Troubleshooting days

I went to Best Buy earlier to look for a wireless router though I didn't look hard coz I already know what router I wanted. Of course, I got a Linksys router. Why? Because I used to work as a Linksys technician before and I know how to troubleshoot the thing.

It made me reminisced the time when I worked as a Product Support Representative. Sitting at my station with my Plantronics headset with serial number XS8067 (yes, I still remember coz if we lose it, it'll be worth our annual salary..or maybe not that much), Avaya phone, and computer on my desk. Our job was simply sitting around, listen to the beep before my opening spiel, "Hi, thank you for calling Linksys! This is Jona. How may I help you?", listen to the customers while (most of them) complain about their Linksys product's initial setup without even plugging the product in and running the CD yet, and we do the same thing over and over again. Of course, there are some challenging part such as irate customers, maintaining KPI, and dealing with nonsense. The most rewarding part of it is when the customer would ask to speak to a supervisor to let them know how much I helped them and all the recommendations, praises, etc.

Oh, I loved the job. I really did until I realized that I wasn't going anywhere with it. I don't blame anyone but myself coz I didn't do good enough. I wasn't performing bad either, in fact, it was my performance who was holding me stay on the job or else, they'd already kicked me out a long time ago due to my tardiness and absences. Oh yeah, I was such a lazy ass! But, no, they never kicked me out. I resigned from it.

Now you know why I got Linksys! I only have limited knowledge about the other products so I can't say that they don't work good. But working with Linksys and knowing how much people used it and satisfied with it, I never wanted to look to anything else. Yeah, I'm bias, I know. :-D

Call Center

A call center agent is someone who caters calls from any part of the world regardless of what place they are based. Nowadays, call centers had been increasing in the Philippines due to the most known fact that Philippines is less than most money in the world which means that the call center investors can save regarding salary wise for the call center employees. Though there are lots of call centers outside the Philippines but I have only observed what is within our country and it was obvious how the call center starts to get most job-seekers attentions and that made call center business become popular in our country.

As once a call center agent, I can say that being one was never easy in the sense that you need to deal with clients that comes all around the world which some, or maybe most are irates. One thing that's hard about a call center agent is having a multi-tasking job. Being alert is good but the pressure is not. Like most of the other jobs, they are settings targets to be achieved and help the company grow, but in a call center, nothing is consistent. The targets, the pacing, the workers, the standards and anything the like keeps changing and each time it changed, we need to adjust for our jobs to achieved the changes being made.

My Chocolate Cake

At last I was able to bake a cake. I don't really cook but I love to cook and I am glad that now I always have the chance to cook. I am always telling Andy that I am willing to learn how to cook coz I really love cooking, it's just that I didn't have the chance to do so while being with my parents coz they always do the job.


Anyway, this could not be the very best-tasting cake and it was very easy to make, you only have to follow the instructions. Thanks to Pillsbury cake mix and frosting. All the other ingredients I used is on the Pillsbury box. With the Devil's Cake that I made, I added eggs, 1 tablespoon cooking oil and 2 cups of water. Blend all the ingredients until softened. Grease the pan and put in the oven that was preheated to 350 degree Fahrenheit. Bake it for 30-35 minutes.

Then we ate it with ice cream (see photos above). For me, it taste much better if it's cooled down in the fridge before serving. Glad to have 4396841 (a Whirlpool refrigerator) to keep the food fresh and of course, my chocolate to taste better.

Burn Baby Burn (LOL)

This is not as funny as how the title looks like, it hurts. Finally, after 2 weeks living here, I had my first burn. I got it accidentally from the side of the oven while I was heating up Enchiladasfor our dinner. Surely it hurts and feels like burning for a few hours. They (Andy, my fiance, and Yvonne, his sister) keeps reminding me that always get apot holder to hold the pot or the pan coz it's hot but they never reminded me that the side of the oven is hot too (hehe), but no I am not blaming it to them. Now, it's not hurting anymore and I hope that it would not leave mark on my arm.

Speaking of which, I'm glad I'm receiving Medicare supplement so that in case worst thing may happen, I'm covered. Good thing I only have a small burn.

My Vanity Section

Earlier, after I got home from my parents-in-law's house, I decided to clean my own sink coz I got a new set of Bath and Body Works signature collection [Enchanted Orchid] set from them and I realized that I don't have a place to put it. I still got a lot of collection set that I got from them and friends as gift. I just wanna show with you the stuff in my sink.

I, actually, already cleaned it up and threw the things that I don't really care for. There used to be a lot there. Five kinds of shower gel, bubble bath, lotion, body butter, lotion, etc. Now that I got a new collection, I don't think I would be able to use the old ones. But it's nice to have a little bit of choices from here and there which what I got right now.

By the way, the new ones I got from my in-laws are the purple ones you see in the picture. They chose it coz it's purple and they know that I love the color. The scent smells so good though. Floral scent, just the way I like it.

Importing Mails to Window Mail

I'm so glad that I can access my email accounts in just one click now, by using Windows Mail a.k.a. Outlook for XP and older Windows operating systems. Yes, I have more than one email account, eight, to be exact. Why? For many reasons and I'm not gonna list them all here coz this post isn't about that. But one main reason is security since I'm doing alot of online stuff such as blogging, online jobs, business, etc.

