I'm in cramming mode today. There are tons of tasks I need to do before we leave that's why I need to multitask. I have just been to the bank to settle some obligations and had to hurry home to Miguel. He'll wake up in a bit. But while he's sleeping, I need to start working on cleaning up my computer memory. I've been delaying this task for so long, but now it's inevitable. And I need to transfer files from my hard drive to portable discs and do some research on the net. I need to do this at once since my internet access will be deactivated soon. Thing is, while I'm ready to work really fast, my laptop won't cooperate. This pop-up box on the bottom right keeps telling me I'm low on memory. I definitely need a computer memory upgrade.
My laptop badly needs cleaning up. Since the day we acquired this in 2006, all I've done was to accumulate stuff from documents, to photos and videos. I need to either clean up and reformat or get a ram upgrade to accommodate my ever increasing piles of files! Nico has been bugging me for weeks now to save all of Miguel's photos in a disc so we could reformat. But everytime I open my folders, I get overwhelmed by the number of files I need to sort. I hope I can do this before we move.
I had a chat with a friend and former colleague the other week. She phoned in as soon as she learned that we're moving back to Dubai in June. After venting out some of her frustrations over work, our conversation made her consider the possibility of working abroad. To help her start the job hunting process, I gave her a list of job sites in Dubai which I found helpful when I was still looking for work. And for the benefit of those who'd like to consider working in Dubai, here's the list:
www.jobtrackme.com, www.kershawleonard.net, www.clarendonparker.com, www.bacme.com, www.talentdubai.com, www.jobs-me.com, www.indigo.ae, www.dbbcg.com, www.mosaicsearch.com, www.charterhouseme.ae, www.mriww-uae.com, www.grafton-group.com, www.jobs_ube@eim.ae, www.aamaluae.com, www.interfaceuae.com, www.synergy.ae, www.jobscan.ae, www.soundlinesgroup.com, www.hisys.ae, www.prosearch-me.com, www.mindfieldresources.com, www.peoplesource-me.com, www.sosrecruitment.net
Most of these sites will require you to sign up for an account so you can deposit your resume in their job bank and apply online. While some can be used as a reference to give you an idea of the types of jobs that are in demand as well as the salary range.
It also wouldn't hurt to sign up even if you're not considering Dubai since some of these sites have international affiliations and they post jobs in Singapore, UK, NZ and Australia.
Another strategy that I learned when job hunting in Dubai is to prepare several resumes. This works for those people who are multi-skilled or have experience in several fields. The purpose is for you to highlight the most relevant experience in your resume that match the requirements of a particular job that you're applying for. And when you apply online, you would normally be required to "name" your resume (eg. Marketing Assistant, Analyst, etc.) so the employers would have an immediate idea of what your experience is all about.
But of course, you have to keep the accuracy of information in all your resumes, making sure not to give false information about yourself and your experience.
Yesterday was Miguel's monthly check with the doc and as usual we went for some grocery shopping afterwards. I was doing some accounting task last night and I realized that indeed prices of basic commodities have greatly increased. Since we're now living on single income I've become more conscious of our spending.
I was telling Nico last night that I need to have a source of income too, and since I'm still not ready to leave Miguel with a nanny so I could take up fulltime work, he suggested that I enroll in a technical school to learn new skills. I thought it was a good idea to get it training in a reputable tech school. I'm thinking now of a good course to enroll in that I could eventually use to do home-based jobs.
Any idea of an interesting and in-demand course?
My dear blogmates, thanks for your never-ending patience and untiring effort to visit my blog and leave comments. The past week has been buuussy, thus, there hasn't been any new post recently. Here's a quick look into where I've been and what I've been doing:
Saturday, March 01
I left you with a note on my obsession with Harry Potter movies and my attempt to get a new haircut. I've seen all the Potter movies, all right (my bro has the dvd's), but the hair remains unchanged! I was supposed to visit the salon after Miguel's pedia visit last Saturday, unfortunately, he got sick on Friday and went throwing up all over the doctor's clinic on Saturday! Oh yeah, we made them all stink! :) Naturally, my scheduled rest & recreation was cancelled; we headed home immediately after buying the meds he needs.
