Keeping a Blog

Is a blog worth keeping if you can't write on it as easily as you want?

I have 3 bloggable accounts minus Friendster and MSN Spaces
1) Multiply
2) Blogspot
3) Live journal

Blogspot is my very first blog and the oldest archive is 2002. I also took a lot of pains to design this blog which i eventually put out when the new streamlined blogger designs came out. The problem is, i take this blog too seriously. I can't bring myself to just post random, nonsense kinds of topics in this blog coz i love it too much. Also, i prefer to be anonymous in this blog..as it has always been before. Sentimental value - this is the main reason why i can't give up this blog

Multiply - I mostly post random office (Accenture) related thoughts here. Pictures are centerstage here more than the blog.

Livejournal - my newest blog which I created so I can see Aisa's 'friends only' posts, haha, what a purpose! But because I am not as attached to it, the mood of the blog is more relaxed that I'm able to post just about anything on it...

I feel that my blogspot site has become boring :(

Shucks..i don't know what to do...

Songs Influence My Mood

I created a site for my boyfriend where all his farewell messages and pics and videos are stored http://parakayaldrich.multiply.com in lieu of the usual scrapbook that would be passed around to people and also in lieu of a video compilation of pictures in the project...

I placed background music: Superman by 5 for fighting..

songs tend to influence my mood..

In my case, saying goodbye to 3 years worth of memories..

it's kinda sad when you think about it..

but i'm more of a "new things" kind of person and new things always excite me..

i guess that's why i lost a lot of memories before and it explains my current inclination to history and store all chat message histories and mail archives...

i think i lost a lot on my own past..mistakes I've done in my childhood just because i like new things...

i try to make up for those times but i know deep inside that they're already done and the guilt will haunt me forever...

of the times that i didn't ..

the times that i did..

and why..

Enjoying the 8 to 5

This should be noted down in history! It's my first time to go home between 5:30 -6pm for one week straight in almost 4 years! Imagine that!

I certainly enjoyed my first week, since I'm still on training mode and not yet doing actual client work..just practicing until Feb 18 comes along..

Our TL is still at the client site and he'll be back on tuesday...half of me wants for the 8 -5 to stay that way forever but half of me also does not want to expect too much. This is the IT industry, after all.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my happiness. This week, I slept quite earlier than normal, coz it seems that I'm tired from really thinking or studying haha! ("really", being the operative word here). I felt really good when I woke up on saturday morning :) I felt like i could do so much..plan my life out..take on new challenges..

What a great first week!

I've Left Accenture...

After 3 years, 7 months and 4 days....I said goodbye to my first company...and my first project..Requisition To Pay - ARIBA.

My last day was a Friday and I started work for RCG Information Technology immediately on the Monday after that! That's why it hasn't fully sunk in that I've already left the company..Whenever I learn of new testing techniques, my mind goes on auto-pilot in assessing the relevance of the technique to ARIBA...sheesh!

Anyways, new things always excite me and of course, moving to a new company after 3 years definitely falls under this category!!

New Office, New Officemates, New application...but still the same analysis and dedication required :)

What really excites me is the opportunity to learn new things, new applications, new techniques related to testing to further enhance my knowledge---earned solely through experience. After 3 years in the same project, it's not uncommon to wonder if I really know anything that's not related to my project. Are the things that i know applicable to the outside world? Am I good just because I've been here for so long and am already super familiar with the application? These things definitely crossed my mind and moving on to a new company will answer some of those questions...

I've been attending testing methodology knowledge transition sessions for my first 3 days and since I'm still feeling my way through the application, I'm focusing on the techniques right now.

Assurance # 1 - I understand the techniques, I've done them before through logic and personal analysis but never knew what they were called and that they had a formal 'QA standard' type of names. So that definitely made me happy.

The next step for me is to familiarize myself with the application so that both can go hand in hand. I long for the adrenaline rush whenever new requirements come in! It would be time to analyze...to assess...to gauge....

Meanwhile, i have my Management Accounting lessons on budgeting to keep me pre-occupied...i actually like it better than Financial Accounting coz it has a more practical application in life!

Starting Anew

This could well be a major turning point in my life...