Anyway, just in case you're like me who has a lot of email accounts and wants to access them all in just once click, I'm gonna share with you how I added my accounts in Windows Mail. I, actually, didn't add all of my accounts. Just two of them, Yahoo! and Gmail.

○ Yahoo!

You may have already heard about it, that only those who has Yahoo Mail Plus subscription can import their Yahoo! account to Windows Mail. That's not exactly true. I don't have Mail Plus subscription. Here's what I did:

1. Download YPOPs--an application which emulates a POP3/SMTP mail server and provides free POP3 and SMTP access to Yahoo! Mail.. Go to this link and select the latest version for Windows. Save file and run.
2. Open Windows Mail. Click Tools, then Accounts from the menu bar.
3. Click Add, highlight Email Account, then click Next.
4. Type your name. Click Next.
5. Enter your Yahoo! Mail address [with @yahoo.com]. Click Next.
6. Select POP3 as Incoming e-mail server type. Put 127.0.0.1 under Incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server. Put 127.0.0.1 under Outgoing e-mail server (SMTP) name. Click Next.
7. Type your Yahoo! Mail username [without @yahoo.com] and password. Leave everything else to default. Click Next, Finish, then Close.
8. On your Windows Mail window, click Send/Receive. Wait for your mails to load and you're set!

○ Gmail

Unlike Yahoo!, Gmail is easier to setup because it is supported by its server. All you need to do is login to your Gmail. Click on Settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab. Enable POP then save settings. Then click on Configuration Instructions. Just follow the instructions and you will be set with your Gmail.

For all your other email accounts, just check their settings and see if they have an option for forwarding/importing your emails to Windows Email. If they don't, search it on Google. That's what I did! :-P

Now, I have less hassle checking my accounts. I just had my Yahoo! and Gmail accounts important coz they are the ones that I checked almost everyday, plus all my other emails are setup to be automatically forwarded to my Yahoo! so I can still check the emails coming in without opening my accounts. So, just one click to Windows Mail from my desktop, and I would be able to see all the emails I received.

Walkmans to MP3s to iPods

Finally I am able to use the iPod shuffle that my mother-in-law gave to me last December. She knew that I like listening to music, that's why she gave me an iPod.

It took me awhile to use it coz our old computer is, uhmmm.. OLD and I can't download iTunes on it unless I upgrade its operating system to XP Service Pack 2 or higher. It only has Windows XP Home Edition, so I need to have it upgraded to Service Pack 1 then 2. It is such a hassle, I know, so I didn't do it coz I knew that we'll gonna get a new computer anyway. So now that we finally got a new one, I had the iTunes and downloaded my favorite songs in my shuffle. Yay!

Then I just happen to think about how portable media players evolved. I still remember having a walkman before, then came the MP3 players, and now the ipods. Technology! It just keeps getting better which is really good. Now I'm wondering what could be next after iPods. I can't wait!

I don't think you know this ;-)

I was doing a general cleaning last Monday [and still doing it coz I'm way far from being done] coz my sister-in-law just moved out and got her own apartment. It was time for me to put out all the wedding and bridal shower gifts that we got but never had the space until now. Anyway, this post is not about that. While I was cleaning and sorting everything, I found alot of interesting stuff that I never saw until last Monday. And I'm gonna share with you one that I'm sure will be interesting for you too.

I saw a couple pages of printed e-mail with the Subject Scrabble dated May 21, 2007.

Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble (wait till you see the last one)!

DORMITORY
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

PRESBYTERIAN
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION
When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES
When you rearrange the letters:
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH
When you rearrange the letters:
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE
When you rearrange the letters:
HERE COME DOTS

SLOT MACHINES
When you rearrange the letters:
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

ELECTION RESULTS
When you rearrange the letters:
LIES - LET'S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARM
When you rearrange the letters:
ALAS! NO MORE Z'S

A DECIMAL POINT
When you rearrange the letters:
IM A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

..and for the Grand Finale:

MOTHER-IN-LAW
When you rearrange the letters:
WOMAN HITLER

Yep! Someone with waaaaaaaaaaay to much time on their hands!

It surely gave me a good laugh, I hope it did the same to you too. Have a good one! ;-)

Most sellable computer today

It's very impressive how some companies are still booming despite of the economic recession. Most of these companies are the computer manufacturers. Because of how expensive everything is nowadays, of course, that includes computers, people are taking a step back on buying things that are not part of their basic needs. But due to the Internet trend, computer is considered as necessity. Like for me, I use the computer and Internet to keep in touch with my parents and old friends. Yeah, I can use my phone but that's so impractical coz long distance call rate is not cheap. I'm also earning a little bit of money online. So it would only make sense for me to have a computer and Internet connection all the time.

Anyway, so how computer manufacturers are booming despite of how tight money is for most people now? They created netbooks. It is a tiny laptop computer designed specially for Internet connection. It has a fairly decent price for a laptop and works as great. Asus was the one who first made and released it in public around 2007, the HP, Acer, Dell, and all other computer manufacturers followed.

So, if you wanna have a computer but tight on budget, consider the Netbook coz it should be worth buying.