And the following days were spent with a regular neb schedule, medicine administration and a lot of effort to encourage him to eat and take his milk. Believe me, it is always a battle to get him to eat.
Wednesday, March 05
Miguel's fever went up again, to as high as 39deg celsius, and he was fussy and crying all the time. After 4 doses of paracetamol, he still didn't improve. By 7pm, I decided to bring him to the hospital for blood test (I'm scared of dengue). Thankfully, the results were normal. The fever subsided the following day but the coughing continued.
Thursday, March 06
I went for a job interview in Makati. I wasn't actually actively looking for employment at the moment, but there were days in the past when I felt I would want to go back to the corporate world again (perhaps those days when I was so stressed of my routine already). Then I chanced upon an interesting position with an oil major, I sent my resume (thought I would just try). I was contacted the next day and was invited for an interview.
The interview went well, but unfortunately for me, the job requires a 6-day work week, so I honestly told them I am not amenable to the schedule. I was asked if I'm interested with a job in sales but I don't think I'm ready for it, so I declined as well.
Since it's very seldom that I visit Makati these days, I took the opportunity to visit my friends and ex-officemates in Chevron. It was always good to meet old pals. I got home around 7pm, it was the longest time I was away from Miguel. I missed the boy.
After months of contemplation and yaya search, I remain uncertain on the issue of returning to work. This has been the question in my mind for months now, whether it is truly ever worth it to delegate the task of “caring for Miguel” to some stranger so I could work fulltime.
At one point in October, I had been ready (or so I thought), so I sent an application to Chevron. I was contacted the next day and was asked to report in November. Obviously I couldn’t. Well I didn’t know they would ask me to work that soon! I had no yaya and nanay was scheduled to spend a month-long stay in Singapore. I requested if I could start in December (while bugging friends and family to help me find a yaya, which I soon realized was no easy feat), though I know it was quite impossible as the post needs to be filled urgently. So I missed the opportunity. After a few moments of regret, I was back to present again–no yaya, no work, no worries.
Next week a prospective yaya is scheduled to arrive finally. So then I will have to confront the issue again. I have the entire 2008 ahead of me. Another year full of possibilities. I will have to decide soon.
“One doesn’t recognize in one’s life the really important moments until it’s too late”.- Agatha Christie
I was going through my old stuff the other day and stumbled upon this photo.
This was taken in June 2001 during the Marketing-Finance-Supply Coordination Meeting at Evercrest in Batangas. Seeing this photo, I somehow felt a sense of nostalgia and a sudden longing to bring back the old days.
It is only recently that I realized I actually enjoyed the seven years I spent at Caltex (now Chevron). Seven years is not a very long time, I know, but I am thankful to have handled such a job that allowed me to grow professionally and to develop personal relationships with my colleagues. Surely there were times when I struggled with work–I’ve had my share of disappointments as well. As any normal employee would have experienced– yung time na demotivated ka and if only you could just quit!- but after a while, things would get better and you realize you’re happy and contented again.
It was indeed a happy and fulfilling experience and if ever I’d have the chance to work again (read: if Miguel will take a bottle), I will still choose to work with Chevron (ahem hindi po ito naka-attention sa mga ex-boss, nagsesenti lang! hehehe).
Anyways, as I wanted to preserve fond memories with Chevron, I rushed to look for old photos which I haven’t had the chance to organize. I was too disappointed to find out they were missing! My biggest mistake was that I didn’t bring them with me to Dubai so I guess they were mistaken for clutter and thrown away during spring cleaning! waaaaa
Today, I have taken actions to retrieve what’s left of my Chevron past–that is, bug down ex-officemates to send me copies of those photos. Fortunately, my ex-boss was kind enough to search through his archives and sent me these. Sana meron pa…
***
first up, an update on my so-called 'career'...