- Looking for a job elsewhere meant that I wanted more and felt that i could do more
- Getting hired in a company other than Accenture meant that I am actually worth more than the JSE that i was hired around 3.6 years ago...it means that although Accenture taught me everything i know about IT..i was able to translate it and make it my own

Just a few days left until Feb 4 when I move to a new company. I have no reputation whatsoever except maybe as the experienced hire from Accenture. Then again, all new hires are experienced hires in RCG...

I hope to recarve my niche in testing...that's it for now, i don't want to pre-empt anything or expect too much on my first few months :)

Credit Card Lessons Re-learned

I already knew this before but somehow forgot after some time of not using my credit card.

I wanted to earn lotsa miles and forgot about how finance charge was computed.

I thought that paying before the cut off date is enough to cancel out my payments (fyi: i still have a stagnant sum that i haven't paid off) but i thought wrong.

I forgot about the average daily balance computation! How stupid of me!

Average Daily Balance. This is the most common calculation method. It credits your account from the day payment is received by the issuer. To figure the balance due, the issuer totals the beginning balance for each day in the billing period and subtracts any credits made to your account that day. While new purchases may or may not be added to the balance, depending on your plan, cash advances typically are included. The resulting daily balances are added for the billing cycle. The total is then divided by the number of days in the billing period to get the "average daily balance."

So i spent around 33k during my billing cycle and paid these off around 2 days before my cut off date...then i checked my online account and saw an unusually high finance charge despite the fact that i paid out what i bought...

Sigh..now i understand! I should pay on the day I buy... in other words, for me, I shouldn't buy if I don't have immediate cash on hand!

I am putting this under my lessons re-learned...NEVER AGAIN!!!

Last 30 Days in Accenture

I missed blogging!

Anyway, the cat's out of the bag! I have passed my resignation from Accenture effective Feb 2, 2007. So my last day is Feb 1. That's still 3 loooong weeks from now!

3 loooong weeks where I'd still have to review Test Conditons and Test Scripts of Chicago peeps! I pray that it'll be easier this time around hehehe

3 looooog weeks where I'd have to transition every single thing i know to other people. Hmmmm, I hope that's enough time!

I am looking forward to certain more exciting deadlines

• Jan 14 - deadline of my articles for the GP2W Newsletter - a feature on the CIO Christmas Fair which my floor won and a travel feature of my Star Cruise experience
• Jan 18 - deadline of my Leadership book review for Manila LeAP about The Wizard and the Warrior, leading with passion and power
• Within January - Ops Teambuilding @ Red Box!
  
• Jan 28 - Lunch out with Start Group for my last 'monthsary' with them in ACN. It's also my farewell treat for them. We'll be eating at AMICI
• Feb 1 - last day of work! woohoo!
  

Ohhhh i so wish that PT deliverables would be bearable... i wish that our APM has transitioned what to do well to the PT Planners...i think this would be my biggest challenge before i go.. wish me luck!!

I'm Freakin' Excited!

Wala lang..hyper ako! Galing kaming Krispy Kreme ni Aldrich sa may Greenhills and we had those donuts below. I had Cappuccino while Drich tried the Hot Choco. Word of Advice: their hot choco tastes weird - McDonald's is better; ask sugar for the cappuccino or throw in a candy santa to do the trick!



Anyway, I just want to say that I'm freakin' excited! Doors to close and new ones to open! I super thank God that everything just fits perfectly... i really can't believe it's happening! I hope everything will go smoothly...I'm so grateful! God loves me!!!

Destressing..

My Offical vacation started today!!

I felt that i needed to do something to mark this day so I gladly went with my family to Rockwell and shopped :) I bought myself a shiny red blouse at Limited worth Php850. I plan to wear it tomorrow during christmas eve dinner, noche buena, as well as chinese new year's eve...hmm and maybe any other occasion that requires me to wear red! hahaha!

I set aside 1500 for a gift for myself this christmas and i still want to buy a bag, that is if the budget still fits.

*******

I so wish that I'd won Php1000 Rustan's GCs instead of SODEXHO! I also still have 1600 worth of Celebrating Performance points but there's no Rustans' gift check there..just SM, Bayo, Chicco..sigh~

Where can i exchange gift cheques for cash???

