Typing

I had a 360 degrees turn-around when it comes to typing, spreadsheet and basically the use of computer.
In my second year in college, I almost miss being in the honour roll because my grade in Typing 01 is below the minimum required. You see, I enrolled late for financial reasons so I ended up in the class of another program. I was late to get in the first class so I was assigned to a lousy type writer. Take note, type writer. That was around 1995 if my memory serves me right. I went to college in a small school in the next town of where my parents live.

That’s by the by.

I had two computer subjects in my entire college years. We were using MSDOS and Lotus 123 then. I now can’t remember what we used those programs for. Maybe for booting and re-booting. :)

My first job was accounting clerk and I wasn’t even allowed to face the computer hence I left the job two months later. Then, in the next company, there were two computers which we shared the four of us. It was manual as we didn’t have a mouse. Imagine that? Since then, I’ve faced the machine everyday that I was in the office.

Then, I almost flanked my typing class. Now, I can type without looking at the keyboard. It doesn’t take me long to memorise the keyboard. I was hesitant to say I can touch type because I don’t really know what the meaning of those words. So I asked wiki and it says:

Touch typing is typing without using the sense of sight to find the keys. Specifically, a touch typist will know their location through muscle memory. Touch typing involves placing the eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and having them reach for other keys.

After reading this, I can now proclaim that I am a touch typist – not that fast though.

Keyboard

Qwerty. Heard of this term? I did once from my co-worker. I wasn’t concerned then. But when I was in wiki, I saw the word and it intrigued me.

QWERTY (pronounced /ˈkwɜrti/) is the most used modern-day keyboard layout on English-language computer and typewriter keyboards. It takes its name from the first six characters seen in the far left of the keyboard's top row of letters. The QWERTY design was patented[1] by Christopher Sholes in 1874 and sold to Remington in the same year, when it first appeared in typewriters.

So, this is the keyboard that I’ve been using ever since.

Official First Drive to Work

To the train station that is.

I had the full reign of the steering wheel today. No Mcj beside me. Just Jens and I. It’s the first for me.
I was excited at the same time apprehensive about my first time to drive by myself. I am apprehensive that I don’t know how to turn the lights on at night. I was worried that I might be late for my train; that I will have difficulty looking for a parking space and will also have trouble parking.

Mcj is very supportive. He planned last night to follow me and drive up to the station first to save a parking space for me while I drop Jens to “school”. Dropping Jens was easy – he didn’t make a fuss at all. When I was turning up to the station, I can’t find Mcj while looking ahead. I turned right and there he was; parked and he left two parking spaces for me from the other car. I then parked next to the other car and signed a thumbs-up to him to check if I did it right. You see, I have problem parking at the shops. But silly me, I didn’t remember the countless practice I had with my instructor on how to park in between two cars. I did it this time.

We left the house early expecting troubles when I drop Jens and then when looking for parking. Fortunately none of those happened. Everything was smooth. I caught the early train so I can head home early and might be able to use some sun power when I pick-up Jens at school.

The Fanatic in Me

I didn’t really think I am fanatic. I have favourite actors, artists, athletes and sportsmen and women, leaders – political and spiritual, author, etc. But my admiration revolves around watching their film or games, listening to their music, reading their books or anything they wrote – all done in a mild fashion and only in my spare time. Never did I realise that I have to follow their everyday lives – of course only what’s available on the net or paper.

I’ve went through phases of favourite people.

There’s Nicolas Cage. Seen some of his worth-watching (my opinion) flicks.

Luke Wilson. I used to have his photo on my office desk back in the Philippines.

Eric Bana. Oh, how Troy brought him to my senses. I’ve followed him all over the net for a time.

And many more. All of them fade in and out of my fancy. I still check them out sometimes.

But these are my new found “everyday click” people.

Roger Federer. My ex-boss/friend brought back home a magazine with Roger in the cover from the US and since then we shared notes about RF. I moved to Oz where people love sports so almost every tennis tour is aired even in free tv – I get to see him play every major tournament. I have yet to see Australian Open but as long as it is in Australia, I never loose hope that I might see him sometime. I check his website when I’m free almost everyday – followed his games and personal life. Although, I must admit that when Roger played the finals in the Australian Open against the Cypriot Marcus Bagdhatis, I rooted for the latter. Only because he was the underdog. Don’t we all care for the underdogs?