after turning down IT's offer, I was advised by my agency that the other company, PM, decided not to get me--here's an excerpt from my official rejection letter: "the feedback from the client is that although they liked you very much and felt that you would be well able to carry out the role, they are looking for somebody who has more experience in sales and marketing, as the successful candidate will be expected to move into a field sales management role within the next two years". all three of the interviewers asked me about my career plans and in all three instances i never thought of considering "sales" as a field i want to venture on eventually. 8months of sales experience in chevron is enough time for me to realize it is not what i want to do after all. anyways, i was still disappointed for not getting this post and the first thing that came to mind was, 'i'm so dead, few days back i had two options, now i have nothing'...
but God is so good! the other consultant went back to IT and asked if they would still want to reconsider me for the pricing specialist post. of course, i had to 'apologize' for turning down their offer initially but am glad to have been given a second chance :) so this is where i work now, the place is called Dubai Internet City, which is right beside Dubai Media City and Knowledge Village...most of the offices here are grouped into clusters--internet city for IT companies, media city for ad agencies and media, knowledge village for schools...there is even a healthcare city being built for, you guessed it, clinics and hospitals! here's a peek to my new office at DIC--IT is IBM actually :)
***
on pregnancy...
i'm on my 2nd trimester now and i am proud to say i have passed the first trimester with flying colors!! i threw up once and it wasn't so bad at all, but i went through it not without my share of pregnancy blues--i've had days when nausea would strike really bad and the feeling of wanting to throw up was unimaginable...i even had to miss work for 2 days after a fainting spell was cast upon me while waiting for my morning bus.
the funny thing i remember about my first tri experience was my aversion to certain foods--chicken in particular...i couldn't eat nor cook chicken for more than 3 months and the mere thought of it made me want to puke. to this day, chicken is still not one of my fave indulgence but i try to eat once in a while to balance our menu. still during those months, i couldn't stand the smell of newly cooked rice, once the rice cooker begins to puff, i would bury my face on the pillows...but weirdest thing i hated was the smell of nico's soap--safeguard white! I had him change his soap as i couldn't stand being with him after he's taken a bath, when he's supposed to be at his most huggable state, but what can i do??!
i've had several trips to the OB in the past months and am scheduled again for another check up in 2 week's time. here's a photo of my baby at 12 weeks, during this visit we were able to hear my baby's heartbeat for the very first time! a nuchal transluscency scan was done on me along with PAPP-A blood test as a required procedure to detect any abnormalities in the fetus, particularly down's syndrome, and thank God once again, the test results were normal.
today i am exactly 18 wks and 2days preggy but i'm not showing much yet, however my regular clothes won't fit anymore so i have to wear some real maternity clothes. as days pass our excitement grows even more, we look forward to our next OB check-up and get even more excited at the thought of seeing or hearing our baby once again.
on sept 17 i am scheduled for another scan and this time we will be able to know whether we're having a boy or a girl--something that everybody's been eagerly waiting to know :) the fact that we still do not know our baby's gender at this point didn't stop me from buying some baby clothes last weekend, the 50% off sale at mothercare was too tempting to ignore so i bought a few pieces of bodysuits in neutral color--neutral being green and white. i so wanted to buy the pink ones but i'd like to give nico the benefit of enjoying the thought of having a son (though i very much feel like it's gonna be a girly!) :)
more updates on my journey to motherhood soon, that is, if i am once again able to wake up from hibernation...
and then it came. and two months after, i was bored to death. i busied myself with household stuff--cooking, laundry, housecleaning and indulged in my regular pastime--books, mags, tv, mall, internet (i actually found a site called bored.com hehe) and quite recently found new interest on reading the daily paper, a habit which i got from nico. on weekends, we would normally go out to explore this new place, always on our own pace. despite all that, my days are normally blank, i always seem to have too much time with not much to do. i still wake up early, around 530am to prepare nico's breakfast and see him off to work, but i'm back to bed even before he's able to get into the building elevator. i make sure not to get out of bed before 10am as much as i can so that almost half of the day's already spent and i only have the rest of the afternoon to laze. 