November Rain

I realized that i haven't blogged for a long time.. and now it's december! Time flies so fast...


What is this, a Status Report?
November was quite hectic for me at work since it was the start of our first big operations release. I also had to transition my beloved Product Testing to Tier 2 since top management wanted it that way.

It's a big challenge to transition something over the phone, i think there's still a long way to go and more focused resources are needed in order to build the testing knowledge-base in Chicago. After all, it also took Manila a considerable amount of time before our work for testing became efficient.

Good luck to me. I still have one last transition to do and a lot more transitionary reviews to complete.


A Chinese Birthday Celebration
Oh and it was also my Dad's birthday last November 23. He's 70 years old based on Chinese lunar calendar and belief (68 in roman calendar) so we had a big celebration for him last Nov 18. My task was to help design the invitations, create the presentation and also have a birthday banner done.

According to tradition, the birthday celebrant should have birthday noodles on the exact date of his birth for longevity. So my brother took care of this by bringing the adults in the family to the Jumbo Palace restaurant in Roxas. It's actually the ship brought by Stanley Ho from HK that was supposed to be used as a casino. But since it was riddled with too much intrigue and politics, they just turned it into a restaurant instead. The food was really yummy - even sitaw and tofu were extremely tasty! Or maybe, it's just a case of dieter's taste buds haha. It's but right that we enjoyed the food coz it cost a lot!


Of Turkeys and Butterflies in the Cold
On a personal note, i was finally able to visit the nice spots of tagaytay last november, namely

• Leslie's
  
• Picnic Grove
• Sonya's Garden
• Bag of Beans
• Paradizoo

Tagaytay is great and the weather really cold! From my last trip, the most unforgettable event was the attack of the turkey in Paradizoo! I've already been there during my 4th year in HighSchool, so i think the animals, especially the turkey have grown old and grumpy. It was very territorial and attacked the girl who came after us. Good thing the caretaker appeared and shooed the free-roaming turkey away.

Bag of Beans was a pleasant surprise with is cute garden setting and birds around the area. I liked the taste of their Shepherd's pie better than the steak and mushroom. Aldrich preferred the latter, but his favorite was the apple pie! He even ordered another one! The Hot Chocolate drink (Tablea) was yummy too but guilt-laden for me (South Beach Dieter) to completely enjoy.

I tasted the best pesto in Sonya's Garden! This was the highlight of our mini-food trip and i can say that it was well worth it @ P560. I guess im a sucker for variety and there were just so many spreads and dips and sauces laid in front of us to spread on that freshly baked sesame bread. The pasta was great too especially when mixed with chicken in mango cream sauce..mmmm..i can almost taste it in my mouth. Aptly, after the very filling entree and main course, they gave us some kind of tea to aid in digestion. Then they served dessert, which in our case was a sliver of dark chocolate cake (hooray for me) and some turon and camote. Although we were surrounded by different kinds of plants and flowers, what what made me feel really one with nature was the comfort room! It had only a screen on the other half side for you to truly feel comfortable. I think it was more "refreshing" than the pitcher of dalandan juice with a leaf inside the glass.

Too bad we didn't stay long enough to enjoy the 'harem mattresses' strategically placed all over the garden since this was the day when typhoon Mina was supposedly gonna hit the the southern region. Supposedly being the operative word.

It was really a trip to remember, and oh, i just can't get over the uber-soft comforter that Tagaytay Country Hotel had in their rooms. There's me cocooned and waiting to metamorphosize into a beautiful butterfly!

Tester Babble

Ariba or Testing?
Ariba or Testing?
Ariba or Testing?

Why can't i just test Ariba???

Testing is fun!

I am a test addict!

I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms...

Like House to Days without Vicodin.

There's still so much to testing that i don't know about.

Automation!

Test Director.

Interesting!

I guess it's something that i can grasp, i can understand.

A Non-IT graduate person like me.

Quality Assurance (a.k.a nitpickiness, meticulousness)

Welcome to the wonderful world of testing.

When others have a passion for development and programming...

I have a passion for testing.

So sue me.

To each his own!