Jenifer Aniston. Friends was aired here and I seldom miss it. We have to be home by 6:30 weekdays – that even when I was already working. She’s not really my favourite in the show – as I like them all there. Then, Brad left him (that’s how I get it because he was with Jolie right away). In my mind, I have to care for this woman (in my own little way) because she needs it. She may not know it, I don’t mind. I’m happy with what I’m doing. I bought magazines with her in it – although I’m boosting the profits of the publishing company and even if what’s written is bordering on goss, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t claim that I know her from what I’ve read as they might bear the truth or might not. Stop explaining, you. I just care for her because for me she’s nice and it might be a point in her life when she needs somebody to pray for her. I pray for her sometimes that she’ll be happy. That’s what fans do, right?

And the latest.. drum roll, please!

Sarah Geronimo. I used to be her fan but not to the extent of what I am now. I just watched her segment in ASAP. End of story.

Now? It all started with me buying her movie AVSL during our holiday in RP. I soo soo soo like it – seen it more than 10 times. I spent countless hours on the internet looking for a free viewing of the sequel movie – YCML. And I did found one – yehey (although, they closed shop the last time I checked – what a shame as I have referred it to my friends, haha). YT provided hundreds of resources and materials for Sarah’s concerts, MTVs, guestings, ASAP clips and so many more. The other fans are so generous to share without fear that there might be copyright infringements. I check abs-cbn sites just to get titbit of news about Sarah as well as her fans’ sites almost everyday.

I confess, this is by far the extreme that I have done for the person that I look up to (I really want to say, I care for). I know this too shall pass like my other craziness and all the other things that we don’t want to expect that happened in our lives. For now, I’m on high! Adik!

Love

In my spare time I read books. It’s one of my hobbies that I can’t push back even if how busy I am. Books have always been my company – when I am alone and when I felt alone (this happened in the distant past).

Before I got my residency here in Oz, I always drag my husband to the 2nd hand book shop. Reading can be an expensive hobby but if you play your cards right, it doesn’t have to. I’ve just been buying seconds even when I was in the Philippines – you just have to give more time and effort looking for the latest published books.

When I got my “go signal”, I applied for a library card (it really didn’t occur to me to get my husband sign up in the local library for me). Since then, I’ve borrowed more than 200 books. I don’t go for just one genre – I have fiction, non-fiction, light, drama, heavy, etc.
And I’m currently reading “Love as a way of life” by Gary Chapman. I picked that book without knowing who Gary Chapman is. After reading a couple of pages, I found out that I read one of his books before, the Five Languages of Love. Although, I had not really digest that book.

The Five Languages of Love is sort of an idea, a fact, a lesson to teach us but it doesn’t explain how to show those languages and that’s how the “Love as a way of life” was born – that’s how I get it. The book for me is an action book. It has stories of a number of people who demonstrates those languages and the ways of showing love – not just for your partner but for everybody.

The book is my train-travel mate but it seems not appropriate to read it in public. Every time I open it and after reading a few pages, I always have to close my eyes, take a deep breath and try to contain my emotions and swallow back the tears. Sometimes, I really can’t stop a tear or two to pop out my eyes. It’s embarrassing to cry in public (or even to laugh if you are alone).

I read several books that have made impressions on me, that left footprints in my mind and heart but not too strong that I have not been actively practising or using it. Yet, “this book” is teaching me a lot already that I am practising it while I’m in the processing of reading it (process as it last for a week or two).

I don’t know how to make a credible book review and I’m not going to try now. All I want to say is if you have time go check out “this book”. You might find it as interesting as I do.

Timesheet

We have implemented the use of Timesheet in the office. It was one of the “makeovers” that the management want to implement along with us moving to the new office location. At first, we used just a formatted excel spreadsheet. It turned-out to be a good process and control. After a couple of months, a new feature in our system were introduced, that is the Timesheet. I did the testing.

It is a very good management tool and quite user-friendly. The timesheet is not used as a tool to monitor the hours spent by the staff in the office. The management is very flexible and considerate that as long as you do your job, you can leave the office early if you need to. This tool is used to measure how many hours are spent on support, administration, customer assistance and on any staff-specific tasks.

I heard that most consulting company use timesheets for their consultant. This is my first but a welcome performance improvement tool for me.

I usually update my timesheet at the beginning of the following day and at the end of day on Friday – just in case I won’t be in the office the following Monday.