross lang niya arms niya covering his face tapos sisigaw yung kapatd ng ‘kuyaaa!’. Next scene nasa ospital na sila. Simula na ng drama. 

11. Kapag bakbakan, hindi nasasaktan ang bida, pero umaaray siya pag ginagamot na siya ng leading lady, at kasunod na ang love scene. 

12. Kapag may sinabi ng kontrabida ang masama niyang plano sa bida, ang sasabihin ng bida: “hayop ka!” 

13. Ang bidang babae, pag katulong ang role, siguradong magiging anak ng amo niya sa ending. 

14. Ang nanay ng mayaman laging may pamaypay na pangmayaman, at ang nanay ng mahirap laging naka duster. 

15. Ang hideout ng kontrabida, parating mansion na may chicks sa pool. 

16. Ang mga bida sa drama, pag nakatanggap ng masamang balita, laging may pinto sa likod nila para puwede silang sumandal habang nagsa-slide dahan-dahan pababa, tapos todo iyak with matching uhog. 

17. Pag di nahuli ng mga goons ang bida, sasabihin ng boss sa kanila, “Mga inutil!” 

18. Laging nakakapulot ng baril na may bala ang bida kapag kinakailangan niya. 

19. Laging mas maganda ang yayang bida kesa sa kontrabidang anak ng amo niya. 

20. Pag ang ending ng movie ay song and dance number sa beach o resort, ang huling frame, tatalon ang buong cast…sabay freeze. 

And I have to join the fun! So I added these to the list.

21. Ang goons ng kontrabida, laging nakajeans, leather jacket at naka-gel ang buhok.

22. Meron laging mga love teams pag pangit ang bida sa isang comedy movie.

23. Laging nagbabakbakan sa loob ng beerhouse pagkatapos asarin ng kontrabidang goon ang isang bida

How true! I was entertained by this list. Although there are a lot of significant improvements with our movies today, there is no doubt that we enjoyed those old movies when we were still younger. Ahhhh, the good old days.

Not Your Usual CEO

In these difficult times, only a few people really understand how to help their companies rise above through difficult times. And I envy those that are lead by CEOs who would sacrifice a little of their bulging salaries and perks for the benefit of their employees and the whole organization. Japan Airlines (JAL) has one of them. Their CEO is a rare kind who does not act like he is one at all. He eats on the same cafeteria as his employees, and his salary is now even lower than his pilots. If you see him in person in the JAL office, you would mistake him as an ordinary employee. That is how humble he is. This guy definitely deserves the uttmost respect of his subordinates. How I wish he works for HP.

Migrating to Facebook… a Daunting Task

I just can’t do it. I promised myself to totally leave Friendster for good so I could put all my attention to my new “social pet”, Facebook. But I can’t explain what’s keeping me from abandoning my old “pet” to a more advanced, feature-rich social networking website. Is it because of the number of friends that I already have in Friendster? Or maybe I should blame it on my being a very old fashion person? No idea. Facebook is really good. You can join groups, be a fan of this and that, challenge your friends through games, and the interface is way better than Friendster. Yes, Friendster is ok. But I think Facebook has won the battle. Since Friendster has not introduced significant changes, and its new additions were obviously copied from what Facebook has already done from the start. A lot of good reasons to just leave your Friendster account inactive for years to come. But there are days that I can’t help but login to Friendster to look for updates. Maybe to look at how many times my profile was viewed by my friends, or someone might have sent me an invite to be my ka-friendster. This is crazy thinking. I think I might just stick for a while and keep my Friendster account active. Come to think of it. This ain’t a big deal. But if I were to ask you. If I introduce Facebook to you now and you give it a chance, would you still look back to your old Friendster account?

Anyways, to keep you entertained, here’s the video of a beatboxer at its worst!

The Reasons Why I Love and Hate this Coke Commercial

Watching the latest Coke commercial, where the mother offered her disappointed son dinner and a refreshing bottle of Coke, is a good example of a commercial using good values for the bad intentions. Clearly, the commercial wants to emphasize the value of overcoming failures through good family relationships. But when I got to the end of the commercial, it brought me to a conclusion that this company is desperate to make a comeback in sales due to the popularity of bottled iced tea like C2 nowadays. When a company tells you to drink Coke “araw-araw”, you bet that they don’t give a damn about obesity and diabetes. Here’s the 45 second version of this commercial.

Happy Halloween from Polcasting!

Hi there folks. Happy Halloween!! Here is a video for your entertainment. =)

[WOW Website of the Week]: When everything else fails, it must be in this website!

It’s been exactly 3 weeks since my last post! Thanks to a very busy schedule, Polcasting has been dry of topics and now it needs some greasing to bring it back again. And what better way to revive the site back than to bring you the webiste of the week.
You may say that this website of the week is a big “failure”. What I mean is, the webiste is full of funny stuff of failed proportions! FailBlog.org contains real pictures and unscripted (although sometimes I doubt this claim) videos that “failed” to reach their intended goals, and were compiled for your pleasure. Although some of the materials here may not be suitable for work, this website is a good time waster and you would surely attempt to finish reading all the pages of this blog. As of this writing, there are 130 pages for you to enjoy. One of the posts from this blog is a short video that made me ROFL. See for yourself. The Fairy Fail!

Inquirer’s “Elitism” Editorial

I chanced upon this editorial from Inquirer regarding the absurd policy implemented by the Araneta Center before Game 2 of the Finals between ADMU and DLSU. No offense meant to my friends from the said schools, but I have to agree with the newspaper’s stand on this issue. Discriminating ticket buyers by just their mere appearance smacks of pure elitism. The Araneta management is obviously clueless on the people behind those who sell those precious tickets for more than 20x its original price. I can’t believe the policy of presenting an Ateneo/La Salle school ID or an authorization letter from the said schools is a requirement for the right to purchase a ticket. They have a presumption that if you look “madungis” and don’t have the ID or authorization letter, then you must be a scalper. Or even if you are clean looking, but don’t have those documents, you must be a scalper. Ouch. What a rude policy. The Inquirer is right. Araneta should not look further outside but the people around them. Or to put it bluntly, those in the Araneta ticketing office. This is where the “gold” is produced. Therefore, they can beat the real scalpers in selling the tickets. Opportunity is there. Very plausible. For a Finals event this famous and overhyped, it’s easy to become a scalper for a day when you got the juice. The bad thing is even if ticket price is more than enough to pay for a month’s salary of a minimum wage earner, the privileged ones or the so called “elitists” still bite. No wonder why the newspaper called this a party for the “perfumed set”.

Inflation and Economy Explained through Duck Tales

Back in the 90’s where morning cartoons became a general addiction of youngsters, Disney’s Duck Tales is one of those that I watched every Satruday morning. But who would have thought that such innocent show would provide a very clear explanation on how the inflation, or the whole economy in general, works. This is such a good clip that you, and most especially those people in the government, should watch and learn something from it. I never knew that the cartoon that I enjoyed watching when I was a kid is already teaching these stuff.